Lua galloped through the ashen plains of the Dark Abyss. Her hooves pounded against the ground, sending up small clouds of dust and ash with every stride. Her swaying mane and tail were the only white things in miles. It was as if white was under ban here.
“You look… strangely annoying,” Lin said from atop the mare’s crown. The cat's eyes were fixed on Roth, unblinking and dilated with suspicion and hunger.
“Stop looking at me like that. You're creeping me out.”
Lin didn’t respond, staring at Roth as if he were a tempting meal or an amusing toy. Despite the unnerving attention, Roth maintained [Ratan Form]. The bonus he got from having more than a thousand points of dexterity was just too important to him right now.
Fast as Lightning (Stat Bonus)
Description: You’ve exerted every fiber of your being and squeezed every drop of potential from your body, allowing you to gain lightning-fast agility and speed. Time seems to stop around you.
Effects:
+300% movement speed;
+150% attack speed;
+10% cooldown reduction;
It’s impossible to get an F while crafting. The new minimum is D-;
Movement and attack speed boost skills have their cooldowns halved.
He needed the extra movement speed. He couldn't afford to change back to human form. Time was of the essence. He wanted to get out of this forsaken region as soon as possible. Mel was excited about their date, and he didn’t want to be late. He also had to return before the day was over to join Godsfried and Jack in abolishing slavery in Sapphira.
Roth told himself all these things, but Lin’s stare kept creeping him out. Although Lin looked poised to strike, Roth doubted he would harm him. He couldn’t be hungry. Today, Lin had eaten enough eel sashimi to feed an army. He’d slaughtered a gazillion abyssal eels on his way here. The ferryman had remarked to Roth that he had never experienced a crossing with so many eel attacks. Lin hadn’t minded. The kitten turned every single one of those eels into sashimi. He had gained so much darkness affinity that he even unlocked a new affinity bonus.
Entropic Wake (Stat Bonus)
Description: Darkness is the absence of light and energy. You can spread the might of the dark with each attack.
Effects: Passive. Whenever you attack, leave a stack of [Entropic Wake].
Each stack of [Entropic Wake] siphoned hp and ep out of the target. After seeing the characteristic black miasma hovering over the eels killed by Lin after he unlocked this stat bonus, Roth recognized the effect. He had seen plenty of it when Loki fought with the guilds. Whenever he attacked, he left that visual effect on his targets.
[Ratan Form] wasn’t the only source of his incredible speed. Even though it was daytime in the game, the Dark Abyss was perpetually shrouded in darkness. Thick clouds blocked out any light, leaving the land in constant twilight. Although that blocked [Speed of Light], Lua’s [Moonlight Gallop] skill was permanently activated in this region. She was the perfect horse for this mission.
The gems on her crown were starting to grow dim. He opened Lua’s pet window to find out how much fuel was left in her crown.
Lua, the Moonlight Princess
Lua (Pet)
Pet rating: C
Lvl. 42
Equipment:
Saddle: Sculpted Saddle | +30% movement speed
Head: Moongem Crown | +10 to all stats; [Moonlight Soaking]
Affection: 83/100
Endurance: 320
Strength: 241
Dexterity: 312
Restrictions: Lvl. 40.
Skills: [Ride]; [Moonlight Mount]; [Summon]
Ride (Pet Skill)
Description: This animal has been taught how to serve as transport and can help you get places.
Effects:
Passive. You can ride this pet, increasing your movement speed by 100% and weight-carrying capacity by 50kg.
Moonlight Gallop (Pet Skill)
Description: The moonlight herd exhibits its true strength and speed at night.
Effects:
Passive. If it’s dark, your pet can move 50% faster.
Summon (Pet Skill)
Description: Whenever you’re in a pinch, feel free to call for help; it will come to you.
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Effects:
Active. Call your pet, and it will appear.
Moonlight Soaking (Item Skill)
Effect: The crown of the Moonlight Monarchs can soak in the moonlight and accumulate energy that can be used to boost speed by 100%
Moonlight: 13/100
After completing the quest to reunite Lua with her herd, Lua’s potential was unlocked. He couldn’t believe she was an E- when he bought her. She turned out to be a C-grade pet. Moreover, the crown gifted to her by the Stallion of the Moonlight Herd brought her to a whole new level. The crown's ability to soak in moonlight and grant bursts of speed was invaluable.
There was only 13 moonlight left on the crown. Shrugging, he kept the crown’s skill on. He might as well use up the remaining energy. He wanted to put some distance between him and Pegasus. Besides, they needed to reach the Crow Emperor as quickly as possible.
“I wasn't expecting to run into Pegasus so soon. That was some bad luck.” Roth commented.
“Your good luck was that Her Royal Highness decided to take you under Her wing," Lua said between breaths. Lua’s use of the third person to talk about herself and how she could talk and gallop simultaneously never ceased to amaze him.
“Horses don’t have wings,” Lin immediately retorted.
“A figure of speech, you uncultured plebeian.”
Roth glanced over his shoulder, and he interjected before the two pets got into a quarrel again. “It’s OK if you need to slow down. No one is pursuing us, Your Royal Highness.”
“Humpf. What makes you believe so, Martyr? How can you be sure that they aren't pursuing Her Royal Highness? It seems to Her Royal Highness they are pursuing us, but Her Royal Highness has outrun them, leaving them in the dust.”
Roth grinned but said nothing. He could have argued that while Lua’s speed made her respectable, it was thanks to his high dexterity that she could even run this fast. He had learned the hard way that when talking to the princess of the Moonlight Herd, he should just smile and wave. The last thing he needed was for her to throw a tantrum and have a meltdown like last time.
