Wild Era 2, Ch 6: Dual Elites

As Kelin took in the presence of the two dungeon bosses, he ignited his mana and soul pools, sending the condensed mana of Blaze surging through his meridians.

The form of the wolf turned hazy and disappeared as it merged with the dark mist that covered everything. Its fangs were the only thing that stayed physical, flashing bone white and crackling with necrotic energy as it shot toward Kelin.

At the same time, the skeleton raised its silver-hued hands and sent a bolt of dark lightning at him. 

The spell crossed the distance instantly and slammed into Kelin’s ward, which flared under the impact like it had been rung by a hammer. 

The lightning crackled across the surface as it tried to break through, but a flood of dense mana from Blaze reinforced it. 

The wolf’s fangs followed, slashing horizontally across the ward and leaving a blazing trail. A fog of white saliva appeared along the line, hissing like acid as a sense of venom radiated from it.

The weight of the beast’s enormous shoulder hit the barrier, creating an explosive impact that rang like thunder, and then the wolf faded back to obscurity, blending with the shadows and mist.

Kelin responded with two Blaze-intensified soul arrows, one targeting the mage and the other the wolf. The arrows flared with multi-hued light as they shot across the distance.

The Grey Lord of the Mists was hard to see with regular sight, but he was still clear in Kelin’s soul sense. 

The wolf let out a snarl as the arrow sank home. The spell was bright with power and the new strength of Endless Flame increased it even more, but the boss’s soul was a dark pool full of necrotic energy. 

It wouldn’t ignite so easily.

With the persistent effect on the flame, it would last for a long time and eventually burn through the Elite resistance, but it would take a while.

The skeleton was similar, but with a soul that was even denser than the wolf’s. The arrow passed through his mana shield and sank in like a single bright star on a black canvas.

The reaction was dramatic.

The wolf slammed into his ward again, making it tremble with the force as fang marks criss-crossed the surface and the golden flames sizzled with fury.

At the same time, the mage let out a ghostly howl, its eyes burning brighter as it wove a spell. Massive torrents of necrotic energy swirled around it from the area, swiftly forming into a violent whirlpool. The energy condensed under the mage’s control and then it flew into the ground, which let out a dull crack as it shattered.

A thousand fractured lines ran across the earth as a silver-white mist flooded upward, and then skeletal hands began to claw their way free from the ground. They moved swiftly and within an instant, a dozen ghostly skeletons rose from the earth.

Their bones were silver-white, similar to the mage’s hands, but half translucent, showing that they were more wraith than physical being. They held curved sabers that glowed with a dull blue light along the edge.

They had no levels or distinct names, showing that they were spell forms, but the energy they radiated placed them each around Level 90.

As soon as they were standing upright, they rushed toward Kelin.

Kelin didn’t wait around to study their composition. Blaze was expensive and those two soul arrows had drained half of his mana and two thirds of his soul energy, so he pulled out a mana potion and drank it. 

Then he shifted tactics.

The wolf was hiding in the mist and looking for a chance to wear down his barrier so it could kill him in a single strike, while the mage wanted to hang back until it could close the distance and kill him with a touch.

He had no intention of allowing either of them to have their way.

A golden flame in his hand blossomed into a sphere and then it exploded outside of his ward. Soulfire flared twenty feet high and the same in a radius around him, filling the area with light.

The summoned soldiers let out a shriek as their bones began to burn, and there was a loud growl as the wolf flashed out of the mist and reappeared on the far side of the clearing.

The mage also stepped farther back, but it didn’t stop casting. The necrotic energy it had summoned was spinning around it, giving it plenty of power to call on.

The earth shuddered again in response to its spell and a dozen columns of freezing air that radiated a sense of graveyards and death exploded upward from the earth. 

The wind picked up as it gathered that energy, swiftly turning into a howling storm of poisonous gas that flew toward Kelin. 

It was strong enough that the leading edge pressed down on the soulfire inferno, pushing the flames toward the earth as their light dimmed. It wasn’t enough to put them out completely, but some parts collapsed to embers.

As the storm slammed into his barrier, deadly blades formed from the edges and slashed into his ward, leaving great cracks of dark energy like a latticework across the surface.

The ward trembled under the impact, rippling like it was caught in the wind. It was barely able to maintain its structure and Kelin’s mana swiftly dropped.

