Eventually, they did. The air had grown thick with Earth-attuned aether—so dense Seth had been sure they would find something. Yet after an entire day of scouting the surroundings while cloaked in Illusionary Emptiness, the search was proved fruitless. Seth's patience was now wearing thin, his body itching for a fight since they had spent the last two days avoiding every beast they encountered to save time.
He couldn't take it anymore.
So, the moment he spotted three Earth Elementals isolated in a cavern chamber, he made up his mind and decided that he, Nightmare, and Colossus would face them.
The three hulking figures of granite and obsidian rose from behind a small, rocky ridge ahead. Two were exactly as all the others Earth Elemental from the past two weeks ago: torsos of jagged rock with detached, boulder-like fists hovering at their sides and a large oval head. The third, however, was different. Larger and sturdier, it stood on four thick legs, its form reminding Seth of the Undead Rhinoceros from the Rift in the Wicked Forest.
Three horns of solid rock jutted from its muzzle, and hazel light burned within its hollow eye sockets. Each of its heavy steps sent a tremor across the cave floor. Through his bond with Nightmare, who stood beside him, Seth felt a faint prickle of Danger Sense—not enough to warrant retreat, but just enough to promise a real challenge.
A grin tugged at Seth's lips. 'You guys ready for a fight?'
'Finally!' Nightmare exclaimed. 'I was going to fall asleep.'
'We're done looking for a Seed already?' Colossus asked from within the teardrop necklace, the disappointment in his voice impossible to miss.
'No,' Seth answered with a grimace. 'We'll keep searching. But a few fights along the way won't hurt. We need to get stronger through combat regardless.'
'Okay!' the scorpion said eagerly as he peered at the three Elementals through Seth's eyes. 'Can I use Chitinous Taunt on all three? I wanna see if I can take them all at once!'
'Uh… sure,' Seth said with a faint chuckle.
Seth mentally switched the connection of Share from Illusionary Emptiness to Shadow Step. There would be no stealth this time; Seth wanted a straight fight with Colossus drawing their attention, as he and Nightmare would attack the weakest of the trio for a quick kill.
Without waiting any longer, Seth charged. The Elementals' heads snapped toward him, and he immediately cast Intermediate Identify.
Seth raised his fist, filling the grooves of Night Veil. Black smoke billowed from his body and shrouded the cavern in darkness. On cue, Colossus surged from the teardrop necklace and used Scorpion Charge. His massive body shot forward with impressive speed, slamming into the three Elementals with a deafening crunch that sent them stumbling back, momentarily stunned. The scorpion followed up with Chitinous Taunt, the deep rumble erupting from his maw to lock their attention on him. Quartz Armor grew over his body, and the brown and thick aether of Desert Aegis appeared at the same instant.
Fueled by the Agility from Huntbound Rush, Seth became a phantom in the smoke. The twin blades of Dusk Scythes surged from his gauntlets, hungry for destruction. In a coordinated attack with Nightmare, he charged at the Rank-43 Elemental. The direwolf pounced first, his Shadow Bite tearing through the Elemental's stone hide with a loud groan, then the moment the golem tried to turn and slam its boulder-fist into the direwolf, Seth joined in and slashed the creature's arm in three rapid succession. With a brutal cut, he severed the limb, causing it to crash to the ground with a heavy thud.
The Earth Elemental let out a high-pitched screech at the attack. Seizing the occasion, Nightmare jerked his head and ripped away another chunk of obsidian. Seth followed the direwolf's assault, and his Dusk Scythes sliced through the creature's torso. Before it could even cast a spell, the Elemental crumbled into a pile of lifeless rock.
Behind them, Colossus held off the two other foes. The smaller Earth Elemental hammered its fists against the scorpion's shell, each blow landing with a loud bang but failing to leave even a scratch. With a growl of frustration, it summoned jagged rocks to erupt from the ground that slammed into Colossus's underside, yet the exoskeleton down there didn't yield either. Even the larger, rhino-like Elemental's attacks were ineffective; its three horns repeatedly screeched against the scorpion's armor, yet all it managed was to chip off a few splinters of Quartz Armor.
Seemingly realizing the futility of his assault, the large creature cast a spell that enveloped it in brown aether, then rammed into the scorpion. The impact sent a few more shards of veined rock flying.
Colossus let out a hiss—not from pain, but from the frustration of having his perfect defense even slightly breached.
Seth and Nightmare surged toward the Rank-45 Earth Elemental. This one put up more of a fight, its stone hide resisting their initial blows and forcing them into a more coordinated assault: Nightmare's corrosive Shadow Bite weakened its armor of rock so Seth's Dusk Scythes could pierce through it. The golem turned into rubble the moment the light faded from its hollow sockets, leaving only the Earth Rhinoceros Elemental remaining.
The large creature roared in anger and slammed its stone hooves into the ground. Jagged rocks erupted around it and surged toward Seth, Colossus, and Nightmare. The young scorpion immediately cast Sandstorm Dome, and the swirling vortex materialized to intercept and shatter the projectiles before they could reach their target. He then charged, drawing the rhino's focus as Seth and Nightmare moved in from the sides.