“Let's just meet with the Crow Emperor and leave this place,” Roth muttered. Lua, who was usually so proud and haughty, and Lin, who was incorrigible, were silent when Roth mentioned the Crow Emperor. He had to be a formidable figure to command such respect from even the two most stubborn pets in AstroTerra.
Lua continued her gallop, the landscape blurring past them. Roth noticed a cloud of dust off to the right. Squinting, he saw a pack of bulls, their bodies twisted and grotesque, covered in patches of bulging flesh and drooping, sagging skin. Mushrooms grew from their hides, and they were headed toward them. Roth nudged Lua to the left to avoid the pack.
“What is it, Martyr?” Lua asked.
“Just some beasts from the Dark Abyss,” Roth said, trying to sound nonchalant. “We’re much faster; we’ll be able to avoid them.”
Lin finally looked away from Roth to get a look at the incoming beasts. “Bah. You can’t make sushi with beef. Pass.”
“Really, Lin? Is that what threw you off? That you don’t feel like having beef? Can’t you see how sick those animals look? There are even mushrooms growing off their hides!”
Lin shrugged, “That just means that they come with a side of veggies. But I don’t like veggies. Fish! Fish is what I want. When can we go back to the sea, human?”
Shaking his head, Roth directed Lua off the path of the herd. After Lua passed them, the cloud of dust seemed to turn direction to give chase. “It almost looks like they’re coming straight toward us,” Roth muttered.
Was it just his impression? What could they have possibly done to set them off? How could those animals have such a wide aggro zone?
Catching sight of a ridge, Roth made Lua veer left, taking her off the planes and into a crater. From how large it was, Roth wouldn’t be too surprised if this was one of the impact zones where one of the famed meteorites of the Rain of Fire had landed.
“I think we’re off the hook!” Roth said happily.
“Careful, Princess,” Lin warned.
Before Roth could ask what Lin meant, a burst of purple and orange dust exploded in front of them. Roth was unaffected, but Lua was hit by a debuff.
Lua has been attacked by the Abyssal Amari Mushrooms. Lua has been afflicted by [Dark Spores]
-20hp per second;
Skills require 20% more energy.
Lua has been afflicted by [Entropy Wake].
-1% hp per second.
-1% ep per second.
Roth glanced backward and saw a deflated balloon-like mushroom and what was left of a cloud of spores. It was almost as black as the ash around it, blending it against the environment. Lua still ran quickly, but her health was dropping steadily. The black miasma that came out of her nostrils only alarmed him further. Roth frantically searched his inventory for something to heal her. Off the corner of his eye, he spotted another mushroom cap. He dismissed the window and helped Lua turn.
“Careful, Lua!”
Lua followed Roth’s lead and barely escaped the mushroom. Lua wasn’t her usual chatty self. Her only focus was on running. Roth scanned the path ahead and saw several more caps. This place was a minefield. However, now that he knew they were harmful, he just had to avoid them. Judging that there weren’t any more mushrooms in their path, Roth relaxed and opened the inventory window again.
“Where is it? I know I bought something that cleanses poisons and debuffs.”
Puff!
Lua has been afflicted by [Dark Spores]
-30hp per second;
Skills require 30% more energy.
Lua has been afflicted by [Entropy Wake].
-2% hp per second.
-2% ep per second.
“H-how?” Roth gave up on trying to fish medicine from his inventory and held the reins. He could swear that there weren’t more mushrooms in their path. What had happened? He squinted and gasped. The mushrooms were moving! These mushrooms were even worse than landmines! They were trying to get in the way of Lua. Roth tried to help Lua as best he could, pulling the reins and guiding her to jump and dodge, but he couldn’t get her off all of them.
Lua has been afflicted by [Dark Spores]
-40hp per second;
Skills require 40% more energy.
Lua has been afflicted by [Entropy Wake].
-3% hp per second.
-3% ep per second.
Lua was visibly weakened, her breathing labored. By now, she wasn’t thinking anymore. She was just running, entrusting the piloting to Roth. Thankfully, Roth had plenty of experience riding. Steering his T-Rex through the battlefields in New Earth at the time of the Castle Wars had been much harder than this.
After a painstaking, thrilling ride, they finally climbed off the crater. The mushroom caps didn’t follow them. Roth unmounted, grabbed a vial of red medicine, and gave it to the princess. “Your Royal Highness, this should help you.”
The horse looked away as if she were a stubborn child. “Please, Lua!” Roth begged. Finally, the horse accepted and drank the liquid.
The [Flaming Carrot Potion] cleanses all poisons from Lua.
+1 affection.
“Such an aggressive region. Are you feeling better, Lua?”
In response, Lua kicked the ground a few times. She was ready to go. Roth remounted and looked back toward the herd of sick bulls. They were still chasing them. The herd had just entered the crater. He watched as they set off several clouds of spores. However, instead of slowing down, they actually became faster, as if the spores were buffing them.
Clicking his tongue, Roth scanned the horizon ahead. He could see well into the distance thanks to [Farsight] and his perception stat. To their right, one click away, three rabid, sickly, dog-like creatures were gaining ground. Even though there were only three of them, judging from their speed, they were elites!
To their left, about two clicks away, a pack of bird-like creatures running on two legs was kicking up a cloud of dust. They looked like ostriches but had sharp teeth with hardly one feather covering their bodies. They looked like expired mutant chickens who’d broken free from their packages in the supermarket and were out to enact revenge.
It seemed every creature in the Dark Abyss was intent on their destruction. What was wrong with these beasts? Roth thought back to the unusual number of attacks by abyssal eels. Could it be that it was because of him? He had a light affinity, and this was a land of darkness. Did these creatures hate him for it? “First Pegasus, now this. Maybe coming here wasn’t such a great idea after all.”