[Blake Orpheus]:
Summoning Eclipse, Blake used the sphinx's shadow to make reins, before climbing atop the shadow sphinx and headed into the location that the map was marked at on the board.
The mission Coeven was doing first was the culling mission. An area of the dark forest was predominantly dominated by two species of elemental magic beasts — the Shadowflame Bears and a pride of Lightningwind Mountain Lions — Both were dangerous beasts whose corpses were worth half a million. They would make excellent familiars to powerful families who would spend quite an expense to have them, if caught alive, but, thanks to their pack mentality, that is usually not possible. He figured this mission would be the more fun out of the two.
Both have gone unchecked and unchallenged in that side of the Dark Forest, to the point that they risk upending the local ecosystem completely and possibly even cause a beast wave. It is such a situation that they've now begun hunting in the Great Eagle's territory, which was systematically causing issues to the village nearby, as it meant giant eagles had to find food elsewhere, now hunting cultivators and regular normies in the outer edges of House Gaetir's territory. Blake 's mission was to handle the bears and lions of these territories, so that the eagles could stop hunting Gaetir citizens.
"It said there shouldn't be a beast over Tier C in either beast packs," Blake read the mission information card, frowning. "Given my luck, I'll probably have to fight some beasts over Tier A rank, honestly. That or something stronger. Either way, that's more for me. Maybe I'll increase my Tainted and Shadow Legion of undead."
Even atop Eclipse, flying high into the skies over the Dark Forest, it still took hours of flight just to cover significant ground. The Dark Forest covered a majority of the continent of Mythos; so much so, in fact, that Mythos was often coined the 'Forest Continent'. That's because the Dark Forest covers ⅘ th of the continent. The other ⅕ th was basically the settlements and beaches, local lakes and rivers and whatnot — And even amongst the settlements, there were some that are built into the forests, like that of the woodland elves of House Vahnes, a banner house to House Sky; they live in the trees around House Sky supposedly.
The planet of Mythos had 3 continents, not including the polar regions to the far north and far south. The Central Continent(Forest Continent), which is the one that Blake finds himself in and is by far the largest of the three livable continents. Then there's the Eastern Continent, also known as Myakarus or the Desert Continent. It is that continent that criminals often flee to, to escape the authorities of Mythos. It is also a continent runned by 3 separate, interstellar powers: The Shadow Collective(an interstellar shadow organization that specializes in assassination, infiltration, espionage, surveillance and counter surveillance, amongst other specialized operations including, however, not limited to blackmail, coercion and rumour crafting), MERC Association(a mercenary association fit with the deadliest of mercenaries and infantry contractors across the planet of Mythos, specializing in heavy armour unit assaults, skirmishes, light calvary, ranged specialists and space battles amongst other specialized works) and the Silent Ones(a mysterious group of all-female, nigh-immortal witches who specialize in some form of dark, deathly magics as well as poisons and illusions no one wants to bother. All three organizations had interstellar bases, from what little Blake had read; all of them have some kind of main base deep into space, maybe sectors away, but there regardless.
There's a fourth power — One composed of all of Myakarus' strongest criminals, but they aren't an interstellar power, though.
All of this was something Blake had learned from House Luminaris' Library, from his stay with Celeste and her father, before coming to Mythorus Academy. Of course, their knowledge of the continent itself wasn't the most informative, but it was enough for Blake to know of the basic knowledge of said continent.
The continent itself was lawless and full of criminal activity — That is why it was a perfect haven for criminals on the run from the authorities of the Great Houses. Not to mention, the desert beasts that thrive in the heated sand of the Great Sahara of Myakarus are inanely more dangerous than a majority of the beasts that lurk on the continent of Mythos. It may be the smallest continent on the planet, but it still covers more land than 4x the landmass of Europe positioned directly beside one another.
The last stretch of land on Planet Mythos is the third continent — the 'Great Swamps,' as it has been nicknamed. Its true name is the continent of 'Murkassia'. It is a supercontinent of swamps and vile monstrous beasts that lurk its everexpansive, murky depths. Not only is it easily the second deadliest and most untamable land, but it is also the most unpredictable. The second largest landmass on Planet Mythos, it is greater in size than Africa and Australia combined by 2 times. It has a higher number of legendary beasts, some of which are rumoured to be descended from godbeasts. No one messes with this continent, not even the Great Houses; the beasts rule it. It wasn't called the 'Land of the Beasts,' for no reason.