At that same moment, the Grey Lord appeared again, slamming into his barrier like an avalanche. The impact was so strong that it rang through the area like a gong and a section of it caved in. 

Savage fangs flashed as they tore through the weakened structure and ripped down towards Kelin’s shoulder and neck. 

They met a massive fist of stone that slammed into the wolf’s head like a hammer. The wolf twisted to the side and its body slammed into Kelin’s ward.

A massive section of the barrier shattered into sparks of golden flame and the wolf’s tail whipped across Kelin’s chest like a blade. 

It met a layer of stoneskin that absorbed the blow, but it still threw him backward and he went rolling across the ground.

Kelin didn’t have the reserves to restore the ward, which left him with only stoneskin and his mana shield to block the mage’s necrotic storm, so a wave of soul energy gathered around him and then a soul-freezing pulse flooded the area. 

The wolf shuddered under the Soul Paralysis and froze for a moment. The mage was too far back to be affected as much, but it didn’t matter.

Golden runes glowed across Kelin’s skin as he sank into the earth. The world around him turned to pure mana and soul sight, filled with streams of energy from his own and Gaius’s awareness.

The wolf recovered in a moment and let out a howl as it began to tear at the earth, swiftly digging down after him. 

The Silver Hand gathered back his necrotic storm and sent a ray of dark magic into the earth, like a needle searching for Kelin, but the nature of the earth was resistance to death and decay, and it dissipated swiftly.

Kelin kept the channel to the inferno above ground open. It was slowly burning the skeletons, but the pressure of necrotic energy in the clearing was heavy, so it was mostly training for himself and the spell.

Endless Flames helped, infusing the inferno with a persistent effect that resisted the pressure, but all he could do was maintain a few of the flames and keep the rest as embers.

He wasn’t going to win going toe to toe with the mage in a test of whose mana was deeper, but fortunately he’d already sensed something else here.

He didn’t have long, so he oriented himself and began to walk toward the wolf’s den. The danger of those two bosses was one thing, but there was something in this area that was augmenting them. 

The necrotic energy here was too dense.

The Path’s quest to cleanse the affliction had given him the hint to look, and when the mage called on the ambient energy, he’d been able to assess it more clearly.

There was a source in the wolf’s cave. Everything here was cycling around it. 

It was probably where the original undead core had wound up. 

If he wanted to get rid of the mage and cleanse the area, he needed to deal with it. Then it would be easier to wear down the mage.

Perhaps the Sarathians had tossed the core there and then snuck back out of the dungeon, or one of the wolf’s followers had brought it to him as a form of tribute. 

With Gaius’s help, moving through the earth was as easy as breathing and it only took him a moment to reach the wolf’s den.

The wolf was large, and so the cave was fairly deep into the earth, about fifty feet below the surface and a hundred feet wide, which was still only enough for the beast to curl up comfortably and to have a bit of space.

He walked through the wall and into the interior, swiftly examining everything.

There were scattered bones and a pile of dirt and leaves that the wolf probably slept on, but most of the cave was barren, except for one area off to the side.

There, a sphere of necrotic energy was spinning in the air, looping in on itself in black and blue arcs like a ball of dark lightning.

It was an impression of the core that had been there, like a natural enchantment that was continuing to create necrotic energy, slowly converting ambient mana into it.

Kelin analyzed it and then he didn’t hesitate to reach out, targeting the weakest part. 

A Soulfire Bolt intensified with Blaze flew from his hand. The bolt was a crackling beam of golden flame that drove through the center of the sphere in an explosion of light.

The sphere exploded into a storm of necrotic energy that lashed across the wolf’s den, but Kelin was already gone as he sank into the floor.

He sensed the wolf’s enraged howl and the mage’s spells striking the earth, but he ignored them as he moved back toward the surface.

When he appeared again, it was on the far side of the clearing and his hands were full of talismans.

He activated one Soulfire Bolt and Fire Blade talisman after another and began hurling them across the field. They flew from his hands like fireworks, exploding across the clearing. 

They were too weak to do much to the wolf or the skeleton, but the same couldn’t be said for the necrotic energy. 

With each explosion, the dense layer of the mist evaporated slightly. Now that the source was gone, it wouldn’t come back so easily. 

