As it turned out they had spent more time here than they had initially thought. Somehow they had waited out the whole marked period. Which was not necessarily a bad thing, but at the same time that meant a whole day had gone by. What was the situation at Homebase? Was the wall alright? Did the rest of the squad get there safely?
Jonathan had told them rather sheepishly that he had lost their communication line to the safe zone during the fight and the other was with the rest of the squad.
Luckily, Sam had another way to communicate with Homebase. Using the tablet she she could get messages to command. However, there was a downside to this method: due to limited operational satellites, the collected data could only be uploaded to Command twice a day in order to conserve resources. Once at twelve in the afternoon and the other at twelve at night. It would stay open for around three minutes to transfer data. They had woken and realized this at around one o’clock. So they would have to wait for the message to go through tonight, to get a response the next afternoon. Sam also posted in her socials but they didn’t hold out much hope for the military checking those in their current situation but it was worth a try.
In the meantime, they decided to make the most of their situation and head to the extraction point so long.
Mark had been feeling it building the whole time they had been talking but as soon as he moved to get up Mark felt his Corruption hit him like a ton of bricks. The aches that had been dull up till this point, began to build in strength. Sitting right back down against the wall Mark tried to ride the waves of pain as it spiked through his spine and cramped through his muscles, sending tingling sensations all across his body. His Stamina seemed to bottom out and he had to control his breathing. The Corruption ran wild in his body, looking for an escape.
Then the whispers came. Mark thought he was imagining it at first but the more he concentrated the more the silence spoke to him. He could hear the faintest sounds of multiple maddening voices overlapping one another at the back of his mind, it was hard to make out, but they wanted something. Whether that was to drive him to insanity or actually speak to him he couldn’t tell.
Though he could guess. The Corruption wanted him to make use of it, and until he did it wouldn’t shut up. Mark knew that if he drew on energy it would stop punishing him, hell it might even be of use, but there was no way he was giving it what it wanted.
Instead, he rested his head against the wall and tried to outlast the nauseating waves of pain. It ebbed slightly and he saw his opening.
He flexed his will and tried to push it called down, at the same time Mark activated [Corruption recovery] and fed his regeneration into it. Hoping to burn away as much as possible. It helped but the Corruption never fully shut up, just at the edges of his consciousness, waiting.
Slowly he got his feet under himself again and dosed himself with [Invigorate].
Jonathan had noticed Mark's condition and looked at him with a worried expression. He was looking at Mark's arms, and when Mark followed his gaze, he saw a large number of black veins squirming below his pale skin, like writhing snakes. If he was being objective he was really starting to resemble a Corrupted.
“You all good man? You look like you’ve been hit by a truck.”
Mark nodded and answered honestly, if he didn’t trust these two by now then he was in trouble. He explained how the Corruption was affecting him and that he just needed a minute.
Sam came forward to inspect him and said.
“You know your body better, are you sure you can travel?”
Mark thought it over. Yes, he might not be able to move as fast as normal but he could still move and contain it. He fully believed he could keep going, if he really couldn’t handle it, he’d let them know.
Mark said as much, and after some time, they took up a loose formation and made their way downstairs.
They had not been paying attention when they got in, but the building they had chosen was just above a hair salon. It was probably pretty popular a little over a week ago, but now the shop lay in ruins. The once stylishly decorated room had taken on a more lonesome feel.
As the group exited out into the street they began retracing their steps. Jonathan and Mark had to leave in such a hurry yesterday they’d had to abandon the Guardian's body and in doing so left whatever piece it offered behind.
The corrupted in the area were aggressive, and Mark noticed they were stronger than usual, if only slightly. While their group was small it made it easier to avoid the majority of the Corrupted, even with Mark’s condition. In fact, the three of them easily outpaced the squad's normal speed.
When they arrived at the field, they had to make sure they were in the right spot because the area had shifted so much in such a short time. What was once a vibrant and well-maintained sports field, had become a desolate wasteland.