All in all, Blake knew that the Central Continent of Mythos was easily the biggest of the three continents, almost 4x the size of Asia and Europe combined and covered in the Dark Forests and its own hidden monsters within it. He knew that the Western Swamp Continent of Murkassia was the second largest on Mythos, with the Desert Continent of Myakarus making the smallest, easily almost the size of Africa.
Each continent had its own thing that made it unique. But, for someone like Coven, all he saw was potential. One day, he intended to turn all the criminals, assassins and mercenaries on Myakarus into his Shadowborne. One day, he'll be the first to conquer the Swamp Continent of Murkassia, turning all the beasts there into his Tainted and Shadow Undead, reinforcing his own strength and power by a tremendous amount.
He knew, however, he needed to get strong enough to handle this first.
It took Blake 3 hours to arrive in the mountainous region of the Dark Forest, where the Lightningwind Mountain Lions dwelled. These mountains were huge, easily surpassing Mt. Everest three times over and then some.
Blake knew that just westward of these mountains, the pack of shadowflame bears dwelled, but he decided he was going to take care of the mountain lions first. He wanted to increase his shadow undead and these lions were perfect specimens to turn.
It was time to go into the lion's den.
Knowing that mountain lions built their dens high up in the mountains, Blake decided to command Eclipse to soar the halfway point of the mountainous slope before landing on a stable platform of land carefully.
De-summoning the shadow sphinx, Blake decided he would trudge the rest of the way by foot, climbing the rest of the mountain by hand if he had to. He didn't want his prey to know he was there until absolutely necessary. Plus, this way, he was able to get in a workout and wait for the Sun to set.
Blake hiked his way up the mountain, towards its summit. It was a steep and arduous journey, and he found himself climbing cliffsides with only his upper strength to progress forward for a big portion of the experience, as he looked for the den. Blake didn't mind, though, as he hardly broke a sweat, even when he'd been climbing for over three hours. His base stamina and strength were monstrous, even for a demigod ranker such as himself, after all.
Finally, after another 2 and a half more hours of climbing and hauling himself up the mountain, Blake sensed the location of the lightningwind mountain lions. Their den was on a flat piece of land at the false summit of the mountain, just a few minutes climb from where Blake was. It was the very top of the mountain —- that was still an hour and a half climbs away.
Using his shadow sense ability, Blake sensed there was something wrong. Tilting his head mid-climb, Blake squinted his gaze upward, in the direction he felt the lions' presences.
'As expected,' he thought to himself. 'There aren't just Tier C beasts here, if at all. No, there's at least five Tier A mountain lions and I'm sensing 1 Tier S beast inside that den, as well. The rest are Tier B.'
Blake hung from the cliff face he was climbing on, not at all uncomfortable or straining in the least. He looked to the horizon; he couldn't see the sunset, as he was hanging on the east side of a western mountain — the sun was setting just beyond the mountain he was climbing on, away from view. He could, however, sense its placement in the sky, or, rather, the growing of night in the sky where it didn't shine, thanks to being a champion of Nyx.
'If I wait until dark, I could use the cover of the night to launch my attack. I'd be empowered by the night itself alongside the darkness around me, giving me basically limitless stamina and shadow energy to work with,' Blake thought, internally plotting as he decided on a plan of action. 'I'll just hang here until dusk, I guess. My stamina is already increasing faster than all this climbing could drain, anyways.'
This high up, it was freezing cold, but Blake was wearing a jacket thick enough to block the winds without affecting his combat ability, thank the gods.
Blake did as he planned. He held onto the cliff face until darkness covered the sky with Nyx's stars. He knew that if he had climbed up the cliff, the lions' supernatural sense of smell would have discovered him immediately. By staying low wind, even if the wind changed direction, he kept himself protected from their radar. And so, he waited until nightfall, where his advantage increased his chances of success by large margins.
Then, 45 minutes later…
"It's time," Blake muttered to himself, noticing the dark, starry sky.
