Immediately, the multitudes of Aarthriin looked towards them. Dharen’s precaution was justified when an ability washed off of Miasmic Cloak’s defenses.

  He spared a quick glance for his fellow warriors behind him, noting that they moved in a far more disoriented fashion than they should - especially given their high Agility. Though they could likely still fight, they were having a far more difficult time focusing and moving their bodies properly. His suspicions were confirmed when he heard a familiar voice cry out in a slurred manner.

  “It’s.. it’s.. it’s some sort of...mental assault,” Ekzel said slowly. He held a single clawed hand to his head, one of the others propped up against a wall to hold himself steady.

  A few Nulzan pushed to the forefront, stepping alongside him. These were the fortunate few that had also managed to acquire a manner of mental resistance through their Boons. They wielded their blades grimly, aware that the others would not be able to do so effectively.

  It was fortunate that they and Dharen were around to provide their assistance. Normally, an attack of this nature would have made the Wrath-type Aarthriin far more dangerous, allowing them to wreak havoc with their Furious Momentum Boon while the Nulzan were somewhat incapacitated.

  Indeed, they prepared to do just that. As the Wrath Aarthriin detected their presence, they seemed to grow even more furious. They charged.

  The closest Wrath-Aarthriin reached him, only to be met with an empowered swing of his warhammer. Caught between the inherent strength of the blow and its own momentum, it burst into a haze of blood. Dharen activated To The Victor, The Spoils as he landed the blow in order to receive its Boon.

  He quickly activated the ability, imbuing his steps with a far greater force. When combined with his own strength, he smashed into the next incoming Wrath-Aarthriin. Dharen lowered his shoulder as they ran against one another, each instilled with a great degree of force.

  The monster’s exoskeleton cracked and crumpled as they met, and Dharen felt a numbing shock shoot down his arm from the collision. He shook it off, trusting in his Vitality to keep him in fighting shape.

  As the next Wrath-Aarthriin darted towards him, he pushed the shattered body into its path, forcing the monster to stumble at the unexpectedly unsteady footing. Its momentum diminished, he allowed the mentally-resistant Nulzans to assault it. Meanwhile, he activated Furious Momentum once more, allowing him to push through the encroaching drones to reach each of the small, strange Aarthriin upon the walls. With their diminutive stature, it didn’t take long for him to smash each of them to a pulp.

  His Spirit stores lowered considerably, he released his hold on To The Victor, The Spoils. The previously-addled Nulzan had jolted awake at the death of the strange Aarthriin, and were in the process of annihilating the remaining Wrath-Aarthriin and drones.

  As he was gathering the soulseeds from the ruined corpses of the new Aarthriin, he looked towards the side, in the direction that the Aarthriin drones had been carrying their various foodstuffs. It led to a sloping descent, far wider than the crevice through which they had entered. He could smell a fetid aroma wafting from below, likely the stench of the food that they collected in various stages of rot and decay.

  Still, it was likely that following the tunnel would lead to more Awakened Aarthriin from which to gain strength. It was no worse than any other direction, in any case.

  Dharen, being on the cusp of advancing, knew that it would be more helpful to take enough of the most recent soulseeds for himself to reach the next threshold. Having gathered them, he set to doing so.

  He absorbed one soulseed after another, pushing his soulseed to level 14, and then onwards further to level 15.

  His fatigue washed away, and he felt a dexterity and grace in his movements that had been hitherto unimaginable. Passing thresholds always created a huge leap in ability, but as his attributes had increased, the normal levels did not feel as noticeable. Yet, passing the level 15 threshold sent his attributes skyrocketing past their previous levels. He was sure that he could manage movements that would even look physically impossible, at this point. His Agility had increased to nearly twice his Strength, and his Endurance had surpassed it as well.

  Fear’s Companion was an interesting ability to be added to his repertoire, and he promised to himself that he would be sure to test it later - despite his personal distaste for mental abilities. Unfortunately, it did very little to help him out in his current situation. Given that it required the target to already be unconscious, it would only be usable on a sleeping or already-defeated enemy.

  However, he still had another avenue of growth available. Delving into his soulseed would unlock another aurally-twisted version of a Triumph ability: this time affecting To The Victor, The Spoils. He was eager to see what effect took hold.

  But to do that, he would need to delve into his soulseed once more.

  Despite his eagerness to grow more powerful, he did feel a bit of hesitation at the thought of delving within the records contained by the Seed once more. Each time, he had been unable to ignore the overwhelming terror and fear present - his emotions were not under his control while he was within. And it was clear, even to him, that he had been changing slightly each time: he would have to be oblivious to not notice the increased ruthlessness he conducted himself with, though part of that could simply be a delayed result of his experience with the Vezian Alliance.

  Regardless of his reservations, he greatly needed the power that he could gain. Not only that, but it was becoming clear that something important was held within his Seed of Fear. What was the burning village? Who were those monsters, and why did their deaths cause him such unbearable anguish? What was the memory’s connection to the Faceless One?

  He knew that he could only find answers, along with the power he sought, by delving within his Seed once more.

  Given his increased familiarity with the process, he was confident that he could be in and out relatively quickly. Even with the loop that he had found himself caught in last time, he had still spent a large degree less time than the first.

  He let the Nulzan hunters know, then settled down and focused his will. In the next moment, he approached the obsidian gate once more, placing his hand upon it.