Chapter 40: The sparks

[Species name: Blue moon bear

Species rank: D

Attribute: Water

Height: 9 feet

Evolutionary history: The blue moon bear is a monster of the 'natura architecto' genus, they have been forced into harsh environments with very little still or drinkable water, but a high humidity, due to a bit of work on the creators part. This originally formed the rather mundane evolutionary adaptation of being able to draw water vapor from the atmosphere through a mixture of absorbent skin and a layer of dehydrated dead skin on the upper layers that has all moisture removed the moment it becomes rehydrated. The creator was not pleased by the lack of flair from such a harsh environment, so directly interfered with there evolution, making them able to take the air they breath and turn it into water at such a rapid pace, the blue moon bear must frequently eject excess water on a weekly basis. They later evolved to have extremely absorbent and spongy muscles, as a way to store excess water. They also developed two side effects from these two evolutions, firstly, they are able to rapidly expand the water in their bodies, or eject water from excess storage areas, scholars are still unsure, and inflate their bodies like a balloon, negating most physical trauma, though they have shown odd habits of not using this while falling from deadly heights. The second side effect, is that they can rapidly expunge excess moisture in their body, either shooting it out in a highly pressurized stream, or expel it all at once, making their muscles much harder as a result, rapidly increasing defence. The last notable feature of this evolutionary trait is that they will develop lakes wherever they settle down, full of purified and filtered water, meaning many apex predators will not go for even the most sickly or wounded blue moon bear.

Defining features: The blue moon bear is always a deep blue, to navy colour, and all have a white crescent marking around their forehead, giving them their name. Other than that, they look like a regular grizzly for the most part, though they do look slightly more pudgy than the average grizzly

Hunting behaviours: The blue moon bear are mostly solitary hunter while in the act, proffering ambush tactics, leveraging there high firepower, or above average short bursts strength, to get the jump on any unwitting prey. But once the hunt is over, they will bring back any prey back to their sloth to share.

Mating behaviours: The blue moon bear mates for life, which is surprising for most bear type monsters, this may be due to the fact that they live exclusively in sloths of at least ten or more, so once the blue moon bear finds a partner, they will not separate till death.

Symbolism: Due to the fact that blue moon bears make lakes of clean water wherever they settle down, they are seen as gentle and loving creatures, despite their naturally rather aggressive nature, and are usually depicted as servants or helpers of minor deities of the forest or fertility]

Alex lay helplessly on the floor, Winnies looming figure slowly approaching, though he could tell it was struggling.

One of its paws was nothing but a fine meat paste, Alex guessed it had landed on it, but that didn't mean the rest of it was fine, Winnie had taken the same fall he did, only a bear was a lot heavier than whatever the hell he was.

Winnie forced her way towards The one that had caused her so much pain, her every step agony, her every breath seemed one away from deaths door, but she kept moving forward, nothing but pure rage fuelled her agonizing march.

She was dying, she new that much, but if it was the last thing she did, she would win.

Alex looked up at the looming shadow above him, a defeated look in his eyes, he had very little will left to move, let alone fight.

"Congratulations" Alex coughed through pained, "now we both die"

Winnie gave a grunt of indifference, before raising her remaining paw to the sky, she was finally going to kill this annoying pest.

Satisfaction, that's what she was craving, who cared if they both died here, she would die content.

Alex stared into the bears eyes, no fear, no desperate want to live, no sadness, only a drive, a drive to end him here and now.

Alex stared up at the sky, he would just make a new character, something different, he began to wonder what play style he should go for.

The game had necromancer as a basic class, he could give that a try, he would of course pick the dawn faction again, they where just cooler than the rest.

But as he looked up, he noticed something, and even through his pain, he couldn't help but let out a smile.

God it hurt to smile.

"You know" Alex coughed out, a small chuckle escaping his lips, causing him immeasurable pain, causing Winnie to tilt its head in confusion "you shouldn't give up so quickly"

Winnie looked at him with a mix of confusion and curiosity.

"You never know" Alex continued, "miracles could happen"

With that, a ornate, purple arrow, thunked through Winnie's damaged knee, causing it to buckle.

"Or you could just cheat" Alex commented, his soft chuckle turning into a short burst of laughter, "isn't delirium great"

Winnie began to turn her head upwards, but quickly diverted her gaze back downwards, who cared if it had dirty tricks, she would kill that thing all the same.

