Content warning: this chapter contains light scenes of adult content.

“Damn it!” Jerome cursed as Hedon disappeared from his view. If only he hadn’t used so much fire essence to hinder that colossus, Hedon would be dead by now.

He looked around to take in the sudden change in environment. There was a forest of trees down below, and the world essence was as concentrated as it was when he first entered Terra Praeta. Perhaps even more concentrated.

Jerome turned around in the air as he flapped his wings and what he saw made his jaw drop. Miles away from him was a huge mountain. The mountain was gigantic, covering the entire land and sky in his view. Jerome had never seen anything like it before. He felt like he could just reach out with his hand and touch it.

Looking up, he couldn’t see the peak of the mountain. It looked like a wall that rose up into the sky past the clouds and into space, covering half the world that came into his view!

“How could a mountain be so huge?!” he muttered out loud. So many things that should seemingly be impossible had been happening right before his eyes since he entered Terra Praeta.

Jerome decided to take a closer look at the mountain. He might be fortunate enough to find hidden caverns and treasures inside the mountain. With that, a passion for adventure was kindled in him and he flew toward the gigantic mountain, burning off the stench of the Children on him with a burst of flame.

When Jerome arrived at the mountain it was already quite late. There were many openings carved into the mountain walls, which should be caves or tunnels leading deep into the mountain. He wanted to find out what lived in those caves. He had counted five openings before reaching here.

Jerome flew up high into the air, higher than he had ever flown before. He landed not too far from the first cave on a rough outcropping on the mountain wall. The breathable air up here was thin and cold, but the wind essence was abundant, blowing against his skin aggressively.

Jerome extended his perception mildly to scan the interior. The cave was empty, but it was deeper than he had thought.

A tunnel then, he thought.

Jerome could only extend his perception two hundred feet in a specific direction or at least a hundred and eighty feet all around him. That was a great accomplishment for a young Sprout and this was all thanks to the Tower of Solon.

Anyone who heard this would be able to deduce that Jerome had had a fortunate encounter that made this possible because two-year-old Sprouts could averagely extend their mental energy, twenty feet around themselves or twenty-five feet in a specific direction and Jerome was just a year old as a sprout at best.

He carefully stepped into the cave and looked around. The cave was dark and humid with rough, dark brown walls. He could hear water dripping down somewhere ahead of him. He decided to move deeper into the cave. Jerome walked for at least three hundred steps before coming to an intersection. The atmosphere had also gotten warmer.

The intersection in front of him looked like it was carved rather than natural. One path led upwards, another led downwards into the earth, two led left and right, and the final one went straight ahead of him. All the tunnels were wide enough for four grown adults to move side-by-side, making it easy to move around even when flying. He would just not spread his wings too widely when he flew.

All the tunnels in the mountain must be connected to each other, and they must have been created by an extremely intelligent magical beast, he thought. Is that even possible, considering the size of the mountain? Maybe it belongs to a family of magical beasts.

Jerome turned around to leave, he didn’t have the confidence to defend himself against a Spirit Realm level or a Sage Realm level magical beast. As soon as he turned around, he knew it was too late to leave. He may as well never leave.

The light coming from the entrance behind him was gone, which probably meant the entrance was gone. Jerome quickly dove into the tunnel leading upwards. A very coquettish giggle reached his ears at that moment. Jerome was stunned. He suddenly had the urge to turn around and seek the one giggling at him. The young and agile member between his thighs suddenly hardened.

“Are you kidding me?!” he screamed.

He flapped his wings harder and shot upwards, ignoring the tunnel walls as his wings scraped at them creating sparks of light. The tunnel started to curve sideways as he fly upwards. Jerome extended his perception in front of him. He found that there was a network of tunnels up ahead, extending to heavens only knew where. It was best to just keep going forward. Hopefully, this tunnel led outside.

“Oh, your psychic energy is more powerful than that of the average Sprouts,” a very alluring voice reached his ears.

This voice did things to him that even Ash whom he liked, could not do.

“Stay away from me!” Jerome screamed.

