[Omen of the Witchblade] Chapter 89 — Plateau Beast Hunting II

They set up camp around Gwen, dragging her off to the side where it was slightly sheltered. She was easier to move now that she wasn’t literally on fire.

Thomas glared daggers at Heath, but didn’t say anything as he lit the fire and tucked Gwen into her sleeping bag.

Her absence was felt when there was nothing cooking over the fire.

While Thomas was taking care of Gwen, Mel rolled over some boulders for seating and looked through her completed quest.

Quest Complete: Plateau Hunting

Objective: Slay a plateau beast before the sun sets (1/1).

Reward: (1) [Hunt Token].

Blessing advancement.

The [Hunt Token] appeared in her inventory, neatly stacked on top of the previous one. Mel took the shred of gorlash hide that she had pried off Gwen and touched it with her hand.

It was far more pliable now, more like cured leather than stone. Almost as if the monster’s mana had made it stiff. Without the beast’s mana, it was just ordinary–if incredibly tough–skin.

Would you like to loot the [Gorlash (High Copper Rank—Plateau Beast)]?

The moment Mel agreed, the sheet of lumpy skin vanished. Streams of multi-colored light flowed to the sky like they were in the middle of an aurora. Colorful light wove around them, joining together, splitting apart, and then diving for each of the four companions.

(1) [Hunt Token] has been stored in your inventory.

(1) [Stone Ember] has been stored in your inventory.

(1) [Leaden Pearl] has been stored in your inventory.

(1) [Belt of the Indomitable] has been stored in your inventory.

(1) [Gorlash Hide] has been stored in your inventory.

(5) [Vials of Gorlash Venom] have been stored in your inventory.

Blessing Advancement!

[Blessing of the Hunt]

(Blessing, Rare)

Spirits of ancient beasts predate the Realmtree’s birth. These creatures are unknowable, but ultimately interwoven into the very fabric of the multiverse. They may not possess Anchor Runes, but the power they wield is something that even the Kindred struggle to comprehend.

The phenomenon of their existence lies outside the guidance of the gods, both Inner and Outer. As such, these primordial creatures are capable of rarely bestowing blessings upon individuals they feel a connection to. How and why these creatures choose their champions is a mystery to all but the primordial spirit.

Your spirit has taken on a portion of the primordial’s power, bringing your soul in line with those great and mysterious creatures both vile and sublime.

Imprint(Common): You can sense exceptionally powerful creatures near you. Whenever you engage in battle with a creature of great power whose strength eclipses your own, you ignore a portion of the rank disparity. The more hunts you partake in, the greater power this blessing will bestow upon you.

Imprint(Uncommon): Your ability to sense powerful creatures is further enhanced. The amount of rank disparity you ignore is further enhanced. You can now extend your blessing up to 8 other people.

Imprint(Rare): You can now sense strength, speed, and intent of powerful creatures. You ignore an even greater amount of rank disparity. You can now extend your blessing up to 10 other people.

Mel struggled to shut out the additional noise in her head now. She could feel so much more about the other plateau beasts. For a moment, while she grappled with the new information, Mel felt more than a hundred such creatures.

The information threatened to split her head open until she gained control over it. As her mind adjusted, Mel’s ability to detect plateau beasts was even more refined.

Not only could she tell that two beasts on nearby plateaus were sleeping, while a third was out hunting, but she could tell that the first two were High Copper, while the last was simply Copper.

Extending her senses out further, taking it easy not to overwhelm herself again, Mel found stronger monsters at the very cusp of High Copper.

She even found a few Iron monsters more than a day or two away. Mel couldn’t shake the feeling that they were near the center of the trial.

Her instincts told her to go to the center of the trial. Not only for the stronger plateau beasts. She could feel something else there. It was small. A tiny seed of power that was steadily growing.

While not a plateau beast, she could sense it in a similar way. Right now, it was even weaker than Heath, but that wouldn’t be true for long.

