Chương 18: First Clear

Time until next Elemental Storm: 11 Minutes He only had eleven minutes to finish up this fight. The first move Ethan took was healing his caved in chest. He peeled back the broken armour from his body, baring his purple and misaligned rib cage in front of everyone. Then he placed both hands down into it, sending waves of healing life force through the body that set the bones right. The bones shifted and turned, and the pain from it made him want to pass out.

But he bit his lip and bore it, for the sake of the monster that had saved him. The Landogre was preoccupied with the panther, beating down with its one remaining arm to squash the beast. But before every strike, the monster would disappear into the shadows, and pop out somewhere else. Ethan's ribcage popped out, and the colour shifted from purple back to red and something like a fleshy colour. His Talent showed there were still shards of bone still left in his body, unhealed, but he could take them out later.

He stood up, his chest feeling, if not alright, good enough. He spied his sledgehammer far away, on the ground where he'd left it. The panther snuck back into the shadows, just in time for the Landogre to slam down its flaming club. It turned its gaze around the entire arena in search of the monster, only stopping once it landed on Ethan. Boost, Ethan chanted, and ran towards the sledgehammer. A mistake, since the Landogre caught onto his ploy almost immediately.

It started running, but the panther came out of its shadow and bit into its ankles. That sent the Landogre to its knees, and gave Ethan the opportunity he needed to get his weapon back. I just need to cave its chest in and— He heard the Landogre growl from behind, and felt life force shooting towards his back. Ethan ducked, and the massive club of the ogre sailed over his head just barely. It landed right where his sledgehammer had been, breaking and burying it. Damnit! Ethan cursed, looking back at the monster.

The Landogre looked pleased with itself. At least it was the hammer instead of my head… But it wasn't much solace to him. He still had to defeat a massive monster without a weapon. Just as the Landogre shifted its attention back to the panther, it sunk into the darkness once again. That left Ethan and the monster alone. Ethan had the advantage in hands. He could deal with the Landogre swinging with both arms, or using one to fire lightning. Now, he just had the one hand and no club to swing.

He could see the Landogre eyeing its former weapon, so he raised his fingers covered in death energy in response.

"You're not getting to that," Ethan told the monster. It growled, and rushed him, lightning crackling between its fingers. A blast of pure white electricity fired from its hand, hitting where Ethan had been a second ago. Before it could charge up another, two blasts of death energy hit the hand, rotting away one of the fingers. Flames burst in place of lightning, and the Landogre sprayed a line of it in front of itself. It's running? It must've known the rain would stifle the flames.

But that didn't matter if it bought the Landogre a few seconds. It's trying to wait me out! Ethan was shocked for all of a moment. But he didn't have time to stay that way if he wanted to beat it quickly. The Landogre took off in a sprint, only stopping when the panther popped out of its shadow to grab its ankle. The Landogre tripped again, and Ethan cleared the embers towards the monster. He was circling it closely now, firing off more and more death energy blasts that rotted away the outer layers of wood.

It swiped with one hand, and Ethan jumped forward with a Boost. He landed on its back, grabbing the tendrils of wood in one hand while the other readied death essence. The Landogre didn't stay quiet even when death was approaching. It shook its entire body, trying to push Ethan off with every movement. He fired more shots into the Landogre's back, ripping up more and more bits of wood, but too damn slowly for it to work. The Landogre twisted its arm, trying to swat Ethan.

He moved up and down the branches to avoid the swatting, but that combined with his weak DE Shots was making the fight impossible to win. Time until next Elemental Storm: 3 Minutes Clouds were rising above them, thundering as they closed into the arena. There would be no escape once it started, not even up here. There's no time! The panther materialized in front of the Landogre, catching its attention. The one hand it had left went to squishing the beast, but the panther would keep popping up elsewhere.

