Tunde leading in front, the team made their way down the stairs in silence, nothing but the dusty steps hiding their footsteps and themselves for company. His Ethra sight painted the entire tunnel in a whole new light, hidden crevices where earth and rock Ethra seeped out, imbuing the little stubborn plants that grew from those corners with their affinities, even the little rodents that scurried around, sporting one form of mutation or the order from large stone protrusions on their bodies to sharp claws built for shredding through rocks easily.
They scampered away the moment they saw them, unused to such large and strange beings invading what had been their realm for a long time. The first signs of trouble were the changes in his Ethra sight, Tunde raising one hand as they came to a stop, hands shielding the light a bit to reduce their presence as the entire tunnel was once again thrown into semi-darkness for his other two teammates.
“Spawns?” Draven muttered.
Tunde nodded, unsure of what he was seeing, trails of Ethra mashed together with other things that looked more like dried painting filling the air. Turning to them, he spoke softly.
“Stay here, just in case,” he said as he began creeping forward, heart pounding.
Edging closer and closer to the wooden-held passageway, he stared in confusion at what he saw before grim understanding filled him. What he had thought to be some sort of construct was actually a living creature, towering over him with brown Ethra and what Tunde now realized was the lifeforce or life Ethra of the being fused into one. It looked like it had been done roughly, two strands of Ethra forcibly mashed together to create the towering abomination. Munching on what Tunde also now realized was a bloody arm, no doubt gotten from one of the miners, he shot forwards, fist cocked back with nothing but his pure strength imbued into his form.
The creature whipped its head backward in shock, its budding scream dying in his throat as one punch from Tunde obliterated its entire skull, the body dropping to its knees before falling to the ground, Tunde catching its upper frame even as blood continually shot out of the stump of its neck. He winced to himself, it had been initiate rank or tier 1, unsure if they used either normal or animal terms, glancing behind him to see Isolde and Draven moving slowly towards him, guiding the light of the crystals in his direction before he nodded to them.
“So that’s a Corespawn?” Isolde asked rhetorically.
“Ugly things, this one looked like it had given in to the nature of whatever creature’s core it absorbed” Draven murmured, axe still in hand.
“Forward sentries,” Isolde said as she unfurled the map.
“we’re barely at the entrance to the forgotten mines, if they’re far out here like this, whatever’s going on within, I’m not sure we’re going to like it” she added.
Tunde stood, Ethra sight surveying for any hidden foes, something he realized he should have done in hindsight, it was not like they would simply be observing as he killed their ally. Seeing nothing, he watched as Isolde moved closer to the walls, running her hand around as she spoke softly.
“The clan built light collectors back when this sector of the mine was still working” she started.
“The cost in light Ethra crystals and charges from the light mages were running too steep, a little help from the artificer and they made this,” she said as she seemed to click a dormant path of the wall Tunde hadn’t noticed.
Lines of light Ethra, a fusion of bright yellow and pure white ran through the cracks on the wall, lighting up the entire room as Tunde switched off his Ethra sight, allowing his normal vision to return with a brief blink. It revealed the entirety of the room in all its dusty glory. Overturned and worn-out carts once used to ferry large chunks of crystals lay broken or in various states of redundancy, some even serving as makeshift homes for the denizens of the mine itself as large rodents shot out from under them, coming straight at Tunde and the team. Perhaps fright had triggered their rage, or seeing as they had nowhere to go, but they came for them and Draven took charge for the first time.
Rock Ethra imbuing both his weapon and body, Tunde watched as his skin seemed to harden along with his entire weight, raising his axe before swinging it through the air with a projection technique. The line of rock Ethra, light brown with a touch of silver tore through the air, impacting the creatures in their dozens as they were ripped to shreds in shrieks of agony, blood spilling everywhere. Tunde frowned, shooting for the exit of the room into the darkness of the other as he felt vibrations coming from the ground, Ethra sight activated once again as he left the reaches of the light, he saw the multitudes of tier 1 Corespawns coming.
“Spawns!” he shouted before pushing towards them in disciple-fueled strength.
Their shapes were as bizarre as they were hard to explain, the first he came in contact with held a burning torch that illuminated the area for them, the next room being where the excavation itself had taken place. Tunde’s first order of priority was the light, snuffing it out with one hand even as he grabbed the head of the tier one creature with razor-sharp horns, three in number adorning the top of its head.
With a quick snap of his strength and vengeance, it fell dead to the ground, a blow to the chest of the next with six hands and a mouth full of fangs eradicated its entire chest section. Twisting under the blow of the third with razor-sharp claws, he shattered the hand with a blow before snapping the heads backward. Twisting backward as two feline-looking Corespawns came for him, the pure speed of initiate rank and more propelling them across the air towards him.