Various types of loot appeared around Mel’s friends. Some toad-like armor for Heath, something that looked like a spell scroll molded into the shape of a staff for Thomas, and the most surprising of all was a giant greathammer of mottled metal right on top of Gwen’s unconscious form.

It was bigger than she was.

It took all three of them working together to push it off her. Heath collapsed to the side, wheezing and out of breath.

“She probably won’t mind, right?” Mel asked, creeping closer to the gargantuan weapon.

“You mean the not breathing part?” Heath said nervously.

Mel reached out to the weapon. “Nah, I just wants a look-see…”

[Melted Colossal Hammer]

(Copper Rank, Weapon)

(Legendary)

A colossal greathammer that is too large and heavy for mere human hands, demanding extraordinary Strength to wield for its rank and rarity. Forged from a mixture of a plateau beast’s nature and a spirited viking’s Red, Green, and Orange tinged Deeds.

Imprint: Increases the maximum critical damage of Strength bound aspect skills. Amplified armament weight and momentum even when unsummoned. Greatly increased physical strike damage. Improved guard block.

Requires: [Strength (Copper Grade 15)]

[Heavy Martial Weapon Knowledge (G-Tier)]

“Dang, girl,” Mel said softly. “I don’t know if you can use that. And if you can…well, dayum. I’m really far behind.”

Gwen turned over and held onto the hammer like she was cuddling a lover.

Mel looked at her and the hammer. She looked up at Thomas. “Sorry, bro. Looks like she’s made her choice.”

Thomas rolled his eyes at her and pulled the sleeping bag cover over Gwen so she could get some sleep. She mumbled something and pressed her face into the hammer’s warm metal.

“Was that your new aspect skill?” Mel asked Thomas.

He couldn’t contain his grin. “Yeah.”

“Was it–”

“Yep!”

Heath looked at them. “Was it what?”

“Everything that he hoped it would be,” Mel elaborated. “It’s kind of an inside joke among Magi that we never get a ‘fireball’ spell, no matter where we go. It’s rare for some reason.”

“But it’s so glorious,” Thomas whispered in awe. “Did you see how it blew up? It looked like something out of a movie.”

“Michael Bay would have been proud,” Mel said with a grin.

“Who?” Thomas asked.

She shook her head. “Nobody.” Mel pulled out the belt. “Y’know, I didn’t even know belts were a type of equipment.”

“Really?” Heath asked. “I have one.”

Thomas finished tucking Gwen in. “Me too.”

“Oh, sorry, I’m not cool like you two are,” Mel snapped. “But I’ll bet neither of you have a belt as awesome as whatever [Belt of the Indomitable] is!”

On second thought, I probably should have read the description before boasting like that.

[Belt of the Indomitable]

(Copper Rank, Armor)

(Legendary)

Forged from a plateau beast’s sturdy nature and an indomitable witch’s Blue, Green, and Violet tinged Deeds.

Imprint: Reduces cooldown of Agility bound aspect skills. Raises defense against physical damage. Greatly increases resistance to Yellow aspect skills. Contains inner pockets linked to a pocket dimension for alchemy potions and ingredients.

Requires: [Agility (Copper Grade 10)]

“Screw you, belt! You think you’re better than me?” Mel shouted, shaking the belt. “I don’t have Grade 10 agility!”

Hold up.

Mel kind of remembered a prompt about hitting Grade 10. She looked at her status.