Ethan thanked the panther silently as he readjusted on the Landogre's back. He coated his index and middle fingers with death energy again, but left out the layer of life force underneath. He covered the rest of the fingers too, until a thick mound of death energy was forming over them, anchored to the fist. Boost! He punched with a boosted arm, exploding on impact with the monster's back. The Landogre let out a roar, and Ethan's arm came back bloody and bruised.

But again, he focused death energy, as thick as he could, and punched. More roaring, each more vicious than the last, escaped from the monster's lips as a thick wide hole was carved through its back, and into its heart. When he finally glimpsed it, Ethan's hand was so mangled he could see the bone underneath, held together by bare threads of muscle. Time froze for a split second as the Landogre's arm came within reach of squashing Ethan.

But by then, his fist was coated in essence and ready to deliver the deathblow. Boost! He intoned again, and smashed his arm into the Hearttree. [Bestiary Updated!] [+1000 Credits] [Dungeon Quest Completed!] A deathly howl escaped from the Landogre's mouth. Essence exploded, Ethan's and the monster's, and a beam of light shot into the air. The light beam forced back the rainy clouds, and the branches around the perimeter of the area began to extend inwards. [Readying Shrine to resist Elemental Storm!] The branches extended far above, entwining there into a dome-like structure that blotted out the light and the remaining clouds. Other branches popped up from the floor to suffocate the remaining flames completely. The branches above were so thickly wound around each other, Ethan thought he would fall into darkness. But instead, moss lit up the inside once the dome was complete, and illuminated Ethan and the panther within.

The beast was as confused by the shifting surroundings as Ethan was, and after a moment, a distant crashing sound began. Ethan recognized that sound. It was the sound of rain falling around him. A sound he'd been hearing for hours ever since he entered the shrine. Only now it was far, far away from him. Even if it rose in pitch and volume, it sounded far away from him. He didn't need to be afraid of it breaking into where he was, taking him out. It wasn't a terror that he needed to escape. Because he already had.

Suddenly, a wave of exhaustion hit Ethan, and he fell to the ground in front of the Landogre's corpse. Every muscle in his body that had been aching over the past seven days came back with new complaints. He felt like he could fall unconscious right then and there, but there was something he still needed to do. Looking at the corpse through his Talent, the Landogre was thick with essence that was leaking away. He couldn't just let that trickle away, so he took as much as he could, and shoved it into his body.

His first priority was healing his body. He held his mangled hand in front of himself, regenerating the muscles and skin as quickly as he could. It was a new experience for Ethan, working so deeply to fix a hand, but he learned to adjust. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

He aligned bones, adjusted where the muscles grew, put on skin, and by the time he was done, only the scars would tell you that his hand had been damaged so badly in the first place. He tried out the hand after he was done rebuilding it, and thankfully everything seemed to be in order. It wasn't any slower to move or flex his fingers, and he could channel his life force through it just as easily as before. Phew, that's a weight off my back. Next were the errant bone shards in his chest.

And for those, he had to take some additional precautions. His hunting knife helped dig into the skin. It hurt to high heaven, but Ethan bit down on a piece of cloth to force out his pain. He dug until he found the bits of bone, and excavated them quickly before patching up the area. With how much life force the Landogre had, it didn't take him much to excavate the rest of the pieces as well. After that, he pulled his shirt down and sighed in relief.

The armour's completely ruined, but at least it saved me from losing my life…. Ethan wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking over to the panther, which was lounging around.

"I didn't even thank you, buddy, so… thanks, I guess," Ethan said aloud. The panther's ears poked up, but it looked at him with a confused expression. Should've known I can't translate pantherese into GPA Standard. Ethan sat back up. All that digging around in his body had lost him some blood, so he bought himself some food from the GPA. Calorie bars and vitamin pills, and some jerky for protein. All those went down the pipe, and Ethan directed some life force into his bone marrow to enhance it.

