The moment the direwolf launched his assault and sank his fangs into the Dark Elemental, Seth felt something different through their shared senses: Shadow Bite was tearing through the creature with even more potency. The corrosive smoke dissolved its body far more rapidly than before.
Seth joined the fray a second later, and together with Nightmare attacked the wounded Elemental. The direwolf tore and pulled it aside, forcing the creature off balance while Seth buried his fists repeatedly into its torso, each blow thudding against layers of condensed darkness. The Elemental shrieked and tried to counter with a wide swing of its mace-like limb, but Seth stepped in and blocked it before it could gain any momentum.
Seizing that opportunity, Nightmare bit down on the junction between the creature's neck and its shoulder and shredded through smoke-dense flesh. With one arm injured and the other blocked by Seth, the Dark Elemental was at the direwolf's mercy. Seconds later, its body vanished in a burst of shadow.
Still panting from the pursuit, Seth knelt to pick up the beaststone that had just clattered to the ground. At the same time, Colossus finished lumbering over, the two black crystals from the other Elementals held between his massive pincers.
'Don't worry, Nightmare, I got them!' the scorpion exclaimed with a happy rumbling, as if he thought the direwolf would be sad they might have forgotten the stones.
'Thanks, Colossus.' Seth smiled and took the beaststones. He stowed all three in his pouch before turning to Identify Nightmare and examine that new spell.
It fits his personality so well, Seth thought while reading the spell's effects. A new tool to make sure prey could never escape him.
A pang of disappointment still rose in Seth's chest—that debuff only boosted Nightmare's damage, not everyone else's. The synergy with Beastmaster Rage's boost, Mantle of Terror's attributes reduction, and Phantom Punch would have been incredible.
For a moment, Seth recalled something Elena had once told him, which had been confirmed by Eldric's book later: Wielders could only learn eight spells per Tier. In the early stages—Copper and Iron—that limit felt quite restricting. But later on, as one climbed higher, finding, crafting, or buying that many spells became a challenge of its own.
It was also the kind of information nobility kept from commoners. The Academy never mentioned it, and the standard manuals available to them conveniently left that part out. Not that it mattered much—without a generous sponsor, common folks rarely had access to more than a handful of spells anyway.
With that new spell, Nightmare already possessed four Silver-Tier spells, Seth thought.
Eldric's book had also explained that it was possible to 'unlearn' a spell, though the process required rare resources—the kind most couldn't afford—and was said to be extremely painful. If the direwolf progressed at the same pace, he would soon reach the spell-cap ceiling. The thought made Seth wonder if beasts could even 'unlearn' spells the way Wielders did. Do they also have the same eight-per-Tier limit?
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'Why aren't you two more impressed?' Nightmare asked, his aetheric voice laced with a hint of offense at the lack of fanfare from Seth and Colossus.
'It's the fourth spell you've crafted so far,' Seth answered with a shrug, pushing all his previous questions aside. 'Why would I be impressed?'
'It's the first one I've made at the Silver Tier,' the direwolf retorted as he lifted his muzzle with evident pride.
'No it's not. You learned both Illusionary Emptiness and Danger Sense when you were a pup.'
'That's different.'
'How?'
'Those were innate. I didn't have to build them with intention. This one… this one I forged myself.'
Seth raised an eyebrow. 'What do you mean—'
Before he could finish, Colossus scuttled closer to the direwolf. 'Don't be sad! I'm impressed! Uh… extremely impressed! We have the strongest wolf in our family!'
'For the hundredth time, we are a pack,' Nightmare replied with a sharp glare. 'And I'm a direwolf, not a mere—'
He froze mid-sentence, ears snapping to the right before turning his head. Seth immediately followed his gaze. A pulse of raw, turbulent energy prickled at the edge of his senses—a violent storm where the void of Darkness aether collided with the slicing feeling of Wind.
Seth frowned. 'What the hell is happening over there?'
'A battle,' Nightmare answered. 'Dozens… maybe hundreds of Dark against Wind Elementals?'
'You think they are attacking one of those outposts?'
'No idea,' the direwolf said. 'But we should go take a look… see if we can ambush the winner.'
'Odds are there will be more than a handful of winners,' Seth answered before moving Colossus back inside his teardrop domain. 'But sure, let's go.'
He and Nightmare crept toward the source of the aether imprint, then moved around a few giant pillars of stone to find a vantage point overlooking the cavern. Upon peering over the edge, they immediately discovered the reason behind all this chaos.
A colossal battle was raging below. As he'd thought, an army of Dark Elementals was clashing against a swirling bastion of Wind Elementals. Blades of razor-sharp air sliced through shadowy forms, while claws of pure darkness lashed out to smother and dissolve the vortex-like creatures. It was a deadly war fought between two opposing forces of nature. Now Seth understood why the chief hadn't sent patrols after them: the Dark Elementals were already fighting a war on another front.
'Yeah… we should definitely ambush the winner,' Nightmare said. There was a deep hunger pulsing through their bond as he imagined himself ripping through the exhausted survivors.
