Alure’s Crypt.
8:20 pm, 16 th Peniel 1091.
Since ti immorial, darkness has been associated with evil and misfortune. As such, it has many forms. There is its base nature, an area devoid of light. Then there are other forms like despair, fear, torture, sorrow, pain, and many others.
Humans hate all the forms of darkness by nature. When cast into sudden darkness, they crawl their way to the light, no matter how painful it might be. In tis when they realize there is no light to run to, they go crazy with terror and descend into utter despair. It is quite common for them to take their own lives even if they have food with them.
However, there are exceptions to this. There exist humans who are born in darkness, or are subjected to so much darkness, they evolve and adapt to it rather than give up.
Syèl was an amalgamation of both types. Not only had he been born into darkness, but he had been subjected to so much of it in his short lifeti that he could not be any friendlier with the silent beast. The halben released a sigh as he placed a hand on the head resting on his legs. Fear had a way of tiring people out, and Shoko had given in to that fatigue. She had fallen asleep on his shoulder, then fell onto his lap a few minutes later.
Imrsed in the darkness, Syel accidentally slipped into thoughts of his past. Of his very first mory…
???
Covered in darkness, a dense mass pressed down on him cutting off his supply of air and paralyzing his body. His sole companions were voices drifting in from beyond whatever pressed down on him. He tried to call for help, but the mass on him stifled all his cries, and a thick tallic tasting liquid seeped into his open mouth, blocking both his windpipe and esophagus. He could not push the mass away because his hands were trapped by his side.
Oblivious to his struggle, a couple of people were having a hearty discussion sowhere close enough for him to hear.
"Hahaha, the fool should have just paid up."
"Did you hear him beg for his son's life?"
"Fat blobs like him are a waste of ti. Where's the kid?"
"Dunno. He must have run away and left his old man."
"Che. This is why I hate these pricks. How does soone even get this fat living in a place like this?"
"Who knows? Co on Wes, the cops will be here soon."
The sound of sothing being crushed was followed by one of the n sighing. "Sure, sure. Let's beat it. Find the kid!"
"Sure thing boss."
The trapped child was losing his battle, his lungs hurting more and more as they begged for air. Typically, he should have lost consciousness by then, but the young boy possessed had extraordinary willpower that kept his body just a bit longer in the fight. Whenever he drifted off, he would will himself awake, pushing himself to live.
Unfortunately, even willpower had its limits. Just as the boy was about to fall unconscious for the last ti, the heavy mass was lifted off of him.
Light burned the child’s eyes as he involuntarily sucked in a vast amount of air, and coughed hysterically as a result. Strong, rough hands grabbed the boy and dragged him to his feet, his legs scraping the rough ground. The boy’s eyes slowly got used to the light, and he looked at the mass that had almost killed him.
It was an overly obese man covered in a red liquid he would later learn was blood. The man's eyes stared into nothingness, carrying in them evident regret and pain over sothing. His back, legs, and chest were riddled with holes out of which the liquid oozed.
The little kid stared at the man in terror, as an ungodly wail ford in his throat. "DAAAD!"
"Syèl?!"
Shoko's sharp voice snapped Syèl awake, and he realized he had fallen asleep soti during the flashback. The fact that he could see the worry on her face proved the curse had finally worn off. He followed her line of sight to his hand which held her wrists in a death grip.
Syèl’s eyes went wide with shock, and he quickly released her hand before backing away.
"Are you alright?" Shokō questioned with concern in her eyes.
Syèl gritted his teeth. He hated those eyes. "I'm fine," he said, forcing a smile. "Co on, we've lost a lot of ti." He stood up and walked down the labyrinth path. His hurried gait showed he had no desire to discuss the subject any further.
Sowhat understanding the need for privacy, Shoko followed closely behind.
