Aster Fall, Ch 42: Hunting the First Layer (Patreon)

The storeroom closed behind him with a resonant hum as the earth flowed back in, sealing over the entrance and restoring the unblemished appearance of the keystone. The three moons settled back into their positions and went dark.

The ice wall he’d created was still there, but his awareness swept out past it as he scanned the square, checking for visitors. There wasn’t anything at first except for the snow and wind, until he pushed out farther. Just on the edge of his range, he saw the first one.

It was one of the crystalline serpents that the Guardian Star had pointed out to him, its body nearly thirty feet long with pale white, translucent scales that reflected the colors around it. It looked like a moving ice sculpture twisting its way around the buildings and over the fallen stones.

Hoarfrost Serpent. Level 67.

Behind it, there were two more of them at Level 65 and 68. A moment later, they moved beyond the range of Crystal Focus, gliding over the snow as pale blue tongues hissed out of their mouths, but it looked like they were heading behind a building.

Scanning.

The Guardian Star spoke up without his encouragement, flickering energy flying away from it.

When they’d scanned the area from the storeroom, it had looked like some of the monsters were on the move. Now, that was confirmed.

Five monsters are within four hundred feet. The average level is 64. They appear to be moving into an ambush position on the opposite side of the square.

The star’s voice held a warning, and he could feel the sense of building threat from all around him. He’d spent about two hours down in the storeroom, which had been a risk. It seemed they’d discovered his barrier while he’d been inside.

He was by himself and should be cautious, but what he felt the most was a desire to stretch his muscles and let his essence out.

Five prepared enemies near the same level as him might be a difficult fight, even with his bracer and auras, but a crackling fierceness flared through him at the idea. It was the desire to tear his enemies apart with his bare hands.

He didn’t push it down. Instead, he drew on that feeling, letting it fill his muscles as he activated his battle aura. Crystal flame surged upward around him, spiraling as it extended his talons and formed into a rippling cloak.

“An ambush...” he growled as he considered what that meant. “Something must have set that up. So either one of these monsters is intelligent or there’s another group behind them, like the Icebloods, who noticed something here.”

Their awareness of what was happening in the ruins was better than he’d thought, but the arrival of new forces didn’t change his mind about dealing with them. The desire for battle was surging through his blood, but his mind was clear.

It was dangerous to run straight into an ambush, and that wasn’t his plan. He’d fight the monsters, but he’d do it on his terms. Since they were planning to ambush him, he’d come in from where they didn’t expect it.

“Let them try. This way, I won’t have to hunt them down later.”

---

He left the ice wall up to conceal his movements as he pulled the swirling snow more closely around it. He couldn’t hide the ice wall from sight, but he could make sure that it drew attention.

He poured his essence out into the snow, binding more of it to his will. If anyone were looking at it with their senses, it would be blindingly obvious with the amount of essence in it. Hopefully, it would distract the serpents and whatever else might be watching him.

At the same time, he used the fluctuations from the snow to conceal his activities as he gradually thinned out a small section of the ice wall to create a tunnel. Once it was ready, he slipped out. He drew the snowstorm close as he glided away, keeping the ice wall between him and the monsters.

Once he was out of the square, he darted behind a building and began moving in a large circle to the side. Behind him, the snowstorm began to die down, but the snow continued to fall, as it always did here.

Four hundred feet ahead, thirty to your left. Three Hoarfrost Serpents are hiding around the corner and two Ebonstreak Hunters are on the roof of the abandoned workshop across the street.

The Guardian Star marked out the position of the monsters in front of him. They were out of range of Crystal Focus, which meant he couldn’t get a good feel for their auras or strength, but it was useful to know their positions.

He sped between two buildings and then scaled the side of a third as he approached the monsters, his talons digging in to grip at the edges of loose stones. When he was on the roof, he flattened himself down against the stones and peered over a ledge to see what he was dealing with.

The Hoarfrost Serpents were on the edge of Crystal Focus, about eighty feet away from him, but the Ebonstreak Hunters were too distant. He had a moment to observe the forms of the giant ice snakes before he needed to move again.

