Despite sleeping next to Anchor, Ethan felt strangely rested when he woke up the following morning. His eyes opened. An enormous, silent, black mountain , Anchor covered the whole space.
"Good morning, partner."
The enormous yellow eyes blinked slowly as they focused on Ethan, but the slime remained still.
"All right, a major issue before we engage in combat with a dragon. With a house-sized slime, we are unable to navigate a Level 60 zone. You must be tiny quite little.
Pulling up the party menu, Ethan reviewed Anchor's abilities. Anchor was on her own.
"Aim to concentrate all of your magical energy in the middle of your body". Standing on the chair to meet Anchor's gaze, Ethan gave the order, "Like you're squeezing a giant grape." "Make use of that Intelligence. That's not the hitting power, but the thinking power".
Anchor tried to squeeze. The cheap apartment floor was shaken by the slime's intense vibrations. A tiny piece of plaster dropped from the ceiling.
"Whoa! Not very much! Before the dragon kills us, you're going to evict us?"
Anchor came to a standstill and appeared dejected once more.
"Okay, think about the picture" "You do realize that the entire world caved inward when the camera captured your photo? You must imitate that emotion. Make your body believe it is within the tiny lens.
Anchor tried something new this time. Its surface's purple cracks started to light intensely. A strange suctioning sound, similar to water being drawn out of a sink, began to emerge from the slime.
The enormous, truck-sized slime started to recede slowly, painfully slowly. It was really time-consuming. Ethan felt his ears explode as the pressure in the room decreased.
The slime continued to get smaller. From taking up the entire space, it grew to the size of a big dog. A tiny cat followed. When it reached the size of a soccer ball, it halted, remaining completely black with purple fissures that pulsed.
"Yes! That's fantastic". With a clap, Ethan leaped from the chair. "You succeeded! Try to maintain it that way now".
With a loud WHOOSH, Anchor erupted back to its full, gigantic size after holding the shape for five seconds while quivering a little. The walls of the apartment shook.
"All right, that's okay! Five seconds is the beginning! Try again now. For the teleport, we must hold it."
For the next hour, they practiced. Anchor was learning fast because of that enormous Intelligence number, but the shrinking and expanding were noisy and draining. Anchor was able to maintain the soccer ball shape for a whole minute before being fatigued by the time the sun had risen.
"That's good enough," as he wiped at his sweat. "As soon as we teleport, you remain little. And wait till I tell you to get bigger. Are you prepared to go?
Anchor instantly shrank to the size of a soccer ball and stood beside the door in silence.
After putting the small, silent Anchor under his arm, Ethan walked out of the peaceful apartment. He experienced a tremendous rush of confidence.
He arrived at the Teleport Hub. He could feel the thin, cooling cloth of the Shadow-Weave Jacket and the weight of the Whisper-Step Boots.
He approached the portal control, entered the shimmering column of light, and scanned his Level 60 access pass.
He staggered out onto a stony, icy plain. He was immediately struck by the icy, harsh air that smelled of charred rock and sulfur.
The Crags of Final Light was where he was.
Ash and smoke from volcanoes blocked the sky, making it always gloomy. Everywhere, enormous, angular black mountains sprang into the sky.
[WARNING: EXTREME ZONE DANGER LEVEL] [FROSTBITE is an environmental effect. HP DAMAGE OVER TIME: 5/SECOND]
He snatched up a low-level warming potion and downed it.
He cast a downward glance. Under his arm, Anchor remained a tiny black soccer ball.
"It was successful. Anchor, you're a genius."
He released Anchor down. The tiny black slime immediately concealed itself by rolling swiftly beneath a big, jagged rock.
He tested his new boots by using his Sneak talent and making his way up the rocky incline.
He quickly noticed the first indication of life.
[MOB DETECTED: OBSIDIAN WOLF LVL 55]
The base of the mountain was being patrolled by a pack of five enormous, black, swift wolves with flashing red eyes. They were Level 55, far too powerful for him, but ideal for Anchor to gauge its true power.
Ethan thought with excitement, "Side income." This time, I'm not going to leave money on the table.
"Now, anchor, big size! Choose the one on the left.
With a big, audible WHOOMPH, the soccer ball exploded into its full, gigantic, truck-sized hugeness! The five Level 55 wolves came to a complete stop. Anchor that had suddenly materialized was the focus of their fiery eyes.
