The perimeter fence had survived the

  onslaught of the lightning tribulation so the group set up camp within

  the foggy octagon, pushing their limited supply of energy stones for a

  brief reprieve. It would take some time for Dolan to recover enough that

  they could continue their journey. Everyone had graciously offered up

  their few emergency healing elixirs and other medical supplies to help

  him recover as quickly as possible.

  It wasn’t enough to get him up and about just yet,

  though. None of them had any high end elixirs, after all. Mainly due to

  the fact that they had had to rush out of Luxendorf with only their

  emergency bags.

  Stuck in the tent, Dolan rested and recovered, spending

  most of the time unconscious as the healing energies of the elixirs and

  Rafi’s magic did their job. His skin was gradually clearing up, but the

  remnants of charred flesh still covered large parts of his arms and

  shoulders.

  Rafi removed some bandages around his head, where much of

  the damage had been concentrated. Tensions were high, but as soon as

  the last of the bandages were gone, everyone erupted into laughter.

  “Who are are you, and what have to you done to our

  friend?” Silas said, trying his best to hold a serious tone while the

  others snickered and laughed.

  Dolan frowned. With a raspy and tired voice, he said, “What are you talking about?”

  “You look like a goblin in heat,” said Bishop, sending the rest into a laughing fit.

  Confused, Dolan asked, “I— What?”

  “No, Boss,” said Carvell. “That’s a baked potato if I ever saw one, he’s practically still steaming.

  Rafi handed the patient a metal spatula, the only thing

  that might work in place of a mirror. “You’re completely bald, D, and

  your skin’s seen better days. It’ll heal and grow back, but for now

  you’re an avocado in human form.”

  The hours of the day where Dolan was awake were loud,

  filled with laughs and conversations. As soon as he fell asleep,

  however, the mood quickly dropped. The rest of the day was mostly

  silent. Somber.

  The tribulation of Major Accomplishment was the biggest challenge most warriors and hunters would ever face.

  Although the tribulation of Grand Accomplishment at level

  80 was rumored to be far worse, very few people had limits over level

  80. Of those, few ever reached that high. For most, the Major

  Accomplishment Tribulation was the only one that they ever had to

  concern themselves with. And it was a thing of dread. Even though Dolan

  had survived, against all odds, the experience triggered a cacophony of

  emotions for the hunters.

  Bishop had faced the tribulation a couple of decades ago

  but witnessing Dolan’s tribulation brought back painful memories of his

  own.

  Silas couldn’t help but feel a rising sense of doom and

  trepidation about his own upcoming tribulation. He was a little behind

  Dolan, and even with the unusually high number of monster encounters

  this journey he was still a couple of months away.

  Carvell and Rafi were both years away from their

  tribulations, but having witnessed it up close made them both feel a

  great deal of dread for their own futures.

  Being in the same place for so long wouldn’t normally be a

  problem given that they had campsites within their usual hunting

  grounds that had been prepared and reinforced for many years, in areas

  where they were more familiar with the monsters and their various

  territories.

  This far west, with whatever had been going on farther west still, they were slowly being worn down by the constant attacks.

  The fence enchantments helped, but they weren’t meant for

  this kind of output, especially with the modifications Rafi did in

  preparation for the tribulation lightning.

  Every day the fog’s protection grew weaker, more of the

  woodlands could be seen as it gradually cleared. More and more of the

  sounds of the wilderness made its way into the octagon. The same applied

  the opposite way as well.

  More and more monsters were attracted to the energies left behind by the tribulation lightning.

  The group took turns to fight and rest, and in the

  process they accrued more and more injuries as the days passed. Their

  diminishing supply of medical equipment meant that even smaller wounds

  became obstacles, more so than usual. Rafi did his best to use his magic

  to heal them himself, but he wasn’t a specialized healing mage so there

  was only so much he could do.

  Sebastian chose to use the period of rest to cultivate as much as he could.

  The remnants of the essence of the tribulation lightning

  saturated the clearing even more than the already dense natural essence

  of the forest. His cultivation improved by leaps and bounds in a matter

  of days from the continuous essence rich cultivation combined with the

  essence gathered from killing various monsters that came too close to

  the camp.

