Seth trudged up the rocky incline, loose stones crunching softly beneath his boots. The Brown-Peak Mountains stretched around him, sharp peaks and steep slopes shrouded in thin mist, patches of stubborn greenery clinging desperately to the harsh terrain. In the distance, jagged cliffs loomed while drifting clouds dotted the pale sky.

Ahead, Orwen advanced with determined strides, his silver hair and beard catching the sunlight. Twin blades hung at his sides and swayed with each step while his leather armor clung to his broad shoulders. A large, unfazed smile stretched across his face—as if the five-hour caravan ride and the two-hour climb hadn't worn on him in the slightest.

Krystel walked gracefully beside the man, her serene face framed by soft brown curls while her white robe flowed gently around her, and her staff rested firmly in her grasp. On Orwen's other side, Drack's bald head gleamed under the sun, and the man's thick plate armor clanked every time he moved.

Just a few steps behind, Lyria walked with her sleek ebony bow slung across her back and her blond ponytail swaying. Beside her was Professor Reat, who for once wasn't wearing the academy uniform or casual clothes and was instead clad in rune-covered leather armor; his arms hanging loosely around the dark staff on his shoulders, giving him an odd scarecrow-like look.

As they all climbed higher, Seth reached out to Nightmare through Link. 'Do you really think this will work?'

'I have no idea,' the direwolf answered. 'But I trust that overly cheerful man.'

Seth drifted back a little bit, glancing at Orwen's figure ahead. 'He probably thinks Colossus is an Iron beast. I don't know if eggs of higher Tier need more time to hatch. Four days might not be enough.'

Just then, the silver-haired man glanced over his shoulder, his grin flashing. "Make sure to stay close, kid. It'll be easier for us to protect you."

Seth nodded and jogged to catch up with the group, but before he could reach them, the ground beneath his feet trembled. A deep, grinding rumble echoed through the canyon along the mountain ridge as massive shapes burst forth from the earth like ancient titans waking from a long slumber.

Golems. Each the size of a full caravan, their bodies made of jagged stone that glinted with veins of glowing ore. Their arms were thicker than tree trunks, ending in massive fists, and their heads, barely distinguishable from the rest of their boulder-like forms, bore two hollow eye sockets that burned faintly with brown aether.

Seth's core violently stirred in his chest, and he activated Intermediate Identify—only for question marks to fill his vision.

Earthen Sentinel Golem

 

Potential: Silver Tier

Rank: 112 (Mid-Silver)

Affinity: ???

 

Strength: ???

Arcane Power: ???

Toughness: ???

Well Capacity: ???

Agility: ???

Regeneration: ???

"Damn," Seth muttered under his breath, counting a dozen of the Golems nearby. All of them were Mid- or High-Silver.

Drack stepped forward and let out a booming shout, aether rippling through the air and plunging into Golems. All of them turned toward him in perfect synchrony, raising their giant fists.

Orwen turned to Lyria and Professor Reat. "Take one each, I'll handle the others."

The man then darted in with such speed Seth struggled to follow him with his eyes. Air screamed where his blades passed. A Golem's arm was severed in a single slash; another's leg was cleaved from its torso, sending the behemoth crashing to the ground.

In the middle of the horde, Drack stood like an immovable mountain, absorbing brutal blows with his shield as if they were raindrops. The Golems' heavy punches crashed into metal with thunderous impacts, yet the man barely seemed to feel anything—it almost seemed like he needed to yawn.

To the bald man's right, Professor Reat no longer wore a tired expression. He spun his rune-etched staff, unleashing half-moon crescents of fire that shrieked through the valley. The flames struck one of the High-Silver Golems, and a blazing explosion followed. The creature's upper torso turned to molten fragments, and pieces fell. For a moment, it seemed to try to attack Reat, but it then moved in Drack's direction, allowing the professor to land two other Fire spells.

The burst of heat and raw power made Seth's skin prickle and forced him to shield his eyes as the Golem crumbled to the ground in a pile of blazing rocks.

That's the absurd attack power of a Battlemancer, Seth thought, remembering how Devus had compared Nightmare's glass-canon style to the Elementalist's subclass. The man had just taken out a defensive brawler of the same Tier as him in only a dozen seconds.

On the other side, Lyria moved gracefully, drawing her bowstring and loosing arrow after arrow with pinpoint precision. Each shot emitted sharp pulses of aether, striking critical points on her target, a Mid-Silver Golem. Even though she struggled to match the pace at which Professor Reat had killed his, she was about to bring it down without much difficulty.

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Yet, they were both miles behind Orwen.

The man slew all the other Golems with devastating speed, the overwhelming waves of aether from his sword-spells buffeting Seth like a storm wind. A deep hunger surged in his chest as he watched the man.

This… Seth thought, recognizing the same ambitious feeling he had experienced in front of the giant owl in the desert, this is the kind of strength and dominance I want to reach.

The fight ended as Lyria finally pierced the head of her Golem—the last one standing—with an arrow cloaked in swirling wind, causing the massive creature to collapse into a heap of shattered stone.

Krystel raised her hand gently, and a soothing wave of white aether enveloped both Lyria and Drack, visibly easing their fatigue.

Orwen turned toward Seth, flashing a confident grin. "So? Impressed?"

"Yeah," Seth answered, eyeing the piles of rubble scattered around them while his core returned to its dormant state. "If we encounter an Iron one, can I take it? I'd like to fight too."

Orwen laughed heartily, sheathing his blades. "Of course," he began before pausing for a moment, "but since we're heading deeper into the mountains for higher aether density to hatch your egg, we probably won't come across any of that Tier. It'll mainly be Silver ones, and probably a few Golds."