The wolves acted without hesitation. They howled in unison, their claws striking the rough ground as they charged.
[OBSIDIAN WOLF ATTACK: 85 CRITICAL HIT]
[OBSIDIAN WOLF ATTACK: 50]
Anchor's HP decreased from 8,000 to 7,865.
Alright, these hurt! Ethan acknowledged the danger. That devastation was too much for Anchor to endure.
"Anchor arcane binding on the central one! The one that struck you hard just now!".
Anchor gave a resonant, high-pitched THUMM! A purple chain of magic emerged and wrapped around the central wolf as the enormous purple energy concentrated.
The Level 55 wolf glowed purple and quickly froze, paralyzed. Now it was an ideal, motionless target.
Temporal Shutter was turned on by Ethan. The world slowed to a crawl. The middle wolf was immobile, while the other four continued to run with their jaws bared.
SNAP!
He made the perfect shot: the central wolf was subdued by high-level magic, Anchor making the damage, and the slime's eyes showed dread. Viral stress alone.
"Now, use the Incantation of Despair on the paralyzed one!"
Anchor made a deep, ominous noise. The bound wolf was struck by a surge of purple energy. The wolf's anguish and terror intensified the attack.
In a cloud of black smoke, the Level 55 wolf disappeared.
[DEFEATED OBSIDIAN WOLF: GAINED 4500 EXP]
Ethan smiled. 4,500 EXP! That was an enormous amount that would seriously make him quickly to reach his next level. His portion was sufficient to justify the effort.
The four wolves who were left were terrified. They dispersed after ceasing to attack Anchor.
"No! "Do not let them go!" "Anchor, bind the one running right!"
A second purple chain shot forth, grabbing the second wolf and freezing it after Anchor struggled a little and used a lot of MP.
The other three wolves turned to attempt to flank Anchor while the second was restrained.
"Temporal Shutter! Now!"
SNAP!
He saw three Level 55 wolves charging Anchor's enormous, motionless body in a clear, horrifying image.
"Incantation of Despair!"
The bound wolf disappeared. [EXP Gained: 4,500]
The three wolves who were left paused. They recognized that this was no normal fight. They couldn't manage the magic they were dealing with. They fled, turning tail.
"Excellent! You win! "Small now, quick!"
Anchor instantly shrank to the size of a soccer ball and took his time. Ethan picked it up. His mind was racing with profit, yet his breathing was heavy.
[ALERT: AWARDING TEMPORARY TITLE]
[GHOST HUNTERS( PARTY TITLE): 10% MORE EXP WHILE KILLING MONSTERS ABOVE LVL 50]
[TIME: GHOST HUNTERS WILL EXPIRE IN 24 HRS]
The Ghost Hunters the name suited to Ethan. He was a ghost pursuing the largest targets in the game, and it felt awesome, risky, and real.
He uploaded the brief, chaotic video footage of the slime battling the wolves as well as the combat images right away. While he worked on the dragon shot, he was aware that this secondary content would produce instant PV. At every opportunity, he was making the most money possible.
With his attention now on the final goal, he ascended for twenty minutes.
He arrived at a high ridge's summit. A huge volcanic valley became seen.
Then he noticed it.
It wasn't concealing itself. It was a huge, haughty, stunning nightmare perched directly atop the tallest peak in the distance.
It was Ember Dragon.
It had massive, ragged wings and scales that resembled molten bronze, making it the size of a jet airplane. Instead of steam, smoke curled off its body. It appeared to be devastating force that was destruction and prideful.
The numbers immediately screamed the threat level when he raised his gaze.
[BOSS MOB DETECTED: ANCIENT EMBER DRAGON LVL 62]
[WARNING: FIRE DAMAGE FIXED]
[ACTION: RETREAT IMMEDIATELY]
The dragon's enormous head rotated slowly. Its bright orange eyes were searching the whole valley instead of focusing on him.
When Ethan realized how impossible what he was trying was, he froze. Level 62. He was gone in a single breath.
He raised the camera carefully. This was an unattainable goal that he had to capture.
As he raised the lens the dragon slowly dropped its neck and opened its massive jaw Its throat started to glow with a deep, unattainable orange light.
The light grew to an atomic level and was pure fire.