AoP | B2 | Chapter 58: Titan Gem Shard (Patreon)

Seth dashed toward the Earth Elemental in front of him while Colossus slammed into the two on the right. Flanking them from the side, Nightmare unleashed Mantle of Terror and the oppressive wave of bloodlust surged outward, washing over the trio of golem-like creatures. The direwolf followed with a concussive howl focused on the Elemental Colossus was already engaging. The creature's stone form shuddered as the scorpion began to strike with his tails and pincers.

For the past few clashes, Seth and Nightmare had switched up their approach. They no longer struck the same target—not because the tactic was flawed, but because it wasn't necessary anymore. Splitting up simply made clearing enemies faster.

Seth poured aether through the grooves of Huntbound Rush, and the dark blades of Dusk Scythes surged forth on his forearms. Just as he was about to reach the Elemental in front of him, a blur of motion erupted from his left. Colossus whipped his tails forward, the barbed tips glistening with venom as they struck the enemy with blinding speed.

'Thanks, Colossus!' Seth exclaimed.

A volley of rock spikes shot from the ground before the Earth Elemental and hurtled toward Seth. He slipped between them with fluid precision, never breaking stride, then launched himself forward and carved into the creature's chest with his Dusk Scythes. Each cut tore through the stone as if it were soft clay, sending chunks of granite flying. The creature let out a pained screech and slammed its fists down, forcing Seth to use Shadow Step and reappear a dozen feet away.

On the other side of the chaotic melee, Nightmare tore through his own target. The shadow coming from his maw was no longer the superficial cloud of smoke that it had once been—it was now a focused stream of corrosive energy that plunged deep and ate the Elemental from within. In less than a few seconds, he'd severed one of the golem's hovering limbs, which crashed to the ground with a heavy thud. The moment the creature turned to retaliate, Colossus's taunt rippled out, forcing it to turn back and hammer the scorpion's impenetrable shell uselessly while giving the direwolf even more time to attack it from behind.

As he lunged forward again, Seth wove through his own Elemental's clumsy punches before plunging his blades of condensed shadow into its chest and ripping from side to side. Even if it was a Low-Iron beast with impressive Toughness, the combined effects of Nightmare's aura and Colossus's new venom had lowered its defenses so extensively it had taken Seth no more than seven strikes to turn the creature into a heap of lifeless stones.

Nightmare finished off his opponent a second later, tearing its head from its torso with a vicious bite and letting the body crumble onto the cave's floor. Without pausing, he and Seth both converged on the last Elemental, which was still striking Colossus. As expected, the creature didn't stand a chance, and it joined the others in the afterlife before Colossus's taunt had even expired.

Seth knelt to retrieve the three beaststones—even if he knew Colossus wouldn't want them because of their low Ranks and the meager attributes they would provide—and stuffed them into his pockets, which were starting to feel heavy. Thanks to the continued distortion field, he still couldn't use his Endless Pouch. 

The Molten Titan they had escaped from two days prior was probably the source—the thing's powerful aura likely radiated from several floors down onto them. And yet, Colossus and Nightmare kept insisting on going in that direction because it was where the Earth aether was the most dense.

Seth cast Intermediate Identify on Colossus, both to look at the scorpion's attributes and Colossus's new spell once more.

  Colossus (Young Three-Tailed Giant Scorpion)

  Potential: Gold Tier        Rank: 39 (Mid-Iron)

  Affinity: Earth / Poison

  Bonded to [Seth]                 [...]

  Strength: 63                     Arcane Power: 80

  Toughness: 180 (122+58)      Well Capacity: 100

  Agility: 55                       Regeneration: 70

  Spells:

  - Mountainborn Shell [Gold〜Legendary (Crude)]

  - Sandstorm Dome [Gold〜Rare (Crude)]

  - Desert Aegis [Silver〜Epic (Crude)]

  - Chitinous Taunt [Silver〜Rare (Decent)]

  -  Deathcoil Venom  [Silver〜Rare (Crude)]

  - Quartz Armor [Iron〜 Rare (Exceptional)]

  - Scorpion Charge [Iron〜Rare (Decent)]

      Deathcoil Venom [Silver〜Rare(Crude)]

  - Channel a powerful venom in the owner's stingers that decreases Toughness and Strength by 10 + 5% for 3 minutes on hit.

