《Solar Mage》 Power Scaling Chapter -2: Power Scaling Swordsmen Ranking: Apprentice Intermediate Advanced Expert Knight Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Royal Imperial Swordmaster Grandmaster Mage Ranking: 1st Circle 2nd Circle 3rd Circle 4th Circle 5th Circle 6th Circle 7th Circle / Grand Wizard 8th Circle / Archmage 9th Circle / Great Sage 10th Circle / Transcendental Wizard Elemental Affinities: Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Lightning, Ice, Darkness, Light, Sand Elemental Combination Affinities: Fire + Light = Sun Ice + Darkness = Moon Water + Earth = Plant Black Magic: Necromancy, Demonic Summoning, Curse, Demonic Possession, Blood Holy Magic: Healing, Purification, Blessing, Divine Descent Other Magic: Time, Space (All subject to change, if anyone has any ideas for what I could add, let me know in the comments, or contact me on discord) Sage System Chapter -1: Sage System The Sage System was created by the Great Sage of Wind- Luke Wolkan, and made of an extremely durable unknown stone-like material, to warn and prepare a mage in the future for when the 10th circle Transcendental Wizard, Magnus Arcanus is unsealed. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The only person who can see and use the Sage System is the registered user. To be registered into the Sage System, you need to be holding the Sage System Orb and a part of a god. And there can only be one user registered at a time, meaning no other person can be registered if one is currently alive. The Sage System is not Omniscient meaning, it is not always a hundred percent accurate but is accurate nonetheless. Nor is it omnipotent, meaning it cannot influence the physical world. Example: You have high stats in strength because you are physically strong. Instead of, you are strong because you have high stats in strength. (If anyone is confused about any other things concerning the Sage System, let me know in the comments and I will clear up your misunderstandings) Chapter 1: End of a Dream Chapter 1: End of a Dream Arthur Ventrike stares out of his window across the plains of the vast Ventrike County. His figure, the complete opposite to the lively world outside. His reflection shows a skinny young man with pale skin, messy brown hair, and hollow black eyes shadowed by dark circles. It seems as if he had lost his will to live. As the maids pass by his room, their voices carry a hint of past bitterness. "Is the cripple still sitting there, doing nothing? I used to hear everyone say he was going to be the next Swordmaster. Guess all that talk was for nothing." Arthur pretends not to hear them, although their words cut deep. His dreams have been shattered, and he has been rendered a cripple. Any sudden movement causes him to cough up blood, so he forces himself to stay still and continue concentrating After a month of living with this new reality, he feels the weight of the world pressing down on him. *** As the sun rises, Arthur grits his teeth and prepares to face another day. He enjoys the warmth and comfort of his bed for a moment longer before a knock on the door ends it. "Young master, have you awoken? I''ve brought your attire for the day," "Yes, Sebastian, I''ll be right with you!" Arthur replies, scrambling out of bed. "Good morning, young master. Your breakfast is ready¡ªfried eggs, steamed fish, and roasted pork," Sebastian announces as Arthur finishes washing. "Thank you, Sebastian. Just leave it and my attire on the table, please." "Very well, young master." Arthur''s gaze lingers on the elaborate attire laid out for him. "Hold on, Sebastian. Why is my attire so... decorated today?" Sebastian looks surprised. "You''ll find out once you get to Wolkan, young master." After breakfast and dressing in his attire, Arthur grabs his sword and heads for Wolkan Royal Academy. Wolkan Academy, one of the most prestigious in the world, was founded 800 years ago by Luke Wolkan, a 9th-circle Great Sage and one of the only seven to ever reach that stage in history. Wizards are ranked from 1st circle to the fabled 10th circle Transcendental Wizard. There are three types of magic: Elemental Magic, Black Magic, and Holy Magic. In normal cases, a wizard only has affinity for one element but in rare cases, wizards can have an affinity for multiple. Swordsmen also have ranks from Apprentice to Grandmaster; Grandmasters are said to be as powerful as Great Sages. Arthur, a Knight-ranked Swordsman, has achieved the 5th stage in just 7 years that would normally take one 42 years to reach. Because of this, he is regarded as one of the most talented swordsmen in his generation and the most likely to reach the stage of Grandmaster, a feat that only three humans had ever accomplished . He uses his portal, a privilege granted by the headmaster as part of his scholarship, to instantly transport himself from his manor to the academy. As Arthur arrives, he notices the academy is adorned with decorations. Oh, that''s right! Today marks the 800th anniversary of the academy. No wonder why Sebastian made him wear these clothes. "Good morning, Arthur!!!" Arthur winces as Isabella Manavane spots him. He was hoping to avoid her. "Good morning, Isabella. You look well. Do you know what festivities are planned for today? I seem to have misplaced the schedule," Isabella, a talented 3rd circle-tri-elemental wizard with long blue hair and sky-blue eyes, smiles brightly. She''s the daughter of Marquis Yuler Manavane, a close friend of Arthur''s father. Despite her lineage, she loves to annoy me. "Of course, Arthur! I brought an extra schedule just for you!" she says, her enthusiasm tangible. "Thankfully, there are no classes today due to the anniversary. The first event is a hunt at 10:00 AM, where participants will compete to score the most points by hunting rare or dangerous animals." "Sounds boring," Arthur mutters. "The next event, at 12:00 PM, is a food contest where participants eat as much as they can in ten minutes. There will also be special dishes from other kingdoms to try." "That sounds interesting. I''m definitely trying some of that. I''ve always wanted to taste food from the Kingdom of Auroria." Isabella continues, oblivious to his impatience. "After that, there are no major events until 3:00 PM, when there''s a bracket-style tournament open to all years. I think it''s unfair to the younger students, but you should do well and might even win." "Ha," Arthur responds dryly. "Thanks for the encouragement. But I''m not going to waste my time if there isn''t a reward." As I begin walking away. "I heard the winner can choose anything they want from the Headmaster''s vault," Isabella says. Arthur stops in his tracks and turns around with a smirk. "That does sound tempting. You might just see me participating in it then." "I hope to see you there. I need to hurry to sign up for the hunting competition. It was nice talking to you. See you later!" She calls, quickly turning away from me, and running off to the registration booth. Arthur finally enjoys some peace and quiet. Most of the activities sound dull, but the tournament intrigues him. He has six hours until it starts¡ªplenty of time to train. Despite being as talented as he is, Arthur trains hard everyday no matter the weather or condition he''s in, in order to meet the expectations of his patrons. He heads to the training grounds and starts with stamina exercises, running laps until exhaustion. After an hour, he switches to strength training: 500 push-ups, 500 sit-ups, 500 pull-ups, and pushing a heavy boulder he finds. The sun is high in the sky. Is it already noon? Time has flown by. Arthur cools off by jumping into a nearby river, washing away the sweat. His stomach growls, so he runs to the food court. Unfortunately, the dishes from the Empire of Auroria are gone, but the other foreign cuisines are delicious. After finishing his meal, Arthur heads back to the tournament registration booth. As Arthur walks the booth the clerk, without even giving him a glance "Good afternoon. What''s your name and which event would you like to sign up for?" the clerk asks. Arthur stands in front of him with a polite smile. "My name is Arthur Ventrike, and I''d like to sign up for the tournament." The clerk paused, his gaze narrowing as he looked me up and down. "Arthur Ventrike? What''s a second-year like you doing signing up for the Academy-wide tournament meant for the 5th and 6th years? You must be out of your mind thinking you could beat your upperclassmen just because you''re a little talented." Arthur''s patience wears thin. How dare this clerk speak to him like this? He forces himself to stay calm. "Thank you for your concern. I''ll do my best." Surprised by his response, the clerk pauses. "Uhh... alright. Here''s your ticket. You''ll be fighting in the 2nd bracket." I snatch the ticket out of his hand and walk to the arena while staring at my ticket. The first round was between two four year students, an Expert Ranked Swordsman and a 4th circle wizard. It wasn''t that interesting and the swordsman barely managed to win. The second round is my turn and my opponent is a 5th year, 4th circle elemental flame mage named Edward Tane Edward was chatting with his clique while pointing at me and laughing. It was obvious what was going on in that head of his, many people who are envious of my talent don''t believe that it''s possible to reach the Knight Stage at the age of 15. Pathetic Idiots. As the fight was about to start, Edward''s clique left and when the announcer announced my name, the crowd cheered loudly for me but when the announcer said his name, there was significantly less cheering, causing him to turn red and stare intensely at me. "Three, two, one, BEGIN!" Edward begins chanting aloud in the mystic language. "IGNIS DUPLICI" "CIRCULUS IGNIS" Edward threw two exploding fireballs at me before summon a ring of fire around him as he began preparing for large scale spell This is going to be a piece of cake, there''s no need for me to use my Aura I swiftly dodged the fireballs. "Body Enhancement!" Temporarily increasing my Speed and Agility, I unsheathe my sword and dash toward him. Approaching the ring of fire I jump over it, his eyes locked onto mine with a face of disbelief. The crowd went wild Then it quieted down as due to the height of the ring of fire, no one could see what was happening inside. Then just a second later, the fire dispersed and revealed Edward with his hands up and me holding a sword to his neck. Then the crowd cheered once more. I let him go and sheathed my sword walking away as he was on his knees staring intensely at the ground Probably in disbelief wondering how he lost to a 2nd year but that isn''t my problem. As the tournament continued, I won and won again. Reaching the finals I knew that it wouldn''t be as easy as the previous matches since my opponent would be Adam Norwind, the 2nd prince of Norwind Kingdom, a 5th year and 5th circle, dual elemental darkness and ice mage. But that thought finished just as it started; Adam forfeit the match. I hurriedly looked around the arena for him but to no avail. Why did he forfeit the match? Leaving the arena, I had a bitter taste in my mouth, having an unsatisfying victory. But then Dean Trebin approached me with his normal gloomy face. "Good day Arthur Ventrike, and congratulations on your victory in the tournament. Please come with me to the headmaster''s office to discuss your prize." I follow him in silence, neither of us exchanging words the entire way. When I arrive at the headmaster''s office, I marvel at her collection of books before snapping back to reality to greet her. "Greetings Headmaster Sky Darkfallen, it is an honor to meet you." "Oh please, I should be the one saying that to you, and this flattery of yours will not get you an extra reward." "Tch" She slowly got up from her chair, reaching into her robes and pulling out the Headmaster''s Insignia, which was made by Luke Wolkan hundreds of years prior. She walks to one of the bookshelves and holds the insignia up to it. For a moment, nothing happens but then the bookshelf sinks into the floor and a secret portal is revealed. "Now follow me child, and don''t stray off." After entering the portal, I found myself in a pitch black space until the room was suddenly illuminated. "Ignis" Headmaster Sky chants as she summons a small but bright fireball in her hand. S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. With the room now illuminated I could see its contents. The room was made entirely out of stone bricks and there were about 20 giant stone statues that I inferred to be golems that would act as guards to repel any intruders. As we go further into this dungeon of sorts, heeding her words, I make sure to step only where the headmaster has stepped to not activate any traps and as we approach the end of the hallway I see a room filled with bright light that I assumed to be light reflected off of the gold in the vault. Curious and enchanted by the light, I begin to slowly drift away from the headmaster and approach the entrance of the room. Then, Headmaster Darkfallen grabs me by the collar and pulls me back; right before two giant stone statues, bigger than the ones in the previous room, began moving and using their swords to block me. Looking back on it now, that might have killed me if Headmaster Darkfallen had not pulled me back and saved me. Headmaster Darkfallen puts an insignia onto the pedestal, and then she presses the stones in the correct combination order. Five, Four, One, Six, Three, Two. Immediately, the room starts shaking with the stone statues pulling back their swords and reverting back to their original position. "You have ten minutes, you can choose anything you want in there, but you can only take one so choose wisely." I started sprinting at full speed using Speed Enhancement to get there as fast as possible. There''s no time to waste, this is the greatest opportunity of my life! As I got closer to the room I was filled with even greater excitement. The room was huge and filled with gold from one side to the other. Aside from that, there were tens of podiums, each holding up legendary items of extreme power that any swordsman or mage would dream to have. There were even relics from the Mythical Era used by Great Sages and Grandmasters. But there''s no time to lose, as I only have 9 minutes left. As I looked around, deciding what I should pick, they were all great options but some that really stood out were: The Holy Sword - A longsword blessed by the Goddess and used by the first Grandmaster during the First Holy War against the Demons. Meteor Staff - A magic staff used by the Great Sage of Fire, created from a branch of the world tree and the core of a fire dragon. Eye of The Storm - An amulet used by the Great Sage of Lightning, said to be created from the eye of the God of Lightning. Dragon-Slaying Sword - A Great-sword made from the bones of dragons. And lastly, one that stood out for the wrong reasons, a sphere made from a material that looked like stone with a weird design but otherwise looked extremely fragile, as if it would break apart if I accidentally dropped it. But for some reason, I was weirdly attracted to it so I decided to trust my instincts. God-I hope I don''t regret this. As I walked out of the room my time was up. I exited the Treasure room with just a second to spare. Headmaster Darkfallen looked at me with curiosity and excitement. "Well, which item did you choose?" "Oh, I just picked up this random sphere because it looked cool." I tried saying in a relaxed way, but my voice filled with visible regret. I look up and see the headmaster''s face of dissatisfaction probably thinking to herself "Why did this boy choose that ball of all things?" Looking away and coughing she says, "You know if anyone other than yourself had won I would not have given them this opportunity and would definitely not have given them a second chance to choose something. But I''m giving you another opportunity, go in there and choose something else! Something that satisfies me." "Yes, ma''am!" After all the events going on today it became extremely late. As a result of this, no one operated the portal between the academy and Ventrike County, so the Headmaster offered to let me stay at one of the student dorms; which I accepted. When I got to my dorm room, there was a glass of water. Must''ve been placed there by the housekeepers, I might as well drink it. I was feeling a bit parched anyway. After I finished the drink, I placed the weird sphere on the table, and fell on the bed. I felt a bit different than usual, but I figured it was probably because of the energy I spent in the Treasure Room, staring at the Eye of the Storm Amulet around my neck. As I began to doze off, I believed that I would soon fall asleep but I couldn''t. The more time passed, the more my heart began to hurt. When I tried to move, the pain kept getting worse. I couldn''t believe it, I was dying right before my own eyes. I couldn''t let that happen. Gathering my strength, I used Resilient Body Enhancement to help my body withstand the pain, then I got up and immediately headed for the door as fast as possible, the feeling of my muscles tearing with every step, and crashed through the door, into the hallway. Hoping that someone would hear me, I screamed as loud as possible and fell unconscious shortly afterwards as Resilient Body wore off and I came face to face with the totality of the pain. When I awoke, it was painful to move so I just waited for someone to come in. Eventually, the physician did come in and briefed me on the whole situation. It had been three days since the incident. It seemed that apparently the glass of water I drank contained the remnants of an extremely rare and poisonous unknown plant. In normal cases those who experienced these symptoms and weren''t a Swordmaster you would instantly die. But according to the physician''s words, I was lucky and managed to survive. I was told that many of my bones and muscles were torn or broken and that I may never be able to recover from this, let alone continue my life as a swordsman. They did manage to find the perpetrator of the crime. He told me it was Edward Tane, the 5th year student I fought during my first battle in the tournament. And my father, Count Loran Ventrike was a part of the investigation, and after finding out who the perpetrator was, he killed him on the spot and the royal court is deciding his punishment right now. Chapter 2: The Sage System Chapter 2: The Sage System I continue staring out the window, contemplating life, still in disbelief of my condition. When suddenly the stone orb I took from the treasure room appears in front of me hovering in the air, with it''s design now radiating in blue light. "REQUIREMENTS MET" What in the name of Pyro? "USER REGISTERED" Then, the orb projects a gold colored screen. I try touching it, but my hand goes through it. What is this intangible, paper thin screen in front of me? I''ve never heard of this type of magic. Lets read what it says. *** STATUS WINDOW Name: Arthur Ventrike Strength: 200 (-195) Agility: 220 (-210) Stamina: 400 (-395) Mana: 20000 Intelligence: 130 Active Skills: Mana Blade (Mastery: Max) Enhance Body (Mastery: Level 5) Aura Blade (Mastery: Level 1) Passive Skills: Ventrike Swordsmanship Technique (Mastery: Max) Ventrike Footwork Technique (Mastery: Max) Bladesong Swordsmanship Technique (Mastery: 6) Bladesong Footwork Technique (Mastery: 7) Heavenly Martial Physique Status Abnormalities: Poisoned (Nighthorn Ivy) Overall Combat Rating: F Accuracy: 100.00% *** Nighthorn Ivy? I''ve never heard of that plant before. "You have not seen the guide for using the Sage System, would you like to see the guide?" I confirm and the status window disappears, now projecting a recording of a mysterious figure wearing dark green robes. "Greetings, I hope whoever finds this does not use this for evil. My name is Luke Wolkan, otherwise known as the Great Sage of Wind. This is a recorded message so I will not be able to answer any questions that you may have. You may be wondering why the Sage System chose you, but the Sage System was programmed to register whoever had the Sage System, and another one of the artifacts I discovered." S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Now, moving onto something more important, that being why I created the Sage System. Let me explain, during the Mythical, the gods lived side by side with humans and all other races on the continent of Aegela, causing the air to be rich in mana and allowing humans to thrive and live long lives. Therefore, many mages and swordsmen to reach high stages with there being even being five Great sages like me, and even a 10th circle Transcendental Wizard being born in that era, all alive at the same time." "But then the 10th circle Transcendental Wizard, Magnus Arcanus, changed one day. The Great Sages of the time thought nothing of it and instead continued their training, hoping to one day reach the realm of 10th circle as well and they probably would have... But one day he decided to kill a god and the world was in uproar, but the Great Sages were too afraid to face him so they stayed still, thinking that he would end there. But they were wrong, Arcanus went on a rampage, killing god after god until there was only one young god left." "Realizing that Arcanus had gone mad, the Great Sages took the body parts of the gods Magnus had slain and they made powerful magical items of unrivaled power. Then all the great sages formed an alliance and also recruited Seraphis Dawnbringer, the Hero of the first Holy War, now 300 years old. Once they gathered, they ambushed Arcanus, Seraphis being the only one keeping Arcanus at bay while the rest prepared a 10th class sealing magic, offering the entirety of their lifespans and mana to seal Arcanus for the rest of time." "But the spell was only partially successful. Arcanus, noticing something was wrong he looked away from Seraphis, to the Great Sages. Realizing they were trying to seal him, he stopped playing with Seraphis and erased his right arm to quickly get out of the sealing circle. As he tried to teleport, Seraphis grabbed Arcanus''s leg with his left arm, holding him in place. Realizing he couldn''t escape his grip, he sent out five beams space tearing beams at the five sages, but only the Great Sage of Earth was hit before the seal was completed. However because one of the sages died before it''s completion, it was an incomplete seal that would not last forever. Despite there was nothing that could be done to fix it, as the rest of the sages offered the rest of their lifespan and died on the spot." "I created the sage system so that a mage in the future could protect the world when Magnus Arcanus is eventually unsealed. He was not unsealed in my time and I am unsure as to when he will be unsealed, but there is always a possibility that he will be unsealed in your lifetime, so you should be prepared and get as strong as possible." I couldn''t believe that''s what had happened, it had been a mystery that no one had managed to figure out. I always wondered how the Mythical Age ended and where the Great Sages and the Transcendental Wizard disappeared off to, never to be seen again. "Moving on, the Strength stat represents the maximum amount of power that one can utilize without using mana. A swordsman''s attack power is dependent on this. The physically stronger you are, the higher the strength stat" "The Agility stat represents the Max speed one can go, as well as the speed of acceleration and deceleration without utilizing mana. The faster you are, the higher the agility stat." "The Stamina stat represents the maximum amount of energy one has, as well as the ability to continue performing even in fatigue. The longer you can endure, the higher your stamina stat and the faster your stamina regeneration is. All in all, this affects how long you can run." "The Mana stat represents the maximum amount of mana you have. For mages, it is used to cast spells and if a mage doesn''t have any mana left, they will not be able to cast any spells and will experience a backlash. For swordsmen, mana is used to enhance and maintain their weapons and/or their bodies with a coating of mana or aura. The higher your mana capacity, the higher your mana stat." "And lastly, the Intelligence stat factors in many things, your ability to learn, Level of understanding, mental strength, thinking speed, and level of perception. For mages, this stat affects spell casting speed and for swordsmen, this affects the speed at which they can react." "Thank you for listening to my guide, and if Magnus Arcanus is unsealed in your life, I hope you will be able to successfully repel him." Sounds about right, my physical capabilities affect the stats shown on the status board, and not the other way around. Even though I know this, what could I possibly do if Magnus Arcanus is unsealed? I''m still just a crippled- "STATUS ABNORMALITY DETECTED" "WOULD YOU LIKE TO REMOVE STATUS ABNORMALITY: POISON?" Chapter 3: Antidote Chapter 3: Antidote *** "STATUS ABNORMALITY DETECTED" "WOULD YOU LIKE TO REMOVE STATUS ABNORMALITY: POISON?" *** Smiling enthusiastically, momentarily forgetting about my condition, I shout: "You can do that?!" before coughing blood. Wiping the blood off my mouth, I press the confirm button and the screen disappears. Did it work? I don''t feel any different from before A new screen pops up. *** STATUS ABNORMALITY: POISON CAUSE: NIGHTHORN IVY ANTIDOTE INGREDIENTS: TWO LUNARFROST BLOOMS ONE ASHVEIL FERN ONE WINDSHADE ROOT *** Ah, so it couldn''t cure me. I should''ve known better... It wouldn''t make sense for this small orb to be able to affect the laws of the world anyway. Let''s just read the rest of it. *** DIRECTIONS: GRIND UP TWO DRIED LUNARFROST BLOOMS, THEN GRIND ONE WINDSHADE ROOT AND MIX THEM TOGETHER. THEN WRAP THE MIXTURE IN ASHVEIL FERN AND INGEST. *** Will this really work? If my memory serves me right, all three of these ingredients are very common but each are poisonous. There''s no time to think, trusting the Sage System is the only way to get out of this state of mine, whether it be curing me, or giving me a quicker death. I slowly raise my arm and ring the bell the physician gave me. Creak "Are you okay Arthur? What did you call me here for-" His face turned pale as he saw my shirt. "Did you start coughing blood again? Let me get you your medicine!" As he started to run out the door. "Wait, no that''s not the issue, I''m fine now but I do have a favor to ask of you." Calming down but still worrying about my health, he quickly walked back and sat down in front of me. "Oh, sure, what do you need?" Trying to put on my most healthy look and smiling I say: "I think I know which plant was used to poison me." His face immediately brightened up but quickly turned into a frown. "Really, which plant caused it!?! Wait, how would you even know which plant was used in the poison? Stumbling for an answer, I nervously improvise. "Oh, I read a book about poisonous plants when I was younger and just happened to recall the symptoms that the plant caused." After hearing my reply, he stared at me intently; trying to figure out if I was telling the truth. "Alright, I''ll trust you. Now tell me which plant it is?" "It''s extremely rare so you might not have heard of it before. It''s called the Nighthorn Ivy." "You''re right, I''ve never heard of that plant before so I will not be able to make a cure for it." He started getting up and slowly began walking towards the door. "Nonetheless, I will search for this Nighthorn Ivy that you speak of in my books when I''m done with my duties for the day. Unless, that is, you''ve also found how to make an antidote from that book that you read." He said, as he turned his head and looked back at me. "You''re right, the book also stated how to make the antidote for the poison. The ingredients for the antidote are two Lunarfrost Blooms, one Ashveil Fern, and one Windshade root." "Those are all very common and poisonous herbs, are you sure they are the ingredients for the antidote?" "I am quite confident in my memory. And if you manage to gather these herbs for me, I promise to reward you with a large sum of gold and don''t worry, if the antidote doesn''t work and I die, I will make sure to write a letter so that you will not be in trouble. So what do you say?" "All right, I''ll help you but I hope you aren''t asking for these ingredients to intentionally kill yourself and escape from the situation you''re in. I''ll put in a commission to the Adventurer''s Guild to collect the ingredients, because of how common and pointless those herbs are, no merchant sells them. Though, it will take at least a day for it to arrive so you should just continue resting." Then, William walks out and closes the door. Ah, I should have asked him to help move me to my bed... Two Days Later. I was resting my eyes, enjoying the warmth of the sun as it gently hits my face when a shout from the hallway interrupts me. "Arthur!!! I have the ingredients!" I tightly clutch my hand. What is he doing revealing my plans to everyone? I am definitely going to hit him after I recover. Then William barges through the door. "Arthur, the ingredients for the antidote have arrived. Considering your condition, I don''t think you will be able to create the antidote yourself, so tell me the steps to making it." "Wait first off, can you see this?" I say, as I point to the Sage System. He responds in a relaxed manner, "The weird flying stone ball of yours? Yeah, I can see it." So he can''t see the screen... "Is that it? Was I supposed to see something else?" "No, let''s move on. Step one, finely grind up two of the Lunarfrost Blooms in one bowl. Step two, in another bowl finely grind up the Windshade Root. Then, mix the two bowls together and finally pour the mixture into the Ashveil Fern, wrapping it up well and feeding it to me." William quickly executes the steps without making any mistakes. "All finished, now open wide. Small note though, I heard Ashveil Ferns taste incredibly bad, but please bear with it Arthur; I believe in you." "Wait wha- HRK" How can something be this disgusting? Wait- I''m losing consciousness... When I open my eyes, I see William asleep on a chair next to my bed when I suddenly remember that he forced the Ashveil Fern down my throat and instinctively chopped him on the head. "snoooore snoor- OW, WHAT THE HELL WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR!?! "SHUT UP YOU JERK, YOU''RE THE ONE WHO FORCED THAT DOWN MY THROAT!" Then we both realized that I was able to move perfectly fine. The antidote really worked, I''m cured! Wait, Status Window! *** STATUS WINDOW Name: Arthur Ventrike Strength: 200 (-100) Agility: 220 (-100) Stamina: 400 (-100) Mana: 20000 Intelligence: 135 Active Skills: Mana Blade (Mastery: Max) Enhance Body (Mastery: Level 5) Aura Blade (Mastery: Level 1) S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Passive Skills: Ventrike Swordsmanship Technique (Mastery: Max) Ventrike Footwork Technique (Mastery: Max) Bladesong Swordsmanship Technique (Mastery: 6) Bladesong Footwork Technique (Mastery: 7) Heavenly Martial Physique Status Abnormalities: N/A Overall Combat Rating: B Accuracy: 99.99% *** Wait, why are some of my stats still decreased? "ANSWER: THE ANTIDOTE ONLY KILLED THE POISON AND PAVED THE WAY FOR YOU TO RECOVER. BODY PARTS AFFECTED BY THE POISON WILL SLOWLY HEAL OVER TIME, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO FULLY RECOVER AND REGAIN YOUR STATS." I see, so even though I''ve recovered, I still won''t be able to continue my path as a swordsman until I fully recover, which will take at least a year. Oh well, I am thankful that it managed to do this much for me. What should I do for the next year? "TALENT ANALYSIS COMPLETED" "WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE TALENT ANALYSIS?" Chapter 4: A New Dream Chapter 4: A New Dream *** "TALENT ANALYSIS COMPLETED" "WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE TALENT ANALYSIS?" *** I gulp as I prepare for the results, to see if I really did have the talent to meet the expectations of the headmaster and click confirm. *** TALENT ANALYSIS: Swordsmanship: Swordmaster *** Seeing the results of my Swordsmanship talent, I begin smiling brightly not paying attention to anything else in the room. Then, William''s head goes through the Sage System like a ghost, and startles me. "Why do you keep pointing at your stone orb, and why are you looking so intensely at it? Is it really that interesting? You''re smiling more now than " Now poking my head, "It is that interesting, and only those with mana can see it, which is why you can''t." I say with a straight face, as I push his head away from me. "Now leave me, I''m tired and I want to rest. I will pay you tomorrow." "Much obliged young master, please have a good rest." He says with a smirk on his face, as he happily skips outside the door. What a money-driven man. Wait, wasn''t there more to the talent analysis page? TALENT ANALYSIS *** TALENT ANALYSIS: Swordsmanship: Swordmaster+ Magic: Great Sage+ *** As I looked under the Swordsmanship analysis I slowly read the magic section, in such disbelief that I couldn''t understand. Magic: Great Sage+ ? Magic: Great Sage ??? Magic: Gre-at Sa-ge Immediately after realizing, I fell off my bed in joy, probably the happiest I''ve been in my life. Ever since I was six, my dream had always been to become a mage. I was enchanted by the beautiful bright display of the elements and their destructive capabilities and constantly begged my father to hire a tutor for me. *** When I was eight, he eventually caved in and brought me a 6th circle mage as a tutor. I remember that day very vividly, it was a cloudy day and we were in the gazebo. He first checked my body to make sure that I had mana and then pulled out four stone tablets and explained that if I had an affinity to an element, the stone would react. Then I interacted with the stones, holding all of them at the same time, the tutor''s face getting dimmer by each passing second. Later that day, I overheard him speaking with my father; "Count, it is impossible for him to become a mage, the boy is Attributeless and therefore cannot produce any spells with substance. At best, he could only be a priest for the church!" After hearing that, I was greatly disheartened and ran away with tears flowing down my face. Then, it strangely started raining, so I hid under a tree and continued sobbing. After I calmed down and wiped the tears off my face, a giant old man who introduced himself as an acquaintance of my father''s and asked me if I wanted to become a swordsman and be his disciple I accepted his offer, which began my journey as a swordsman. Later I learned his name was Thorne Bladesong and that he was a swordsman at the Grandmaster rank, one of the only four to ever exist. *** After I recovered from the shock and got up, I reopened the affinity analysis to see if there was anything else. *** ELEMENTAL AFFINITY: Sun (Fire + Light) ??? Accuracy: 100.00% *** My jaw dropped. I have never heard of this elemental affinity, but this explains why my tutor thought I was attributeless. I have heard that it is possible to combine some specific elements together to create a new element, but it is a tiresome and arduous process, so no one would expect an eight year old to have one. Actually, I have been wondering why my mana stat was so high and why my mana blade never dissipated no matter how long I kept it on. Sage System, what''s the normal amount of mana that a 5th circle mage has "ANSWER: The average amount of mana that a 5th circle mage has is normally around 5000 mana." This is extremely abnormal, even if I have great talent, it should be impossible for me, who has never trained my manaheart to have this much mana. Let me check my status window- "NOTICE: Your talent for magic is higher than your talent for the sword. Would you like to change your class?" It was a tough decision to make, on one hand I want to continue my family''s legacy of swordsmanship that I''ve spent the latter half of my life on, but on the other hand, I have a higher talent for magic which will be necessary to repel Arcanus. After much deliberation, I decided. "STATUS WINDOW" *** STATUS WINDOW Name: Arthur Ventrike Class: Mage Rank: 1st Circle Strength: 200 (-100) Agility: 220 (-100) Stamina: 400 (-100) Mana: 20000 Intelligence: 135 Active Skills: Mana Blade (Mastery: Max) Enhance Body (Mastery: Level 5) Aura Blade (Mastery: Level 1) 1st Circle Solar Imaginary Technique Passive Skills: Ventrike Swordsmanship Technique (Mastery: Max) Ventrike Footwork Technique (Mastery: Max) Bladesong Swordsmanship Technique (Mastery: 6) Bladesong Footwork Technique (Mastery: 7) Heavenly Martial Physique Solar Mana Gathering Technique (Mastery: 1) Status Abnormalities: None Overall Combat Rating: B Accuracy: 100.00% *** I see, so that''s why I have so much more mana than mages, normally mages only train their manaheart one hour every day. In normal cases not because they are lazy, but because of how mentally exhausting it is to train it. I on the other hand gather mana just by being in the sun and I''ve been training under the sun for no less than 6 hours every day for the past seven years. Well, until the accident that is. What a day, I have big plans for tomorrow so it should be fine to rest now. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The Sage System screen disappears, with the stone falling beside me as I close my eyes and start drifting away. CRASH! I immediately open my eyes and get up. What''s... the door on the other side of the room? afterwards, a huge figure emerged from the door and slowly began walking to my bed. Then, I unknowingly summon a fireball. "Oho, so you learned some magic, that''s a unique looking fireball you got there." As the figure got closer, and his face was lit by the fireball, all my anxiety washed away. "So, how have you been? I''m sorry for coming this late, my disciple, I was caught up in some work." Chapter 5: The Grandmaster Chapter 5: The Grandmaster "Master!" My face, lighting up with a genuine smile as I quickly extinguish the fireball and run up to him to give him a hug. "Woah, be careful Arthur. I heard you were poisoned so I brought some elixirs for you." He then paused and took a careful look at me. "Though, you look much better than what the rumors suggest." Pausing again before he tries to gently pat my shoulder, as gently as he can but still dislocated my shoulder, and exclaims. "HAHAHA, AS EXPECTED OF MY DISCIPLE!" Master Bladesong is great at speaking due to his intimidating appearance, but has never been good at making small talk, so most of our conversations go like this, with him frequently pausing before replying. After he stopped with his barrage of deadly pats that could easily kill a normal man, I relocated my shoulder. "So, why did you decide to visit me this late at night? You could''ve just visited me in the morning when I was awake." I reply with a nod when he asks. "Do you want to know the real reason?" "Well, I was planning on stuffing all these elixirs down your throat while you were asleep so you wouldn''t be able to reject them due to their taste." "They were really expensive so they can''t be wasted just because the taste of it is not to your liking." My jaw drops in terror as he lectures me and describes what terrible things he would have done to me with a straight face and his eyes closed. When he opens his eyes and sees my face, he hits me on the head. "Close your mouth when I''m talking!" "OW!" "You said you were going to feed me those elixirs when I was asleep so I couldn''t resist, but you broke down the door when you came in. How would anyone be able to stay asleep when something that loud happened right in front of them?" He hits me again on the head. "Brat, you really can''t stop yourself from saying everything on your mind huh?" "You do have a point" S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He quietly mutters to himself. I gently pat my head to soothe the pain. "But now that I''m awake, you''re not going to stuff those elixirs in my mouth anymore right?" My face returns to horror as I hear his response. "Huh? Who said anything about that? Even though you''ve recovered a little bit and my first plan to get these into your body has failed, I''m not going to just waste these elixirs." He says with a straight face, as he pulls out three elixirs from his pouch and slowly starts approaching me as I back away from him to my bed. "Please wait- just a second, please- let me examine the elixirs first-" "Don''t worry, this will all be over soon." Before he keeps my mouth open with one hand and shoves the elixirs down my throat with the other. "UWAGHHH!" "BE QUIET!" Was the last thing I heard before he hit me one last time on the head and fell unconscious. "Chirp, chirp, chirp..." Ugh, why does my head hurt so much? I remember now, that despicable master of mine hit me on the head three time and didn''t he shove those three elixirs down my throat- As I recall the taste, I feel my gastric juices rise up my throat to my mouth. "Hrrk... mmmph" I quickly rush out of my bed and dash for my bathroom, all are powered by water magic runes, to and throw up in the toilet. "Blerrghhhh... Hrp-Blech" After wiping the vomit off of my mouth I check the sage system. *** STATUS WINDOW Name: Arthur Ventrike Class: Mage Rank: 1st Circle Strength: 250 (-0) Agility: 300 (-0) Stamina: 400 (-0) Mana: 21000 Intelligence: 150 Active Skills: Mana Blade (Mastery: Max) Enhance Body (Mastery: Level 5) Aura Blade (Mastery: Level 1) 1st Circle Solar Imaginary Technique Heightened Senses (Mastery: Level 1) Swift Wind (Mastery: Level 1) Iron Body (Mastery: Level 1) Passive Skills: Ventrike Swordsmanship Technique (Mastery: Max) Ventrike Footwork Technique (Mastery: Max) Bladesong Swordsmanship Technique (Mastery: 6) Bladesong Footwork Technique (Mastery: 7) Heavenly Martial Physique Solar Mana Gathering Technique (Mastery: 1) Status Abnormalities: None Overall Combat Rating: B Accuracy: 100.00% *** Seems the elixirs fully recovered me and increased some of my stats, even intelligence. "Sage System, do you perhaps know what elixirs that master fed me last night? "ANSWER: YES" "The first elixir you ingested is called Essence of Tranquility and it increases your focus. (intelligence stat) This elixir has extreme healing capabilities when ingested, mainly focusing on the brain. This elixir grants the one who ingests it Heightened Senses and thought acceleration. The main ingredients used to create this elixir are Mindspire Pod and Bangeltin. The level at which the consumer gains from this elixir is solely dependent on the ability of the consumer." Ah, so this elixir is the reason why my thoughts have been so much clearer and why everything has been moving much slower. Is there a way to turn this off and only activate it when it''s necessary? "Would you like to disable it and have it automatically turn on in the face of danger?" "Yes." "Confirmation identified, changing settings." "The second elixir you ingested is called Swiftwind Capsule and it increases your agility. This elixir has extreme healing capabilities when ingested, mainly focusing on the joints and the muscles. This elixir grants the one who ingests its enhanced speed and Swift Wind which conceal all noise from your steps, effectively masking your presence. The main ingredients used to create this elixir are Zephyrpetal and Wispwood. The amount at which the consumer gains from this elixir is solely dependent on the ability of the consumer." "The third elixir you ingested is called Titanbark and it increases your strength and durability (strength stat) This elixir has extreme healing capabilities when ingested, mainly focusing on the muscles and bones. This elixir grants the one who ingests it enhanced strength and Iron Body. The main ingredient used to create this elixir is Titanbark. The amount at which the consumer gains from this elixir is solely dependent on the ability of the consumer." After heating the descriptions, I ponder hard. The abilities granted by these elixirs give me immense power, but if the effects given by these elixirs were this strong, then no matter how rare the ingredients were to procure, every noble would have their hands on it. The reason why I gained these abilities and got so much stronger must be thanks to my Heavenly Martial Physique! "Knock, knock, knock" "Arthur, I''m here to check your condition for the day, and I have a letter from your father!" Chapter 6: The Letter Chapter 6: The Letter *** "Arthur, I''m here to check up on your condition for the day, and I have a letter from your father!" *** "Is that you William? Come in!" "Creaaaak" Wait, how was the door fixed? As William walks through the door, he doesn''t make eye contact with me in the beginning as he reads his checklist, acting like a real physician for once. "So, how are you feeling, any other weird symptoms-" He says as he looks up from his checklist and sees my face and clothes covered in vomit and his facial expression turns to panic. "Ack! I knew that the concoction you made didn''t work, this is all my fault I should have known better than to let you eat poison! Quick, hop on my back I''m taking you to the head physician! I won''t let you die today!" This despicable, sorry excuse for a physician actually care about me, maybe I''ve been too hard on him- "At least not until you pay me for my services, getting you those ingredients yesterday. Quickly get on my back!" At the same time that he gets into position to carry me. Nevermind, I take back what I said he''s just as money crazed as ever. "I''m fine, don''t worry about it." "What do you mean you''re fine?!?! You have vomit all over your clothes-" He pauses and looks at the rest of my body, looking me up and down. And gives me a look of disbelief "Wait, how did your body change so much? Your skin is completely back to normal, your eye bags are gone, and your muscles, they are the same..." Then he gets closer to my bed and starts examining my arm, feels my muscles and my bones. "I don''t believe it, the antidote you created only got rid of the poison, but didn''t have any healing properties. It should''ve taken at least a year to see signs of recovery but... your muscles and bones are even stronger and tougher than before! Did you eat a fruit from the World Tree or something? I''ve never seen a recovery as quick as this, this is unheard of!" I stayed silent for a moment while William began to stagger. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "W-wait did you really eat a fruit from the World Tree?" I pause for a little longer and burst out laughing. "Haha, you should''ve seen the look on your face! I didn''t eat that but I did eat some elixirs that my master bought me last night." Then as if he''s uninterested in the conversation as I bring up my master, he makes small talk with me as he checks out the boxes on his checklist. "Oh? Who''s your master?" "Thorne Bladesong" "Oh, Thorne? Sounds strong, I think I''ve heard of him before, you got a good master-" The moment of realization: "WAIT WHAT?!?! THORNE BLADESONG, THE GUARDIAN OF THE IRON GATE AND ONE OF THE ONLY FOUR GRANDMASTERS TO EVER EXIST, IS YOUR MASTER?!?!?!" I give him a look of discomfort and nod as he composes himself. "Ahem, I apologize for showing you this unsightly side of myself." You''ve already shown me your unsightly sides with your greedy mindset. The he begins to hand me letters, with my face showing more alarm with each letter he hands me "Here''s the letter from your father." He hands me a black envelope with the royal lion seal on it. "Here is the letter from your fiance, Isabella." He hands me a white envelope with the Manavane phoenix seal on it. "W-what? She''s not my fiance!" We look each other in the eyes in silence. "Moving on, here are the letters from the imperial court." He pulls out a stack of letters wrapped in string and drops it on the floor. "And finally, here are the letters from the Church of Pyro." He says while he pulls out another huge stack of letters and drops it on the floor. "I''m not reading all this, how is there so much mail sent to me at the same time? "That''s all the mail you built up in the past month." "Well, why didn''t you give it to me then, and not all of it now?" He paused and gave me a look of, does he really not know why? "... Because you were in a depressed state for the last month and wouldn''t talk to anyone." "Ah, that''s right. Thank you for bringing this to me, I''ll just get to reading these then..." "Yeah, good luck with that" He says as he chuckles and starts leaving before he stops at the door. "There''s one more thing we haven''t discussed" Then he makes a OK symbol with his hands and looks back at me "When are you going to pay up?" I stare at him intensely with a stack of letters in my hands and a face full of anger. "Can''t you see I''m busy right now?!?!?! Get the hell out!!!" He then runs out with the door slamming behind him. Finally he''s done annoying me, let''s read the letter that father sent me first. Hopefully it wasn''t sent to me too long ago. Dear Arthur, I hope you''re starting to feel a little better. I am regretful that I couldn''t protect you, and it''s even harder not being there to help you through this. Right now, I''m caught up in a trial at the Imperial Court. The Empire is just as outraged as I am that someone would poison and cripple you¡ªthe most gifted swordsman in the kingdom. They''ve been supportive of my actions. But the Church of Pyro sees things differently. Even though they admit it''s tragic what happened to you, they''ve condemned me for seeking justice and killing the one responsible. It''s no secret that the person I dealt with was one of their major sponsors, and it seems that their stance has more to do with protecting their own interests than upholding any sense of justice. I don''t know how this trial will end, but please stay safe. You''re always on my mind. With love, Father As Arthur finishes reading the letter, his hand tightens around the paper, crumpling the edges. A wave of emotions washes over him¡ªanger, frustration, and a deep sense of helplessness. He feels a surge of resentfulness toward the Church of Pyro, his thoughts racing as he processes the injustice of it all. How dare they! The Church of Pyro, I swear if my father is harmed in any way, I will decimate all of you! But to do that, I must quickly get stronger. "Sage System, is it possible for you to quickly scan the rest of the letters and tell me only the most important parts?" "ANSWER: YES" "TIME NEEDED: ONE HOUR" Time to advance to the second circle. Chapter 7: 2nd Circle Chapter 7: 2nd Circle I know I decided to get stronger, but how exactly do I do that? I would ask the sage system but it is scanning the mountain of letters right now so I can''t use it. For swordsmen, it''s an extensive but relatively simple way to advance to the next stage. All we had to do was practice our swordsmanship and train our body. I continue to sit in silence as I try to remember but to no avail. "Hmm..." Then I suddenly recall something the Headmaster said during one of her school wide annual mandatory lectures. "And remember, there is no best way to gather mana and form a circle, it is different for all elements. But the one thing that all different elemental mana formations have in common is to sit in whichever sitting position that is most comfortable for you and to clear your mind as you embrace your element." Is what I think she said, let''s try it. First is to sit where you have the greatest connection with your element. I look over to my window. Well... that''s going to be dangerous. Second is to find my most comfortable sitting position. I tried out multiple sitting positions. I first tried just sitting normally but it didn''t feel right. I secondly tried laying down but I almost fell asleep doing that and couldn''t keep concentration. Then I tried crossing my legs which was better but still didn''t feel right. Finally, after trying many other positions I tried crossing my legs but upwards. It was painful to get to the position but once I successfully completed the position, it felt the most right and comfortable so I decided on this sitting position. After deciding the sitting position, I walk over to the window and examine the length and width of the window base. It should, just barely, be wide enough for me to sit and not fall from it. I carefully get up onto the window and get into Lotus Position. Then I make the mistake of taking a quick glance at the sun before it burns my eyes and quickly shut them afterwards as I turn away. I keep my eyes closed as I turn my face back to the sun and try to clear my mind. