Path of Dragons 8 - Chapter 77 - Completion

As the golem fell apart all around him, Elijah found himself in a maelstrom of bubbles, swirling water, and corroded metal.  He cut through the current, tucking his head as far back as he could in an effort to shield it from falling debris.  Above, tens of thousands of tons of former golem plunged into the water, threatening to flatten him against the lake floor.

He pushed himself as hard as he could, using his immense Strength to propel his massive body forward, dodging shattered pieces of the golem until, at last, he broke free.  Twirling around, Elijah saw a mass of metal that defied all sense of scale.  It was like looking at a submerged mountain whose peak had broken through the surface to become an island of detritus. 

It was the remains of the creature he’d just killed.

Or destroyed, depending on the definition of life.  Elijah suspected that such designations were wildly variable when it came to mechaniques.  Or former chimera.  He didn’t know how to think of them, but he knew one thing above all – he definitely didn’t like the way they seemed to enjoy acting as gods.

However, he didn’t come away from it without some degree of understanding.  He’d spent months among those monsters, and because of that, he felt even more prepared to use spells like Nature’s Design to elicit the results he desired. 

He couldn’t let himself dwell on that, though, because despite the recent catastrophe, the local and mutated wildlife would not remain subdued for long.  And as he’d already discovered, truly dangerous creatures lived in the depths.  That was apparent when he felt a school of mutated fish coming his way. 

Elijah tried to outrun them, but the things were smaller and much faster than him.  Like piranha who’d inexplicably grown barbed fins and even more oversized jaws, the fish were the size of tiger sharks and hunted like a pack of wolves.  They darted in, nipping at his fins while others circled around to impede his path.  Elijah attempted to change directions, diving deeper or flinging himself out of the water, but there were far too many of the monsters to truly evade.

No – a fight was necessary.

Elijah embraced Savage Strength, then went to work.

He often thought of the Shape of the Sea as part snapping turtle, and he truly emulated those earth-bound reptiles  as his beaked maw darted out, absolutely obliterating monstrous fish with every bite.  As he did so, he swished his meaty tail, slamming it into the ones trying to approach from behind.  Each blow broke delicate bones and disabled his enemies, but there were so many that he knew his task would not be quickly completed.

Still, buoyed by his recent victory, Elijah poured himself into the slaughter.  As he did, he let himself sink deeper and deeper into the instincts that had come with the chelonoid form.  A dangerous precedent to set, but given the circumstances, he knew it was the only way he could hope to survive the onslaught.

Soon enough, the water was filled with so much blood that it had begun to attract even larger predators as well as scavengers.  And after only a few more minutes, the lake had become a warzone, with monstrous fish and tentacled creatures battling it out.  Some targeted Elijah, but they were just as likely to fight one another. 

It was a bloodbath of epic proportions, as chaotic as any battle and twice as gory. 

It also went on for far longer than Elijah would have thought possible.  The lake was extremely large as well as incredibly deep, and it clearly played host to far more monsters than he ever could have expected.  And they all seemed to have a nose for blood and battle. 

In the end, Elijah killed thousands, and he wasn’t even the deadliest participant.  That title belonged to a creature that looked like a cross between a shark, hippopotamus, and a mosasaur.  It was also almost a hundred feet long and a vicious killer that seemed to revel in ripping the other monsters apart.  Elijah had resigned himself to taking it on himself when a swarm of those piranha sharks tore into it.  They didn’t kill the huge and powerful creature – far from it – but they did manage to weaken it to the point where it became just a little more vulnerable.  That, in turn, made it a target for escalating damage that eventually ended with its inevitable death.

But it took thousands of monsters with it.

Without its ultimately doomed efforts, the fight might have gone on quite a lot longer.  But in the wake of its death, the waters had cleared to a significant degree.  Certainly, they were stained red with blood for miles and miles, but many of the monsters had been killed.

Elijah spent the next couple of hours cleaning things up before the remaining creatures abandoned their bloodlust and fled the scene.  That left Elijah alone with innumerable corpses and raging with his instincts screaming at him to pursue.  He chose not to, remembering his humanity just in time to keep himself from haring off through the lake on a quest to kill everything that dared to stand up to him.

