Alister, from where he sat, observed the tall, sturdy boy that just killed two Dormant Corrupted. Gabriel kneeled down and panted from the physical exertion. Alister, on the other hand, was completely fine.
All Alister was doing was sitting on the corpses of the Corrupted he killed. He watched Gabriel struggle, observing his movements, how he swung his ax, how he held his shield, every micromovement was mentally jotted down in Alister's head.
"Gabriel! Come over here."
Alister yelled to Gabriel.
After Gabriel gathered up all his essence cores, he walked over to where Alister was sitting.
"Gabriel, show me your system's status screen."
Gabriel's eyes widened to this sudden request.
Showing your status screen is the same as showing yourself naked. You're revealing everything and for Gabriel who only knew Alister for four days at most, this kinda request was ludicrous.
Gabriel tried to voice his concern:
"Umm Alister I don't know if that's good…"
"Shut up and show me."
With that Gabriel sighed then showed Alister his status screen.
***
Name: Gabriel
Alias: —
Rank: Dormant
Essence core: Purity: [6/3000]
Aspect Rank: Titan
Aspect: Fortress Warden.
Abilities: [Shield Bash], [Guardian's Roar], [Crushing Blow].
Aspect Description: [The Fortress Warden stands as an immovable bastion on the battlefield, their imposing shield deflecting every blow while their hefty ax delivers crushing strikes. Combining unparalleled defense with devastating offense, they guard their allies and shatter foes with equal might].
Abilities: [Shield Bash].
Abilities Description: [The User bashes their shield into the enemy knocking them back, and may leave them stunned].
Abilities: [Guardian's Roar].
Abilities Description: [The User lets out a fierce roar that bolsters the defenses of nearby allies and the User, increasing their resistance to damage].
Abilities: [Crushing Blow].
Abilities Description: [With a mighty swing, the User ax delivers a powerful attack that deals heavy damage and has a chance to stun the target, leaving them vulnerable to follow-up attacks].
Interesting, so that ability he used was called [Shield Bash]? A fitting name.
But his aspect rank is truly something special, exactly like is thought. Titan rank, Amazing.
"Gabriel, I'll make a deal with you. If you can kill a decent rank Corrupted all by yourself, I'll make or enchant weapons, armor, charms or anything you may want."
Alister talked in a calm tone.
Gabriel raised an eyebrow to this.
"Did you say make? You can make things? Alister, what exactly is your aspect?"
Alister looked at Gabriel, then face palmed. He just gave away another part of his aspect.
"Let's just say… I'm a craftsman of sorts. Don't ask anymore Gabriel, it's not something to reveal so casually."
Gabriel knew that the topic he was approaching was a dangerous one. Judging by the murderous glare Alister was giving them, he was practically bearing his teeth at Gabriel.
"I understand."
Gabriel muttered out.
"Good, but the deal is a real thing, anything at any time, if you need something made, as long as you kill the Corrupted by yourself and you give me its essence cores, I will make anything you desire."
Alister stopped glaring and looked at Gabriel with a hopeful expression.
Gabriel, taken aback from the sudden shift in moods. But the look in Alister's eyes told him that he was being sincere.
"We need to get you some good armor, as well as an enchantment to fit those weapons of yours."
Alister spoke in a smug tone, with a sung smile.
"We're gonna do a lot of hunting."
Gabriel nodded.
So they continued they're venture deeper into the Azure Forest.
All there was was low rank Dormant Corrupted, for Alister killing them was the same as crushing a bug under boot. But for Gabriel it was difficult to say the least, he was getting better with each fight.
Alister helped him where he could.
For two hours they ventured around the forest, killing everything they saw. Be it only Dormant Corrupted, it still served for good practice for the two.
The total kill for each are:
Alister: ten Dormant Corrupted, fifty-two essence cores.
Gabriel: six Dormant Corrupted, twenty-two essence cores.
A successive hunt indeed.
As they were walking back to the shelter a single Corrupted blocked they're path. Alister focused his eyes on it, then it system status screen appeared, showing the Corrupted information:
Name: Viperling
Rank: Awakened
Essence Cores: 1 Core.
The Corrupted was an interesting thing to say the least. It seemed like something you would find on earth.
A serpentine creature, roughly five feet in size. Its body is a dark, almost inky black, blending seamlessly with shadows. It possesses no limbs, relying solely on its sinuous body for movement. Its head is small and triangular, with a wide, gaping maw filled with sharp, needle-like teeth. With large horns protruding from its head, twenty points that looked like thorns on a rose.