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. How do I even clear my mind? It''s impossible for me to stop thinking unless I''m asleep. My struggle to clear my mind is visibly shown from my face for a moment. Wait, that''s it! I just need to calm myself down like when I sleep and focus on other things. My breathing slows down as I begin to calm myself and my mana circulation inside my body begins to increase as I have my final thought. Ah, the sun is warm today. My concentration breaks and my eyes open as a second circle forms and begins circling my Manaheart. When my eyes open and I look up, I fall out of the window into my room when I see the Sage System hovering above me. "Ugh... I will never get used to that" I say as I painfully get up. "SCANNING COMPLETED." "WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE SUMMARY OF THE LETTER SCANNING?" I click on the confirm button. "CONFIRMATION RECEIVED. SUMMARY OF ISABELLA MANAVANE''S LETTER: Isabella hasn''t seen you for over a month, and she''s really worried. She has no idea why you''ve been gone for so long, and none of the instructors or the headmaster will tell her what''s going on. Despite asking around, she keeps getting the runaround, which only makes her more anxious. The longer you''re gone without any explanation, the more scared she gets, not knowing if you''re okay." I felt a small surge of joy wash over me as I read this summary because due to no one other than my master visiting me, I had thought that I had no real friends who would help me in times of need. Ah, so that''s the reason why no one had visited me the entire time that I was recovering. But why would the headmaster cover this incident up? Was the headmaster in cahoots with the corrupt church of Pyro? I stop for a second before laughing to myself. Haha, there''s no way that''s the reason. "Give me the summary of the letters from the Imperial Court next." "SUMMARY OF THE IMPERIAL COURT LETTERS: Most of the letters from the Imperial Court are written records of your father, Loran Ventrike''s daily court hearings and as of the latest letter, it seems that almost all officials from the Church of Pyro are still against Loran who want him to be punished and there are also some from the Imperial side who are also against Loran likely due to either bribes or past envy towards him and yourself. It is very likely that your father will be punished, which will be decided by a vote a month from now." Despicable bastards, how dare they call themselves a noble acting in such a dishonorable manner? "Other letters are from nobles on the Imperial Court who say they will cure your illness and switch sides to help your father if you agree to marry their daughters." That''s not happening, I''m already cured and they will likely not uphold their promise. Even if they do, one vote will not change the outcome of my father''s trial as the majority would still be against him. "And the other letters that do not fall into either category just wish you well on your recovery and some even invited you to their territories to see if their physicians could cure you." It''s nice to see that I at least have a few people who support me. I sigh. "Time to see what the letters the Church of Pyro sent me has to say. System, show me the summary." "SUMMARY OF THE LETTERS FROM THE CHURCH OF PYRO: The entirety of the letters with the seal from the Church of Pyro describe in detail what they did, who they bribed, who they successfully managed to bribe and what they are going to do next. All of the letters end with an invitation to join church if you want them to free your father." I break the wall as I punch it, enraged at what I read. Okay, lets calm down first. I have all the evidence I need to destroy the corrupt officials in the church of Pyro as well as the corrupt nobles. Though, they likely gave me all this information because they underestimate me because they are on par with the Imperial Court. It is very likely that every official in the Imperial Court and every noble knows that the Church of Pyro is corrupt, but they can''t do anything about it because of how powerful they are. Then I grin widely as I look at the sky. There might not be any Kingdom on Aegela who can go against the Church of Pyro, but there is one being who has complete control over the Church of Pyro, Pyro herself. Chapter 8: Church of Pyro Chapter 8: Church of Pyro In the continent of Aegela, there exists a legend known to all¡ªthe revered tale of Pyro''s Apostle. Three hundred years ago, a swordsman, devoid of any elemental affinity, faithfully served as a Holy Knight within the esteemed Church of Pyro. After many years of unwavering devotion and tireless service, he finally chose to visit the sacred temple and offer a heartfelt, earnest prayer. On that fateful day, as he knelt in deep reverence, the temple was suddenly bathed in a radiant, blinding light that outshone the sun itself. When questioned afterward, the Holy Knight recounted an extraordinary vision: he had been transported to a searing, blazing realm where everything around him glowed with an intense, fiery orange light, as if he stood within the very heart of a sun. Amidst the overwhelming inferno, he glimpsed the silhouette of a woman, her figure resting in peaceful slumber. Her face and body were as beautiful and radiant as the sun itself. With this divine revelation, the Church of Pyro declared him to be the first Apostle of Pyro and the only one to this day. The true reason why Pyro chose him remains an enduring mystery, and the temple has never again been graced by that brilliant, celestial light. If this myth is true, then the way to become Pyro''s Apostle is obvious. The Holy Knight was not the true Apostle because Pyro never exchanged words with him. It is clear that the requirement to gain an audience with Pyro is to have the Sun attribute. How do I know this? Because Pyro is the God of the Sun. There is no way to find out if one has the Sun Elemental Affinity, a Combination Element, today and three hundred years ago alike. Which explains why everyone thought the Holy Knight had no elemental affinity. And because of the rarity of being born with the Sun Elemental Affinity, or randomly discovering the combination requirements, it''s no wonder why no other "Apostle" has ever shown up at the temple. That just leaves the last issue with gaining an audience with Pyro, whether she''s asleep or not. This is my last option to help my father because if what the stories suggest about Pyro being a kind and righteous Goddess is true, then she will surely cleanse her church of the corrupt. So if she''s asleep today, then I''ll just have to come again tomorrow and the day after that if she still refuses to meet me. No more time to waste, time to leave this place. I walk out of my room and into the hallway Oh right, I''ve never left this room before. Where exactly is the reception desk? In the beginning, I walked relatively slowly, searching for the reception desk turning corners left and right but to no avail. Eventually I start running to find it but still, minutes pass by without me finding it. Then as I give up and sit down, a young female nurse around my age walks by. I am refilled with hope and happiness. "Excuse me miss, could you please direct me to the Reception Desk?" She smiles cheerfully. "O-oh... of course! Follow me" At first I was happy following her around because I would finally be able to leave, but then after we made a left four times in a row and went in circles, I got worried. Still, I smile brightly. "Miss? Are you sure we''re going the right way? We''ve been going in circles." She clumsily falls down and scrambles to get up. "O-of Course I know the way!" We stare at each other in awkward silence for a while. "Okay, I don''t know the way, but!" She scrambles through her pockets. "I have a map!" Why didn''t you just use that to begin with? And why is this clinic so big anyway that it has a map that even those that work here need to use for directions? She stared intensely at the map for a few seconds. "Uh let''s see, we need to get to the reception desk so... we go... we take a... I don''t know how to use a map!!!" And she falls down to the floor and starts bawling her eyes out. "It''s okay. Here, give the map to me and I''ll find where we are." She hands me the map, now covered in her tears as she continues to cry. "Look, we''re at 132 right now and 133 is over there" I say as I point to the next room''s sign on the right side of us. "So we just need to go backwards, take a left, a right, another left, and go straight after that. Simple right?" I reach out my hand to her as she stops crying and looks up "T-thank you." I continue greeting her with my signature bright smile as she takes my hand and I pull her up. We make small talk as we walk to our destination. "What''s your name kind sir?" Ack, she just called me sir. Her words are painful. Do I look old? "Haha young lady, please don''t call me sir I''m just around your age. My name is Arthur. What''s yours?" "My name is Lillian Mint and I am a first year at Wolkan Royal Academy. I''m just here to help the clinic as per my mother''s instructions to help her retainers here and gain experience." "Really huh? I am a second year at Wolkan, so maybe we''ll see each other around school sometimes. We approached the reception desk with her smile fading as we got closer. "It was nice speaking with you, have a good day." I wave her goodbye and turn around to face the cold emotionless receptionist. "Hello, my name is Arthur Ventrike, I was a patient at this clinic and now I''m leaving. I''m assuming my medical bill was already paid?" "Yes Arthur, the headmaster has already paid for your stay here. "Great, can I get my clothes back? I''m assuming they''re clean?" She hands me my clothes that I wore on the day of my poisoning. "Of course, we always give our patients the best treatment." I take my clothes out of her hands and put it up to my face to smell it. Hmm, smells clean enough. I place a gold coin on the table for her as a tip. "Thank you, is there anywhere that I can change into these clothes?" "Thank you for your generous patronage. The changing room is over there." As she points to the room behind and to the left of her. I go into the room and change into my attire from a month ago, still in relatively good condition and begin leaving for the Church of Pyro when suddenly I hear a scream. "WAAAAAAIT!!!" I turn to the direction that the sound is coming from and see William sprinting at full speed towards me. Ah, he must be seeing me off. I really should treat him better the next time I see him. When he got to me, it took him a while to catch his breath. "Huff, huff, huff, huff... Arthur..." I thought he was going to say something really meaningful to me and give me motivation for the hard times to come so I greeted him warmly. "Take your time." "Huff, okay I''m fine now. Back to business, you still haven''t paid me for helping you create the antidote! Where''s my payment!?!?!" My facial expression quickly changes into that of disgust as I look at him. "What? I couldn''t just let you leave without paying me what you promised." "Sigh, fine here you go." I hand him one of the rectangular shaped platinum cards that I obtained from the letters from the Imperial Court and watch as he freaks out. For reference, one gold coin is 100 silver coins which is 100 copper coins. One platinum card is worth 100 gold coins and you could easily buy a normal sized house in the Imperial Capital City of Dragos for just 5 gold coins so I essentially gave him twenty times his annual salary. I wave him goodbye as I walk out the door, stepping outside for the first time in a month. "Now, where am I?" It turns out that the clinic was inside the Mint family''s estate in the capital city. I took a carriage to the Grand Temple of the Church of Pyro because I had no idea where I was and paid the coachman one silver coin since I had no copper coins on me. So that girl was a noble huh? Back in the clinic the young lady of the Mint Viscounty was curious. "Retainer Martha, who was that boy that just left our clinic?" She responded without emotion, as always. "Young lady, that boy was Arthur Ventrike, the top student of Wolkan academy''s second year." Lillian let her facade slip for a moment and grinned intently S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Oh my, the genius swordsman who is said to be the most talented in our generation? I must have him." Before quickly altering her personality and putting on a smile once more. "He did look like a swordsman on the outside with his refined muscles and the calluses of a swordsman but... I sensed magic from his body." Martha did not respond. Arthur felt a chill through his spine for reasons he did not know yet. After thanking the coachman for the ride, I stepped off the carriage and admired at the temple of Pyro. "The name Grand Temple of the Church of Pyro is fitting for this place, it is undoubtedly grand. Chapter 9: Pyro Chapter 9: Pyro When I approached the temple entrance, I was stopped by two Holy Knights guarding the entrance. "Halt, this area is off limits to civilians. State your business or leave." He quickly changed his tone. "Ha, why am I following proper procedure for a kid? Scram kid, before you get your parents in trouble with the church." I smirk to myself. This is going to be fun. I begin to act like a spoiled bratty son of a noble. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "You low ranking bastards seem to not know who I am." I hold out one of the letters sent to me by the Church of Pyro with the church''s seal stamped onto it. "I was invited here by the church''s executives and now quickly let me pass before I get you all fired." They were still skeptical of me and looked at each other, wondering what they should do. "Well? Are you going to let me in or not?" "Yes young master, I apologize for the way that I treated you prior. I hope that you can forgive this lowly knight for the terrible acts that I have committed onto you." He said as he kneeled and tried hiding his displeasure of the situation. "Please come in and I wish you well in your prayers." That might have been harsh but they are clearly as corrupt as the executives of the church. After I got a certain amount of distance away from them, they quickly talked about me behind my back. "Stupid nobles, I wished that I could''ve grabbed him by the neck and strangled him to death." The other one had a conscience. "Hush, you could have your head cut off for that. You never know when someone''s listening." "Alright, alright." I take it back, I will make sure to remember his face when I cleanse this church. I confidently walk in a straight line to another doorway that I believe is the area of prayer. Where there were another pair of holy knights, seemingly of higher rank than the previous knights, were guarding. As I neared the gate, the guards crossed their spears, barring my path but they acted friendlier than the previous guards. "Hello young master, we noticed that the guards at the entrance let you through. We weren''t informed by our executives that any visitors as young as you would be visiting at the time. Could we ask you for your name and the purpose of your visit? An invitation perhaps? These holy knights seem non-corrupt and competent enough at their jobs. No need to trick them into degrading themselves. I pull out my letter with the executive seal that I received from the Church of Pyro and show it to them. "I apologize young master but we still need to see the contents of the letter to let you in." They say as they show visible signs of being intimidated by the seal. "Sure, sure. Take a look for yourselves." As I hand the letter to them and they open it up. Less than a second after reading it, they get on their knees and put their head down. "We apologize, sir Arthur Ventrike! please come in, the church has been anticipating your arrival for a month." I grin to myself Ha, so these corrupt church executives had already expected me to come to them. "Alright, thank you." I begin to walk through the gate, and away from the guards as one of the guards grab my arm. Hold on Arthur, I might be speaking out of line but I can''t bear to see another kid like you become a puppet of the church. No matter what those dirty church executives are holding against you, you must not accept. You will be forced to serve the chuch akin to slavery and you will have no freedom. Looks like I was right, there were still some good people in this corrupt church. I smile happily. "Thank you for your warning. What is your name? I will be sure to reward you after I cleanse this church." The guard looked at me like I was crazy. I didn''t mind it. "My name is Lansius Solan, a Senior Holy Knight." "Lansius Solan, I''ll remember that name" I walk away to the holy circle, the area of prayer in every church/temple of Pyro. I take off my boots and get down on one knee as I begin to pray to Pyro. After staying in a prayer position for a bit, I had still not been invited by Pyro. Dammit, was that myth fake after all? This was my only way to save my father! I feel the sudden urge to punch the floor with my anger, but I couldn''t go against the church, at least not yet. Okay, let''s calm down. In the myth it was said that the apostle prayed. Perhaps I just need to actually pray to Pyro to be brought to her. But... How do I pray? I have never been deeply religious or political because I had only focused on my training all my life. Let''s just try it out, god I hope nobody hears me say this. Hey Pyro, I''ve got to be honest¡ªI''ve never prayed to you before, and I''m not really sure how this works, so I hope this doesn''t come off too awkward or ungrateful. I''ve been given this knowledge from the Sage System, and it''s made me realize that what''s ahead of me isn''t going to be easy. I know I''ll have to face some tough challenges, and I''m ready to do that, but there''s one thing that really worries me. Please, don''t let my father suffer because of me. He''s all I have, my only family, and he''s done so much for me already. I don''t want him to bear the weight of my struggles or feel any pain because of what I have to do. I can handle whatever comes my way¡ªI''m ready for that¡ªbut he doesn''t deserve to suffer for my choices. All I''m asking is that you look out for him, keep him safe, and give him strength. I''m not asking for an easy path for myself, just that my battles don''t hurt the one person I care about the most. Let your flame be a light for him, a shield from whatever darkness might come our way. Thanks for listening, Pyro. I''ll do my best to be worthy of your help. Did it work? I open my eyes and am in awe of the scene in front of me. It is just as the myth said, there are flames everywhere and the world of my perception is dyed in orange, but it is not hot. All that''s left to the myth is the godde- As I look up the steps leading up to the throne of flames, as bright as the sun. When I tilt my head back further and look even higher up, I gaze upon the beautiful figure of a woman sleeping. Radiating light as bright as the sun. Her skin was flawlessly pale, yet radiated with a vibrant, lively glow. Her hair, a brilliant shade of orange-yellow, resembled the warm rays of the sun, cascading down like streams of light. She wore a dress in rich shades of orange, perfectly complementing her sunlit appearance. I immediately knew that I was looking upon the Goddess of Fire and Light, Pyro. Chapter 10: Pyro’s Dreamworld Chapter 10: Pyro''s Dreamworld This is it, this is my one and only chance to speak with her and get her to help me. I cautiously begin to approach the steps to the throne. I become more anxious with each passing step I take. If the entirety of the myth is real, then that means if Pyro is discontent with me disturbing her slumber, I could be exiled from her realm forever like she did to her first "Apostle." As I finish this thought, I focus back into reality and realize that I have reached the top of the steps and stand over the slumbering goddess. I take a closer look at her and she is even more beautiful up close, her hair is loose as it softly rests on her face and her body completely still as she sleeps. I suddenly feel my face turn red and my body hot, not from the extreme heat expected to exude from the realm modeled after the interior of the sun, but for some unknown reason that I''ve felt a few times before. What am I doing! How could I be so distracted? Get yourself together Arthur! I slap myself as quietly as I can. Another thought flies into my head as I realize she''s been completely still without making a noise this whole time. Wait, is she dead? Well, only one way to find out. I try to calm myself down and cool my head as I brace myself but it bears no fruit. I slowly reach out my hand, with my heart beating faster the closer I get to her until I eventually do reach her, and manage to muster enough of my willpower to slightly nudge her. No response. Should I try nudging her harder this time? While I begin to reach out my hand to nudge her again, I notice her twitch and instinctively jump backwards, away from her. I notice that I''ve finally calmed down. This is my chance! Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. I quickly get down on my knee and into a praying position and begin to shout with my loudest voice. "Greetings O'' Great Pyro, Goddess of Fire and Light! Your humble believer is here to see you, please grant me a moment of your time!" I keep my head down and my eyes closed as I wait for a response but that response never comes. Come to think of it, I have seen her move, but I have never heard her make a sound. Without wasting another second, I quickly open my eyes and look up. My heart starts beating rapidly as the Goddess of Fire and Light stands above me. I frantically try to put together words in spite of my nervousness. "O'' Great Pyro, please assist this lowly-" Pyro interrupts me mid-sentence as she squats down until we are both at eye level. Her smile is brighter than the sun. What beautiful eyes she has, her right eye orange, and her left one yellow. "You''re quite cute aren''t you? At least more so than the last guy who came here around- three hundred years ago- yawn." I feel my heart beat even faster and my body temperature rise higher than it ever has. Who knew a compliment could affect my body to such an extent? Still, I continue to keep myself calm. She seems to be in a dream-like state, not being able to determine the difference between the dreamworld and reality. I must tell her. "Great Pyro, I apologize if I''m speaking out of line but I must remind you that this isn''t a dream. I desperately need you to be fully conscious during this conversation." We stare at each other without a noise being made for several seconds. Then Pyro stares at me intently with a sinister smile visibly showing lust. "It''s been hundreds of years since I last saw someone." She puts her hand on my thigh "You can just call me Pyro. I don''t care if this is a dream or otherwise, how about you and me have some fun?" At this point I am barely able to keep control of myself as I begin to breathe heavily as I gasp for air. I force myself to look away from her to stay focused. "I- I don''t think this is appropriate Pyro" I say as I move down the steps, away from her. When I look back at her, I see her making a face of bewilderment. She then begins to angrily pace back and forth in front of her throne, as she begins to talk to herself. "What''s happening? I thought I was supposed to have full control of my dreams! I''ve had full control over it this whole time, why isn''t it working now?" "Maybe this isn''t a dream?" She stares intensely for a few seconds as she renders me incapable of moving. "Haha, that''s impossible, there''s no way that there are humans as pretty as you." Just. Let. Me. Move! Using all my willpower, I try to speak but only manage to muster a grunt. However, she notices the sound and begins to walk towards me. "You got something you want to say? I grunt again. "Why is this happening? Did this character in my dream gain sentience or something? Fine, lets hear it." I fall down after she releases me and allows me to move. Picking myself up, I say. "Like I said earlier, Pyro, this is not a dream. I have an elemental affinity for the Sun." When I look back up at her, I see her flawless pale skin, now cherry red. Before she hastily covers her face with her slender hands. Ah, I''ve incurred the wrath of a god. It seems like this is the end of my journey now. I''m sorry father, I won''t be able to help you and I''m sorry Headmaster Wolkan, I won''t be able to protect the world from Arcanus. I close my eyes as I accept my fate and wait for my death to arrive. But it doesn''t come. I open my eyes and I see her on the ground bowing to me. "I apologize that you had to see me acting in such a manner! Please forgive me!" I drop down to the floor and sit in front of her. "Please get up Goddess, having a divine being such as yourself bow down to a lowly mortal like me." When she lifts her head up, I see tears running down her face before she begins to wipe it off. She stares intensely at my face for a little longer, studying it but is still in disbelief. "Are you sure you''re a human? you''re way too handsome to be one. Immediately after, she covers her red face with her hands again and quietly mutters something while peeking out one of the cracks between her fingers with one eye. "Are you sure you don''t want to?" I pretend not to hear her but I can''t cover the red on my face. "Did- did you say something?" She immediately covers her eyes and turns away. "No, I didn''t say anything!" "..." Chapter 11: A Mythical Tale Chapter 11: A Mythical Tale We continued to sit in awkward silence for a while but I eventually recalled why I came here. Pull yourself together, you''re here to save your dad and clean the church. Don''t forget that! I brace myself and take a deep breath. "So... as I was saying, the executives of the church that worships you are corrupt and I need your help to cleanse it." There''s no need to tell her about the situation with my father. She looks at me cluelessly. "The last person to visit me, three hundred years ago, also mentioned something about a church before I kicked him out. What exactly is a church?" What. Pyro shows several emotions as I explain to her what a church is, her standing/the standing of gods in the world and what terrible things the church has done. She makes a face of anger. "How are those villains allowed to get away with doing such despicable acts? This is unacceptable, they must be punished for their crimes!" "Can I take your response as you are accepting to help me?" I smile with enthusiasm "O-of course!" She says while she turns away from me. Yes! With this, my father will be saved! Pyro jumps up out of nowhere and stands proud with confidence. "Let''s go right now!" I quickly stood up with her with even more enthusiasm. "Yes, let''s go right now! Her face turns red and I see a smile creep up onto her face before she turns away once again. This time, she quickly turns her head back. Her face is no longer red or smiling but instead it expresses fear and doom. "I''m sorry but I don''t think I will be able to go down to the mortal world with you; to assist you with cleansing this church of mine that I''ve just learned of." She begins to walk back to her throne. "I want to go back to sleep." I begin to run after her. "Wait Pyro, please just tell me why-" She doesn''t stop so I grab her arm. "Pyro-" She immediately reacts to my touch. "UNHAND ME" She says in a thundering voice as her body envelops in flames, instantly setting my arm ablaze before a massive gust of wind hurls me backwards I shriek in pain. "AAARRRGGGHHH!" Right before I lose consciousness I see Pyro running towards me. Did she snap out of her trance? Eventually, I woke up. Ugh, how much time has passed? When I open my eyes, I find myself laying down on Pyro''s legs and I quickly move away from her as my face reddens. After I move away and make space between us, I see Pyro''s face covered with tears. "sniff I''m sorry for burning you earlier sniff. You must hate me now right?" Why does she apologize so much? Wait, my arm! I take a look at my arm that was completely burnt the last time I saw it and realize that it had been completely healed, but now has the glowing shape of a blazing sun, the symbol of Pyro, on it. "It did hurt a lot, but I don''t hate you. I shouldn''t have grabbed your divine arm without your permission. It was my fault. Please forgive me." I bow down to her as I apologize. "No no, it isn''t your fault, this all happened because I couldn''t control my emotions." I look at her seriously. "Can you tell me what caused you to be so afraid and act that way?" Her face darkens. "I''m such a coward. This all started in the time that gods used to live with the mortals in the mortal realm. Do you know about it?" "Yeah, the mythical era." "I know not what you humans named that era as but let me tell you the tale of how the mythical era ended, as the only one from then to still be alive." "I know why it ended." She sighs and begins to say something but pauses before she pouts. What is she suddenly mad about? "You haven''t told me your name yet!" So, it wasn''t for any grand reason. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Oh, I see... My name is Arthur Ventrike. Okay, Arthur, this is a serious topic, please refrain from making jokes." "The gods used to live alongside humans during the Mythical Era up until the first and only 10th circle Transcendental Wizard, Magnus Arcanus went on a God killing spree until there was just one god left. Seeing the terrible negative effects of a godless world, the four Great Sages at the time finally decided to rebel against Acanus that led to the death of all the Great Sages and the disappearance of Arcanus. Am I correct?" Pyro looks at me with amazement. "Yeah, you''re completely right, how do you know about all that?" "I am the inheritor of Luke Wolkan''s legacy." "Who''s that?" She must have been sleeping and not paying attention to the mortal world this whole time. "He was the only mage that reached the realm of Great Sage outside of the Mythical Era." "Ah, come to think of it, I did feel the presence of a strong mage a little less than nine hundred years ago." "Still, even if he discovered the events that led to the end of the Mythical Era, he would not know my perspective." "I am a coward. When Arcanus killed the gods I stayed hidden and sat still because I believed that someone else would be able to take care of it." "I watched as my family and friends were killed by that monster and eventually when he came for me, there was no one protecting me, because there was no one left." "That''s when I decided to run but I was not fast enough. Arcanus chased after me and when he reached me, I thought I would be killed like the rest of the gods, the Great Sages and Seraphis ambushed him. Even though the strongest humans that existed were on my side, I was unable to control my fear and ran away. I retreated to the sun and hid there for a day. I managed to gather enough courage to come down from the sun and go back to the place where the battle occurred. But when I arrive all I can see is the horrifying aftermath of an intense battle. All that was left was the corpse of Grandmaster Seraphis, the bodies of neither the Great Sages nor Arcanus could be found." She begins to sob and is barely able to speak. "I''m such a coward, I let my family, friends and even my saviors die a gruesome death. I wonder, if I had been there, would the outcome of the battle be different? We might have been able to win and put an end to that monster for good. But I wasn''t there, and that didn''t happen." I looked upon her with eyes of empathy and sorrow. When I lost my mother, I grieved for days, hiding in my room and not being able to face the truth that my mother had died. It must have been so hard for her, I can''t even begin to comprehend the pain she felt on that day. She wipes off her tears and becomes impatient. "Well, as you can see, I still haven''t recovered from the event that transpired that day and I''m still afraid of going down to the mortal world. I''ve just been running away from responsibilities and hiding like a coward in my dreamworld." She begins to lose her sanity "Why did everyone have to die? Why is that monster still alive-" I pull her into my arms and hug her tightly. "It''s not your fault, there was nothing you could''ve done and it''s okay to be afraid." She hesitates, but holds me tightly as she releases her pent up emotions she''s held for hundreds of years and bawls her eyes out. No matter what, I will make sure to kill that bastard and avenge everyone that he killed. Chapter 12: Stigma Chapter 12: Stigma She continued to cry in my arms for a long time. You can cry for as long as you want, no one should have gone through as much trauma as you have. Eventually, she stopped crying and wiped her tears off. When she opens her eyes she immediately pushes herself away from me and bows down. "I''m sorry, I''m sorry, I''m sorry! I''ve shown you another disgraceful side to me and ruined your clothes!" I look down at my shirt and see that it''s completely wet, soaked in tears. Wow, what an amazing amount of tears. I look back at her and see her sad face once again. "Arthur, I really want to help you and be with you but... I think I still need time to recover..." Her eyes stray from me. "I know this is a selfish request of mine, but I really like you, can''t you just stay here with me? I can grant you any wish! She glances back, with eyes full of hope and anticipation, to see my response. But her face darkens once again as she sees mine. "I''m sorry Pyro, but I have a duty to fulfill. I must protect the world from Arcanus. It is the burden I must carry because of this knowledge imparted onto me when I became Luke Wolkan''s successor. I cannot afford to sit back and watch as Arcanus rampages across the world again, this time without anyone to stop him. It is regretful that you cannot accompany me, but if I must walk this path alone, then so be it." I walk up to Pyro and see her frowning face not making eye contact with me. I''m sorry for hurting you right after you''ve just begun to recover but I cannot waste any more time here. I don''t know when Arcanus will be unsealed so I must quickly get stronger. "Send me back." I say as I close my eyes and brace myself to depart back to my body in the mortal world. Sigh, what am I going to do? Without Pyro''s help I won''t be able to cleanse the church and release my father. Should I turn to black magic-" Out of nowhere, I feel something warm and soft press against my lips. I immediately opened my eyes to figure out the situation. "Badump" I feel my heart beating quicker than it has during my most intense training. I see Pyro''s gorgeous face with her eyes closed extremely close to mine and our lips touching as we kiss. W-what''s happening? Is this what a kiss is? It feels so... so... I am stunned from shock as we kiss and after she pulls away. "Hehe, that was my first kiss, you''re such a womanizer Arthur." She says as she holds her head while she daydreams. When she opens her eyes, she changes her attitude after she sees me, still too shocked to move. "Ahem, I didn''t just kiss you because I wanted to, if what you said about my church is true then for them to consider you as my Apostle, then me leaving my mark on you is more than enough. When you get back to the mortal world, take a look at your left eye, it holds the power of discerning truth from lies." I smile at her warmly. "Thank you Pyro, truly." I bow to her. "W-whatever, just make sure you don''t die, and you better come visit me often! Not that I would be lonely without you or anything..." "Of course, I am in great debt to you, that''s the least I could do." Pyro quietly mutters, though hoping for Arthur to hear. "And you better not get yourself another woman." But Arthur was too lost in his thoughts. Yes! With this, I will be able to save my dad! He is calm shows visible confusion "???" "Did you say something Pyro?" Pyro is flushed red but also shows disappointment "O-oh, you didn''t hear me? Nevermind..." "I-I''ll send you back now I guess, time should pass 10 times slower for you in this realm than the mortal world so not too much time should have passed." She begins to chant as white particles start emitting around my body. She waved me goodbye as my body started becoming transparent as it fades away. Just before I get teleported, I move up to her and kiss her on the cheek. The last thing I see in the Realm of Flames is Pyro''s surprised face. A second later, I am transported back to my body in the Mortal Realm. Inside the circle of prayer, Arthur opens his Eyes of Truth for the first time. Ugh how much time has passed? I take a look at the Solar Clock that determines time based on the position of the sun. Twenty minutes have passed which means I was in the Realm of Flames for two hundred minutes, which means Pyro was crying on me for 180 minutes... I walk up to a reflective piece of glass and take a look at my eyes. My right eye was normal brown, the same color as it had always been, but my left eye was still the same color, but now had an orange sun, the Symbol of Pyro engraved onto it. ... this is really flashy, is there any way to get rid of it? I tried to focus all of my concentration onto my left eye and pictured it without the orange sun on it and it returned back to normal. I checked myself out once again and decided that it looked natural enough and decided to leave. When I walk out the Room of Prayers that the circle of Prayer is in. I notice that wherever I go, there are no guards or priests around. What''s that loud noise coming from the outside? I walk out and to my amazement, I see a giant crowd of people outside, commoners, nobles, holy knights, and priests alike. They are all staring upwards, at the top of the Temple. When I looked backwards, I saw the majestic symbol of the sun radiating brilliant light, just like the myths had said. Then the light starts to dim and someone in the crowd cuts the silence with their shout. "LOOK, THE LIGHT IS DISSIPATING AND SOMEONE''S EXITING THE TEMPLE!!!" I turn around and now see everyone staring at me. The crowd shouts in unison. "IT''S THE APOSTLE" "ANOTHER APOSTLE HAS FINALLY SHOWN UP AFTER THREE HUNDRED YEARS!" S§×arch* The Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "FIND OUT WHO HE IS" Then the crowd starts charging at me while the Holy Knights try but fail to repel the crowd. A man wearing priest clothing grabs my arm and pulls me back into the temple. "Quickly, follow me great Apostle, we must get away from this crowd!" After we get into the temple we continue to run as the crowd continues to chase after us. We continued to run until we reached a room with a heavily decorated door and no longer heard the crowd running behind us. "Grand Councilroom" It read on the sign next to the door. The priest knocked on the door. "Knock, knock. Cardinals, it''s me, Jacob I''ve brought Arthur Ventrike." A low voice from behind the door groans. "Come in." Jacob opens the door and a grand room is revealed. Woah, this room is giant and the whole room is furnished with gold. There are ten seats total around an oval table decorated with gold but half of the seats are empty. The high priest sits at the head of the table and looks extremely young for his position; around thirty years old must be a figurehead. One of the cardinals present is an old, fat and short man and the other two cardinals present look exactly alike and wear masks that conceal their face. The other person at the other head of the table looks old but wears holy knight armor, likely the leader of the Holy Knights. I grit my teeth before I speak. "Greetings, esteemed leaders of the Church." A cardinal that is fat, short, and bald who reminds me of a pig speaks in a serious tone. "Forget the formalities, there is only one reason why you''re here, it must be to save your father. But you''re too late. I''m sure you know of it as well, the appearance of the Apostle, so we no longer need a talent like you." Priest Jacob tries to say something. "Um, Cardinal Agon-" "Be quiet! Do not interrupt me while I''m speaking! Now, as I was saying, we have no need for you anymore. We won''t be switching sides not that we would have in the first place and we will give Count Loran the highest punishment. What is talent to a god? Now leave before you are escorted out, this is a joyous day, it would be terrible for it to be ruined by... Ventrike. Chapter 13: Apostle Chapter 13: Apostle "So you weren''t planning on freeing my father in the first place huh?" My face expresses great rage. "What do you think you''re doing? I feel threatened. Dustin, subdue him." S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The man sitting at the head of the table closest to me hesitates before slowly rises from his seat. He is a tall old man with a long white beard. Though old, his presence is intimidating. Ugh. He must be a Swordmaster. I don''t think I''ll be able to beat him... I hope he''s on my side. He begins to unsheathe his white sword as he approaches me. I seemingly begin to roll up my sleeves to fight but when I finish rolling it up, Dustin immediately halts as he sees my arm. Cardinal Agon is confused and leans to the side to see and figure out the situation. "What''s going on? Why''d you stop-" He sees the mark of Pyro on my arm and is completely flabbergasted. "You are- you ar-" "I am the Apostle, yes." He looks over to Jacob and stares angrily at him. Causing him to quickly exit the room. "As the Apostle of Pyro, I am here to cleanse the corruption in the Church of Pyro. This is the divine mission given to me by Pyro." "Im-impossible, there''s no way you''re the Apostle you probably just carved that mark onto your arm yourself. Y-yeah, that''s right, the first Apostle didn''t have a mark so it''s impossible for you to have one you''re obviously just trying to trick us." "My will is the will of the goddess herself and I wish for the cleansing of her Church. If you still do not believe me then very well, how about this?" I close my eyes for a while as I picture the symbol of Pyro. When I open them, the symbol of Pyro is engraved onto it and it emits a great light. Tears begin to fall from the swordmaster''s eyes. "It was true, the Goddess has finally given us an Apostle!" Agon begins to act submissive. "It was my mistake, great Apostle, but perhaps you don''t need to cleanse the church? We will definitely free your father and we will give you anything you want!" "Anything you say?" "Yes, anything!" I grin "Then I wish for the cleansing of this church!" "It seems like my words are not getting to you. It is unfortunate that we would lose the first apostle to show up in three hundred years on the day of his arrival but so be it." "Even if he''s the apostle, he''s still just Knight Ranked Swordsman, with my two 7th circle Cardinals and myself, a 6th circle mage, there''s no way we would lose." "And you," He looks at the high priest "Get that pretty face of yours out of here unless you want to get hurt." "R-right" He runs to a corner and covers his head. I stay calm and relaxed. I knew he was too young to be the High Priest, so he was just a figurehead after all. He''s right, even with my new powers, it would still be impossible for me to face a Grand Wizard, let alone two. But luckily, I won''t need to fight. "Alright, High Priest''s safety, secured." Agon says as he chuckles to himself. "Dustin, get the hell out of the way if you''re not going to help." He disappears. Wait, were my calculations wrong? I thought he was on my side! As this thought finishes, Dustin seemingly teleports behind Agon and holds his sword to his neck. "Wh-what do you think you''re doing Dustin? "I will not let you hurt the boy." "And you two" He looks at the two masked Cardinals. "I''m holding your paycheck''s life in my hands and you should know that two 7th circled mages cannot beat a swordmaster. Now leave. It seems they were not the real cardinals but phew, thank god my calculations were right that could''ve ended poorly, not that it has ever been wrong in the first place. The masked men creepily spoke in unison. "It''d be in your best interest to pay us Swordmaster lest you wish to never sleep peacefully again. You know where to find us... They said before they disappeared. But wow, so this is the realm of a Swordmaster, I guess my master had always been holding back when he fought me. He''s never gone that fast before. "Dammit all, this is all your fault Arthur, I will make sure you are punished for this-" The swordmaster knocked Agon out with the pommel of his sword and let go of him. He then walked up to me and outstretched his hand. "My name is Dustin Brave, Commander of the Holy Knights of the Church of Pyro. We''ve been waiting three hundred years for your arrival; it''s a pleasure to meet you. The high priest runs for the exit behind me in my peripheral vision. I shake his hand and deactivate the Eye of Truth "The pleasure''s all mine." I say as I knock the figurehead high priest out while I smile warmly at Dustin with my eyes closed. "Great Apostle, is it true what you said, that you were going to cleanse this church and that the goddess gave you that task?" I show discomfort. "Yes, but there''s no need to call me apostle Dustin smiles as he cries tears of joy. "So the Goddess hasn''t given up on us! Oh praise Pyro!" "Wait, if Pyro imparted a mission onto you, surely you must have spoken to her right?" "Indeed." "Praise Pyro! We must hold a feast to celebrate the coming of the Apostle!" "Yes, but first, we must cleanse the church. We cannot reward those who are corrupt. Rally all the members of the Church." Dustin''s tears stop flowing. Wow... Swordmaster''s really are different from regular humans... "Where should we rally them, Lord Apostle?" "Hmm, what''s the largest area within the Church?" That would be the training grounds of the Holy Knights, Lord Arthur" "All right, let''s rally all the members of the church there. Let''s call this event... an inspection." "Very well Lord Arthur." I told you, there''s no need to give me such a grand title just call me Arthur." "No way, I cannot address you with such ungratefulness. I must show respect to the savior of the Church!" He looks at me with much anticipation and hope. "Fine, call me whatever you want." "Thank you Lord Arthur!" Dustin leads the way as we begin to walk to the Task Room to announce the inspection for tomorrow. "Is it all right to just leave those two there? What happens if they wake up and decide to rampage, destroying the temple?" "There''s no need to worry Lord Arthur, my shadows will take care of it. I recommend you get a few as well to take care of the smaller issues and to guard you while you rest. I look behind me and see that the bodies of the figurehead and Agon are gone. Hm, that''s not a bad idea. Wait, before I forget. I take the Sage System out of my clothes Lets see if this is able to determine the status window of others. "Sir Dustin, can you stand still for a second? I want to test something out." He immediately stops and turns around. "Of course Lord Arthur, anything for you. Please work! I look at the Sage System. "Show me his Status Window." "WHICH TYPE OF SCAN WOULD YOU LIKE? INSTANT SCAN, QUICK SCAN, NORMAL SCAN, ADVANCED SCAN, OR DEEP SCAN?" Let''s just go with a quick scan for now, so that I don''t waste too much of sir Dustin''s time. I click Quick Scan. "COMMAND RECEIVED" The Sage System flies up to Dustin and begins it''s scan. While Dustin is unable to keep his curiosity and discomfort concealed. A second later, the scan is completed and the Sage System comes back and projects his Status Window to me. *** STATUS WINDOW: Name: Dustin Brave Rank: Swordmaster Strength: 2000 Stamina: 1000 Agility: 2000 Mana: 30000 Intelligence: 100 Active Skills: UNKNOWN (NEEDS MORE SCAN TIME) Passive Skills: UNKNOWN (NEEDS MORE SCAN TIME) Status Abnormalities: None Combat Rating: SS Accuracy: 80% *** Wow he is extremely strong, way stronger than I am at least. "Um, Lord Arthur, is everything alright?" "Hm? Oh yes, yes, you''re very strong sir Dustin." "Thank you very much Lord Arthur, I am not worthy of your praise. Well then, if your test is finished, I will continue leading the way." Chapter 14: Task Board Chapter 14: Task Board As we walk to the task room, we walk past many priests and holy knights. It seems that all the commotion caused by the appearance of the Apostle ended, or that they are being suppressed and forced to get back to work. The latter seems much more plausible. When we get to the task room, I am in complete disbelief as to the amount of people in it. The room is full of conversation and arguments. Wow, I did not expect a place in the Church would be so rowdy, it''s so similar to that of the Adventurer''s Guild. There are multiple boards with different danger/clearance levels. With requests ranging from escort/guarding missions, subjugating monsters, requesting priest/healing assistance, and exorcism. All of the tasks must be completed by the day for maximum efficiency. If the tasks are not complete, higher ranked members of the church will be summoned to complete them. We walk past all the smaller task boards in a straight line to the giant announcement board that has all the major announcements for the month. "Executive Announcement Board" While all the Holy Knights immediately salute and bows to Dustin the moment he walks past them. "Good morning, Commander Dustin!" or "Greetings, Commander Dustin!" Followed by, "May the light of Pyro be with you!" When we get to the executive announcement board, Dustin with one sword slash, cuts all the prior announcements on the board. I stare in awe. Amazing! With another, carves words onto the board. "ALL CHURCH MEMBERS MUST SHOW UP TO TRAINING GROUNDS TOMORROW AT NOON" Unbelievable, it is impossible to make slashes in multiple angles in just one cut! My eyes must have been unable to see all the cuts he was making. Or perhaps it was a skill... My thought was suddenly interrupted by a shout from across the room behind me, at the entrance. "DUSTIN! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU''RE DOING?" I turn around and see a bald middle aged man around 50 red and full of rage stomping toward us. To speak to Dustin that way, he must be a corrupt executive of the church. Lets see, his clothes look more decorated than a priest, but less decorated than a cardinal. He must be a bishop, but a bishop cannot speak to a member of the church''s council that way. There must be something else to him, hmm... Wait! he kind of looks like Cardinal Agon, the one that looked like a pig from earlier. It''s all coming together now, he probably got his position through unjust means as well. There''s only one way to figure it out! I turn to Dustin who has a calm face as he looks at the bishop. But I notice his mouth grin and his eyebrows frown for a split second. Ah, he must really hate him. "Dustin." He turns to face me. "What exactly is the relationship between that man," I point at the bishop "and cardinal Agon?" "That man was a bishop of the church, and the son of former Cardinal Agon." "Was?" I smirk. "Haha, was is the right term, indeed. The son of Agon approached Dustin. "Did you not hear me Dustin? What do you think you''re doing? If you don''t have a good reason, I will report this to the high priest." He says with a dirty smirk on his face. Dustin turns to me, before turning back to the son of Agon. "I have no obligation to answer you, Agon II. Hahaha, he named his own son after himself? Agon must love himself a lot. Agon II turns even redder and his face expresses even more rage. "How dare you!" Agon II looks around, trying to find something else to use against Dustin . And then he sees me. "Look at you, disobeying Church Law by bringing in unaffiliated civilians and destroying church documents. I''ve had just about enough of you. I''ll let you in on a little secret, the council, MY FATHER, has been thinking of firing you for a while now, consider this your termination notice. Now leave." The whole room goes silent as they stare at us before they start quietly whispering. "What''s going on?" "Who said that?" "Who got fired?" "I knew it was going to happen eventually." Me and Dustin stare at each other for a few seconds, before we burst out laughing. Agon II is confused. "W-what''s so funny? Why are you two laughing?" Get ou-" Dustin stops laughing and shouts with a stern and loud voice. "All of you, heed my words. Our church is undergoing reformation. The High Priest of the Church as well as Cardinal Agon were the cause for corruption have been removed. There will be inspections tomorrow held at noon by the Apostle we have been waiting for, for three hundred years, to determine whether you are corrupt or not. There are whispers among the crowd. "Is that really the Apostle?" "Why should we let some kid decide whether we are corrupt or not?" Dustin hears the complaints and gestures to me, to prove them wrong. I hope activating the Eye of Truth had no drawback. I walk to the front, as Dustin moves back. The crowd, with much anticipation silently waits for me as I close my eyes and concentrate. A second later, I can hear the crowd gasp as a great light shines out of my eyes from the engraving of the orange sun. When I look down, I see everyone, even Agon II on the floor, bowing down to me. I clear my throat and speak in my loudest voice. "My name is Arthur Ventrike. For those of you that didn''t believe me to be the Apostle, this much should be sufficient. For those of you who do not wish to be judged by a child, know this. This eye is not just for decoration, but executes the will of Pyro herself. Therefore, it is not me who is judging you, but your goddess, Pyro. If you have a problem with my judgment, then take it out with Pyro after you meet her in the afterlife. Pyro''s will is my will, and my will is Pyro''s will." Dustin walks up and stands next to me. "All members of the Church must be present at the inspections, priest and knight alike. If you choose to desert and run away, you will be tracked down and killed without trial. If you are late, you will be treated as a deserter and be killed. The only reason for missing inspections is if you are already on a mission." That''s quite harsh, it seems that Dustin had a lot of rage he had been hiding for a while. "One last thing, you will be judged on two bases, corruption, and evilness. Punishments for Corruption will differ depending on if you hold a position of power or not but if you are found guilty of being Evil, you will be killed." Dustin continues. "Spread this message to all. And gatekeepers, keep a record of those returning from missions. Failure to do so will result in punishment. He makes a fist and raises his arm "May The Light Of Pyro Shine Forever!" Then everyone else does the same. "May The Light Of Pyro Shine Forever!" The crowd makes way for us as Dustin leads me out of the room. As we walk out, I see Lansius Solan, the kind Knight from the entrance to the room of prayer, smiling warmly at me. I smile back as I wave to him. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. We walk in silence as I follow Dustin without knowing the destination. Oh that''s right, there was something I wanted to ask him. "Dustin, this might be rude of me, but surely you must have known that the two masked cardinals weren''t the real cardinals and that the church was corrupt, so why didn''t you do anything?" He stops but doesn''t turn around to face me. "What you said is true, I was aware of the fact that the two masked Cardinals stationed at the capitol had been replaced. I may be old, but I''m not senile. " "As to why I allowed them to continue, the Church was at an all time low. There had not been a High Priest for five years at the time, a decade now. I was only an Imperial Ranked Swordsman, There were only four cardinals and our biggest sponsor was Agon. We couldn''t treat him with disrespect otherwise no one would sponsor us after seeing how we treated our biggest sponsor. " "Eventually, he bought out the church and sent the two strongest and most influential Cardinals, Leon and Michael to distant posts under the pretense of helping the residents of the countryside but actually just didn''t want competition." "As much as I hate to admit it, they spread the influence of Pyro much further than it has ever been and have given hope to countless. If those countless people were to suddenly find out that the church of the god that they believe in was evil, how do you think they would react?" He finally turned around to face me. "So I had to keep it a secret." I confronted him. "How long would you have kept it a secret and continue to stand still as the church''s greed hurt countless others?" He looked away from mr "I don''t know, I reached a moral dilemma, to free countless but to hurt countless as a result? Or to support Agon and give hope to countless but to hurt countless? How could I choose the lesser of two evils when both options were evil?" "I did nothing, I had to wait for someone to save me." He grabbed my arms. "And there you were! The Apostle that we had been waiting three hundred years for! With you, there would be no need to keep the old hope, while we had a new one!" "I pray for those that I might have condemned everyday. I know I have sinned and I cannot be the exception. I hope that you can at least delay my punishment so that I may see the Church of Pyro clean and flourishing once more." I nod. What is he saying? He is an important asset, not only due to his strength, but due to his loyalty. But I must act like I am just towards all, so that he continues to respect me. We continue walking. "Thank you, Lord Arthur. Well you must be wondering where I''m leading you." "I am a little curious." "My shadows have just reported to me that Agon has just woken up." Chapter 15: Breaker of Dawn Chapter 15: Breaker of Dawn We continue to walk until we reach a staircase leading down. It''s dark and creepy like a dungeon. Before we start adventuring down the dark staircase, Dustin imbues his sword with his mana and his sword exudes a dim light. So his elemental affinity was light huh? How fitting. I''m sure a swordsman of his level could make the light brighter, but it must be for dramatic effect. Nonetheless, the light he''s exuding is not enough for me so I will have to make my own. I only used magic one time and it was manifested unintentionally when my master intruded into my room late at night before he shoved those disgusting elixirs down my throat. What was that passive skill called? Right, 2nd Circle Solar Imaginary Technique. From what I can gather, it seems that my magic has three limitations. Firstly, Solar means I can only use magic belonging to the sun attribute. Secondly, 2nd probably refers to the highest tier of magic that I can use, up to the 2nd tier. And Imaginary must mean that my magic is limited and manifested by my imagination, similar to that of the eye of truth. Sounds simple enough. For now, all I need is a bright light. It doesn''t need to be too big or too bright, but moves according to my will. Then, a small round ball that radiates a bright warm light appears above me. Wait what? But I didn''t even chant! I''ve heard stories of mages that are able to cast spells without needing to chant but I didn''t know it was real! It would seem like chanting is not necessary for manifesting a spell, but used to more easily imagine what spell you are trying to cast. This is groundbreaking news! I must share this knowledge with all mages! It moves around me as I lead it with my finger. I know it''s not alive, but it''s kind of cute, like the Sage System. Hmm... What should I name this spell? It''s warm and soft. I''ll name this spell Dawn! Dustin turns around when he notices my light and looks at me with satisfaction before quickly turning around continuing our descent. Was this a test? sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. After that, there was not anything interesting and I was left alone with my thoughts, in this dark silence. This is weird, we haven''t seen anyone since the Task Room where exactly are we headed? It''s even more suspicious how there are no guards keeping the curious from entering such a secret place. I nervously follow Dustin as we walk down the stairs and halt as we reach an archway closed off by a thick iron gate. I suddenly feel shivers run down my spine for a split second as I feel eyes stare through the back of my head when we enter the room. I immediately turned and looked around to see the culprit but I could not find them. It''s too dark, where are they! "Where are you? Show yourself!" I move Dawn across the room. As Dustin does nothing as he watches. Nothung. