Burmeheins are water-based rock monsters awakened with the elemental affinity of earth. Even at lower tiers, Burmeheins have complete control over their bodies, having the ability to change their shape and composition at will, but as they grow stronger, their control and influence spread to the land surrounding them, and they gain the ability to manipulate the earth at will, transforming their area of influence into a death trap for anyone who walks into it.
The Awakened Bestiary.
Rare elemental creatures, page 53.
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An immense pressure emanated from the monster, forcing everyone below Tier 7 to their knees. Some of the lower-tiered villagers outright collapsed, and even among the council, only the mayor, Balor, and Minerva remained standing.
Two other people remained relatively unaffected; one of them was Aldric, who was above the 7th tier, and the other was Aodhán, whose body was covered in a shimmering red haze as the large flame of willpower roared in his core, resisting the pressure of the Burmehein and leaving him relatively unaffected.
Balor attacked immediately, and another boulder-sized rock smashed against the Burmehein’s face, causing a crack to spread across its features, but it disappeared the next moment, and the burning eyes of the Burmehein focused on him.
The others attacked immediately; Minerva waved her hands, and multiple whips of water rose up from the river; they wrapped around the Burmehein’s arms and waist before transforming into clear blue ice.
Aldric tried to take control of the monster’s emotions, but the Burmehein was much stronger than him, and it was hard to latch on to its mind.
As the Burmehein broke through the whips of water and ice that tried to pull it down, the mayor forced it down with his telekinetic powers, yet it resisted, and they remained at a stalemate.
The Burmehein roared, and suddenly its arm twisted and transformed into a massive drill that it aimed at Balor.
Balor defended himself with a wall of earth, but it collapsed under Burmehein’s might. Fortunately, the wall altered the direction of the attack, but the Burmehein redirected it, and the drill pierced through his stomach.
Balor screamed, but before the Burmehein could finish its attack, it was raised into the air and smashed against the trees on the other side of the river.
During its disorientation, Aldric managed to take control of its mind, and the Burmehein’s left hand transformed into a saw that cut off its right hand like a knife through butter.
The Burmehein roared in pain, and Aldric suffered a backlash as he lost control of its mind. He staggered, and in that moment, the Burmehein’s left hand transformed into a boulder-sized fist that smashed into him and threw him several feet backwards.
Panicked, the mayor telekinetically uprooted a tree and smashed it against the Burmehein, throwing it back in the water. Minerva immediately encased it in ice, but even as the ice formed, it cracked as the monster struggled, fury burning in its eyes as it glared at her.
Suddenly, thunder rumbled loudly as a storm cloud appeared above the river, and the day darkened as the sun was blotted out. The Burmehein’s head broke out of the ice prison, but a bolt of lightning struck down and exploded on its head.
The attack barely dented the monster, so Aodhán summoned another bolt from the storm cloud. This time, as the energy flowed from his core, he forcefully pulled from the flame of willpower to fuel it.
The bolt of lightning that struck down this time was almost double the normal size and red instead of the usual white gold.
Shatter! Aodhán thought as the bolt struck down, and half of Burmehein’s face suddenly disintegrated.
The Burmehein roared in pain and anger as it forcefully broke away from the ice prison, causing Minerva to stumble from the backlash.
The mayor managed to hold it still long enough for the second and third bolts of empowered lightning to strike its remaining arm and left leg.
Half of the arm disintegrated, and the left leg cracked. The Burmehein tried to regenerate its arm and leg but found that those parts of its body had been completely destroyed.
This caused the Burmehein to shrink, using the now-available boulders to create two new arms, repair its head, and replace its left leg.
The mayor slammed another tree against the Burmehein, and with its reduced mass, cracks spread across its body as it was smashed into the river once more.
Minerva had regained her bearings, and she immediately coated the Burmehein in ice. Now that the Burmehein had been severely wounded and weakened, the pressure it exuded had reduced, and those who were unaffected rushed to help.
Calithen manipulated gravity around the Burmehein, holding it immobile even as bolts of lightning struck it and disintegrated parts of its body.
The Burmehein continued to regrow and repair the lost parts of its body, and before long, it stood only a little above 6 inches. This spelled its end as the mayor telekinetically smashed it against a large tree until it literally crumbled to pieces, leaving behind a shimmering brown core.
Those who hadn’t fainted rejoiced, but Aodhán felt like his body was about to shrivel to dust. The forceful use of his willpower had drained him, but before he collapsed, Unrid grabbed the pouch by his side and pulled out the silver cores Aldric had given him.
“Absorb them; they should be enough to take you to the next tier.”
Unrid watched as Aodhán absorbed the first core before turning around to look for Aldric.
He found him limping towards him, supported by Elora of all people, but Unrid chose not to comment and simply thanked her.
