Every step was a war. Every movement was pain. Magma found gaps in his armor and Reid's nostrils filled with the smell of his melting flesh. He roared and pushed forward through it all, one eye trained on his destination. Agonizing seconds passed by as Reid neared the crescent pool of magma.

It bubbled, disturbed by the activity the Duke had caused in the rest of the volcano with its magic. The creature noticed his intent, and tried to scramble off the shield, but Reid shifted an arm up and over Bonewall to hold it in place.

The duke was going to die.

He kept that truth in mind as the creature made a ball of magma and sent it slamming into Reid's hand. His flesh and that of the Duke burned in kind as it desperately tried to remove itself from his grasp. His teeth cracked as he endured the feeling of his muscle melting away from his bones. Reid shoved his half melted appendage forward, and used his exposed finger bones to dig into the Duke's flesh, then hooked his hand to hold it still. More magma began burning away the rest of the armor on his arm.

Reid nearly fell as the creature whipped itself from side to side and shot more magma at his legs. His shield slipped forward, and both it and the beast slammed into the ground. But he was close. The edge of the magma pool bubbled only a dozen feet away. Reid surged an irresponsible amount of power into his muscles and shouted as he shoved his shield and the beast towards the bubbling liquid.

It tried to dig its feet into the ground. It screeched and scattered magma it had brought to the surface in an attempt to gain solid footing. Lances of molten rock shot out from the pool behind it and slammed into Reid. One cored a hole through a weakened point on Reid's armor, then through his skin. The attack dissipated as the creature screamed and slammed every appendage against Reid and his shield. Pushing forward had become a little easier. Reid peeked around his Bonewall and saw that the Duke's back legs had reached the magma pool. He surged even more power into his muscles, and heaved forward. The duke screeched and lurched into the bubbling liquid. Its grey flesh smoked and burned. Magma shot out in wild bursts around Reid and the creature. He pushed forward.

The last leg on the creature's left side slid into the pool and it let out a tortured screech as its left side collapsed. The duke's barrel torso dipped into the magma, and it churned the molten rock with its right legs as it tried to get around Reid and back to solid ground. He shifted, molten rock splashing up above his calves as he forced the beast further into the magma pool. It struggled as its eyes began to steam. Green blood bubbled up out of wounds that hadn't yet reached the magma pool. Struggle turned to twitching as more of the Duke's torso dipped below the surface. Every movement of its hands still sent shoots of magma sailing in every direction, and Reid swore as another one lanced through weakened armor and burned more of his flesh.

Reid could feel himself sinking as his boots melted away. His shield was low, now, half gone from holding the Duke inside the magma. He let it go, and kicked the shield forward into the creature. It screeched as it fell back, into deeper molten rock. The screech ended as the scorching material flowed down into its mouth. He ignored a flashing notification that confirmed the beast's death. Confirmation was all he wanted - the rest could wait.

He accomplished his goal, and the fight was done, but Reid wasn't out of danger yet. Magma continued to seep out of the other cracks, and continued to bubble around him. His boots were worn down enough to threaten his ankles, and he had pushed his body far past the point where it should've gone. Reid choked on the dense air, and stumbled away from the edge of the magma pool. Requiem and Bonewall were lost, and he would be, too, if he didn't manage to get out of here. Step by faltering step, Reid made his way to the slope. When he reached it, he used his left arm and what was left of his right arm to crawl up to the lip of the volcano. All he wanted to do was collapse there, but Reid forced himself to roll. He closed his eyes and kept his limbs tucked close as he tumbled over rocks and dirt. His head spun, and he agitated a concerning number of wounds, but Reid managed to get himself a decent distance down the mountain. He opened his eyes, and surveyed the area below him. Gerald's hut was nowhere in sight. That was fine. Everything would be fine. He just needed to rest.

Reid allowed himself to pass out, sprawled along a mostly flat section of the barren mountain.

#

#

Everything hurt. Breathing sucked. He'd downed four waters since he woke back up, and still felt dehydrated. His body was so wrecked, he couldn't even heal himself properly, so his hand was still half-missing, and every damn pebble that had burrowed into his skin was still there.

Reid groaned. He wanted to fall back asleep, but pain warred against his exhaustion and kept him awake. He decided to use it as a reason to check out the quest stage rewards.

Questline Stage Completed: The Beast Lords - (Stage 9 of 10) Secret Challenge Completed: Finished Stage 9 in less than 210 days. Secret Challenge Completed: Completed Stage 9 with more than 10% of your combat forces alive.

Secret Challenge Failed: Kill the Duke in a single engagement or battle.

Bonus Experience awarded for completing secret challenges!

Achievement Upgraded!

Venator VIII -> Venator IX (Earned for engaging and defeating beast lords in solo combat)

Sacrificial Strike -> Sacrificial Strike II (Earned for enduring or causing yourself severe damage to land a decisive blow on a beast lord)

Magnanimous Leader -> Magnanimous Leader II (Earned for completing all quest objectives by yourself and carrying other party members to victory)

New Achievements Earned!

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Arcane Irony (Earned for defeating an enemy by using their own element or magic against them)

Desolate Warrior (Earned for fighting and winning inside of an inhospitable or or near-fatal environment)

The Best Defense (Earned for dealing or enabling a killing blow to a beast lord with a shield or other defensive weapon)

Arcane Irony Elemental and magical attacks are slightly less effective against you, and slightly more effective against your foes.

Desolate Warrior Slightly lessens the negative environmental effects of inhospitable and near-fatal locations.

The Best Defense Attacks made with defensive tools or weapons have a slightly higher chance to deal damage.

