The fight with the Alpha, was less than stellar, and it once again didn’t reward any loot. Ethan had thought he had simply just vaporized the body of the last Alpha, so it didn’t reward loot, but it turned out that not every monster had loot. It was dependant on performance, and level of monster. The higher the level, the greater the chance. This was also for regular monsters as well and loot would show up more after level 30 monsters. Exploiting a monsters weakness was a method of increasing the gains as well.
It turns out sucking a magical creature dry is a big weakness, but sending a bladed spike down the throat of a lizard deer wasn’t.
“I guess, we’re headed up the mountain. But I need to find the safe zone first. I am thinking we find the one at the base of the mountain, and skip the one nearest to us. I have to bring that Drake down the mountain, and I think it’ll be easier if we use the Safe Zone at the foot of the mountain.” Ethan said.
His mood had yet to recover, but he was putting on a good show of keeping it together.
“Ok, you want to look for a small alcove. It is at the base, where the mountain first reaches to end of the forest surrounding these plains. Oh, and Ethan, I should let you know, my knowledge of the Endless Plains doesn’t extend past that mountain range. After that, I don’t know what you’ll find. I am not even sure the Safe Zones will work once you get your family here.”
“Cool, cool cool. More fun stuff to add to the ‘list of things to worry about later’, will the Safe Zones disappear completely?” Ethan asked, a bit of worry rising if they did.
“No, but they could become inert. Or just disabled, offering no security at all.”
“I think I can deal with that, as long as you keep acting as fire guard.”
“That won’t be an issue, as you get more powerful, my sensing range increases. After this is all done, I would like to propose a few things.” Joe said.
“Anything dangerous? Or painful?”
“No. To both. I would like to request you move me to a lower layer of your Soul.”
“What is that going to do? Is it going to help you get out of there?” Ethan asked, a little wary of Soul stuff, and Joe. Not wanting to make things worse, or harder on Joe.
“It won’t make it harder on me, if that is what you are worried about. Right now being on the outer layer is slowing down what I can do. The fifth layer is the weakest layer. It does however have the strongest connection to the body. This has worked out for healing you, but if we are going to sever your connection to the System, I need to be on the third layer, preferably the second, but it can be done on the third, I think.”
“Why not just move you to the first? Seems like the best way to get that done.” Ethan asked. He felt there was a reason Joe hadn’t asked for it.
“Because the deeper you implant a skill on the Soul Layers the hard it is to get rid of later. And as much as I hate to admit it, I am in effect, a skill at the moment. Or at least viewed as one by the System.”
“Why don’t you come up on my Skill list then?”
“I do. I am included in your body type, One Body, Two Souls. I do not have the same structure as a Skill, but I am part of your body, implanted as a Skill.” Joe said.
“Clear as mud, so getting you out of there IS going to be harder, the deeper you go, then, huh?” Ethan said circling back to what Joe mentioned before.
“Not harder, just more painful. The third layer is as deep as I want to go, the first would make severing your connection the easiest, but you could pass out for a few days if we later try to expel myself, and that is not good for anyone. Even with your family around, a few hours is stretching what I would feel comfortable doing. With the possibility of Safe Zones being deactivated, every second matters.”
“Wait, if we bring them here, will the Safe Zone we are in be deactivated?”
“No, they can’t be deactivated if someone is present. It is a safe guard against the System forcing Subjects to move, or pushing them further than they should.”
“Can we do all of that before moving on from the Safe Zone? Like keep my family there to keep the Safe Zone active, while we do whatever you have planned to get you out?”
“No, it will take more time, and levels than this area can give. You will have to move on, and if my plan isn’t working out fast enough, you may have to venture to the outer side of the Endless Plains.”
“Okay, lets get to it.” Ethan said, as he turned towards the mountains in the distance. The Alpha had remained on the outer edge of the plains only venturing in once enough of its herd had been killed, and Ethan had stopped launching his improvised munitions.
Ethan stood in one of the many shallow craters, where the short fight had ended. The Alpha lay next to him, several cuts lined its body. All of them were from the inside out, its coolant colored blood had long since stopped pouring out.
Quickly activating his Domain, sending Missing Link through it, he consumed the body. Happy to find he could absorb the Alpha. He wasn’t sure if the Cervine was special in that it was essentially a swamp mucus elemental. He discovered he could infuse his skin with scales. It offered the same constitution boost as the System Alabaster. But was significantly lighter.
