Caesar arrived at the same northern stronghold and rested in the tavern before leaving. He heard no new rumors about a new dungeon in the unidentified area. Thus, he relaxed his guard a little and prioritized speed. But this might have been a mistake.

Halfway along the route, his Ever-Shifting Faces scouted the area and came back with a Hallucination of a snow-covered campfire and two sets of different footprints from where he had been. He detoured a few times, but similar signs reappeared. They were following him.

Is this Arnold’s brother or someone else?

To keep up appearances and lure them in, Caesar quickened his speed near the dungeon and entered at noon. He had no intention of confronting them head-on in the Wilderness. With no time to spare, he left Max behind near the entrance to come running if anybody came through the portal.

He prioritized the boss of this dungeon first, moving quickly to the where he had found it earlier. Mummify would turn it into a better fighter than Max, and he didn't want to waste a mark on it. The Astral Bear snored on the ground, its back facing the entrance into its cave.

His hippo initiated the fight with a Curse of Impotence and a barrage of Bolts of Decay. The bear’s body heaved. It swung around and breathed out a river of starlight which flowed forward and burned away the grasses until only blue light lingered on the earth. But the behemoth trod forth, uncaring, to brawl. Caesar summoned his skeleton mage to support it with boulders, and the roars of two beasts sounded until they faded away.

The hippo stepped back and breathed out a withering mist. It curled around the bear’s lifeless body and seeped into its skin. A few minutes passed before the corpse became completely dry. From its heart white chains wormed their way through its skin and wrapped around the body. Once it covered every inch of its body, the bear stood up. Silent and cold, it trailed behind the party like a loyal guard.

Mummified Bear – Level 22

[Rarity]: Uncommon

No status screen?

Caesar assaulted each grove of deer with the fury of two massive beasts. The Ever-Shifting Faces practiced a few attacks, getting better at timing its attacks to inflict the most pain with each cervid slain. After the five deer lay dead, and their respective flowers collected into his pouch, he felt ready to confront the entities inside the secret area.

[Notice]: Congratulations! Your Ever-Shifting Faces has leveled up to Level 20! +2 Free Stat Points

Caesar looked up at the sky. Before, the skies still contained an occasional glimmer of stars. Now though, it remained dark even after several minutes. The same gloom he remembered from the tunnel was present even here, in the grove – where it was supposed to be safe.

The mummy bear guarded the entrance to the secret area while Caesar’s party entered. He used his spear to strike at the carpets of blood, practicing the swiftness of his reflexes. Good. No mistakes. It cheered him up a little and gave him confidence for the next few fights.

The party rushed into the room with the pillar of wood and stone. Unlike before, the Flesh Elemental stood at the spot where the Ever-Shifting Faces had been. It turned to face him.

A Curse of Impotence snapped into existence around the Flesh Elemental while it stomped forwards. His behemoth bowled into the fleshy humanoid with its bulk, pinning it down. It retaliated with three minor flesh elementals from behind, who attacked Caesar, but he easily swept them away with his spear. He marked the Flesh Elemental and stabbed each Minor Elemental, pinning them into the wooden floor before wrenching the spear out and killing the rest. He then turned to see the Flesh Elemental still holding apart the jaws of his hippo, each Mind Spike loosening its grip little by little.

“Hurry up. We’ve got more work to do.”

His hippo exerted more effort and crunched into the elemental, spilling flesh onto the ground. Yet it stayed alive. Its hands continued to wriggle, until the hippo trampled each and every piece into paste. A black wisp flew out once the majority of its body became pulped.

Flesh Elemental: Rare

Level 22: 44 Free Stat Points -> 4 -> 0 Free Stat Points

Ability: Spawn Tumor (B) – Rank 2

Facet: Spawn Minor Flesh Elementals (B)

Talents: Vigor, Impact Resistance, Emotionless

Strength: 17 -> 25 -> 27

Agility: 11 -> 25 -> 27

Vitality: 17 -> 25

Magic: 6

Willpower: 11 -> 15

Presence: 19 -> 25

[Spawn Tumor (B)]: An ability that creates a mass of flesh at any location within sight. Reduces Vitality by five after use, which regenerates over time. Ability is usable again after Vitality regenerates in full. Durability is based on user’s Vitality.

- The tumor has Impact Resistance.

[Spawn Minor Flesh Elementals (B)]: A facet that spawns three Minor Flesh Elementals from a suitable amount of flesh. Minor Flesh Elementals have half the source’s stats. Six minor elementals may be spawned at a time. Minor Elementals collapse quickly without more flesh to sustain them.

[Vigor]: A talent that grants increased stamina and stamina regeneration.

[Impact Resistance]: A talent that grants resistance against blunt damage.

[Emotionless]: A talent that grants immunity to emotion-affecting skills and abilities.

Caesar nodded in satisfaction, but he couldn't rest for long as bones rattled in the distance. He squinted into the darkness and summoned his new monster to replace the Ever-Shifting Faces. Something came from within the black: a long, snake-like monster with many bits and pieces, irregular, along the shape. He moved his head upwards. A human skull peeked out from the shadows, atop a spine. Sharp bony spikes jutted out from the top to the middle of the serpentine figure, sweeping out towards its sides. A rib-cage with a whirling cloud of bone shards and spikes grew to support this grim figure.

Bone Elemental – Level 22

[Rarity]: Rare

Long fangs grinned at Caesar, who responded by marking it. His Flesh Elemental thumped behind the bone snake and grabbed it while his hippo cast a Curse of Impotence. Fragments of bone shot out toward the red humanoid – insignificant. The Flesh Elemental grabbed the rib-cage and spine, clenching its fists and forcing the serpent downward. It slammed the Bone Elemental onto the ground, repeatedly. Pieces of bone scattered everywhere, but no wisp came out.

