Book 3: Chapter 24: Increasing Sophistication

Book 3: Chapter 24: Increasing Sophistication

A gentle rain fell upon Elijah’s upturned face as he floated on the surface of a small pond. He could feel fish and freshwater eels, turtles, and frogs among dozens of other aquatic creatures. Most were larger than they had been before the Earth was transformed by the touch of the World Tree, yet the difference wasn’t nearly as dramatic as it had been in the ocean. Elijah could only suppose that was due to space, but it was just as possible that the area’s ambient ethera wasn’t strong enough to support that kind of life. Whatever the case, he couldn’t deny that it made for a peaceful place to rest.

He'd been traveling for almost a week, and he still hadn’t reached Argos. Part of that was due to the number of Voxx in the area, but it was also because he didn’t rush himself. In the wake of everything that had happened in Ironshore – and what had preceded those events – he desperately needed to slow down and let the peace of the natural world envelop him.

He had gotten some of what he needed on his island, but increasingly, his home had begun to feel more curated than natural. Was it his influence? Nerthus’s? He didn’t know, but the island felt distinct from the true wilderness in a way Elijah couldn’t adequately explain. But he felt it, especially since leaving Norcastle and Kurik’s company.

While traveling, he’d found a couple of natural treasures, as well, though he’d left them alone when he’d found that they were too weak to give him much benefit. Perhaps if he was willing to dig them up and take them with him, that might’ve been different, but he refused to go down that road. He might’ve accepted that other people would make such use of those natural treasures – and kill any powerful beasts they stumbled upon – Elijah wasn’t going to do the same. If he’d learned nothing else, it was that he needed to be consistent, or he’d lose track of his own morality.

That was where his code came in.

He would kill, either in self-defense or the defense of others. He also wouldn’t hesitate to do whatever was necessary within a tower. Yet, he’d decided not to seek out violence, even when his instincts screamed at him to punish those who approached the new world differently.

Like with the hunters he’d killed what felt like a lifetime ago.

They might have deserved it, but Elijah wasn’t an unbiased judge, and he didn’t trust himself to make that determination. So, his code required him to stay out of such situations.

Of course, he wasn’t so deluded that he expected not to violate that code at some point. Was he strong enough to resist the urge to defend a guardian if he saw one being attacked? Maybe. Probably not, though. However, he intended to make a go of it, and if he failed, it would just serve as motivation to do better in the future.

The world was complicated, and his code was frighteningly simple. The two would eventually come at odds. And when that happened, Elijah felt that his reaction would come to define him. He could only hope that the result was a good definition.

He sighed, feeling a tiny fish nipping at his feet. It tickled, but there wasn’t anything in the pond that could really hurt him. And even if it did, he could always heal whatever damage that was done. He was so busy drifting lazily in the pond that he didn’t even feel the frog before it hopped out of the water and onto his chest.

“Hey bud,” Elijah said to the enormous bullfrog. It was slimy and the size of a basketball, but Elijah didn’t mind. He’d always had a certain affinity for the amphibians, so he had no issues letting it rest on his bare chest.

Then, without warning, the giant frog let loose with its tongue. Elijah had left his Sash of the Whirlwind with all the rest of his clothes and equipment on the pond’s shore, so he could barely even perceive the thing’s tongue as it sped towards his head. So, he never had a chance to react.

Fortunately, the fleshy projectile wasn’t meant for him.

Instead, it skated right past his ear and hit a massive mosquito that had been hovering nearby. Before Elijah could blink, the insect was in the frog’s mouth, with a few of its spindly legs sticking out from the opening.

At least for him.

Others likely had different methods of dealing with such a threat.

However, as passive as it felt, it was an effective strategy, and soon enough, Elijah was surrounded by a host of worm corpses. Yet, he knew that wouldn’t be the end of it. So, the moment the monsters were dead, he shifted into his draconid form and took a look around the cave. It wasn’t huge – maybe forty feet wide and half-again as long, ending in a single tunnel that functioned as the exit.

The message was clear. He was intended to go down the tunnel, which differed from previous rifts he’d encountered. In fact, it reminded him of a tower, though a miniature version of one.

That prospect was both exciting and daunting. The first, because it would almost assuredly give him enough experience to progress. In addition, with any challenge he could overcome, he would be rewarded by the system. Yet, it was also anxiety-inducing, because there was a chance that he’d bitten off more than he could chew.

Of course, he couldn’t let that sort of thinking infect him. He was one of the strongest people in the world, a designation he’d earned throughout countless battles, and he would do well to remember that fact.

So, it was with that in mind that he progressed down the tunnel, and it wasn’t long before he found the first foe. It was a normal Voxxian monster, maybe six-feet tall, and with two sets of arms. It was covered in a thick, scaly, viridian hide that shimmered in the darkness.

Elijah wasted no time before embracing Venom Strike as well as Predator Strike. Then, he pounced, leaping upon the monster’s back and clamping his powerful jaws around its head. He flexed, and he felt the thing’s skull collapse. It fell to the sandy floor, limp and lifeless, a second later.

Elijah leaped free, immediately embracing Guise of the Unseen. For a long few moments, he waited in that tunnel for any response. However, no new threats presented themselves, so he eventually moved on. About a hundred feet away, he encountered another Voxx, and it died in almost identical fashion.

Then a third.

And a fourth after that.

In all, he ended up killing ten of the creatures before he reached another large chamber. Unlike the previous encounter, this one was occupied by something more dangerous than a few bitey worms.

Indeed, there were three full-grown Voxxian monsters in the chamber. One was a few feet taller than the others, but even the smallest towered eight feet above the floor. But they were all different, both in height as well as build, which seemed incredibly important to Elijah.

He crept forward, studying the monsters. The largest paced back and forth, growling and grunting aggressively, while the others stood mostly still. Elijah didn’t know what any of it meant, but he was increasingly sure that it was all very important. So, he didn’t immediately attack. Instead, he watched and waited, devising a plan that he hoped would work.

Then, he padded forward, embraced his abilities, then pounced.