64 Abyss

Captain Gruk, meticulously drew out a set of spiral symbol, interlaced with a pattern system Shaka did not recognize at hall if one had guess it looked like hieroglyphs older than time itself.

The instructions that were forming a great seal around him that covered every bit of his divinity a blinding light. His mana burning bright like a diamond, it had become even more powerful in the short time after joining with the Hammer. Shaka felt really great the few rewards he gained today had set him up for life, now all he needed again is materials.

Gruk was working at a supremely slow pace making sure he did not make a single almost as if his life depended on it. When Shaka looked over at what he had been doing, he finds he can read the instructions. Once a whole section is complete when Shaka looks at a set of glyphs, instructions flowed into his head. Gruk is still carefully pacing around trying to finish what appears to him as nonsensical patterns, as Shaka process the information he is receiving.

Shaka waits the small bit of information he got is about an ancient race of Godwoven, the tale of how they were hunted by they their Godly ancestors whenever one of them displayed the potential to ascend, which is the ultimate goal of any Godwoven. The set of symbols depicted a Tai Chi like exercise that hides the internal energy of a person. It is a set of twelve movements that can be performed at anytime. The exercise uses the God's own systems to hid energy, giving a Godwoven a chance to grow in piece, the instruction note how the method is one developed by the gods so that they move thorough the lower realms without detection.

Shaka performs every bit of the exercise perfectly, his arm movement slow profound as the Nile, each of his steps molding a power deep within. The rotational force smashing together the energies of the body, his mana turns into a vast ocean, a very wide ocean not swallow ocean everything for eighty miles around him can feel him. As his mana spreads out it slowly dissipates leaving behind only Shaka his hammer, and Trifecta who was particularly affected by the new mana.

Gruk collapses to the ground the strain of writing the symbols took it out on his body, his hands are shaking, unable to bring his pipe to his face. He heaves, taking in deep breaths. A large monster appears out of the forest the commotion of the special exercise alerted a King boar, it had three rows of gaint tusks, it's hide thick as steel. It stomps it feet looking straight at Gruk, who is unable to move.

As Shaka reaches for Trifecta the blade is buzzing with excitement. He grips the dagger a resonance causes him to directly look at the dagger which appears perfectly except for its new buzzing feature. In his hand a small spark shot out just beyond his hand every second or so. The living energy of his body is beating through the blade.

The King Boar, dashes at Gruk as a shot of lightning is sent in its direction. Unlike his previous shots this was properly aimed and directed the entire bolt took less than a fraction of a second to hit its target. The King Boar squeals like a pig grabbed by its nose. The deafening cries of pain causing Gruk to stagger, Shaka hurls another bolt at it, it cries out again turning to him. It's charging once more now at Shaka. Shaka in an attempt to see were he hurt the beast observes it closely a small bar above its head can be seen, "Is that?" Shaka was seeing the deep red line of a life bar. It appeared completely full.

What Shaka didn't know was that while the impact of the lightning hurt the boar the energy of it did not due to its hide neutralizing most of the damage.

"I wonder how much life that is?" Shaka braced himself his dagger is great for when he fighting close up like this. A small almost undetectable smile is on Shaka's face. This is probably one of the best things in the new world the constant 'state nature'. "The life of man in the 'state of nature' is nasty, brutish and short"[Thomas Hobbs]. This pressure put on them to survive is reason enough for Shaka, the first months on Lumeria had been gloomy enough.

Shaka fights with King Boar unfortunately even for a rank 6 monster its simply to dumb and at a major disadvantage, it would always charged then ,Horn strike followed by Vicious Bite and then Stomp, usually it enormous strength is enough to overwhelm its opponents coupled with it huge life bar those that withstand it power could not out last it.

That is until today whenever Shaka would stab at the creature a large intense stream of fire would follow. The blue flames acting like a beam, slowly cooking the monster alive. The King Boar fought for over thirty minutes before finally yielding it life to Shaka. Shaka unfortunately couldn't use any piece of the boar except the tusks. The meat was unusable as parts of were partially cooked, the hide had burn marks all over it, due to how tough the tusks are they are the only remaining pieces that can be used. This rank six beast also had a none aligned core, even if it was green which was rather unfortunate that not a single skill had bonded to the core.

Shaka and Gruk moved back towards the procession since the Field Marshal, himself had dealt with situation none dared to interfere as in this domain his power is absolute and enforced by the hidden masters who were training secretly or had no interest in leading. As soon as they arrive Gruk immediately retires for the night until the next morning assault on the gate will commence six hours from now. A legion of troops had been sent ahead to secure their passage.

The barbarians who would normally attack any who would approach the gates are preoccupied with finding with the next Spiritual leader. The previous Oracle had lived for 900 hundred years guiding her people the same way an Elephant Matriarch does. Unfortunately her chosen successor, had been killed a day ago before she could undertake the rite, thus now they had to find a new successor. Religion dictates that they can not be without an Oracle for more than a week less they invite the doom.