Climbing the rest of the way, Blake wanted to try an experiment, as he pulled himself up onto the false summit. Covering himself in the element of shadows, he noticed dark violet-black wisps of shadows covering his body like a flaming aura, but, instead of a fiery presence, its effect was one that allowed his presence to become concealed. 'That's interesting. One of shadow energy's very purposes is to conceal. I suppose I'll call this new ability…."Conceiling Shadows".'
Deciding that he named the ability flawlessly, Blake decided to test the limits of how effective the skill was.
Summoning Skyron and the shadow wolves, Blake had them initiate the attack, still hidden and cloaked in his shadow energy,
"AWHOOO!" Skyron howled, his challenging howl garnering the attention of the patrolling lions and even the lions that were sleeping within and around the entrance of their den.
Blake watched from afar, as the golden mountain lions, each the size of a car, exited the den, and the ones patrolling were already preparing to charge at the intruder. Razorsharo claws and fangs the size of daggers, these beasts were not to be trifled with. Their fur, thicker than your average lion, stood resistant to the high altitude winds, stood bristled by Skyron's challenging pack and howls.
And, just as Blake predicted, there was indeed a Tier S mountain lion amongst the lions within the den, specifically a mid-level Tier S lion as the head of this den of lions. It was bigger than its brethren. It was at least 9 feet tall, with even thicker golden-brown fur than that of its lesser lion brothers, its eyes wide and dilated, a golden-bronze, and its aura unfathomably powerful, even for its rank. Lightning seemed to crackle from its eyes and body, similar to its brethren, but much more pronounced and powerful, and the wind itself seemed to radiate from this beast, causing Blake to cover his face as the beast gave its answer growl to Skyron's challenge.
"GROWWLLL!" the beast growled back, fur sticking up, prickling on its end. It wasn't sure who this strange pack of wolves were, what faction they belonged to or where they came from, but it knew a predator's challenge when it heard one. 'How dare this strange pack of mutts challenge him and his den of supreme mountain lions?' it thought, feeling wraithful. ' A lion doesn't submit to a dog. They must all be reminded of their place. He'll be happy to lead the charge to do just that.'
Blake had used his Soul Read on the lion king, picking up on all these thoughts and feelings, as it charged towards Skyron. Its thoughts and feelings of superiority would be its downfall, of that, Blake was certain.
As the wolves charged forward, the pride of mountain lions also charged forward from their side, led by leaders at the Low and Mid levels of Tier S ranks respectively, Blake watched as both sides, both pretty evenly numbered, collided in a deadly clash of claws and fangs.
The mountain lions used wind element to boosts their speeds, adding their lightning attributes to their claws and fangs as they met the shadow wolves head on. The volts of electricity in their attacks had a stun effect as well as lightning damage to muscles and organs. Against any other opponent, these attacks would have proven fatal, allowing stunned and damaged prey to helpless spasm while they're being eaten alive. Such power combined with the sheer numbers of mountain lions, no wonder they needed culling —- Not many would be able to hold against such dominion; it pretty much equated to a deadly, victorious outcome 9 times out of 10, especially against any other opponent.
Unfortunately for them, Blake 's shadow wolves weren't just any other opponents. They were shadow undead; they didn't tire, nor knew fear or even had muscles to shock or injure — They were shadows given form. They used the shadow around them as well as within them to boost their own speed, evading the golden lightning empowered claws of the lions before them, choosing instead to camp down their fangs into the flesh of their opponents with the squelching sound of flesh being actively ripped into sounded loud for all to hear.
Skyron and the leader mountain lion crossed beams — Skyron, using a stellar beam from his own maw; the lion using his lightning breath, also from his own maw. The clash of energy caused a shockwave to ripple of energy to echo outward, completely eviscerating both wolves and lions caught in proximity, on both sides.
The ones that survived could only watch in both awe and horror at their leaders' clash.
Meanwhile, Blake stood back, hidden in shadows, watching the battle from a distance, even as the chilly wind howled past. He was about to step forward to aid his Tainted wolf, when his shadow sense picked up on something inside the cave. Zeroing in his senses to get a much clearer picture, Blake 's eyes widened in surprise. 'This is—.'
Instantly, Blake appeared inside the cave den of the mountain lions, traveling via Shadow Jump. He ignored the three kittens inside, running around blind, deaf and helpless. Still concealed in shadows, Blake could swipe his blade in one swift move if he wanted to kill them, but he held back; they weren't his target. No, his attention was elsewhere.
