An elite was far, far stronger than Theron had anticipated.
His foe’s nimbleness shifted through most of Borys’ attacks. Theron appeared desperate for a solution as he pushed the panther toward the wall, limiting its movement options, mimicking his fight against the Bear elite, where he lost Lux. Fortune struck when Borys’ figure, despite being a normal aspect, still triumphed over the panther by a slight margin. It lacked the tail, sure, but with some ingenuity and time, Theron eventually managed to corner it. Their distance closing, his aura subtly did its job as Borys sent its barrage of swipes and bites.
In this closed spot, a few slashes nicked its black fur and tail, each carving its dark coat with streaks of blood red with a dearth of bubbling green. Theron’s poison built up from the combination of his abilities, nibbling away at the panther’s vitality, hindering its movements and actions; enough for it to lose ground and quiver after blocking Borys’ attacks. The victory was sealed by a brusque slam courtesy of his companion’s glinting claws, ending the elite’s life with its face hacked off.
[Aspect: Metal-clawed bear gains 120 experience points!]
[Lair cleared. No more additional creatures will spawn in this lair. This cave is now flagged as a safe zone. No monsters will pry into this cave unless provoked.]
“Nice… Good job…” Theron gave Borys a relieved pat on its back. With a cheeky grin, he pulled an arm above the carcass while steading himself from the rumbling cave. Next, the sealed door, he planned as the essences were draining.
[Aspect: Metal-bladed Dark panther(elite) is added to your compendium. You can now summon it after materializing the aspect using an elite aspect core.]
[You obtained a materia: R-1 Metal-bladed Dark panther(elite).] x1
Yep. As expected. Elite aspect core. He whistled after the message faded. A part of him expected to miss the chance of obtaining an elite materia, but the rules applied to the elites too, in this case. Just to ensure he wasn’t seeing things, he opened his materia page;
OBTAINED MATERIAS
R-1 Forest black boar x1
R-1 Metal Clawed Bear x2
R-1 Green forest tiger x3
R-1 Metal-bladed Dark panther x4
R-1 Metal-bladed Dark panther(Elite) x1
Borys’ body was a canvas of claw mars and bleeding skin, yet, regardless of its looks, it appeared fine. A glimpse at its health showed it had about 75% of its health remaining, a fantastic amount considering the foe they’d just vanquished. To defeat an elite had never been easy—although he admitted the dark panther was a lesser foe than the bear elite.
Treading his way back to the split path, a rush of air bellowed him to the other side, revealing an opened passage leading to a small space flooded with darkness. No gems appeared this time, only the hints of a shimmering glimmer originating from another treasure chest. The space was much too small for Borys to walk into, so he proceeded alone. He yanked at the latch, gritting his teeth as he pried it open. Inside was another gem; a cursory glance in the sable surroundings hinted at it being a summon slot stone, and the flicker of a broad steel object roused Theron’s strained eyes. A round… shield?
His trembling arms heaved the thing up, the cold surface chilling the surface of his skin.
[Beginner’s steel shield. Provides extra defense against all physical-based damage. Active: Bulwark—provides a layer of shield to an aspect of your choosing. The shield’s health is derived from the owner’s toughness attribute(10 toughness=10 health). Cooldown: 1 minute. Cost: 3 mana.]
Wow… This is… awesome. Granted, Theron’s base attributes paled compared to his summons, and were a downright disgrace compared to Borys’. However, a few extra hitpoints could flip a sure-death scenario into a Pyrrhic victory, depending on the effectiveness of his usage. Regardless, having an extra layer of protection for himself was appreciated. He reached for the smaller stone rolling about in the chest once he finished clasping the shield on his arm.
[Rank 1 evolution stone. Evolves a rank 1 aspect to rank 2 after it reaches max level. Go to an aspect store to access evolution options.]
Sweet…
He departed the cave an evolution core richer, clad with a staunch shield gleaming under the sun. Its almost silvery surface contrasted the greens and the browns wreathing their presence, like a mirror sticking out sorely in the midst of the pure wilderness. Only an hour had passed since he entered the cave. He resumed his trek to scour the forest again, taking great care not to rouse the gigantic spiked bear roaming this area.
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Ultimately, he found his way back to the river, allowing a few minutes of rest as he drank from the rivulet. The relative peace gave his mind a moment of quiet, a tranquil gap in his otherwise rowdy thoughts, and he rested his eyes.
After the second cave, he couldn’t find anything else that drew his attention.
Minutes passed, and a sharp cry shattered the soothing flow of the river, coming from a not-so-far distance to his left, closer toward the exit from the tutorial zone. “Retreat!” That voice called, so high-pitched he thought it came from a woman at first, but the croaks paired with his screams told otherwise. He bounded toward the source, uncertain if this was the right move, but a little voice told him to rush regardless. The cries eventually stopped, replaced by the chatter of a group of individuals. His eyes naught believed it at first; he truly thought he wouldn’t encounter another group of people, but here they were, three people struggling to claw themselves away from a pack of bears. His eyes counted four at first, but a fifth shadow trotted from behind, its brown fur tattered with bite marks and gashes.