Tunde realized they could see clearly, the Corespawn felines, and they had the strength and grace of whatever wasteland beast’s core they had consumed, luckily, he noted they lacked the human mental ability to use it well. A gust of sharp wind tore into the room, their skins opening up as they yowled in pain before looking for where the attack came from. Draven descended from above, axe cleaving one in two before it even knew it was dead as Tunde grabbed the other one, snapping its neck and killing it.
Again, Isolde lit the room up, the light weaker this time as whatever bank of power it had to run on was significantly weaker. Staring at the carnage, Tunde glanced at vengeance, the silver gauntlets coated with blood, along with the better half of his robes. Walking up to them, Isolde pored over the map silently, glancing between it and the room as she frowned.
“Something is wrong with the room,” she said.
“In what way?” Tunde asked.
“There should be more power, this leads to the tunnel that leads to the main excavation zones, and yet, it looks like the energy of the mines themselves are being leeched, like the Ethra is being siphoned.” She explained.
Tunde used his Ethra sight to survey the entire room, looking for signs of such, not that he understood what he was looking for, but he assumed he’d know soon enough. Frowning as he saw nothing, he was about to talk when the Ethra lines grew dimmer again.
“I think I see what you mean” he murmured, watching as all the Ethra seemed to be going towards one direction.
Leading the way, they pushed into the next room, still following the Ethra lines before stopping at a large rock door, a circle of dark inscriptions etched into it.
“I’m guessing this was what they were protecting?” Draven said.
Isolde moved to the door looking around before speaking.
“That shouldn’t be here,” she said.
Tunde glanced at Draven before speaking.
“What do you mean shouldn’t be here?” he asked.
“there’s no mention of a stone door down here, nothing of such, that pathway leads to the newest parts of the mines, this should be a blank wall” she replied.
“Well maybe the clan built a stone door here,” Draven said shrugging.
“To lead where?” Isolde asked him.
Tunde was about to talk when the inscriptions lit up and the door began to grate open, the trio shifting backward even as he felt the familiar touch of an energy he hadn’t forgotten. Eyes wide, he spoke up in alarm.
“Rift!” he said.
A large pincer shot out of the space behind the door as pure rift energy tore into the room, filling it with the same energies that had been within the same rift Tunde had entered earlier. Draven filled his body with Ethra, drawing more and more from the already growing sparse Ethra the rift sucked up, Isolde scrambling backward, map kept and blades drawn as they stared down a monstrosity of epic proportions.
*********************************
Jath watched as the last crystal was placed within the circle, the etchings and circle itself coming to life as the large door in front of them, carved by their lesser kins shuddered, cracks running through its form before it exploded. Kurl was there, one hand raising the very earth in a projection technique gotten from the Terahudon beast he absorbed, absorbing the force of the explosion before dispelling it. It revealed a large green swirling rift entrance, Jath moving from behind the Kurl to stare at the pathway itself.
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“It worked,” he said breathlessly.
The lesser kins around the door itself had been vaporized, the tangy rift energies flowing around the room, stealing what Ethra it could. Rifts were meant to improve the strength of the Ethra around its surroundings, not steal it, perhaps the nature of the rift itself was the cause?. The very grounds vibrated, the same energies running rampant as they shot for the other doors carved themselves.
“Is it done, brother?” Kurl asked.
Jath grinned, nodding.
“Indeed, our part is done, now we await their arrival” he replied.
Together they watched as the location where the demolished citadel once stood released a pillar of light to the skies above, painting it dark green as a tear began to form in the skies itself.
************************
Elder Moros stared in shock at the power that shot to the skies above, raw rift energy, tearing unnaturally from the mines. Running to the deck, the captain beside him, was a huge man with a shaggy beard.
“By the hegemons,” he said softly.
“Contact the clan, head straight for our lands, don’t stop for anything, inform them that this is no longer just a Corespawn attack, inform them that we have an incursion,” he said.
With that, the elder jumped out of the ship, free-falling straight to the ground and crashing into a cliff with a bolt of lightning sheathing his body like a shield before taking off towards the direction of the rift tear in the skies.
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The creature was made of sharp-looking crystals, glowing midnight color with a humanoid form and four large crystalline pincers from its back, its crystalline head shaped in the form of a helm with blazing purple eyes glowing from deep within its socket, as well as the aura of a tier 3 creature it exuded. Tunde was the first to move, Draven and Isolde petrified at its sight even as one of its pincers shot for them, he grabbed the both of them, throwing them backward, vengeance imbued with resonance clashing in an explosion that ripped the space around them apart.
