Chương 230: B3 - Chapter 62: Mobile Fortress

Seth remained in Elena's embrace for several long seconds as the rain poured relentlessly around them. For a moment, the battlefield ceased to exist. Then the rustle of footsteps behind him broke through the silence. Seth glanced over his shoulder. Kaelen charged through the clearing, dagger poised and coat with aether. Yet Seth's core remained muted. Not even a faint warning flared from it. Still, Seth reacted and pulled away from Elena before raising his gauntlet.

Kaelen's first dagger screeched across the reinforced part in a shower of orange sparks, while the assassin's second blade slipped past his guard, carving a shallow line across Seth's cheek. Ignoring the sting, Seth drove his palms into Kaelen's chest, hurling the assassin several steps backward. Nightmare seized the opportunity to surge from the shadows and lunge, forcing the assassin into a spin to avoid the attack. The moment the direwolf landed, he planted his paws in the mud.

Corrosive smoke billowed from between his fangs as he stared at the assassin. Kaelen met Seth's gaze. For several seconds, neither of them moved. Then, without a word, the assassin turned on his heel and dashed away, disappearing into the heavy downpour. Nightmare crouched low and his hind legs coiled beneath him as he prepared to give chase.

"Stop," Seth said aloud, deliberately avoiding the privacy of Link. The direwolf halted. Through their bond, Nightmare understood perfectly that Kaelen's attack had been nothing more than a staged performance. Seth lifted his gaze toward the storm churning in the sky and the Spirit in the middle. Despite the effort, it likely hadn't been convincing. If the entity had been watching—and it almost certainly had—it would have caught all the inconsistencies.

Kaelen had already saved Elena once, helped them kill Jaz, and now had failed to capitalize on a perfect opportunity to kill Seth when his guard had been down. The excuse that the assassin wanted a fair fight and refused to strike while Seth was crippled by the aftermath of Beastmaster Rage had always been a flimsy one. By this point, the Spirit surely didn't buy it anymore. Nothing I can do about it now, Seth thought with a sigh before looking at Elena.

"What in the world was that?" Elena asked, glancing in the direction Kaelen had disappeared.

"Why did he save me... and then attack you?"

"Let's talk about it later," Seth replied. His attention had already shifted to Colossus. Lumi still hovered over the giant scorpion, frantically pouring wave after wave of healing light into his battered body. The young arachnid beast's state was far worse than Seth had feared. Deep cracks split his stone carapace from end to end. Blood seeped sluggishly from the fractures and refused to stop despite the hardened crust forming over the burns and the constant cast of Lumi's spells. Seth reached through Link.

A wave of relief washed over him. Through their bond, he could sense that Colossus didn't believe his life was in danger. The giant scorpion was gravely wounded... but he would survive.

"We need to move before more enemies arrive," Seth said aloud, sweeping his gaze across the rain-soaked tree line. He looked toward Nightmare.' Can you make sure no one is approaching while we loot the bodies?'' On it.' The direwolf nodded and melted into the mist, activating Illusionary Emptiness. Colossus lowered his large head next to Seth.' I did well... didn't I?'

'You did,' Nightmare answered before Seth could speak.

'Y ou earned the Seeds of that man.'

'Really?' the young scorpion exclaimed, nearly bouncing in excitement before flinching from a sharp jolt of pain.' You fought really well too, Big Brother Nightmare!'

"What are they talking about?" Elena asked.

"They're complimenting each other," Seth replied with a faint smile. He rested a gentle hand against the stone of Colossus' broad head. The simple gesture spoke louder than words. The young scorpion had thrown himself between Elena and Jaz many times without hesitation. Seth would never forget it. Elena stepped closer and also laid a hand against the side of Colossus' carapace.

"You were incredible," she said softly.

"I would have died without you, Colossus." The scorpion turned his head toward her. For just a moment, Seth could have sworn the tiny mouth nestled between Colossus' mandibles curled into the closest thing to a smile the scorpion could manage.

