Karla slipped inside a bloodseeker’s thrust fearlessly and connected an uppercut on its jaw. A stream of air from the impact sapped his consciousness and it slumped downwards. Aura surged wildly from the amazon’s leg as she kicked up, bursting apart a chunk of the orc’s chest along with its head. Dynamic had long since been maxed but she was having less success upgrading her other skills, such as the Concuss she just tried. An ancient blood orc lunged at her while she thought and a white masked Shin flickered in front. Three wisping green rapid strikes turned its eyes white with its fleeting life.
Shin glanced around. In the seven days since their first encounter with a bloodseeker pack, the party had improved significantly. Yen soared around an orc waiting for the moment its movement’s slowed and blast of fire detonated right over it. With Greater Combustion, all the mage needed was good timing to turn the legendary tier monsters to charcoal with a single attack.
Another tried and failed to tear through thick roots before they ravaged its brain. Kamala’s Greater Ironbark giving her plants the toughness needed to withstand their strength. A dragon clad spear destroyed a dodging orc’s arm and half its torso, ending its life. Mujin’s Dragon Strike lived up to the tag of true magic and his Golden Soul enabled him to bear the strain, albeit in moderation. Dante didn’t see much change although that was largely due to him experiencing little difficult from the start. Jean had no role in these fights but the change was apparent in his status.
[Human Puppetmaster (legendary) - Greater Lord]
The class skill, he had revealed, was Ensign. It took some time to mark a symbol on an object but once that was done it enabled far greater control and skill connection through Puppetry and mana manipulation. Something he explained would be much needed once he got his hands on the more complex and demanding higher tier puppets. For his option he had chosen the rather basic but much needed Greater Clearsight. Hardly the most efficient path but a scout with the passive ability of Truesight to see through all illusions was incomparable to one without. It was a necessary choice.
Donny struggled against his orc, although now only three times slower as opposed to four with his upgraded Greater Swiftness. But if he chose to rage, he was almost three quarters as fast as Shin’s max invoking Inari. Basem flickered to the side, bow drawn, stealing the orc’s attention for Donny to behead it.
A club cratered the ground but Basem was already at the second orc’s side, and his arrow shot straight through its skull. With his Greater Agile and Greater Burst maxed, the hunter no longer needed to rely on Blink to deal with the orcs, nor could they easily dodge his arrows.
But the most noteworthy change was the gust of wind that passed through, severing the orcs before Donny could put them down himself. The pine green reaper twirled her blade and danced in the valley of death without a care in world.
Her speed increased substantially, now almost 2.5 times faster than Shin at his maximum, securing her position as the fastest in the party by a massive margin. An ancient blood orc was mere child’s play to her, though that applied to the party as a whole. Whether it was her movement skill or Greater Swiftness she had upgraded to mythic tier she would not reveal. Shin darted off and back, handing Karla her turn of blood fruit, eating a fused large one himself, and checked his status.
[Greater Disease Resistance has upgraded to the mythic tier trait Disease Immunity.]
[Human Invoker (legendary) - Greater Lord]
Strength - 200 (260)
Agility - 600 (780)
Constitution - 50 (65)
Vitality - 115 (149)
Dexterity - 33 (43)
Perception - 300 (390)
Force - 24 (31)
Spirit - 700 [1050] (1365)
Control - 150 [225] (292)
Willpower - 100 [150] (195)
Skills:
Heal lvl. 10, Greater Mystic Protection lvl. 10, Summon Sorcerous Kitsune Guardian lvl. 10, Supreme Martial Combat lvl. 9, Greater Rapid lvl. 10, Spirit Communion lvl. 10, Greater Mana Meditation lvl. 10, Invigoration lvl. 10, Harvest Soul lvl. 10, Greater Invoke lvl. 10, Quake lvl. 10, Greater Channelling lvl. 10, Greater Spirit Gyro lvl. 10, Greater Ward lvl. 10, Soul Fusion lvl. 10, Greater Lambast lvl. 10, Greater See Through Spirits lvl. 10, Invoke Skill lvl. 10, Overshadow lvl. 10, Mana Absorption lvl. 3,
Traits:
Body Supremacy, Eyes of the Spirit King, Ethereal Soul, Vessel of Spirits, Unfettered, Instant Regeneration, Martial Eye, Third Eye, Summon Master, Great Control, Great Spirit, Great Willpower, Poison Immunity, Disease Immunity, Curse Immunity, Diamond Body, Golden Mind, Golden Soul,
He had but one trait left to max, something that held true for most of the others. Nearly all their traits had been improved to mythic tier, all of the important ones at least. Some were even finished, those being Kamala, Jean, Mujin, and Basem. It was mainly toughnesses that remained with Karla and Ashley needing the most. With most of the party out or soon to be out of the rotation it wouldn’t be too long for them to finish, but the problem laid in the dark, red tinged sky on the trials’ last day.
