The moment Arthur's foot hit hard rock, he almost jumped for joy. The perfect Homunculus, he decided, was a species that didn’t get along well with sand. Raising his hand, he touched the bandage wrapped around his neck. He still hadn’t managed to heal the damage the Corpse Eater had dealt him, but his efforts had at least prevented him from bleeding so profusely.

  Now he was losing a drop or two every five minutes, annoying but manageable. The oppressive heat constantly hammering his now sticky neck, however, had cemented its spot in the top ten most irritable experiences he’d ever had the misfortune of suffering. Abstaining from using the potion Solana had given him was getting more difficult by the minute. Arthur needed to learn about concepts, though, and if his best teacher was the wounds he suffered, then so be it.

  Already, he was learning to sense the oppressive concept of heat that permeated the air of Haadran, a constant companion that made ordinarily annoying temperatures deadly. He’d also begun to learn what Edward had meant when he said the tier 2 planet would possess a nefarious will. He’d tested it by using Shadow Step to travel two dozen metres in the blink of an eye. Just as he’d suspected, the space he’d travelled to was significantly cooler than where he’d been. That could only mean one thing. The planet was actively targeting him and focusing its concepts on where he was.

  Right now, it was manageable interference, but Arthur was worried about how bad things might get. He had no idea what rules a planet operated under, especially one that had succumbed to corruption. What would Mother Earth be capable of as she continued to develop? Arthur could only hope Iris’ mission went successfully, preferably before the fell humans did irrevocable damage with their experimentation. There was nothing for it but to trust his girlfriend to get the job done.

  Taking a deep breath, Arthur stepped out of the desert and onto hard rock. Immediately, he was hit by a new concept. It was something he was familiar with, or at least its magic equivalent, first from watching Elizabeth’s fight against Rat King all those months ago, and then from his battle against Wovan. Gravity had just become three times more powerful, which was about six times stronger than he was used to on Earth.

  Arthur didn’t think he’d be breaking the sound barrier with impunity anymore every time he fought. Things quickly went from bad to worse when he felt the concept start focusing on his specific location. Gravity had just become an additional 40% stronger. Arthur was feeling his lacking strength more than ever right now, and he realised he’d need to adjust his levelling plans. He was durable enough to endure far more than this and fast enough that it shouldn’t slow him down too much, but that didn’t matter when it became a chore to lift his feet from the ground. Groaning, Arthur steeled his spine. This was what he needed, the kind of crucible that would forge him into someone who couldn’t be dismissed out of hand.

  The first step was the most difficult; he stumbled a little, almost lost balance, but he didn’t fall. The next step was easier; he’d experienced what moving here felt like. By his third step, Arthur’s stride was sure. He was moving slower than usual, but no one would think anything was wrong looking at him. His confidence lasted all of three minutes, where the only adversity he faced was the harsh environment. Then he encountered his first monster.

  The creature was on the smaller side, barely larger than four feet in height and hunched over with arms that reached its shins. Arthur recognised the creature. He’d never fought one before, or ever encountered one, but it looked strikingly similar to all the gargoyles he’d seen on old Victorian buildings in the UK. Unfortunately, just as there was never a single gargoyle adorning a gothic building, this monster wasn’t alone.

  A half dozen additional presences revealed themselves, and before he knew it, Arthur was surrounded.

  Arthur wasn’t sure how useful his standard modus operandi would be against creatures made from stone. Shadow spikes weren’t exactly the greatest tool for this particular foe. Arthur pulled out his looted hammer from his storage ring. He’d decided to go through with bonding the tool, it was far too great to let it wither away collecting dust, and if it slowed his levelling speed too much, he could always break the link.

  Hefting the hammer, Arthur remembered struggling to lift the thing only just yesterday. Now, he could at least swing it around. Then again, the weapon had become far easier to move ever since he’d bonded it. Arthur had no idea how he'd battle under so much gravity, but he endured. With the concepts around him so much stronger than anywhere else, it would negatively affect any monster who got too close to him, too. Arthur doubted such physically robust creatures would be adept at magic.

  Unfortunately, he was immediately proven mistaken when the monsters summoned grey whips of seething energy. Seeing how the stone beneath them was bubbling ominously, Arthur wasn’t keen on tanking them with his flesh. While The Legacy of Valour was a crafter's tool first and foremost, in the right hands, it also doubled as an incredible weapon. Its first effect allowed him to manipulate the weight and size of the weapon by a factor of ten. What the item’s description didn’t say was that their figures could be manipulated independently of each other.

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  Arthur made the hammer both as light and large as was possible. It looked comical in his hands, like something straight out of a cartoon. Well, he had magic powers straight out of a cartoon nowadays, so it was about time he started dressing appropriately. A massive hammer just came with the territory. Using a shadow step, Arthur teleported directly behind the first Gremlin he’d seen, The Legacy of Valour already swinging down with all the strength Arthur could bring to bear. At the last second, Arthur relaxed his grip slightly and increased the hammer's weight to its highest setting.

