Chapter 301. Temple of Rot
Leaving the Triune sect grounds behind, Michael traveled further east through the Tamuur Hinterland to Alzuuda.
A large-scale World Event was taking place nearby, but it was late at night, and he was mentally fatigued from all the grinding in the past two days.
Furthermore, his last batch of Elixirs was running out.
"Let's ignore it. Huh!?"
Just as he was planning to continue on horseback, an Elite monster popped out of nowhere, aiming its axe at the horse's head.
Stunned for a brief moment, the Necromancer almost couldn't react in time. Fortunately, the horse bucked up, avoiding the incoming blade and kicking the goatmen with its hooves.
Michael also fell on his ass but immediately recovered and brought his sword out of the inventory to engage the monster.
"This damned bastard! My heart almost stopped!"
Kicking the corpse of the goatmen, Michael ignored the loot and turned to soothe his scared mount.
Fortunately, the animal was incredibly smart, and after some patting and coaxing, it finally calmed down.
Returning to the loot, he saw three Rare item boxes, a Legendary one, and a Magic rarity claymore he immediately ignored.
The Legendary item was a pair of gloves, which he immediately compared to the one he was currently wearing.
[ Adventurer's Gloves of Occult Dominion
Legendary Gloves
522 + 20 Item Power ( Upgraded x4 )
Legacy Item
-----------------
261 Armor
* +4.5% Attack Speed
* +10 to All Stats
* +35.7% Overpower Damage
* +28 Intelligence
Legendary Aspect: Your Maximum Number of Skeletal Mages is increased by 2. (Necromancer Only). ]
[ Smithing Superior Gloves
Legendary Gloves
578 Item Power
-----------------
289 Armor (+28 when compared to the currently equipped item)
* +76 Maximum Life
* +4.0% Lucky Hit Chance
* +20.0% Vulnerable Damage
Legendary Aspect: You have a 13% increased Critical Strike Chance against Injured enemies. While you are Healthy, you gain 26% increased Crowd Control Duration. ]
He wasn't 100% sure, but 600 Item Power might actually be the upper limit for the current rarity he could find.
Alongside the two Legendary Chest Armors he drew from the Purveyor of Curiosities being at 600 Item Power each, and the Unique boots 'suffering' from the same fate, the Necromancer mentally complained about having to deal with the Main Quest as soon as possible.
Only then would he be able to unlock the higher-quality goods and their improved Affixes.
"As for changing the current gloves... not with this one, that's for sure. If I can find a pair giving some increased Intelligence, I can consider it. Then, I'll also be able to add the new Legendary Aspect to it, increasing the number of minions under my control. *Sigh* Fortunately, Alzuuda is within reach and I can get rid of the item surplus in my inventory."
With his slots completely filled to the brim, he mounted the unhappy horse after promising a vacation starting tomorrow.
As soon as he left the fields behind and entered the range of the city, a strange feeling washed over him.
The horse seemed to feel it as well, as it snorted and increased its pace, probably wanting to get the hell out of there as quickly as possible.
Finding the local item shop, he kept the five Legendary items - the two-handed weapon, the ring, the two Chest Armors, and the gloves - as well as the Unique pair of boots and sold everything else.
This resulted in a net profit of 234,073 gold coins, increasing his stash to 3,951,112.
Seeing how close he was to 4 million, the Necromancer sighed and despondently left to find the local blacksmith, hoping to salvage the items he wouldn't use.
'I should stop thinking about the money I'm about to owe. *Sigh* Transmigrating into a different world, but still in debt. How pitiful!'
In the end, the local blacksmith's offer for the four items was too scummy, prompting Michael to leave without looking back.
Setting out from the eastern gate, he reentered the Akhai Prarie, moving through the Fields of Hatred.
His experience bar grew slightly, now showing 610,311/2,067,950, but still very far from the next level.
Considering his upcoming reskill, he counted a total of 25 Paragon Points he would be able to use.
