“Do you have any runestones for a fireball or something fire related?” Aldrin asked as he and Evie trudged through the purple cattails plain.
“I might have one?” She answered as she rummaged through her pouch that rested on her hip as they walked along. “I haven’t been able to carve out my more powerful runes but I should have a low level one,” she replied.
“Do you think you could burn the plains?” Aldrin asked absentmindedly.
Evie whipped her head at him, looking aghast at such a thought, “You would have me burn all of this?”
Aldrin vehemently shook his head. “No, not right now, at least! Once we find them and if-” Aldrin stopped, smacking his forehead with his palm. “Sometimes I am an idiot!”
Evie wanted to ask but stopped herself once she saw him close his eyes. He scrunched his face in concentration. He focused on the strings that guided him towards Jared and Pierre. In his imagination, the string turned into multiple strands that braided together, creating a spectral blue rope that connected to his undead heart. The spectral rope tugged, pulling him toward at least one of them.
Opening them, his green eyes glowed, allowing him to see the faint outline of the spectral rope amidst the open purple fields. “They are that way,” he pointed, beginning to walk in the direction.
Evie followed closely behind him as they trudged through the fields, keeping an ear out for any movement. They chalked it up to the pollen that kept trying to poison and hypnotize them, had also worked on the wildlife. It was a little way until Aldrin picked up a faint unnatural growl. Evie saw Aldrin tense, “What is it?” she asked, sidling up next to him as he surveyed the plain.
Aldrin furrowed his brows. “I’m hearing something, but I don’t think it's an animal or anything… more like-” He stopped as he came upon the sleeping form of Jared. “Snoring,” Aldrin said, relaxing with a small smile as they both looked down at Jared.
Evie crouched down to see if there were any other side effects that weren’t visible. “At least he’s ok,” she said. “The poison isn’t too bad for now,” she said while inspecting him.
“Now to find Pierre,” Aldrin answered, turning in a circle to see where the spectral rope would pull him next. It tugged a little further away, but he estimated it to still be in the fields. “Get him out and stay with him. I am going to go find Pierre.” Aldrin said, then shifted into a swarm of bats, heading off toward Pierre before Evie could even say anything.
He flew at a decent speed, shortening the distance by minutes. He thought about how the two had managed to be separated so far from one another, as that was unlike them. Unfortunately, he soon found out why when he saw Pierre being dragged along by plant-people. Swiftly, dropping from the sky and reforming, he landed a suitable distance away in order to get a better look at them.
Name: Fairymoss Golem
Level: 25
Lore: Crafted and conjured by a Chloro-Magus
Name: Fairymoss Golem
Level: 25
Lore: Crafted and conjured by a Chloro-Magus
Name: Rogue’s Twig Golem
Level: 26
Lore: Crafted and conjured by a Chloro-Magus
The two Fairymoss Golems stood upward with the structure of a normal human coming in around at five feet standing on thick layered root-like legs. It had a large blooming flower as a head, with the petals being purple with pink spots dotted on them. What it lacked in height it made up for in width, as it was rotund, like a barrel made of the same roots as its legs that were earthly brown. The Rogue’s Twig Golem, however, was the opposite. It was light brown, almost dusty or ashy looking. It had spindly twisting shapes that ended its limbs in points. While its head formed a conical shape, pointed like a drill.
What made Aldrin tense up was that immediately after landing, they oriented their bodies toward him. Giving up entirely on stealth under the assumption they had some kind of extrasensory sense, much like his own sphere of awareness, he ambled up to them. Drawing out Sin-Screamer from his inventory, he got into a stance, preparing to swing first. The Golems tilted their heads in response as they made no move towards Aldrin. Stepping closer, they still didn’t move to attack. Once he was close enough, Aldrin swung his blade with Cleaving Strike, shattering the Fairymoss Golems and nearly the Rogue’s Twig.
Congratulations!
You have defeated: x2 Level 25 Fairymoss Golem
EXP gained!
Loot Gained: x8 Fairymoss, x1 Fairymoss Nectur
The Rogue’s Twig Golem still did not react to the hit, but violently reacted to the deaths of its companions. It swung its spiral arms blindly to Aldrin’s astonishment. Realization then dawned on him when he assumed the Golems could not see him. Using the newfound advantage, he quickly finished the Rogue’s Twig Golem.