  He could feel the pressure from within his meridians

  approach its limits as there was almost no gaseous essence left

  circulating the pathways of his spirit body. Nearly all of it had been

  replaced by liquid essence. Each drop became more of a struggle to

  condense, like blowing up a balloon that was already close to its

  limits.

  The others were used to his cultivation by now, but he

  still hadn’t shared its secrets. As far as they knew he was just

  meditating, and they let him do so undisturbed so long as it wasn’t his

  shift to keep watch over the camp.

  Sebastian sat cross-legged out on the grass. He had

  chosen a spot close to where Dolan took on the lightning but outside of

  the area which was burned by the strikes. It was where the essence was

  at its most dense.

  Deep in his cultivative trance, his mind had melded into

  his spirit body, and through his intent he had formed a black hole, with

  his spirit body as its singularity.

  The clearing was filled with the same dense, dark green

  essence as the rest of the forest, but here there was a bright yellow

  cloud struggling to occupy the space in front of him. It was as though

  the two affinities were at odds with each other. The remnants of the

  tribulation held on for now, but it was only a matter of time before the

  essence of the forest would crush the cloud and restore the status quo.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  The lightning essence was still plentiful enough,

  however, that even after a few days of cultivation, the cloud still

  stood strong. A tidal wave of dark green essence rushed into his spirit

  body from every direction, except from the front where a river of bright

  yellow essence did the same.

  He could feel the stream of essence slow down until it reached a crawl, and finally a mere drip.

  In the physical world, his body was covered in sweat and

  his skin was turning a shade of red. A final strand of essence made its

  way into his spirit body and was filtered by his finely honed intent

  before finally reaching the wall of his Sea of Essence. He pushed with

  all his willpower as the pressure within resisted. Just as he approached

  his limits, the final drop formed on the inside wall of his Sea of

  Essence, and it was dragged along the mighty torrent of liquid essence

  that rushed through his meridian system.

  Minor stage increased

  The entirety of his meridian pathways was now filled

  with pure liquid essence raging within him as it circulated his system.

  Although it was merely a difference of a single drop, that drop was the

  final piece of the puzzle that completed the [Essence Consolidation]

  stage.

  All that was left now was to break through into [Core Formation].

  POV Bishop

  A large hand reached out of the tent and pushed the cover

  aside. Bishop stepped out and stretched his back to the point where it

  cracked several times before he relaxed. A slow breath released all of

  his tension.

  The team was divided into two groups for keeping watch in

  shifts. Himself and Sebastian was one, and Carvell and Silas the other.

  Rafi tended to Dolan and the camp, but he would jump in when needed.

  Bishop looked over to Sebastian, the would-be-hero who

  had become ingrained into the team over the last few months. He was

  supposedly relaxing, meditating, and yet his skin was flush, as though

  he was exercising rather than just sitting there doing nothing.

  In his 84 years of life, Bishop had heard plenty of

  people advocate for the benefits of meditation, but never had he seen

  anyone take it quite so far as Sebastian did. The man meditated instead

  of sleeping most nights. Even during the day, he could sit there for

  hours on end. Bishop had asked why several times, they all had, but

  Sebastian always gave the same answer, “It’s refreshing!”

  The casual shrug and smile that accompanied the obvious lie by omission

  was enough to make them all drop the topic every time. None of them

  were strangers to secrets. Most people thought that hunters were just

  brutes who enjoyed the thrill and money. They weren’t wrong, but there

  was always more to the story.

  Most hunters had a background, some reason or other why

  they felt the need to level beyond anything necessary to make a decent

  living. Usually that reason wasn’t very pleasant. Hunting was one of the

  few jobs that made sense when you’re high leveled and have no other

  marketable Skills. For Bishop, it always helped that staying out in the

  woods for weeks on end, away the hustle and bustle of the city, was the

  only time he felt at home.

  This wasn’t like any hunting trip he’d ever been on, however.