This woman, whoever she was, was a disaster waiting to happen. This was the type of woman that wars were fought over. Jerome flapped his wings frantically. The way out of the mountain was quite a distance. The mountain itself was a very huge one.

When Jerome finally saw an opening ahead, he put on a burst of speed, pushing his core and thrusting fire essence beneath his boots. Just as he was about to fly out of the opening, a large boulder was used to close it up.

However, the creature—whatever it was—had underestimated Jerome. He burst out through the closed opening, shattering the boulder and scattering rock fragments and dust everywhere.

Jerome emerged from the dust, eyes blazing with fury. The creature was standing at the edge of the mountain.

It looked human, except for its eyes. Its irises were multiple shades of red, swirling around as they caught the light. It had very fair skin and long fiery red hair—unnaturally red hair. But it…she was so beautiful and looked to be no more than a teenager. Jerome was instantly captivated.

The creature stood still looking up at Jerome curiously. Half her ample bosom was put on display. She had on a red skimpy dress that exposed all her goods. She had no boots on, but her legs were as clean and pristine as the rest of her body—and very sexy.

Jerome’s blood was boiling as he flapped his wings hovering in the sky. He was covered from head to toe in metal armor, looking like a warrior from an epic tale. The creature kept looking at him, not knowing how he was able to keep his wings beating without expending any essence.

“What are you?” Jerome finally asked.

She smiled brightly and purred, “I…I’m the best night you’ll ever have,” her voice was slow and very feminine, yet clear and sweet, like chiming bells in a relaxing atmosphere. “The woman you’ll never forget even after you leave Terra Praeta.”

Any man who heard it would drop his guard faster than a sleeping cat.

Jerome’s head was woozy from her words as they elicited a hormonal response from him. This woman oozed sensuality like no one he had ever seen before. Even the Princess of Vorthe wasn’t as sensual as her.

The urge to pounce on her and ravage her right there was getting stronger and stronger in him. Jerome knew he had to leave but for some reason, he couldn't get himself to respond the way he needed to.

“Come now,” she said, “I can smell your arousal. I’ll give you a memorable time. You can leave afterward; I won’t stop you.”

Jerome bit his tongue hard and the pain helped to clear his head a little. He turned mid-air to flee but the creature wasn’t going to let him go, however. She screamed and a psychic wave crashed into his mind. Jerome fell from the sky like a sack of potatoes.

~~~

Selene looked around and all she could see was white. The air was cold and filled with ice essence as she breathed it in. Her core flared to life and started rotating as it gulped in the essence.

“Incredible, hahaha!” Ajax laughed from beside her. “I guess this was what mother meant when she said Terra Praeta moved, or was it us that moved?”

“Perhaps both,” Trudhorn said.

“Let’s touch down and find what we can,” Selene flew down to the ground.

“Do ye think he’d be okay?” Nia asked a moment later.

“He should be. Jerome is a lot stronger than we know,” Ajax said.

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“Hmmm,” someone else from the group said. “I see something.”

Every other member of the team turned to see what their teammate saw. It was quite far away but they could see a mountainous region ahead of them.

“We should check it out,” Bram said, already brimming with enthusiasm.

Trudhorn chuckled, “Well, we did come to Terra Praeta for the treasures, didn’t we?”

“Hopefully, this time we’d find real treasures,” Ajax said.

“We gained a lot from the Tower of Solon…I know I did,” Selene said.

“Yea, but I’m talking about real treasures,” Ajax responded as he rubbed his hands together smiling brightly.

Selene scoffed.

“Take care lest you find exactly what you’re looking for,” Trudhorn said. His teammates didn’t miss the meaning behind his words.

“Aye, perhaps ye’ll find a toad that can shoot ice from its butt,” Bram said, and a snowball came at him which he easily dodged but the moment he stepped out of the way, he was hit by a gigantic snowball causing him to curse out loud but the snowball buried him under, muffling his voice.

The team of Sprouts laughed some but they were surprised at Ajax’s prowess at wielding ice.

“You could never do half of that in the frozen earth before we got here,” Selene said with a big grin on her face. Her brother had grown quite powerful and it was cause to celebrate him.

Ajax smiled widely as well and laughed, “It’s nothing much,” he said and Selene punched him playfully on the arm.

“We’ll see,” she said.

He truly had gained much from the Tower of Solon. Bram picked himself up and threatened to return the favor as they all moved toward the mountain range in the distance ready for the adventure that awaited them.