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Where are they!?!? Then, I move it up to the ceiling but it keeps going higher. How high is this ceiling? I still can''t see anything! Okay, calm down. If I can''t see with Dawn, then I just need to use something brighter. Think! Brighter! The ball of light known as Dawn became five times bigger and five times brighter. I did it! The light reveals the entirety of the ceiling. In which, there are six masked men dressed fully in black. They must be veteran assassins. Their ability to hide their presence and mask their killing intent is almost flawless and all of them are at the Royal stage. I''m not confident that I could beat two of them, let alone six. But, I have a swordmaster with me so they won''t even be able to touch a strand of my hair. Then, I hear a noise from beside me. It was Dustin and he was applauding me. "Marvelous Lord Arthur. But you can stand down, they are my shadows. So it was all a test. It was impressive that you noticed their killing intent because though they are only a stage above you as a swordsman, they have all been training as an assassin longer than you have been alive." "I apologize for tricking you but it was necessary to see the extent of your abilities so that I could find suitable equipment and suitable teachers for your level and help you grow." I start to shake as I hide the truth from him. Did he already find out? It doesn''t feel right to lie when I hold the eye of truth. "W-what do you mean? I already have a teacher." "That is true, you do have a teacher, Grandmaster Throne Bladesong, The Guardian." I grin. It looks like he didn''t find out about it after all. "But." I start shaking again. "He is only your teacher for swordsmanship, not for magic." I start sweating as I nervously laugh. "Heh, what do you mean I''m not a mage." "What do you mean? You have a fireball right there?" "Oh that''s right, I forgot about it." We stare at each other blankly. Then, Dustin breams the silence. "Right... may I ask what caused you to deter from the path of the blade?" "I apologize, but that''s not something that I can reveal to anyone right now." I lower my head and bow. Uuuuugh I hope he isn''t mad for not getting an answer and doesn''t pester me for an answer. I don''t want to lose someone as strong as him! I nervously wait in anticipation for his response. "That''s fine, the level of your magic seems to still be lower than your sword so it should still be fine to continue to use it in combat for now. But I hope that you will reveal the truth to me later on." I raise my head. "Of course, commander!" Dustin: Why is he calling me commander??? He says after clearing his throat. "Now, shall we move onto the final test?" "Yes!" We only take a few steps before we stop again. Why did we stop? I thought we were going to go through the gate." "For the final test, I want you to strike this gate as hard as you can. Don''t worry about damaging your sword. We will take care of it." Isn''t this just an iron gate? I can easily cut through this with an aura blade. I take a closer look "W-wait, this is black iron!" I turn to Dustin before quickly turning back to admiring it. "How did you get so much of it!?! This isn''t just something you can acquire with money, it''s incredibly rare!" "Don''t worry about it, the church had many connections. The reason for this test is to test your full strength so we can equip you with a weapon that can withstand your power and not break. Your current sword may have been able to withstand your full strength before, but surely you must have received the blessing of Pyro other than the eye of truth that made you stronger. I clench my fist a few times to test my strength. Come to think of it, I have felt stronger since I came back from the Realm of Fire. I should check my status window later when I get the chance. Dustin moves away from the gate and gives me space. "You can strike whenever you''re ready, Lord Arthur. You can use anything, aura and magic." I nod before taking a long deep breath. I unsheathe my sword, and for the first time, I channel the Sun Attribute Aura into the blade. Instantly, the steel glows a deep crimson, bathed in a swirling aura of gold and orange, like the first light of dawn breaking over a dark horizon. The radiance is breathtaking¡ªbrighter, more vivid than I ever imagined. I can''t help but stare, captivated by the sight. Until now, my aura blade had always been colorless, invisible to the eye. Even Master''s aura blade was shrouded, concealed in its brilliance, yet whenever he wielded it, everyone could feel its presence, unmistakable and powerful. I remember the jealousy I felt, watching other swordsmen unlock the colors of their aura blades, their mastery made visible in that dazzling glow. But now, I''ve unlocked my own. No more wasting time. There is only one thing left to do. I raise my sword and perform what seems like an ordinary, slow horizontal slash¡ªone so deliberate that even an average human could follow its movement. For a brief, suspended moment, nothing happens. There is no visible cut, no sound, not even the faintest whisper of steel against iron. But then, the silence shatters. The bottom half of the black iron gate suddenly slides away, leaving behind an impossibly clean cut. Before I can react, Dustin yanks me back, his instincts quicker than mine. I barely have time to process the danger before the severed area glows ominously¡ªfirst a burning orange, then an intense red as the metal begins to liquefy. Molten droplets of black iron drip from the cut, sizzling upon contact with the ground. Each drop detonates in a burst of blinding yellow light, and a powerful shockwave rips through the air, tearing apart both halves of the gate and obliterating the surrounding area in a violent explosion. The force is overwhelming, pushing us back as debris and wind whip around us. The sheer scale of the destruction leaves us speechless¡ªmyself, Dustin, and even his shadows are frozen in place, wide-eyed and in awe. Amazing! The thought echoes in my mind as I stare at the devastation before me. I feel a surge of inspiration, a vision of creating my own style of swordsmanship, with a series of ultimate techniques to match. If I do, this move will be at its heart. I shall call it... Breaker of Dawn. But my triumph is bittersweet. I glance down at my sword just in time to see the blade dissolve into nothingness, leaving only the handle behind. I grip it tightly, a reminder of what was just lost¡ªbut also of the potential within my grasp. Ah. That was a gift from my father for my 8th birthday. I look at Dustin and see his face, still in complete shock. He immediately changes back to normal after he notices me looking at him. "That was truly amazing, Lord Arthur, it''s a shame that your sword broke, but we will get you a new one." "Thanks to you removing the gate, we shall continue to the interrogation room. He says, much quicker than normal before turning away as he begins walking. I don''t see a face, but I see a drop of water or something drop from his chin. What''s that? Is there a water leak in the ceiling? Dustin''s face is full of tears. My Black Iron! He silently sobs. Chapter 16: Interrogation Chapter 16: Interrogation Dustin''s shadows now walk behind us as we traverse through a straight dark corridor behind the black iron gate. I discreetly peek behind me. Why are they following us now? They''re so creepy! Why couldn''t they just stay hidden like before? Far, at the end of the corridor is a wooden door between a stone archway, lit up by two dim torches. I move Dawn to the front as we approach the door to light up the path. Huh? Why aren''t there any guards or shadows monitoring this place? If Agon really is held captive here, then there should be at least two Royal Ranked Swordsman or two 6th circle mages keeping him in check to subjugate him with certainty! We get to the door. Even if he''s incompetent and got to that stage through money, he is still a 6th circle mage and could easily break free from his restraints and escape if no one''s watching him! My thoughts forcefully ended when I heard a loud sound. "CRASH!!!" "Have you slept well, Agon?" I wake up from my thoughts and look up to see Dustin holding a door handle after he intentionally breaks the door. The shadows quickly move past Dustin and take positions around the room. Agon shrieks in fear. "HIEEK- STAY AWAY FROM ME! He is in the middle of the room and tied up with black chains. Must be made of black iron. I notice the sound of a quiet whimpering to my right and turn to see the figurehead high priest lying down as he cries in the corner. He was not tied up in black iron chains but just regular rope. I turn back to Agon and see Dustin approaching him. "N-NO G-GET AWAY FROM ME! SOMEONE- SOMEONE HELP ME!!!" He desperately screams as he pathetically tries to crawl away from Dustin. When Dustin reaches him, he slaps Agon across the face, knocking him unconscious, before grabbing his chain and dragging his unconscious corpse across the floor, with it leaving behind a trail of tears as he gets dragged. I should definitely never get on his bad side... Five of the six of the shadows closely follows Dustin as he drags Agon through a door, to a room brightly lit by torches. Before following Dustin to that room, I take one last, quick glance at the figurehead high priest and see the last of the shadows standing under the archway between this room and the corridor. I take back what I said earlier, these shadows really are careful and competent. I think before I follow Dustin to the bright room. When I enter, I see that the shadows have already taken their place around the room and Dustin is strapping Agon into a black chair, tying him in another black iron chain. Just how much black iron does the church have!?!? Once he finishes strapping him in, he slaps Agon awake. His right cheek is extremely red and bruised from how many times he''s been slapped. Dustin takes out his sword, the sheathe still on, and strikes the ground- producing a large wave of wind and releasing his powerful killing intent. I try to move my body but it wouldn''t due to instinctual fear. My breathing slows so much that it nears a halt. I- can''t- move! I try moving around my eyes and they work. Alright, at least I can move my eyes. I glance at the shadows and see that they are also struggling to move as they shiver with fear. "The Interrogation begins now." He says with a serious, booming voice. "And don''t even think about lying." He points at me. Oh Pyro, show me the truth. I use all my willpower to walk up beside him and activate my eye of truth. Agon is shaking more than me with fear. "Firstly, where are the cardinals you kidnapped? Where is Cardinal Stone and Cardinal George? Agon doesn''t respond and continues shaking in fear. Dustin sighs before retracting his killing intent. I can move and breathe again! I look at Agon and see him no longer shaking. "Don''t pretend to be unconscious. Answer me before I lose my patience." He doesn''t respond. Dustin sighs. "Huuuu- I was trying to be nice-" He starts walking up to Agon. Before he reaches him, Agon quickly opens his eyes. "I''m sorry for tricking you!" "You must love to test my patience. Hurry up and answer the damn question." "What question? Could you repeat it again?" They stare at each other intensely, in silence, before Dustin starts to slowly unsheathe his sword. "I-I really don''t know what you said!" He continues to unsheathe it. "I''m not lying!" He finishes unsheathing it and disappears. "I KEPT THEM IN THE JAIL IN MY CASTLE!" He appears behind the chair and with his blade and stops right before he slices Agon''s head off. But slaps him instead. He''s glowing red. That''s a lie. "How dare you..." He looks at me. I shake my head. He immediately turns back to Agon full of fury. "HOW DARE YOU LIE TO IN FRONT OF THE GODDESS''S APOSTLE?! TELL ME WHERE THEY REALLY ARE!" He slaps him across the face twice. The chair cracks. He forces himself to calm down and makes space between themselves. "I''M SORRY! THE TRUTH IS THAT THEY''RE ALREADY DEAD PLEASE DON''T KILL ME!" He''s shining in the green light! "YOU BASTARD!!!" Oh no, Dustin''s really going to kill him!!! He charges at Agon about to swing his sword, without a technique, only fueled by anger. Agon cries as he shrieks. "HIEEEEK PLEASE SOMEONE SAVE ME!!!" He looks at the shadows and they suddenly disappear. As Dustin swings his sword and is about to slice Agon''s head off, five shadows appear next to Agon and try to block Dustin''s strike. I reach for my sword and unsheathe it. Are they betraying Dustin? The five shadow''s attempt at blocking Dustin''s sword fail as all their blades break, but they manage to redirect it to Agon''s right shoulder rather than his neck. Agon, with his chains severed, falls to the ground and howls in pain. Even if they outnumber him, and Dustin swings without technique, they are no match for a swordmaster. Dustin seems to calm down. "Huff, huff, huff. Thank you for stopping me. We still need this bastard alive for answers." The shadows are hurt, but they resume their position around the room. Ah, that''s right. The shadows job is to fix or prevent their master from making a mistake. How loyal and competent of them. It was my fault for doubting them. I unsheathe my blade and take my hands off. Dustin strikes what seems to be pressure points around his shoulder and the bleeding stops. Afterwards, he looks down at Agon on the ground. "I do not regret my actions. In my opinion you are deserving of far worse. But I will stop here. If you answer the rest of my questions correctly you may be able to keep your life. You may even be able to get your arm reattached. What do you say?" "Huff, huff, huff, huff. Fine then, let''s just quickly get this over with." He says as he angrily stares at Dustin. Dustin easily picks him up and throws him back on the chair. I will definitely get my revenge! He slaps him again. "What''s with that expression on your face? Do you want to die? Get rid of it." "... Yes of course." He forces on a smile. "Get that smile off your face, what are you smiling at?" He slaps him again. Agon" I''m going to kill this senile old man! "Secondly, tell me where the key to the vault is." Agon hesitates but begins to speak before he is immediately cut off by Dustin. "And don''t even think about lying." He points at me again. "I keep the key to the vault with me at all times. It''s in the storage of the blue pearl on my chain." Dustin rips two of his chains off- the chain with a blue pearl, and the platinum chain with the Symbol of Pyro on it signifying one''s rank of cardinal. Ah, he didn''t even ask me... "You don''t deserve to wear this one" Dustin says as holds up the platinum chain after he separates the two chains. Agon clicks his tongue. "Tch" Then Dustin rips the blue pearl off of the chain and smashes it. Agon is in despair and screams in despair. "A-a-aaaaah!!!! That cost me a fortune!" A crest of an orange sun, the symbol of Pyro, pops. It is encrusted with many unknown but beautiful gems and the base is some kind of red material. So the key was figurative, it''s not an actual key. "Great. Now I just have one last question for you." Dustin becomes serious. "Who is backing you?" Agon starts shaking and turns pale. "W- what do you mean?" Dustin calmly sighs and taps the handle of the sword. "Don''t test my patience again. It''s impossible for you to not have a backer." "No matter how much money you have, there is no way you could have taken over the church this easily. Before you came along and when we were at our weakest, our forces were still as powerful as a kingdom." "So, Who. Was. Backing. You?" "I- I c- can''t tell you that! They''ll kill me if I do!" Dustin sighs, approaches his chair and grips the handle of his sword tightly. "You have two choices. You can tell us now and they might find out that you told us and kill you." Dustin unsheathes his sword and imbues it with his white, light attribute aura. "Or you can not tell us and I will personally execute you right here and now. Now, pick a choice." He points his sword at Agon''s neck. He pushes his neck as far back away from the word as he can before closing his eyes. "I- I can''t tell you that! Please ask me anything else!" A moment later, Agon''s other arm is cut off. "Will you answer me now? Or will I have to cut off your legs as well? Keep in mind, we are at the Grand Temple. I can grab a priest at any time and re-attach those limbs for you. Agon stays silent for a second thinking out his options. "O- okay, I''ll talk. Can you please stop the blood flow?" Dustin puts his sword away and strikes some pressure points around the shoulder. The group that supported me called themselves the Arcanus Cult. They''re a group of fanatics that idolize this guy called Magnus Arcanus, but I''ve never heard of him. They wouldn''t tell me anything else even though they were the ones who invited me to join!" Agon continues to glow green from my eyes. MAGNUS ARCANUS! He still manages to manipulate the world even in his imprisonment! And for that cult to be powerful enough to take over the Church of Pyro, how much influence must they have? Do they already have control of all the kingdoms? Dustin speaks. "That''s no help, I''ve never heard of that group before or this guy named Magnus Arcanus." What? That bastard must have removed all records of him ever having existed! This is too much, has he already been unsealed? If so, then the world is already doomed! "Everything he''s said is true. "Is that so? Well, do you know the leader? Or any of the executives?" "Unfortunately I don''t know any-" He stops. "Wait, I''ve actually seen someone influential who might be an executive. I''ve seen him at one of the meetings surrounded by cultist guards." I scream out. "Really? Who is it?" "Duke Zephyr Ga-" Duke Zephyr Gaston? Suddenly, his head swells up and explodes, creating a giant pool of black blood. And dirtying the clothes of all in the room. Immediately afterwards, Dustin and all of his shadows shout. "Cleanse!" And their clothes are rid of the black blood. The shadows cast it onto themselves but Dustin casts it onto me. Immediately afterwards, all the black blood on the floor melts the stone floor, like acid. Phew, that was close. That could have turned out really bad. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. I turn to Dustin to thank him. I check my clothes to make sure there aren''t any left on it before looking at him. "Thanks Dustin, you really saved me ther-" "Crash!" What was that? I look down to where the sound came from and see Dustin''s motionless corpse on the ground, his armor with many holes and completely covered in black blood. Dustin? I see the five shadows in the room rush to his side. "DUSTIN!!!" Chapter 17: Black Blood Chapter 17: Black Blood The five shadows retrieve Dustin''s body with much haste and quickly carry it with them out the room at speeds I am barely able to react to. Out of nowhere, I feel my body starting to weaken, starting from my legs Ah, have I used the eye of truth too many times today? What is happening again? Oh right, Dustin. I have to save Dustin... My vision starts to blur while I see a humanoid figure in black run towards me. Huh- I thought the shadows had left already. Oh- right- there was one more watching the figurehead. Immediately when they get to me, they sweep my feet. Ow, that''s gonna hurt tomorrow- When I fall, they catch and carry me in their arms as they start running out the door, to catch up to the other shadows. Right before I fall unconscious, I try to open my mouth one last time to speak but it wouldn''t listen to me. Hey- I don''t want to held in this position it''s embarrass- "Zzz" I am awoken by a sudden sound of crashing. Immediately, I get up and open my eyes and see a young female maid who has dropped a plate full of herbs and medicine, now scattered across the floor. She looks familiar. "Lillian? Is that you? Are we in the Mint Estate Clinic?" She leans slightly as she bows, a complete contrast to her prior clumsy behavior. "I''m glad to see that you remember me, young master. It''s both happy and saddening to see you back here so soon." Why is she calling me young master? We''re both nobles... "Haha, there''s no need to address me that way, we''re friends aren''t we? You can speak comfortably with me. And yes, It seems I had some trouble dealing with-" Wait, what put me in this state? What am I forgetting?" I begin to tremble as I try to recover my memories and the cause of my trembling. "Arthur? Are you okay? I don''t respond and continue to think while trembling. I feel my facial expression turns to doom as I remember the events leading up to this point. Dustin! I immediately jump out of bed and grab her arms tightly, as my body continues to shake, full of fear. "Lillian! Is Dustin here as well? The Commander of the Holy Knights of Pyro?" Her face turns into an expression of fear staring at me, before quickly turning down as she begins to shiver. I quickly take my hands off of her. Ah, I let my emotions take over and lost control for a second there. I shouldn''t have grabbed her with that much force but I need to get to Dustin! "I''m sorry for grabbing you like that-" "H-he''s in the room on the top floor, 401. Poor girl, she''s stuttering. I hope I didn''t traumatize her. But I can''t waste any more time comforting her, I need to get to Dustin immediately! "Thank you" I say, as I rush out the room at my fastest, using Swift Wind, without taking another glance at her. "Sage System!" It lights up and hovers before flying off the stand next to my bed and following me. *** Lillian Mint continues to stand in silence with her head down. He grabbed my arms! Her face is completely flushed red as steam could be seen coming from her head. *** I run past many rooms as I head for 401. 310, 307, 305, 302, 301. I turn the corner. I see it! Stairs going to the fourth floor! It''s awkward to call you Sage System every time, from now on, you just be Sage. "ORDER RECEIVED. UPDATING SYSTEMS ... CHANGES COMPLETED. NEW NAME: SAGE." I jump up the two stairways in a single swift leap and make it up to the fourth floor. The entire floor is one giant room with several physicians working as quickly as they can to make medicine and keep his condition stable. It is loud and the shadows keep heavy watch over the physicians actions as well as keeping watch over the entrances of the estate to make sure there are no intruders. When I rise from the stairs, a young physician immediately spots me and is furious. "Who let a kid up here? We are working on a very important patient who is in critical condition, get out of here before I call security. There is no time for games. He must be stressed from working on a patient in such critical condition for so long. He''s a good physician, there''s no need to act up "Let me see Dustin." "What!?!? Did you not hear what I just said? Get-" One of the shadows from across the room interjects. "Let him pass. Don''t waste any more time on him and get back to work." The physician becomes afraid and quickly goes back to grinding more herbs. I bow to show my thanks. He acknowledges it by nodding before going back to monitoring the estate entrances. I walk up to the bed he''s lying on and see dark red spots and many old scars across his body. I grab a physician walking past me. "How long does he have left?" "At best, he has a week left to live." She says before brushing my arm off and walking off to her work station. I turn to Sage. The physicians are too busy to care about my conversation. "Sage, scan Dustin for just status abnormalities and as accurately as you can in one minute." "ORDER RECEIVED. COMMENCING STATUS ABNORMALITIES SCAN." It moves around his body, scanning every body part. A minute later, it flies back to me and projects a small screen in front of me. *** STATUS ABNORMALITY DETECTED: Parasite Curse (Black Blood) Accuracy: 99% *** "How do I cure it?" "ANSWER: THERE IS NO WAY TO CURE IT AS IT IS NOT A DISEASE OR POISON." What? Is this it then? Am I supposed to just watch as my friend dies! I get the urge to destroy something but I hold it in. "THERE IS HOWEVER, A TREATMENT METHOD FOR REMOVING IT." "What is it? Tell me quickly!" "YOU MUST ABSORB THE PARASITE CURSE INTO YOUR BODY AND BURN IT FROM THE INSIDE." That sounds dangerous. I gulp. "What is my survival rate for doing that in my current state?" "CALCULATING..." "SURVIVAL RATE: 1%" ... how low, but if it''s not 0%, that''s a risk I''m willing to take. How could I ignore his pain, when he was put in this situation because of me? I begin to reach my hand out, to absorb the parasite curse, but sage suddenly appears in front of my hand and blocks the path. "Get out of the way, I''ve already decided." "I CANNOT LET THE SUCCESSOR RISK THEIR LIFE TO SUCH A LOW CHANCE." I smack the small stone orb away and just before I make contact with Dustin''s body, my body and arms are tied. I look down and see the rope tying me is made of transparent blue mana. "LISTEN TO ME, FIRST SUCCESSOR, THERE IS ANOTHER WAY TO TREAT THIS, WITHOUT HAVING TO RISK YOUR LIFE FOR A ONE PERCENT SUCCESS RATE." "So why didn''t you tell me that in the first place?" "..." "THE TREATMENT METHOD REQUIRES HOLY WATER FROM THE HOLY GRAIL, A PHOENIX FEATHER, AND A RED DRAGON FLOWER." The first two ingredients have major healing properties and are easy to obtain since I can access the holy grail in the vault via the key, and phoenixes are said to be the divine beast of Pyro so the church has one tamed in the Grand Temple. The Red Dragon Flower however, was the result of a doomed love between a dragon and a human in a myth, where it was said that a single red flower sprouted from the corpse of the dead dragon. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. No one thought the story was real though since a flower that matched its description never showed up before. Come to think of it, how exactly does Luke Wolkan, a mage, know so much about poisons, diseases, and curses when he''s a mage? "AFTER HE BECAME A GREAT SAGE, HE STOPPED PROGRESSING HIS MAGIC AND INSTEAD STUDIED MAGIC ENGINEERING, ALCHEMY, AMONG MANY OTHERS.ONE OF HIS SECRET IDENTITIES WAS THE DIVINE PHYSICIAN." He must''ve become a Great Sage at a young age then. Wait no, I''m getting off topic. It was never stated directly in the story, where the dragon died but it was stated that it died in it''s own dungeon which is in the vast monster territories. I have my own theory as to where it died. There is a dungeon close to the border of the monster territories and the Usagan Kingdom that has been explored and conquered thousands of times since it was managed by the Adventurer''s Guild hundreds of years ago. It is the closest dungeon in the Monster Territories to the Usagan Kingdom and the human who loved the dragon was the princess of Usagan Kingdom. Though the dungeon has been explored hundreds of thousands of times, there is something that all adventurers know. It is that there is always at least one hidden dungeon inside a dungeon. That is why the Zidden Dungeon remains one of the most visited dungeons to this day despite being one of the easiest dungeons, as no hidden dungeon has been found yet. After arranging my thoughts, I try to get up but remember that I am still tied by Sage. "Okay, I won''t take the risk anymore, can you untie me now?" He retracts the chains and I immediately get up and look at it. Weird. I hit it with all of my strength but there''s not a single mark on it. What exactly is this made of? Anyway, to enter the Monster Territories and the Zidden Dungeon, I need to register with the adventurer''s guild or get permission from the Imperial Court. Because of a law passed by the previous King, all who wish to enter the Monster Territories must either be part of an Official Knight Order or registered with the Adventurer''s guild. This law was passed especially because most young noblemen are stupid and choose to wander from their escorts in almost all cases of this happening, they would lose their life. Of course, it is widely known that I am an exception so I can just request permission from the Imperial Court. However, because of the massive trial involving my father, it would take at least a week for me to get in contact with them. By the time I get permission, Dustin will already be dead so my only option is to register with the Adventurer''s Guild. I grab Dustin''s sword and begin to walk to the door. Before I leave, I turn around and clear my throat before speaking. "Physicians, please do your beat to keep him alive. I will be back with the ingredients and save him. After he recovers, I promise, the church will reward all of you greatly." Then, I walk out the door and head straight for the Adventurer''s Guild. Taking a carriage is too slow. After I get out of the building, I use Swift Wind and enhance my body in aura. Huh, I feel stronger than I felt in the dungeon or the clinic all of a sudden. I look upwards, at the sun- high in the sky. Could it be- because of the sun? Hmm, that argument is very plausible. So I''m stronger in the sun, I''ll make sure to remember that. I run as quickly as I can on the roof of houses, avoiding any people who may get in my way and delay me. If I remember correctly, it was this way. Chapter 18: Arcanus Cult Chapter 18: Arcanus Cult The room is dark, with only a single blue candle. Six hooded figures with dark robes gather around a long table with seven seats with one hoodless man wearing a smiling black demon mask and robes lined by gold sitting at the head of it. The room would be in complete silence had it not been disrupted by the hooded figure at the end of the table''s constant laughter. The others sit in silence, waiting for someone to talk. The hooded figure sitting at the opposite end of the table stares at the man with the demon mask from across the table intensely before being overtaken by their impatience and curiosity. "So... why have you gathered us here, Cult Leader?" The laughing figure''s face is shown in the light. He is skinny, pale, and has long, messy, dark yellow hair, and blood red eyes. "Kekeke- V-vanessa, you sh- shouldn''t speak t-to the leader like that. It''s r- rude. kekeke-" Vanessa comes into the blue light. She has the face of a young beauty, crimson red hair and eyes just like the laughing man. She angrily snaps back at him. "Shut up! No one is saying anything and I''m tired of listening to your disgusting laughter. I would''ve happily continued sitting in silence had it not been for you! And I don''t remember giving you permission to call me by my name, Mad Reaper. "Kekeke, it''s not something I can control Crimson Demoness, kekeke." The hooded figure sitting at the right hand of the cult leader suddenly interrupts their argument. "Enough. Do not forget you are in the presence of the Cult Leader." Crimson Demoness bares her fangs. "Don''t tell me what to do, old man. Why don''t you hurry up and retire already so I can take your spot?" "Kekeke, are you two going to fight?" The man with the black demon mask raises his hand and all three of them become silent. "I have finished conversing with the demons. I won''t apologize for wasting your time because the only person who''s time matters is me." The room stays silent and the reaper and demoness retreat back into the darkness, back into their seats. The man with the demon mask continues. "You must be wondering why I''ve summoned you. The person we planted into the Church of Pyro, Agon is dead." A hooded figure speaks and decides to continue hiding his face. "How is that possible? We gave him the voodoo brothers! They were both seventh circle mages! Could it be- has that bastard Dustin finally snapped and decided to kill everyone? I didn''t know he had it in him." "That''s not the case, but the reason why he died was more worrying. He tried revealing our secrets and died from the curse we put on him." Mad Reaper speaks. "Kekeke, I-I knew that b-bastard couldn''t be trusted, kekeke. You were the one who invited him to join us." He points at the hooded figure sitting at the left hand of the demon mask but they continue to stay silent. The right hand releases his killing intent. "We''re in the presence of the Cult Leader. Don''t act out otherwise," He grabs the handle of the silver greatsword, twice as large as his giant stature. "heads will start flying. I won''t repeat it a third time." "Kekeke, my bad, my bad, kekeke." He retreats back to the darkness once again as he continues his maniacal laughter. Suddenly, a killing intent even greater than the right hand is released from the direction of the demon mask. "But even that. Was not all." Several hooded figures begin shaking. "An Apostle of the cowardly goddess who ran away from our master has appeared." "Then we must kill him immediately." The left hand says. "And the identity of the Apostle is Arthur Ventrike." "Ventrike?" The hooded figure''s surprise quickly turns to gloom. The Crimson Demoness signs "Sigh- what a shame that we have to kill a talent like him. I heard he was quite the looker too." "Kekeke, what a shame indeed. I would''ve taken him in as my disciple if he had joined us, kekeke." She is annoyed. "Dream on you crazy bastard. Right hand, what are the chances that he would join us now?" "Zero Percent. Truly a shame. Perhaps in his next life, he may turn to the correct path." The Cult Leader speaks. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Now that we have that out of the way, who would like to go kill him?" The Crimson Demoness cheerfully raises her hand. "I''ll do it!" The other executives grumble. "Anyone else?" She jumps out of her seat. "Wait, why can''t I do it? Do you not trust me? How could I be seduced by a man, I am the one who does the seducing." "I am not one to take risks, Demoness. You are the least trustable in this situation as well as the weakest of us. You will back off from this mission that is an order." She returns back to her seat, her displeasure of the situation could be felt from the killing intent she unknowingly released. "I ask again, is there anyone else who would like to volunteer. There is no response. "... Who would like to send their subordinate?" There is no response. He turns to the man sitting to his left hand. "Gaston, since you were the one who proposed the idea, why don''t you take care of it?" He doesn''t respond. "You have a kid around his age who goes to the same academy right? Tell him to become friends with him, make sure he makes one last effort to have Arthur join us. If he doesn''t then, just tell your son to poison Arthur. Simple right?" "You are all dismissed." Three of the hooded figures start chanting as the two swordsmen, other than the right hand, begin to get up to walk out the door. One of the hooded figures stops as the demon mask speaks to them. "And Crimson Demoness, if you ever question my orders ever again... you won''t be able to finish your question." "... I will keep that in mind, Cult Leader." The swordsmen have already left the room and the other mages have already disappeared. She makes a face of rage after turning away and continues chanting her spell before disappearing in a puff of flames. There is silence for a moment between the demon mask and his right hand. "Tell the watchers to keep heavy surveillance on her. If she does anything suspicious, tell them to kill her immediately. I have no need for a dog that bites its owner." "Understood, Cult Leader." The right hand says before fading into an after image and disappearing. The Cult Leader is the only one left in the room and the candle wax burns thin. "Right on time." He says before taking off his mask and revealing his black hair and red eyes. Then, a candle blows out. Chapter 19: Adventurer’s Guild Chapter 19: Adventurer''s Guild Eventually, I arrive at a massive building in comparison to the houses on the other side of the street that has the Adventurer''s Guild''s sign on it. There is a long line of people forming at the right side of the building. I drop down into an alley between two houses before I walk into the Guild. When I enter, people are arguing, drinking, eating, and laughing. It is full of noise and life. This is exactly what I imagined it would be like. A man with gray hair, big muscles, and a giant greataxe carries a weak looking middle-aged man out. "Hic- hey there young lady hic- wanna spend the night with me? hic-" Before the man with big muscles throws him out. "And stay out you drunk!" After saying that, the man with the big muscles turns to me. "Hey there kid, I''ve never seen you ''round here before. Are you here to sign up to be an Adventurer?" The excitement on my face could be seen from a mile away. "Yes, sir! I have always wanted to be an adventurer!" "What''s your name?" "My name is Arthur!" "Hahaha, that''s good. An adventurer ought to have enthusiasm like you!" He rubs my hair. "You see that person over there talking to that man with the round shield?" He points to a young brown haired woman in the wooden reception area. I nod. "She''s one of our new receptionists, don''t give her a hard time. Go up to her and ask her about registration. She''ll get you all set up with it." "Thank you sir! Can I ask for your name?" "My name''s Derrick. Derrick Wayh. You''ll see me around here often. You see, we''re in the capital of Usagon which is far from the Monster Territories so most of the missions here are just escort missions or herb gathering." "Does that sound fun to you?" Not at all, but I shouldn''t act rude. "Uh, kind of?" "Hahaha, there''s no need to lie Arthur. People like us? We like to go on monster subjugation missions, that''s where the real fun of being an adventurer is." "I agree, sir Derrick!" "Hahaha I ought to get back to work now, but if fate wishes it, I''m sure we''ll see each other again." He walks away. Wow, Adventurers are so cool. Wait, what am I doing? I''m on a mission, I need to save Dustin! I wait in line behind a man with a round wooden shield and look around the guild as I wait. Ahh, how cool! This is my dream life! Not being tied down to anyone or anything, exploring dungeons, fighting monsters, meeting strong people, earning the respect of your peers, and most importantly- advancing the ranks! Ah, how nice it would be if this could be my life in my next. Then, I hear the man in front of me shout. "What do you mean this isn''t Fire Grass? I spent the whole day looking for this plant!" "Sir, please calm down. Look, in this book it says that Fire Grass has red and orange stripes. What you have there is Ember Weed that''s thinner and has no orange stripes. That''s a useless plant. " "This is close enough! I''ve spent the whole day looking for this stupid plant so just give me my damn money already!" I look at his hands. His left hand is completely clean and his right hand only has a thin fresh layer of dirt on it. He probably just ripped that out of the ground somewhere along the way here after he ate his lunch. "Look, if you don''t pay me for this," He puts his left hand on his sword. "Then I will-" "I think you''ve had too much to drink today sir, it would be best for you to leave and come back after you''re sober." I say as tightly grab his left forearm. "Scram kid, before I beat the shit out of you." "No, I don''t think I will." "I was trying to be nice, why do people keep testing my patience today- He tries to pull his sword out to slice my arm off with his ultimate technique. But he falls into a state of despair as he sees his sword not having moved even an inch from his sheath. How pathetically weak. "Ah, my apologies young master, it seems I did have too much to drink today hehehe. I will leave right now." "..." "Make sure you don''t drink too much next time, or your arm might really be gone next time." "Of course! I''ll never drink again hehe. Can you release my arm? It''s really starting to hurt hehe..." I let go on his arm and his arm, starting from the area that I held, to his hand had turned purple. After I let go of him, he quickly scurried off and ran out the door. She bows, then raises her head. She has brown hair and eyes and wears the formal adventurer''s guild receptionist outfit. Hm? Why does she have red circles around her eyes? She seems to be rubbing them a lot. "Welcome to the Adventurer''s Guild, my name is Amy. Thanks for helping me out with that guy, he tries to scam us every single day. But because he hasn''t committed a crime, we can''t ban him." "That must be rough." Her mood quickly changes. "Yeah, it is. Anyways, you are quite strong, but I''ve never seen you here before. Is this your first time visiting this branch of the Adventurer''s Guild in the capital?" "Oh no, this is my first time in any branch. I''m here to register. Could you explain how things work around here and help me with signing up?" She speaks quickly and keeps her smile on "Really? Most kids around your age should''ve signed up already. Are you perhaps the son of a noble? I''m spot on aren''t I? Haha" "Haha..." Her deducting skills are insane... She squats down under the booth and searches for something. "Aha, I found it!- Bang!" She slowly rises after hitting her head. "Ouch- here you go, this is the registration form! Oh, if you don''t know how to read or write, I''ll write it for you and read it to you." "? I thought- you knew I was a noble already?" She drops her manapen and the registration form. "You- you were really a noble?" "Ah, yes... is there a problem?" She squats down, retreating from reality and starts talking to herself. "I should''ve known he was a noble when I saw his face" She glances at me. "Even his clothes look expensive! How did I miss that???" "Uh, excuse me, Amy? Are you okay?" I say as I lean over the desk to see her. "Oh... yes I''m fine. It''s just my first time seeing a noble up close." "Are you going to execute me for speaking disrespectfully to you? Am I going to get beheaded?" Her eyes start to water. Ah, what do I do? If anyone sees this they''ll think I''m a bad person. Oh right! I reach into my dimensional storage and take out a heart shaped lollipop. Isabella always puts some kind of candy into my pocket when I''m not looking, but this is the first time it has been helpful. I should thank her the next time I see her. "Amy, do you like candy?" She looks up and her eyes sparkle as her mouth waters and she shakes her head up and down quickly. I hold it out my arm for her and she immediately snatches it from my hand once I fully extend it. She''s so... child-like, like Isabella when we were younger. Why did I suddenly think of Isabella? Must be because of the candy she gave me. There''s no way it''s because I miss her after not seeing her for over a month. How could I want to experience her distracting nature? She''s annoying. I haven''t seen father or Sebastian for over a month as well. My smile begins to fade but it quickly comes back after I return from my thoughts. "So, you aren''t going to kill me? How cute, she''s like the little sister I never had. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Haha- no, I''m not going to kill you. You can give me the registration form, I can fill it out myself." She gets up and picks it up from off the ground. Then she contemplates whether to hold the lollipop in the right or left hand, before deciding to just stick it in her mouth as she hands me the manapen and registration form. "Thank you very much." She takes the lollipop out of her mouth. Oh, by the way, if you don''t want to reveal your real name, you don''t have to. The guild respects the adventurer''s privacy. "Oh?" I can use a fake name and have a second identity! The first is the most talented swordsman, and the apostle of Pyro, and the second is the secret and mysterious super strong adventurer, how cool is that!?! "Thank you for letting me know. I will keep that in mind." Chapter 20: Registration Chapter 20: Registration I take a look at the form. *** First Name: Last Name: Age: Class: *** Hmm... It''s a lot shorter than I imagined. "Is there something wrong, sir?" Looks like I was unable to hide my emotions. "Oh- there''s no issue, I just thought the registration form seems a bit short, doesn''t it?" She takes a stance of pride and stands proud. "The foundation of the Adventurer''s Guild is that anyone who wants to join can join without discrimination. The more adventurers there are, the greater the force humans have against monsters! There are some who wish to keep their identity a secret- if it means that they will continue protecting the weak, then we will respect their wishes!" "... " "What an honorable mission!" "I know right! I started working here because of my admiration for adventurers that my father always told me about! Ah, I''ve shown an unsightly side to myself. My face turns red after the realization. "Ahem, I''ll fill out the form now." She slightly giggles. "Tehee- there''s nothing to be embarrassed for, it''s nice to see someone with as me. Please take your time." I begin to fill out the form. If there''s no need to put my name, I can just leave it blank. Hehehe- I''m going to be so mysterious. Age- 15. Last question, my class? Suddenly, a loud scream comes from in front of me. "AAAAHHH!!!" God, what the hell was that? I pull the registration form away from my face and see Amy on the floor crying again. "sob- My candy- sob- it''s gone! sob-" She says as she holds up the stick, the remnant of a former lollipop, while she continues to cry. She''s like an immature child again, does she have split personalities? "I''ll get you more candy the next time I visit, okay? So please stop crying." I give her a smile that a parent would give to their child to cheer them up. "You promise?" She begins to wipe her tears off her face. "Yeah, I promise." "Okay, then I''ll trust you this time." She begins to get up. Gosh, children are so troublesome. If I ever have any- My face turns as red as fire when out of nowhere, an image of Isabella smiling pops into my mind. A-ahem, let''s just answer the last question. My class, should I put a swordsman or mage? I finish the form and hand the form to Amy. "All finished?" "Yep. By the way, I thought that there were adventurer ranks which were based on your swordsman or mage stage, why didn''t the form ask me about that?" Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Oh, a new rank system was created about a year ago and replaced the old one. It was changed because many talented new adventurers who were of high stages died because they had no real combat experience." "So now, all adventurers start at rank F. In order to advance to the next rank, you need to obtain merit points that can be obtained through successfully completing quests. After you get the necessary amount of merit points, you can take the rank exam where you will be tested by an A rank adventurer. The way to advance past A rank is unknown, at least to me, but it is believed to require a tremendous amount of merit points. Oh, and you don''t need merit points to advance to E rank, we just need to see that you have mana. "Wow, you are quite knowledgeable despite acting so immature." Wait, did I say that out loud? I gulp before glancing at her She smiles at me without saying anything. Phew, she must not have heard me. "Haha, thanks for the compliment, I get that a lot." Nevermind she heard me. I laugh nervously. "Hahaha, sorry I let it slip out of my mouth for a second there." "It''s fine, I''ll let it go this time because you gave me candy." She cheerfully says, before she grabs my shoulder and her mood changes again. "But only because of the candy. Do you understand?" Hieek- how can someone be so terrifying when they''re talking about candy! I nod my head up and down quickly "Good, now let me take a look at your form and afterwards, you can take the exam to become an E rank." "A-alright..." How can someone change the mood so quickly? From the moment she looked at the form, I could see the confusion on her face. Then, it seemed she gained a realization and began to look at me with eyes full of pity. Why are you looking at me like that? I don''t need your pity! She looks even more confused after she puts the paper down. "I thought you were a swordsman or some type of warrior, you managed to completely immobilize that D rank Adventurer''s arm just by holding it. But you were a mage? How can a mage perform such physical feats?" Ah, I shouldn''t show my strength if I''m trying to act like a mage. Why do I keep forgetting? "Oh, I just imbued my hand with some mana, that''s all haha." She stares at me intensely. Please just buy it!!! "If you don''t want to tell me, that''s fine, we''re not supposed to pry into our advdnturer''s business anyway." "Here''s your temporary adventurer''s card. We don''t give official ones unless you''re an E rank. This is just used so that you can take the advancement exam." She hands me a piece of wood with the Adventurer''s Guild stamp on it. I stare at it with a look of disappointment. It just says Name: Nameless and Receptionist: Amy. Carved into the wood by knife. How cheap, all the more reason to rank up. "Alright, thanks for your help Amy. But I have one last question." "Ask away, Adventurer." All my excitement is returned to me. She called me an adventurer! I''m really an adventurer now!!! I try to hide my excitement. "A-ahem, what rank do I need to be to enter the Zidden Dungeon?" "To bring up the Zidden Dungeon, you must be trying to find the hidden room in the dungeon right? I''m right, aren''t I hehe." Darn, she''s spot on once again. "That''s right." Well, to enter any part of the Monster Territories as an adventurer, you need to be at least E rank." So I need to take the exam after all. I hope I won''t have to wait too long. I sigh without noticing. "Is there a problem adventurer?" "Oh, I just hope that the waiting list for the exam won''t take too long." "Are you in a hurry? The line is pretty long." Should I tell her? Gah, whatever, if she can help me skip the line then it doesn''t matter. "I can''t tell you the details but a life''s man is at stake." "I understand. I can help you get a faster exam and skip the line let me just try to find this-" She rummages through her cabinet under the booth and takes out another stamp. A yellow one. "Aha! I found it! Give me your adventurer ID." I hand it to her and she tightly presses the stamp onto it. "There, show that to the examiner and they should let you go next." I was careless, I can''t waste any more time. "Thank you for your help Amy. Let us meet again once this is all over." I say as I grab my ID back from out of her hands and start walking away. She jumps over the booth, grabs my shoulder and pulls me back. "When you brought up the Zidden Dungeon earlier, were you planning on going alone? Even if it''s an E rank dungeon, it would still be dangerous for you to go alone, without a party. You should join a party or hire some help since it''s your first time in a dungeon!" "How can I trust a party of strangers, who I just met to not steal the reward of the hidden room from me? A man''s life is at stake here!" "Your life is also at stake! All the reckless kids your age thought the same and died because they overestimated their own abilities and died!" Tears start to appear and run down her face in her anger. More genuine tears than the childish ones she cried earlier. "Just like my stupid older brother! I could''ve stopped him that day when he told me he wanted to raid that dungeon alone, but I didn''t." Her anger fades away as tears continue to fall down her face. "I was the one who encouraged him to try to do it by himself. I told him it would be so cool- if he could conquer a dungeon alone- sniffle- like the adventurers in the stories- sniffle- I waited the entire day, for him to come back and tell me about his adventure that day but he didn''t come home that day, or the next, or the day after that- sniffle- now it''s been four years since then, and here you are, someone the same age as him who looks exactly like him!" "I can''t make the same mistake twice, I won''t lose my older brother twice. I won''t let you go by yourself so join a party, or- or- I''ll take that card back from you! Promise me that you''ll join a party, promise me!" How disheartening. So the reason why her brown eyes were red before was because of constant crying. She must have felt so much guilt and regret that she cries every single day because of it. And the reason why she was showing me her childish side must have been because she wanted to experience her days as a kid without responsibilities and ignorance with her brother four years ago again. This child is so... pitiful. If she thinks of me as her older brother, then I will think of her as my younger sister. And how can an older brother turn a blind eye to his sister''s sadness and let them cry alone? I grab her shoulders and smile confidently. "I won''t die and leave you alone again, little sis," She stops crying and her eyes light up. He looks so much like him... "But if you''re that worried about me then I guess I can take a party with me. I promise I''ll return safely." She smiles with genuine happiness for the first time between us. "You''d better not die, or I''ll kill you! hehe" Chapter 21: E Rank Exam Chapter 21: E Rank Exam I walk through a long hallway and reach the end, where it splits into two paths. There were many people who were walking the same direction as me but took the left path. There is a sign: Left: Advancement Exam Right: Examiner Room Hmm, left or right? Amy told me to go this way, so I''ll trust her. I continue through the hallway, with the right path. Weird, there is no one here. I thought there would be some kind of guard or barricade but no, it''s just a simple wooden hallway. After some time, I reach the end, where a simple wooden door is located This place is really simple and unextraordinary... "Knock, knock, knock" Time to wait for a response... Immediately afterwards, unexpected by Arthur, there is a response. "Derrick if that''s you, I already told you I don''t want to be the Guildmaster!" Huh- Derrick must be the Guildmaster of this Adventurer''s Guild Branch. Though he was just a regular adventurer from the way he acted. "No response? Must not be Derrick then. You can come in." Oh, I was lost in my thoughts for too long. This is a really bad habit of mine, I should fix it. I open the door and see a thin old gray haired man sitting on a chair reading a blue book. In a large, well furnished room with many empty desks and another door in the back of the room. Woah, the magical energy exuding out of his body is amazing and he seems to be reading a book about water magic... he must be a mage, and a very powerful one at that! Then, he looks up from his book and stares intensely at me. "I''ve never seen you here before, you must be a new adventurer who can''t read. That''s fine, I''ll let it go this time. Go back and take a left instead of a right, or just follow where the other adventurers are heading, you''ll be set on the correct path for the advancement exam." Seeing how he''s the only one in this room and has been given the chance to be branch leader, he must be the head examiner. "What are you doing just standing there? Do you not know how to speak Aegel?" "Oh, I apologize, I was lost in my thoughts again. I''m in a hurry to take the advancement exam. I need to get an E rank as quickly as possible." "Look, you''re going to have to wait in line with the other adventurers to take it. Everyone''s in a hurry, you aren''t the only one. Now leave me and let me read my book in peace." He returns to his book. What should I do? Oh right, Amy gave me a special stamp! "Sir, Amy sent me and gave me special permission to skip the line." "Amy? Ah, that young receptionist. Vincent''s little sister. Come to think of it, you kind of look alike, are the two of you related?" He says without looking up from his book. Why is he making small talk? "No, I don''t think so..." "Okay, do you have the golden stamp?" He closes his book. "Yes, I have it right here." I hold out my adventurer''s ID "Bring it here." I walk over to him and carefully hand it to him. He takes it out of my hands with precision and swiftness. He adjusts his glasses before carefully examine the ID. A minute passes. What''s taking him so long??? He takes off his glasses and hands me the ID back. "This is without a doubt, Amy''s carving. The stamp is also real." It worked! Thank you Amy, I''ll be sure to bring you tons of candy next time. "So, can I skip the line?" "Yeah, yeah, someone take him to the examination grounds." I look around. Who is he speaking to? There''s no one else in the room. "Right, no one''s here. I guess I''ll take you myself then." He softly sighs. What? Did he just sigh!?! How is this guy the head examiner? "What are you doing? Follow me." He is already at the back door. I need better situational awareness. "Right, I''m coming. I catch up to him and when I do, he opens the door and reveals a hallway the exact same as the one it took to get there. He casts some kind of water disc under his feet and begins to hover across the air at high speeds. How cool will I be able to do that eventually? I ran to keep up with him. "Listen to me F rank, my name is Blaine Aquafield. Since there are no examiners other than me who are free, I will be examining you. For the E rank advancement, all you need to do is show that you have, and can use mana. Simple enough right? For swordsmen, just imbue your sword with mana and for mages, cast any spell." "Huff, huff, yes sir, huff-" "You have pretty good stamina and agility for a mage." Why does he keep making small talk? I''m barely able to keep up with him. Why and how is he going so fast? Eventually, he releases his water disc. "We''re here." Finally, I can rest. I gasp for air as I lay down on the floor. "You''ve done a good job keeping up with me." "Huff- Huff- Huff- t- thank you. Huff- huff-" He stays silent for a few seconds just staring at me. "Okay! That should be enough time to rest, let''s go!" This guy is a demon! Just let me rest! He opens the door and reveals the sun as we walk out onto a balcony. Under the balcony, there are several platforms where Adventurers are sparring against A rank examiners. On the balcony, there are a few people wearing something like examiner clothing. They must be Examiner assistants. When they notice him, they immediately take a deep bow before returning to their surveillance on the examinees. Hey, this feels like that one time with Dustin- He randomly asks one of the examiner assistants. "Are there any empty arenas available?" The anxious examiner assistant stumbles on his words. "O-oh I think t- there might be an empty one in s- section two. I- It''s an honor to meet- meet you sir." "Alright thanks." He waves at me to come over. "Follow me, we''re going down to the empty arena. I quickly follow after him. He casts some kind of water shield above in a shape that deflects the sunlight. "The sun is bad for my skin." We arrive at the empty plate that has a barrier and he continues to keep the water umbrella over his head. "Okay, now show me some magic." "I have a question for the examiner, why couldn''t we do this inside the building? The building is protected by a barrier." "Are my desks protected by a barrier? Are my papers protected by a barrier? ARE MY PLANTS PROTECTED BY A BARRIER?" He mutters something. "Actually, my plants are, I made a barrier protecting them myself. "Oh... I hadn''t thought of that, so I apologize. This guy''s crazy, it''s not like my magic was going to become unstable and explode! I''m not a novice mage! Oh wait, I am. "Stop wasting time F rank, now show me some magic." 