90-100

Chapter 90 - 90

The meditation technique was a lot more complex than I'd ever thought it would be. I'd expected something different but still simple as the word meditation only brought up an image of peacefully sitting and breathing. Zirani's technique was nothing like that. We found ourselves, coughing, spluttering, and wanting to keel over the first few times we tried it.

The instructions were easier said than done. Breathe in deeply, and fill your lungs to capacity and then while you take short shallower breaths, pull aether from your vore and shape it into a few odd-looking patterns, and then push them back into your core. All had to be done at the same time and in perfect sync or the technique would not work. Keeping my lungs full and breathing in more while not being allowed to breathe was hard enough, but trying to muster enough focus to pull aether from my core and from it into techniques? I was almost certain it would take me days to even do it successfully once.

Luckily we had Zirani, who gave us tips and advice when she could, not that it was much. She herself had said this was something we all needed, even if it was difficult at first.

Whenever I pulled aether from my core and ended up not using it, I never pushed it back into my core, and instead, let it disperse. The reasoning was simple, it took effort to push aether back in, and the feeling was not pleasant. Zirani's patterns were created solely to push the aether back into the core along whit another use, which was increasing the pull of colorless aether from the world around us. The pattern wasn't just done once, no it had to be done continuously and Zirani had said once we got used to it, she wanted us to be able to keep half of the pattern stable around our core at all times, so the speed at which we pulled colorless aether was always increased.

It was a lot to take in, and try, but as I'd done with everything else, I gave it my best shot. No matter how many times I went into a coughing fit or failed to form the patterns, I kept trying and the girls were right there with me. Sandra's face was red as could, and from what I could tell it was the breathing part that had her stooped rather than the forming of the patterns while for Misty it was the opposite. She accomplished the breathing part with ease but seemed to have trouble with the patterns. We all had our strengths and weaknesses it seemed. Misty's physical changes allowed her better control over her body and Zirani had said that Misty didn't actually need to breathe air anymore. Sandra's bloodline and other techniques were fairly hard patterns to learn so she got that part down easily, but the breathing caused her trouble. She kept breathing out when she should have been keeping it in.

All of that was a challenge, but what made it worse, was that Zirani expected us to be able to do it peacefully and while in a meditative state.

"How in hell are we meant to meditate while doing this?" Sandra asked as she panted. "I feel like I'm torturing myself.

"I don't mind the breathing," Misty said. "But these patterns are odd."

"I had just the same troubles are you," Zirani explained. "I wasn't always like I am now, remember? I was once just a dryad like the rest of my sisters. I honestly don't expect you to get it down perfectly, but as long as you can do it by the end of today, then I will be happy with your progress. It will get easier over time. The first few weeks will be hardest, now back to meditating."

We spent the entire day, doing nothing but practicing the technique. Zirani wanted us to get this down and then would begin with our other training. For me, she wanted to finally complete my foundation and start augmenting my techniques with the spatial aspect she now held in her core. For Sandra, it was helping her get better control of her bloodline and developing more versatile dark techniques. So far all of Sandra's techniques were attacks, she had no movement, stealth, or utility techniques. I also didn't have a movement technique, but Zirani had mentioned that would be part of my foundation. She wanted to teach me all the basics so that when she showed me a technique or array or something to do with the arcane, I could tell what was going on with its inner workings rather than just mimicking what I saw and hoping for a result.

This chapter upload first at NovelBin.comWe stopped after a few hours to take a quick break and get something to eat and drink.

"All right all three of you have made good progress," Zirani said. "But none of you have done it successfully yet."

"It's not easy you know," Sandra grumbled.

Zirani shot Sandra a hard look. "I'm well aware, and its ease shouldn't matter. What should matter is how much it will help you, in this case, a lot."

I was the first to get the technique to work, although at first, I'd thought I'd messed it up, but Zirani had been there when I'd opened my eyes, with a smile and proud look.

"Good work," She praised. "Now if you can do that at least half the time then we start your foundation tomorrow."

Her word spurred me on, and although it took a lot, I was able to get it right more and more. I still made mistakes from time to time, but by the end of the day, I was able to get it right six times out of ten.

Sandra despite all her grumbling, also managed to eventually get it right, though after each time her face looked like a mess. Misty however was the one who shocked us all. After Zriani had guided her through the patterns, she managed the technique successfully nine times out of ten.

"I guess being a vampire has its perks," Sandra commented.

"And its downsides," I reminded.

"Good work." Zirani smiled and some of the seriousness left her. "That will be enough of that for today. Of course, I still want you to practice when you can and don't forget my earlier words. An hour in the morning, when you expended a lot of aether, and an hour at night."

We all nodded.

"What else are we doing today?" I asked. "There's no night, but it must be late."

"I prepared the baths while you were in training," Zirani stated with a smile. "I've placed them in your rooms. The water enchantments I've created are simple to use, and the body strengthening elixir is already in your rooms. Fill the tub, pour the elixir in and then soak in the water until all the red color is gone. I don't care how much it hurts, do not get out until the water is clear once again, understand?"

We all agreed and then together we headed back for the treehouse. My body didn't feel as though it had gone through a day of training, but my throat and chest did. The breathing part of the technique really had done a number on me as had it on Sandra, who was holding a hand against her chest. Only Misty seemed unaffected.

The bathtub was waiting for me in my room when I returned and after taking a minute to figure out the enchantment, which was a water core with some arrays of it, I managed to get water to come out and fill the tub. I poured in the red elixir and then hesitated for just a moment before I entered. The water didn't look like a bright red, no it looked like a blood-red.

I did step in though and immediately had to clench my fists and grit my teeth and searing pain. It felt needles were piercing my body as it heated up from the inside. I fought through the pain, and eventually, it became less unbearable, although it still wanted to hop out as soon as possible. Every minute felt so much longer, but after what I guess was half an hour, the water was back to its normal color and I sprung out like it was a tub of acid.

"How was it?"

I spun around to find Zirani in my door looking my body up and down.

"It hurt," I said simply as I pulled a towel from my ring.

"That's normal, but it will really help your body," Zirani said as she walked closer and placed a hand on y shoulder. "You'll only be doing two times a day."

"Two times! You've got to—"

Before i could fish my words Zriani shushed me with her lips and soon all my thoughts were forgotten as our tongues clashed for a long moment in a deep and heavy kiss.

She pulled away and gave me a smile. "I know it's hard, but if we want to get you and girls stronger then we need this."

I coughed. "G-got it."

"Now why don't you get cleaned up and then I can treat you to a bit of tender relaxation?" Zirani purred. "How does that sound."

"Amazing," I muttered as her finger trailed up my abs and up to my face.

Things were going to be hard, but as long as I had Zirani and the others, then I could push through it.

Chapter 91 - 91

The next day began similarly to the last, although with the added act of meditation if this form of torture could be called meditation. It wasn't all bad though, it did help to wake me up and get rid of any lingering tiredness, and I had been tired, especially after the hour-long session of fun Zirani and I had yesterday.

"Do we have to take baths?" Sandra asked as she bit into a strip of dry meat for breakfast. "It hurts like hell."

"I've said this to Aiden, and I'll say it to you." Zirani shot the dark-haired arcanist a firm look. "If you want to grow strong enough, then you need to do as I say and utilize all the resources I give you, no complaining."

"I don't think it was that bad," Misty added.

"That's probably because you're an aether vampire," Zirani replied. "Your constitution is far greater than theirs, now get done with your breakfast, take your baths and then meet me outside, today is where I'm going to go over my plans for each of you."

Despite not wanting to, I did prepare myself another one of the body strengthening baths. It hurt just as bad as it had yesterday and it was made worse by the fact I knew I wasn't going to get to rest or relax afterward, instead I had the training to do.

Zirani was waiting for us close by to the treehouse and asked me and Sandra to practice our meditation while she began with Misty. An hour later she was done with the blonde and moved on to Sandra then finally on to me.

"Save the best till last?" I joked which earned me a small smile that quickly faded as her look of seriousness replaced it.

This chapter upload first at NovelBin.com"It's finally time for us to actually truly start your foundation and finish it," Zirani said. "So far everything I've taught you has basically just been simple techniques or at least techniques I thought you'd be able to mimic. If I told you to explain to me the pattern of any of your techniques, could you?'

I shook my head. "No, I couldn't."

I was talented and a fast learner, but I didn't understand the techniques or the patterns Zirani had taught me, in fact, most people in the plains didn't. It was usually techniques that had been found or accidentally discovered. Perhaps there were a few closer to the border cities, but definitely not deeper into the plains.

"That's another one of the big differences between the plains and where I come from. I was taught not just techniques, but how the techniques worked, why creating a pattern from some aether would create a vine or a layer of wood. With this knowledge, arcanists are able to change and even invent techniques of their own, though most tend to find a technique they like and then change it to suit themselves. For your foundation, I want to teach you these basics and a few of the more advanced principles, and after that, you can put my teachings into practice when I start teaching you other techniques and when we get to the spatial aspect."

"So you are going to teach me that?" I asked. She had said so, but I wanted to be sure.

"Yes, I've not figured it all out, but I understand the basics," Zirani replied. "Now this is going to be a lot of complicated things, and you might not understand, so don't be afraid to ask for help or clarification."

The next few hours up until the time to go was spent with Zirani teaching me what she referred to as the arcane foundation, which made more and more sense as he went. I really didn't know how blind I was until she started explaining this.

She started with aether itself and went on about things I'd never even known from the fact that aether was made out of two parts, the shell, and ki. The shell was what contained the power while the ki was what allowed for all the wondrous effects aether could perform. I'd never heard the word ki before, but apparently, it was very prevalent below the great scar since ki was power at its purest, creation and destruction, however, no arcanist below the seventh level of infusion could wield ki without the shell. The shell was there as a sort of limiter or container, it was also what made ki into aether. The shell was the outer layer around every atom of aether, not that I really knew what an atom was but apparently, that was a conversation for another time.

