95 Atlas Dropped the Sky (1/2)

I frowned, leaning against the pillar behind me. With the hum of the core’s energy beaming, I checked out my Living Dimension armor. Well, it was considered a body by the system, but I still checked out the status. After reading through the bonuses, the last one intrigued me.

[Modifications - The dimensional fabric composing this structure has been modified with code from the dimensional cipher. The bonuses are as follows.

+8 Strength

+8 Dexterity]

I raised an eyebrow, thinking about the alteration. These stat bonuses were permanent, meaning I wouldn’t need Schema for enhancements. Once Yawm was gone, fighting eldritch wasn’t a thing I had to do. I might do it anyways, but pushing the limits for growth wouldn’t be necessary.

I didn’t have much time before Yawm ripped out of his shackles though. I needed leveling and whatever the eldritch runes gave me and fast. With in mind, I sighed before opening my status screens and viewing my attribute points.

From all the fighting, I gained 160 attribute points and cleared the dungeon of most of the monsters. Hod helped of course, likely killing quite a few abstractions. Without them enhancing the beetles, leveling slowed down by a fair margin though.

Considering my levels gained so far, I wasn’t complaining. Especially after my first handout from Tera. That helped me gain a bit more strength then I imagined I would when facing a follower. These levels were the same way. I welcomed them.

With a great abandon, I put all the points into Endurance once again. These eldritch runes required ridiculous amounts of mana. Endurance helped with gaining mana, so the attribute had yet another reason investing into it. The extra damage resistance didn’t hurt either. With that in mind, I hit finalize.

The rush wasn’t there this time. There was a bit of a buzz, but nothing crazy. Without any significant jump in stats, I wouldn’t be feeling any serious oomph anytime soon. It would require something enormous, like an armor evolution or killing a follower. Knowing the stat bonuses wouldn’t be huge, I checked them out.

Level 1550

Strength – 1384 | Constitution – 1765.9 | Endurance – 4262

Dexterity – 447.2 | Willpower – 2434 | Intelligence – 892.6

Charisma – 121.3 | Luck – 291.8 | Perception – 204.2

************************************

Health 277,261/277,261 149,864/min or 2,498/sec Phys Dam Reduction - 98.5%

Stamina 128,219/128,219 1,338/sec Elemental Res - 98.5%

Living Dimension 0.00 Trillion/ 4.33 Trillion 74.3/per min(conduit) Plasma Res - 98.5%

Event Horizon – (20,000 + 100% of your health)/min Rad Res - 98.5%

Phys Dam Bonus - 15,048% | Total Damage Bonus 20% Mental Res - 98.5%

My health and health regen increased at a steady pace, along with my other stats. The upgrades went through too, increasing my strength and dexterity by a miniscule amount. At this point, increasing my stats required grinding high level monsters for extended periods of time. Checking my status screen after fifty levels was a waste of time.

Until I felt a serious boost, I would allocate my attribute points then move on. I glanced up, closing my status screens. The white energy of the core melted into the tree, dissipating like misty breath in cold weather. Hod glanced up from his status screen,

“Hod ready. Hod put points into luck.”

I shrugged, “Eh, what works for you works for you. I always go for endurance.”

With a snippet of understanding, I pumped my excess mana into my eldritch rune. The stat bonuses weren’t much for now, but they might collect over time. Once I gained some free time, I would remake the rune to enhance my endurance. As I gained more endurance, I could gain more mana, giving me more endurance from the eldritch rune. Rinse and repeat.

The attribute gain would likely slow down over time, but even a hundred extra in my attributes was welcome. It made my armor better too. Considering I couldn’t remove it, knowing it helped me more than other armors was nice. It was like a consolation prize.

So after handling all the status stuff, I jumped up onto the stone stairs. Hod followed. We walked down the steps into a dungeon. Once there, we reached a stone doorway covered in magic runes. I took a step back, viewing the doorway from top to bottom. After reading the markings, I understood the message.