“We should leave.” Basem argued preemptively.
“Absolutely not.” Yen shot back.
“Don’t be greedy.”
“This is the exact time to be ambitious.” Yen emphasized the different term. “We made it this far, we are not tripping up at the finish line. Shin.”
“Staying.”
“It’s decided then. Let’s move, the sooner we get what we need, the sooner we can go.”
Night fell with her words and a chorus of roars and bellows rose from the valley. Monsters of all kinds fell into a frenzy, even the grazing gentle giants bashed and bit at their own kin. A small herd set their sights on the party and charged but a darting green orb shredded them to death like a cruel fairy. A cascade of screeches struck their ears as a flock of giant bats descending on the party and into a stream of fire turning them all to ash.
“What are you standing around for? Let’s go.”
---
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An red orc roared as lunged straight into an arrow, an axe cleaving off its head. Chariot destroyed the pack of ancient blood orcs in an instant as they rammed through the basin far more recklessly and impatient than they had before. Basem darted back with two plants handing them to Donny and Kamala.
“Done.”
“As am I.”
The party didn’t slow at all as they continued their hunt. Shin was already among those finished with their builds, upgrading his Diamond Body to Golden Body with the harvest prior. Frenzied beasts and orcs followed wherever they went, their resources slowly draining away as the sheer number overwhelmed their efficiency.
“Left.”
Ashley shot off, severing six ancient blood orcs lingered around a blood fruit in the blink of an eye.
“Last for me.”
“Same.”
This batch completed Yen and Dante, leaving only Ashley and Karla remaining. Three more pairs of blood fruit plants and they would be done. A screeching swarm of bats dove down at them again and again Yen burned them away. She sucked her teeth, mana starting to run low with the constant attacks.
“This is enough.” Basem argued the case for self preservation again.
“No.”
“Their traits are not even important!” Basem sniped a lone beast charging over in the distance.
“The fuck they aren’t!” Yen yelled back. “Karla with no charming immunity is a big fucking risk. And who knows what Ashley has left, it could be the most important one!”
“It’s not that important~”
“Shut up! All of you stop complaining, with your glances and thoughts too, Jean.” The puppetmaster bore the admonishment he didn’t deserve in silence. Yen grit her teeth as she looked up to the moon, nearly center in the night sky. “Dammit, just focus-”
Dante place a hand on Kamala’s shoulder, and something giant shot through half the party faster than any of them could track. A puppet shattered into mere splinters and Donny’s mangled body crashed away violently. And the orange haired mage was nowhere to be found.
Past the smooth trail in the ground slithered a massive snake, 100 yards long and its width the length of two men. Dark brown scales with a deep red pattern covered its body. It turned back towards the party and a burst of flames slipped out of its mouth. It opened wide on reflex and Yen soared out in a body of flames back to the party. The giant snake slithered into a coil as the burn marks around its mouth healed in a moment, its cold eyes trained right on them.
Karla burst forward before any of them could plan. The snake lashed its tail, knocking her into a cliff and rammed into the amazon with the same surge around its head as her Dynamic. A loud snap accompanied the crash, the snake recoiling to reveal Karla’s bent limbs and caved in chest, her bones broken for the first time.
But just as quickly, her body snapped back into place and her wounds healed. Karla shot forward again and the giant snake struck like lightning, but this time Karla caught its open mouth with both hands, sliding back across the ground rapidly at the sheer speed.
But Karla was just as strong, holding its mouth in place. She dug her feet in to a stop and kicked the snake’s neck. Blood burst from the impact but the nature of its body cushioned the blow enough to remain intact. Slashes of blood flurried out from its body, cutting deep into Karla’s flesh and bone, but the amazon held firm and kicked again, this time tearing flesh.
The giant snake curled in and flung Karla into the air by the leverage of its length. It coiled, wasting no time preparing to lunge at the airborne prey with no footing to save her. But a green and blue figure soared over, catching Karla’s shoulder’s in her talons. A beautiful song left Mara’s lips, distracting the giant snake’s thoughts just enough to miss a red eyed knight bearing down in a rage.
Blood coated axe cleaved deep through the snake’s flesh, drawing a river of blood Donny greedily absorbed. Another flurry of blood blades severed Donny in parts but his body restored in an instant and swung again. The snake blurred around at rapid speed and lunged straight into rust colored thundering palm as Shin slapped it away.
The snake crashed along the ground straight into a pitch black blade reaping its head. Ashley flickered across its length with a smile slicing it into parts as she just barely avoided the blood blades that followed. But no sooner had she finished the whole of the snake regenerated from its head. Ashley slipped into the shadows below as the snake’s dynamic lunge barrelled over her.
