Wet rot mixed with copper filled the air of Phantom Valley.
Adonis walked through the thick black water where each foot pulled free with a wet gasp.
Around him were dead trees, stripped bare, reaching up like broken bones against the sky. Bodies floated close to the surface some human-shaped, others animal, many beyond naming stacked onto each other.
Few of the bodies looked like they recently died. Time had softened the rest, swallowed by green fuzz sprouting from their lips, pooling inside hollow skulls.
The stink barely registered. Over time, it started to slide right past him.
A shimmer of light pulled his gaze forward.
And there it stood, on top of the biggest pile of dead bodies is the Phantom's Bloom. Its petals looked like dark glass, rimmed with a sharp blue glow that flickered like live wire. A single slow throb ran through it, steady as a sleeping pulse. Over time, the corpses nearby had melted into each other, forming a thick, reeking platform beneath the plant.
Adonis moved forward and when he got close to the pile of dead bodies, his hand moved forward and grabbed the flower by the stem.
For just an instant, the blue glow surged then the flower disappeared from his hand.
[Phantom Bloom has been added to your inventory]
A blood red interface stayed in his sight. Anyone that glance at his screen would see blue instead, flat and ordinary like all the rest. He was the only one who noticed what changed.
Adonis got up and was about to leave.
A sudden blast erupted from the water just behind him and suddenly this thing heaved up, it was a huge and twisted abomination.
The face of a lion, fire in its throat, while fangs jutted sideways like a wild boar's. From behind, a snake spine coiled tight before snapping into a stinger tip, oozing thick poison. Arms, pale ones, too many fingers splayed wide, scraping upward as if trying to catch sky. Rot clung to chunks of meat slapped between splintered ribs, knotted with dark strands pulsing slow - not quite muscle, not quite rope. It stood there breathing heavy, a mess of parts never meant to move together. Known here as chimera ghoul. Hunted everything else on these flatlands.
A shriek ripped through - sharp as fractured steel, raw as breath giving out.
Adonis did not hesitate.
A hunk of corroded metal formed in his hand - summoned without delay from storage space. Though dented and scarred, it carried weight. It has been through a lot.
The ghoul lunged at adonis.
Adonis slashed his blade upwards without pause. Into it's thick fur it sank, just above the animal's front leg. Dark liquid burst out like ink. A growl ripped from its throat, loud enough to shake reeds.
They circled.
Adonis, slipping past fallen bodies, he flowed forward, his blade cut through air and flesh, then pulled back just before another strike landed. Something sharp scraped along his ribs, tearing fabric and skin beneath. Red seeped out slow and warm. Pain stayed in the background, unattended.
The fight dragged on for over 3 minutes. Fires lit his muscles. Each gasp arrived broken, uneven.
That old sword, worn down by one clash after another, shattered to pieces.
The ghoul twitched, seeing that adonis's sword had broken, it charged towards adonis, it's jaws parting like cracked earth. Adonis, looking at the broken sword, he snarled and threw the chunk of metal hitting the creature's eye, there was a soft crushing sound. Off balance now, the beast wobbled.
Adonis didn't wait. He pushed both of his hands forward. A burst of fire erupted from his hands. A wave of heat tore forward and engulfed the chimera ghoul without pause. Skin darkened, split, curled away. Instead of yielding quietly, tendons broke sharply, one after another. Twisting wildly, the stitched-together creature shrieked midair and the ghoul dropped dead on the wet ground. The Fire was still burning until it faded away. Trunks turned brittle as ash, steam rising off cracked earth - showed the spot where the beast fell. Smoke curled upward long after the fire faded. A haze curled from his fingers as Adonis stayed fixed, breath loud and uneven. His arms trembled slightly under a thin trail of rising vapor.
[Chimera Ghoul defeated]
[EXP +780]
For just a second, he kept his eyes on the blackened remains. Then stillness took over again.
Then he left