Was that the dragon in him?

Or whatever creature that the Shape of the Sea had been based upon?  Elijah didn’t know, and he didn’t think he’d soon discover the truth.  For now, though, he swam towards shore, trailing a good deal of his own blood along the way.  Some of that was staunched by consistent use of Wild Resurgence, but certainly not all.  Finally, he climbed free of the lake and let himself resume his human form.  There, he lay on the rocky beach, the blood-tinged water lapping at his bare feet as he finally let himself breathe. 

Thankfully, there were no landbound monsters around, so he had a little space to just let himself mentally recover from the battle.  He felt like he’d been fighting for days – months, if he counted his time since first arriving in the Primal Realm – and he felt that he would need quite a while to fully regroup and recuperate.

For a long time, he just lay there, staring at the sky.  There were a couple of harpies up there, but they seemed entirely uninterested in him.  So, he was afforded plenty of time to gather his thoughts.

As he did, he finally decided to address his notifications:

Congratulations!  You have conquered the Chimeric Forge.  To exit the Primal Realm, please return to Vey’thaal where a portal awaits. 

That wasn’t unsurprising, though Elijah wasn’t looking forward to the trek back to the beleaguered city.  Still, without the factory constantly pumping out monsters, the population of deadly creatures had thinned considerably.  The land was still infested, but the decrease was noticeable. 

Next, he moved on to a series of nearly identical notifications, all telling him that he’d gained another level.   In fact, because he’d killed so many monsters – both during the battle against the Prime Mechanique and in the aftermath, he saw eight such notifications, putting him at level one-seventy-eight.  It was an enormous boost, and one that left him reeling from the pace. 

However, it only took him a moment to realize that it wasn’t really that surprising, given the scale at work.  Most people wouldn’t dream of entering a Primal Realm without an army.  At the very least, elite fighters would bring an entire group.  And he’d done it alone.  Doubtless, the experience reflected that feat. 

It was also somewhat disappointing to come up just short of gaining another spell.  He felt greedy for even thinking it, but there it was all the same.  To distract himself, he opened his status:

His attributes were truly getting out of hand, but then again, given the threats he’d just faced, they needed that boost.  If he’d possessed even slightly less Ethera, he never could have pushed Eternal Swarm to overwhelm the golem’s defenses.  Even with likely trillions of the things flooding the thing’s interior, it had only fallen apart because the resultant afflictions had infected its power sources.  Without that, it would have taken months to bring it down.

A similar sentiment accompanied his thoughts of his Constitution and Strength, both of which came in handy throughout the fight.  Even his oft-ignored Dexterity played a vital role, and not only in helping him control his massive Strength.  In addition to helping him in a thousand subtle ways, it had also enabled him to perform acrobatic maneuvers – in the air, sea, and on land – that defied human capabilities. 

But the real standout was probably his Regeneration.  With its high value – that was only enhanced by Unchecked Growth – he’d managed to recover in seconds from injuries that would have otherwise taken days or even weeks to mend. 

In short, he’d needed every single attribute point, and he suspected that going forward, that wouldn’t soon change. 

He hoped the Primal Realm was the worst he’d need to face for the near future, though.  As much as he enjoyed being alone, there was definitely something to be said for having a team to support him.  Sure, it came with a lot of extra responsibilities – he had no idea how he would have kept other people alive during the worst parts of Chimeric Forge – but he definitely would have liked to have someone else around to share the burden.

And maybe for a little companionship.

It had been months since he’d seen Sadie, and he finally allowed himself to acknowledge just how much he missed her. 

With a sigh, he moved on to the next notification, which told him that he would get his reward for completing the Primal Realm when he exited. 

As he lay there, he’d slowly regenerated enough ethera to heal himself.  Then, once he’d mended the wounds he’d incurred during his lake-bound battle, he shifted into the Shape of the Sky and took to the air.  Once he’d gained enough altitude, he oriented himself in the direction of Vey’thaal and used Lightning Rush.  He didn’t quite cover the entire distance to the city, though he came a lot closer than he had expected.

