The Earth Online

63 The Quartz Shadow Essence

The beast tamer didn’t even have the time to think as he just immediately attacked the three-headed beast along with side his tamed creatures.

He noticed that two of his pets were already harmed. He theorized that they protected him while he was suffering from his nightmare as they were having a hard time dodging the quartz beast’s bites.

Their interconnected minds probably felt Thaleos’ vulnerability to the three-headed beasts and fought with it as much as they could.

The beast tamer wasn’t fully attached to his beasts, but he was grateful for them for saving and helping him whenever he needed them. He felt his anger bubbling, thus pushing him to swiftly raise his black katana and forcibly stab the quartz beast’s hind leg.

Although shadow beasts are quite good at hiding their mana stones, Thaleos could immediately feel the three-headed beast’s mana center for some weird reason.

He didn’t give it much thought as he attempted to decapitate one of the three-headed beast’s bare head. Even though the beast was panicking due to its hind leg being attacked, it still managed to snap at Thaleos.

The beast tamer proceeded to s***h the beast as much as possible and dodge from its multiple heads and a functional snake tail. It seemed like the beast could attack him anywhere he attacked.

So while he was attacking the beast with as much strength as he could, he activated his Heart of Tyranny Skill. Needing a bit of time to concentrate, he quickly fled the vicinity and spent the next half minute just focusing on the skill activation.

He was cut short from his meditation time as he heard one of his wolf-eagles yelpings. He was shocked to see that it quickly snapped off its head.

Realizing that this beast was probably the strongest one he has ever fought, he speedily approached the monster again with his weapon and felt the Heart of Tyranny energy flowing in him.

Thaleos has always lucky when using the skill, but it seemed to have failed him now. The Tyrannical Effect didn’t take full effect and just left him with an increased attack point by three percent.

The monster was able to dodge his attack, rendering that extra three percent useless. But since the skill takes effect for a good five minutes, the beast tamer managed to get a few attacks here and there.

But ultimately, while the bearded man was already losing his stamina, the beast seemed to be still going strong. At this point, he wasn’t quite sure what to do.

Just as he was thinking about his next plan, the three-headed beast pounced at him and bit his left shoulder. Thaleos screamed in pain, and the next thing he knew, his two pets were doing their best to fight off the quartz beast that was attempting to bite the beast tamer again.

Thaleos took the time to activate his Bloody Rage skill and Painful Torture. Since he was on the verge of dying, his vitality kept getting lower and lower.

At that point, the Bloody Rage Skill started taking full effect as he felt the adrenaline circulating throughout his whole system.

The bearded man could move efficiently temporarily, so he quickly stood up and attacked the beast as much as he could. Soon enough, he used his Painful Torture skills to increase his attack power and speed further.

The beast tamer’s attacks were now double than usual, which finally made the quartz beast falter. Seeing how the beast sidestepped a bit, he took this chance to rapidly drive in his pitch-black katana straight into the beast's left hindleg.

Although the snake tail tried its best to stop the beast tamer, Thaleos quickly ordered his chicken beast to block the snake’s attack and fully decapitate it using the hen’s metallic talons.

Within a split-second, the beast froze and quickly fell as his mana center was completely cut off from his body.

Thaleos knew that the beast was likely still alive. One had to completely remove the mana center to remove the aliens' life force or beasts fully.

Before he made his next move, he took out two healing potions from his utility bag and greedily drank them as he felt the effects of the Painful Torture Skill and Bloody Rage Skill wearing down.

Once he took that out, purple mist and specks started emanating from its body. The beast tamer traced where the mist was coming from and noticed that the beast’s chest area was glowing an electrifying purple.

The beast tamer took out one of his daggers and gutted the beast's chest. Opening up its rib cage, he spotted a purple gem-like stone. Although slightly rough around the edges, its beautiful purity and illuminating opacity caught his eye.

While bewitched by the enchanting stone, the bearded man muttered under his breath, “The Quartz Shadow Essence Stone.”

Thaleos knew of this stone through the story James heard while staying in the cave. After his debacle in seeing the beast ripped apart an alien, the young man felt compelled to return to the metallic location to understand its mysterious front.

Although in the following journal entries, players rarely entered the cave, he heard whispers about the Quartz Shadow Essence Stone and how it was important. James mentioned how everyone kept saying how important the stone was but never explaining why it was important.

It was as if people keep remembering the stone but forget its importance the moment they get near the cave. James theorized that the beast only allowed players to remember the stone when it was time to feed.

Based on all the journal entries relevant to the stone, it seemed to be an essential item that he could probably sell for hundreds of thousands of shekels in the Lagash Interpoint Market.

Just as he was about to hide it in his utility bag, he stared at the gem one more time. This action made him stop in his tracts as there was just something so enchanting about the stone.

He had this irresistible urge to swallow the whole gem like a pill. It was inviting him, no even forcing him to ingest the shining object.

There was just something about the essence it gave off. From being forced, he now felt like this was an instinctive call of his body. Suddenly, a blue screen appeared in front of him—making him shout a bit in shock.

When he looked up, he saw the familiar wholesome elf that left everyone with a warm feeling. The elf gave him a sheepish smile and started,

“Apologies, I was a bit too excited. It was a mishap on my end as I forgot how captivated humans are with essence stones.” Thaleos just shook of his apologies and encouraged the elf to continue speaking.

He knew that it would probably be some added information about the stone, so he took the time to sit down on the cold metal floor and watched the blue screen going down along with him.

Ur cleared his throat and continued speaking, “So for those who consume essence stone crafted from certain clan grants you certain auxiliary roles in the Akkadian god kingdom. For the Quartz Clan, the auxiliary role you can take on is to become one of the god’s servants.”

The elf watched the beast tamer’s face twisting into a disgusted expression, which made Ur chuckle a bit, “But worry not, for the servant role does not necessitate for you to be a slave.” Thaleos’ face started easing up a bit until it turned into a neutral look.

“At most, you are merely recognized by the stone as one of the few players that has the capacity to think beyond the rules set out by the gods. This potential of yours to think in the realm of the physical, ideal, and meta has sparked the affinity with the stone.”

Thaleos now had an interesting look on his face, as he was eager to find out how this all impacted him in the game. Ur looked around him and hastily whispered,

“With this, if you complete the essence, you have the power to change or bend reality to a certain extent.” After quickly saying that the elf stopped whispering and returned to his normal modulated and gentle voice.

The bearded man figured why, to a certain extent, the door to the second world or the door to promotion allowed him to enter and go to different places. Thaleos now realized what James meant when he said that some of the door’s function was exclusive to some players.

“The essence coincidentally helps you appreciate that skill and heightens it a bit at times you need it the most. Should you complete the shadow essence of the quartz stone, you can fully maximize its benefits.” The beast tamer merely nodded his head because he no longer had the energy to respond.

Seeing that the player understood his explanation, the elf left with a satisfied look on his face.

Soon enough, Thaleos just felt at peace in the cold and solitary location. Earlier, the whole thing just drove him to the brink of insanity. But now, after defeating that beast and reliving his nightmare, there was a certain peace dwelling in his soul right now.

He carefully took out the purple essence stone to stare at it. When it started softening in his hand, he quickly stood up and couldn’t do anything as the stone got softer and softer.