For Caesar, the Hidden Grotto was one of the safest places in the city to hide. Because dungeons were separated by portals, Divination spells often lost much of their power through them. Thus he felt safe enough to summon Alta and ask her for details.

“That prince is not a good person,” she said, giving him the Seed of Sublimity. It pulsated in hues of green and red, a rhythmic wave of energy through his fingertips. “Greedy. Always looking for more.”

“So be it.” He identified the seed personally and revealed nothing extra, confirming the power of the auctioneer as legitimate. “Before I eat this, let’s discuss other options as we walk. If we find another.”

They descended down the ring around the abyss, ruminating over the current situation as they went. If the Prince of Wealth wanted to find them, he’d have to first negotiate with the castellan of the city, and that took a crucial amount of time. Enough for him to kill the Greater Flesh Elemental and escape out the portal at the bottom of the abyss, which fortunately led to the outskirts of the city – away from its walls.

Alta put both hands out, splaying nine fingers out: one for each available option. “Okay. We know your ability is not merely S-tier. Will it have the same effects?”

“Probably not.” Similar items had appeared in history before, which their finders naturally consumed immediately. He’d even wager another Bag of Holding that the prince had already eaten one, and thus sold it because it wouldn’t be of any use to him. This seed should be enough to turn an A-tier ability into S-tier, which made the Prince of Wealth more threatening in his eyes. Speaking of which, I don’t think I know his rank for certain. His stature could be from his station, not his actual might. “I expect it to become much weaker.”

She put a finger down. “Following that line of thought, we should not give the seed to the hippo. If its effects are worse for S-tier abilities, then why not try eating it yourself?”

“Indeed. And the shield strength suffices for now. Then, what about the others? Our A-tier abilities currently include the Ripjaw Ant Queen, Earthlord Python, and the Draugr King.” He quickened his pace.

“Sublimating the ant queen might result in additional options for the swarm, but we don’t seem to need those right now. And Geomantic Locus’ upgrade options are uncertain to be of much use.” She put two more fingers down. “The Draugr King seems to be best, because a fourth plague or something similar might help a lot.”

“True. And I do think another will work just as well on you, because more invisibility options are always nice. Third would be the Skeleton Mage, whose ability is simply very practical.”

She nodded. “The Kelpie’s ability is more niche, but it could be nice to have more special effects on different terrains.” Alta reduced the number of fingers up to three: the Draugr, herself, and the Skeleton Mage. “You’ll fuse them together, though, right?”

“Indeed. And to do so, I need more minion slots. Let’s begin.” He dropped the seed into his mouth and felt the energy flourish through his body for a brief moment before fizzling out. Like a drying plant, who at last had received drops of water from the sky, only for it to suddenly stop – leaving it unfulfilled. Seems a bit weak.

(Essence Crown): Steal the essence of enemies slain to power the crown. Mark enemies up to your rank to bind their essence cores and summon them after slain. Store up to ten cores at a time and summon a maximum of three. Hold up to two marks. Replenish marks with essence or time.

“That’s it?” Although it was enough for what he wanted to do, Caesar expected much more from an Epic item: not simply an additional two maximum cores. He sighed and began to go as quickly as possible, Alta following close behind with her brows creased.

----

Down at the deepest level of the abyss, the Draugr King mounted on top of the Kelpie, had butchered another few Flesh Abominations with the Spear of Slaughter. Aided by its Sanguinary Aberrations, it stayed engaged in combat for the entire duration Caesar remained aboveground. For days it had unceasingly killed fleshy creatures and harassed the Greater Flesh Elemental. By now its compatibility with its steed had reached a high, moving together in perfect harmony with synchronized decisions.

With time for Stygian Pollution to settle inside the boss, Ill Dominion provided him with more details about the monster. Although, it did appear less effective, possibly due to its status as an Epic monster. Instead of receiving direct numerical stats, he acquired information about relative and imprecise stats.

Its Vitality was extremely high, whilst its Strength was only high in comparison to himself. Alta saw something different: average Strength. And except for Presence, the rest of its stats – Agility, Magic, and Willpower – were very low compared to them.

The ability information was quite vague as well. It only provided the name – Fleshshaper – and no additional details, not even the facet. Fortunately, it did give him good information about some of the thing’s talents: Perfect Vigor, Physical Resistance, Emotionless, Rapid Regeneration, and Malignant Spawns. Compared to the regular Flesh Elemental, who was only Rare, this Epic monster never tired, resisted all physical damage, regenerated constantly, and had summons which lasted forever.

Although it had many weaknesses, to an unprepared foe, it was a true threat. But Caesar had prepared well for the fight, turning it from tough to easy. He summoned the hippo from a distance, cursing the Epic monster with impotence before waiting for another batch of flesh monsters to appear. When they did, Bolts of Decay worked to tear them down before the Draugr King moved in with a Pestilent Nova, spawning another Sanguinary Aberration from the two corpses to recklessly rush into the Greater Flesh Elemental.

Tendrils wriggled forwards to defend the putrid monster from its attacks, clearly slower than the first time he had seen the monster. Much of its body had also become sagging. It had clearly grown much smaller from spawning too many flesh monsters, and even Rapid Regeneration could not save it. Instead, another Sanguinary Aberration dripped out from under its body and formed into a fleshy snake-like monster, savaging the horror with its blood fangs.