"A Lot of the knowledge from the old was recovered beyond the great scar," Zirani said by way of explanation.

Next and the main topic was the patterns, and why exactly these simple formations of aether allowed one to create fire or water, or heal. Zirani explained it as a reaction, and that every single thing and action had a pattern, a pattern that is created the moment that object comes into existence. A grain of sand or a puff of smoke, all have their own patterns. The pattern for vine whip is a combination of many different patterns, pieces taken out of them, and then combined to create this effect. The pattern for fluid movement, the vine itself, and the pattern for control, growth, and others. Pieces are taken out and put together to create this pattern, a pattern then when formed by an arcanist using aether would create an effect.

It wasn't that simple though, not that any of her explanations were simple. Most patterns all had a few things in common, or at least most of the conventional types did. Things like a timer or a detection aspect, things that made it so a pattern didn't form immediately, or other things like adding a timer to the pattern so that the moment it was made a timer would begin and the pattern would come to life when the timer ended. Zirani described it like the inner working of a plant or machine or any living thing. Parts working together. Some patterns did not work for those without the necessary aether. Zirani and I couldn't create fire and so trying to make a pattern like that would either simply not work or backfire, or we could accidentally discover a technique, which did happen, although it's a very rare thing. The people beyond the great scar did not put things up to luck, or say I guessed.

She wanted to teach me all of these things, not that she expected me to get it right away, but as long as I was constantly thinking about it and putting what i learned into action and use, then eventually I would come to understand it as well as she did. She was also teaching the same to both Sandra and Misty, though for them they would need to seek guidance once we made it over the scar. Zirani could only take them so far. Since my first core was nature it was easier to teach me.

When the time came to end our training and head back in, I was full of questions and different ideas. Just knowing that made me want to test out a few things, especially since she had taught me a few of what were called origin patterns, it was pieces of these patterns that were taken when creating a technique or just a pattern for use in the arcane.

After another bath and an hour of tortuous meditation, I finally made my way to bed. My body wasn't that physically tired, but my mind faintly was, and before my head fully hit my pillow, I was out.

I had more strange dreams that night, this time of pale creature sat upon a throne, of a gorgeous woman bathing in a pool of blood while other figures looked on in awe, jealousy, and envy. I saw darkness in the shape of a woman, where its eyes should have been lay two emerald gems that shone will brilliance, though they began to crack and I felt panic for some reason. What was oddest of all, was that throughout all of it, that pale creature, so human-looking, yet not, watched me atop its throne of writhing flesh.

"A lost child so eager to find your way home." The voice sounded smooth though it seemed to grate on my ears like nails on chalk. "Why don't you step into my embrace, I can take you home, I can…"

"Aiden!"

I shot up from bed with a gasp and frantically glanced around myself as my heart pounded in my chest like a drum.

"Aiden wants wrong?" Zirani asked worriedly. "You were tossing and turning."

"Dreams," I muttered, though they were already fading. I tried to focus, but the dreams had already faded, leaving nothing in their wake.

"Dreams again?" Zirani sounded worried. "I should be able to see your dreams, what happened?"

"I… I don't remember, they always fade so quickly."

There was a long moment of silence before Zirni spoke again. "Get some sleep, Aiden, we can speak of this tomorrow."

Chapter 92 - 92

The next two weeks were filled with nothing but training, and more training. Each day began the same with an hour of meditation followed by a body strengthening bath. The meditation got easier as the days passed by, but it was still uncomfortable as was the bathing, however, the results began showing after the first week. I felt stronger, not just physically, but endurance-wise, and when it came to my durability. There was new weight to my strikes even without using aether burst. Zirani did say it would eventually become useless and that she would have to create a new version, but for now, it was working its wonders.

The meditation was working its own wonder as, by the end of the first week, I'd seen a huge boost when to my core. I had been stuck at the beginning of the hydro stage since I'd taken the warp seed, but with the meditation technique and the natural essence I absorbed from cores at the same time, my core was well on its way to the iron stage of density, which was something I could have only dreamed of before. It also helped immensely with the aether infusion as I finally understood what one of the technique's main purposes was. The core could only take in so much aether and essence at a time and often the rest would just disperse, but the technique forced the aether that didn't enter my core to infuse into my body. That along with the aether gathering elixir helped my growth greatly and at a speed, I hadn't thought possible. The techniques and elixirs work perfectly together and just proved once again that Zirani knew what she was doing.

It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows though, the hardest part of the training was the foundation learning Zirani was teaching me. From the patterns to how they worked together, to certain rules I needed to know and limitations. It was all so to take in and at times I found myself getting overwhelmed, and I wasn't the only one. Sandra seemed to have trouble putting Zirani teachings into action when it came time to try and create a dark technique whose main purpose wasn't offense. Misty seemed to also be having a lot of trouble in that regard as all her attempts came out similar, usually a technique that just caused damage.

Zirani was there to help, however, and one by one, she helped guide us through the process. In my case she had me go through all the techniques I currently had and to disassemble them in separate patterns which was a lot harder than it seemed since the pattern for a technique was a combination of pieces of origin patterns and not the whole thing. In the end, though, with a lot of time and repetition, I was able to disable bark armor which earned me a reward from Zirani that night.

Speaking of nights, now that things between me and Sanda were cleared, often nights I found myself sleeping with one or another. I'd never thought I'd been having so much sex, but I wasn't going to complain. It helped a lot for both parties and allowed us some relaxation and pleasure, heavens knew we needed it.

By the end of the second week, all three of us had the meditation technique down, although there was still room for improvement. We'd all managed to disassemble our techniques and had even made a few adjustments, though only minor. I'd added a function that let my vine split it into two smaller vines while Sandra now was able to fling a dagger into a shadow to remind there for a few minutes, and if she called it back, it would fling out of the shadow to her hand or a target location. Misty had managed to add the rotting affecting of her death ball to her claws. We were all coming along well, and it was clear Zirani was very proud.

"I have to say, I never expected you three to make it this far this quickly," Zirani praised. "But I guess I shouldn't be shocked. Aiden here has the arch vein bloodline and learns at an incredible rate, Misty here is an aether vampire, and Sandra is of the Umbrin."

"Mine doesn't sound as flattering as the others," Misty grumbled. "Misty the vampire, sounds odd."

"I have no doubt you'll earn a greater title in the future," Zirani replied. "We're done for the day, though. These two weeks have been very successful, and for this third, we will be pushing for the second level of infusion and a stage up in density after which I will be teaching all of your more advanced techniques especially you Aiden."

This chapter upload first at NovelBin.comTo any other arcanists of the plains that would have sounded crazy, but I Zirani, we'd trained with Zirnai and had reaped the benefits.

"I think I'm close," I said as I focused on my core.

"I'm almost certain you are," Zirani said as she turned to the others. "As are you two. Once we're done with that, we will be leaving this place and heading to the next floor."

"What about the herbs and plants?" I asked in confusion.

"They won't be too effective anymore," Zirani said. "And we've packed a ton of all inside your storage rings and that device we found the other day."

When we'd been hunting for more cores we'd stumbled across an odd little scene. An abandoned camp with a storage drive that was empty, and with town horn clothes laying on the floor as if the people who'd been wearing them had just vanished. It had been an eery sight, and none of us had been able to explain what it meant since the image of twin horn arcanists suddenly getting undressed then running off and abandoning their camp seemed too stupid and odd to be real.

We hadn't run into any more abominations during the two weeks, though we had definitely been on the look out. Whenever we went hunting we always made sure that one of us was constantly looking around so that we weren't caught off guard. We did however find other odd scenes not that different from the twin honor camp. Lifeless beasts who looked like they had been drained and what was strangest and more disconcerting was that when we'd opened one up they'd had an empty core as if their essence had been drained while it was still inside them.

We all headed back up to the treehouse, and after a quick hour of meditation in my room I prepared my bath. As I entered the dark red liquid, I grit my teeth. Even after all these times, is still stung like a bitch. It was nowhere near as bad as it had been the first time, but it was still an unpleasant experience, laying in a pool of water that seemed to be attacking you with hundreds of sharp needles, all while you boiled from the inside.

After I was done and the water was clear of color, I did another hour of meditation and was about to head to sleep when there came a knock at my door.

"Emm, come in."

Sandra of Zirani didn't ever knock which meant it could only be…

"Misty?" I quickly looked down at my nakedness, then pulled a blanket to cover myself. "W-what is it?"

"I erm, I wanted to talk if that's ok?"

I frowned but nodded nevertheless. "That's fine, about what?"

Misty didn't respond at first, instead, she shut the door then walked over, and then took a seat next to me on the bed, far closer to me than I had expected, and she didn't seem shocked or embarrassed at my lack of clothing.

I coughed once to get my heart under control especially as I noticed that she was wearing only a robe and nothing underneath.

"I… Aiden do you not like me?" Misty blurted.

I froze then slowly turned my eyes to hers and tilted my head to the side. "Like you? hasn't Zirani or Sandra told you."

"They say you do, but you've been ignoring everything I do or try for the past two wells."

"Past two weeks…" I suddenly felt the urge to smack myself. "Oh, oh no. Oh, Misty, I'm so sorry. I was wondering what it meant, but I was too caught up in training to realize."

"Is that why Zirani kept sending me and you together to hunt?"

Misty nodded. "Yes, but you just ignored everything I said or seemed oblivious to it. So.. wait you do like me."

"Yes!" I said louder than I intended. "I do, and if I'd have known you were trying… this, then I would have gladly accepted."

Misty smiled and blushed faintly. "Well, it's not too late."

Misty stood and slowly untied the rope holding her robe together and the fabric fell from her, pooling at her legs.

