Jazmel looked at the chaos shard and wondered what he would do with it. It stated that it could be a tier tribulation, but it also told that it could be used for something else. Jazmel wondered what he would use it for, but rather than wondering. He simply pulled it into his spatial ring with his other wares and then looked around, waiting to see if an entrance would appear.
Jazmel stood beside the crumpled spire and waited. The quarry rumbled and grumbled as it seemed to vibrate with energy. The corruption seemed to be, being expelled from all around and being pulled into one large array above Jazmel. He looked at it with wonder and to his amazement he realised, it was forming a gate. Above his head, he simply crouched down and then leapt up into it.
He passed through the gate and his world was turned upside down. He had been plunged into water, he swallowed some and he felt fear he was about to drown. But then Mana wrapped his entire body and he felt himself breathe freely. He then began to descend slowly to the bottom of a sea, or a lake. He couldn’t tell as all around him was filled with water and it was so dark that already his eyes was attuning to the Mana around him.
Water amassed all around him and he looked around, trying to figure out where his next steps were to go.
DING!
DESTROY THE CORRUPTION SPIRE!
FIND IT AND DESTROY IT BEFORE IT COMPLETES ITS EVOLUTION!
The system notice pinged into sight, and he was moving, running across the bottom of this body of water. He felt a slight restriction, he was slowed down by the gravity here at the bottom. But also the domineering tyrant body seemed to move against the current and the restriction. Pushing his body even harder, to ensure he moved as fast as he wanted to.
This spire was at the bottom of the lake, in a small alcove lowered into the ground. As he ran towards it, he saw fish and eels swimming around it, almost patrolling. He simply sighed and kept running towards the spire. The corruption gem growing quickly in the water.
He leapt off the side of an underwater cliff and when he hoped to land beside the spire. He was knocked off his trajectory by a monstrous eel that intercepted and rammed its body into him. Knocking him away, an eel was all muscle, and this enlarged one was stronger still.
DING!
CORRUPT TIER II DRACONIC EEL KILLED!
+2 STAT POINTS
He swung his blade, carving through the head of the eel, it died and the blood from the corpse appeared as a cloud. Fish and other eels rushed forward in a frenzy and began tearing at the body of the corpse. Jazmel moved from the feeding frenzy and delved towards the spire. When he landed on the ground, buried around the spire mounds of sand and dirt erupted. He was surrounded by crab like monsters, their pincers glinted like metal, and he parried an attack. Cutting through the wrist of the crab and taking its bladed pincer from the arm.
Lacerate!
He struck out and waving his blade like a wand, he slashed at the carapace and chitin of the crab monster. His blade slunk through the chitin, and he watched as organs wafted out from the carapace and floated around blood.
DING!
CORRUPT TIER II WARMONGER CRAB KILLED!
+1 STAT POINT
…
He carved through the others; they rushed him, and he simply floated through them. his sword almost singing as it leapt from crab to crab when he was done. He had gained another 11 stat points.
DING!
EXP ACCRUED!
+10 STAT POINTS
…
He turned to the spire and just as he raised his sword above his head to cut through the gem and the spire. It imploded.
DING!
DING!!
DANGER!
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YOU FAILED TO STOP THE CORRUPTION GEM FROM EVOLVING!
…
THE CORRUPTION HAS ADVANCED AND A CREATURE HAS COME TO COLLECT!
THE LEVIATHAN COMES!!
…
Jazmel watched as all the system notifications fluttered across his peripheral and he stuttered at the warnings.
Something was coming, he could already feel the shift in the Mana but also the water current had subtly changed too. Something of great size was moving through the water towards him. As a safety measure he slashed through the spire and gem and they shattered, splintering, and disappearing in the water.
A wail could be heard from afar but nearing quickly. It was a groan, a sound of pain and sorrow, it sounded like a cry of a human or a child. But then it sounded like many voices in one, it was unnerving, and it made Jazmel clench his teeth against the feeling.
The wail happened again, and he was covered by a shadow, a long shadow glided over him.
DING!
CORRUPT TIER III LEVIATHAN APPEARS!
…
Above him he is shimmering light as it caught the shine of scales moving quickly through the water. He cursed silently and simply gripped his sword and made sure he was ready. He caught a sight of the thing; it looked like the mix between a dragon and a large serpent. Scales shaped like diamonds coated its entire body, the scales looked hard and strong, but Jazmel would face it, nonetheless.
