Ethan had decided on to lure the Alpha out, after going in deeper. He had a plan to turn the tables in his favor, but needed to figure out a few things.
First was dealing with as many Telos Narox’ as possible. He wanted the Alpha to have a good reason to come to him. A few Telos Faroos mixed in couldn’t hurt, but he figured they would run for now, and help the Alpha when the time came. If his [Identify] was correct, they were swam type monsters, and he didn’t put it past the boss to use the same tactic.
Second was how to use up, or get rid of resources he was full on. As he ran through the dark forest, he kept [Missing Link] and Domain pushed to the max. Consuming a straight line through the forest. Like a sword of light piercing the darkness, he ran. Creating a barrier of sunlight he knew the Telos monsters could pass, they just wouldn’t. After what he guessed was a kilometer he made a sharp turn to the right, and ran again for another kilometer. He repeated that two more times. Effectively creating a cage of light for any Telos’ unlucky enough to be caught inside. He also quickly filled up his Internal Well. He had no idea how to get rid of it. He had only ever used stone, and now that he was using it properly the loss was minimal to non-existent.
Canceling his Stone Skin, he stopped in the alley of light he had carved in the forest. Summoning the Wood to his skin, it felt similar, but he also felt rejuvenated by the light.
Makes sense, I guess, tree like sunlight and all that… But how do I get rid of it.
Joe offered no help, instead focusing on [Soul Connection], and any threats that might pop up while Ethan worked out his current problem. Looking at his hands, he could see the faint lines of tree growth painted across his skin. If he pushed more Wood to his skin the lines got thicker and darker, before his skin took on a bark like texture, finally turning to a rich deep brown. He thought he looked like a druid.
Like… A druid…Druids can summon vines and shit, right? Can I summon, logs?
Standing in the cleared out path, he threw his hands up, and pushed as hard as he could. He summoned Mana to his fingers. He even tried a few Ninjutsu Hand Seals he could remember. Nothing. Other than making a fool of himself. Ethen then recalled the feeling of the one time he made spikes of stone from his ankles to hold on to the Alpha Cervine. Using the same method of building the his skin with Wood infused in it, from his palms. He soon had meter long spikes sticking straight out of his palms.
This might work, but won’t anything I create like this leave a shadow? I have to limit their movement.
Ethan didn’t think using the spikes as a defense would work, if they could dive into shadows, he doubted they’d be hurt by spikes that had shadows. He had to think of a way to get rid of the Wood, while minimizing what was left. The same thing needed to be done with the dirt piling up as he cleared the parameter.
I could just bury the spikes, create them in the ground might be better. But eventually I am going to be full of dirt…
Figuring he had solved one of his second objectives, he moved on to working out how to get rid of Soil. This ended up being easier than he had thought. The Soil was unique in that it did not hold its shape the same way Stone, and Wood did. As soon as it got far enough away from his body it lost integrity, and crumbed.
Okay, now that that is done, next is figuring out how to use two elements at the same time.
Ethan started with Wood, it felt more stable, and he had less of a feeling of it dissipating or whatever it did when it returned to his Internal Well. He pushed the Wood out, focusing on one arm. Restricting the resources to just his left side. Slowly gaining more control over [Missing Link] and the Wood inside his Internal Well. Confident he could get it to work, he let go of his control of the resource. And waited. It remained, just like it had when he used it everywhere. It felt odd, he could feel the connection the Wood had to his Internal Well, but it was weak, held on by a thread, connecting to his shoulder, before ballooning out to fill his arm. Concentrating he attempted the same thing with the Soil. At first nothing. It didn’t fight him, it just didn’t react. Then slowly it crawled up his chest. Thicker than the thin thread holding the Wood in place.
It’s like a mound. Like a mountain forms over time.
Slowly it grew up, closer and closer towards his shoulder. Like a proud mountain peak piercing the heavens the edge of the Soil broke through and flowed into his arm filling it like a landslide.
Notifications went off. Letting Ethan know he had leveled up [Missing Link] not once, but twice.