They were much larger than the Diamondfang Ice Vipers and their scales radiated a chilling cold into the area around them, turning the snow a pale, fragile white that shattered into dust as their tails twitched. The wall next to them was coated in white frost. Perhaps that was where they got their name.

They were coiled up behind the wall in tight balls with their wedge-shaped heads protruding from the top and only the thin, translucent tips of their tail from the bottom. Their eyes were vertical white slits with a sliver of blue at the center.

The serpents radiated Ice, but their hoarfrost wasn’t a familiar or pleasant type. It was a version that hated other elements and all forms of life, with nothing but the desire to destroy. Something about it was warped and unnatural, and deeply unpleasant.

The Bounty Hunter trait he’d gained from killing the basilisk was also letting him know that the monsters were only half native to Aster Fall. They felt slightly out of place: not as much as an Outsider, but definitely not something that fully belonged.

He knew what his father would say, which was to avoid the fight unless he had no other choice, but the monsters were planning to ambush him.

That made it personal.

There was also the question of what was behind them or if they were acting alone. Whatever the reason they’d come here, it didn’t bode well. He needed to clear as many of these monsters out of the first layer as possible before something worse appeared.

The worst thing of all would be if an entire army of them found him. If that happened, he would either have to abandon the first layer or try to retreat to the storeroom or central plateau.

What it boiled down to was a choice between being active and eliminating his enemies or being passive and running from them, hoping that they wouldn’t find him. Unfortunately for the Hoarfrost Serpents, he wasn’t in the mood to run.

The snow exploded beneath his feet as he jumped upward, racing across the roof. His battle aura flared around him as a Starfire began to form in his left hand. A swirl of condensed crystal flame covered his right hand, flowing along his talons.

He leapt from that roof to another, turning to the side just enough to hurl the Starfire spell toward the serpents, and then he was moving again, pulling the snow around him in a concealing curtain as he sprinted across that roof and leapt to another.

The explosion of the Starfire shook the surroundings, blasting upward in a fountain of sapphire crystal flame and burning astral light, but his view of it was blocked by the ruins as he leapt from one point to another, circling around.

It took only seconds for the blast to start to fade, leaving behind an echoing explosion that rolled through the ruins like thunder. If there was anything else nearby, it had just been alerted to a battle, but he ignored that thought as he leapt one more time off of the roof he was on, slamming into the ground with resonant impact as he bent his knees and let the snow and his battle aura absorb the force.

He was directly behind where the Hoarfrost Serpents had been coiled up now. The Starfire had scattered them, throwing them backwards where they slithered to shelter around the corner of the building, but it hadn’t been targeted enough to do real damage.

Now, they had surged forward to attack. The three serpents whipped forward as white frost exploded around them, their thirty-foot-long bodies uncoiling in a flash as they searched for the enemy to the front.

A second Starfire appeared in his hand as he followed up on the distraction. It shot between the serpents like a flickering, blue-white harbinger of destruction, its light reflecting from the snow. The spell flew ahead of the serpents and exploded right in front of them. A wave of brilliant flame lifted them from the ground, tossing them backward as they writhed, trying to coil into defensive balls.

He didn’t give them the chance. An Essence Shield wrapped around the area behind the serpents, slamming them back down toward the center of the blast and the flames. Then he was there, his talons lengthening as he bared his fangs in a growl and sprinted through the firestorm and slashed at the coils in front of him.

Pale white blood flew as scales shattered and he felt the sizzling bite of their hoarfrost lashing back at him. The head of one of the vipers flew away down the alley as he changed targets and raced toward another before it could coil up.

He cut long slashes down its scales, causing it to rear into the air with a high-pitched hissss as it curved its body and struck down at him. With a third of its body in the air, it was much taller than he was.

Its mouth shot toward him with two white fangs bared, each of them as long as his arm. Pale, dense scales lined the edges of its jaw and alabaster teeth ridges were visible inside its mouth.

Its head slammed into an Essence Shield that was angled to the left and Sam snarled as he darted underneath it, his aura brightening as he tore four long gashes through its scales, eviscerating it.

Gouts of pale white blood poured out of the serpent in a torrent, exploding into acrid smoke as it collided with his aura, and then a massive weight slammed into his back, tearing him from the ground.