Seth's Dusk Scythes dissipated in a wisp, and in response he began channeling aether into the grooves of Phantom Punch. At the same moment, Nightmare unleashed a piercing howl: Predator Hunt. The sound plunged into the Elemental's hollow ear cavities. Before the creature could react, the direwolf pounced from the shadow, his jaws clamping onto one of its legs in an attempt to cripple the creature.
Just as the beast whirled to attack Nightmare, Colossus slammed into its side and stunned it once again for a critical second. Seth seized the opening to attack with Phantom Punch. The colossal skeletal fist that had formed around his own crashed into the Elemental, shattering its stone armor and burying itself deep with a sickening crack. The Elemental roared in pain, yet before it could retaliate, Nightmare and Colossus were on it with fangs and pincers.
Though the large creature defended itself fiercely, the three-on-one assault was too overwhelming. Its end was inevitable. A dozen seconds later, Seth drew on the reserves from his Fine Storing Ring and cast Phantom Punch once more. The Undead spell materialized a second time, and he buried it into the creature's neck, shattering the stone vertebrae and sending the large beast crashing lifelessly to the ground.
The moment Seth went to retrieve the three beaststones from the rubble, Colossus scuttled toward him.
'Did you see that? They couldn't hurt me!' the young scorpion exclaimed. His mental voice echoed with excitement as he looked back and forth between Seth and Nightmare. 'I can finally protect everyone!'
'You did well,' Nightmare conceded as Seth picked up the three brown crystals and stored them in his Endless Pouch. 'You're a walking fortress now.'
'And you're the cannon, right?' Colossus replied, turning to face Seth. 'That's what you called him, a glass cannon?'
Before Seth could answer, Nightmare bristled. 'No. I am the fangs that tear through their defense. 'Glass cannon' sounds too weak… Do you think I am weak, Small Bite?'
'No, no, no!' Colossus answered right away while raising his pincers defensively. 'You're very, very strong!'
Seth smiled at their banter and let his gaze sweep over the surrounding tunnels. His eyes paused on the only path he hadn't explored yet, and he began walking toward it as his two partners kept trading compliments behind him. Should we give up on finding Colossus a Seed and just hunt for our remaining days in—
The ambient aether suddenly shifted, causing him to halt and frown. The energy was now even more solid, pressing against his skin with the weight and rough texture of stone. Out of caution, Seth recalled Nightmare and Colossus into the teardrop necklace, then pressed on.
'Why did you—' the scorpion began, before going quiet as the sensation reached him through their bond. 'This aether… it tastes even better here.'
'Yeah, it does,' Seth replied as he refilled his Fine Storing Ring and moved through the tunnel.
The surrounding luminescent mushrooms cast a soft, ethereal glow that guided him. A few dozen steps later, the narrow passage opened into an area where a few natural stone bridges spanned a black, bottomless abyss. More bridges crisscrossed above and below, forming a complex lattice in the darkness.
Seth approached the edge of the nearest one, though he paused when he noticed a steep, winding slope to his right that descended into the chasm. Maybe we should go down, he thought. We've stayed on the same level for the past two weeks.
Seth hesitated, gaze flicking between the two paths, then moved toward the slope. The moment he did, the rough, earthen aether pressing against his skin intensified. The farther he advanced, the stronger it grew.
That's why I couldn't find the Seed or Essence, he realized, a smile appearing on his lips. It was beneath us.
Without wasting any more time, he descended the steep path and emerged at a lower level, where a wide stone archway led into an immense hall. Several groups of Earth Elementals patrolled within—unlike the usual humanoid golems, however, each was identical to the rhinoceros one, their massive forms rumbling across the cavern floor.
Seth cursed inwardly. Switching Illusionary Emptiness for Shadow Step had been a mistake with the twenty-four-hours cooldown.
With a resigned sigh, he reached into his Endless Pouch and pulled out Professor Reat's pocket watch. The artifact wouldn't let him get close without being detected, but it could at least allow him to scout part of the area and perhaps locate the Seed or Essence.
The moment he infused aether into the artifact, the air shimmered and his body faded from sight. Hugging the cavern wall to avoid all the Elemental beasts, he headed deeper into the cave to follow the increasingly dense, heavy imprint of Earth aether.
Soon, he emerged into a cavern dominated yet by another vast, dark chasm. Two natural stone bridges stretched across the void, each broad enough for three men to walk abreast. From the far side, the pulse of dense, earthen aether beat like a buried heart.
The moment Seth set foot on the closer of the bridges, he heard the distant roar of rushing water echo out of the unseen depths below.
'This brings back bad memories,' Nightmare said from within the teardrop necklace.
'We won't be jumping this time,' Seth replied, a faint smile touching his lips as he recalled their leap of faith to escape the Inferno Bear in the Wicked Forest.
After crossing the abyss and weaving through a few narrow tunnels, Seth entered a colossal cavern teeming with Earth Elementals of every size and shape. As he slipped farther in, the ground began to tremble beneath his boots.
Then came a pulse.
The next instant, the subtle aetheric connection to the pocket watch snapped. A sharp, familiar vibration rippled across Seth's skin, making every hair stand on end. The artifact's cloak of invisibility vanished, and he materialized in plain sight—right beside a cluster of five rhino-like Elementals.
All of the creatures' heads turned toward Seth as one.
He'd just walked straight into a distortion field.
(NOT UPDATED):
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Thank you so much for reading!
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21 24!! advanced chapters on !