"Hello, old friend. You've gone through a few changes since we last met."
"...Ẇ̵̛̥̉ȟ̸̬̂á̷̡̧̫͂t̸͙̅͊..."
"Still delusional, are you? We made you stronger, grander, superior to your old sterile form. But I see it wasn't without sacrifice."
".̵̦͊.̵͓́.̵̼̣́̓"
"The life you knew before is now gone, but it doesn't matter. We've finally found out how to harness it...just to forge you stronger. Isn't that nice?... And not with machine nor light, but with his blood."
"...W̸͍͊̀h̸̛́ͅŏ̸͈̬͛?̴͓̺̇..."
"The blood, the soul of our fallen god, conceived you into a monster...into eidolon. It tore your limbs off, flayed your face into a vile mess. Your skin ravaged by the agony now beat a bright blue. Your precious thoughts and memories are now wiped clean off, But remnants still permeate.
".̵̦͊.̵͓́.̵̼̣́̓"
"We drugged you, tortured you, rotted out your mind until our faces could be seen in your slumber, but nothing stood...So, that is why I've come here.
".̶͓̈.̷̘͉̇̍.̶̹̭͌.̷̳̦͗.̷͖̥̽.̷̣͌.̸̛͔.̸̝̝̑̈.̵̣̽̀"
"What is it that vexes you about these...chambers? What's out there that's so fascinating?"
".̷̗̙̃̕.̵̺̈.̶̮̚y̷̪͠ọ̸͍͘u̸̮͓͌.̴̯̾̇.̴̧͙͒.̶͕͊̾ "
"This...is a blessing. A pure gift from the gods solely given to you... so why do you reject its beauty? What would you be without me? I created you. I made you perfect, so why don't you obey me?"
"...N̵̰͋ô̶̖ͅ.̸̧̂...̴̨̯̚.̸̙̑̍n̷̖͒ę̵͉̓̽v̴͙̒e̶̳͑r̵̮̊..."
"Huh...I guess we'll never get along..."
*CLANK*
"..A̵̱̮̼͇̥̽͌̈́̆̕Ǘ̶͇̌̔G̸͂͒̐̃͘͜Ḧ̶̰̮̮́͆̈̋̆H̴̝̬̆.̵̢̢̮́.̶̊..ȁ̸̻u̴͇͂͗g̸̘͉̮̾͊h̴̤̲͚̘͒̏͝.̴̨̠̦͉̈́͋͒́͠.̴̼̽̏̉͋́.̴̢̰̤̯́̒͆.."
"I'm sorry old friend, but I'm afraid you won't be of any use to me from now on. Don't worry, the time will eventually come for all of us. But I see yours has come early."
".̶͓̈.̷̘͉̇̍.̶̹̭͌.̷̳̦͗.̷͖̥̽.̷̣͌.̸̛͔.̸̝̝̑̈.̵̣̽̀"
".̵̦͊.̵͓́.̵̼̣́̓"
"H̷̝̭͛̚ú̵̢̩̓ǵ̷̲́h̷͓͈͋.̴̜̍́.̸̝̘́̎.̵̙͛͝h̸̠̦̐ų̶̹̏h̸̩͔͂.̸͇̔̊.̵͍̯̉.̶͇͍́̍...Y̷̖͐͗o̷̤͊͝ṳ̸̪͑̌ are...naive...W̵̪̩̄̆e̴̮͌̿have eyes...Ĕ̴̻̥͍̰͈̰̗̈́͒̾̏̉͊̎̂͌͆̽͌̚͠V̴̧̛͓̬̠̺̪͈̫͔̝̳̦͚̝̌̒̓͗̃̅́́̐̇̈́̑͊͆̿̃͛́̚͝͝͠ͅĘ̴͖̹̗̟̟̲͈͔̾͋͆͗͛̌͋̈́͠ͅR̴̨̺̜͉̟͈̳̗̹͚̭̻̤̣̮̳̤̝̘̳̟̤̯͗̌͂̃́͌̒͆̽̇̈́͑̊̊̏̐͛̽̆̉͆͑̏̇̎̏̐̕͜͝Y̷̢̢̢̧̢̛̛̯̦͕͈̺͉̮̘̬̯̳͖͈̳ ͈̠̰̲̝̍̑̒̅̽̍̿͊̾̐̃W̷̘̭̯̄̂̐͗̏̀͌͗͆͛͂̆̃̒̄̍̌̈́͝͝͝H̷͚̦̞͙̱̒͗͐̒͘̚͘͘͝È̵͔͚̙̗͎̋̈́̾͌̓̅̓̍̃͛̀̇̋̍͊̓̽͌̍̅̿̕̕͠͝͠R̶̢̛̬͕͓̣͚̰̘̿͌̓̈́̈́̿̈͐͑̋͑̿̈́̕E̸̢̻̫͈̖͕̟͊̌̎̎̉͑̄̎̾̇͋̋̀͒̽̾̎̀͠͝ .."
