A wide breeze encompassed the outer region of Ashen Grove, flowing through and tickling the leaves on top of the great trees of the grove. The forests let out a whistling noise in response that permeated the area, adding to the slow, tranquil, and stagnant environment. Rivers of water flowed under the soft sunrays, shining upon the waters and the grass.
One could listen, feel, and observe these happenings and forget they were in a deadly region ripe with terrors, beasts, and hidden sites of antiquity. Within this seemingly peaceful paradise, Oscar's hushed and angered voice carried itself clearly over the ancient trees. He held Gol-4 over the dome of its head, trying to crack it with his powerful grip.
"Gol-4, We've been walking for two days now. But there's still no sign of anything. I get that it's an underground city, but it's ridiculous that you keep second-guessing yourself." Veins popped over his forehead as he shook the golem violently.
"The place has changed significantly and has been blanketed by all the invasive plants. It is natural to adjust as we keep searching." Gol-4 answered, unbothered by his head being shaken so much that he looked blurry. "Time is also a factor. Four thousand years have passed since then; change is inevitable."
"I bet it's hiding something." Austin took out his dagger, concentrating a fierce amount of acid that dripped down and burned a hole into the ground. "It'll take a while, but we can melt it back slowly."
Erik shook his head at the two trying to threaten Gol-4, but the sudden noise of something cracking caught his attention. He turned behind him, summoning his gauntlet anima and surging his Ein forward as a warning to whatever it may be. "Something's coming."
Oscar responded with his deer anima by his side and lifting his bulwark. The ground quaked as five hulking monstrosities stomped their way here, rushing toward Oscar and the others. "These are Lower Elite Exalt Beasts, Sergantis; watch out for their poison."
The large creatures had big purple-ish scaly bodies, standing on two feet with bulky arms with large claws at their ends. Their heads were the most unusual because of their long slender necks with a snake head that hissed at their prey, appearing as if someone had taken a snake and glued it onto the large body of a bear. The Sergantis stood four times as large as Oscar and cracked the ground beneath their feet.
"I'll take two of them!" Erik rushed in with his fists, clad in gauntlet armament, and controlled his gauntlet animas, each holding a flame spear. He went on into his quad-spear barrage of molten fury as flames blazed under his feet. The screams and sounds of fires roaring came from the Sergantis.
Oscar shook his head at this scene, remembering Erik's frustration after seeing how he was the only one to lose against his opponent during the battle against the Undying Flame Sect students. A slight smile formed as Oscar thought it was good that Erik had strived to do better but grew slightly worried his friend might become too reckless. While in thought, a large claw swiped its way toward Oscar as the Sergantis approached with his head whipping ahead to fight into him.
'Flowing Mountain'
His bulwark held back the powerful claws, allowing the Reis from the blow to flow into Oscar, who strained himself slightly to control the flow and slammed his foot on the ground to generate more Reis.
'Silver Lance'
Oscar thrust his lance against the incoming head of the Sergantis, seeing the poison dripping from its fangs. The 'Silver Lance' with the powerful Reis accumulated from his 'Flowing Mountain' destroyed the fangs and pierced through the soft gums to protrude from its head. Instantly, Oscar pulled his arm away, leaving the lance inside the snake's mouth as the poison melted down the metal.
"I hate snakes…." Oscar looked irritated, recalling the grade-eight snake anima of Maia's that completely overwhelmed his deer anima. Even the poison of the Sergantis did not compare to the melting power of her snake's flames.
Clearing his mind of useless thoughts, Oscar turned to Austin, who took on two Segantis and wanted to push himself not to drag Oscar down. Oscar felt a slight embarrassment from how Austin seemed to look up to him, but he didn't think it was a bad feeling.
Over time, the Sergantises were eliminated, and the trio had a good harvest of materials and cores to put away in their space pockets. Oscar sat down to meditate and recover his losses when Erik cheered and laughed like he had gone crazy.
"Have you lost your mind?" Oscar scolded Erik, who stood up triumphantly. "What's going on?"
"I can feel my core getting restless. I've finally reached the point of advancement. I can move onto the Middle Elite Exalt realm." Erik pumped his chest, pounding his fist on his heart as he laughed. "It took a long while, but I finally feel it."
Oscar stared blankly at Erik before he put on a weak smile, feeling a bit jealous of Erik. "Congratulations."
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"Me too. In fact, I've been feeling it since yesterday." Austin told the truth to the baffled Oscar and Erik.
"Why didn't you mention this?!" Erik said with a red face from the embarrassment that he made such a big deal of himself while Austin acted so casual about the matter. In a way, he felt Austin had given him a slap across the face and doused his excitement.
"I didn't want to say it until we finished our last business here. Also, I didn't want to boast about it because of Oscar." Austin said, unable to look Oscar in the eye.
Erik realized the same as Austin and bowed to Oscar. "Sorry for being so insensitive. I made a fool out of myself."
"It's alright," Oscar felt more embarrassed at receiving Erik's apology. "It's natural that the two of you get to that point faster than me. I only have to keep biding my time."
