A week had passed as the family cleared one hill after another. They worked diligently for sixteen hours a day killing hundreds of wolves in each. They lost count after the first day, but Lith had kept an average tally. Each time they traveled between the hills, they fought roughly fifty Pale Wolves, as Enki had started calling them. When they got close enough to a hill to be attacked by the Den Guardian Wolves, the Pale Wolves stopped attacking. Every Hill had five Den Guardian Wolves and one Alabaster Wolf. After the Alabaster Wolf was dead and while the Alabaster Core formed, they were attacked every five minutes by a pack of six wolves, possibly trying to take the place of the six wolves that previously held the hill. In total, they killed roughly one hundred and twenty-eight wolves between each hill conquering.

  All of this had brought them to their ninth threshold as they sat on the last hill for their quest to collect ninety-nine Alabaster Cores. Something wasn’t adding up. They had killed ninety-nine Alabaster Wolves, and were almost done collecting their ninety-ninth core, but they were short one Alabaster Wolf to kill. Were they supposed to find another hill to capture and kill the wolf? They had been making their way around the hills in a circular pattern, treating their first hill as the center of their conquest. As they made their way to the outer hills, they had discovered that the Alabaster Fields were actually a valley surrounded by tall, flat cliff walls. Many of the last few hills were fully surrounded by the Pale Wolves, as if they were running out of safe places to safely stay. All the wolves could do was watch as one hill after another was conquered, watching as their impending death was inflicted on the group before them.

  “So, what are we supposed to do about the last wolf?” Asked Matia.

  “Maybe we missed a hill.” Guidry offered.

  “Not possible.” Said his grandmother. “We started off pretty much dead center. There aren’t any more Alabaster Wolves to kill that live on a hill.”

  “Maybe some of them were brave enough to retake a hill.” Suggested Enki.

  “Possible, but unlikely.” Lith said. “No wolf has crossed the red for even a moment. Not even on this last hill.”

  “So how are we supposed to complete the floor quest?” Trevor asked.

  “Eat up and rest.” Lith said as he tossed each of them some dried meat and hard tac from a pouch. He was more thankful than ever for Anthropo, who had suggested bringing supplies to last them several days. They would eat three meals a day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but found that their appetite was slowly dwindling. They also rarely felt thirsty, despite sweating from the physical exertion of combat. They definitely needed a shower when they got back to their house. Lith took a bite of the dried meat. “I get the feeling something dramatic will happen after we claim this last core.”

  He put his hand on his daughter’s shoulder and pushed the energy of Cleansing Balm. The pained look on her face subsided. At first, each core she absorbed caused a massive amount of pain before subsiding, but now the pain was constant, although not as powerful. His skill seemed to temporarily lessen the pain she was in, so he cast it on her every time his mana topped off. They were all wondering what was going on in Matia’s body. She was getting paler and paler with each core she absorbed, but other than the pain, there was no sign of injury. Lith had tried using Mending Touch a few times, but when nothing changed after the first few casts, he stopped using it. This clearly wasn’t a wound his skill could handle. Just a few more kills and he would be past their ninth threshold, and if his theory was correct, he would gain another skill. Hopefully his next skill would let him help his daughter more.

  They watched as the written counter on the quest card reached zero and the red roots gathered and grew the final Alabaster Core. It immediately threw itself into Matia who shuddered from the joining. Lith immediately cast Balm again. Despite collecting all 99 Alabaster Cores, nothing changed for Matia, and she gritted her teeth in pain. It slowly subsided, but only a little. The persistent pain growing only slightly worse. It reminded her of the endometriosis she suffered during her periods, but all over her body now. Fayde looked at the quest card as the writing changed for the hundredth time.

  Quest Complete:

  Gather 99 Alabaster Cores: 99/99

  New Quest:

  Slay The Alabaster King

  “What is an Alabaster King?” Guidry asked as they all moved to stand around Fayde

  “The last wolf we have to kill.” Fayde answered.

  “Look at the plants at the edge.” Trevor said pointing towards the cliff walls.

  The once white, now red grass was wilting and withering, turning black as they quickly lost all semblance of vitality. The grass wasn’t wilting only at their hill. Every hill along the edge of the valley was starting to turn black as the tall grass died for seemingly no reason.