Tunde was blasted backward, forcing himself to maintain his feet as they shook, eyes watering and fist aching. The creature had a cracked pincer, staring at it before roaring with rage, its scream feeling like pikes being hammered into their brains, finally pushing him to his knees.
The creature took one step forward that shook the very room, dust falling even as Tunde struggled to his feet, Isolde dragging herself away from the vicinity of its aura. He found himself running towards the creature, vengeance vibrating as the relic beneath the weapon sensed the presence of the rift, straining to absorb the energy that vengeance prevented, the same energies that Tunde wanted as well.
Tapping into resonance again, he clashed with another pincer of the creature, realizing that it merely had the endurance of a tier 3 creature and not pure power, still he was fighting on razor's edge here, buying time for his two other teammates to leave the vicinity of its aura that didn’t affect him as much as it did them.
Grabbing unto a pincer even as the creature sought to squash him with its crystalline fists, he jumped straight for its head where Ethra sight revealed its core, fist cocked and resonance primed. It swatted him with another pincer with such speed that Tunde didn’t see it coming, feeling something crack within him as he blasted into the wall, falling in and out of consciousness before crashing to the ground, spitting blood. His void ring was open in a second and a tier 2 healing elixir was in his mouth, mending his broken ribs.
Draven blazed with both fire Ethra from his gauntlets and imbued earth Ethra as he and Isolde stood side by side, doing their best to hold back the onslaught of the creature that wanted to crush them to pastes. Tunde swayed on his feet, staring at vengeance before opening his void ring and throwing the gauntlets inside it, the relic weapon on his wrists shuddering in what felt like delight from the freedom of the gauntlets.
It began pumping the stored rift energy into his body while absorbing the gradually growing energy in the air, Tunde feeling it course through his entire form, imbuing him with strength rivaling that of a peak disciple. This wasn’t just any creature, it was a tier 3 beast, and conventional means of battle wouldn’t do to face it, not now. The relic shuddered and began molding itself up his arm as Tunde watched in fascination, the scream of Isolde dragging him from his thoughts as he looked up in alarm, berating himself for losing attention.
Draven had been punched through the shoulder by a pincer, being raised upwards even as Tunde watched him hack at the pincer fruitlessly. He took one step, feeling the energy within him continually fusing with his body, propelling him upwards and towards the creature. One touch of his clawed relic gauntlets that no longer seemed to absorb his Ethra and the pincer holding Draven shattered to fine dust, all energy absorbed from the now shattered appendage to his relic as Tunde near shuddered in the air from the raw energy that poured into him.
He caught Draven who was bleeding, the ranker with a healing elixir from his void sack given to him by Lady Ryka and guzzling it even as the wound healed. Tunde turned to the creature that gave a great bellow, its crystalline hand morphing into a huge hammer that it raised high. Leaving Draven to Isolde, he was moving fist cocked as he channeled resonance, feeling it draw from the rift energies within his body and not his Ethra before blowing apart the knee of the creature.
One leg destroyed, it crashed to the ground, Tunde grabbing its head even as he used one hand to bat away the pincers that disintegrated to dust the moment they came in contact with his other hand. Willing the relic to draw more from the creature, its head paled as it stopped moving, the rift energy that gave it life being sucked away before it shattered like brittle glass, revealing a midnight-looking core. Tunde forced the relic to stop absorbing as he felt it go to sleep, withdrawing back till it was band again on his wrist, the core on his hand, quickly disposing it into his void rings, he turned to the rift that pulsed again.
“We need to close it!” he shouted.
Isolde turned to him from where she cradled Draven who was panting, sweat soaking his skin, the both of them looking around with terror-filled eyes.
“That was a tier 3 creature” she whispered.
Hissing to himself, he realized she was in no position to help, so he spoke again.
“Get to the entrance of the mines, back the same way we came, find Elder Moros if he’s still around, and inform him that there’s a rift down here, we have no idea what’s going on,” he said before turning and pushing his way into the rift.
It was like he passed through semi-liquid again before he was deposited on a dark crystalline surface, staring around at the dark strange world he found himself. It was like he was staring at the night skies above, the absence of wind and sound left it in an eerie state, along with another rift in the distance that looked like an entrance on another piece of crystalline rock.
The pure rift energy in the room was astounding, feeling it grate against his skin as the relic woke again and began pouring the energy into his body proper. Tunde felt it within his body, it wasn’t adding to his advancement, his heart hadn’t improved and he could feel his Ethra dormant, but it was doing something to him, something he couldn’t explain apart from the fact that it made him stronger, albeit temporarily. The ground cracked as a figure stepped out of the rift entrance in the distance.