'There's also the Altars of Lilith. Some Wanderers announced they got lucky and gained three Paragon Points from them. The system also announced that besides the +68 to all attributes after successfully collecting the entire five regions' worth of altars, there is also a Maximum Obol Capacity of +100 and 4 Paragon Points. *Sigh* In my case, I need to suffer for a while longer and can only get the goodies after I finish exploring Kehjistan and Hawezar.'
After checking the MAP, he changed his direction and headed north through the Akhai Prarie, revealing two areas covered by fog on the MAP.
Curious about what was hidden in those locations, he cleared the droves of demons barring his path and collected around 5,200 Seeds of Hatred.
Possessing the items was a bit problematic as they continuously influenced his emotions, but the Necromancer managed to push through it and reached a spot identified by the Sanctuary as Wanderer's Outpost Ruins.
In the middle of these ruins stood a strange altar surrounded by grayish fog. Once he approached it, the Seeds of Hatred naturally left his inventory and entered this structure, prompting a red glow to engulf it.
The human statues appeared to be bleeding and burning at the same time as the Seeds of Hatred endured a purification ritual, at least according to the system's explanation of what was happening.
"An Altar of Extraction, huh? Oh!? It even summons demons?"
A progress bar appeared above the altar, showing a time of 55 seconds needed for the purification of the seeds absorbed.
As for the Hellions and other minions of Hell summoned to disrupt the ritual, they quickly died due to the ferocious attacks of his small army.
Once the timer reached zero, the blood-red fog extracted from the seeds covered the altar in a dome-shaped barrier and... and nothing.
That was it! No rewards, no Elite or Boss summoned, no nothing.
Rolling his eyes at the wasted time, Michael continued exploring the fields infected by Hatred and was surprised that none of the four areas covered by fog contained a Stronghold Event.
Just as he was about to give up, he noticed a red symbol appear on the MAP southwest of the Crane Tribe's Hutmoot.
"There we go! Let's see..."
Checking the description of the Event, he raised an eyebrow, feeling that he had already done something similar in the past.
[ World Stronghold Event - Temple of Rot (Level 57+)
Description: A rotten, putrid evil has taken up residence in these hallowed halls. ]
He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something oddly familiar about this 'setup.'
Nevertheless, he moved from the prairie to the Galtmaa Bushland, reaching the outskirts of the place he was aiming for.
As soon as he did, his horse became restless, bothered by a foul aura emanating from the distance.
Not only did the animal suffer, but Michael did as well.
"It's hard to describe, but it's a combination of smelling and sensing it. It feels... evil and putrid."
Doing everything in his power not to vomit, he stored away his horse, promising it not to call it back until the air was properly cleansed, earning an approving snort from the animal.
Stepping closer to the western wall surrounding the small fort-like buildings, a Quest was immediately generated.
[ World Stronghold Event joined - Temple of Rot
Objective: Slay the Cannibal Champions. ]
Using the broken portion of the wall to enter the grounds, Michael found himself assaulted by cannibals.
However, even compared to the 'normal' ones he had met so far, these guys were... weird, for the lack of a better adjective.
Not only did they stink to High Heavens, but whatever pitiful shreds of intelligence your average cannibals still held, these creatures no longer had them.
Strangely enough, he found eight people strapped to stone pillars, which he immediately rescued and found a place to 'store' them at.
He decided on the southern entrance since there were no cannibals or other monsters nearby, and this whole cleansing of the rot shouldn't take longer than an hour.
Furthermore, it was way past midnight, and these scared villagers wouldn't risk running away on their own since the two closest human settlements were Jirandai and Crane Tribe's Hutsmoot, both more than three to four hours away on foot.
Leaving the eight survivors to hide near the gate, the Necromancer returned to killing cannibals until he found he had successfully eradicated those outside the temple and was now looking for a way in.
Once he did, he immediately regretted it.
