Book 3: Chapter 12: Breeze

Book 3: Chapter 12: Breeze

A cold wind swept across the open field, cutting through the warm spring air and heralding the storm to come. Thor glared at the horizon as if he could intimidate the weather into a delay. But as powerful as he had become, that was still impossible. Though who knew what the future would bring? Godhood was on offer, and he wasn’t going to fail in his quest to attain it.

But the first step was to complete the quest given to him by the annoying little man. To that end, he pulled his attention from the storm in the distance and focused on his most useful ability:

Hunt of the Ancestors

Summon an ancestral spirit to guide you toward worthy prey.

He flooded it with ethera, and a moment later, a wispy figure manifested before him. The spirit belonged to one of his ancestors, yet there was no resemblance apparent. Even if there had been, Thor knew it would have been impossible to detect. The shimmering spirit wasn’t quite formless – the pieces of a human figure were obvious – but anything more detailed than basic shape had been obscured.

Still, it spoke, “You have summoned me again, disrespectful child. Have you not found your prey?”

“Respect is earned, old fool,” Thor spat, gesturing with his spear. “Find the Druid I seek.”

“Very well, whelp,” the spirit intoned, obviously annoyed to have been given such a task. Then, it spun in place before exploding into a hundred tendrils of ethera that sped off in every direction. A second later, one winked out. Then the next. Over and over, they disappeared until only one remained, speeding off to the east. “It is faint, but the Druid’s ripples are in that direction. Summon me again when you fail to follow the trail on your own.”

Then, the spirit disappeared, leaving only that thin thread of power behind. Thor’s grip on his bone-hafted spear tightened in anger, but it was an impotent emotion. The spirit was immaterial, and as such, it was unassailable. In truth, Thor had no idea if it even belonged to his actual ancestor or if it was just a trick of the spell. Whatever the case, it had proved invaluable as he’d spent the past few years hunting progressively more powerful creatures. Without it, he would have been stuck killing whichever monsters he happened to stumble upon.

And if that had been the case, there was no chance he could have progressed so high and so quickly. To reassure himself of his place in the world, he once again summoned the power rankings:

Planetary Power Rankings (Earth)

1. Oscar Ramirez – Level 63

2. Sadie Song – Level 62

3. Thor Gunderson – Level 61

4. Hu Shui – Level 59

5. Niko Song – Level 58

6. Hu Shui – Level 56

7. Elijah Hart – Level 56

8. Anupriya Pandey – Level 53

9. Ram Khandu – Level 52

10. Gunnar Lindstrom – Level 49

11. ...

12. ...

13. ...

His frustration mounted. Both Oscar Ramirez and Sadie Song remained just ahead of him. No matter what he did, Thor couldn’t quite pass them. More than once, he’d considered hunting one of them instead. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d hunted a human; more than once, he’d done so – sometimes, for ethereum, but others because he thought it would be a challenge.

None had been.

Which was both disappointing and reassuring. Even when someone was a higher level than him, his powerful abilities as well as his secret weapon had been enough to see him through. When he’d acquired his Body of Wood, he hadn’t thought it would be so impactful, yet it had proven to be the difference between him and everyone else he’d met. As far as Thor had seen, no one else had unlocked the secrets of cultivation. That gave him an advantage that he intended to use to catapult himself to the top.

That was why he’d accepted the little man’s quest:

A powerful entity has offered you a Task:

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Though this elf was different from all the rest. Where they were short, he was tall. Where they were comely, he was acerbically beautiful. He was clearly a member of the aristocratic breed of high elves.

“A barbarian at the gates. To what do I owe this dubious honor, number three?” asked the elf.

Thor very nearly struck, right then and there. But he wrangled his anger enough to ask, “You know who I am?”

“Of course. We have an up-to-date power ranking list,” the elf stated, steepling his fingers. “Again, I ask – what can I do for you? I have a full line of potions available. Healing. Ethera recovery. I even have a couple of weak potions meant for body cultivation, though I daresay they wouldn’t do you much good at your stage.”

“I don’t want your potions,” Thor spat. “I want information.”

“Ah. That is a product I can offer as well. What sort of information do you desire? Would you like to know about the budding kingdom to the southeast? What of the one thousands of miles from here? Do you wish to know tower locations? I have a map with six of them, though more are discovered each passing month.”

“No. I want to know about the Druid.”

The elf went pale. “Druid? I know of no Druid.”

“You would do well not to lie to me,” Thor growled.

“And you would do well to remember where you are. If you attack me, I can guarantee you will not survive the attempt.”

“Neither would you,” Thor said with all the confidence of a man who’d not known defeat in quite a long time.

“Indeed,” the elf said. Then, he spread his long arms, saying, “But I have no reason to lie. I have encountered no Druids. If I had, I would tell you everything you want to know.”

“Why?”

“Let us just say that alchemists and Druids are rarely allies. They stand in opposition to everything I do. More often than not, that results in irreconcilable enmity. So, tell me – why do you think I have had anything to do with a Druid?”

Thor wasn’t going to reveal the details of Hunt of the Ancestors, so he just said, “I was led here.”

“Ah. A spell, then. Are you a seer? No – not with that spear. Perhaps you were pointed in this direction by someone with the sight. Yes – that makes sense,” the elf stated. Then, he tapped his chin. “I have encountered spells of that sort. They track consequence, yes?”

Thor nodded. That was as accurate a way to describe what his spell did as he could envision. “Something like that.”

“That means your Druid’s actions touched me in some way,” the elf said. Then, after a second, he said, “Ah. That would make sense.”

“What?”

“I sent a team of adventurers out into the wilderness to acquire a powerful natural treasure,” the elf said. “That was some time ago. I assumed they had been defeated by the treasure’s guardian, but now...it is possible that they ran afoul of a Druid. If that was the case, then it is no wonder that they never returned.”

That sounded like a good lead to Thor, especially considering that his spell would not have led him to the elf if he didn’t have a clue. So, he asked, “Where would I find this treasure?”

It would have been easier if he could have used his spell more often, but it was extremely limited in that respect. At present, it took more than a month to recharge.

“That will cost you, my barbarian friend,” the elf said.

“What do you want?”

“The same thing I wanted from the last team I sent – the treasure,” the elf stated. “Agree to acquire it for me, and I will point you in the proper direction.”

Thor grinned. “I think I can work with that. Tell me where to go,” he said. “And I’ll fetch your treasure.”

“Fantastic. My name is Breeze, by the way.”

“Thor,” was his reply.

“Oh, I know precisely who you are, Mr. Gunderson.”