Departure was immediate upon receiving our assignment. We left with the packs we came with and a shoddily drawn map of the west coast. People departed like bees from a hive searching for pollen.

I didn’t even have the chance to say goodbye to Rhea or the Adventurer’s Guild Master. It was unknown when I would see them again.

“How shall we travel?” Bryan asked to the group. He was typically the decision maker for our party, but Vichi was clearly in a superior position to him in seniority.

“Get as much distance from camp as possible. We’ll search as far east of the coast as we can first, and then travel west and make our way south along the coast back towards camp. That way we won’t find ourselves running into the tide if they return from the east,” Vichi responded.

“Sounds good,” Bryan said while taking a glance at Zachary and Rot. “How do you two fight?” he asked.

Zachary smiled before pulling two swords from behind his back. They were conveniently hidden. Even the handles seemed to be merely decoration or a part of the armor protecting the back of his neck.

They were not typical swords. Medium length and double-edged, what stood out about them was their tips. There was no point, instead the swords tapered into a hook that looked like a bottle opener. Dragging that across flesh would eviscerate anything it touched and do serious damage.

Vichi spoke for Rot, “His specialty is poison. Treat him as a mid-range caster that can hold his own in melee if need be. A hybrid spell caster if you will. As for me, treat me like a Summoner. I’ll be assisting you so just pay me no mind and I’ll follow your flow,” she smiled.

Bryan nodded his head before glancing over the group once more. We had a balanced party, and our levels were all very similar. Vichi was the highest at fifty-six and both Zachary and Rot were just below her at fifty-five and fifty-four respectively.

This was the first time in a long time I could group and not receive an EXP penalty. There was incredible danger but also the potential for incredible growth. I opened my stats before we departed.

Current EXP: 4270/147000 LEVEL: 51 Soul Harvester Eternal

HP: 4125/4125 MP: 2938/2938

STR: 45+5

AGI: 54+18

DEX: 40 +5

VIT: 30 +6

INT: 55 +21

Available: 0

Harvest Soul: 1127 HP: 2362 MP: 2362

My progress had been halted these past 3 weeks, but my own personal progress was the only exciting prospect about this entire situation.

The idea of moving fast was great, but impossible in reality. The growth and level of obstruction was incredible. Walking through unpaved wilderness was like walking through cobwebs made of steel.

We were restrained on each side with myself and Bryan pushing forward as swiftly as possible. A portion of my attention was spread out looking for anything dangerous, as was Vichi. She summoned her pixie and flew it ahead just fifteen or twenty meters. She was our scout and information gatherer for this group.

The squishiest members of the group were located in the middle—Vichi, Luther and Briele—while the more durable members covered the backline—Zachary, Cid, Rot.

I had seen Vichi fight before, but never Zachary or Rot. The only battle we had truly fought on this continent was with the Floral Monstrosity, and melee had not been allowed to engage. Of the two, Rot was definitely the most interesting.

Zachary used swords, and his style of fighting could be easy to surmise. He would hack and slash the enemy till it died. How did Rot fight? How strong was his poison? These were the questions I wanted answers to.

Fortunately, it didn’t take long to find out. “There’s something in the trees ahead.” Vichi suddenly said. “I can’t tell if it’s hostile or not.” My eyes began searching the treeline but came up completely empty.

Only after we approached a few meters closer could I finally feel a signature. I could pinpoint its exact location, but my eyes could see nothing. There was just a trunk with an odd lump on it that looked no different from an irregularly shaped tree branch.

“It’s just ahead about twelve meters,” she said. “I don’t see anything, though.” Bryan held up his shield and Luther held out his staff. Barrier could be summoned at a moment’s notice if need be.

“I don’t see anything either, are you sure?” Bryan asked. He typically had a great sense of danger and would react just as quickly as I would.

“It’s there,” I said. “The thinnest tree in front, about mid-way up, third branch on the right side. Do you see the irregular lump?” I asked everyone.

“I see what you’re talking about, but it looks like a branch.” Bryan said.

“It’s either that lump, or somehow inside the tree branch,” I confirmed. The one issue with our group was that our ranged attacks were all from spell casters. We didn’t have an archer that could nock an arrow and shoot the creature out of the tree to start a fight. No one wanted to walk too close and be attacked by surprise.

