The monstrosity that was the queen Savar serpent was a behemoth of shimmering jade interlapping scales, a large coiled body that wrapped around itself and an absolutely large head with a fiery green crown floating above it which Moyo thought was overkill. It appeared as a glowing crown of toxic green aura in his aether sight, he wasn’t sure he was willing to test his regenerative abilities against the copious and potent amount of venom the queen Savar was holding.
Ashira lay very close to him as she spoke,
“Well, what do we have here, it’s a snake, a big big snake” she said as she sniggered silently,
“You really need to work on your jokes” he replied as she gasped,
“are you saying the most exalted and important member of house Kairos is boring?, men fight for a glance from me” she protested silently,
“Goodluck getting a glance from me if it isn’t related to food, pancakes in particular” he snorted,
He was faintly aware they were automatically shifting their thoughts from the apparently insurmountable odds they face, a coping mechanism of some sort. And he was fine with it, as long as he had known about ascension, he’d been fighting insurmountable odds, and while he wasn’t one to balk at a fight, he was sure his body and mind were reaching a breaking point. Silence reigned between the both of them as he took a deep breathe,
“we’re in trouble aren’t we” Ashira asked silently, her warm body pressed beside his,
“Well, my fellow ascender, it depends on what you mean” he replied,
He could feel her staring at him,
“That right there is what I’m guessing the main Savar serpent, we kill it somehow, we both get an absurd amount of aether and essence” he started, raising one finger as she prepared to protest,
“However, you and I know we’re depending on an absurd amount of luck here, so we clearly need to get some prep time before attempting this suicide mission even master Ajax, bless his maniacal soul, would even attempt “he finished,
“Prep time?’ she asked confused,
“Ah, I wish there was time to introduce you to power scaling, but alas my friend, we have little time left” he said,
“Prep time is sort of like a period of preparation before a fight, when you know exactly what you’re facing” he explained,
She nodded vigorously,
“So, we prep for the queen how?” she asked,
Moyo shot her a wide grin,
“I have no bloody idea, I was just on a roll” he said as she shook her head before turning back to stare at the sleeping serpent that was coiled up on itself,
A few moments later her head perked up as she spoke,
“Moyo, how many healing elixirs do we have?” she asked softly,
Moyo glanced at her,
“Quite a lot, if I remember you splurged all our delving funds on gold ranked healing and endurance elixirs after I expressly told you I- “he said pausing, the idea forming in his mind,
She nodded, then pointed back towards the exit of the cavern, together they retraced their steps back towards the exit, inch by inch till they came out of the cavern into the dusky skies of the island,
“Ashira, are you pondering what I’m pondering?” he said,
She scrunched her face up,
“Pondering?” she asked,
Moyo sighed,
“There goes the inside cartoon joke, never mind. I was asking if you were thinking the same thing I was” he said,
“You know, I’d really love to visit your world, seems like a fun place” she said,
“It was” he said darkly, Ashira nodded in understanding,
“Yes, you’re probably thinking the same thing I’m thinking, however, I’m the one doing the suicidal work this time” she said,
Moyo just stared at her to continue,
“it’s a half-formed plan, but we can work on it. I plan to choke myself full of gold ranked healing and endurance elixir and then catch the serpent by surprise, dropping overwhelming damage in a few minutes before it can gather its momentum” she said,
Moyo stroked his stubble beards, nodding,
“While that has a chance at working, I’m not sure it’ll get the job done, we need other factors” he said glancing around,
The aether and aura in the air dancing around him, he released a bit of intent into the air, watching it draw power from the aether around him. Killing the serpent was going to be a serious undertaking, something a team of gold rankers could accomplish easily. With a dedicated healer, a mage that dropped absolute pure destruction, a sniper from afar and a swordsman to take the fight to the serpent, he was sure they’d get the job done in no time.
However, he and Ashira had only themselves, and while he was a one-man tank at silver rank, he wasn’t sure his body could tank that much a damage from the snake consecutively, plus he had been lucky simply losing his sight and gaining something in return, next time could be death. Running his hand through his hair, he continued his internal dialogue, what they needed was something fatal, a straight one touch kill, something that could and can pierce through the serpent or hold it down long enough for them to lay damage on it quickly.
