Never in my entire life have I even been this bored. I could talk to Quinn, but she doesn't look much of a conversationalist. I can't experiment either, not white Quinns here.
Alister thought to himself, trying to find a way to alleviate his boredom.
After pondering for a couple minutes, Alister conjured up an idea to make Quinn leave for a while.
"Hey Quinn, can you do me a favor?"
Quinn perked her head up.
"Sure, what do you need?"
"Can you go find Olivia? I'm pretty sure she has all of my essence cores from the Corrupted I killed. It should be nine cores in total."
Alister spoke without looking at her.
Quinn nodded then stood up and exited the hollowed tree.
Finally Alister had some alone time. Alister opened his system screen, then his inventory.
He pulls out the Horror Corrupted Essence Core and stares at it for a while. It didn't look all that different from any other essence core, it was still all white and spherical. Although it was bigger, nothing about it was all that different.
Then Alister remembered something, his [Essences Connection] Lineage ability. How he could get a "deeper connection" to it, whatever that meant.
Alister seemed hesitant, he didn't know what the ability would do to him or the core for that matter. But nevertheless, Alister didn't want to waste the core, especially the essence core of a horror ranked corrupted.
So he closed his eyes and activated the [Essences Connection] ability. His consciousness faded slowly, he grew dizzy and tired. It was a sensation Alister never felt before, like his soul was being pulled out of his body.
After a while Alister opened his eyes and he was greeted by an odd sight, a haft charred, haft frozen battlefield. He couldn't move his head, no he wasn't even in his own body, nor was he in control of this one.
He was in the body of the Horror Corrupted. But what made him even more bewildered was the entity in front of him.
The ethereal figure that appears to be a man at the center of swirling, vibrant energy. The figure was shrouded in dark, shadowy tones, giving the impression of a cloaked or robed individual with a faceless head, which turned out to be a mask created by essence. Judging by how it dissipates from the figure's face.
Unfortunately, it didn't reveal the entity's face. It was still covered by a black shadow that only covered his face, his body was covered by an energy Alister didn't recognize. Surrounding him was a dynamic, flowing pattern of light in shades of gold, orange, and blue, which spiral and intertwine, evoking the sense of a powerful aura.
The Corrupted on the other hand, was shaking, trembling. It instinctively knew that it was in danger, or more likely, it was going to die.
The entity spoke suddenly, in a voice unbefitting the powerful aura it gave off.
"Forgive me, but I want to give your core to my successor. I would like to see the enchantment he creates, so please just stop struggling."
His voice was gentle like a calm water.
Alister knew who this person was after adding up all the pieces, Ketharoth: The Primordial Craftsman.
Out of thin air, Ketharoth held up a singular finger and five balls of the mysterious energy appeared. Which formed into a large crescent blade, then he shot it. The blue and orange crescent blade hummed through the air and cut off the head of the Corrupted, the same head Alister was inhabiting.
The entity grabbed the severed head of the Corrupted and looked it in the eyes. He opened his mouth and spoke:
"Sorry Alister, but this is what's going to happen every time you use [Essences Connection]. Essence is the life of all things, to be connected with essence or rather the essence cores you must experience its life and its death. Trust me Alister, this is for the better. Also, I'm sorry for cutting your head off."
He said the part with a giggle.
So he knew Alister would use his [Essences Connection] ability. So he decided to use the opportunity to deliver a message. How sinister.
Then once again, everything faded to black.
Alister opened his eyes in surprise and gasped for air. He grabbed his neck desperately, making sure it was still attached to his shoulders, thankfully it was.
Alister took some time to calm down with some deep breaths.
[Essence Connection], how scary.
Alister though.
But he got some useful information from it, he didn't even look at the Corrupted. But Alister knew everything about it, it was extremely odd for lack of better words.
The Corrupted's name was Frostfire Crawler.
A low-slung, serpentine creature, the Frostfire Crawler is a creature of stark contrasts. Its body is elongated, segmented, and covered in thick scales that shifts in color from icy blue to fiery orange depending on its mood. It moves with a sinuous, undulating gait, its belly close to the ground.
Its head is triangular, with large, multifaceted eyes that glow an eerie mix of blue and orange. Twin crests of jagged ice and flame rise from its head, resembling horns of conflicting elements. From its gaping maw, a constant stream of icy mist and fiery breath escapes, mingling in a chaotic display of nature's power.
The Crawler's limbs are short and powerful, ending in clawed feet that can grip ice or rock with equal tenacity. Its tail is long and whip-like.
Its element was obviously ice and fire. A dual elemental Corrupted is rare but not impossible, but one of conflicting elements was very rare. Expressly one with two different elemental tiers.
All the known elements included: Earth, Water, Wind, Fire, Lightning, Ice, Flower, Blood, Shadow, Light, Sun, Moon, Time and Space.
The natural elements are: Earth, Water, Wind, Fire and Lightning. Fire is strong against Wind, Wind is strong against Earth, Earth is strong against Lightning, Lightning is strong against Water and Water is strong against Fire.
The uncommon elements are: Ice, Flower and Blood. Ice is strong against Flower, Flower is strong against Blood and Blood is strong against Ice.
The rare elements are: Shadow, Light, Sun and Moon. Light is strong against Shadow and Shadow is strong against Light. Sun is strong against Moon and Moon is strong against Sun.
Finally the godly elements are: Time and Space, which are neutral against each other.
Alister, after digesting all that information and calming down from having his head cut off, pulled out the [Puresteel Sword]. He studied the long sword for a while, then decided he was going to enchant it.
He took the [Horror Corrupted Essence Core] into his mouth, then the [Puresteel Sword] in his left and held it horizontally. His right hand holding the hilt, his left hand resting on the flat, cold steel of the blade.
Alister activated the Lineage Ability: [Rudimentary Enchanting].
He broke the essence core with his teeth, channeling the essence from the core into his own essences veins, channeling it from the essence veins in his mouth to his neck, then his shoulders, then his biceps, then his hands and finally into the blade.
It was a weird sensation to say the least, it felt like an icy hot liquid flowing through-out his body and it probably wasn't just because of the elemental affinities of the core.
His breath grew heavier.
A minute passed, then five, then ten.
The enchantment was successful.
[Congratulations! The creation of the enchantment was successful].
[Enchantment Rank: Horror].
[Enchantment: Frostfire Convergence].
[Enchantment Description: Frostfire Convergence is an advanced enchantment that combines the opposing elements of ice and fire into a harmonious, yet volatile force. When activated, the enchanted object exhibits a seamless blend of dark blue ice and bright orange fire, constantly swirling and intertwining like a dance of opposing forces].
The system spoke excitedly.
A deep, all-consuming feeling of passion filled Alister's chest.
"Hell Yeah!"
Alister screamed.
THUD
Alister turned his head quickly to the sound's source.
To his dismay, it was the group.
Olivia, Gabriel, Sophia, Quinn and April stared at him and the enchanted sword.