Chapter 85
Chapter 85
Pain came in a way Max hadn’t imagined. As his own flesh began to dissolve on his right hand, the room ignited into a light so bright it was as if he was standing inside the sun.
A howl of some kind came from the shape before him. It writhed in pain as the Wildfire raced upward, not leaving a single section of what had been coiling around the table untouched.
The darkness that had surrounded him was also ignited; the white flame consumed everything in the room, the earth, and even the hallway they had burst into.
Everywhere, the presence of whatever had been living here was being devoured by his spell.
Max sensed it coming at him, the flat head lunging for him, splitting in half as if to swallow him.
It was slow, much slower than him, and so he shifted to the side, his artifact coming upward. His left hand guided the blade's edge into the creature's shape. Unlike every other time he had cut it, the wound didn’t vanish.
Howls and screeches came that made his Sonar skill have to adjust itself, or it might overwhelm him.
What is this?!
No idea but it’s so full of life energy that it is basically imploding. Max dashed backward toward the entrance to the room, watching as what Bob had said came true. The creature started to shrink, almost as if it were compacting itself into a tighter form. Gone was the long, large being and a few moments later the creature was barely ten feet long and no thicker than Max’s arm.
“No… promised… lies.”
Those words reached him, filled with pain and misery.
Bob began to wrap stone around Max, wind rushing toward the room he had just left, tearing the damaged doors off and slamming them into the other wall.
What the–
Before Max could finish all the wind and force that had been pulled into that tiny space was redirected, forced out through the doorway and past Max, racing up the hallway.
When it had stopped, the silence was almost unsettling, and Max felt the stone armor Bob had erected begin to disappear.
[ Consume has Consumed 7 skills ]
[ Skills do not match entity type ]
[ Power stored for future use ]
Why did you do that? And why couldn’t we get anything from that?
Honestly, I was concerned. I… I know there are more of those, and that one was… like a baby? Somewhere, I just know that’s a world eater in an infant stage.
So you’re saying someone ‘deposited’ that thing here? Intentionally or unintentionally?
I’m certain we’re going to struggle to answer that question for a long time. We both heard it. Something was promised but by whom is the question. Jazzjak might know more about what we just witnessed and faced, yet I have a sinking suspicion that whatever it was would be far stronger if it had a few centuries to grow and feed on a world.
Your Barrier barely kept back the energy it was trying to absorb from you.
So how would one defeat a creature like that without a barrier?
Bob remained silent and the sensation Max received from his skill didn’t put him at ease.
If the others faced that?
At their current stage and power? I don’t believe any of them could have won. I’m not sure we could have won without finding a way to remove it from this place. If those two centaurs were not in your dimensional space, we might have tried placing a portion of it in there, but even then, there is no guarantee that it would have worked.
Two skills… out of everything we can do, only two of my skills have a chance of defeating something like that…
Max glanced down at his arm, watching the muscle and skin regrow now that his Wildfire had run its course.
Jazzjak, Phaius, Ockrim, and others have warned us that what we are going to face is far beyond what we currently are. Just because you have me doesn’t mean we are going to be able to devastate the god pantheon. There are bound to be countless beings like that one that I will not be able to acquire an ability for you from. The sobering fact is that your stats are above whatever it had.
Because it wasn’t matured and it appears that the abilities it had was the true strength for a new one.
Correct. Similar to how you were when you received me. Can you imagine if you had slain one person with real skills and stats before you ever left Alundra? What if you had given yourself over to me and we had terrorized that small adventuring town before moving to the next city and the next?
Even though you were weak, two skills made you stronger than most could ever hope to be.
Max knew Bob was talking about Berserker and Sneak. One gained from an early boss kill and the other gained from an elf trying to kill him. Both had been the trump cards that had allowed him to punch above his level for so long.
Facing something that he struggled to defeat, especially when it was considered weak by Bob was another message being delivered by the System.
How do we train the others to face something like that?
The same way you have been training them to fight you. You show them that there isn’t anything they can do right now. You let them ignite a fire inside themselves to find ways to win.
Currently, only a few of your friends pose any challenge . Rakonath can sense you and has the natural strength and stats that come from your bond with him. Illusory magic doesn’t fool him, and having outfitted him in armor, he is the second strongest of you all.
Fowl and Tanila are your next top contenders. While I feel Sog has improved, his natural ferocity and the abilities that he does have doesn’t play well into certain areas. Even that draining life ability of his has limits.
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Fowl can shrug off the aura with a few potions. The cost to use it eventually forces Sog into battle and once again Fowl can withstand his attacks. And we both witnessed your friend's match against Tanila.
Max said nothing, recalling their last battle in his mind. Both had trained hard the past year, and each had grown stronger through consistent work. Yet all Tanila needed to do was draw out Fowl’s trump card and once the ability wore off, she could end his life. Sure, it left her basically drained of all mana, but like the others, she had started bringing surprises into their matches.
Fowl was only a problem when they fought via melee. Twice, Max had killed himself on that thorn aura; the damage reflected was too much even for his hitpoints to handle when unleashing all of his abilities.
His dwarven-half-brother had survived with a sliver of health, every one of his abilities used to negate as much damage as possible.
And yet none of them… most likely not even Rakonath could have defeated this creature.