Still, the area around Vey’thaal wasn’t as deserted as the lake region, so he was forced to descend fairly quickly in order to avoid the swarming harpies.  Once he was on the ground, he shifted into the Shape of Venom, adopted the Guise of the Unseen, and made his way back to the last city on the planet. 

In the end, it was another day before he finally surmounted the wall and let Guise of the Unseen drop away – much to the shock of the Vey’thaalian guards, who didn’t react well to his sudden appearance.  They quickly got a handle on themselves and escorted him back to Eres.  Along the way, Elijah found that the Vey’thaalians had broken into a subdued celebration.  There wasn’t a carnival in the streets of the city, but they were obviously elated with Elijah’s actions.

“I did not believe you could do it, hero,” Eres said, looking down on Elijah.  “That…creature was…we could not have defeated it even if the whole of Vey’thaal came out to fight.”

“All in a day’s work,” Elijah said with a smug grin.  He knew he looked dreadful, but he hadn’t had time – or safety – to clean himself up.  And now that he had both, he just wanted to go home.  So, he added, “I think it’s time for me to head out.  I hope you all can take it from here.”

Eres nodded, saying, “I wish we had more to offer you, but here.”

He handed Elijah a leather bag that, when inspected, revealed itself to be full of gold ethereum – at least a hundred of them, if not a few more.  Then, the Vey’thaalian gave him another gift.  This one was a simple pewter ring inscribed with so many glyphs that he couldn’t even begin to understand them all. 

“Ah…thanks,” Elijah said.

“Bind it.  It is one of my people’s greatest treasures.  The Astral Loop,” Eres explained.  “It has not been bound since my progenitor was slain.  And now I give it to you.”

“I can’t take this,” Elijah said, handing it back.  “It’s a family heirloom.” 

But Eres wouldn’t take it.  “You have earned it.  The ring allows the bearer to access an extradimensional space in which items can be stored.  Inside, time does not move.  The only limitation is that nothing living may survive the atmosphere inside.”

Elijah’s eyes widened.  “How big of a space?”

He went on to explain – by spreading his arms out – that it was a cube with about five feet to a side.  That meant a volume of more than a hundred cubic feet.

“Damn.”

It was well over twice the space available in his Ghoul-Hide Satchel.  Maybe closer to three times.  But Elijah was more interested in the frozen time aspect of it.  The Ghoul-Hide Satchel featured something similar, though time was merely slowed inside rather than stopped entirely. 

Whatever the case, the Astral Loop would be quite useful, especially considering that he never intended to run out of supplies again.  He had already resolved to never leave his island without at least a couple of months’ worth of food.  More, if he could swing it.  And given the size of the Astral Loop, that seemed imminently possible.

“Thank you,” Elijah said.  “This means more than you can know.”

“No.  Thank you, hero.  You have saved my people from annihilation.  A few gold ethereum and an old trinket are poor recompense for what you have done for us.”

With that, Elijah followed Eres through the castle and back to where he’d arrived.  A portal stood open, waiting to transport him back to Earth.  It felt like a watershed moment, not unlike what he’d experienced in his first tower.  Certainly, the threats were larger, but with his increased power, the difficulty seemed similar. 

And he had conquered it. 

That brought with it a note of satisfaction.  However, it was also tinged with sadness when he looked back at Eres, then toward the city of Vey’thaal.  None of those people would exist after he left the Primal Realm.  Instead, they would be reformed, and the cycle would begin anew. 

He knew that they’d all volunteered for it.  He’d even seen the option to explore such an opportunity within the Ironshore Branch’s functions.  It was currently greyed out and unavailable, but that wouldn’t remain the case for long.  However, Elijah knew he’d never take that option.  Not after what he’d seen.

He couldn’t imagine a greater hell than repeating the same cycle over and over again, all in search of a slightly better Legacy.

In any event, Elijah said one final goodbye to Eres, then stepped through the portal.  A second later, he was standing next to the pulsating sphincter where his latest death-defying adventure had begun. 

With a sigh, he shifted into the Shape of Venom, took on the Guise of the Unseen, and headed away in search of a safe spot so he could collect his official reward.