  - Potency and duration scale with Arcane Power, Poison affinity, and spell quality.

  - Duration of 20 seconds.

  - Consumes 50 uniums.

  - Cooldown: 10 minutes

The spell wasn't as impressive as Mountainborn Shell, but its effect was still extremely useful. It didn't have a chance to freeze targets like Nightmare's Mantle of Terror and also didn't affect all attributes, but the raw debuff to an enemy's Toughness and Strength was several times more potent. Seth had felt the difference in the way his Dusk Scythes had met the enemies' defense after they had been infected by the spell. With all Toughness' debuffs combined of Mantle of Terror, Dusk Scythes, and Deathcoil Venom, he was cutting through Iron-Tier beasts as if they were nothing. Well, as long as their Toughness wasn't higher than 90 or 100.

Seth focused for a moment on the scorpion's aether attunement.

           Sensing: Mid-Iron                             

           Manipulation: High-Iron                              

      Affinity: 

       - Earth ~ Low-Silver

       - Poison ~ Low-Iron                              

I still can't believe he acquired a Poison affinity, Seth thought.

It wasn't something he had expected a beast to gain so easily since it was extremely complicated for Wielders according to Professor Storm, yet looking at the massive stingers curling over the scorpion's back, it made perfect sense: the nature of the poison had been in his blood all along.

The unexpected development had forced Seth to re-evaluate his entire strategy for the upcoming war. Since the announcement, he had always envisioned his role as a mobile skirmisher who would pick off small groups of enemies with Nightmare on the flanks. Seeing this new synergy of spells in action, he was starting to reconsider.

Maybe we would be more useful in the middle of the large clash, Seth thought as he visualized himself ripping through the enemy's front lines with Dusk Scythes, companions by his sides. Especially with Colossus.

Such a thing would leave the kind of unforgettable impression Seth was aiming for. One that would leave the empire troops filled with fear about future battles.

Ahead, Colossus waved a pincer with an almost frantic energy, his eight legs skittering with excitement. 'The aether tastes even better this way!'

Seth smiled as he and Nightmare followed the large scorpion. Scouting now felt like a cautious habit rather than a necessity. The only actual threat left in these depths would be a large pack of High- or Peak-Iron beasts. A Silver one would likely be unmanageable, but since splitting with Kaelen and his sister, they hadn't encountered any others.

Just as Seth picked up his pace, Colossus halted without warning, forcing him and Nightmare to slow down before stepping out of the tunnel. The sight that awaited them stole the air from Seth's lungs.

The new cavern expanded so far into the darkness Seth couldn't see where it ended. Its walls shimmered with veins of raw gemstones—rubies, sapphires, emeralds, diamonds—and even caught the dim light from the adjacent glowing fungus and scattered it into a storm of fractured rainbows. Yet for someone like Seth, this was just background noise.

It was the giant tree in the center that grabbed his attention. It stood like a gigantic sentinel of petrified wood with its gnarled roots that plunged deep into the glowing crystal formations at its base. A steady stream of molten lava dripped down from a fissure in the high, vaulted ceiling and landed on the tree's crystalline leaves—but instead of scorching and destroying them, it was doing the complete opposite. Each droplet sank in and flowed toward the giant trunk, causing the crystal lattice of its bark to pulse with a deep, resonant energy. The aura of aether radiating from the tree was so potent it felt like breathing in pure power.

Between them and the massive thing, a house-sized boulder covered with moss shifted slightly. 