What? Leveling up expands the storage? At least now I don’t have to stop and off load resources as much now…
The next goal was to drive the Telos’ to either fight, or flee inside the cage he had made. In all honesty he had no idea how many he had trapped, they had remained hidden. For all he knew he wasn’t doing anything but wasting time. But his instincts told him he had some trapped, and he needed a battlefield he controlled if he was going to take on the Alpha.
Continuing to do laps around the one km by one km square, slowly consuming fifteen meters a side as he ran. Stopping when his resources filled up to turn half his body to Wood, and the other half to Soil. Burying spikes of wood, and casting off dirt. As he continued to do this he got more and more efficient at creating spikes, burying them deeper, then making them bigger. He could now create ten meter long spikes straight down. He theorized his maximum was the edge of his Domain. Soil was easier to get rid of, he didn’t need to do it as often, and it had far less structural integrity. Making his path littered in a small trail of loose soil, and broken off spikes sticking up just above the surface.
With a hundred meter square left of the original kilometer on each side, he saw movement.
Finally.
Ethan’s pace slowed. Still consuming the tree line as he went, he watched the shadows. Few Telos Narox were brave enough to attempt attacking Ethan. The few who launched themselves at him, hadn’t gotten the memo, he could use [Blink]. Quickly moving above the Telos’, it didn’t take more than a quick punch to the head to drop them. Night was quickly approaching and he needed to finish up his plan before he had to fight in the dark. Where he would be decidedly at a disadvantage. Ethan had thought he needed to either kill enough of the smaller Telos, or get them to call the Alpha out. Now that he had his arena built, it was time to move on to the next phase of his plan. With less than fifty square meters of trees left in the center of the opening, he created two long sticks, and started rubbing them together.
Using the same gravity shifting trick, he quickly got a fire going. Then moved on to the next tree, lit it on fire. Rinse and repeating until the entire outside of the patch of trees was engulfed in flames. At first nothing happened. Then cries of fear began to reach the clouds above. Pushing his Gravity ability from his Bracers to his Domain was more difficult then he liked. But it was possible. He used that to its full effect, once trees were fully on fire, he would push them over, deeper into the patch of trees. Forcing any of the Telos trapped to move deeper into the interior.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Soon cries and screams echoed across the clearing. He could feel the experience rush in as Telos died one after the other. Right as the notification came if for his level up, he heard a roar of rage, followed by several others in unison from deeper in the forest. He had summoned the Alpha.
A grim smile crept across his lips. It was time for the Alpha to make a choice. Fight on his opponents terms, or cower and wait. If his understanding of Alpha’s was accurate, it couldn’t cower. It was not something it could do, on a basic level. The day had a few hours left, but the light was lower than it had been a few hours ago. Long shadows crept out from the outer tree line. He just had to wait now.
The longer he waited, the more likely it was the Alpha would come out of the shadows he left for it. So he waited knowing where it was coming out. As soon as it did, he would blink on top of it and the battle would begin. The screams continued as the light of day receded. Soon the shade of the treeline reach as close as it could without night coming on fully. The small patch of trees was fully engulfed, the raging flames cast light pushing back the shadows. Ethan sensed it before he saw it. The Alpha had arrived. He had never felt anything like it, he could feel the bloodlust like a shark swimming through water. It was coming for him. There was a long tear shaped shadow darker then the rest, racing towards Ethan, he could see it as much as he felt it. Blinking on top of it as it raced forward, Ethan landed just behind it. The monster sprung from the shadows, spun mid air and landed facing Ethan. He quickly used [Identify].
Alpha Telos Dar-fil. Level 16.
Five tail like appendages grew from it feline head. Eyes smaller than the Narox, but twice as many, in a line meeting in the center of its face. Strong and sleek looking, with lean muscles. Taller than even the Faroos. Like an inky Panther it stalked forward. Two of the appendages on its head lifted and curled, pointing its many rows of teeth on the under side at Ethan. It let out a blood curdling howl, summoning nearly 10 Faroos from behind Ethan. They rose out of the shadows, silently fanning out. He was surrounded, Ethan grinned once more. This was all going the way he had hoped. He heard the Faroos all whip their dreadlocks like appendages, launching poison needles towards him.
