Sliding down the crater, I reach Thalanda and the green plant giant. I do my best to keep my eyes off Thalanda’s body as I walk toward the giant’s neck, hoping the slimy feeling that permeates my mind when I think of cutting him open will leave me.
Green sinew-like plant vines wrap around the giant green monster with leaves growing on the vines sporadically. It has bark-like skin, round and calloused with patches of luminescent fungi growing on it. I unsheathed my sword and saw through the giant's neck. A thick glow fires out from the creature as I make a deep cut into its neck. Enlarging the hole, I stick my hand in to remove the artifact, which turns out to be a glob of a black, tar substance. Its weird texture fills my hand as I scan it.
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Enhancement tar
Rubbing this upon an artifact will enhance its abilities.
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Y’know I was expecting more. I place the glob into my bag and shove my hand back in the hole to pull out a D-grade essence stone. I place the stone in my bag and look down at Thistle who’s still asleep. Is it healthy for an animal to sleep this much? I make my way toward Thalanda’s body and my mind drifts to how perfect this crater is
Weirder things have happened than a perfect crater in a perfect circle surrounded by an ash-ridden plain. Although when I put it like that, it does sound ludicrous.
The portal glistens as I walk near it and I stop. I glance toward Thalanda before shaking my head. Best to get this over with. I walk past the portal and approach the large brown bird. I press my hand across his large beak and press my head against it. I stay there for a minute, giving him a moment of silence when a slow trickle of hot air flows from his nares.
“You’re still alive, aren’t you?” I say out loud in disbelief, breaking the morose silence I held, “Hello? Thalanda? YOU IN THERE?”
I wait to see if he’ll stir awake, but he doesn’t. Could I have been imagining things? I put my hands on his nares once more and feel the subtle pressure of air being sucked into his bird nostrils.
How the hell am I supposed to wake him up?
A smile spreads on my face as a metaphorical light bulb appears over my head. I unsheathe my sword and try to ram it into Thalanda. Failing, I try to use my sword as a saw, but the skin continues to hold strong.
“Well, that could’ve gone better. THAL—” I stop mid-sentence as Thalanda’s body shifts slightly and his eye opens.
I fall back and lick my lips nervously.
“Seems like you're still alive, child, and it seems like you have a pet,” Thalanda says as his voice rings out throughout the crater.
“You’re alive as well,” I say with a smile, blinking away my watery eyes.
I wait for him to respond, but he just stares at me unnervingly.
“I—” I start talking once more but get cut off.
“People are coming. Thousands of them. They’re not far from us, around 2 miles out,” says Thalanda grimly, “Do you have my storage ring with you? It’s a plain silver ring. An Onyx guardian should have brought it to you.”
I pull off the ring from my finger and place it on his talon. It deforms and becomes larger, moving up the talon by itself.
“What do you mean people? I haven’t seen anyone since I’ve arrived in this place. I mean I’m with you now, we should be okay, right?”
“You’ll find out in time. Now, show me everything you have,” he says before pulling out a satchel,
I hesitate to show him.
“NOW, not tomorrow.”
I do as he says, placing each artifact before him anxiously, so he can scan it. Why isn’t he getting up and moving? Thalanda’s body seems to have shrunk since the last time I saw him. He’s still huge, but he was bigger. I guess the fight really took a lot out of him.
“Alright, child, I’m going to assume that you changed your affinity once more. Am I right to assume you’re a force user now?” I freeze and stare at him with wide eyes, “Don’t give me that look. Every archetype has a certain aura they give out, and yours has changed from mage to some sort of warrior variant. Regardless, it doesn’t matter right now since we don’t have much time, so I need you to listen carefully. I want you to use the D-grade essence stone to upgrade the rank of the Phantom Summoning Marble and then use the Enhancement Tar on it.”
Thalanda’s “voice” fades near the end, but I ignore it and do as he says.
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Phantom Summoning Marble - E rank - Force
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Skill:
- Capture Monster: Grants the user the ability to bind a Monster. The user can then summon and unsummon the monster at will.
Do you wish to upgrade the artifact using 1 D-grade stone, Y/N?
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I click yes.
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Phantom Summoning Marble - D Rank - Force
Skill:
- Capture Monster: Grants the user the ability to bind a monster that is a rank below, equal or above theirs. The user can then summon and unsummon the monster at will.
Do you wish to use Enhancement Tar, Y/N?
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I read the description and crinkled my eyebrows. Every description sounds so cryptic and vague. Will the monster retain its previous strengths? Will they stagnate at their level or will they be able to continually grow? Will it be autonomous? Will it be sentient? I sigh and click yes once more.