Final Experience Awarded: 50,000,000 xp (F) Accelerated Growth Experience (.58) Awarded: 29,000,000 xp

Experience: 176,114,401 / 209,715,200 -> 263,114,401 / 419,430,400 Level: 47 -> 48 Control: 590 -> 610

-

Questline Stage Unlocked: The Beast Lords - (Stage 10 of 10) NOTICE: Another faction can also access this questline.

You mercilessly killed the Duke with its own element. The nine underlords are defeated, and only the final challenge remains. Do you dare to kill a king? Venture to the unforgiving wastes, emerge victorious, and claim your rightful place over the beasts.

Stage 10 - The Final Test: Defeat the Crinoptera, the Peerless Scourge. (Level 50 + ). Secret Challenge: Complete Stage 10 before the tutorial expires. (3081d 1h 36m Remaining)

Reid blinked.

His upgrades to Venator and Sacrificial Strike were both welcome improvements, and the three new ones were useful themselves - especially if he was going to have to fight in a volcano again. He really, really hoped he wasn't going to have to fight in a volcano again. He'd accomplished his goal of gaining a new level, and he even managed to complete two of the three secret challenges.

The issue was the last stage. The beast was a king. It was named. It was level 50, which meant it should be E grade. There was only one secret challenge - and that challenge boiled down to 'just defeat the beast'. The tutorial had given him all of the possible time it could to accomplish the task, as well. Everything about the quest told him it was meant to be impossible, or close enough that it didn't matter. Heat rose in his gut.

This was the same enemy he'd felt surges of power from not once, but twice. The enemy and the fight that had been waiting for him since he'd gotten here. The unquestionably strong foe that would push him to his limit.

Reid still wanted the challenge.

He took one of Win's pain reducing pills, and imagined grand final fights as he fell back asleep.

#

#

"I'm well aware he'd not dead, but look at it this way. He gave us a ton of experience, and he's in this state. I'd bet he did it so we would take him to safety."

Gerald's words stirred Reid from his slumber.

"And I think if we leave him be, he's going to heal himself like before. We know he can do it, so why risk getting into a fight while we drag him through the forest? We don't even have anywhere to bring him to!"

Norton huffed. "This is the same damn argument we had when we first met Serroc. Nothing has changed. We wait, he'll wake, and then we go from there."

Reid cracked an eyelid. Brinkha and Gerald both looked like they still wanted to yell and prove themselves right. Norton sighed. "Sure, keep going at each other, instead of going at it. You two really have no idea how to get out of your own way."

Brinkha flushed. Gerald fumed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Reid inspected himself as they continued. He was out of his armor entirely, and the shattered, burnt and broken remains of Marrow were piled up in the corner of the stone space. His right arm was still toast, and he could tell now that the bottoms of his feet were missing. Holes marked his skin like freckles, and his vision out of one eye was distinctly blurry. He tried focusing inward, but his body was still too messed up to do much of anything. He barely managed to fix a hole that had nearly severed an artery before he hit his limit. This recovery was going to suck. Reid pulled back out of himself. The trio were still animated with one another.

"I'm awake, you three." The words came out raspy and soft despite his attempt to shout over them.

Brinkha pointed at Gerald. "Hah! I was right!"

Gerald threw up his hands, then turned at sat on a makeshift bench. Norton came over, and Reid took the water and the glorious bread he offered. The structure they were in was larger than any they'd built previously. It definitely seemed bigger than what they'd been building when he summited the volcano. The three of them were different, too. They moved differently. They felt... changed. Improved. It was more apparent from Norton, closest to him.

Reid cleared his throat to get more of the rasp out of his voice. "How much experience?"

The trio exchanged a glance. Norton turned back to Reid. "I thought you chose to give it to us. Did you not pick the amount?" Reid shook his head. "We each got a ton, but I got more than Gerald, and Gerald got just a little more than Brinkha."

"It's magnanimous leader." Nyx offered. "That achievement must have started working at longer distance when you hit stage 2 with it. Then it gave these kids bonuses based on how much help they've given you in getting here."

Reid nodded and spoke aloud. "I don't pick the amount, and it doesn't always work. What level are you all at now?"

Brinkha beamed. "Gerald and I are level 23, and Norton is level 24. I think his would've been higher, too, but he got some message about fracturing and then his xp stopped right before he was going to gain a grade." She continued as Reid stared wide-eyed at his chef. He'd almost caused the man to have a fractured evolution. "The levels were awesome, and it let us grow our skills - so I can store more, and Norton has a bunch more mana, and Gerald can clean better."

"PUR-I-FY!" Gerald shouted. Brinkha smirked and waved a hand to dismiss his comment.

"We all get it now, Serroc - why you were having us train so hard, and why you kept talking about balance. You were preparing us for this." Reid nodded along. He wasn't going to pass up a chance to seem sagelike. "Now we can watch over you while you recover. Gerald fought a beast on his own today. We can keep you safe while you heal."

Reid grunted and looked over himself again. "That's good, because I'm not going to be useful for... a while." He chuckled weakly at himself, but the trio didn't join him. Reid realized they were all looking towards a simple, grass-woven covering that served as a door. He heard feet shuffling in the dirt outside.

Norton pulled out his oversized knife. Gerald threw Brinkha her sword, then picked up his spear. None of them were wearing armor. Reid's hand instinctively searched the ground next to him for Requiem. He didn't have his weapon, his shield, nor his armor. He started the slow process to summon his knife from storage, and swallowed hard.

Muffled, indistinct voices joined the scrape of feet, then midday light streamed in and momentarily blinded Reid as the door to the structure was ripped away.

As his vision adjusted, Reid took in the figure that had disturbed his recovery.

A figure in burgundy armor.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.