Imperious 007 - Refinement

The door opened and the world changed around her. She was no longer standing in a steaming hallway filled with the eerie popping of boiling water. Instead, to her amazement, she was standing right outside of an underground forest. Trees so tall they might as well be ancient stretched up towards a ceiling so dark she could barely make it out. The only reason she knew she was still in a cave was the rock wall right behind her. The air was still and chilly with a hint of humidity to add to the discomfort.  The sudden change in temperature was jarring enough to cause her to shiver, rubbing at her arms only to frown at her armor. Right, she thought and looked around. 

“This is… pretty amazing,” she breathed, setting her anger aside for a moment.

Dungeon Mission Alert!

Forest of Blood

You are at the bottom of the food chain. Change that.

Clear Condition: Become the Apex of the outer forest.
Stage 1 Bonus Condition: Slay 10 Creatures (0/10)

Her wonder faded, “Oh, great. It’s full of hungry angry things,” she muttered and peered into the darkness beyond the trees. She couldn’t make anything out immediately though. I can’t see in the dark but my Wraithsight should let me see the critters around here, right? She thought as she approached the trees. She ran her hand over the bark of one of them, the enormous bulk of the plant towering over her like a literal building. You could dig into one of these things and make a house out of it, she thought, rapping her knuckles against the sturdy wood.

She rubbed her neck, Guess I better go further in if I want to clear this place. I’m already beat from everything else though. I’ll keep an eye out for a place to rest, she thought and moved on. The trees themselves, while massive, were spread apart so far that it made the entire space feel even bigger. The undergrowth had enough space that even a thin layer of grass had grown beneath the trees. Weird that there’s no leaves on the ground.

She turned her head and froze. She wasn’t sure how far away it was, but she could see a small wisp of white mist rising and coiling around something in the distance. She hustled over to one of the massive trees and crouched down, leaning over to peer at it from afar. So fuckin’ dark in here, she cursed inwardly before taking a deep breath and rising to her feet again. She slowly made her way around the tree, keeping the wisp in sight. Invisible, invisible, invisible, she repeated like a mantra. It had worked before.

As she moved, a thought crossed her mind.

Didn’t that bony asshole say something about my presence appearing out of nowhere or something? Is that what I’m doing? I have a presence stat, what if… she frowned and shook the thought off, Focus or you’re gonna end up dead, Flitt.

She passed another tree, going further into the mammoth subterranean forest and spotted her prey. It was some kind of deer, it looked like one anyway. The big difference was that its fur was thick and long and the tiny horns on its forehead also appeared down the back of its head and neck. Otherwise, it was pretty normal, standing there and eating some of the grass in peace.

Young Stygian Buck - Level 1

Her lip twitched, It’s… kinda cute?

Then she spotted another clump of white mist out of the corner of her eye. She looked up and pressed herself closer to the tree. In one of the trees a large form was sitting patiently, observing the buck. Occasionally it shifted its stance in a way that made her think of a house-cat waiting to pounce. She squinted at it and made out the tail flicking beneath its hiding spot.

Stygian Prowler - Level 3

It pounced.

One moment the buck was alive and well, enjoying its quiet meal. The next there was a brown, three foot long cat on its back, fangs digging into its throat as claws scratched at its belly. It took a matter of seconds for the fuzzy creature to collapse beneath the onslaught. The Prowler stepped off of its prey and circled around it once, snuffing at the air before turning back and digging in. Anna’s face twisted in disgust for a moment before she schooled herself. Get used to it, probably gonna see more like it, she reminded herself and slowly rose to her feet.

That was when the prowler began to rumble, letting out a low growl that at first she thought was a warning to her. Then she saw something faint but luminous draw into the beast from its prey. Her mouth opened a little in shock and she tilted her head, Is that… essence? Is it taking the buck’s essence? Does that mean monsters can level up too? She rolled her eyes, Of course they can, why not?