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Phantom Summoning Marble - D Rank(Enhanced) - Force
Skill:
- Bind Monsters: Grants the user the ability to bind a that is a rank below, equal or above theirs. The user can then summon and unsummon the monster at will.
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I grimace at the unchanged description and decide to ask Thalanda about it.
“Why are the descriptions of item abilities so lacklustre?”
“It’s because you don’t have the artifact capable of unlocking the entire description of your artifacts' capabilities. That fool, Devonte, should’ve taken you to unlock all your artifact descriptions, but the Paragon wanted you to come to The Glade as quickly as possible.”
He moves his talon and touches each of the artifacts I placed before him, making them disappear into his storage space.
“What are you doing? I need those, especially my sword. Didn’t you just tell me that thousands of people are converging upon us?” I say, a heat of indignation rising from my chest.
“Look at yourself, little one, look at the way you’re speaking to me. That thing you call your sword is influencing you and you’re too weak to use it. I don’t know how you came into possession of it, but until you’ve ranked up, it’s best you not use it,” he says, pushing the bag toward me.
“I— wait— What?” My head shakes in disbelief. “I assume you want me to bind to the enhanced artifact now. I don’t have any free slots though.”
“Unbind one of your secondary artifacts. There's a black potion that can remove the wait time in the satchel,” he says, motioning to the satchel in front of his large beak. “Hurry, little one.”
I do as he says, unbinding my life steal amulet.
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You have unbound Amulet of Life Steal - E rank
There are 72 hours until the slot can be used once more.
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Walking over to the satchel, I pick it up and open it to find multiple potion bottles lying in it. All except one are red. I remove the one and only black one, swirling it in my hand, before giving Thalanda a measuring glance. I remove the stopper and get assaulted by a foul and putrid smell that comes from the liquid inside the bottle. My nose wrinkles, and I chug the entire thing, frothing in disgust after finishing it.
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A secondary artifact slot is now free.
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“Elijah, come here…” Thalanda’s previously booming voice, now barely a whisper, floats over to me, “And open your mouth.”
He’s barely moved and his voice shouldn’t falter the way it is since it’s made from his sound powers reverberating the air into making it sound like he’s talking. I notice Thalanda’s cracked beak. His droopy eyes. His body looks like it’s gone through hell and back.
My heart thumps in my chest and I walk closer to his beak and wrap my arms around it.
“You’re dying, aren’t you,” I mumble.
I don’t get why I care so much. I stay there for some time until he moves his talon toward my face.
“Open your mouth, little one. We don’t have much time. The army is almost here and my soul is on the verge of fettering away.”
I do as he says, and the tip of the talon touches my back molar, and the plain silver ring on it deforms once more into a liquid, flowing down and traversing across the talon and finding its way into my mouth. I feel it settle on top of my tooth-like cap before he removes his talon from my mouth.
“Use your Phantom Summoning Marble on the Arboroth over there,” he says, pointing at the green giant, “And find another identity. They’ll kill you to try to find all your secrets if you continue as Elijah. You’ve changed your affinity, which should be impossible, and people who’ve stagnated in their path to immortality and becoming an S ranker will do anything to further their chances of succeeding. Farewell, my child. I know you’ll make your mother and father proud.”
“Who’s they?” I ask in confusion, but Thalanda doesn’t respond.
Placing my hand on his nare, I notice there’s no more air coming in or out from it. Doubt claws into my brain, saying that it was my fault that he died since he came here to protect me, but I push that thought away.
“Thank you for everything,” I say aloud, giving him one last hug.
Before I can turn, two people in green masks pop into the circle holding the ash back. One of them meets my eyes before pointing at me, and they both start sliding down the crater. I scan them.
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Undead Human - E rank - Level 157
Undead Human - E rank - Level 182
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Good to know that humans can become undead as well. Were their levels reset as well when they became undead?
I dash toward the Arboroth, bonding with the Phantom Summoning Marble on the way there. I reach the Arboroth just as they reach where Thalanda’s body is, and I cast Bind Monster on the dead giant.
A high-pitched whistle rings out, causing me to clutch my ears in pain. All of a sudden, silence reigns and nothing happens. I look around in confusion and notice that the masked undead are looking around for something to happen as well.
Something moves in my chest and I notice that Thistle has finally woken up. I pet him to comfort him and he leans into me.
Well, that was anti-climactic. Just as I think that the whistling starts once more, this time more fervently. A spectre hand reaches out from the Arboroth corpse, stabilizing itself on the floor. Another giant hand reaches out from the body and stabilizes itself on the floor. The monster pulls its head and torso from the ground. I take a step back from the giant and look behind me with wide eyes to see if the two masked undead are still watching. They’re running toward me once more completely ignoring what just happened. Sounds of clanging steel and footsteps fill the air overhead as hundreds of people run into the crater, weapons bared.