After wandering through the maze for a few hours, Syèl ca to the important conclusion that the creator of this maze was a Grade A sadist. If it was not hard enough finding the way out, adventurers had to deal with getting blind and montarily losing their search of direction. The fact that the walls of the maze all looked exactly the sa made things worse on them. It was no wonder several had perished inside the labyrinth.
None of these factors were of any consequence to Syèl though.
Now that he knew the poltergeists could be burned with fire, he took care of any that popped up on their path, only switching with Shokō in the monts he needed to wait for his mana to recover. Furthermore, because his attacks consisted of low-grade fireball spells, he could attack from a distance and avoid the chance of getting cursed.
Despite the excellent run of form, Syèl began to realize that the enemies grew more complicated and trickier the deeper they traveled into the labyrinth. For one, poltergeists were no longer solitary mobs. The ghosts were now accompanied by skeleton warriors of the dead called Draugr. These skeleton warriors were also low-level, but they were quite fast, and the numbers they encountered in each group increased the deeper they traveled.
The final group before the exit comprised of five poltergeists and seven skeletons. Syèl and Shokō guessed there would be a boss at the end of the crypt. As a result, they agreed Shokō should keep her ki full since she was the stronger of both of them while he took care of the enemies with his spells.
Rage simred in the depths of Syèl’s eyes as he examined the enemy, still ticked off by the mory that surfaced earlier. The maze path was only about two ters wide, so the skeletons were forced into a small cluster. He pointed his open palm at the enemies, and a mandala suddenly appeared under the group.
"[Fla Spiral]" Syèl said, and a column of fire burst out from the circle and consud all the monsters inside its fiery blaze. The skeletons and poltergeists could not resist the heat and instantly crumbled to dust, leaving bones and coins as loot. Syèl ignored the drops and stepped past their smoking ashes.
Shoko followed his lead, eyes downcast. She bit her lip and grasped the hilt of her sword, wondering what she could do to ease the atmosphere. She instinctively knew he would not take well to fooling around.
"RaaAAAH!"
Shokō paled as Syèl suddenly let out a loud shout and banged his head against the wall.
"W-what are you doing?!" Shokō cried as she grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. However, her brows shot up in confusion when she was t with Syèl’s sheepish grin.
“Sorry," Syèl apologized with the weirdest smile she had ever seen in her life.
Shokō blinked, unable to process what the hell was going on. "Eh?"
"I rembered sothing unpleasant and took it out on you. I'm really sorry," Syèl clarified, then clasped his hands together and bowed his head.
"C-co on now! Don't go apologizing so suddenly. It's embarrassing!" Shokō protested, waving her hands frantically in front of her.
"Good, then. Let's get going... Prince." Syèl winked, dragging out the prince. He turned and ran down the last stretch.
"Don't call
Prince!" Shokō cried as she chased after him, smiling in spite of herself. It was nice to have him back.
The maze ended in a small hallway similar to the one under the temple. The burning ridges in the walls lighted the path, revealing a four-ter-tall stone door at the end. Syèl and Shokō stopped in front of the door, which was really a slab of rock with concentric semicircular patterns on it.
Rather than push their luck, Syèl and Shokō wisely chose to wait for Syèl’s mana to fully recover. The halben also took the opportunity to take stock of his current stats.
Na
Syèl Rífa tora
Alignnt
Neutral
Level
64
Profession
Blood Mage
Title
Scholar
Fa
230
Infamy
Health
17293/17293
Mana
5000/17293
Ki
454
Vitality
142
30
Stamina
17
20
Wisdom
142
30
Intellect
142
30
Strength
41
20
Agility
73
20
Dexterity
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
18
20
Endurance
Phys END
10
Mag END
3
Charisma
10
20
Charm
14
20
Stealth
5
20
Instinct
25
20
Fighting Spirit
52
20
Leadership
10
20
Luck
34
20
Attack
Phys AT K
92
Defense
Phy s DEF
68
Mag ATK
1388
Mag DEF
64
Resistances
Poison Resistance
0%
Ice Resistance
0%
Electricity Resistance
0%
Light Resistance
0%
Fire Resistance
0 %
Dark Resistance
0%
Syèl examined his stat table with a satisfied nod. One of the benefits of having high stats at lower-levels was that a person could rapidly level up through fighting higher leveled enemies. However, the downside was the fact that his massive mana pool ant it could take over thirty minutes to refill. Luckily, the halben had acquired a ditation skill during one of his bounty missions, allowing him to speed up the process.