~~~

Jerome could feel himself being dragged on a cold hard floor. He tried to clear the fog in his mind but pain assaulted his senses. His brain felt like it was melting and his head pounded continuously without letting up.

Jerome groaned.

“Oh you’re awake now,” an alluring voice spoke up and Jerome could barely remember encountering a teenage girl.

“It’s not a good thing to run away from a woman who shows interest in you. Weren’t you taught this?” the girl giggled coquettishly.

Jerome opened his eyes with great effort and was thankful it was dark all around. He could tell that he was back in the tunnels he just escaped not long ago. His left leg was being pulled by the being from before and his armor grated against the rough surface of the ground. He could feel that he was still in his metal armor, which brought him some comfort. He vaguely remembered her screaming and then…nothing.

“What did you do to me?” Jerome asked, his voice weak and strained.

He didn’t remember doing anything to strain his voice. The fog in his mind cleared little by little and soon he could think better without much pain or blanking out.

This creature must have assaulted my senses with that scream, he thought to himself.

Jerome felt his body lift up into the air and he was swung in a half circle before crashing into a chamber full of people. Before he could regain his balance, the creature blew a kiss at him and he passed out again.

~~~

Jerome awoke to a heavy sense of grogginess, his mind sluggish and slow. He took in his surroundings, observing the men and beasts around him, all of them radiating an intense sexual satisfaction that grated on his nerves.

His irritation mounted as he scanned the room, taking in the rock walls that enclosed him. The space was small, barely large enough for ten people, yet it was filled to the brim with twice that number of captives.

He pushed his way through the throng of people, shouldering his fellow prisoners aside as he approached the wall to his left. With a deep breath, he reached out with his essence, attempting to manipulate the earth essence and create an opening. But to his frustration, nothing happened, and the stone remained unyielding.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Jerome shouted.

None of the people in the cell turned his way. They were all caught up in their own world.

“Nothing’s going to work,” Someone said in a weak voice. The voice came from the back of the room.

Jerome looked in the direction of the voice. “Who said that?” he asked out loud.

“Give up kid. You can’t escape her clutches.”

Making his way to the back of the cell, he saw a sickly-looking man, just like every other person in here with him. He had no armor on, just underwear. Jerome only noticed now that most of the people around him were half-naked.

“What is she and how is her mental energy so strong?” he asked impatiently.

“What she is, is a succubus,” the man said weakly, causing Jerome to suck in a breath of air.

“She comes from an ancient race of beings we call The Forgotten. The succubi feed off of men’s sexual energy. They take your vitality to nourish themselves. You lose all rationality as a result. You see only her, want to please only her…”

“How is it you still think and talk rationally then?” Jerome asked.

“I have a personal treasure on me that helps clear my thoughts and bring back my rationale. But during the deed, I’m a vegetable, just as they are. But I don’t have much time left. The essence in here is too thin and I’ve lost a lot of vitality to her. I’ll be dead soon.”

“There must be a way out of this place…a way to counter her mental energy,” Jerome said frustrated.

“There’s no way. I’ve tried everything,” the man said weakly breathing fast and hard. The little bit of effort he used to communicate with Jerome seemed to have taken a lot out of him.

“She called it psychic energy…” Jerome muttered out loud.

“Just a different way of saying the same thing, I guess,” the man replied, his voice faint.

Jerome knew this. He just wanted to find out what the man knew. Hearing it from an ancient being instead of humans was just…weird. Jerome was now very curious about this succubus.

After a whole day of trying to punch the wall to smithers and failing, he sat down on the cold floor to rest. Since he had nothing to do, he had best absorb what little essence he could from the air or the earth.

He quickly started muttering his mantra under his breath while cycling.

“Mother Earth provides life…

“She provides vitality and protection…

“To wield the power of the earth is to be a protector…

“To become a shield…

“To stand in the way of the oppressor and shield the weak…”

~~~

Upon waking, Jerome was immediately struck by the dense, earth aura that permeated the air around him.