[Mel Harper]

Race: Human

Rating: [#8] Exile (G-League) [1st Echelon]

Class: Witchblade

Rank: High Copper

Next Rank: Iron (70%)

[==Attributes==]

Strength [Divine Aspect]: Copper (Grade 5)

Agility [Mist Aspect]: Copper (Grade 10)

Vigor [Blood Aspect]: Copper (Grade 7)

Sense [Serpent Aspect]: Copper (Grade 7)

Arcane [Omen Aspect]: Copper (Grade 5)

[==Aspects==]

[Divine Aspect] (Copper Rank) (Grade 5)

•        [Tempest Heart] (Grade 5)

[Mist Aspect] (Copper Rank) (Grade 9)

•        [Hidden Mist] (Grade 10)

•        [Condensate] (Grade 3)

[Blood Aspect] (Copper Rank) (Grade 7)

•        [Sanguine Coat] (Grade 8)

•        [Blood Magic] (Grade 1)

[Serpent Aspect] (Copper Rank) (Grade 7)

•        [Gaze of the Serpent] (Grade 8)

•        [Avatar of Askara] (Grade 5)

[Omen Aspect] (Copper Rank) (Grade 5)

•        [Omen Mark] (Grade 5)

•        [Bane of Tartarus] (Grade 6)

Nevermind.

“I take that back.” She stroked the wide leather belt. “I’m sorry baby. You know I love you. It won’t happen again, you just make me so mad sometimes.”

Heath gave her a slack-jawed look. “My highest attribute is five! And here I thought I was doing exceptionally well.”

Thomas and Mel looked a little guilty. The only reason Mel’s agility was at Grade 10 was because she was constantly using [Primeval Brews] to enhance her Blue deeds and agility-bound aspect.

The latest brew had just worn off.

“You don’t happen to have a [Cinder Ampoule], do you?” Mel asked.

“...No? Should I? What is it? It sounds good.”

Thomas put a comforting hand on his lean shoulder. “It is comparable to the [Soul Kiln].” He paused. “You…do have a [Soul Kiln], right?”

Heath’s bottom lip trembled a little as he nodded. “Yeah…”

“Good.” Thomas looked over Heath’s head at Mel. “Seems you were right. The ampoules must be rare indeed.”

“Better for us,” Mel said. She winced when she saw Heath’s puppy dog expression. “Sorry, buddy. I don’t know how to get you one. We found ours through a quest that we completed in a tomb that had a big, sexy–”

Gwen woke with a gasp, pulling out of the sleeping bag, seeming disoriented.

She stared in confusion at the greathammer in her arms. “The heck?”

They all turned to Gwen.

“You were making out with it,” Thomas said, stone-faced.

“...Really?” Gwen grinned widely, staring at the weapon dreamily.

“Yeah,” Mel added. “You were muttering about how much strength it required to be lifted. Saying things like ‘aw, yeah baby, I’ll lift you up real good, mmmhmm.’”

Heath turned to Mel. “How do you get your voice so low?”

“Years of creeping people out.”

Gwen gave Mel a skeptical look, then rested the greathammer on her shoulder like it weighed no more than a typical greatsword.

“How?!” Mel cried.

“Hmm? What’s got your panties in a twist?”

“Okay, one? I don’t wear oppression devices. I go commando all the way. Secondly? How do you have strength at Grade 15?!”

Gwen beamed at Mel and swung the gigantic hammer one-handed into the campfire.

Heath jumped back with a shout, but the weapon disappeared into a rush of moonlit ash before it flattened the logs and probably set them all on fire.

“I’m five grades away for my highest stat,” Mel muttered enviously.

“It’s okay,” Gwen said. “My attributes are wickedly unbalanced. I focused strength this entire time. I didn’t stand up very well against that plateau beast, after all.”

Heath crawled back to his seat. “So you can bust easily?” he asked earnestly.

“You better rephrase that or else,” Gwen threatened him gruffly.

True confusion crossed his pale features. “What’s another word for bust?”

“Nut,” Mel said unhelpfully.

Thomas coughed, his face turning red as he tried not to laugh.

“Heath!” Gwen snarled.

“I don’t know what I did wrong!” he cried.

Mel looked doubtfully at him. “You must hear it.”

Heath’s vacant expression said it all.

“Oh shit.” Mel laughed. “I figured you were just screwing around, but you really don’t hear it do you?”