“I can take care of it if you’re sure it’s there.” Rot suddenly spoke. His voice was coarse and aged, and it fit the decrepit look he gave off. I was keen to see the spells he casted. The group looked towards Vichi.

Her face didn’t show any signs of doubt, but instead extreme confidence. She nodded with certainty and we all waited to see what ability he might cast. To my surprise, and everyone’s besides Zachary and Vichi, he didn’t cast a spell.

Instead, he pulled out what looked to be a syringe from his pocket. It maybe wasn’t a syringe, but it was a capsule filled with a dark green liquid. The tip was incredibly sharp with a large hole, no doubt for allowing the contents to escape.

He held the vial between three fingers and with a motion I couldn’t follow with my eyes, flicked it through the air. It rocketed with such speed that we could only hear the whistle of displacing air. It took only a moment for the tip of the syringe to plunge into the ‘tree branch’.

When it did, the branch instantly morphed into the shape of a reptile. It was easier to make out the shape of its body when it wasn’t hugging the tree: a lizard with a brown and rocky skin that blended in perfectly with the color of the bark.

We were all prepared for a battle, but the color of the reptile continued to morph until its skin turned completely black. Bits of its skin began to peel and fall before the skin on its claws holding it on the tree turned to sludge.

The forest ahead of us rattled as chunks of its body and bones fell through the underbrush. The sound echoed into the distance and spooked nearby birds. The poison in that vial was fearsome, and even the residual and smallest amount from inside the reptile’s bloodstream caused the tree trunk to sizzle and decay.

In the end, there were two huge cavities in the tree where the reptile was originally grasping onto. The hair on my neck stood in fright. I knew just how difficult it was to cut these trees. They were as hard as steel and took considerable effort with Mana Scythe to even make a dent in them.

Our silence portrayed our surprise perfectly. The demonstration was above and beyond my expectations and the lack of action didn’t upset anyone. I was very happy to have such an incredible poison user in our ranks. I was happy for the free EXP I received as well. 3120 EXP for a one-shot kill was nothing to scoff at.

Unfortunately I couldn’t cast Harvest Soul. For one, I had done no damage, and two, there wasn’t even a complete corpse in sight. There were just randomly strewn goop puddles that had little bits of dissolving bone remaining. What a fearsome poison.

Rot didn’t seem to care for our open admiration. His facial expression remained disinterested, not even the slightest sign of satisfaction or smugness showed on his face. Instead, he seemed annoyed. “What are we waiting for? Let’s keep moving!” he urged us.

Vichi couldn’t help but laugh at his reaction. Bryan and I came to and started hacking and slashing forward once again, praying that Rot’s poison never managed to land on our skin.

It took us the entire remaining hours of sunlight to get far away from camp. We were like ants digging a tunnel through concrete, and only when the sun was dipping under the horizon did we wander far enough from camp that we could no longer hear or see any fellow groups.

Vichi brought us to a halt and summoned two treants. “Briele, shelter will be in your hands. A dome should be good enough for us all. No doorway, just air holes located near the top. My treants will be on guard through the night.”

It took only a few moments for an igloo-like structure to form in front of us. It wasn’t anything special, but it would definitely shield us from view and any potential elements. Not a single one of us wasn’t exhausted either, Bryan and I more so than the others.

“Use the bathroom if you need to now. Once we close up we don’t open till morning.” Vichi said. We didn’t dare wander far, and always with a buddy. Briele created an opening in our little fort and allowed us all to place our sleeping bags on the floor. It was claustrophobic night sleeping shoulder to shoulder, but the moons above were beautiful.

Morning started with a quick breakfast from our packs. A fruit before they turned and some grits. Nothing special but the grits was dense enough to fill our bellies; we wouldn’t be hungry anytime soon.

I was happy to see the lack of fog in the early morning. There was a little bit, but not the thick, signature fog that the blood-sucking flies would be lurking within. “Today we take a bit more care in searching,” Vichi said.

“We will travel slowly. Cid, Joseph, can you travel in the trees? We need as much vision as possible: we don’t know exactly what the Seed will present itself as, or where it might be located.”

