Bro, I'm not an Undead!

The creatures found within Clusters were different and varied. Obviously.

However, the existence of Clusters was something that predated the existence of extremely intelligent life, such as the humans, the Sif and the giants.

Over millenia, as these races battled Clusters, patterns and conclusions began to be made as long after this trend started, knowledge on the creatures spawning from Clusters became very integral for a simple reason.

There were recurring combinations.

The same type of monsters were seen from time to time.

Contrary to what was believed, there wasn’t an infinite set of combinations from the power of the Deities that would in turn create an endless variety. It was finite.

Granted, finite was in the sense of millions of species, but finite nonetheless.

This made battling Clusters easier and filled the people with hope as they now had a way to document and fight creatures they had fought before.

This was most true when it came to high level Clusters to which the beasts spawning from them were more easily recognised, probably because their creation required larger amount of clashing energies than the lower level beasts.

The variations were different when it came to the habitats of these creatures though, as many different subspaces had been seen before but in most circumstances, they were usually not inherently harmful to mankind. Unless of course, the environment was a beast itself.

Stylla marvelled at the beautiful sky above, bearing a crystal-like beauty as it produced a faint light to make everything beneath visible without the need of a sun._.

Strangely, a wide plain was all there was of the environment with no vegetation in sight. A rough brown ground was the decor along with a seemingly endless horizon, but it was an illusion.

Hundreds of purple gems were strewn over the hard surface, reflecting the light that came from above as if being grown as crops.

Skullius’ eyes sparkled. He had been hoping to see these.

However, it seemed like he was the only one interested in them as no one else paid them any mind.

“Hah. This is only the second time I’ve come into a Cluster and felt underwhelmed,” said Stylla.

She didn’t look relaxed though as her hand remained on the sheathed sword at her side, the vigilance wrought by many battles coming into play.

The same was true for the other two who looked around vigilantly.

“You guys don’t care about the Enriching gems?” Skullius asked.

The short man, his name Bron, turned to Skullius as if a little confused by the question. He couldn’t tell if it was a trick question or not.

“Well, of course we do, but purple Enriching gems don’t do us any good. They barely help after the first thousand and then they stop working for you altogether,” the man explained.

“Have you ever absorbed any?”

“Yes. Two hundred or so.”

“Oh. It’s surprising that you found that many without becoming a mercenary. They are still quite pricey on the market.”

Skullius nodded in affirmation.

“They should still work for you. Want any HELP collecting them?” the thin man, whose name was Fore said with a joking glint in his eye.

Stylla laughed.

Skullius’ eyes widened as he slowly took a step back.

He realised that it was a joke at his expense a few moments later and coughed a few times.

“Of course not, I’m fine,” Skullius said as he then proceeded to hurriedly pull out the Enright gems from the ground and store them in his spatial storage ring.

He collected hundreds excitedly, dashing from one spot to the next until he had almost cleared an entire section of the Cluster subspace.

Skullius couldn’t wait to absorb them all and see just how strong he would become then. Even now, the pulsing of energy within his body was visibly different from before he had absorbed the Enriching gems.

The anticipation was palpable.

Bron, Fore and Stylla looked at Skullius’ childish zeal and sighed.

Was this really a Mage?

Weren’t they supposed to be dignified and contained instead of being overzealous and… active?

Perhaps that was the price for power. A bit of the screws upstairs going loose.

As Skullius picked up another Enriching gem, he noticed something odd.

A flower awaiting its time to bloom was beside the gem, squirming as if alive.

It had a dark purple stem that stretched out to form the covers for the unseen petals that awaited release.

Skullius naturally turned vigilant but not enough to notice that he was in real danger.

The flower suddenly bloomed, within its centre a gaping hole that was fettered by white petals.

The gaping hole suddenly glowed, a radiant light and heat bellowing from it as it hurtled towards Skullius!

Stylla immediately dashed towards Skullius but it was too late.

BOOM!

Orange flames and little spikes shot from the flower with a cloud of smoke, the Discount Human being sent flying up in the air violently!

He spun and twirled in mid-air, his party members assuming the worst immediately as the Discount Human emerged from the thick cloud of smoke, yet…

…!

In a surprising twist, Skullius wasn’t battered and burnt as they had imagined.

A tall and broad shield was extended in his hand , its ocean blue and crystal white design being a cause for awe and relied from his party members!

An attack from below wasn’t all that common, especially in low level Clusters where the spaces weren’t all that well developed. Besides, none of the three would have gotten taken by surprise with an attack like this.

Skullius landed smoothly on the ground and looked ahead where the flower had been.

Stylla gave Skullius a quick glance before focusing ahead.

“Ha! You really can pull your own weight. Glad you didn’t disappoint,” she called while unsheathing her sword.

Skullius grinned with a scoff also focused ahead where the enemy was starting to show itself.

The ground caved in as something dug out.

A tall, dark green figure with a thick torso and thick, veiny arms spawned from underground, welding a weapon of sorts.

Soils and small rocks fell of its body as it then shook itself and gazed ahead with its ‘head’.

A bright yellow head.

Once more, it seemed like only Skullius had much of a reaction to this thing as even though he didn’t know much about life in general, he was sure…

He was sure…

He was vaguely sure that this was a… sunflower-man?