Beastforged Bond

Earth Sense.

It was not exactly a thoroughly researched technique that’d been tested and validated through official channels, but it came close to a technique. And that was enough for me.

Following Aureus’ guidance, I wielded the Earthen Aspect to send vibrations into the ground. Following the response from the vibrations I could sense everything connected to the ground around me. My radius was still small, no more than five meters in radius, however, that was more than enough to find a dozen ether plants.

Senseless fool.

Aureus’ complained in my mind as he revealed a few more low-ranked ether plants I missed.

The Earthheart’s mastery of the Earthen Aspect was leagues above mine. His Earth Sense had to exceed 25 meters, crossing most of the small clearing we’d been resting for the last hour or so.

“Sorry about that.” I breathed through gritted teeth. Aureus was a pain in the butt. He was kind and wanted me to learn, but his expectations were impossible to fill.

No sorry. Be better.

That being said, I spend another hour or two in the clearing and surroundings, collecting dozens of ether plants. Most weren’t particularly valuable, especially since almost all plant life around us had been infused with the ether of the Unblemished Zone. Nonetheless, I found a few treasures, including a patch of Atura Fern sprouts. Or as Scott called it; Mithril Hearts.

The sprouts, also known as plantlets called porthallus, which grew from the Atura Fern’s spores, were heart-shaped and looked like mithril – not that I’d seen mithril in my life.

Anyway, Atura Fern was worth a fortune, even more so their sprouts as they were the only part of an Atura Fern that could be transported safely. Even more interesting, Atura Fern did not release spores to expand when nurtured in “captivity”, which made them all the more valuable to Master Beasters. After all, Atura Fern was needed for dozens of rare Intermediate serums.

“I still think it was a stupid idea to come here.” I said when I returned, arms filled with ether plants, “But I don’t think I can complain about it, can I?”

Sophie chuckled and helped me organize and preserve the plants. Some were still alive and had to be stored in a preservation box to plant it once more, but the majority of ether plants could be treated and stored in the spatial storages. Fabienne retrieved a small coffer from her backpack and opened it, revealing a dozen small metallic boxes covered in blue glistening circuits.

Most boxes had been filled and sealed at this point, leaving no more than four to fill with a set of acid-dripping flowers, a stalk of furytath – apparently necessary for certain Berserk potions or something like that –, and two more plants nobody really knew anything about. Other than the amount of ether they contained of course.

All plants were tested. A thorough examination was done to ensure they were harvested properly. That no damage was inflicted to their roots, stem, which would make replanting them difficult. And, of course, to verify their rank. Preserving Wild plants was possible and it may as well be useful in a rare instance, but the norm was a lot more simplistic; the higher the Rank, the greater the plant’s value.

“If we make it out alive.” Daniel nodded, nibbling on his lower lip. He and Scott were brewing over the map of the Giant Forest for quite a while now. They determined our current location and studied the displacement of Cyclops, Treant, and a few other Unblemished beasts that weren’t in their territory.

By now even I understood that something was wrong. Something, or someone for all I knew, had disrupted the Giant Forest. The situation was unpleasant to say the least, yet I was not nearly as worried as I probably should be.

“We won’t die.” I said in determination.

Daniel’s eyes met mine, and he nodded slowly. “Yeah, we will. Even if we have to lose a limb or two.”

Why in the Rulers’ Names are you so pessimistic nowadays? Where’s the bright boy I’ve known for all these years? I regarded him for a moment and sighed.

“We have a few options.” Scott looked up, radiating a portion of the confidence he’d put into his voice.

“First, we can try to force our way through the Unblemished Zone. Scouting the surroundings should work with my traits, but I won’t be able to be of much help other than that. I cannot guide us all the time though so someone will have to double-check. Don’t worry, I will still join combat, although I will not be at the peak of my power.” He shuffled through his hair, looking apologetic and all. “We might still encounter an Unblemished beast on our way out. They rarely left their territory, which is usually a good thing, but today’s been an odd day, so we cannot depend on the norm.”

“You don’t expect us to defeat an Unblemished beast, do you?” Sophie raised an eyebrow at Scott, who shook his head.

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“Of course not. Then again, if the beast is wounded and only a low-ranked Unblemished beast, we may as well give it a try.” He shook his head. “The chances for that are very low. That being said, we will redirect the Unblemished beasts we encounter on our way out to other Unblemished beasts, forcing them to fight.”

That was dangerous. One Unblemished beast was already trouble but multiple? Even if we didn’t engage with them, their attacks could still land on us or near us. In the first place, nobody could promise the Unblemished beasts would ignore us and attack each other blindly. At that Rank, beasts gained enough sentience to understand tactics. Not necessarily complicated strategies, but even less intelligent Unblemished beasts would detect and understand our underhanded strategy.

“Y-You mentioned multiple options. W-What else can we do?”