“By the Maker! That was painful.”
Unrid chuckled when he saw that Aldric was alright—just a little bruised, but he was already healing.
Aodhán shuddered as a massive amount of energy flowed into his core, but settled before it surged out once more like a tidal wave. The energy sank into his body and bones, strengthening and empowering him.
Strength returned to his muscles even as his senses improved. His hair grew longer, and his skin smoothed. His muscles grew slightly, and when the energy settled in his core, Aodhán marveled at the power suddenly flowing through him.
It felt like the strength he’d gotten from tiers 1–4 had been added together and then doubled. Aodhán basked in the feeling for a moment before checking his status.
…..
[STATUS]
Name: Aodhán Ashoka
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Title: Neophyte
Class: Evolved storm awakened (1%)
Tier: 5–2.27%
Skills {Innate}: Storm creation and manipulation, lightning creation and manipulation.
{Other}: Lightning descent, Create constructs.
Bloodline: Nil
Neophyte: A title awarded to an awakened person who has reached the Tier 5 milestone.
…..
When he opened his eyes, Aldric grinned at him and said, “Congratulations on your new skill; please tell me it’s something useful.”
“It is, I think.” Aodhán replied as the skill information flowed into his mind, and at the end, Aodhán was shivering with excitement.
“By the Maker! It’s very useful.”
“Tell us—no, better still, show us what it does.” Aldric urged.
With excitement, Aodhán rose to his feet and summoned a bolt of lightning. He then began to shape the bolt of lightning until a circular plate of crackling electricity stood before him.
“It literally allows me to create constructs of storms and lightning.” Aodhán explained ardently. “There’s no restrictions or limitations to the skill, like at all!”
“Wow, you hit the jackpot there; I’m not jealous at all.” Aldric muttered with an eye roll, but Aodhán barely heard him, his mind already filled with a thousand things he could do with this new skill.
It was only after a while that they both noticed that Unrid was no longer with them. Aodhán turned to see the mayor as he grabbed the Burmehein’s core and rushed to a corner of the bush.
The mayor placed the brown core in Balor’s bloody hand and urged. “Absorb the core, Balor; listen to me.”
“No, I can’t! I’ve reached my limit.”
“Try, my friend.” The mayor insisted. “Just try.”
Balor nodded in acquiescence, but when the core fell limply from his hands a few seconds later, Aodhán felt sorrow twist painfully in his gut.
Balor had been at the 7th tier; he should have been a god in this forest, but the horde had taken his life. They haven’t even begun to fight the horde, but they have already lost one of their strongest fighters.
“Is there anyone else who would like to absorb the core?” The mayor asked softly, and a girl about the same age as Aldric raised her hands.
When no one disputed it, the mayor handed the core over.
Aodhán turned to her as the mayor passed the core, and he noticed that he could sense a slight pressure from her. It was weaker than his own, and although Aodhán couldn’t precisely place it, he suspected that she was between the 2nd and 3rd tiers.
It was at that moment that Aodhán realized he could sense the cores of everyone around him and roughly determine their tiers.
Aodhán emanated the most pressure, even though he was supposed to be weaker than the mayor, whose core seemed to be as old as he was.
A short ceremony was done to honor Balor, and soon, his body was placed on a platform that another earth awakened had created.
Unrid had the honor of burning the body, and as the ashes scattered in the winds, the mayor turned to the scholar and said, “Take out the Rizzel furs, I want to be rid of this forest as soon as possible.”
……
Balor’s death had sucked the joy out of the expedition but had replaced it with determination. Even the weakest among them burned with a need to avenge his death and eradicate the horde that threatened their lives.
The fur of the silver Rizzels had been taken out of their enchanted chests and hanged on tall wooden poles in the center of the clearing. A sweet aroma spread out of them and into the entire forest.
The clearing had been widened so as to accommodate the upcoming battle. Carvahl, now acting as the new leader of the expedition, arranged the villagers in batches of 6.
“The monsters will be here at any moment, but they’ll be crazed.” He shouted. “According to our resident scholar, the lure weakens the minds of monsters, which is good since that means we won’t have to fight anything smart.”
A wave of murmurs passed through the villagers before Carvahl continued. “Rather than fight them all at once, we have decided to fight them in batches of 6 per hour; this means that a new batch of 6 will replace the old every hour.”
“What if the monsters overwhelm a batch?” A man dressed in farmer’s clothes asked worriedly.
“The batches on standby will act as backup or reinforcement in case things go south.”
The discussion continued for a minute more before they all returned to their assigned posts.
Aodhán was among the first batch, alongside the girl who had absorbed the Burmehein’s core. Her core glowed to his senses now, and it emitted a pressure only slightly greater than his own.
The others in his group were strangers to him except the mayor, but he noticed that aside from the girl, two of the others were earth awakeneds, while the last one was air awakened.