On one side the eyes of the leviathan looked down on him, they caught each other’s gaze and Jazmel noticed that the creature had three eyes within each socket. He looked at this with unease and simply flared his Mana, letting the leviathan know he was not scared.
The leviathan swam around him and wailed, crying a cry so sorrowful that Jazmel almost felt himself swayed.
LAMENT OF THE LEVIATHAN HAS BEEN LAUDED OVER YOU!
…
YOU HAVE WITHSTOOD ITS REACH!
+2 END
…
Jazmel shuddered but shook his head, looking for the leviathan which was swimming loose circles around him. Jazmel waited, watching to see when it would descend on him. It swam another lap before roaring and snapping his snout. It descended and opened its mouth, a snakelike tongue flickered behind sharp fangs and canines.
Sunder!
Jazmel carved his strongest skill through the water and the crescent slash of Mana burst towards the leviathan. It evaded, dodging nimbly in the water and surprising Jazmel. It crashed into the ground, reverberating all around and Jazmel was covered in sand as it burst from the ground all around them. he could see all, his Mana eyes always allowed him to see, he leapt forward in the cover of the sand and smashed the snout of the leviathan, the scales didn’t even so much as crack.
Cleave!
He struck the snout again, his blade cracking a slight few scales but doing no damage. Instead, he spun on his heel and cast out another skill. Aimed at the eyes of the creature.
Lacerate!
He slashed across the face and his blade cut the eyes. Wounding the leviathan as it slunk off, veering to the side and trying its best to escape his attack on its eyes.
But Jazmel couldn’t be shaken off so easily. He grabbed hold of a rent scale and clutched it with his free hand as the leviathan swam up from the alcove and tried to get away from him. He chipped away at the scales, aiming exclusively around the eye, and trying to get to the skin beneath the scales.
The leviathan then realised that he was holding on. Clutching at the scales near its eye lid. Jazmel caught sight of the one good eye it had left and rearing up, he stabbed into the eye socket. Causing the leviathan to screech in pain and anger. He had blinded all three eyes and now the leviathan tumbled towards the ground. Trying to shake him off and then roll atop him, in hopes of crushing him. Jazmel let go and using the momentum of the leviathan he was propelled up rather than down.
The leviathan landed on the ground of the alcove, shaking its body about and throwing up great clouds of sand and sea floor debris. It kept doing that until it was almost completely covered by the sand, but this meant nothing to Jazmel for he saw all things. Especially those with Mana and the leviathan had that in abundance.
DING!
THE LEVIATHAN IS ENRAGED!
ITS WOUNDS HAVE DRIVEN IT INTO A RAGE
A FRENZY!
DRACONIC FRENZY!!
WHILE IN A FRENZY, THE LEVIATHAN CANNOT BE HARMED!
Jazmel watched the leviathan appear from the clouds of sand, it was glimmering in the loose rays of light that reached down into the sea recesses. It had been emboldened by its frenzy and it looked around for Jazmel, but he was still high above it, slowly descending.
It snarled, trying to find him and he simply waited for it to notice him on his descent. It snapped its head up, rearing up and seeing him a lone figure in the sea. It pushed off from the seafloor and sailed through the water towards him.
Great rumbling dragon!
He swung out his skill, earlier than he might have done on land. But he was trying to adapt to the resistance in the water and he watched as the spectral dragon maw, took on a blue hue, maybe from all the ambient water Mana around them.
The leviathan did something Jazmel was surprised to see, rather than veer out of the way. It rushed forward in a challenge towards the spectral maw. Jazmel dodged to the left and stabbed his blade deep into the eye wound of draconic sea serpent again. It raged against him, shrieking at the pain he was inflicting on it. He jammed his sword in and preceded it drag it down the length of the body, scales and muscle were imbedded in the way. But Jazmel grit his teeth and using the power in his bones and stats. He wrenched his blade down and through the entirety of the body. The leviathan had stopped screaming some time ago and Jazmel found himself enshrouded in purple and red blood as it wafted around.
DING!
CORRUPT TIER III LEVIATHAN KILLED!
EXP GREATLY ACCRUED!
…
CORRUPTION FAILED!
…
CORRUPTION…
CORRUPTION STOPPED AND AVERTED!
…
…
LEVEL UP!
UNCORRUPT TIER III LEVIATHAN BEAST CORE GAINED!
…
+5 STR