Bastion and the girls continued their excursion into the depths of the Great Forest, riding atop Steve, the diamond steed. They leapt from one ice platform to the next through the combined effort of Lilia and Pebbles. Every now and then, they had close encounters with the local wildlife.
"Watch out!" Ariel shouted in alarm.
At the peak of their ascent, an alligator the size of a bus burst from the water, its jaws gaping wide as it lunged for Steve's underbelly. It managed to leap from the deep waters and reach their ascent with ease and was about to crush them with its bite.
Diamond Armor!
Steve was suddenly encased in a layer of diamonds, thickening his underbelly and increasing his size just as the alligator snapped its massive jaws around them.
Before they even began their descent, Ariel fired into its mouth through a narrow gap, while Seraphina unleashed Deathflare, blasting a beam of searing heat at its eyes. Pebbles joined in, increasing the weight of Bastion's diamond shell to keep them from being tossed around as the creature thrashed side to side.
The alligator loosened its grip midair, releasing them before they hit the water, having realized from the damage it took that its prey was too powerful to swallow.
Lilia and Pebbles reacted quickly, forming the next platform beneath them as they landed.
"That was close," Ariel said nervously.
"We're fine," Bastion said with a smile. "The only threats to us in this forest are the basilisks."
"Too bad it managed to escape," Seraphina remarked. "It would have made for some nice belts, shoes, and straps."
They continued their journey, facing one ambush after another. The creatures in the swamp were far more territorial than those of the forest.
When night fell, the problem only worsened, as they were constantly attacked throughout the darkness. Fortunately, Akari, Seraphina's phoenix, provided a steady source of light, allowing them to spot any threats as they advanced.
"That's a really thick mist," Ariel noted, staring ahead along their path.
"That isn't mist," Lilia observed. "I don't know what it is, but it's definitely not made of water."
"Those are mosquitoes," Bastion replied.
Ahead of them, a thick black haze hung in the air, blanketing the swamp so densely they could barely make out the trees or the path ahead.
"I've got this," Seraphina said, casting Eternal Flame, radiating heat and light all around her.
They dived into the swarm, incinerating the insects by the billions. Tiny sparks and wisps of smoke erupted all around them as the dark mist met Seraphina's domain. The air was thick with the acrid scent of burning chitin, and a chorus of sizzling and popping filled the night as mosquitoes ignited in flames. Unfortunately, they didn't seem to be giving out any experience.
"Ew," Seraphina shivered, a chill running up her spine. "I hate insects."
"It's a good thing you're a fire mage, then," Bastion said with a chuckle.
Suddenly, a loud buzzing erupted from deeper in the haze along their path.
"I think we're passing through a nest," Lilia noted.
"Good," Seraphina replied. "I don't want to give these things a chance to grow any stronger."
Out of the haze, mosquitoes the size of chairs came flying at them by the thousands. Not only were they massive, but they were also swarming.
Cremation Pulse!
Seraphina unleashed a burst of heat that radiated outward, striking the mosquito swarm that had survived her Eternal Flame and incinerating them to ashes. This time, they were rewarded with some experience.
They slowly made their way deeper into the haze until all they could see was pure darkness, illuminated only by Seraphina's domain. Occasionally, she would unleash blasts of heat to exterminate the peak Apprentice Rank mosquitoes swarming them.
"How's your mana consumption?" Bastion asked.
"I can keep this up for an hour at most," Seraphina replied.
"Don't you have mosquito repellent?" Lilia asked.
"It would wear off in seconds. There are just too many of them."
They pressed deeper until a shrill shriek greeted them, followed by an even louder buzzing in the darkness.
"I think we've reached the heart of the nest," Lilia said.
"Lilia, give us some space to fight," Bastion ordered, unsummoning Steve and Pebbles, which caused them to land on the platform of ice. "Make it extra thick. Ariel, autocannon! Seraphina, increase the frequency of your Cremation Pulse and activate Amplify. Ely, watch our backs and take the boss down if you get the chance."
Out of the darkness emerged a massive Rank 2 mosquito, the queen of the nest. It was the size of a two-story building, its enormous abdomen gleaming red with blood. Surrounding it were hundreds of Rank 1 mosquitoes, each the size of a bed. They squirmed as they entered the domain of the Eternal Flame, but were otherwise unharmed.
They wasted no time and charged in formation, only to be disintegrated by Seraphina's Cremation Pulse, empowered by her constant use of Eternal Flame. To boost her damage even further, she activated Amplify, increasing her skill's damage while draining her stamina. With that, the first wave of Rank 1 mosquitoes was obliterated in an instant.
