Pandora Unchained - a Cultivation Progression Fantasy

The North Parnassus Forest was a long stretch of wilderness that hugged the Parnassus Mountain Range as it faded into foothills. It started just past Mount Parnassus, where Delphi was built, and ended in a stretch of grasslands that separated it from Nightmare Forest.

It took three days to cross Mount Parnassus with Sorin's current cultivation base—not for his own safety but for the safety of Delphi, which would be disturbed if he killed too many of the powerful demons stabilizing the wilderness near the city.

Much time had passed since Sorin had last gone adventuring, so he was especially conscious of his adventuring outfit and the many pieces of equipment he'd accumulated during his time in Delphi.

Most of them were upgrades. Sorin's Wraith Hare Boots had been upgraded to three-star Wraith Snake Boots with a ten-second cooldown between teleportation hops. His Ring of Mind Warding had been upgraded to a three-star ring of Mind Stabilization, which now doubled up as protection against corruption and invasive influence from the Herald of Strike, Azrakul, sealed inside his body.

His blood-bound armor had also been upgraded to the three-star level by Mr. Sanderson using a small mountain of precious materials. Its function hadn't changed and merely adapted to his current level. Any further upgrades, unfortunately, would need to wait until Sorin could visit the leatherworker's grandfather, who also went by Mr. Sanderson.

With his remaining funds, Sorin was able to purchase C-Tier three-star gear to fill in the gaps in his arsenal. There was a Steel-Pattern Ring, which he could activate to gain five minutes of enhanced defenses, a Chameleon Cloak, which could be used to alter his skin's pigmentation to blend with his surroundings, and a ring of elemental protection.

The meeting point was a small clearing filled with Silver Tongue Meadow Grass. The cold remains of abandoned campfires were strewn about the peaceful meadow where many adventuring parties entered and left the depths of the North Parnassus Forest.

It was a neutral area where attacking each other was strictly forbidden by the Adventurers Guild. The sudden buzzing of Nemesis, therefore, came as a surprise to Sorin, who immediately had the weapon split into needles and form of protective shield around him.

A dagger-wielding figure burst out of the ground at several times Sorin's maximum speed.

Cling, cling, cling!

The dagger blasted apart the screen of needles with three concise cuts, closing the distance with Sorin and thrusting the dagger towards his unprotected neck. Sorin grabbed the dagger using a pair of golden gloves and stepped out with his Wraith Snake Boots to open up some distance—only to discover that the attacker was already behind him and stabbing towards his back.

A tarnished gold python emerged from Sorin and attempted to push back the attacker. Despite its status as a Divine Skill, the python phased through the attacker, forcing Sorin to activate his Steel-Pattern Ring.

Metallic scales appeared on Sorin's body, halting the rogue's sharp blade that had just managed to pierce through his leather armor. "You're pushing your luck, Lawrence," said Sorin, shooting out a wave of golden needles coated with two separate hundred poisons, Gorgon's Mourning and Night Lily's Chains.

"Mission… accomplished!" grinned Lawrence as he fell to his knees, making Sorin immediately realize that his attention had been imperceptibly drawn to the rogue, thereby screening the second layer of attackers.

Panic set in as Sorin felt a deadly object plunging down towards him at extreme speeds. He tried to move, only to discover that the ground was covered in dozens of strange tentacled creatures. Breaking free would take too much time, so Sorin pulled back Nemesis and manifested a spear, which he infused with five hundred poisons as he struck out at the ballista-sized arrow coming at him.

With the arrow came a cleansing storm that neutralized Sorin's poisons and attacked the corruption in Sorin's body. It pushed him into the ground with such force that he dug out a six-foot trench.

A rain of storm-infused cleansing arrows crashed around the pit, forcing Sorin on the defensive as an axe-wielding warrior chopped down with a space-shattering axe.

Technique identified as a barbarian from the Parnassus Mountains, thought Sorin as he processed the attacker's movements, pinpointing the exact moment when his technique was weakest. Attack power is three times higher than current maximal output. Frontal confrontation is not advised. Sorin abandoned all thoughts of counterattacking and used Adder Rush to slither out of the pit. He took several arrows but managed to avoid the line of spatial tearing shooting out from the barbarian's axe, then used Cobra's Glare to interrupt him mid-swing.