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

Chapter 93 - 93(18+)

I let out a whistle as I stared at Misty's body. My eyes roamed up her perfectly pale legs to her curvy hips and up that flat chest to her magnificently large breasts, and finally up to her beautiful face. Misty before her change into a vampire had been pretty, but now she was drop-dead gorgeous, like every aspect of her beauty had been enhanced. Her pale skin was a perfect contrast to her crimson eyes and platinum blonde hair. At times I almost couldn't help but stare at her. I'd never ever seen someone who looked like Misty as she did now.

"Well?" She shot me a hesitant smirk. "What are you waiting for?"

I slowly rose to my knees, letting my blanket fall from me to reveal my own bare body.

"You look amazing," I mumbled as I trailed a hand up her legs and towards her opening.

She gasped at my touch and I noticed that her skin was cooler than I expected but that might have been because she was a vampire, though right now that didn't matter to me. All that mattered right now was this picture of beauty in front of me, and what we were about to do to one another.

As my hands grew closer to her opening, Misty's breathing picked up and her eyes followed me intently especially when I moved my mouth raised my mouth up along with my hands.

"Aiden I-"

I shook my head to cut off her words then continued my journey up her legs until I finally arrived at my prize. I brushed a finger across her folds and they came back slick with her wetness. She let out a moan at my touch that quickly turned into a gasp as I leaned forward and extended my tongue to lick from the bottom of her flower to the top.

"Aiden!" she gasped at the feeling and her legs shuddered, but I grasped her thighs with my hands to keep them steady.

"Just relax and enjoy," I said as I gave her another long lick.

I continued my actions for a few minutes until her pearl was revealed to me. I wrapped it around my tongue which set her off and she let out a loud moan followed by an ever louder gasp when I gently nibbled at her clit. I continued to pleasure her using my mouth even digging into her with my tongue. Her juices flowed onto my mouth and though it didn't have Zirani's sweet taste, it was still nicer than I expected. She tasted like a cool and refreshing drink, a drink I couldn't get enough of.

I lapped, and licked at her, providing her with as much pleasure as I could. She moved her hands down to grasp my hair, but I didn't complain even when she tightened her grip as I licked her clit and moved a finger slowly into her. I didn't push too deep, just a little bit, and then I tried something I'd done with Zirani. I curled my finger inside her and pulled back. Misty let out a scream of pleasure and her legs wobbled, which was a surprise considering how agile and well balanced she usually was.

This chapter upload first at NovelBin.com"Aiden." Misty pressed a hand to my head to stop me. "I want to pleasure you as well."

I smiled. I wasn't going to decline that. I slowly lowered myself onto my bedroll until I was flat on my back, and I watched as Misty turned revealing her curvy ass to me as she lowered her dripping flower onto my waiting mouth.

I latched my mouth over it and Misty let out another moan before I felt her hands on my manhood. I groaned as I felt her lips gently wrap around me. Her mouth felt cool, thorough not in an unpleasant way, and despite this clearly being her first time, she was very enthusiastic about it. She began bobbing up on down on my shaft as I ate her out.

Her tongue worked me as her lips moved up and down my manhood, sending wave after wave of cool pleasure through my body. I let out moans and groans into her and Misty wasn't fairing much better as with every lick or nibble of her clit, the blonde was moaning around me.

Then something even odder happened. I felt our connection, our bond, grow, and somehow I could feel the pleasure rising within her. It was odd, though it got even odder as a moment later I felt our pleasure and orgasm sync and we both let out gasps and our pleasure doubled. It was similar to what had happened with Zirani, though even stronger. Was this because she was an aether vampire?

Whatever it was, it set us both off at the same time, and a wave of fluid hit my mouth as I let out a groan and burst within Misty's mouth, painting the insides white. She kept her lips tight around me as I gulped what she gave me down. Our bodies shuddered in pleasure and Misty collapsed onto top of me when we were both done.

"Oh wow," Misty said breathlessly. "How? I-I don't. What just happened?"

I shook my head. "No clue, but I'm certainly not complaining."

"It was so much," Misty replied. "Is it because of our bond? I felt it."

"I think so," I mused. "We'll have to ask Zirnai tomorrow, but for now we're not done yet."

Misty got to her knees then turned to face me with a grin, no hesitation to be shown this time. "Oh, and how would you like me?"

"How about on top." I nodded to my still hard erection. "He's ready and waiting."

Misty turned her eyes to my erection then licked her lips which caused my cock to twitch in anticipation.

She slowly raised her leg and placed it on my other side then sat her ass just above my erection. "So hard."

I moved my hands up her body to cup her breasts as she stroked me using her ass. My hands cupped her perfect mounds and Misty shot me a hungry look before lowering herself until one of her hard nipples was inches away from my mouth. I eagerly claimed it and began to lavish it in licks and sucks while I felt one of her hands wrap around me and line me up with her dripping entrance.

I let out a groan around her nipple as she slowly but surely lowered herself onto me, allowing my full length to spear into her. There was a grimace of pain on her face which quickly let me know she was a virgin, though when I looked down there was no blood, which was probably a side effect of being a vampire.

"Take it slow if you need to," I said I sucked at her left breasts.

She nodded then slowly began to move her ass up and down on my length. As she did her face slowly morphed from discomfort to pleasure, and before I knew the loud smacking sounds were echoing through the room as she brought her ass up and down on my shaft.

She felt amazing, especially with how tight she was and the way her tunnel gripped me. The lips of her flower moved up and down me with her motions and our moans and groans mingled into a cacophony of ecstasy and passion as we slowly reached climax.

I groped, licked, and sucked at her breasts as she bounced her backside onto me, moving my manhood in and out of her at a rapid pace.

"Aiden I'm, I'm close," Misty gasped.

"Me too," I mumbled. "I'm, oh fuck, I'm cumming."

I felt that same connection in our bond again and this time the wave of pleasure was so large that there was no hoping of holding back. Misty let out a loud scream of passion as her tunnel clamped around and began milking me for my seed which I gladly gave in huge spurts. It felt like she was draining me, not that I minded. Each shot of my cum into her sent me into a frenzy of pleasure and my entire body shuddered in time with hers.

It felt like it would never end as it lasted for longer than any orgasm I'd had before. When the tide started to finally lower, Misty collapsed down onto me, panting like she'd just run a dozen marathons one after the other.

"I can't even think of a word to describe what it just felt," Misty mumbled into my neck.

"I think we need to thank Zirani again for coming up with the idea for us to bond," I replied. "But until then, I can think I got another round."

My cock moved inside her to prove my point, and Misty moved back to look into my eyes.

They were glowing intensely, and her fangs were out as she moved up my cock then back down.

"I think I can do this all night," Misty purred in a sensual voice as her eyes continued to glow. "Get ready Aiden, because I'm going to drain you of all you can give me."

As new waves of pleasure washed over me, I realized that I might have not thought this through.. Oh well, best to just enjoy it as much as I could.

Chapter 94 - 94

The third week of training was almost exactly the same as the first two, although with a few differences. Mainly the fact that Zirani kept a closer eye on us, and had us pushing harder since she wanted all of us to have reached the second level of infusion and to have gone up a core. It was hardest for me since going from hydro to iron was a lot harder than going from smoke to Hydro so not did I have to pugs myself, but when the other two stopped their meditation after an hour, I kept going for another hour.

During this time we kept up with the learning and practice Zirnai had us doing from memorizing and forming basic origin patterns that would work with our affinities to disassembling patterns Zirani made for that sole purpose. It was difficult, but we made it through, and as Zirnai has promised it did get easier with time and repetition. Certain patterns also came easier to some of us which Zirani explained as normal due to our affinities. The pattern for growth came easier to those of the nature and life affinities although other affiliates could use it. She had mentioned that we would find origin patterns that suited us best, but that we should learn as many as we could as she had met some arcanists whose techniques were very similar to one another and used the same origin patterns.

We were all still at a point where we couldn't make our own techniques though we did try. My first few attempts had gotten me no results and the ones that came after created useless effects. One technique I'd made had created a green light which I had thought to be at least a little useful, that is until Zirani pointed out that she could easily make normal light and that my technique used too much aether and was extremely insufficient and well to put it simply, trash.

I didn't let that get me down though, at least it wasn't like Misty attempts. She had to be extra careful as at one point one of her techniques had almost exploded in her face, but luckily Zirani had shouted at her to disperse it before the blonde could set it off. Sandra's weren't as bad, and she had gotten closest out of all us as she had almost made a dark spear technique, although the spear that had formed had flopped to the ground as she hadn't used the right combination of origin patterns to make sure it came out as a hard solid. I had gotten a good laugh at that.

We kept on training, and eventually the first of us reached the second level of infusion. To no one's surprise, it was Misty. The blonde was the best at using the meditation technique. When it had happened it had been very quick. One moment she was at the first level and the next she was at the second. There wasn't a huge difference in appearance, but a quick test showed she was stronger, quicker, and more enhanced in every psychical aspect than before.

That show pushed me and Sandra on, and the next day after Misty growth to level two, I moved up a level. The experience wasn't that odd since I'd felt it once before, and my bond with Zirani made the process very easy. My body was infused with the aether that had been gathering within me and like a wave, it washed through me. The feeling was like what I imagined being hit by lightning was like, though without the pain.

Sandra followed an hour later and we spent the rest of the day testing out our new limits. We were definitely more enhanced now, and running and walking just couldn't get us tired anymore, or at least it would take a very, very long time, and there was also a passive regeneration now though it was nowhere near as strong as Misty's. We weren't at the blonde levels but it was a definite improvement. If I hit a normal person with a punch then I could easily kill them.

Zirani had been pleased of course, but she had reminded us that we still had to condense our cores and move up a stage in density.

