The Road Less Traveled
Smells of fire and brimstone filled the air, looking back at Blackrock you could see signs of volcanic activity. Smoke rose in thick plumes from volcano's crater, defeating Synder and removing the inferno essence had returned life to the dormant BlackRock. Descending the mountain path with haste the party beamed with confidence, their adventure reaped bountiful rewards. The experience they earned was well worth the trip on its own, yet they had gained many useful items and equipment. Vales staff was called "Neptune's Revenge" its rarity was gold rank, perfectly suited for her aquatic assaults and provided symbiosis with Gruxe's ice element. Cas' take was even more illustrious, "What do I do with this egg?" A ill placed step sent a bevy of pebbles tumbling down the mountain side.
Considering her words carefully, Vale spoke "You have three options, one, you sell it, with the influx of coin you receive you could buy your freedom from Eleutiro and then some. Option two, feeding it to Raeja or eating it yourself would infuse the powers of the phoenix, new attacks, fire resistance and who knows what other benefits. Finally, you could hatch it, had you not already bound Raeja id suggest this route but you could hold it in reserve, while you cant have two bound beasts at the same time you can utilize other companions as guardians for your own villa. Seeing as you don't own a villa id suggest selling it or absorbing it, your choice though."
"If I hatched it would it still be corrupted?" Cas' words hide a hint of nervousness.
"Umm... I'm not sure but I doubt it.. Over one hundred years have passed since the birth of a corrupted beast, the only ones that remain are those left over from the war for Eternal Flames. Zul'do released Siaos' darkness which spread the corruption, the knights of the Divine Entente sealed away all traces of the dark God." Seeming to get lost in her own thoughts she paused for a long while before adding "You do have to consider the Inferno essence, the power it will bestow is ten fold that of the phoenix, it does appear as if the Gods want you to represent the flame element."
"When we camped before entering Blackrock I thought I heard a voice in the fire..." Cas felt a bit insane saying a sentence like that aloud yet he had heard something that night...
"Vulcan calls to you, id heed the signs and accept the gifts you've been bestowed." Nonchalantly, the women ran her fingers through her long black hair continuing down the path.
At nightfall they made camp atop the foothills of Darkridge. Cas had spent the decent down weighing his options, he had made his decision. He had Vale use her magic to fill a pot with water, placing the phoenix's egg inside he sat the pot over the fire, boiling the legendary beast. Once it was cooked, Cas removed the egg, cracked the shell and offered it to Raeja. Staring at the boiled phoenix, the lion timidly sniffed, he looked to Cas for reassurance. "Don't worry boy its not roasted lizard but it should be pretty tasty." Seemingly accepting Cas' reassurance Raeja opened his jaws, taking half the egg in one big bite he chewed causally before swallowing in delight. He excitedly scarfed down the remaining portion, licking his lips in satisfaction. Within moments the lion glowed radiantly, streams of crimson and gold beamed, metallic orange ripples washed over the lions coat, within Raeja's eyes you could spot the presence of a phoenix. When the process finished, Raeja's coat had darkened, becoming an almost red shade of orange, his mane had grown, black wisps lined the fur causing the lion to look even more intimidating. Cas examined his partner.
Character: Raeja
Title: Future King (Provides +10 to Strength and Defense)
Class: Regal Lion
Trait: Phoenix Essence
Unique Trait: Level not yet reached
Level: 7
HP 1280/1280
EXP 800/2500
Strength: 50
Dexterity: 40
Defense: 50
Intelligence: 40
Stamina: 60
Mana: 98
Equipment
Training Collar (Incapacitates wearer when Tamer commands)
Stone Armor (Bronze) +25 defense +15 Strength
Abilities
Pounce- Leaps onto target causing damage and stun for 5 seconds (Cooldown 2.5 minutes)
Regal Claw- A powerful strike capable of inflicting bleed damage (Cooldown 1.5 Minutes)
Roll- Evades any avoidable attack (Cooldown 4 minutes)
Flame Claw- A power strike imbued with the element of fire, causes burn, 50 damage per second for ten seconds (Cooldown 5 minutes) (Cost 25 mana)
Fireball- Channels mana, launching a condensed ball of fire that causes 300% remaining mana as damage, 60% chance to inflict burn, 50 damage per second for ten seconds. (Cooldown 10 minutes)
Rebirth- Upon death, Soul is reincarnated ( Available Once )
Raeja circled the camp fire, guttural growls rising from the beast, he somehow appeared even more regal than before. Not only had the egg added attacks and increased his mana, the existing cool down times were shortened. Having successfully upgraded Raeja, Cas removed the Inferno Essence from his bag, instantly a system message appeared.