He didn’t have much other use for these talismans, so disrupting the area was a worthwhile purpose.  

He had over 60 of them left, and they held about 15 mana each, so it was mana he didn’t have to spend to do the same thing.

The explosions distracted the wolf and interfered with its ability to phase into the mist, and they had the added effect of invigorating the Soulfire Inferno that was still burning, sending its flames leaping higher.

He had to move back into the earth repeatedly, dodging the mage’s spells and the wolf’s attacks, but it was an easy thing with Gaius’s help.

His mana was under forty percent and his soul pool was under a quarter, so he kept his work efficient until he was done, letting the talismans supply the mana for the clash between the flames and the necrotic energy.

A couple of minutes later, he was out of talismans and the inferno was blazing more fiercely than ever before. The necrotic energy had also declined by over half.

The dozen skeletal ghosts had crumbled away under the heat and even the wolf and the mage were looking a bit worse for wear. 

They’d taken to avoiding the center of the flames and were lurking on the edge of the clearing, waiting for him to appear again.

Kelin and Gaius’s thoughts moved as one as a spike of stone rose up from the ground, stabbing into the wolf’s stomach and hurling him toward the flames. 

Kelin walked back out of the earth into the wolf’s den and drank a mana potion. Then he dropped Blaze, since he couldn’t maintain it any longer.

He used his regular mana to send the inferno leaping higher.

Now and then he appeared from the edge of the clearing or in the center of the flames and sent a Soulfire Bolt or a normal soul arrow at the two Elites.

At the same time, he thinned out the stoneskin protecting him from the necrotic mist that was everywhere in the area. Then he began to let it infiltrate his stoneskin, where it dug in with a cold and stabbing pain against his physique.

Five more minutes passed as he played cat and mouse with the two of them, and then they began to stagger.

Rainbow flames were flickering at the edge of the skeleton’s rib bones, while the wolf’s eyes were beginning to give off an ethereal smoke.

All this time, the soul arrows had been smoldering in their souls and the drawn-out battle had given them the chance to work.

After that, it didn’t take long.

The wolf’s eyes were covered by rainbow flames and he collapsed to the ground with a massive thud that sent the flames swirling higher.

The mage lasted a minute longer, thanks to the density of its soul, but then it shuddered as prismatic flames leapt through its interior, curling around every bone and filling its eye sockets and skull.

The last spark of necrotic energy in its soul burned away as its bones fell into the flames of the inferno.

The clearing was a scene of devastation.

Flames burned everywhere, there were deep pits dug into the earth where the wolf and mage had tried to reach Kelin, all of the nearby trees were shattered and charred splinters, and stone spikes and ridges from Gaius’s attacks rose on every side.

What was left of the area was covered in ash and scorched trenches where spells and the wolf’s claws had torn into it.

There was still a large amount of necrotic energy in the air, but it was slowly disintegrating under the force of the inferno.

It would take a while longer to fully burn away, but with the source broken and the mage dead, the dungeon should recover.

He let the inferno fade away as he collected the Soulfire Sigil from where it had ended up at the side of the clearing, and then he sat down on a slab of stone.

Notifications began to ring in his mind, but he closed his eyes and meditated, taking deep and even breaths as he let his mana and soul energy recover first.

When he was ready, he looked around the area, studying the necrotic energy that was still present. Then he let part of the stoneskin that was protecting his arm thin away.

A thread of cold energy like freezing ice touched his skin and dug into his veins. It was like the claws of a ghost sinking into his skin, and it tried to move deeper, slowly digging toward his heart. 

As soon as it entered his skin, however, an explosive fury of soulfire lashed against it and burned it away. Golden flames leapt angrily around the location.

He assessed the impact on his physique, and then he nodded.

The area he was exposing grew larger as he let in another thread of dark energy and assessed the rate at which his soulfire fought against it. 

It was a clash of cold death and blazing heat.

When he had a good estimate of how much he could handle, he thinned out more areas and began to slowly increase the amount, until his entire body was covered in a frozen agony that was trying to tear it apart.

He needed a good way to stress his Soulfire Body Refinement and this would work. The vitality and resistance to mortal wounds it had was directly opposed to necrotic energy.

He took long and slow breaths as let his passive healing and physique deal with the necrotic invasion. His old Poison Resistance at Elite helped a little too, although not much.