"This is good," she said as we ate in the dining room after our training. "But we need all of your to move up a stage in density. Infusion is important but that's just for the body. For your aether and techniques, you need to increase the density of your cores. I want to teach you more advanced techniques but as you are now, only Aiden could perform them."

This chapter upload first at NovelBin.comWe pushed on, and as we neared the end of the third week I grew worried that none of us would move up a stage in density, but almost as if fate or some higher power was looking down on us, on the last day of the third week, all three of us moved up a stage in density. It happened was we meditating after we'd gone hunting some more essences cores, and it struck like lightning. It was so unexpected that at first, I didn't know what was going on, but Zirani was there to help all three of us along.

For the others, it only lasted a few minutes, but for me, it was almost half an hour before I was done. I could feel the essence in my core being pushed together and changing from a liquid to a solid. The essence was no longer floating about in my core, now it was a sphere at its center. I knew from what Zirani had said that to reach the next stage I would need to fill my core completely and then condense it once again into the steel stage before repeating it all but then merging it with the core-shell to reach the final crystal stage, but that wasn't going to be happening anytime soon.

"I think we can spend the rest of the day relaxing," Zirani said with a smile. "All three of you have completed what I set forth and we can relax for now, but we do move out tomorrow."

"Straight away?" Misty asked.

"We can't afford to wait and waste time," Zirani said. "We still have no idea where the twin horn is or why the tower is like this, and while we could continue to grow where it would take much longer. We need a rougher environment and greater resources, and even if we don't find the resources on the next floor we collected enough that they will last for a while."

"What exactly can we do?" I questioned. "There isn't really much to do in here."

"Why don't we just relax and talk about other things," Sandra suggested. "We're always talking about problems and training, why not something positive for once."

"I'd like that," Misty muttered.

We did as Sandra suggested and spent the rest of the day on lighter topics, telling stories or talking about weird experiences. Zirani easily had the best tales to tell which wasn't a surprise considering where she was from and how old she was.

I slept peacefully that night with no dreams to haunt me.

The next we woke early and began to pack up everything from the treehouse that had been our temporary home. We might have only stayed here for a little over three weeks, but it had been home, and after a while, we'd all come to like it. It was cozy with a lot of space and a safe haven from any of the beasts of the mountain well perhaps apart from the abominations, but after our initial encounter, we hadn't run into any more of the horrid things.

"I wish we could take it with us," Misty said sadly as we went down the makeshift lift for the last time.

"I do too," I replied. "But who knows that the next floor is. If it's as odd as this was then a place like this might not do well over there."

"A skyship would do well here," Zirani mused. "Although it would need some defense against the flying beasts."

"Skyship?' Misty asked. "Those are real?"

"They are," Zirani confirmed. "And they come in many different types."

"Is that how we'll get across the great scar?" I asked

Zirani shook her head. "No sane person would fly a skyship through the great scar. The expeditions use specific tried, tested, and proven methods to get across the scar. The only other people apart from them are well… let's just say they are in a league all their own. They fall in right alongside the other powerful things in the great scar."

"Have you ever been there?"

"Once." A faraway look papered in Zirani eyes. "Not far in, but I quickly learned why people stay away from it. It's a land of chaos, an amalgamation of lands that are just as odd if not odder than this place, but a hundred times more dangerous, and the beasts… I don't even want to think about them, although at my peak, right before the event and before I met you, I could have ventured deeper."

I shot her a questioning look but didn't push further than that. Zirani hadn't ever talked about how she'd ended up in that warehouse, partially because she didn't know how, but also for a few other reasons. I knew she'd tell me eventually and when the time was right so until then I saw no reason to push for answers.

Misty frowned. "Does anyone actually know why the great scar exists?'

"There's a lot of debate," Zirani answered. "But those who do know haven't shared it and as for those at the top, well like I said they're in a league of their own and best stayed away from like the great scar itself."

We made it to the bottom and I took one last look at the treehouse before I turned away and followed the others towards the next floor of this tower.

Chapter 95 - 95

There were a few problems we had to face if we wanted to get to the next floor the first of which was figuring out where the portal to the next floor was, but that was solved easily enough as we made our way to the top of the mountain. From the top we could see that there were five floating mountains in total and that the one that would lead to the next floor was most likely the mountain at the center which led to the next problem, getting across the half-mile of open space in between our mountain and the mountain at the center.

"I have a plan," Zirani said as we made our way down to the edge of our mountain. "I can build us a crude skyship, more of a floating barge to be honest, but I'm going to need wind cores. We have earth cores and I can make the ship itself, but I need you three to get me the wind cores."

"I don't think there are any wind affinity beasts on this floor?" Sandra replied to which Misty shook her head. "There are, the flying beasts."

"And how exactly are we going to get them to come down?" Sandra asked.

"With some bait," I said as I realized what we were going to need to do.

An hour later Zirani was shaping a ship from one of the normal trees while I climbed one of the taller ones. The plan was pretty simple, I would get to the top and shout and scream until I got their attention and then I would use my impact seeds to send them to the ground, and if the fall didn't kill them then Misty and Sandra would.

It didn't take too long since the beasts were constantly flying overhead, and after a bit of shouting, I got the attention of a few. They looked like normal birds just larger and with long necks, and large claws.

I pulled aether from my core and formed four impact seeds on each hand. Before the three weeks of training and all my improvements, I would not have been able to form even three in each, but with all the training and with half of my foundation complete, it was actually pretty easy now.

Three fell with ease and the other was easy enough to dodge. I used a lashing vine to pull him down before I formed a bark gauntlet with a spike that I rammed into its skull. I flung it down then using my vines I climbed down the tree.

Misty and Sandra had already dealt with the three that had fallen, and with the one, I'd slain we manage to harvest four wind cores that Zirani put to good use. I didn't really know what she was doing but watching her work was fascinating. Her skill in the arcane was still above mine, though I did find myself understanding a little of what she was doing, far more than I would have before the training.

In the end, the skyship or sky barge was a simple wooden boat with two fins on either side and a large sail made from some sort of leafy material though it was all one piece. It looked far better than I'd expected, and crude was not the words I'd used, maybe quaint?

"You could make a lot of money making these," Misty pointed out as we boarded.

"This thing?" Zirani shook her head. "It's nothing special, now I don't think I should have to say this, but don't fall off. I don't know what will happen if you do, but best if none of us find out."

"Are you going to steer it?" I asked.

"Yes," Zirani said. "It will use wind aether generated from the cores along with the ambient pure aether in the air. If we were In the plains I'd have to use a different design since the quality of the aether there is low, but it's good enough here that it should work."

"Should?" Sandra questioned nervously. "Is that something we should be risking?"

This chapter upload first at NovelBin.com"Don't worry," Zirani reassured. "I tested it out beforehand. It will work."

Once we were all ready and packed, Zirani pressed a hand to an array on the side of the ship and the patterns and symbols she engraved in the wood began to glow with a faint bluish light. The ship rose and then began to slowly make its way off the island. We all held our breath, apart from Zirani who looked absolutely confident all would be fine. To my relief, it was and soon the ship was picking up speed as we moved across the open air.

"It's quite beautiful," Misty noted as she gazed over the side of the ship. "I wonder if they're normal clouds?"

"Best we not find out," Zirani said. "Though I doubt it. I can sense aether from them, although it seems to cut off abruptly."

"Speaking of sense," Sandra said. "Are you going to be teaching us anything like that? I mean I can sense nearby aether and people's core and stuff, but I can't even sense a bit of the clouds."

Zirani nodded. "I will don't worry about that. Once we're done with the foundation it will mostly just be physical training and pushing yourselves until your reach the third level, speaking of which, Aiden you'll have to decide if you want your second core to be like mine or like a traditional core."

"Is there any benefit to me using my bloodline as I did with you, I mean apart from the bond?"

"There are," Zirnai said. "But arcanists with your bloodline generally only make bonds with beasts that have some form of connection to or want a connection with."

"How would you form a connection with a beast?" Sandra said.

"Not all beasts attack people on sight," Zirani said. "Some if raised from birth can be kept as pets or companions. You've seen riding beasts, and even ridden one, there not the only ones."

I didn't really know if I wanted to sue my bloodline again, at least if I did I wanted it to be with beasts that fit me or suited me. I doubted I'd find someone like Zirani, but even so, I didn't just want some common beast for my second core.

"I'm not sure yet," I confessed. "We'll have to wait and see what we come across."

We spent the rest of the journey in relative peace and quiet and I took the time to take in the view on and off the ship. The girls looked beautiful even in their robes and I took Zirani's change that had happened yesterday after her core had gone up a stage in density. She was looking more and more like she had when I'd found her. She looked more regal now, and older looking. She also had an extras set of arms as well, and though she kept them away most of the time, she had shown them to me and the others for a few minutes and to me privately yesterday night before I'd gone to sleep. She predicted that she'd been back to her former strength when I hit the fifth level of infusion and steel stage in her core which was a very good thing. As a beast, she'd been limited but after having become the essence and my first core her essence was now being condensed. All the power she had achieved in her life was still there and would reveal itself along with what she gained with me when we hit crystal stage. The power boost would be immense and even Zirani didn't couldn't predict how powerful we'd be when we hit that stage.

"We might even end up among their ranks," Zirani said to me mentally.

The 'they' she was speaking about were where the arcanists she had said were in a league of their own. She did, however, make sure to let me know that my other cores would be crucial as well and that even if we hit crystal in her core, if the others were all undeveloped then we would not be able to match those at the top.

After around forty-five minutes we made it to the floating mountains and Zirani took apart the ship and stored the pieces in the storage device we'd taken from the twin horn camp. It was a cylinder around the size of an arm, and although it was stone, it wasn't that heavy, especially not for arcanists in the second level of infusion.

"Let's head to the center," Zirani said. "If the portal to the next floor is here, then that's where it will be."

