I get up on the ground and rub my temple. I feel a new connection to something stemming from my fake core. I look around to see an aqua-blue mask with two symbols on the top of it on the floor next to me. A smile permeates my face as I rub it and notice the faint glow of mana coursing through the 2 runes at the top of it. I can’t believe I got that to work. I didn’t even think I could get a single rune, let alone two. I bring up the description of the item.
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Permanent Construct - Blue Veil - Gear
Runes:
* Minor Sustenance Rune: Provides a small but steady stream of nourishment to the player, staving off hunger and thirst for a day.
* Minor Sticky Rune: Allows chosen areas of the mask to attach to another object.
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I put it on and will my water mana to flow into the mask through the soul tether that attaches it to my fake core. I instinctively feel the option to activate either rune and choose the Minor Sticky Rune, allowing the mask to attach to my face. The world becomes tinted in blue, and I feel my face hurt from smiling hard. So cool!!!
I leave my tent and am greeted by a massive storm wall approaching the sky. The flashes of colour coming from inside are visible even through the tinted lenses of my mask. I’d expect rumbling and sound, yet no noise comes from the wall, filling me with a weird ominous feeling. I look around me at the discoloured grass that looks straight out of a fantasy book.
“You ready, little one?” says the giant brown bird beside my tent.
I watch the flecks of gold on its body swirl around through its feathers.
We reached The Glades a couple of days ago, but I couldn’t enter since I had not created and bonded to my mask yet.
“Where did Devonte go,” I ask.
“He went back to Atria. Nice mask by the way.” I can hear a hint of a smile in his voice. How that’s possible, I have no clue.
“Thanks,”
“Before we enter the storm wall, you need to make a choice,” Thalanda says before making a small marble appear in his huge claw, “You can bond with me using this or you can go in there and find another beast to bond with. It’ll be better for you to bond with another beast closer to your level because you’ll be able to share its abilities and the mental pressure from binding your core to its core won’t leave you crippled for some time… But when we enter through there.”
Thalanda points his right wing at the storm wall, “We’ll get separated because we aren’t bonded. If you think you can handle yourself long enough for me to find you, then I’d recommend keeping the orb and waiting till you find another beast that’s more your level.”
I rub my temple and take in what he says, “How long will you think it’ll take for you to find me.”
“Anywhere from an hour to a couple of weeks. Worse case, maybe even months. The Glade is huge. You can travel for years on end not reach the end of it. If we get dropped off close to each other, I’ll be able to locate you pretty quickly,” he answers.
I sigh and rub my face. Temporary safety over long-term power. You have to live to enjoy your future anyway. Making my decision.
“I think it’d be better if I bond with you. I’m—” I choke on my sentence when I realize that we’ll be binding cores to become bonded.
My real core is hidden, but if the orb automatically binds my real core instead of my fake one… Fricking hell. I let out a deep and heavy sigh. It’s not worth the risk of potentially letting him find out. What the hell is with me and crappy situations.
“Never mind, I’d like to save the orb,” I say miserably.
The bird nods, throwing me the small colourful orb which isn’t actually that small, the damn bird is just that big and tells me to pack camp.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
I let another sigh and resigned myself to a long couple of weeks or months.
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Bonding Orb - Usable Artifact
The Bonding Orb is a rare, iridescent crystal that forges a deep connection between its wielder and a chosen beast.
Abilities:
* Essence Link: Enhances the user’s abilities by tapping into one of the beast’s strengths and binding their cores.
* Bond Enhancement: The orb can strengthen the bond over time, increasing the benefits and reducing the risks associated with the connection.
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I pack up camp and walk up to the large bird who’s fallen asleep again.
“I’m ready to enter,”
“Alright. When you enter you’ll feel a jarring sensation and we’ll become separated. If you get transported into a low-levelled area, you can hunt freely, just be sure to stay in the region or else the monster levels will change. If you land in a higher levelled area, All you have to do is hunker down and do your best to survive. I’ll constantly send out soundwaves to try to find you, which means you have to stay out of dungeons or else I won’t know where you are. Understand?” he finishes.
I nod causing him to grunt. He summons a drawstring bag out of thin air into his claw and dangles it in front of my head. He has some sort of dimensional pocket or reservoir like I did.
I look inside to find food, water and other necessities. I give him my thanks after placing it into my duffel bag along with the colourful orb.
“Do you have a storage artifact,” I ask out of curiosity, “Like a dimensional artifact.”
He comes up to me and flashes me his claw which has a large plain silver ring on it.
We walk up to the giant storm wall and I place my hand to test out the wall's integrity. The wall falls in allowing my hand to pass through. That’s weird.
“One last thing, if you get dropped in an area where there is a high D grade. Just pray to god that it’s intelligent and try to barter with it. DON’T EVEN TRY TO RUN OR FIGHT,”
“Wait, what? You didn’t say anything before about hi—” I manage to let out before Thalanda pushes me in. A sense of disorientation takes over me and everything turns black.
After a moment my sight comes back and I find the sun glaring into my eyes. I raise my hand to cover my eyes from the sun and analyze the situation. I see trees and greenery all around me and immediately spot a 12-foot anaconda slithering through a small river to my right.
A series of hoos and haas ring out and I summon my glaive, slicing down the monkey that jumped near me. More monkey noises come from within the rainforest and I continue to slice down the monkeys as they appear. More and more jump out from the trees and I’m forced to crouch. They ignore me and flee without even bothering to spare a glance at me.
I wonder what riled them up. I scan one.
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Common Spider Monkey - Level 24 - F rank
Common Spider Monkey - Level 16 - F rank
Common Spider Monkey - Level 19 - F rank
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The horde eventually thins out and silence fills the air. I hold my glaive and create a large square shield using Water construct. The water construct creates a small strain on my mind but I ignore it.
Their levels are relatively low. That’s a good sign. I feel my sweat-slick down my cheek and lick my salty lips. Whatever they’re running from is probably low-level as well. I take a deep breath.
Why the hell am I scared? I crack my neck and turn in the opposite direction of where the monkeys were running. I stride forward and feel my nerves fraying even though I’m acting tough.
As the minutes go by, the strain forces me to unsummon my shield. The chirping of birds starts once again and the common sounds of a rainforest filter through my ears. My shoulders untense eventually and I continue walking, except this time looking for a shelter.
I find an anteater digging around a hole and creep up on it. It spots me and hisses. Once I get close enough, I lunge and try to stab it with my glaive. It jumps backward and starts to run.
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Anteater - Level 37 - E rank
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I throw my glaive which hits it in its head and crushes it. I get the kill notification but ignore it as I didn’t level up. I grab the essence stone and shove it into my bag. I continue walking and encounter a red panda. I debate killing it but eventually leave because of its low level. Definitely not because it’s super cute.
I encounter my first portal not long after.
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Psyclaw’s Dungeon - E Rank - Levels 25 to 75 - 2 to 10 Awakened recommended
The Dungeon Portal is a mystical portal adorned with glowing runes, serving as a doorway to hidden and hazardous dungeons teeming with both danger and treasures. Infused with ancient magic, it can transport adventurers instantly to distant and mysterious realms.
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Thalanda said not to enter dungeons… I nod and walk around the area looking for a stone. Finding one, I place it in front of the portal. After setting the perfect scene, I purposely trip on the stone and dramatically fall into the portal. Oh nooo. I tripped. That’s so unfortunate. Guess I have to clear the Dungeon now. Sucks to suck. Hopefully, Thalanda doesn’t pass by here when I’m gone.