Necrotic energy was the aura of pure death, the antithesis of life.

The inferno had been burning it away, but now a new flame appeared in the clearing as his body blazed even brighter.

Before long, he let the stoneskin fade completely and then he faced the necrotic cloud with just his body. 

It sent spasms of pain and wracking shivers across his skin, as well as a feeling of deep illness like his life was fluttering in the wind, but he gritted his teeth and forced it to continue.

Flames leapt higher and his mana dropped with every moment, but he didn’t stop.

Instead, he created a circling wind that drew in the necrotic energy from the rest of the clearing and intensified it.

It nearly made him double over in pain and vomit, and it felt like cold poison was running through his veins to stop his heart, even through the protection of soulfire.

Nonetheless, he persisted, and eventually he felt the pain of it begin to fade.

As his soulfire fought against the necrotic energy, it was destroyed again and again in an endless cycle, but every time it gathered itself and burned again.

The Law of Endless Flames that he’d just learned began to flicker through the soulfire, turning it a brighter and deeper gold that was almost burnished.

The color spread slowly, condensing like mist through his physique, but as it continued to be refined by the necrotic energy, it continued to expand.

Some time later, the new depth to the soulfire had spread everywhere and the flames were fighting more intensely, blazing through the necrotic energy as soon as it appeared.

Then the invasion slowly faded away, until there was nothing left to attack him.

He let out a huff of smoky grey air as he opened his eyes, only to see that the necrotic energy in the clearing was nearly gone. 

The darkness in the area was thinning out to the pale silver of moonlight.  

He could feel the changes to his physique. It had reached the peak of the Expert tier and the Law of Endless Flames had merged with it. 

This was one of the reasons that he’d chosen Endless Flames in the temple. It was a concept that would blend well with most things, and with it as part of his physique, there would only be benefits.

If there had been more necrotic energy here, he might have kept going, but this was enough for now. 

With that done, he turned his attention to the notifications that were waiting.

Congratulations, Lord of Wildfire!

You have cleared the Rising Mist Chaos Remnant!

Requirement Met: Clear 90% or more of the monsters inside.

Additional Bonus Met: Clear 100% of the monsters inside and kill the final boss, The Grey Lord of the Mists.

Additional Bonus Met: Kill the special boss, The Silver Hand of Death.

Additional Bonus Met: Cleanse the Affliction by removing the source of the necrotic energy to restore the dungeon.

First Clear Bonus Met: You are the first to have cleared this remnant. Additional rewards at the maximum allowed value will be assigned.

There was a pause as the Path assessed the total, and then it continued to speak.

You have gained 7 Levels.

Your Soul-Bonded Elemental has also gained 7 levels.

You are now Level 94.

You gain 7 Wisdom, 21 Intelligence, and have 35 free attribute points to assign.

Kelin glanced at the results and then he split the free points, dropping 20 into Constitution and the other 15 into Aura.

That took his Constitution to a base of 209, which was a solid foundation for a First Evolution mage even before his physique added its unique effect.

His Intelligence was up to 691 and his Aura was 311 now.

When he was done, the Path continued to speak.

Your Spell: Soulfire Inferno has improved by a tier and reached Elite.

That was the only ability he’d upgraded naturally during the fight, which was to be expected, but the rewards for the dungeon followed.

You have earned three Elite-tier Ability Rewards, one for clearing the dungeon at an Overflowing mana density and High danger rating, one for eliminating the Silver Hand of Death, and one for eliminating the source of the necrotic energy.

You may choose any three abilities to upgrade by a single tier, to a maximum of Elite.

Make your choices now.

Kelin glanced at his abilities, and then he made his choices.

There was one he’d been waiting to increase and after the fight with the high-level monsters and refining his soulfire here, he was finally ready. 

It was the first one he chose.

Your Innate Ability: Soulfire Body Refinement has gained a tier and reached Elite.

By perfectly aligning your physique to Soulfire, you gain a 65% improvement to your durability and physical recovery. You also gain a 65% resistance to mortal wounds.

Additionally, at the Elite tier, the natural power of a Soulfire affinity has begun to appear in your existence. You have become capable of enhancing the soulfire that flows through your veins. You gain a +10% Soulfire power improvement to your spells and abilities.