Scott grimaced. “We could stay here. It seems like this area hasn’t been claimed by an Unblemished beast yet. Or, if it has been claimed, the beast doesn’t really care about our presence and Adam’s extensive scavenging of his land’s greatest treasures.”

What was that supposed to mean? Scott wanted those flowers. It was our mission to collect them, wasn’t it? So why–...My mouth opened and closed.

Whatever. He doesn’t mean it that way…or does he? I scrunched my eyes at him, yet Scott didn’t seem to notice.

“It would only be for a few days until the commotion settled. However, that is not without dangers. Even if the Unblemished beasts around us may not necessarily care about us, the other residents of the Giant Forest will certainly take note of us. And as far as I know beasts, they will be in just as much disarray from the Unblemished beasts’ actions as we are.”

“What about the third option?” Sophie grumbled as she stashed the last ether plant into the preservation box.

“We push to the core region to hide out.” Daniel spat, glaring at Scott. “Our messiah here thinks it is a good decision to barge into a Guardian’s territory.”

That…was positively insane. We may still have a chance against a weak Unblemished beast. Fighting one of those was survivable. Our chances would be low and most of us would either die or sustain several lethal wounds as we escape, but it was still manageable. Somewhat. But a Guardian?

Just thinking about Guardian beasts made me shudder. The Mistrals that shattered the dome to the Bastion was more than enough of a warning; Guardian beasts were nothing to scoff at. Two had almost been enough to cause another Collapse, killing tens of thousands of innocent people in the process. Sure thing, the situation had been a little bit more complicated at that time, but that didn’t change how powerful Guardian beasts were.

“There’s only one Guardian, and it won’t mind us. It’s hibernating.” Scott said, but his voice was quiet and lacked his usual confidence.

I didn’t quite trust it. “Is that what the Grand Camp information told you, or is that something you know, for a fact, from your traits?”

He didn’t answer, which was enough of an answer for me.

“I…I d-don’t like this.” Fabienne sniffed, storing the metal coffer in her rucksack. She slung it across her back, eyes quivering. “Isn’t there a nicer, more pleasant option? Something less…dangerous?”

I couldn’t think of anything. Hiding didn’t mean the danger faded from existence. If anythng, staying too long in ther wilderness increased our chances of encountering beasts. Maybe we could dispatch a few weaker beasts without getting noticed, but the stronger the enemy, the louder the commotion. In the worst case, we would draw our enemies toward us.

It appeared relatively safe in the clearing, but was that really the case? As for the core region…That was a hard no for me. Pushing out of the forest, trying to bypass one, maybe two Unblemished beasts, on the other hand, sounded more feasible. It was still dangerous but danger lurked everywhere in the wild.

The others thought similarly. Except for Scott maybe, but he had to go with the flow. The majority wanted to leave, whereas Fabienne wanted to do nothing but return home.

“Let’s get out of the forest then. I can stall an Unblemished beast for a few seconds with Fabienne’s Boon.” Scott leaped to his feet and unbuckled his spear. “I may have to burn through my weave though. Just make sure to pick me up if something goes wrong.”

He has enough ether to burn through his weave? That…

Even I hadn’t been nowhere near burning my weave when I absorbed the ether from all those ether stones. Then again, Scott had a Ruler-sized World. He could do a lot more than I.

Once it was clear what we were about to do, we prepared for the inevitable. Nobody expected us to escape the Unblemished Zone unscathed, so we stored our Soulkins away. Aureus wanted to stay with me, but our dear companions were not as silent as they believed they were. Coco and Filps were the loudest. They were powerful and excellent at charging our enemies, but stealthily traversing the Giant Forest was not their fort. Only the Goblin Shaman and the Aceraspis were somewhat good at it. Nonetheless, Sophie and Fabienne kept shoved them back into their Worlds.

The fewer we were, the higher our chances at making it through the forest. That was the plan.

Did it succeed? …Somewhat. We were still alive. For now, at least.

Did we encounter an Unblemished beast on our way out? Oh, yeah. 100%. Two, to be precise. Although one was already dead, surrounded by corpses. Then again, the other wasn’t faring much better. It was pinned to the ground, strength fading as a tall woman tore its glaive free from the beast’s chest.

As pleasant as it was to see someone was dealing with the beasts that would have feasted on our bodies if we’d been there a few minutes earlier, nobody looked happy. Daniel was tense, gripping his war axe so tightly the white of his knuckles was clearly visible. Scott cursed under his breath, unleashing a torrent of ether, while the others prepared for the worst case scenario as well.

Why did they do that? Well, it was simple. It really was.

My eyes narrowed, my stomach churned, and my throat tightened as the tall woman turned around with a massive smile, revealing a row of razor sharp teeth. If that’d been the most interesting feature about her, everything would have been fine, if a bit odd. However, puffs of smoke oozed from her bright red skin, her eyes glowed crimson, and she was…well, not human.