A couple hours later, I’ve left everyone back where I got them before my Evolution, except Logan. B’esloor and Kauran weren’t around and I found myself being glad that I don’t need to be caught up in anything before testing out my new Skills properly. No doubt once the third Trial is officially ended I’ll see them again.
In the meantime, Logan and I are peering through a Portal at the biggest threat on Earth at the moment. I exert my will and pull through information about what I’m seeing.
Eryvalis, The Rootmother (Level 409)
Health: 46840/46840
Mana: 14940/15110
Conditions: Entropic Bloom, Vine Warden, Corrupt the Wild, Verdant Fury, Withering Aura, Heart of Rot, more…
Not far from the Mindshredder Hive Queen, but still far from Hvitserkur. I glance over at Logan, who’s watching intently, and rethink whether I should do this with him. Through the Portal we can see Eryvalis in what was the Amazon rainforest, near Manaus which somehow still has over a million people living in it. She’s a twisted tree-like entity with vines that move purposely. Some combine to form monstrous limbs and others stretch out like long, thin fingers that grasp and search. All around her are an army of corrupted forest creatures of all shapes and sizes. I can only assume that she controls a massive area given her Level, the length of time since the Influx, and the remoteness of the location.
“What do you think?” I ask him.
“I think I’m close to getting my Mythic Class Skills so I need XP. And I want you to think I’m ‘Himothy’. But that thing is out of my league.”
“Part of what helps us to become powerful is knowing when not to take on a fight,” I suggest to him.
“That’s a bit rich coming from you, isn’t it Uncle Bronwic?”
“Probably,” I admit.
We watch for a few more minutes and then I make a decision.
“I’ll hold the Portal open when I go through. Nothing will be able to pass through it except humans. If I can take that thing out then you should be ok with the rest of it. Just don’t get locked down, eh?”
Logan nods and I can see he’s taking it as seriously as he should, so I manifest the Portal and stride through into the jungle.
Instantly rough vegetation and foliage as hard as steel and covered in barbs that glow with necrotic and poisonous energy move to wrap around me. I trigger Perfect Focus and watch them slow down to a crawl while my Agility and Perception ramp up. I bat a few of them aside easily to get used to the speed I’m operating at and realize right away that to fully take advantage of this I’m going to have to put a lot more free Attributes in Strength. Only a second has passed and I want to see how my new armor handles attacks so I stand still and let the attacks come.
Vines try to bind me and a few scratch or even penetrate my armor a short way, but they’re pushed out quickly as the Stamina drain from Dimensional Forge increases slightly and the armor reforms and strengthens at the point of attack. It’s not remotely enough to touch my Stamina regeneration levels.
The fury of nature blasts me from all directions as the Rootmother turns her focus to me and withering and rotting debuffs slam into me from all directions without taking hold. I give it a few seconds while watching my minimap. Eryvalis is the only red dot and she continues her slow march toward Manaus while the Monsters under her control swarm toward me. The ground under her seems to surge and open up to let her pass by at high speed.
Very satisfied with the amount of protection Dimensional Forge gives me in combination with my other Skills, it’s time to swap to offensive. I trigger Resonant Strike in a blast all around me with me at the center. As the Skill releases I feel I have some control over what it affects through its resonant waves, but it’s mostly raw destruction. As the blast pulses out in a ripple I watch Monsters, vegetation, trees, and even hills and other terrain features all explode apart. All that’s left behind is a coarse, heavy mist of particles that falls to the ground with a wet thump. For a radius of fifty meters around me the ground is now stamped flat and covered in a thick layer of remnants.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
I look around in a bit of shock, trying to process the damage my Skill has just smashed out, then dart straight toward the Rootmother and trigger Resonant Strike again, this time focused in a tight cone. The thick jungle explodes apart as the blast pulses out and when it reaches the Rootmother I can not only see it ripping her up, I can feel it wrestling with her Resistances and inherent damage reduction. Nothing gets to this Level without being able to take a serious hammering, but my Skill has disrupted her momentum and she halts as her fibres and form are shredded.
One Wraithstrike and I’m in close, devastating the Rootmother with two massive battle axes I’ve formed with Dimensional Forge. Perfect Focus allows me to dodge most of her attacks, other than the true Area of Effect attacks and the occasional time where my Strength can’t keep up with what I’m trying to do.
All her minions swarm back in toward her in a synchronized defence that must be part telepathy. I use Wraithstrike with abandon to attack her from all angles and it leaves her vulnerable as I chop and hack and slash. Soon the kill notification comes and I dart back over to the Portal and step through.
Logan has his armor fully on including his helmet and turns slowly toward me, then starts to say something that I can’t understand until I drop Perfect Focus and time speeds up to normal.
“-at was that?” he asks, pointing toward the Portal.
“New Skill. You didn’t want to join?”
“I saw that massive wave of destruction and decided to stay out of the way.”
Fair enough. I’m not even sure right now if I can stop it from damaging my allies. Maybe more points in the Skill will give me more control.
“The tough one is dead,” I let him know. “Let’s go have some fun.”
Logan leaps through the Portal before I even finish my suggestion. I step through again and watch him mow down the lesser creatures the Rootmother was bringing toward the city. I walk behind his trail of destruction and keep an eye on my minimap. Maybe he’ll get those last Levels he needs to get his Mythic Skills today after all.
We’ve almost finished mopping up and Logan has only one more Level to go when I get the notification I’ve been waiting for, and it’s good news.
Congratulations!
You have completed the Koldaavi Combat Trials in First Place!
Your fame throughout the Universe has increased substantially.
Victory reward: variable
Your completed time and score is a new record.
Reward: 10,000,000 XP
Would you like to select your KCT victory reward now?
(Y/N)
Your KCT liaisons wish to teleport you to their location. Do you accept the transport?
(Y/N)
I mentally depress ‘N’ on both options for now and watch Logan take out another three high Level Boa Constrictor derivatives. It’s going to be exciting to see him with his Skills. Another ten minutes and the whole threat is wiped out, perhaps with nobody in Manaus any the wiser.
“Great job, Logan. I’ve gotta get you home now, a few things to take care of.”
“Whoo! Sure Uncle Bronwic. Thanks for watching my back, that was crazy.”
I laugh since it certainly didn’t look like he was out of his depth.
“Any time, kiddo. Now… here you go.” I open a Portal to Carter’s house and he jumps through without saying another word, already on to wherever his mind is wandering. I set it aside with a smile. He’s a teenager. There’s another notification I need to open.
Level Up!
You have reached Level 3 as a Dark Mana Knight
+30 Aura, +20 Mana, +60 free Attribute points to assign
You have 60 free Attribute points to assign
Would you like to allocate them now?
(Y/N)
You have 4 unallocated Class Skill points
Would you like to allocate them now?
(Y/N)
I drop all the free Attributes in Strength and even though I know I could Evolve Dimensional Forge right now, I decide to put them in Resonant Strike instead. As I do, the knowledge of how to use it without harming my allies fills my mind, along with how to focus it on something distant without destroying everything along the way. Massive upgrade!
The question of how to explain when I Evolve my first Ascended Skill has been playing on my mind and I’m not sure how to deal with it, other than to stop caring.
My next stop isn’t Kauran and B’esloor even though I’m probably breaking some kind of unwritten rule at the very least. I trigger Omnipresent and find Taiwo several Galaxies away, so instead I open a Portal to the MIS Hub in Queenstown and touch the Shop orb.