Making his way towards the mountain range Ethan kept the scales active, monitoring his resources. Missing Link seems to consume no Mana, but he had no way to tell. It was easier to run now, his stats were starting to show in a big way. During his run he began to realize how restricting the Alabaster was, not just on his body, but on his stats.
Probably best I don’t use it again. If it comes with what feels like a reduction in stats, it is more harmful than helpful. Unless I find something that can bypass my constitution, or these scales.
It took a couple hours, but Ethan finally reached the far edge of the forest between the plain and the mountain range. It took an hour or so more to find the Safe Zone. It looked identical to the Safe Zone he appeared in at the beginning of his time in the Endless plain. It felt so long ago, but Ethan knew it was less than a two months if he didn’t count his time in the dungeon.
Quickly walking up to the Safe Zone, he stepped over the edge, and a portal silently actives, spanning the entire Safe Zone. From pillar to pillar, fifteen meters across. Temptation called for him to set in, but he knew, his instinct told him he would be stepping into his death. Stepping out of the Safe Zone he paused.
“Joe, just to make sure, I can come back right? The timer doesn’t start until I cross into the portal, right?”
Joe confirmed Ethan’s question. The portal would stay open until he crossed over, and returned to the Endless Plains. Monsters would not get near the Safe Zone, it appeared to them as a blank space in the world. Erased even from their memories. Making them forget it even existed.
Looking up at the sheer magnitude of the mountain left Ethan speechless. But the almost immediate shift from forested under growth, to solid cliff made Ethan once again remember the entire Endless Plains was somehow manufactured. There was no rocky outcroppings leading up to the mountain. No gravel, or even rocky dirt, just roots, and fallen leaves covering wet earth right up to the edge of the mountain.
“I really have to learn to fly. It would be faster to fly than to climb this damn thing.” Ethan said staring straight up.
“There are other ways to scale the face it…” Joe said, as he scanned the mountain face, “I can’t penetrate too far into the mountain, I am assuming it has some magical properties.”
“Magic means metal, right? And the way I see it, I have a few ways to get up there, other than climbing, even if climbing does work on my strength stat. First, blink. Fastest option I have at the moment. Second, I can use Missing Link, and tunnel my way to the top, but I think I want to save that option for when Rebecca and the kids are here. Hole up in a cave for a bit, and get them geared up. Third, and most costly, I could just use Gravity Control, and run up the face. But that is going to be slower, even if it should level the skill faster.”
Joe confirmed his theory, adding it also meant the stone of the mountain was going to be harder to get through, even with his Missing Link Skill. Which was perfect for what Ethan wanted to do. He instantly disregarded using Gravity Control, it would have been cool to run up the face of a mountain, but he’d have to take many many more breaks.
Ethan needed a home base for a short period of time, if hordes were coming for them, he wanted to make it as easy as possible for his family to survive and grow. This mountain was looking better all the time for such a location. He’d played enough base building games to know you never dig down, and you never fight surrounded in the dark.
The only issue he had now was Blink used up Mana, and he’d need to rest to refill his Mana. He knew he could Blink a few thousand feet up until his reserves were depleted. So he tried to plan out his route, searching for larger rock faces he could consume to create holes for him to take a break in, or other flat surfaces big enough for him to rest on.
Burning day light, Ethan decided it would be best to just go at it, when he felt his resources running low, he would just blink over to the rock face and dig out a small cubbyhole. Rest for a bit and continue. He started blinking up, landing where he could, if there was nowhere to land, he would blink up again. Flashing in and out upwards he rose.
Less than thirty minutes later, he could feel the air getting thin, and his Mana was dropping faster than he liked. Blinking up one more time, he didn’t spot a ledge, so he blinked forward, activated his Domain at ten percent, roughly two meters now that he had leveled up so much. Sent Missing Link through it, and barely any rock was consumed. Ethan was left staring at a less than one meter half sphere in the side of the cliff as gravity finally caught up, and he started to fall.
Wow, that is much harder than I thought.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Ethan thought as he blinked up again. Doubling his Domain, at twenty percent yielded a slightly bigger sphere at one an a half meters. Just big enough for him to blink one more time inside if he blinked already scrunched up. Which is what he did, appearing inside of the hollow ball. Pushing his Domain out as far as it would go, he realized his Domain was being suppressed. It was almost half what it should be.
Slowly pushing Missing Link out he felt the same suppression, the skill was half as effective. Meaning he’d have to work twice as hard when trying to create his resting spots.
