Book 3: Chapter 28: Forest Biome
Chapter 28: Forest Biome
The dungeon forest felt too animated.
Every step crackled with noise, and underfoot they dealt with roots twisting, ferns swaying, sucking moss damp with false dew and moisture. It was like walking into a painting that hadn’t decided if it wanted to be beautiful or nightmarish, and certainly wasn't fucking dry yet. The air itself pulsed faintly with the rhythm Alex had sensed outside, the same cycle of aether that made Alex begin to think it was the dungeon itself. Some sort of awareness that was threaded into the world around them.
It probably is. He thought.
The raid party moved through the biome slowly and carefully. The squad was spread wide in a loose formation, covering ground but never losing line of sight with the others. Alex led his squad’s sweep at the front, his eyes glowing faintly as his [Aether Sight] burned across the undergrowth, watching the unnatural flows of dungeon energy writhe through soil, air, and tree-trunk.
The forest was massive. He hadn’t even glimpsed its exact edge from the cavern’s mouth, only the treeline stretching out until it abruptly stopped on either side to give way to newer biomes instead.
But he had seen enough to make some conclusions.
“Three things,” Alex said quietly to not alert any threat, but loud enough for those next to him to hear, and for the linked squad formations around him to relay his words. “One, the city’s our end goal. No way around that. Makes sense for the System to always put the main prize at the center.”
“That much was obvious,” Allie stated from his flank, though she kept her eyes scanning.
“Two,” Alex continued, ignoring her condescending tone, “these biomes aren’t just for show. Forest, tundra, desert, lake, all circling the city like points on a compass. I’d bet money each one’s got a hidden objective or trial tied to it.”
“You’re saying… what? That clearing all of them is what we should focus on? Will it make things easier for the final objective?” Devon asked in a half-whisper.
“Not easier exactly,” Alex said. “Rewarded is probably the best word. Think back to the Dark Den, its hidden objective there gave me dungeon points and breathing room.” He remained vague, once more The System restricting what exactly he could say given that Ghrukk and his team hadn’t completed the Dark Den dungeon themselves. “Same deal here, I’d wager. Each biome’s a gamble. If we want maximum payout, we clear them all.”
Garret snorted. “Optional side quests in a murder-mountain. Love it.”
“Exactly,” Alex said before returning to refocus everyone’s attention to the objective. “We conserve our big hits. Don’t burn cooldowns, and don’t overextend. If the city is just the first floor, then blowing everything early means we’re walking in crippled to the big boss at the end. Which means, less dungeon points, less experience, and lots of blood, pain and death.”
Death... that silenced even Allie’s sass. Grim nods passed through the line, agreement forged more out of necessity than optimism of their chances. So they swept the forest, performing two hours of tight switchbacks and systematic clearing. Boots pressing faint trails into soft earth, eyes sharp for the glowing “tell” of a hidden dungeon objective. The deeper they went, the quieter the lush life of woods became. Birds hushed. Insects stopped singing. Like the forest was tensing up, waiting.
Then came the first scream. It wasn’t human, but also sounded like no animal Alex had ever heard. The cry was high and sharp, then cut off too suddenly.
“Left flank,” Rynel hissed, he arrow nocked instantly.
Alex’s gaze snapped over, [Aether Sight] focusing, he saw it before the others. A ripple of ambient energy shuddered like a stone striking water. Then the thing came lumbering out of the trees.
A bear—no that wasn’t right, it looked almost like the mossling creature’s Alex had encoutnered near the Elven city. Yet where before the mossling was entirely made of some plant material of various kinds, this bear was flesh and furr, like one would expect, but also different.
Its bulk was massive, nearly nine feet tall at the shoulder, fur slicked black and gleaming. Its muscles bulged unnaturally, veins laced with a faint green glow of earthly aether. But it wasn’t the body that made Alex’s throat dry, it was the vines.
Dozens of them sprouted from its back, writhing like serpents, tipped with thorn clusters that glistened like metal razors. They snapped and curled independently, almost alive in their own right. He wasn’t sure what the thing was, and his mind struggled to reconcile the reality of seeing Pooh slapped together with a pissed off, fucked up Venasaur.
Then the beast roared again, and the forest answered.
Shapes crashed through the undergrowth from all sides, revealing more of the bear-beasts. Some the size of normal black bears, others easily rivaling horses or larger. Their vines lashed, slicing through ferns and saplings like scythe blades. Alex’s eyes widened as his [Aether Sight] gauged their power levels. Obby put in data overlays in his vision, giving readouts based on his aether perceptions.
Most were late Mortal Tier. Some… early Adept.
“All squads, regroup now!” Eric’s shout stretched across the clearing.
The command came too late, the first bear charged, vines whipping outward like a storm of knives.