The procession thus moved through the whole forest in a matter of days instead of weeks, small skirmishes did break here and there however the main force had to attend to matters of the spirit. The gate was a huge line of energy that seemed to cut cut through the whole planet. The red glow of the gate faint, inside the gate Shaka was greeted by Ogun, the same man who had dragged him here in the first place. "At least your not completely useless, beware they come for you my champion, those who unworthy yet seek my power be warned." As mysteriously as he appeared he vanishes.

Shaka is taken slightly a back by the news that on top of everything else he is also being hunted by unknown forces. One of those forces a resident of Compton Empire, which are the lands the procession has landed on. The world looks much the same and yet different, here they ran into a lot of blue, red and yellow goblins. it's is uncommon for the blood crazed red goblins to be in an area operated the equally dangerous blue goblins. The yellow gobos are transient by nature and can be found anywhere across all lands.

Shaka was organised into a team with Travis, Julee, Roger, Vusi, Amihan, Linga and under the direct command of Shay, the dark skinned nether elf. Her tight leather outfit betraying every curve she had. The sublime plump of her bosom, matched only by her equally impressive long legs supported by a full set of thighs and an Apple bottom that launched a thousand invasions. Her eyes pull you in intently, everyone one them gripped by her presence even Julee who had found a gold standard for her to try to emulate.

Their unit as whole was made up of about fifty people who would be separated into groups of scouts and commando units. Shay further spilt them into groups that they themselves had previously formed. Beside her five guards the rest of teams are ordered to move independently of one another and only share Intel with her.

The strict control was because she likes to give overlapping orders to her men this is done so that someone when reports something it was likely to have already been verified by another and meant that the Intel she had was usually more reliable.

The number of monsters did not matter much as they moved along the strongest was a rank 8 variation of a Rhino, instead of having emerald skin like in Lumeria, or even Obsidian skin like in Lu realm [Crusader City], this one have had what looked like thick scabs over 90 percent of it body. When Roger engaged it he found it was not scabs at all instead they were super hard Dolemite. The monster took the squad a long while to handle, When Shaka had attempted to intervene Amihan told him "Sir, this is a job for us, we won't always be able to help you."

Shaka understood were they coming after experiencing some of his transformation early it was clearly cemented to them that Shaka is on a different level.

The realm of Me[current realm their on], known for its abundance of rare materials and rare creatures. "On occasion if time allows I would like to find one of these creatures." Shaka told his small band. He had been made leader by all of them, his nature early on and in general how treats people, made them all sure they may have gains serving under him.

Before this thou Linga had voiced his concerns about what he politely described as as "Shakas' sudden mood change," Travis reassured them that it could be worse "We have all served with Dinga."

The whole squad had chills as they heard the the name Dinga, Julee was especially angry at the man.

The region itself is said to be peaceful they should have no problem moving to the next gate within a month. Squad made quick work of anything they came upon. Travis had a natural ability to detect minerals, Vusi was a tracker that would mostly lead them to ample monsters. The squad had found its rhythm and thanks to Shaka the Intel they provided was mostly about the surrounding lands and the monsters that are currently there and the easily mined minerals. Monsters in Me follow a short migration cycle and the run of giants should happen during the last week of there journey.

Shaka had started to explore his blacksmith, Alchemy, Enchanting and Runes. As the month went on, the weapons of the whole squad jumped in quality from exchanging their equipment from Blancas carriage. Shaka had decided it would be best to focus on an armour that had a set bonus each pieces would work as a set on it own and when all seven of them are together.

The amount of time he would need to truly master his new abilities had yet to dawn on him since he had gotten to this point expeditiously he had a skewed impression of how much effort was necessary to master all his ability. His first attempt was basically a complete disaster, this is also when he discovered the point of the exercise he was doing.

In order to hide his divinty he essentially puts a soft seal on it every time he does the exercise only letting him have a small amount available daily at this point he had no way around it. He knew he had to do it thou as in his current state if anyone from the that God festival decided to attack him, he might not be able to be beat them. He had the idea to "maybe make an armor that could give such a huge advantage that he could beat almost anyone."

On the third day, Shaka chose to not do the exercise to seal his divinity, when his divinity is laced together with his mana it gave him hidden boost.

This time however is the first time he actively burnt his Divinty, his body radiated brightly, he did it because he was attempting to make the breast plate for his ultimate armor, his inexperience with it meant he used his divine energy a lot quicker as he hammered away small rips begin to appear in the space around him until a creature oozed out of one the cracks. An Abysal Minotaur that launched straight at him.

It had golden skin, bronze horns and huge nose ring and a unidentified great axe, with black jeans and army boats.

The Charge allowed it to almost instantly cover about thirty meters of distance. Travis had immediately loosed two arrows which narrowly grazed the monster. The impending axe swing from the Minotaur nearly cut off Shaka's right arm as the blow cut deep to bone. It was the first time his defense had been breached so effortlessly. The Minotaur howled "Let us feast it has been a long since the last trail of ascension, my master wishes for your bones."

