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Forgotten Lands - Chapter 6 (Book 2)
🕑 Added 2024-03-19 11:00:06 +0000 UTC“So that’s the Magma Prairie?” Percy asked, scanning the vast, flat grassland, “I expected it to be worse.”
The Magma Prairie was a humongous flat area behind the Emberforge Mountains that broke the laws of physique. The grassland flourished and was as wide as the eye could see. It was a vast space covered in tall grasses that swayed gently with the wind.
Only a few trees scattered throughout the Magma Prairie, providing some shade.
However, the most exciting feature of the Magma Prairie was the magma rivers passing through the vast open space. Numerous magma rivers increased the temperature throughout the Magma Prairie, yet the grassland seemed unaffected. It was almost like the plant life attained heat and burn resistance.
“Pay attention to your surroundings. If you get killed, I’ll dock your wage for one month,” Nicolas declared mercilessly.
Percy scoffed, “You don’t even pay me. Zayn has all the money!”
Zayn raised an eyebrow but didn’t pay much attention to his brothers’ little banter. He analyzed the surroundings, searching for the first monsters to prey upon.
“Stop fighting. The Magma Prairie is a lot more dangerous than you think. The monsters here have a Foundation between 500 and 2500. If you want to die, please tell me. I will leave you guys alone.”
“Your Foundation is the biggest variable, you know?” Percy teased his younger brother, “You should hurry up to catch up to us!”
Zayn groaned inwardly, but he remained silent. It was true that his foundation was not as high as that of the cream of the crop. He was a bit behind the strongest Players given that they’d already integrated a higher Foundation and a Class Path.
But he wasn’t doing too bad, either.
[Foundation Orbit]
[Star of Vitality – Novice 60/100]
[Star of Strength– Novice 60/100]
[Star of Agility – Basic 100/1000]
[Star of Dexterity – Novice 50/100]
[Star of Perception – Novice 60/100]
[Star of Energy – Basic 100/1000]
[Star of Wisdom– Novice 80/100]
His Foundation was nothing special. It was relatively balanced with a slight focus on Energy and Agility. Agility and perception allowed him to evade incoming attacks more easily. The combo was further amplified with Blink, which made it even easier to avoid head-on confrontations with powerful enemies. Following that, the Star of Wisdom and the Basic rank Star of Energy made throwing roots and other Cards around as he pleased easier.
Until now, his somewhat balanced Foundation had been powerful enough to overcome various hurdles. The only problem was that he couldn’t integrate Soul Essences into his Foundation Orbit anymore. He reached the capacity of a Classless Player with his Foundation at 500.
Funnily enough, Zayn’s body would have been torn apart if he reached a 500er Foundation as a Classless Player after the domains descended. Such a high Foundation was only possible in Forgotten. That was also why he had to hurry up and integrate more Soul Essences to initiate the Class integration of the Soul Lord Path. The earlier he finished that, the better.
“Enough.”
Zayn’s reminder was enough to stop his brothers. Percy and Nicolas glared at each other for a moment, then started grinning.
Nicolas turned to the right, his eyes glowing faintly.
“I found a Hellhound pack,” He declared, readying his bow, Ebony Reaper, Ranked Armament, and quiver filled with arrows.
Percy changed his stance and stepped forward, retrieving a sizeable one-handed sword mantled in a chilly aura. His sword and light metal armor were high-quality Ranked Armaments. He swung his weapon through the air to loosen up and stepped in front of his brothers to protect them.
A chilly aura engulfed his body, dispelling the searing heat that permeated the Magma Prairie.
“Wasting your energy already,” Nicolas snickered with a single glance at Percy, whose lips curled upward.
“Showing off is what I’m best at. You should know that.”
“No. You are the best at being shameless. And being an idiot,” Nicolas snorted, nocking an arrow on the Ebony Reaper’s bowstring.
“A dozen Hellhounds are coming our way. They have yet to perceive us, but it’s only a matter of time.”
As Nicolas’ voice faded into a whisper, one of the Hellhounds’ heads flicked in their direction. The monster lifted its head to smell the different scents in the air. It howled loudly, attracting the rest of the pack’s attention. A few seconds later, a dozen Hellhounds pinpointed the sources of the odd scent.
Zayn and his brothers had been discovered.
His armor glimmered faintly, and a verdant saber manifested in Zayn’s hand. His new toys were out for blood.
Verdant Saber – Set
Tier-1 – Rare
Enchantments – [Enhanced Poison], [Dagger-Split]
The Verdant Saber was a unique Weapon Artifact. Enhanced Poison could strengthen all types of poison and generate poison on its own. It was similar to the Uncommon Card Poison Augment. However, the Dagger-Split enchantment was the sole reason the Ranked Artifact was labeled Rare.
The Verdant Saber glowed faintly as Zayn pressed both hands against its handle. A bright emerald light shrouded the saber, camouflaging what happened. The light dispersed quickly, revealing a pair of daggers. The Verdant Saber disappeared. No, it merely changed and split into a pair of daggers.
