NOVPUBAlex and Claire took a moment to find Orchid and let her know they were heading to the Mirrorlands before they left. Without them, the town had considerably less in the way of defenses — but so long as no new Region Bosses suddenly decided to make the forest their home, it would be fine.
The other monsters in the forest weren't anywhere near strong enough to pose the town a significant threat. They might have been a big problem before Mirrorwane had officially been created. But now, after honing their skills in preparation to fight against the Gorgonaga, the town was more than capable of defending themselves against weaker enemies.
That didn't mean it wasn't smart to make sure Orchid knew they'd be down some combat capabilities for a little while and she might have to step up if something went south. Alex wasn't too worried about it. Between her, Rhyss, and Mite, he was certain the town could hold their own for four days.
As a final line of safety, he informed Rhyss that Mite had permission to use his Boons to request the creation of a building if the town was under immediate threat and there were no other options available.
And then he and Claire were off.
Alex located the nearest portal to the Mirrorlands without too much difficulty. Neither he nor Claire said anything as they headed away from the town, guided by his Riftsense toward the nearest portal.
There would be more than enough time to speak in private soon enough, and they both knew it. It wasn't like anyone other than the City-Eater Centipedes were going to be able to overhear them in a few minutes.
They didn't even say so much as a word as Alex pulled the portal open. The two of them simply quietly stepped through the rift and plunged into the Mirrorlands.
The trees warped as the world shifted and Alex's feet landed in the twisted version of the forest they'd been in a few moments before. Coiling red and purple mist twisted through the sky above. He drew in a deep breath. Then he smiled.
Every time he came back, the Mirrorlands felt more like home.
"You look like an idiot," Claire said.
"I just missed this place a bit." Alex pulled his gaze away from the beautiful sky to look to her. "Where else can you see stuff like this? Sure, it's a bit creepy, but the Mirrorlands are incredible. There's nothing like them."
"And there isn't anywhere else that's quite as determined to kill you," Claire said. She sent a sidelong glance at the portal behind them — which had a glossy black sheen glistening over its surface like hardened sugar.
A Riftwarped Monster was coming. 𝑛𝘰𝘷𝑝𝘶𝑏.𝑐𝘰𝘮
"At least it's honest," Alex said with a shrug. He called for all three of his monsters with a thought. Princess, Spark, and Glint all tore their way into reality to stand around Alex like a group of misshapen bodyguards. "And I don't think either of us are about to turn down the extra energy. I also need some more snacks to feed my team. They haven't gotten an upgrade yet."
Claire snorted. She drew her katana and readied it before herself as the two of them scanned their surroundings for any traces of the monster. "Fair enough. I need some energy myself. I'm still a bit behind you. I take it you filled your Mind Palace completely?"
"Yep. Just have to push up to Adept now. You?"
"Same. And when I do, I think I should be able to finally finish my Trial. Good riddance. It's been driving me up a wall in more ways than you can—"
The ground between them cracked.
They both jumped back while Alex's monsters readied themselves. A shaggy brown hand made of dirt and clumped grass burst up from the earth and slammed down, sending a tremor passing beneath Alex's feet.
A shambling monster pulled itself up from beneath the ground, rising to stand nearly twice Princess' height within moments. Alex stared up at it in awe. It was like someone had animated a massive mound of, well, dirt.
The monster didn't have any apparent features. There was no nose nor mouth nor eyes — or, for that matter, even a face. It was just a pile of decaying plant matter with two huge hands.
Riftwarped Shambling Rotmound (Initiate 9)
"That's kind of a disappointment," Alex said, scratching the back of his neck.
The monster spun toward him. It didn't even roar. The huge thing just lunged, bringing a massive hand axing down for his head to splatter him.
He dodged to the side, skidding across the slick forest ground as he landed and sending a new set of mental commands to his monsters. Even as the monster turned toward Claire, Princess lurched toward it.
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
The Dredge slammed into the side of the Rotmound. But, instead of tearing into the monster's packed flesh, she just stood and held onto it. One of the Rotmound's huge hands lifted up for Glint.
"Alex!" Claire yelled. "What are you—"
The hand fell.
There was a crack.
Princess' mask, which she had moved right into the path of the blow, shattered instantly. Energy flowed from her into Alex in a refreshing stream. With another thought, Alex banished his other two monsters back to their spaces. He wasn't going to need their help for this.
Alex drew on the magic within him, letting it bubble through his body and rush to obey his command.
Then he activated Armament Elegy.
Sludge poured out from his arm. It twisted through his fingers and grew heavier, forming into a hilt in his grip. Jagged centipede legs flashed as they cut through the sludge and locked into place.
"There we go," Alex said, raising his hands into a ready position. "This is better. I need some more hand-to-hand practice anyway. Especially with my new ability, I'm going to have to be getting up close and personal."