He was flung into the air, spiraling out of control as he flew toward the wall of a building. A surge of crystal flame blasted outward from him, pushing against the air currents, but it only redirected him slightly.

All he could do was harden his aura and gather an Essence Shield around him as he slammed into the stone. A blinding crackle of pain echoed through his bones like an enormous drum and the world flared with blue-white light. The Essence Shield shattered into shards.

His eyesight blurred, but Crystal Focus was active as he snarled. He evaded, pushing away from the wall with a surge of flames as he circled back toward the serpent that had hit him from behind.

At that moment, it was racing toward him, its head rearing back to bite. He gathered himself, crouching down slightly to launch himself toward it, but at the last moment, he caught sight of something else in Crystal Focus.

He threw himself to the side instead, rolling across the ground as he wrapped a shield around him. The area where he’d just been standing was consumed in a blast of ebony flames that ate away at the snow, corroding it rather than burning.

Another streak of the same fire shot toward him from a different angle, and he threw himself to the side again, gathering crystal flame beneath his feet as he stabilized himself.

Two dark forms were floating above the street, their wings outstretched. They were a weirdly twisted amalgamation of things, with faces like a bat, wings that ended in hooked claws, a thick ruff of dark fur around their necks, and a body that was a twisted, thin rail, as if it had never fully developed.

Ebonstreak Hunter, Level 64.

Ebonstreak Hunter, Level 62.

The two hunters wrapped their wings and dove, heading for him as two more balls of corrosive flames formed in their mouths. At the same time, the last serpent was heading straight for him again.

This time, it was accompanied by a swirling white cloud of hoarfrost. The serpent opened its mouth, hissing, and a pale white frost bolt flared toward him. The tip of it was coated in a white glaze like the venom on its fangs.

Sam slammed his hand into the ground, using the force of the blow to redirect his fall as he pulled more crystal flame around him, gathering it around his feet. Then he leapt to the side, darting out of the path of the frost bolt as he summoned a wave of crystal flame arrows.

“Enough,” he growled as he reached out all around him to the snow.

With a surge of will, he pulled at the snow and winds around the Ebonstreak Hunters at the same time as he released the crystal flame arrows. The arrows tore through the air with sizzling speed.

The hunters tried to evade, but the snow pressed tightly around them, trapping them in place. A moment later, their fragile bodies exploded as the storm of arrows blasted through them.

A surge of ecstatic conquest rushed through him, but the attack had delayed him. The Hoarfrost Serpent slammed into him from behind, its fangs slashing down toward his neck and chest.

Sam growled as the coils wrapped around him. The fangs slashed across him as his aura exploded.

A curtain of crystal flame blasted outward, tearing through scales and pale organs as it sliced along the serpent’s long body.

There was a moment frozen in time as the serpent struggled to drive its fangs deeper and Sam’s attack cut through it at the same instant.

Then the world began to move again, as the serpent fell apart in half a dozen chunks and the pressure around Sam dissipated.

He staggered as he dropped back to the ground and reached into his storage. He pulled out four basic auras and combusted them all as he looked around the area.

That fight had been foolish, but there was a delighted satisfaction roaring through him that told him it had been worthwhile. It was like stretching a long unused muscle that had become cramped, and now it was humming with power.

He could feel a biting frost from the serpent’s venom tearing at him, so he poured crystal flame toward it, burning it away. Then he pulled a healing scroll from his belt and activated it, feeling the different burn of the healing magic boil through him.

He spent a few minutes collecting the experience and auras, as well as some of the scales and fangs, and then he ghosted away through the snow, searching for another target.

---

Hours passed as Sam hunted his way through the first layer. Some of the fights were quick ambushes and well planned layers of magic and manipulated elements.

Others were savage blood contests where he tore apart his enemies with his talons and ripped their arms and heads from their bodies. Crystal flame roared around him, burning away both their blood and his. One healing scroll after another crumbled to dust in his hands.

Surges of experience poured into his body, as well as a few new advanced auras, and each time he felt a new level, he threw the attribute points toward whatever felt most necessary.