“You weren’t joking when you said it would be harder to consume. I am guessing it is going to get harder going up?” Ethan asked, as he finished expanding his new cubbyhole hole, and sitting down to rest and refill his Mana.
“I don’t know. It could get easier, it all depends on where the source of Mana is that the mountain is pulling from. If it is in the base, it will be harder further down, if it is at the peak, then yes.” Joe said, “I can sense more now that you have cleared out more of the rock though, so that is good.”
Ethan didn’t follow up with more questions, even if had many. What source of Mana could a mountain pull from? If it were below him, would that mean that there were monsters at the base, closer to the source? If it was below him, why wasn’t the Drake he was hunting for, below as well? Questions swirled as he rested.
When his Mana was full again, he got up and resumed his assent of the mountain keeping an eye out for the Drake. Joe had told him drakes had one goal, and that was to evolve into dragons. At first hearing this, he was excited to meet a dragon, but was quickly shot down when it was revealed Dragons were a monster that went through a period of blind rage after evolving. They could spend hundreds of years destroying and burning everything they crossed, consuming natural resources and treasures they came across, until evolving again into True Dragons.
Creatures capable of killing gods.
So not something I want to meet while I am still kicking my own ass. Got it.
Ethan thought to himself, recalling the conversation. It was pretty boring ascending the mountain. It was too windy to hold a conversation. Even when he stopped to rest, the air was too thin to hold a conversation for very long. Ethan did learn that his stats compensated for his need for air, his brain just had to catch up to the feeling. Eventually he would get to a level here he no longer needed oxygen, but that was a ways off. He was aiming for level 25, at that leave he could live comfortably at the peak and not notice the reduced oxygen, but would still need it.
About half way up the mountain he stopped, quickly finding a flatter area, blinking over, and landing. It was his fourth stop of the day. Glad this time to not have to use consumption, as he was filling up and wanted to make sure he kept some room in his Internal Well for ‘oh shit’ moments.
“Joe, is there a way to call the Drake to us? I am afraid getting it down the mountain will be harder the higher we go. And the higher we go, the harder it will be for me to fight it.” Ethan asked, making sure to rest thought he didn’t need it.
“Two methods I can think of, first, fill your Domain with Mana to the brim. Make it notice you, an easy meal. Second, you could try attacking it from here. Enrage it, make it come to you.”
Ethan could see the peak, easily over ten kilometers away. Not wanting to deal with the reduced oxygen was the biggest factor Ethan had stopped. But he had to get the Drake. His plan hinged on it. Because he couldn’t trust the System would do nothing when he went to get his family.
“Pissing it is then.” Ethan said, as he continued to rest up, pulling out what little munitions he had left, which turned out to be a lot, just not enough to satisfy Ethan. He had ten of the bladed spikes he used on the Lizard Alpha. But hundreds of other experiments he hadn’t gotten a chance to test. He even had several of the screamer rounds he had created before he finalized his Screaming Vacuum Penetrator.
An idea came to him, and he gathered up the screamer rounds as he called them. Still seated, recovering, he activated his Domain, and sent Gravity Control through it. It was time for some crafting. More accurately, it was time to do some alterations. Because he wasn’t going to remake the screamer rounds. He was going to change what they did.
His hands froze, and Gravity Control took over, hundreds of tiny Mana Threads seeped out of his palms and slowly the screamer inlays were undone. One by one he undid his work on each screamer. Never moving an inch, Gravity Control doing all the moving for him. Once all thirty or so screamer rounds we back to normal metal spikes with concentric half spheres, he guided the first one back between his hands and get to work.
This time he wouldn’t use screams to induce fear and paralysis. He was going to use a roar to ramp up the Drake’s anger, and rage. Hoping to turn it into a mindless beast of rage. He was a bit annoyed the inlays for rage and fear were far too different, but it made sense. Had they been similar in anyway he could have just edited them, but they needed to be remade.
The screaming inlays were almost flat, it lead to a really sleek look when viewed through Mana Sight. Air would rush in the cut out, and pass through the inlay, like a filter. Mana would be injected through the filter, and air would come out vibrating in such a way to cause a scream imbued with fear.
The Rage Inlay was ugly compared to the scream. Several spike like structures jutted out, and when air was sent through it, more Mana was injected into it, but it vibrated at a lower frequency. Most of the Mana was used to incite anger, and rage. It was like pouring gasoline on an open fire. It would however burn through the Mana faster, causing Ethan to have to use a delay matrix before the Rage inlay.