The snake coiled into an aim again but a force held it in place. Yen above concentrated her Greater Grasp on the titanic monster the moment it stopped long enough to track. It thrashed and hiss against the constraints but lacked the strength to break through. And that weakness was fatal.
Shin flickered above donned in white and hailed down wisping green fists. The flurrying blood blades shot back but Shin ignored them. Six strikes pushed the creature into a spasm and the seventh silenced it for good.
[Bloodskin Titanoboa (legendary) - Greater Monarch]
Strength - 4959
Agility - 7506
Constitution - 3763
Vitality - 2941
Dexterity - 4287
Perception - 4706
Force - 2125
Spirit - 4642
Control - 2585
Willpower - 3146
Skills:
Dynamic, Greater Shift, Greater Lunge, Greater Haste,
Traits:
Unfettered (mythic), Bloodsickle Scales (mythic), Instant Regeneration (mythic), Golden Body (mythic), Golden Mind (mythic), Golden Soul (mythic), Rapid Reflexes (legendary), Greater Hawkeye (legendary), Greater Poison Resistance (legendary), Greater Disease Resistance (legendary), Greater Curse Resistance (legendary), Nightvision (epic),
A legendary elite, the most dangerous monster they had encountered yet, most of all for it’s speed, twice that of Shin’s own. Shin glanced over to a still raging Donny charging over but Ashley formed in front with mesmerizing eyes.
“Wake up~”
Donny stopped in his tracks, convulsing as he raised his axe in great strain, but his aura disperse and his senses returned. A deep blink soothed his buzzing headache slightly.
“Thanks.”
Ashley smiled back, alluring and inviting, as the rest of Chariot regrouped. Karla dropped down from above as Mara returned to Shin and Yen flew down still hovering above the air.
“How much mana you got?”
“Almost out.”
“Same… We can’t rely on that strategy again right now if there’s more like this.”
“So-!”
“So we get this done faster. Plan hasn’t changed.” Yen cut off Basem, even more on edge.
“That’s right.” Dante stepped over, handing Ashley two plants. “Letting opportunity slip away. Running scared from a challenge. That isn’t who Chariot is.”
“Risk takers, innit.” Donny rubbed his head as he walked past to the other side, drawing his axe. “Speaking of challenges and such…”
A party of ten stopped just within range, all unidentifiable, none bearing fear within the deadly basin at the 11th hour. At the helm stood a man in his twenties, long blonde hair and blue eyes in full armor like a gallant prince with a confident relaxed expression as he scanned over them, and the battleground surrounding.
“Hard fight?”
“Had worse.” Donny answered.
“I’m sure.” The prince smiled. “But you do seem spent.”
A tension rose in the air, and then a red hint fell on the world. The two parties looked up at the full moon in the center of the sky glowing bright. Like a bleeding wound, the red of the moon drained down into a dark red sphere hovering over the center of the island until the moon turned white.
The sphere held for a moment, then it started to writhe. Slowly at first, then faster and more violently until the sphere burst. Among the pool of blood raining down was born a monster. Blood red skin and a huge fat body, overly so. Its legs short and bloated, slightly bent and long thin arms dangled loosely. Two tiny bat wing on near the top of its back that seemed to strain with the weight of the monster to the point where they could tear at any moment. It’s head was long and bulbous with a large mouth and thick jaw, two striped horns pointing lazily upwards above black husks for eyes.
[Bloodsouled Mananngal (legendary) - Greater Monarch]
“Lady Luck favors you.” The prince glanced back at the party, though his interest clearly in the monster that spawned. “I’d not be here when we’re done, if I were you.”
With that, the party of monarchs sped off at a pace that would threaten Chariot. They charge with impressive coordination. The rogue type attacked first, hurling throwing stars that bloomed gigantic, each shredding through the boss. It groaned slightly but its body reformed unnaturally.
As it turned sluggishly to its attackers, a torment of mana swirled in a blue robed mage’s hands and a lightning bolt struck from the sky. The mananngal groaned louder, its body charred and shocked from the massive bolt but that too healed in an instant. Arrows, magic, and martial arts fell on the boss and finally the prince leap up, greatsword shining a bright gold as he slashed the monster in two.
The two halves of the demonic looking creature started to fall but the flesh of it body shot out between itself like bloody sludge, pulling the two halves together seamlessly. The party prepared to attack again, but the mananngal’s mouth stretched open impossibly long. Beady white pupils swirled within the husks of its eyes like burning stars and a gust of wind inhaled deeply over the players into its mouth. And the players fell dead.
The mananngal’s jaw retracted back to its initial drooping state and its body started to writhe. Two halves pulled away from each other like tearing flesh and reformed into two bodies, both exactly identical with the same status. One drifted away to the other side of the basin, and the other towards Chariot.