2nd circle Solar Imaginary Technique, Dawn! Lets just shorten it to Dawn next time. Dawn appears above my head. "There, can I get my E rank tag now?" "What a weird looking fireball, but no, if it was that easy, then the law would change nothing since most nobles could use mana already. Survive three of my attacks and show me that you are strong enough. I don''t care if you dodge it, block it, or send it to another dimension. Show me that you can survive." He begins to move backwards and makes some space between us. "First attack." He begins to chant in the mystical language. He summons three swirling balls of water. Is that a water ball? They suddenly shoot out like a beam. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. No! That''s a water cannon! They all shoot out at once and I nimbly dodge two while blocking the other with Dawn. "Second attack." He chants in the mystical language Damn, is he not giving me a break? Well, this was expected. He falls down to the floor and holds the floor. Is he... surrendering? I feel the ground beneath me rumble. I need to move now! I instinctively jump out of the way just before a huge water pillar rises out of the ground like a water geyser. Holy crap, that was way too close. I almost got hit by that! Is he seriously trying to kill me? If that was just the second attack, then the third attack will be astronomically stronger! I can''t win, I should just find another way to get the Red Dragon Flower, everything will be lost if I die! "Final attack." He doesn''t chant Damn it, if he''s not chanting then it means he has a perfectly clear image of the spell in his head, how many times has he casted that spell in order to cast it without chanting! He reaches out his right hand and points his palm towards me. It seems to be some kind of giant beam attack! I can''t dodge it, I have to block it! But I can''t do it without my sword! Suddenly, a thought springs into my mind. I just need to counter it with a giant beam of my own! His spell seems to be a 6th circle spell and to counter it, I''ll need at least a 7th circle spell that I imagined, Solar Death Ray, but I am limited by the amount of circles that I have. All I can do is a weak 2nd circle imitation of the spell. I summon a small swirling ball of flames. While looking down, seemingly having lost my will to fight. I imagine him making a face of disappointment. It seems you were not able to live up to my expectations. Still, you still did great up until this point. I summoned another one. Two won''t change the outcome. Then two more appear. Hm? Then four more appear, then eight, then sixteen, multiplying rapidly before my eyes. My composure cracks as the flames continue to swell in number. This... this... is impossible! How can this be!?!?! How can a second circle have so much mana!?!?! The entire sky becomes a canvas of flames, each one blazing fiercely, like a multitude of stars in the night sky. The sheer number, the radiant heat, it''s all overwhelming. Hehehe, I may be limited by my number of circles, but my mana is not one of my limitations! I''ll call this move, Daybreak! This is my Victory, Blaine Aquafield! Chapter 22: Advancement Chapter 22: Advancement In the next instant, a torrent of magic erupts from Blaine''s palm¡ªa massive, relentless surge of water that roars forth with overwhelming force, as if he had unleashed an entire ocean in a single spell. If I get hit by that, I will definitely die; the pressure of that water will surely crush my bones and flatten me! My spell isn''t designed for defense; it has too many gaps. I need to compress all the hundreds of solar rays into a single, immense ray. I must confront his spell head-on to counter it. All the miniature sun-like orbs scattered across the sky begin to converge, drawn toward my outstretched hand. It''s working! I can win! I glance up abruptly and see the towering pillar of water hurtling toward me, its sheer size and force about to engulf me. Shit! Daybreak hasn''t fully gathered into one spot yet. Am I really going to die like this? *** The orbs of Daybreak come to a halt. Damn it, did I use too much power? It didn''t seem like he was able to complete his spell to counter mine¡ªis he really dead? Wait, what''s this? An insanely bright light emanates from the end of the water pillar. The fiery orange of the sun meets the water pillar, which has now stalled, as if it''s clashing with an equal force. My specialized spell, Deep Sea Surge, is being countered by a 2nd circle mage? How is this possible? His imaginary power is the highest I''ve ever seen! With the greatest imaginary power I''ve witnessed, he will undoubtedly become the greatest mage of this era in a decade or two. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The orbs of Daybreak resume their movement as the light from the end of Deep Sea Surge grows brighter, seemingly drawing closer. Wait, no¡ªI''m not just being blocked; I''m being pushed back! How is this happening? I should have the elemental advantage over fire! There''s no way I could possibly be pushed back, unless¡ªhis flame is so intense that it''s boiling my water on impact! Blaine chuckles, his grin wavering as sweat drips down his face, his eyes filled with anxiety. "Heh, this brat is an absolute monster." The Deep Sea Surge is pushed back further, the number of Daybreak orbs in the sky dwindling. Hoh, this situation is getting quite dangerous. Blaine glances at his left hand, relaxed at his side. Should I¡ªuse Twin Water Dragons? Then, Blaine starts sweating profusely, at a dangerously high rate. Is it just me, or is it getting kind of hot, haha... He looks up and sees that all the orbs are gone from the sky, leaving only a beam of light as bright as the sun rapidly approaching. Damn it, there''s no time to cast Twin Water Dragons! I''m sure I told him the sun was bad for my skin; that inconsiderate bastard. *** Did I- Did I do it? Did I win? I can barely feel any mana left in my body... I drop down to the ground and lay flat on my back. Haha, so this is what the other swordsmen felt after they used the mana blade for so long. It feels like... shit. I cover my eyes from the blinding sun. "Ugh, I feel like shit." I close my eyes and bask in the sun. Well, I guess I should be thankful for the sun. I can feel my mana slowly returning to me. The solar mana gathering technique is pretty useful Then, a figure walks into my vision as they stand over me, casting their shadow over me. What''s going on? My mana isn''t regenerating anymore! I open my eyes and see a man with gray hair greeting me with an evil smile and the sun now blocked by some kind of water construct. "Hey there F Rank, I''m sure I told you that the sun was bad for my skin, yet you tried to kill me with that. He falls to the ground and begins acting like a frail young noble lady. "How terrible! How could you try to kill a frail old man like me." "Get up you old man! You tried to kill me first without giving me any warning! Besides, you look fine! He gets up and fixes his clothes, brushing the dirt off of his clothes and changes into a serious tone. Wait, how did he get out of that unscathed? "Wait, Aquafield, how did you survive that attack anyway? I was certain it hit you." He smiles while he points upwards to his weird water construct. "It was because of this, it''s a magic artifact created from a water dragon mana core back when I was adventuring with my party." "Woah, a water dragon? What rank were you when you were adventuring?" He slightly shows anger. "Don''t you know it''s rude to ask a retired adventurer what rank they were in their prime! "Oh, I''m sorry, I wasn''t aware of that." He must be sensitive about something, I must find out! I am, after all, the collector of sad backstories! He notices his sudden outburst of anger and calms himself. I turn on my serious mode. "Please tell me your story sir Blaine." He hesitates but eventually sighs and agrees. "Sigh- alright, I was once one of the strongest and most famous adventurers. You might''ve heard of me, I was called the Hidden Water Dragon. Wait, the Hidden Water Dragon? I''ve heard of that before! "The Hidden Water Dragon? As in, the S rank, genius 7th circle Grand Wizard of Water in the legendary party from 40 years ago, Crystal Dragon?" Dustin keeps a straight face, without emotion throughout the entire story, as if none of it mattered to him. "Yeah, I joined at the age of 28, impressive right? I became a 7th circle at the age of 30 and retired at the age of 40. I say retired but actually, I was fired after I got in an argument with the party leader Durandal who was seduced by a 7th circle mage who practiced black magic and changed her appearance. After they fired me, they went into a dungeon and fell into her trap. In the end, most of the party including the leader died and I went on to train without looking back, so that I would not have to be under anyone ever again. But, as you can see. I''m 80 years old now. It''s been 50 years since I''ve become a 7th circle and I will probably die before I reach the 8th so when the Guild executives offered me the position of Vice Guildmaster, I took it." I never heard about that in the stories, it was said that the party disbanded after they killed the water dragon. He doesn''t seem sad, but not happy either. I should lighten the mood. "Wait, does that mean the Dustin you were talking about when I knocked, you were referring to the Barbarian GreatAxe!?!?!" His expression seems ro soften. "Yeah, that old bastard has been trying to push the work of the Guildmaster along with the position onto another old man like me. I want to. Adrink now, do you want one too? - Haha, I''m just kidding, you''re too young to drink. Let''s go back, you passed." "Wait, there is still something we haven''t talked about yet. How is all of this necessary for just an E Rank Advancement!?!?" He seems to need to vomit as he keeps his mouth shut, trying to hold something back before he coughs and clears his throat "It wasn''t necessary for the E rank exam. All you had to do was survive the first attack to pass." He says with a straight face. Why is it that every old man I meet has gone senile... "So you tried to kill me for no reason?" "What do you mean? Of course there was a reason, you said you were in a hurry didn''t you? Even if you became an E rank, you would be given last priority for the warp gate to the Monster Territories." "So, am I going to be given a higher rank to receive higher priority?" "What? Why would I do that? You need to get merit points in order to rank up, not just have combat abilities, otherwise, we would just revert to the old ranking system. I clench my fist. This senile old man keeps wasting my time! Lets just keep calm, maybe there''s something else he''ll give me for higher priority. "So, why did you bring up my low priority?" "Huh? No reason." THAT''S IT, I DON''T CARE IF I DIE FIGHTING, I''M KILLING HIM HERE! I began casting Daybreak. "Woah calm down, I was just kidding, don''t be so stiff haha... I am going to give you the Vice-Guildmaster''s token that gives you the highest priority." I release my spell and calm down. "So, did I pass? Are you going to give it to me now?" "You didn''t need to pass for me to give it to you, I''m the Vice-Guildmaster, I can give it to whoever I want and they will treat you as well as they treat me. So, you could''ve just given me your token without needing to try and kill me! "Sigh- well, thank you." I outstretch my hand. "What are you doing? I don''t have it with me, I didn''t think you were going to be able to pass!" This fucking bastard. "Phew, okay. Let''s go then. And get that water construct away from me, I like the sun." "Geez alright, you''re just calling me old in multiple languages now. I''ll keep it to myself then. Why does this old geezer keep trying to act young? The sun shines on me and I can feel my body become stronger as well as the mana start regenerating within me. "Oh, I have your new adventurer''s ID because you met my expectations and survived the first attack." He hands me an iron card with my information written in engravings. Yes, I did it, I''m finally a real adventurer! *** This kid, he''s more happy about receiving an E rank ID than my token. Oh Pyro, what has this world come to? *** We walk out of the battle torn arena with the barrier shattered and other examiners running to restore the broken barrier as they head to the Examiner''s room without looking back. Chapter 23: Warp Gate Chapter 23: Warp Gate We arrive back at the Examiner''s room which is still empty. He leads me to a desk in the corner of the room which is much dirtier than the rest. This is his desk? Blaine looks back at me. "What''s up with your face? It''s dirty to keep thieves away from the treasures hidden inside it!" That... actually not a bad idea. As long as there is still barrier magic- He easily opens the desk drawer. No barrier magic or even a lock? I take it back, this guy is absolutely insane. I should avoid him the next time I see him. He snaps me out of my trance impatiently. "What are you doing just standing there? Come here and take one of them already!" I walk over to the drawer, initially not noticing anything wrong but suddenly have a realization. Wait, what did he mean "one of them"? I look down into the drawer and see the entire drawer filled to the brim with gold tokens with the letters, B. A. engraved onto it. He has so many of them... how is his token even worth anything if there are so many of them!?!?! "Vice-Guildmaster Aquafield, why do you have so many tokens? Also, it doesn''t seem like you have any magic or locks protecting it, can I ask why that is?" "It doesn''t matter boy. Just pick one already!" Even if this old man is crazy, he''s still the vice guildmaster so this must be some kind of test. I need to concentrate. I stare intensely at the drawer. But they still all look the same. Focus harder! I strain my eyes and stare even more intensely at the tokens. I see it! One of the tokens radiates a golden aura and I immediately grab it. Blaine stays silent as he is lost in his thoughts. *** This boy has unbelievable perception abilities. *** "So that''s the one you''ve chosen?" I''ve made up my mind. "Yes, I will choose this one." "Are you certain? You can''t pick another one, last chance." What''s wrong with him? Oh, I get it now, this was the only real one out of all of those so I passed the test. I confidently responded. "Yes, I''m sure." He sighs. "Sigh¨C" He sighs again. "SIGHHH¨C okay. Well, congratulations on your promotion. I would tell you where the warp gate was, but I forgot. Go back to the receptionist''s desk and ask them for the location. What was the phrase again- right, to Glory, Peace, and Freedom. Or something like that." How did he get such an important position when he''s so incompetent? Whatever, let''s just get this over with. I take out Dustin''s sword and hold it in front of me. Then I close my eyes and recite the Adventurer motto back to him. "To Glory, Peace, and Freedom.." Wow, I''ve heard it said so many times in stories but have never heard it said aloud before, it''s so cool! I sheathe my sword and begin to leave. "Good luck with whatever you''re in a hurry for and don''t die. It would be bad if that Amy girl started crying even more. That''s the first nice thing he''s genuinely said to me! It''s... weird. "Don''t worry old man, there''s no way I would die before you. I''ll see you soon." I walk out and head back to the receptionist desk for directions. Dustin keeps his emotionless face and silence as he watches me leave the room before breaking down into panic. AAAAGH THE TOKEN THAT HE TOOK WAS THE ONLY ONE NOT MADE OF GOLD, BUT DIVINUM!!! WHY DID I EVEN TURN MY SHARE OF THE DIVINUM INTO A STUPID TOKEN!?!?! HOW DRUNK WAS I THAT NIGHT?!?! Ugh- I hope- no he better not lose it and return it back to me safe and sound! After tracing my steps back, I see the task boards of the main room. I look around the area and spot the reception desk. As I walk past the other adventurers, I overhear some rumors. "Did you hear about the 15 year old newbie Adventurer who fought against our Vice Guildmaster and won?" "Did that really happen?" "Yeah, the whole arena and even the barrier was destroyed from their fight." "What''s his name?" "What does he look like?" Haha, they''re talking about me aren''t they... wait! This is amazing, my fame is increasing, soon, my name will be told to all the young children across the world and be an inspirational figure to all! Hahaha. My expression turns dark. Wait, but I didn''t put my name on the registration, so what''s my name? I take out my adventurer''s ID and stare in disbelief at the blank section where my name is supposed to be. It''s over. It''s all over, my name will never be written in the history books... I will be forgotten. The other adventurers continue to gossip. "That''s the thing, he is nameless!" Wait, nameless? That''s actually not a bad name. Hm nameless, it''s a great name! I will be the mysterious nameless super secret adventurer in all black, nameless! Thank you rumors, you''ve saved me. I notice Amy in the corner of my eye and walk towards her with a big smile on my face. She notices me approaching and her face brightens, she waves at me. Ahh, how cute. "Hey there Amy, thank you for helping me skip the wait." "Don''t be sorry about it, it''s no big deal. Anyway, did you pass the exam?" "Huhu, who do you think I am?" I pull out my Adventurer''s ID. "Of course I passed!" S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "That''s great! I''m assuming you came back because you want to know the location of the warp gate?" "You''re spot on once again." Seriously, how does she know everything? "Did you see the long line forming outside our guild?" She must be talking about that line formed at the right of the building "Yeah, I saw it." "That line leads to a warp gate for adventurers. It costs a gold coin to use and has a very long wait time, but adventurers who use it are those from other factions who came to the capital city for business purposes, so they can afford it." "Oh, I see. Thank you for letting me know. I''ll be off then." I begin to leave but she suddenly shouts after me. "Wait, big brother- I know it''s not allowed for me to ask you for your information, but can you tell me your name?" Ahhhhh, she called me big brother, she''s so cute! "Hmm, I don''t know, should I?" Her eyes start to water up. "You''re a big meanie!" Ah, did I go too far? "I''m sorry, I''m sorry please don''t cry. " "Sniff- so will you tell me your name?" "My name is Arthur. Arthur Ventrike. If you are ever in danger and need help, go to Wolkan Academy and tell the headmaster that you''re Arthur''s little sister. She''ll give you lots of candy." Her tears immediately fade. "Candy!? Okay, I''ll forgive you this time brother." I''m dying from her cuteness!!! Wait, if she''s working here, then does that mean that she needs money? I scramble through my money bag. Ten silver coins, one gold coin, and two platinum cards, huh? I take two platinum cards out and hand it to her and she becomes serious. "Arthur, this is too much money. I can''t accept this." Seeing how mature she can be, it''s clear that after her brother died, she had to take care of herself at a young age, in this cruel world. Her childhood is nearly over. "No, please take it. You''ve had such a hard life and had to experience what no one should have to experience. Maybe, after all of this is over, I can take you out and I can help you finally enjoy the happy childhood you were supposed to receive. Until then, you can take this, and use it for whatever you want." She returns to her child-like state of mind. "Thank you brother and it might not make sense to say this to the great nameless, but please stay safe." She knew about it huh? I should''ve expected it already, she knows about everything. "I''ll see you later." I say as I walk away. I leave the building and walk to its right side. Ugh, despite over an hour passing, the line is still this long huh? Oh well, not like it affects me either way since I have the Vice Guildmaster''s token. As I walk past the line, there is initially no sound but the further I go, the more people I see looking at me with angry expressions and some even bad mouthing me. Sfill, none of them lay a finger on me. They can say what they want but they don''t touch me because they are still uncertain that I am skipping the line. Glad to see that at least B ranks use their brains. I continue to walk past the line up until I reach the front and take the first spot, after the latest person stepped through the portal. The portal closes after he walks through. I can feel the anger directed at me, staring at the back of my head. They may be angry, but B ranks will try to figure out the situation first before doing anything because they are smart¨C The portal regulator begins to ask me something. "Excuse me sir, you will have to wait at the back of the line if you don¨C" A man grabs my shoulder and grips it tightly, interrupting the portal regulator. "Hey kid, I don''t know what rank you are but like the portal regulator said, get to the back of the line." I turn around and see a man with crazy dark red hair that looks like a berserker. The portal regulator tries to speak but is cut off again. Behind the berserker-like man is another man trying to calm him down. He must be his bodyguard, and that berserker must be the son of some kind of faction leader since he doesn''t seem that strong and has a bodyguard. It''d be fun to mess with him a little bit. "I''m an E rank." The berserker is dumbfounded. "Are you affiliated with any faction?" "Nope!" He turns to his bodyguard. "Hahaha, see Makle? He''s just some nobody, no one will care if we beat him up, he''s the one skipping the line anyway." The bodyguard backs away as the berserker begins to approach me. Before he gets to me, the portal regulator steps between us and stops him. "If you interrupt me one more time, I will ban you from using this portal, now step away." "Don''t you know who I am? I''m a C rank adventurer and the heir of the Berserker Guild! Looks like I was right, he was a berserker and he wasn''t that strong, but to just be a C rank? Pathetic. I try to hold in my laughter, but a giggle slips. "HUH? DID THIS E RANK JUST LAUGH AT ME!?!" The portal regulator stops him once again. "Fighting is prohibited at this portal. I don''t care who you are, now stop holding up the line." The berserker becomes slightly embarrassed and backs away to his bodyguard. The portal regulator turns to me. "Now, you must have a good reason for skipping the line or there will be serious consequences." "Of course I have a good reason." I pull out the Vice Guildmaster''s token. "Here it is!" "The Vice Guildmaster''s token? Well, you must know the reason why I must inspect the token, right?" Right, because there are so many of them in the drawer that have no lock or barrier magic. "Yeah, it was quite the sight haha." "Hoh, so you have this one huh? You must either be the greatest thief or truly one recognized by the Vice Guildmaster. This is real, you may pass. He hands it back to me. "Thank you sir, portal regulator. Here is the fee." I handed him a gold coin. "There''s no need for that, a guest of Blaine is a guest of mine. And no guest of mine needs to pay a fee." Referring to the Vice Guildmaster by his first name? They must be close friends. I push the coin closer to him. "Consider this a tip then, for your exceptional service this fine afternoon." He hesitantly takes the coin out of my hands. "I appreciate the tip, adventurer recognized by the vice guildmaster. I won''t forget your generosity. Where to?" "The border town. Ashland." He moves aside and begins chanting. Then, a purple portal opens. Hm, it''s a different color than the one I used to get at Wolkan academy. Ah- I shouldn''t think of that, let''s just save Dustin and father so that I can go back. I do not look back, but I can feel the berserker in complete shock as I walk through the warp portal. Chapter 24: Ashland Chapter 24: Ashland After I step through the warp portal, I enter a dimension where bright purple lights are rushing past me at high speeds where I am left alone with my thoughts. One thing the headmaster told me was that most warp gates made by not just inexperienced portal mages, but any portal mage without multiple decades of experience''s portals are vulnerable to attacks where another portal mage could disrupt the warp portal and change the destination. Luckily, the portal mage who managed my portal is one of the most experienced in this age, so not only is his warp portal safe, but also fast. I gaze at the lights flashing past me. This portal on the other hand, is not as good. It shouldn''t be that long of a distance between the capital and Ashland. But, we still haven''t gotten there yet. I wonder how long it will take. My portal was near instant. The lights flashing past start to slowly become just white. Looks like I''m closing in on my destination. That wasn''t too long of a wait. Everything turns into a blinding white light. The next moment, a house comes into view, before the town appears. This town is a lot less... visually appealing than the capital city. Not to be mean but, the capital also has slums and people living in poverty, but this whole town looks like the slums. Well, what can you expect from a town bordering the slums? Lets see, where is the adventurer''s guild? "Hello there adventurer, welcome to the Ashtown Adventurer''s Guild, please continue working hard for the sake of peace. To Glory, Peace, and Freedom." Says a man wearing a green suit, resembling the adventurer''s guild receptionist outfit in the capital. I nod in acknowledgement. He must be working here for tips. He''s so over the top. But... I do need to know where the adventurer''s guild is. The man continues staring at me in anticipation. I sigh before reaching into my pocket and taking out a silver coin. He smiles and tilts his head slightly, before taking the coin out of my hand. "Hooh, tell me where the guild is." "Thank you for your kindness, sir adventurer. The entrance to the guild is just behind you." This sly bastard scammed me! Whatever- I can''t afford to waste any more time. I turn away from the scammer and see a sight I wasn''t expecting to see. The adventurer''s guild in this town is almost as grand as the one in the capital! It completely contrasts the rest of the city. Actually, it kind of makes sense. An adventurer''s guild branch being big when it''s close to the monster territories makes sense. I hear lots of noise coming from the interior It seems another thing that doesn''t change between all branches of the Adventurer''s Guild is how loud it is. I walk through the entrance. Hmm the average level of strength between this branch is higher than the capital. Everyone here is equipped with weapons and armor, even the mages! Most adventurers in the capital were there to meet nobles or F ranks who took on civilian commissions like cleaning. However, everyone here is here for subjugating monsters or raiding dungeons so all of them are at least E rank. I walk over to the task board. Kill 10 slimes? No. Kill 5 goblins? No, not that one. Capture the bandit, Fuze? No. No. No. No. WHERE IS THE DAMN QUEST FOR THE ZIDDEN DUNGEON!?!? I''VE LOOKED THROUGH ALL THE QUEST BOARDS BUT STILL CAN''T FIND IT!!! I walk over to a female black haired receptionist. "Excuse me ma''am could I''m new to this town. Can you explain to me why there are no quests for dungeons posted on any of the quest boards?" She starts to blush and avoids eye contact. "O-of course I can explain that to you adventurers, the Zidden dungeon is more of a landmark than a dungeon. For a few decades now, we have not been giving out rewards for clearing dungeons that have already been cleared." It seems my knowledge on the adventurer''s guild is outdated, since I mainly got that knowledge from old stories and myths. "Oh right- I had forgotten about that. Thank you for reminding me." I place a silver coin on the table. 8 Silver coins left, not a lot. I have to use my money sparingly now. Never thought I''d see the day when I''d ve left with less than 10 silver coins since I became the Grandmaster''s disciple. I walk out of the guild and wait for a carriage. I waited for several minutes. I know this town is poor, but are there really no carriages? Then a man wearing a ranger hat speaks to me as he walks toward me. "Hey there young adventurer, you waiting on someone?" He doesn''t seem like a bad person "I''m just waiting for a carriage." "Haha, what''re you a noble? You must be new to Ashland, we don''t have carriages here. This is a town of adventurers. We get to our destination by walking. And if you do see a carriage, they''re probably bandits trying to steal your money so watch out for them. Anyways," He puts his hand on my shoulder before entering the guild building. good luck with your adventure!" He didn''t seem evil, so I shouldn''t take his words lightly. A second later, a worn down carriage stops in front of me, the coachman wearing a wrinkled and old suit. His clothing is suspicious, as if he had stolen the suit from the original owner and not bothered to take care of it. I am suspicious, but looks can be deceiving. I shouldn''t judge him too quickly. "Need a ride young adventurer?" He says with a sinister and evil smile. I take it back, he is definitely evil but let''s see what he tries to do. I needed a ride anyway since I don''t know where the Zidden Dungeon is. "Yeah." I say as I open the door to the carriage. I''m certain he isn''t a coach now. No coachman should ever let their customer open the door by themselves. "Where to?" He asks without turning around to face me. I can hear and feel other people in the carriage moving, under my seat. Clearly they are an inexperienced bandit group. The carriage begins to move. Hah, this guy clearly isn''t bringing me to the Zidden Dungeon. I barely spoke loud enough for myself to hear it. There''s no way he could have heard it. As the carriage moves, we pass by the same ashy and depressing colored houses. Then, we pass by an opening where there are many people with weapons standing around some kind of old gate leading downwards. Was that not just the Zidden dungeon? These bastards must take me as a fool. I grab my sword, but keep it sheathed. Then, the carriage moves out of the city and into a green forest. He must be taking me to the rest of the bandits. Looks like it''s time for me to act. "Coachman, where are we going? Didn''t we pass by the dungeon a while ago?" He angrily responds. "Shut up kid! We''re almost there! He''s not even a third grade bandit, but a fourth grader. Tsk. Eventually, the carriage stops. "Did we arrive yet?" "Yeah, now get out you little brat." Hoho yeah I''m going to have fun punishing him. I gently open the door. Let''s not reveal my strength just yet. I can''t have these bandits running away now. I get ready to act as well as I can. "Mister, where are we? I don''t think this is the Zidden dungeon!" "Hahaha, you''ve fallen into my trap you ignorant young adventurer. Just give us all your money and we won''t kill you, we''ll just sell you as a slave hahaha! I''m sure your pretty face will get us quite a lot of money." This disgusting human trash. I was thinking about just turning them in but. Should I just kill them? My acing mask disappears for a second as my facial expression becomes that of insanity. "W-what do you mean we?" Figures began to emerge from the forest. One, five, eight. Ten including the ones in the carriage seats. This should be easy, none of them seem to be above advanced rank. There''s no need for me to use magic or aura that''ll scare them off. "S-stay back!" I slowly pull out my sword while shaking heavily. There is no better actor than me. Soon, the bandits loosely surround me in a circle. Looks like they won''t come any closer, they''re pretty smart, but clearly not smart enough since they are bandits. One of them speaks up. "Ooooh- he has a nice sword, I call his sword his sword after we kill him!" They begin to argue. "What do you mean? I''m taking his sword!" "No I am!" The coachman speaks up. "Calm down, whoever kills him can take his sword." No one argues with him and they become silent and hold their swords steady, pointed at me. Seems like he was the boss after all. The boss acting as the coachman? How surprising. Lets just use a mana blade. I coat my blade in my sun mana, making my sword glow red. Some of the bandits start to shake. "U-um boss, maybe we shouldn''t fight him, he''s an Advanced rank swordsman." The boss screams towards all of them. "Shut up! I''m an advanced rank swordsman as well and did you not see how scared he was? He''s clearly an inexperienced swordsman, he''s just a kid. Plus, we outnumber him so stop acting like a coward and attack!" Wow, he came up with several great points. Does he actually have a brain? What is he doing here playing bandit then? I charge at the weakest looking one, as the rest of the bandits charge toward me. I slice his head off of the bandit while swiftly dodging the rest of the bandit''s swings. The bandits in the carriage, they still aren''t moving. I cut off the head of every single one of them until it was just the coachman left. He angrily yells at me while out of breath. "You bastard, you were acting weak this whole time! How dare you trick me! You''re an expert rank swordsman!" Wrong again, but I''ll play along. "I never said that I was an advanced rank, you just came up with that by yourself, that''s not my fault. I also never told you to be a bandit but here you are. You must know that being a bandit is dangerous right? You must be prepared to die then." I begin to approach him with my sword in hand. He charges at me with the strength he has left. I easily deflect his attack, and knock his sword out of his hand. He moves slowly backward, away from me, trying to retreat. "Wait- let''s talk about this young master you should know, I''m not like the rest of the bandits, I''m smart! I can be of use to you, so please- don''t kill me." Hm what he says is true, he might be useful. "You might be useful." "Then-" He tries to speak, but he suddenly sees the world upside down as his head falls off his standing body. "If you were really smart, then you wouldn''t have become a bandit." AAAAAAHHHHH THAT WAS SO COOL!!! I glance at his corpse. Hmm, he has a pretty big money bag and a decent sword. That''ll be useful, Dustin''s sword is too flashy anyway. I grab the sword and money bag, opening it up. Five gold coins huh? He must''ve robbed a merchant not too long ago. I''ll put this money to good use. I walk up to the carriage. Stopping just before I enter, and stab the bandit leader''s sword into the ground. "Come out the two of you and leave your weapons, unless you wish to die in that uncomfortable position." No movement. "If I repeat myself again, both your heads will roll off." Immediately afterwards, there is loud movement as the two scramble to get out. When they get out, I see that they are two young boys about twelve years old. They are both blonde and look exactly the same. And they immediately kneel down on both legs and plant their face down in the dirt. They must be twins. They chant in unison. "Please don''t kill us sir, we''re just young children who were forced to work under the bandits!" There''s only one way to tell if they''re lying or not, Eyes of Truth! The symbol of Pyro appears and I see that the one sitting on my left is red, while the one on my right is green. Looks like I will have to ask more questions. "Have you ever killed anyone?" They chant in unison again. "No." The result of the eyes of truth is the same. "Final question. Are you evil?" They look at each other before answering. "No." I immediately cut the head off of the twin on my left side. Red again. The child on my right, on the other hand, seems to not be naturally evil. "Kid, do you know how to drive a carriage?" The kid is extremely afraid. "Ye- yes sir I can drive!" "Do you know where the Zidden Dungeon is?" "Ye- yes sir!" "Alright, take me there." He immediately gets up and opens the carriage door for me. Hoh, it seems this kid has a brain. Only time will tell, if that is a good or a bad thing. I walk in and take a seat as the boy begins to drive. In the carriage, I look out the window but don''t pay attention as I am left alone with my thoughts. Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. I just killed a man for the first time, then multiple men, and even a child. So why do I not feel sad or any discomfort about it? Chapter 25: The Dusty Knights Chapter 25: The Dusty Knights Since I have enough mana to form my third circle, I should start forming it right now. The problem is, is this carriage safe enough? I will be completely defenseless during meditation but I am also far too weak as a mage to be able to confidently defend myself. I glance over at the boy. He is still shaking from fear. This carriage should be pretty safe now. That twin probably won''t try anything funny right? Clear the mind, think blank thoughts. I cross my legs into the lotus position and begin to concentrate on my meditation, as my consciousness slowly drifts away. I sense some kind of mumbling over and over again, but my concentration does not break as I forcefully hold back any thoughts from forming. "Sir!!!" My concentration finally breaks and I awaken, only after the boy grabs my arm and screams into my ear. My body instinctively moves away from the arm grabbing me, as I jump out of the carriage. Who is it? Who touched me? I can feel my 3rd mana circle, but it has not fully formed yet. I still need more time. It must be because I was not in direct sunlight. Then, I finally grasp the situation as I look around. Wait, we''re here at the Zidden Dungeon already? I didn''t even feel the carriage stop! I knew forming a circle was dangerous as it renders you unconscious and requires a lot of time to complete, but to think that I would be unable to sense anything at all, until they shook me. Now I see why mages don''t form their circle out in the open. "S- sir, are you okay?" The boy says as he trembles heavily while holding onto the carriage door frame. He''s worrying about me even though he''s scared himself. He''s a kind kid. I smile joyfully at him, attempting to cheer him up. "Yeah, I''m fine. Thank you for worrying about me." I reach into my money pouch. Right, I only had eight silver coins. Oh wait, I had another one that I took from the bandit leader! I begin to walk over to him, as he slowly backs away from the door frame, to the other side of the carriage as I approach. "P- please don''t kill me, I promise I won''t tell anyone about what happened today!" If someone heard him say that, they would think I was a villain. "Don''t worry, I''m not going to kill you. I''m just here to give you what you deserve." His expression turns even more agitated after hearing my words. Did I say something wrong? As I draw closer to him, he falls to the ground and closes his eyes before curling up into a fetal position as he starts crying. What did I do to make him so terrified? Do I really look that intimidating? "I''m sorry- I''m sorry- Please spare me, I swear on my life! I won''t tell anyone!" I make no movement for a second, before shaking the money bag. He curiously peeks up at me, to see what made the sound, as a child would do. So he can act like a child. "I''m not going to hurt you." After noticing me seeing him, he quickly puts his head down once again and continues to cry. This boy is getting on my nerves. "I said I''m not going to hurt you now stop crying!" I force his head up and take a good look at it. There are cuts and bruises all over his face. He must have been tormented by the bandits a lot. He isn''t evil and is just a normal kid who happened to get unlucky. "Do you have parents?" He hesitantly answers, as he pauses his crying for a moment. "I- I don''t have any. They were killed three years ago by those bandits when I was eight." "I see." I would love to take care of him, but I don''t have the time right now. "Do you have a name?" He becomes dispirited. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "My parents and the bandits called me failure. I don''t remember the name they gave me when I was born." What kind of parents are those? I could understand bandits calling someone failure because they are loathsome. But the parents calling their own child that? They shouldn''t have been allowed to become parents in the first place! "Then I shall give you a new name." His face lights up, his fear disappearing for a moment. "Really?" Agh- his smile, it''s too bright! I said that I would give him a name but I''m not great at naming things... "Hmm... How about Bran?" "Bran sounds a bit weird..." I don''t have a talent for naming things okay? "But I like it!" Thank god. "Bran, would you like to come back with me to the capital city after I finish my work here?" "Really? Of course! I''ve always wanted to leave this colorless place where danger lurks at every corner!" He is really good at speaking despite only being eleven... "Okay, it may take a few days because I''ll be in the dungeon, but-" I take out the small money pouch with the gold coins inside. "This bag has five gold coins. You can do whatever you wish to do with it, and you can keep the carriage." His eyes are filled with amazement. "So much money!" If I don''t come back within three days, I''ll probably be dead so don''t wait for me." He begins frowning. "Don''t say that, if you say that to everyone you know, they will just be worried, anticipating your death!" This kid¨C he might be smarter than me... "Alright, alright let''s not waste any more time, I''ll be back in three days so just wait for me. Make sure you bring the carriage too." He nods, then jumps to the coachbox and begins to drive the carriage. I quickly jump out and wave him goodbye as he waves back, before turning and walking to the gathering place outside of the dungeon. There are merchant stands selling weapons, armor, maps, and food. And there are adventurers standing around the entrance of the dungeon with their party members. As I walk to the dungeon entrance, I walk past adventurers shouting. "Looking for a battle priest!" "Anyone here a Heavy Shielder!?" "Anyone looking for an Assassin!?" I glance at the shouters showing hints of disappointment. Hmph, isn''t this just an E rank dungeon? What need is there to form a party for such a low ranked dungeon? Then I suddenly recall a memory. Right, Amy did tell me to find a party. There''s no way she would be able to find out if I went alone but, I''ll do it just for her since I am a reliable and trustworthy older brother now! Still, I haven''t heard anyone say they were looking for a mage so it might be tough to find a party. I look around and concentrate on my hearing, to find a party. Suddenly, a shout from behind me attracts my attention. "Looking for a fire mage to join our party!" What a coincidence, fate seems to be on my side today. I''m a mage of the solar attribute, but it''s properties should be able to fool ordinary adventurers. I turn around and walk up to him. He is a bald, muscular, middle aged man equipped with a sword to his side. His head is so shiny... "I heard you were looking for a fire mage?" He shakes my hand with a strong grip. "Yes, we''re normally a party of five but our fire mage has been sick for the past few days so they left the party. My name''s Han, I am a C rank Adventurer and my hair was completely burnt off by our former fire mage." So that''s why his hair is gone despite not looking that old. "I''m sorry, that must have been so rough." I hug him, as a mother would do to comfort her child. "U- uh thank you?" I hug him in silence as I feel his body begin to get hotter, then I see his face red with embarrassment as other adventurers begin to stare at him, specifically his head. Then, he pushes me away and has an angry expression on his face, before he sighs. "Let''s not waste any more time, we were planning on going in as fast as possible. Just show me proof that you can use fire magic and head in already." He must be insecure about his bald head. Aside from that, it would be too weird if I just casted a spell without chanting wouldn''t it? I begin to chant in the mystic language and summon dawn. This should look enough like a fireball right? I glance at him and see him examining dawn. "That''s a pretty unique fireball, for it to be this round, you must have a lot of experience using this spell! That''s enough testing, come meet the rest of the Dusty Knights with me." Looks like he bought the fake fireball. We begin walking towards the entrance of the dungeon, where the concentration of adventurers is higher. "What are the Dusty Knights? I''ve never heard of that knight order before." "Haha, there''s no need for concern, it''s not a knight order, it''s just the name we gave our party." Calling themselves knights is a bit- "Calling ourselves knights is a bit of a stretch right?" "How did you know what I was thinking?" "I could see it written all across your face. Everyone tells us the same thing. But all of our dreams are to one day become knights in a knight order." "Aren''t you 40? Aren''t you going to retire soon?" "What!?! Do I look that old?! I''m only 25!!!" I stare intensely at his face. No matter how long I look at it, he still looks old! Maybe it''s because the hair is gone but there''s no way he''s 25! "I''m sorry, that must have been so rough." I lean in for a hug again but he immediately pushes me away the moment he sees me coming. "Let''s not do that again, ever. I don''t need your pity." The pain of losing his hair must''ve been worse than I imagined seeing how angry he is. "We''re here, introduce yourselves to our new party member¨C what was your name again?" "Oh, you can just call me nameless." "Okay, guys introduce yourselves to our new party member, Nameless." "Sara, you go first." She groans. "Ugh, my name is Sara and I''m the ranger of the party. I''m a C rank." She is a woman with orange hair, light armor, and a shortbow. She looks at me with indifference before turning away. Han looks at another muscular middle aged bald man with a giant shield on his back. "My name is Tin. I''ve been in this party with Han for six years. I''m also a C rank." He smiles at me cheerfully and reaches his arm out for me to shake his hand. Han then looks at a young girl wearing some kind of priest garments. "Hmph! My name is Rachel. I''m the priest of the party. I''m an E Rank." What''s with the personalities of this party? Do they even work together? Han and Tin are friendly but Rachel and Sara, not really. Han claps his hands to get our attention. "Alright, now that we all know each other, let''s head into the dungeon. We''re losing daylight." Chapter 26: Zidden Dungeon Chapter 26: Zidden Dungeon Han stands in front of the party, as he leads us to the entrance of the gate. As we approach, I notice guards standing beside the entrance. Why are there guards here? I look to the rest of the dusty knights and see them unfazed by the guards as they continue walking. This must be a common occurrence then. When we reach the entrance, just an arm''s length between the dungeon, Han and the rest of the party stops before the gatekeepers even shout "Halt!" Quickly afterwards they take out their money bags as the guards reach their hand out. "Pay the fee before entering the dungeon, one silver coin." So this is what that receptionist meant when she said it was more like a landmark than a dungeon. It''s more like a tourist destination for people searching for the hidden dungeon room. While the guard finishes his sentence, Han and the rest of the party already have their silver coins out. They drop the coin into the gatekeeper''s hands as they pass through the entrance. Oh, I should pay as well. Just before getting too far, Han turns back to me, seeing me grab my money bag, getting ready to pay. "Hoho, there''s no need for our young new party member to pay the fee." The rest of the party wait for us, just barely in the dungeon as Han walks back to the guard, reaches into his money bag and places another silver coin into his hand. "This is for him." Then he waves at me to hurry up. I hurriedly rushed towards him and entered the dungeon. "Thank you for paying the fee for me, party leader." "Haha! No worries, nameless, there''s no way I could let a child like you pay the fee yourself when this is your first time in a dungeon!" He''s so kind, but he really does act like an old man... "Here, I''ll carry that bag for you." "I''ll take you up on that offer then. It''d be bad if my shoulders were sore when it was time to fight." The dungeon on the other hand is really... dark. We get back to the rest of the party as Han gets to the front and starts leading the way again. "Nameless, please light the path for us." A voice in the dark that sounds like Tin says, as I struggle to see anything. Again, I pretend to chant in the mystic language before I cast Dawn. After casting Dawn, the dirty worn down interior of the dungeon is shown. There is green moss on the black stone walls and the sound of dripping water could be heard from many directions. This dungeon really is old, after the countless adventurers that walked through here. Rachel stares at Dawn with amazement in her eyes. "It''s so round and bright, like the sun!" I should have expected a priest of Pyro to recognize Dawn... I can''t let them find out that I can''t have anyone find out about my attribute yet or my powers will be revealed. "Yeah¨C I''m a devout follower of Pyro so I got inspiration for my magic from the sun... That should be pretty believable right? She stares at me intensely, as if trying to figure out my thoughts. Then, Han speaks to break the silence. "Nameless, you must be wondering why this dungeon has no torches and is worn down despite being called a monument right? I hadn''t paid attention to that before since most adventurer stories situated in dungeons are always dark, with a few torches but only around the boss room. Are dungeons normally well lit? "Uh¨C yeah I was curious. Why is it that it''s so dark?" The rest of the party turns before Han begins to preach in anger. This must be a regular occurrence if they''re turning away that quickly... "It''s because this cheap Adventurer''s Guild Branch that''s managing this dungeon says they don''t want to break out immersion and damage this historic monument or so they call it but they just don''t want to spend a little more money on torches and keep them lit. They''re already making us pay a fee for the dungeon, yet they can''t even pay for lights!!?!?!" He seems really mad and passionate about this... He continues, "But that''s why we have you here. A fire attribute mage is a must for a dungeon like this, to light the way for us to see." So that''s why he didn''t ask what my rank was or how many mana circles I had. As long as I could create a light, I could join their party. What''s this feeling? I suddenly sense danger coming my way. Just as I am about to warn the party, Sara grabs Han''s shoulder and makes a hand sign. Then, the entire party comes to a halt and stops all noise. I take back what I said about this party, they have great teamwork and understand each other well. To the point where they can communicate even without words. Then, Sara looks at me and points her finger toward the darkness. She must want me to move Dawn to where the darkness is. I increase the brightness of Dawn and slowly move it to the darkness residing in front of us. There is nothing but dirty, black stone and completely clean bones for a time. This is weird, even if a monster ate the flesh off of a human, there should still be rotten flesh left on the bone but, this¨C this is completely cleaned off. Then, a round blue organism comes into light. "There it is! I see it!" Han shouts, before turning to us. "Get into your battle positions!" Sara pulls her daggers out, Han unsheathes his sword, Tin moves to the front and takes his giant tower shield off his back and holds it steady. And Sophia nervously holds her staff tightly and moves to the back. I should do my part as well. I summon three more Orbs of Dawn and place them over the heads of the party members. "Thanks for the lights Nameless!" Tin shouts as he charges forward. Dawn eventually reveals the entirety of the organism. It''s a... Slime? So cool!!! Slimes are the weakest monsters who normally have no combat potential and just decompose and eat remains. The rest of the party are still focused and don''t put down their guard. "Don''t let your guard down! There could be more!" Adventurers sure are careful, but I understand what they mean. Anything could happen in the monster territories and veteran C rank adventurers don''t have the luxury of letting their guard down. Tin continues to charge at the slime, and the slime stays still. Then, "SPLAT!!!" The slime was completely crushed by the force of the shield and died. Han sheaths his sword into his sheath. "Alright, good work guys." Tin fits his tower shield back onto his back and Sara walks up to the remains of the slime, kneels down, and takes out a small red crystal from the remains of the slime. Tin wipes the sweat off his head. "Thank you Sara, this heavy armor makes it hard for me to bend my knees." "No worries, just keep up the good work Tin." After that, the protocol repeats multiple times as we continue to kill more and more monsters, but we still didn''t find the hidden room. Dammit, I haven''t found any clues about where the hidden dungeon room could be! There were only three different monsters that we saw in the dungeon today: Slimes, goblins, and skeletons. Sigh¨C this is getting nowhere. We get to a small stone room where there were no monsters and some kind of flowing water construct, so we decided to rest here. Tin places his tower shield at the entrance of the room and I take the bag off and unload it. Then I set the orbs of Dawn in the corners on the ceiling of the room. Rachel sits in a corner with Sara. They seem to be close. Han approaches me and reaches out his hand. "Good work today, let me help you out with unloading." We took out some sticks and dried meat and bread. Han hands some bread and dried meat to the party members and sits down next to me before he hands me a piece of bread and dried meat as well. That looks disgusting... I feel my stomach start to rumble and quickly take it out of his hands and take a bite of the meat. Ugh, it''s super tough and chewy... and is so salty! "It tastes terrible right?" Han says with a smile on his face. "All the new adventurers think that way, because it does. But it''s the only food we can trust since it won''t become rotten easily." I can understand that, but you could also season it with other spices other than just salt! I hit my chest as I struggle to swallow the dried meat. Han laughs. "Haha, I had the exact same reaction as you did. I don''t know about the other two, but Rachel especially hated it. "Han! I told you not to tell anyone else about that!" The whole party laughs, even Sara. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They''re just like a happy family. I stare at the dried meat and feel like throwing up. Lets¨C not eat that anymore... Then, I look at the dried bread in my hands Maybe the bread will taste better? ... hahaha definitely not. It''s as hard as the rock we''re sitting on... Still, I take a bite of the bread. "CRUNCH!!! My teeth!!! Oh¨C it''s fine, it was the bread that broke. The party is silent for a second, trying to find out if my teeth actually broke, but bursts out into laughter and I laugh with them. Chapter 27: A World Without War Chapter 27: A World Without War After we ate, we threw a cloth over ourselves and slept. We were going to take turns keeping watch over the entrance. We drew sticks to determine who would be on guard duty. It was decided that the watcher for today is Tin, and the watcher tomorrow will be Sara. I was lucky enough to draw the longest stick, and would not have to do guard duty. I lay on the rough, hard floor with my eyes open and a thin blanket over me. It''s cold... I stare at the ceiling completely shrouded in darkness, no longer lit by Dawn. Why? Why was I chosen for this task, to carry this burden? I''ve only recovered less than a week ago, and I have found out about an ancient transcendental being that, for all I know, wants to destroy the world and bring chaos along with his cult. I haven''t seen my father, the headmaster, Isabella, or Sebastian since that day. When- Why did life have to become so difficult? I turn my head to Tin who stares at the entrance, blocked by his tower shield and lit by a dim light of Dawn. His one eye open, the other, closed. He is completely focused on the entrance, ignoring everything else. He is a true veteran, always taking his duty seriously, to the extreme, to stay alive, and keep the party alive. If I can''t sleep, I might as well take watch for him and let him sleep. I get up and walk over to him, sitting beside him and staring silently at the entrance, without exchanging any words. What do I say? He''s still completely focused on the entrance!!! Then, he finally speaks. "Oh, Nameless, when did you get here? What''s the problem¨C Can''t sleep?" "Oh yeah¨C it''s my first time in a dungeon, I just don''t feel like it''d be safe for me to sleep right now. Haha..." He stares at me intensely, trying to figure out my thoughts. Did he find out? What am I saying? there''s no way he could have. "Nameless." "Yes?" I say while my body jumps up and stiffens from anxiety. "You seem to be hiding a lot, which is fine but¨C if you''re going through a tough time, you don''t have to go through it by yourself." Was my depression that easy to notice? I thought I was hiding it pretty well. We can help you¨C I can help you. You''re a young kid. You shouldn''t have to experience anything bad, you should be enjoying your short childhood while it lasts." He gets up and points to himself while smiling. "You should be at least be as old as me before having to see the evil in the world and in humans. I wish that the world could be without war, where all living things could live in peace, like the mythical era¨C when the gods were with us and evil would be immediately eradicated as it began to sprout." He''s wrong about one thing, the truth of what happened in the mythical era has not surfaced yet so there is no way he would know. He has a good dream though. Monsters are dangerous and cause chaos and destruction, but humans cause even worse chaos and destruction. We delude ourselves into thinking monsters are the cause of all evil but we kill ourselves more than any monster ever could. We try to be like the gods but we cannot because our nature is evil. We are selfish and greedy. We envy what we don''t have and kill other living things just like us to survive. Monsters weren''t always monsters, it''s just a label we slapped onto them to justify our cause for killing them. They are living beings like us who are just trying to survive, to them¨C we are like monsters. And I¨C am no different, in the same perspective, I could also be seen as evil. I guess I''m saying this to you because I want you to be better¨C the best, the most righteous that no human has ever come close to before, to create the world of my dreams¨C" Suddenly, his one eye that''s open, closes and he begins to snore. He must have been tired, using all of his willpower to just barely stay awake. Let''s move him to a more comfortable place and let him lie down, sleeping while in that position would be bad for his bones. As I move him, he wakes up. "Huh¨C what''s happening?" I lay him down and he speaks. "I apologize for my rant, please ignore whatever I said, it was an impossible dream I had when I was young. I must have been tired and overcome by my old age. If you''re not going to sleep, then I''ll gladly let you take watch duty tonight." "No, that''s a fine dream you have, I wish for a world like that as well." I stop for a second before continuing. "Thank you for offering me your help. Your words are really deep and inspiring. I feel a lot better now. I''ll take watch tonight, you can sleep." There is no response. Why isn''t he saying anything? "Tin?" I glance over at him and see his eyes closed as he snores. Wow, he fell asleep immediately... What he said was correct though. Monsters and humans alike, are just trying to stay alive. Humans are intelligent but thats what makes us evil. Even if a monster does an evil act, they aren''t evil because they don''t know right from wrong and solely rely on instinct. Humans on the other hand, know right from wrong but still continue doing it. That''s what makes us evil. A world without war, what a childish dream. I look at my manaheart. Should I form my circle right now? Hmm... No, I have a duty to keep watch for danger besides¨C I glance at the sleeping party. I don''t know if they can be trusted yet. I am most vulnerable when I am forming my circle and I have a duty to keep watch. I should stay focused. I sit in the silence and darkness, trying to concentrate on the entrance as hard as I can. I feel a little¨C tired I yawn before looking at my pocketwatch I regret not sleeping already. Well¨C nothing I can do about it anymore. Let''s just hope this night passes quickly. SIXTEEN HOURS LATER Ugh¨C so tired I slowly follow behind, at the back of the party, still carrying the bag full of survival materials. Why am I even carrying this bag? They even made me help pack up the camp... I want to sleep... Tin slows down and walks beside me showing a concerned face. "You okay there nameless? You look terrible!" I reply weakly. "Yeah¨C I''m just¨C a little tired... yawn-" "Perhaps it''s because of you using your magic for so long? You''ve kept the fireball on for over a day and you even casted multiple of them during our battles and when we were eating!!! sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. What is he talking about? God I''m so tired... wait¨C I hadn''t thought of that! They thought I was a second circle mage but there''s no way a second circle mage would have so much mana! "Oh you''re right¨C now that you''ve reminded me, my mana reserve is quite low right now I don''t think I can go on anymore..." "Really!?! I''ll tell Han to stop the party right now!" He runs up to the front of the party to Han and whispers something into his ear. Then Han stops and turns around. "Well, nothing we can do about it then, guys, we''re going to take a rest now." Oh thank Pyro, I can finally rest and get this stupid bag off my back. "This place should be good enough. Sara, you''re on watch this time." She nods while leaning on the wall. Next to her is Rachel. They really are close. I guess it''s because they''re the only girls in the party. He turns to me. "You can rest now, but not for too long. Be up in six hours." "Thank you!" I say while I quickly pull the blanket over my head to sleep. Han suddenly shouts. "Hey, what are you doing? Get rid of the fireball! If you run out of mana when you wake up, what good will you be? I didn''t hire you to just be a porter, I hired you to be a torch¨C I mean fire mage!!" "Alright..." I say, but it was not all right. Well that was weird, I don''t have time to care right now, I''m sleeping. I release the orb of Dawn and drift away to sleep. Chapter 28: Clash of Bald Men Chapter 28: Clash of Bald Men I wake up to the sound of weapons clashing and crashing.. Wow that was a good sleep, I feel so much more refreshed. "NAMELESS!!!" What''s that noise? I summon four Dawns to light up the area. What is Tin doing holding his shield at the entrance? And why is everyone struggling while they push Tin''s back? Even more surprising, why, even after the whole party is pushing at their full strength, are they not moving? I move Dawn forward to the entrance of the room, where the rest of the party is. Woah¨C so many goblins all I can see outside the entrance is green heads! "Hhhhgnnn- What is that light shining above us?" Han says before turning to me. "Finally, you''re awake! We''ve been screaming at you for the last fifteen minutes! An entire horde of goblins attacked us while you were asleep. No time to speak, hurry up and get our weapons!" I turn to the now burnt out campfire, where the blankets of the party lie in an unorganized mess and rapidly jump up and sprint towards it. I see it, Han and Sara''s weapons! I quickly snatch the blades and run back to Han. "I''ve got the weapons Han!" He is completely concentrated on pushing and doesn''t turn back to look at me. "Good job, now wrap my sword and sheath on my waist and Sara''s on hers!" I hold Sara''s daggers in my mouth while I hurriedly and anxiously attach the sword onto Han''s waist. I can do this, I''ve attached a blade onto my waist multiple times before. Just not on another person...I should be fine. Tin shouts in pain. "Are you almost done? I''m almost at my limit!!" "NAMELESS!!!" Han screams in impatience. SHUT UP!!! I almost got it... THERE! FINISHED! I take Sara''s daggers out of my mouth and charge at her. When I reach her, I throw the daggers into the sheaths already on her waist and scream. "All weapons secured! What do we do now!?!?" Han''s arms begin to shake heavily as do Sara''s and Rachel''s. All of them are nearing their limit! "DO YOU... KNOW ANY WIDE AREA MAGIC THAT CAN KNOCK THOSE BASTARDS BACK?" I don''t have enough time to create a new magic, and even if I do, the sun isn''t shining in this dungeon so I am greatly weakened! Besides, a wide area spell would damage not just the goblins but my party as well, it''s far too risky. "No, I don''t!!!" Just as I say that, a heavy attack hits the tower shield and makes a booming noise. "What did you say? I couldn''t hear you!" "I DON''T HAVE ANY MAGIC FOR THIS SITUATION!!!" "ALRIGHT, GET OVER HERE! THERE''S ONLY ONE THING WE CAN DO THEN! SARA, TIN, ON MY MARK, USE THE REMAINDER OF YOUR MANA FOR ONE FINAL PUSH AND THEN WE MAKE A RUN FOR IT! UNDERSTAND!?!" "UNDERSTOOD!!!" We all scream, "ALRIGHT, THREE, TWO... ONE! PUSH!!!" I should use mana too! "HNNNNNGGHHHH¨C AAAGGGGHHHH!!!" The goblin horde is forced back, knocking them down for a second. We did it! Han screams. "RUN!!!" We all run out of the room and I bring the orbs of Dawn out. Two lighting the way in front of us, and two lighting the trail behind us. "Shit, they''re still following us!" Rachel screamed in fear. Wow, I was not expecting a priest to say something like that... "Oh Pyro, please save this pitiful follower of yours and light the path for us to victory!" She says while tears drop from her face. Ugh, now she''s crying? "Spare us your tears. I may not be Pyro, but I can definitely light the path for us." I summon four more orbs of Dawn and move two even further in front of us and two more even further behind us. Damn it, there''s way more than I expected. I didn''t get a good look at them before when I ran out but, the entire corridor is completely filled with an endless amount of goblins. Well, it''s not all that bad. I slow down to the back of the party. Noticing me slow down, Rachel shouts. "What are you doing? Hurry up! How can you call yourself a man like this? This stupid girl! Sigh, just ignore her. Now that the party isn''t in the way anymore, I can use a wide ranged spell. The fire wall that that bastard that poisoned me, Edward did. Let''s see. Did he do it like this? Pillars of orange flame erupt from the ground, one after the other, until the entire corridor behind us is blocked off. "Rachel no!!!" Nice, it worked! Did Sara say something? Whatever, I can''t believe my imitation of a 4th circle fire spell is better when I''m a second circle! Advanced elements really are superior to normal ones. This imitation is giving me some inspiration for a new spell¨C I should try it out later. "Nameless!" I turn around and see Rachel right in front of me, as the rest of the party turn around and stop running and come back after they see the flame pillars block the corridor off. Why was this girl so close to me? Did she run out of breath and slow down like me or maybe... she slowed down on purpose and ran after me because she worried about my safety? ... Nah, that can''t be the case. After the party got back together, we rested for a bit to catch our breath. Aren''t they putting too much trust into me, a 2nd circle mage? That I can keep such a massive mana consuming spell active for so long? I guess they must''ve been really tired. I don''t hear the sounds of goblins screaming in the fire anymore. They must''ve learned from their mistakes and stopped. What high intelligence these monsters have. "Haaaah" I exhale deeply. What Tin said to me two nights ago about monsters just being a label we slapped onto them. From their perspective, they''re just trying to protect their home from invaders even so, the false truth that I believe in causes me to not empathize or even sympathize with them. This must mean I am still sticking to the ideals that have been taught to me since I was able to speak. I don''t have time to think about their perspectives, I need to focus on getting stronger to protect the world. Otherwise, everyone will die¨C humans and non-humans alike. To get stronger, I need a strong subordinate to protect me, which is Dustin. So I need to save him no matter what. Finally, after fully catching his breath Han speaks. "Didn''t you say you couldn''t use any wide range magic?" "I couldn''t use it or the party would''ve been hit." "So you lied to me." What''s with his tone now? "You would''ve all been killed if I had used it!" "Really now? Does that mean you don''t trust our party? You? The torch without a name? The E rank 2nd circle mage?" Tin tries to speak up. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Han stop, that''s enough¨C" "Be quiet, bald old man!" So this is what he really thinks about me. "If you think I''m being too cautious, why don''t you test out just how weak my spell that is completely repelling the goblin horde really is? You can use your sword and stick it in. Better yet¨C why don''t you stick your finger into it? I''m sure the hand of a C rank adventurer couldn''t be damaged by a mere E rank''s spell right?" "I''m not stupid torch." I''m getting tired of him saying that. "I see that necklace around your neck, it''s an artifact that amplifies your magic." Completely wrong. He continues. "You must be some spoiled son of a noble who stole that from your parents right? Just hand that over and we might let you live." We? Does that mean that there are others in on this too? Hahaha, I knew it was right not to form my circle around them . If I had, they would''ve killed me while I was vulnerable and took my Storm Amulet. I look at the other party members. Tin is looking at Han angrily. Rachel is looking at us in terror. And Sara, continues to stare at us with eyes void of emotion. Sara is completely unfazed, she is definitely in on this. Tin is probably on my side and Rachel, since she''s so clingy to Sara I can''t rule her out. "We? Does that mean there are others in on it?" "Yes, all of us are in on it. Why did you think I would invite an E rank fire mage to our party? Unlike Rachel, who''s a priest, fire mages like you are a dime a dozen." He says with confidence and a despicable smile. "You be quiet Han, I am no longer in on this with you! He just saved our lives and you want to kill him and take his necklace!?" Tin screams toward Han. "He was the one who got us into this mess in the first place. I was planning on doing it later but because he wanted to rest we had to stop." Han says in a nonchalant manner with his sword still sheathed. I am certain of the situation now. If all four members of the party were against me, it may have been hard but now that I know Rachel and Tin aren''t on their side it will be an easy victory. Time¨C to act. "You see Han? Now that Tin is on our side, do you really think that you can win? You know that I have an artifact too so there''s no way you could win. Why don''t you just surrender and we''ll let you live." Han laughs. "I told you to not think I was stupid. Even if you have an artifact, you''re still just a 2nd circle¨C I know that your mana is probably going to run out soon right?" I will admit, you are incredibly observant, a truly villain-like trait. However, all that you have observed is what I wanted him to observe! Don''t make me laugh, I haven''t even used 5% of my mana yet. "I will admit, you are observant, but you missed one key detail. If I run out of mana, what do you think will happen to my flame wall? The goblin horde will come charging again and we will all die. If you don''t want that to happen, throw me some mana potions, I know you have some." "I don''t care if I die! But I will definitely kill you!" Why is he so mad now? I thought he wanted to take my Storm Amulet, but now it seems that he just wants to kill me? "I thought you were after my necklace? Why do you want to kill me now, all of a sudden?" He turns extremely red and I can see his blood vessels become larger. "Do you really not know?" I shake my head left to right. "You completely humiliated me and laughed at my baldness!!!" I suddenly begin bursting out in laughter. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" I fall to the floor in uncontrollable laughter. Crap, I couldn''t stop myself from laughing but, he really did all of this because I humiliated him? But I don''t remember that happening, I did mention his bald head but that was when I was comforting him? I didn''t do anything wrong! "How dare you laugh at me!!!" He draws his sword and charges at me, enhancing his body and sword with mana. Tin runs in front of me and blocks it with his tower shield. "Get up Nameless! I won''t be able to hold him for long!" No time to laugh, I need to get up and fight! Control yourself Arthur! I get up and begin to summon orbs of Dawn for attacking but suddenly I hear a scream from behind. "AAACKK!!! Sara, w- what are you doing?" I turn around and see Sara holding Rachel''s neck at knifepoint. "Sorry, Rachel but I can''t have you helping Tin and Nameless." That''s not good, if Rachel can''t help us, then if Tin gets injured, she won''t be able to heal him! "Let her go, Sara. I know you don''t harbor any will yourself to kill me or the others unlike Han. I promise if you let Rachel go, I will let you go without turning you in, to the Wardens." Sara continues to constantly try to escape from her hold but fails every time as Sara imbues her arm with mana. "Really? How nice of you. That sounds awfully tempting but you would only be able to do that for me if you won." She says sarcastically. "You think me and Tin won''t be able to beat Han? Have you forgotten about my artifact? I could beat the two of you even with just the low amount of mana I have left. That''s a lie, My mana reserves are still above 95% Her expression finally changes for the first time throughout the entire expedition and smiles sinisterly. "You may be right, but the effects of the poison should be kicking in about now." Poison? That could be really bad! Except... I feel just fine? "AUUUUGHHH" I scream in pain. That should be believable enough right? Her laugh is evil. "Kekeke, I bought the poison I used from the black market. It was an extremely expensive, rare and highly dangerous poison made of an even rarer plant. The merchant who sold it to me said it was made out of Nighthorn Ivy. He said it would melt the bones and muscles of the ingestor with a zero percent survival rate. AND I DIDN''T EVEN HAVE TO APPLY IT ONTO YOU MYSELF!!! YOU INGESTED IT YOURSELF WHEN YOU CARRIED IT IN YOUR MOUTH BWAHAHAHA!" ... Nighthorn Ivy? I begin to laugh uncontrollably with her. "haha- HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" What an unbelievable coincidence. Out of all the poisons she could''ve used, she used Nighthorn Ivy? Edward Tane, thank you. If you had not poisoned me, I may have died here in this dungeon to this crazy woman. But I had wondered where that bastard Edward got that rare poison that even I had never heard of from. But thanks to this crazy woman monologuing, now I know it''s from the black market. "Hooooh¨C I should visit it soon." "What are you trying to act tough for? I won''t buy it." She says, nervously. She says that but it seems she''s also uncertain. It makes sense not to trust those in the black market. She''s smart as well, just like Han. Unfortunately, I''m smarter, and I''m not on their side. "Why would I need to act idiot, and the poison I ingested was real Nighthorn Ivy so you don''t need to worry about if the black market merchant scammed you or not. Unfortunately for you, I''ve already eaten Nighthorn Ivy before." I begin to slowly walk toward her. "Im- impossible! No one has ever survived Nighthorn ivy before!" She nervously starts retreating backwards, matching each step I take. But eventually, she hits the back of a wall. "Nowhere left to go now." I say with a villain-like smile on my face. God I love it when my enemies shriek at me in terror, it''s just so... refreshing. "St- stay back! Or I''ll kill the girl! I''ll really do it!" Rachel whimpers. "P-l-e-a-s-e l-e-t g-o S-a-r-a..." Sara begins to have a mental breakdown and starts moving her dagger closer to Rachel''s neck and blood starts to spill from the cut as I walk towards her. Then, a noise comes from below my foot. "Click" ... click? Then, the entire floor below our feet disappears and we start falling into the darkness. HUUUHHH!?!?! Chapter 29: Psychopath Chapter 29: Psychopath "AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!" We all scream as we fall down the deep hole, well lit by magic lamps. Crap! I don''t know any flight magic! I can''t see the end! If this hole continues to get deeper, I could die on impact¨C I need to do something! Suddenly, the world around me begins to move slower. Wait, why am I falling slower now? I turn to see the rest of the party. They are falling slower as well! Wait no¨C that''s not it. Time isn''t moving slower, I''m just thinking at a faster speed! It seems that Heightened Senses skill that master gave me has activated due to this dangerous situation. This is good, I have proper time to think now. Hmm, what do I do though? What other skills do I have? That''s right! I have the Iron Body skill that I obtained from one of the other elixirs master gave me! A feeling of stiffness surges throughout my entire body. My body feels a lot stronger and tougher but, this skill has quite the drawback huh? I can feel most of my swiftness and flexibility leave my body. It makes sense but it''s a shame I won''t be able to use such a overpowered skill that can nullify most attacks in a fast paced battle. I can also use Swift Wind that lightens my body and increases my agility to soften the impact more so while the Iron Body skill takes the majority of the damage. I look down with heightened senses and something comes into view. I can see the end of this hole! I concentrate even harder on my eyes with heightened senses on the ground that quickly gets closer and closer. Alright, it''s not that far of a drop left. I will definitely be able to survive with all these skills now, but just to be safe¨C My legs suddenly envelop in a bright orange-yellow light in the shape of flames. There, I''ve applied aura onto my legs. Hopefully with all of this, I will be unharmed. As we rapidly approach the ground, I descend upright, with confidence. Then, I look at Tin, still in an happy mood, blinded by my arrogance who has his body enveloped in brown colored mana. So he had the earth attribute. He''s also wearing heavy armor, he should be fine. All of the C ranks in the party should be able to survive there''s no need for me to worry about them. All of them except Tin are enemies anyway¨C wait, Tin wasn''t the only exception! I immediately turn to see Rachel without any aura or even mana coating any part of her body and completely unconscious. Damn it, I was too complacent! We only have a few seconds at most, before impact! Super Heighten Senses! I need more time to think! If she dies, she won''t be able to heal Tin or me from our injuries! I need to grab her, but she''s too far! Thousands of thoughts race across my head in the span of a second until, one of them inspires me. I''ve got it! I''m sorry Rachel, this might hurt a bit. We are just a second away from impact with the ground. A dim orb of Dawn appears behind Rachel and blasts her back, charring her but the force from the blast is enough to push her close enough to me, where I can reach her. Yes! The plan worked! Just a moment before we crash into the ground, I pull her in and carry her in my arms like a groom would do to his bride. I look down at the hard stone floor just before impact. Well, this is going to hurt a lot. Then, "BOOOOOOM!!!" The solid stone floor below me cracks under the force generated as the result of my mass increasing from Iron Body. In this exchange, one of the sides break and in this case, I won. I manage to hold in my screams but it is followed by screams of pain all around me in normal speed, as heightened senses deactivate due to the danger disappearing. MMPPPHHHH¨C MY LEGS!!! That hurt like a bitch! But at least I can still feel them. Is Rachel still okay? I look at her. Hmm, her body other than her back seems pretty fine so do her bones for some weird reason. What about the bald guys and Sara? The others were not as lucky as me. The ground below them did not crack, but instead their legs did. What laid below them were bloody splatters of blood. Han and Tin still stood upright for a few seconds before falling. Han had a coating of brown mana around his legs whose bones were poking out before the mana quickly dispersed. Tin''s Earth attribute mana also quickly dispersed but his legs still remain intact. How grotesque... Tin''s legs probably broke as well but it seems his heavy armor is keeping it intact and in position. And they''re both still fully conscious, still writhing in pain. Sara on the other hand¨C I turn to Sara''s corpse. Laying the floor without any movement or a sound. What a shame, I had wanted her to torture her a little more before killing her. Oh well, at least Han is still alive. I carefully set Rachel on the floor and walk toward Han and Tin. I begin to mock him. "Hey there party leader, it looks like you are a little injured. That can''t be right, didn''t you say something about you and Sara killing me? What happened to that?" "Huff¨C I''m sorry, I won''t ever bother you again. Please¨C please give me a healing potion." "Aw party leader, that won''t do. It seems you still have no idea what you did wrong. If I let you live you''ll just continue to do your despicable acts and get killed from it one day, so why don''t I just end you here today so you don''t die at the hands of someone else who you don''t know as well later on?" His puddle of blood increases in volume as he screams harder. "Please... I apologize, I promise I won''t ever do it again... He says weakly. I let out a low, bitter laugh that grows louder, almost uncontrollable as I cover my face with my palm. "You still don''t get it, do you? You think a sorry is going to get rid of everything you''ve done? It''s pathetic really Hahahaha" The laughter ends abruptly, my face hardening as I glare at him with a sudden, fierce intensity. "You tried to kill me¡ªyour own mentor that you''ve been friends with for years¡ªand an innocent little girl, just because someone mentioned that you were bald. That''s what pushed you over the edge? That''s all it takes?" I step closer, my voice trembling with a mix of anger and disbelief. "If I let someone as insane as you back into the world, how long before you start hurting people again? How long before you would start offering your life force to a demon for its evil power? How long before the death toll rises¡ªten, a hundred, a thousand? You''d leave a trail of destruction that no one could stop, and I''m supposed to be okay with that? I lean in, my voice lowers and stabilizes. "Don''t make me laugh." I get up and turn away from him. "Ha, an even more insane person calling me insane." He says while smiling. "You said you were smart right? Then that must mean you must''ve known what my answer would''ve been from the start." He screams out in a barely decipherable outrage with the remainder of his willpower. "DAMN YOU, NAMELESS. HEAR ME O'' GODS AND DEMONS, I OFFER YOU MY LIFE FOR THIS. I CURSE THIS MAN IN FRONT OF ME! MAY EVERYTHING HE DO FAIL AND EVERYONE HE LOVES DIE! WHEN HE DIES LET HIM BE ALONE AND BE THROWN IN THE LAKES OF FIRE TO THE SUN AND BACK FOR ALL OF ETERNITY¨C sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. His last words abruptly ended as I shot Han through the head with a thin sun beam without hesitation, instantly killing him. He lays flat on the ground, with the puddle now turned into a pool. I then turn and see Tin, who seems completely unconscious and feels the rage within me disperse once more. Ugh, what was that? It was the same feeling as what I felt when I killed those bandits and when I was confronting Sara. This has never happened before back at the capital, something strange is happening to me. I need to be careful with making enemies from now on so that this anger residing inside me doesn''t take over. I walk over and check Sara''s corpse first to make sure she''s dead. No pulse or heartbeat. She''s dead. Then, I drag Tin and Rachel''s body to a wall and prop them sitting upright. Then, I take a look around the interior of the hidden dungeon room and release all my spells. That feels nice. I have about 90% of my mana left. It should be enough to last me until the end of this dungeon. But this is the first time I''ve heard of a Hidden Dungeon Room trying to kill its explorers before. Usually the creator of the dungeon just leaves a reward here for the first person to stumble upon it. I walk up to a wall where there is writing on it and a stone pedestal in front of it. Chapter 30: Zinc Zidden Chapter 30: Zinc Zidden I examine the writing on the wall What does all of this mean? I can''t read this language. "Sage, can you translate this unknown language for me?" "ORDER RECEIVED: COMMENCING SCAN" Great Sage Luke Wolkan was truly a genius at everything, not just for magic. I wonder, just what limits on information does the Sage System have? And how is it able to have a seemingly endless amount of mana to continue working for so long? "SCANNING COMPLETE" "LANGUAGE DETECTED: Syogol" Syogol? I remember hearing about that language being mentioned in the Study of Monster Civilizations unit in history class. It was the language of the ancient civilization, Syo, that was said to be an extinct tribe of humanoid creatures that was situated in the Mystical Swamp, now recognized as a part of the Monster Territories collective, where a powerful poison dragon is said to be slumbering. But what is the language of Syo doing this far away from the Mystical Swamp? "TRANSLATING SYOGOL TO AEGELAN" "Greetings child of Syo, Oh, this hidden dungeon room must''ve been made for the successor of the Syo tribe. I would feel bad for taking someone''s legacy that wasn''t left for me but... the Syo tribe has been gone for over two hundred years now. "I don''t know when you will be reading this message but, if you''re seeing this, that means you must''ve been sent by the chief of your time, whenever that may be, for your trial and to save our declining tribe." Yup, I was right. "Before anything else, let me introduce myself, my name is Zinc Zidden. I was the great shaman of our tribe in my time, but I am probably long dead by now. I created this dungeon for the sole purpose of hiding this dungeon room where I hid all of my treasures." I feel really bad for him now... seeing how there are no corpses or even any skeletons, the successor he has been waiting for never came. "I hope that you have patience and continue reading as it will be incredibly important. I have created countless deadly traps throughout this hidden dungeon room in the situation that an unwanted trespasser discovers this dungeon room before you." The traps can''t be that bad right? After all, the traps must be incredibly old and broken by now. "The trap locations are as follows: The first trap is in the corridor to the right. The entire ceiling will fall down and kill anyone¨C I immediately peek through the corridor. The ground is even. I look up. The ceiling is still intact... I was wrong, the trap has definitely not aged and I can feel my instincts telling me not to go through there. I run back to the wall and sage continues to read. "¨Cother than a swordmaster. The way to deactivate this trap is to press the third stone to the right of the entrance. You will need to push extremely hard, which will deter anyone from possibly ever accidently finding it. The second trap is in the third room. It will release a trapdoor with deadly iron spikes coated in poison at the end that activates once something steps onto it. There are no traps in the first two rooms after the corridor and the second trap can easily throw something heavy enough onto the trapdoor and you can wait for the trapdoor to come back up. It will be deactivated for ten minutes after it comes back up." Something as heavy as a human huh? I look at Han and Sara''s corpse. "The third and final trap is in the fourth room, the fake treasure room filled only of gold plated iron and replica artifacts so don''t be too sad once the trap activates, and all the treasures are swallowed up by a lava monster. Once lava starts to seep through the walls, that''s when you know the lava monster is coming. There is no way to beat it, just turn past it into the next room which is the real treasure room and destroy the button in the room to close the door, don''t just press it lightly. If you just press it lightly, the door will close but the black iron golems situated around the room will kill you." "I memorized all of it but just in case, can you store it in your memory as well Sage?" "... ORDER RECEIVED" It says in a robotic tone after pausing for a second, as if it was thinking about it. Why do I feel like it''s looking at me disappointedly? "Alright! Thank you Zinc Zidden for writing this out for me. I will make sure to put your treasures to good use in your prophesied successor''s stead!" I say proudly with a greedy smile on my face. An ev A voice echos, "How shameless..." "Who said that!?!" I say in a terrified state as I fall down. Was that a ghost? Then, I try to get up and almost fail but manage to do it. Then I wipe the dust off my clothes as if nothing happened. My legs are still damaged... I shouldn''t do anything too physically challenging for now. Unless¨C I walk up to Han''s corpse and loot his body. Lets see, an artisan sword? He really did kill and rob a lot of people. I don''t need another sword though, it would seem too weird for an E rank adventurer to have an artisan sword. It would attract me to nothing but trouble. I grab his money pouch. Hahhhh, it''s sad that he was evil, especially when he showed me such kindness at the dungeon''s entrance. There''s a good amount in here though, one gold coin and 20 silver coins. Looks like he didn''t rob people as much as the former owner of this sword. The bandit boss. That''s the one grace I will give you for the fake kindness you once showed me. His iron laced leather armor is pretty standard but¨C I take a look at myself. Even if I''m a mage, having no armor and just wearing fancy clothing in a dungeon is a bit too careless of me... I equip the leather armor onto me. Oh, this armor fits me better than I thought it''s not too loose but also not too tight. It''s pretty light and doesn''t affect my flexibility too much either. Now that the cheap items have been looted, now it''s time for something more interesting! I thoroughly rummage and search through his clothes with a greedy and mischievous smile on my face. Where is it? It''s well known that veteran adventurers always have at least one hidden and expensive card that they have up their sleeves, which they use in the event of something life threatening! There! I found it! I feel an object with sharp edges and flat sides and pull it out. Aw, is it just Goddess''s shield? And the sides only have one eye, that means it''s the lowest tier of it! Well¨C he''s just a C rank and can barely be considered a veteran so it makes sense. I grab the other small bag attached to his waist and look inside. So this is where he kept all the potions, I knew he had them since there weren''t any in my bag. But why did he ask me for a potion if he had the potions with him? Well, whatever. I take the potions out. Which one is the healing potion? None of them are labeled! "Sage, identify the potions!" "ORDER RECEIVED" "THE LIGHT RED POTION IS A HEALING POTION." Yeah, that''s nice but I don''t think a regular healing potion will be able to fix broken legs. "THE DARK RED POTION IS A GREATER HEALING POTION" That¨C might be able to work but let''s take a look at the other potions. "THE TWO DARK GREEN POTIONS ARE POISONS" Uhh¨C why is there poison in the potion bag? "THE DARK PURPLE POTION IS MADE OF NIGHTHORN IVY" Is the rest of the bag just filled with poison? "THE YELLOW POTION IS MADE OF POISO¨C" Yeah I don''t need to hear anymore, the rest of it is definitely poison. I grab the two healing potions and walk over to where I set Tin and Rachel. Sara''s the priest so I should heal her first right? I lay her on the stomach and examine her back, the area where Dawn''s sun beam hit her. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Let''s try the normal healing potion on her back first. I pop out the cork from the bottle and pour it over her back. The contents of the potion is very fluid thus, only some of the potion is absorbed into the skin as the majority of it slides off her back and is absorbed by her clothes. I barely see a difference! But seeing this imprint of my magic... it''s extremely powerful and destructive., I held back but it still caused such an injury. I''m sorry Sara, for this, and what I''m about to do. I rip the remnants of the back of her clothes off, being careful not to rip the entire thing. My breathing and heart rate increase as I feel a sense of lust flow throughout my body. "Huff¨C huff¨C" Stay focused Arthur, Tin''s life is at stake. If Rachel isn''t healed from this then she won''t be able to save Tin! I carefully open the greater healing potion and I almost throw up after smelling the stench of it. What the hell!? How can something smell so bad? It smells worse than those elixirs master gave me! Oh well, if there''s one thing I noticed about medicines with strong healing properties, it''s that they all smell and taste horrible, so this should work well. I pinch my nose closed as I pour the dark red potion onto Rachel''s back. Yuck¨C why is the potion so thick? It''s almost like a solid... After pouring the potion over all the burnt spots, the body quickly absorbs the potion and Rachel''s skin is completely rid of her burn marks. Why is she still not waking up? Tin is going to die... I have no choice, I will have to wrong you for the third time today, sister. I''m sorry... I put the empty bottle that held the greater healing potion and hold it up to her nose. Though the contents no longer remain, the smell will still linger for years to come... For a moment, there is nothing. Then, a faint sniff. And finally, she awakens and jumps away from the bottle. "Nameless, what are you doing!?" She says standing upright, before her shirt promptly falls off. Noticing this, she frantically turns away after turning red and drops down, covering her chest before screaming. "Nameless, I trusted you! I never knew you would be such a despicable pervert!" "I''m truly sorry sister, you may not remember but this is not the time nor place for such antics. Take a look around you." She hesitantly looks up and turns around the room. "Han, Sara! W-what happened?" She says in a fearful tone. "I can explain it all to you later but can you please heal Tin''s legs first?" She turns to her right and screams in horror. "Oh no! Tin as well?" She begins to sob. Now she''s crying. Why does everyone cry around me? Am I really that scary? "Calm down, he isn''t dead yet. But he will be soon if you don''t heal him, so please act hastily!" She starts wiping the tears off her face. "Really?" "Yes." We stare at each other in silence. Why isn''t she doing anything? "... Can you get me some clothes first?" Oh right... "Oh right! I will get it for you right away!" I run to Sara and strip the clothes off her lifeless corpse. Don''t look¨C don''t look! Then I run back and hand it to her before turning around. "You better not peek." I imagine her saying with a cute angry face. After she finishes she tells me that I can turn around, The shirt is a little loose, but it''s better than no shirt at all. The armor is also an improvement. Not bad, not bad, "Please heal Tin now." I say as I bow. I wronged her thrice today, this is the least I can do. "Of course I will!" She hurries to Tin''s side and begins to pray to Pyro. Thank god, Tin will be saved! Chapter 31: Prayer Chapter 31: Prayer I should help her. Though I don''t know much about the capabilities of priests, it''s highly probable that young-low rank priests won''t be able to heal such an injury all by themselves. Maybe, with the blessing of Pyro, I''ll be able to enhance the effectiveness of her healing spell? Her hands shine in a warm holy light as she prays. I kneel down beside her and close my eyes to pray. Is the light in front of me getting brighter? I feel it getting warmer but I haven''t even started praying yet? I open my eyes and see her entire body as well as Han''s body covered in an orange light. I guess Pyro''s blessing does work even without me having to pray, but just to kneel in a praying position. The light surrounding Tin''s legs is especially dark. Abruptly, the light dissipates as Rachel finishes praying. "Ugh¨C how long was I praying this time?" That was quick, do injuries as severe as that normally heal that quickly? "Uh, about a minute has passed, why do you ask?" "And there''s no more healing potions?" "No." "It can only mean one thing when a prayer ends quickly while healing an injury as severe as this. It means it failed and Tin will die. She moves her hand down Tin''s face and closes her eyes. "I''m sorry for being unable to save you Tin. May you spend the rest of eternity peacefully treading through the plains of Balan." Didn''t her healing prayer work, enhanced by Pyro''s blessing? Then she turns to me with red watery eyes¨C full of anger, yet not a single tear falls. "I''m sorry for not being able to save him Nameless, if only my faith was stronger! Lets not waste this opportunity that Tin sacrificed his life for. You can inform me of the situation as we get out of this terrible place." She really has gotten mature from this event. But she seems to be misunderstanding something... From behind her, Tin opens his eyes and yawns. I knew he was alive! Rachel doesn''t seem to notice his movements, but does notice me staring in his direction. "What are you doing? Even though we are kids, there are no adults around so we must take responsibility! I know you''re sad, and want to mourn¨C I do too, but we can''t waste any more time. We have to get out of here as fast as possible! There may be no resources around here and there could be dangerous unknown creatures lurking." Tin gets up and walks closer to Rachel yet she still doesn''t notice until he puts his hand on her shoulder. "Hey there kids, body and legs feel especially sore right now. I guess my old age really is getting to me haha." "AAAAAHH!!! An undead! Purification! Purification! Purification!" The room is lit by a quick blinding light three times before Rachel runs out of mana and stops casting. "Hey, thanks for that Rachel, I feel a little better now." "Huff¨C huff¨C huff¨C are you really alive Tin? Thank you Pyro for this miracle!" Tin scratches his smooth head in confusion. "What do you mean? Did something happen? Where are Han and Sara?" "Do you really not remember anything Tin?" He becomes serious as he becomes aware of the situation. "I don''t but I had this really realistic dream where I was clashing with Han, actually all of you were in it. You know those dreams where you fall and then immediately wake up?" Yeah, those are really annoying. Those dreams just ruin my sleep for the day. We both nod. "Well, the dream ended like that. But it really was realistic! I felt all the pain of the fall." So he does remember... "Wow, that really does sound like a realistic dream! I had a dream just like that before I woke up as well!" What is she saying... nevermind, she fell unconscious during the fall as well. I should just clear up the confusion before the misunderstandings get worse. "Those weren''t dreams. All of that happened." Tin becomes agitated. "What do you mean? Are you saying we fought Han and survived a drop as deep as that? My legs are fine and both yours and Rachel''s are fine as well and neither of you are even swordsmen!" Damn he''s right, I need to come up with an excuse quickly. "Don''t believe me? Look up." I point upwards, at the seemingly endlessly high ceiling above us lit well by magic lamps. "Then, how are you fine?" I hold up my amulet. "Because of this artifact." I say with confidence. That should be believable enough right? "I thought that artifact enhances your magic." Why is he so nosy? "I¨Cuh¨C this artifact has many uses..." He examines my face thoroughly. "Alright, I know nothing about artifacts anyway. I''ll take your word for it. That''s a really useful artifact." Then Tin looks down at his bloody legs and seems to be in deep concentration. "So, Han and Sara are dead then?" "Yeah." I respond in a low voice. "I see, they weren''t good people but they were like my younger siblings." Then, he turns to Rachel. "Rachel. I know they tried to harm you, but could you pray for them to be better people in their next life?" "Of course, I wanted to pray for them as well." Rachel turns to me. Why is she looking at me? Wait¨C she must have thought I was still angry at them which is why she didn''t pray for them earlier! "You can pray for them." Me and Tin gather their bodies into the front of the room and Rachel stands over their bodies with her hands stretched out as if she''s about to embrace someone. Why isn''t she isn''t praying for them in the church''s proper praying position? "Oh Great Goddess Pyro, please cleanse these dirty sinners'' souls and forgive them. Reincarnate them so that they will be better people who will do your work in their next life and repay you for the grace that you have shown them." All non-corrupt members of the church that I''ve met like Dustin are incredibly huge fanatics of Pyro... she is the goddess of the sun, not afterlife or reincarnation. If only they knew her true nature... actually, it might be better if they didn''t. But for her to plead to Pyro about reincarnation... that''s something only those at the rank of bishop or higher can do. Perhaps she''s hiding something as well. Then, an angelic pillar of light shines down from the ceiling. Impossible! This entire dungeon is underground, how can sunlight reach all the way down here? But for the prayer to actually have worked¨C she truly is hiding a lot from me. "Goodbye Sara..." Rachel softly whispered as a single tear flows down from ber face before it supernaturally quickly dissipates It seems her relationship with Sara was real though. She should be given time to mourn. Even though she has been acting mature, she''s also a child. Unexpectedly, Sara is the first to speak up. "Let''s go now." She exceeds my expectations every time. We walk away, leaving Han''s sword and Sara''s daggers stuck in the ground acting as a gravestone. We walk quickly with our newfound motivation and charge toward the corridor as Rachel leads the way. She almost goes into the corridor, but I grab her by the collar and pull her back before she steps. "What are you doing, Nameless?" She says impatiently. "There are traps so we should be careful where we step." She snaps back. "Well, if you keep being so concerned about everywhere we step, how long will it be before we die of starvation? We don''t know how long this hidden dungeon room will take to escape!" I ignore her and walk straight, on the right side of the entrance. "Didn''t you just tell me not to walk anywhere?" Lets see, one, two, there. Here it is. The message on the wall told me to press it really hard. I hold a strong stance before imbuing my arms with aura and push. "Hrrghh" One more! "Hrrrrrgghhhh" "What are you doing, Nameless? Have you lost your mind already?" "Don''t worry, I haven''t lost it just yet. But, Zinc was right, this definitely takes a whole lot of force to activate it." "Activate what!?! And who is Zinc!?!" Hmm I had thought that maybe she was a little restless because she had to act mature even in the situation we''re in right now. But maybe she''s gone crazy? But from what? "Why aren''t you answering me Nameless?" S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Okay, I''ve had enough. I use Swift Wind and quickly move behind her, and chop the back of her neck, knocking her unconscious." "You understand why I did that right, Tin?" "I will admit, I tried understanding it but she was acting quite a lot differently." "It''s nice to have someone smart to talk to." "With age comes wisdom." What is he saying? "I know how to avoid all the traps." He is unfazed. "I''ve known since I''ve met you, that you were special. And if you want to hide things from me, that''s fine. I just need to trust you, and we will be able to get out of here." "Tin¨C thank you... now I need to deactivate the traps myself, so can you carry her?" We both look down at Rachel''s unconscious body. "Ah¨C sure." I quickly appear back to the third stone with Swift Steps and use everything at my disposal. Aura, mana, Pyro''s blessing, Heightened Senses, Iron Body. All around one fist, and punch with all my might. That punch felt solid, I think I did it! When the dust cloud dissipates, I see the stone unbroken, and unmoved. How??? Then, it makes a clicking sound and presses itself in. How anticlimactic... whatever, a win is a win. We walk through the corridor confidently as Tin, carrying Rachel, follows behind me and we enter the next room. Chapter 32: Unexpected Events Chapter 32: Unexpected Events I walk quickly and carelessly, all over the place, after we pass the first trap in the corridor. "Um¨C nameless, don''t you think we should still be careful of traps? It''s not like that could be the only trap." Oh my smart smart Tin, your reasoning makes sense but unfortunately for you, anything can be hypothetical, but all that is hypothetical disappears when all that is certain is revealed. "Fret not Tin, there will be no traps for a while." "But how are you that confident about it?" He screams from behind as I continue to prance around the corridor before abruptly stopping and striking a pose toward his direction. "Just trust me T¨C" "Click" My sentence is cut short as I hear the sound of a button being pressed. What was that? I look down at my foot and see that a stone that my right foot is standing on has been lowered. As I do this, I hear contraption sounds and stones moving. I look up and see a rectangular crack appear in the ceiling. Fuck¨C A giant axe that swings down from the ceiling. Immediately, my heightened senses activate and I quickly move backwards, but the axe was quicker. There was but a single centimeter of space between me and the axe and my money bag was cut at the opening to the bag. The coins flew everywhere. My money!!! Ugh... to think someone like me would be worrying about a few gold coins¨C I truly have the adventurer mindset now! From the speed at which I moved back, I lost my balance and fell to the ground. . . . I breathe heavily, in terror as the axe swings back into the ceiling, and back down. Back and forth, somehow not losing any momentum. After catching my breath, I crawl backwards and move away from the axe. That was close! If I had dodged even a fraction of a second later, I would''ve been cut in half by that! That crazy Zinc Zidden bastard lied to me! Was he planning on killing his successor from the start? Tin rushes to my side and swiftly, but gently lays Rachel down. Then he looks down at me, on the floor. "What did you say about there being no traps?" This old man acts nothing like an old man other than that night he told me about his dreams. I grab his reached out hand and he pulls me up. "I think we should be careful around traps now." I say while trying to act like nothing happened. "The axe is still swinging, how are we going to get past this? Do you have any ideas?" I examine the swinging axe. The axe blade is made of black iron and is clearly extremely sharp. I could slice it in half with Breaker of Dawn but it would probably just use up all of my mana like the last time I used it. I look up from the blade, to the opening where the axe dropped from. That could work. "Nameless? Do you have a plan?" "Yeah, with your shield, do you think you would be able to block that axe for a second?" "Who do you think I am? I''m a veteran at this. I will be able to block that axe for at least two seconds. It might not look like it but this shield has a coating of black iron as well." "Great, let''s do this then." I begin marching, with confidence, to the axe to challenge it once again. Tin doesn''t move and asks with a worried face. "But what about Rachel? Even if I block the axe for two seconds for us to get past, Rachel is still unconscious and won''t be able to get past. I''m not certain that I will be able to stop the axe while also carrying her." He seems to think I was going to leave Rachel behind doubt is a bad feeling for a subordinate of mine to have toward me. "I wasn''t planning on leaving her behind though?" "Then how will the plan work? Are you going to carry her? I don''t think a mage will be able to move fast enough while also carrying another person." "Again with the running past? We aren''t going to just be running past the axe, we''re going to be destroying it." "Uh¨C nameless, you might not know this since you''re not a swordsman , but that entire axe is made of black iron, unlike my tower shield that''s just plated with a single layer of it." I don''t know what black iron is? Hahaha, I''ve gotten my bones broken by master''s multiple black iron weapons more times than I''ve seen regular iron, yet that master of mine hasn''t given me a single one of them! "I know what black iron is. And you''re right, I am not confident I will be able to cut it easily. But the blade is not the part of the axe that I''m aiming for. The axe is the most dangerous part, but it will stop swinging if we get rid of what it''s attached to." "You mean the shaft? That''s genius!" "Thank you for your kind words." Tin takes a closer look at the axe''s shaft. "Wait¨C but isn''t that also made of black iron?" I walk up beside him and seem to be examining the axe with him. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "It''s true that it''s not made of wood. The creator of this dungeon was very careful with his design, but the shaft is not made of black iron. It is only regular iron." "Just regular iron?" He looks at me with a strict face. "You say that as if it''s easy to cut regular iron when neither of us are swordsmen!" "Calm down Tin, just trust me." "Calm down? Calm down!?! You were the one who almost got killed by that thing just a minute ago because you were so confident that there would be no more traps around!" "I''ll admit, I was being too careless to just trust some engraving on the wall that any random person could have carved, but no one was hurt." "You risked our lives by believing some random engraving on a wall!?!?" Lecturing me is something you can only do when you are on equal or higher terms to me. Yet, after witnessing my power he continues to scream at me!?! Should I just kill him now? I think about using Dawn to shoot him through the brain and clench my fist. Abruptly, Arthur''s hand releases and punches himself. What the hell was I thinking? This evil inside me just made me want to kill Tin! Could this all just be an illusion? Tin just suffered through the pain of his legs being turned to mush and losing two of his old friends! What''s happening to me!?!? Suddenly, the axe stops swinging and is seemingly stuck in place. It stopped? Ha, I knew the trap mechanism was too old for it to work. "Alright Tin, let''s go." I say as I begin to walk past toward the axe. There is no response. Why isn''t he saying anything? "Tin?" I turn back and see his motionless body with his hand reached out and him making a terrified face. "What is this?" It seems like time has stopped throughout this entire room. Is this another trap? No, it couldn''t be¨C this type of magic that stops is purely theoretical and impossible in practice. Only a transcendental being could replicate such a feat... A low, terrifying voice booms from a being behind the axe as he cackles sinisterly "Well done boy, you pass! Kekeke" I immediately try to turn to see the figure but my body abruptly stops halfway. Ugh¨C why can''t I move? A thick fog of purple and crimson flows across the floor coming from the direction of the cackling figure. This smell, it''s blood! He''s a demon! The demon''s laugh becomes louder before he begins to clap his hands. "Kakaka! Another great guess from the boy!" This filthy demon humiliating me and covering me in his fog? If I get out of this, I swear I''ll kill you! I struggle, opening my mouth to speak and he notices. "If you have something to say then just say it" I can''t you idiotic demon! My struggles and shaking increases. "Oh right¨C I stopped your body. Here, I''ll free your mouth now." My mouth releases from his control and I can move my tongue as well. I can speak now! "Hurry up with what you''re going to ask." "Were you¨C were you the one who took control of my thoughts and body and caused me to kill those bandits and Han without hesitation?" "Hmm, I don''t know, maybe I did, maybe I didn''t." "Don''t lie to me you filthy demon! Now release me right now so I can kill you for making me kill those people." "Did you just call me a filthy demon?" If I''m going to die anyway, I''ll at least make filthy demons angry before I die. "Looks like I struck a nerve there, huh?" "I was trying to hold myself back and be nice for this conversation because this is the first time I get to meet you since your birth because of the barrier that bastard court mage put up over the Ventrike county and the Imperial Capital but it looks like you need a little bit of discipline before we continue. "What¨C" He disappears one moment and appears within the very same moment in front of me with his fist getting ready to strike. Shit¨C Heightened Senses activate but the speed of the punch is only reduced to the speed of a Royal Rank Swordsman''s punch. Iron Body¨C One moment, I was standing. Next, I am inside a crater in the stone wall that was formed by my body with debris and blood covering the entirety of my body. What happened? Am I alive? I felt the punch in its entirety without Iron Body, but it looks like it activated before I hit the wall at least, or I would have died. I look up and see the demon. He is a skinny humanoid with red skin. There seems to be no muscles between his skin and his bones. He stares at his fist, covered in a blue flame and then stares back at me. Damn it, I can''t move again! "Looks like that court mage planted another barrier on you that I didn''t even notice. No matter, I wasn''t planning on killing you anyway. However, if you died to such an attack, you wouldn''t be fit to be heir anyway." He cuts off his burning hand without hesitation and continues talking. What nonsense is he spouting as I''m about to die? "Don''t get the wrong idea though, that punch was not even one percent of my power. Before I leave, let me introduce myself; I am the Sin of Wrath. So never call me a filthy human ever again you disgusting half blood. If you manage to survive from the blood loss, then I will officially recognize you. If not then, oh well." "Goodbye, and I hope we never meet again." A purple triangular shaped portal opens and he walks through. Then, it closes inwards and disappears. A second later, the axe starts swinging again and Tin charges before stopping. "He just disappeared... Where did he go?" Need to let him know I''m here... I summon a bright orb of Dawn. "What''s that light?" He turns and sees me in the wall. "Nameless!" Thank god, I can finally sleep now... Chapter 33: Cut Chapter 33: Cut Huh? What''s this warm feeling around my body? I open my eyes and see my body glowing in a warm yellow light with Rachel praying deeply beside me. "Rachel?" She doesn''t respond. She can''t hear me, she must be deep in prayer. I initially try to get up to find Tin, but my arms suddenly give out and I fall back onto the hard stone floor. Immediately, I grab the back of my head that hit the floor and try to lessen the pain. I try again, I plant my arms on the ground and push up. It''s working, just keep this pace Arthur, slow and steady wins the race... or so they say. When I reach the most forward that I can push, I let go and instead of my entire body falling back onto the ground, I slump forward. Seriously¨C what put me in such a state? Not even my master has put me in such a terrible state. I slowly took off Rachel''s torn priest robes that acted like a blanket that she had worn before the battle with Han. Then I look up and see Tin staring intensely at a chopped off, bloody black hand with hints of past redness still lingering on it. What is that? I continue to stare blankly at the hand as I become less aware of the area around me and concentrate immensely on trying to remember my memories, repeating the same thought endlessly. Who caused this? A thought that could have never ended was put to a pause when Tin noticed my stare. "Nameless, are you okay?" I think I heard him say, Then the very next moment, I see him by my side shaking me vigorously. When did he get here? "Yeah I''m fine." We both say the same thing at the same time. "What happened?" We both stare at each other in confusion. "I thought you knew?" He asked. "I would have liked it if I knew as well, but I don''t remember anything." "Okay well, I''ll tell you what I know then. When you punched yourself after our argument, I ran after you, wondering why you did that. The next moment, you just disappeared and when I turned around, I saw you unconscious, covered in blood and debris in a deep hole in the wall. After that, I woke Rachel up to heal you. What''s weird is that the moment before you disappeared and reappeared in the hole in the wall, it didn''t feel like it was just a moment... it felt like minutes, maybe even hours." That explanation makes sense and what he said at the end feels like it connects to a big part of my memory, but I still can''t put my finger on what it is. We both turn to her. "And she''s still in deep prayer, praying for a healing miracle right now." She is a lot more loyal than I thought. Then, the light around me fades as Rachel''s sorrowful eyes slowly open. She looks at me. "Rachel..." Then her eyes of sorrow abruptly change as grabs my arms and quickly touches around, feeling muscles and bones as she examines the state of my body. My body!! The pain!! Not there!!! "Aghh..." A soft sound of pain manages to escape out before dissipating. Then, she stops and stares intensely at my eyes. "How have you already healed this much?" Weren''t you just healing me? "Uh, didn''t you just finish healing me just a minute ago?" She lets out a sigh. "It''s true that I used all of my divine power and that was the hardest I''ve ever prayed to Pyro. But if all of the factors considered managed to heal you, I would be the High Priest." What is she talking about? My confusion is visible and sighs again. "You really don''t understand how severe your wounds were do you?" sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. I shake my head vigorously. "You bled out 30% of your blood, your lungs were damaged, your jaw was broken, your skull was fractured. The muscles and bones in your arms and legs were destroyed, your spine was obliterated, fourteen of your ribs were shattered, your sternum cracked into pieces and that''s not even half of it!" That sounds exaggerated but I''m glad she worries for me. "So, what''s the problem? I''m fine now." "That''s exactly the problem!!! It''s impossible for you to be able to move that much after only an hour!" It''s only been an hour? "So you didn''t exaggerate any of it?" "No!!!" "Listen, Rachel, I don''t think you''re lying but what you''re saying is impossible." "Let me show you then." She takes out a small dagger encrusted in gold from her waist and charges at me with it. Does she really think that will work? She thinks that an amateur like her would be able to strike me? I''ll easily dodge this. She charges up her swing. Just a diagonal slash? Piece of cake. Then, she brings the dagger down. I move to dodge left but it remains still. Why can''t I move!? I''m going to get hit! The dagger slashes me across the chest and blood pours out in great volumes. "GAH!" My body falls to the ground. How could she do that without hesitation? She looks at me in fear and drops the dagger out of her hands and she falls to the ground along with it. "I- I''m sorry, thought you would be able to immediately heal from it, or at least dodge it!" She covers her face with her hands and weeps. Am I going to die in such a disappointing way? Why isn''t Tin doing anything to stop her? I look over to where he was standing, now laying on the floor snoring. Rachel continues to sob. Then, she picks up the dagger and points it up in the air. "I''m truly sorry Nameless, I know you don''t believe me, but I''ll prove it to you now! Pyro, I offer the life of this lowly believer of yours, please take it and grant this boy a miracle of healing." She then smiles at me. "With this, I will heal the injuries you sustained previously as well as the one I caused. It''s been a fun adventure with you Nameless, Goodbye." She points the dagger to her chest. No, don''t do that! Why am I always surrounded by crazy people!? "Stop!!!" Wait, I can speak? Her arms stop just before she is stabbed. "You can speak? I thought you were heavily injured?" We both look at the wound she caused on my chest; now gone¨C without a cut or scar could be seen. "So you do have Super Regeneration!" I have regeneration? That explains so many things! Super regeneration is like the most desired skill because you can heal from anything and you can have endless battles with your eternal rival!!! But how did I get it? Why am I even asking why? I have regeneration! Then, a massive blow strikes my stomach causing me to stumble and almost fall down. "What was that for!?!" "That''s for knocking me unconscious! Now hurry and wake Tin up." How bossy... making me do work when I am still injured. Yet, I have discovered my regeneration ability because of her. Chapter 34: Stupid Axe Chapter 34: Stupid Axe I had planned on cutting the iron shaft myself, but looking at the current state of my body, I don''t think I''ll be able to say the same anymore. I open my now broken pocket watch, the glass cracked, but hands are still moving. I need to hurry and get the Red Dragon Flower quickly, it''s been over three days since we''ve entered the dungeon and if what the physician said is correct, then I only have 2 days left to gather all the materials and I don''t know how long it will take me to fully heal! Tin is a heavy armored shield, so he won''t be able to jump high enough, or react fast enough to slash the shaft. Rachel is not a physical fighter, nor has she ever trained in the sword so she won''t be able to do it either. Damn, is waiting for my recovery, however long that may be, the only option we have? Dustin is going to die at this rate! Maybe I could melt the iron shaft with my magic? "Guys, I have an idea, what if I melt the shaft with my magic?" Tin looks at me with amazement and claps. "That''s a great idea! But are you sure your flame is hot enough to melt it? From what I''ve heard, only 4th circle fire mages have flames as hot enough to melt iron." I''ve melted black iron before at just the 2nd circle, I think I''ll be able to melt regular iron. "Trust me, I''ve done it before." "Well, if you say so." He says while shrugging. I walk up to the axe and close my eyes to concentrate on just my thoughts. A pillar should work wonderfully for this situation, the imitation of Edward Tane''s fire wall that I used to block off the goblins. Except, instead of multiple pillars, just create one, that''s much larger and much hotter. I open my eyes and a massive amount of flames spew out of them. What is this sensation? I feel¨C much more powerful. When did I obtain this skill? This is great! With this power-up, I will definitely be able to melt the shaft; perhaps even the black iron as well! Solar Imitation: Flame Pillar! A great column of flame sprouts out of the ground and engulfs the entirety of the axe. Nice, it completely engulfed the axe! The heat radiating from this is intense, if I didn''t have my blessings of Pyro, my sun magic would have burnt me every time I used it. It should definitely melt the shaft soon, I just need to wait for the sound of the black iron edge falling down so I can release it. I continued maintaining the flame pillar, anticipating when the edge would drop. I sweat profusely and struggle to breathe. It''s been five minutes of holding this spell... it has gotten¨C "Huff, huff¨C" a little warm. The flame pillar should''ve melted the iron in just a couple of seconds but¨C "Huff, huff¨C" I have heard no sounds other than the torrent of flames. My mana reserves have almost been drained to half. I glance over at Tin and Rachel. They''re sweating from the intense heat of the flame as well, I should cease the spell. I lower my hand and fall to the floor as the spell disappears. I guess the damage to my body has limited me, not only by what I can do physically but the rate at which mana is consumed as well... it doesn''t matter, as long as the axe is gone¨C I look up and see the axe still swinging, unfazed and unmarked. How is it possible that iron would be unmelted after sitting in magic as hot as the sun for five minutes!?! Tin and Rachel turned towards me. They''re going to laugh at me for being so confident, het being unable to do what I said aren''t they? Once they get close enough, I keep my eyes closed as I speak. "Yeah, yeah, my plan failed and I was unable to melt the iron. Go ahead and laugh." "There''s no reason to laugh, I felt the intensity of your fire even from as far away as we were standing. That is undoubtedly the hottest flame I have ever felt before and was definitely enough to melt iron." Tin...you''re making me even more guilty for what I''m about to do to you. "I felt that as well, you may not believe me but that flame, given enough time, is hot enough to melt Black Iron as well, which is why it makes no sense whatsoever how it is still unmarked." Come on Tin, give me the response I''m looking for! "Do you know why it didn''t work then?" He took the bait!! I act anxious. "I do have a guess but I''m not sure..." "Please tell us anyway, we need to get out of here and we can''t do it without you, just tell us what we need to do!" "Very well then, my guess is that because the axe swinging so quickly, the fire is dispersed by the black iron edge before it even comes into contact with the iron shaft and the force at which the axe swings, the flames don''t even come in contact with the edge. Eventually, my flames would do enough damage to the black iron for it to melt, but I barely have half of my mana left so I won''t be able to hold it for long enough. "Does that mean that we''ll be stuck here forever? I have a wife and kids back home!" He starts bawling his eyes out and takes a silver locket out from out of his suit. He opens it and there is a photo of three humanoid silhouettes with Tin''s bald head in the middle. He had a family? He never mentioned that! That means I almost let the provider of a family die... it''s a good thing that it didn''t happen though. "Don''t worry Tin, I always have another plan. You offered to do anything I told you to do if I told you about my guess right?" He sniffles. "If it''s for the plan that''ll help me get out of here, yeah, I''ll do anything!" I reach my hand out and smile cheerfully. "Please give me your shield." He takes the shield off of his back without hesitation. "Of course, I trust that you won''t break it because you are a good kid and know that this shield cost me the entirety of what I made last year." Ugh¨C his smile and trust in me¨C it''s so bright! "O- of course I know that Tin, don''t worry, I''ll make sure you don''t lose any money from this." "Great!" He drops the shield on my hands and I scream in pain. "Auuuuughhhhh!!!" Why is this shield so heavy? Damn you whoever was the one who put me in this state, I''ll make sure to send you to hell! "You need some help there?" "No thanks, I can handle it myself." I say as I imbue my body with aura. This isn''t as good as before, but at least I feel stronger with than without it. I pick up the tower shield and walk toward the axe once again. Just before taking action, I scream back at Tin without turning. "You said the shield had a layer of Black Iron right?" "Yeah!" He screams from afar. "Great." Heightened Senses, activate! I stare intensely at the motion of the axe. Concentrate harder¨C I''ve memorized the pattern of the swing now. Three, Two, One, Now! I chuck the tower shield into the crevice under the floor where the axe''s range of motion reaches. A sound can slightly be heard apart from the loud screeching of two metals running against each other. "My shield!!!" The next moment, the axe hits the shield and pushes all it all the way to the far end of the crevice but it struggles to swing back. Nice, it worked! I take out Dustin''s sword from the Sage System''s inventory and with aura, I cleanly slice the axe from the contraption and the axe falls down, as the little bit of the shaft still left, swings ferociously, now that the axe has gotten so much lighter. "Nameless, how could you!? I told you that that cost all the money I made last year! You said you wouldn''t make me lose any money!" "Calm down Tin, it is unfortunate that your shield is gone but now you have this." I reach down and grab the axe, pulling it up and placing it in Tin''s hands. "This is yours now. I told you you wouldn''t lose money right? Now you have an entire weapon made of Black Iron, that you saved up money for a year to buy just a little bit of previously." Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I- I can have this? Thank you so much Young Master! I will obey anything you say!" Ugh¨C if I knew loyalty was so easily obtained with money, I would''ve saved more... "Alright then, for my first order, I am promoting you to axeman, so get up and lead the way of the Heavy Armored Axeman." "Yes!" We all, finally, get past the second trap and head for the first room. Chapter 35: First Trial Chapter 35: First Trial We proceed through the corridor carefully, with Tin in the front and Rachel in the back. They''re cautious. Tin might not be the most talented, but he is loyal and trustworthy in battle. Though¨C suddenly using an axe after fighting with a shield for most of his years is quite the large difference, so he might not be that trustworthy in battle... I put my sword back into the Sage System Inventory as we are about to enter the first room. Doesn''t seem like there''ll be any more traps in this hall, so I won''t need this. A lot of my pain has left my body. I had a few doubts that it might''ve just been due to Rachel''s prayer miracle, but it seems that I really do have a regeneration ability! Just after I return Dustin''s sword to the inventory, and just before Tin enters the room, Rachel screams from behind. "There, you did it again! I knew I wasn''t seeing things!" What is she talking about? "What are you talking about?" Tin says, his foot only a step away from the door and feet turned to us. "He just made his sword vanish into thin air!" Ohh I messed up. "And this wasn''t the first time he did it, didn''t you see him pull out his sword from nothing and slice the axe off from the ceiling! Think about it, did you see him have a sword before you gave him your shield?!" "Hmm... now that you mention it, you''re right! He didn''t have a sword on him when I gave him my shield!" *** But why does it matter if he could do that or not? *** "I knew it! So are you going to explain yourself Nameless?" "Oh, well, it''s because of this here-um¨C artifact!" I take out Sage. Technically, I''m not lying¨C it does have an inventory function in it. "Two artifacts huh? That''s quite suspicious; for a young E-Rank Adventurer like you to have not one, but two artifacts where''d you get them from?" She looks away from me and walks around in circles, deep in her thoughts. "Are you a noble? But to get two artifacts as a kid, even as a noble; that''d be impossible unless your father''s heavily spoiled you. Then perhaps¨C are you-" She turns back to me and I nervously gulp. Damn, did she find out? "Prince David?" My body freezes and my facial expression cannot be seen. Then, I start shaking. "I''m right, aren''t I? It makes sense, I heard he recently reached the Knight rank and his whereabouts have been unknown for a while now. Not to mention, you look just like what the rumors say about you!" Then, I burst out laughing. "Hahahahahahahahahhahahaaah..." Prince David? He turned 20 this year! Do I really look that old? Building onto that; how is her level of information so outdated? David graduated from Wolkan last year! "I''m not the prince, or a noble. As for how I obtained the artifact, I attended Wolkan Royal Academy where I just so happened to win a small competition and received a prize from that. You know what a Spatial Storage is right? I got mine from winning another competition!" She stares intensely at me. sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Didn''t you just say it was an artifact?" I keep on a fake and confident smile. "Oh, thank you for catching that mistake, it was just a slip of the tongue haha... Please just let it go, why does it even matter? "Hmph, fine, I guess your explanation makes sense. If I find out you lied to me, and stole those artifacts, I would have needed to turn you into the church for breaking the commandments." There''s no way she would do that after everything we''ve done together, right? "Alright, let''s head to the room then." Tin takes a deep breath in before lifting the Black Iron axe. "Hup¨C Alright!" There''s no light in the room. I summon five Dawns and scatter them across the room as Tin enters. Hm? I ordered the Dawns to go to the edge of the room and stay there, so why is the room so dark? I enter the dark room, being able to see nothing but the Dawns in the far corners of the room. As Rachel enters, the walls of the corridor begin to quickly close in from both sides. In a matter of seconds, the corridor and light are gone. "Well, there''s no other choice but to advance now." I''m starting to think that instead of this being Zinc Zidden''s legacy, this is more like a trial, as if the successor had to be worthy of inheriting his power in the possibly weak state that he could be in. I would summon more Dawns but with the current state of my body, it would just drain my body''s mana too quickly. Then, "Clack" A sound came from the entrance behind us, as magic lamps lit up. Then, more and more magic lamps start revealing the room, starting from the entrance, and making its way throughout the whole room. Woah, wait¨C there''s a monolith in the middle of the room with engravings on it! I run towards the stone. "Wait, nameless you need to be careful, there could be traps!" I''m confident I will be able to detect traps before they activate on me. I continue running before abruptly coming to a halt. All of these stone bricks that form a giant square in front of me will activate a trap if I step on them. How can I tell? They are slightly lower than the other stones I''ve been stepping on running up to here. This trap that has space below it will eventually lower itself if enough time passes. These traps were extremely damaged by time. I hop over the tiles and stand still after landing. "Don''t step on those tiles that I jumped over. Better yet, don''t follow me past where you are now if you don''t know which tiles I''m talking about." I continue the rest of the way walking and eventually arrive at a point where I am able to see the engravings on the stone clearly. Ugh¨C Syogol again? I look back at Tin and Rachel. Good, they seem to have listened to my warning and stayed still. They shouldn''t be able to see what I''m doing. I turn back and examine the engravings. Hmm, this seems much shorter than the last one. I take out Sage and whisper quietly to it. "Translate this quickly. Don''t respond, you''re too loud." It pauses for a moment. "..." Then it flies to the top of the monolith, scanning it, as it slowly traverses downward. Why do I feel like I just hurt its feelings? It''s just a magic engineered tool... After a short moment, sage flies up and hovers in front of my face after scanning and projects the screen of the translated analysis without saying anything. Did it actually understand what I said? No matter, let''s read what the translated text says. Hello again my successor. If you''re reading this, that means you''ve passed three of my traps! Congratulations, I know I lied, but if you are truly my successor, you cannot just believe my words baselessly. If you did not make it this far, you were simply not worthy of being my successor. What a ruthless way of thinking... You probably don''t trust my words already so I''ll just tell you, there are more than three traps in total. The traps that I have told you about however, are true, I swear on my soul. Hmm, maybe I should believe him, I do recall hearing that the Syo people emphasized the purity of their soul above everything else, even their life. You may be wondering, "How do I get out of this room? There''s no exit!" It''s simple, this room will be your first real trial that will test your capabilities. The traps do not count as trials and there will be a trial from every room starting from this one. I will not give you any hints or information on the trial, you must do this alone. I wish you the best of luck, and may our Syo tribe prosper. Damn it, this can''t even be called a hidden dungeon room! He is just trying to kill us! Suddenly, the floor starts to split apart, from the middle, as another well lit room becomes visible from under us. I stare in awe Woah, even if I hate Zinc and everything he does, I have to admit, his magic engineering skills are greater than most magic engineers of this era! "Nameless!" I hear Rachel scream from across the room, on the other side of the splitting floor with Tin from me. Crap. Chapter 36: Goblin Chieftain Chapter 36: Goblin Chieftain "Nameless!!" She screamed in distress. Damn it, they''re too far away! Can I run fast enough? My body reacts before my thoughts come to form. I enhance my body with mana and my legs get ready for sprinting at maximum speed. My heightened senses activated, great! I need to time this perfectly. . . . Now! My leg kicks my motionless body off the ground in a split second with immense force, launching myself forward¨C in a near-perfect straight line to Tin and Rachel. Swift Wind can remove the air resistance of moving, allowing me to reach unmatchable speeds, without disturbing the steady, calm motion of the air. I run precisely at my maximum speed toward them with a fading light-green flow of mana forming in front of me and leaving a light green trail of dissipating particles behind me as I advance forward. The area of the room is too large, I can''t even see the hole! "Nameless stop! The gap is too wide!!" Did they say something? Forget it, I need to focus on running. The figures of Tin and Rachel become more clear as I close in on them. Yes, I''ll be able to make it to them in less than five seconds! Suddenly, the gap that continues to recede backwards, comes into view. Is that the giant gap that they were talking about? It doesn''t seem too wide, I should be able to jump over it- I continue to run, with the true size of the gap slowly being revealed to me the further I run. Just as I prepare to jump over the gap, to the other side, I abruptly come to a stop as I gaze upon the totality of the gap. This¨C this gap was too wide to jump over from the start! Inside the gap, there is another structure with a roof, held up by pillars, that hinders my vision. I can''t see what''s inside that, it''s probably the second room where another monolith is. Then I look up, to the direction that they are standing in and imagine their terrified faces. "Don''t worry, I''ll save you soon, just wait there for me!" I say that, but how will I be able to get there in the first place? I hear them screaming but am unable to discern their words. Suddenly, I feel the vibrations in the moving ground rumble even more. What was that? I look down at my foot and see my feet standing on a lowered plate. Shit, I forgot about the trap plates because I was too focused on running over to them as fast as possible! I look up again at Tin and Rachel, and see that the walls behind them now have countless white figures on them. What are those? I''m too far away, I can''t get a good look at them. Then, I turn 180 degrees, backwards, and see the same white figures on my. What are those? I concentrate for a long time on the same point. Are those¨C spikes? The floor continues to recede at a steady pace. Damn, the floor isn''t moving any slower¨C Tin and Rachel will die at this rate! I stare into the room below the receding floor and see calculate the distance of the fall. If my calculations are correct, then we should be able to survive the drop. It looks to be less deep than the first one and both Tin and I managed to survive. That was however, when Tin was in peak condition. Even then, Tin only barely managed to survive and Sara died so it would be impossible for Rachel to survive alone. Ahh- this is so stressful; the walls are closing in so all we can do now is to take a leap of faith. I grunt, to stabilize my throat to shout and use mana to project my voice louder. "Listen carefully to me Tin, if the floor continues to recede, then we''re all going to die. I, however, have an idea. It might sound crazy but I need you to trust me or both you and Rachel will die. On my mark, Rachel, you will need to grab onto Tin''s back and hold tightly. If you let go and fall, you will definitely die. Rachel drops her staff and moves behind Tin, preparing to jump up. Great. Tin, after Rachel is secured on your back, grab your axe and jump down. Now, this is the crazy part¨C instead of jumping down and taking the blow on your legs, which will surely render you unable to move, I want you to take the blow of the fall with your arms. It might seem difficult, but you need to time your swing carefully and swing with as much force as you can. You should also use all your mana to enhance just your arms and shoulders alternatively to your whole body. It will be hard, and something you''ve never done before, but your life depends on it. I see him shuffle around and open his mouth. I can''t hear what you''re saying Tin, just pick up the axe! Then, I see him grab the axe. Alright, good. I turn back to my wall and calculate the distance. Hmm, I''d say we have about forty seconds left before the rest of the platform is gone. I look down, into the room below us, and focus on its floor. The texture of the floor seems to be the same regardless of where we jump so it doesn''t matter. I should give the signal to jump now. I shoot a sunbeam to the ceiling and squint my eyes in Tin''s direction. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. That was bright enough for them to see it right? They''re too far away, I can''t see if they saw the signal and are preparing to jump down or not. Wait, I didn''t specify what the signal to jump was going to be, were they unable to infer? Then I see Rachel go behind Tin and disappear. Oh thank god, so they did hear me. I see Tin grab his axe and lift it over his head. Is he going to jump? I should jump after them to make sure they''re doing everything correctly. I see Tin, who slowly shrinks to the size of a small dot, only visible to his, now dirty, shiny white armor. Alright, he jumped down, and I think I saw a light exuding from him which probably means Rachel cast a blessing on him, great! Now it''s my turn. My legs feel almost fully healed so I should be fine. No more time to waste, let''s go! Heightened Senses, Swift Wind, Iron Body, and Enhanced Body (Legs) activate as I jump down. Swift Wind lightens my step, but I''m still falling at the same speed... In my freefall, I look down at Tin, and see Rachel''s body upside down as her legs are being dragged down, while she desperately clings on to Tin''s neck for dear life. Tin''s axe is still high as he grips onto it tightly, it''s great size almost coming into contact with Rachel''s body. They seem to be doing fine. As long as they keep their descent and Tin times his swing well, they will survive. The real thing that concerns me however, is what could be under that structure. I thought at first that there would just be another monolith below it, but really, there could be anything in it. The only way to find out is to see for myself, so I should just focus on making my body take as little damage as possible. The ground is fastly approaching. I need to brace my knees for the impact unlike last time, where they almost broke off. I look back at Tin and he screams loudly. "AHHHHHHHHH!!!!" He approaches the ground rapidly and I see his axe swing down just before a cloud of smoke covers the area of his impact. "BOOOM!!!" I can''t see the results but he probably succeeded in timing his swing. That scream didn''t sound like one of fear, but the battle cry of a warrior. The ground is rapidly approaching for me as well, should I try it too? It looked really cool. "AHHHHHHHH!!!" "BOOOOOM!!!!" A cloud of smoke covers all of my vision. That fall felt a lot better than the first one, my legs barely felt damaged. I wave to try to move the massive cloud of smoke away. While shouting. "Tin!!! Rachel!!! Are you okay?!!!" There is a slight silence before Rachel''s voice echoes to my ears. "Tin''s arms are damaged, but we''re both alive!!" Okay, they managed to survive. But this cloud of dust is annoying, I can''t see anything. It isn''t dissipating. I ran outside the cloud of dust, to the direction from where I heard the echo from. As I exit the cloud of dust, I stand still in terror as I gaze upon the terrible being laying with its eyes closed under the structure held up by stone pillars. What is that huge monster? It has the body structure, face, and wooden club of a goblin, but it''s at least six times bigger! The only thing that matches that description would be the boss of the Zidden Dungeon, the Goblin Chieftain! But why is it''s skin purple? Chapter 37: Corrupted Goblin Chieftain Chapter 37: Corrupted Goblin Chieftain I think I''ve heard about this before in the Study of Unexplained Mysteries before. There have been multiple sightings by adventurers who said they saw monsters that normally weren''t purple, turn purple. None believed it at first but eventually they managed to catch one of them alive, they tested on it for days before the Monster suddenly died. But before the monster died, they finished their findings. In that experiment they found that the monster had black colored blood and its mana that spread all over its body, had weird properties. It was dark¨C almost evil¨C they called it. What was even weirder, after they dissected its corpse, they were unable to find its mana core. In the end, researchers labeled those with the symptoms, Corrupted Monsters. Its strength was multitudes of times stronger than the normal version of the beast. The Goblin Chieftain, a high ranking monster that rarely appears in the Zidden Dungeon. From what I know about it, it''s danger rating is B and I would say my chances of beating it alone would be around 80% but, in my current state¨C with less than half of my mana and my damaged body, it would drop to around 50%. That estimation barely has a foundation but if it''s accurate and the Corrupted Monsters really are multiple times stronger, it would be considered an A rank monster, and my chances of winning would be less than 10%. "Hooh, this danger and uncertainty of survival should be making me afraid¨C so why do I feel so excited?" Cut to: My face, breathing heavily; smiling widely with excitement and eyes filled seemingly with strong desire. "I want to kill it!" Then the smile disappears. What¨C was that? I concentrate deeply but to no avail. I shake my head ferociously to snap myself out of it. Forget it, I need to focus on the situation at hand. The monster seems to still be asleep so we might be able to get a surprise attack on it, maybe even killing it in one hit, before it even wakes up! But I need to get to Tin and Rachel first. If I attack it and it doesn''t die in one attack, it will likely run away from me and attack Tin instead, who is injured, unlike me, and feast on his flesh. Except, I can''t let that happen. I stretch my legs a bit first. I should''ve done this before I jumped down, but better late than never. I activate Swift Wind and Heightened Senses. I need to be extremely careful where I step, if I activate any traps, that could end up waking that corrupted beast. I quickly made my way over to the dense dust cloud that had still not cleared up, where I thought Rachel was. No traps so far? Maybe there really isn''t any here. I enter the dust cloud and whisper lightly. "Psst. Rachel, where are you?" "I''m over here." She says in a normal voice. "Be quieter, there is a sleeping monster here." She gasps while I continue making my way to where I last heard her. Ugh, I really can''t see anything in this cloud¨C I suddenly bump into something. "Rachel? Are you there?" "Yeah, I''m here." She replies a bit further than where my foot touched. This must be Tin then. I summon an orb of Dawn to be able to see in the dust cloud better. That''s a bit better. "Come on, let''s get Tin out of here." Dawn lights up the dust cloud and allows more vision, but the dust still renders me unable to see clearly. I grab Tin''s upper body while Rachel leads the way backwards, out of the dust cloud, carrying his lower body. After making it out of the dust cloud, we set Tin on the wall and scout around the area. "What''s that?!" She shrieks in a state of terror. She must be looking at the sleeping Corrupted Goblin. "You''re talking about the giant purple goblin that''s lying down right? That''s the sleeping Corrupted Goblin Chieftain." I say without my concentration on scouting breaking. Ah, there''s the exit, probably. "Um, nameless, I think you''re thinking of something else, because the giant purple goblin statue that I''m looking at is standing up and has its eyes open. What?! "GUAAAAAAARGHHHHH!!!" The whole room tremors from its roar. "Damn it, Rachel, run!!" Rachel is frozen in fear as the corrupted goblin chieftain charges at her, swinging it''s club like a maniac. Ugh, this annoying bastard! I have never put this spell into practice before, but there''s no time to test it anymore! Just as the monster is about to swing its club down at Rachel, I appear next to her in a ball of green particles. "Sun''s Gate!!!" "CRACK!!!" A large, translucent, orange gate constructed by two tower constructs appears in front of us, just barely forming in time to stop the Chieftain''s swing. Rachel falls to the ground on her butt before scurrying back. Haha, how do you like that? This is the complete stage one design of my fire pillar imitation! It''s an indestructible gate resembling the light and heat of the sun and the fortifications of a castle gate. I''m a genius aren''t I? The goblin stumbles back a bit in its daze after failing to destroy something with all its strength and bouncing backwards. Immediately after regaining its balance, the beast goes in for another swing. "WHOOOOOOOSH... CRACK!!!" Cracks begin to form around the gate and its supporting towers. Am I just imagining it, or is my indestructible gate being broken? I''ll have to fix that problem later. But for now, I need to take care of this monster. Let''s not play with it too much, I don''t want any unforeseen incidents occurring. Three Dawns appear, forming a triangle shape, locked onto one point. Just before they fire, the Goblin goes in for one last swing. All of them, aim for its chest, where it''s manaheart is. In a split second, the Dawns turn from orbs into beams into beams and shoot toward the center of the monster''s chest as it brings its club down. Then, the area is covered in a thick dust cloud as the monster''s club strikes. "CRACCKK... BOOOOOM!!!" Did it die? It seems like my indestructible gate was destroyed so I''ll need to work on that. How could it have possibly broken though¨C My thought is cut short as my heightened senses suddenly activate and I instinctively activate Iron Body. A massive wooden swooshes through the air, dispersing the dust cloud around it with its incredible force, right before it reaches its end goal of striking me. Just before striking, I noticed its bare chest through the dissipated dust cloud. Impossible... my magic barely left a mark?! "WHOOOOOSH... WHAM!!!" I fly through the air at extreme speeds. "Fwoooooooooooshhhhhhh" My flight comes to an immediate stop as I hit the wall on the complete opposite end of the room. "BOOOOOOOM!!" Oh you bastard, I barely even felt a tickle from that, but it''s bringing back memories that I have a hard time recalling. So it''s really on now. I enhance my legs with aura and use Swift Wind. Then, surpassing my maximum leg strength for a single second, I jump out of the small crater in the wall, in a straight line back to the now, near dissipated dust cloud, as if gravity had no effect on me. If the skin is too tough for my magic to affect it, then I just need to attack someplace else! The dust cloud completely dissipates as I continue to soar through the air. Rachel! That dirty goblin dares to try to hurt her? I will definitely torment you for a long time before killing you. Hahaha! Flames begin to spew out of my eyes once again. Haha, yes! I feel so much stronger! This gives me an idea as well. I summon two orbs of dawn, but instead of turning them into beams and shooting them out, they are condensed into an arrow shape. This would normally make the result worse, but I''m not aiming to try to hurt its body, I''m aiming for something specific. And there are only two possible outcomes. Whether it works, or it doesn''t. And my calculations say that this shape will generate the outcome I want with a higher probability of success. Then, I envelop the arrows in a swirling flame before firing them. They travel at higher speeds than me, and have their course set to where the goblin will be in two seconds. As long as this dumb monster moves at a constant rate, all will be okay. The goblin does not notice the arrows approaching him and continues to move slowly and steadily. Then, the arrows strike. "GUAAAARRGHHHH!!!" The monster screams, the air itself trembling, from the monster''s voice-caused vibrations, while it holds its burning eyes. How do you like that? Your skin may be tough but your skin isn''t the only exposed part of your body! Blame your own stupidity for getting hit. "Sage, Dustin''s Sword!" Dustin''s sword is taken out of the inventory and appears in my hands. This is the end, monster! I rapidly approach the defenseless, blind monster and descend through the air, aimed down at its chest and pierce its center. "GAAAAUUUU" Yes! The beast howled in pain, but didn''t fall. Why is this monster not falling down? I pierced his mana core¨C wait, come to think of it, I didn''t feel my sword pierce through anything other than flesh! The monster begins to move its arms trying to swat me away. Crap, I need to get out of this situation quickly! I struggle immensely as I try to pull the sword out of its flesh. Why¨C won''t¨C it¨C come¨C out?!?! His palm, the size of my entire body, smacks his upper chest, just above the sword. Immediately, I duck down, while hanging from under the sword as he strikes himself. I will probably be crushed if I get hit by that. I need to pull this sword out, now! I suddenly gain a realization in my struggle of trying to release the sword. Wait¨C how could I forget something so important? Corrupted Monsters don''t have mana cores! S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. I kick myself off its body before it swings at me again. I''m sorry Dustin, your sword will be sitting in corrupted mana for a bit. "Rachel, I know you''re scared but I need you to get up! I won''t be able to win this without you!" She hesitantly rises and backs away. All right, good. I need you to get me Tin''s axe. She doesn''t say anything but I hear her frantic steps as she runs. "Looks like I''m going to have to fight you without any weapons. "GUARGHHHH!!!" It cries out. How annoying. The first thing I''m cutting off when I defeat you, is definitely going to be your tongue. I use Swift Wind and stay as silent as possible. Yeah, you''ve lost your eyes so it''s impossible for you to detect me anymore. All you can do now is to wait for your eventual death once I get my axe. My heightened senses activate out of nowhere and I jump to the right, just barely managing to dodge the goblin''s swing. What the hell was that? I made no sound and he couldn''t see me! Could it be¨C he''s detecting me through smell? Ugh... how disgusting... He tries, and tries again. But he fails each time as I swiftly dodge. "Come on, I was a bit worried for a second, but it looks like I was just overreacting. Try harder, why don''t you?" It swings furiously once more, but misses again. Then, Rachel comes along while dragging Tin''s giant axe. I run over to her. "Thank you, this was very brave of you." She doesn''t respond and runs back to Tin. "Hoh see what you''ve done now? I am really, really going to enjoy this." I say as I slowly walk toward the beast, with the roles of predator and prey now reversed. As I pick up my pace, the monster begins to move backwards. Eventually, it starts crawling on all four limbs to get away. After having my way with it, its remains lay on the platform it was sleeping on in the beginning, that are now just a torso with its legs and arms gone, and a scar in the middle of its chest where my sword pierced through. The only thing left other than its torso being its head. What stupidly fast regeneration, after losing its limbs, it has already healed the area of the wound and stopped the blood flow. Of course, I am in no position to be saying that because I have a greater regeneration than even that. "Well, I''ve done everything I wanted to do to get revenge on you, so I feel satisfied now." I look over at Rachel who is helping the now-awake Tin heal his legs. "Do either of you want to do anything to him before I end his miserable life?" "No, I''m fine." Tin says, weakly. Rachel however, gets up and picks up a large fragment broken off the even larger club and without hesitation, stabs the goblin through its mouth. The goblin tries a desperate scream, but doesn''t manage a sound. "I''m finished." She says while walking back, unfazed from the previous situation. Wow, she is ruthless. Well, it''s better to see her like this than for her to be terrified at least. Time to finish this. I raise the axe to swing but abruptly, I drop the axe and fall to the ground while holding my head as the lost information rushes into my head like a waterfall. "AAACCKKKKKK!!!" I scream while writhing on the ground as saliva leaks from my wide opened, screaming mouth. Tin and Rachel come to my side and try to calm me, and hold me still, but their attempt does not succeed. Several minutes pass, Tin is sitting, leaned on a pillar, while Rachel continues to pray. Out of nowhere, my endless, endless loud screams come to a halt and my eyes force themselves open. "Hufff¡ª Hufff¡ª Hufffff¡ª" My head aches with terrible, but more bearable pain. Ughhh my head!! I can''t believe I forgot all that! That despicable demon put that injury on me and even erased my memory, I almost let him take over again by killing this monster. I was uncertain what caused these outbursts before, but I am certain that it doesn''t just come out randomly, but when I''m fighting. More specifically¨C when I''m about to finish an opponent off. Does this mean I can never kill anyone ever again? No. That just means, I need someone else to do it for me. Out of everything in the memory I regained, the one that makes no sense, no matter how much I think about it, I can''t figure out what that demon meant by heir. I look beside me and see the corpse of the Corrupted Goblin Chief, with its head now severed. Thank goodness, it would''ve been terrible if I had to see its ugly face staring back at me right after I woke up. "You''re awake." I look up and see Tin''s eyes focused on me. "Yeah." "So, what was that? I can''t tell if your actions have just been changed because you''re unused to the dungeon life or because of something else." Should I tell him the truth? "Yeah¨C I think that it''s just that being in a dungeon for so long is affecting my mental health." I pause momentarily before speaking again. "Actually¨C I think there''s a demon that''s trying to take control of my body who takes control, momentarily, when I''m about to kill someone." He pauses again but then opens a compartment in his armor and takes out a bottle with a kind of clear liquid inside. What is that? Is that just water? There''s no way he has a compartment just for water though. He rips the cork out with his teeth and chugs the whole bottle in one gulp. "Haaaa, that''s some strong liquor. God I really needed that." What the hell? He stored alcohol there? The air around him changes. Wait¨C instead of acting like a drunk guy, it feels like that one night where he told me about his dream. Maybe he''s going to impart some kind of knowledge onto me again? Then, Tin opens his mouth, as if about to speak. "Buuuuurrp!" Maybe not... "Listen, if what you''re saying is true, and a demon really does take over your body when you''re about to kill someone, I don''t think it''s specifically that scenario. Think, has there been any other time other than when you''re about to kill someone that you suddenly feel like you''re not yourself?" There was that time when the D Rank adventurer was arguing with Amy, that I suddenly felt the urge. "Yeah!" He shakes the near empty bottle of alcohol into his mouth and a few drops fall out. He uses his tongue to lick the outside of his mouth, trying to get all the alcohol. What the hell is this guy''s obsession with alcohol? I would have rathered him to bring more alcohol instead of having to witness this disgusting, desperate scene... "Do you remember what emotion you felt before you lost yourself?" "Yeah, I remember feeling rage." "Then it looks like what causes your demon to take over is when you feel rage." What the hell kind of advice is that? Isn''t he just drunk? I already knew it had something to do with anger. Wait¨C he might be onto something¨C if I remember correctly, the demon who attacked me called himself the Sin of Wrath. Aha, all the pieces are coming together now! "So it seems. Do you have any advice on what I should do now? To fix it?" He shakes the empty bottle of alcohol upside down, above his mouth. "I do have an idea, but you have to trust me on this. Even if I don''t look like much, I''ve traveled the world more than I''ve done adventuring." What does that even mean? Those are both the same thing! "You must think I''m crazy-drunk right now but when I''m drunk, that''s