The yellowing grass had become dark and shriveled, almost to the point of looking burnt. Clumps of ichor grew from it like large mounds of mold. Nearby plant life was wilted or twisted into alien shapes. They even had to clear off a pack of Ghouls that had begun to make this place their home.
The Guardian's body looked like it had been decomposing for weeks rather than a single day. Small offshoots of the stuff reminded Mark of the mold in the sewers.
Looking around there was nothing that looked like the Corrupted seed. Just a pile of ichor that Mark really hoped didn’t hold the piece they needed. Sam had taken out a glass Petri dish and was scraping samples while Jonathan was investigating the surrounding area, looking for threats.
Mark was just about to get to take a rest when he realized something was missing. Looking around he never saw the spear anywhere, which was strange because of its glaring size.
Mark began searching the area and soon enough he saw something reflecting in the dead grass. Going over, he found what he thought had once been the spear. Only it had gone through some massive changes. The main one being, that it had shrunk down to the size of a normal-length staff. The spearhead had crumbled away leaving it blunt on both ends. Finally, the dull iron-like metal had become like a polished rod of silver. It wasn’t completely smooth with fine notches at one-inch intervals running along its length. It also seemed to have simple engravings in each of the sections, with different symbols trailing the staff.
Mark called for the others as he went to pick up the staff. The moment Mark made contact with it, Mark felt the screaming of the Corruption around himself dull, and the pain began to gradually disappear, along with the burning hunger and murmuring voices.
Mark felt better than he had in hours, the effects of the Corruption were being pushed back.
The staff felt warm to the touch, and as he lifted it from the ground, he noticed it had left a patch of yellow grass directly underneath, perfectly shaped like the staff. It was as if the corruption had been unable to approach.
As Sam got closer she said.
“If that doesn’t scream item then I don’t know that does.”
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Mark looked at the staff and a system prompt showed up.
Item: Cornerstone
Item lvl: –
Description:
Contains incredible repelling and protective properties. This item holds the beginnings of a world conduit and will naturally amplify(1) all forms of energy channeled through it.
To test something Mark handed the staff to Sam, and right away the whispers and fatigue began to return.
At the same time, Sam seemed to breathe a sudden sigh of relief as her shoulders relaxed.
“Woah, I thought the pain was from the battle yesterday, is this really what high Corruption does to you? Wait what's this?” Sam seemed to go quiet and then the staff hummed almost imperceptibly.
“Woah Mark try putting some energy into the staff,” she said handing it back.
Taking it once more he shrugged and sent a small tendril of Prana toward the staff. The moment it made contact, the staff drank it in like a sponge, and less than a second later, the Prana flowed back into Mark as more. It wasn't like he put one point in and it gave him two back. No. This was closer to putting one point in and it returned that same point purer, more focused — as if it had been enhanced and returned ready to use. Any spell he used the energy in now would be twice as effective. He could also reabsorb the Prana if he wanted but then it would lose whatever effect the conduit gave it.
Mark saw Jonathan gazing at the staff with a pensive expression.
Suddenly he looked like he remembered something.
“Wait I just got something similar from the Guardian kill”
Pulling out a medallion made of blue crystal, he showed them the stats.
Medallion of Convergence(Weapon)
Item lvl: 98
Resistance + 245
Mana + 120
Description: Increase Mana regeneration by 50%
This item contains a Conduit and will amplify(1) Mana channeled through it.
Mark whistled, that one item gave almost as much Mana as he had in total, not to mention the Mana regen. Silver class items were on a completely different level. Also, what Jonathan said was right, both of the items seemed to amplify energies. The only difference was the medallion could only amplify Mana while the staff seemed to be able to do it to all energies.
Though the medallion came with a whole host of other stats.
“Woah, Jon you willing to part with the medallion? As soon as I get something nice it's all yours”
Sam eyed the medallion admiringly.
Jonathan rolled his eyes and smiled.
