Echo grabbed Rose and flew backward towards the water. Fumi did the same.

“What is it?” Echo asked.

Rose shook her head, “I have no idea.” There was a glimmer of intrigue in her voice.

Fumi raised her blade and began channeling Quintessence. “We should kill it.”

Kill...

Consume...

Evolve...

The eye, looking at the trio, flashed through a series of colors before becoming black as night. Evolution Instinct forced the two into action.

Fumi brought her blade down, “Rift Strike!” The pillar of green and crimson sparks crashed down and sliced into the creature, carving it in half right through the eye.

Once more there was an enormous roar as the creature’s wounds repaired themselves. It dropped from the wall – a squelching mass of tiny creatures that conglomerated to be a whole around the enormous, singular eye.

A monster with component parts?

“Achronerate, Animus Aura, Bulwark,” Echo activated several Abilities in the breadth of a second to shield his allies, direct the attention of the creature to himself, and increase his speed. He dashed forward and sliced away at the creature. His attacks carved through its segmented flesh before it attempted to knit itself back together. His Blightsteel-infused sword prevented the regeneration, and the form tried to swallow him.

Fumi dashed in – also under the effects of Achronerate – and released a Voltaic Slash. Her blade sparked with blue-green electricity as she sliced across the creature. It spasmed and locked up as she jumped away, Echo a step behind her. The monster’s body shifted as it cascaded with blue light and became more solid, rotating towards the duo and closing the distance.

“It’s adapting!” Echo yelled as he saw with his Detect Abilities the creature’s Quintessence flowing over its body and sparkling with electricity.

It’s imbued with what you hit it with.

To confirm his suspicion he raised his hand, “Immolate.” A bolt of silver flame shot from his hand and impacted – spreading over the creature as it roared. Its Quintessence flashed red and crackled like a burning ember as the form hardened.

Rose raised her spell tool, “Wither before entropy, Death Touch.” The icy-blue Quintessence turned black as it cascaded to the creature and slammed into it. The body began to shrivel before it flared once more, and its Quintessence shifted to a black morass.

The creature struck out at speeds rivaling Echo and Fumi’s own, the tentacle-appendages sparking with all the elements that had struck it. Echo blocked with his shield. But the various energies all cascaded and crept around his shield, injuring him severely. His skin blistered and burned as he suffered his own spell, and the entropic death of Rose’s spell made him feel extremely lethargic as his vision started to darken at the edges.

Fumi dashed forward and leaped at the creature, flying up to its eye and stabbed down into it – but the body shifted, and the eye moved as Fumi struck into part of the form. She attempted to back off, but it wrapped a tentacle around her, and the same energies cascaded over her. She did not feel the burning or electricity, but the entropic death energy suffused her and transferred to Echo, eliciting a grunt of pain.

Rose channeled her power into her staff once more, leveling it at the eye of the monster. "Cover all in endless frost, Glacial Prison." The ice crept forward from her and surrounded the creature, coating it – but not harming it – as it slowed down gradually. But then the ice melted as the creature’s body heated up.

Echo activated his bracelet and teleported next to Fumi, grabbing her and activating it a second time to get out of the creature’s grip and next to Rose. He raised his shield, “Guardian’s Embrace!” The silver barrier surrounded the three as the creature moved its mass over them. The creature’s body arced with electricity, flame, icy chill, and death as it engulfed the trio. Echo’s barrier kept them safe – but he could feel his Quintessence running out. He turned off Achronerate and deactivated his non-defensive Innate Abilities to access more of the resource.

“I could send it away,” Fumi said. “But I want to eat it.”

Rose nodded, “We need to use its parts. How do you kill an enemy that adapts to what you hit it with?”

Opposites maybe?

They had used cold damage from Rose’s ice Affinity, but that wasn’t the true opposite to fire. He hadn’t tried using a spell while an Active Ability was being used, but they were out of options if they wanted to eat this thing.

And he really wanted to.

He went through the steps of making a spell, envisioning pulling the water from the ocean into the cavernous space. “Control Water.” The air around him radiated silver sparking crimson before Quintessence shot in a line from him to the ocean behind them. He felt the water submit to his will, and knew that if he thought of it, the water would respond. He instructed it to form a small gap along the top of the watery tunnel they had come from to allow air to escape. Glancing back, he felt satisfaction as a small channel appeared on the top of the tunnel.

Now drown it!

The water surged forward and cascaded over the monster. It roared and attempted to cling to Echo’s barrier as the water slammed into it. The sea water filled the cavern, and the creature lost its grip on the barrier, slamming back into the wall. The trio were safe, and Echo watched with grim satisfaction as the creature writhed in pain, its flesh sizzling.

“It takes on the Affinity of spells or Abilities used against it, but then becomes susceptible to the opposite.” Rose clapped Echo on the shoulder, “Clever boy.”

Fumi poked the tip of her sword out of the barrier, “Resonating Thrust.” A shockwave blasted through the water, hitting the pinned-to-the-ceiling monster in the eye. It exploded in a shower of gore, and Fumi flew up through the barrier – her body shifting from the Tideborn Ability – as she grabbed a chunk of the creature and brought it back down.

Echo released his spell, but there was no longer any air pressure to push the water back out. He looked to Rose, “Hold onto me.” She did so, and he cancelled the barrier. The sudden rush of water bashed into him, and he used his shield arm to hold Rose so she wouldn’t be swept away. As the water surrounded him, his body shifted thanks to Tideborn, and he let Rose go.

