Rei, Avi, and Keo walked as far away as possible from the cave. "So… uh… how are we going to beat that thing?" Asked Rei. "All I care about is taking a bath, I'm all slimy!" Avi whined. Keo looked at one of his scrolls and found something interesting that he had written down the previous night. It was yet another map of the human brain, yet this time, it had the entirety of the Cortex Marshes mapped. The entire region of the Cortex Marshes was, in fact, a brain.
"That's crazy…" Rei was astounded at this information. Keo looked at his newly drawn map. "Remember that cave with those little guys that gave us headaches? They channel neural power from the environment. We could see an immense power boost if we could do the same. Albeit only when we're in the marshes. Still, this could allow us to stand up to the Shade and claim the artifact." Keo then pulled out another scroll with another map, which he seemingly made out of thin air.
"If we go west from here, we should find a pedestal with a strange object. With this object, we can augment it into our brains and channel power from the environment." Keo said. "How did you figure that out so quickly!?" Asked Rei. "I didn't. I've known about it for a while, but I chose not to say anything unless we needed it," Keo responded.
Avi was busy attempting to clean herself. She was trying to use the swamp water to wash the goop off. It only made her more of a"mess. “Before we do ANYTHING… do you guys have any way I can clean myself?" she asked. “Here, you can have water from my canteen, feel free to use it all, but we would then be on a time limit. No water means no survival." Keo said. Avi put a dull expression on her face. "So, my being covered in slime is limiting our survival chances? Eh, hand it over." Avi snatched Keo's canteen and dumped herself with every last drop of water. The slime was washed off her. "Glad we got that over with… now let's get movin' don't say anything about being t"irsty…” Rei said.
The three began walking west, and they found a small structure after wandering too far. It was made of grey stone, with orange moss coating it. The moss was grown in the pattern of a neural system. Housed in the structure was a pedestal, which held an item. Rei picked it up and looked at it. "Is this the thing that will let us augment our brainpower? That was surprisingly easy to find… nothing is here to s"op us!” A flying, swamp-like, archaic creature descended from above the structure. "Spoke too soon… Welp, let's test this out." Rei tossed the air, spun around, and caught it. "Let's see what this thing can do! Brain augment… ACTIVATE!!" He yelled. His voice echoed loudly and caused the creature to flinch. "Way to boost your ego… You didn't have to be so extreme about it…” Keo said.
"Eh, just take some of the power, let's test this augmen out!” Rei channeled some more power and directed it to Avi and Keo. The two were powered up. "Why do I feel… so… smart…?" Avi said. "The power is enhancing your brainpower. Person, don't I don't feel much different, but it makes sense why you feel s" after…” Keo said. "Hey!!" Avi stomped her foot on the ground. A shockwave appeared around her, causing the enemy creature to flinch once. “Alright, let's take care of this guy...!” Rei cut through the beast, while Keo shot arrows at it. Avi also slashed through the enemy. Their power was amplified, and the beast was swiftly defeated. "That was pretty cool…! I think we have an advantage now… let's go destroy that S"had!” Rei said, holding up his sword.
The group returned to the cave where the Shade was located. Rei channeled more energy and used his sword to slice open the rocks blocking the way. They entered the cave. It was extremely dark, almost like the Shade had darkened the environment. "Where is it…? Oh, there it is." Rei said as a giant sword swung towards him. He jumped, dodged, and attacked back. The armor on the Shade became slightly chipped, and the impact echoed in the environment.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
The three entered battle. “So! We must break that armor, and the Shade will be fully vulnerable!" Rei yelled. He began chipping away at the enemy's armor. Avi deflected several arrows with her sword while Keo fired arrows at the areas where the enemy's armor was chipped. The enemy launched several colorful and dark attacks at Rei's group. Balls, beams, strikes, sword swipes, arrow volleys, name it all. With the combined brainpower in the environment, dodging was relatively easy. "Ow!! Wait… that didn't hurt so bad…” Avi said. Even after being struck, the damage was not intense, breaking the armor covering one Shade's arm-like appendages.
Rei jumped for the vulnerable area and tried to strike it. Right before his blade reached, the vulnerable area receded and hid inside the rest of the armor. “Guess we need to break ALL the armor, and then it should be easy from here…!” Rei yelled. The three continued their attacks. Avi broke the armor covering the legs, Keo broke the armor covering the head, and Rei broke the armor covering the other arm. Every time a piece of armor was destroyed, the enemy would shrink. Once all the armor was destroyed, the enemy returned to its ball shape that it had previously had. It started shooting colorful beams in every direction at a relatively quick pace. “It's in its desperation now, our chance!” Rei yelled, running towards the Shade. "Desperation phase, what is he going on about…” Avi was confused. She proceeded to run forward and attack the Shade. Keo fired arrows from behind.
The beam fire slowed down as the Shade was weakened. Rei landed the final blow, and the Shade began pulsating. It doubled in size, and then exploded, leaving a thin mist of darkness. A quiet "clink!" could be heard. Rei ran towards the location of the sound, following the colorful light that was also visible, and picked up the newly revealed artifact. The dark mist receded.
Rei looked up in excitement again, while Avi smiled, and Keo checked off something on one of his scrolls. “And that's another artifact for us! 2 down… 5 to go!" Avi said gleefully. “No fanfare… huh… no sages here to greet us…?” Rei expected a sage to congratulate him on his accomplishment, but a rich natural environment was home to no sage. The artifact was hidden in this location and left for a long time.
How did Ardonous locate it… and what does he have planned next…? Rei and co. began their long journey back to Avindors' Wake…
"My lord… I must ask that you send me to confront these fools on their next journey…" Avshordus entered Ardonous' lair. "Why so… Those 'heroes' are already dead… aren't they? My power wouldn't fail me at a time like this, would it…?” Ardonous said, smiling. He gripped his sword and put out some energy from it, releasing it into the air. A tremor could be felt. "Well… you're wrong… the heroes managed to defeat your creation. They used the environment of the Cortex Marshes to… achieve victory… and claim the second artifact… Please… let me plan your next move, all this killing must make you"tired…” Avshordus asked, channeling some energy. A sinister grin appeared on Ardonous' face—Aha, don't. Don’t worry, you'll get your chance… in fact, how about we confront them at their next destination, the Scorchsand Dunes.
I am sending you to the artifact's location, which I have been supplied with intel. I ask you to guard it and dispatch the heroes when they inevitably arrive," Ardonous said. Avshordus was confused. “But… why not strike them in celebration, or when they are on the way to the next artifact… why wait…?" He said. "Do not worry, Avshordus, all of this will work out. I have something in mind that will bring these pitiful humans to their lowest point… Begone, Avshordus! Do not fail me!" Ardonous sent Avshordus off. "Fools… these FOOLS think they can stop me… nothing can stop me, nor can they ease the raging storm in the sky!" Ardonous vanished.
“Just as no one can ease the tempest that rages in my suffering heart…”
“Marlon… you're late, did something happen…?" My father caught me sneaking out of the castle; getting to you after that wasn't easy." "I was afraid I wouldn't arrive. After all, I just met you…" "That is strange… You know what I am, where I am from, and my capabilities, yet you still pursue me…?" "I don't care what you are… I just wanted to see you… Is that… so wrong?" "No. No, of course not. After, I wouldn't have tried to sneak out if I wanted to see you" too." "Marlon, do you mind if I sit next to you?" "Please do, Amani, let us return to our conversation, I must know more about you…"