“Got it.” We both responded in turn.

“I’ll come up to be with you then, Bryan,” Zachary said. It seemed he was getting a bit more comfortable with us, and didn’t even wait for Vichi’s order.

“That’ll be a bit easier, thanks.” Bryan sighed with relief and I understood why. Leading the front alone would have been a nightmare, he wouldn’t have the strength to tank at all if it came down to it.

Zachary proved to be incredibly useful in the front, more so than me or Bryan. The unique hook to the tip of his blade worked amazingly. He could grab a vine with it and then pull with full force, easily slicing it.

Cid and I took to the trees just above. We could see Pixie flying ahead, zipping left and right while taking careful glances in every direction. Visibility was bad, but much better than from the floor below. I suddenly wished we could simply travel by tree the entire way.

A glance at Briele, Luther, and Vichi told me that it was impossible. The thought subsided when I reminded myself we were trying to be thorough, and not fast. “I take right, you take left?” I looked at Cid.

“Sure.” He responded, and we made distance between us. I could see the underbrush below, and would be able to clear more area this way. It would help if we knew exactly what it was we were looking for and I had an incredibly hard time accepting the Seed would just be in the open here, anyway.

Time crawled with nothing happening, and nothing being sighted. There was only the sound of Bryan and Zachary slashing the underbrush below. The occasional rush of birds flying into the sky happened, usually from Pixie scaring them off.

There was a rush of birds off to my right, chirping and screeching as they rocketed through the canopy and out of view. I thought nothing of it at first, until the underbrush below me began to crackle and spread.

Something was rushing through the dense foliage as if walking through paper walls. “Bryan!” I yelled. “Your right!” He managed to turn and hold out his shield when a furry beast taller than him barged into him.

Bryan’s boots tore dirt and caught on a stray vine during the impact, nearly sending him toppling back. Zachary reacted quickly and put the full weight of his body on Bryan’s back. The two of them were just enough to stop the beast’s charge.

“Back up!” Vichi yelled. We needed room to fight, and headed just a dozen feet back into the corridor we had cleared before. The beast was fully in view now. I cast Inspect from the trees and broadcast the information to the full party.

Tainted* LEVEL: 67 BEAST SHADOW/EARTH

HP:163949 MP: 10

STR: ??

AGI: 40

DEX: 60

VIT: 80

INT: 15

A beast struggling on the border of insanity. Its rationality and decision making flicker between realization and rage.

The creature was like nothing I’d ever seen before: a brown furry beast standing on two legs that towered over Bryan and Zachary. The arms on its thick torso were elongated and unusually thin for the size of its frame. It was eerie in a sort of horrifying way.

The claws upon the monster’s hands were razor sharp and irregularly long. A black substance traveled up and down the creature’s fur like a disgusting parasite. Oddly enough, it didn’t seem to mind the black substance that no doubt gave it the name tainted.

Its eyes were two different colors at all times. One remained permanently black, while the other flickered between blood red and that of a normal eye. A disgusting drool thicker than snot dripped from its maw and splattered onto the underbrush.

“Unknown Strength? What does that even mean?” Bryan yelled back to me.

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen it either,” I responded. I’d only ever seen an unknown level and never an unrecognized amount of stats. Judging by the strength at which it charged initially, the number was definitely at the higher end of the spectrum.

Vichi immediately summoned two treants while Pixie raced back to the engagement. Bryan held his shield firm and steady, his boots dug in deep this time as he made sure he wouldn’t trip up.

Zachary waited just a few feet behind him, swords crossed in a defensive position: presumably thinking better safe than sorry. Cid and I dropped from above and positioned ourselves just a few feet further back.

There wasn’t much room in our corridor, and that was likely to be to our disadvantage judging by how easily the Tainted creature plowed through the underbrush to get here. No one wanted to pull the trigger and gain aggro during this engagement if it could be avoided.

The single eye of the Tainted monster continued to flicker between rationality and rage. It was weighing the situation carefully while the black parasite sludge twirled and circled around its torso, eventually resting on the far side of its neck.

Moments after that, the singular eye that shifted back and forth remained a solid red color, and the rationality had lost out to its rage. A roar that caused my hair to stand on end and my legs to shake rushed past me and echoed into the distance.