System Message: Binding Available, Consume the Inferno Essence to gain "Seed of Vulcan" Bind item-Yes/No?
Selecting yes, the orb began to expand, engulfing Cas entirely in its aura. Only Raeja remained near his master, Gruxe and Vale were forced back from the intense heat. Cas felt immense pain, as if his very soul was set ablaze, the pain threatened to overwhelm him. When the flame entered him he felt it travel down his throat, spreading into his lungs, his bones, his very blood boiled. After what felt like an eternity the aura weakened, retreating inside of Cas, he radiated heat, steam rose off his skin in the cool night air. Examining his stats Cas was shocked
Character: Casimiro
Title: Seed of Vulcan (Grants +100 fire defense, +1 mana recovery per second)
Class: Beast Tamer
Trait: Inferno Essence (Upgradable) The seed of the Sun has been planted, your body is a furnace incubating the essence of a God. Continue absorbing the powers of fire to grow. 0/10000 Energy absorbed.
Immunity To Damage from fire gained, able to absorb energy from any heat source.
HP 540/540
EXP 100/1800
Strength: 30
Dexterity: 20
Defense: 15
Intelligence: 11
Stamina: 10
Luck: 12
Mana: 105
Equipment
Main Hand: Gladius (Bronze) +10 Strength
Off Hand: Lion's Tooth (Silver) +15 Strength +5 Dexterity Its iron barbed tip inflicts bleed damage at +3 damage per hit for 5 seconds
Head: None
Shoulders: Pauldrons of Blackrock (Silver) +25 defense
Chest: White Rags (Common) +0 Defense
Gloves: None
Pants: Magmatic Greaves (Silver) +20 defense +10 Dexterity
Boots: Caligae (Bronze) +5 Dexterity
Abilities
Wallop- A wild swing with a sword, lacks technique but effective in a pinch (Cooldown 15 seconds)
Basic Parry- Quickly uses held weapon to block one attack completely preventing all damage. (Cooldown 25 Seconds)
Whirlwind- Swing your weapon in an arc around your body, capable of inflicting critical hits and stun for 10 Seconds (Cooldown 30 seconds)
Basic Earth Endowment- Casting adds 20 rock damage to any weapon, lasts 15 seconds, costs 30 mana (Cooldown 1 minute)
Inferno- AOE- Summons a raging fire consuming a 7.5' by 7.5' area, 100 damage per second for ten seconds. Inflicts burn, 50 damage per second for ten seconds. (Cooldown 1 hour) (Costs 100 mana)
Vulcan's Whip- Creates a spirt whip of pure fire, lasts sixty seconds, each strike deals 75 damage + 25 burn for two seconds, Stackable. (Cooldown 30 minutes) (Costs 50 mana)
Unimaginable power flowed through Cas, he felt reborn in flame, his body glowed with a faint orange aura. Vale approached," I see you made your decision, I'm excited to see you two in action!" After gathering more wood to restart their camp fire, the party skewered some leftover cockatrice meat. Cas felt as if his body was pulling their campfire's flames in his direction. It was a strange feeling, it felt natural, his body yearned to be closer to the heat. He felt as if he should step straight into the flames.
Abruptly, Raeja and Gruxe sprang to their feet, both in an uproar they roared circling the camp. Vale shouted, "On guard Cas, I can sense a powerful presence approaching!" Each member of the party picked a corner, scanning the blackness before them. Accessing his Mind Menu he checked the landscape for any indicators, from above, a red marker rapidly approached, the creature landed as quiet as dew falling on grass.
