CHAPTER 77: TREACHEROUS JOURNEY [1]

Clayton trudged through the ash-choked fringes of the Forgotten Atlanta Expanse, his Shedskin cloaked as a scavenger’s rags, masking his Verdant Lord aura.

His Regalia of the Verdant Warden, in bow form, hung slung across his back, ready to conjure bone or root arrows with his Heartseed Core’s renewable Embers.

The Thornshade Dagger, venom-coated and stealth-enhancing, rested sheathed at his hip, its Artifact hum subtle.

His Architect Aspect thrummed, leashed to lend with Torren’s adventurer team. Their communication pagers, Mycoglyph-etched, pulsed faintly, linking their Aspects, enabling them to stay in constant communication.

Clayton’s Aphid Network, over 50 minions strong, lurked far behind, cloaked by Verdant Shroud, while his rootsite stood fortified, a distant anchor.

For the first time, his humanoid body was going on an expedition far from his Rootsite and his Verdant Lord body.

In all honesty, it was a thrilling experience.

The journey, stretching 2,890 kilometers to Arizona’s volcanic wastes, and then to the Scorchpath Outskirts loomed ahead, a 60-day gauntlet.

Torren’s calculations, factoring ash-storms, Behemorphs, and rogue domains set a grueling pace.

The Earthcore Nexus pulsed, its hunger a low drone, twisting the Expanse’s ruins into fungal quagmires and ash-veiled chasms. The team moved single file, spore filter masks on, Verdant Relics glowing faintly under dawn’s gray haze.

Hours into the first day, the path dipped into a shattered tram hub, its steel warped by sentient vines, Mycoglyphs flickering erratically.

Clayton’s Territorial Sentience pinged, a pack of Initiate Ember Behemorphs, Ash Sprites (2-meter fire wisps, flaming tendrils), skittering in the ruins.

Six emerged, embers sparking, their Emberflame Aspects igniting fungal debris, heat singeing the team’s cloaks.

As soon as they emerged, every single individual in the team reacted like veterans, but the leader still made his voice heard.

"Ambush!" Torren barked, Flamevine Wrath flaring, pyro-roots lashing, incinerating a Sprite’s tendril.

Veyra nocked her rootwoven bow, Thornstrike arrows piercing another, sap bursting. Lorn’s Sapflow Healer pulsed, vines shielding Soren, whose Emberblade Aspect slashed, sparks flying.

Kaelin’s Ashveil Cloak erupted in smoke, daggers grazing a Sprite, but a tendril grazed his arm, ash burning.

Clayton acted, Shedskin deflecting heat, Architect reflexes sharp.

He drew Regalia’s bow, channeling minimal Embers for bone arrows; light, precise.

Two shots struck a Sprite’s core, embers scattering, its wail echoing.

A second Sprite lunged, tendrils flaring, but Clayton rolled, Thornshade Dagger slashing, venom dissolving its flames.

He kept Core Maw and Aphid Network hidden, revealing only a wanderer’s skill. Veyra’s arrows and Torren’s pyro-roots failed the rest, the pack collapsing into ash, Earthcore Nexus’s pulse spiking.

DING!

~----~

[Behemorphs Slain: 6 Ash Sprites (Initiate Ember)]

[Genesis Embers Acquired: 18 (External)]

[Genesis Embers Total: 2,165]

[Aspect Strain: Low]

~----~

The team caught their breath, ash settling.

Torren wiped soot from his armor, grinning faintly. "Not bad, wanderer. Those arrows hit hard".

Clayton smirked, stowing Regalia. "Told ya I’m no dead weight". He pocketed the Embers, external gains for his Core.

Veyra crouched, checking the ruins, her sharp eyes wary. "Ash Sprites don’t roam alone. These parts are crawling with worse". Her tone softened, probing. "Where’d you learn to shoot like that?"

"Streets," Clayton said, humor dark, dodging her gaze. "Feral world teaches quick".

Lorn tended Kaelin’s burn, sap-vines cooling his arm. "You’re reckless, Kaelin," she chided, voice calm but firm.

"Stay close next time". Kaelin grunted, pride bruised from the duel, but nodded, glancing at Clayton with grudging respect.

Soren, ever gruff, kicked a Sprite’s ash pile. "Emberblade barely scratched ’em. Scorchpaths’ll gut us if we’re sloppy".

His eyes flicked to Clayton, sizing him up, a nod of approval.

Torren clipped his pager, Flamevine Wrath dimming. "We move tighter now. Sixty days, no mistakes". He paused, meeting Clayton’s eyes. "You’re holding back, aren’t you?"

For a moment, Clayton’s heart skipped a beat, but it didn’t show on his face.

His grin widened, Shedskin cloaking his Verdant Lord aura. "Just enough to keep it fun".

The team chuckled, tension easing, a spark of camaraderie kindling amidst the Nexus’s dread.

It was just one Behemorph encounter, it was against a group of weak Initiate Ember to boot, but still, it was battle, and in the Genesis era, one way for Awakened to bond is through battle.

They pressed on, Scorchpaths’ ash thickening, fungal ruins whispering of warlords, Behemorphs, and Scorched Clans ahead, Africa’s Ashen Covenants a distant flame.

Clayton already heard of the Scorched Clans during his past 3 months of blending in, but with this adventurer team, within just his first day, expressing his curiosity, he learned more from Torren.

The Scorched Clans are a nomadic, militarized faction of Awakened survivors scattered across Earth’s feral landscapes, born from the ashes of the Verdant Invasion and the collapse of civilization post-Genesis Protocols.

Unlike the pacifist Rootbound Clans or the zealous Ironblood Remnants, the Scorched Clans embrace a brutal, fire-worshipping ethos, viewing the Earthcore Nexus’s chaos as a purifyin forge.

They roamed the American wild, surviving through raiding, scavenging, and taming fire-aligned Behemorphs.

Their name derived from their ritualistic use of fire to purge fungal infestations and their scarred, ash-marked bodies, a testament to their survival in Earth’s harshest terrains.

From what Torren said, their origin was intriguing.

When the Genesis Protocols activated, billions were left on Earth, subjected to the Verdant Invasion’s wrath.

Cities fell as flora and fauna turned predatory, and humanity fractured.

In what was once North America’s Midwest and Southern regions, survivors faced relentless Behemorph assaults and volcanic eruptions triggered by the Earthcore Nexus.

A group of Awakened, hardened by Initiate Ember and Luminous Seed Aspects, united under a charismatic leader, Ashka the Emberborn, who wielded a Verdant Warden Aspect called Pyreheart Dominion.

Ashka preached that fire, not resistance, was the answer to the Nexus’s hunger, forging the Scorched Clans roughly a century ago.

After Ashka’s death, slain by a Spore Monarch, the Clans splintered into nomadic bands, each led by a Scorchlord or Scorchlady, bound by a shared creed: "Burn to live, live to burn".

Clayton’s reaction after learning about their origin was typical.

"Damn! Those motherf*ckers are hot!"