Brian recruited Mandrix, Serdna, and Ilex, and together with Sophia they departed Arcasium. Their destination, Restview Station, lay in the complete opposite direction of Fort Luminar and Reptiscale Caverns. Using Arcasium as the reference, umbrar was akin to moving 'east'.
Brian drank in the verdant scenery surrounding them. After so long wandering Valteria's dusty purple wastelands, this explosion of green felt like a balm for his eyes. He ran his hands along the broad leaves and inhaled the scent of life reborn. Though lacking Earth's ancient grandeur, there was a wild charm to this place—as if nature herself was rebelling against Valteria’s desolate status quo.
Conveniently, the trees weren’t close together, they were distant enough that the five of them could walk comfortably trudge through, and the earth was
"Will you look at that," Mandrix said, gesturing across the landscape before them. “Life is so fucking beautiful. The night sky. Being with friends.”
Noticing Mandrix’s strange behavior, Brian looked at him out of the corner of his eye. What did he want?
"So come on fella, why exactly is this mission so important to the High Director?"
Brian hesitated, glancing at his towering friend. "Man, stop poking… I trust you more than Aleron," he admitted, "but I need to figure out where I stand within the directorate before I can give you all the details."
Mandrix snorted, shaking his head. "You want me to tell you where you stand? You're a puppet, Brian. You dance when the government calls out to you." He spat on the ground. "They just want to control us all. And the worst part of all is that the whole system is being controlled by the Valtite Illuminators."
He crossed his arms, eyes narrowing as he continued to complain about the directorate's manipulative tactics. Brian frowned, but remained silent, knowing that arguing would only fuel Mandrix's agitation.
“The Valtite Illumi-na-tors?” Sophia asked.
Serdna grinned. “He thinks it's a big scary group with a secret agenda for world domina–”
"Think? Nah." Mandrix interrupted. "Know? Absolutely. But take it as you want. I’m just warning you. You’re in the middle of the shitstorm."
"Maybe so," Brian conceded, slightly louder than a whisper, "but right now, we need their resources and support. We'll deal with any strings attached later."
Serdna strummed a few chords on his lyre, attempting to diffuse the tension.
Sophia bumped Brian with her shoulder, giving him a playful smile. "Don't worry. If there's one thing we've learned about Mandrix, it's that he's very persistent—maybe even more than you."
Brian raised an eyebrow, pretending to be offended. "Whoa, persistent? Me? Never mind, I guess maybe a little."
"And obsessive," Sophia teased.
"Alright, alright, point taken," Brian conceded. Unable to keep a straight face, he smiled. "Thanks, Sophia."
Ilex watched the exchange with a barely concealed chuckle. The familiarity between his friends was a comforting sight.
“Finally some action.” Mandrix smirked.
“What are those?” Sophia asked.
“Ferngrons,” Serdna said, stepping forward.
[Ferngron (Trace) - lvl 15 : Dominion]
[Ferngron (Trace) - lvl 15 : Dominion]
[Ferngron (Trace) - lvl 16 : Dominion]
[Ferngron (Trace) - lvl 19 : Dominion]
The four monsters looked like living embodiments of the woods themselves. Their humanoid-like limbs extended into a maze of branches and roots, and moss, leaves, and vines wove through their bodies, giving them camouflage that melded seamlessly with their surroundings.
"Can you communicate with ferngfrons as well?" Ilex inquired, drawing everyone's attention to Brian.
“Err… not exactly. They might not be intelligent beings, but I think I can sense their intentions.” As if on cue, the four ferngrons lifted their heads, their eyes like deep, dark hollows filled with a haunting glow. “And they are hostile. They don’t like people passing by.”
“No shit.” Mandrix started. “All of these monsters are–”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Let me take care of them,” Brian said promptly, noticing the wood-like creatures making their way towards them. “I want to test Dr. Fenn’s item.” The four enemies were under level 20 and had a 'trace' energy rank. He was almost certain that he could take them by himself and wanted to confirm.
Mandrix stepped aside, sweeping his arm in an inviting motion.
Brian glanced toward Sophia, whose determined look seemed to say, 'I'm cheering for you, but I'm also overly worried and ready to teleport in at a moment's notice.’
Unsheathing his shortsword, Brian noticed it with his Valtite Vision - a mist of energy flowing around the ferngrons' bodies. It looked like ethereal spores, floating around them and emanating a soft, easy-to-miss luminescent light. The microscopic spores seemed to have their own language; it was as if they were sentient, or perhaps they acted upon the ferngron's will.
“Oh, I almost forgot. Hold your breath when you get close to them,” Mandrix said.
“You don’t have to hold your breath all the time. Only when they lunge,” Ilex said, dryly.
“Holy cow, how do you know that?” Serdna asked.