Near the back of the cave, Blake saw a floating red Dungeon gateway object, radiating red Dungeon energy — only, unlike the one Blake found himself and Celeste stuck in before, this one didn't feel as complete.
'An unopened red Dungeon Gate,' Blake was surprised. 'It wasn't mentioned in the mission parameters and no one's entered it yet… Hmm… Monsters are just as important for monsters and cultivation resources as it is for natural resources and status. Chances are, if the ones who issued this mission knew an unclaimed red Dungeon gateway were here, they would have claimed it and made it known that it was theirs. Or they may not even have issued a mission to begin with, intending to keep such knowledge and resources to themselves. The red Dungeon gateways are, after all, sought after even by higher ranked cultivators.'
As he thought of this, Blake ran a hand across the rough but solid surface of the unopened gate. It was black, like obsidian, with pulsing red with ominous energy. The vortex that would have signified it as a gate hadn't formed yet, but Blake knew what he was looking at was Dungeon gate — It radiated the same energy and power as one, and was the same size as one, too.
'I could leave a shadow clone here…,' Blake thought, thinking of ways to capitalise on this opportunity before others found out about it. 'It could serve to let me know when the gate opens…Or, don't tell me… Can I do that?'
Eyes wide in gleeful realization, their hue suddenly took on a pale white hue with violet undertones as he decided to use a skill he never thought he would use on a literal Dungeon gateway — And a red one, no less!
Blake willed his shadow to extend, rise up and slowly, gradually, swallow the unopened red Dungeon gateway. The process was surreal to watch, like the forming of an eclipse through a pair of protective lenses, but the excitement of what it meant only grew inside Blake until it was complete. And, when it was finished, his shadow returned to normal, the unopened portal gone from the place from which it just was at; Sunken into his Shadow Space, Blake felt it within himself, taking its place in a designated area within his personal inner dimension.
'When it opened, I'll feel it,' Blake thought, satisfied with himself. 'Now I'll have a steady source of resources. The resources of a single red Dungeon gateway is one that even Chaotic rankers fight over. To have one of my own at just Demigod rank…If I do everything right, I could start making immense leaps in cultivation progression and personal wealth. The wait time between successful Dungeon raiding for red Dungeons can be anywhere between 2-4 weeks, but at least now, I can make more shadow undeads, maybe even a few Tainted.'
Contented, Blake decided to explore more of the cave. As he continued onward, something else caught his attention.
There, at the very back of the cave, protected from view , swirling with a faint energy, were flowers — Flowers that bore fruit the size of a plum, with a fragrant scent. There were 9 in total, each radiating auras of immense mana with plum-like, sleek skin that was vibrant in a multitude of colors.
'Cultivation Boosting Plum Fruits? In this end of the Dark Forests?' Blake realized, shocked. 'I read about this at the Luminaris Estate. Supposedly, it can boosts one's cultivation by a single stage of cultivation, so long as one is below Peak Cosmic rank. But they're supposed to be incredibly rare, according to Peter Luminaris' encounter with them in his youth…Or so, that was what his public journals stated in the Luminaris Estate…. And there are 9 here?'
Suddenly, Blake realized that explained how the beasts outside the den had managed to reach Tier A and Tier S so quickly after the issuing of this mission. 'There must've been more! They must;ve eaten them to reach their current rank!' he thought, curiosity peaked at the thought of there being more. Then, something else occurred to him. 'The Shadowflame Bears….don't tell me? Are they also of a similar situation? Reports say that they have been consistently rivalling these Lightningwind Mountain Lions… Do they, too, have treasure boosting their strength?'
An excitement ran through Blake , causing him to shake with anticipation. This was turning out to be a bountiful mission, much more than Blake had initially anticipated it being. And, with the wave of his hand, shadows swallowed the fruit-bearing flowers whole.