Alex shouted a curse, his azure-blue aura flaring sharp against his skin. “Hybrid beasts?,” he muttered. “The dungeon just threw us its opening hand, and its a straight flush filled with hybrid bear-plants?”
The forest had erupted into chaos, mages clashing with the ursine-beasts from the left side. Alex’s focus narrowed as one of the largest of the beasts broke free of the treeline and made straight for him. Its roar rattled his ribs, and shook bark loose from the nearby trees.
A big one. Of course it’s mine.
It moved like a bear but strangely, every muscle swollen to grotesque proportions, back arched beneath the mass of writhing vines. The thorns shimmered with energy, sharp enough to glint in the half-light.
The first whip-like vine came faster than he expected.
He slid sideways, aether sparking against a hastily erected [Wave Shield] as the vine carved a deep trench through the earth where he’d stood. Another snapped in from the left, forcing him back with a snap-crack of air. He darted in, trying to close the gap, but each lunge was turned aside by the beast’s reach from its vines. Every time he thought he had an angle, a vine uncoiled and struck out, cutting him off, driving him back.
It was as fighting a wall of thorns, and every step forward brought three more whips snapping at his flesh.
Alex spat into the dirt. Alright. Fine. Play it your way. His hand flashed with energy as he completed the aether pattern for [Earth Bind].
The dirt rippled as blue tendrils surged upward, from the ground snapping around the beast’s forelegs and hindquarters like chains. It bellowed, thrashing against the bindings, but for a moment it was locked in place, giving exactly the window Alex needed.
He shot forward, the [Demon Asura Style]’s blue-purple aura igniting over his skin, and his fist crashing into the beast’s ribcage. Bone flexed under his fist from the impact, it large body absorbing the blow. He sent another strike, then another, each fist shuddering through the beast’s body with great force, but not enough to be lethal. Not nearly enough.
The vines shrieked. The tendrils of his [Earth Bind] snapped.
The creature tore itself free, tearing the chains from the earth and sending stone shards flying as it staggered upright again. Alex jumped back just in time to avoid being gutted by a whip of thorns, his chest heaving. His skin prickled, his muscles groaning as the [Demon Asura Style]’s caustic energy dug into him. The martial style’s third-tier side-effect was as merciless as he remembered it to be back in its second-tier. The feeling he got from the corruptive energy was like his flesh was being clawed at, every nerve burning, every joint screaming from an invisible workout that never ended.
But the pain kept his head clear, sharp. The itch, the burn, it anchored him in the storm of wrath that always accompanied the use of the martial style.
“Alright then, lets keep going.” Alex growled.
He surged forward, fists hammering into the creature’s defenses again and again. His knuckles split, blood smearing fur, causing it to smoke from the poisonous effects of his upgraded Wyrm-heart constitution. The beast had the bulk and vitality to withstand the worse of the poisoned blood, especially since Alex hadn’t boosted its potency by spending aether in its production, yet that wasn’t all the bear had to contend with. He had his new poison blood, and his martial style’s passive igniting along with it; [Burning Strike], which injected even more caustic energy into the creature’s body. Both effect stacked together wonderfully.
The more he fought with his opponent, the hotter it burned, the deeper it rotted. Sparks spat from Alex’s aura with every punch, each strike was a double dose injection of slow-acting destruction.
He smiled as he watched the vines falter, just for a breath, but it was enough.
“[Wrath Siphon].”
At the activation of his new martial skill, his aether pulsed dark red, threads of energy swirling down his arms, attaching themselves to the beast and disappearing into it’s body. In his mind, Alex could feel a new connection to his target. It wasn’t as powerful as his bond with Obby, nowhere near that level, but it was something, like his imprint on his storage bracelet; a small magical link.
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Each of his strikes now bit into the beast on contact, teeth sinking deep and tearing away its life force, siphoning strength from the beast itself. He felt the flow of its aether surging into his own body with each hit, like a rush hot liquor down his veins. Strength coming to him, and life taken from it.
The beast shifted tactics. It hunched, pulling its vines inward, fur shimmering with earth-hardening aether, its hide stiffening into something like dense bark or stone. A desperate defense, but not enough to stop Alex.
His fists pummeled through the guard, [Burning Strike] and his poisoned blood both eating away at the reinforced fur. Every impact landed harder than the last, [Wrath Siphon] bleeding the beast dry of its fight, sapping its vitality. Alex’s muscles screamed, his aura sparked wildly, but he didn’t stop.
One last blow crashed down, and the beast’s skull cracked. A wet, ugly sound, and causing purple ichor to spray across the dirt. The monster shuddered once and fell, vines twitching weakly before curling down to the floor, limp.
Alex stood over it, chest heaving, aura guttering down to faint embers. His fist dripped ichor and blood.
A blue notification blinked into his vision;
You Have Slain Primal Chimera, Forest! + 900 Experience
+300 Dungeon Points
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