We followed her lead and together made our way to the center. This floating mountain was almost exactly the same as the one we'd been on with the only difference being the color of the leaves on the tall trees. Unlike the green of the tree on the other mountain, these were an orangish color.

As we drew closer to the center, we came across the first sign that we were in the right palace. A two-core beast that looked like a large bull that stood on two feet. It had two large horns jutted from its head and an extremely mean look in its eye. This thing looked like it levied to get into right and cause pain.

"Is that a minotaur?" Misty asked in disbelief.

"It is," Zirani confirmed. "We could go around it, but this is a perfect opportunity to test yourselves and see just how much the training has done for you."

"All of us?" I asked.

Zirani shook her head. "We'll one on one, one of you can take that and then we go round as we come across more."

We glanced at each other, before Sandra and I turned our eyes to Misty who just shrugged. "I don't mind, it looks like it'll be slow."

The blonde stretched and then pulled some aether from her core before marching out to meet the beast.

Its eyes immediately locked onto her, burning with malice and unbridled rage. Its fur seemed to stand on end and red mist poured from its mouth with every breath.

"A technique?" I asked in shock.

"It's a two-core beast," Sandra explained. "Most have at least one innate technique. I think this one is of the earth affinity?"

Almost as if in response, the minotaur raised a foot and smashed it down onto the ground, sending a ripple of an aether through the earth. By the time the spikes of rock shot up, Misty was long gone and already upon the creature, her death claws already formed. She struck and tore a chunk of flesh from its neck, but was forced to dodge back as it swung a fist upwards. The minotaur huffed and Misty stood still as it prepared to charge like a bull.

It let out a loud bellow of rage then charged at the blonde who just smile and waited. When the beast was only a few feet away, Misty ducked under and to the side, straightening her hand. The minotaurs own momentum combined with Misty's strike sent her claws straight into its chest. The beast let out a pained yelp but kept going for a few seconds even after the attack, dragging Misty along with it then it froze and slowly toppled.

"That was easy," Sandra said. "Then again some as slow as that thing would have never been able to land a blow on her no matter how strong it was."

"It would have been more a challenge for you Aiden," Zirani mused. "Its neck is thick enough that you wouldn't have been able to strangle it easily and it probably weighs a ton so using your vines to grab or move it might have been difficult."

"I would have just done the same thing as her," I explained as Misty walked back to us. "Although it might have taken longer and I would have gone for the head."

We harvested the core then continued our way to the center. We ran into a couple more two core beasts but they didn't pose much of a challenge and we were easily able to overcome them, though at one point one of the beats, A large two-headed snake had almost gotten me, but mainly due to its amazing camouflage, another reason I was looking forward to Zirani teaching us how to improve our arcane senses.

"I think that's it," I said as arrived near the top of the mountain.

"It most definitely is," Zirani said as she gazed at the rectangular doorway. It was partially inside the mountain itself, but only the frame. The portal itself was clear and with the same void-like quality the entry portal to the tower had.

"I guess this means the next one will be just as weird as this floor," Sandra said.

"Same thing as last time?" Misty suggested to which we all agreed, linking hands and continuing down from three.

"Three, two, one!"

We leapt into the portal and towards the next floor.

Chapter 96 - 96

The first thing I felt was the cold wind followed closely by the feeling of a solid surface under my feet. The darkness had faded, replaced by a scene completely different from the mountains but just as unique and strange.

"I think I preferred the mountains," Sandra muttered as she gazed at our surroundings.

A barren wasteland of rock that seemed to stretch into the distance covered by dark clouds charged with thick stricks lighting and covering the sky completely, casting the land below in near darkness. It was unpleasant to say the least, though the strangest things were the pillars that dotted the land, stretching up into the clouds themselves, some looking to be small while others looked so thick that it would take hours to circular it.

"Well this is a lot more dreary," I said as I leaned down and pressed a hand to hard ground. It felt like rock but was extremely cool to the touch and a static feeling appeared in my hand the moment I touched it. "I think the stone is full of lighting."

"It's like a land of storms," Misty noted as she gazed up at the sky.

"We need to find shelter," Zirani said. "Then when can go from there, but it's best not to stay out in the open. We don't have the cover of trees or greenery here."

"I don't spot any beasts," Sandra said.

"Well perhaps there not above ground," I suggested to which Sandra's eyes slowly widened as she turned her gaze to the ground beneath her. "You think so?"

"I've seen such beasts before," Zirani said.

"Have you never heard of Bullrock?" Misty asked. "It's an underground city a few weeks travel from Orton. They have a sect called the stone revenants who have techniques that let them travel through the earth."

"I didn't study much about stuff like that." Sandra shrugged. "I just learned what I needed to and left it at that."

"Makes sense," I said as I tried to stop any other structures apart from the pillars. "I think we're going to have to head to the pillars. I don't see anything else other than them."

Zirani nodded. "Agreed, come on."

Together we headed towards the nearest pillar which was only around a mile away. As we moved across the dark land we kept our eyes moving, just in case anything popped out. Just like back in the tunnels under Orton I was at a severe disadvantage since I didn't have a form dark vision like Sandra or Misty, although at least I couldn't bump into any walls here.

"Damn it's cold," Sandra said as she warped her hands around herself.

"It really is," Zirani said. "You're at the second level and If you can feel it then a normal person wouldn't last long in here at all.

The pillar closet to us wasn't that large and only took a few seconds to go around. It looked to be made of the same material as the ground though unlike the earth been ht us, the pillar was perfectly smooth and didn't have the same shocking sensation attached to it as the earth had, which was odd since they reached up into the sky and were probably being hit by lightning.

"I think I've found something," Misty called out.

This chapter upload first at NovelBin.comWe all walked over and found her looking up at something. I squirted and was barely able to make out a small hole that looked barely big enough to fit a person. It was no cruise I hadn't seen it due to the low light.

"Should we check inside?" I asked.

"We should," Zirnai said. "But don't go in. We have no idea what these things are. Be cautious."

I waited for someone to make a move but they all just turned to me.

"What?"

"You're the one who does the climbing," Sandra said.

"Since when," I replied.

"Since the mountains." Sandra motioned me forward. "Just have a quick look."

"Fine."

I walked up to the pillar and then using all my strength jumped, chatting the edge of the hole with my hand. I pulled myself up then glanced inside. "It leads down."

"What do you mean?" Misty asked. "Is it empty?"

"I mean it goes underground," I replied, as I peered down. "I think I see a bluish light coming from the bottom I don't—"

My words were cut off as a sudden rumbling began and the world itself seemed to tilt. I let fo which was a terrible decision as my body fell into the tunnel and began to fall down. I desperately reached for the walls and tried to stop myself, but the moment my hands touched the stone a shocking sensation hit me, far stronger than what I'd felt before and my hands went numb as I continued to fall.

I tried to rack my brain for some way to top myself when I seemed to slow down. I frowned and checked to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. Instead of falling I now felt like I was floating down.

"Aiden, are you ok?" Zirani asked mentally.

"I'm fine," I said with a frown. "The fall just stopped, and well I'm floating down now."

I tried to send Zirani the memories of what had happened and it must have partially worked as a wave of relief came through our bond.

"I think this tunnel leads to somewhere," I said. "The blue light is getting brighter and—"

I squinted down and confirmed that the exit to this tunnel was approaching and not far after that was what looked like solid ground. "I think you three should jump in. I think there's some area down here."

I slowly exited the tunnel and my eyes momentarily went blurry as they were assaulted by blue light but then all became visible and my jaw nearly hit the floor. Around was a lush and completely odd-looking land. Giant mushrooms, flowers, and glowing trees covered the landscape, along with others things I'd never seen before. I looked up and saw that the roof was covered in what looked like glowing blue moss that shone down onto the land and was reflected by some of the plant life.

"Zirani," I said in awe. "You need to get down here now."

I sent mental images of what I was seeing through our bond as I finally hit the soft dirt ground that shone with its own light created by tiny little specks interspersed in the dirt.

I felt a wave of joy and excitement crash through our bond. "We're on our way."

As I waited for them to arrive, I looked around at the land, marveling at its exotic beauty. I walked over and knelt down to inspect a two-headed flower with different colored petals. Just a few feet away from that a spattering on grass seemed to sway in time to a nonexistent breeze.

"Woah."

I heard Sandra's voice and looked up to see her slowly floating down. Her eyes were wide and full of awe just like how I imagined mine must have been.

"Quite the sight huh?"

She nodded. "I knew that wasteland couldn't have been it. There was nothing but the pillars."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure this is the main part of the floor," I replied.

"And what a floor it is," Zirani said with a smile as we slowly floated down above Sandra and Below Misty. "It's been a long time since I've seen a place like this."

"It's famialr to you?" I asked.

She nodded. "I've seen and been to places like this before, and there are even area's in our world like this, though not as large and all lay beyond the great scar. The green court cultivates all sorts of nature, even creating our unique kinds. This is better than I could have hoped for."

A large grin split her face and I saw more joy in her eyes than I'd seen in a while.

"I bet a place like this had plenty of resources," Misty mused.

Zirani nodded. "Oh, it most definitely does."

All three landed one after the other and each took a moment to take in the surroundings.

"Is the ground glowing?" Sandra leaned down and scooped up a handful of dirt.

"There spores," Zirani explained. "A lot of the plants spread them. They're not harmful, in fact, most will simply become nutrients for the other plants. This ecosystem is unique."

"That's one way to put it," Sandra said as she released the dirt and stood back to her feet. "So where to first?"

"Well since we all liked that treehouse back on the first floor so much." Zirani glanced around for a moment then nodded. "Why don't we build one here? There's plenty of wood and some of the trees and mushrooms look tall enough."

I smiled. "I like that idea."

