The biggest lizard Theron had ever set his eyes upon rested beneath the soothing glow of moonlight. Its teal and white scales scintillated, almost chiming as Theron stopped short a few steps before entering its chamber. Within, only the presence of the giant basilisk existed, paired with the frozen air radiating away from the source of the cold. In here, no beads of water dripped; only ice and mists of frost drifted about the empty air, abundant with cold.
Its light scales glimmered similarly to its lesser kin. The one difference this basilisk had—aside from its size—would be a lantern-like bulb dangling in front of its eyes, protruding from its temples, akin to the ones he’d seen from the images of anglerfish. The source of the cold seemed to be the densest within that little gem-like object, and no doubt it was a weapon Theron had to be wary of. Their party spread apart as it began to rouse, the noises of their entrance awoken it from its rest. It hissed, revealing its pale, sharp tongue, warning its invaders with a snarl. Within an instant, it raised the bulb along with its head, radiating a pulse of sheer coldness all around its chamber.
Theron shivered from the drop in temperature, eyes misting under the falling white beads of… snow?—each crystal of white slowed Theron’s movements by a threatening degree, enough until he lost his ability to trek forward. His feet glued onto the ground, protesting every command of his body. He frowned at the sight of an icicle materializing from a distance, between the open jaws of the basilisk, aimed straight toward where his still body was hunched over. Shit- gotta mo- BERYS! BLOCK IT!
Between his agitated thoughts, Berys moved into view, shielding him from the projectile whilst his aspects moved into action. Borys’ speed had slowed from the freezing field whirling from the source of this cold—the basilisk elite’s bulb—and the effects of the slow magnified with each step it took, almost freezing it in place before Theron shouted for it to back off.
No direct attack with this one… Theron’s mind worked overtime to generate a solution, then elected to shift forward with his aspects, shielding himself from all the projectiles fired upon their slow rush. He kept peering over to the side, noting the shrinking gap between their locations. Upon reaching a distance close enough for his aura, he let it loose whilst hunkering behind Berys’ massive figure. Its health dropped by one every few or so seconds, reminding Theron of the ice damage piling up, evident from his whitening arms and legs. Shoot off some of the projectiles if you can, Lux, he willed his wolf to divert the basilisk’s icicles aside, hopefully prolonging the amount of time Berys could withstand this effect. This proved to be somewhat effective, Lux’s projectiles blocked a few before they reached Berys, but some still landed on its figure. Theron pulled his wand, deciding if he should use the shield’s active skill on Berys, but bit his lips and held on since the mana cost would hamper his total damage in the end.
It took an eternity before he felt the frigid cold dampening. His body ceased its shivering at that point, either from the rising temperature, or that he was close to death, but regardless, it meant Theron had bought himself an opening. “You two! Attack!” Theron glanced backward to his other shivering aspects, praying they still had the strength to continue. Their lurching figures calmed his heart as he glimpsed Berys’ total health, then sighed in relief; it had half its health remaining, more than healthy to resume this battle.
The basilisk, however, didn’t fare so well. His poison hurt its overall stance, and its once rigid, erect bulb limped, dangling weakly between its eyes, unable to stand up. Theron needed to spend all of his mana to reach this outcome, mirthful he focused on his own mana pool the entire time he leveled up. Some scenarios wouldn’t be possible without his necrotic aura, it seemed.
A form of a barrier deflected Berys’ initial attack, subsiding immediately when Berys’ strike went through, followed up by Borys’ support from the side.
With its frosty field diminishing, the rest of the fight proved simple. The basilisk lost most of its vitality and vigor from the worsening poison, enfeebling it enough until a single rank-2 aspect managed to send its body flying with its swipes, and Lux’s final bite sealed its fate.
[You gained 280 experience points!.]
Close…
Theron limped over the deceased elite, still shuddering from the lingering cold. Any source of heat seemed to inflate his heart as the temperature rose, cladding him with a semblance of warmth. He extracted the remains of its corpse, releasing a tranquil breath, knowing this arduous battle was done with. The next time he found one of these things, he’d blitz in right away, snapping the bulb the instant before the fight began.
[Rank 2: White-scaled cold basilisk[elite] learned. Progress: 50%]
A rumbling shook the entire lair, yet Theron refused to budge from his position, relishing the moment of calm before perusing the cave further. Lux had leveled up, after all. Since Lux’s mana pool had grown, he added two extra points to its toughness to ensure it wouldn’t perish from a stray hit.
Full-grown horned Gray Brute Dire wolf | Health : 22/22 | Mana : 34/34
Level: 9 | Next 1830 xp
Rank: 2 | Max Level 10
Mana cost: 6 | slot cost: 2
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Element: Normal | Affinity: Magic
Class: Wolf | Type: Beast
-Attributes-
Free points: - (+2/level)
Might: 30 (+3/level)
Speed: 24 (+2/level)
Magic: 32 (+4/level)
Toughness: 13 (+1/level)
Resistance: 2
-Abilities-
Crushing bite
Horn Pulse
###
“Sweet…” Theron ogled the spoils granted by the chest. The one blue stone rolling about stirred his interest the most, and a quick inspection revealed it was exactly what he’d hoped for.
