'.... I might die if I do this'.
Arthur.... even with a thousand years worth of experience and knowledge, had absolutely no idea what he was about to walk into.
The existence of Monsters, of the Madness Attribute that created them, and those "things" that were born within the Madness, who could come through after possessing a vessel in the form of a Foreigner.
He had never once heard of Fae Immortals that researched, or had experienced "Madness" in this capacity. It was the third greatest surprise to Arthur, since he had been reborn into the body of his younger self.
The seventeen year old let out a steady breath, sending one final Falling Autumn Maple towards some of the growing abominations, before lifting his head and nodding at Elder Vova and Elder Anatol.
The five hundred year old Elder felt a hot flash of air escape his body, and he let out a grunt, creating a flame in the palms of his hands. The colour of the flame shifted, from red, to orange, to yellow to blue and finally to white.
The combination of Elder Anatol's searing, white, hot flame and Elder Vova's untainted flower petals caused the mortals and Fae Masters alike to look at the two Rank 3 Fae Masters with an unrestrained respect in their eyes.
The white tone of their powers, made them seem holy and respectable, without any sort of blemish on them, or their characters.
Elder Anatol suppressed a wince as the blindingly hot flames seared the insides of his palms, almost burning an actual hole in the insides of his hands.
His powerfully angry voice resounded throughout the entirety of the Village.
"Fire Attributed Control Skill: Searing Heavenly Flames".
The beam of flame illuminated the world around him. The darkness and the corruption born from the Madness had suddenly been punctured with a flame that exceeded everything else that it had experienced before this point. Nothing but flames and light existed in that moment, temporarily illuminating the Madness within, causing it to squeal in pain, as if a wild boar or a wild pig.
It's body, including the numerous limbs and appendages flailed uncontrollably in the air, obviously showing that it had in fact caused significant damage to the Monster.
It may be an existence that reaches beyond the realm of Fae Master, but its base materials were still sub-par. Arthur had Randolf to thank for that little fact.
Elder Anatol winced as he turned towards Elder Vova, whom nodded and flicked his arm out, causing his dance of petals to surround Arthur and Verde.
The little ghost raised its arm slightly, and covered Arthur and itself in a thick layer of Dusk Vines. Wrapping themselves up in a small ball of greenish-purple vines.
The untainted flower petals should be able to remain within the Monster for a short period of time without being corrupted by it, and Arthur had the assistance of his other ghosts to go find the Foreign Treasure before the Madness could fully devour Randolf.
He let out a deep breath, sending one last glance towards Elder Vova, nodding as the vines completely embraced Arthur and the little ghost.
Elder Vova flicked his wrist out once more, sending the ball of flower petals shooting into the large gaping hole that Elder Anatol created. Theoretically, it should've pierced straight through near where its ear should've been, before coming out on the other side.
They didn't understand why it didn't pierce straight through the Monster, although Arthur had a faint idea why.
'Madness can both shift between all Attributes and utilise the functions of every Attribute. It can use Flesh, Bone, Blood, Corruption and even Poison all on its own body. Not to mention it has the ability to transform fire into ice, lightning into emotions and even create earthen trees crafted out of stone and metal....'.
Arthur couldn't tell if there were any spatial fluctuations being released by the Monster in front of him, however, there was a quality of the Darkness Attribute, one that could also be used by the Shadow Attribute at higher levels of cultivation.
The space within a shadow could be extended infinitely, at least theoretically. The beginning of a shadow was caused by a physical existence in the world around oneself, however the end was seemingly infinite.
The shadows cast within the Monster could theoretically be infinite as well, albeit, it was impossible for something to extend infinitely within this World.
But Arthur had never interacted with the Madness Attribute before. He was unsure of where its limits lie.
The moment Elder Vova pushed Arthur's petal encased figure into the wound create by Elder Anatol, he felt a sudden disconnection with the world. The spiritual essence within the Monster was even greater than it was outside, and Arthur clutched his head, summoning his six other ghosts at the same time within the vine cocoon.
The other ghosts relied on Thoughts, Emotions and Desires however they too could feel the intensity of spiritual essence within the bowls of this Monster. Arthur partially wanted to open up the petals and vines and look around for himself, but knew that the Foreign Treasure within Randolf took precedence above all else.
Activating his Wood Ghost Imprint Fae, Arthur felt the mental connection between himself and his five ghosts and commanded them to phase through the vines and petals, and move outwards in order to find where Randolf's Foreign Treasure was.
Controlling five ghosts with Arthur's current level of mental strength was fine, considering he had formed Intent. He hadn't yet properly trained or developed his still budding Intent yet, although made a mental note to improve himself more in the coming days.
Seeing through the eyes of these ghosts, Arthur could see nothing but a formless abyss all around him.
Devoid of all colour, yet somehow possessing all colour at once. If one added every single colour in existence to each other, all that they would end up with is a rainbow coloured black, created from every single shade and tone perceivable by the human eye.
Numerous Attributes both existed and didn't exist at the same time. Madness existed before Creation, so it was obvious that Madness could transform into everything in Creation.
The difference between the inner and outer expressions of this Monster were vastly different. The external was a horrid abomination of human, blood, bone and flesh, with the Attributes of every single Fae that Randolf possessed within his origin essence sea.
It seems he had been hiding quite a number of Fae, if the different Attributes he used to attack Arthur and the others were an obvious indication of the fact.
The seventeen year old narrowed his eyes, and focused, trying to control his ghosts while they travelled through this Sea of Madness. The Foreign Treasure with an unknown appearance should hypothetically be the only other thing in here.....
Perhaps only other than the Madness that caused Randolf's horrifying transformation.