Seth's shoulders dropped. "I see."

After a several-minute break, they resumed their climb.

Professor Reat glanced back at Seth, then slowed his pace until he fell into step beside him. "This expedition isn't really meant for you to fight."

"I know," Seth muttered. "I just wanted to try gaining an attribute or two."

"Attributes aren't the only way to become stronger," Reat answered before reaching into his Endless Pouch and retrieving a dark, leather-bound book.

Its cover was marked with faintly glowing runes, aether gently hovering at its surface like mist. The moment the professor held it to him, Seth took the book carefully. He examined it closely for a moment before activating Intermediate Identify.

Spell and Aether Theory (by Eldric)

Tier: -

Grade: Epic

Seal: - Can only be used by nobles [Broken]

"The director worked hard to allow me to give it to you," Professor Reat explained. "Which is ironic, considering you're actually a noble… but he doesn't know that, of course. Anyways, this is my own copy, so you better take care of it."

Seth's fingers ran over the cover as the professor continued in a more serious tone, "Make sure no one outside of the director or the Champions of Chaos sees you with this. Many of the other Houses didn't actually agree to give it to you."

Seth frowned and looked at the man. "Then why is the director allowing it?"

Expression stoic as always, Professor Reat glanced ahead. "Orwen asked him to. Called in a favor from some past event."

Seth's gaze moved to the Champion of Chaos' leader, the man smiling as always while talking with Krystel. Nightmare's voice echoed through Link, 'He probably wants another potion from that old alchemist, Marcus.'

'Maybe,' Seth replied to the direwolf before turning back to Professor Reat. Getting that book was great, but it could also mean troubles. "If I go to Oskon like they want me to, people might recognize my eyes."

Professor Reat immediately waved off the concern. "Don't worry about that. I'll find a solution before then."

Seth and the Champions of Chaos trekked deeper into the Brown-Peak Mountains for the next several hours; at some point, the aether in the air had begun making Seth's skin tingle. Orwen, Drack, and Krystel handled most of the Golems they encountered, their combined strength easily dispatching the powerful creatures. Professor Reat still fought occasionally, though he barely had the time to slay a single one of them before the others finished theirs, while Lyria remained at the back with Seth, only jumping in when by some miracle they came across a Low- or Mid-Silver one.

With a final, cleaving strike, one of Orwen's shimmering twin blades sheared through a Mid-Gold Golem. The massive creature, easily twice the man's height, shuddered before crumbling into a lifeless heap of rocks, the faint glow in its eye sockets extinguishing like snuffed candles. Orwen lowered his weapons, then crouched down to grab the brown beaststone between the rocks as Krystel gently enveloped both him and Drack in white healing aether.

"How much deeper are we going, Orwen?" the Guardian asked, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his gauntlet.

"Just a little farther," Orwen responded, his eyes narrowing against the sun's glare while sweeping the rugged landscape. "We need to find a good spot. Somewhere the kid can sit and meditate with his egg in peace while we protect him."

"Like a cave?" Lyria suggested, adjusting the bow on her back.

"Exactly." Orwen's gaze locked on a massive rock façade in the distance, then a smile appeared on his lips. "This way."

Seth and the others followed without question, the natural path ahead winding between patches of dry brush and loose stones. After about a dozen minutes of hiking, Seth finally saw it: a dark, shadowed opening nestled at the base of the cliff, like a maw waiting to swallow them whole.

Orwen lifted a hand, bringing the group to an abrupt halt.

Professor Reat's usual calm demeanor shifted while Krystel and Drack exchanged wide-eyed glances, a shared understanding clearly passing between them. "That's the aether print…" the Priest said in a hushed voice.

".. of an Essence," Orwen finished with a broad smile while staring at the cave. "There's definitely one inside."

Seth's breath hitched. Essences. He remembered Professor Storm's lectures—those kinds of resources were incredibly rare, natural wellsprings that pulsed with so much raw aether they warped the environment around them. Wielders sought the locations out so they could train and improve either their manipulation, sensing, or affinities.

Harvesting an Essence severed its connection to the ambient aether and destroyed most of its benefits, so almost no one did it. Instead, those lucky enough to find one kept their locations secret and returned periodically to cultivate.

"Then this cave will be perfect for Seth," Lyria said cheerfully.

Krystel shook her head, concern evident in her expression. "The aether print is Gold-ranked. The Essence's keeper will be a problem."

"The Essence's keeper?" Seth repeated with a frown.

"The beast that rules over the area," Orwen explained as he started walking toward the cave mouth. The man then looked back at Krystel with an unwavering smile. "But no, it won't be a problem."

As if summoned by the man's words, the ground before the cave began to tremble violently. Rock and soil heaved upward, twisting and compacting together as an enormous figure took shape, easily reaching twice the size of the Golems Orwen had taken down earlier.

Its form was vaguely humanoid, but everything about it was rough and crude, made of interlocking slabs of dark stone veined and patterned with faintly glowing quartz. Its head was a blocky outcrop with two deep-set hollows that burned with intense brown aether. Patches of moss and tough mountain shrubs clung to its body like fur, and every step it took made the ground shake. The sheer presence of the thing was immense, radiating ancient, fierce power.

Seth instinctively activated Intermediate Identify.

Earthen Guardian Golem

 

Potential: Gold Tier

Rank: ??? (???)

Affinity: ???

 

Strength: ???

Arcane Power: ???

Toughness: ???

Well Capacity: ???

Agility: ???

Regeneration: ???

Orwen glanced back at the group, the enormous Golem looming behind him. A broad, almost predatory smile split the man's face.

"We just have to kill it."

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