[Class stone upgrade-tier 1. Use during a drifter evolution to increase the rarity and power of your possible classes. Tier 1 upgrades from a common class to an uncommon class. Usable once you reach level 10.]
Tier 1… that means I’ll have to hunt for more? Theron kept the queer gem inside his satchel, then glanced at the other things clattering the treasure chest; two blue potions—minor mana potions—and two common aspect cores. Not the best find he could ask for; the blue potions could be essential later, though. Then, he trekked his way back toward the exit, squinting when the sun began to rise, bathing him with the heat he yearned for.
The recent quest completion gave him a solid reason to return right away, but he figured he’d take the long route back to discover more lairs and events dotting the forest floor. All his aspects roared when the presence of heat burned the cold off their snowy fur, savoring the sun as they veered into the woods.
Not much excited Theron’s eyes as he fended off his sleep with a yawn. Only treants and the occasional beetles roamed about the gray woods at this time of day, which the party dealt with ease—any kills pushed them closer toward another level up, and with both rank-2 commons only a level away from reaching rank-3, Theron had to answer the obvious question soon; which of his aspects should he evolve first? With the limited supply of one Rank-2 to Rank-3 evolution stone, the best candidate for that would be Berys, no doubt, but he needed to wait until it reached level 10, a miles away amount of experience from its current level.
[You gained 80 experience points!.] x4
[Aspect: (Elite) Savage Metal fist Bear gains reduced experience: 40] x4
Four treants fell until Theron came upon the sight of a different-looking zone—a large crater digging a few feet deep into the earth. Completely shed of all possible trees, only the traces of a thicket existed here, and in the midst of it all, a large rock/metal hybrid shaped like a box for which Theron couldn’t figure out its origins. Traces of ashes and smoke permeated the vicinity as he pondered about descending into the center of it all, assuming this was just another hidden event, whose conclusion was a complete mystery in his eyes. Perhaps a copy of the attribute fruit event he encountered back in the tutorial zone?
Inhaling deeply, he slid past the craggy slope, reaching the center within seconds. No messages appeared at first, which prompted him to touch the stone, and that elicited a message;
[Paragon beacon of The southern axis.]
[Hidden event completed! The paragon of the southern axis.]
[3/4 stone found.]
Paragon? Southern axis… is that where I am?
He faced the summit far off in the distance, unable to comprehend the significance of this stone, nor what kind of use this… elongated, prismatic rock entailed. From its description, there was a good chance the other axes also contained such a rock… meaning…
Selena’s description of the differences in their starting zones hinted at it before—if it wasn’t clear enough now. Theron’s lacked in terms of the number of people spawned, and the spiked bear also hinted at the special circumstances surrounding his tutorial zone. As for the reasons… no way to know now. Maybe it’s just luck? Theron stored the stone safely in his satchel, shoving his ruminations for later—when the right time came. Now, he had too much on his hands to deal with.
So there’s one more? Clambering his way up, Theron shifted through the dense trees before coming upon the sight of another lair—this one displaying the one foe which gave his heart a jolt of excitement—the chance of completing a rank-2 elite.
[Dark cave of Silver-Back Beast Troll.]
However, when he perused the lair, nothing else but the whiff of stale wind welcomed him. No trolls, no elites, no nothing. He grumbled while making his way outside, deciding to return when the night came, assuming so since the trolls only appeared at night.
Well… I’m keeping this place in mind. Then, once he met the running river, he turned back to the checkpoint, feeling confident he’d scour most of what was on the east side of the Ghostwood forest.
###
A surge of light blasted from the summit, reaching the skies, and lit up the gloomy forest with a column of chilling radiance. Theron jolted awake from his seat behind the cover of the checkpoint, shielding his eyes from the intense brightness.
“What… The-“
[4/4 paragon stone found.]
The once dormant stone glowed, leaking heat within his satchel, forcing Theron to pull the searing hot stone outside. The moment he retrieved it, the stone turned to dust, sending flakes of ash all around him. It coalesced, forming pictures and scenes alien to his mind.
[Paragon stone consumed.]
Faces… faces of people he’d never seen smeared his vision. It was blurry, a… vague image at best, and each showed the same expression of surprise upon realizing what had happened. In Theron’s vision, two other men and a woman with wild hairstyles and appearances stood, mouths gaping when they finally realized what had happened.
But before anyone spoke, a voice overtook their senses. Theron grimaced at its grisly, sickly voice, the source of the sound seemingly coming from inside his head.
“The four paragons… have been found.”
None knew the significance of their roles in the future here. Not yet.