Evolution: A Warlock's Rise To Power

Chapter 112: Sighting Of Planeshifters

"Should we try a different portal to get into the ethereal realm?" Asked Silent.

"Maybe we should try entering through a collapsed portion. It will be a little riskier, but who knows if the locations of the other portals still lead into the ethereal realm." Lucan said.

"Hmm, that may be best." The Ghost King agreed. "We should head to the material plane. The most collapsed sections can be found there."josei

"Alright, we can do that in the morning." Lucan said. "It has been a long day, let's head back to the castle for the night."

***

The next morning, Lucan, Silent and the Ghost King were once again in the command room of the fortress looking at maps.

"There should be a small collapse in this area, we should be able to slip through there." The mouse said while circling an area of the map.

Lucan nodded. "Okay, the Goblin Crusher guild is in the area. We can portal to their fortress and head out from there."

Lucan and Silent stepped into the transporter and transferred to the material plane. The head quarters of the Goblin Crushers was on a completely different continent than Avalon. This was Lucan and Silent's first time visiting this part of the world.

It didn't look too much different from the rest of the material plane. Many members of the Goblin Crushers had seen Lucan before or at least heard about him. So when he showed up in their headquarters, nobody made a fuss about it.

Mounting his broom, the three of them flew out over the walls and headed south. After traveling a few hours, they landed at a murky swamp. A thick fog covered the whole area.

"In this swamp, there should be passage to the ethereal realm. It is likely that is why the area is called the swamp of no return." The Ghost King said.

"Are there any signs to let us know we are getting close to the collapse?" Silent asked.

"No, it can't normally be seen. One moment you are here, then the next, you are there. But your boyfriend may be able to see something different than the rest of us."

Silent nodded in understanding.

They wandered the swamp for hours. The levels of everything were fairly low. The creatures were just an annoyance that barely gave any experience. If they weren't poisons, Lucan wouldn't have bothered killing them, but he didn't want to contract a disease or get poisoned.

"Up ahead, the fog is filled with ethereal mana."

"Good, this must be the place." The Ghost King excitedly squeaked.

Lucan marched straight into the thickest section of mana. He kept walking till the fog started to subside. He didn't feel like he was in a different ream, but when he looked up, he noticed that instead of clouds in the sky, a yellow river was flowing from one end of his vision to the other.

"He, he, it's good to be home." The Ghost King said.

"We are here? It doesn't look that different." Silent said.

"Since the ethereal realm is a border land between realm, the land takes the shape of what it borders. If there is a swamp in the material realm, where the ethereal realm boarders it, there will also be a swamp. The only thing it doesn't contain is man made changes. If a race builds a house, it doesn't appear in the ethereal realm. Or if a dragon destroys a mountain, the mountain will still stand in the ethereal realm. But with the second case, the mountain will slowly change over time, it doesn't happen instantly."

"Ah, I get it." Silent said. "That's why we can walk through walls but don't fall through the ground when using ethereal step."

The little mouse riding on her shoulder nodded. "Ah, quickly hide." The Ghost King said. Jumping from his perch and diving into Lucan's pocket.

Silent hid herself inside of Lucan's shadow.

100 feet above the ground, where the yellow river flowed through the sky. A large wooden ship, sailed with the current. Human looking people were working on the ship while several were keeping watch and focusing down below.

The only difference between these people and normal humans was the pale green tribal symbols that flowed across their skin. Lucan would have though that they were tattoos if not for the fact that the symbols were pulsing with a pale light and slowly moving as if they were alive.

Lucan activated his shadow form and slipped out of sight, hiding behind a tree.

Thankfully the ship didn't drop an anchor and continued down the river. After several minutes and once he was sure they were gone, Lucan stepped back out and checked his surroundings. It seemed like they were alone.

"Those were planeshifters." The Ghost King said. "I didn't recognize their flag, they may be a new tribe that formed after I left."

Lucan nodded; he had gotten his first look at a planeshifter.

"We are here now. It's time for you to hold up your end of the bargain." He said to the mouse.

"Of course, help me get to my castle and I will open the vault for you." The Ghost King said.

Lucan motioned for him to show the way. They ran through the swamp, heading the direction the mouse pointed them in. Lucan soon realized that there was no sun here in the Ethereal realm and he assumed there also wasn't a night. The yellow river illuminated the surroundings. The Ghost King informed them that the yellow river was the main thoroughfare for the ethereal realm. The closer one was to it, the stronger the ethereal energy became. The further away they were, the more unstable the realm was. The collapsed portions were the exception to this rule. Thankfully, where they had entered was withing sight of the yellow river and the Ghost King was able to plot a course for them.

The Ghost King explained that special ethereal abilities are needed to get near the river. When the creatures died, there souls would leave their bodies and enter the ethereal realm. They would sink into the yellow river where their memories and mortal desires would be washed away until they eventually came to their destination.

It was important to never enter the yellow river or drink its water. Even a few drops could change a person.

Around midday the group exited the swamp and followed a road that ran parallel with the yellow river. A dense fog filled area and they could make out the paved path 15 feet in front of them.

They group slowed their pace and went on foot. If they continued to fly, they may lose their way and be unable to find it again.

With his wand drawn, Lucan pushed forward.

He could hear the snapping and tearing of food being eaten in the distance. Slowly moving closer, Lucan found three people hunched over a corpse, feasting on their meal as they tore the rotting and maggot filled flesh from the limbs in their hands. They appeared to be normal humans; he didn't see any of the green tribal patterns to indicate that they were planeshifters, but there must be something wrong with them if they were eating the uncooked flesh of a corpse.

The warlock decided to avoid these people, quickly. Slowly stepping backwards, he started his retreat.

*Snap*

A broken branch on the path was crushed under his boot.

The three people turned towards the noise making Lucan freeze. Their faces had no eyes, ears, nose, or any features except for a wide gapping mouth lined with hundreds of sharp teeth dripping with blood as their meal had just been interrupted.

One of the creatures shrieked and sprinted towards Lucan while the other two stepped into the fog and disappeared from his sight.

"Crap, they are some sort of devourer. Kill them quickly then flee this place before others start to come." Said the Ghost king.

The devourer leapt into the air, diving mouth first towards Lucan. The warlock used shadow form to slip past, before turning back and casting a shadow bolt.

The creature turned, opened its mouth wide and swallow the shadow bolt whole. Jumping towards him again the devourer swiped its hands towards Lucan's chest. Its fingers had sharp bone points protruding from their tips. He jumped backwards to avoid the attack.

"AHH!"

He felt a pair of sharp claws dig into his back as another devourer appeared behind him.

Silent left his shadow and cut towards its wrist with her dagger. Ignoring the blow, the devourer leaned forward and bit into her shoulder with it's hundreds of razor-sharp teeth.

Instantly she lost half her health. A flood of purple flames, spewed from Adrestia, covering the back of the devourer that had latched onto Silent. It shrieked and released its clamp like jaws.

As Lucan was about to start with a flurry of telekinetic slashes, he noticed another two devourers jump out of the fog as they sprinted in their direction.

Lucan took Silent's hand and called out. "Adrestia, to me."

The shadow drake flew to his shoulder as he pulled Silent onto his broom and pushed all his mana into it. Like a rocket, he shot out and left the area behind. He chose to flee; those things were far to strong and he had no idea how many there were. Without having eyes, the fog had no effect on them, and they had no issue finding Lucan and Silent.

Running out of mana, Lucan drank a potion and kept going. Ten minutes later they were out of the fog, but the yellow river was nowhere in sight.