Fumi swam down and ripped the chunk of meat in half, pushing it to Echo.

CONSUME.

He scarfed it down alongside her.

---

Rose cast her Siphon Strength spell as Echo went through the pain of evolving for himself and Fumi. She felt the power suffuse her and grinned, glancing at her identification.

The increase in her stats pleased her, but she paused. She glanced at Echo.

His morals are going to be a problem.

Rose knew that the trio could gain immense power if they began slaughtering large groups of people. She had done as much to armies that attempted to destroy Kaad in the past. She knew that Fumi was not necessarily accepting of wholesale slaughter of innocents – they discussed as much. But Echo was another story. He had a previous lifetime of moral instruction at – what sounded to Rose – an overbearing religious institution. She would have to break that mental conditioning to allow the monster within to truly shine.

I need to find some impending conflicts.

If she could get a lead on or even use her magic to trigger a war, then she could manipulate Echo to fight for one side or the other. Then, it wouldn’t be much of a leap to convince him that he’s already killing people, he should use their bodies, too. Rose smiled internally at the thought.

I’m going to use you both for my revenge.

She cared for them, they were her allies, after all. But she had lived for a long, long time. Most emotions had long since left her, and when she did feel them, it was faint. Rational thought drove her. And if she wanted to live eternally, enjoying her undeath in peace, then Lux would need to die.

---

Echo sighed with relief as he floated in Fumi’s arms. He was filled with energy and looked around at the now-flooded cavern, his eyes drawn to the large tunnel that went deeper the creature was blocking. Fumi grabbed his face and pulled him in for a kiss before they separated.

Let’s see what changed.

Echo pulled out his identification, and Fumi followed suit.

 

No need to worry about being turned into a squirrel, I guess.

Echo felt ripped off. Sure, he got a stat boost, but the Ability he just evolved was seemingly useless with Eternal Youth effectively doing the same thing. But, looking at Fumi, he felt a surge of happiness, knowing that she wouldn’t ever change, either. He put the identification away.

“Let’s go check out what it was guarding,” Echo said as he began to swim forward. Fumi tucked away her own identification and followed, and Rose used her choker’s flight spell to propel herself forward as a line of bubbles trailed behind her. The moss continued into the tunnel and provided a dim, light blue glow.

“Why didn’t the dragon warn us about another monster?” Fumi asked.

Echo shrugged, “Maybe he didn’t know. I wouldn’t have spotted it unless I was using spells.”

They reached the end of the rough stone of the tunnel and came upon an enormous set of carved stone doors. The same stone that The Holy Wall was made of.

“Why would it be way down here?” Echo wondered aloud.

Rose swam up and inspected the surface. “Divine Stone is only shapable by the gods. Ignis surrounded The Empire with it after The Void Invasion – to ensure that not all life on Heimfold would be wiped out again.”

Why would it be way down here then?

Echo put his hands to the stone and couldn’t find a seam. Using Transmute Substance, he even dug away at the tunnel walls, going around the structure, determining it was an enormous cube stuck inside this rock. He returned and reported this to Rose, who was still staring at the door, whilst Fumi just floated alongside her.

“A cube.” Rose shook her head, “Caelum’s temples were always pyramid structures. So, this isn’t one of his.”

Echo channeled his Quintessence – newly refilled thanks to that earlier meal – and focused it into the Aether Shard. He held up his palm to the stone.

Open up.

The white stone slide sideways soundlessly, and some type of membrane popped into place to prevent the water from racing in. Echo touched the surface and felt his hand go through and meet air. He walked through, followed by his allies.

The inside of the Divine Stone cube was a large square with tessellated hexes surrounding the room, carved out of the stone. A single block made of the same material – about stool height – sat at the center of the chamber. That’s when Echo realized – the stone was the same type that composed Last Light Temple.

“What is it for?” Echo asked aloud as he began to walk down the steps towards the raised stool.

Fumi joined him and shook her head, “No idea.”

Rose stood at the top of the steps, perplexed. “I have no idea. And no spells as my command allow me to figure it out.”

Echo’s inner thigh began to vibrate as he got closer to the stone block. He pulled his trousers down slightly to undo the clasp for the Aether Shard housing, and felt it vibrate in his palm as he fixed his attire. “What’s this mean?”

Rose shook her head, “No clue. Put it on the pedestal, maybe?”

Echo did as she instructed and set the shard onto the surface.

---

Tiberius sat at a large desk, looking at several active sensors as he kept watch over his various lairs. He was disappointed that Echo and Fumi did not fight and eat the dragon, but it couldn’t be helped. He had nothing against Vythin, as that Arch god didn’t have the same hatred of monsters that Lux did – but he had stymied some of his plans.

But they did find the chamber.

He lost vision of them once they entered – Divine Stone blocked his divination sensors. If they felt the resonance, and used the Aether Shards, then his plans would accelerate all the faster.

Then they wouldn’t be able to use those pesky shards to sate their hunger.

Tiberius chuckled, leaning back in his chair as he glanced at other monitors. He had monsters in stasis stashed near Forge’s Fall, which would be the next to be released. Slowly, he would guide his creations across Heimfold. Until they had found every lair, slain, and consumed every monster.

I hope you both like beaches and magma.

He focused his will.

Another monster was unleashed into the world.