  “Alabaster King?” Lith asked looking at Fayde.

  “I’m not making a bet with you about it.” She spoke. When Lith was confident about something, he would make a twenty-dollar bet, even if it was obvious to everyone else too.

  The black grass soon passed them as the red died. It seemed that the blood the grass had collected was flowing back towards the center of the valley. Was the blood being used to summon the Alabaster King or resurrect it? Either way, they had to kill it and following the wilting grass to the center of the valley was currently their best bet to find it. They began to walk after the dying grass. Its pace was easy enough to follow at first, but as they moved further to the center they had to jog to keep up with the receding line of grass.

  By the time they were a few hills from the center they were in a full sprint, with their stamina draining from the exertion faster than their physical energy could replenish it. In the distance they could see a hill larger than any they had come across before, certainly not one they had conquered. As they drew closer, they began to notice that the hill was moving, and it soon stopped looking like a red grass covered hill. It looked like an embryo in the womb. Something, probably the Alabaster King, was growing in the writhing mass of vines and grass, drawing in the blood of all of the fallen wolves that was previously in the Alabaster Grass.

  Cresting over the last hill, they watched as the last of the grass turned black and died. All that remained was the large moving mass of blood red roots. The roots writhed as the beast inside of it moved. Soon, the roots too started to turn black, and the movement inside stopped, turfing into dull thuds against the roots.

  “Weapons out.” Fayde commanded as she unsheathed her shashka. “Prep your skills and spread out! Everyone be ready.”

  They all moved. Enki dashed off before disappearing as his Camouflage skill activated. Matia dropped her shield as she began manifesting spears of stone and ice before throwing them into the air. She made six in total bit only threw five of them into the sky, keeping the sixth for herself and she picked her shield back up. Fayde and Lith stayed by their daughter’s side as Trevor and Guidry dashed off aways opposite of the way Enki went. They watched in eager anticipation as the thudding inside the roots slowed and then stopped. They looked at each other for a moment, a question passing between Fayde and Lith. Had the roots smothered the beast in the womb? They couldn’t be that lucky.

  Suddenly, the roots shattered to pieces as a howl louder than the first howl of the combined Alabaster Wolves was let loose. Splinters of roots rained down harmless upon them as a wolf three times larger than any of the Alabaster Wolves towered above its broken rooted womb. This wolf was not covered in rocks like the ones before it. It looked more like the Pale Wolves, covered in fur.

  “Well,” started Lith, “That’s definitely the Alabaster King.”

  “Fan-fucking-tastic.” Fayde said with obvious sarcasm.

  The wolf turned, focusing its head sized eyes on them. The beast shook its body, flinging the blood off its fur and creating a deafening rattle. It sounded like millions of stones clattering on each other. As the wolf stopped its shaking, they realized that the loud clattering was coming from its fur. Every hair on the wolf’s body was made of alabaster stone.

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  “Damn.” Said Matia. “With fur like that it’s no wonder it is called the Alabaster King.”

  “Think it’s slow?” Trevor asked.

  And then it moved. With three strides, the beast was right on top of them, its fangs bearing right for Guidry and his fist that held the power of his Storm Dragon Fist. Matia let out a taunting roar of her own as five spears descended at incredible speeds. As quick as the spears were, so was the wolf. Two of them impacted the earth, sending black sludge and debris flying. The other three landed on the wolf as it moved, sending it rolling away from Guidry and Trevor. Shards of white stone fur protruded from the ground, shedding of the impact of Matia’s spears. The wolf stood, slightly dazed from the impacts. Its entire right side was shorn of its stony fur, revealing bare white skin spotted with small flecks of blood and splattering of black rotted grass.