“No! People look at me all the time like that and they get mad at me too and I don’t know why!” Heath kicked the dirt. “It’s that gypsy’s curse all over again!”

“I don’t think a gypsy makes you say inappropriate things.”

He looked at Mel. “What’s inappropriate about busting?! It’s what you do when you bust down doors, right?”

Gwen glared flatly at him.

“Oh, my sweet summer child.” Mel shook her head. “How about this? Don’t say ‘bust’.”

Heath thought about that for a moment. “Okay. I can deal with that.” He turned to Gwen. “So uh…you can blast easily?”

Thomas cackled like a hyena.

“I swear, boy, I will crush your fragile little bird bones to dust.” Gwen loomed over him.

Heath’s innocent calf-brown eyes widened. “I can’t say blast either?!”

“Let’s ban that one too,” Mel said.

“Fine! I don’t see what’s so wrong about it, but I don’t want to rock the boat.” He cleared his throat. “You do strength good?” He looked terrified.

“Do you think I’m an imbecile?” Gwen demanded.

“My vocabulary isn’t very large! Why is everything I say wrong?” Heath wailed.

Gwen turned eerily calm. Smiling viciously, she picked him up by the sides of his arms.

“Don’t bang me, please.”

“Oh trust me, that’s never happening.”

Heath relaxed. “Oh, thank goodness. I was afraid–wait, what’re you doing?”

As soon as Mel saw Gwen turning him upside down like she was going to pile drive him through the ground, she grabbed her arm. “I think he’s either learned his lesson—” Mel looked at Heath’s confused face. “—or he has no idea what’s going on. In either case, punishing him isn’t going to get the desired result.”

“How can you be so sure?” Gwen asked. “It’s worked wonderfully on everyone else in the past. Except you, of course.”

Fortunately, she put him down.

Mel looked at Heath. “‘Don’t bang me please’? What did you think was going to happen?”

“I thought she was going to bang me on that rock there,” Heath admitted shakily.

“You lot already tease me enough,” Gwen pointed out, sitting down on her sleeping bag.

“I make fun of everybody. You ain’t special,” Mel objected. “I am an equal opportunity hater.”

“Impossible,” Heath said. “You’re too nice to be a hater.”

Mel gestured to him. “See? How can you be mad at him when he so clearly has a warped sense of reality?”

“See?” Heath said. “She says I have a good outlook on life.”

Nobody knew what to say to that.

“Yeah,” Mel said. “He has super brain damage.”

Heath visibly squirmed when Gwen looked up into his eyes. “A health potion isn’t going to fix that,” she said.

“I’m sorry if I’m inappropriate,” Heath said earnestly. “I just don’t hear it. I really don’t want to get kicked out of another group. Or left in the Food Lion parking lot. But it’s okay, I get it. My mom was busy too. Sometimes you just forget about your eight-year-old son every now and again.”

Mel nudged Gwen to get her to say something.

Gwen shot Mel a sharp glance. “You’re fine, Heath. You’re not going to get abandoned by us too.”

“My mom didn’t abandon me.”

“Totes did,” Mel said.

“No, no, you don’t get it. She had an errand to run, and it was very important.”

“Somehow, Heath has achieved a sadder, more vulnerable status than even Hush,” Gwen said gently.

Hush, curled up in the embers of the fire, rattled his twin tails at hearing his name, just like a puppy.

“All that aside, I’m sorry for failing,” Gwen said. “I plan on acquiring more defensive aspect skills and a great deal of vigor to support the group better.”

“You didn’t fail anybody,” Thomas said. “You took a hit like any of us would have. The beast is dead, the points are ours. That’s all that matters.”

“And the loot,” Mel said, digging out the ember and pearl. “Can’t forget about the loot.”

“So much loot!” Gwen cried, embracing her hammer tenderly. She met Mel’s eyes like she could read her thoughts. “You better believe we’re sticking together after this competition.”