Birds from every direction could be heard lifting off and flapping as if their life depended on it. The area was emptied of all creatures, except for us and this Tainted monster: if it was truly alive.

“Take it slow,” Vichi said. “Assist my golems while we figure out a plan. Avoid attacking in melee.”

Bryan nodded without a word as he prepared to move forward. It was one of the first times I’d sensed such uncertainty in his motions. I felt it as well. The claws upon on the monster’s hand were razor sharp and for such a powerful creature removing an unprotected limb would be no different than slicing through air.

One mistake could mean death—for any of us—and yet we didn’t need to tank Bryan did. These moments always put me on edge, even more so than when I was risking my own life. Was I going to watch a teammate be cut down right in front of me? Again?

I shook that thought to the side and positioned myself next to Luther and Briele. Rot moved up to join us, as all three of us could act as ranged in this situation, and that might be the safest plan for now: stay out of melee.

One foot moved in front of the other as Bryan tiptoed forward. His shield braced with both hands, as solid as a steel door. His sword remained sheathed at his side as if there was no intention or thought to draw it.

Vichi didn’t need to tell Bryan to concentrate on defense, he knew it himself. His instincts must be telling him so, whispering to him, you will die if you reveal an opening. Only the top of his head and the boots on his feet protruded beyond the edges of the shield.

The Tainted raged and it huffed like it was out of breath. Spittle from its mouth started to fly in random directions before it leaned forward, nearly enough to walk on all fours. It didn’t though, and instead took off like a sprinter.

Vichi’s golems were already in front of the monster, but a swipe left and then right minced them like carrots. They didn’t provide the least bit of resistance. Her face turned red as she quickly summoned a new pair. They would be too late, though.

“Support me!” Bryan yelled, and Zachary moved—his shoulder leaned in and his feet dug dirt. The entire weight of his body was against Bryan’s back as the claw slashed across the shield. There was a tearing sound, a sound that metal shouldn’t make.

Shards of metal launched into the air as sparks flew. The shoulder of the Tainted followed immediately and battered into Bryan. The two slid a foot before Bryan was able to push back, and moved the Tainted back several feet. His shield held, but sported 5 deep claw marks that nearly went through to the other side.

Briele, Rot and I didn’t wait any longer. That display of power was enough to tell us we were on a timer. Bryan and Zachary could hold more charges, but I wasn’t sure how long that shield would hold up before each slash was digging into flesh.

The two treants Vichi summoned behind the beast rammed into its exposed back and attempted to pierce its thick hide. They were incredibly powerful, but couldn’t manage to do more than a nick of damage.

I cast Shackle in the fear the Tainted would attempt to combo attacks together. Rot threw a syringe that landed squarely on the beast’s shoulder and seemed to pierce the outer layer of skin.

Briele cast an ability called Fire Pillar that rose from beneath the beast and started to engulf its right leg in scorching hot flames. Even Luther wasn’t sitting still: he cast a Holy Light, as the Tainted was also Shadow property.

I felt like we were ants assaulting an elephant, but we weren’t helpless in this endeavor. The hair on the monster’s right leg began to burn off as the skin discolored. It would take considerable time to burn through and seriously injure it, but Briele was making progress.

My shackle broke before it could even form, and Vichi’s golems had been diced in two once again. Pixie healed them immediately and Vichi sent them right back into the fray in the hope of tying up the Tainted and dealing some damage.

My expectations were highest for Rot. The area his syringe had landed began to discolor, and purple could be seen through the shaggy brown fur. I had a small hope that would be enough to kill the Tainted, but could this really be that easy?

In fact, something interesting happened. The black sludge crawled across the monster’s fur and then planted itself right where Rot’s syringe had stuck. It gathered around the syringe needle and then enlarged itself, dislodging the vial from the durable skin.

After that—as if sucking the poison out with imaginary lips—the sludge spat the poison into the air and in our direction.

“Barrier!” Luther yelled. The small amount of poison hit the barrier and began sizzling through immediately. Poison fumes were moments from passing through and entering our breathing space.