It looked like a python, albeit a much larger one. The Corrupted Realm is an outlandish Realm that should never be underestimated. It's a place that twists and alters everything that it touched, hypothetically of course.
"Well Gabriel, that's your opponent. Kill it."
Alister took a step back and leaned against a tree.
Gabriel stared at Alister in bewilderment.
Then Alister spoke again:
"Kill. It."
Gabriel, knowing he won't win an argument with Alister, sighed then made his way to the Vipering.
Gabriel held his shield up in front of him, preparing to block any bite from the mouth or whips from the tail.
The Corrupted hisses loudly, then slithers its way to Gabriel trying to bite at his feet. Only to be met by the iron shield. It tried to get Gabriel from every angle, but the shield was like an ultimate counter against it.
The Corrupted was fast and agile, but all Gabriel had to do was spin.
"Stop dancing with it, too much defense, not enough offense!"
Alister shouted.
Gabriel, thankfully took Alister's advice, once the Corrupted bit at his shield, he swung his large ax down, missing the Corrupted but shattering the earth under his ax.
They repeated this for a while, to Alister dismay, he was getting bored and Gabriel was losing more and more stamina by the second. They can't keep this up forever, Gabriel would eventually lose.
He lacked confidence or something akin to that. So Alister decided he would throw him a bone just this once.
He yell out to the sturdy boy:
"[Shield Bash] till you get the [Stun], then [Crushing Blow]."
Alister yawned.
Gabriel nodded and did as he said.
Gabriel dodged a couple more attacks, then [Shield Bash], no [Stun].
Once more, he dodged a couple attacks, then [Shield Bash], luckily this time he got the [Stun] status effect.
Gabriel sprinted forward at a surprising speed considering the size of the boy. He brought his massive ax above his head with one hand and used his ability: [Crushing Blow]. The ax fell at an alarming speed and connected with the Corrupted.
But it didn't stop there, it went and hit the ground and broke the earth once more. Not like the other times against the two Dormant Corrupted from early. Gabriel's ax broke the earth twenty feet in every direction.
It nearly made Alister fall on his ass, literally. It shook the earth like an earthquake.
Holy shit.
Alister thought.
He pushed off the tree he leaned against and walked over the shield welding boy that was pulling the essence core from the shattered… body of the Corrupted and patted him on the back.
"Congratulations, how about I enchant something for you. Once we get back to the shelter of course."
Alister congratulated.
Which Gabriel nodded to as they started their walk back to the downed sentinel like tree they called shelter.
During their walk, Gabriel broke the silence.
"Hey Alister, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, anything to alleviate this boredom."
Gabriel started speaking again:
"Can I call you brother? You remind me of how an older brother should be, I've always wanted someone I could call a brother."
"That's it? Sure I don't see why not."
Gabriel smiled.
"Brother, can I ask you another question?"
"Sure."
Gabriel's voice spoke once more, in a melancholy tone.
"Have you ever killed?"
Alister turned his head and looked at Gabriel.
"Why do you ask?"
"I was thinking about what you told me before we left, about how we might meet potential allies and or enemies."
Alister let that statement hang in the air and catch some weight. To kill, some say it is easy. Just imagine them as evil or like a bug, it is easy to eradicate something from the world that doesn't matter or will cause the world harm.
But Alister didn't know, he had never killed anyone before.
"I haven't"
Alister spoke abruptly.
"When or if that day comes, we will face it together. We aren't friends or allies, not anymore, not in a place like this. We're brothers."
Gabriel perked up at this.
"Brother, you said you were from the Aetherbound Legacy Clan, right?"
"Yeah, my full name is Alister Aetherbound."
After hearing that, Gabriel kneeled down and bowed his head.
"This may be sudden, but.."
Gabriel raised his voice and spoke in a confident tone.
"On my name: Gabriel. I swear my loyalty to you: Alister Aetherbound."
Alister's eyes widened, to have someone like Gabriel to swear his loyalty so suddenly was astonishing. Someone with a titan ranked aspect at that is even more crazy.
Alister knew that once he got back to earth, his siblings would be at his neck.
He sighed and pulled out the long blue and red sword and planted it in the ground.
"Gabriel, become my shield."
Gabriel rose to his feet and spoke with a voice that could rattle mountains.
"Brother, I shall be your shield from now till I take my last breath."
"Good, let's return to the group."