HideousGrain
patreon
Forgotten Lands - Chapter 31 (Book 1)
🕑 Added 2024-02-13 15:20:25 +0000 UTC“A Named Elite monster? No wonder it was so strong.”
Zayn heaved heavily, his entire body sore and itchy from all the energy that had flooded his body. His skin was still torn, droplets of blood trickling down the tears.
Memories about the habitat of certain Elite monsters resurfaced in his mind and he tilted his head.
‘I should make my move soon, otherwise, the Elite Monsters will be occupied by the corporates and elite workshops.’
He had been focusing on making money since it was required in the long run, but he neglected his Foundation and Heart Deck. It was time that he focused a little bit more on the Cards he needed in the future. He had to upgrade his Cards and get some real dealbreakers. Zayn had yet to procure his first Rare Card.
He was exhausted but now was not the time to stay idle. The heavy smell of blood in the air would soon attract more monsters. Zayn’s eyes landed on the monster corpses and a surge of annoyance swept through him.
He didn’t have enough energy reserves to coat the monster corpses with energy, otherwise, he could put the Winter Wolf and its pack members up for sale. It was even more saddening that he had yet to procure a spatial storage to store and preserve goods, monster corpses, and other stuff.
Zayn was still relying on his backpacks and pouches.
He moved over to the Winter Wolf and retrieved some fangs and its claws with precise movements. Right after that, Zayn gathered the Card Shards, and the Common Card Winter Wolf had dropped. There was more he wanted to do, but he was interrupted as he heard the distinct noises of approaching monsters. They were not even trying to hide that they were on the way.
Since he was still weakened, and out of both Stamina and Energy, Zayn retreated. He put the claws and fangs into one of his backpacks and left the bloody battlefield.
The bushes around the battlefield rustled and it didn’t take long before several predators arrived at the crime scene. Zayn, however, was nowhere near anymore.
He walked for ten minutes and considered his future steps before he climbed one of the bigger trees. He found a thick branch to sit down and organize his thoughts and the loot he’d procured.
‘Let’s have a look…’
Heart Deck
Classless(Tier-0) Card Holder
Connected Cards: 6
Card Limit: 10
Stored Soul Essences: 19
Not much about his Heart Deck had changed, but it was a welcome surprise to see that he had 19 Soul Essences left after upgrading the Star of Energy to the Novice rank. This left Zayn with a big question.
‘How should I distribute the Soul Essences? Investing them into my Cards doesn’t make sense anymore. I only did that because I wanted to impress Old Farthma. It allowed me to get on her good side so the investment was worth it, but investing more Soul Essences into my Cards will be wasteful.’
Zayn opened another screen to inspect his Foundation Orbit.
[Foundation Orbit]
[Star of Vitality – Inferior 3/10]
[Star of Strength– Novice 10/100]
[Star of Agility – Inferior 4/10]
[Star of Dexterity – Inferior 2/10]
[Star of Perception – Inferior 2/10]
[Star of Energy – Novice 10/100]
[Star of Wisdom– Inferior 3/10]
It wouldn’t really hurt to keep his Foundation low, but Zayn realized several tactics that allowed him to speed up his progress. That did not only include his combat prowess but also his progress as an Alchemist. The more he thought about it the more obvious was the course of his next action.
“Dealing with those Elite Monsters before anyone else can find them,” He mumbled, his eyes fixed on the Foundation Orbit. Increasing his Foundation to a little bit over 50 should be enough to deal with Elite Monsters like the Winter Wolf more easily than he did before. He would be prepared as well. There was no need to hesitate.
Integrate 3 Soul Essences into the Star of Vitality
3/10 → 6/10
Integrate 7 Soul Essences into the Star of Perception
2/10 → 9/10
Integrate 5 Soul Essence into the Star of Energy
10/100 →15/100
Integrate 4 Soul Essences into the Star of Wisdom
3/10 → 7/10
The notifications were a little bit different than before but Zayn ignored that. The system would change, and become more detailed in certain aspects as the ranks of his Foundation Stars improved.
Zayn didn’t put a single Soul Essence into the Star of Strength, Agility, and Dexterity. His current fighting style didn’t rely on melee combat. Instead, he was more focused on his Cards, which consumed Energy and a considerable amount of mental power. Zayn did not only use a single Card at a time mid-battle. He used his Cards dozens of times, draining his energy and mental power. Therefore, His Energy and Wisdom Foundation was more important.
Even if he wished to engage in a close-combat fight, Blink allowed him to do that perfectly fine. He did not need high Agility as long as no one could restrain his usage of Energy, or Blink. Locking Space, or sealing his Energy was not something a low-ranked Card or ability could do. It was not necessary to think about those for quite a while.
In the worst case, if he was too slow to avoid an attack, Iron Bark and his enhanced Vitality would protect him from most harm. That wouldn’t be too bad either since it would improve Iron Bark’s proficiency.
Fighting powerful foes with a myriad of Cards and tricks would level his Cards rapidly. Root Strike was about to level up again and even Rapid Plant Growth received a level up from being used more than two dozen times in a combo with Root Strike. It was no wonder that Winter Wolf couldn’t escape the grasp of Zayn’s thick roots.
Last but certainly not least, Zayn would gain more Soul Essences from defeating powerful Elite Monsters by himself and it was almost guaranteed that his other loot would be extraordinary as well.