"The best way would be to give a great stimulus to you and your core, but surprisingly, the battle against Maia Claude didn't loosen up the barrier for you." Austin munched on some meat they grilled from the Sergantis; the snake meat was juicy and melted in his mouth.
Oscar listened with a tired expression and tore into his chunk of Sergantis meat, munching on it while in thought and frustration. He couldn't understand why, after all the ordeals he'd been through so far, his core still did not call for him to advance. 'Frederick and the others are waiting for me in the middle region of Ashen Grove. I need to get to them as fast as possible.'
Despite his frustrations at being stuck in here, Oscar did the best he could to expand their territory and protected several other students over the few days they traveled to get to this point. However, the first week was almost up, and Oscar needed to get stronger fast to help in the final few days at the temple.
As he munched on the meat, Oscar gripped tighter and ate faster to invigorate himself. With a satisfied burp, Oscar stood up and smiled, "I just need to work harder. Let's find Tectusen and part ways; I'll join you two as fast as possible."
His friends smiled and finished their meals in a flash. Following Gol-4's strange instructions that randomly changed as time passed, Oscar arrived at a large swamp with murky green waters that he could not see through. However, ripples and bubbles started to show on the water's surface, and Oscar quickly fell back.
A large lizard, resembling a crocodile, came out, covered in moss and mushrooms covering the top of its head.
'Shattering Star'
'Flame Spear'
'Dark Rend'
Oscar and the others launched their ranged spells onto the moss-covered creature, causing it to growl in pain until Oscar's 'Shattering Star' blew apart and bombarded the crocodile with many fast shards. As the finisher, they sent out their animas and overwhelmed the beast, dyeing the green waters red with its blood.
"I don't feel too good about going into the swamp." Oscar sighed and held up Gol-4 as Austin harvested the corpse. "You can't be serious about the entrance to Tectusen being in this swamp."
"I am certain. After taking in the landscape and viewing the perimeter, this swamp region closely matches how Stonehaven appeared four thousand years ago at the location of Tectusen." Unable to float up, Gol-4 asked Oscar to let it see all over the area. "Yes, this is it."
"Alright. I'll go along with your observations." Oscar shook his head at the situation and put up a shroud of Ein to protect his body. He dipped into the swamp, the waters reaching up to his chest but not touching his body, and took slow, heavy steps through the dense swamp.
With the others following behind him in single file, Oscar held Gol-4 above his head to watch for landmarks while Erik and Austin dove below to find any submerged ruins. As the day dragged on, their enthusiasm dwindled as they saw more than murky waters and overgrown plants.
"There!" Gol-4 sounded louder than before.
Oscar turned to where Gol-4 nudged him to look and saw a mini-island. He wafted through the waters and stepped on the island, the ground feeling soft and bouncy. "This place?"
"Yes. Dig up the ground." Gol-4 stared at the empty patch of land in the center of the mini-island."
Oscar nodded reluctantly and waved over Austin and Erik to help him dig. In a matter of seconds, they dug up the dirt.
"Look!" Oscar shouted as he cleared away more dirt to reveal a large square block with engravings of boulders and dragons with five claws. In the center was a long slit like a closed gate. Looking at Austin and Erik, who also had excited smiles, Oscar nodded at finally finding something worthwhile.
However, Gol-4 put a damper on their spirits. "Oh no."
"What is it?" Oscar sighed at the prospect of bad news.
"This is one of the entrances for sure, but to the shuttle system, a twisting winding network of tunnels that leads to anywhere in Tectusen."
"And what's wrong with that?" Oscar asked.
"Open it." Gol-4 did not want to waste words and wanted them to see it for themselves.
Oscar and the others wrenched the stone gate open but looked taken aback at the small hole that could only fit one of them. Nothing could be seen in the dark hole, but Oscar saw it was incredibly deep, leading to unfathomable depths.
"Only one at a time, and you may be split up," Gol-4 said.
Oscar stared solemnly at the hole and then at Austin and Erik. He chuckled and patted Erik on the shoulder. "You go first, then Austin, and then me."
"Shouldn't you go first?" Erik retorted with a nervous expression.
"I don't think it matters." Austin drew near the small entrance and nodded. "I'll see you later." He jumped and fell straight into the hole, disappearing from sight.
"Gah! Fine!" Erik cracked his knuckles and wore his gauntlet armament. He gazed at Oscar with determination. "Don't get yourself killed." He also dropped into the hole.
Now only Gol-4 and Oscar remained.
"I'll put you back in for now. The drop looks far." Oscar said.
"Sounds good," Gol-4 responded as he got sucked into the space pocket.
Oscar stared down at the entrance and breathed out the humid air of the swamp. However, his eyes snapped wide open as he turned to the side. His arms lifted his bulwark and blocked a heavy blow.
"This power?" Oscar could not believe he was forced back and sent tumbling to the edge of the mini-island. He got up and wiped the dirt off his face with his teeth clenched. The gates to Tectusen had closed, and he saw a gray hammer floating in the air; the head was as large as his head.
"Nice block. Also, what is this gate?" A rough voice called out from the other side of the mini-island.
Oscar groaned and surged his Ein. "I don't have time for this."