by Ivan Kal
Before they headed out, they were met with the student assigned to record their hunt. By happenstance, it was the same one who had recorded their dungeon, and this time he introduced himself—maybe because they had now passed the first stage, or perhaps he just forgot last time.
“Oh, it’s you guys again! This should be fun. I am Turvas, by the way. We can head out whenever you are ready,” he said.
And just like that they were heading off to the hills. The village was about half a day’s walk away, and the lake which they used for fishing another hour farther. The walk passed mostly in silence; they were all keeping their heads on the fight, or at least Morgan was. He had no idea what the Harbingers of Fate were thinking.
The uphill trek was long, but Morgan hadn’t gotten even a bit tired, a benefit of having a superhuman body. If he didn’t expend his energy, he rarely got tired nowadays. As they walked in silence, Morgan reviewed his gear. He had brought his orbs, but only his exploding ones. The fully wooden orbs wouldn’t be of much use against something that was made out of water, and using Phase Shot wouldn’t hurt it much, as the orb would just shot through the water. His throwing knives were all absent as, again, they wouldn’t serve a purpose, and his satchel had a few of his plants and seeds. He hadn’t known what he should take, really; he didn’t have a plant that could fight water, after all, but he had brought seeds and plants that he could use to grow his new root wall, at least as a defensive measure. His crossbow was loaded with exploding bolts—he had spent the entirety of yesterday enchanting them with wards, and he had extra magazines in his inventory.
The others had also made some adjustments. Vall was carrying the two-handed sword that they had looted in the dungeon. He wasn’t yet high enough level for the armor or the pole-arm, but they were keeping them for him. Ves, had traded in her mace for her sword as well, but they didn’t think that it was going to matter much. Lucius carried the same thing he had before, and Clara didn’t really need to change her kit either.
The Harbingers now all carried their weapons and full gear. Emily had a large two-handed mace, similar to the one Morgan had seen her use in the Mountain’s Heart dungeon all those years ago. She wore plated armor with a tabard over it, just like before. She was obviously their heavy, and perhaps a tank, as the giant actually turned out to be their support. He carried a staff and looked to be some kind of druid class, perhaps—he hadn’t said, only that he had some healing abilities as well as buffs. The two Úlfriir were classic rogues, each carrying a short sword and a dagger on their hip, and their armor was leather.
And then there was the elf. He had been described by Evor as a support and a damage dealer, supposedly good at putting down crowd-control spells as well as dishing out damage. They were going to be seeing about that soon.
They were very near the lake when Turvas spoke out.
“This is as far as I go,” he said as he conjured a white orb and sent it out in the air above them. “Good luck on your hunt!”
The two teams looked at each other, and then continued forward.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
They rounded a hill and saw their destination in the distance. The Firoshi Lake was large, relatively—several hundred meters across, and maybe a kilometer and change long. The water was dark, even with the clear day, looking like it was muddy, but Morgan knew from research that it in fact wasn’t.
“So, what now?” Morgan asked.
“Now we get ready and start walking,” Emily answered.
He knew that the elementals were territorial, and that the water elemental would get out and attack them as soon as it realized that people were in its territory—but the fact that they didn’t know where it was and how long it would take it to attack meant that any attempt at laying down a trap was not really possible, or at least unlikely. Morgan had argued for them to try anyway, but the Harbingers had managed to annoy him into agreeing with their plan: Provoke the elemental and hope that it doesn’t take too long to attack them.
They walked down the incline and into the basin where the lake was. There was little vegetation here, only a few bushes and a tree every now and then. The coast was solid ground, with the occasional stone, and was mostly just flat. As they reached the coast Morgan walked over to the edge and took a look over the water. It was calm; no waves or any other type of disturbance. It was a beautiful sight—and then Morgan threw the grenade into it.
The explosion sent the water flying upward in a tall geyser before it tumbled down. He wondered if he had just murdered any fish.