Misty and Sandra both nodded their agreement and together we set off. Things had looked bad at the start, but a bit of chance and luck had changed that.. I had no doubt there would dangerous beasts and challenges to face, but I'd rather be in a place like this over what was on the surface anyday of the week.

Chapter 97 - 97

It felt surreal traveling through the exotic floor, even more so than the mountains. They had been floating but besides that, the only odd thing had been the trees, but this was a whole ecosystem below a wasteland covered in an endless storm. It felt like something from one of my aunty's old-world books. My eyes kept moving as we traveled, and just when I thought I couldn't see something stranger, another thing popped up. I saw flowers that curled and shook alongside grass that just like back below the hole seemed to blow with a nonexistent wind. The trees were even odder, especially the fact that the trees felt rubbery, and not like normal wood. The mushrooms ironically simply looked like giant mushrooms and were probably the least odd thing there.

"Are those fruit?" Sandra asked as we passed a tree with circular leaves that glowed a vibrant purple. Attached to its side as though part of the wood was what looked like apples though far smaller and blue.

Zirani followed Sandra's gaze and smiled. "There are, grab a few if you'd like."

Sandra shrugged and walked over. To my surprise and hers, the moment she touched one of the apples the tree seemed to be pop it out, and it fell into her hand. She hesitantly moved it towards her mouth and took a bite. She chewed then suddenly her lips pursed and her eyes crinkled. "It's so sweet."

"Sweet?" Misty asked excitedly before walking over and popping an apple out herself. "Oh, it is."

The blonde had shoved the entire thing into her mouth, causing Sandra to glance at her with wide eyes.

"It can be that sweet?" I questioned.

"Here, try it." Sandra handed me over what was left of her apple.

I hesitantly took a bite and almost immediately my tastebuds were assaulted by the strongest sweet sensation I had ever felt. It was like honey mixed with sugar except for a dozen times stronger, and long after it was down my throat, a lingering taste was left on my tongue.

"Come on," Zirnais said with a chuckle. "We can try some more later, but first shelter. There's a large tree just up ahead."

I caught Misty grabbing at least half a dozen more from the tree before we followed Zirani and continued on. Zirani's idea for a treehouse was perfect and with both of us, we could easily shape one. There were plenty of materials and it was looking like food wouldn't be too much of a worry. Besides the fruit, we'd seen a few normal animals, though when I said normal, I meant as in they weren't aether beasts. A two-tailed squirrel with a beak definitely wasn't a normal animal, well not outside a place like this at least.

This chapter upload first at NovelBin.comThe tree Zraini had talked about came into view a few minutes later, and it did indeed look tall enough for what we were planning. It was nowhere near the height of the tall trees on the last floor, but it was definitely taller than any of the others we'd seen on this floor so far. Its bark was a pale color and its leaves were a shiny bronze.

"Are we going to make it the same as the other treehouse?" I asked Zirani.

She nodded and then walked up to press a hand to it. She closed her eyes before they opened as a smile split her face. "This is it. Misty, Sandra you two keep an eye out while Aiden and I start building."

Zirani plan was cutal quite simple. She would fell some trees and shape them into the necessary parts and then I would climb up and marge them with the tree which I hadn't been sure I could do at first, but then Zirani had shown me the patterns. Before the training, I wouldn't have been able to make sense of the patterns let alone mimic them, but with my new knowledge I was able to shape the wood easily, and soon the treehouse began taking shape.

It was by no means a quick task, and hours passed by as Zirani shaped tree after tree, and the surrounding area soon became far flatter and open, which was a good thing for training. The hardest part was the roof as it was the largest piece and kept falling, but eventually, after using a lot of aether I managed to get it in, although Zirani was forced back into the core as I had used too much.

"You can come on up now," I called down to Sandra and Misty.

The way up to the treehouse wasn't as complex as the lift that had been on the first floor, instead, it was just a simple ladder. Soon the blonde and the dark-haired arcanist were in the treehouse and marveling at what we'd made in just a few hours.

"It looks wonderful," Misty said as she walked over and gave me a quick kiss. "Good job."

For a second I was surprised she'd done it so casually in front of Sandra, but the dark harried arcanist didn't look bothered at all, in fact, she copied the blonde a moment later, though her kiss was deeper and lasted far longer.

"Really?" Misty asked with a mock glare.

Sandra chuckled. "What, he liked it."

I nodded. Out of the three of them, Sandra was by far the best kisser.

We set up our rooms as we had on the first floor and by the time we were done, Zirni's core was rested enough that she could manifest. We all headed to the dining room and had a quick meal while Zirani began to explain things.

"We're going to go about things just as we did on the first floor," Zirani stated. "And this time it will be even easier as Aiden and I can use green pulse everywhere, and due to Aiden's power increase, it can cover a larger area. After we know the land then we can begin hunting for cores and get back to training. It's the same as the last floor. Up one level of infusion and one density stage, although that's not really an option for you Aiden."

"Why?" I asked with a frown. "You don't think I can do it?"

"No, not at all," She said quickly. "It's just that the jump from Iron to steel isn't a quick process even with the right elixirs. This floor will allow me to make some improvements to what I've been giving you, but not large enough for you to make it to steel within a reasonable amount of time, so instead, you'll be spending that time learning more about nature?"

"As in?"

"Look around Aiden," Zirani replied. "Did you ever expect to see or even imagine a place like this?"

I shook my head. "No."

"This is nature," Zirani said. " A stranger side, but still nature and there is much to learn here. I do expect you to reach the third level just as I do Misty and Sandra, but while they try and get to the iron stage in their first cores, I will be teaching you more about nature, and just what's possible, because it is far, far more than you think."

I felt a bit peeved, but I understood what she was saying, and she was right. My idea of nature was still limited. She had shown me much and taught me not to be so narrow-minded in my view of the green, but there was still a lot for me to learn. Like she'd said, I'd never imagined a place like this.

"Oh, and by the way, I'm going to go make some bathtubs while you eat." Zirani simply smiled in reaction to our groans of protest.

"We still have to do the baths?" Sandra asked.

"I suggest you savor them this time," Zirani said with a smile. "The improved version will hurt just as bad as this one did the first time."

We finished up, and I walked into my room to find the dreaded bathtub already full of crimson water. We'd taken the water enchantments from the first floor since they was no reason to leave them behind.

I stripped and winced as I got it. Just as I'd been getting used to this one, Zirai was going to hit us with a stronger version. At least this would increase my pain tolerance and improve my body. The effect of the baths was certainly noticeable. My body looked far more chiseled, though not overly muscular. My body had always been leaner, with compact muscle full of strength rather than the bulging muscles and large frames I'd seen on some people.

The girls had also seen benefits, and I'd noticed Sandra's toned abs and Misty improved body as we'd made love to one another.

I felt my lower part rising and immediately pushed it back down. I didn't need to get a hard-on in this hellish bath. I cringed just imagining the pain.

Zirani arrived at my room after my bath, and after a rigorous session of lovemaking, I fell asleep with her in arms and with thoughts of what else we might find in this strange land on my mind.

Chapter 98 - 98

We began our trek out the map out the floor early the next morning after our usual hour of meditation, baths, and some breakfast, although Misty's breakfast consisted of some of my blood and those sweet fruits she'd picked the previous day. I'd been worried at first, but this time it hadn't really hurt all that much and she'd only taken a small amount of blood, although, from the look in her eyes, it had been clear she'd wanted more, but thanks to our bond anchoring her to herself, she was able to get a handle on that side.

We started with the west, and in intervals, Zriani and I would use green pulse to check the land ahead and around us. When we found something interesting like beasts or herbs Zirani needed we would head in that direction.

"Take care," Zirani said as we moved through the exotic landscape "The beasts here are stronger than those on the first floor. I doubt will we see any beasts above a two-core on this floor, but the one core and two core beasts we do see will have stronger cores. I don't think they'll pose much of a challenge by themselves, but if caught off guard or swarmed, then it will be a completely different matter."

Zirani's words were proven not a few minutes later when we ran into a group of what I could only describe as humanoid frogs with giant faces, and to my absolute shock, wielding wooden spears made out of pale wood.

"Murwogs," Zirani explained as we examined them from a distance. "They're a crude race of beasts but more intelligent than any you three have faced so far."

"Since when can beasts wield weapons?" Misty asked.

Zirani raised an eyebrow then motioned to herself.

Misty blushed in embarrassment then looked away sheepishly. "Sorry."

"Well look at that." Sandra smiled. "I know something you don't. There are beasts nearer the borders to the scar in the plains that wield weapons. The minotaur we fought is a type of beast often seen with stone hammers and clubs."

"Very good, Sandra," Zirani praised. "Though these aren't as deadly as a minotaur. It's mostly their speed and prowess in jumping you have to look out for. They don't have any techniques apart from a natural ability to walk on water. Just get them locked down and then it's easy from there."

Instead of one of us going aone, Zirani was fine with all three of us fighting since there were seven Murwogs and even Misty would have trouble since they would swarm any single opponent, and unlike the minotaur, they were agile, nowhere near as agile or as fast as Misty, but enough that the gap wouldn't be as big.

This chapter upload first at NovelBin.comAs we grew closer I noticed that one was far bigger than the rest and had odd red swirls on his skin compared to his kin whose skin was just a dark swampy green, probably to help them blend into the environment.

We were spotted relatively fast as we approached and the largest Murwog let out a rumbling croak which the others chorused as they raised their spears in our direction.

My bark armor was already formed around me, and good thing, as one of the beasts bent his knees then sprung towards me like an arrow in flight, its spear, the arrowhead. I managed to dodge and wrap my right arm around its neck as it flew past. Its croak of protest was cut off as I formed a spike on my left gauntlet and drove it down into its head.

The Murwog went limp, and I was forced to fling it away and duck as a spear flew by where my head had been moments before.