She pressed her lips together, I’m surprised it hasn’t noticed me yet. Can it not smell me? She thought and a worried flutter rose up in her gut. She hesitated, Oh right, stealth skill! How do I… She felt a faint tingle wash over her and shifted slightly, running her hand against the tree. The sound was muffled but barely. Really cool, she thought with a smile before turning back to the feasting monster, I hope it's enough.

She slipped out from behind the tree, taking one slow step after another towards the beast as it continued its feasting. She adjusted her grip on her crowbar and slowly brought it over her head. She could smell the blood now, thick enough in the air to almost make her gag. She concentrated on her footsteps to distract herself, looking for twigs and sticks that might accidentally alert the creature to her presence. The prowler just kept eating though, up until she was standing right behind it.

It froze, snuffed the air once, and she brought her crowbar down on its head.

The initial blow sent the prowler staggering as it stumbled to try to get some distance between her and itself. Anna couldn’t let that happen. Her face set in a determined grimace she lunged after it, tackling it with her shoulder before scrambling to a knee and striking it again. It howled only for another blow to take it in the jaw. It collapsed.

Anna made short work of it after that.

“Ugh,” she grunted and tapped the beaten creature with her foot, “That’s one.”

It turned into stinky loot smoke and she backed away, covering her mouth.

You have received: 15 Iron Coins and 36 Essence Points plus an additional 1 Essence Point that had not been refined by Stygian Prowler. 

Please Note: You have enough Essence to level up. Your gained essence will be affected by your estimated level rather than your current level.

Anna regarded the windows thoughtfully. Okay, so there’s actually nothing inherently wrong with having more essence than necessary to level up, It’s not going to hurt me except that I’m not a level higher, she reasoned and glanced at her own stats. Indeed, her essence had risen to 292 of 250. She rubbed her chin, ‘Not been refined’. Essence needs to be refined? Is that how you level up?

[Access Denied]

She frowned, “I get it, jackass,” she grumbled.

She looked back down at the white dust remains and thought about it a bit longer, So if I find another beast like this in the middle of a hunt, then follow it until it refines its essence. Maybe I can figure out what it’s doing.

She nodded, Good plan, Anna, she thought and smirked to herself, Fuckin’ system can’t stop me. I’ll figure it out myself.

She glanced back at the corpse of the buck and shrugged. She walked over and tapped it with her foot but didn’t get a response. Guess I can’t loot what I didn’t kill, figures, but worth a try. Moving on.

It wasn’t hard to tell what part of the forest she was in as far as how deep she was. The further in she went the darker it became. She stayed on the edge of the deeper dark as she wandered, focusing on her inner mantra of staying invisible combined with her stealth skill. That alone saved her life on more than one occasion as she was able to avoid two of the deadly predators watching from above. No sign of any prey for them, though, and she was beginning to wonder if her plan had been a terrible one when she spotted a huge deer in another clearing, surrounded by three slightly smaller deer without horns.

The big guy was at least twice her height and his crown of horns had all grown out into twisted branches of spikes. It stood with its head raised high as it surveyed its surroundings. The smaller ones didn’t have horns at all, but instead their fur shimmered slightly with every movement.

Females? she thought.

Mature Stygian Buck - Level 5

Mature Stygian Doe - Level 3

Yup. Dude’s got a harem, she thought wryly. 

She glanced around, Any hunters near- oh.

Three prowlers sat in a tree opposite from her own hiding spot. Their eyes fixed on the small gathering of deer before them. Two of them were about the same size as the one she’d fought earlier. The third was as big as the Buck. Its eyes literally glowed in the dark as it tilted its head left and right almost as if in thought. Its tail whipped and it lowered itself to its haunches, preparing to pounce. 

Alpha Stygian Prowler - Level 7

Anna took in a quiet breath and pressed herself against the tree. Oh wow, yep. Great plan Anna. Wonderful, she thought as her heart leaped into her throat. She glanced around the tree again just in time for the prowlers to pounce. To her surprise, though, they didn’t immediately attack the buck. Instead the two smaller prowlers landed atop a pair of does and immediately tore into them. The alpha landed next to the other two and with a sweep of its powerful forelimb cleaved one does head clean off before snapping the other up in its jaw. It wrenched its head brutally to the right, ending the fourth one’s life.