"Congratulations you big, blue furball" Alex chuckled, raising his one good arm, "it's your win"

With that, a dark green energy began to wrap around his hand, shooting out into a infinitesimally small beam that went through Winnie's forehead.

Winnie paused in her attack for a second, unsure why at first, but then it dawned on her, this was truly the end, at least she got in a few good hits.

[Spear of the emerald sands]

From the small beam, a small string of emerald sand began to swirl, slowly expanding, ripping a hole right in-between Winnie's eyes.

Though it didn't stop their, as the within a split second, the swirling storm of emerald expanded rapidly, tearing Winnie to shreds.

It was a gory sight to behold.

As the twisting pillar of emerald sand expanded, it was dyed red, it was not a clean expansion either, chunks of flesh and bone flew everywhere.

It would have been very painful if Alex had hit anywhere else, but he pierced through the poor bear's head in the first moments of the skill, it was probably rather quick.

Alex lay still as the skill came to an end, the entire top half of Winnie had been reduced to chunks, a large semi-circular groove above its legs was all that remained of its chest.

The corpse fell backwards as Alex sighed in relief, he had won.

[You have defeated a true level 40 D class boss monster

You have defeated a creature blessed by a minor deity

Xp reward will be quadrupled

160000 xp has been awarded

Your team mate has aided you in the fight, xp will be awarded to them

You have broken the sacred right of the combat of rulers

The minor deities are discussing what to do, please wait

...

...

...

A decision has been reached

Due to the help being minor, and a high chance of victory without outside interference, your win has been viewed as valid

The title 'Ruler of the blue lake' has been awarded

However, breaking the rules of a sacred duel can't go unpunished

The title 'Dishonourable king' has been given]

[Title name: Ruler of the blue lake (Ruler grade)

Effect: The blue lake becomes your territory; it can be managed however you want and all creatures that inhabit the blue lake are your subjects, the location of all secrets inside of the blue lake territory are viewable, and extra information may be unlocked

The shimmering oasis of the dreaded forest is now within your grasp, whether it becomes a peaceful refuge for all that resides within the forest seek, or a scarce resource held only for you and your people, is your choice alone]

[Title name: Dishonourable king (Scorn grade)

Effect: Any creature with a ruler class title will be slightly harder to raise relationship levels with, any creature with a ruler class title will have there relationship automatically set to mildly distrustful upon first interaction unless any effect would set it lower or higher

In the pursuit of power, You have forsaken your honour, while some will view what you have done as justified, all will view you with a certain level of caution, this is a blemish you may never remove]

"Hey" The concerned cries of Nicholas echoed down the gorge, "are you okay?"

Alex let out a weak grown of response, before raising his right arm in a thumbs up, a wide smile spreading through shattered pieces of bone.

Nicholas looked downwards for a minute, before turning behind him, looking at where Alex assumed the pack was patiently waiting.

"HHHEEE WWWOOOOONNN" Nicholas roared in victory, a loud, deafening howl following shortly afterwards.

"Your HP recovers over time at a decent rate" Nicholas called down, "You should be able to get back on your feet after about an hour"

Alex stared up at the side of the gorge.

He was not looking forward to that climb.

After a short rest, many healing spells, and a dread filled accent later, Alex reached the clearing once more, out of breath, and aching all over.

The sun had long since set and the moon was high in the sky.

"You done imitating a modern art piece at the bottom of that gorge?" Nicholas asked jokingly.

"I am NEVER doing that again" Alex declared with conviction.

Alex looked at the gathering in the forest, it seemed like more had arrived since he had left.

A herd of green deer sat around, a large deer with antlers filled with foliage, and a body covered in vines and moss stood in front.

A colony of black and white rabbits all gathered round, the white ones glowed slightly while the blacks ones seemed to make their surroundings darker, their leader being a slightly chubby bunny with black and white markings that stood munching on the surrounding foliage.

A swarm of insects of all shapes and sizes lead by a massive stag beetle, its horn curling around a single gem, and an impressive shining black carapace mingled in a writhing mass of limbs and antenna.

The only creature without a group was a singular golden fish, swimming in lazy circles in a small pond that had seemingly appeared from nowhere, its scales a beautiful gold that seemed to be actually metallic.

As Alex approached, all of the animals turned to watch him, and all lowered their heads in unison.

[The inhabitants of the blue lake show their respects to their new leader]

"Do I have to look after all of you?" Alex said in a tired tone.