Julee had immediately cast a small heal spell on Shaka, from her position she was closet to him, as she had recently been spending a lot of time just watching him work, how his muscles vibrated every time his hammer hit the metal, the gentle glint of sweat all over his body accentuating the individual muscles. The intensity of his focus pulling her into his world. She at one point had been caught in a day dream of Shaka and his "Hammer", from which she was embarrassingly brought out of by Shaka who asking her to pass him a ignot.

Her sword moved quickly to intercept the next blow coming for Shaka. It nearly knocked her off her feet the blow was like a shot from a giant, her arms felt like rubber as she receives the blow. Two more arrows flew past on either side of her head Amihan and Linga each shot a poison arrow. Amihan had a paralyzing agent on it as she had skill in potion making. Vusi attempted to wild swing with his own Warhammer as the Minotaur was fully engaged by Julee.

His blow was just what the group needed it created enough space for everyone to fall into position, Roger who was putting on his armor during all this finally joined the battle. The Minotaur used its hammer to stand "Ah I see the shit has some flies around it, I don't mind swatting you but don't curse me for own mistakes."

Julee was the first to respond apparently she was the only who was paying attention to the words of the beast, all the others were much more preoccupied with setting up their defensive formation. As she moves to the front with her shield, "Thats funny coming from a walking manure factory and from the smell of it you might have shit yourself just now from this flies blow." She pointed at Vusi.

Vusi had to pretend to be proud, but how could he when being called a fly. The Minotaur was easily offended he once again charged at the group. Shaka tried during the short conversation to see it's life bar however it didn't have one or any visible system options, and the energy coming of it was different from anything he every felt before.

The axe blow was parried by Julee who knew she could not totally block the blow, Her monument moving her to one side. As she slide aside Rogers blade sliced four, no five times in rapid succession at the Minotaurs body, Shaka used his speed to appear behind the monster successfully thrusting into the back of the monster while unleashing a lightning attack.

Lucky for him Vusi immediately dodged as in this formation his shot would have been next instead he saw the glow from the shot and leapt aside "Boss, you nearly hit me!"

Shaka was about to shout some obscenity back when the hand of the Minotaur reaching for him received three arrows from Travis, one of them hit the elbow joint of the monster preventing it from completing the motion of grabbing Shaka. Shaka used this moment to activate the blue flames on Trifecta, the forces he used to leap into the air caused cracks on the ground where he stood, he cut off the arm of Minotaur as he flew a kilometer into the air with no way of stopping. He left his squad without their strongest fighter. It would take about ten seconds for him to reach that high before falling back down which would take another twenty seconds.

Amihan then shot another of her poison arrows, which had no visible effect on the Minotaur, Julee launched as vicious assault on the monster, it managed to block one of her four shot with its one axe in the hand thou it was slower. The blow was still heavy as it not only blocked her shot but broke her stance forcing her back again. Vusi yelled as he launched his heaviest attack at the monster, flinging it back into the tree behind them. Shaka launched three lightning shots The Minotaur could be heard screamed it was damaged and for the first time visibly, arm not withstanding. All their previous attacks it had no real reaction.

The monster charged violently breaking the tree it had land on Cleaving down onto Julee, "Ten more seconds and I can help." Shaka watched from the sky just four hundred meters away now. Vusi enraged by the sight of Julee collapsing from the blow delivers a shot that Minotaur tries to match as his Warhammer meets the axe, the axe manages to cut half way into The Warhammer. Linga suddenly appeared out of thin air his dagger pointed at the neck of the Minotaur his blow reaching as the monster is unable to move without letting go of its weapon.

As the blow arrives it lets go of the axe to grab at its neck Linga had cut a major artery. The Minotaur falls backwards Shaka delivers a hilt hit to Julee before moving towards the Minotaur, his dagger dancing in his hand like a thief in the night ready to snatch away its life. The Minotaur maybe for the first time feels fear. "Wait I can tell you about the master and his plans for....." Shaka immediately cuts the head off the beast he had no intention of letting his squad be distracted by the ramblings of the creature plus he was not sure if he could completely trust them yet so he could afford the knowledge of this spreading too much.

Oddly enough as the beast is killed it evaporates into energy which flows into all of them, the miasma flows without damaging them incorporating itself into their bodies. As Julee rises up after the heal Shaka provided with Trifecta "Sir, what was that I have never seen a fully golden skinned Minotaur before,"

"I don't know myself however I think it was attracted by my..." Shaka looked at his hammer looking for an excuse as to why the monster from the unknown suddenly attacked him.

Travis says feeling the tension in Shaka voice "The world is vast you guys and our leader has power, some dark forces are moving against before he can become to powerful" Shaka nodded in agreement the team put aside their concerns for now to make sure everyone was not hurt to badly.

Little did Travis know that those few word he had just spoke, clearly and succinctly captured the hidden powers of the realms currently on the move towards all the champions.