Congratulations!
You have defeated: x1 Level 26 Rogue’s Twig Golem
EXP gained!
Loot Gained: x2 Rogue’s Twig Cap
After reading through the messages, he checked on Pierre, then slung him over his shoulder with ease. Now more alert and aware that plant golems roamed about and could easily camouflage in the plains, he remained vigilant. In doing so, the dreaded thought of walking back versus pseudo-flying back to Evie and Jared gave Aldrin inspiration. Setting Pierre down so he could practice, he attempted to shift part of his body and solidify his shape when he was using his fog form, much like he did back in Lor-Vold. During that instance, it was out of pure instinct, but now to will himself to do it was something else entirely. Knowing that Skills could be functional in a variety of ways if you just had the imagination and innovation.
He failed his first attempt as only a part of his leg shifted, throwing him off balance before quickly catching himself. The second attempt wasn’t any better than the first, as he only shifted the other leg. “Ok, I can at least get one leg each. Now I just gotta combine them together!” He told himself.
The third and fourth attempts were much the same as he caught onto the feeling of only shifting part of himself. The fifth try was progress, because he could shift both legs below the knee. It was a jarring feeling of simultaneously having legs, but not. On the other hand, it was more of a hover sensation, but it also felt like he could still walk if he wanted. He moved around a bit, trying to get the hang of it, then attempted to fly upwards. Much like how he could control how fast he could go when his whole body was a swarm, he figured he could do the same with only a part of his body being shifted.
He zipped around above, pivoting, turning, and doing tricks. The last part almost caused him to lose his grip on the power as he tried to do too many things at once. It gave him a brief headache to split his mind into thinking of two different things, but it didn’t last long as his mind quickly adapted. To him, it felt like something unlocked in his brain that made it easier to think about more than one train of thought at once. With the newfound ease of splitting his mind and a new avenue of thought opening up, he wondered if he could combine more Skills to use simultaneously and if it turned out to be true, then it would just make being a Vampire all the more of a cheat.
He decided to finish with his experimentation and feeling confident enough to undertake carrying Pierre back. He carefully scooped him up to throw him over his shoulder, then with a thought, he shifted the lower half of his body into his wispy black fog and took off.
Deciding to rename the spectral rope to servant strands because of how they tied to where Jared and Evie were, he followed it, relying on the tugging sensations once he focused on it. Aldrin found them on the outskirts of the field where they entered. Evie had Jared’s head propped up on a rolled up bedroll as he snoozed away. Evie had caught sight of him, waved him down, and watched him land with a smile blooming on her face. “Look at you learning something new again!” She praised him, earning an embarrassed chuckle in response.
Aldrin gently set Pierre down next to Jared, then turned to look at Evie, “There are plant golems in the fields further in. They were dragging Pierre somewhere.” He told her.
Evie turned to look at the field. “Probably back to their creator. What levels?” she asked, looking back at him.
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“25 and 26,” he answered, stepping next to her.
She shrugged her shoulders, “Not bad. Easy experience. The only problem is that you and I are immune. Me for my high level and you for how you are. Those two,” she jerked her thumb at the sleeping forms of Jared and Pierre, “Are not so lucky to have the immunities we have.”
Aldrin thought for a moment, “Well Pierre is an Alchemist by profession-” he started before Evie cut him off grabbing him by the shoulders to face her.
“He’s an Alchemist?!” she fervently asked.
Unnerved, he answered her slowly, “Yeah? We didn’t tell you?”
Her face flushed red before she took a breath. “No, you did not! Or at least I don’t think you did!” she shook him then threw her hands up in the air. She crouched down closer to the purple cat tailed plants. She ran her finger up the stalk, allowing the pollen to dye her fingers a lavender color.
“Pierre could make a potion that will cancel the effects of this field.” She answered, rubbing her pointer and thumb together. “With enough pollen, he should be able to synthesize and refine it.”
“Were you going to be one, too?” Aldrin asked, curious about her sudden knowledge.
