Echoterra: Rise of the Verdant King-Chapter 89: Treacherous journey [13]

DING!

~----~

[Behemorphs Slain: None]

[Aphid Network Losses: 1 Initiate Ember Minion]

[Genesis Embers Acquired: 25 (Random Network Hunts)]

[Genesis Embers Total: 4,189/6,000]

[Aspect Strain: None]

~----~

For the first time in a while, Clayton’s Aphid Network engaged in a battle that they lost completely, failing to get nothing out of it while losing 1 of them.

It once again reinforced the dangers of the wild out there.

Even with multiple Behemorphs under his command working together, it was not guaranteed that they would win and get him his goodies, Genesis Embers.

Sometimes, they could lose too.

’I wonder what kind of Behemorph they encountered’. He thought.

With thoughts like this flying through his head, he continued the journey with his teammates, trudging deeper into wild.

The journey to the Scorchpath Outskirts continued.

...

Day 20 of the Scorchpaths trek.

Clayton crouched in a fungal ravine, ash swirling under a gray dawn.

His Shedskin cloaked his Verdant Lord aura as a scavenger’s rags, Regalia of the Verdant Warden in bow form slung across his back, Thornshade Dagger humming at his hip, venom-coated and stealth-enhancing.

His Architect Aspect thrummed, restrained to blend with Torren’s team.

Their Mycoglyph-etched pagers pulsed faintly, the Earthcore Nexus’s pulse a low throb after the Thorn Crown stampede.

The Aphid Network, 40 minions, hunted sparingly, Spore Plague Lord securing a small Embers gain, losing one minion to a stray Thorn Hound, making Clayton begin to worry about the dwindling numbers of his personal army.

On one hand, he wanted to go on a surbodination hunt again to suppress more Behemorphs into accepting his rule, but on the other hand, he still felt some misgivings towards revealing his Aphid Network.

It was not exactly a matter of trust, not anymore. After crossing death so many times with this group, he trusted them, to an extent.

But the problem was on how he would present it to them.

From the little they knew about his Aspect, Torren was already suspecting that it was a Verdant Warden rank Aspect. He did not know what Torren would think if he knew of Aphid Network.

Knowing what he knew now, including the fact that so very few people in the world had a Protocol Bearer rank Aspect, he didn’t know what would happen if Torren was suddenly given reason to believe that he had a Protocol Bearer rank Aspect.

’What exactly am I scared of? Will he rat me out?’

Clayton didn’t know, but he felt more inclined to hold on to this secret for now. Maybe it was the fear of Torren thinking that he is the first Awakened in existence to have an Aspect above the Protocol Bearer rank.

Clayton knew that he was not the first though. Echoes of Ruin, he wasn’t sure, maybe her Aspect wasn’t Architect rank, but he was pretty sure that her Aspect was at least Protocol Bearer rank. Maybe it was even higher-ranked.

Clayton’s Rootsite stood far behind.

His connection to his Verdant Lord form and the Rootsite was fainter than ever before, but he could still feel the faint pulse of their connection from afar.

He wondered how the big guy fared.

’What of the Ironblood? Echoes of Ruin? Have they made any move since I left?’ He wondered.

The ravine where Clayton crouched, scarred by Thornstorm thorns, bore Scorched Clans marks like most other corners in these regions; charred bones, and a familiar Pyreaxe fragment.

Territorial Sentience pinged Ashen Covenants’ Ember Witches, their rituals a distant hum.

Unknown to him, and in extension them though, vendetta loomed.

They only noticed when it was too late.

War cries erupted suddenly. It was the Scorched Clans again, and this time, their ambush was so perfect, almost as if they knew about their Aspects ahead of time, including Clayton’s Aspect.

This was because they actually knew.

It was a familiar face, the Scorchlady Veylith (Luminous Seed with Ashveil Shroud Aspect), fueled by vendetta led twelve Scorched Clans warriors, all Initiate Ember, her reinforcement to avenge her previous defeat.

Their Scorched Relics, Ashfang Daggers and Pyreaxes flared, seeking the team’s Embers as they got them off-guard.

But even when caught off-guard, this team still reacts.

"Ambush!" Torren roared, Flamevine Wrath igniting, pyro-roots snaring a warrior.

WHOOSH!

Who else but Veyra to react next?

Her Thornstrike arrows pierced another’s chest, roots bursting.

Lorn quickly shielded Soren, whose Emberblade clashed with a Pyreaxe, but an Ashfang slashed his thigh, blood seeping.

Kaelin’s Ashveil Cloak dodged a Pyreblade, but Veylith’s ash cloud blinded him, an Ashfang gashing his arm.

Clayton unleashed Core Maw right from the onset this time, catching the Scorched warriors off-guard. Their information did not involve this as roots crushed two warriors.

Clayton kept Aphid Network hidden but felt tempted to call it as Veylith’s Ashveil Shroud choked the air.

She came with deep-seated vendetta this time, raring for blood, but her miscalculation was thinking this was the same team that her first band faced.

Since then, not only have they grown stronger, their teamwork and even personally, but Clayton finally decided to reveal more of his powers.

She failed to account for all these, and most importantly, her impatience.

She would have waited to amass a reinforcement army of at least 50 Scorched warriors before she attacked, pursuing her vendetta. But with this, since their initial ambush failed, her chances of prevailing reduced by each passing second.

Clayton fired Regalia’s roots arrows, shredding a warrior’s shoulder, and slashed with Thornshade Dagger, venom disrupting Veylith’s flames.

Torren’s pyro-roots were the MVP this time as they felled three warriors in succession, Veyra’s arrows claiming two more, but Soren and Kaelin staggered, wounds slowing them.

The Nexus pulsed, the fight teetering.

Then...

DING!

~----~

[Enemies Defeated: 7 Scorched Clans Warriors (Initiate Ember)]

[Aphid Network Losses: 1 Initiate Ember Minion]

[Genesis Embers Acquired: 42 (Team Kills)]

[Genesis Embers Acquired: 10 (Random Network Hunts)]

[Genesis Embers Total: 4,211/6,000]

[Aspect Strain: High]

~----~

She was defeated already, but Veylith, stubborn and fueled by vendetta refused to retreat this time, not before taking 1 or 2 of them with her.

2 of them were injured, she had a chance. She pushed on

The team rallied, battered, as Veylith pressed her attack.

Torren, bloodied, growled. "Hold, Clayton! We’re not done!"

With the powerful Luminous Seed still going with so much energy and motivation, with 5 Initiate Ember Scorched warriors still supporting her, and with Soren and Kaelin injured, the team felt desperate.

Clayton? He made his decision.

With Shedskin flaring, he prepared to summon his Aphid Network, desperation rising, and that was when a guttural roar shook the ravine.

GRRRR!

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