The wolf continued its path to the looming mountains, occasionally changing the road it was on. It was almost there. Nobody batted an eye as he rode by. For some reason, Zero thought the people might recognize him as a fugitive. But obviously, there was no way the news could spread that fast. Why would he even consider it? And that was if he was even worthwhile enough to be mentioned again.
When Zero and the wolf finally met the base of the mountain, the wolf let out a single bark, then ascended the mountain at great pace. Again, Zero found himself burying his face into the beast's neck. By now, his bum was really starting to hurt.
He was not sure how long the wolf had climbed the mountain for, but it could not have been too long; the sun was still peaking above the mountains, if barely. Eventually, the wolf came to a halt and lowered his head for Zero to get off.
Upon descent, Zero could feel his legs violently shaking. He considered summoning Valiant Blade, but decided that it was not fear he was feeling, but rather solid ground.
When the panting wolf walked off, Zero had a feeling that he should follow, and so he did. The wolf entered a cave and disappeared behind a bend. Zero followed and took the same bend. In an instant, Zero found himself in a different place.
Brilliant twilight peeked out from small holes atop the cavern. Almost nostalgic grass covered the floor, and a waterfall flowed into a small pond in the corner. When Zero whipped his head around to look back at where he came from, he was met with a different view.
Behind him were three pedestals, with two holding a statue. The pedestals and statues were made of dull grey stone and looked the slightest bit aged. Though they were still entirely untouched by nature, which they should not have been. The wolf was currently circling the statue on the left.
The statue on the left was a human with their hand outstretched to the sky. Their fingers were spread out, and if the statue had eyes in that moment, they would likely reflect something awe-inspiring. The chest of the statue was caved in, and revealed a single grotesque nexus that was held in place by tubes.
'A heart perhaps? And those lines are what carry the blood?'
The statue on the left was also another human of vague stature. However, this one was posed slightly, looking down with a book in its hand. Its other hand was currently in the middle of flipping a page. The book's cover was blank.
"Hey buddy, are you trying to show me something?"
Zero approached the wolf and scratched his head. Then paused to look at the statue. It was impressive how detailed the chest cavity was compared to the rest of the body, and for that reason, Zero was drawn to it.
Slowly, he reached out his hand and grasped the cool stone heart… except it was not cool. It was rather warm. Nothing particularly happened from his grasping the stone, and the only reason he kept holding onto it was because it was a rather pleasant sensation.
So when the wolf rammed into him, causing him to stumble, he still had a firm grip on the stone. Although he should not have been able to break stone with just his hand, he did. The heart came out of the stone with little resistance, then crumbled into dust in his hand.
The world around him also seemed to crumble at the same time.
Everything quickly turned into a blur, including the wolf at his feet. When he tried to reach out to its grey fur, he found himself unable to move. Not from lack of physicality, but rather, it was like his mind was being overloaded by the incomprehensible blur around him.
Time passed. It felt like an eternity he was stuck in that blur, but rather it was only a few seconds.
{Vestige Completed}
{New Tier Seeker}
{New Class Human}
{Blessing Orgins of Blood has resonated with your spirit}
Zero tumbled onto something soft, with many existing instances. Recovering from his disorientation, Zero found himself plopped down on grass illuminated by a midday sun. But he was not focused on the change in time, or even on how he got here.
Rather, he was focused on an intense, startling feeling. Like his instincts were screaming out. Actually, it was his instincts screaming out, performing a symphony of danger.
Zero raised his head and found the threat rather quickly. A creature was just a few meters away from him, staring intently and standing near the edge of a cliff. It was brown and had odd contortions wrapping around its stump-like body. It looked almost like a tree stump covered by vines. It had two wooden roots as its legs, but it had many arms made of vines. Luckily, the beast was quite small, maybe the size of a large toddler.
Without warning, the still beast sprang into action, prompting Zero to push off the ground and roll to the side. Zero felt a whip-like sensation on his arm that made it feel rather warm. It also stung a lot.
Upon finishing his roll, Zero went into the fractured plane and manifested Valiant Blade. Luckily, his non-dominant, left arm was scraped, so he could still wield the blade effectively if needed.
While Valiant Blade was materializing, Zero quickly got to his feet and pushed back in an attempt to gain distance. While doing that, he also peered at the beast's body.
To his luck, he quickly found a rather large fracture on the side of the beast's abdomen. It was probably the largest fracture Zero had seen up until that point. A simple visual glance would also confirm the beast was grievously wounded. That side of it was turning to a charcoal black color.
When Valiant Blade finally fully materialized, Zero stood his ground and waited for the beast to strike. When it finally began to approach again, Zero felt his instincts spike right before the beast lunged at him. Then it came, and Zero side-stepped while keeping his blade in the same position.
The beast was much faster than Zero was, but it had to cover more distance. In its desperate, wounded behavior, it charged headfirst to where Zero was. When Zero sidestepped, it could still use its vines to attack and did, but its fate was already sealed.
The black part of its body rammed into Valiant Blade and made a sickening crunch before giving way and completely breaking. Meanwhile, its vines for the most part were deflected by Valiant Blade's crossguard.
{Enlightened Harvest Critter slain}
{Boon Harvest Talisman has resonated with your spirit}