Ten minutes later, Syèl rose to his feet and nodded at Shokō, following which, they placed their hands on the door.
A system prompt ca up.
Alure's Crypt
Here lies Alure, goddess of death, and Ferulic's favorite child. Slain after trying to rescue her father from captivity, her spirit returned to the earth to regain her power once more for another battle. Unfortunately, she was captured and entrapped inside this tomb. Her spirit is guarded fiercely by a minion of The Destroyer. Only those of sound mind and strong heart may proceed.
Suggested Level: Lv 50
Do You Wish To Enter?
YES NO
"Well?" Syèl asked, looking at his partner, mocking in his eyes. "You up for it?"
"Hmph. Do not compare
to you. I am always prepared for combat,” Shokō challenged. “You sure you're not going to bawl out crying over your past?" It was a rude remark that should have annoyed anyone on the receiving end.
Syèl however, was not like anyone else. He covered his eyes with his right hand, bending back as he laughed heartily. He made a 'V' with his middle and ring finger, opening just enough space for her to see his left eye which glead brightly. "Oh.. I was born ready."
Syèl and Shokō shared a look then chorused, "Yes." Flas burned around Syèl’s palms while Shokō clutched her sword’s hilt as the door slowly but surely creaked open.
The smoke Kashi had seen ca from a small village which the marker on the road had revealed to be Ranad. From first impressions, it was a really run-down place. The houses looked like they were going to fall to the ground at any mont, and the villagers which strangely consisted of only n, themselves were dressed in dirty rags denoting their impoverished state.
'I can understand why no one wants to co here. These people are dirt poor.' Kashi thought to himself as he walked through the town looking at the impoverished villagers. Most of the villagers were bare skin on bones, and their lifeless eyes gave the impression they had not eaten for days.
This gave the daeben an idea.
Kashi walked to the town square - well, what he assud was the town square. It was literally a small slab of stone that ford a square with dead flowers in the middle. He took a seat on the slab and took out his pot. His cooking skills had entered the Interdiate Level which ant he could cook up so snazzy recipes.
On his way to the village, Kashi had assisted Kira in hunting for animals, and though it had proved a lot more challenging than hunting in the forest, they had been able to snag themselves a deer and a couple of dusk rabbits.
Kashi still had the condints and spices he had bought in Kerta, so after he had prepared the rest of the ingredients, he started cooking. Minutes later, an amorous aroma rose from the pot and branched out through the village, wafting into the noses of the villagers. It tickled and teased them, then like a snake charr, lured them towards its maestro.
‘That's right. Gather, gather.’ Kashi’s narrow gaze observed the incoming hungry n.
One of the villagers stepped forward, hesitation in his eyes. "E-excuse , good sir, could you spare
a bowl."
‘Jackpot!’ Kashi hid his excitent behind a thoughtful frown. "Ah, I would love to but I am afraid hunting in this land is very taxing..."
The villager panicked and imdiately offered, "T-Then perhaps I could give you so information on good hunting grounds?"
Kashi gave the man a bowl of soup then helped him to take a seat on the ground. "Ah, your kindness warms my heart. Here, sit and eat. A strapping man such as yourself should not lack a warm al."
The man took a small sip of the soup and cried out in delight. "Oh... Oh, sweet Aethir. How... how could sothing taste this good?!" Tears stread down his cheeks, and his face lit up with a bright smile as he downed the rest of the al in seconds.
The hesitant villagers who had been watching imdiately clamored for a bowl for themselves.
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