“No matter how often I see this, it’s always shocking,” Percy mumbled.
“Maybe you should work on your brain a little bit. If that is enough to shock you, I don’t even want to see how you’ll react when we fight Wyverns and other monstrosities,” Nicolas retorted.
Zayn rolled his eyes and retrieved a potion with poison from the Pack Armor Armament.
Pack Armor
Tier-1 – Rare +
Enchantments – [Backpack] - [Enhanced Defense]
The Backpack Enchantment was similar to a spatial ring. The only difference was that the items stored in Backpack could be retrieved much faster and didn’t lose weight. Zayn couldn’t store a heavy monster in the Backpack Enchantment if he wasn’t strong enough to carry it around. He would collapse to the ground and lose momentum.
That was also why Zayn didn’t store much in the Backpack Enchantment. There were only a few potions, the Verdant Saber, and similar small items which could be useful in combat.
The reason why he exchanged the One-handed Shanyt Axe with the Verdant Saber and why he picked the Pack Armor was not only the potential of their Enchantments. It was also the Ranked Armaments’ special traits. Enhanced Poison and Enhanced Defense had a unique trait.
The potency of Enhanced Poison is directly related to the power level of the Stars of Energy and Wisdom.
Enhanced Defense’s defensive power increases according to the wielder’s lifeforce.
Both traits were very specific, but Enhanced Defense of the Pack Armor was the most interesting.
Certain Classes rapidly reinforced the Star of Vitality, granting a higher lifeforce level. Zayn was not like them. However, he had a much better privilege that allowed him to fully use Enhanced Defense’s special trait. He had the Rare Card, Origin Lifeforce!
Zayn wasn’t worried as the Hellhounds charged. Their vibrant red fur flared up as bursts of heat poured out of their bodies. They accelerated simultaneously and reached the brothers in no time. However, instead of instilling fear in the brothers' hearts, they eyed the Hellhounds as if they were defenseless prey.
There was no need to be afraid of the Hellhounds. They might be Elite Monsters, but the brothers had already devised a tactic and knew how to deal with them.
Percy stepped forward, the chilly aura coating him, spreading further through the surroundings. The temperature dropped all of a sudden, and the tall grasses froze. A freezing mist spread filled the surrounding area, drastically affecting the Hellhounds that entered Percy’s range. The Hellhounds’ racial trait couldn’t be unleashed to the fullest. The Hellhounds were forced to dispel some of the heat hoarded in their bodies to fight to obliterate the freezing mist that kept affecting the surrounding temperature.
The Hellhounds had to maintain their body temperature at a certain temperature or above, otherwise, their racial trait would turn into an endless hole that devoured the heat hoarded within them.
That was precisely what the Cryo-Swordmaster, Percy Dexter, was doing right now. He forced the Hellhounds to use their inner heat, preventing them from releasing projectiles of compressed heat. As their senses dulled slightly, the Hellhounds grew weaker, creating the perfect opportunity for Nicolas Dexter to strike. He used several Cards, such as Precision, Rapid Fire, Pierce, Reinforcement, and Weakness Detection, simultaneously to release a barrage of arrows toward his enemies.
The Hellhounds’ weak points were exposed to Nicolas, who used the bits and pieces of information to strike his enemies.
Zayn spread poison across the Verdant Daggers and used their Enchantment, Enhanced Poison, alongside Poison Augment, Double Impact, and Draining Touch.
He added Lifeforce Conversion, drained half of his lifeforce instantaneously in exchange for a sudden burst of power and executed Blink twice to appear behind the back row of the Hellhounds pack and attack.
One of the Verdant Daggers coated in an ominous dark hue and twinkling emerald stars pierced deep into the neck of the closest Hellhound. The monster’s head flicked to him, but Zayn reacted before the Hellhound could shake him off. The other Verdant Dagger appeared out of nowhere. Zayn thrust it deep into the Hellhounds bloodshot eye, twisting the blade once it was stuck deep inside the monster.
He yanked the Verdant Dagger out of the Hellhound as the power of Double Impact burst out. The Hellhound’s skull crackled, but Zayn didn’t pay attention to the monster anymore. The double-enhanced poison was already spreading through the monster’s system. It was also on the verge of death without the poison. There was no need to pay anymore attention to it. The Hellhound was already as good as dead.
An arrow whizzed through the air, piercing through the Hellhound’s crippled eye, ending the monster instantly.
“That was unnecessary,” Zayn said, only for Nicolas to shrug.
“The more Soul Essences, the better,” He retorted.
“Whatever,” Zayn shrugged, his eyes flickering to the kill notification.
Hellhound (Elite) has been slain – Major Contribution. +2 Soul Essences, +3 Common Card Shards.
Zayn licked his lower lip and nodded subtly.
‘I can work with that.’
It was time to grind a bunch of Soul Essences!