'I have a better idea,' Seth replied. A broad smile then spread on his face. 'I'm sure you'll like it. Desert Snakes 2.0.'
Seth stood atop a massive crystal outcrop, looking down into the city-like cavern of the Wind Elementals. Below, hundreds of them drifted and swirled between walls of shimmering quartz.
'Forcing a bigger clash?' Nightmare said from within the teardrop necklace. 'That's a stupid idea.'
'Do you want that drop of darkness or not?' Seth retorted, his gaze working through the oblivious Elementals below.
His eyes finally locked on the perfect target: a smaller, less imposing Wind Elemental hovering near the edge of the cavern. Perfect.
Seth began channeling aether through the grooves of Phantom Punch as he crept forward, the Undead energy thrumming beneath his skin. The moment the spell was ready, he vanished; Shadow Step carried him behind the Elemental in an instant. Before the creature made of winds could turn, Seth twisted his hips and drove his fist forward with all his weight. The blow hit like a thunderclap, shattering its chest in an explosion of green wisps and vaporized wind.
The Elemental's crystal clinked to the ground—and the entire hive turned toward him in unison. Dozens upon dozens of glowing eyes flared with fury. A storm of blades screamed through the air as the Wind Elementals surged forward. Seth spun and bolted while narrowly slipping between the crescents of condensed air.
Pouring aether into Huntbound Rush, Seth held the perfect distance: close enough to keep the enraged Wind Elementals on his tail, but far enough to stay alive. Short bursts from his Swift Eagle Bracelet pushed him out of reach whenever one tried to launch itself at him as he darted through the cavern.
The jagged obsidian walls of the Dark Elementals' city appeared ahead, faintly glimmering with eerie light. And there about two hundred yards from the gates—exactly as he'd hoped—a sizable number of the shadow-creatures were currently recovering from the previous battle that had just ended.
Not too close. Not too far. This is my chance.
Seth pushed a fresh surge of aether into Huntbound Rush and shot past the Dark Elementals. Blinded with rage, the pursuing army of Wind Elementals didn't even slow down. They crashed directly into the patrol, and the cavern erupted into a cataclysmic battle of howling gales and shredding shadows. Desperate, silent cries for support echoed from the beleaguered creatures of darkness.
Seth immediately used Shadow Step to teleport atop a high ledge before switching Share's link to Illusionary Emptiness and vanishing from sight. From his perch, he watched as reinforcements poured out from the obsidian city like a river of ink. The brutal clash was a chaotic spectacle, and he found himself quite enjoying it.
The Wind Elementals, with their superior numbers, definitely had the upper hand… until the tide of the battle suddenly shifted.
An imposing figure appeared on the battlefield: the Dark Elemental chief. Its presence rolled across the cavern like a suffocating wave, fury burning within its aura. The lesser Elementals had dared to disturb it, and now they would pay.
The creature moved with the dominance of a predator, and wherever it passed, Wind Elementals were torn apart—sliced, crushed, and slain by its shadow claws.
Smiling, Seth didn't waste any more time and left his position to head toward the distant city. Fading in and out of Illusionary Emptiness to conserve aether, he slipped past the outer defenses and moved toward the central spire. Yet to his dismay, the city was far from empty.
Nearly fifty Elementals still glided through the streets, causing him to curse inwardly. There was no way he could climb up there to move the drop of pure darkness into his necklace with so many enemies nearby.
'Maybe you can punch to make it fall?' Colossus suggested through Link.
Seth pulled down the skin of his face. 'Well, I'm not sure that's a good—'
Before he could finish, two hulking Undead Giants lumbered into the city's center while dragging a massive vessel full of viscous black liquid. As they had done many times over the past week, they unhitched their harnesses and poured the contents into the dark basin. The liquid defied gravity once more, slithering upward across the spire's surface.
The moment it reached the crystallized drop suspended from the cave's ceiling, the drop began to stir and thicken.
Seth couldn't resist casting Intermediate Identify on it for the first time, already regretting it as he braced to learn just how great a treasure they would miss.
Seth's jaw went slack. An Epic Seed. Wielders could bear two of those at the Iron Tier, and the power of that single one was staggering. Even more than the Phoenix Feather he'd seen even in Asethka.
Before he could process it, the cavern trembled violently. Then, the crystallized drop shuddered… and broke free.
It didn't fall like a stone. It hurtled like a loosed crossbow bolt—crashing through the roof of the lone stone hut below with a booming impact that sent waves of dust billowing outward.
Almost instantly, all of the Dark Elementals remaining in the city erupted into an absolute frenzy. They surged toward the collapsed building, and, without an ounce of hesitation, turned on each other, slashing and tearing with blinding greed.
Seth remembered what Marcus had told him: a Seed couldn't be absorbed in mere minutes. It took days. The Elementals either didn't know that, or they didn't care. They fought like the avaricious beasts they were, each convinced that the first to reach it could claim its power.
(Partilaly UPDATED):
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