Mythshaper

The stonegorger was a true example of something built like a boulder. It looked to be a mammoth ape made out of rock. Standing over twelve feet long, its front limbs were twice the size of the hind ones, and when it moved, it sent tremors down the ground.

Other than the plain dark surface, the only prominent features were its blocky head with a pair of gaping sockets for eyes, glaring red. My fractal sight, however, picked up a large demon core resonating inside its chest. As was the case for many elite-class demons, beheading it would not kill it entirely. We would need to gouge that core out from its chest to end it for good.

"Looks like it could not suppress its hunger," Elnar muttered from where we hid. It was almost plain sight, just from a higher ridge for the demon to notice. Well, stonegorgers were known for their tough defence, not their perception. They were supposed to move in packs, however, there was no sign of another in the surroundings.

He crept forward to dispatch it when Father stopped him.

"Why don't you let the younglings have a go at it first?" Father asked.

Elnar studied him, before eyeing Mum and finally sparing us a glance. "What do you lot think?" he asked. "Although a stonegorger might not be the toughest opponent, it is still quite difficult to kill. Its defences are immaculate for its rank, and so is its power. Even in a good case scenario, a blow from it would easily break bones. Are you still up for it?"

That was one stupid question to ask. Even if the elite demon frightened some of us, they would not admit it outright now that Elnar pointed it out as a question. It would make them seem a loser, even while the alternative would be facing something they dread. I was surely not prone to such childish inclination, but I had come all this way for this very thing, and I was not going to back down.

Unfortunately, Valeria beat me in stepping forward at the call.

"Let me see how tough its hide is," she said, instantly nocking an arrow into her bow.

Elnar raised his hand to stop her from shooting it. "Since nobody dissented, I will oblige you a little more. Just make sure to do nothing you will come to regret."

He moved into battle strategy. A stonegorger was heavy and powerful. We needed to hit it hard and fast, as even a single blow from it would leave us wounded and immobilised.

"And beware of the stones spitting. Its head grows bloody red when it goes into a rampage or begins shooting stones from its body."

Whilst everyone braced to face an elite demon, my parents pulled me to give another round of encouragement.

"Can I use my essence during this fight?" I found the need to ask.

"Yes," Father said, and he held the sheathed Ouroboros towards me. "Take this."

I blinked before taking the blade. "Are you sure?"

Father nodded. "You are not to imbue any essence or aura into it, however."

I perked up and unsheathed the blade. It was a few inches longer than the one I was used to, though the one that would require getting used to was its weight. By any standard of importance, it had the weight of a relic.

"The stonegorger is a good match up for you," Father continued. "Your agility will be of the highest advantage against it, as your shaping. Remember, the only way you may lose the battle is if you try to empower the blade, and you know why."

I knew exactly what he was talking about. The relic was a power hungry instrument of death. Even with the seal placed upon it, the blade drew on any essence it had access to like a sponge absorbing water. While the case was not as dire with aura enforcement, my aura was perhaps not a drop, but a small puddle to a great river.

"Any last-minute tips?"

"Act with confidence." He slapped me rather forcefully on my shoulder. "A stonegorger might not be easy to kill, but it is an easier opponent for you. Elnar has already said. Hit it hard and quick. Keep at that for some time, and you will have it done without much expense."

The battle commenced as soon as Valeria shot her arrow. A common arrow from her might not have left even a dent; however, what she shot exploded into its chest, creating a finger-long crack with a red glow blooming out.

"Tougher than I imagined," she muttered, nocking another, although the demon surely would not let her fire at it so easily now that it was alert.

The stonegorger shrieked and barrelled forwards towards us, its footfalls sending tremors down the earth. We moved to meet it as well. I, flying in the air with the help of the Levitation Boots, the rest on the ground, whilst Valeria maintained a constant distance, firing more of her arrows.

I reached the monster first. Its fist moved akin to a boulder, slamming with a force enough to obliterate me. However, it was painstakingly slow. Even on second acceleration, I had enough time to manoeuvre my body to pull under its fist and plunge my blade at its side.

The blade pierced easier than I could have hoped. Even without aura or essence, a relic was still a relic, and this one in particular was made to cut things. Demon things.

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Perhaps I would not even need to use my shaping to end it.

I withdrew after a single blow, when Marcus took my place, smashing his blade through its hind leg. That barely dented the thing, as it struck with a kick at the youth. Marcus did not seem prepared for it.

All my essence threads sprang forward, channelling a kinetic power to wield a shield barricading between the boy and the monster. The weave almost shattered on impact, as I only had the moment to channel the power, not weave it intricately. Thankfully, it allowed Marcus to withdraw, as another arrow exploded into its chest, opening a gaping hole with glaring red light flickering from it.

"Keep it distracted!" she yelled, "I am practically burning gold Leafs to kill it."

And she might really beat me into killing it...

The stonegorger smashed its forelimbs into the ground in rage, as more stone began to grow from all over its body. The crack in its chest was soon concealed behind new, smoother rock.

...or not.

"Scurry, it's going to shoot stones."

The telltale sign was there even without her warning. I decided to keep out in a safer range, looking out for others, when dozens of blocks of stone hurtled from all over its body. Tellus blocked easily with his shield. Valeria was already prepared and avoided them with grace. Marcus showed off by smashing the ones in his way with the blade, whereas the last member of our group at the very back end scampered in a rather unsightly manner.