He turned his gaze up to the sky in frustration when his mind began piecing together a plan and he smiled, turning to Ashira who he was sure was staring at him dubiously,
“What infernal plan have you made up this time?” she asked with a sigh,
“Hear me out” he said,
And then he explained his plan to her, by the end she was staring at him in silence,
“You poor child, who broke you this badly?” she said,
“Hardy ha ha” he replied,
“I’m serious, how did you even come up with such a plan?” He shrugged,
“a bit weird, but it could work” he said,
“could?, you want to bet our lives on a very irritating plan and your best prediction is could?’ she said with a little laugh,
Moyo grinned,
“I’ll have you know my plans always have a high percent rate of working” he said,
“Because your plans are always running straight at the enemy” she said with a deadpanned voice
“doesn’t deny the fact that they do work” he countered,
Ashira shook her head,
“Fine, fine, let’s say it does work, then what?” she asked,
“Then you can go crazy woman on it all you like” he replied,
“Let’s get to work then” she said,
It took them over an hour, by then the light in the dungeon dimmed as evening set in. finally done with their preparations, Moyo rubbed his body with the blood of the slain level 500 serpent they had gone to find, Ashira giving him a wide berth,
“You reek” she said while holding her nose,
“This is what I get for being the courageous one” he grumbled,
“Whatever lets you sleep at night” she replied,
In all honesty the plan was a strange one, and while Moyo had very little doubt it wouldn’t work, it was still a risky one. With a deep breathe he spoke,
“Wish me luck” he said, Ashira made a shooing gesture with her hand, her aura blazing to gold around her as her mantle locked in place, her golden feline form activated,
Moyo snorted and crawled back into the cavern a bit, then steeled his gaze, this was it. With pinpoint precision, he sent his aura spearing down into the cave, towards the large cavern a few feet below. An answering hiss responded as the floor shook. He hastily crawled out and stood at the entrance,
“it’s coming!” he shouted,
Dominion in hand, mantle blazing and realm snapped tightly around his body, he kept his aura up even as the floor rumbled with the incoming rage of the Savar serpent. Moyo had no idea why aura irritated dungeon creatures that way, but it had come in handful a lot of times and he wasn’t about to start protesting now. The first thing he saw were the gleaming fangs of the serpent that shot out to snatch him,
“Ashira!” he shouted as he blasted off his position, just in time to avoid the fang of the absolutely humongous serpent and the felled tree that had been sharpened to a point stabbing into the mouth of the serpent. It had been risky, it had been fool hardy, but watching the serpent choke on the large tree they had uprooted and sharpened while green fluid poured out of its jaws was satisfying. Then Ashira landed on the serpent with all the rage of a gold ranked ascender, her golden gauntlet claw gripping its skull as she began laying damage after damage on the beast without stop, her body blazing with the infusion of the gold ranked endurance elixirs.
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As the serpent struggled to remove itself from the choking pike, Moyo appeared close to its eyes and stabbed dominion into the soft spot, releasing wave after wave of intent into it. It trashed harder, the other hidden part of its body wreaking havoc deep inside the cavern. Still Moyo didn’t let go, knowing fully well that should it manage to free itself from the torture they had placed it under, they were dead. It was to his horror he saw the Injuries they had inflicted on the serpent heal before their very eyes, Moyo without thinking twice roared as he tore dominion out of its eye.
With the serpent still reeling from the pain and a confused Ashira who couldn’t afford to stop sending waves of golden intent crashing into the skull of the serpent, Moyo gathered intent and Ashe, wreaking a tree close by before layering it with punches to get it to crack. With a shove of his titans might, he brought the tree crashing down on the serpent, Ashira jumping away,
“What was that for?” she shouted as he gripped dominion and brought it down on its other visible eye,
“its healing!, the serpent is healing” he shouted,
Ashira cursed, her mantle transforming into its thick brown leather form,
“something’s replenishing its vitality, the eggs!” she said as it apparently dawned on her,
Without giving Moyo a say, she dashed through the narrow cavern with the body of the snake still trashing inside. Moyo couldn’t afford to let the terror of such a move distract him, intent, Ashe, dominion’s gravitational ability and his realm all worked together to keep delivering injuries fatal enough to wipe out an army of silver rankers. Just as he was about thinking something horrible had happened to Ashira, she burst out of the cave, covered in dirt and mud and in her arms the broken shells of the eggs the serpent had been sleeping on.
Moyo felt the serpent vibrate in pain racking terror, its body slowly corroding away,
“Run!” he shouted and activated his step of Ogun in time to escape the massive explosion that wreaked the island, appearing in the air to see a toxic wave of green energy corrode the trees and even a number of Savar serpents, apparently, they weren’t immune to the toxin of their queen.
Ashira floated at his side,
“Why aren’t we getting essence?” she asked,
Moyo frowned attempting to talk when a giant gaseous form of the serpent queen shot out and grabbed him with its fangs, the sharp fangs biting into his mantle with a crunch. Moyo wasn’t aware he was screaming in pure agony as his skin blistered away, his realm snapping over the serpent as he pummeled at it even in a state of half death. Tears pouring down his blind eyes, his subconscious could feel Ashira pounding at the skull with her claws, fighting desperately to release him from the jaws of the serpent that poured toxin into him.
Then the air stilled within his realm, his vault of the titan opening up as he passed out, the distinct thought passing through his mind that he hadn’t summoned it.