She stiffened at his question. “No, Stalx was one,” she answered gently. When Aldrin didn’t answer, she looked at him and saw pity and understanding.
He held her gaze for a moment, then dropped it. “I miss my old team too,” he said, eyes downcast.
She huffed, shaking herself from the feelings that threatened to spill forth. “We wait. I’ll get a fire going and finish restocking my runestones.” Then trudged off into the jungle in search of wood.
Aldrin didn’t give a reply and sat. He needed to feed again and soon the burning hunger made its rumbling approach from the liberal use of his powers earlier. He looked at Jared and Pierre, “I wonder how long you two will be out,” he spoke to their sleeping forms, after making sure there were no adverse effects from being in the field he closed his eyes, and turned inward to himself.
He breathed in once, catching the familiar, home-y scent of his three companions. He breathed in again, this time ignoring the familiarity, and breathed in the jungle air. Aldrin didn’t exactly know what an actual jungle would smell like, but he assumed it would be earthy and thick with humidity, which included the stench of wildlife. However, the scent of the Dungeon jungle was slightly off. It was wrong in a sense, like the air was stagnant but still fresh enough to fool the average person, almost like it was frozen in time. Granted, there were rumors of Dungeons actually being trapped places of time from Grenora’s distant past. A rumor that had yet to be proven true, as Dungeon Studies often contradicted one another on numerous accounts.
Still, Aldrin enjoyed it enough that he didn’t wrinkle his nose as the wrongness. Instead, he searched for any tantalizing scents that would mark food for him. He inhaled again, for the third time, ignoring all else except for scents of food. His eyes shot open when barbeque tickled his nose. It was brief, but it was there and it inflamed his hunger to a new degree as memories of his family barbecues resurfaced.
His fangs and claws grew as he sniffed again. The scent beckoned him forth, sending a pleasurable buzz down his spine, making him involuntarily shudder. Thoughts of gorging himself invaded any sense he had as the need to consume grew. A startled gasp broke him out of the trance. Irritation and annoyance at being interrupted had left an empty hole by the pleasure of what he smelled and the memories that came with it. He whipped his head to the gasp, finding Evie standing there, quickly collecting herself.
She smiled gently, and nervously as Aldrin focused on her heartbeat she tried to control. “Sometimes I forget how-”
“Monstrous, I look?” Aldrin growled, smoothly getting up and tilting his head.
She let out a nervous scoff, looking anywhere but into the eyes of the predator before her that glowed a dim green. “No, I was going to say what lurks beneath the mask.”
That statement caused him to pause, “I suppose it is fair to call it a mask.” He said, his features returning to normal.
“Are you still learning control?” she asked, setting the firewood down, finally looking at him again, careful not to take her eyes off of him.
Little by little, clarity was returning to Aldrin as his fangs and claws receded. “It comes and goes. Sometimes I feel like I have it under control and then other times, as you just saw, feels like I don’t.”
She pursed her lips together. “What caused it?” she asked.
Aldrin took a moment to think about what caused his minor lapse in control. “It was hunger and memories of my family. The blood of things smells like familiar food I used to eat and it tastes like it, too. This time it was barbeque,” He laughed.
Evie laughed too as the tension was released. “That’s fair. I would kill for some good yetihana,” she dreamily said.
“Some yeti what?” Aldrin asked, coming closer.
She smiled at him, “Yetihana, its an old ancestral dish from my tribe made up of three different meats blended together depending on your choice, some chopped peppers and veggies that you mix in with the meat then you make patties on them and slap them over a metal plate heated by bottled dragonfire. Sometimes people prefer to make a steak out of it or kabobs.”
Aldrin groaned in frustration, “I wish I could try that,” he bemoaned, remembering how meat tasted.
“You might not taste it, but perhaps smelling it will appease you?” She asked, curiously.
Aldrin shrugged, “I don’t know. We could try it one day,” he said with hope.
“Just another reason to visit my tribe, then.” She said casually while smiling. She went through one of her pouches, producing a reddish orange glowing stone. Placing it atop of the firewood, she wiggled her fingers, and whispered a word of power, igniting the stone.