The queen vomited blood onto the ice, bathing its soldiers in the liquid before they charged forward again. This time, they survived multiple blasts of Cremation Pulse as they advanced.
"Open fire!" Bastion commanded.
Ariel and Bastion unleashed their autocannons, frozen to the ice platform, raining bullets at 6,000 rounds per minute. The soldiers were torn to shreds, the queen's abdomen, torso, and head riddled with holes, and the attackers were wiped out in less than ten seconds.
Lilia continued creating solid ground, while Elyra remained in Bastion's shadow. The fight began and ended in mere seconds.
With the defeat of the queen, the dense black haze surrounding the group thinned and scattered across the swamp, no longer under the creature's control. Sunlight poured in, revealing that it was already morning. They simply hadn't noticed through the oppressive darkness of the haze.
"That was easy," Ariel said, storing her autocannon.
"Like I said, the only threats to us here are the basilisks," Bastion replied, doing the same before calling out, "Status check!"
"Full health, stamina, and mana. I also gained 15 levels," Ariel reported.
"Same here, but I gained 10 levels," Bastion said.
"Same," Elyra added.
"Low mana," Lilia said.
"Depleted mana, and I gained a level. Raising from Rank 2 to Rank 3 is going to be a pain," Seraphina remarked.
That put Ariel at level 115, Bastion, Elyra, and Lilia at level 130, and Seraphina at level 203.
Ariel put her status points into Wisdom, bringing it to 19 so she could achieve sustained flight. Bastion also added points to Wisdom, raising it to 96.5, and planned to max it out before focusing on Vitality. Elyra and Lilia did the same with their respective stats, Elyra increasing Strength to 78.5 before planning to shift to Dexterity, while Lilia raised Intelligence to 81 before moving on to Wisdom.
As for Seraphina, she didn't receive status points, since she wasn't Rank 2 yet. She would have to rank up before gaining them.
The group decided to rest for an hour, taking advantage of the empty surroundings. The mosquito swarm had cleared the entire area of threats since it was close to their nest.
Seraphina and Lilia smoked mana leaf to recover their mana. Ariel admired her autocannon, proud that it had managed to tear through Rank 1 and Rank 2 enemies with ease. Bastion kept watch with Pebbles, making sure they were resting on solid ground.
Meanwhile, Elyra harvested what little she could from the swarm. There wasn't much to gather since the insects only fed on blood, but the queen carried a Rank 2 mana stone, a huge windfall for their group.
"I'll be taking that," Seraphina said, grabbing the mana stone from Elyra. "I need it for a powerful potion."
"What kind?" Bastion asked.
He hadn't forgotten that Seraphina had received the Codex of Alchemical Arts as her reward for defeating the Demon Lord. He didn't know what was inside, it wasn't his field, but whatever it contained had to be valuable.
"The kind that would let a Rank 1 fight a Rank 3," Seraphina replied. "It comes with some nasty side effects, but if it keeps us alive, it's worth it."
Once they were fully restored, Bastion summoned Steve and Pebbles, and they continued their journey through the Great Forest's swamp.
Along the way, Seraphina kept forcing the group to stop and gather every rare ingredient she spotted, slowing their progress to a crawl. Unlike in the forest, where splitting up wasn't much of a risk, the swamp demanded they stay close.
They harvested flowers, stripped bark from trees, scraped moss off stones, and even collected poisonous frogs and leeches. Seraphina called them "materials." Ariel called them death traps, and she wasn't wrong. If any of them had tried harvesting those things themselves, they would've died without Seraphina's antidotes. The only exception was Bastion, thanks to his extremely high resistance to toxins and other bodily status effects.
As they continued their journey, Seraphina suddenly screamed through their masks' telepathic link.
"WAIT! Go back! I found the last ingredient for my potion!"
"Where? What is it?" Bastion asked.
Seraphina pointed to a spot behind them and fired a Fire Bolt at what appeared to be an unremarkable boulder. The blast hit, and the "rock" quaked before toppling off the massive creature beneath it.
It stood 10 meters tall, with skin the color of rotting moss and covered in open sores that leaked a viscous, yellow-green fluid. Each labored breath released a visible cloud of toxic miasma that made the air shimmer. Patches of fungal growth clung to its limbs like armor, and its eyes burned faintly red, unfocused.
"It's a Rank 3 plague troll," Seraphina said brightly, as if she'd just found a rare flower.
"Now, go fetch its heart for me, hubby!"
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