Crucible Aeternum: Ascending through Skill Trees

Beast tide...

There have been many instances over the course of history when beasts came flooding out of their territories in great numbers, attacking humans and even the cities themselves. However, most of these could not be called beast tides. At most, they were isolated incidents of beasts trying their luck to drive away humans and expand their territories. But what was happening now was clearly a lot different from that.

It had been a few hundred years since the last true beast tide had occurred. And all available records of that tragedy always spoke of the same thing. Countless beasts of all the different species, forms and sizes that could be found in the region came rushing out like a living flood. It did not matter whether they were normally predator and prey or rivals vying for more territory. During a beast tide, they were one whole army.

Galeon stood in the sky, beside him was a blonde haired beauty adorned in a pristine white knight's armour. Her gently fluttering golden-feathered wings were a stark contrast to Galeon's dark wings that beat rapidly against the air, letting out a low buzzing hum that was not as annoying or loud as those of insects.

They both watched sternly as over in the distance, past the trees that lined the edges of the Forbidden Forest, a veritable sea of beasts had appeared, rushing out in a frantic wave of howling savagery. It was utter madness as these beasts were very much not in their right minds.

"This is much worse than Vaulkeen's End."

Galeon muttered as he scanned the surrounding areas. He could see both Therion and Melchior as they were the closest and would be the most affected by the beast tide, but with the size of this calamity, the Lux Holy Land would definitely not be left unscathed either.

Vaulkeen's End, this was the name of both the barren region of stone and Prisma as well the tragic event that led to the death of Vaulkeen and his brothers. There were records of it kept in the three cities of the Eastern Region, a reminder of their history and a warning for the future. It detailed the scale of the beast tide as well as what most of the beasts in it were, but it was painfully obvious at a glance that this current one was way worse.

To the side, the Divine Lance of Radiance, Shine nodded in agreement. She too had seen the records. She had been studying them diligently over the last few days in preparation for the possibility that another one might occur as they feared. And now, she wondered if it even mattered. Whatever strategies she had initially planned based on the records have become unusable or required a great overhaul and adjustment.

After all, the current beast tide was about thrice the size of before.

"I've already sent word to the cities over an hour ago when we found clear evidence of a coming beast tide. But I don't think they'll be ready to face this."

"No one is ready to face this. What's the situation of Lux Holy Land?"

"The Radiant Paladins have been deployed to Vaulkeen's End. The rest are garrisoned in the Holy Land or at defense lines set up outside."

Galeon nodded, swiftly understanding their stance in this crisis. The Lux Holy Land was going all out by sending their most powerful knight order, the Order of Radiance or more commonly known as the Radiant Paladins. The Divine Lance of Radiance herself serves as their Knight Commander besides also being the High Commander of the entire military force of the Holy Land.

Galeon dove back down, returning to where Verglas was. The man's expression was grim as he could now also feel the tremor, the rumbling of the earth coming from a distance away. Shine descended as well, positioning herself somewhat in between Galeon and Verglas in case they fought again. But Galeon only spoke coldly.

"Gather your men. Since you call yourselves protectors of the world and humanity, then do you job. And this time, do not fail it."

"I know. But I'll need to send Lady Sairen away from the Eastern Region. She's not safe here. She needs to go ho-"

"Verglas, do not test my limits. Be grateful that the Divine Lance saved you. Drop the matter now. Because I swear, one more word and I will cut you down. And this time, not even all the Divines combined will be able to stop me from cleaving your head off your shoulders, protector or not."

Galeon left immediately after saying his piece. His destination was Vaulkeen's End. He may not usually care for the world, but he was not heartless. Plus, his devotion to his work was one of his greatest merits. Since he was already doing something, then he would do it to perfection. And right now, he was meant to protect Sairen and get her back to her home in Melchior safely. Not to mention, Therion was his home. He cannot allow it to be reduced to rubble.

Hearing his parting words, Shine's eyes flashed sharply as golden electricity seemed to snake within them. She turned toward Verglas who was gritting his teeth and shook her head. She knew of the knight order he belonged to, and although she appreciated their oath, she believed it to be nothing more than an ideal. This world was doomed, she had long accepted that.

"Listen to him, Bastion Knight. I don't know whether he would be able to make good on his word, but just know that one of my current missions is to carry out his Divine Trial. Had I not intervened, you would already be dead. Plus, I cannot allow you to take someone away when they clearly do not want to go with you, regardless of your intentions."

After giving her advice, Shine immediately left and headed to Vaulkeen's End. Verglas could only sigh defeatedly as he returned to his camp. It seems he would fail in this mission entrusted to him by their leader. Worse yet, they had to face a beast tide. Just how many of his subordinates would fall in this bloody war? The thought made his heart ache.

Shine moved swiftly, tearing across the skies as she hurried to her subordinates that have formed a defensive line in Vaulkeen's End. When she arrived, she found Galeon already standing far ahead as though he was waiting to meet the beast tide alone, ahead of everyone else. After giving her final set of commands to her subordinates, she quickly flew beside him.

"Are you that eager to fight? I hope that's the case and not that you're looking to die."

"Neither. Do you hear it?"

"Hear what?"

Shine looked confusedly at him, but Galeon did not answer right away. He stood on the ground, feeling it closely through the soles of his feet. He could hear the whistling of wind as even they trembled. He could feel the rumbling earth as the tide of beasts drew nearer and nearer. But most of all, he could hear a distant cry, a sound that he could not yet discern.

It was incredibly high-pitched, and for some reason, it seemed to travel well regardless of the medium. Air is a good conductor of sound. Water is not. And solid earth is even worse. And yet, Galeon could tell that the sound was travelling through all three at the same time. In fact, he could hear it closest through the ground.

Galeon was already in that unique state of mind that he used in conjunction with the first step of his self-made technique. It was almost impossible for him to mistake such a thing. And so, he knew he had to prepare even more. In this coming battle against the beast tide, he needed to not just fight for the sake of fighting. He needed to fight in order to grow stronger.

"Get ready, Divine Lance. This battle will not end with just these beasts."

"Just call me Shine. And what do you mean?"

"You'll know when it comes. Just be ready. Don't waste all your power on the weaker beasts, let me handle them."

Shine glanced at him with skepticism for a moment before nodding. She had been observing this man for a few years now under orders of the Saintess, so she knew what kind of monstrous senses he had. In fact, just before they met, he had slipped away from their observation silently. And that was when he was fighting a large number of beasts. So with him saying those words with a sombre tone, Shine decided to trust him.

Galeon breathed out a turbid breath as his Prisma Core lit up like a waking primal beast. One of his swords vanished into liquid crystal that returned to him while strengthening his other sword which now glowed with a bright light. His two pairs of wings began beating against the air, slowly at first as they built momentum.

His stance shifted as his right foot moved forward, his knees slightly bent. And when the first of the beasts appeared within a hundred metres from them, he muttered in the silence that only he could still perceive.

"First Step: Origin"