The others were already around him, waiting. They waited for a minute, then two. Nothing happened.
“Let’s move on,” Emily said, and they all started walking down the coast, going in a circle.
After about a few minutes of walking she indicated for Morgan to do it again. He reached into his inventory—not using the grenades on his waist, since he could afford to concentrate on what he wanted to pull out of his ring of holding at the moment—and pulled out a grenade. Igniting the fuse, he threw it again. Thankfully, the fuse burned even under water, as the resin it was soaked with was highly flammable. The grenade exploded and water surged upward before falling down, sending waves in all directions. Again, nothing happened.
They walked more, covering the coast, the others standing a bit further away from the water’s edge, watching for any disturbance in the water, waiting to act.
They stopped again and Morgan pulled another grenade. He lit the fuse, looked over the water, and threw it in a long arc. Then, out of nowhere, and in what he was certain was just a split second, the water surged upward as a shape moved. The mass of water was smooth, with no features—just a blob of water still connected to the lake, looking like a thick stream that had suddenly exploded upward. As the grenade arced toward it, a tendril split from its center mass, its tip turning to ice as it struck the grenade, sending it flying back and straight at Morgan.
Fuck me sideways! Morgan exclaimed inside his head as he barely had a chance to react. Different responses flashed through his head, but he knew that he had no time—the fuse had disappeared inside the grenade and it was flying at him fast. He jumped and phased, heading into the air. He waited for a few moments, estimating when he was out of the blast zone and if the grenade had exploded, and then he unphased.
Looking around, he saw that the others had moved away, and that there was a small crater where Morgan had stood. The elemental had reached the water’s edge and was rearing up, tendrils separating from its center mass. Morgan was maybe ten meters in the air, and as he was now unphased he slowed and started to fall. He phased again immediately, and as soon as he did he slowed. Not allowing momentum to build, he descended slowly. He tried to time his next unphasing just before he hit the ground.
He hadn’t planned on revealing his phasing ability, but so far he doubted that the Harbingers had realized what it was. They had seen him float up and then down; probably, they would assume that he had some levitation skill. His type of phasing was rare, according to Azil, and probably not something that they would assume from just one incident. That was unless he overshot and dropped into the ground, as that would let them know exactly what he had. Thankfully that didn’t happen—he unphased and dropped the last meter or so to the ground.
The sight around him was terrifying to behold. The water elemental was now completely out of the lake, and it was massive, a reservoir of water. It was hard to tell its size as it was unevenly arranged, being an anamorphic creature, but it was at least four meters tall, wide, and long, and it looked like some kind of a slithering creature that had no features. All around it, tentacles flailed in every direction; Morgan could count at least ten of them. It was massive, and the sound it gave off was unlike anything that he had ever heard. The closest thing Morgan could describe it as was a cross between a whine metal gave off as it was being torn apart and the roar of the ocean. His Life Sense was going crazy as he looked at it. It was alive—there was life energy inside of it, but
there was so much of it that he couldn’t see anything but power. He had hoped that he would be able to tell where its core was, but it looked like that wasn’t going to happen.
Ves, her bear, and Emily were up front. Emily was using some strange ability that manifested a see-through shield over her two-handed mace. The water elemental was attacking them, the tips of its tendrils turning to ice every time it struck, and the two of them were blocking while trying to keep its attention. Behind them, the elf Orhem raised his hands and two balls of fire flew into the mass of water, they were doused pretty quickly, but fire thrown by ascended was not really the same as natural fire. It burned hotter and was harder to put out as it was supplied with energy from the ascended. But before it was doused, it vaporized some tiny amount of the elemental as steam rose up the clash of fire with water lit up the dark water for a split second. The water elemental roared, a sound that resembled the crashing of waves, and projectiles of water flew out of its body at the elf. The man raised his hands and a shield popped up around him, blocking them.