Finally finished he laid them all out in front of him. Twenty nine spikes had survived his first attempt at his new ‘aggro arrow’.
“That’s a terrible name, it isn’t even an arrow.” Joe said, when Ethan let him know he what he was calling them.
“Look, the name works, and you can call them what you want when you make them.” Ethan said, clearly not enjoying the criticism of his naming ability.
Resting a bit more to compensate for the Mana used to alter his new munitions, Ethan looked up again. Hoping this was going to work, because he did not want to go further up. The mountain turned out to be much taller than he estimated. He had climbed roughly eight kilometers, another ten or so worried him. He knew he couldn’t fight for long if he reached the peak.
When he was fully rested, Mana topped off, Ethan activated his Domain and consumed the rock in front of him, just enough to give himself a hole to hide in, in case he had falling debris to dodge. He anticipated hitting the mountain a few times.
Next he walked out to the ledge he had been sitting on, and pushed his Domain to the limits. He found it was closer to twenty one meters, and flooded it with Gravity Control. Instantly, everything around him got lighter. He even felt his body slowly want to lift up off the ground.
So close! I just wanna fly.
Ethan could feel the more he pushed his Gravity Control, the faster is Mana was slipping away. Pulling back Gravity Control, Ethan condensed the skill to in front of him, point upwards. Using his bracers he levitated a spike into his hands. He used equal gravity pushing and pulling on the spike, building up the gravity with one hand, and his domain. Keeping it in place with his other. Slowly reducing the funnel of inverted increased gravity, doing his best to aim for the peak.
Crouching down, he dropped the hand pushing down on the spike transferring the gravity to his feet, keeping him in place. Instantly the Aggro Arrow shot up. Moments later it broke the sound barrier, and slammed into the side of the mountain three quarters of the way up. Long after the Rage Inlay activated. Seconds later a deep low roar reached Ethan. He felt his own anger pulse momentarily, then fade away.
What he didn’t expect was the second roar, to answer his first.
The world around Ethan went dark. A massive figure leapt from the mountain, blotting out the light in a long stretch of the mountain face. The roar above continued as it grew in his ears. Dread descended upon the mountain side, Ethan felt it as much as he felt the magical pressure coming from the earth shattering howl. Ethan barely had time as he blinked into his shelter, as the beast slammed into the small platform he’d been standing on moments before.
Rocks, dust, and claws shot down past his cubbyhole. Ethan watched as two meter long razor sharp bone claws ripped past him, carving deep gorges snaked their way down. Seconds later the world went silent.
What the actual fuck was that…
Ethan cautiously peered over the edge. Staring back at him from 2 kilometers below was the massive Drake. Taut coiled muscles held it to the mountains steep slope. Claws embedded deep in the rock face. Eyes burning with rage, it let out another deep guttural roar, proclaiming death to all within his path. Too far to identify, Ethan backed away.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, this is what I asked for, I gotta live with. But goddamn that shit is scary.
Bracing himself, Ethan sprinted forward, and jumped. Ethan dove, blinking away from the mountain as he fell, aiming for the Drake.
Six and half kilometers. I just have to get it to move six and a half kilometers.
The Drake spotted Ethan in free fall, and began furiously clawing its way up the mountain. Slowly at first, gaining speed as it got closer. But Ethan was getting closer, faster. Activating his Bracers, Ethan increased his speed while deploying all 6 of his chained tools. Trailing behind him, he kept them hidden in case the Drake was smarter than he hoped it wasn’t.
The two forces of nature were on course for a head on collision. The Drake leapt up swiping at Ethan, who responded by blinking behind the Drake. Canceling all of his momentum, Ethan hung in the air for moment, before sending all six chain weapons straight at the neck of the Drake, pulling himself towards his would be killer.
Alright big guy, lets see what you are.
--
Saris Mountain Drake, Level 41, Danger Extreme.
--
Yep, super fucked. Hope this works.
Ethan activate his Gravity Control, and Bracers. Gravity Control went into overdrive surging through his Domain, plummeting the pair down the cliff. Bracers kept Ethan stuck to the Drake, once they were in a free fall, Ethan manipulated Gravity once more with Gravity Control. Driving the three bladed tools deep into the Drakes neck. The mirror disk cut deep, but it was more of a slicing tool than stabbing. So slice it did. Back and forth it hacked away, falling out, and falling back in as Ethan switched the flow of Gravity as fast as he could.