"Time to get some rest," he told his companions. Seth deactivated his Distortion Rod and sent a pulse of aether into the teardrop necklace hanging from his chest. Swirling blue light enveloped Colossus and Lumi, drawing both beasts into the pocket-realm, where the little otter could continue healing the scorpion in safety while he recovered. Seth then reached into his Endless Pouch, and his fingers closed around the cold metal of the Seed Extractor.

He walked over to Jaz's ruined corpse, then knelt in the churned mud. Carefully, he pressed the device against the shattered breastplate covering the Guardian's chest. Lines of crystalline text materialized. Shard of the Molten Heaven [Copper~Epic] Scale of the Emerald Leviathan [Iron~Legendary] If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Storm Roc's Primary Feather [Iron~Rare+] Three Seeds.

Seth's gaze lingered on the rarities: one Legendary, one Epic, and one Rare+. No wonder he had been so hard to kill, he thought. Those Seeds alone had likely granted the man even more attributes than those Morsh had. Elena watched the strange device in uneasy silence. She had seen him put the device on a few corpses in the previous Rift, but this was the first time she was seeing an extraction as far as Seth knew.

"Pulling those things out of a corpse is a bit more... gruesome than I thought," she said, a grimace on her face, as the tool vibrated with a low hum.

"It isn't worse than cutting through a beast's corpse to get the stone inside," Seth answered. Elena's mouth twisted to the side. She visibly didn't agree. Seth pushed another pulse of aether into the metallic ring. The artifact answered with a hum that blended with the drumming of the rain. Three glowing spheres then slowly rose from Jaz's chest. The first condensed into a shimmering brown shard with crimson veins, as if forged from the depth of some volcano.

The second turned into a large emerald scale covered in silver patterns that pulsed with strong flares. The final one took an entirely different form than the two others: a single white feather that floated above the ring with arcs of azure lightning that danced from barb to barb before vanishing into the rain. Seth cast Intermediate Identify on each of them.

Shard of the Molten Heaven Seed Tier: Copper Grade: Epic Affinity: Earth Description: - A piece of shard taken directly from the hardest part of the Molten Heaven. Effects: - Increases Strength by 4 to 8. - Increases Toughness by 3 to 6%. - Increases Arcane Power by 3 to 6%. - Reduces the cooldown of Earth spells by 25%. Scale of the Emerald Leviathan Seed Tier: Iron Grade: Legendary Affinity: - Description: - A scale of the Emerald Leviathan, a beast as resilient as it was fast.

Effects: - Increases Toughness by 15 to 20%. - Increases Arcane Power by 5 to 10%. - Increases Agility by an amount equal to 10% of the owner's total Toughness, including all bonuses granted by equipment, spells, and other enhancements. Storm Roc's Primary Feather Seed Tier: Iron Grade: Rare+ Affinity: Lightning Description: - The largest feather of the Storm Roc, which absorbed a tremendous amount of the Lightning energy by flying through clouds. Effects: - Increases Toughness by 4 to 8.

- Increases Agility by 3 to 6%. - Increases Arcane Power by 2 to 4%. - Increase the effectiveness of Lightning spells by 12%. The descriptions made Seth's jaw go slack—especially the one from the Scale of the Emerald Leviathan. The effects were absurd. Nightmare's own Legendary Seed was undeniably powerful, granting him a chance to reset the cooldown of Darkness spells, but this... this would impact every single battle.

Beyond the huge boost to Colossus' Toughness, the increase to his Agility was almost as valuable, if not more so, since it would address the giant scorpion's greatest weakness. The Seed would transform him from a slow fortress into a mobile vanguard. Enemies would no longer be able to sidestep his charge or outrun him across the battlefield. And thinking about it, everything made perfect sense now. It explained how Jaz had managed to keep up with Seth's speed during the chase through the forest.

The man's absurd Toughness and each of his spells had boosted his Agility through the Seed's effect, which had then allowed him to run far faster than anyone his size had any right to.

"You're going to give those to Colossus, aren't you?" Elena asked quietly. From the certainty in her voice, it was obvious she had already guessed the answer.