I cannot say for certain if Rakonath would have won. His dragon fire is different than standard fire and may have inflicted damage upon this creature. Do not forget, he is also changing. Your bond, his godhood… Wekime played us as we both know.
The pit in his stomach that came every time Bob mentioned the God of Force threatened to send bile upward.
Yet it may ultimately backfire on him. Rakonath is not a simple dragon Wekime can command.
That we know of… We can discuss all this again, but for now let us see if the area above is safe and then summon those two from your space.
Shouldn’t I activate the panel first?
No… ensure the taint isn’t still around. I don’t sense it but I think it might be wise to limit any exposure to your home world to it.
Bob’s words felt like another weight. If a god could place the thing that was here upon their world, and he somehow provided its location, that mistake would cost Max more than he wanted to consider.
He took off running, passing through the tunnels and soon coming up a set of grand stairs that would have left most normal people tired to climb.
A breeze came across the barren land, not a speck of life present, and as the small glow of the moon illuminated the location, Max couldn’t sense any of the evil that he had before.
It appears that we have rid this world of whatever that was.
Yes… and look at the ground. You can see it, can’t you?
Max let his Sonar show him what Bob was talking about. In the dirt before him was an indentation of a pair of hoof prints facing the steps.
Moving a few steps further, Max stretched his Sonar to the limits, feeling the soil for more.
There’s nothing. How is–
He stopped his thoughts and turned, seeing that the stairs he had just came up on were gone, replaced by solid ground.
That is interesting. A built-in way to hide.
Max put his feet upon the hoofprints and the stairs appeared before him.
Where is the ground going? I mean… I can sense it’s real until the moment it’s gone.
Magic. Some kind of dimensional swap I would guess. Jazzjak most likely knows about it.
Summoning his dimensional space, Max created a ball of fire and motioned for the two wide-eyed centaurs to come out.
“Is… where are we?” Aeacilles asked.
“At the place where our Maker lived,” Talanos replied as he moved to stand on normal ground. “The shadow is gone… yet… where are all those who cared for this place?”
“Gone,” Max stated. “I’m not sure what was growing here, but whatever it was, it drained the life of the world and those who came near it.”
A few tears appeared in the older centaur’s eyes and Max watched as his body trembled.
“Why? Why would something do this?” Talanos asked. “Why our people? Why our world?”
Dismissing his dimensional space, Max shrugged and motioned to the stairs. “I don’t have answers for any of those questions, but I have done what I can right now. Come, let me show you what lies beneath and I will see if my helper can assist me in getting your home to a place like it once was.”
Max turned and started descending the steps, not worried that it took the two centaurs a few moments before either followed.
***
“From what I can tell, you should be fine to activate those blessings now,” Jazzjak said over the communication ring. “It will probably take a full season before any major changes happen, but within a year, the world should see a boon of growth. ”
“Understood,” Max said. “Make it so.”
His helper nodded and the ring went silent, the image of Jazzjak vanishing from above his hand.
“Is… was that really a dirt-hopper?” Talanos asked. “Usually they do not grow that large.”
Chuckling, Max motioned to the table, where a sheet of glass glowed a deep blue. “Yes… that one comes up to my chest. Now then, if you need me, someone can push right here, and I’ll come as quickly as I can. I won’t promise it will be in a minute or even a month, but I will come.” In his hand, he held out a ring to the younger centaur. “This is a treasure that you must guard. You can activate it as I showed you on mine. It will let me know you need to talk, but it must only be used in the gravest of moments. Do you understand?”
“Why me?” Talanos asked. “Why not Aeacilles? Surely I have not earned this honor.”
“You have not, but you will,” Max replied, motioning once more to the ring he held out. “Those who follow you will see the difference in how you talk about me. Show them you are a worthy leader, not just because you can defeat an old warrior.”
Aeacilles chuckled and shook his head. “I am not a warrior anymore. That title is long gone.”
“And yet you still led them,” Max stated. “Sometimes one doesn’t have to fight to lead. If this one is wise, he would soften his attitude toward you and let you pour wisdom into him.”
He watched as the pair stared at each other, both men scrunching their faces before the younger one surrendered first.
“I would be honored for you to help me lead our pack,” Talanos said.
“And I would be honored to protect your flank and watch over our people,” Aeacilles replied.
The two centaurs moved close, clasped their hands on the other's forearms and touched their foreheads together.
“Good,” Max said. “Now, one last question before I go. The tower, where is it?”
“Tower?” Aeacilles asked, an eyebrow raised on one side. “That is a thing of legends. None has seen or entered it that I know of in ages.”
“You mean it’s real?” Talanos asked, a hint of hope present in his tone.
“It should be,” Max replied, waving off the question. “That’s a discussion for the next time I come. For now, heal your lands. I promise to return within a year.”
“I… am grateful,” Talanos said, bending both forelegs and almost lying face first on the floor.
Max said nothing until the young centaur looked up at him. “Then prove it by how you lead,” he said. “Now, I must return to my home world.”
“We understand,” Aeacilles said, bowing at his waist. “We will start the journey back to our pack in the morning.”
Chuckling, Max shook his head. “No, hold my hand for a moment. There is no need to make you be gone that long.”
The slight scream that came from Talanos’s lips had Max smiling for hours after he returned to his own home.