A gentle light bathed his eyes as he gawked at the floor beneath him. The light twisted and wobbled, coalescing into multiple forms before it settled on one image; a pair of boots, shiny from top to bottom, ladened with metal and wisps of black leather. From his wish, it appeared he acquired neither, which sucked, but he’d take what he could get.
[Boots of leaping. Active: Jump with additional might, pushing the user farther up and above than they normally can. It can also be used to cushion a landing. Cooldown: 1 minute.]
Huh… Theron picked the boots up and removed his own, almost hurling from the ensuing stench of unwashed feet and leather, then scrunched his nose as he tried the new pair of boots. It felt perfect; all his soles and ankles were covered well, and he felt springier than usual—if that was even a valid observation. While not what he wished for, the extra mobility should help during a tense situation.
Theron jogged on his spot, then sampled the active with a test run. He leaped thrice higher at the first test, which scared him, but the rush of air and adrenaline took over once he fell, smiling from ear to ear. Neat.
Treasure map’s to the north… I’ve not explored the area completely. Theron set the course to the north, then pulled the essence store interface to look for the evolution stone. If everything went to plan, one of Theron’s aspects should reach another jump in power through evolution, and while waiting until Berys reached its max level seemed ideal, its glacial pace toward grasping level 10 might err Theron toward either Lux or Borys instead.
The words of the voice resounded once more. Certain things weren’t meant to be rushed, his class evolution being one of them. Ultimately, his decision depended on whether Hubert would veer his ugly head in before Berys reached the designated level.
The desolate wastes, no description was told when the voice blabbered about its purpose and past. From the naming alone, Theron’s mind went to a desert-like area, scant of water and vegetation, or perhaps a place filled with toxic waters and swamps; neither he liked to imagine traversing in.
Before he left, he revisited the crafting interface once more, ogling at the new types of equipment he’d never be able to craft, not with the lack of rank-2 elite materias. Safe to say, he fawned over the new, shinier options.
[Silver back beast Ivory vest - Grants +5 might to all your active BEAST aspects. Increases [melee] ability damage of your BEAST aspects by an additional 10%. Requirements: 3x Silver back Beast Troll materia, 1x Silver back Beast Troll(Elite) materia. Costs: 3000 essences.]
Right away, the troll’s option captivated his heart. All his aspects were of the BEAST type—save for the treant—and he’d love the additional might and ability damage. The materia cost struck a pang within his heart—the elite materia requirement would set him back from the chance of a fusion evolution path for Berys later—that notion alone pushed him away from crafting it. It’s way too good for me to ignore, though. Maybe later?
[Tough chrome-black beetle ring- Grants +3 toughness to all your active aspects. Reduces damage from beast monsters and aspects by a flat value of 3. Requirements: 3x Black chrome beetle materia, 1x Black chrome beetle(Elite) materia. Costs: 3000 essences.]
Another incredible option, since most other drifters possessed beast aspects, the ring would greatly help his survivability. A flat value of three should stack with Berys’ innate trait. However, compared to the troll’s vest, this one dimmed in terms of priority in his mind. If only he could somehow scrounge up two elite troll materias… One could dream of such a thing.
From his experience, each zone only came with one roaming elite—or an elite that was connected to a hidden event, with the other stuck deep within a lair. The tutorial zone seemed to prove his hypothesis. However, that didn’t mean it would always be true, especially after he veered closer to the summit. Perhaps there would come a time when he could generate a materia himself… well, until that time came, the wisest option would be to see Berys’ evolution options before committing to a decision.
Drifting his gaze below, he spotted the final few options.
[Ghostwood treant’s braces - Grant +5 passive health regeneration/ hour to you and your aspects. This regeneration speed is quadrupled when you are atop a body of water. Requirements: 3x Ghostwood treant materia, 1x Ghostwood treant(Elite) materia. Costs: 3000 essences.]
Eh… not that good. At his current aspect’s health, 5 hp/ hour was trivial.
[White-scaled basilisk daggers - imbue cold damage to all your attacks. Active: Grants one aspect permanent cold damage from their basic attacks and abilities(20% of their might). Requirements: 3x White-scaled basilisk materia, 1x White-scaled basilisk(Elite) materia. Costs: 3000 essences.]
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Theron could see the potential in this one, but the application was niche, at best. He already had access to cold damage—Lux’s horn pulses, mainly—and from what he experienced, unless his party had access to the sheer coldness the elite basilisk generated, cold damage should only be used when he faced something with strong physical resistance, like the treants, or the other things undoubtedly waiting beyond the veil of this forest.
He closed the window, processing the newfound options within his head, his choices only grew with every passing day, and the right ones appeared to blend with one another. The skills crafting, luckily, didn’t seem to be all that useful with his current stats, and the mana cost was simply too much for his puny mana pool to bear.