"Yes." Seth pulled the Mountain Steranorm Vessel from his Endless Pouch. He carefully placed the three Seeds inside the enchanted container before sealing it and returning it to his spatial storage.

"Since Colossus already has an Iron Seed, I'll give him the Copper Seed and the Legendary one. I'll store the Lightning Seed for now until I decide what to do with it." Only a handful of people Seth knew possessed a Lightning affinity: Orwen, Jenna, and Elena's brother, Brandon. Seth could simply sell the Seed in Asethka and use the profound amount of coins to acquire whatever resources he needed in the future. Yet giving it to Orwen was probably the better choice.

Soon, the leader of the Champions of Chaos would become one of the leaders of the kingdom alongside the Marshal. If Kastal hoped to survive what was coming, Orwen needed every advantage he could get. That said, Professor Reat might already have secured Iron Seeds in the Cave of Elements that suited the man—perhaps they were even better than this one. For now, the decision could wait. Seth looked at Elena. There wasn't the slightest hint that she intended to argue.

She could have asked for her share of the spoils; she could have insisted on giving the Lightning Seed to Brandon—or even to her father, if he happened to possess that affinity. Yet, she hadn't.

"You should give it to the leader of the Champions of Chaos," she said, as if she had read his thoughts. Seth tilted his head. He reached down, retrieved the Seed Extractor from Jaz's chest, and slipped the device back into his Endless Pouch.

"Why's that?"

"It's what's best for Kastal," she replied.

"He'll be the one leading the nation." Seth raised an eyebrow. He knew that—she wasn't supposed to.

"Don't you mean the Marshal?" Elena gave him a flat look.

"I'm not stupid, Seth. And neither is the Marshal. Your father's friend is openly backing you and the Champions, so it's obvious who will lead us in the future." She paused before adding quietly, "And honestly... I think that's for the best."

"Even if House Surani loses its status?" Seth asked.

"Its influence, its privileges... everything that comes with that?" Elena looked genuinely offended by the question.

"If we do, we'll earn it all back through our actions and hard work," she replied without a moment's hesitation.

"And if we can't, then it means we never deserved any of it in the first place." Taking in her words, Seth nodded. She wasn't wrong. Noble Houses like the Suranis, who had spent years protecting and serving the people, would probably survive the transition to a republic. Others like House Faertis... wouldn't. Seth reached down and tore Jaz's Endless Pouch free from the dead Guardian's belt. As he turned to leave the clearing with Elena, she pointed at the velvet bag.

"Don't you want to look at what's inside first?" she asked.

"We'll have plenty of time for that once we find somewhere to hide," Seth answered, his eyes sweeping across the dark tree line. Then he paused. A thought crossed his mind. Jaz had likely been carrying numerous high-grade spell-scrolls like Morsh had. If they ran into another party of imperial soldiers, one of those could make all the difference. Seth reached into the pouch with his consciousness. Familiar artifacts of aether caught his attention right away.

The first was a Seed Extractor, and the second was a jar similar to the Mountain Steranorm Vessel. It made sense for the Guardian to have those. The man had clearly intended to recover the Seeds Seth had taken from Morsh's corpse. Then Seth frowned. Another strange artifact rested within the spatial storage—something he didn't recognize. Curiosity won out. Seth reached inside and pulled it free.

A small steel pyramid covered in intricate runes emerged from the pouch, its geometric surface gleaming faintly in the light. It was surprisingly heavy for its size as the cold metal settled solidly into his palm. Seth cast Intermediate Identify. Legacy Extractor Artifact Tier: - Grade: Mythical Effects: - Extracts Legacies from a fallen Wielder or a beast's corpse. The moment the description appeared, Seth froze. His fingers tightened around the pyramid. Slowly, he raised his eyes to meet Elena's.

Neither of them spoke. Elena reacted first and reached into her gear to retrieve her Isolating Crystal. A pulse of aether flowed into the gemstone, causing the shimmering dome to expand around them. The sound of the pounding rain vanished, and a complete silence settled around them.