The combination of Stygian Pollution, Contagion Aura, Pestilential Breath, and Pestilent Nova was too much for the boss and it collapsed under itself once Caesar ordered an attack. Although it still took a hefty amount of time, likely hours, he exhaled in glee and smiled when a black wisp emerged from the corpse. He wobbled over to a corner, leaning on his hippo for support, while he checked the thing’s status screen.

Greater Flesh Elemental: Epic

Level 29: 58 Free Stat Points, 2 Perk Points

Ability: Fleshshaper (A)

Facet: Excessive Growth (A)

Talents: Perfect Vigor, Physical Resistance, Emotionless, Rapid Regeneration, Malignant Spawns

Strength: 21

Agility: 6

Vitality: 26 -> 35

Magic: 6

Willpower: 7

Presence: 16

It was thus he discovered another secret of Epic monsters: their stat limits each rank were much higher than Rares, including humans.

[Fleshshaper (A)]: An ability that allows the user to mold flesh to their will, creating a variety of monsters to attack. They can be ordered to stay nearby the user, or roam around on their own accord. Ability will only succeed on a corpse unless the user activates the ability on themselves.

[Excessive Growth (A)]: A facet that drastically increases the user’s regeneration rate for a minute but there is no limit to what they can regenerate. May create unwanted mutations or other body parts if the user has not accumulated enough damage during the activation of the facet. Cooldown is a week.

To escape the city intact, Caesar immediately put a perk point into both the monster’s ability and facet. The first was Fleshshaper, which provided it with different options for enhancing its summons.

[Perk Option 1 – Flesh Sculptor]: Fleshshaper can manipulate flesh with greater ease, creating slightly more intelligent creatures with less inefficiencies. Requires practice from the user for best results.

[Perk Option 2 – Shade-spawn]: Creatures from Fleshshaper will move with complete silence.

[Perk Option 3 – Flesh Compression]: Grants Physical Resistance to creatures from Fleshshaper, albeit at an additional cost.

The first perk option gave him the ability to either make more powerful flesh creatures, more stealthy ones, or more durable monsters. For a normal Greater Flesh Elemental, the first choice was the worst, but with the intelligence increase that all his summons had, it was the best for him to make. He chose it and quickly moved on to the other, which focused more on personal enhancements.

[Perk Option 1 – Organ Assimilation]: The user may absorb as many different organs as their body allows, depending on the size and effect of the organ absorbed. Shares a cooldown with Excessive Growth.

So, this was the source of its eyes and screaming. Those eyes attached to the thing’s tendrils did work, although they may not have been the best in this environment. And its screaming came from a mouth with sharp teeth behind the monster.

[Perk Option 2 – Mutate Other]: The user may choose a living entity to warp their flesh, increasing their regeneration but also giving them mutations. Shares a cooldown with Excessive Growth.

[Perk Option 3 – Excrescence]: Excessive Growth has a doubled duration, but retains the same regeneration rate throughout.

Caesar chose the third for a simple reason – more summons. If the prince has access to an army, which he likely will, then this will delay him.

Cutting through the flesh of the creature became easier once it died. After leading them through the exit portal, he dug out an immense beating heart. Red and tumorous, it looked like a miniature version of the dead monster.

[Item]: Greater Flesh Core – Rank 2

[Rarity]: Epic

[Effects]: A material, or a catalyst for rank 1 abilities. Retains a modicum of life and thought.

Sounds dangerous. He gave it to Alta and unsummoned her before walking towards the portal as if about to leave. But then, he stopped and nodded to the Draugr King.

It heaved its massive greatmaul up and smashed it onto the floor, where a low, constant thumping was heard all throughout the fight. Cracks appeared and widened into crevices, then fissures as the Draugr pounded the dungeon into dust. The beating of the heart beneath quickened.

A deep pit was revealed in a corner of the pit, devoid of all light. The Draugr King, protected by the Tomb Hippo’s shield, dropped down and began to rush around with a torch, revealing a small room with a massive black heart in the middle.

Abyssal Heart – Rank 2

[Rarity]: Epic

Black liquid spewed from it in rhythmic waves, rushing towards the Draugr King and corroding its body. As the torch went out, Caesar spotted the object he was looking for: a dark crystal embedded in a wall. He marked it and jumped onto the Kelpie, shouting, “Go!”

They fled through the portal and left the dungeon before it had even begun to disintegrate. The horse dodged the Sanguinary Aberrations with ease, rushing through without displacing Caesar at all while he unsummoned the Draugr King and Tomb Hippo. He laughed and felt freer than he had ever been before, even when the weight of a prince was bearing down on his back.

Essence of Harmony: Rare

Rank 2

Aspects: Flesh, Darkness, Depths

And with this, I can finally reign. A good distance away, he summoned his new Greater Flesh Elemental to begin spawning a few creatures, making use of the excess Essence before it dissipated. He then fled on his Kelpie, letting the contagion seep into his body. But in his hands, he kept a few of Talisvan’s fleshy balls that helped reduce disease.