Whenever I did, a status screen popped up in front of me,

This is the rift of Ioneas. Ioneas is a high level, fast eldritch designed for agility. With nimble movements, Ioneas can pose great trouble for builds reliant on aiming. Slower builds can be dismantled as well, leaving few viable options for facing this beast. It is recommended that a group of sentients to attack the monster in unison, pinning down its movements.

Advised average level: 1300-1600

Recommended members: 3-5

Difficulty: C+

The runes gave good information, letting me know what was coming. Considering how random most eldritch encounters were, having some foresight was priceless. In this case, Hod and I would crush the dungeon boss without any real trouble. At least I assumed it.

So we walked down the steps, the both of us laying low. After a while, I turned to Hod,

“Alright, I’m tired of walking. Fuck this.”

I jumped down, diving through the steps. Hod leapt down the hole I made. We passed through in seconds before I crashed against something. I couldn’t burrow through it, so it was kind of like diving into concrete for normal person. I opened my eyes, a dent in the armor of my head. It healed, the armor popping back into place.

I lodged myself into a clear panel. I shoved myself off of it, glancing around. Beside me, my armor crushed the panel to powder, making it look like salt piled around me. I stood up, looking upwards.

I left a hole above me, a spiral staircase going all the way up above the lake’s depths. The same crystal panel layered above me, forming a gargantuan aquarium. The jagged, clear panel lined the bottom of the lake, letting us see up.

Fish of all kinds swam overhead, many of them glowing or letting off light. A few larger species were lit by a few passing phosphorescent ones, showing mammoth creatures. Eyes, teeth, claws, spines, and scales, the giant monsters floated by, lazy as sloths. If something swam by their mouth, they breathed it in, swallowing a second later.

Above the water, the pulsing green of the world tree created beams of light. They exposed a few of the corals, anemones, seaweeds, urchins, and algae. The dense clusters of life feasted upon one another. Every fish fought amongst each other, too much life in too small a cage.

I glanced down. The same crystal lined under my foot. Cracks from my landing radiated outwards in all directions. Pillars of the clear material supported the entire lake’s bottom. A bit water dripped from a few cracks above. Beneath the crystal, a white glow ebbed. Squirming moss grew underneath the crystal, lighting the cavern.

The light traveled up the pillars, creating light that the plants in the lake lived off of. A drop of water plopped beside me from the cracked crystal above me. It made me nervous. Hod landed beside me. He looked around,

“Hod must say...Hod impressed. Hod never seen so much water in one place. Yawm horde it.”

I shook my head, “Not quite. Water’s all over the place on Earth. It’s not too hard to find in most places.”

Hod turned around, “Hod think Harbinger...”

Hod perked his head up, looking around like a worried chicken, “Harbinger hear that?” He breathed in, his eyes glazing over with red and shadows covering his form, “Hod hear it.”

I raised an eyebrow, nothing coming up in Tactile Cognition or my gravitational sense. Out of respect for Hod’s senses, I braced myself. I channeled my mana into my runes as Hod leaned over,

“It comes, Harbinger.”

A portal in space-time ripped open beside me. Something impaled my chest in six different places from a blindingly bright source. The light dimmed, revealing a glowing, white set of antlers. I crashed into a crystalline pillar, the snapping cracks webbing outwards above and below me. I grabbed the antlers, the heaving of frantic breath racing into my ears.

A white elk with purple lines running down its chest looked at me. Noble and magnificent, its chest was puffed outward with pride. Its eyes contrasted the white fur on its body. They stared at me, unblinking and uncaring.

The pupils were like a goats, surrounded by an amber iris. Black surrounded the iris, with geometric lines of blue running through its eyes. The elk stomped its foot, digging the horns into my chest, the same blue lines running through the hooved feet.

I latched my hands onto the antlers, shooting my armor out in sharpened spikes. Before the armored spines pierced it, the majestic elk flicked its muscled neck. Like a ragdoll, the horns left my chest before I crashed against the ceiling.