Elder Blood Witcher 58 Downfall Dungeon Destruction...

Reima "Before we go, I need to thank you guys for coming..." He had previous experience with this dungeon due to running it many times solo in the game, having them a.s.sist him would make it easier considering the difficult will not change based on the number of partic.i.p.ants like in the game.

Kuretz "Don't sweat it... It's our world this guy wants to destroy too yknow?" He pats Reima on the back roughly.

Risryn "This was to be our main duty as Absolvers, before the Guides altered our paths."

Talem nods at him as they all start stepping down the criss-crossing wooden walk ways that pepper the mine. The Essence mine is a Prospect junkies wet dream, the walls are completely covered in the valuable resource which is probably why so many were lured deeper inside.

They pa.s.s through a couple folded doors before stepping into a large room filled with mine carts and tools, looking around the group sees a number of white stone-like human statues that seems to be under attack from Arcells corrupted Prospects.

Innara appears behind them and explains, "I created these statues to prevent further spread of Arcells Gleam, they wish to destroy them to increase the rate of corruption."

Reima "Well, a.r.s.e hole is gonna be dead soon but I guess we have to get past these guys anyway." Kuretz snickers at Arcells nickname.

They all split off and engage different groups of Prospects while they are busy trying to destroy the statues... Needless to say the Prospects didn't stand a chance, even with their large numbers, the skill and power displayed by the four would awe even the strongest in this world.

After brus.h.i.+ng themselves off and Reima greedily looking for any drops they continue through the next Folded door.

The next rooms and areas didn't provide much challenge to the group besides stalling them for a while... Reima ended up finding the chests he was looking for and he took the Essence fragments and stored them within his Folded s.p.a.ce.

The group eventually come across a large arena looking area, a white pillar of Gleam provided by Innara that would heal them if they needed it stands just outside of it. Inside the area are a number of Prospects each wielding various weapons like bladed gauntlets, swords or bo staffs, some have even taken up pick axes to try defend from the invaders.

The group jump inside of the area and start fighting the 70 or so Prospects that immediately charge at them, since this isn't a training exercise Reima uses Igni and spews forth a ma.s.sive torrent of flames that almost incinerates all of them.

Talem "It's a shame I've not managed to use that peculiar Fold manipulation yet..."

Risryn perks up as she looks at the devastation "You taught him your techniques? Why have I not heard of this..."

Reima "Well, Talem was more of an experiment to see if he could use a special kind of energy... I'll tell you more about it after we're done here.

??? "Oh, don't stop now.. I would truly hope to hear of your fascinating use of our Energy..." What sounds like many voices speaks at one in a manner similar to Innara.

They all turn around and see another Ghostly being, instead of Innara's floating circle that hovers behind her this one has a triangle...

Reima "a.r.s.e hole... I mean Arcell...." He scratches the back of his head at his slip.

Kuretz nearly coughs up a lung at Reima's slip and he thinks he can feel Risryn's grin from under her mask.

Arcell "My, It doesn't surprise me that your pathetic race lacks our eloquence... Just mimicking your vocal cords makes me want to srehhsr my Gleam all over the place..."

The confusing string of words said by Arcell is noticed by everyone but they don't have time to retort as he materialises a huge hulking man that wears a hood covered by Gleam, his robes go down to his knees and a ma.s.sive metal pauldron sits on his shoulder. It roars at the group in a berserker like rage.

Arcell "Have fun with my toy here, I have a rather important task to get to" He says in his weird multifaceted voice before disappearing in a flash of light.

The group prepare for a difficult battle by dipping into their various stances, Talem and Reima use the Windfall style, Kuretz in the Khalt style and Risryn in the Forsaken style. The man-No, creature charges at Reima first but is easily dodged and slowed by an expert use of Windfall, the others lay on a brutal string of combo's on it and while it tries to defend it can't deal with the amount of damage the three ancient masked immortals are pumping out.

Risryn jumps high into the air to kick it's face that is around 8ft off the floor, it connects with his Gleam encrusted face which knocks it onto it's back.

Reima uses Armament Haki on his foot and stomps on it's face, crus.h.i.+ng the Gleam into it's skull like shrapnel. It's body stills as it starts disintegrating into the air.

Kuretz "That big guy went down easier than I'd thought..."

Reima "Yeah well, Bigger they are and all that jazz..."

They approach a giant Gleam barricade that blocks their progress towards a windmill like structure, they could probably just climb over it but Innara flashes into existance and makes the barricade fade away under her power.

Reima "Are you trying to show off? I'm sure we could have just climbed over it..."

Innara "Like you mortals I have the thing called pride... Doing nothing to a.s.sist you would depress me." It floats in the for a moment for vanis.h.i.+ng like Arcell.

Kuretz "Can inter-dimensional being made from spirit energy get lonely?"

The others shrug as they continue forward over the bridge.