I looked over to Zirani and Misty fighting two Murwogs of their own, although it had been three for Misty a few seconds ago evident by the Murwog at her feet with its stomach split open and inwards spilling out.

The lead Murwog let out another loud croak and charged me with another of its minions at its side. I was about to form some lashing vines when the spear that had been thrown caught my notice. It was stuck in a nearby tree, deeper than I'd expected. Apparently, these Murwogs were a lot stronger than they looked.

I quickly ran over and pulled the spear out, and twirled it in my hands as the head Murwog approached. When it was only a few feet away it sprung towards me, and I lashed out with the tip of the spear, but to my surprise, the Murwog twisted its body out of the way and planted a kick into my chest, although thanks to my bark armor I only stumbled back a bit. That however had been enough of a distraction for the smaller Murwog to close the gap and try to skewer me with its spear. I parried then tried something different. I grabbed his spear then fused its wood to my gauntlet. It happened far faster than iI expected almost as if the wood was like my bark armor.

The Murwog pulled, but although it was strong, it was not strong enough, and with a strong tug, I sent it stumbling forward towards me, and right into my right spear which pierced its stomach and its heart.

I ripped the weapon out as the head Murwog sprung at me with rage in its large black eyes.

I waited, both spears twirling in my hands. Adrenaline and the rush of battle was surging through me and I couldn't help but grin as he neared.

Time seemed to slow for but a second as I struck with the right spear. He dodged to the left, and I saw the moment he realized his mistake in his eyes. He tried to turn away but his dodge had put him directly on course with the other spear in my hand, the one I'd fused to my bark armor.

With a quick strike, I shoved it up into his head from his chin.

He fell to the ground and I stumbled as the spear now lodged into his head pulled me down.

I unfused the spear and let it go then looked over to see Misty and Sandra done with their fight and staring at me.

"Didn't know you could use a spear," Sandra noted.

"I can use a lot of weapons," I said as I examined the spear in my right hand. It was made out of the pale wood some of the trees had, and it felt so much lighter than any type of wood I'd ever felt. It was literally as light as a feather, but from what I'd seen it could easily pierce through flesh and wood from how deep it had buried itself in the tree when the head Murwog had thrown it.

"It's quite the marvel isn't it," Zirani said as she approached me. "We call it fleet wood where I come from and it's highly valued. As you've noticed it's extremely light yet strong enough to be used as a weapon."

She smiled and then placed a hand over mine. "Focus your mind on the spear, on the wood, and tell me what you see?"

I did as she said and my eyes widened as I felt it. "Aether? Its wind aether, but… how?"

"You know so little of the world, Aiden," Zirnai explained. "So little of what's out there. This fleet wood is a naturally occurring enchanted material like dull stone, or ever ice, its something you can find beyond the great scar, and not in plains because—"

"Because of the aether quality," I finished.

She nodded. "Indeed. Like I said this floor is going to be a great learning experience, more for you than them, but they will still learn much."

As I thought on her words and looked down at the wood I thought of something. "What if I wore armor made from this?"

"It's not as simple as that," Zirani replied. "But you have the general idea. This is already enchanted, but naturally, without any runes, arrays, or carvings, now if you added those then you can boost it to a whole nother level, mold it to your desires. You could make boots that negate the impact when you fall at great heights, or gauntlets that increase the speed of your blows, and many more."

"Should we take some with us?" Misty asked.

"We not in a rush," Zirani said. "There are plenty of fleet trees near our treehouse. Let us continue on our search. There are many herbs and other plants I wish to find before the day's end."

Despite what Zirani had said, I placed the spear in my storage ring, more as a memento or a trophy rather than something I would use since it was only around the length of my arm and it was quite crude. If what Zirani said was true then I could make a spear of my own from the trees.

As we continued on, I couldn't help but think of all the possibilities. Just what clothes sort of things were out like the fleet wood.. More and more, I felt myself getting excited for the day we finally began our trip to cross the great scar.

Chapter 99 - 99

The rest of our trip lasted for a few more hours, and we ran into plenty of different types of beasts, far odder than those on the first floor and any I'd ever seen in our world. From giant crab spiders to a beast that looked very similar to a tree, but when prey was close enough it would split open to reveal a creature from a nightmare. It was like a large man except its upper body was just a vertical mouth open and full of razor-sharp teeth. What was more disrupting was its method of attack. It had three tongues all tipped with razor-sharp blades that were coated in paralytic poison. It had seemed extremely resilient at first and non of our attacks seemed to pierce its wood-like shell until we discover that its core was actually visible if one looked closely enough. Knock it out and the beast died, it also helped that it didn't move very quickly, in fact, a snail probably moved faster than it, even with the size difference. Zirani had said it was an ambush predator and relied on its ability to camouflage to kill, which made sense.

We also ran into a few more Murwog groups and at one point we'd had to sneak around a group of twenty. We were strong, but against those odds, none of us thought we come out unscathed, which would be a very bad thing since Zirani had not yet made any powerful healing potions. The herbs on the first floor hadn't been useful in the making of those types of elixirs or pills, but the herbs and plant life on this floor would along with much more since there was so much of it. I swear I must have seen a new type of plant every minute or so, and each time we did, Zirani would stop and if she needed it then we collected as much as we could and stored it away.

On and on we went, searching the floor, fighting the occasional beasts, and collecting plants and herbs. It was looking like it was going to be a boring and normal outing, or as normal as trekking through an underground exotic forest in an aether tower could be.

That was when we came upon it.

I let out a sigh as I gazed over the remnants of what had been a small twin horn camp, and just like before the clothes were laying around, as though the people had just vanished.

"Twin horn," Sandra spat.

"What the hell is happening to them?" Misty asked. "Why are there clothes just around."

"What if they got naked, or changed," Sandra suggested half-heartedly.

"In the open?" I replied. "They have tents, and why does everything look so off. Look."

I pointed at what was a cooking pot on top of a now-dead firepit. "There's stew in it, and clothes on the chairs. It's like they changed in the middle of things."

"Or were taken," Zirani growled. "Come here."

We walked over and I pressed a hand to my mouth as the other gasped. There on one of the piles of clothing was a blob of pale flesh, half-smooth, and the other half a face of a young man, his eyes wide, and mouth open in a silent scream. The half face was only partially pale which bits of normal colored skin here and there.

"It's like the abominations," Sandra noted. "Is that… you don't think that the abominations are the twin horn arcanists do you?"

"Maybe," Zriani replied. "We not going to be sure until we actually run into some living twin horn members."

"What exactly did they do?" Mist asked with fear in her voice. "I mean did they change the tower or was it something else?"

Zirani sighed and shook her head. "I don't know, but they're moving up, and making camps. This is only large enough for a few people and there are most likely more like on the first floor. Why are they splitting up?"

"Help us."

"Hm?" I turned to Misty. "What was that?"

"Help us."

"What was what?" Misty replied. "I didn't say anything."

"Please."

"That." I swung my head in the direction of the faint voice and saw something coming towards us behind a few bushed. "We have company."

The others turned to face the thing slowly moving towards us, and an uneasy feeling rose in my gut as its voice got louder, and changed. It had been distinctly male the first time, but now I heard a female voice, no not a voice, voices."

"It's taken us."

This chapter upload first at NovelBin.com"Please."

"Stop the crawling, please stop the crawling."

"Help us."

As the large shape grew close and more visible I felt my hands begin to shake and bile rise in my throat. My heart began to race and I felt the color drain from my face rapidly as it push its way through the brush and into full view.

"No." Sandra's voice was a whisper. "No."

"W-what is that."

"An abomination," Zirani said in a cold voice, and I turned to see her eyes void of any emotion, though throat our bond ran rage, disgust, and fury.

It was similar to the abomination we'd fought back on the first floor but while that had been a blob with no features, this was anything but. Flesh molded together, bodies of people combined into a mass of limbs, body parts, and most horrifying of all, mouths. There were no heads on the twisted flesh, just parts of a face from eyes, noses, even ears, and mouths. Mouths that were moving and pleading.

"Help us."

Patches of pale color dotted the horror, but it was mostly normal skin, albeit twisted and combined.

I heard the sound of vomiting and glazed to see Sandra on her knees, puking up her guts. I wasn't too far behind, but I managed to hold it off even as every part of my mind screamed. I'd seen many types of beasts, but none, not even the abomination from the first floor, could hold a candle to the sheer horror of this thing, this abomination.

"Aiden," Zirani said seriously. "You know what to do."

I nodded and pulled my glaive from my ring. I almost dropped the thing as my hands shook.

"Help us."

"Crawling, gods, please stop the crawling."

"Why is so dark, master you promised."

I felt Misty's hand grasp my shoulder as I began to walk towards the thing.

"Be careful," She said softly. "We don't know if it will attack."

I nodded. "I will."

My footsteps felt heavier than ever as did the weapon in my hand as I marched closer to it. I steadied my hands just in case of an attack, but nothing came, only the sound of voices, confused, scared, and lost voices, some old, and some so very young, younger than I.

"Will you help us?"

I froze with my glaive seconds away from striking. "Me?"

"Help us."

"Crawling, crawling, Crawling!"

There came no response so I continued with my task and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry."

The blade came down and pierced straight into the flesh and the sound of tearing which usually was only a mild disturbance, if any at all, almost brought me to my knees. Scream assaulted my ears in a dozen different voices, but I pushed on, and on until almost all of my weapon has disappeared into the flesh. I felt it hit something and the voices abruptly cut off, and just like the abomination on the first floor, the mass of flesh began to fade in ash.

"Thank you."

It was so faint that I couldn't be sure I'd heard it, but I didn't think about it for long as I fell to my knees and began to puke. For several seconds I emptied the contents of my stomach and as I finished I felt a gentle hand of my shoulder.