Evie looked at Aldrin triumphantly, beaming with pride. “Fire is done,” she said matter-of-factly.
Aldrin nodded, “I’m going to go hunt now. I will be back as soon as I can,” He said, getting up, preparing to shift.
“If I hear screams, I am not coming to investigate,” Evie said nonchalantly, pulling the rations Pierre gave her earlier from inside her inventory.
Aldrin laughed, “Duly noted then.” He shifted into bats and flew upwards, doing two circles above the group, sniffing the air through his many noses. Quickly pinpointing the source of the barbeque scent, he took off. Leaving Evie to guard their sleeping teammates.
As Aldrin raced through the evening air, he wondered what kind of thing gave off barbeque since it wasn’t any known Race he has encountered yet nor has it been any animal, including the six-legged lemurs he feasted on earlier. The scent took him back towards the village with the golem makers, then further past it towards a distant mountain range. He had hoped that it wasn’t where he needed to go as that probably would take a few hours at best and he would be better off finding more of those lemurs closer to his group.
Suffice to say, the Dungeon wasn’t without its denizens as Aldrin flew by. He heard the animals and monsters roaming down below. Hunting and rustling through the dense brush, or getting ready to turn in. Luckily, none of them paid him any mind unless his gaze had zeroed in on them. Then that was when they bolted off to safety. His gaze only seemed to incense the predators as they took it as a threat. Those that dared balk back earned his ire, causing him to turn his full gaze upon them. It shut up the ones that did as they realized death was imminent if they caused any more trouble. Deciding to make a game out of it to entertain himself, he practiced with his two Title Perks.
Traveler of an Archdemon’s Domain:
You carry the mark of a person who has been to hell and back.
Reward: Intimidation and dread waft off you, subtly helping you in social situations
Indomitable: Vampires have proved themselves to be hard to kill, but you have proven to be unconquerable for slaying multiple enemies both above your level and your Class Tier.
Effect: Those that are stronger than you feel the effects of your indomitable spirit and are more wary of engaging in combat with you.
He kept practicing with both until he was granted a new message, one that was an unseen but welcome one,
Ability Gained!
Vampiric Aura(Passive): Through their Vampiric Aura, vampires can emanate their presence to charm, manipulate, or instill fear in others. As you practice, you will discover how to control and enhance your aura, which will become even more powerful as you rise through the ranks of vampirism.
Mentally, Aldrin couldn’t help but let a sly grin form as he thought of the uses of Vampiric Aura and Charming Gaze combined. It scared him briefly at the level of control he could attain but also excited him as he looked forward to trying it out one day. Shortly after the prompt, he arrived at the clearing that held the barbeque. What emitted it wasn’t something Aldrin would have even thought of and gave more credence to Dungeons being frozen places of the past.
Name: Black Unicorn
Level: 20
Lore: Considered the “evil” twins of regular unicorns, Black Unicorns use their horns to pierce the hearts of their prey, skewering the delicacy as an offering to their mates. The bigger the heart, the bigger the reception.
The Black Unicorn spotted Aldrin. He felt a pressure brush against his mind, then again moments later. Confused, Aldrin fluttered down, reforming in the treeline. The pressure came again with a little more force to it as the Black Unicorn continued to stare at Aldrin. Focusing on it, Aldrin felt another mental slot click into place.
“Greetings Dead Heart,” a voice that was smooth and elegant said in Aldrin’s mind.
Startled, “You are a creature of night too, then?” Aldrin asked.
A deep chuckle came first. “As are all Unicorns, black or not. Now Dead Heart, how shall I address thee?”
Aldrin stepped into the clearing, a few feet away from the beast. “Aldrin, Progenitor of Vampires,” he said, dipping his head slightly with his hands clasped behind his back.
The Black Unicorn reared its head back. “A progenitor? Here?” it asked in shock.
Aldrin nodded.
“I am Regalas, last heir and Lord of the Bleak Herd.” It lowered its head in a slight bow. “I humbly request that you do not consume me, but rather aid me in an endeavor?” He said, returning to his full height. Its blackened spiral horn, coming into view as it made its appearance known amongst the backdrop of trees.