******************
Ashira had nearly lost it at the bizarre transformation of the Savar queen serpent, it had completely caught them unaware. Again, she wondered why the creature had completely ignored her, like it didn’t consider her a threat, putting her silver ranker friend in jeopardy. The body of silver rankers could weather a lot of damage, the body of the titan could even weather triple the damage a normal silver ranker could. When he eventually got to diamond, Ashira was sure only the blows of masters and rulers would be able to take down the titan.
However, he might not live to get to that rank the way he was going, even as she used her claws to pry open the jaws of the gaseous serpent, deep down she had begun to accept the fact that the poison overload might had killed him. She was determined to wreak the serpent, she’d go back to the halls of house Kairos on her knees, begging for pure destruction to be rained down on the planet of Duhiri. Tears falling down her eyes as the snake began to wobble under her onslaught, Ashira was prepared to bring out her medallion of house Kairos, an emergency construct given to her by Kairos himself in case of emergencies, her isolation be damned.
Then she felt and saw it, the silver vault doors that belonged to the titan blade swing open even as he passed out, his skin peeled off to leave raw flesh. Still wondering what was happening, she felt a pressure descend on them in the air, driving her to her knees as she gasped. Like the hand of a deity descended, the serpent was snatched by an invisible hand, leaving the body of Moyo freefalling through the air as she caught his bloody form. Still watching the trashing serpent, it was forcibly drawn through the doors of the vault before it banged shut and disappeared away.
Aether and essence crashed into her as her sight became blurry, managing to crash land on the sandy beach of the island, she absorbed the aether and essence, her three headed beast core absorbing it equally. When she finally settled from the high that had pushed her to 430, she turned to the body of Moyo that kept releasing toxic vapor, his skin sizzling. Pouring an elixir of healing down his burnt throat, forcing his mouth shut as his body convulsed, it took a while for her to realize she was sobbing.
Biting back the tears with a snarl, she couldn’t afford to be a child, not when he needed her the most, she was Ashira Kairos, blood of the primordials. Realizing she was about to commit something akin to a taboo in house Kairos, she produced her blade and prepared to drip her blood directly into his body. The blood of Kairos, like the blood of the dragons or Garuda was a very potent thing, even a drop being fought over, it was bestowed to those they chose. Her blood had a high toxin resistance, coupled with the toxin resistance he had gotten from the ordinary Savar serpents, he would be a walking antidote.
However, before she could cut herself, his body gave off a puff as another batch of toxin escaped his body and he coughed, spitting green phlegm and blood. Eyes wide, Ashira watched as his body began to heal itself at a stupendous rate, cuts and open sores knitting themselves visibly before her eyes. Soon enough his skin was unblemished, but the titan had not woken up, she could hear his steady heartbeat even as she felt his portion of aether and essence pour through him. With a weak laugh, she laid next to his body, her blade in one hand and her clawed gauntlet in another. Let some serpent try to sneak up on them, she needed something to vent her anger off anyways.
******************
Moyo blinked his blinded eyes open, watching the wave of aether flow through the air in silence, his mind catching up to the fact that he was awake. Notifications blared on his HUD as he brought them up,
Notice: you have killed queen Savar serpent 550
- Deific vault of the titan has absorbed primordial essence of a queen savar serpent, absorb essence or forge weapon?
Moyo felt his eyebrows go up, what in the archailects name was going on, what was that vault of his anyways. His mind quickly ran through the calculations, he could always get essence, but a new weapon seemingly customized?, yes thank you. He picked the forge option,
Notice: primordial essence of the queen Savar serpent has been forged into a katana, to complete the process, Ashe and a name most be bestowed on the weapon
Moyo winced as he gathered his Ashe and mentally spoke the name, feeling his Ashe being drawn somewhere,
Notice: katana has been infused with Ashe and given the name Oro [poison]
Oro(R): a katana forged with the primordial essence of a queen Savar serpent, infused with its toxin, this katana ignores expert rank defenses of gold rank and below to deliver a fatal dose of its venom into its recipient. Venom attacks are stackable and continues for a duration of five minutes per dose, only the titan blade can wield this weapon without adverse effect.
Moyo grinned and winced as pain racked his body, he brought up the rest of the notifications,
Notice: skill greed of Esu has absorbed royal venom of the queen Savar serpent,
Notice: skill wrath of Oya has absorbed royal venom of the queen Savar serpent, +500
Notice: complete immunity to Savar venom has been achieved,
Notice: aether sight level 10!
Notice: synchronicity detected between aether sight, realm of Olorun and Ashe, evolve aether sight?