“Are you doing this?”

He heard the weak man’s voice. Jerome looked around, noticing scattered motes of gold and green lights flickering here and there in the air.

The man, whose voice was now stronger, looked a lot healthier than before. He smiled. That was far from the gloomy look he had on when Jerome first met him.

“Hmm,” Jerome responded, “but this isn’t enough to get us out of here.”

“I’m Drale of House Rurik,” the man said.

“The House of Arrays?” Jerome asked.

“Hmm. You?”

“Jerome.”

Drale waited for him to state his house, but he said nothing.

“What house?” Drale finally asked.

“No house. Just Jerome.”

Drale was surprised at that. He wanted to ask how Jerome made it into Terra Praeta, but Jerome looked like he wasn’t in the mood to answer any questions. Drale watched as Jerome’s lips moved as he cycled. He couldn’t hear what the kid was saying. Though he was curious, he didn’t ask.

He could sense that this kid was no ordinary Sprout. They all came to Terra Praeta in teams from their clans, but this kid was probably alone. He knew that no clan would invest too many resources in someone that’s not their blood.

They probably let him tag along because they didn’t meet the quota and had to fill in the spot.

Then they could have sold the spot, Drale thought. Wait, I’ve heard that name before!

“Are you the Jerome…the one from Pilgrims’ Keep?” he asked but Jerome was already meditating and did not bother to answer him.

Drale’s clan was fairly powerful in Vorthe. They were a high-class family which meant that only the Great Families were above them in status. This was a huge privilege as there were only four Great Families—five if you include the Royal Family. This meant that resources in Vorthe wouldn’t go through too many people before getting to them. Tier-two families have been able to acquire a lot of wealth and resources as a result.

Drale spread out his senses and observed as the kid stimulated the essence in the earth. He didn’t understand how the kid was doing it, but if anyone could break them out of here, it’ll sure be someone who had secret techniques only the Royal family could give out.

~~~

Jerome kept stimulating the earth aura and vitality in the cell to see if he could break through whatever barrier was keeping his powers limited. The earth aura intensified his senses to the point he could hear and see every minute detail of the cell in his mind’s eye.

All of a sudden, he exerted his will on the earth aura, causing it to surge outward and push against the cell walls. Golden light flooded the room, and the walls, which were covered in the same golden glow, groaned and creaked under the strain of his power.

Jerome laughed in exhilaration, but his joy was short-lived when he heard a familiar voice shout out in anger from a distance.

“Do you think you can escape?!” the succubus was incensed.

She began cursing out loud and her voice was getting closer, causing the hairs on the back of Jerome’s neck to rise. Jerome heard her footsteps quicken and he hastened the aura in the air, stimulating it some more to exert more force against the cell walls until cracks began to form on the walls.

Drale saw this and his eyes lit up in anticipation. He couldn’t help but rise to his feet, ready to dash out of the chamber when the walls come crashing down. He already owed the kid for bringing him back from the brink of death. If the kid could get him out of there, he’d hand over all his spoils from Terra Praeta to him, he pledged to himself.

Large chunks of rock rained down from the ceiling and walls. Jerome saw this and pushed even more. He still had a lot of essence to spare and he poured it all into his efforts. If he could just push a little bit more. A little bit more and the walls will come crumbling down.

Suddenly, a section of the wall on one side gave way, crumbling to the ground almost at once. Jerome was so excited he wanted to get to his feet but saw the succubus standing just behind the crumbled part of the wall.

Upon closer inspection, he found that the opening looked like an entrance. The succubus shot forward and caught Jerome by the back of the neck. The next thing he knew she kissed him fiercely. Jerome wanted to struggle but strength left his limbs, and he passed out.