On the other side, Lucius sent his own fire attack flying at it then as a crescent of fire flew away Lucius sent a blast of air into it, billowing the flames and fueling them. On the other side, Vall was getting ready to charge. The two Úlfriir were to the side, each raising a throwing dagger and letting them fly. Morgan wondered what that was going to do as he fired his own exploding bolts into the water elemental’s body while running toward the back line, where Clara was watching the fight with Evor, who watched as well, waiting to interfere if needed.
Then the daggers the two Úlfriir had thrown entered the water elemental and a wave of purple energy flashed across its form. Turning to them immediately, the elemental fired a dozen icicles in their direction. Morgan had felt their attack; the daggers had weakening enchantments on them and it looked like they worked on the elemental. That told Morgan that one of their alignments was nature, and the death and weakening aspect of it. If so, it fit well with their rogue classes.
Then his crossbow hit and the elemental was rocked by a small explosion inside of its body. Water expanded, and then immediately collapsed. The elemental did not like that—it pulled back into a blob of water, pressing against the ground, and then it expanded rapidly, striking both Emily and Ves and sending them flying away across the ground. Ves’s bear came at it from the side as Lucius’s arcs of fire cut into its mass. The bear was clawing at the elemental, and while it didn’t look like it was having much effect, it clearly didn’t like that as it smashed the bear away before sending icicles flying toward Lucius.
Vall smashed into it as it was rearing up, his entire body covered in fire as he used his class’s Blazing Charge, forcing the elemental to move away from the fire. Its tendrils smashed down on him and he blocked a few with his sword, but some came too fast and scored hits on his upper arms, drawing blood. Then it formed a large scythe and turned it all into ice, smashing down on Vall. Morgan fired his crossbow, emptying his magazine into it, trying to stop it, but the explosions didn’t even slow it down. Vall raised his sword to block, but Morgan could see that he was going to be too late. Then Emily was there, blocking with her mace—or rather the shield that had manifested itself over it.
She knocked the scythe away, and Ves attacked from the other side, cutting into the water with her sword, hoping for a lucky strike at its core. The elemental fought, manifesting more scythes and attacking several targets at once, even as it was being attacked from all sides. Lucius was sending fire and air blades into its body, disrupting the water, Orhem was casting fireballs, and Vall was swinging with his fiery sword. The two rogues kept back and watched, keeping their eyes on the elemental. Morgan did the same thing, watching for the core, trying to see it in all that water. It was the size of a fist, so it would not be so easy to see, considering the creature’s size. They had to be ready to act once they did see it, as it was probably constantly moving.
The elemental suddenly pulled back all of its tendrils and collapsed before becoming a wave, which attacked Vall. He jumped to the side, leaving fire in his wake, but he wasn’t fast enough. But again Emily was there—she smashed her mace into the ground and the earth rumbled, rippling upward and smashing the elemental off course. It missed Vall and came closer to where Morgan was reloading his crossbow. His eyes widened as the elemental, without stopping, continued raising up and manifesting its tendrils again. Then a wave of force smashed into the elemental, sending it backward before more fire spilled into it. Morgan looked to see Evor the giant with a raised staff; he had used some kind of a force-push attack. Morgan jumped back and out of range as others attacked the elemental again.
Ves’s bear was being ineffective, its attacks not doing anything substantial. But the fire seemed to be working at least a little bit—Morgan could swear that the elemental was smaller than it used to be. Then it rippled and turned most of its surface into ice as a large beam of fire came from Orhem. The beam hit the ice and a wall of steam rose all around them, obscuring the view. Then Ves and her bear both flew out of it and smashed into the ground, rolling a few times before coming to a stop and the bear disappeared. Clara ran to her immediately while Evor raised his staff in preparation.
