[You have slain an Anarchy Incarnate; the Hollowman.]
[You have slain an Anarchy Incarnate; the Stone Hide.]
[You have slain an Anarchy Incarnate; the Hollowman.]
A familiar smooth, melodious voice resounded in Nyx's head. She looked at the three corpse of Chaos Creatures laying lifeless in front of her, her expression distant and subdued.
She pulled on the Trace Rune and summoned the symbols describing her current state. Soon they were all laid out on her mind. She skipped all of them, searching for two specific rows. When she found them, her mouth twisted in a satisfactory smile.
Essence: 36/2000
Vigor: 43%
She did not have time to look at the rest of the symbols, she needed to get somewhere safe first. She brandished her makeshift spear she fashioned out of a sharp-pointed piece of obsidian, made from a material she did not recognize.
Just a few moments ago, she had found herself surrounded by three Chaos Creatures, but luckily, they were of the weakest rank. All of them were Anarchy Incarnates, so it was relatively easy for her to deal with them.
She still had no idea how to use her Ability – or whatever the Ability was supposed to do, so she relied on her physical strength instead. Luckily she was already strong enough even before awakening and becoming a Commonality.
She was trained by her father – one of the most powerful Gentries in the whole Sanctuary – but she did not want to think about that ugly ghoul. Not when she was finally free from his clutches. Although not being under his constant surveillance felt weird, but in a good way.
She looked around and finally took time to assess the situation, as well as the environment. All she could remember was drifting in the vast expanse of her consciousness, and then somehow ended up in an unfamiliar environment.
She had already unsealed her Ability and Attributes, and she certainly was not dreaming. She was aware that something else was happening though. All around her, a cacophony of screams and then defeating sounds of assault filled the room.
She still did not open her eyes, afraid of losing focus. Just when she was about to summon the runes describing her Ability, someone violently grabbed her and shoved her foward, towards something else. Something her mind refused to fathom.
Not with her eyes closed that is.
When she found herself in a completely different, yet familiar environment. Before she could comprehend what had happened, three Chaos Creatures suddenly surrounded her and fought against each other for a chance to devour the freshly scarred human.
One of the creatures, the Stone Hide, had obsidian skin made from tough material she could not recognize, but closely resembled stone. The Stone Hide had two protruding horns made from the same stone material. The skin of the creature looked unbreakable, but the two Hollowmen had no trouble digging their claws into its back, and breaking one of its horns.
The same horn Nyx used to finish all three of them, after they wounded each other of course.
She did not really feel like eating monster meat, but it seemed like she had little to zero choice. If she wanted to survive until help came, she would have hunt and grow stronger. She was really not in the mood.
She realized that she had not really took some time and assess the environment around her, but the murmur of rushing waters begind her felt eerily familiar. Obviously she had never been to that place before, but there was something wrong with the way the water flowed.
She turned around and almost stumbled. A few meters away from her, she saw an unfathomably deep chasm filled with darkness, and even further... vast stretches of water flowed from the deep chasm, dissappearing into distance sky above.
It was the Skysea, in all its magnificent glory.
She did not see when the reverse waterfall poured into though, because she was currently behind the waterfall, inside a giant cave. She knew that the Skysea Island had no specific daunting regions, just infamously known for the startling number of Chaos Creatures.
Which was both a good thing and a bad one.
She would be able to hunt and replenish her essence faster, but she would also be susceptible to more abominations, especially during nightfall. Which is why she has to find shelter as soon as possible.
And so she started making her way deeper into the humongous cave.
#
Lenny evaded a sharp talon of an especially large abomination. It had a bent body and dozens of protruding spikes on its back. It was about three meters in height and its maw was large enough to swallow a mall boat.
It had a grotesque and disgusting body, but the sounds it made were even more appalling. They echoed across the huge cave Lenny had found himself in. Using his profound strength, he had dealt the creature some damage, but the creature still refused to budge.
If the battle continued in that manner, he would definitely be in trouble. Something had to change soon, and good thing he funny understood his Ability and knew how to use it.
He quickly stood up and lunged towards the appalling abomination. Using his profound strength, he wrestled the giant maw of the creature and for a moment they were in a stalemate. He pushed with all the force he could muster, trying to rip the creature's maw apart. The creature reciprocated his assault.
The abomination was obviously trying to devour him, but neither were successful in thier onslaught. Lenny knew that the tables were going to turn on him sooner or later, and he had to do something before that happened.
He drew on the strings weaving his Ability, and gasped as torrents of Essence rushed all over his body and filled his muscles. His already profound strength simply exploded. He felt unstoppable, he probably was. Suddenly, the thought of ripping apart the creature with his bare hands did not seem so outrageous anymore.
He gritted his teeth, contracted his muscles and sent the creature flying back a few dozen metres. The abomination shrieked in pain but he did not give it a single moment of repose, already upon it. He landed of the back of its neck, and dug a hole into its back.
He held on to its spinal cord and pulled with all his might. The beast moved around relentlessly, trying to shake off the nuisance on its back. It slammed its body onto the wall several times, but Lenny did not move an inch. Until he heard something snap, and the creature's whole body went limb.
It collapsed to the ground with a loud thud. He rested silently on its back, careful not to stab himself with the spikes. Before he drew his first breath, a smooth voice resounded from inside his head.
[You have slain an Anarchy Incarnate; the Swarm-Minded.]
He pulled the Trace Rune and summoned the symbols describing his current state.
The runes read:
Host: Lenny
Title: –
Rank: Commonality
Tier: 5
Potential: [Duplication Ability]
Attributes: [Scarred] , [Child of War]
Abilities: [Might]
Affinities: –
Soul Core: Dormant
Essence: 647/2000
Vigor: 74%
He sighed and dismissed them. He looked at the inner walls of the cave, it looked like he he was deep underground. His gaze was distant and thoughtful.
'I have to work even harder to become a Gentry it seems.'
It has been a little over a year since Lenny became a Commonality. His parents – especially his father – subjected him to brutal training, without even letting him awaken the Eplialtic Weave inside him.
He believed Lenny should be able to survive without the assistance of the Weave and his Ability. So started hunting Chaos Creatures shortly after awakening from the Nightmare, and accumulating Essence to fuel his rank evolution.
He was only a few hunts away from forming a soul core and becoming a Gentry, maybe then his family would be proud.
Speaking of family...
'Where am I? What happened to the others?'
He remembered meditating silently, when Master Rossa suddenly interrupted him. That is when he saw it. The Corrupted ones, the magled bodies, the pools of blood, the portal... He was still in a daze, but he remembered being told to run into the portal as fast as he can. And so he did.
He grabbed a frail young man kneeling down with a lost expression, by the arm and shoved him somewhere inside the blue portal. The portal in question was not stable, so he only managed to save three more before it collapsed. Not until he escaped into the other side that is.
He did not know how he lost consciousness, but when he woke up, he was in a dark cave with dozens of exits. A labyrinth if you will. He encountered and fought the Swarm-Minded in one of those caves. And now here he was.
Lost, tired and extremely hungry.
Just as he was thinking of a way out of the labyrinth, he suddenly heard footsteps from one of the exits – or entrances, depending on how one looked at it.
His whole body tensed.