Azrael blinked. Once. Twice. Thrice.
"I’m sorry?" he asked, after managing to gather his composure.
He had seen a well Logan described, but the thought of entering one had never crossed his mind. From his own observations, he had concluded they were bottomless, and Cinder had even claid there were monsters inside.
Logan laughed weakly, scratching the back of his head.
"While we were on another mission to dive deeper into the Ruined Kingdom territory, I had a small misstep and found myself at the bottom of a well."
"As it turned out, the weird bottomless feeling we get while staring at the wells is so kind of spell, or perhaps magic." Jas chid in, since Logan beca more nervous by the second.
"The bottom isn’t actually that deep," he added. "But the tunnel itself is. We’d have to walk for miles. And since we can’t be sure the interior won’t collapse while we’re down there, we can’t risk running or enhancing our speed with skills, items, or magic."
Azrael nodded thoughtfully. It seed that even the most mundane things held great secrets, as long as one was willing to risk their life to test them.
He glanced at his armor. Truth Devourer, the Radiant armor shimred, seemingly eager for a fight to the death in pursuit of power.
’A tool, just like its master,’ he thought.
"If the camp was attacked because of that discovery," Azrael began, turning to Seraphina, "then it ans they’ll strike again soon."
"The best defense is offense." She stood up, drawing every gaze toward her striking figure.
"So, we’re planning another expedition. I request your help, all of you."
Azrael took a mont to observe the Chosen gathered around. Not a single one showed fear. Even Logan, the timid healer, had a blazing determination in his eyes.
"When do we depart?"
*****
Once the eting was over, the Chosen shot towards the north.
Aside from Azrael, Seraphina, Isolde, Jas, and Logan, a few other Chosen had joined them. One of them was Rachel, the girl that had been in Jas and Logan’s squad when they found Azrael and brought him to the camp.
She mostly stayed by Isolde’s side; when there was conversation going on, she was the one that traced the dialogue on her palm, filling her in.
"I ant to ask." Seraphina slowed down her pace slightly, running side to side with Azrael.
"Since you managed to evolve Truth Seeker into Truth Devourer... could you do the sa with Isolde’s armor? You have the s—"
"No."
Before she could finish her sentence, he cut her off.
"First, I am not doing anything like this ever again; I barely managed to conserve the little sanity I have. Second, once the armor does rank up, it becos tied to your soul. I wouldn’t be able to give it away."
He paused, then continued, voice lower.
"And the closer it is to evolution, the more it demands from . I can’t just fill it with blood and leave Isolde to absorb the last few drops. My sanity will not allow that."
To his surprise, Seraphina didn’t argue; with a simple nod, she didn’t press on further.
’Is it because she’s well-mannered?’ he wondered. ’No... probably because she doesn’t like to ask more than once.’
After a brief hesitation, he asked.
"Your gold armor, is it Radiant?"
"Yes," she replied calmly.
"If you had such powerful armor, why didn’t you use it from the start?" he questioned.
"Because my clan considers it an honor when their mber manages to evolve Truth Seeker to the next Rank. Also, the armor I am now wearing isn’t supposed to be in my arsenal to begin with."
A subtle smile tugged at Azrael’s lips. "So it’s stolen?"
With a frown she shook her head. "No. It was given to , by a very unstable individual. You may have heard of her. She’s fairly famous... Seyra Vaelthorn."
His eyes nearly bulged out. ’Teacher?’
"She may be insane, but she’s an incredibly powerful woman," Seraphina continued. "There are rumors she’s taken on a pupil. Honestly, that was the main reason I attended the rivalry eting between the Elite School and the Moon Breakers, to find them. But it turns out they don’t like the spotlight. Even after so digging, I couldn’t uncover a single clue."
Azrael was silent for a few monts.
"Well, I didn’t realize being picked up by her was that big of a deal. I just kind of assud she was an unhinged powerhouse."
For the first ti, Seraphina’s stoic deanor cracked. Her lips curled upward, and she let out a small laugh.
"I might believe most of the nonsense you spill because of your strength, but even that has its limits. You can’t honestly expect to believe you’re her pupil."
With a flick of his finger, Azrael summoned the docunt he had sighted when entering the Moon Breakers—the one where both his and Seyra’s nas were listed side by side.
Seraphina quickly scanned the intel.
"You are—"
Before she could finish, a shout echoed from up ahead.
"Seeker spotted us!"
Both of their heads snapped north, to Logan—the one who had cried for help—and the abomination that was running at him with terrifying speed.
Na: [Unnad]
Race: [Seeker]
Danger Level: [Feral]
Corruption Rank: [Profane]
’Troubleso.’ Azrael cursed inwardly, shooting forward like an arrow.
Logan was soone they needed alive. They couldn’t afford to take too much manpower out of the camp, so they had taken only a single healer.
Should they let him die, their expedition would be over before it even began.
Azrael wasn’t the only one to react. While he flanked from the right, Jas moved left, the golden grass below the monster’s feet starting to swell under his command.
Seraphina was only inches from reaching Logan, her sole focus on keeping him alive.
Isolde looked prepared to unleash the full might of her aura upon the monster.
The Profane abomination found itself surrounded by nurous Chosen eager to take its life before it could harm one of their own.
It paused for a mont, deciding who it would face first.
Then its gaze locked—
On Azrael.
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