  The Legacy of Valour struck the Deepstone Gremlin like the fist of an Elder Titan, crushing into its skull and meeting no resistance. The Gremlin's body didn’t so much break as it did explode into dust, peppering his skin with tiny flecks of gravel. Killing a level 251 creature in a single blow—one that prided itself on its durability—was unheard of. When you factored in Arthur's level being 146 levels below the creature, it became a truly legendary feat, befitting his nature as an Originator.

  The moment Arthur’s hammer touched the ground, he realised he’d made a mistake. He’d forgotten to recalibrate the weapon's weight. Like a thousand thunderclaps, the collision's noise reached him first. Arthur didn’t know how many tons of force he’d just sent into the ground, but it was enough to create a localised earthquake. There was an explosion of dust and exploding stone in a thirty-metre radius, and Arthur fell to the floor. The skin between his thumb and index finger was torn, and his palm was rubbed raw.

  It took three seconds for the ground to stop shaking and an additional ten for the dust to settle. The ringing chime of a successful kill rang in his ears, as if he needed any confirmation that the Gremlin was dead. His remaining enemies were all crouched low to the ground, glaring hatefully at him. The monsters had kept their balance far better than he had.

  Storing his hammer, Arthur quickly rolled to the side, narrowly dodging a grey whip to the face. The thing melted stone like it was butter, and Arthur had lost his eyes one time too many recently. He scrambled out of the way of three more energy whips, wincing as a fourth struck him on the calf. It left a red welt like he’d been branded by an iron poker and hurt far more than such a wound should have.

  Rolling to his feet, Arthur stumbled a step. His calf muscle had become unresponsive. Was it poison or a concept? Arthur wasn’t sure. What he did know was that if enough of these whips hit him, it would be game over. His Draconic Vitality wouldn’t save him if he became paralysed, a very real possibility against these foes. He could feel his stored healing ether working on the injury, but it was taking far longer to heal than the damage he'd taken suggested.

  Arthur resummoned his hammer and used its head to help him balance on the floor. They were at a stalemate, the six Gremlin glaring at his weapon hatefully and constantly circling around him. That and the way they were cautiously glancing at their shadows meant he probably wouldn’t be catching them unaware again. At least if he used the skill as he usually did. With all his recent practice, he’d managed to get Shadow Step's activation down to one and a half seconds. It was a vast improvement, but Arthur knew the skill was supposed to be instant.

  Since he couldn’t do that, he’d do the next best thing. Arthur targeted two shadows at once, the first belonging to the highest level Gremlin and the second being the only creature with a prior injury in the pack, a wounded knee. The greatest advantage shadow mages maintained was that their affinity lent itself well to stealth, and with the boon Arthur had gained during his refinement, it meant that Shadow Step was nigh undetectable.

  Targeting two moving shadows simultaneously was difficult, but no more so than using two skills simultaneously. Arthur had done that and more before even gaining a class, and there was a world of difference between who he was then and what he had now become. This was all down to timing, one miscalculation and his plan wouldn’t work.

  Arthur drew his hammer back and prepared to swing, his form akin to someone trying for a home run. The Gremlins swung their whips at him just as Arthur teleported into the strongest creature's shadow. The monster, predictably, reacted well to his ambush and jumped back, swiping at him with claws coated in the same grey magic. Fiery lines of pain exploded across his stomach, but Arthur ignored them, committing to his swing. He hit nothing with it—anyone watching would think he’d mistimed his swing and lacked control of his weapon.

  That was when Arthur triggered his second Shadow Step, travelling directly behind the monster leaping for his neck. It was suspended in the air, claws outstretched beside another of its pack with no way to change direction or dodge. The Legacy of Valour crashed into it at maximum weight, meeting no resistance and going on to destroy the second leaping Gremlin in its path. Neither survived the impact. This time, Arthur remembered to lower the weapon's weight, though he did rotate a full 360 degrees as he brought the hammer's momentum to a stop.

  Arthur grinned and started walking towards the remaining Gremlins. With only four left, he was confident in his victory, and the monster no longer had the numbers to completely circle him. Two minutes later, Arthur was left with seven red welts across his body. His clothes were scraps of fabric riddled with holes, and he’d lost sensation in his right arm and his abdomen. The job was done, though, and four piles of rubble lay around him.

  Arthur immediately invested them into strength and grimaced as he felt the power flood into him. Gaining stats always felt amazing, but suddenly feeling his muscles grow and change wasn’t the most pleasant sensation in the world.

  Arthur squared his shoulders and cracked his neck. His strength had finally crossed the 500-point threshold. Now the Daggerfall Mountains didn’t feel so foreign.

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  Etherious: Originator

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