The blue hue of the strange sun dulled slightly as Kal and Nyx dashed across the twisted terrain of what Kal was calling the second layer. Using Cloak of the Wrathful Spectre was a double-edged sword when it came to traveling. It kept both Nyx and Ander concealed but even being able to slowly siphon as he ran Kal had to stop eventually to rebuild his wrath.
If only that was how it worked all the time. In combat, it was a different story.
Traveling to the second anchor took far longer than expected and Kal began to worry about their odds of reaching the third location in time without knowing exactly where it was. He would have to interrogate another demon to find its exact whereabouts but at least he knew it was north of the tower.
The terrain grew more and more alien the further from their point of arrival they traveled. Huge jagged plates of dark metal covered the landscape and arching overhead were titanic limbs. Metallic arms larger than most villages reached into the sky, grasping at the blue star above.
The plane's shadow mana acted strangely around the titanic limbs, coalescing into huge dark clouds. Kal wondered whether the arms were attached to something but vehemently hoped they weren’t using Identify and Eyes of the Slayer showed him nothing but Kal knew well enough that the worlds conquered by the abyssal horizon weren’t devoid of their history.
While they ran Kal split his attention to the reconstruction of Wrath Incarnate. Like before he wouldn’t risk true soul forging but clearing the way for later work was worth the difficulty of doing it on the move. When he was done clearing the way he moved on to repairing or rebuilding his will tendrils. The will tendrils were simple enough that Kal could do it while basically fighting the wind so it was trivial on the run.
Nyx continued to impress Kal on the journey with her perception. She comfortably spotted distant demons, both bestial and humanoid far before Kal did. She only struggled to spot the ones shrouded in mana-based concealment. Kal’s killing sight along with Eyes of the Slayer made that almost too easy but Kal was still starting to wish he put more points into perception.
Ander slept most of the way, only waking for food a few times along the way. Kal simply cooked small portions and didn’t bother stopping. It was also during this time he realized that neither Nyx or Ander received a title for eating the meat.
When he asked them they both told him neither of them had received it but of course Nyx took the question as an opportunity, “You said you got a title from eating demon meat, did you get any other titles like that?”
Kal chuckled, he should have expected that, “Yeah a few.” Even with the cloak active Kal could feel her eyes on the back of his head, “How many should I have?”
“Well, I have an above-average amount of titles not including the Planeswalker title for coming here. I have the three usual slaying titles. Monster Slayer One, Two, and Three. Two more for contributing to killing stronger foes and finally one more for crafting an item of rare rarity. Two of them are even rare,” Nyx said proudly.
Kal couldn’t help but frown, surely that wasn’t better than average. Though he did wonder why he didn’t have the Monster Slayer titles but either way his list of titles was quite a bit longer than that.
Ascendant [Mythic]
Core Bane [Unique]
Core Smith [Epic]
Divine Deviant [Mythic]
Planeswalker [Epic]
Planar Appetite [Rare]
Slayer of the Strong [Rare]
Endurance Elite [Rare]
Strength Elite [Rare]
Will Paragon [Epic]
Demon Slayer [Rare]
Paragon of Man [Epic]
Planar Binding I [Uncommon]
Soul Seer [Epic]
True Slayer of Demonkind [Epic]
Thief of Ages [Mythic]
Fate Diviner [Mythic]
Exemplar of Defiance [Epic]
Disciple of Destruction [Mythic]
Seer of Dead Gods [Epic]
Resonance of Wrath [Epic]
Resonance of Freedom [Epic]
“So…?” Nyx probed
“I have a few more than that…” Kal didn’t want to rain on her parade but apparently, he had got more titles in a month or so than she had since she was eight. He hadn’t seen much of her physical abilities besides her agility and perception but she must have heavily focused her attributes on agility and perception to perform at the level she did without the help from titles.
Kal could tell she desperately wanted to push him for more but she stayed quiet and this time he wasn’t going to say otherwise. At least not until he made sure she got a couple more titles. Kal wasn’t sure why he had decided to improve her titles but felt it was the right thing to do.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
It quickly became obvious that they were drawing closer to the second anchor when the density of demons grew dramatically. Both patrols of shadow fiends and roaming beast-types increased significantly as they approached the base of one of the titanic limbs.
The structure holding the anchor was atop a large cliff but appeared small, nestled in the center of a field of jagged shards of both metal and stone. The limb plummeted the area into darkness, the blue sun completely eclipsed by its sheer size.
Nyx had no problem seeing in mundane darkness but the intense concentration of shadow mana accumulating around the limbs made it difficult for her. It wasn’t blinding but it drastically reduced the range of her perception. Kal could filter it out easily enough and he would have thought Nyx could as well.
“You can’t filter it out?” Kal asked.
Nyx’s wraith didn’t move but her words came to him through the stone, “No. I have a little training for shadow mana back home but I can’t even truly sense this mana. The only reason I can tell it's there is because of its density and obviously the fact that it’s blinding me.”