Briele canceled her Fire Pillar and cast a Gust that sent the beads of poisonous liquid and fumes hurdling back towards the Tainted. “No more poison!” Vichi yelled. We had experience two huge setbacks already during this engagement: Rot was no longer an asset in this fight, and Barrier was on cool down.

As soon as the sludge moved away from the neck, the monster’s red eye faded back into rationality for a moment. This was my biggest clue on top of the Inspect information about the dual element. “I think… the sludge and the beast are two separate entities,” I informed everyone.

It was extremely uncommon to see a dual property monster; especially such an odd combination. “It’s likely the sludge-like parasite is shadow while the beast it’s infected is earth property.”

While the sludge was at its shoulder plunging away at the poisonous wound, the beast was visibly confused. Its eye shifted between rage and rationality constantly. Its movements were indecisive and for a second I felt it might run away.

“Don’t miss this chance!” Bryan yelled. Despite being the person closest to harm his voice was firm and his resolve clearly hardened. He pushed forward and jammed the shield into the beast in front of him.

Zachary was behind, and like two snakes striking out his swords came from either side of that door-like shield. They didn’t stab or slash, but instead slid along both sides of the Tainted’s waist. He angled them and pulled back hard, hooking the tip into flesh.

“Hold on!” Zachary yelled at Bryan. The flesh was so thick he couldn’t retrieve his weapons. Both of his feet planted firmly on Bryan’s back, he used the entire force of his body to retrieve them.

The sharp metal tips sheered through flesh and fur as warm blood spurted from either side of the beast. I was worried about a counter-attack as Zachary was landing on his back, completely off balance and Bryan was alone with no support.

Two treants launched into the air and latched onto the Tainted’s back, putting all of their weight on its shoulders and restricting any movement of its arms. Briele cast an ability called Quagmire that slowed its movements substantially.

I wasn’t standing by idly either, and channeled Glacial Spike directly between its legs. The shard of ice jutted up and broke upon impact, but quickly encased both of its legs and lower waist in ice. It was thoroughly locked in place.

The parasitic sludge rushed to the nape of the beast’s neck in a panic. Our attacks were extremely effective, and had definitely shocked the beast enough mentally to threaten the control the parasite held over it.

The fear visible in its regular eye was apparent, and yet when it went into a rage it showed no regard for its own life. With the parasite firmly planted at the nape of its neck, its rationality disappeared again.

The razor-sharp claws slashed back like lightning and minced the two golems into firewood before its two feet shattered the ice encasing it. It was thoroughly enraged, and despite the lethal blood loss from Zachary’s wounds was going to rush at Bryan and Zachary without a care.

A full-frontal assault by the monster would most likely leave one or both of them mortally injured. There was no barrier to protect them and Zachary was still recovering from his backwards fall. Bryan might be able to hold for a moment, but his shield wouldn’t.

Going into melee was potentially suicidal, but I couldn’t sit and watch anymore. I was different from before, different from what any of my party members knew or understood.

I channeled Mana Scythe at seventy-percent of my mana and rushed forward. A flame appeared in the translucent blade as I imbued it with a radiant-like fire. It was hot enough to light any of these water-logged plants ablaze in seconds.

The beast was taller than me by more than half a body, but Bryan remained there like the perfect ramp. Despite the impending doom, Bryan never flinched or even looked back. He was an unmovable mountain there waiting for the inevitable flurry of attacks.

He never expected the full weight of my body on his back as I launched into the air and directly towards the Tainted. There was only several feet between us, and the Tainted wasn’t slacking at all.

That red eye assessed me as a threat, and those freakish hands came at me from both sides like closing scissors. They would mince me into several fleshy chunks no doubt, but I had no intention of being hit.

I used Phase Step not to dodge down, or up, or to the side. I used it to push directly into the beast’s chest. Mana Scythe came across its neck with incredible force that caused the wind to displace.

There was just the minutest of resistance when it touched flesh, and then nothing but the resistance of a knife cutting through warm butter. The hands continued to close behind me as the Tainted’s head flipped into the air.

It fell backwards and I fell with it, eventually landing on its belly with two burly arms trapping me. The parasite squirmed and convulsed before rushing into the new hole and disappearing inside the body of the beast.

Bryan rushed over and grabbed one arm while Cid grabbed the other. It took all their effort to flip the arms off of me and free me from the bear hug.