The Hammer tools extended all the way around the pair, binding Ethan to the Drake in their free fall. The Drake howled and slashed at the air rushing past. Ethan strained as he tracked all of the different flows of gravity. Notifications going off, he ignored them all. The Drake deployed a small pair of skin like wings from under its front legs, trying in vain to gain control of its decent.
Fighting the Drake for control Ethan buried the blades deeper, canceled the bladed mirrored disk, and sent the duo into a free spin. With less than a kilometer left, Ethan canceled all of his tools, recalling them into his Aegis, and blinked away.
The Drake Slammed into the side of the mountain before Ethan reappeared, rolling down the cliff the last five hundred meters. Coming to stop, remained motionless as the dust cleared and rocks fell from above. The dust slowly cleared, revealing the Drake laying on its back, small rocks pelting it unresponsively. Ethan never taking his eyes, or attention off the beast.
Well, either its knocked out, and I gotta wait for sleeping beauty to wake up, or it is way past that, and today was a wash… Please wake up. Please.
Debris continued to roll down the slope, striking the Drake. Ethan blinked down, landing closer to the Drake than he felt comfortable, but he had to keep out of its war path. If it woke, he had to get on its back as quick as possible. With blinks limited range, he had to be within range to react before it noticed him. Standing between the direction of the Safe Zone, and the Drake, Ethan readied himself. Redeploying his chains, this time only four. His two hammers, and two of his curved knives connected to chains fell with a clatter, Ethan kept his Domain up. Extended as far as he could, with Gravity Control primed, ready to go.
Silence filled the world, Ethan’s heart raced, thumping filling his ears. Ragged breaths leap from his dry lips. Adrenaline surged, but still the world remained Silent. Ethan felt it before he saw it, a wave of anger washed over him, not his own, he was too focused to bother with how he felt. Then everything happened at once.
The Drake took a heavy breathe, waking, and rolling over. Letting out a murderous roar and wave of Mana. Ethan blinked behind, and on top of the two story Drake as it righted itself. It didn’t even bother to shake the dust and rocks off. It lunged forward where Ethan had be a moment before. Blinking one more time to catch up Ethan controlled the chains and knives through gravity, wrapping them around the neck of the Drake once more. Wrapping the chains around he forearm he yanked on them pulling him on to the back of the Drake.
The Drake snapped its long maw at Ethan, who in turn sent a hammer flying straight at its eye. It connected with a wet thud.
“Now, now. You’re gonna need to keep that attitude to yourself until we get done here. Now onward my loyal steed!” Ethan shouted as he continued to pelt the Drake with the hammer head in the face. The Drake made to spring into the air, Ethan just compressed Gravity around the knife blades burying them again in the already torn flesh of its neck. The Drake sprang forward instead, giving up on trying to buck Ethan off. Instead it ran into the forest.
“Oh, seen this move before. You are too late, I learned this lesson already.”
Ethan summoned his Alabaster, infusing it just as they reached the tree line. Every time the Drake made to slam Ethan into a tree Ethan sent a hammer to slam into the eye on the opposite side causing it to flinch away. Driving the Drake back to the mountain, Ethan rode the back of the Drake, sending hammer blows, and stabs in whatever direction he didn’t want the Drake to run. A path of destruction followed them like the wake of a boat.
“OK, big guy, this is gonna be a tight fit. Please leave hands and feet inside while we exit the Endless Plains.” Ethan said as they approached the Safe Zone. For good measure, Ethan launched two Aggro Arrows in an orbit around himself.
“Joe, I’m about to get hit with an Aggro Arrow, or two. Can you do something about that? I'm kinda winging it here.” Ethan said as it was the last thing he heard. The thundering steps of the Drake went silent, but he could still feel them. The shook his legs, and arms holding the chains around the Drake’s neck.
The alcove the Safe Zone was in came into view. Ethan sent wave after wave of stabs and hammer smashing into the side of the Drake. He felt it roar in rage as it veered to the right, entering the alcove. It was now or never, as Ethan lined up the Drake with the portal, and increased Gravity pushing the Drake down. It slowed, but didn’t stop.
Fuck this is gonna be cloooooose!
They approached the portal, the Drakes head entered the portal. The edge pushed the Drake down further as it road along its back. Ethan jumped back, giving slack to the chains around its neck. Falling back the Drake pushed through the portal, yanking Ethan behind it.
Here goes nothing, lets hope this works out!