  Guidry and Trevor stood, the force of the spears impacts on the ground sending them sprawling back a few feet. They too were slightly dazed but were quickly on the mend. Trevor readied her swords as she activated Burning Shadows. Black flames rose from the shadow of the wolf, licking at its paws. While they were on this floor, the nonexistent sun had never moved. The sky was constantly clouded in grey, but some semblance of light still managed to illuminate the world. Their shadows remained slam and faint beneath them. It was enough to keep the wolved moving frantically and ruin any coordination. But this was no normal Alabaster Wolf. This was the Alabaster King. With leaping strides it rushed at Trevor and Guidry again. Guidry raised his left hand as a wall of electrically charged water rose in front of them. He brought his right arm to his hip, taking a stance that he grandfather had been teaching him that blended well with the guidance of his Martial Arts Mastery skill. He started pouring energies into his Storm Dragon Fist skill as water and lighting condensed around his fist. Watching the wolf approach, Guidry knew that his skill would not finish charging in time. He poured more mental energy into his makeshift shield. The wolf struck Guidry’s shield with its massive paw, striking Guidry’s shield so much force that it immediately dispersed. The claw pierced straight through and struck Guidry, sending him flying back with gouges down his chest.

  “Guidry!” Trevor called out to her son. She started running towards him.

  “Trevor focus!” Her own mother called out to her. “You dad is already moving. Focus on the wolf.”

  Trevor took a quick glance and saw three Liths moving towards Guidry with a heal spell already charged in one his hands. Matia and Fayde had already rushed over, standing next to Trevor, between them and the wolf. They would have to be the wall and keep the beast away from their family until Guidry was healed. The beast came at them and swung its mighty claw. Matia reared her shield back before swinging it at the incoming claw. Shield met stone covered paw as she bashed it away. Between her toughness and strength, Matia managed to successfully stop the attack from doing any damage to her but was pushed several feet for her effort. He body was still wracked with pain, but something else drove her to fight the wolf. Something beyond clearing the floor and protecting her family. Desire. She didn’t know what for, but something inside the wolf called to her. One she killed the wolf, the last thing she needed would be given to her. The pain would stop, and she would be whole.

  Fayde poured energy into her skill as she unleashed a Blood Curdling Shiek. The wolf slowed as it recoiled, its highly attuned hearing now being assaulted by Fayde’s magically amplified voice. Its body began to shake slightly as it recovered from the assault. Fayde and Trevor took the opportunity to circle around the wolf, Trevor striking out with her flame wreathed blades at its bare skinned right side. Black and red blood spurted from the wounds she made, although the tough hide of the wolf stopped her from cutting too deep. Fayde used her blood manipulation to draw more from the wounds while striking out on her own, taking breaths between sheiks all the while.

  While the wolf was distracted by the attacks of the women of the family, Lith applied a Mending Touch to Guidry’s wounds directly. The claws of the beast had cut straight through the skin and muscles on Guidry’s chest and cracked a few bones, causing him to cough up blood. As the healing took effect, Guidry’s wound rapidly closed. He coughed up a bit more blood before gasping for air to refill his lungs.

  “You ok buddy?” Lith asked his grandson.

  Guidry nodded as he started charging Storm Dragon Fist again.

  “Don’t think the shock spell isn’t going to work on this guy.” Lith said as he pointed to a small scorch marks on the fur of the wolf where the lightning of his combination shield had discharged. “Seems like the rocks are helping to insulate the electric energy. See if you can cut through it with high pressure water.”

  Guidry nodded again and began to stand, Lith helping him up.

  “Atta boy.” Lith said patting Guidry on the shoulder one more time. “Back to work.”

  Lith ran full tilt back towards the wolf. He watched as Fayde and Trevor nimbly dodged the kicks and swipes. Matia continued to harass the wolf with her spear, bashing its muzzle away with her shield, which had started to form a few cracks. Small impacts could be seen as small motes of light impacted the wolf’s face like bullets. Enki was doing his best to concentrate fire or take out its eyes while obscured in the distance. From behind him, bursts of water were fired off. They were tiny water bullets, but each one managed to mimic Enki’s bolts as they shaved away small sections of the wolf’s stone fur. Seconds drew out as Lith approached. Even with his higher dexterity, he still felt slow as he returned to the battle.

  “Matia!” he called out. She looked back for a moment after recovering from being pushed back again. “Shield Vault.”

  “Stop doing crazy shit dad.” She said turning away from him, heading back into battle.

  “Gotta weaken a vital spot.”

