As I stare at the cliff, I activate my obelisk. The integrated chip activates as enhancing my metabolism. As I close my eyes while gripping my fists, my hud activates. My pulse, blood pressure, and energy levels appear as bars on my left side. A set of tabs pop on my right, and if I think of activating them, they open revealing visual indications of my current physical capacities.

My stats all increased namely my durability and strength. They doubled in value while my flexibility also increased, but my heart rate shocks me. 300 beats a minute. That is six times higher than my previous norm. My blood pressure also lowered by leaps and bounds while my metabolism spikes at ten times faster than normal. Amazing.

The only solution I fathom for my sudden dramatic increase in strength is my contact with The Fog. The plague sweeps across the continent at a furious pace. As the air touches the skin of its victims, thousands of locusts spawn destroying the creature's epidermis.

The Fog then spawns beetles from the leaking blood that devour the rest of whats left of the victim. No one throughout the entire history of Tera has survived a brushing with The Fog. Except me, though just barely. 

After the fog passes, all organic matter besides insects transforms into these hordes of beetles and locust. I've faced them countless times as a biomancer. They fight without the might of their older brethren. An aged locust transforms into a cocoon that creates a shambling mutant with razor mandibles and freakish strength.

These are the enemies that dwell in the nightmares of veterans. I remember fighting with a unique variant that had a whip arm lined with paralyzing venom and an extra set of spike arms. It killed over five experienced biomancers before I charged my hardened arm through its core. 

The fog will no doubt have passed the area above, but I refuse sitting here forever avoiding the battle above. My family waits for me back in Bigel. They may be surprised when I bring back a siren, but just like my announcement for joining the military, they will accept the complication with grace. I hope so anyway.

With the excess capacity gained from The Fog, I expand the muscles in my arms and legs focusing on several formulas ensuring the stability of my adjustments. Power rushes through my fingers as I grow claws on my fingertips and toes before I squat downwards.

I crush my feet against the stone radiating a loud boom as I fly towards the caves roof. Rock breaks under my feet before I leave the ground, and the wind brushes my face. After a second of enhanced acceleration, I outstretch my arms and legs towards the roof before my claws peirce the stone.

Webs of cracks emanate from my talons as I grip into the stone with my fingers and toes.I jerk an arm out of the rock before slamming my fingers back into the melody of minerals. A crunch grates the air while my fingers grind through the substance like heated saber through putty. 

As I move using one limb at a time, I crevice I fell from earlier. I pull closer against the earthen wall before I drive all four of my limbs into the stone dashing me across the air. I slam into the wall outweighing my expectations, so I bounce of the wall before I scramble my arms trying to pierce my hands into the stone.

I fail. As I accelerate downwards, I angle my arms redirecting my body downwards. My skin pulls upwards with my stomach before I smash into the stone earth.

A deafening impact with the explosive power of thunder expands from my feet as I sink into the stone. A small crater forms around each of my feet as I absorb the force with a smooth crouch. I stand back up looking back towards the glowing pool where I spot a wide eyed Allure staring at me.

Only her bunched up hands and the top of her head remain out of the water, so I say, "Don't worry about me. I'm completely fine. This isn't my first rodeo."

I jerk my feet out of the spiky craters around my feet as I ponder my sudden fall. I hadn't planned on crashing into the roof, neither had I anticipated pushing my hands into the stone. Not even the best biomancers held such overwhelming power. 

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I stare at my hands noticing a slight change in the tint of my skin. My skin tone grayed substantially since my last checking -the same gray as The Fog. Dread spreads from my stomach before I swallow my unease. Whatever insane abomination I become, I should focus on what I can accomplish before I turn. Worrying about my future does nothing for the present regardless.

As I crouch, I readjust the power in limbs before I propel myself from the ground powering through gravity's pull. As a lessened acceleration drags my blood into my feet, I shove against the cliffside. I crawl up the stone shearing stone with each movement before I reach the crevice I smashed into earlier.

As I crawl through the entrance, I chip stone with my grip. The world no longer feels substantial. After enhancing my strength, everything breaks if I apply even the slightest amount of force. Even rocks bend under my grip like jello. The sensation unnerves me. What if I grabbed an ally with this power...or my little sister's daughter.

I shake the morbid thoughts from my head as I reach the crevice's entrance. A mountain of crushed stone meets my eye, but with this new strength, I smash through the stone by gyrating my fists into the stone. I push my feet against the floor beneath me as my hands explode against the rock with enough force to generate seismic shocks. 

At one point, I miss the rocks propelling me through the air with my momentum. The pull rips my body from the ground before I slam into the edge of the pile of stone. Numerous jagged splinters stab into my skin while my right arm breaks at the force. 

Tendrils of pain mince up my arm and back while a detonation of utter and excruciating  agony erupts from my upper left arm. As I roll across the stone, I gasp in a silent protest against my bodies signals. All of this strength, yet my bones still shatter at my strength. The realization barely registers as I flail on the ground engulfed in my torment.

The healing song of Allure eases my suffering enough for my mind to recollect itself. I grit my teeth after several minutes of groaning. I must heal this wound. I jerk my left arm into place roaring another round of anguish up my spine and into my skull. As I use my obelisk, my metabolism rapidly heals the arm, and after several minutes of silent squirming, the pain subsides.

Alright...I will take as much time doing this as I need to. I will not experience something like that again just so that I can finish a chore faster. What an awful experience. 

After several minutes I shout, "I'm fine now. Thank you for the song. It really helped."

A high pitched yelp meets my declaration, so I slap my cheeks before I move boulders one at a time with a now slow, methodical transport. After several hours of the tedium, I wipe sweat from my face. That's enough for today.

I jog down the chasm moving through several choke points while maneuvering past stalactites and stalagmites. As I reach the edge of the cliff, I roll my shoulders before I leap from the expanse. The same weightlessness brushes my frame as I outstretch my arms controlling my descent. 

The grounds details expand in my vision before I land against the stone. The stone transforms before my eyes as the rock chips upwards towards the sky lodging my feet into the stone once more. I rend my feet from the earth walking back to the edge of the pool where I grab a jellyfish from the shore.

I pace up to a hiding Allure as she gazes at my exposed arms and back. The cloth hangs from me in tatters, so I rip my shirt off before I lay on my side with an ear in the water.

Allure murmurs, "I didn't realize moving rocks was so...perilous."

I roll my eyes as I say, "I didn't either."