The Blood-Fla Glimr ca too fast.
In an instant, it lit up everything within thirty feet of Marcus, leaving him no room to maneuver, no gap to slip through, and no chance to evade. The light swallowed the space around him completely.
The Blood-Burst Golden Eagle was a Mythic beast. Against sothing like that, hesitation ant death, and mistakes weren’t forgiven. In his cloud form, Marcus had none of his usual advantages. He couldn’t hide from its divine sight, and phasing through attacks was out of the question.
He could only watch.
The massive gold-red beam tore through the air, unstoppable and absolute. Before he could so much as twitch, the energy crashed into him and surged through his body. His health bar vanished in a blink.
He was dead.
—
Ding! Player Stonehaven, you have been slain by the Blood-Burst Golden Eagle. Your Ring of Resurrection has been triggered. You have been revived with full Health and Mana. You are now invulnerable for 3 seconds.
—
Ti to go.
Marcus didn’t hesitate. The mont the system notification faded, a protective golden glow wrapped around him, shimring with absolute safety. He didn’t waste even a fraction of a second.
Run for Your Life.
Town Portal Scroll.
The sequence flowed one into the other without thought, practiced so many tis it had beco instinct.
The Blood-Burst Golden Eagle had just finished its triumphant screech, utterly convinced it had annihilated the intruder who dared steal its Goldgrass. But then, before its fury had even settled, the impossible happened.
Its target flickered back into existence, standing there in a cocoon of golden light.
Alive.
"SKREEE!"
The eagle’s rage exploded. The cry tore through the mountain air as it gathered power for another strike, its body blazing with violent energy.
But it was already too late.
A surge of white light swallowed Marcus whole, and in the next instant, he was gone.
Far away from Five-Leaf Peak, he reappeared safely inside his mansion in Dragon’s Peak Citadel, right beside Alana, as though he had never left.
Back on the mountain, the eagle’s second beam tore through empty space and smashed into Marcus’s fading afterimage. The impact was catastrophic. Rock shattered, boulders tumbled, and a massive crater was carved straight into the mountainside.
But Marcus was long gone.
"SKREEE!"
The eagle’s final cry rang out, sharp and bitter, echoing across the peak. It had failed.
The thief had escaped right under its beak.
---
"Safe at last," Marcus muttered, unable to stop the grin spreading across his face.
He had co dangerously close to disaster, but the payoff was more than worth it. Five-Leaf Peak had been nearly stripped clean under his careful harvesting.
A quick glance at his inventory confird it; over forty thousand stalks of Five-Leaf Goldgrass.
That was enough to keep Alana occupied for months. By the ti he needed to restock, he would probably be Level 50. At that point, he wouldn’t need to rely on stealth tricks or cloud clusters anymore. He could simply return and deal with the eagles head-on.
Of course, there was the small issue of the Mythic-tier Blood-Burst Golden Eagle he had provoked into existence.
Marcus exhaled lightly, the excitent settling into sothing more asured. Next ti he went back, he would have to be careful. Still, the mountain was enormous, and the eagle couldn’t patrol every inch of it. Running into it repeatedly was unlikely.
With the Goldgrass secured, he handed everything over to Alana. After a brief but warm farewell with the beautiful alchemist, he stepped out of his mansion and into the city beyond.
His next destination was already set: the Blue Crystal Tear-Berries, guarded by Level 60 Blue Crystal Tripod Ants.
Just as he was about to teleport to Ironstone Citadel, a private ssage chid in his ear.
—
Old Vine: "Stone, the auction is over. Co by when you have a chance to settle the account."
—
Marcus paused for a mont, recalling the earlier invitation. Old Vine had asked if he wanted to attend, but Marcus had been far too busy playing "cloud" on the mountain to bother. Even if he had gone, it wouldn’t have changed anything.
Still, now that he had ti, curiosity stirred.
"On my way," he replied.
He changed direction without hesitation and headed toward the Old Vine Auction House. A Guild Creation Token wasn’t just valuable, it was historic. This was only the third one to ever appear in Dominion.
He wanted to see how it had played out.
---
As Marcus stepped through the auction house doors, a soft, familiar voice called out to him.
"Stone! Over here!"
He looked up and imdiately spotted her.
A graceful, serene woman stood among the crowd, waving lightly in his direction. Her beauty was almost unreal, delicate to the point that she seed less like a player and more like sothing celestial.
FreshwindElara.
The Five-Elent Cleric wore flowing white High Cleric robes that covered her completely, modest in design yet impossible to ignore. The fabric draped elegantly over her tall, slender fra, enhancing rather than hiding her figure. There was a quiet dignity to her presence, a kind of gentle grace that made her feel both distant and warm at the sa ti.
When their eyes t, her face lit up with a radiant smile. Her dark, clear eyes shimred with unmistakable warmth, and for a brief mont, Marcus felt his heartbeat skip.
"Stone, co here! We’ve been waiting for you," she called.
Beside her stood two other won; Icefall and Firebrand, the twin sorceresses.
Marcus felt a faint headache coming on the mont he saw them.
One radiated cold detachnt, her expression calm and distant like a winter morning. The other burned with restless energy, her gaze sharp and lively, like a storm waiting to break. Their personalities couldn’t have been more different, yet together they ford a striking contrast that drew attention without effort.
He wasn’t particularly fond of their attitudes. There was a certain arrogance to them, the unmistakable air of spoiled heiresses who were used to getting their way.
But even he couldn’t deny it; they were stunning.
Standing side by side with Elara, the three of them ford a scene so captivating that it had already drawn the attention of nearly everyone in the auction house.
At first, the crowd had only watched from afar, content to admire. But then Marcus walked in.
The shift was imdiate.
The three won, previously distant and untouchable, all turned their focus toward a single figure. Their attention locked onto him as he crossed the entrance, their expressions softening in a way that didn’t go unnoticed.
’Who is that guy?’
The question spread silently through the room.
Marcus cut an imposing figure without trying. His gear was clearly top-tier, his posture relaxed yet confident, and there was an easy authority in the way he carried himself, as though the world naturally bent around him.
Seeing the three won look at him like that stirred sothing unpleasant in the onlookers. Envy crept in, sharp and unavoidable.
"The hero and the damsels," soone muttered under their breath.
It fit too well.
A man like that, standing beside won like them, felt almost inevitable. So players couldn’t help but feel a sudden, uncomfortable awareness of themselves just looking at the group.
"Elara, you’re here," Marcus said as he approached.
Up close, his earlier headache returned as his gaze flicked briefly toward the twins. He really didn’t feel like dealing with them, but it seed Elara had grown close to the two. If he wanted to spend ti with her, avoiding them probably wasn’t an option.
"I just logged in," Elara replied softly, stepping forward to et him.
She didn’t pull her hand away when he reached for it.
Instead, her fingers rested lightly in his, natural and unguarded. Her eyes held a quiet tenderness, sothing unspoken yet unmistakable.
"Old Vine said you were coming," she added, her voice gentle, "so we decided to wait for you here."
It was the look of soone who had genuinely missed him, even if they had only been apart for a day.
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