Sorin wrapped a tarnished gold python around the paralyzed barbarian's waist and injected him with a quintuple dose of Gorgon's Mourning before tossing him at Astley, the mastermind controlling the tentacled creatures hampering his movements.

"You're supposed to show consideration for the fairer sex!" shouted Astley with indignation. "Wait, how is this poison able to jump out and—" Her voice cut out as she, too, was paralyzed.

"Reee!"

The final attacker arrived on the scene. He was the size of Sorin's fist but packed more power than all the others combined. Sorin transformed his spear into a dagger and collided with Lorimer, barely managing to deflect the cannonball-like creature that he knew was practically immune to his poisons.

Hairline fractures appeared on Sorin's hands as a result of the collision. Thanks to his powerful regeneration, they healed over just in time for Lorimer to return for a second round.

This time, Sorin abandoned his dagger and decided to compete with brute strength. Protective gauntlets appeared over his fists as he and his rat companion collided several times in quick succession, with neither party gaining the upper hand.

"I think that's quite enough," said Sorin, pulling back.

"Reeee!" shouted Lorimer with anger-filled eyes. He continued attacking despite Sorin's words, making it clear that he had yet to recover from the after-effects of his evolution.

Temper is unstable. Rationality is intermittent, thought Sorin, avoiding a direct clash this time to press a finger to a pressure point on Lorimer's body and inject a golden needle into it. Condition is confirmed to be a build-up of corruption from feeding. Simulating optimal corruption mix. Violence and Madness have overtaken strife, resulting in the current state.

He proceeded to inject three more needles into the rat's body and use them as a conduit for Hand of the Twisted Physician, which he then used to leech away Violence and Madness and absorb these two elements into his body.

The rat's intense emotions faded and were replaced by confusion and weakness. The rat plopped onto the ground and did object when Sorin appeared behind him and began inspecting him in closer detail.

"Is he under control?" asked Gareth, appearing beside Sorin. "Do you need my help to restrain him?"

"No need," said Sorin, tapping on a few more points. Lorimer relaxed visibly as his condition stabilized and he regained his ability to think. "I'd hoped that returning to the wild to feed would help stabilize his condition, but it seems to have had the opposite effect. The best solution for the time being is to keep him close and monitor his condition. Are you alright, Lorimer?"

"Ree!" said Lorimer, hopping onto his hind legs. He expressed his apologies about his previous behavior and hopped onto Sorin's shoulder for neck scratches.

"Astley, I expected, but Fenrig, didn't you return to your people?" asked Sorin.

"I did return to my people," said the axe-wielding Fenrig as he walked out of a tall patch of grass carrying Astley. His constitution was strong enough to purge even Sorin's poisons in a short amount of time. "We barbarians cultivate differently. A ritual was required for me to enter the Flesh-Sanctification Realm. I then needed to perform several important tasks and secure several descendants before they let me head out to Olympia."

Sorin blinked. "Wait, by secure descendants, you mean…"

"Yes, I was assigned a few mates," Fenrig said nonchalantly. "It's not something you city-dwellers would understand."

Sorin shook his head. "In any case, you already have a team. What are you doing here?"

"Disbanded," said Fenrig with a shrug. "It was only a temporary team. I happened to be looking for companions when Gareth approached me saying something about needing a tank."

"Stephan and Daphne won't be able to make it," explained Gareth. "Their families called them less than a week ago. They'll be taking the safe way back to save time."

"Which means more cake for us!" said Lawrence as Sorin pulled poison out of his and Astley's body. He pulled out a blanket from storage and laid out a small feast of baked goods. "I spent the past three months baking up a storm. Help yourselves."

"Don't mind if I do," said Astley, accepting a slice of cake and taking a seat."

Sorin also grabbed a seat and took the time to scan everyone's condition. Thanks to his help and an optimized Initiation Tincture, they'd all managed to fully open their Gate of Initiation. Fenrig's fully open gate, however, came as a surprise to Sorin. Barbarians, it seemed, had their own ways to reliably open gates.

