Chapter Two Hundred and Sixty Five - 265Herbalism is level 33!
Meditation is level 55!
Arrow of Perdition is level 35!
Cloudstep is level 35!
Tracking is level 25!
Apprentice Tier!
You Gain:
+3 PER
+3 END
+3 AGL
Felix used handsign to ask as he ducked beneath a low branch.
Harn signed the equivalent of a gruntsomehowinto the hanging moss beside them. He crept forward with entirely too much silence for a man in full plate armor. His metal bits didn't scrape or clank in the slightest, even in a low crouch.
Felix nodded. It had been two days since the grasslands, two days of constant quiet intensity as they dodged between packs of wild beasts, all of them increasing in level until there were barely any Tier I enemies at all. It was either fight every ten feet or exercise some caution. As much as his friends wanted to test themselvesto push their Skillsneither Felix nor Harn wanted to advertise their location every second of the day.
Felix sharpened his gaze, peering through the tangled undergrowth with more than sight, and sensing the three two ton pigs covered in crystalline spikes. They glittered in the emerald light of the late afternoon, facets shimmering with every snort and snuffle as they rooted for food.
Voracious Eye!
Name: Glitterhog
Type: Beast (Greater)
Level: 55
HP: 9422/9422
SP: 7355/8119
MP: 343/343
Lore: Glitterhog's eat the crystalline deposits that forms on the roots of many tress in the Foglands. These crystals are digested and metabolised into their armor, which is highly resistant to magical effects. Their tusks are also made of the same ultra-hard crystal, equipping them with mighty weapons.
Strength: Charging; Defense Against Magic
Weakness: Bludgeoning Attacks
They had run into three packs of these beasts, and had even fought a pair of them a few hours back. That was how they found out about the anti-magic armor and sharp tusks. Alister nearly lost an eye. They had put it down with a lot of swearing and bashing. But those were simply Beast Types; these were listed as a Beast (Greater).
Felix signed to Harn, and was rewarded with the man silently cursing.
"Means your up," he replied.
Felix turned, just in time to avoid getting gored by a bright pink crystal tusk. The Glitterhog squealed in a basso roar that shook the nearby leaves, but Felix didn't flinch. He pulled the Femur of the Envoy from his waist as he spun out of the way, releasing a streamer of Essence into the weapon. It grew rapidly, flaring with a script normally invisible, and Felix brought it down.
Dodge is level 54!
Unfettered Volition is level 56!
You Have Killed A Glitterhog (Greater)!
XP Earned!
Weak against bludgeoning, he reiterated to himself. The giant pig's car-sized body had been smashed in just below the neck, bisecting the beast and driving his club into the ground itself. He freed it with an annoyed mutter while the ground shook beneath the charge of the second. As the first, it moved faster than a sedan-sized porkchop had any right to, but a single horizontal swipe dashed it's crystal-encased head on the forest floor.
You Have Killed A Glitterhog (Greater)!
XP Earned!
"Greater Beasts have better senses than the rest of their Tier," Harn said as he flicked a piece of crystalline gristle from his pauldron. "They made us soon as we got close. Shoulda spotted that."
"No harm done," Felix shrugged. He slung his club over his shoulder. "Didn't even have to use my transformation."
"Not the point, kid. You know why we're bein' careful. I can't have them know we're comin'." He pointed to the two Glitterhog corpses. "Dispose of those."
Felix saluted lazily and breathed in.
Ravenous Tithe!
The monsters both burst into sparkling black smoke, streaked with bits of pink, green-gold, and blood red. The Essence and Mana that made up the Glitterhogs coursed through his channels and settled into his core, joining a nebula of crackling energy that was slowing being eaten up by his core rings. He been packing in more and more into his core space in the past few days than he'd ever had during the invasion of Haarwatch. The Skills no longer appearedlikely due to the abyss at the center of his core spacebut bestial Memories kept intruding into his dreams as he slowly processed the stolen power. They were unnerving, but relatively tame in comparison to some of the Memories he'd experienced, so he had no hesitation to stockpiling Essence whenever he could.
He could always find a use for it, after all.
"You didn't answer my question, Harn," Felix said after a while. The clearing was empty of enemies and other than the hundreds of insects and small Tier I reptiles hidden in the foliage, they were not threatened. "Why haven't you taught by the Spirit trick?"
"Too strong," Harn said as he hefted one of the Glitterhog's tusks. It was jagged like a lightning bolt or a kriss blade. "You practice pushing your Spirit and there goes our element of surprise. The Archon'll hear you from across the Foglands, kid."
"Okay, that makes sense. But that's no reason not to show me the general process," Felix argued. "I don't have to use it."
"Hah! You want to dance the axe edge? By all means." Harn set the crystalline tusk on his shoulder. "Close your eyes."
"Alright."
"Envision your Spirit."
"Envision my...what's it supposed to look like?" Felix asked.
"Dunno. Different for different folks."