Kal guessed that made sense. It wasn’t true shadow mana it was just what he had decided to call it. A better name would be abyssal shadow mana since its base mana type was abyssal mana.
Without Nyx’s perception to rely on Kal was left to do the scouting now but it didn’t take long to confirm his suspicions. The anchor was fully enclosed inside the structure, there would be no easy shot at it this time and to make things worse there were far more demons here to contend with. They had clearly been reinforced.
Ranks up ranks of shadow fiends stood at the ready all around the structure and several patrols moved among the plain of shards. If Kal and the others hadn’t already been spotted they would be well before they made it to anchor.
“Well… It looks like this one won’t be as easy. We will have to get to the anchor in person,” Kal muttered.
“My bow won’t be much help in this mess in any case. What about the explosion?” Nyx asked.
She had a point. If he simply went up and shattered the anchor they would probably be incinerated like the last few hundred demons at the first anchor. Ander would be fine though. Kal had to admit getting the ring Deliver the Young was a weight off his shoulders. One minute of immunity wasn’t long but it made taking the risk more acceptable.
But was this risk acceptable, the chance of things going badly here was far higher than at the tower-
Warning: Quest Updated!
Behind Enemy Lines
An abyssal anchor has been destroyed and additional points for participation have been awarded.
Abyssal anchors established: 1 = > 2
Time until tear opening: 2 hours 17 minutes.
A flash of twisting purple light flashed through several openings on the structure and the sound of thousands of demons hissing in anticipation reached Kal even from this distance.
“Fuck…” Kal sighed and turned to Nyx, “Well it’s now or never. We have two hours…”
Nyx’s spectre didn’t move but Kal felt her assent, “I will follow your lead.”
Kal looked at Ander, “Ander this will be dangerous but whatever happens do not leave my side. If we need to run, one of us will carry you. Got it?”
Nyx handed him the message stone and Kal heard his quieter-than-usual voice, “Yes sir. I will be right behind you.”
Kal could feel the boy's fear and it wasn’t just the residual effects of his fear aura. His soul flared intermittently just looking at the kid so Kal turned away and tried to clamp down on his thoughts.
“Let’s go…”
----------------------------------------
As Kal expected it didn’t take long before they were spotted and a patrol was dispatched to meet them in the maze of metal and stone shards. Kal had topped up his wrath before entering and kept the hood of his Lesser Cloak of Shadows raised, he just hoped the insignia would be enough this time.
Like last time the demon that approached was a shadow fiend stand bearer.
[Shadow Fiend Standard Bearer | Abyssal Spawn 78]
Kal didn’t give the demon a chance to speak, “You will take me to the anchor. After the pathetic loss of the first anchor my master has ordered me to investigate this one,” Kal didn’t want to use Slayer’s Intent on the demon but it appeared he wouldn’t need to.
The stand bearer flinched and its shadows flickered as its eyeless gaze fell upon his insignia, “Of course Great One, of course.”
The rest of the demons behind him flickered in fear as well, the effect much greater than the last time he had dealt with them. Likely a combination of his increased attributes from his new titles alongside a valid reason to be intimidated. There was no doubt the demons took the loss of the anchor hard and would now be on edge regarding the safety of the remaining two.
Now escorted by the shadow fiend patrol they moved through the dark terrain toward the anchor. Kal could tell that Ander struggled with the increasingly concealed terrain, without ascended levels of perception he had little hope of penetrating the abyssal shadow mana at all. Kal could tell by the way the boy’s spectre kept pausing in larger openings when there was nothing else but Kal’s back or Nyx’s crimson glow to guide him. Luckily for all of them, the shadow fiends were almost more intimidated by Ander’s presence than Kal’s and whenever he stopped suddenly they froze.
Kal would have found it funny if he didn’t know Ander was struggling to maintain his composure. Then Kal got an idea, “Nyx hand Ander the stone for a moment I need to tell him something.”
Nyx obliged and the two spectres stepped closer together. Another handy effect of the skill was that it concealed all the items the affected people were wearing or holding so the exchange looked like nothing more than the two grazing each other.
“Ander. If you are afraid I can help you with that but it might feel strange. Do you want me to try it?” Kal asked.
“Y- No thank you… I can do it on my own,” Ander replied, not sounding convinced with himself but Kal felt a spark of pride for the kid. He was a brave one.
“Alright. You’re doing well.”
Winding their way through the rest of the maze they eventually reached the base of the cliff and the darkest point beneath the shadow of the titanic arm. Ranks of shadow fiends filled the limited space around a path that led to the black stone fort.
Behind Enemy Lines
An abyssal anchor has been destroyed and additional points for participation have been awarded.
Abyssal anchors established: 2
Time until tear opening: 1 hour 2 minutes.
Flying horrors soared overhead and pillars of green felflame crashed into the earth across the area signaling the arrival of felflame scions and conjurers as they made their way up the path. The demons they passed lowered their gaze at his presence and whole guards of demons parted before them, clearing their path all the way to the entrance of the fort.
Large black doors swung open revealing the twisted purple light of the anchor.
“That was too easy…”