A strange thing happened while fighting the second Guardian.
As the Elite Impaler kept throwing spears, which multiplied repeatedly, the Necromancer discovered a strange sight.
Tiny gray threads seemed to extend outward from his body and interact with the world around them.
Seeing the weird gray 'threads' didn't negatively affect Michael's fight. On the contrary, it felt as if his senses were much sharper and his intuition better developed.
Each time the Ritual Guardian would grab another spear from one of the minions, he could observe changes it would undergo based on the modifier applied to it.
For example, the tip of the spear drew some white energy in the form of bubbles from the goatman, and the air around it got noticeably colder. But this Cold Enchantment wasn't purely created by the goatman.
On the contrary, once the energy bubbles were created by the Guardian and sent into the blade of the spear, energy bubbles would be attracted and infused from the surrounding air.
Once this Winterspear goatman threw the spear, it would infuse his white energy bubbles again into the shaft, drawing green and golden bubbles surrounding the weapon and creating two duplicates of it.
Whenever the exploding balls of frost would randomly appear, a similar situation would occur with the Ritual Guardian emitting his own energy into the air, and crystal-white 'snowflakes' would group up to create the said balls of frost.
The Teleport modifier was the strangest and the one with the strongest visual impact. The goatman would once again emit his energy into the air surrounding it, and a dark bubble invisible to the human eye would appear and surround him.
Then, dark threads of energy would extend to a different location, where the bubble would materialize again. Once it popped, the Elite would appear.
The fight with this second Ritual Guardian took over half an hour. Not because the enemy was too strong but rather because Michael was being sent into a trance by this strange sight.
'It doesn't take a genius to realize all of them are different types of natural energy. The white bubbles should be water energy turned into frost, the green feels similar to Evelyn's energy when carving wood, and the gold one has a strong metallic feeling. The dark bubbles should be the spatial element. Then, these gray ones from me...'
Essence. The Necromance was fascinated by the discovery. Furthermore, these elements interacted closely with each other.
For example, each time the spears would be hurled his way, the colorless energy bubbles in the air would be displaced. With his energy threads interacting with the space around him, Michael could 'feel' the attack's direction and trajectory.
Even with his eyes closed, he could 'see' a different world around him simply based on the interaction between his energies, the enemy's, and the Sanctuary's.
'What an intoxicating feeling... So, this existed all along?'
Curiously, he used his Decrepify on the Elite wanting to see what would happen through his new 'vision.'
Once cast, a tenth of the gray energy surrounding him dissipated into thin air, and tendrils of dark matter surrounded the space he 'cursed.' These tendrils wrapped around the Elite's body, especially its legs and arms. Not only that but even the spears he threw would be chained down by these dark tendrils, decreasing their speed.
'But, isn't that the space element? The speed and damage decrease caused by Decrepify is because of it. It's not like it doesn't make sense, but... isn't this skill supposed to be a curse? Why does it affect space?'
Confused, he continued experimenting and was shocked by the results. Corpse Explosion would infuse the Corpses on the ground with condensed spatial bubbles, exploding and creating small tears in space. The more he stacked the Corpse Explosion instances, the bigger the space tears were.
'Big' was a relative term, as the smallest ones would be on a microscopic scale if not for this strange 'energy vision' he now had, while the larger ones still wouldn't come close to one millimeter.
Curious, he pressed his index finger to interact with one of the tears and figured out why he wouldn't take damage if spatial tears caused this. The answer came in the form of the same thing: dark energy covering his finger every time he came close to the spatial tears.
'Spatial energy covers my fingers, but only when close to the damaged area I've created. It's like a strange rule forcing this into being. If I am far from the spatial tear, the energy doesn't appear. If I get close enough to get possibly damaged, the energy manifests and somehow blocks the damage I would be dealt.'
The more he experimented, the more baffled he became. Corpse Tendrils was even weirder as the green energy of nature would be imbued in the Corpse of his choosing, and the tendrils themselves were plant vines bursting from the ground under the Corpse, comparable to something Druids would conjure.
"No wonder they seemed different from guts or 'veins' as the skill description called them. *Sigh* I know it's a different world and everything, but this makes no sense... the laws of physics are broken to the point where it's absurd."
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Complaining while searching for the third Ritual Guardian, Michael continued experimenting. The Bone Storm was created through metal energy clumped together and not actual bones, and Blood Mist would decompose his body in a literal mist of blood energy.
This skill confused him more than all others, as there was no interference from the energy of the world or his Essence pool.
[ Rimescar Ritual Overseer (Elite) - Level 50
*Teleporter: Teleport randomly in a 10-meter radius range to avoid taking damage.
*Cold Enchanted: All attacks deal an extra 350 Cold damage.
*Waller: Manipulates the earth to create a wall around the target.
*Crystal snowflakes: Summons three snowflakes in random locations around itself, targeting an enemy. The snowflakes have a homing modifier, allowing them to chase the enemy and deal 250 damage each. Enemies affected by the snowflakes would be inflicted with a Chilled status, slowing them for 50% for five seconds. ]
The Ritual Overseer was a Mage-type Elite, allowing Michael to once more enjoy a feast for the eyes in terms of spells it could cast. He watched, enraptured, the interactions between the Overseer's energy and the nature's response around it.
When the monster finally fell, he woke up from his daze and continued the Stronghold Event.
[ World Stronghold Event update - Malnok
Objective: Return to the center of Malnok. ]
The Necromancer indeed made his way back to the center of the outpost, but his mind wasn't focused on the upcoming fight.