"Holy fuck, above and beyond! The stench..."
A large pile of corpses were placed in the middle of a room that probably served as something more than a mortuary, all of them decomposing in an absolutely disgusting manner, creating a stench thick enough to be cut with a sword.
"How long have they been 'worshiping' these corpses?"
With little knowledge of how the human body changed after death, the Necromancer could only rely on the details offered by the name of the structure he was in—Temple of Rot—and the Event's description.
He concluded that these crazed bastards were piling the corpses of the 'sacrifices' in the middle of this room for some weird ritualistic reason, while the people he had previously saved outside should've probably ended up here sooner or later if he hadn't intervened.
'But why? It's not like they eat them anymore after they rot. At least, I don't think so. And the corpses are not turning into undead either. Temple of Rot... *Sigh* It feels like another demon might be involved in this mess.'
Annoyingly enough, he found out the reason soon after.
Besides the usual cannibals, he encountered Skittering Abominations, awfully smelling creatures walking on all fours.
After looking them over while his Quarterback kept them in place with his taunt, and Michael used Corpse Tendrils to increase the duration, he finally found similarities between these Abominations and the rotting corpses.
"Leaving aside the fact that the limbs are twisted to the point where it makes me wonder how the fuck they're functioning as they are, they should've been normal people before. Probably those who underwent the ritual. Even if their faces are rotted, and there is almost no hair left, there is no doubt that whatever this crazy-ass ritual does to people, it turns them into Abominations."
[You've trespassed into the temple of the Great Worm, the Devourer. Die!](?)
A hulking cannibal appeared from one of the temple rooms and slowly walked toward Michael.
[ Razorface, The Carrion Zealot (Elite) - Level 57
*Waller: Manipulates the soil to create a wall around the target, blocking it from moving from a certain area.
*Explosive: Explosions send shockwaves around the creature afflicted with this modifier, dealing 650 damage to its surroundings. Enemies hit are afflicted with the Burning debuff and might take additional damage per second if Fire Resistance is low.
*Frozen: Summons six balls of frost. Upon explosion, they freeze and deal 550 fixed damage in a four-meter radius. Enemies affected by the explosion are afflicted with the Frozen debuff. ]
Not sure where to start poking fun at the Elite since he was literally worshiping a worm, and his modifiers were both of fire and ice nature, Michael decided to quickly dispatch the mob.
Much to his surprise, the combo of getting walled-in, frozen, and then exploded was much more potent than he initially thought, with Razorface wiping out his minions in a matter of seconds, leaving their master to handle the mess.
Fortunately, there were plenty of Corpses to choose from in the middle of the room, so the Necromancer had sufficient resources at his disposal.
As for 'disrespecting the dead' and 'not letting them rest,' Michael considered his survival a bit higher on the list of priorities.
Two more Elites popped out after the first dropped, probably drawn by the commotion.
Seeing their buddy slain, they jumped into the fray, enraged at the audacious intruder.
[I can smell your flesh, you bastard!](?)
[Tear our guest apart!](?)
"Blood for the Blood God!"
[[???]]
Seeing the confusion on the faces of the two Elites and their minions, Michael sneered at the uncultured swine and proceeded to wipe the floor with them.
After picking up some Rare item boxes, he found a treasure chest hidden in a corner, as well as four more prisoners tightly bound by ropes.
He first escorted them to the others near the gate and, after some hesitation, took out the few sandwiches he had left and split them among the starving villagers.
Then, he used three pitchers of strawberry milkshakes to temporarily quench their thirst before returning to the temple.
The treasure chest had nothing but a small book, glowing in a slight blue color.
Instead of disappointment, the Wanderer smiled broadly but quickly changed his expression and closed his mouth after almost vomiting from the stench.
[ Festering Scripture
The locals come to trespass in the temple of our god. They scream and resist and fight us.
But our god has been in this temple longer than their families have had names.
And those who come will be sacrificed. That is our way. ]