  Matia rolled her eyes as she slowed her run. She lifted her shield above her head as she squatted down in a wide stance. Lith maintained his pace before jumping up onto the shield in a crouch. Simultaneously, Matia extended her body upwards using her drastically improved strength to practically throw her father up while he leaped forward. He activated Encircle, creating two doppelgangers to appear, one on either side, while the spectral claws of Rake appeared on his right hand. The wolf was currently trying to snap its jaws at Fayde who had already managed to open a few small wounds in the wolf. Small streams of blood were trickling down its leg, proof of her efforts. Lith let out a yell, drawing the wolf’s attention to him selves as it whipped around its head. It hesitated for a moment before opening it’s maw wide to eat the Lith in the middle. Seeing the approaching teeth, Lith activated the second feature of Encircle, switching places with the copy of himself to the right of the wolf just in time to avoid becoming dinner. The construct copy of Lith dispersed as the mouth of the wolf closed around it, causing an audible snap to be heard at its teeth clapped together. Both the real Lith and the second copy took the opportunity to swipe as the eyes of the Alabaster King as they flew by. While the second copy’s attack harmlessly phased through the wolf, Lith’s actual body managed to damage the wolf as his spectral claws pierced into the soft flesh of its right eye. Vitreous and aqueous humor poured from the eye followed by blood as Lith’s momentum carried him past the eye, ripping the face of the wolf from the inside from the corner of its eye.

  Lith landed on his back and let out a grunt of pain as the wind left his lungs. His dexterity had improved as they made their way through minor thresholds, but he had no practical experience with the wild moves in his head. As Lith moved to get back to his feet the wolf lifted its paw over Lith to crush him with a stomp, but as the wolf’s clawed foot came down Matia stepped in, delivering another bash with her shield. She repelled the foot, only having to spin away once to recover. It was clear that their continued pressure from multiple angles was working. A strike that previously sent her reeling a few feet now only caused her to spin with the momentum.

  “I swear you’re gonna get yourself killed if you keep being this reckless.” Matia said with concern on her face.

  “Forge your path is what the door said.” Lith quoted as he got back to his feet. “Besides, I have a strong daughter to watch my back. I’m not dying anytime soon.” He pulled a few stone quills from his hand and flexed it. The alabaster fur of the wolf wasn’t only hard, each strand was adorned with a sharp, needle like point. He hadn’t left that devastating blow without paying for it. He could heal himself, but that could wait. He tapped his daughter on the shoulder. The slightly pained look on her face alleviated.

  “Thanks. That thing is so strong I think the impacts were starting to fracture my bones.”

  “Should be a little easier from here on out. Let’s get back to work.”

  Matia hadn’t taken her eyes off the wolf who was currently back attacking Fayde as she targeted its hind legs. Bolts of light from Enki and bullets of water from Guidry started to land on the side of the wolf causing gouts of blood to pour out with their impact. Lith and Mait joined in striking at the already heavily marred side of the wolf.

  Realizing that the mage from earlier wasn’t dead, the wolf’s attention turned towards Guidry again. It howled in pain and tilted its good eye towards Guidry before running off in his direction, Lith, Fayde, Matia, and Trevor on its heels. Guidry was releasing water bullets from his left hand as he charged Storm Dragon Fist in his right. One way or another, he was going to let one of at the wolf and make it count. As much as it was weakened by the battle so far, the Alabaster King still managed to dodge a few of the water bullets as it approached. The bullets that did hit managed to land on one of its forelegs, slowing it down a bit and sending more hails of stone fur flying as it ran. The wolf was faster than any of them on foot at the moment and was upon the top of Guidry before the rest could catch up. It opened its maw wide to bite at him only to have its mouth filled with highly pressurized water and a devastating amount of electricity in the shape of a Loong dragon. The body of the Alabaster King locked up as it was assaulted with unquantified amps of lightning coursed through the inside of it. Its momentum was put to a stop as the force of Guidry’s skills countered its enraged rush, and as its muscles recovered from the paralyzing effects of Guidry’s attack, it remained standing. It coughed and gagged, releasing bloody water from its mouth, dousing Guidry in expelled entrails and bile. Its one good eye looked at Guidry as its legs shook. A moment passed as Guidry’s heart pounded in his chest. Fear like none he had ever felt before surged like lightning through his body as he staired into the eye of the Alabaster King. And then it fell causing an audible thud as it crashed to the ground. Dead.