A wave of golden flames gathered around him and flowed through his body, altering every muscle, bone, and tendon. His vitality leapt upward and his resistance to damage improved.

The changes were comprehensive.

It was a 10% improvement on top of the 55% that Expert had offered, but the additional affinity effect was new.

He’d formed a Soul Affinity in his past, but it would be interesting to see where Soulfire went.

He had two ability improvements left, so he selected those next.

It was tempting to add to his combat abilities, particularly with Blaze, but he didn’t really need the help on it. He was getting plenty of practice.

Instead, he chose his subclass abilities to make sure they wouldn’t fall behind.

Your Subclass Ability: Runic Engraving has gained a tier and reached Expert. 

Runic Engraving allows you to shape your innate mana into a blade and to engrave runes on objects. The complexity of the runes is based on your level and understanding. 

This ability grants bonuses to the effects of the runes you engrave, providing a 20% improvement at the Expert tier.

Your Subclass Ability: Affinity Focus has gained a tier and reached Elite.

Affinity Focus allows you to harness sources of natural mana and to imbue them into the items you craft, as well as to enhance your creations with specific affinities or bonuses. 

At the Elite tier, you are able to add a 20% bonus to items, such as 20% Improved Mana Regeneration or Fire Efficiency, as long as you have the matching Affinity and can engrave the necessary runes.

Each of them was a 5% improvement over the previous tier. 

His Artisan’s Sight was already at Elite, so with those upgrades, the only one of his subclass abilities that was still low was Arcane Refinement at Advanced.

Some dedicated attention to it in the guild’s training halls would help it along.

Without his previous knowledge, the skills wouldn’t have done much to help, but now they would go a long way toward advancing his equipment.

Crafting skills relied heavily on knowledge, which he already had, but the skills themselves were about altering the body and manual dexterity to improve mana flow, runic stability, and other key details. 

Without them, it would be difficult to put his knowledge to use. 

Now his hands would be steadier while carving runes and his mana flow would be stronger and purer, resulting in better items.

The Path’s rewards for the dungeons weren’t over yet, so when he was done, it spoke again.

For completing this dungeon at an Effective Level of 110, you have earned a unique Ability reward.

An appropriate reward has been determined.

You are granted the Innate Ability: Spell Disruption (Basic).

This ability allows you to channel your mana or soul energy into a disrupting force and to break apart opposing spells. Higher level spells are more difficult to disrupt, but as this ability advances, your skill at it will improve.

At the Basic tier, you gain the ability to sharpen your energy into a disrupting blade, which you can wield against enemy spells or mana shields. It is most effective within your own aura, but it can be used at range as well, with a decreased effect.

Eventually, this ability can be sustained as a minor domain effect, weakening and disrupting enemy spells in your location, as well as applying an innate disrupting effect to your own spells and attacks.

A wave of shimmering light flowed through Kelin’s spirit as the new ability settled in and he felt an awareness of how to sharpen his mana into a disrupting blade suddenly leap forward.

It was different from the simple mana blade he used for his artisan subclass, which just let him cut through things. 

This disrupting blade cycled mana through a strangely distorted pattern, one that could break through opposing spells.

He’d seen many forms of mana disruption in the past, but he was impressed by the simplicity of the mana structure in this one. 

It was more efficient and powerful than what he could manage on his own. 

There was also a trace of a higher concept in it, one that he didn’t recognize, but if he had to guess, it was either a Law of Disruption or something else related to Destruction.

It would take a lot of work, but the ability had the potential to one day reach Heroic.

If he’d had it before, he would have had an easier time breaking through the lich’s mana shield, as well as the Silver Hand’s spells, although it would still have been difficult against the higher density.

For completing the First Clear of this dungeon and slaying two bosses, you have earned the highest level of Treasure Reward this dungeon can offer. 

As the difficulty of the bosses was higher than usual, the rewards will be upgraded to the Rare tier.

A golden sphere of light appeared in front of Kelin. It resolved into a small treasure chest that was made of polished mistwood with a silvery grain and it had a golden clasp on the front.

He flipped it open and saw two items sitting inside on a red cushion.

There were two glowing crystal orbs that shone with elemental essence. 

One was a bright sapphire that flowed like it had liquid waves inside and that radiated an intense blue light, while the other was a brilliant emerald hue that shone with the verdant green of a forest.