As something sloshed within the darkness, he began to feel rushed. More enemies? Caesar resummoned his wolf, who nodded at him to indicate nobody had entered the dungeon from his portal. Whether or not he’d be in danger depended on how well the mummy guarded its area.

The bone pieces tried to pull back together, but the entire party worked together to smash them. He spotted every piece flaking away as if dissolving, even when not attacked. Curious. Something kept these horrors together when they should have died.

Bone Elemental: Rare

Level 22: 44 Free Stat Points -> 4 -> 0 Free Stat Points

Ability: Bone Assimilation (B) – Rank 2

Facet: Viper Strike (B)

Talents: Enhanced Hearing, Emotionless

Strength: 17 -> 25 -> 27

Agility: 17 -> 25 -> 27

Vitality: 11 -> 25

Magic: 6 -> 10

Willpower: 11

Presence: 19 -> 25

[Bone Assimilation (B)]: An ability that allows the user to absorb the bones of up to three corpses and restore the user’s body. If the user absorbs a complete corpse, Presence is replenished as well. Cooldown is six hours.

- Excess bones permanently whirl around the user in small spikes, up to a maximum limit of one spike per Presence, upon which excess spikes are further broken down to replenish bone shards. Spikes can also be hurled as an attack based on Presence or reabsorbed later for reduced healing.

[Viper Strike (B)]: A facet that hastens the user and lets them unleash a lethal strike at the enemy’s vitals. Haste lingers for a few moments after use. Haste lasts for an hour if an enemy is killed during the initial accuracy effect. Cooldown is five minutes.

As the sloshing quieted down, a bloody rain began to fall. Regret welled up in Caesar’s heart. He questioned his every decision, especially the choice to mark the bone elemental. Grief filled his thoughts and tears began to slide down his face. He could not stop himself from burying his face into his hands and wailing, unwilling to watch the battle. Even as the roars of combat shook the room, he did not glance back up.

The urge that screamed at him to look up eventually overpowered the compulsion to block everything out. He saw his elementals tearing into two grim humanoid figures in the darkness. One had a composition of blood, which flowed in ringed waves, like a twisted water elemental. The other had broad shoulders, from which several crying faces protruded outward.

Blood Elemental – Level 22

[Rarity]: Rare

Grief Elemental – Level 22

[Rarity]: Rare

Swarms of Blood Carpets focused their corrosive sprays at Caesar and his hippo and crawled back into the pools of blood to regenerate. He took a few steps back. Fear about the people following him became his focus. Although his horrors pummeled and slashed at the enemy horrors, they only put up token defenses. Instead of retaliating, blood arrows materialized in the air and flew in his direction.

He dodged, but his hands shook. Even as his enemies’ bodies shattered and broke, he hesitated to finish them off. A previously dismissed thought slithered its way into his mind.

The Noble Houses were competing against one another more than ever before. The scene from earlier, where dozens of factions surrounded the Domain dungeon, blazed in his mind. If not Arnold’s brother, current events led to a likely possibility his followers would still be one of them. If I really did attack, then… The might of a rank three warrior would hunt for his head.

The risk was too great. Thus, he turned and ran, shouting at his elementals to stop, even while victory lay clenched in their grasp. His Ever-Shifting Faces replaced the Tomb Hippopotamus and rushed deeper into the darkness with his two other horrors, commanded by Caesar to consume a catalyst most suitable for itself. After the enemy elementals recovered from their wounds, they ignored his horrors completely and continued to target him as he fled.

Bloody rains bit into his clothes and melted his skin. He left the secret area as fast as he could, dodging bloody arrows and waves. With tattered, bloodied clothes and melted skin, Caesar looked miserable. He ran without stopping and ordered the Mummified Bear to leave, but it did not comply. Instead, it turned and slammed its paw down at the horrors that rushed out after him.

With no time to watch the outcome, he escaped to the dungeon’s exit.

[Notice]: Congratulations! Your Ever-Shifting Faces has ranked up and reached Level 21! +2 Free Stat Points

He quickly resummoned it and looked at its status.

Ever-Shifting Faces: Rare

Level 21: 10 Free Stat Points -> 2 -> 0 Free Stat Points

Ability: Hallucination (D) – Rank 2

Facet: Overload Thoughts (B)

Talents: Variance, Divination Resistance, Levitation

Skills: Psionics (Offensive) – Mind Spike, Mind Scream

Strength: 6 -> 11 -> 19

Agility: 20 -> 25

Vitality: 20 -> 25

Magic: 3 -> 8

Willpower: 20 -> 25

Presence: 20 -> 25 -> 27

[Hallucination (D)]: An ability that allows the user to produce minor hallucinations, affecting everyone in the area for very long durations. A single hallucination may be maintained at a time. The effect reduces based on Willpower differences.

[Overload Thoughts (B)]: A facet that unleashes a shockwave around the user, overloading the thoughts of enemies and dazing them for a few moments. Effect duration is based on Willpower differences, with an additional second per point higher, and damage taken by the target after being afflicted. Does no damage. Cooldown is an hour.

Oh, that’s a different type of sublimation. A tier-up? The distraction granted him a little bit of relief for the dread he felt. He unsummoned the rest of his monsters and took a few deep breaths.

With this new facet, I can risk it.

Caesar took out his enchanted cloak and smothered the Ever-Shifting Faces with it. It turned a sickly red, tattered with blood, yet appeared dark green at its base. He cradled the cloak in his tightly clenched hands, tears trailing down his face, and stepped through the portal.

Free Stat Points: 17 -> 11

Agility: 17 -> 19

Vitality: 21 -> 25