They start to hear flowing water as the walk and eventually come across a waterfall flowing in front of some old ruins, they look similar the the architecture of the forgotten ruins in the swamp outside of the Tower of Adal...

Reima "Another forgotten ruin? No wonder some whack G.o.d is angry..."

Risryn "No... Not forgotten but hidden, the Guides use to talk about their G.o.d protecting them from his wrath... This is probably the place they took refuge."

Reima sighs "It always leads back to the Guides doesn't it... Someone should just exterminate them already."

The others nod as the walk into the temple ruins and into another Folded door.

Inside of the room are large spikes coming from some of the walls and large broken statues of what seems to be people in Guides robes, looking around they find a strange bell and a red Folded door that doesn't open.

Reima "To open the door we have to ring the bell, but once rung we're gonna get rushed but many of them... You guys ready?"

Risryn materialises her Rapier like sword and nods with the others, Reima touches the bell with Fold energy and it starts ringing itself, causing fluctuation in the air and a loud sounds to bounce around the room. Once rung Prospects start flas.h.i.+ng into existence at the corners of the room before charging at them, these people have Gleam encroaching on their bodies much like the large creature Arcell had summoned to attack them earlier. Due to Gleams apparent indestructibility the Prospects are slightly more durable than the others they had faced, but while the Gleam couldn't be pierced or cut, impact could still travel through them.

Reima who had just impaled a masked man through the chest with a Haki enhanced fist looks around and sees that almost all of the Prospects have already been dealt with. He pulls his hand out, allowing the Masked man to disappear as he performs a spinning kick on the last remaining one.

Reima "Easy enough right?"

Kuretz laughs "I don't know why you even bothered to ask us for help, this place is a joke!"

Talem "You speak too soon my friend, we haven't yet reached Arcell." He says in a stoic voice... Over the months Talem has slowly adopted the wise grandfather persona towards everyone, whether on not he's doing this on purpose is unknown... Maybe he's started acting his age?

The group continue fighting through eight more rooms before they reach some stairs that sit below walls covered in murals and artistry, Risryn and Talem examine them but don't come to any concrete conclusions on their meaning. As they get to the top of the stairs they look down at another arena like area, Innara being their usual hopeful self has provided another Gleam healing totem.

They look down into the arena and don't spot anyone inside, Gleam seems to completely cover this area and the s.p.a.ce around them seems to be more unstable. The others look at Reima's shaking medallion.

Kuretz "Youknow, I never got round to asking about that thing... What is it?"

The others nod, wis.h.i.+ng to know more about Reima mysterious artifact.

Reima gentle lifts the medallion in his hand to show them. "I was given it after completing my trials to become a Witcher, the same trials that had killed almost everyone else of my group. It shakes when it senses high levels of magic or monsters..."

Talem "Magic?"

Risryn "Monsters?" they both say at the same time before glaring at each other.

Reima "As I said earlier, I'll tell you once we finished Arcell."

They all hope into the arena after preparing for a fight, Arcell appears but doesn't seem to want to say anything... He materialises a s.h.i.+rtless monk that only wears robe trousers and sandals, the rest of his body is covered in Gleam. The monk stands from his previous meditation and gets into what seems like a modified Windfall stance, it appears before Kuretz who goes flying and hits the nearby wall. It's movement is similar to Risryn when she powers up...

Reima "It's stolen your style Rin!" he grins to himself as Risryn powers herself up and starts going toe to toe against the impostor. Whether Risryn has more experience or her own style is more advanced than the monks, she is definitely stronger than it.

The monk materialises a Gleam bo staff and tries to jab Risryn, it's jab is deflected and it tries to Windfall dodge away but Risryn impales the monk through the neck, killing it instantly.

The group looks at her blankly and Kuretz speaks without speaking. "Is it weird to be turned on right now?" Talem smacks him across the back of the head to appease the fuming Risryn.

Reima "Alright guys instead of fighting why don't we call in our makes.h.i.+ft ladder spirit..."

As he says this Innara appears and destroys the Gleam barrier.

Innara "Being compared to a ladder, these are dark days indeed." It speaks in a monotone voice before vanis.h.i.+ng.

Talem "Perhaps you shouldn't bully the powerful inter-dimensional being?"

Reima "Nah, she's cool... Probably."

They approach the Folded gate across the room and when it opens they all gasp... Inside is a walkway made of Gleam that leads to another doorway, but the thing that amazes them is the endless white abyss on all sides... The walkway floats in this s.p.a.ce between the doors that seem to lead to nowhere...

Kuretz "Ok, this is f.u.c.ked up!"

Reima "I wonder what kind of power it takes to create something like this... Is this what the other dimension looks like?"

The cautiously walk to the other door making sure each foothold is secure... Falling into the abyss seems like a worse fate than death, especially to the masked immortals.

