Canyon rush

Much further from the scene, Theo got back into his body, promptly exploding the brains of three monsters that were latched onto him. He went in Hamon’s direction and helped to clear out the area around him, not holding back anymore. As tired as he was, dealing with just a few numbers of low-level monsters wasn’t anything noteworthy.

Clara did the brunt of the fighting for everyone. With her new lightning powers and heavy hammer, a path was cleared out everywhere near her. The group rushed to end the end of the tunnel and finally reached a translucent magical curtain with the imp near it.

Beyond the curtain, the canyon ended up into nothing, opening into the sky. A clan of ethereal wyrms burst up from the horizon line, flying and surrounding the whole canyon area they were in. A few wyrms entered the canyon and slithered, before exiting and joining the others twirling and twisting around themselves.

“Congratulations on not dying!” The imp clapped as he congratulated everyone one by one as they crossed the translucent curtain. The monsters didn’t follow them that far and were avoiding it like the plague.

Tallying results

Larvae: 6 Crawlers: 8832 Drillers: 1231 Latchers: 1453 Mantis: 256 Drones: 45 ... Earth calamity - 1 [Bonus]

Total points: 16688

As the others calmly looked at their score or the scenery, Theo was laughing like a madman. I did it! The messages weren’t over yet.

You achieved first place in the hall of fame for the canyon rush! Set your display name.

Theo had thought long for a way to topple the enchantress. Last time around our efforts were… less than fruitful. He still didn’t have a plan. In his view, the woman was special. The only thing he could think of at the moment was to gnaw at her bases and shake her foundations. Theo set his name and watched the next string of messages.

Hall of fame - Canyon rush

Coming to you Alessa - 16688

Enchantress - 8053

War God Alros - 4300

The best of the best, Iris - 4222

Anchieta - 4112

Sexy beast xXx - 3988

...

That will definitely draw her attention. Few people knew the enchantress by name. After some years in the abyss, most people created their moniker. They used some help from the hall of fame or were forced to accept their moniker given by others. Only the most catching news traveled by word of mouth, after all, and those usually were the feats they had done and what marked their powers.

Theo admired those people. He had been preparing ever since he was transported back, hunting mostly enemies that dropped crystals, choosing synergistic blessings, and stealing a blessing that could bring the utmost of his preparations. He was proud of getting first place and definitely would drag attention. Still, the thought that people could reach eight thousand or even four thousand points on their first time in the abyss was still astounding.

There was an unmentioned barrier for anyone who wanted to get more than four thousand points; it was around that time that the wave increased in intensity by leaps and bounds. If you didn’t kill all enemies in a huge swoop as Theo did, you had to face an exorbitant amount of enemies at once. The same happened again at eight thousand points.

The enchantress was a cut above others, and that showed on the score. Theo, however, gave his first step into dethroning her, and the next message showed it.

You are the new first place in Hall of fame - Canyon rush! The leading buff will be bestowed upon you from now on. You have been granted a blessing upgrade.

For achieving a Rank III score, you receive an extra three blessings upgrades.

Only the best can go far!

Theo smiled as he finally entered into the realm of the best on the abyss, four blessings upgrades was more than enough to start his plans after the canyon. He wasn’t the strongest, but being the best had nothing to do with levels. You had to, as the imp said, ‘challenge the world’, to get those kind of rewards.

Hamon got worried with Theo, who was grinning while lost in thought. Most people had left already, so he started poking Theo’s sides. “Let’s go, let’s go.”

“Uh? Oh, yes.” Theo looked at him. “Sorry, what?”

“The mana anchors, didn’t you hear?” Hamon waved his shining blue hands. “We have to use them to latch onto the ghost wyrms and leave the island. Apparently, we are on an island.”

“Oh, yes, let’s do it.” Theo smiled.

They touched the ghost wyrms with their hands, and powerful magic linked them both. The anchors were seemingly made foolproof, it worked whether you wanted or not. They strapped you to the wyrms and would only release at the ending point.

For the first time, Hamon flew. As they were in the sky, Hamon looked back. The canyon was surrounded by flying glowing lines that were the wyrms in the distance. When they got even further, Hamon saw the place they were in was a vast landmass floating in the sky. Below it, he could see the same ethereal glow the wyrms produced, and above it, a few streaks of lines passed through. Hamon looked forward as he saw the others also latched onto the wyrms as they flew. The wyrms flew closely together, forming a thread in the direction of a much bigger island further on.

Theo observed the interchange of wyrms between the two islands. Where they were in was known as village islands, mostly a beginner area. The island they were in was called the mainland, where towns, cities, and much stronger monsters lived on.

It was mating season for the wyrms, and they went from the many village islands to the mainland to find a partner. It was the only moment when there was an interchange between the mainland and the twenty smaller islands surrounding it.

They couldn’t see a thing below, it was all fog, but Theo knew that there resided the second depth. They weren’t quite ready for it yet, so he shook those thoughts and looked to their destination. The mainland was where most clans or organizations fought for their space in the conquered towns and cities. The monsters there were not only stronger but more contained and organized. They were a much bigger threat.

Theo thought about what to do with the enchantress, or better, Alessa, but came to the conclusion it didn’t matter right now as he saw Hamon laughing while flying. I should just enjoy things more. He smiled while feeling the nostalgic wind on his hair.