So fast… 

Despite the speed and brutality of the attack, the buck retaliated in kind. It turned and kicked, catching one of the prowlers in the side and sending it hurtling into a nearby tree. It whipped its head down and caught the other just as the alpha prowler landed on its back. The buck let out a terrible scream and threw its head back, the prowler it had caught was launched as if from a catapult, arcing through the air and hitting the ground with a pained wheeze. By the time it scrambled to its feet, though, it was over. 

The buck kept struggling, but the Prowlers fangs were already in its throat. 

Anna almost pulled back to wait for them to wrap up when she saw something amazing. Right where the prowler’s fangs met the buck’s flesh an odd black smoke began to rise. It wasn’t really smoke, just kind of looked like it. Anna felt a chill run through her at the sight, an uncomfortable cold eeking into her skin as that coiling black stuff began to spread across the buck’s skin. It let out one last defiant shriek, and then collapsed.

The prowler pulled its mouth away and let out a roar of triumph, planting its paw on the dead beasts throat. Her lip twitched, Chill with the showboating and eat already. I want to follow you home and watch what you do afterwards.

She paused and made a face.

Ew, that didn’t come out right.

Despite her own figurative disgust at the disconcerting direction of her thoughts, the alpha seemed only too happy to oblige. It started with its biggest kill as the other two prowlers made their way over to sniff around. Their reward was a face full of teeth and a snarl from their much larger companion which appeared to be enough to send them hustling back to their own pair of kills. After that, Anna had the displeasure of watching the three of them eat in relative silence broken only by the occasional warning growl from the alpha.

When the mess was over, Anna could only stare blandly at the trio as they licked their paws. The two smaller ones shifted a bit as they did, anxiously getting up and moving a few feet before sitting down again. The alpha didn’t seem to share their pent up energy and when they approached it, it simply growled at them again and whipped its tail against the ground. The pair darted away and took up spots at the edges of the space they’d taken. They sat down and their ears perked up, their heads slowly turning to watch their surroundings.

Anna squinted at them only for a strong feeling she couldn’t describe drew her eyes towards the alpha again. It was laying down, its eyes closed and its body curled in on itself. The tip of its tail flicked left and right a few times before it too fell still. Anna crept forward a little and tried to get a better look. Is this it? She thought. I figured I’d have to stalk these guys.

Her amused thought faltered when she saw that multicolored light from before start to form a  narrow halo around the alpha’s body. Essence, she thought and leaned forward a little more, watching the closest prowler out of the corner of her eye.

The light around the beast changed.

Where there had been only the rainbow of what she was still assuming was essence before. Now there was a second halo of off-colored blue light. Almost teal. The two sources of light shrank and then vanished. Anna blinked, “What the fu…” 

The nearest prowler shifted. Anna pulled back behind the tree again and pressed herself against it. Her heart leaped into her throat as she heard it turn and start to move in her direction. She looked around quickly only to remember that the undergrowth was clear and the trees were so far apart she’d have to run like hell to get to the next one. Tch, she clicked her tongue and slowly crept to the side, further away from where the prowler was heading. She concentrated on her mantra and stealth skill, cautiously taking one step after another.

Go away, go away, go away little kitty, she thought, Buzz the fuck off.

A rumbling growl sounded from far behind her and she squeezed her eyes shut. I’m not strong enough to fight these guys, she thought, theres no environment to take advantage of either. Please…

The steps of the prowler stopped and then began again, growing more distant.

Anna slouched and let out a shaky breath. I gotta get back out to the edge of the forest. I’m not ready for this part, she thought as she listened for the sounds of the three prowlers departing. When they’d finally grown distant enough that she couldn’t even see them with her wraithsight she made a break for it, heading back towards the more illuminated parts of the forest.

She had a clue. She wasn’t absolutely certain that the alpha had refined the essence there, but there weren’t enough alternatives to dismiss it. There was another force at play in refinement, something that glowed blue.