The monster swung a lazy hand at Claire, forcing her to jump back. That movement left it wide open to Alex. He wasn't one to turn down such an opportunity. With a cackle, Alex burst into a charge. He closed the distance between himself and the mound and leapt into the air, bringing his chainsword down on its other arm.
A loud roar cut through the Mirrorlands as the weapon ripped to life. It chewed into the monster's side, ripping deep into the dirt. There wasn't any blood for it to grow stronger from, but that didn't seem to bother the weapon in the slightest.
Alex dragged it all the way down through the monster's side, landing on the ground and jumping back a moment before the shambling creature thrust itself down on the spot he'd been, sending another tremor rolling through the forest.
This thing wasn't particularly nimble or intelligent, but it had strength in droves.
Claire darted at its side, carving into it with her blade with several rapid cuts. She then leapt back to avoid a counterattack, then looked down at her sword. Her lip curled in annoyance.
"This is not really the best weapon for fighting a giant pile of dirt… and I wouldn't bite that thing even if it did have blood."
"Sounds like a good challenge," Alex said, a slow smile pulling across his lips.
He lowered the chainsword.
Claire shot a look at him. "What are you talking about? Just kill this thing off. It's not worth the effort. Your sword can easily deal with this."
The monster shambled toward Claire again. It didn't even seem to remember that Alex was the only one who had actually hurt it. It just lunged at her again, forcing Claire to skip to safety. Even though the monster wasn't that fast, it was big. She couldn't just ignore it.
"It could," Alex agreed. He released Armament Elegy, letting the sword splatter to the ground in a pool of sludge. The grin on his face grew wider. "But it seems to be pretty focused on you right now, and I'd hate to deny you a good fight. You do want to catch up, after all. Don't you?"
Claire suppressed a curse. She dodged out of the way of a massive hand, then drove her katana into the monster's hand. Claire sprinted up along its arm, dragging the blade behind her—
The Rotmound lurched to the side, twisting its body like a writhing fish. It launched Claire from itself, sending her tumbling through the air toward the ground below.
She righted herself, landing in a roll before shooting back to her feet. Annoyance played across her features as she took in the effects of her attack — which really hadn't been much at all.
Thin weapons and fangs were much better suited for fighting fleshy forms than whatever this pile of trash was meant to be.
"You can't be serious," Claire muttered.
"Doing okay there?" Alex asked, glancing around to find a good stone before making his way over and sitting down on top of it. He wasn't worried in the slightest that Claire would get hurt. She was much faster than the huge monster. On top of that, her body could heal from a hell of a lot — and she'd just drank a lot of blood from him. She'd be perfectly fine.
"You're such an idiot," Claire said, dodging out of the way of another blow and striking at the monster again to little effect. "You realize that this is just going to waste time, right? I can kill this no problem. It'll just take like ten minutes."
She was right. Even if her small cuts weren't doing a lot of damage, they'd eventually add up. She'd just need to spend a little time. But that time was exactly what Alex was counting on.
"Too easy?" Alex asked. "Well, I've always been one to promote pushing yourself a bit farther. I'll make it harder for you."
Claire leapt onto the Rotmound's side, darting up its side in a flash. She drove her sword down into the top of its body and all the way up to its hilt.
The monster twisted and thrashed, clearly unhappy about the present situation. It reached up for her with both of its hands, forcing Claire to dive back down to the ground before she could get squashed.
"I'm good," Claire called back. "I don't think I need to make this any more annoying. Besides, how would you even do that? Don't you even dare draw another monster over here. Don't forget we've got a job to do."
"I'm not going to do anything like that," Alex said, holding back a laugh. "But you obviously can't run, and winning this fight will be a bigger reward for you. It's a challenge."
Claire spun out of the way of a strike and carved at the Rotmound's arm with several deep cuts, then skipped back to avoid getting splattered by its other hand.
"Yes. I am more than aware. I suppose I'll happily take the extra rewards."
"Great," Alex said. "That means you can't run. You're stuck unless you want to lose out on all this awesome experience."
"Stuck?" Claire asked, her brow furrowing. "How?"
"What did you mean by what you said back near Mirrorwane?" Alex asked without missing a beat.
Claire nearly dropped her sword. She dove to the ground as the Rotmound swung an arm at her, then shot back to her feet and spun to send a glare at Alex.
"You can't be serious. You realize that this is a monster that would wipe the floor with pretty much almost anyone in your world right now?"
"Yes, I do. You're strong."
"And you're using this thing, an enemy that pretty much anyone else would be desperately killing as quickly as possible to minimize collateral damage, to hold me here just so you can interrogate me about flirting?"
"Yes," Alex said with a wicked grin. "Yes, I am."