“This fella… That can’t be true,” Mandrix snickered.
“I’ve studied them,” Ilex said.
“Ok, thanks guys. But, I need to concentrate now,” Brian croaked as he noticed the wood monsters picking up the pace.
Void energy engulfed his shortsword and he took one more step forward, putting him within the ferngrons’ range.
The ferngron in the lead dove forward. It came at Brian gracefully in one wave-like fluid movement, like a giant slinky. It was fast, but it was not faster than his Chronal Gaze, allowing Brian to effortlessly dodge. He held his breath and side-stepped to the left while the creature flew past him.
Brian lowered his sword and picked up speed as he moved towards the second ferngron.
As the sword swung diagonally, the void energy seemed to lag behind, warping space as it struggled to catch up with Brian's blade. The wounded ferngron let out a chilling and unsettling raspy moan before rapidly sinking into the ground. Its disappearance was as swift and bizarre as a tree growing out of the ground, but in reverse, as it was drawn into the earth instead.
Brian's Void Edge missed the first ferngron, but sliced through another. Though he had hoped to eliminate two of the creatures in a single swing, Brian felt satisfied with the results. The ferngron struck by the Void Edge shrieked in agony as a portion of its body was consumed by the void. Rather than leaving a clean cut, the Void Edge's energy sent a thick trail of the creature's body into oblivion, vaporizing over a hand's length of material where the blade made contact.
The defeated enemy collapsed and stopped moving, gently withered and turned to dust. The last fergron and the one that had attacked first both took notice of their comrade’s demise and launched at Brian simultaneously.
Or more accurately, almost simultaneously. Brian noticed that the one in front of him would converge at his location fractionally sooner.
It was as if the monsters were swimming on land, they moved toward Brian like dolphins coming out of the water. Conveniently he could still see their valtite presence when they were underground.
Before the closest enemy arrived he spun the Void Edge in a circular motion around his body, cleaving both ferngrons in turn. Both wooden bodies fell at his sides.
A sharp pain erupted from his abdomen, forcing Brian to his knees. He felt his throat constrict as if clenched by an invisible fist. Instinctively, he brought his hands to cover his mouth as he coughed violently. When he pulled them away, he was shocked to find both palms coated in a glossy crimson - he had inhaled some of the deadly spores.
Gasping for air, Brian tried to push himself to his feet. But it was too late. With a creaking rumble, the last remaining ferngron materialized from the ground behind him, looming over its weakened prey.
He sensed Mandrix's valtite towering over the creature, and with a quick glance through his Chronal Gaze, Brian calculated that Mandrix's sword would make quick work of the wood monster before it could even lay a finger on him.
“I told you to hold your breath.”
“I… know… but…” Brian was still coughing, though getting better. As the last ferngron slowly crumbled, the rest of the group congregated around Brian and Mandrix.
“Do you want one of my antidotes?” Ilex asked.
“No, I’m good. I think my body can take it,” Brian said, wiping his face.
“Take the damn antidote, Brian. I need you in top health.” Sophia’s sudden outburst startled everyone. But it didn’t surprise them, given how Sophia was always looking out for Brian's well-being.
“You know what? You’re right. Ilex, throw me one of your potio–” Before he could finish the sentence a vial rocketed towards his face. Brian snatched it out of the air, uncorked it and drank its contents.
He felt the antidote's energy swirling around inside him, targeting his throat, lungs, and chest – it was like a warm embrace that made everything feel better. Technically, this was the second time that Brian had taken one of Ilex's special potions. But the first time, he had fallen unconscious after the fight with the valtivenoms, and Sophia had made him drink it without his knowledge. Thinking about it made Brian realize why refusing to take the antidote had put Sophia in such a bad mood.
After complying with Sophia’s goodwill request, Brian went over the notifications.
You have vanquished [Ferngron - lvl 15] - Valtite has been distributed amongst your party. You have gained +32 Valtite reserves.
You have vanquished [Ferngron - lvl 15] - Valtite has been distributed amongst your party. You have gained +32 Valtite reserves.
You have vanquished [Ferngron - lvl 16] - Valtite has been distributed amongst your party. You have gained +40 Valtite reserves.
You have vanquished [Ferngron - lvl 19] - Valtite has been distributed amongst your party. You have gained +39 Valtite reserves.
Ability Enhanced: [Void Edge (Flicker)] – This ethereal weapon has the power to erase anything it cuts, disintegrating matter and energy alike with a single slice. The pressure of the void is intensified.
Unfortunately, he didn't gain any levels, but disappointment was quickly replaced by apprehension when he saw that his Void Edge skill had become stronger and was now aligned with his energy rank. He was pleased with how the skill had performed in combat, but now that 'the pressure of the void was intensified,' he desperately hoped that this wasn't the point where void decimators would start losing limbs to the void.