A clash rippled the air and sent the steam flying away, revealing Emily struggling against the elemental, which now had two large, blade-like appendages smashing against her. It had changed shape, looking more like an anthropoid except without legs or a head. Its two arms smashing against Emily were thick, and the blades looked sharp. Lucius swooped down, sending a blade of fire to hit the elemental in its center mass. The elemental switched focus, turning on him instead, and Lucius evaded with his quick movements, dancing between the elemental’s strikes. It then changed shape again, becoming a twisting coil of water and releasing balls of iced water at Lucius. His eyes widened, but Emily was there again to save him by standing in front of him and blocking. He heard her grunt as the strikes hit her shield, but she took them and then stomped, sending earth rolling forward.
The elemental curled, moving with the rolling earth and raised itself to attack again, but Vall came from its side as it tried to attack Lucius. His sword stabbed into its side and burned, sending steam rising from the elemental. It screeched a sound that pierced Morgan’s ears and forced him to his knees. Vall was struck by a tendril that extended out of the elemental and sent him flying into the lake. Lucius sent an air blade at its arm, cutting it off. The blade fell and stabbed into the ground, then collapsed into water which ran back to the elemental. Emily smashed her mace at it, but it did little. The elemental had turned to Lucius, a new, smaller and thinner blade forming on one of its tendrils, and it snapped down.
Lucius blocked, his swords dancing in front of himself as he cut down the tendril, but then more rose from the main body. Morgan struggled to get back to his feet, raising his crossbow and firing. The explosions made it pause, but not for long. Emily tried to block some of the attack going to Lucius, and the two of them tried to survive. Then the tendrils doubled, and then tripled, and all came down on them. Morgan saw in horror as Emily didn’t try to block any of them—instead, she jumped back, the ground beneath her feet heaving and throwing her out of the elemental’s range, leaving Lucius alone.
He tried to block and evade, then used Flash Step, the ability that they had agreed he was going to try and keep a secret—but now he had no choice. He flashed across the distance some couple of meters away, but it was not enough. The elemental had thrown itself at him, and tendrils snapped forward at Lucius. Morgan reached for a grenade, igniting it and throwing it straight at the mass, but it was too late.
Lucius parried several attacks, but then he was just a moment too slow and an ice blade pierced his lower side. He cut into the ice, breaking it in his body, and stumbled back. Another blade cut into his arm as he twisted away, and another stabbed him in the leg. Lucius faltered, falling to his knees. The elemental reared back, preparing to kill him, when Morgan’s grenade fell into its form. It
exploded, staggering it slightly, or at least taking its attention from Lucius. But in that brief flash, Morgan had seen something: a small orb of black inside the sea that was the elemental’s body. He raised his crossbow and fired a piercing shot. The bolt flew straight in and the elemental screeched, and then the bolt exploded. The elemental rippled, its waves lashing out widely all around itself. A beam of fire smashed into it, releasing an enormous amount of steam all over. Vall, standing in the lake up to his knees, had his sword extended and his Pillar of Fire ability active, the blue fire burning into the elemental.
Morgan rushed forward, jumping and phasing, then unphasing a few moments later. Reaching Lucius, he grabbed him as the elemental continued to howl. He lifted him up and heard him groan as balls of fire fell on their enemy. Clara dropped a slowing field in the area where the elemental was and then ran to Lucius and Morgan, grabbing him and pulling him down to the ground. Ves stumbled next to them and took a guarding position. As Clara started healing Lucius, Morgan looked at the carnage a short distance away.
Vall had stopped his ability, and was breathing heavily in the lake. The elemental had been reduced to almost half of its previous size, and fireballs from Orhem were still falling down on it. Then the Úlfriir, Alfiir and Velfiir, both threw their daggers into the mass of rampaging water. There was a clinking sound, then a crack, and the water expanded before suddenly collapsing and spilling all over the ground. There on the rocks was a black orb with one dagger stabbed in its center, and cracks all over it.
The elemental was dead.
Vall stumbled over to them and then lay on the ground next to Lucius. Clara had closed the wound and was probably healing his insides now—he knew how much that hurt, but Lucius, rather than crying out, was simply grimacing.