This new world opened before his eyes, and all sorts of theories were conjured in his brain with every passing second. He would draw references from all the novels he read, as well as the physics and chemistry lessons he remembered from high school, trying to make sense of this world's laws and how magic, in general, worked.
Watching his minions dispose of the Ice Clan goatmen surrounding the giant Boss encased in dirt and ice, he pondered until the big boy was released from its shackles.
[ Frosthorn, Ice Clan Champion (Boss) - Level 50 ]
The Boss was a ridiculously tall Maraurder, swinging an axe just as stupefying at the poor Necromancer and his minions.
Not only did the Boss keep creating the previously seen ice snowflakes with each swing he took, but its damage was ridiculously high also.
Randomly using Raise Skeletons to heal the Reapers tanking the hits alongside the Golem, Michael noticed how the Corpse he used it on would be dematerialized and turned into the same type of gray energy surrounding him and infused into the Skeletons.
Once that happened, the cracks in their bones would be mended, and the energy overflowed for a while, sending them into a frenzied state where they would have increased attack speed and damage.
His field study was cut short when the Boss annoyedly jumped over the minions and directly hacked at him with a heroic jumping dive. The overhead chop wasn't something his small body could block, so he directly avoided it with Evade, only to be hit by one of the three snowflakes the attack created.
"450 damage just from that small snowflake... how ridiculous..."
Slowly jogging away from the Boss due to the Chilled status he was inflicted with, Michael used his Golem's taunt to distract the Champion long enough for him to increase the distance between him and it.
Unfortunately, things got progressively more difficult as random balls of frost would appear around the field surrounding them, dealing enough damage to instantly freeze his minions and then have them shatter with one blow from the Boss.
If that wasn't enough, once Icehorn's Life Points were down to less than 50%, it entered its 'next phase' and angrily roared at the skies while holding its axe high.
More balls of frost than Michael could count appeared everywhere on the battlefield, killing everything in their range.
Exiting his Blood Mist form, the Necromancer cursed at the ridiculously overpowered team-wiping skill used.
"Oi! What the fuck are you doing, you bastard!? Have you no shame!?"
The overhead swing proved it didn't, and the fastly condensing frost balls further confirmed it. The speed and how often they appeared seemed to have doubled compared to before, urging the Wanderer to end the fight faster.
Once the Life Points of the Boss reached 25%, the same roar appeared again, wrecking his minions once more.
Unfortunately for the Champion, with no other tricks up its sleeves, it was quickly dealt with by the cowardly Necromancer, who kept hiding behind his minions and throwing spells at it from afar.
Collecting the item boxes and gold coins from the ground, Michael downed a Healing Potion to get his hitpoints back to full as he inspected the MAP.
[ World Stronghold Event update - Malnok
Objective: Rekindle the Wanderer's Shrine to reconquer Malnok. ]
Finding the location, he walked there and infused his Essence into the arch. With that done, a pulsing wave of warmth radiated outwards, instantly melting the ice encasing the buildings and people.
Spending another half an hour feeding potions to the defrosted villagers who were still alive, Michael finally finished his second Stronghold Event.
Upon checking, his Renown reached 2,500 points in Fractured Peaks but still hadn't reached the fourth tier.
What he found utterly ridiculous was that as soon as the injured were healed and the many bodies of the dead villagers were collected, a huge fight broke out between the militia and the common folk.
[The mines will be closed! There's no argument to be had!](Militia)
[You can't! How are we going to earn enough to put food on the tables!? We need to enter and mine!](Villager)
[You can't enter the mines, you old fool! There are still goatmen there!](Militia)
[Listen, son, this mine is our livelihood. You can't close it!](Villager)
[You can't make a living if you're dead...](Militia)
After listening for a while longer, he realized that some of the goatmen who invaded from the Rimescar Cavern Dungeon fled into Anica's Claim mine.
Even stranger, this mine was a unique Dungeon that villagers could enter without being Wanderers. The only catch was that they could do so in specific intervals when the monsters weren't active or risk dying inside.
According to the militia, the villagers of Malnok have been mining the Dungeon for decades, even before it became one, therefore the Sanctuary provided them safe passage in and out during those timeframes.
Now, however, the mine would be infested with crazed goatmen, therefore entering it to mine would be foolish, until they could get some Wanderer parties to clear it a couple of times.
"I see. Do you have a way of contacting Kyovashad or Menestad and asking for reinforcements?"
[I do. But it would take at least half an hour to an hour until they respond and send someone over.](Militia)
"That's fine. Do that, and I'll start clearing both Dungeons in the meantime. Make sure they wait until I return before entering Anica's Claim, and don't let them venture into Rimescar's Cavern until I return."
[Alone!? Are you sure?](Militia)
"Mhm. Don't worry, I've been doing this for a while now, and there won't be any problems. I'll get moving. Please contact the big cities as I asked."
Leaving behind a stupefied militia member, Michael found Anica's Claim and entered. Passing through the familiar 'film' of energy covering the entrance, the Necromancer tried using his new 'vision' mode, hoping to uncover some mysteries.
Unfortunately, there wasn't a difference between his normal vision and the one enhanced by Essence.
Inspecting his surroundings, the Sanctuary identified the location as 'Tomb of the Frozen,' making the Wanderer click his tongue in annoyance.
[ Dungeon Quest issued - Anica's Claim
Objective: Collect Animus from Animus Carriers. ]