Let’s tackle my problems one by one. Start by getting our levels high and exploring the other parts of this zone. Out of all the possible elites one could meet, only the treant elite eluded him to this day. Since the odds of the treant living below a cave were nonexistent, Theron opted to focus his search for any quaint space above ground, something akin to a clearing like the boars, or the hidden sapling event, or perhaps a quaint spot with a particularly dense group of trees.
Regardless, he planned to reap everything he could on the way. Grinding for experience was another goal of his, after all. With a glance to his sides, he gathered all his aspects and headed north, eyes filled with a sense of urgency and hope, a strange emotion unable to set itself loose from his chest.
###
[You gained 80 experience points!.] x2
[Aspect: (Elite) Savage Metal fist Bear gains reduced experience: 40] x2
[You acquired: 1x R2 - Ghostwood Treant materia.]
There weren’t many treants wandering the woods along his journey, and the beetles might as well never existed here. Thus far, the first hour of his trip only netted him two kills. Well, I got one materia, though. Theron smiled as he examined the battered face of his recent kill, the result of Berys’ almighty punch—its increased levels made his ability an instant death against the trees.
Still, Theron couldn’t help but note the elation of seeing his numbers grow—a product of his monkey brain exuding dopamine from the prospect of their growth.
The cold breeze gave way to another steep decline reaching god-knows-where below. Unknowingly, Theron had reached the end of this zone, and what came after was slathered with another thick layer of smog, with humongous checkpoints breaching the topmost parts of the next area, yearning for someone to approach. So far, none dared to step their foot into whatever lay down there, evident from the complete lack of open areas free of the all-too-familiar suffocating smog. Perhaps getting a head start would deter the pesky idiots in the west from approaching him again, a thought Theron seriously entertained, but he pulled back during the last second.
Unlike the cliffs walling the Ghostwood forest, this cliff was impossible for him to traverse on foot. He couldn’t even perform a suicidal leap downward—the invisible wall made any further attempts at going down impossible.
[You reached the end of the zone. To travel further, the zone must be opened.]
And what’s below… must be the desolate wastes… At this point, he was clueless about how to open the next area, let alone how to traverse his way down. Ideally, he’d team up with the others when that time arrived, and Hubert’s men shouldn’t be an issue anymore by then. From the manner in which the voice spoke, it seemed like he still had some time before this area opened up, but the details escaped him.
More questions popped as Theron pulled back, I can’t answer all of them right now. He sighed and turned his gaze to the right. This path leads to where the treasure map points me too. So… to the left, it is.
Berys’ hulking steps shook as they entered a pond wreathed by trees and shrubbery. Theron smiled when he came upon its silhouette—a gigantic treant thrice his height lumbering about on an incline of land protruding from the pond’s center, with treants acting as trees peppering the place, acting lifeless with their hands posing as branches. None dared to move as he breached into their homes, fully prepared to reap what points and rewards awaited within.
A treant elite?
His bear’s carnage, supported by Lux’s ice projectiles, made short work of the lesser treants, leaving the giant tree in the middle unscathed. It groaned as it lifted its arms to retaliate, shooting whips that snapped the air as they collided with Berys’ metal fist. The other bear swerved from the side, both activating their emboldened claws as Berys pushed through, braving the still water lapping its abdomen, eventually delivering its explosive attack paired with Theron’s other aspects. The initial strike toppled the giant tree, but the elite hadn’t lost its life just yet. It roused with a furious moan, its tone digging into his ears as the earth rumbled, followed by a growth of roots wrapping the legs of those nearby. Disabled, both bears lost access to their mobility, unable to pursue the dying treant any further.
[You gained 80 experience points!.] x5
[Aspect: (Elite) Savage Metal fist Bear gains reduced experience: 40] x5
Not now! Theron pushed the messages aside, focusing fully on the ongoing battle.
What followed was a pommeling of two bulbous, rugged barks slamming against the bears’ fur-cladded figures, with Borys, in particular, receiving a distressful amount of damage, enough to alarm Theron and force a shield active out of him. Berys set itself free first as Borys went on the defensive, shielding its body with its metal claws. It dredged the waters and broached the land, brandishing its metallic, crushing fists, whose blows spelled the battle’s conclusion, aided by Lux’s horn pulses. Only silence and the snapping of barks echoed the treant’s lair. Theron breathed relieved when Borys’ licked off the wounds swelling its battered body.
[You gained 240 experience points!.] x1
[Rank 2: Ghostwood Treant[elite] learned. Progress: 50%]
[You leveled up! You gained +1 Might, +1 Speed, and +1 Toughness. +1 Free attribute point]
[You acquired: 3x R2 - Ghostwood Treant materia.]
[You reached level 10. You will not be able to receive further experience points until you evolve your class.]
[With the class stone in hand, all excess experience will be stored here.]
[You reached level 10! A new selection of passive achievements is now available.]
Passive achievements? Sounds cool…
[Select three from the following.]