Zirani smiled down at me sadly, no pity, or judgment in her eyes, just sorrow. "Come on. We're done for the day. We've mapped out enough of the floor."

She turned towards Sandra and Misty, who was weeping softly. "You three need some rest."

The walk back to the treehouse was completely silent, and no matter how hard I tried not to think about it, no matter how hard I tried to push it away, the image of that thing kept popping back up into my head, and each time I had to press a hand to my mouth.

When we finally arrived back Zirani had us gather in the Dining room. I looked over at Sandra and Misty who both looked as awful as I felt, although there was also anger in their eyes and disgust.

"What the hell was that?" Sandra asked with a growl.

"What the twin horn is doing," Zirani said. "You might have not sensed it but I did. That thing had multiple cores, although there were faint, fainter than any I've ever felt like they weren't even there."

"And?" I asked. "What does that mean."

"They were all low-end first cores," Zirani replied. "Like most of the fodder you fought in the war."

"Slaves?" Misty asked.

A dark thought hit me, followed by half a dozen more and I looked over to see a grim expression on Zirani's face. "The camps."

I didn't want to think about it or picture it, but it tried to remember how many mouths there had been and how many sets of clothing had been at the camp.

"The damn monsters," I muttered as the numbers matched. "They're using their slaves. That thing was the arcanists at the camp we saw, or what had become of them."

Zirnai nodded with a sigh. "I suspect this is all a part of what the head remnants of the twin horn are doing. Why create these camps, perhaps a made-up reason to get the slaves and servants to act quicker or go along with their plans with little resistance, and then… I don't know, but this is something. I just wonder what happened to the rest."

Sandra frowned. "What do mean?"

"That was just one," Zirani explained. "On the first floor we ran into many camps, yet saw only one abomination and it might very well be the same here, where are the others, or better yet, were these left behind because they're defective?"

"I think I'm going to be sick again," Sandra groaned.

"For what reason?" Misty asked though it was more to herself than us.

"That's the golden question," Zirani said as a look of determination appeared into her eyes. "One thing is clear we need to get you three stronger and up to the third level, because I have a feeling when we run the twin horn, we're going to come across something unknown, and most likely dangerous."

We didn't eat that night since none of us thought we could keep our food down though Misty did drink from me a little. The bath that time was actually welcome as the pain took my mind off the horror we'd seen temporarily.

That night my dreams were of a pale creature, the same from many nights ago, sat on its throne of writhing flesh a smile on its face.

"Don't judge it too harshly," He said in that smooth yer grating voice. "That was but defective stock, and thought the others made for lesser materials, they shall still be enough to allow for a rebirth. Just wait, child of—"

"Aiden!"

My dreams were shattered by Ziranis's voice and my eyes shot open. "Huh?'

"You were tossing and turning." Zirani sounded worried. "Was it the dreams again?"

I sighed. "Yeah, and like always I forget straight after."

The rest of the night was blissfully peaceful thankfully and I woke the next day, refreshed and ready to continue our training.

Chapter 100 - 100

We began training the next day earlier than normal as Zirani wanted to make the upgraded versions of the elixirs we'd used on the first floor along with a few new alchemic products we could use, so we skipped the barth this one time and instead gathered outside the treehouse.

I was feeling refreshed and although images of the previous day still occasionally appeared in my mind, I now used them as fuel for my inner fire. I would get stronger and make the twin horn pay for what they'd done. They couldn't just die after the war, they had to cause more problems, although without them I didn't think we'd have this training opportunity and more time, but nevertheless, they needed to be put down.

Zirani and Misty were much the same and I could see the determination in their eyes. They were pissed and ready, rightfully so as well.

"The plan for today is simple," Zirani explained. "We will begin things in earnest tomorrow once I have everything ready sorted, for today I want the three of you to go hunting for aether beasts nad gather as many cores as you can."

"Didn't we get a few yesterday?" Sandra asked.

"We did, but most were either water or earth," Zirani replied. "We need dark for you, Nature for Aiden, and death and life for Misty, although you could use any type, we don't want to push your mutation too far, Misty. Your core is fine as it is."

"I could change it?" Misty questioned.

"I think you could," Zirnai answered. "but I'm not sure how you'd get it exactly as you wish. As I've said I'm not an expert on aether vampires despite everything I know. It's a risk, but if your willing to take it we can talk more about it when you return."

"What if we run into more of those… things?" I asked.

Misty and Sandra were both wicked, but it needed to be said, though I already knew what Zirani's answer would be.

"You put them down." She gave all three of us a firm look. "None of us are healers, and I don't even know if it would be possible to fix what happened to them. You come across one then you bestow mercy upon, understand?"

We all nodded in confirmation. Nobody should be forced to live like that, attached to…

This chapter upload first at NovelBin.comI shook my head and stopped that train of thought before I threw up. Best to focus on training.

"Will you be fine?" I asked Zirani. I knew she could handle herself in a fight better than any of us, but I didn't know how far I could go from her while she was manifested.

"I'll send you a signal through our bond when you've gone too far," She replied. "I'll be able to tell. Now, remember to try and get as many cores as you can, but prioritize the cores you have an affinity with. Aiden you go after Nature, Misty you go for death and life, and Sandra for dark. It should also be a good learning experience, maybe you'll get some ideas from it."

We decided to stay together since splitting up seemed like too much of a risk, and perhaps what had happened yesterday had a little to do with it. I didn't think anybody wanted to come across one of those things along, not to mention the mobs of beasts. Misty could probably get away, but neither Sandra nor I were as fast or agile. If we got surrounded it would be a bloody fight and deadly if we were outnumbered too badly. Zirani had told us not to get cocky as it was a fast way to the grave.

"Where to first?" I asked.

"That pond we found near the mushrooms yesterday had a few dark affinity beasts," Sandra said. "And we can go to the swampy area we found, maybe they'll be some death beasts there?"

I shrugged and turned to Misty. "You ok with that."

She nodded. "That's fine, we can hunt beasts along the way as well."

Before we left, I headed back to the treehouse and emptied all the cores and herbs I had collected yesterday from my spatial ring into our storage device. Zirani would need the herbs and I wanted as much space in my ring as possible.

"Alright let's go."

The first beasts we ran into, and what I was beginning to believe were the most common on this floor, was Murwogs. They seemed to be in most places, in at least groups of six and always with a head or alpha Murwog leading the pack. Oddly enough these beasts seemed far more viscous than most and unlike most beasts I'd seen who tended to stay in a general area, these moved far and wide in search of prey.

We watched from the safety of a tree as a group of Murwogs surrounded an ape-looking beast. They jumped at the ape one at a time when the beast was facing away and stabbed at it with their crude spears. The ape tried to lash out, but the Murwogs were too fast and agile for it, and each of the ape's attacks was dodged.

It was finally put out of its misery when the alpha Murwog smashed a fist into the back of its head before skewering it on its spear.

The Murwogs then proceed to tear into the beasts, and I glanced over to the others. "Now?"

They nodded, and we pulled aether from our cores. My bark armor surrounded me as Misty death claws lengthened from her fingers while dark smoke began to rise from Sandra along with a small cloak of midnight that covered her. It was a new technique that she'd learned by herself, though she'd explained that she'd always known it, but that she hadn't had the control to use it until now, and from its size, I could tell this was not the true form of the technique. It didn't look like it would be that useful.

"Let the hunt begin." I smiled as we leapt from the tree's branches.

My impact seeds sent Mujrwogs flying in all directions. The Murwogs croaked in protest, but they quickly turned into sounds of pain as daggers of darkness struck them.

The lead Murwog whose face was coveted into gore sprung towards Misty who parried its spear before spinning out of the way of its fist and countering with a slash of her claws, tearing one of its eyes out, and sending it falling to the ground.

Damn, but she was deadly.

I turned my focus to the two Murwogs in front of me, and I decided to use my glaive, pulling it from my ring and giving it a quick spin. The Muwrogs quite literally spring back to their feet and croaked before charging me.

I nimbly dodged the first strike and brought my glaive up in an underhanded sweep that tore through the stomach and face of the first Murwog. I took a step to the right dodging the second then finished the combo by bringing the glaive back down from the sky and into the head of the second. Just like Zirani had taught me. To try and use all actions and not waste any movements.

The fight had been less than ten seconds long, and I had to admit it felt good, more so than it had before.

I turned to watch the others and took back my opinion on Sandra's cloak. I wasn't able to tell what was happening at first, but after a few moments, I realized that she was vanishing the moment she stepped into their shadows or any shadow for that matter and she was definitely faster. She formed two daggers and stabbed them into the eyes of a murwog then stepped back just in iem to dodge a spear from the side. Her foot stepped into a shadow and she vanished for a second confusing the Murwog who glanced around, which was a mistake as Sandra reappeared and sued the opportunity to slash at its throat.

The murwog tried to croak but all that came out was a gurgle and seconds later it fell dead, and Sandra turned to the other she had blinded. With a quick and brutal strike, she shoved a dagger into its head, ending its life.

Misty was done with her opponent and from the wounds of the alpha Murwog, it hadn't been a pretty end. Its face looked partially melted off, an effect of her claws or projectile.

"Collect the cores, and let's move on," I said with a sigh. "We've got more hunting to do, and honestly I'm hoping for a more challenging fight than this."

Sandra nodded as her cloak along with the darkness around her faded. "I get what you mean, it's sort of sad how easy these things are to kill.

"Well there not meant to be hard to kill alone or in small groups," Misty reminded. "Remember what Zirnai said, and look at how they hunt. These beasts are pack hunters."

"Well good thing we're not alone," I said as I began to extract the cores from the murwogs around me.

I hoped that during this hunting trip we'd run into some challenging beasts.. Fighting murwogs seemed like it was going to get old fast, and if we wanted to get better at fighting then we needed opponents who would push us.