Compared to what he’d read in the books, the affinity the villagers awakened was simple and uninteresting.
Soon, all those present, save for Minerva and a group of water awakeneds, surrounded the poles containing the Rizzel furs. Their weapons gleamed in their hands, and determination shone in their eyes.
An aura of bloodlust slowly congregated above them, and it wasn’t long before the howls and roars of monsters filled the air.
Aodhán and six others including the mayor, widened their stance in preparation as the growls of crazed monsters drew nearer.
The mayor stood resolutely, a few meters away from him, focused solely on the line of trees surrounding them and the crackling sound of dry leaves as monsters ran towards them, lured by the scent of the Rizzel furs.
“I’ll hold them down for you.” The girl said to him, and he gave a short nod in response.
During the short funeral they’d held for Balor, Aodhán had gained a sort of enlightenment, and he realized that he was making a mistake with the new skill. He’d been trying to shape and create the constructs, but with his enormous will, it was a simple matter to will the storm or lightning into a desired shape.
He hadn’t had the chance to try it yet, but there was no time like the present.
Aodhán let out a deep breath to center himself, and a storm cloud rumbled into existence. It expanded to cover the entire clearing, causing the area to darken.
Thunder rumbled dangerously as he poured his will into the storm cloud, and lightning rippled through it like snakes.
With his recent advancement, Aodhán could now summon four bolts of lightning at once. Without delay, he summoned them, and they descended to revolve around him, crackling erratically as if sensing the coming battle.
With a thought, he willed the bolts of lightning to change shape, and at first the bolts resisted, their destructive will fighting against the stability of a construct, but just as the first monster burst out of the forest, the bolts transformed into unstable spears of lightning and shot at it even as the earth swallowed its feet and held it captive.
The monster was a Tier 6 raptor that looked very similar to the drawings of dinosaurs hung in the monastery library. The lighting spears stabbed into its side before exploding violently, tearing away hide and tissue from its chest and leaving its heart exposed to an earthen spike.
As more monsters poured out from the underbrush, he tried to attack as fast as he could, but the lightning constructs required him to exercise more control over their creation process, which was time-consuming, so he decided to try cloud constructs instead.
The cloud was less willful and was happy to take on any shape he desired, so the creation process was almost instantaneous, and as a Tier 5 Gulu appeared, three black spears of solid black cloud descended and pierced the monster before dissipating into black smoke. The monsters kept arriving, bursting into the clearing with a ferocious and even maddened gaze. They attacked without care for their own safety, focusing solely on the shimmering silver furs hanging behind them.
Multiple black spears descended from the storm cloud above, even as several earthen spikes jutted out of the ground and skewered the bellies of the crazed monsters.
A green monster that vaguely resembled a goblin rushed in his direction. It held a crude wooden spear in its hand and was identified as a Tier 6 swamp radmagog.
Four cloud spears descended from the storm cloud and shot towards the creature. Swampy water suddenly coalesced around its hands, transforming into a bubble shield that was supposed to protect it, but Aodhán infused his will into the spears, and they pierced through the bubble and into the Radmagog’s heart.
The number of monsters that rushed into the clearing increased every second, and half an hour later, they’d become a literal wave.
Aodhán attacked without thought, as if running on autopilot, even as multiple spears shot down from the cloud and into the attacking monsters.
At some point, his control over the cloud constructs deepened, and they stopped disappearing after each strike. This reduced his need to constantly create more, but even so, the process of creating and controlling so many cloud spears was draining, and an hour later, when he was replaced, he moved to sit on one side of the clearing to regain his energy.
He doesn’t dismiss the storm cloud, though, leaving it to grow as he slowly fed energy into it. This was another thing he discovered after reaching Tier 5: he could charge his skills by pouring more energy into them, and although there was no increase in size, their power almost doubled depending on how long he took to charge them.
A woman handed him a cup of water, and he drank it immediately, feeling the cool drink slide gracefully down his parched throat.
He turned his attention back to the battle even as the girl who had absorbed the Burmehein’s core came to sit beside him. He needed to find out her name, though, so he could stop referring to her in such vague terms, but now was not the time.
The mayor remained on the battle field, though, and he fought with brutal efficiency, as every splinter or shard of wood was turned into a weapon. They pierced through the flesh of the attacking monsters, some penetrating with so much force that they bore through the monster’s body and burst out of it.
The fight continued, and Aodhán even saw some conceptual monsters, but they were all low-tiered and didn’t last very long in the battle.
An hour later, the third batch replaced the second, and this time, the mayor was forced to rest, but suddenly a deafening roar reverberated through the trees, and the ground trembled as a monstrous creature emerged from the shadows, its ringed pupils glowed with malevolence, and a line of silver text floated above it’s head.