The next room isn't much different, random pieces of land float around a larger landma.s.s that seems to be the centre of their orbit, a boat drifts past them as they spot a large amount of Gleam encrusted Prospects charging at them. Fed up by the constant stream of these creatures they start throwing them into the abyss, after the corrupted people get a few hundred meters away from the main landma.s.s they start disintegrating before eventually fading to nothingness...

Kuretz "For the love of whatever G.o.ds exist lets get through this without falling into whatever the f.u.c.k that is!" he shouts as his nerves almost give way at the weird way reality seems to be acting.

They continue fighting through many of these weird floating landma.s.ses until they walk through the final folded door, a set of stairs lead to what looks like an arena overlooked by a palace gilded in gold. They prepare themselves as they walk inside and are confronted by Arcell.

Reima "So a.r.s.e hole, got any more minions to sacrifice to us?"

Arcell maintains his height a few meters above the ground and a grey silhouette slowly materialises out of thin air, Arcells body doesn't have any defining characteristics apart from the fact that he doesn't have any... His body is coated in Gleam with shrouds him like a cloak, it floats and fluctuates around him like it's a living creature.

Arcell "No, I think you've had enough fun..." It says in an eerie voice as the triangle behind it morphs into a black blade that has Gleam covering parts of the guard. Reima recognises it as his previous favoured weapon in the game... In the lore it was stated to be unbreakable due to it existing in both dimensions at once, Reima desperately wants to reclaim his old weapon as he eyes it.

Arcell powers up with Fold energy before lunging at Reima who dodges with Windfall, it doesn't seem to slow Arcell when he impacts the shadow but Risryn delivers a heavy kick to his side when he missed his strike. Arcell doesn't seem to register her kick as he swings his sword at Reima again, in reaction to this Reima draws his steel sword from his back and parries it away, the impact was stronger than a human but compared to a Griffin it was nothing. Arcell gives a weird chime bell sound as Talem kicks down on it's knee causing it to stumble, angered by the group skill Arcell vanishes before reappearing with three other clones that each use different combat stances. They each power themselves up with bladed Fold energy and s.h.i.+elds before charging at each of their designated targets.

Reima is left alone with Arcell due to him having unique abilities that could catch him off guard. Arcell hovers mid air before spinning towards Reima while slas.h.i.+ng rapidly.

Reima "OH COME ON! That's not even remotely fair!" He shouts as he uses both normal Quen and Elder blood Infused Quen to increase his speed. Reima ducks under the spinning arc of death and slashes at Arcell's knee which causes him to stumble and stop his weird attack, Reima uses this oppertunity to slam a Haki enhanced elbow into it's grey Gleam encrusted face. The strike seems to effect Arcell more than Reima had initially expected as it screams while clutching it's face... Perhaps Haki's spiritual elements effects Etherans more than physical strikes? Either way Reima continues hammering Arcell with Haki infused attacks until it backs away. Reima is joined by his friends who seems to have made quick work of the clones, Reima blinks and drives a fierce kick into a surprised Arcell's chest. It backs off while clutching it's chest as Innara suddenly appears behind the group, she approaches Arcell who slowly floats off the floor to challenge her.

Arcell "Will you betray your own kin for some pathetic mortals?"
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Innara "Yes." She says without hesitation before waving her hand which causes Arcell to shudder and drop to the floor as the Fold energy around him is sucked towards Innara.

Innara looks at the group, "I thank you for stopping Arcell, his fusing of the realms wouldn't just have destroyed your world but ours aswell... Arcell was deluded into thinking he was making us more powerful as a single realm... What he didn't understand was that we only exist as a result of the mental energies created by mortals, once all of you were gone, we would slowly fade aswell."

The sombre mood is interrupted by Kuretz who hugs all of them tightly together, "WE DID IT! We saved the world..s? Lets get drunk when we get back!"

Risryn "How do we get back... I'd rather not travel through those broken realms again..."

Innara "With the death of Arcell the stability of s.p.a.ce has improved, I'll open a wormhole with the remaining energy from Arcell to transport you to your village."

As shes about to take them away Reima suddenly speaks up, "Wait a sec!!"

They all look at him confused as he scrambles towards the pile left behind by Arcell's body, he pushes it all out of the way as he finds Arcell's sword which is now glowing with a soft yellow, similar to Essence. He also finds a glowing yellow orb which when examined materialises into a large scarf made of rippling Fold energy and Gleam. "Gleam cloak" Reima mutters as he thinks back to one of the items you can acquire from the Essence store in-game. He quickly wraps it around his neck when he remembers that Gleam is indestructible before turning to the group sword in hand.

Talem points to his new scarf and asks Innara "Is that safe? You said Gleam corrupts beings..."

Innara "It's safe, the Gleam was being used by Arcell but now without his influence, it's just a rather strong artifact."

Kuretz runs to Reima, "Yo is there any cool loot for me?"

Reima "First come first serve old man!"

The others grin under their masks as they watch the man-child and child-man-child squabble with each other.