.̴̞͒
.̴̞͒
The man quickly woke up in a sweat.
...
He had matted a bedding of dry kelp and seaweed above where he slept, along with carving out several lamps to better see around the cavern. The man reluctantly got up from his foliage bedding, dazed about his profound nightmare. Cthulhu didn't speak a word but he could sense that they were hesitant. The man snatched up the half-spilled pouch containing the blood orbs and hopped off his sleeping cliff.
The last thing he firmly remembered was him returning from his fight with the Dreadnautilus, the rest being a chaotic blur. The man wondered how long he spent asleep, from his conditions he guessed not very long, probably still coming to the end of dusk.
He snagged the tome out of its aperture and flipped to the next page.
What do I need this time?
Your second task is quite challenging, have you ever heard of reaper sharks?
Huh...doesn't ring a bell...
Fearsome apex predators of these parts, their steel skin is studded with dozens of lumenly crystals made to shred apart everything that moves.
I'm starting to regret helping you.
Don't worry, chances are you won't even need to see the slightest glimmer of their eyes, all we need is the teeth. The inside contains a special mana-infused enzyme that helps reinforce biomass. Luckily, some can fall off while they feed on devil fish in the northern scoria vents. Look for sharp blue blades dropped on the seabed or impaled between rock. We need 3.
The man reran each step back in his mind and headed out along with the tome. Thus crossing out of the cavern tunnels and into the seawater, he recalled north and quickly swam. He reached several clouds of gas drifting across the water before more vents appeared out of cloudy vision. Each vent was covered with a rim of scoria ore that leaked out pristine chaotic energy each time the vent discharged its steam. The man simply avoided being blasted with boiling energy, swimming near the crevices where no vent could reach. Dozens of iridescent clams and mollusks were nudged in each slate of the tenebris which perfectly matched the bright marble sprinkles mixed into the strange sea-green stone. Above his sight were two male devil fish ramming their horns against each other like wrestling deer. Beside him swam an oarfish winding across each vent, seemingly curious of him. The man stared back and scared away the approaching eel.
Across several vents, the slightest glimmer of blue was spotted across him, shining like regal stardust. He quickly swam closer to get a better glance. Crammed between two vents was a tiny fractal-cut voidstone blade, lined with a thin edge of lumenly and leaking blue energy from its end.
Be careful, the enzymes also sharpen the teeth to the point where they can cut through aerialite like sheets of paper. Hold them by the wrong end and your limbs are cleaved into ribbons.
With that threatening comment, the man carefully plucked out the tooth from the rock. The leather pouch would never be able to carry such a sharp object, so he slowly tore out a tentacle with all his remaining mana and impaled it through the flesh. It didn't hurt him at all since there were no nerves connecting to his body, of course. He frantically swam away before any devil fish could spot him. Across the two vents, he spotted a strange cuboid structure near the ends of the vent gardens and approached with inquisitiveness. Upon closer look, it was revealed to be another small ruined home. The building was constructed in a circular cottage shape with various stones and corals, along with a range of rotting tubeworms and barnacles surrounding the exterior. The man swam toward its entrance and deliberately creaked out the degrading stone door and entered.
The inside was covered with various algae and several kelp vines that twirled around the edges. Dozens of potted seagrasses were also set around the metal shelves and cases. Across the deepest corner sat a large cloudly cracked tank standing on another rusty shelf, ominously lit by the burning red scoria light that beamed through the cracks and crevices. He carefully swam towards the take and wiped off the debris.
"..."
Inside the tank was a withering paludarium, The foliage layered with a rotting black and the waters festering with mud and mold. Right in the center sat a strange amphibious frog, seemingly encased or made with stone. The strange aura around it made his veins glow as the man curiously opened the lid and seized the specimen. Suddenly the stone frog began to crack with black energy, its stony outside soon breaking off.
Augh!...
Right above his palms swam a curious black frog, friendly leaping around the water with swell. Its smooth, rubbery skin was covered with a hat of shaggy kelp along with warts dotting the sides of his limbs.
It looks like this anurian has been exposed to an extreme concentration of mana, to the point where it was put in a senseless stasis for hundreds of years. But it seems with your strong levels of mana you've absorbed most of the concentration and set it free.