“It's a good item, but other than the defenses it's of no use to me. As long as the next weapon heads my way I’m good”
Sam nodded happily like a satisfied cat. Then she held out the staff to Mark.
“If you have this it’ll help your Corruption problem, right? Keep it on you, we’ll figure out what to do with it at base.”
Mark took the staff, and at the same time Mark checked his prompts and status, Jonathan's comment on the guardian kill got him wondering.
40 x Corrupted Ghost cleansed[80]
20 System Points awarded
90 x Corrupted humanoid cleansed[90]
18 x Corrupted Ordinator cleansed[36]
43 x Corrupted Ghasts cleansed[86]
7 x Corrupted Ghouls cleansed[21]
233 System Points awarded
Partial exp awarded to (15 users - expand list)[128]
Partial exp awarded to (Mark Young)[128]
125 System Points awarded
1 x Corrupted Guardian Wandering Blight [Miasma - 3]cleansed
Partial exp awarded to (Mark Young)[7]
7 System Points awarded
Congratulations your party member delivered the killing blow to [Wandering Blight]
Name: Mark Young (22 - M)
Level: 29
Next level: 889/900
Stats:
Resistance
Aura
Mana
Prana
905 (+2) [815]
0 [+25]
135 [+20]
364 (+6)[+90]
Unspent stat points - 0
Corruption value: 68.96%
System Points: 5048.5
Skills: Meditation, Limit release(Physical), Limit release(Mental)
Spells: Passive Regeneration(Self)[6], Force bolt[11], Prana Pulse[5], Regenerate[5], Draw Corruption[5], Corruption recovery[8], Sculpt Mana(Force)[4], Invigorate[7], Cleansing surge[6], Read Memory[1], Mind Spike[2], Earth Control[4], Light Control[4], Telekinesis[3], Benediction[2].
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Darn, so close to a level-up. Though he noticed a bunch of his skills leveled during that fight.
Once they had finished in the area they continued on, retracing their steps through the carnage.
They kept their eyes out for Jonathan's pack but never spotted it. Traveling forward they decided to pick up the pace. Mark and Sam took off and Jonathan followed on the ground. At this point, Mark realized just how much Jonathan was holding back when traveling with them, even when Sam and him were pushing themselves, Jonathan seemed to have no trouble keeping up. Dashing and jumping over obstacles, completely dodging any Corrupted that came his way.
Like this, they covered the same amount of distance in a quarter of the time it had taken them on the entire first day. That was not to say there were no dangers, on more than one occasion they had to drop back to the ground and fight off the territorial Ghasts that reacted to them being in their territory. The moment they broke out of the green area Mark felt the Corruption in the air thin out. At the same time so did the energy in the environment.
They had been taking regular breaks but soon enough were just an hour out from their original drop-off spot.
It was at this point when they were letting their resources regenerate and walking down a main road, that Sam noticed something.
She kept walking but she spoke quietly.
“Boys the street up ahead is too quiet, we may have some company”
They went on high alert, Jonathan's body tensing.
Mark readied his Mana and assessed the empty road up ahead, looking for what made it any different from the rest.
At first, he couldn’t see what she meant, it looked like a perfectly normal road and then he understood, that’s exactly what she referring to.
The streets looked too clean of Corrupted and abandoned vehicles, one would almost think it was a shortcut or a lucky path free of creatures, and perhaps that was exactly what someone wanted them to think.
This was a hunting ground. Mark's eyes flickered up toward the roofs of the surrounding buildings.
The sound of an engine roared to life behind them.
Jonathan's head snapped around to look at an approaching jeep loaded with people but Mark remained looking at the rooftops infront of him. He caught sight several of scopes glinting in the afternoon sun, the nearest buildings were occupied by gunmen. Mark had had a hunch the moment Sam had warned them because that's exactly where Mark would have set up.
They were surrounded and these people didn’t look like the type to lend a helping hand.