Pale-faced, dressed in a robe with a hood, a belt of interlocking bones on his waist, and a series of carvings on his face, red eyes staring in surprise over at his crystal platform.
“Who are you?” he asked.
Adept rank, Tunde could feel it even from where he stood, willing the relic to take the form of a blade, the adept stared at it, surprise flashing through his eyes.
“Where did you get that from?” he asked again before stretching his hand out, a bone jutting out of his hand and taking the form of a blade.
Drawing deep from the rift energy, Ethra sight activated, and the adept shot for him in near mind-boggling speed, crossing the crystalline platforms and the space in between. Yet, the energy within his body, pushing him to the very peak of disciple rank allowed him to react immediately, the relic coated with his Ethra moved swiftly, clashing and summarily slicing cleanly through the weapon. Tunde moved with all the speed of a peak disciple, taking blows with the adept that kept producing bone blade after blade rapidly, eyes wide.
“Impossible, the seekers are all gone!” he growled.
Stamping his feet, the crystalline platform cracked to reveal shapes that rose, some walking on six limbs, some flying, all made of the same crystal as the large behemoth he had killed earlier.
“You opened a rift on clan Verdan territory, revenant” Tunde replied.
The adept shot backward, cautiousness on his face.
“You know who we are, that means you were sent here,” he said before flicking his hand, the creatures running for Tunde.
Gripping the blade tight, he tore into them as they did him as well, the rift energies within him healing the injuries in a blink. Flowing freely through his body, Tunde parried and struck with brutal efficiency as he shattered them in their numbers, more coming for him in a blink. The adept struck from behind, Tunde’s instincts warning him as he dodged on time only to get a cut on his arm, feeling the Ethra of the revenant adept beginning to worm its way into him.
“The Ethra of decay, a concept on its own, you’re a dead man walking, you know that, tell me who sent you and I might just let you serve me as a revenant,” the revenant said.
Tunde felt the relic shudder before snatching the Ethra of decay within his body and consuming it, black veins running from the cut and vanishing at his wrists as they were absorbed by the relic. The adept stared with wide eyes, snarling as he produced a scroll and unfurled it, green inscriptions burning to life. Tunde had seen such before, in his battle with Gale, a summoning scroll. Dodging the few last of the creatures before killing them, he watched the adept wave his hand as a pedestal shimmered to life, grabbing a large-looking core with a myriad of colors within it.
“Whoever you are, wherever you got that,” the adept revenant said, pointing at the relic.
“You cannot be allowed to leave this place, for the sake of the cult” he completed as he tore towards the exit of the rift at the other side.
The scroll released large-looking skeletons burning with undeath Ethra wielding large-looking black blades and shields with undeath Ethra as well. They gave a loud moan, running towards him as he felt their peak tier 2 auras, a sickly feeling that made him want to puke. Biting down the repulsive feeling as he realized with alarm that the rift was beginning to close down on itself, he made a mad dash at the creatures. Dodging a heavy swing of one blade, he stepped on the shield, propelling himself towards the adept, crashing on the unsuspecting form of the revenant as both of them fell through the exit of the rift.
He passed through the same semi-liquid, landing on soft fleshy ground as every instinct within him told him to leave, not to even turn, the terrible horror that drowned his body in a chilling feeling. He was through the rift again with the large green core in hand, dashing at the creatures that turned to him as he pushed the core into his void ring, both fists cocked back and primed with resonance. He was twisting around a blade, allowing the relic to form into a blade as he sliced the large sword of the other large skeleton in two along with its hand.
And then he was through the midst, making a mad dash for the rift entrance that was closing up in the distance, rift energies fueling him as he jumped through, rolling on the dusty ground of the mines before getting to his feet, relic blade in hand.
The first of the skeletons to attempt and pass through lost its head in a flash, Tunde releasing the blade as the rift hole closed up, reality healing the wound. Panting, he glanced around with caution, noting the absence of Isolde and Draven before nodding to himself, they must have made it to the entrance. The mine quaked again as rocks fell, blocking the way they had come through, Tunde activating his Ethra sight as large Sandshards tore their way through the ground around him along with huge Corespawns as well.
Vengeance was back on his arms as he recalled them from his void ring, relic subdued once again as the creatures came for him. This time, Tunde let loose completely, spamming resonance after resonance as it drained what remained of the rift energies within his body, tearing the creatures apart, all tier 1 with reckless abandon. When he was done, gore filled the entire room with the absence of Ethra, panting quietly, he let his cycled Ethra stabilize before making his way deeper into the tunnel alone.