Blinking away, the needles shot forward. Before they could hit the Alpha it had jumped in the air, and dove back into the shadows. Ethan felt it head towards the burning patch of forest. Reappearing by the furthest Faroos, Ethan canceled his Wood infusion, and Summoned Stone to cover his body. He wasn’t sure if wood stopped the Needles as much as the Stone, but did not want to find out.
His fist connected with the body of the Faroos, and it exploded. Startling the rest as black blood sprayed across the line of monsters. The farthest ones from him, dove down, into the shadows. Ethan was able to forward and dispatch one more Faroos before the rest had come to their senses and disappeared into the shadows.
Looking around Ethan could feel the Alpha pacing back and forth, trying to get to its… Herd? Swarm? Ethan wasn’t sure what it called its underlings.
All I’ve gotta do is keep it busy while pissing it off. A few more of these Faroos should do.
As the Alpha paced nervously, pushed back by the light of the flames, the remaining Faroos attacked. They had chosen a hit and run type of attack. Appearing behind Ethan, out of the shadows, shooting needles, and diving back in. A few needles struck his back, and arms before he started running. Blinking across the open field, arm hanging, gravity primed to block anymore needles. Ethan kept moving, not stopping for a second, he was giving himself time to learn the Faroos pattern. It turned out ‘pattern’ was a loose term, the Faroos only returned from the shadows behind him when Ethan blinked to the nearest of their comrades. His back, muscles numb, nerves on fire. He had an arm still had needles sticking out of it. But he was quickly figuring out the Faroos’ movements. Ethan figured they had some sort of cooldown on their needles, and that was what determined which one would appear behind him. He couldn’t sense the Faroos like he could the Alpha. They didn’t have bloodlust, they felt empty. Like they were following orders, and not invested in the fight.
Too bad for them, Ethan was invested, and had rigged the market. He knew it was getting close to the point where the Alpha would no longer have a reason to try and get past the flames. When that happened, he would be in trouble. If he didn’t get rid of the Faroos’ first.
Ethan made his move. Blinking backwards in short jumps, leading the Faroos away from the Alpha, and the deeper part of the shadows, he lead them to the edge of the light. It was time to go on the offensive, and he needed to bait them out.
He waited on the edge of the light, not crossing into it. His back against the wall as it were, they quickly arrived, and sprang from the shadows. Blink behind the last to spring out, he struck it, blinked again, and struck his next target. Killing them both, before leading them down the edge of the shade.
Four down, six to go, it’s about time you took notice… come on.
Between dodging needles and baiting the Faroos, Ethan kept checking his arm and back. The poison didn’t last as long, only hurt more the more needles pierced him. This was important because the three needles in his back were already weakening. Which meant his arm wasn’t far behind. He could take a few more in his arm if needed, but didn’t want to play that hand, if he could help it. Reaching further from the Alpha, he tried the same trick, waiting for the Faroos to catch up. They arrived, and two more were quickly dispatched. One Faroos had actually not left the shade, proving they could learn. This was not something he could keep doing. Not that he planned to, instead of continuing further from the Alpha, he tried getting closer.
Cutting the distance in half, between him and his target he stopped, once again with his back to the light. This time when the Faroos dove at him, he blinked between the two that had jumped from the shadows, not behind. He wanted the two remaining to attack. His trick worked and the two that had not attacked before, jumped at him from behind. Quickly blinking again he reappeared behind the smarter two. He grabbed their hind legs as they were leaving the shadows and spun with all his might, straining against the added weight. Even with the shifting gravity aiding his throw. Like a shot put both the Faroos flew through the air, crashing into the light covered earth, sliding shortly before dissolving into pill shaped shadows surrounded by the last rays of day light.
This had the intended purpose. The two Faroos he had used as bait, had repositioned to be behind him, and jumped at him. These two weren’t the smartest, and died because of it. Ethan was then left in the shade with the Alpha. Alone. He knew if this didn’t get its attention he would have to strike before it got a chance to shift its focus.
