Without wasting a moment, he plunged into the steaming pool. The temperature increased instantly, but soon after, it plummeted as the enchantment of his tunic activated and the binding seal followed, amplifying the essence energy consumption.
The only things keeping him afloat were his control and efficiency with essence; his control offered him some protection, mitigating the binding seal's effects. By channeling his essence around his muscles, he managed to diminish the intense heat of the hot spring, thereby conserving energy for his optimal comfort and then with his efficiency for essence,he was able to lower the energy cost of the binding seal.
As he swam upward, he moved with a fast pace —a skill he'd been forced to learn by his sister, who had encouraged him to take up swimming to spend more time together.
Now, he found himself grateful for her insistence, as it proved beneficial during this challenge. It took only a minute or so to reach the pool's edge—not quite two minutes.
Climbing out of the edge, he noticed a significant reduction of his total essence reserve though was already small,still being siphoned away. Pausing briefly, he contemplated dismissing the tunic, realizing the remaining energy was insufficient to sustain its enchantments and the binding seal for much longer.
Ultimately, he chose to delay that decision, wanting first to assess the next area's temperature, as he had only one more use of the runestone and preferred not to waste it prematurely.
Stepping onto the smooth black stone, he approached the horizontal opening and effortlessly slid through, emerging into a much wider space than the cave he had just left. This new opening seemed to lead directly to the surface, albeit from a higher elevation.
The air was cold yet bearable, prompting him to remove the tunic,but wanting to try something,With focused intent, he concentrated on the garment still draped over him, wanting to dismiss it. The tunic gradually vanished, trailing golden lines until only the ancient chieftain robe remained, confirming one of his theories—that he could indeed dismiss an artifact still on him without needing to physically touch it.
While he remained uncertain about the mechanics behind it, he suspected there would be some cost involved, perhaps an essence payment or something more.
Continuing forward, he navigated the uneven rock formations until he reached a towering wall of ice that ascended toward the surface. It appeared he was situated within a vast crevasse, far larger than anything he had previously encountered in Troy.
The only question was how to scale this immense wall. It wasn't a matter of if, but rather how he would achieve it. He resolved to take the most crude and straightforward approach—using his bare hands, or more accurately, his fingers, enhanced with essence controlled by his will. By directing the minuscule amount of essence he had left into his fingertips and utilizing it in his body, the consumption remained minimal. Coupled with his efficiency, this allowed him to conserve essence during the climb.
--+--
Scaling the 500+ foot wall took him about hour. He was aware of its height, because one of the tallest structure in Valerius was 432 feet, and he noted this wall was greater,and higher, though not by a significant margin.
As he finally pulled himself onto solid ground, he felt a wave of relief wash over him. He lay briefly in the snowy floor, the cold air brushing against his body and exposed skin,compared to the oppressive heat he had endured in the cave. Given the choice between the heat and this chill, he would choose the latter a hundred times over.
Rising to his feet, he gazed ahead, away from the crevasse and into the distance.
Expanding his awareness through his king's eyes as he entered new territories had become a subconscious habit. Although it consumed mental energy, it was preferable to the exhausting method of keeping his senses always wide open or not expanding them at all—an oversight he regretted after encountering the noxious gas in the cave.
Instinctively having expanded his senses, he discerned that the area was largely safe. What caught his attention was how his awareness radiated horizontally without encountering any walls, unlike when he had been on the ground level climbing the wall before. This indicated he had climbed above the cavern city below the mountain, which was an encouraging realization. Now, he simply needed continue up to find his way across the terrain and seek an exit.
But before all that he had to address his pressing needs,which he had set aside all prior plans, driven solely by the gnawing hunger making it most for him to hunt.
From his memories of the mountain terrain it was in abundance of goat-like creatures, and that was all he needed to determine his target.
As he trudged through the snow, the biting wind curled around the robe he wore, he remained alert, expanding his senses in search of the perfect opportunity. Eventually, he sensed a disturbance in the distance—two creatures were engaged in a fierce struggle. However, the details remained elusive until he moved closer, as he lacked the ability to distinguish them from afar.
What he could discern was the amount of essence energy contained in their dark forms, and with careful observation, he could categorize them: beasts, monsters, and something beyond.
For the moment, their essence was telling enough—it suggested that they were monsters, creatures which were still above him.
Yet this presented an opportunity in itself; he decided to let them battle until the moment was right for him to intervene. But first, he had to edge closer to fully witness the confrontation.
Cautiously, he approached, and the spectacle before him unfolded as a brutal and grotesque clash between two goat-like creatures, each as large as lions. Both were marred with gruesome injuries, blood pouring from their wounds, but one was clearly worse off than the other. Its horn lay beolen, diminishing its power to retaliate.
The other creature, sharp enough to capitalize on this vulnerability, pressed the attack, knowing that if it could endure, victory would soon be within its grasp.
Unbeknownst to them, a third predator lay in wait, ready to pounce when the time was right; by the time they realized, it would be far too late.
And as predicted, the creature with the broken horn faltered, increasingly battered and unable to mount any counterattack. Attempts to flee had been thwarted, leading it to resign itself to defeat. As it lay there helpless, it watched its assailant gearing up for a final blow, certain that it would not survive the impending onslaught.
Just as the attack was about to land, the attacker suddenly collapsed mid-charge. Confused, the wounded creature sensed its foe's demise, yet struggled to understand what had happened.
Soft sounds began to drift closer, and soon, a peculiar two-legged figure came into view. It didn't seem to acknowledge the goat creature but instead inspected the fallen attacker. After confirming something, the figure straightened and advanced towards him, whispering something inaudible before a blinding light engulfed his vision, swallowing him into darkness... it was death, delivered by this strange being.
Gazing at the lifeless goat-like creature as it continued to bleed, El let out a weary sigh, dismissing his artifact [essence arrow]. He had chosen to strike the first creature, foreseeing that it would be the easier target—and he was right. Now, with the prize at hand, it was merely a matter of cooking the meat to finally satiate his hunger.
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