Seth made sure to re-activate Specter State before making his way back into the woods. He took it slow at first, finding his way amongst the marked trees, looking for a certain sign. Over the last couple weeks, Seth had not been lax in his efforts. Every tree that was marked was proof of a challenge he had either found or completed.
Any challenge that had been completed by him or another participant had an X marked beneath each original symbol he had carved into the bark. The symbols he had made were comprised of a small description he drew in English, as well as a basic drawing of the challenge site.
Seth’s memory and cognitive functions were vastly improved from his original human self, but the sheer amount of challenges in the first dimension was enough to warrant him to create a record of each. Many were already cleared, as the thousands of participants that roamed the area were quick to run through each, but there were still some remaining.
At this point, he wasn’t interested in the remaining challenges, as the gains resulting from each were negligible for his rank as a tier three. Even the occasional tempering reward only netted him a paltry ten percent gain in the single attribute he chose to improve. The symbols were still useful though, as there were a couple locations he needed to remember for the future, and they acted as a sort of ward for other participants that were still looking for the jump point.
Eventually, Seth found the tree he was looking for. It was marked with a long ladder and three wavy lines that symbolized a stench.
Bingo.
Seth quickly reminded himself of the location of Rulik’s lair before heading out. It was the last stop he was taking before entering the second dimension. Most participants had already made their way to the jump point, so it left Seth with a pretty uneventful trip to the caustic pond where Rulik lied.
The sounds of creaking trees and the occasional monster were the only things to fill the newfound silence in Seth’s mind.
Despite it having been weeks since the whispers in his head have ceased, Seth still wasn’t used to change. He didn’t exactly miss the incessant voices, but their sudden absence was almost as discomforting as the previous cacophony of sound.
After a half hour of launching through the trees, he finally caught a whiff of rotting death, causing him to adjust his path slightly. A few minutes later, Seth arrived at the shore of the green and purple cesspool.
Once again, he tried not to retch as he started pulling out monster hides to build another bridge. Seth had sunken the last one, as he didn’t want any other participants coming near Rulik’s pit. It seemed to have worked too because he noticed that the density of monsters was relatively the same as when he had first came here. This meant that the local area was less hunted than the rest of the dimension.
Also, it helped that the acidic pond was a significant distance away from the jump point, so no other participants would have a reason to stumble upon the smelly area.
With his work finished, Seth quickly made his way across the makeshift bridge, his weight causing the hide to bob slightly underfoot. When he reached the shore of the small island, Seth glanced back at the path for a moment before deciding to leave it be.
Someone would more likely melt or fall to their death before reaching me. He thought smugly.
Approaching the silver trapdoor set into the ground, Seth smoothly retrieved a basic face mask that he had crafted during his time in the group challenge.
Unfortunately, even with the dense material of the mask covering his nose and mouth, there was nothing that could stop the horrid smell of rigor mortis that emerged from the trapdoor. Silently retching once more, Seth withheld the vomit that was attempting to claw up his throat.
He dangled his legs over the entrance of the pit and gazed down into the infinite void lying beneath him. With nothing more than another disgusted sigh, Seth pushed himself forward and began his freefall into the humid pit.
********
Seth’s arrival at the bottom of the pit was signaled by a large, resounding splash. Thick green and purple sludge was thrown about as his body crashed feet-first into the foot deep fluid.
Seth let out a pained groan as he rose from the ground, now covered in the disgusting mucus. He had not meant to let himself fall that hard, but it was difficult to measure the depth of the pit, and he had been taking short freefalls in order to descend faster.
Luckily though, it seemed his Black Blood was showing its benefits, as he had dropped a hundred feet or so only to feel slightly shaken.
Stripping off his face mask, he let out a disgusted hack as he examined the now drenched piece of fabric.
What a waste. He annoyingly thought before letting it fall into the putrid liquid.
“Who is that? Has a new participant come to my pitiful ditch?”
A scratchy rumble sounded off from further into the darkness. Upon hearing the hopeful growl, Seth’s face twisted into a grin, the stench hanging in the air mostly forgotten.
“Ooooh honey! I’m home!” He called toward the far off mound.
He could feel the sludge underneath him recede slightly. Seth took this as a good sign and began slopping his way toward the diseased monster that he knew to be gaping in surprise.
“Wha—who? Do you dare to mock me you insignificant bug?” The beast rasped with obvious bewilderment.
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As Seth finally approached the behemoth, True Sight allowed him to watch as the dying monster’s eyes rolled back and forth, searching the darkness. Specter State was still active, although he was surprised it was enough to mask his presence from the high tiered creature, no matter how degraded it’s senses might be.
Taking a page out of Folly’s book, Seth crept forward with his pearly whites on display, not bothering to circumvent the beast’s line of sight. He crossed his fingers over his eyelids too, pulling them back to show off his mix colored sclera.
“Hey hey now! Have your eyes failed you in the short time I was away?” He taunted with an edge of humor.
“Don’t tell me you forgot about the only guy to have visited you in centuries?” Seth mocked.
Finally, Rulik’s eyes screwed onto his position, causing waves to rip through the thick sludge. It looked as if the monster’s body was attempting to function, to rise from its permanent spot in the noxious underground coffin.
But despite its efforts, the hulking body did not move so much as an inch.
“You.” The dying monarch seethed.
“Me.” Seth agreed with a wizened nod of the head.
A mix of emotions seemed to battle across Rulik’s visage as he accepted Seth’s presence.
“I still have nothing more to offer you scum. Either slay me or leave for eternity.” He rasped before hacking up a goblet of blood and pus.
Seth’s face transformed into a pout.
“Oh, don’t be like that!” He chastised.