Thinking about extraordinary loot, Zayn retrieved the Common Card he’d obtained from killing Winter Wolf. The image on the Card was a simple glyph surrounded by flourishing fauna. Zayn expected something else from a monster with the name Winter Wolf. Intrigued he inspected the Card.
Aegis Natura
Common - Level 1(0%)
Spell
Active
Requires Lifeforce to be used
Effect – Absorbs the surrounding Lifeforce to create an Aegis
Can store a small amount of Lifeforce to manifest a strong Aegis
-–
Lifeforce Storage expands with Card Level
Aegis grows more durable as the Card Level increases
Duration of active Spell increases with Card Level
—-
“Hmm,” Zayn stared at the Card’s description for quite a while, various thoughts flashing through his mind, “That makes things a little bit more complicated.”
Absorbing the Lifeforce in the surroundings to create an Aegis shield meant that he had to be in a suitable environment. If his surroundings was barren, or filled with Undead, Aegis Natura wouldn’t have anything to absorb. Even if there was enough lifeforce in the surroundings, it was important to find out how much Lifeforce an Aegis required. If it was too much, only regions like the Arylin Forest could tap into the full potential of Aegis Natura.
Being able to store small quantities of Lifeforce in the Aegis Natura Card was useful, but the stored Lifeforce would be used up to create the stronger version of Aegis The Lifeforce used up to manifest the Aegis would, most likely, disperse once the Card’s duration wore off, or once the Aegis was broken. Manifesting Aegis again meant that he would have to recharge it, using the surrounding Lifeforce.
Aegis Natura was a Common Card with unique conditions and restrictions. Such Cards were usually stronger than ordinary Cards. That’s if you manage to meet the conditions to use them properly.
‘Rapid Plant Growth and Root Strike’s ability to summon roots might be able to aid Aegis Natura.’
Zayn had still four Card slots left, and it was not as if he was going to leave the Arylin Forest soon. It was worth linking Aegis Natura to his Heart Deck, even if it was just for experiments to see how useful the Card was. It was worth a try.
‘But to think that the Winter Wolf dropped such a Card. I expected something related to ice, or an attack-based Card, not a nature-attribute defense spell.’
Zayn pressed the Common Card against his chest, where it disappeared at once.
Spell Card has been linked to your Deck. Please prepare for the Influx of Information!
The influx of information was not that bad. Zayn learned how to use Aegis Natura and a few tricks to utilize the surrounding environment. Zayn experimented a little bit right away.
Not even five minutes passed before he found a small group of Blackbelly Boars past the tree underneath him. Zayn thought about it for a moment and jumped down. He retrieved the Shanyt Axe to behead one of the smaller Blackbelly Boars before three roots shot out of the ground. They shot toward three boars and easily pierced their bellies before they could even respond.
Only one of the Blackbelly Boars was left alive. It was enraged, just like Zayn wanted. The Blackbelly Boar charged at him, but Zayn didn’t make his move. He didn’t move a single inch and it was not until the last meter that a green glyph manifested in front of Zayn. The glyph expanded and a green barrier was in front of him. The Blackbelly Boar continued its charge and crashed heavily into the Aegis. The glyph flickered and lost a large chunk of its glow, but it didn’t break. The Blackbelly Boar had to attack a second time to finally break the Aegis.
Zayn used Aegis Natura a second time. However, this time, the Aegis broke after the Blackbelly Boar attacked only once. Zayn could have evaded the attack but he used Aegis Natura a third time. This time, however, he utilized the bits of Lifeforce that had accumulated in the Card to manifest a slightly strengthened version of the Aegis.
The Blackbelly Boar was in a frenzy. It squeaked loudly in anger and sadness. Two more attacks later, Zayn shrugged and blinked next to the Blackbelly Boar to behead it with a single strike.
Five Blackbelly Boars have been slain.
[Proficiency of Aegis Natura reached 100%. Level Up!]
‘Using Aegis Natura repetitively will weaken the Aegis. It needs time to absorb Lifeforce. Or is there just too little Lifeforce in the immediate surroundings?’
Zayn considered searching for more monsters to experiment with, but instead of wasting his time doing so, he started experimenting right away. He manifested an ordinary Aegis and punched it hard. The Aegis glyph flickered but it didn’t break at once. It took two fierce punches to breathe the Aegis. Zayn used Rapid Plant Growth and Root Strike to channel Aegis Natura with more Lifeforce. The small storage was filled quickly, and it was even faster drained as he erupted a strong Aegis.
The Aegis glyph was just a little bit large, and so was the barrier surrounding the glyph. Zayn delivered a few fierce punches before he stopped in his tracks. He retrieved the Shanyt Axe and cleaved down with all his might.
The Aegis glyph broke down.
‘Again.’
Zayn repeated the process. This time, however, he used his strongest attack right off the bat. The Shanyt Axe slashed down and cut through the barrier. However, instead of breaking down at once, the Aegis glyph flickered violently before healing the gash in the barrier. There was only a little Lifeforce left in the Aegis glyph, but it survived one of Zayn’s strongest attacks.
‘To be able to block my attack at Level 2. It’s probably as strong as a decent defensive-type Uncommon Card. If combined with Root Strike and Rapid Plant Growth, I can consider it an Uncommon Card with the benefits of being much easier to level as a Common Card. That’s nice!’
He continued to experiment a bit, but it didn’t take long before Zayn felt that it was about time to move to the next step.
It was time to hunt some Elites.