Hmm...kinda cute...
The frog stuck his tongue out at the man, leaping over his head and shoulders and crawling across his arms. A small feeling of joy filled his heart but then was quickly put aside for he had remembered his task. He swam through the metal door to begin searching for more teeth. Through his concentration he was quickly disturbed as the frog had clung to his back and is now latched right on his head, hanging over his horns while making dopey faces at the man. He grabbed the frog by the belly and stared at it for several seconds.
I guess you're coming with me now.
The man sat the frog over his left shoulder and reeled in the single tentacle from the cottage. He regained his sense of exploration and swam back into the center of the gardens. He quickly found another tooth hacked into the side of a vent along with several decaying devil fish carcasses, which he gladly tore out and stabbed into the tentacle. The frog leaped on the tentacle and attempted to pull the teeth out before him frantically grabbing him away. They approached a strange swarm of chaotic puffers, all hovering over the vents to feed on the chemicals they released. He tried to avoid the cloud but was soon noticed.
The puffers turned their attention to the man, eyes blaring a blazing orange as the super-heated metal scales surrounding their deflated exterior burned in scalding steam. The swarm charged at him, puffers in front inflating with hot air to act as rams for the others to push. The man immediately swung out the cannon, but the electric bolts merely struck the metal, causing them to reflect and split thundering bolts across the stone. The frog narrowed its eyes toward the puffers, then swam into the man's palms.
(*GuRgLe*)
The frog began to rumble, bloating up from within with vicious quakes. Out of nowhere, the tiny anurian belched out a storm of monstrous black plankton and caustic bubbles. The plankton swam into the puffers with immense speed, popping through their skin as they feast on their shredded organs. Anybody who tried to escape from above was burned down to the very bone once touching a bubble. Soon, the entire swarm was nothing but corpses.
The raw mana might have polluted their bile and stomach to much more than their regular acidic level, the plankton it seems are built to expand hundreds of times their normal size once released from the esophagus.
Well, it's as vicious as it looks...
He harvested the small scoria scales from their torn skin and took another glance at a blue shimmer in the distance.
Weapon: The tentacles (not an item just magic), Abyss Shocker, Blood Thorn, Black Anurian
Tools: Magic mirror, Spell Tome
Armor: (no armor)
Accessories: Eidolist cape (CalVan)
Health: 90/100
Kade slowly walked through the lush grove, wondering if this was worth it. The grass beneath his feet corroded into a bright cyan after each step. He peeled away the small brambles hiding the hallowed valley and flew right in. The Nebula Moon peeked through a ring of cotton pink clouds and shined a bright spotlight at the center, illuminating the area in a mystical glow. Pixies fluttered around and surrounded the air in an ever-lasting multi-colored strobe light. Prismatic stardust sprinkled the endless, fractal sky, along with thousands of burning pink stars. He opened the metal cage as the lacewing flew out.
In the middle of the spotlight, a bright beam shot down from the cosmos and casted the rainbow outline of The Empress. Seconds after she appeared right before him. Around her arms and chest were armored with cobalt, melded into the shape of elven leaves. A light pink dress resembling flower petals curtained around her legs and a golden tiara crowned on top of her head. A pair of prismatic butterfly wings slowly fluttered around the air, making her float magically above ground. The Empress looked down on Kade.
"That took you long enough. However, this is the worst time to have come." She said.
"Well, at least I got all the stuff."
"The mana field has been especially drained from the blood moon and you contend of meeting now?"
Kade took out the finely woven purple sack and handed it to the empress. She untied the sack and poured the light shards into the partly filled prism, watching them melt down and mixed into a spectral concoction. The prism filled up with another centimeter of light.
"The prism is near one-thirds to completion, we make a good team." Said the Empress.
"I'm not doing this because I want to." Replied Kade coldly.
"Yet, you have no choice."
She raised her hand up and snapped her fingers. The bright pink and lilac growths that splattered over parts of his body quickly materialized back to regular skin. He felt his soul becoming less and less pure as the vile corrosion left him and into The Empress' grasp, along with the shaming laughs and cackles.
"
"Hmm...shame...then I guess your next quest is to take 5 souls of light found in the Bladed Caverns, they're just east of the Northern pearl ruins.
"Sounds easy enough."
Kade turned away, returned to the valley edge, and spread out his wings. From the back of his ear, he could hear The Empress laugh in amusement. He scoffed to himself with anger as his hands melted down and formed into gemstone blades. He struck the air with his wings, a cloud of dust shifting across the cyan plains as Kade took off into the sky.