The fight with the serpents and Ebonstreak Hunters was not the most difficult, but it was the one that felt the most satisfying. There was something about facing a planned ambush and destroying it that brought out a burning delight that dwarfed the other fights.

Half a day later, nearly everything on the first layer was dead, except for the two trios of Icebloods and a few beasts. The Outsiders had sensed the danger and retreated, while the only beasts left were the three strongest on the layer: two Emerald Snow Moths at Level 80 and a giant Ice Centipede at Level 85 that had burrowed away into the packed snow at the edge of the layer.

11 monsters and 25 beasts had died at his hands, with an average level in the mid 60s. His gains were considerable, although the amount of required experience per level was surging into the millions.

As if to remind him, the World Law’s voice resonated in his mind with the latest surge of experience, as he stood above the corpses of two more Ebonstreak Hunters. These two had led him on a long chase before he caught them in an ice storm.

Somehow, the World Law had known he wasn’t in the mood to listen to endless repetitions of experience, and now it summarized everything for him that he’d gained, as his blood started to cool down.

Congratulations, Battlefield Reclaimer. You have used your Class skills to slay your enemies.

You gain 19,900,000 Class experience.

You have gained ten Class levels. You are now a Level 75 Battlefield Reclaimer.

Class Experience: 30,509,990 / 34,500,000

You have gained ten General Levels. You are now Level 75.

Total Experience: 30,542,740 / 34,500,000

You have gained +10 Intelligence, +10 Aura, and have 30 free attribute points to assign.

It was an enormous amount, but it was just barely enough experience to push him to Level 75, which required 30.5 million. Each level from 66 to 70 had required around 1.5 million, and then 71 had required almost two million.

Each level past 71 required another five hundred thousand more than the level before it, and Level 75 to 76 was four million even. He shook his head as he looked at the numbers.

From the 11 beasts, he’d managed to gather five advanced auras, but he’d used up a dozen basic ones. There had been many more beasts here than monsters, unfortunately. He still had a sizable collection of basic auras, but he was down to just a few of each type.

As for the new ones, there were three Auras of Whispering Hoarfrost (Advanced) that came from a second set of Hoarfrost Serpents and now two Auras of Ebon Corrosion (Advanced) that came from the Ebonstreak Hunters in front of him.

He scanned the area for enemies as he finished harvesting resources and then he glided away on the snow, blending into the storm as he looked at his attributes. The levels had brought him up to 161 in both Intelligence and Aura.

After a moment, he assigned four points to Wisdom to bring it to 65, which would maximize his chances to reclaim Advanced auras, and then 10 more points each to Intelligence and Aura, taking them both to 171.

He hesitated over the last six points, but after a moment he assigned them to Charisma, raising it to 37. Along with Wisdom, it was a stat that didn’t receive any bonuses as he gained new essence, and he had a suspicious feeling that it was far more important than he knew.

He also remembered his father’s advice from before, insisting that he’d need Charisma to get along with people.

He continued moving through the snow, heading for a hideout that he’d spotted, as he felt the energy of the attributes changing him, especially Charisma. His features itched slightly as they shifted again and for some reason he felt his mood improving, as he became a little calmer and more optimistic.

That startled him enough that he took a moment to examine the change. Somehow, Charisma was balancing his mood, making everything look a little brighter.

His thoughts were interrupted as the Guardian Star spoke up, drawing his attention away. The star had been extremely useful over the course of the day, scanning the area and tracking enemies for him.

It was only so powerful within the ruins where it had access to the Moonlight Relic's awareness of everything happening, and it was better within the areas that were functioning, but it was incredibly valuable.

Enemies are approaching. It was silent for just an instant as it scanned the area and then it spoke up again. More than twenty monsters are being herded in this direction by the two Iceblood groups, moving up from the second layer. They should arrive within the next hour.

Analysis of the lower layers suggest increased activity among the Outsiders as well. Your actions here have been detected.

Sam pulled his attention away from Charisma as he let the Guardian Star show him where the approaching monsters were coming from. When he saw them, a burning delight spread through him as a dark smile lit up his face. He might be alone, but he’d never felt so free before.

“Then let’s arrange a proper welcome for them.”