But the Alpha didn’t attack. It still paced. Trying, in vain, to get past the light of the fire in the center of the cleared out space. Confused, Ethan blinked over to the first shadow pill and activated consumption, absorbing the first of the marooned Faroos’. Nothing. The Alpha still paced.
“What gives? I killed all but one of its guards?”
Joe spoke for the first time in hours,”It is a Brood Mother, it must sense some of its swarm still alive in the fire. They probably found the last remain shadows and are holding out.”
“Damn it. I guess I’m taking the fight to it.”
Ethan quickly ran to the last Faroos, and consumed it. Before blinking on top of the Alpha, several feet in the air. Pushing as much stone as he could to his hands, and increasing the gravity to his maximum. He smashed down on the Alpha, making contact before it disappeared. A resounding boom echoed out, dirt flew in the air, blotted out the sun. But not the light from the fire. He knew he hit it, but it was still alive. Still pacing, below the surface. Thinking quickly he tried to consume it, if it wasn’t going to come out, he wanted to get an easy kill. But he only consumed Soil.
This one must have decided stats other than Intelligence were worth its time.
He tried hitting the ground to get it to come up, he tried burying it, nothing worked. The Alpha just kept pacing, trying to get inside the fire.
“Well, if it wants to get in the fire so badly, why don’t we let it.” Ethan said as an idea was form.
Quickly running towards the fire, summoning spikes of wood from his palm, breaking them off one by one. Until he had an arm full of them. Sticking the three meter long spikes in the ground so they stood in a row, Taking one more shorter spike to use as a torch, he lit the rest of the spikes.
“Sometimes in war, you have to send a message. Come on, pick up the pho-”
Before Ethan could finish his sentence, or lighting the rest of the spikes, the Alpha sprung out of the shadows, instantly it started to howl in pain. The light of the fire was enough to cause it pain, and damage it, but it didn’t care. Four of its head tentacles pointed at Ethan, its rows of razor sharp teeth vibrating with the screams they were emitting. Before Ethan could dodge for large spikes flew at him. He managed to dodge two, and smack one away with the help of his impromptu torch bat. The last one buried itself in his thigh.
Pain erupted in his muscles, nerves felt like they were curling up his leg, fire coursed through his veins. A scream left his body before he knew what was going on, pain had claimed his body. Ethan was no longer in control. He subconsciously activated everything. He pushed consumption through his Domain. Increased gravity in both hands, and pushed Stone out like flowing water. He had begun to sink into the ground before Blink failed to activate. Sinking deeper into the newly formed 3 meters hole, the pain came in waves, pulsing up his leg. He felt like he was in a free fall of fire. Then he felt it. The Alpha had jumped in after him. He was now trapped in a deep, dark hole with an Alpha. Luckily consumption absorbed the needle, so no new poison was being injected into him as his body fought off the poison already inside him. The Alpha was clawing and scratching at his chest as he layer there in agony. Stone slowly chipping away faster than the poison was dissolving. Soon his reserves of Soil filled and he stopped falling. If he had tried this before noon he might have a chance, but night was falling, the light was low, and he was in a hole deep enough he was completely surrounded by darkness. The Alpha’s claws and teeth won out. They had dug and ripped away enough stone to get to his flesh. Blood began to flow, soaking Ethan’s stone covered outer shell. Quickly reversing gravity, throwing the Alpha up and into the air. Ethan rolled over, canceling his Domain. He wanted the pain to stop. He was tired of having to put on a face. He was tired of having to fight. He was tired of it all.
But the Alpha wasn’t. It came crashing down in the middle of the hole, instead of charging him, it dove for the wall of the hole, and disappeared. Moments later it slammed into Ethan from the ground where he had stay curled up, protecting his chest. It was Ethan’s turn to be airborne. Now in a free fall, he saw the Alpha poised to launch more needles, directly under him.
“FUCK YOU!” Ethan screamed as he fell.
Instinct more than anything, because his only thoughts were on NEVER getting hit with those needles again, he started blinking up, as far as he could. Straight up. Higher than he ever had before. He just kept blinking. Until the poison finally had burnt itself out enough for him to think of anything else.
Then he began to fall.