“Shit! I told you we can’t tackle that group yet!” One of the party spoke; a fair-skinned woman gasped for air as she huddled behind her massive starter aspect, its size almost doubling the boars he spotted the first time he got here. “Donald, where’s your wolf?”
“Over there… Come here!” The other guy motioned his arm toward himself, leaning against a tree, legs bleeding. Another Lux bolted from a distance, stopping short just beside the Boar. “My… My bad, I assume we can deal with them after gaining abilities, but…” he shook his head, “Forget that. What do we do now?”
“We fight.” The last member chimed, hollering another horned wolf to convene on their location. “I fear we have no choice, guys…”
“Shit!” The woman spat, cursing at the air.
The bears lurched into their circle, fury leaking through their wide eyes. Theron knew little of their aspect’s levels, but judging from the size of the wolves on their sides—and the fact one of them mentioned abilities—he surmised they were at least at level 3, if not higher. Killing a bear wouldn’t be impossible with their strength, but not when they were outnumbered. Roars echoed as he made his entrance to the bear’s flank, and he struck right at the moment the party advanced. Borys surfaced from the trees with a momentous charge, crashing against the wounded bear on the back, then clawing away at it when it was pinned down.
[Aspect: Metal-clawed bear gains shared 10 experience points!]
Shared?
“What?” One of them yelled from the back, “That one’s bigger, wait-“
“I’m here to help!” Theron screamed his intent, pushing through the dead ursine to pursue the others. The bears split—two of the five turned their heads back toward Theron’s companion, uncertainty cast on their frowning faces. Use your ability, He told as Borys charged, its claws glinting white, then they clashed. The first strike rasped as metal clashed against metal, creating sparks as if they fought with swords. The enemy bear stumbled from the initial impact, losing its balance as the other struck Borys from the side. Borys shirked its assault with a powerful swing toward it, pushing its arms away, then followed it up with a slam. Pinned down, the other bear wailed for mercy as Borys dug at its eyes and mouth, ripping its life away with a barrage of swings. The other bear screamed in terror as Borys switched its target, fear cladding its head like a suffocating mask.
[Aspect: Metal-clawed bear gains shared 10 experience points!]
Theron heard human throes from the back while Borys made short work of the other, then rushed in for support. One of the bears perished when he arrived, leaving two contending against the party of three, one still wounded, bleeding profusely. His flanking granted a turn of the tides, winning them the battle in a landslide. The three-person party sighed, relieved, color returning to their faces as they collapsed on the floor, panting, begging for air.
[Aspect: Metal-clawed bear gains shared 10 experience points!]
[Aspect: Metal-clawed bear gains shared 10 experience points!]
###
“Richard and I met during the first day.” The man named Donald spoke, brushing his curly brown hair backward, his blue eyes darkening from exhaustion, “-then Selena came after. We stuck together since, and now… here we are.” He said as Selena hovered her hands above his exposed knee.
“[Heal]” She spoke, and an encapsulating light blared on the injury. His skin was as good as new once it faded. She knows how to heal? That’s… a useful ability. Theron watched their party from a distance, studying their eyes and faces, unsure if he should be involved with them much more than he already did.
“You’re strong.” Richard chimed in as he patted his wolf’s head, his bald head glinting from the sunlight, “And… you got that bear? This quickly and on your own? The thing said we needed an aspect core. We couldn’t find one since we completed the aspect progress…”
Borys gave a tiny roar in response.
“I… cleared caves and events,” Theron answered, “It’s a stroke of luck, really, I’ve been close to death more than a couple of times too, much more than I want to admit. What are your levels?”
“We’re all at four. A few more kills, then we’ll reach five.” The woman spoke, Selena. Her strong gaze kept glancing at his bear, fearful of its imposing size, “If you’re that strong, maybe…”
“Maybe? Maybe what?”
She shook her head. “Never mind. It’s-”
“We ran away from our starting location,” Donald added, interrupting their conversation, “There’s a… crazy group walking around with a strong individual posing as their leader. Kraven, and his trusted man, Hubert. Kraven, He’s… well, he’s like you, strength-wise. He kills those unwilling to join him, it’s… madness. I loath to admit it; I was a part of their group too until their zeal went a few steps too far.” He turned his gaze away, “He can be very… persuasive. We’re all stuck in an unfamiliar world, and dangers lurk about everywhere. He never showed his true face until we found our first cave, and the things he did to secure everything to himself… I swear, his look never matches his viciousness.”
Two-faced lunatic. It sounded like a few guys Theron shied away from in the past.
“Well, that’s the gist of it. Now, he controls a good amount of men, the closest which he shares his spoils with.” Richard continued, “Their influence grows by each passing day, and they controlled a large swath of the tutorial zone, each, in turn, granting their group more lairs and caves to control and clear with. He shared the best spoils to those he deemed the strongest, and the cycle repeats.”
Selena gazed into nowhere. “We want to keep running.” She turned to face the skies, eyes glinting with hope, “He appointed a few as the leaders, Hubert being one of them, and granted them free space to scour and get stronger on their own while he minded his own business in his initial zone. The one you need to be wary of is Hubert’s group, stationed right beside this spot, to your west. There were five of them before we booked it.”
Selena brushed her eyes, then stood up, staring straight into Theron’s eyes, “They’re going to come here soon, Theron. You need to run too.”