Seth's eyes widened. That's no rock…

The creature lay dormant, its enormous body rising and falling in slow, ponderous breaths that made the very ground tremble. All around was an army of Earth Elementals of every conceivable variant: rhinos, turtles, scorpions, bears, and sloths, all carved from the same living stone.

Nightmare's attention, however, shifted elsewhere.

'Look,' the direwolf said as he gestured toward the left wall with his muzzle.

Following Nightmare's gaze, Seth spotted a gem-like object nestled among a cluster of jagged rocks not far from the great crystal tree. The precious stone pulsed with such intense power that the very air around it seemed to warp and shimmer. Several Earth Elementals stood nearby, as if drawn by its energy. Just as one of them, a smaller, and obviously more ambitious golem, reached for it, the giant boulder let out a guttural rumble that rolled through the cavernous chamber. 

Dust and gemstones rained from the ceiling and the Elemental froze mid-motion. The light of its eyes dimmed to a fearful glow as it scraped backward, retreating like a scolded child.

'That's definitely a Seed,' Nightmare said.

"Yeah, but that thing is definitely not Iron," Seth replied, his gaze locked on the sleeping keeper. 

Nightmare scoffed. 'Just turn invisible and go grab it.'

"Remember the drop of pure shadows?" Seth answered as he rubbed his forehead.  "This probably weighs the same. I won't be able to move it."

"Oh, come on! At least go Identify it, so you can see if it's worth the risk," the direwolf insisted. He then turned to Colossus. "Right, Small Bite?"

"Yes! We need it!" the scorpion exclaimed right away.

With a heavy sigh, Seth switched Share's connection to Illusionary Emptiness. An instant later, his form dissolved in the cavern's dim light. He moved forward like a ghost, slipping past the patrolling Earth Elementals while staying as far away as he could from the keeper. The creature's sheer presence was a physical weight on his shoulders, and its oppressive aura made Feral Instincts thrum with a constant warning. When Seth drew close enough, he let his gaze locked onto the pulsing gem among the rocks, and he filled Intermediate Identify's grooves. The description that bloomed in his vision almost sent his jaw to the floor.

      Titan Gem Shard

      Seed

      Tier: Iron Affinity: Earth

      Grade: Epic

      Description: A fragment of the Titan Gem inside the Elementals Cave.

      Effects:

      - Increases the potency of all Earth-affinity spells by 5-6% Toughness.

      - Boosts Toughness by 5–10%.

      - Grants 30-50% resistance to immobilizing, stunning, or slowing effects.

A surge of exhilaration rippled from within Link and washed over Seth. Colossus couldn't read the inscription, yet through their shared bond the scorpion had understood the Seed's effects—and he wanted those.

Seth retreated to his companions' hiding spot, then shook his head, already knowing what both the scorpion and the direwolf would say.

"We need it, Seth, please!" Colossus begged, his voice almost trembling. Sure, there was greed in the demand, but what animated the scorpion mainly was the desire to become stronger, to protect the family he had found.

Seth's golden eyes drifted back to the slumbering keeper, then swept over the countless Earth Elementals scattered throughout the cavern. He bit his bottom lip. We can't fight that thing. Especially with all these Elementals around. 

The only option was to draw them out with the trio's previously used hit-and-run tactics, pick them off in small groups, and pray the numbers would thin before the giant awoke.

Even after we kill them though, we'll still have to face the keeper, he thought. Test its strength… see if we can even damage it. 

If not, things would turn ugly real fast. The distortion field made it impossible to recall Colossus into the teardrop necklace, and with the scorpion's low Agility, retreat wasn't easy. Their only hope would be to make a tunnel collapse behind them with Phantom Punch to prevent the thing from pursuing them as they fled.

Seth grimaced. That's a long shot.

'Please! Please! Please!' Colossus said, pacing around him in a frenzy. 'Let's at least try!'

Seth's expression softened. Even with all his pragmatism, he couldn't ignore the scorpion's unshakable determination. A few seconds later, he finally nodded. "Fine," he muttered. "Let's give it a try."