Then, turning to the kittens, he repeated the process. 'They'll make excellent familiars, maybe one for Celeste and the others I could sell. Yeah, Celeste will love a kitten, wouldn't she? And those Cultivation Boosting Plum Fruits…there are 9 total, so 4 for me, and 1 for each of my friends… That's fair, right, or am I being selfish? Nah, I'm a just and righteous saint, fair in everything I do,' Blake thought in pride. Then, remembering there was a battle going on outside the cave den, he turned back towards the cave den's entrance, all senses extending outward. 'I wonder how Skyron's doing. Perhaps, I should help him out…?'
Suddenly, Blake reappeared outside the cave den, directly behind a Tier A Mountain Lion before decapitating its head from its body with a single swing of Darkstar. He did the same thing two more times before the enemy forces realized what was going on.
GROWLLL!
The mountain lions nearest to Blake growled in rage at Blake slaughtering 3 of their brethren in seconds. It — and 4 others got into their pouncing position, intending to charge at Blake together.
"Yes, I am a righteous saint," nodded Blake , so deep in his delusions that he barely noticed Skyron was tackled by the leader of the Mountain Lions before getting bit in the neck.
Then, sensing the scents of its young and the scent of the flower fruit treasure it had been guarding for months on end on Blake , charged at the now unconceiled Blake . It then leaped at him.
"I'm such a good person," Blake praised himself as his movements blurred and, while the lion was still mid-air, found Darkstar shoved into the heart of the Mountain Lion, wounding the beast gravely. "I deserve a Nobel Peace Prize."
Then, to the horror of the beasts around him, Blake shoved his fist into the beasts' abdomen, ripping out its Beast core. Then, touching its forehead with his other hand, he used Taint on its dying body. And, as the darkness healed and revitalized it, Blake looked around him, taking note of the 2 surviving Tier A Lightningwing Mountain Lions, he exclaimed "I'll just take your cores. I'm sure you won't mind, right?"
As if understanding his intentions, the remaining two lions tried to turn and run, but shadowy tendrils kept them in place, bound in shadows. And, unrestricted on his end, Blake systematically ripped their cores from their bodies, decapitating them, before resurrecting the Peak level Tier B's that Skyron and his shadow wolves had managed to fell, while storing the Tier A corpses he'd personally just handled in his Shadow Space.
Turning to the now Tainted Lightningwind Mountain Lion, Blake took in its appearance.
Gone was its golden brown fur and, in its place, was a silver-black mountain lion with azure eyes and a body radiating azure blue lightning instead of its previous golden. Roughly the same size as it was before, slightly sleeker, though, it had the aura of a Low Tier S level beast. While its form was evidently formidable and domineering, it had its head bowed. To Blake .
'Master,' its voice said within Blake 's head, startling Blake for a moment. 'May I have a name?'
"It can talk?!" Blake thought outloud, looking at it with a titled head before eyeing Skyron with sudden interest. "Can you?"
'Of course, Master!' the wolf alpha's chippy voice sounded in Blake 's mind, much to Blake 's pleasant surprise.
'That… that is unexpected, but quite appealing,' Blake thought, processing this fact to himself, before shaking his head and looking back to the silver-black mountain lion. It only took him a few seconds to come up with a proper name for this new Tainted. "I shall call you… 'Argento'."
The mountain lion yipped at the naming proclamation, before releasing a deep purring sound, like a contented kitty. 'Thanks, Master!'
Blake walked up to Argento, placing his hand on the big feline's inky silverblack fur, its face soft to the touch , Blake noted, as the big cat began purring deeper, even more content.
Skyron, not to be left out, came up and rubbed Blake 's other side, urging Blake to give him the pats with his other hand, which he did without complaint, rubbing the soft neck and back mane of the wolf before him.
Deciding to take a moment to bask in the comforting presence of his summons, Blake was tempted to lay down on a bundle of the giant feline and just a humungous wolf, though, considering he wanted to finish things sooner, he had hardly anytime to be lax, so he decided against such comforts. He did, however, decide to give his kitty and puppy five minutes of below rubs and behind-the-ear scratches, to which, in response, he got pleased purrs and contented growlings.
Eventually, however, Blake decided it was time to finish the second part of the mission.
Desummoning both Argento and Skyron and the rest of the shadow wolves, Blake summoned Nightwing, climbing atop the winged unicorn. Using its own shadow to form reins, Blake was off in seconds, flying through the air like a jet, heading towards his next objective. He had a mission to complete and the Shadowflame Bears were next on his list…