He already knew what they were, but he analyzed each of them.

Water Elemental Orb (Rare).

Wood Elemental Orb (Rare).

Elemental Orbs are the condensed essence of the elements. They can be fused into an enchantment of the same affinity and greatly enhance its power, or with greater risk, be transferred into a being’s body, similarly enhancing the strength of a physique. 

They can also be used to enhance an elemental ability, providing a chance to improve its foundation and tier, and if consumed, there is a slim chance that an elemental orb can grant the matching affinity or improve one that is already there.

The two orbs matched the dungeon’s affinity, which was also for Water and Wood.

Elemental orbs were in the highest tier of elemental reward that a dungeon at the Basic Evolution could offer, and they were rare even in the Second and Third Evolution dungeons.

Uncommon ones were expensive enough, but Rare-tier orbs were worth a small fortune.

They had a much higher chance of granting an affinity or improving an ability, and if they were infused into an enchantment, it would be like the artifact had been forged from the highest similar grade of elemental material that could be found.

A simple stone artifact would be upgraded to something like Ocean’s Heart Sapphire, a Rare-grade Water material that was highly sought after.

These orbs were something that the Baron would be very upset about if he knew he had missed out on the opportunity to collect them.

Kelin gave the orbs a long look, and then he closed the chest and stored it away.

The affinities they had weren’t of great use to him, but he would hold them until Yao and Naomi got their classes.

If they had a Water or Wood affinity, he would help them use them or create an artifact for each of them. If they didn’t, he would trade them through the guild for something that fit.

He already had a couple of Fire and Water-aligned items for them from earlier dungeons, so their futures had a great deal of promise.

The Path had a couple of final notifications for him, which echoed in his mind.

For completing this remnant, you are awarded 110 gold coins and 25 silver coins in the local currency.

You are awarded an additional 30 gold coins as a bonus for the dungeon’s difficulty and danger rating.

Your guild badge has recorded your accomplishments, which will be acknowledged by the Stars Alliance when you return to a guild hall.

220 Guild Credits have been added to your badge.

150 bonus credits have been added for completing the local Alliance Quest: Scout the Dungeons.

Report the information about the undead affliction to the guild and additional bonuses might be granted.

With that, the voice of the Path faded away.

It was a significant amount of gold and guild credit, quite a bit more than a Level 80ish dungeon would normally have offered, but about right for a Level 110 one.

His Effective Level had paid off in that regard.

Kelin spent a few moments collecting the monster cores from the wolf and the mage, as well as the most significant parts of the other loot, including the mage’s finger bones, which were highly infused with necrotic energy.

They were at the Rare grade, so they were worth selling at the guild.

There was also a large amount of hide from the wolf, which could be turned into talismans or enchanted clothing, as well as its fangs, claws, and tail. 

The materials were at the peak of the Uncommon grade and there was a lot of it, so it would be good to sell. 

Once he had everything stored away, he dusted himself off and turned toward the dungeon portal, which had appeared at the edge of the clearing.

He walked through and the familiar starlit darkness of the portal flowed around him. 

There was an endless moment where he felt suspended in the endless Void as stars spun past, their color whispering of magic and the elements.

Then he was through, standing near the set of guards that Sandren had left at the entrance.

He gave them a nod and a brief report about the condition of the undead inside, and then he set off back toward Highmist.

After this, he planned to take a break in town and repair his gear. It would be good to rest a little and prepare for the First Evolution.

He was up to Level 94 and closing in on 100, but before that could happen, he needed to make sure his foundation was as stable as possible.

Rising quickly through the levels within an Evolution was one thing, since it was just an accumulation of energy, but the Evolution itself was a far more critical matter. 

For the best advancement, it had to be perfect. Otherwise his future chances of reaching the Seventh Evolution would be damaged.

That meant taking full advantage of the guild’s resources, and especially its training halls.

What he needed would be expensive, but with the amount he’d just earned in the dungeon, he should be able to cover it.

If not, there were other ways to accomplish it.

In between those things, he had a baron to take down and there was no time like the present to get started.

Ahh, and his date with Sandren.

A smile appeared at the thought, which had risen unbidden as a reminder that she was waiting for him at the guild.

It had only been half a day, so hopefully she was still there.