  Bishop did his morning stretches and exercises, which he

  did every morning without fail. At least when ever running or fighting

  for his life wasn’t a priority. Halfway through, he felt a shift in the

  atmosphere. As if someone had just dropped a massive rock into a lake

  and the ripples washed over him. It was quite unlike anything he’d ever

  felt. Similar to Dolan’s recent level up to level 50 and yet completely

  different. A wave rather than a pulse. He couldn’t quite figure out what

  his heightened senses were picking up.

  He turned around to look for the cause but there was

  nothing out of the ordinary. Everything looked exactly as before.

  Except, Sebastian’s skin wasn’t as reddened as it was just a moment ago,

  instead it seemed as though steam was hissing off of him. His eyes

  narrowed. He was curious and suspicious in equal measure, but he knew he

  wouldn’t get any answers, not at the moment at least.

  Bishop returned to his exercises. Just as he was

  finishing up, his final stretch was interrupted a soft thud followed by a

  muffled scream.

  The fence around the camp had gradually been weakening.

  In the direction of the source of the scream were a few hazy

  silhouettes, too undefined to make out any details. He grabbed his axe,

  which stood on its own after he had pushed the blade into the ground

  before going to bed, and he rushed out through the foggy barrier.

  Muffled sounds turned crisp in an instant.

  The screaming had already stopped, but the source was

  obvious. Carvell was on his knees, struggling to stand up to rejoin the

  fight. His left arm was hanging by his side, clearly broken above the

  elbow. Next to him was his massive shield, bent and disfigured.

  The culprit was a small distance away, pinning Silas to a

  tree. A monstrous stag the size of small building with antlers like a

  barren tree, a barwendi. Silas likely would have died instantly if he

  hadn’t managed to evade the worst of the attack. The crazed stag had

  still caught him with a small prong of its antlers that pierced his side

  and went on to get stuck in the tree.

  Silas struggled to hold on as the beast was digging its

  hooves into the ground to free itself from the tree. With a hefty push,

  it finally broke free and sent Silas flying with shake of its head.

  The barwendi turned around and focused its large glowing

  amber eyes onto Bishop. Wisps of steam or smoke wafted from its

  nostrils. It had been stuck for just a few moments too long. By the time

  it caught sight of Bishop, he was already in the air, axe held high.

  The beast responded quickly and used its antlers to strike toward Bishop.

  It succeeded in saving its own life from the sudden

  attack, but Bishop’s massive double-sided axe tore through one side of

  its antlers and cut a gash into the side of its face.

  It was more nimble than something that size had any right

  to be. It turned around to slam him before he had a chance to regain

  his balance, but Carvell was back on his feet by then.

  Carvell rushed the stag and tackled its hind leg with complete disregard of his own broken arm.

  The tackle was enough to push it off balance and give Bishop the time to wield one of his stronger Skills.

  His axe head grew to several times its normal size.

  Although, if someone looked closer they would see the true head was

  merely covered by a massive magical construct of energy.

  The massive axe head came down on the barwendi’s neck

  like an executioner’s blade. Even with all the might of a level 56

  hunter, wielding one of his strongest Skills, the axe only went half way

  through the neck. Its force, however, carried through and carved a gash

  into the ground beneath them.

  It did a great deal of damage but wasn’t enough to kill it.

  The barwendi bellowed like a steam horn from hell. It

  thrashed around but managed to get back up in spite of the rivers of

  blood that gushed from its neck. Carvell was thrown to the side, his

  broken arm making various crunching noises as he rolled across the

  ground.

  Bishop swung his massive axe once more, but this time the monster was ready, and pissed.

  It somehow used a natural Skill or Talent that it hadn’t

  had time to use before. One side of its surviving antlers glowed

  brightly, and it became strong enough to withstand Bishop’s attacks.

  The two clashed, again and again. Several of the smaller trees were torn down and uprooted by the shock waves.

  Each hit left Bishop on the losing side as he was pushed

  back. He had one advantage, however. Bishop wasn’t a stag butting heads,

  he was a seasoned hunter.

  The barwendi wound up for another clash. Just as it

  slammed its antler down, Bishop jumped to the side and chopped at its

  front leg. With expert timing, he cut its leg clean off. And as soon as

  the monster stag fell to the ground, he brought his axe down on its

  throat for a final time.

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