[The overgrown deer assures you they are all herbivores, there will be no need to trouble yourself over their survival]

"Still, I would feel guilty if I didn't provide you all some form of support"

[The duality rabbit reminds you that bugs are an excellent source of protein]

[The pearl horn beetle dares the duality rabbit to try anything]

The chubby rabbit and the massive stag beetle began to stare daggers at each other, a feet that Alex though impossible for a beetle.

"We can do introductions later," Alex stated with a groan, stumbling away towards the town "for now, I just need to rest"

As he turned to leave, he felt a small tug, and found a blue bear, waiting behind him, offering his spear to him.

"Ah, uh, thanks" Alex said in an awkward tine, before pushing the spear back into the bears hands, "but I think you suit it, don't worry, it's a spare after all.

...

It had been a week since his fight, and currently, he was in his store, helping fit his latest customer.

"This is awesome" Dohvakiin exclaimed excitedly, "Felicity, we finally got it, we can finally stop that stupid quest"

"I do have to say" Felicity said in her unnaturally manly voice, giving a little twirl, "these are some pretty nice threads"

"Glad you like them" Alex said with a smirk of pride, getting up from his stool, a crutch under his arm.

"You ok?" Dohvakiin Asked with genuine concern, "should you be doing work with those legs, you could risk permeant damage to your character"

Alex still hadn't fully recovered from the fall, his legs where completely shattered, if not for healing magic, his character would never be able to walk again.

His constant insistence on refusing to remain idle hadn't helped either, through organising the forest, to working on the orders, he hadn't given himself much time to rest in game.

"It's fine" Alex said in a reassuring tone, "Just a little rest will do the trick, I was even thinking of making an ego weapon for a walking stick"

"Seems a bit wasteful, doesn't it?" Felicity asked with a hint of envy in her voice.

"What is life if you don't live it?"

"True" Dohvakiin responded with a nod.

"Moving on" Felicity grumbled, before leaning in close and lowering her voice till it was almost no existent, "you follow the directions"

"Nope" Alex said without a moments pause.

"Well" Felicity said, still in a hushed whisper, handing Alex a slip of paper, "I would advise you either follow these directions or skip town, this place won't be peaceful for much longer"

"Not to judge" Alex said in a casual tone, "but you should probably work on your phrasing, sounds like you're threatening me"

"Oh, sorry," Felicity said quickly apologetically, "I have never been good with words, but I would still recommend it"

With a few more pleasantries, the pair left.

Alex flipped open the note, and read.

It was similar to the last one, but a different bar, and a different drink and food combo, though he could barely make out the writing, it was near incomprehensible.

Guess he had nothing better to do, but he did have one thing he wanted to do first.

...

A few hours latter, Alex strolled casually down a back alley, an ornate walking cane, seemingly made out of stone, clasped tight in his hand.

He had been working on it for a couple of days, engraving was hard work, but at least he could sit down to do it.

He hobbled down the back Alley, the stench of rotting food and piss filling his nostrils.

It added character, yep, character, that's the word.

With a slightly quickened pace, Alex made his way to the location as quickly as possible, finding a "charming" hole in the wall that looked on the verge of collapse.

Alex pushed the door open, the little bell giving out a feeble ring.

The bar was mostly empty, save for a singular drunk rock man, sleeping by the bar.

Behind said bar, a pair of what seemed to be robots stood dutifully polishing the glasses and the bar, wiping up the small trail of drool coming from the rock man.

One of the robots, the one wiping the glasses, was sleek and futuristic looking, it had a clean polish and not too many angles to its design. While the one cleaning the bar of drool was a lot more angular and blocky, he also didn't have much of a mouth, instead he had an odd gas mask design on his face.

"Can I help you sir" the more futuristic robot said in a thick, Russian accent.

"Uh, yeah, give me a sec" Alex said, fumbling around in his pocket for the slip of paper he was given.

"Can I get a, uuuuhhh, the hell does this even say" Alex muttered to his self, trying to read the instructions given, before giving up and handing the robot the note, "this"

The robot studied the note, a puzzled look flashing across its face, before it handed the note to its partner, who began to rhythmically tap the table.

"Well get that for you in a minute" The futuristic robot said with a smile, and turned to the drinks rack behind him.

So he went to the wrong place, well, can't be helped, that note was illegible.

As he began to turn to leave, Alex was stopped by the sound of a soft click.

Turning around, Alex found the barrel of a gun, pointed directly at his head.

"So, friend" the robot drawled, "Could you please tell us where you found this, makes it less painful for both of us, no?"