“I’m ashamed…” Cid said while scratching his head. He hadn’t participated at all, but no one blamed him. He wielded daggers, and would have needed to be incredibly close to the Tainted to attack. There was no room for maneuverability in this environment. He would have been a sitting duck if something went wrong.

Before Bryan or I could reprimand him for his negative attitude, even if either of us had wanted to, Vichi, Briele and Luther rushed over. “Are you okay?” They all asked me.

“I’m fine.” I brushed a bit of blood from my face. “Let’s move away. The parasite is still alive.” I thought it impossible that the parasite could control a dead body, but better safe than sorry.

We recovered our strength at least ten meters away from the corpse while carefully keeping watch. “Five minutes should be enough, right?” Luther asked. As a priest he was the most cautious of undead creatures, and definitely things rising from the dead.

“It should be fine now,” Vichi agreed. In all the excitement I had forgot to cast Harvest Soul, and I used our ‘curiosity’ to approach close enough to do so. I was also incredibly interested to see how much EXP it granted for a kill.

Harvest Soul: 1128 HP: 2462 MP: 2462

I was blown away. Harvest Soul granted another 100 HP and MP and the Tainted had also given me 47,000 EXP. That was such an astonishing number I almost couldn’t believe it. The potential for death was extremely high in this encounter. A single attack landing would have been a KO for even Bryan.

There was no sign of the parasitic sludge, or any loot, for that matter. Unfortunate, but nothing out of the ordinary. Loot definitely became less and less common as you climbed in levels.

“Does anyone else need more time before we move on?” Vichi asked.

Bryan seemed hesitant to speak up, “Is there… anything we can do about my shield?” He held it up and showed the deep lines tearing through the metal. Some of them were enough to show light coming through the other side.

The integrity of his shield had definitely dropped significantly, and while it was okay for most melee attacks, an attack that utilized some sort of liquid or gas would go right through those holes and into his face.

“Let me take a look,” Rot said while walking over. He didn’t wait for Bryan’s response to firmly grasp the shield and jerk it from Bryan’s arm. Vichi put on an apologetic face that said ‘I’m sorry.’

It was obvious from the get go Rot wasn’t the most socially aware person. Getting him to talk was already an amazing achievement and Bryan didn’t seem to be bothered. Rot had good intentions, and was trying to help.

“If you think you can fix it… by all means.” Bryan gave the go ahead preemptively, probably anticipating that Rot would not even ask anyway. No doubt he was speaking more so for Vichi’s sense of comfort and not his own.

Rot nodded before pulling out a clear vial of liquid from his pouch as well as a metal instrument. “Hold,” he said that one word to Bryan, who then gripped the shield with both hands.

The vial was removed with a careful hand and poured with incredible precision into one of the gaps carved out by the Tainted’s claws. Once there it began to sizzle and smoke for just a moment.

Immediately following that, Rot took the metal instrument and began to push the malleable metal with an expert hand. It was clear at a glance this wasn’t his first time attempting such a maneuver. The metal gashes in the shield slowly closed one by one.

When Rot was done, there wasn’t the slightest hole in Bryan’s shield anymore. There were merely indents that sunk just a tad below normal shield level. Nothing would be getting through it anymore, and the shield’s integrity was definitely increased back to near normal.

“This…” Bryan seemed at a loss for words, “I was not expecting this. Where did you learn this?” he asked with astonishment.

“I occasionally receive help requests from blacksmiths.” Rot said. “My special Acid works wonderfully on metal.”

Zachary approached from behind and placed a firm grip on Bryans shoulder. “Everything seems to be good now, yes?”

Bryan nodded and the rest of us moved to take a closer look. “Can I see it?” Briele asked. Her fingers traced the newly formed metal for several moments, “It feels almost like you used magic… incredible.”

“There is a bit of magical essence in this Acid,” Rot confessed.

“Alright, enough wasting time.” Vichi reprimanded everyone. “We need to keep moving, have you all forgotten where we are?”

The excitement of our first kill as a group had overtaken all of us.

“Right.” Bryan coughed before pulling the shield away from all of us and turning forward. “Let’s get going, resume positions.”