It was trickier than enhancing muscles, but it worked out, and Ethan could feel the blood rushing out and pumping into the rest of his body. Ah…. yeah, that's good. The lightheadedness he was feeling faded away, leaving Ethan with calm bliss. Now, there was only one thing left to do. He walked up to the Landogre and the rest of the corpses in the arena in top form. As soon as the gaping mouth of his Talent opened up, almost all of the life force and death essence present there funnelled in.

[Talent: Life-Death Manipulation - Rank F Progress to E-Rank: 5% … 6% … 10% … 14% … 20%!] After he finished, he was a fifth of the way to E-rank already. Ethan couldn't help but smile at the results. The rest of it went into his Time to Live, extending it to a whopping month of time, if he never used it again. The progress had done his body good too, as he felt much stronger than he had been moments ago, almost normal even. Is this how people feel all the time? Ethan wondered as he flexed his arms and legs.

The power behind them made him feel invincible, but he didn't test it. But he did test other things. How much faster he was, how much stronger. All in all, the percentage seemed to hold. He was exactly 20% stronger than he had been at the start of the Trial, and that was without using life reinforcement. He wanted to test the limits further, but by the time he was done, the rain was clearing up outside. Ethan saw as the loose branches above him parted, letting pure sunlight pour through from binary suns.

He even heard birdsong, distant as it was, beginning to play. The wall opposite to where Ethan had walked in shifted into a spiralling set of branches, with a shimmering portal inside. It was the same mirror-like surface that had taken Ethan into the first Realm, so it must have led to the second. Ethan took only a single step before that notion was dashed. [Realm Trial Quest: Elemental Storms Survive the four Elemental Storms of Skiland, the First Realm (1/4 Survived) Attend the!!! Mandatory!!! Introductory Gala organized in Uninexus (0/1 Attended) Time until next Elemental Storm: To be Announced] A part of him had known all along something like this was coming. Not from any foreknowledge or anything, but from a gut feeling. Because if Ethan Collins could survive the Realm Trial, then it wasn't much of a challenge anyways, was it? Three more… Elemental Storms? He could scarcely imagine how they were going to play out. And what was the introductory gala?

Raphael had never mentioned such a thing except in passing. If it was such an important event, surely it should've come up somewhere in conversation? What the hell is going on? Ethan didn't know. And he wouldn't until he made it to wherever Uninexus was. As if that weren't enough, more notifications bombarded him. [Congratulations on clearing the Elemental Shrine of Wood, Light-Choked Jungle! Two randomized F-Rank loot boxes will be teleported to you shortly! In addition, the Forum, Party and Leaderboard tabs have been unlocked!] He only barely finished reading the second line before two boxes appeared in front of him. Both looked like steel presents the size of a football, and both had a button on top with the letter F on it. But one had a picture of a sword glowing on the front face, while the other had a bottle. He didn't need an identification crystal for either. As soon as he came close, they showed an item page.

[F-Rank Melee Weapons Box (Price: None): Opening this box will grant you one random F-Rank Melee Weapon that is available for purchase on the Universal Marketplace, free of cost. The box will disappear afterwards. Provided by: The Greater Planetary Association] The other box was much the same, except it was for consumables instead of weapons. At least one of the surprises from the Realm Trial had turned out to be a good one. Ethan sat down beside the boxes, and the panther approached him from behind.

"You want to see what's inside, too?" Ethan asked, giving it a scratch behind the ear. Surprisingly, it didn't flinch or back away at the action, which made Ethan glad.

"Let's crack them open, then." He started with the melee weapons box, seeing as how he'd just recently lost one. If it's as good as a sledgehammer, I won't ask for more. Even from his cursory glances at the Unimart shop, Ethan could tell that F-Rank items could range from as mundane as a knife, to as amazing as a flaming sword. He hoped to land in the middle, and pressed down on the giant F button. Lines of light went down the ribbons of the box, and it rose in the air spinning.

