Chapter 62

Chapter 62

Chapter 62

Ah. So that’s what it was. Riven had read about creatures like this in fantasy novels, though he’d never thought them to be real up until now. He supposed it shouldn’t surprise him though, considering what he’d been through over the last little while.

Wait, why didn’t his identification give any more than a name? Wasn’t it supposed to come with levels, or at least question marks afterwards? It didn’t give him any indication of power level at all.

Was this what the system notification upon leaving the dungeon had meant concerning identification going back to ‘normal’?

He motioned for the others to come in closer and planted his staff into the ground while pretending not to have noticed the creature at all - whispering to his demons to keep quiet and remain non-confrontational. This was a perfect opportunity to experiment.

He grinned as Athela and Azmoth came up behind him and gripped his weapon more firmly. “Let’s see what this bad boy can do, yeah?”

Channeling into the staff felt like slowly pouring a pitcher of water into an immense vacuum in space. The staff sucked up the given mana like it had been starved for millenia, and black lightning began to crackle down its surface as the simmering black wood palpably begging him for more.

So he gave it more. The item description said it would passively charge this item over time, but he didn’t have time to wait if he wanted to field-test this little experiment. He continued to actively charge the staff with his own mana over the next couple seconds while warily keeping a peripheral watch on the warg, just as eager as the staff to see what exactly his new weapon could do. It even began to give him a migraine by the end of his distribution.

But that migraine still wasn’t enough to slow his reflexes down as the incoming warg made its move. The large beast sprang into motion, silently rushing them from behind with muscles rippling along its back and limbs. No doubt it though itself the apex predator of this part of the mountain, but it was sorely mistaken.

Riven simultaneously turned his heel, pushing past Athela and raising his new staff directly at the sprinting warg. Black sparks of lightning rippled across the polished wood as the item began to activate, and with a thought the power erupted out of the tip of the weapon.

A torrent of magic roared into life, sending a chaotic beam of pitch-black electricity as thick as his thigh out to crush the incoming enemy. Ripping the warg apart as the animal let out an abrupt screech that cut off just as quickly as it’d come, the magic bloomed and exploded through the large beast to discharge into the trees beyond.

*CRASH*

The blast had left scorched earth in its wake, a long jagged line carved into the ground with ripples of power still sparking along the dirt as an aftereffect. Trees in the background had caught fire under the rain of the storm clouds, and pieces of the animal’s body had been violently flung in various directions.

[You have killed 1 enemy. Your battle has ended. You have acquired 48 Elysium coins. You have gained XP.]

Beautiful orange, red and yellow hues scattered across the horizon that, in terms of beauty, dwarfed anything any painting could truly capture. The storm was gone, replaced with scattered tufts of clouds that reflected the brilliant colors from the sunrise.

Riven stood on the hill after having practiced his newest acquired spell: Riftwalk many times over. Riftwalk was definitely an interesting ability, where he could cut open a linear black rift in space by thought alone, get sucked through it, and literally vanish from one location to the next at any point within about 20 or 25 yards at the expenditure of mana with a silent black rift opening up at the point of exit too. Even more interesting was that his demons could go through the rift too, though maintaining it for more than a couple seconds was very mana-heavy - and if he tried to extend the normal range of the ability it was still doable but was even more costly. Currently he was able to max out the distance at a little over 100 yards, but mana cost climbed exponentially as he improved the range and the maximum range drained his entire mana pool to travel across. The skill would certainly be a useful boon to have, considering he was currently going for a highly mobile-mage type build.

Intentionally defying his new body’s discomfort, he stood looking outwards towards the oncoming sunlight. He could feel himself weakening as he looked directly at it, and in some ways that made him very sad. He’d spent his entire life cooped up inside while living in Dallas, kept away from the outdoors all those years like so many people in the newer generations did - only to arrive in a refreshed world of magic with an aversion to being outside in the life-giving light of the sun.

He couldn’t complain too much though. Without his newfound power he would be long dead... and although it was a bit uncomfortable watching the sun rise - it was bearable. Definitely worth it to bask in the beauty of the morning, in his opinion, even as his stamina and mana very slowly ticked down to weaken him. At the very least he was getting an idea for how long it’d take to reach a point that was painful, and from what he could tell - he guessed he’d be able to withstand direct sunlight touching his skin for about an hour before serious repercussions set in.

He also learned through trial and error that pulling down his hood, putting his hands inside sleeves or pockets, and covering his skin from direct rays of sunlight meant that the debuff would stop accumulating.

He needed to get some gloves, and maybe even some sunglasses.

Maybe sunscreen would work?

Nah, it couldn't be that easy. And even if it was, where would he get some?

He thought about it some more. It was also rather interesting that utilizing Riftwalk did give him some relief from the sun’s rays. It didn’t necessarily replenish any stamina or mana that the sun had drained away, but it kind of reset the wear on his mind.

Athela was still asleep, as was Azmoth, but he could hear their heartbeats from here if he focused hard enough. The dull thuds echoed in his ears until he somehow was able to transition that focus elsewhere through nothing but his own willpower. His new vampiric perception even enabled him to sift through the sounds of the surrounding forest, and he could make out the locations of small chipmunks from further into the treelines in front of him - versus the owl fast asleep in its nest behind him. Most of these creatures he could only sense in terms of their actual heartbeats though, and he wasn’t able to tell exactly what they were until he made visual confirmation. Still, he was able to generally tell how big they were based on their heartbeats - so that was something he could probably utilize in the future.

Songbirds of the early morning chirped in the treetops, a frog off to his left ribbited, and wind rustled the surrounding foliage with a chill breeze.

Turning his gaze to the south, he gave himself a break from the debuff and kept his hood up - immediately beginning to feel better as he turned away from the sun. It was as if a pressure had been lifted off his shoulders and a fog had been cleared from his mind. He continued pondering his current situation as his sunlight debuff slowly fizzled away while keeping his skin hidden from the light underneath his cloak, but over time he was beginning to grow restless. He’d been thinking about it all night, and the anxiety was getting to him.

He needed blood.