I shot to attack it before the demon could prepare for the next round. I struck the dent Marcus left behind. Ouroboros almost cut it in half before the monster's fist was upon me.

A force shield bought me enough time to Haste to the other side to plunge the relic at its other hind leg. Fire exploded from Valeria's arrow once more, causing the colossal demon to fall upon its bottom, losing much of the support of its hind leg.

Marcus took advantage of the situation and plunged over its mammoth form with his blade. Tellus was not far behind, although he was far more cautious in his approach. Only Lauren was reserved. She tried to reach for it a couple of times, but its shriek stopped her in tracks, and by the time she finally made her mind, the monster stood back on its feet on the way to shoot stones once again.

I prepared a shield at the ready, as everyone dashed off. Marcus was not fast enough and needed some shielding once more, while Lauren finally gave up on it to withdraw entirely.

"Boys," Valeria's voice rang, "I only have a few of the exploding ones left. We need to act fast."

The demon was on a rampage. Neither Tellus nor Marcus was agile enough to meet her demand. They were still withdrawing from its chase, while I struck at its back. But the demon's rigid stone body mended. It did not matter how much I nicked or hacked.

I have to rip out the core.

I supposed I had to proceed a little more with shaping. Forming large fire lances, I launched one after another at the demon's chest, flaying off the newer stone obstruction. Its form tumbled half a step with each strike as I came down to swing my blade at it.

Ouroboros cut through the flayed stone like a stonemason chiselling at his art. Well, perhaps I was not as artful, but I was surely building pace and confidence with each strike. Now on the third acceleration, I even used Haste in quick succession to deal as many blows as I could.

Avoiding the boulder smashing fist was effortless, whereas I had to deflect some of the shards of stone it sent my way, but none could affect me.

I was out of reach of its aggression, so it turned towards the closest opponent. Tellus swiftly mounted his shield, enabling its entire defences, and even still, he was pushed back. It was not a monster you parry or shield against.

Then Marcus came to attack without any plan in his mind. He had all the power he could have in the blow, causing the monster to tumble half a step, and that pushed Marcus to carry on and flay at the gaping wound at the chest. That was when half a dozen stone shards flew his way, almost smashing him at point-blank when my force shield manifested, taking most of the brunt of the blow. But even there, Marcus would not have been completely unscathed if Elnar had not appeared to bail him out when the Stonegorger barrelled its fist.

Elnar restrained the demon's fist with his left hand, while his right clamped on Marcus's pauldron. The next moment, he took off, taking the boy, making no more move on the monster.

However, even that little aura Elnar showed off was enough to push the rampaging demon into fleeing, as it knew it would not last more than a moment against someone like him.

Still, I could not believe it was fleeing. The demons that attacked Karmel did not flee even when hundreds of their number fell in a matter of seconds.

However, that did not change the fact that the demon was running towards the depths of the chasm. Valeria shot more arrows, alternating between the exploding ones and the regular ones, which only led it to move faster. Tellus chased, still cautious as ever. Whereas I drifted above it without making an early move.

Instead of attacking directly, I shaped earth to place a pit in its path, in which it so easily tumbled. But that was not the end of it. My threads worked to reshape the stony earth to cram the demon in place.

In no time, the stonegorger was halfway drowned in solid earth. It shrieked, rampaged, spitting stone splinters at me. I did not duck or flee, not when I implemented all my essence power to restrain it. That only left the blade to deflect the blocks of stone, and I did so with utter ease, only seeing the task at hand.

Pushing on, I plunged the blade towards its chest. The blade dug true. The new stone that it had manifested was by no means as tough as its original resilience. It chipped and cracked under the duress, as glaring rays flickered. The demon struggled, trying to hurl me off its chest, trying to break free from the ground it was planted into.

Its only remaining fist charged in a last struggle. With my essence threads occupied keeping it restricted in stone, I was only prepared to use the [Vigil of Protection], but it appeared I had no need to, as Tellus came along to hold the shield by my side, restricting it from having any go at me, until finally my blade pierced into its demon core.

The stonegorger's struggle waned, as a low squeak escaped its stony mouth. I almost felt bad, that I was doing something inhumane, but that did not stop me from ending its misery.

Then, to my horror, I noted that I was channelling both essence and aura into the relic. My mind reeled and slammed the connection shut. I had pulled on it at the very last moment, but even then, the drain in my essence seed was like nothing I had experienced. Even the drain from a half-living was not as bad. Thankfully, it was a lot better with my aura.

I exhaled in relief. I really need to have a better handle on my nerves.

As the demon stilled, I quickly cut into its chest to bring out a fist-sized, gleaming dark stone. The demon core was larger than the ones that came from the fabled class Ashhounds, though it could not match in capacity.

Tellus sat down, breathing heavily. "That went a lot easier than I had imagined," he grinned towards me. "Always makes it easier to have a dependable shaper on the team."

The others came forward as I wiped the sweat from my face.

[Congratulations! Way of Earth Shaping III (500/500) is complete.]

[+8 to Arcane.]

[The attribute points are held off for Arcane (Greater).]

Now, that was surprising. I believed I needed a little less than eight points to complete the layer, yet that gap was bridged in a single fight. As Father had mentioned, perhaps there was really no alternative to fighting demons, even when it comes to shaping.