Character: Cynfael
Title: Blade of the Night
Level 15
HP 5000/5000
" Hunted near extinction, creatures of his kind have long been forced into the shadows, Worshippers of the Dark God Siaos have traded their souls for immense power, bites from these entities spread corruption."
Standing a head taller then Cas, ice blue eyes set inside its gaunt pale face, it wore a full set of burgundy plate armor, ornate patterns were carved into the steel, a hooded black velvet cloak fluttered in the crisp night's wind. He wore a long sword on his hip, evil clung to this monster like bark to a tree. When Cynfael spoke, his words were almost a whisper "Hand over Synder's egg and the inferno Essence and ill allow you to live." Cas could see long fang like teeth hidden behind the mans thin lips. "YOU FOOL!" Cynfael's eyes darted between Cas and Raeja reeling with disgust, you've already used the inferno essence and WHAT? Fed the egg to your damnable lion!? I suppose ill need to extract the power from your corpse." Ripping his sword from its scabbard, Cynfael lashed out, blade aimed for Cas's throat, a trail of purple energy flowed behind the sword. Cas hadn't the time to grasp the quickness of the strike. Within inches of separating Cas' head the blade stopped, Ice encrusted the steel spreading over the body of Cynfael, Gruxe had activated Avalanche, temporarily freezing the demon. Vale's voice rang out "Quick, hit it with everything we have!" Not wasting another moment, Cas drew his gladius, slashing into Cynfael's sword arm, he utilized whirlwind to land an additional blow on the hand gripping the demons blade. -65 -125 Half the demons hand fell along with the demons blade, as the ice melted Cynfael's face contorted with rage, black blood poured from what remained of its hand. "Your suffering will last for eternity!" Leaping backwards , Cas decided to test out his recently acquired skills, "INFERNO!" Instantly flames exploded from the ground engulfing the demon, his shrieks of pain filled the night air. By this point Raeja had entered the fray launching a massive fireball into the raging inferno that took Cynfael directly in the chest, within moments the demon had suffered over 2000' damage, he smoldered, his cloaked long burned away exposing a pale skull with protruding horns, hate radiated from the demons eyes, yet the demon clearly realized he was at a disadvantage, his armor exploded, sending shrapnel flying in all directions. Giant purple wings sprouted from his back, the demons body still suffering from burn damage spun as if a living tornado extinguishing the flames. "It seems I've underestimated you all, when we met again, your lives will be forfeit." Using its damaged hand it ripped open a tear in the very fabric of reality and stepped through. The tear quickly closing, only leaving behind half the hand, fingers still gripping the sword's hilt. Examining it, Cas was astonished, the flesh melted into ash.
Equipment- Soul Reapers Sword (Gold) Poison to those unaffiliated with the dark God, can be cleansed at a Divine Temple, handle with utmost caution or risk becoming corrupted.
Vale sprang into action, removing a quilt from her bag she placed beside the sword, carefully scooting the blade onto the fabric before wrapping it up. She also stored the thumb in a glass jar, storing both items into her bag she exclaimed " It seems we must part ways come morning, you'll head back to Eleutiro, tell him your training is complete and to allow you to hold onto my remaining wages. Ill meet up with you once I get these items delivered to a holy temple and explain what we've seen here tonight. No agent of darkness has been sighted since long before my time, the holy order needs to be informed. Travel quickly, you should be safe once you've returned to the city. Rest the best you can ill take watch."
"I have questions."
Cutting him off, "No time, Rest." Vale extended her hand, pointing his way. Cas felt a wave of overwhelming exhaustion envelop him. He didnt remember closing his eyes, nor hitting the ground.
Raeja woke his master with a rough lick across his cheek, when Cas rose, Vale and Gruxe were gone, leaving behind a letter for Eleutiro, a note reminding him to turn the quest in at her villa, a key for entry and a map depicting the fastest route back to Adanano. "Well boy, we best be on our way."