If Moyo could grin without feeling nerve racking pain he would, be resolved to celebrating later. With a brief flex of his Ashe, he opened his vault, Ashira springing to her feet, blade drawn as she looked around. Her eyes widened as she noticed he had woken up,
“you’re alive!” she said as she hugged him,
Moyo felt his body rack with agony, mouth open in a silent scream as he even managed to forget her body pressed up on him. She seemed to notice as she dropped him, causing his body to go through another bout of agony,
“I’m so sorry!” she said as she laughed and wiped a tear from her eyes,
Moyo shot her a stink eye even as she sat back down and stared at him, he withdrew a bunch of legendary aether shards, noticing he had less then 10 left. Ashira watched him,
“The way you produce wealth like you’re some heir to a great house is baffling” she whispered,
He accepted the evolution and watched,
Notice: skill aether sight is synchronizing with realm of Olorun and Ashe…. sufficient aether found…. legendary aether shards found, incorporating…. sufficient Ashe found…...skill evolved.
Notice: skill aether sight has evolved into skill Digi Aye(R)
Digi Aye(R): your deformity hasn’t held you down, true to your sobriquet you have forged it in pain and tenacity and have come out stronger. Digi Aye has been infused with Ashe and the realm of Eledumare to create a more potent form, aether and aura within your realm is now subject to your whims. Foes caught within your realm can have their aether or aura cut off completely or even siphoned unless they manage to escape your realm. Experts of gold rank and below are now at your mercy, evolves stronger as you ascend.
Moyo grinned, watching as his sight transformed from the black and a myriad of colors that floated around him, to a purple background with a myriad of colors floating around him. Coughing as he spat out phlegm, he managed to sit up, his last notification expanding his grin,
Notice: level 398!
“Why are you grinning?’ Ashira asked curiously,
Moyo waved all his notifications to her as her frown slowly became astonishment,
“what are you?, no seriously, what the fuck are you?” she asked as she waved them away and stared at him,
“I’m batman” he said with all seriousness,
“Who?” she asked confused,
He rolled his eyes in his mind as he shook his head,
“Never mind, when you find out what I am, do let me know” he replied,
“But I have a date with gold rank and I intend to reach that stage before I leave this forsaken island”
Standing up as he felt his body warm up to his various movements, he turned to the trees on the island, pausing as he heard Ashira sniffle. Turning to her he could see her outline shake like she was holding back tears,
“Ashira?” he asked,
“I almost lost you” she said with a tremor in her voice,
“it’ll take more than some snake to kill me” he said with a grin that slowly wiped off his face at the hard turn she gave him,
“Oh, you’re serious” he said,
“damn right I am, did you realize what even happened to you?, your body blistered, it popped with mucus and venom pouring out of you, you lost your skin for aether sake!. The agony you must had gone through, why are you even standing and joking?’ she shouted,
“Because I have no choice, because I have people back home depending on me, because I am the wall between them and the cruelty of the archailect” he started,
“There is no other way, you know this as well, it’s the way of the archailect, adapt or fucking die” he growled,
“And as long as I can put one foot in front of another, I would keep ascending, the katana advances, it is the only way” he finished,
Ashira stared at him with a posture he couldn’t translate, he turned from her and spoke,
“Heed my call, Oro”
In a green wisp of aura, his latest katana appeared in his stretched right hand. A bright green blade that pulsed with a black hilt and the engraving of the queen Savar serpent with its mouth open serving as the guard from which the blade extended. Ashira whistled, Moyo nodded, it was indeed beautiful. Walking close to the trees, he blasted his aura as a multitude of hisses answered, with a cold look of indifference he waited for the first serpent to shoot out of the trees, mouth open with fangs gleaming that bit into Moyo ferociously.
With an eyebrow raised, Moyo stared at the confused level 505 serpent,
“You bore me” he said and with a twirl of Oro, plunged it straight into its eye, venom and intent blasting through its body as it dropped dead immediately.
Extracting himself from the dead and exploding body of the serpent that did him no damage, he sat lotus style, feeling the aether and essence course through his body.
Notice: level 401!
With a grin he dived into his planet core and marveled, the mountain had grown and shed off its silver color for a pure gold, the intent pouring out of it carrying a very ominous and dangerous feel to it. Coming out of his core, he opened his eyes and tore away the cloth that had been burnt partway through, blinking in hopes of his eyesight being repaired. He sighed as he noticed it hadn’t healed, diamond ranked injuries couldn’t be healed so easily,
“Your eyes” Ashira whispered,
“what’s wrong with them again?” he asked,
“Nothing, just the rings in your eyes glowing half purple and silver” she replied as she obviously stared in awe,
“eh, who cares?, I’m gold rank” he said with a smile,
“Indeed you are, now we get the hell out of this dungeon, I’ve gotten my fill of a diamond ranked dungeon” she said,
Moyo shook his head, frowning,
“We can’t leave unless the boss is dead, you know it, besides, we have paybacks we need to deliver” he said,
“The kings and their entourage could be gold and diamond by now” she said,
He nodded,
“Good, makes them easier to beat on” he growled.