“There’s more to do than making a deal. How about you tell me your favorite color and we can get to know each other a bit more. Who knows, maybe you can talk me into killing you without any stipulations!”
The beast seemed to shudder after his statement, the six milky eyes of the creature never leaving his face.
“Have you truly changed so much in such a short amount of time? I find it hard to believe that an infant shaper such as yourself could become such a vile and indifferent creature in the slight recess that has occurred since your last visit.”
Rulik took a moment to heave a wet cough that led into a series of dry hacks.
“I will not say it again. Leave now and never return. You might think yourself so invulnerable just like all the young and stupid do, but there are things that even I in my depressing state could do to end your little story here and now.”
The beast’s eyes seemed to harden and an echo of power escaped from it’s body, once again reminding Seth of it’s high tiered nature.
Even with the roil of ancient power cascading over him, Seth did not waver in the face of Rulik’s threat.
“Your power means nothing here. You are nothing but the pitiful remains of an ancient and unknown beast that will neither be remembered nor cared about.” He mocked.
Rather than upset the hulking mound, Seth’s statement seemed to cause it to slump further.
“Have my kind truly been forgotten?” Rulik muttered with almost a hint of sorrow.
“Tell me fiend, does the name: Rulik, Disciple of Slaughter, mean anything to you?”
Seth did not allow his face to betray any confusion. The name was one that he had never heard of, but the idea that the monster was truly in disbelief about his ignorance seemed interesting.
“Nope.” He stated simply.
Rulik paused briefly, seeming to search Seth’s face for the truth.
“I see…”
“What about the Forty-Two Disciples?” He questioned with a note of confidence.
Seth’s blank face was enough to answer that one. Upon seeing his obvious lack of recognition, Rulik erupted into another fit of coughs and hacks. Instead of waiting for him to finish, Seth interrupted the diseased episode.
“Well, as lovely as it was to reminisce over your little pet name or whatever, my patience has run dry.”
Seth crouched down next to the beast’s snout and cocked his head.
“I really thought I would be able to keep up with this playful taunting, but your stale personality has exhausted me. Cough up some information about something I would care about or I’m going back to my original plan.” He commanded.
Upon his curt response, Rulik’s hacking ceased. The monster’s head seemed to tremble as it seemed he was forcing his body to stay still.
“I offer information that any shaper would find priceless, yet you insult me and demand more?!” He growled in rage filled disbelief, causing small waves of sludge to lap against Seth’s ankles.
He was about to respond when a tendril of green-purple fluid rushed him from behind. If it was the last time he had visited Rulik, the tendril would have surely connected with his skin, most likely putting him into another strangled position just like before.
But this time, Seth’s new and improved peak tier three speed combined with Nightmare Adrenaline and his augmented body allowed him to swiftly dance around the tendril. After ducking under a jab from a new pillar of sludge, Seth lashed out with his claws, chopping both of them to bits.
Tens of more liquid appendages rose from the caustic lake and began pursuing Seth. Without so much as a glance at Rulik, Seth weaved through the new forest of adversaries. Despite not being able to see the sludge attacks last time, this time he was easily maneuvering around each flailing whip.
Now that he could see each attack coming, Seth could tell how lazy and unskilled each swing was. It seemed that the old beast was barely able to keep the fluid together long enough to throw it at him, meaning that the attacks were not a result of any actual ability.
Seth was interested in finding out how the monarch was manipulating physical matter without moving, but he also knew now was not the time to ask. After a few more minutes of dancing around the tendrils, he grew bored of trying to figure out how the attacks were formed and instead reached into his cache to retrieve a handful of items he had gotten from a previous challenge.
Sweeping his hand in large arc, Seth let loose an array of tundra monster cores, causing the ground around him to freeze in a wide area. With that, the sludge barrage was stopped in its tracks, leaving none of the fluid unfrozen around himself and Rulik.
He reapproached the mound only to realize that the beast’s chest seemed to be heaving faster, and its rotting maw was wide open. It seemed that manipulating the sludge was quite stressful on the beast, although it’s anger did not seem to cool down even with the exhausted energy.
“Alright mate, that wasn’t cool.” Seth said with a mock annoyed expression.
Instead of standing over Rulik’s head like before, Seth made his way to the opposite side of the beast’s body. Although most of the lengthy tail was underneath the frozen surface, he could still see the faint energy signatures that emitted from the monster’s flesh.
Crunching over the iced ground, Seth finally reached the end of the scaly tail where he began hammering through the dense cryo-sludge.
“Do you mean torture me, fiend? Ha! What a quant little idea. I’m afraid your efforts are for naught though, as no pain can penetrate this eternal agony caused by the curse that plagues me.” Rulik cackled.
Seth said nothing and continued to shatter the ice beneath him. With one last empowered punch, the sludge gave way, revealing a partially rotted bruise colored tail. Grabbing the scaly appendage with his only hand, Seth used the explosive power of his augmented body to launch himself off the ground. As he rocketed upwards, the tail he was holding followed him, causing more of the limb to emerge from the stiff ice.
Now that most of the beast’s body met the humid air, Seth set about sawing off a large portion of the scaled limb. Using the dagger sized blade on his wrist, he took multiple minutes to slice through the thick layers of muscle and bone.
Once again, Seth was reminded of the high tier of the beast before him as it took most of his strength combined with Unstoppable Edge to finally sever a piece of the monster. Furthermore, even after he wrenched the piece from the main body, the wound cauterized at a visible pace. Within a couple minutes, Seth was sure that more scales would have already covered the severed area.
Satisfied with his work on the first piece, Seth shoved the couple foot long tail tip into his cache and began working on the next.