Finally, after a two-hour-long fight, the giant serpent let out its last cry of pain and anger before it fell, unable to get up again. It was still breathing shallowly but Aric took its life with a few well-aimed arrows into its eyes. The body of the boss was shuddering for a last time as an empowered arrow penetrated its brain.

Chapter Begin

As soon as the rift boss died, Elijah felt a huge stream of essence hit him. He jerked away when Erik and Kael cried out but relaxed after realizing that they were shouting out of joy.

“Tier 3!” Kael shouted as he raised his fists into the air. The sudden change in the man’s demeanor caught Elijah off guard and he had to laugh as the two cousins hugged each other before he turned to the boss.

The serpent was huge. Something like that would have caused mass panic back on Earth and only a few would have engaged in a fight with this beast. Not everyone could adapt to changes as fast as Elijah. And even he didn’t dare to enter melee range. He still struggled to fully comprehend the reality of being in another world. Letting himself fall in exhaustion, he watched as the serpent began vanishing in motes of light as Kael and Erik began going through their available perks.

The view of a giant monster vanishing in motes of light was somehow creepy, sublime, and fascinating at the same time. I can’t believe we fought that thing. And won. He recalled each moment of the fight as he took in deep breaths. His whole body was aching. He glanced at Root. His minion had already recovered after absorbing some of the surrounding wood.

The meadow couldn’t be called a meadow anymore. While patches of grass were still around, the whole area was devastated. The serpent had destroyed the green area where it passed and tore apart the ground with its abilities. While Erik’s abilities couldn’t be compared to the boss’ in scale, he also played his part in destroying the surroundings. Elijah looked at a few walls Erik had created to protect them from projectiles before his gaze returned to the corpse of the boss. Or what was left of it.

Only the rear part of its body remained while the rest had already dissipated. Aric stepped next to Elijah with a limp as the last flames from Kael’s attacks died out. “We did it. But we have to rest before our last fight on this island.” He grimaced before he called out to Erik and Kael with a grin. “I’m happy for you guys, congrats!” They both nodded as they grinned back.

“About damn time!” Erik said. He wanted to walk up to them but the pain in his body at the sudden movement made him stay seated. Kael also sat down on an elevation in the ground before all of them looked at the last remains of the boss. “I am curious about the loot.” Loot? Elijah thought before he understood what they meant.

A small pile of things lay in front of them. Elijah’s eyes widened in surprise as he began approaching the loot. He didn’t notice the other three exchanging glances before Aric also got up and followed after him. He glanced at the mace Elijah was holding while he hurried to his side. “Want to check it out?” He smiled as they approached the pile together.

“I’ve never seen a monster dropping something,” Elijah said.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“It’s a good haul,” Aric commented as they looked at the loot. “You’ll always get something from a rift boss as a reward.”

Elijah watched as Aric began going through the loot. They got a few stones which the archer called essence stones, a set of armor made out of vines, and boots made out of thick leaves. The loot seemed worthless to Elijah at first sight but Aric’s grin told him otherwise.

They carried their haul to the other two before they started discussing who gets what.

“I would take some essence stones. The vineyard armor and the leaf boots would probably be damaged by my fire.” Kael said. Aric had no interest in the armor or the boots either and opted for essence stones. Elijah understood why the archer didn’t want to take the armor, but he wondered why he didn’t want the boots.

Aric raised a foot and pointed at a few engravings on the inside of his boots. “I’m already using enchanted boots. I doubt these can give me a bigger boost. One of you can take them.” He gestured at Erik and Elijah.

The two shared a look before Erik chuckled. “I think it’s obvious.” Elijah nodded as he smiled. “I would take the boots if that’s alright.”

“Of course!” With the help of Aric Erik started to put on the armor while Elijah exchanged his old shoes with the leaf boots. He took a few probing steps and was surprised when the leaves became alive and snug around his feet to fit his size. His steps also felt lighter.

After they finished distributing the loot, they rested for a few hours. Aric gave potions out to everyone before he fell asleep. Kael and Erik stayed awake to keep watch while Elijah decided to try and accelerate the healing of his body by absorbing wood.

He went around and started to collect wood with Root. While his idea worked, his minion profited considerably more than Elijah himself. After absorbing more wood into itself, Root increased in size and was almost five feet tall now. Elijah also noticed that his minion had five leaves on the twig at the top of its head instead of the three leaves it had at Tier 1.

He decided to use the opportunity to absorb more wood into his second minion too. The minion slithered down his arm and absorbed several twigs as Elijah ordered it to flatten its body and coil itself around his whole right arm. During the process, he repeatedly glanced at the others to make sure that they didn’t see his new minion which he decided to call Timber.

Timber resembled Root in appearance. It shared the same golden eyes and the single twig on its head but the color of its wood was slightly different. While Root’s skin was a natural brown color, Elijah’s second minion had a slightly darker color, leaning towards a reddish-brown shade.

Elijah’s body was still hurting and felt sore when he returned to his group. He rested for another hour before they all got up and began making their way out of the rift. He expected the entrance to also function as an exit but the others told him that the exit was only a short distance away from them. They moved forward at a slow pace and after following Kael’s instructions Elijah even became able to sense the exit.

It was another spatial tear that was placed several hundred feet into the forest at the opposite side of the meadow. Elijah raised an eyebrow as they stood in front of it. “Couldn’t there be Cloud Raiders outside? What if they followed us into the rift and we’re surrounded now?”

Kael waved his hand. “A rift can create multiple instances. They would have to enter within minutes after us.”

Erik raised a hand as he began putting an additional layer of stone over his armor, only leaving a small slit for him to see through. “There could be enemies waiting for us, though.” He turned to the exit and stepped into the spatial tear.

“We’ll exit in ten seconds.” Aric stood right in front of the exit and nocked an arrow. Kael also prepared himself for a possible fight. Ten seconds later they stepped through. Elijah and his minions exited last and were greeted by the sight of Erik standing next to a group of three men bound by earthen shackles. They were all unconscious and Aric was already in the middle of slitting their throats.

“Let’s take care of their main camp now.”