"You're all much stronger now," said Sorin. "Especially you, Lorimer."

"Reee!" said Lorimer. "Ree ree ree!"

"What? How dare you mock me!" said Lawrence. He appeared beside Lorimer and snatched his plate. "No cake for you!"

"Reee!" pleaded Lorimer.

"Fine, fine," said Lawrence, putting the plate down. "It's all in good fun. I'd never be so cruel as to deprive someone of cake."

"As usual, all you seem to care about is food, peeking on ladies that want nothing to do with you, and provoking people that are more powerful than you," said Gareth, rolling out a map. "Now gather around. We are currently on this spot here. The fastest way to Olympia is by traveling on the Olympian Wheel Road, which connects all twelve capital cities in a circle and passes through the Nightmare Forest to arrive at Mount Olympus.

"For practical reasons, like exterminating demons, collecting cores, and collecting rare ingredients, we've opted to take the long way to Olympia. There are many key areas we want to explore, including the Raptor Cliffs, the Amber Marsh, and the Rainbow Geysers. Of course, those are only the most well-known regions." He gave everyone present a meaningful look.

Sorin was the first to volunteer extra information and tossed a jade slip on the table. "The elders in my clan pointed out a few promising stops. Why don't we check them out and see what we can find?"

Astley also tossed a jade slip beside Sorin's. "I would like to explore three ruins on the way to Olympia if you don't mind. I don't expect to find any resources, so in exchange, I won't take a cut while we go through the wilderness."

"There's no need for that," said Gareth, adding dots to his map. "It seems these locations are on the way."

"There are also a few ancestral statues I'd like to visit along the way," added Fenrig. "There should be many demons to exterminate along the way and many natural treasures to claim."

Gareth nodded. "I don't see a problem with that, Fenrig. With your ancestral statues added on, I expect this journey to take us six months. Three months will bring us to Fort Mildred, which we'll definitely want to visit before entering Nightmare Forest."

"What's so exciting about Fort Mildred?" asked Lawrence, taking a bite of cake. Forts are boring. Let's avoid them and go to bigger cities instead."

Gareth raised an eyebrow. "I'm afraid this will be the only city on the way to Olympia. It'll be the only place to find missions, turn in loot, etc."

"You're joking, right?" said Lawrence. He looked to Sorin, Fenrig, and Astley for confirmation before swiping up the remaining uneaten cakes. "Alright, that's enough cake-eating now. We're on official cake rations. No more than three cakes can be eaten per day."

"That's the right attitude to have," said Gareth. "Unfortunately, Stephan and Daphne's absence means we'll need to adjust our plans slightly. Fenrig will substitute for Stephan, and Astley will need to fill in for Daphne. As for a life mage… well, we've never needed one, have we? " The whole team chuckled at that.

"I have a request," said Sorin, raising his hand. "Would it be possible to claim all poisonous and alchemical ingredients? I can exchange gold or services if their value exceeds that of my share of demon cores or bounties."

"I also have a similar request for historical artifacts," said Astley. "Anything older than a hundred years, no matter how useless it may seem, would be greatly appreciated."

"I don't mind this claim of yours, Miss Astley, but forgive me for not yielding on any barbarian ancestral artifacts."

Astley nodded. "Of course. Though I appreciate it if you'd let me inspect them nonetheless."

"That will be no problem," said Fenrig.

"Is that everything?" asked Gareth.

"Ree!" said Lorimer. "Ree ree ree."

"Yes, we understand that you'll be cleaning up excess demon cores as per your usual practice and will, therefore, not accuse you of theft," said Gareth. "We also acknowledge that you are a legitimate party member and not an extension of Sorin, which means that you will be receiving a full share."

"Ree!" said Lorimer with a satisfied nod.

"If that's all there is, let's clean this up and head out to find our first target," said Gareth. "A three-star Mountain Shaping Badger has been spotted three days from here and is seeking to expand its territory. The location is not far from a valuable mine, so an extermination request has been issued. Is anyone against attempting to claim this bounty?" No one was. "Then the first mission is decided. Up next is our march order and scouting protocols. We will proceed as follows."