Once it was in line with its eyes, it sped up before finally puffing away into light. And in its place, a giant stick clanged to the floor. Ethan opened his eyes to the underwhelming item, which looked like nothing more than a metal staff. Another screen popped up, making Ethan realize the true worth of his prize. [Modular Channeling Staff (Price: 2000 Credits): A staff made of Quronite that is alloyed with steel to give it strength. It conducts essence through it very well, and different heads can be attached without compromising this quality. Abilities: [Lesser Essence Conductivity] Provided by: Mass Magics] But did it work for all essence? Ethan grabbed the staff, and channeled his life essence through it. Just as the description had claimed, it felt almost like channeling it through his own body, if a bit stiffer. He switched off the life force and back to death energy, and that too pulled through the staff without issue.

He could form a DE Overlay over both ends at the same time, with the barest hint of effort. He twirled it around a few times, and even the weight didn't seem bad, be it because of the material, or his own enhanced strength.

"I could get used to this. What do you think?" He asked the panther. It scrunched up its nose at the death essence, but other than that, didn't give Ethan much of anything in way of a response. He dispersed the technique, pulling the life force back into his body, which was now covered with it. A lot more opportunities for training too, as long as I've got the soul stamina for it. He sat back down, the staff to his side.

A quick browse on Unimart showed a sword head, a spear head, and a hammer head for the staff, giving him a wide variety of options. And they were only a hundred credits each, which was great when he had 1600 to spend. But which one am I gonna learn first? For now, he just bought the hammer head and screwed it into the staff. A few swings made it obvious it had a different balance, but Ethan could deal with that.

After testing the essence flow through it, he set it back down on the ground, and turned to the other loot box. Consumables, huh? Seems a lot more tame compared to the first one. But regardless, Ethan pressed the button. It did the same song and dance as the first box, before puffing away into light, and dropping something to the ground. And it was even better than the first box. Another Skill Stone! Ethan snatched it up, startling the panther beside him.

[F-Rank External Skill Stone (Price: 10, 000 Credits): When crushed, this Skill Stone unlocks the External Skill of an unawakened Designer, if they have any. Provided by: The Gods of The Universal Design] It was a smooth angular grey rock with rainbow coloured veins extending like the branches of a tree. The idea of a second skill excited Ethan so much he was ready to smash it right then and there. And he would've, if a certain thought in the back of his head didn't stop him.

How do you know the next shrine won't need a spirit skill? Or an aura skill instead? Are you just going to gamble on getting the right stone? He'd gotten lucky with the map to the wood shrine. And he'd gotten lucky with the drops. But luck like that could leave as soon as it came, and Ethan wouldn't let himself be a victim to it. Begrudgingly, he took the External Skill Stone and shoved it into his duffel bag.

The panther sniffed at it for a second before moving back to licking its paws, and Ethan gave it another scratch.

"That about does it for this shrine, buddy. Sorry I ruined your home…" He moved to the edge of the arena, where the branches parted and let him look downwards. The Light Choked Jungle had returned to its original form, the canopy of leaves making up its roof so thick Ethan couldn't look down into it. He'd just have to hope that the animals inside were alright.

He wondered if the panther would return back down to join the rest of the jungle, but when he looked over, he saw it moving towards the other corpses instead. The panther gave its friends a little nudge with its face, and then with its paws, but neither made them move. Ethan's heart sank a little at the sight, even if the panther didn't show its sorrow openly.

"I'm…. sorry I couldn't be here sooner for them." The panther nuzzled against its brothers and sisters one last time, before moving away. It looked lost and purposeless"You could come with me, if you want?" Ethan asked, moving up to it. He swept a hand through the beast's hair.

"You're no ordinary panther, I know that much. But you helped me, so let me return the favour." The animal didn't reply, but the way it closed its eyes and pressed its face to Ethan's leg was all the answer he needed.

"Good boy." He rubbed it some more, before standing back up to face the portal.

"If that doesn't lead to the next realm, it must lead outside. Come on, if we're going to get any answers of where to go next, it's going to be at that Introductory Gala." Ethan stepped forward, and after a while, the panther began to follow.