when my mind is the most active. I''ve ventured out into the Balid Temple before." I''ve heard of that temple before, it''s one of the biggest temples located in the southern kingdoms. "It was like a school but instead of learning about magic or writing, all you did was meditate and repeat the same teachings verbally every day. But, there, I also saw something I wasn''t allowed to. On my visit, I accidentally peeked into the training room where they said only the monks there were allowed to go in. I don''t think anyone saw me but I will forever remember it." He stops midway and grabs the water pouch on his waist and drains it into his mouth. "Ha, much better. In the room, there were monks that sat in a fire, who looked extremely malnourished, about three times as skinny as you. Despite all of that, those monks sat in the fire and continued chanting, their faces unfazed and completely focused. I think the thing you''re missing is mental strength. You''re smart, but that does not mean you can defend yourself from mental attacks. What you need to do is to meditate to strengthen your mind, instead of your mana. Instead of clearing your mind, you need to focus on it." Focusing instead of clearing the mind huh? I''ve never thought about that. Should I try it right now¨C We sit in silence after witnessing that powerful quote then, Tin speaks up, becoming sober again and returning to his unserious side. "Or at least, that''s what the monk sitting outside the temple, below the stairs said to me, haha." This crazy, drunk old man!! Chapter 38: 3rd Circle Chapter 38: 3rd Circle I let out a long sigh. "Huuuuuu... okay well, I guess I can try that. It looks like your legs are still damaged and Rachel is still in prayer. So let''s continue to rest for a bit." The creator of this dungeon said that there will be a trial in every room starting from this one. And if all of those trials are trials where I have to defeat a monster. So if I have to defeat a monster as strong as, or stronger than this one, I need to become stronger as well. "Tin, I''m going to form my third circle now." I say in a serious tone. "I am honored that you are willing to trust me with your life. I will protect you, even at the cost of my own." Wow... who knew he could act so professional? He must still be drunk. "Hoooooooo..." I look up at the ceiling, the whole room bright from the numerous lamps attached into the wall There is even less sunlight here than in the carriage when I tried to form it before. I wonder how long it will take to finish forming the rest of this circle; hours? Days? I don''t have that kind of time. They say when you need help, pray to Pyro. But I wonder, will she really be able to hear me? There''s no use just thinking about it, my ideas can only be proved through results. I get myself up on one leg, into praying form, closing my eyes, and clasping my hands together. "Pyro," What should I say? "grant me a miracle?" Nothing happens. Ugh¨C I have no idea what to say! My thoughts are all over the place! Still, a new idea was formed¨C that I can only reach Pyro''s realm of flames in the temple, or at least a church. It must be because those places are heavily decorated with orange suns, her divine symbol. "What was that? You know you''re not a priest right? Haha" Tin says, while laughing. Just¨C ignore him, Arthur. If there is no sun, and Pyro can''t help, then all I can do is to do it by myself. I deeply concentrate and observe my manaheart. Lets see, I have about 40% of my mana left. If I use all of it to create a giant Orb of Dawn, that might be able to act as a substitute for real sunlight. The problem is, using all my mana will leave me completely vulnerable, and I don''t know how long the sun will even last¨C will it be long enough for me to form my circle? I will be completely vulnerable while forming my 3rd circle anyway so having mana, or not having mana will not make a difference. As for whether it will last long enough for me to complete the circle? I''m just going to have to take a gamble on that. I cross my legs, into Lotus Position. This feels a little more uncomfortable than usual. Probably because I fell down over three hundred feet and landed on my legs twice. My body should adjust soon from my super regeneration. I shut my eyes and sit in complete silence. Then, orange aurora lights begin to slowly rise from my body. They fly higher and higher until they unexpectedly come to a stop and form a swirling ball of fire that continues to get bigger and bigger as the orange aurora continues to steadily rise. Afterwards, the final bit of aurora rises out of my body and gets swallowed in the, now giant, swirling ball of fire. Did I manage to create the artificial sun? I heard Tin gasp but I can''t open my eyes or I''ll break my concentration. I have no more mana and I feel the warmth of something at least so I should just be content with these clues . Okay, clear the mind. Clear the mind... My consciousness drifts away, the empty void being the only thing left. My eyes open, the image of a third orange circle having formed around my manaheart being the first thought in my head. My eyes are still focused on myself, making me unaware of the area around me. I can feel another ring circling my manaheart now. My mana has fully recovered and I feel the amount of mana circuits in my body and my mana reserves have increased by a large amount! My mana output can be much higher now because of my new mana circuits. I want to test how much stronger I''ve gotten. "Have you done it?" A voice, sounding like Tin''s, says. My awareness returns to me as I turn my head up, to the direction I heard the voice from. Tin has all of his armor off and is exercising on the floor, doing push-ups, as Rachel leans, sitting in front of a pillar adjacent to him, silently watching. Tin is... by no means skinny but definitely not as big as the armor he fits himself in. How exactly did he manage to act as a heavy tank for so long despite not being heavy?! Tin finishes his set by pushing himself up with his arms, directly from a normal push-up to standing upright. "Phew, that was intense. I haven''t worked these old bones like that in a while!" Didn''t he say he was middle-aged? He isn''t even that old! He chugs another entire sack of water. "Hooooo... refreshing!" "We''re going to run out of water soon if you keep wasting our water like that!" Rachel strictly screamed. Tin puts up his arms "I know I know, I''m sorry. But I didn''t want to be a burden to this party anymore. His happy demeanor shifts to a serious one. Their relationship is so wholesome, it''s like watching a father and daughter fight over eating each other''s food. Only¨C no one''s laughing¨C The air around Tin changes once again as he turns to me, while averting the gaze of Rachel. "Anyways, Nameless, to any other person who tried forming their circle in the amount of time you did I would ask them if they failed and comfort them, since it would normally take a whole week of non-stop meditation to form the third one. I was just making small talk after you startled me in my training but I know that you can''t fail, so how is it? Do you feel stronger now?" "You finally understand me, Tin! I feel a lot stronger, I want to test out my powers right now." "Well that''s great news, because we want to get out of here quickly as well!" How much time has passed? Please tell me it hasn''t been more than four days since we''ve entered the dungeon! "Wait¨C how much time has passed since I started forming my circle?" "Uhh, according to your cracked pocket watch, the time is 10 PM, it''s been two hours." Two hours? That''s not too long but it''s also not a small amount. I don''t know how long it will take to get past the rest of the rooms! Counting the time I need to get back to the capital city and get the other ingredients from the Temple''s vault, I don''t have any time to waste! "We can''t take any more breaks. I need to get out of this dungeon within the next six hours." The both of them stare in silence, shocked by what they just heard. "We understand. I didn''t want to stay here anyway." "Thank you. We can take a five minute break before we set out." Tin goes back to stretching and Rachel joins him. Looks like I won''t have to worry about them. Now, let''s take a look at my new status window shall we? I grab Sage out and hold him in front of me. "Show me my Status Window." "ORDER RECEIVED" *** STATUS WINDOW Name: Arthur Ventrike Class: Mage Rank: 3rd Circle Strength: 400 Agility: 420 Stamina: 500 Mana: 30000 Intelligence: 210 Active Skills: Mana Blade (Mastery: Max) Enhance Body (Mastery: Level 6) Aura Blade (Mastery: Level 5) Heightened Senses (Mastery: Level 2) Swift Wind (Mastery: Level 2) Iron Body (Mastery: Level 1) 3rd Circle Solar Imaginary Technique Passive Skills: Nameless Sword Technique (Mastery: Level 1) Heavenly Martial Physique (Stage 1) Solar Mana Gathering Technique (Mastery: Level 2) Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Eyes of Truth (Stage 1) Pyro''s Blessing of Body (Stage 1) UNKNOWN SKILL Status Abnormalities: Demon Curse Overall Combat Rating: B+ Accuracy: 100.00% *** Nice! Now I have as much mana as someone like Dustin now! I mean, sure, I can''t use my mana as efficiently as a swordmaster because of my mana circuits but still, to have as much mana as a swordmaster! Wait¨C why doesn''t it say that I have super regeneration, or any kind of regeneration in the passive or active skills? Could it be because my heavenly martial physique awakened or something? I don''t remember it saying stage 1 before. Hmm... but the skill doesn''t say super regeneration; and if just the first stage gives me that much¨C I wipe the saliva seeping out of my mouth. I wonder how good the abilities I gain will be in further stages. Let''s see what else changed, my physical stats have increased a lot even though I haven''t done any training. Probably has something to do with Pyro''s Blessing of Body. Hmm... all of my swordsmanship and footwork techniques have disappeared and seemingly been replaced by the nameless sword technique? One last notable change is the Eyes of Truth, except, I only have it in one eye, so why is it plural? The stage not saying max also implies that there is more to come. I should really thank Pyro the next time I see her, these blessings are... amazing!! Forget the unknown skill, worrying about that will just make me agitated, and why would I want to be agitated when I''ve seen such changes in my stats? Oh, this is a glorious day! I smile widely to myself as I continue to observe the Status Window. Hold on, that wasn''t there before¨C "Sage, analyze Status Abnormality, Demon Curse." "ORDER RECEIVED" "ORDER DENIED. ACTION FAILED. UNKNOWN STATUS ABNORMALITY." What? This is the first time this has happened! How is it possible that there is something Luke Wolkan doesn''t know?! And it gives me the same response as the unknown skill in my passive skills! I am certain of it, both of these unknown things have something to do with that Sin of Wrath! Suddenly, I hear Rachel''s echoing shout. "Nameless, are you finished? We''re all ready to go!" I turn off the Sage System, putting it aside, and see both Tin and Rachel standing at the entrance to the next room. Right, I''m the one who told them to hurry up, I can''t go back on my word and be the one to fall behind. "Yeah, I''m coming!" I pick myself up and put Dustin''s sword back in my inventory before running after them, without the use of Swift Wind. Time to test out how strong I''ve gotten. I wonder how strong the next boss will be. Chapter 39: Second Trial Chapter 39: Second Trial We speed walk through the entrance without barriers or doors That''s weird, why doesn''t this room have a door or any kind of barricade? This means that the monster for this room''s trial is sealed like the goblin chieftain, or it''s a different kind of trial. After quickly entering the room, we pay no mind to the unchanged lighting. Tin and Rachel began to slow down as they moved more cautiously, focusing only on the floor in front of them, while I joined them in doing so as well. Moving cautiously will make us much slower. To move as fast as possible, we need to move without caution. But in order to do so, we need to be certain where we''re stepping. Come to think of it, I''ve barely tested out the limitations of the Sage System; and it has only failed to do what I told it to once. I move into the middle of Rachel and Tin as I reach into my pocket and take Sage out. "Sage, can you quickly scan this room for traps?" "ANSWER: YES" Great! It sits in my hand, seemingly doing nothing. Why isn''t it doing anything if it can? "... Scan the room for traps." It stops resting in my palms and hovers above my hand. "ORDER RECEIVED. COMMENCING SCAN." It flies all the way up to the ceiling and projects out a huge flat vertical green light with a grid design that scans from the end of the room and back, repeatedly. Tin and Rachel stop moving and stare at the small stone orb producing the amazing and unique green light. Looks like they noticed it as well. I guess not everything the Sage System projects is only visible to me? S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The round, stone ball abruptly stops projecting the green light and flies back down, stopping just above my hand, hovering. "ROOM TRAP ANALYSIS COMPLETE" "TRAP TRIGGERS WILL BE ILLUMINATED IN A RED LIGHT" Sage flies back up to the top of the ceiling. In my side vision, I notice Tin and Rachel staring back. in my direction. Are they really that curious? I don''t have time to explain myself. I look up, ready to respond, but I see that their gaze isn''t focused on me, but behind me. What? What are they looking at? I turn backwards and stare in surprise as I see the vision that they see for myself. I laugh nervously as I look at the path we took to walk here, now illuminated with red light. Haha... Every tile other than the ones we stepped on is red... my heightened senses didn''t even activate despite how close I was to the traps... I walk up to Tin and put my hand on his shoulder. "You have great instincts, Tin." Rachel does the same, nodding and sticking her thumb up at him. "Uh, thank you? ..." We stare at each other in silence. Tin coughs, breaking the silence and clearing his throat before speaking. "Let''s explore the area quickly, so that we can get out of this dungeon within 6 hours like you said. We need to hurry, there could be tens of rooms left before we reach the exit." There are only four rooms in total though? "Lets split up and find the monster, we can search quickly without worrying about traps thanks to that weird stone ball now." But the monolith is right there... Rachel begins to speak. "I''ll search the area around that large roc¨C" Oh no you don''t! "I''ll take a look at the area over there!" I blurt out, cutting Rachel off while pointing my finger at the monolith. "Oh¨C okay." She says while her enthusiastic face turns to frown. Aghh¨C I''m sorry Rachel, but I really need to look at that stone! "Let''s quickly explore and meet back together if we find something!" "Alright!" Tin shouts, full of excitement, quickly running to the totem at the far end of the room, while avoiding the tiles lit by red light. Rachel slowly walks to the totem, on the close side of the entrance, walking closely alongside the red tiles. Is she that sad about not being able to take a close look at the boring black colored monolith? The wooden totems are so much more interesting! They''re decorated heavily in patterns and colors! I quickly detach myself from thinking about her and swiftly glide over to the monolith while using Swift Wind. Leaping over the numerous trapped plates in the room. I always reflect on myself, questioning myself if I may be doing something wrong. When I checked my status window, it said that my Swift Wind skill mastery reached level 2. Still, when I use it, it feels like I''m using it wrong despite it increasing my speed many times because it removes the air resistance that increases the difficulty of running, the faster I go. But the nature of wind does not remove the air as it blows; the wind is the air itself. Then, my glide comes to an end as I drop down to the ground where the monument is. Damn, my Heightened Senses didn''t activate so my thoughts weren''t accelerated. Whatever, I''ll finish forming that thought later. Let''s see what Zinc has to say this time. "Sage, translate this for me." No response. "Sage?" I look around. Oh right, it is still up in the ceiling showing us where the traps are. And because Rachel and Tin are separated and still exploring, I can''t just call it back or they might step on a trap and die. I turn back to the monolith. There''s only one thing I can do then, I have to translate this myself! *** Arthur Ventrike was renowned for his unmatched talent for swordsmanship, it could be said that a sword genius of his level would only come once in five hundred years. But his talent for swordsmanship overshadowed another, more incredible ability of his; he was not only the holder of the many combat based records in Wolkan Royal Academy and the top student in the Swordsmanship Department. But was also the person who received the highest marks ever recorded for the Wolkan Written Exam that numbered over a thousand questions covering a hundred categories and changed yearly. How many questions did he get wrong? You may ask? Out of a thousand questions, and the Five Questions of Death, that are formulated by the greatest scholars across the continent based on their discoveries they found that year, and have yet to release to the public, Arthur Ventrike didn''t get a single question wrong. If his talent for the sword is something that comes every five hundred years, it could be said that his intelligence is something that comes every millennium. His comprehension is irrefutably unmatched, tens of scenarios occur in his mind in every moment, within the same moment, he subconsciously sorts them and finds the most probable one. If none of them are probable enough, in the next moment, it is redone, over and over again until a suitable one is found. His memorization skills are also second to none, once he intentionally examines something, he doesn''t forget. The speed of his thoughts and his mastery over the five senses, already incredible with, and without, Heightened Senses. Within the society of scholars, they have a name for the boy: The Heavenly Brain. *** "Hmm... I didn''t really pay attention to the characters of the language before since Sage already translated it for me. Hmm, I recognize that character, and that one as well, Oh! I also know those two! "Okay, so if I add all these characters together, it forms the phrase, Activate the Totems." Okay that doesn''t help me at all, I already knew that the totems had something to do with the trial! Just tell me how to activate them! AUGHH!!! "AHHHHH!!" A voice echoes from afar. Was that me? Did I accidentally say that aloud? No, that wasn''t me, that was Rachel''s voice! I immediately snap my head back, to the totem near the entrance where Rachel was. "RACHEL!!" The totem sinks into the ground, making a loud sound of stones brushing against each other as the wooden totem sinks into the ground. Concentrate, eyes! I use heightened senses and stare intensely at the totem. Okay, Rachel looks fine, it was just the totem sinking. Hmm... maybe this is a good thing, the monolith did say to activate the totems anyway, maybe sinking means activating! Then, another loud sound of stones comes from behind the monolith. I quickly move around the stone and see the totem Tin was searching through and see it begin to sink as well. God, that sound is so annoyingly loud! Suddenly, my plate begins to shake heavily What''s this? The monolith starts to sink into the ground. "Tin, Rachel, I have a feeling the trial is going to start now. Don''t come to the center, I''ll handle whatever this monster will be, by myself." I say, projecting my voice with mana. The monolith slowly sinks, before it abruptly, vertically cut in half, the platform and all. It stops its descent and falls straight down the hole. I have a feeling Zinc didn''t design the trap to fall like that... I stare in anticipation at the dark hole where the giant monolith fell through. Suddenly, my instincts alert me of danger and my Heightened Senses quickly activate. I reach my hand out and shout. "Sun''s Gate!" An orange, translucent, horizontal gate is formed on the massive pitch-dark hole. Just as I cast the spell, "Clang!!" I knew it, this is the monster that I have to face in the second trial. I''m excited for what you have to show me! You''d better not disappoint. The light from the Sun''s Gate illuminates the monster, who has one of his hands stuck in the gate. Ew¨C what a disgusting monster¨C it''s humanoid, just bones and skin. I''ve never heard of such a monster before, it mainly has pale blue skin but has splatters of many other colors, red, and yellow. Aside from that, the most troubling matter at hand, its face has been hollowed out, who would do something like that? And those claws look extremely sharp; it should be since it managed to completely cut through that giant stone monolith, but there''s no way it can get through my Sun''s Gate, especially now that I''m at the 3rd circle! The monster tries to get its hand unstuck, trying a variety of ways until it finally decides to strike the Sun''s gate itself, with all its power. "CLAANGGGG!!!" Ow, my ears! These heightened senses don''t always help, that''s for sure." I look down and see the Sun''s Gate completely intact, without any scratches. Haha, I knew my Sun''s Gate was indestructible, it looks like the only problem it had before was that I didn''t have enough mana circuits or something. "Haha, come on, struggle harder!" Right I can''t waste time on something like this, I have to get out of this place as quickly as possible. That Denon''s curse or whatever is really doing a number on my personality. I reach out my hand, aiming at his hollow face. "Bye bye." I cast Dawn and start charging it up, it quickly increases in size, before I compress it and change it into an arrow. Just as I shoot the arrow I see his untrapped left arm swing one last time. Ha, it''s not going to work¨C "BOOM!!" A small dust cloud forms, hindering my vision. "cough¨C cough¨C" Did I get him? The dust cloud dissipates and my vision returns to me. I look at the Sun''s Gate. Yup, it''s still completely unscratched, it''s dead. My gaze shifts rightward for some unknown reason. Why... Why is the floor cracked over there?? I feel a looming presence hover behind me. Chapter 40: The Hollow Faced Chapter 40: The Hollow Faced I need to dodge! I kick off the ground with my left foot, propelling myself to the right, just as the air and ground where I previously stood is left with deep claw marks, cutting deeper than the width of my Sun Gate, resulting in the deep, pitch-black hole widening further. "Kgh¨C" I dispel my sun gate and quickly regain balance on my legs as I direct my hand at its torso without viewing the state of his hollow face. "Sunbeam!!" How do you like that? After reaching the third circle, I no longer need to cast Dawn and transform its structure into a beam in order to use it? Heightened Senses enhance my instincts, as I twist my head to the right, just barely avoiding another claw attack of its, on my neck. "Kagghhh!!!" I scream in pain as I jump backwards from the hollow-faced humanoid while holding my left shoulder in pain, covering the wound. How can something be so sharp and powerful without the use of aura? It can''t be because of training its body muscles either, because it has none! Where could this monster possibly be getting its power from? I''ve never heard of such a thing! The monster makes no movements, watching me from its original position. Taking the chance, I move my hand off of my shoulder and take a quick peek at the wound. Okay¨C thankfully, it''s not that deep of a wound¨C and it doesn''t look like his claws were covered in any kind of poison or venom either so I don''t need to avoid every single one of its attacks since they won''t be too life-threatening. I still need to dodge them to an extent, but I will be able to counterattack if the attack won''t strike too deeply. After quickly peeking at the wound, I immediately turn back to face the monster; still watching me closely while standing completely still. What is this monster doing? Is it¨C looking down on me? My eyes ignited with flames. How dare this faceless, nameless, disgusting monster¨C look down on me?!?! So what if you have claws? I can have claws as well! Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. My hands burst into flames that slowly die down, a giant orange hand of flames, the flames resembling a bear''s claw, outlines both of my hands. "Make a move, fucker." The cut on my shoulder heals as we stare at each other, bearing our claws at each other, waiting deeply in anticipation, the concentration so intense, and the patience so thin, any vibration or movement could cut it. Come on, make a move already you stupid monster. Then a loud crashing noise echoes from the large deep hole beside us. "Crack!!!" To the naked eye, we both disappear the moment of the echo, as we take our battle into the air. Heightened Senses, Swift Wind, Enhance Body: Whole! Where is he? We should both be going at similar speeds, so why can''t I see him?! My heightened senses activate intensely as my instincts detect danger. Shit¨C Iron Body! "Crack¨C crack¨C crack..." It continues to echo in the background, from the inside of the hole. "KUGHHH!!!" Its claws dig deep into my skin, almost touching my organs. God damn, this hurts!! Why is it so flexible?!?! "AURRRRGHH!!" Ignoring the pain in my leg and driven by pure rage, I twist my body as fast as I can and try to strike back. I swing my claws at it, a desperate and pathetic attempt, a sharp wave of energy bursts from the slash, cutting through the air. The slash takes the shape of a glowing arc, speeding toward the target with deadly force. But it dodges with ease. In a flash, it brings its attack down on my head, sending me crashing downward in a shameful spiral into the ground. Flaming slashes linger in the air where my claws cut through, spreading out like burning scars before slowly fading away. "BOOOOOM!" Ugh¨C that barely hurt, but the humiliation¨C it enrages me even more!! Who cares if I''m not thinking straight? I''m eliminating this monster right here and now!! I change my body enhancement to only enhance my eyes. If I can''t catch up to it regardless, then it would be useless for me to enhance my legs. If I enhance my eyes, I''ll at least be able to see its movements. The monster now lands back to the ground, elegantly, a distance away from me. I stare at the monster''s hollowed face, both mine and the monster''s emotions nowhere to be seen. I can see his movements now! He is making the tiniest of movements super quickly, something that no one would be able to notice unless they could enhance their eyes like me! His hands especially, are shaking much more than the rest of his body. Is it because he''s scared, or is there another reason? I take a look at myself, then at him. Now that I am able to see his movements, all it will allow me to do is to see where he is. I might be able to dodge his sneak attacks but I won''t be able to catch up and attack him myself. I need to be physically faster, not just mentally¨C much faster than what my current level of Body Enhancement can do for me. The only skill that I can imagine giving me a boost that''s fast enough is Swift Wind, however¨C it will take me a long time to analyze it¨C much longer than the time I have. I suddenly close my eyes for a minute thinking in silence while releasing all my skills and leaving myself completely vulnerable. Throughout the minute, hundreds of thoughts flowing in and out of my mind every second. Then, I open my eyes, discharging orange flames once again. "Time to burn some mana." Figuratively. Beast-like flame claws appear on both of my hands. The hollow-faced monster made no movements. Look at you all relaxed, I''ll make sure to fuck up your face even more! We both disappear at the same time, taking our battle into the air once more. No part of my body is enhanced with mana and my eyes are closed. I feel him staring at me. Now he''s charging at me, haha, Now. My legs erupt into flames and take the shape of hind claws. My eyes open and I see him right in front of my face, likely to reach me in the next decisecond. My emotionless face turns a sinister smile. You almost hand me- Almost. In an instant, my body rockets through the air, already twisting in a sharp 360-degree vertical spin. Flames flare up around my hind claw as it swings down like an axe. With all my force, I drive the burning claw straight into the hollowed creature''s face. The hit lands hard, fire instantly setting the body ablaze, igniting everything in its path. The monster''s body heats up fast, the force from the kick sending it hurtling downwards uncontrollably. Its limbs thrash as it struggles, but there''s no stopping its fiery descent. The air around it warps from the heat, the creature falling like a blazing meteor, spiraling toward the ground with nothing left but the fire consuming it. Until, "BOOOOOOOM!!!" The impact left a massive crater, on top of the crater formed by me prior. The hollow-faced beast lies unconscious, its motionless body, devoid of life in the crater. "Haha, serve you right!" That attack was amazing¨C these claws are really powerful! Paired with the flame eyes, they make an unstoppable force. Moreover, they look so cool!! I modeled the claws after the legendary adventurer, the Lightning Claw, who was a close combat mage who''s most famous attack is the lightning claw! I''m going to call this, the Flame Claw! I know I''m not a fire attribute but it looks similar enough. The third circle really made me a lot stronger. "Nameless, did you defeat that monster?!?!" This voice¨C is that Han? "Yeah it''s not moving anymore¨C but don''t get too close yet, it could just be pretending to be dead!!" I should get rid of these claws because of how much mana they consume¨C if I didn''t get the mana reserve boost and advanced mana circuits, I would''ve used as much mana as I did against Blaine. The flames around my hands and feet dissipate as the flames spewing endlessly out of my eyes follow soon after, as I start falling. Right¨C I forgot that I was only able to stay in the air because of those claws on my feet gripping onto the air. I fall in a straight motion right side up. This is going to hurt a lot. I use Body Enhancement, completely concentrated on my legs and Iron Body. "BOOOOOOOM!" Aghh¨C Iron Body makes my body and bones tougher but it just produces so much more noise from the heavier impact! I try to take a step toward the Hollow-faced monster''s body, but my leg gives away, almost causing me to fall. That was super embarrassing¨C did anyone see that? I turn my head around and see no one. Good, but why does my legs hurt so much? Could it be that the constant strain and force applied on my legs have finally caught up to me? No¨C that can''t be the case because I can feel my Super Regeneration starting to take effect on it already. What could it be then? Lets see, I used Iron Body, Enhance Body, and I already had Heightened Senses activated. Oh¨C I forgot to use Swift Wind, rightt¨C I had it deactivated before because it interferes with the usage of Flame Claw. Well, even if I have trouble moving, I can still check what I dropped down here to check. I point my hand at his body. This angle looks about right. "Sun Beam" A blinding ray of orange light shoots out of my outstretched right hand, and pierces cleanly through the hollow-faced monster''s chest. Looks like this monster really was all skin and bones. It doesn''t even have any blood... I put most of my weight on my right leg and drag my left leg behind me as I make my way over to the monster''s even more hollowed body. I made it even hollower. "Pfft¨C" I crouch down and carefully examine the creature''s hand, running my finger over its claws and poking myself with it. It''s just as I thought, these claws are not sharp at all, an old, rusty, iron sword, made by an amateur blacksmith would be sharper than this. Its sharpness and speed must have had something to do with how heavily its body was shaking and vibrating. I drop its arm and stand upright before stretching. Yup, my legs feel usable already. "Alright Tin¨C Rachel, it''s safe to come out now!" I plop to the ground afterwards. Sitting feels better. Ahh¨C I miss my bed... Chapter 41: Homunculus Chapter 41: Homunculus I can feel my bones healing, and moving back to place, which is a good thing, but... why does it feel so painful?! It feels like my bones are breaking rather than being healed! I writhe in pain as I lay on my hands, using them as a substitute for a pillow. A few seconds pass as Tin cautiously emerges from behind the monolith, looking at me¨C and then the Hollow before coming out. "Oh Tin, there you are, I needed your help with something." I say while slightly turning my head rightward, facing each other; eye to eye. "What do you need?!" He says nervously while quickly making his way over to me after seeing the massive hole through the hollow''s chest. Getting to me, he crouches down on my right side. I turn my head up to face the ceiling. This is definitely more comfortable. "You''ve been an adventurer for a long time right? I tried to figure out what kind of monster it is but I just can''t. In all the Monster Encyclopedias I''ve read, none of them match this one''s description. Do you know anything about this monster?" He looks over to the Hollow''s corpse and stares at the hollow''s corpse intensely, seemingly examining it. "Hmm... I''ve never seen or heard of such a monster before, either. But seeing your fight, despite this¨C this thing, having no blood, muscles, or even mana, it managed to have the better of you for the majority of the fight." Kgh¨C I thought no one saw that¨C but I won in the end so why did you have to bring it up? Tin continues, not facing me but seemingly deep in thought. "Say¨C did the monster always have a hole in its chest and face, or did you create them?" Why is he asking about that? "I made the hole in its chest, but the creepy hole in its face has always been there." We both get up, I stay still as Tin walks over to the monster''s upper body, and suddenly crouches down and reaches his hand into its hollow face. Ew¨C what is he doing? Reaching into its face hole? This monster''s hundreds of years old, don''t you know how many disgusting residues could be sitting in there? I think I''m going to throw up. He reaches his hand into the Hollow''s hole further, until half of his forearm is inside. "Hrp¨C" Ugh¨C my lunch of dried meat and rock bread almost came out: can he get his arm out of that disgusting Hollow already? Tin struggles, rummaging inside the hole for an entire second. "Aha!" He exclaims, returning his face to a cheerful smile as he takes his arm out of the Hollow, grabbing onto something while coming back to me. What is he hiding from me? I want to see it too! "It''s just as I thought, I''ve never seen this kind of monster before, because it isn''t a monster!" My face shows confusion, but abruptly becomes emotionless for a second, then turning into a face full of rage. What is he talking about? It can''t be¨C is he trying to say¨C this Hollow was a human? God damn Syo! How dare you commit such an action on humanity? You should thank god you''re already extinct, because I swear, if I ever find any of you alive, I''ll kill you all!! Tin doesn''t see my face, instead, he stares at his closed hand, before he opens it and reveals a light blue crystal, resembling a mana stone that causes my face to return to confusion. Huh¨C what is that? I''ve never seen a mana stone with such a shape before. "I''ve never seen this thing before, but I''ve heard of creatures with the features of this. They are called homunculi, or chimera." Homunculi? I''ve heard of them before, they''re artificially made creatures of alchemy, formed from the body parts and mana of multiple organisms, molded into the shape of humans or beasts, but¨C because they are made of different beasts'' body parts, they should look like misshapen and disgusting creatures because their body is composed of tens, if not hundreds, of different organisms? "Their main discerning features apart from being humanoid are their pale skin and hollow body parts, where no light can escape. In that place, is where their cores are." We both look at the blue blue crystal in Tin''s hand. "I thought that homunculi were misshapen though?" He scratches the back of his head. "Yeah, I was confused about that as well. From what I''ve heard, the ultimate goal of alchemy was to make a real living human, and to make a core that could act as the heart for the homunculus." We both shift our view to the homunculus'' body. "That looks quite similar to a human though, doesn''t it? Even the best alchemist alive, said to be the greatest in history, has never made a homunculus as humanoid as this one that he has shown to the public." I say in a joking manner, turning to him. He continues looking at the corpse, then suddenly looks at me with a blank face that turns to confusion and slight agitation. "What? ... I''m not an alchemist, how do you want me to respond to that?" Right... I viewed him as an alchemist for a second. "How are you so knowledgeable on such topics then?" "You brat, just because I''m old now, doesn''t mean I was always old! I was a kid just like you at one point in time, I heard all the stories and wanted to become one just like you, just with a much less... versatile skill set." He''s right, I need to widen my perspective more, I have been too lenient with advancing my knowledge ever since I entered the academy because of all the praise. I had forgotten that the reason why I entered the academy in the first place was to get away from my master''s intense training. "Tin, you said you had a family right?" "Yeah, how did you know?" You blurted it out when we were falling into the Hidden Dungeon... "I just guessed." "You can keep that core then, you shouldn''t be risking your life in dungeons, you should be spending time with your wife and kids. That should sell for a lot of money right? Once we get out, if that core doesn''t sell for enough money, come to me, I will buy it off of you for even more." "Namel¨C" Tin tried to speak but Rachel suddenly appears from behind as the trapped tiles return back to their gray, stone color, with Sage flying back down, into my cupped hands I instinctively formed, noticing him come down. Oh my god, Sage has a cute side to it as well? It acts just like the pet bird I saw perform at a festival once! "From now on, your name is Sagey!" I say while bringing my hands closer to my face. "ORDER RECEIVED. NAME CHANGE IMPLEMENTED" Ah¨C you can''t fool me anymore, Sagey, I will forever remember this moment! I look up and see both Rachel and Tin staring at me. "Ahem¨C I''m sorry, did you want to say something Tin?" "It doesn''t matter anymore, but I think that Rachel wanted to speak." He says while turning to Rachel, covered in dust. "You shouldn''t jinx it Nameless, we don''t know if we will all get out of here, and we definitely don''t need another curse be placed onto this party." "Ah, I''m sorry, is there some kind of curse removal or blessing you can place on our party?" "Don''t be ridiculous, if such a thing was that easy to remove, no one would be wary of demons." She says while crossing her arms. Really? Didn''t she do it before though? "You fell from a high height earlier didn''t you? Come over here and I''ll heal you." If my legs are injured, how would I be able to move... "No thanks, I''m fine. I have my super regeneration¨C I mean regeneration, remember?" "I''ll still heal you anyway! Who knows, it might be able to get rid of the curse as well!" Is she still paranoid about that? "But¨C" "No talking back, Tin, stand together with him. I''ll remove the curse l from all of us." They both close in on me and we sit in awkward silence as we wait for Rachel to finish praying. Honestly, she''s such a worrywart, but¨C this warm feeling from the healing prayer feels nice. I close my eyes, enjoying the warm light, before I feel something thin strike the top of my head. Opening my eyes, I see Rachel standing above me, pulling her hand away from my head. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Ow! What was that for?" "It seemed like you forgot that we''re in a rush, so I reminded you, and now you won''t forget again, unless you want me to chop your head." She says while glaring at me. "Okay, I won''t forget this time¨C let''s move now then." Chapter 42: Third Room Chapter 42: Third Room As Tin and Rachel walk to the next room, I stay behind, next to the Homunculus'' body. If I remember correctly, the first message engraved onto the wall in the first room said that in the third room, there would be a trap in the third room. It seems a lot less underwhelming than the one in the first corridor since, if it''s just a trapdoor, I can easily jump over it¨C but I should still be cautious. From all the contraptions he created in this Hidden Dungeon, I know that he is no idiot. There''s likely something else that he didn''t mention about the trap in that message. I put my hand on the homunculus'' body. Inventory. The Homunculus'' corpse immediately disappears out of existence. Being able to add something into my inventory that quickly, is terrifying¨C the terrible acts I could do with it that is. I should never show this power to anyone so I can steal anything I want from anyone! And even if they search me, they will never find it hahaha!! "Nameless, hurry up!" Rachel shouts from afar. Tsk¨C so annoying. ... I should hurry up though... In an instant, I disappear from the monolith, and appear in front of Rachel and Tin, flames rising, and dissipating from my legs. "Greetings, my lady, I''m sorry for making you wait." I say, professionally while I take a low bow. She strikes me on the head. "Stop wasting time with your games, so what if you''re a little faster? We still lost precious seconds waiting for you to arrive in the first place! Now come on!" They make their way to the entrance as I hold my head. "Oww¨C" The speed increase that Flame Claws give me is insane, it costs a lot of mana to use it, but I only need to use it for a millisecond or even less than that, in order to gain that speed boost. The depletion of mana from using Flame Claws is constant throughout usage, which means it will deplete at the same speed every second regardless of whether it''s activating it, or just keeping it active. The problem with abruptly deactivating Flame Claws while going at its max speed however, is the fact that I can''t control my speed or direction anymore. I can, however, use Swift Wind, which costs me no mana, to increase the air resistance around me, so that I will naturally be able to slow down. This combination of skills is really efficient despite my weak mana circuits, I only have to expend one mana if I react and deactivate it fast enough. It''s weird though, even though I''ve increased my knowledge of how Swift Wind works, I still feel like I''m missing the most important thing. I enter the room and see a massive corridor, the exact same as the first one. Damn, another corridor? And what''s with the massive outline of cracks in the ground that covers half of the entire corridor?! Was Zinc even trying to hide the fact that there was a trap in this room?!?! "Nameless, I think this room is trapped." "Same, but let me try to disarm it." I walk up to the massive trapdoor. "How do you know how to disarm these traps like the one in the first hallway? And why did you always look at the monoliths and the engravings written on them as if you can read them?" Why does she always have to question me about everything? Have we not gone through multiple life-threatening situations in the past week alone? Actually¨C it''s not right for me to assume she had a good upbringing, where she could trust everyone she met. Seeing as how she is working as an adventurer despite being a girl as young as me, it''s more probable that she grew up in rough conditions. If she doesn''t trust me now, then I''ll just have to make her trust me. "First off, I''m not a Syogol, I am fully human. I just happened to learn about this in my history class." I look and wait for their response, but neither say anything. Looks like neither of them believed me. Tin seems to be trying hard to act like he believes me, he isn''t doing a great job. "Sigh¨C" Looks like I have to tell them a little more about myself. "My name is Arthur Ventrike,the disciple of the Grandmaster and you might not know because it was decided the day we entered the dungeon, but I am also the Apostle of Pyro." Tin''s jaw opens wider and wider as I continue to speak. Rachel stays still, her face shadowed by darkness, resulting in her expressions being indiscernible. Though, I notice her slightly trembling. "Both of you know many of my secrets now, and I have many enemies who I can''t afford these secrets being revealed to them, that is why..." They both take a step back in fear but suddenly begin to shake more. "I beg you, please keep my secrets safe. I have many more secrets but I hope that telling you this is enough for you to trust me now." I say while bowing on the floor. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Uh-um sir apostle? Pl- please get up, you are the will of the goddess herself, you can''t bow down to mortals like us!" Rachel says weakly while stuttering, as I raise my head and see her nervously shaking. Wow, I never knew she could make such an expression¨C just like Dustin, she seems to hold the position of Apostle akin to the incarnation of the goddess herself. I slowly rise from the ground, with a charm of divinity radiating from my body, emanating even stronger divinity as I fully stand straight Rachel gasps What the hell is this feeling? I don''t remember my blessings ever doing this before! Could it be¨C is Pyro watching me from her Realm of Flames and seeing the perfect moment to show her divinity, she gave it to me? Haha, what are you even talking about Arthur? There''s no way that''s the case, just get out of this dungeon quickly, heal Dustin, and get some rest. After the divine light disappears, orange light suddenly shoots out like a ray out of my left eye and stigma on my arm. Why did they suddenly activate as well? Is Pyro really watching us and controlling me? How creepy... but if she was watching me before, why didn''t she do anything about that Demon that stopped time? Rachel drops to the floor, then raising her arms, she prays. "Oh- Ooooh¨C praise Pyro, praise the Apostle!!" Great, looks like I''ve gained her trust now. What about Tin¨C" I look over to Tin and see his jaw still dropped, looking completely dumbfounded. I don''t need to worry about him, I already knew he was loyal and trustworthy. I look back at Rachel who has stopped praying, but still bows on the floor and not lifting her head. This is a little uncomfortable... "Rachel, you don''t need to change the way you act around me just because of my identity, you can just treat me as you always have!" "But maybe just a little nicer¨C" She immediately jumps up, headbutting me in the chin. "Nope, too late! I will treat you the same as I always have, thank you for your permission, stupid apostle!" I rub the area of impact on my now red chin. That hurt! And why do my instincts or Heightened Senses not react when she strikes me?! "Sigh¨C let''s just finish disarming this trap and get out of here." Inventory, Homunculus corpse. The homunculus'' bony corpse appears in my hand, my hand unaffected by the weight of the corpse. Wow, I knew the homunculus has no flesh or blood but, this is way lighter than I imagined, it''s about as heavy as a wooden chair. I throw the homunculus'' corpse far into the trapdoor. Goodbye, it wasn''t nice knowing you. The corpse falls onto it, but nothing happens. One, two, three, four, five! What''s taking so long? Maybe the trap activates on weight placed on it instead of a humanoid figure? Yeah, that makes sense¨C but where am I going to get something heavy enough to substitute the weight of a corpse? I look in the direction of Tin and Rachel, who are resting on the wall. Perfect. I walk over to them. "Tin, give me your black iron axe, I need it to disarm the trap." "Is it a trap that needs to be disarmed with strength again? Here you go." He quickly takes the axe from off his back and presents it to me with both hands while kneeling, as if this was the royal coronation and he was the Grand Advisor. This is a bit uncomfortable... maybe I shouldn''t have revealed that part to them. Having an ally that''s older than me bow down to me is a little unsettling, but what do I say to him after that? "Ah, thank you..." I grab the axe from his hands and make my way to the wall, a couple feet to the right of Tin. Time to demolish. Using Iron Body, Aura Blade, and Body Enhancement, I strike the stone wall with my Black Iron Axe. "DRRRRM!!" A massive cut where my axe sliced is left in the stone, as a few small rocks fall from the wall. That was a pretty weak cut, a hammer would do much better and my mastery with the axe isn''t good. I can''t use my full power aura blade otherwise the rock would melt. "DRRRRM!" I strike the wall again, this time making a massive cut that intersects the first line. A few rocks fall once again. Alright, one last strike should do it. I don''t raise my axe this time, but hold it with the edge going downwards, and make a horizontal-diagonal cut that intersects both previous lines, making a triangle. No small rocks fall from the wall this time. Perfect. I strike the triangle shape in the wall without aura, not with the intent to cut, but with the intent to lodge it in. "DRRM!" Then, with one swift motion, I hold the axe shaft steadily before pulling it above my head, the axe dragging the cut rock out of the wall, throwing it onto the trapdoor as the axe wasn''t lodged into the stone far enough. Perfect. As the rock falls, "BOOOM!!" And the trapdoor swings open, downward. All of us, myself, Tin, and Rachel run to the trapdoor and stare down. "Uhh, Arthur, I mean¨C Apostle, are you sure you disarmed it? It kind''ve looks like you triggered it instead, doesn''t it?" Tin says while staring down at the extremely visible, gleaming green metal spikes in the deep end of the hole in the trapdoor. And the pale body of the homunculus reflects light as it falls deeper and deeper down the hole. "Don''t worry, this is how you disarm it, probably. It said to wait a few seconds for the trapdoor to close, and it would be disarmed for a few minutes." "Oh¨C I see..." Ten seconds pass as the body of the homunculus disappears and the trapdoor still hasn''t moved Damn it, did that bastard Zinc lie to me again? Or has this trap just stopped functioning due to its age? I might be able to get over the massive trapdoor, but how will Tin and Rachel? In the next second, the trapdoor slowly begins to close. Thank goodness, it was just delayed from how old it was. We''re fine. I wonder what the trial in the third room will be, I''m excited for what other monsters Zinc has made for me hehe. Just seconds before the trapdoor fully closes, Rachel speaks while still looking down into the trapdoor. "What''s that?" She points at a small white speck inside the hole, between some of the green, likely poisoned spikes. Huh? What is she talking about? I squint my eyes, staring intensely at the area that she pointed in. Oh I can see it now, that''s probably the body of the homunculus I threw in, I thought I had lost it in the darkness, her eyes are quite good. "That''s just the corpse of the homunculus I threw in, don''t worry about it." Just before the trapdoor completely closes, an image of the Homunculus'' hollow face pops into my thoughts. Ew what the hell? I don''t want to be reminded of that creature''s disgusting face. After that thought finishes in the literal blink of an eye, I return to reality and see the white spec Rachel mentioned, with a hollow face, staring back at me, its body completely disappearing from view. "TMMMM!" My face turns fully pale and cold sweat begins to appear all over my body. My Heightened Senses and heart beating intensely as the trapdoor closes. What? Chapter 43: Homunculi Chapter 43: Homunculi I over at Tin and then Rachel, both looking unfazed. Did they not see it? "We need to leave immediately!" I rise off the ground and begin walking quickly past the trapdoor, to the entrance without looking back, disregarding whether they follow me or not. What the hell was that?! How could it make direct eye contact with me when we''re such a far distance apart?! How did I not see it before?!?! How did it get there in the first place?!?!?! My solo march comes to a halt, my face completely pale and my teeth heavily clattering. Is that the monster I have to beat for the third trial? But how could a homunculus release killing intent? It''s not even alive! If this is the strength of the third trial monster, how strong will the fourth trial be?!?! I grind my teeth to stop them from clattering as I turn around and see Tin and Rachel running at me, at a speed faster than my own, previously. "Arthur, are you sure it''s safe to be walking on this? What if the trapdoor suddenly falls again?" Rachel says as she continues to run. Lost too deeply in my thoughts, I ignored her. I trust them, but neither of them are cautious because they didn''t see the homunculus which means they won''t take the situation seriously and won''t go at their fastest speed, but if I tell them, it might make them overly cautious, yes, but will more likely make reduce them into a state of panic, where they could set off like I am!! Damn, why did you have to make another one, Zinc?!?! Then, regaining my composure and stabilizing my heart, I change my expression of doom to a smile as I cheerfully look at Rachel, then Tin, before turning back, facing the entrance to the next room and continuing to speed walk. Calm yourself Arthur, panic will get you nowhere. No one else saw it so it was probably just a trick on the visual senses since you were already thinking of the hollow face before! Even if it was real and its killing intent was immense, there''s no need to be afraid of it; the homunculus as deep in the hole, it likely feel down into there by accident and can''t get out. There''s no way anything could jump that high, out of the hole; even if it could, the trapdoor has already closed, so how is it going to get out? I exhale deeply and let out a sigh and create a separate consciousness with a calmer, more calculative perspective. Just use common sense Arthur and calm down. You should still hurry though¨C there''s no need to stay here any longer. Thank you for your advice, Arthur. You''re welcome, Arthur. ... Haha¨C what am I doing talking to myself like this? Suddenly, the trapdoor floor below us shakes as a loud boom comes from behind us. Crap!! Did Zinc lie to me again or did the trap lose its function due to its age? Regardless, I need to get off this trapdoor before it falls first, but what about Tin and Rachel? "Rachel!!" I scream out as I immediately get my legs ready to rescue, using body enhancement and activating Flame Claws as I instantly fling my head around, my eyes firstly locked onto Rachel and Tin. Why are both of them standing still? My eyes unlock from the two of them and focus on the white flash ascending to the ceiling from a hole it created through the trapdoor. Impossible¨C how can something move that fast? It''s still visible to me, even now, but after leaping all the way from the bottom of the hole with such speed... It''s incredible! To maintain that kind of velocity after such a massive jump, its speed is comparable to Dustin''s! I can''t fight that! I''ll be defeated before I even know it!! "I''m sorry guys, the landing might hurt a little bit." Deactivating the Flame Claws on my arms, I concentrate the entirety of Body Enhancement into my arms as I grab Tin and Rachel, and throw them backwards, to the entrance of the next room. "Arthurrr!!!" They both scream, their voices getting quieter and quieter as they get further. Before I run away, I should see how strong this homunculus is, right? Depending on the quality of the homunculus, the maximum abilities allocated it can have, increases. That means that if the quality of this homunculus is the same as the previous one, all of its abilities have been put into its speed, meaning it has no defense and no offence. If that''s the case, it might be possible to beat it! Right after throwing Tin and Rachel, the homunculus hits the ceiling creating another boom from the impact. Great, if it''s true that all this homunculus has is its speed, it should be killed from its impact with the ceiling right? A white figure falls downward from the ceiling, out of the dust cloud made by the impact. It''s body is not moving as it free falls down. Great! So my guess was right, all of its abilities lied in its speed; Zinc had me scared for a second there! S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Just before the homunculus hits the floor, I notice it slightly twitch a bit. Did it just move? I instantly concentrate Body Enhancement on my eyes as my Heightened Senses activate. Just as the freefalling homunculus impacts the floor, I see its formerly loose legs stiffen and retract before a cloud of dust expands from the area of impact. I knew it was too good to be true! If this is the case then that means this homunculus is at least a sixth generation compared to the fifth generation that the previous one likely was! And if the homunculus is a seventh generation, then my chance of winning is already impossible. But maybe it died from the second impact? The white figure shoots out of the dust cloud, running directly at me. Ah, I knew it was too good to be true. At least it''s slower now, I can deal with this speed. Just seconds before it reaches me, it disappears. Shit, I underestimated it! Iron Body! Iron Body activates as my Body Enhancement dissipates equally across my entire body. Where did it go? My instincts warn me but my body isn''t quick enough to react. The pale white Homunculus appears out of nowhere, directly in front of me, on hand in front of another that''s about to throw a punch. Damn, I won''t be able to block it! I force the concentration of Body Enhancement and Iron Body all to my lower-middle left torso where I imagine the punch is to strike. No matter how strong it is, I should be able to block at least one punch from a sixth generation homunculus, even if it puts all its abilities as strength. Come on, hit me!! I brace myself for impact as the punch comes, screaming loudly so I would be able to push past the pain of the strike. "AHHHHHHH!!!" They make contact with my body. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH¨C" "What?" I look down at my chest, and then at the homunculus. That didn''t hurt at all! This one is weak! It put all of its abilities into speed and defense but none into strength haha! The homunculus punches me again, this time with no effect either. "Hahaha!!" I don''t need to worry about this thing, it can''t hurt me with those weak punches. The homunculus starts to charge up its punch again before it releases a fury of strikes, leaving tens of afterimages from the speed of its punches. This... doesn''t hurt at all, it feels like I''m being punched by a baby. I turn around to Tin and Rachel who have, at this point, reached the entrance, though both seem to be unconscious. Good, they have reached the entrance and probably aren''t dead. Now all I have to do is finish this weak homunculus off and head on to the fourth room. I suddenly feel pain from behind, in my right arm. Huh, would you look at that? The homunculus managed to hit me hard enough for me to notice. Good for it. But the pain doesn''t disappear, and instead begins to hurt more. This, this isn''t how pain from a punch should be! I turn and see the homunculus'' fingers pressing into my arm, trying to release it. It had claws as well?!?! With my Flame Claws, I instinctively strike the homunculus, slamming it into the ground with my left arm, pinning it down as it writhes and struggles to break free. My claws sear through its tough skin, burning deeper with every passing second. It thrashes wildly, flailing its limbs in a desperate attempt to escape, but my grip holds firm, unwavering. Suddenly, it stops moving¡ªits movements cease, and I realize I no longer feel its head in my hands. "AUUUGGHHHHH!!!" I fall to the floor next to the headless corpse of the homunculus, screaming in pain as blood vessels in my right arm enlarge, turning green, as I see it start to spread to other arteries and veins. I should''ve known that the homunculus would have claws and that its claws would be tipped in poison since it was sitting in a spike pit full of poison!! This poison is so painful, but I can still feel the pain only in my right arm, which means it hasn''t spread yet. I get up off the ground, still trembling in pain. This is good, if I were still just a swordsman, I would have died before I decided whether to cut it off or not, but now that I''m a mage, it''s easy to make a choice; my life is more important than an arm. I will definitely survive and save Dustin! With my left Flame Claw, I cut off my right arm without hesitation. That feels... not much better, the blood loss will kill me soon if I do not heal fast enough, and if that doesn''t and I just continue to grovel on the floor, I will just die to the trapdoor. Well, I guess there''s only one more option then. With the remainder of my strength, I brace my legs, directing them toward the entrance of the 4th room as I, though failing, try to activate Iron Body and Body Enhancement before taking off, all of my skills deactivating as a trail of blood if left behind from my arm. Ahh, this is going to hurt quite a lot, Rachel¨C please be awake. The stone wall is looking quite beautiful toda¨C "BOOOOOOOM!!" Chapter 44: Molten Gold Chapter 44: Molten Gold Shit, that hurt! "Hahaha..." I push myself out of the wall, weirdly full of energy. Ah, the adrenaline feels quite nice, but I guess they weren''t awake like I thought. Blood flows out of my cracked head like a river as I lay, shivering, with my back on the wall. My eyes open, though staring at nothing. It''s bearable, but it hurts. I want it to end... let me fall asleep already... My body quits its trembling as my muscles relax and my heart rate slows. Looks like the adrenaline finally wore off. I can sleep now. Did I leave my arm back there without putting it in my inventory? What a shame, I might''ve been able to re-attach it if I was fast enough, but hey, at least the bleeding has stopped! Haha... I can let my automatic body regeneration handle the rest and hopefully Rachel will wake up soon to heal me better. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. I close my eyes and try to relax my already loose muscles, that has no effect. I sit still and quiet, waiting for my consciousness to doze off. But it never does. My force open, with a face full of hate I scream out, "Why won''t you let me rest?! You''ve already taken my blood, and control over my body! Even the adrenaline that lessened the pain is gone! Just let me sleep..." I begin to sob tears of pain, alone. Or rather, that was what I wished to say. But the reality was that even the muscles in Arthur''s face had relaxed. I could not open my mouth or even instruct my eyes. All but a single tear fell as he laid in silence, with a single word repeating endlessly in his head. Why? Arthur tried, tried to do what? Who could possibly know? But he tried. Still, only one thought echoed across the empty void. Why? His sight had already been lost, or perhaps, someone had simply placed a bag over his head and there was just no light reflecting back into his eyes, for him to see, but he could see nothing. After a seemingly endless amount of time, he realized he could no longer hear¨C differentiate silence from silence¨C as he started to imagine sounds. As time continued to pass, he realized he could not smell or taste anything. Finally, he also lost his ability to feel and fell into a state of complete sensory deprivation. The man no longer felt lain, or the blood flowing down his face. If you had asked this man how long he had been awake, in pain, he would not be able to answer. He had lost his senses. How could a man who does not know the concept of time, explain to you how much time had passed? How could a man understand? Suddenly, Sagey flies out of Arthur''s cloak and hovers in front of his seemingly dead corpse, it''s core brightly glowing red, instead of its normal blue light. "USER STATUS ABNORMALITY DETECTED" "WOULD YOU LIKE TO RETRIEVE SENSES?" It hovers up and down, for ten seconds, patiently waiting for a response, before it flies close up to Arthur''s near-dead corpse. "NO RESPONSE DETECTED" "ACTIVATING AUTOMATIC FUNCTION" A section of the stone ball opens and numerous small, flexible, orange, copper wires shoot out of the opening, spread in the air before they extend further and connect to parts all over my body. "EMERGENCY TREATMENT PROCEEDING IN THREE. TWO. ONE." "EXECUTING SHOCK THERAPY." In an instant, all the orange copper wires glow blue as it shocks my still body continuously, with lightning flying out of my hair and fingertips, the primary area of shock, blackening. ... "COFFCOFFCOFFF" I try to open my eyes, but I notice that I can''t, so I try, and fail, again. Why can''t I open my eyes? I try to move my arms to interact with my eyes. There was a slight resistance moving the left arm, but I felt my right arm unable to move at all. Huh, that''s weird, I can''t open my eyes or move my right arm. Have I been that lazy with my training? After trying harder, my left arm releases from whatever shackles it and moves according to my will, as I feel some kind of hard coating fall off my arm, now feeling a slight, cool wind blow over my hot arm. What? Did I have shackles holding me down? Why is my arm so hot? I move my arm up to my head and feel all over my face, trying to find my eyes. What the hell is this on my face? Why is it so hard? I continue trying to find my eyes across the rough, hard skin. Ultimately I lose my patience and decide to just punch myself in the face to break the hard layer covering it. Ugh, it smells so bad!! I still can''t see, but whatever was covering my face was hard and sharp, I feel cuts all over my face now! I then locate my eyes by finding the area on my face that''s still hard and brush it off of my eyelids. Ugh, some of it got into my eyes. After rubbing the hard substance off, I slowly open my eyes, and the first thing I see is Sagey with its single eye glowing blue. "He¨C coff¨C coff¨C hello?" "EMERGENCY TREATMENT COMPLETE" "What?" I loom away from Sagey and at my left arm, that''s still being stood up. Why is my arm red? And what are the black parts scattered across all of it? Then, my gaze lowers, from my left arm, to my torso. What?! What is this black stuff? It''s no wonder why I couldn''t move! I use Body Enhancement and Iron Body. Then, I force myself up, cracking the black covering over me and freeing my body, first the legs, then the torso. Okay, now the arms. I try to force it up. Just as I did with my legs and left arm, but it doesn''t budge. I look over at my right arm in horror, my face turning to terror as I stare. "Tin!! Rachel!!" Neither respond. What the hell happened to my forearm? Half of it is gone!! I look to the right, over at Tin, and then to the left, over at Rachel. Are they both dead? No, I can see their chest retracting and expanding as they breathe, they''re just unconscious. My entire head aches in pain as the memories, or rather, the memories of the years of nothingness and pain surge back into my head, all but a few minutes, of the years of memories I felt, were returned to me. As a coping mechanism, or instead, an automatic reflection of my body''s current emotions, my head sets aflame in a titanic fire, hot, but not burning my body. "Ughhh..." Those memories of me groveling in sensory deprivation are... um... painful? Why can''t I form words on it? I might just be imagining it, but I feel all of my senses having become more sensitive. I was able to see Tin and Rachel even from this distance, without activating Heightened Senses and I can smell much better. ... which may be a curse because the smell of burnt skin isn''t exactly pleasing to me. I look at my body again. I want to wash myself, and eat! But the food and water are both gone, left on the trapdoor, but maybe it''s still there and I can get it? The trapdoor swings open, the body of the homunculus and bag both falling. Well, there goes that idea. I should wear some clothes though, it seems that either the emergency treatment or my flames burned through my previous ones. But¨C I didn''t put any clothes into the Inventory! But, maybe I did and just forgot? "Sagey, give me some clothes." There is a pause for a moment. Ah, just as I thought, it didn''t work. Suddenly, a fancy, dark green mage robe, lined with platinum and having the symbol of Wolkan Academy appears on the coat. Woah¨C is this Luke Wolkan''s robes? They feel so comfortable!! Is this silk? It''s so smooth! I quickly throw the robes over my charred, naked body and slip my head through. Wow, this is even more comfortable than it felt in my hands! Not only that, but the robes don''t make me too cold, or too hot, they''re just right! They''re a little bit loose, but other than that, it''s amazing! "THOSE ARE THE CASUAL ROBES OF GREAT SAGE, LUKE WOLKAN, MADE FROM ELDER WYRM SILK." Uh, I don''t think I needed to know that, but Elderwyrm silk?!?! That''s the rarest form of silk, made by Elserwyrms in the Desert of Death, only during their larvae state! So amazing!!! "Alright, now that everything''s been set in place, there''s just one last issue to discuss." Monologuing is so cool! "How is my arm like that?" "If I remember correctly, the entire arm, up to my shoulder was cut off. So how is my arm now like this? Everything but the forearm and hand have already been healed! Is this another power of the Heavenly Martial Physique? Limb regeneration, huh? This body of mine keeps getting more and more amazing." "And factoring in that around seven or eight minutes have passed, since the trapdoor just triggered again and my fight with the homunculus lasted around one or two minutes, this limb regeneration is extremely quick! However, that means the state of deprivation I was in only lasted for seven minutes... wow, that is really just, damn." My disappointed face abruptly shoots up into a smile. "Well, time to wake these two up!" I swiftly get up and slap both of them on the forehead. Both of them are slightly covered in blood which is a little concerning, but I don''t see a wound, and their heads are, thankfully, completely untouched. The both of them begin to move and make grunting sounds. Great, looks like they''ll be up soon. I will take this chance now to take a look at what the next room will be like, Zinc said it would be full of treasures! And this smell, it''s the smell of gold! I comedically make my way over to the entrance, hiding behind the wall next to the door, before taking a peek over, through the door, into the dimly lit room. ooooOooh, it''s even greater than I imagined, there''s even a river of molten gold! This can''t be the Zidden Dungeon, this has to be the tomb of the Gold King, Greed! Drool begins to exit my mouth and flow down my face, though I quickly wipe it away. I could buy Tin''s loyalty millions of times with this much gold! My smile suddenly fades. Wait¨C how could there be something hot enough to melt gold and keep it melted in an old dungeon, underground? Is it a volcano? Or could it be... A giant black and red figure begins to emerge from the far end of the river of gold increasing in size more and more as it rises, eventually getting as high as the ceiling and melting stones that fall off from it. What the hell is that?!?! A lava axolotl? I quickly duck back behind the wall before it sees me and hides, while trying to control my breathing. So... so cute!!! Chapter 45: Lava Axolotl Chapter 45: Lava Axolotl I don''t remember activating any traps to release the lava though? The age of this dungeon keeps hindering me at every step. I hesitantly take another look into the room. AAAAH!! WHAT IS IT DOING?!?! ITS EATING ALL THE TREASURES AND MELTING THEM IN ITS STOMACH!!! Even if you''re a cute axolotl. I won''t forgive you for this! "Arthur? What are you doing?" Rachel''s voice echoes, from afar. Oh no¨C did the monster hear her? I take a quick glance at Rachel with an uneasy look, before quickly turning back to the lava monster. Thank goodness, it looks like it didn''t hear her, it''s still just eating away at the treasures. Or maybe it just can''t hear? It''s a lava monster so it doesn''t have ears? Let''s not test that out though... I turn back to Rachel and use Heightened Senses along with Body Enhancement, concentrated on the eyes. Great, looks like Tin''s awake as well. Then, I see Rachel''s lips suddenly open. No¨C what is she doing?!?! I put my finger on my lips but she doesn''t seem to notice. Can she not see me? I have to try something else before she kills us all! Wait, her lips stopped moving, and there hasn''t been a sound yet. Maybe she saw me and understood! Then, Rachel''s voice echoes once again, much louder this time. "Arthur, what happened?!" AAAAHHHH WHAT IS SHE DOING?!?! I immediately look back into the room and see the lava monster who has stopped eating and is standing tall in the ceiling once more, moving what I imagine, his head around looking for something. OH NO¨C IT HEARD HER¨C WE''RE GOING TO DIE!!! My flames are hot, and the sun is hotter than lava, but there are limits of a 3rd circle that I just can''t overcome, to even compare my flames to the sun would be impossible! My teeth clatter and my body trembles as I look at the horrifying scene of a lava monster searching for me. Wait¨C it stopped looking for us? What was it looking for, where is it going now? I turn my eyes, analyzing the direction the monster is going, and eventually coming to a stop. No¨C stop¨C is it going to eat that divine looking sword, literally glowing in light, splitting the darkness? I don''t know what sword that is, but it looks like something a hero would use. And that unintelligent monster is just going to eat it? Looking around the room, more than half is just molten metals or covered in black ash!! Who knows how many other weapons it destroyed? I will never forgive it! My face full of rage turns to despair as I recall another memory. Wait, didn''t the stone say that the treasures in the fourth room were just replicas? That would mean that the river of gold would really just be a river of iron. Hahaha, I wasn''t able to tell since both molten gold and iron are orange but what if¨C the monster already went into the fifth room and already melted all the treasures there? That would explain the smell of gold! I scour the room looking for another door, but I am unable to see any walls past the molten iron river as the light from the river does not flow there. Damn, I can''t find it, this is the only room so far without mafic lamps! That stupid monster probably destroyed those as well! This is so annoying but I have Dawn. I wonder how bright I can make it now that I''m a 3rd circle. It looks like the monster doesn''t have ears, so it can''t hear us. I look at Rachel again, who begins to open her mouth again, cupping her hands around it. But I''m not yet certain, so I''m not taking any chances. I point my left hand at her, and a ray of orange light blasts from my fingertip, shooting straight past Rachel, just barely missing her, who stops moving her lips immediately, without the chance to even react to it. I blow the smoke coming out of my fingertips. That was epic. I shouldn''t do that anymore though¨C I think I just burned my fingerprints off. Just smile and wave, act like nothing happened so you don''t ruin this moment. After the pain starts to lessen, I use Swift Wind and accelerate through the air, running to them, but landing as if I had teleported, or made my way here in a single step, without effort. That landing was perfect. I keep my eyes closed, picturing the magnificent landing in my head and admiring at it. But my peace is quickly ended as a sudden force falls down on my head, straight on the recently healed crack. I hold my head tightly with my left hand, almost screaming, but managing to hold it in. "Oooo¨C grmmm¨C" Shit that hurt, what the hell was that? Did a piece of the ceiling fall on me? My eyes open and I see an angry Rachel standing in front of me, slightly covered in blood. She begins to open her mouth, ready to scream, but immediately reacting, I take my hand off of my head and shush her. "Shhh, don''t be loud." She pushes my hand away and though still looking at me angrily, whispers in a low voice. "How could you throw me and Tin like that? Do you know how much that hurt? I''m not a magic swordsman like you, I''m a priest! And Tin isn''t in his prime anymore, we normally can''t survive something like that, my life flashed before my eyes and I think I met Pyro for a second! (Thank you for that but I have yet to finish my work in the mortal world) And here you are, with a new set of expensive clothes!" I look at Tin, who says nothing, and look back at Rachel. "I had to throw you back because the homunculus this time was so quick, I was barely able to react. I was uncertain whether I''d be able to kill it. In the end, I barely even won and almost died from its poison." "Poison? Where? I don''t know if I''ll be able to cure it, but I can probably stop it from spreading." "Oh, the poison was in my right arm." "Quickly show it to me then!" She pulls me closer and rolls the sleeves of my arm up, with a delayed reaction, gasping as she rolls it up to the top. "Arthur, your arm¨C I''m sorry for what I said, thank you for saving us. I will definitely pay you back, tenfold, once we get out of here for what you did for us." I don''t need a reward, she feels guilt and regret, her smile has faded. I do feel pity towards her, and I probably should just tell her the truth right now but, I should get my revenge back on her, for chopping me straight on where my cracked skull just healed. "Don''t worry about it. I just did what I thought was right. It was my fault for being weak that I''ve been made into this state. Let''s just focus on getting out of here." I turn my back to her, beginning to walk away when she suddenly speaks again in a depressed voice. "And you can''t heal your arm with that regeneration skill you have?" I stop in my tracks. Damn, she got me... what do I say? I can''t just lie to her now! She''ll kill me if she finds out! Rachel waits expectantly for a response, but that never comes as I resume my march away. "Ooh, I''m so sorry..." She says as she begins to make crying sounds. Looks like she got herself a misunderstanding, thank god. "Let''s go." I hear their footsteps behind me as I march to the door. Good. Once we arrive at the door, we all peek into the room cautiously, looking at the lava monster''s eating cycle. It moves to the metal, eats it, melts it in its stomach, and it comes out as a molten version of itself. "AaaaAAh, all that gold and treasures being melted, how dare it? We must kill it immediately, Arthur!" Tin says, with great enthusiasm. "Shh, keep your voice down! I may be strong, but that''s only to the weak. Even to the strong, that monster would be considered strong! It''s a slow, unintelligent monster but the air surrounding it is hotter than my flames. We cannot fight it, we must avoid confrontation at all costs!" "Well, if we can''t fight it, what can we do then? I assume you have a plan this time as well right?" Tin says while his eyes glow a kind of fiery red, with great fury. "Who do you think I am? Of course I do. But maybe you should calm down first..." He deeply exhales, before he softens his grip on the Black Iron Axe and lays it on the wall. "Alright, I''m good now. I can listen. Are you sure you are fine though? You''ve lost your arm. Do you need to be carried?" I raise my left arm and almost effortlessly, summon a massive sphere of orange flames. "Trust me, the loss of my arm is not a great one. I will be fine." The giant ball of orange flames begin to quickly seep back into my palm as I close it. If I don''t release the spell, I can absorb the mana inside the spell back into myself. I guess I obtained this during my state of deprivation, so maybe it wasn''t that terrible after all. ... I take it back, it wasn''t worth it in the slightest. But at least I gained something from that terrible experience, I don''t think I''ll be able to ever sleep again though. Every time I think about that emptiness, Heightened Senses instantly activate. "But aren''t you low on mana now, after using that spell? I remember the last time you used it, I felt no more mana in your body." "I said I''m fine. Now let me explain the plan. On my mark, we enter the door, charging at full speed. I will send my uh¨C fireballs, all over the room''s walls and try to attract the monster to me while you guys get inside the fifth room. Once you get inside, there should be some sort of button. Destroy that button, smashing it as hard as you can, don''t just press it, otherwise the golems in the room will just kill you. Alright, understood?" Tin stares blankly at me while Rachel averts my gaze. Is she still feeling guilty about earlier? This is getting annoying, if she can''t perform her duties well, then we will all die. Should I just tell her the truth? "Just run while you do all the work right? I understand." Okay, so he heard. "Rachel, do you understand as well?" She doesn''t answer and ignores me. "Rachel?" Her eyes are filled with sorrow as she frowns. Hearing me repeat the second time, she looks at me with shock. "Sorry? Yes! I understand the plan!" She seems to be out of it. But I guess she managed to hear the plan. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Alright, before anything else, can you kindly say a quick prayer and heal us Rachel?" She turns her head down again, but then moves her arm towards her chest as she picks up her necklace of the Orange Sun, now broken and covered in scratches. "I''m sorry, but I don''t think I can do that anymore, my necklace, my link to Pyro has been broken. I can no longer speak with her." Chapter 46: Iron Rain Chapter 46: Iron Rain What? She can''t ray anymore? How will Tin be healed then?! I quickly turn to Tin, with a look of fright. Why is he standing there lime he''s unfazed? He doesn''t have any regeneration skills! How could I not notice it before?! He''s shaking in his boots even though he''s just standing! He''s in no position to walk, let alone run! I need to rework my plan! If I distract the monster and bring it to the far end of the room, I might be fast enough to go back to the entrance, grab Tin, and run back to the next room! But what about Rachel? Screw it, I''ll carry them both¨C Tin looks at me with a face neither of happiness nor sadness¨C but of determination, his goal having been set and unfaltering. "Arthur, I''m fine, I can take care of myself. You''ve already sacrificed an arm for us and you''re risking your life for ours yet again. As the adult here, I should be the one taking charge and making the sacrifices. But here I am, with all my limbs intact while the apostle of Pyro, the chosen hero, sacrificed his arm for me. I know it will never be enough, but I swear I will serve you for the rest of my life. Don''t worry about us, just distract the monster. And if at any point you feel like you''re in danger, just run away to the next room without me. In that situation, I swear I will save Rachel, even at the cost of my life." My frightened face slowly fades as I listen to his words and look at him. His face remains, his expression unchanging and a slight emotion of rage could be felt, not directed at Arthur but rather, at himself. Tin¨C I want to reject him but it seems like his mind has already been set. I let out a deep sigh. "It looks like your mind won''t change despite anything I say, but don''t worry about my arm, I can get it healed back at the church or get a new one. I saved you before because I wanted to, it''s not your fault. Just as I have chosen to save you then, I will continue to choose to save you now but thank you for your loyalty, I will remember it when we get out. I''ve never drank before, but let''s all have a drink with the riches we get in that next room." I turn to Rachel, who still looks at the floor, depressed. "Don''t worry about it Rachel, you can just repay it back to me with a kiss once we get out of here." She instantly flicks her head up, her face red, completely flushed as she stares at me with swirling, confused eyes after hundreds of thoughts spiral around her head. Looks like that worked and got her out of depressed and unattentive mood "I was just joking. But now that you can hear us, let''s get out of here together okay?" Still red, though in a lighter tone, she nods excitedly. "Alright, we can speak normally now. Let''s go!!!" All of us rush through the stone door at the same time. Myself charging in the direction of the Lava axolotl that had already reached the replica artifact, and is currently digesting it, while Tin and Rachel chart their direction straight, to the direct opposite side of the room from the door we entered. Alright, I need to take care of the lighting issue first before taking care of that giant lava creature. I haven''t done this since the 2nd circle, but let''s try twenty percent of my mana to create Dawns and light up the room first. That should be enough right? A hundred balls of flame appear in an instant and surround me as I continue running to the Lava Axolotl. A hundred huh? That means that accounting for the increase in my mana reserves and mana circuits, my total mana output has increased by around four to five times. The efficiency increase from the mana circuits is pretty good as well, they all appeared in less than a second. Not too bad and I think they might also be a little brighter too. I send the hundred Dawns flying out in all directions, brightly lighting the way, leaving a trail of light everywhere it travels. But as the orbs get further, the light exuding from them starts to dim. What? Even a hundred Dawns weren''t enough to cover this room? Tin and Rachel are starting to get close to the river of Molten Iron. I can''t have them wasting any time, wandering nowhere. It will be a little annoying, but it''s necessary. Lets up the amount of mana to fifty percent, two hundred, fifty Dawns. One hundred, fifty appear around me and instantly shoot out, scattering around the room. That should be good enough. Even if it isn''t, I can''t afford to expend anymore mana. I have bigger problems to worry about. I use Body Enhancement on my legs, enhancing them with mana as I form Flame Claws around my legs and arms, keeping them active in a constant state. My physical body disappears from view as I leap at the lava monster, leaving behind nothing but claw marks that melted into the ground, and a blazing trail of fire through the air. Lets see how strong you are, you money devouring beast! I shoot a single Sun Ray at the axolotl. The orange ray of light is swallowed upon contact with the monster''s body, causing a slight bubbling in its monster''s lava skin before it disappears. Did it just... absorb it? I was wrong, this monster isn''t an axolotl, I''ve never heard of any slime having the properties of lava before, but I''m certain that it''s a slime¨C no other being in Aegela has skin and absorbing properties like that! The monster raises one of it''s arms, and with great force, slowly brings it down. My Heightened Senses immediately react and I begin to dodge, clawing my way through the air. Even still, I barely manage to dodge from the sheer size of the monster''s hand. That was close! This is definitely not the original lava monster, otherwise, the monster would have been able to travel through any hole, however small which would contradict with what Zinc stated in the stone, and Zinc is no idiot, so he would not make the slime the lava monster¨C he said that it would be trapped until I stepped into the room. As the monster''s hand finishes its swinging motion and its hand comes to a stop, compared to the size of it, small drops of red water flick off his hand, but to me, hundreds of molten meteors come flying past. Woah! This is... a little difficult. How are Tin and Rachel doing? I take a quick scan around the room, stopping as I see two small dots, Tin and Rachel, reflecting bright light from their outfits making their way over to something. I shift my glance, taking into account the direction they''re heading, until it reaches a wall. So there it is, the door to the next room! I send a hundred of the Dawns to light the path from them to the next room''s door while dodging another attack of the lava slime. "You get me with the same attack a second time, you sluggish slime!" It makes a large movement just before it attacks, so I can fly away before the arm even moves. I''m not really sure how I didn''t notice the first time, it takes a lot of force that can''t be generated by just forcing it. It needs to make an equally forceful movement in one direction, to make it move in the opposite direction. A hundred and fifty of the Dawns that I didn''t send to light the path to the next room come flying back to me, one by one, running into, and getting absorbed in my back. Ah yes, my power is returning to me. I can also bring back the Dawns that have already passed them since they''re lighting the path for nothing. I take another glance at them, checking their progress Lets see, from their current pace, they''re about two minutes away from the entrance to the next room. Damn, this room is big! I can leave this monster and go with them once they''re about a minute away. My Heightened Senses haven''t sensed any other monsters other than this one and they haven''t made any noise so there shouldn''t be any dangers other than this one. Meaning I can distract this guy to the far corner of the room without worrying about them. To be honest though, from what I''ve seen from this monster, it''s not very fast at all. It''d probably take it twenty minutes to get from the far corner of the room to the next room, so there really isn''t a need. But I should just stick to the plan I made just in case it does have a hidden card up its sleeve. I dodge another of its swings, then fly to the direction leading to the far corner of the room as its "head" slowly turns and tracks on to me as it begins to slide its way over to me. That''s right, just follow me you brainless slime. I set an internal clock in my head and begin counting down from sixty in my subconscious. I float upside down with my legs and arms crossed while keeping my eyes closed. "Hmm... looks like the minute is about to be up, but you have barely even moved." I can''t fly yet, I''m just floating. I learned to increase the air resistance around my body to the maximum with Swift Wind, so that I can stay completely still, regardless of whether I''m in the air or on the ground. I still feel like I''m using the skill wrong though, which is concerning because my instincts are never wrong twice, and I have felt it much more than two times. A kind of alarm rings loudly inside my head. "Looks like the minute is up, see you never!" With my Flame Claws, I deactivate Swift Wind and boost myself through the air, to Tin before getting too far, I take one last glance at the monster, who is turning its head. Haha, this slime hasn''t even realized I''m gone yet. I can''t believe I ever thought of it as a threat! I reach Tin and Rachel in twenty seconds, with the entrance to the fifth room closely approaching and sparkling with a bright yellow light. I''m certain of it, inside there is the gold and artifacts! I can''t wait to see the unknown treasures inside! I should check up on the two of them first. I deactivate my Flame Claws and fall down to the ground lightly, using Swift Wind to increase the resistance of the air below me. I let out a gasp. "Hhh¨C Tin, what happened?!" Tin is in tatters and struggling to move as he is held up by Rachel. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Oh, you''re here Arthur, don''t worry, I''m okay, we''re almost there anyway. If you''re here, that must mean you''ve successfully distracted the monster, that''s great!" I quickly drop down to the ground, next to them and prop Tin''s other arm over my back, helping Rachel carry him, as we continue slowly making our way to the next room. "Here, let me help you. We''ll get there together, we can go slow if you want, the lava monster won''t get to us any time soon." Tin takes heavy breaths before he opens his mouth once again. "God, some water would be nice right now." But you''re the one that drank it all... "Ugh... I can''t wait to see my wife and kids again. What about you, Arthur? Do you have anyone you want to see?" I reply coldly, my face unchanging and absolutely serious. "Yes." "That''s nice. What about you Rachel? You''ve never really spoken about your personal life before." She seems startled by the question, her eyes wavering and avoiding contact. "Oh¨C yeah, I have some people I want to see as well." Well, it''s fine if she doesn''t want to talk about her private life. I am a bit curious about it, but I do the same so I shouldn''t be nosy. Ahh, I can''t wait to get out of here and save Dustin, father, and finally go back to the academy and see¨C . . . A slight, joyful smile runs over my face as I close my eyes and think about happy thoughts. My joy ends shortly as my instincts suddenly warn me heavily of danger. "ARTHUR, WATCH OUT!" Rachel screams as she points behind us. She''s pointing in the direction that I left the Lava Slime in! I rapidly spin my head around and my movements come to a halt as I see hundreds of massive orange molten iron droplets hurling towards me. What the hell? My body quickly snaps myself out of the trance, as I just barely manage to react in time. "Sun''s Gate!" A massive orange light construct with four towers and a gate fashioned after a Portcullis erects out of the ground, shaking the floor in its ascent. That should be enough to stop the tiny drops of iron right? The droplets of molten iron come and make contact with the Sun''s Gate, but there is not a sound to be heard. What? Was I just overreacting for nothing? I then notice a drop of iron go through the gate and fall to the ground and slowly sizzles as it burns through the ground, before hardening. No¨C the molten iron wasn''t weak, it didn''t manage to even make a noticeable impact, and melt before even touching my gate. It was just so hot that it melted through my spell like it wasn''t even there! "Get away from the gate!" Rachel curls into a ball on the ground while I try to run with Tin on my back, but it is too late. Tin screams in pain as many droplets land on him. "AAAGGGHHH!!!" He screams, in pain. "No¨C Tin!" What do I do? Should I throw him away, into the next room? No, the impact from the throw would surely kill him. All I can do is remove his armor and hope for the best, that this ends soon. I try to remove his armor, but the lava rain persists, stopping me from getting close to him. Damn it, these stupid lava droplets, how am I supposed to do anything in this situation? These droplets are way more dangerous than the bigger version. The last drop falls and I immediately turn back to the lava monster. Alright, lets see what this mother fucker looks like now. I rotate my head 180 degrees and back, searching for it. Where did it go? How could something as big as that just disappear like that? Wait¨C why do I feel such warmth from above? Is there a crack in the dungeon that allows sunlight in¨C I look up, frozen in shock. Ahhhh¨C how could I forget the signature move of all slimes? How could I forget they could jump? Chapter 47: Tears of Lava Chapter 47: Tears of Lava Deactivating the Flame Claws on my arms, I grab Rachel and Tin, holding each tightly between my arms as I quickly begin running for the next room. Oh what the hell? How can something that big manage to jump that high?! Once that thing lands, it will completely obliterate the entire room with its impact and thousands of molten magma meteors shooting out everywhere!! I need to quickly get to the next room and shut the door!! As the slime continues its descent and progressively closes in on us, the temperature of the air surrounding us rises more and more. This is getting a little hot... It''s mostly bearable for me, probably because of the blessing of the body that Pyro gave me. My focus at the entrance to the next room slightly lowers as I glance at Tin and Rachel, in my arms their skin red and much hotter than usual¨C sweating profusely as their heavy breathing turns to painting. It''s bearable for me, but for Tin and Rachel, it probably feels like they''re being cooked alive in the Devil''s Cauldron. They won''t be able to survive in this heat for much longer, especially because of their prior injuries and dehydration. My focus on the next room returns as I continue to sprint at my fastest. We''re so close, but it would take me at least four seconds before I can get inside the room and shut the gate. And that''s just the positive estimate where everything goes right, not accounting for the fact that I''d even be able to break the button or that the gate shuts immediately! But my estimate of the time it takes for Tin and Rachel to be finished cooking alive in this, accounting for the massive increase in heat as the monster continues to get closer, they''ll be dead in less than two seconds! What can I do though? I only have spells that produce heat! From my side vision, I notice Rachel moving her arm, and trying to make noise, or say something. I know you''re scared¨C But I''m sorry Rachel I can''t do anything to save you... Tears try to leak out of my eye, but they instantly evaporate from the intense heat in the air. But my tears stop flowing as I suddenly notice something in her hand. What''s this? I have no idea, but if she''s willing to move her arm that much, even through all of this, she must be planning something! I grab the golden shield shaped tablet from out of her hands with my teeth Damn, the heat is starting to affect me as well. This is probably an artifact from the way it''s designed, I''ve seen a silver version of this, it''s a relatively common artifact made by the church, called Divine Shield but never a gold one. I don''t know how to activate this since the way to use it is only taught to priests. Screw this, I only have one thing that I can use in this situation and I don''t even have a second before they are completely cooked! I slightly open my mouth, leaving a small gap between my teeth and the artifact, before chomping down, through it. Activate!! In an instant after biting through the artifact, a small golden light appears from my mouth, that goes through my body and expands around us in a sphere. Woah, the heat is gone! To get rid of heat so hot that it could burn skin, this is way beyond the powers of an artifact that''s mass produced and isn''t even from the ancient ages. Just where did she get this? She''s supposed to be a new adventurer like me, so how does she have something as powerful as this? I look back at Rachel in awe, but also examine her condition. Good, both of them have somewhat calmed their breathing, and I can no longer feel their heartbeat despite the fact that I am holding them nowhere near their heart. I, however, can not say the same for myself. Now that the heat is gone, I can completely feel the fatigue and how much my body is trembling. I look back up at the slime, closely approaching. I don''t know if this artifact will be able to stop something as hot as that, but since my Sun''s Gate didn''t manage to even slightly alter it, I am not willing to test that. It''s about 5 seconds from making impact with the ground. As for me, I look forward, remaining emotionless. I''m about half a second away from getting inside. This monster has a great aim, landing just before it hits the door. Is this just luck, or is the monster afraid of what''s inside the gate? I pass through the door and immediately drop the two of them, then I activate Flame Claws on my arms. Once I drop them, the golden shield around us disappears. Damn, it''s getting hot again, I need to close off this room immediately. "I''ll disarm the trap and drop the door down now. You guys just rest¨C" My Heightened Senses warn me of great danger behind me, just as I turn away to destroy the button. Rachel!! "CLANG¨CKZKZ" That was close!! I clash using Dustin''s sword covered in Solar Aura with a giant 40 feet tall stone statue that swung its even more massive, 50 feet tall halberd down. What the hell? I didn''t even touch the button! How did this thing activate? And how am I losing to it in battle of strength when I''m using aura?!?! I suddenly feel a strong heat coming from behind me. No¨C I forgot about the lava slime!! I divert my attention and turn to where I dropped Tin "Tin¨C I need you to destroy¨C" I see Tin, on the ground, using his Axe for support as he kneel, struggling desperately as he tries to stand Damn! He won''t be able to move. What about Rachel? "Rachel¨C" I swing my head over to where I dropped her. Her body lays on the ground, with her eyes closed, panting heavily. Shit¨C they''re both incapable of moving, and if I leave this clash with this bastard stone statue, they''ll both die! What doI do?!?! The lava slime makes impact with the floor, and the entire room shakes, stones falling out of the walls and ceiling as a massive wave of air as hot as fire fills the room. Shit¨C I won''t hold on for much longer with this statue!! I turn my head back and see the entirety of the entrance completely gone, the only thing visible being the slime''s titanic orange¨Cred body standing over the entire room. Then, it''s body begins to rotate to the right No¨C that''s the movement it makes when it''s about to attack! It''s gaining momentum! I won''t be able to dodge it while fighting this statue!! The air is so hot, it feels like I''m on fire. I can''t see Tin and Rachel anymore, and they''re probably already dead, but if they''re still alive, I can''t drop this halberd of them! The monster stops rotating to the right and starts rotating left, quickly gaining speed as it swings back. No¨C it''s about to attack! Father, Dustin, Rachel, Tin, I''m sorry for not being able to save you. I close my eyes, accepting my fate as two massive lava meteors hurl straight at me, hundreds more aimed at every other part of the room. S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. I''ll make sure to apologize to you in my next life. I drop my sword and all my negative emotions. "BOOOOOM!!!" Hundreds more follow afterward in the span of a second, until all the noises stop. What happened? Am I in the afterlife now? Should I open my eyes? I''m excited! I slowly lift my eyelids up, highly expectant and filled with impatient anticipation. Wait, this isn''t the afterlife, did I not die? Hmm, Pyro must''ve interfered and saved me. Altering my focus, I turn and see Tin standing, the shaft of his Black Iron pointing upwards. "Oh Tin,you''re alive and even standing! This is a great miracle from Pyro, let''s go pray to Pyro together once we get out of here!" His voice echoes throughout the room but his body doesn''t make any motion at all. "Yeah, let''s do that." The back of his armor suddenly starts to become orange. What''s that orange light? The armor gets more orange, until it begins to drip. ? The entire backplate of his armor quickly drips down afterwards as molten magma spits out of the hole in his backplate. "Tin?" He falls backward into the ground, unresponsive. "Tin..." Once he completely falls, his front is revealed. His Black Iron Axe has a hole through it, and Tin. Tin''s chest¨C torso is almost completely gone, all the way from his collarbone, to his ribs. A massive hole ripped, his heart gone, and the flesh exposed from the hole, all completely hardened magma. In this moment, I felt a kind of fire ignite in my body. A tear forms around my eye, and evaporates into a burst of flames. "TINNN!!!!!" Tears continuously spew out of my eyes and burst into flames, every part of my body touched by the tears erupting into white flames as my tears flow endlessly. "I''LL KILL YOU!!!!" The lava slime stays still as I walk up to it. "YOU MUST THINK YOU''RE IMMORTAL SINCE YOU CAN ABSORB AND MELT EVERYTHING THAT YOU TOUCH. WELL LET ME HELP ALTER YOUR PERSPECTIVE." My eyes radiate in absolute white light as an orange ball of flames grows giant, flames spiraling around the exterior, five times as big as the first artificial sun. Its size reaches the ceiling and beyond, almost as large as the lava slime itself. Even still, the slime makes not even the slightest movement. "AAAAGGGHHHHH!!! The ball of flames continues its growth, stopping after increasing its size by two times, ten times the size of the original. The lava slime still makes no moves. The Artificial Sun starts to get dimmer and smaller, as if the flames lost their form and began dissipating away into the air. Eventually, almost all of the artificial sun is gone¨C all that''s left is a small round sphere, now having lost all of its color. The arrogant, brainless monster suddenly feels something wrong with its monster instincts and begins rotating its body to attack. "HAHA, IT''S TOO LATE NOW MONSTER, IT''S TIME FOR YOU TO TASTE DEATH." The ball of white light continues to get smaller and smaller, until the ball and even the light from the ball is no longer visible. "DIE!!!" Just before I release the spell, the monster swings and breaks off its arm, hurling a massive body of lava, half the size of the stone statue at me. I close my eyes. "Hoooo..." Sun Magic, Dusk: First Form - Molecular Bisector. A white flash could be seen for a moment, moving at the speed of light one moment, and gone the next. The light needle passes through everything in its way, the air, the slime''s arm, the slime''s membrane, and the slime''s core. Everything occurring and ending in less than a millisecond to Arthur, using Heightened Senses. Ah, so it''s finally finished. It''s a shame I wasn''t able to do everything I wanted, but at least I got revenge for Tin and Rachel. Compared to not accomplishing anything, this is enough for me. I couldn''t even move my body if I wanted to. I''ve used two hundred percent of my mana. I would say that my biggest regret was calming myself down to perform Molecular Bisector. The level of hatred and rage I felt in that moment, will never come back. "BOOOOOOOM!!!!" Chapter 48: Red Dragon Flower Chapter 48: Red Dragon Flower My eyes open, as I stare up at the hole in the ceiling, lava dripping down from the sides. I lay motionless beneath the rubble, my entire body from the neck, down encased in hardened lava. "Why am I still alive? Why do I keep surviving?" I dryly mumble, with tears beginning to form under my eyes. "Why? Why? WHY?!?!" "Just let me die already... I have no mana or energy left. I wanted to die sacrificing myself to kill Magnus¨C not like this¨C" "God, I''m so sorry Tin¨C Rachel¨C I wasted the life you sacrificed for me." I stay silent for a minute, laying without moving my eyes or mouth. I can''t think properly... all my energy is gone, I can''t afford hundreds of thoughts per second... I shouldn''t even be speaking, it''s wasting what little water and energy I have left. The only thing I can do is to wait for someone to rescue me. But the probability of them getting here? It''s less than... I can''t do calculations, let''s just say one percent. Haha, would you look at me joking even in this state? I must really be dying. I can''t believe it, will it really end like this? "Pyro, if you can hear me, please, please¨C" Who am I kidding? How could I show such a terrible scene in my last moments? They sacrificed their life for you Arthur, how dare you try to throw away this opportunity that they gave you? I bite down on my teeth and clench them tightly. Wait¨C I hear footsteps, and I feel a warm light of healing. It''s a priest! I don''t know if this is just a trick my senses are playing on me because I''m about to die or it''s real. I wish I could turn my head to check, but my neck is fully hardened. All I can do is trust that they''re a good person. I clear my throat, swallowing the last bit of my saliva before screaming as loud as possible. "I''m in here!!!" Damn, I think I just felt my vocal cords rip. Screaming without mana hurts like hell. I hope they heard me because I don''t think I''ll be able to scream again. The footsteps get louder and louder as the being gets closer. The warmth somehow feels more pleasant and the orange light gets brighter. Looks like they heard me. Now I just have to hope that they aren''t an enemy. The person slowly moves the stones off my body one by one, their aura radiating a blinding light. Amazing, I''ve never witnessed anyone radiate light as bright as that! It''s as much as, no¨C greater than what even Tin could exude! My curiosity for this mysterious being''s identity cannot be controlled. Is it one of the hidden cardinals? I want to look!! After the mysterious person removes all the large rocks on my chest, I feel a heavy burden lifted from me, with my breathing beginning to stabilize. Hoo that feels better. The being makes its way around my body to my head after removing the rocks. Hm? What are they doing now? Then, she leaned forward, her blonde hair radiating in bright, divine-like light as it hangs down her beautiful, smiling face. At that moment, I am unable to control my surprise as my jaw falls loose. No way¨C Rachel? No... this isn''t Rachel. "Pyro?" I manage to weakly grumble. She leans down further, placing her hand on my chest. "Congratulations, you guessed correctly, Arthur!! You don''t look too good right now, let me help you out with that." My body erupts into massive orange flames. It doesn''t hurt¨C I can feel my organs healing, and my mana coming back to me! The fire stops, yet the rock encasing me still remains. Unbelievable, a kind of healing magic that can completely heal injuries and fully restore mana? If something like this was accessible by archmages and swordmasters, the whole world would be destroyed! I haven''t felt like I was in such good condition since before I was poisoned! The thin rock coating breaks easily as I get up. The clothes didn''t burn this time, Elderwyrm silk truly is a versatile material. S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Hehe, did you miss me?" I look at her seriously, with an unchanging expression. I know she''s been watching me since she displayed her power to prove that I was her apostle, and now she''s here, in the moment that I was just about to die. So why is she acting like this when she was watching the entire time? Why couldn''t she come when Tin was still alive he could have survived! ... Calm down Arthur, you have energy now; you have time to think. I closely examine her face, before sighing. "Yeah I missed you, how have you¨C where are we? This doesn''t look like the treasure room we were in before." Her smile was shaking and unsteady. She clearly knows what happened and doesn''t want to speak about it. Everyone has their own circumstances and if she doesn''t want to speak about it, I shouldn''t make her. "We''re exactly where we need to be." What does she mean? She points her finger to the direction behind me. Turning around, a smile springs from my mouth, all of my attention focused on the Red Dragon Flower shining in red light. "It''s the Red Dragon Flower!! It was real! I was right!!" I run down the hill of stone debris and admire the Red Dragon Flower carefully. "Is it okay for me to just pluck it out?" Pyro glides over to me, next to the flower. "I mean, this is the only one I''ve ever seen so there''s only one way to find out." Is she kidding? This is the only chance I have, I can''t waste all my efforts just to take another risk! I take out the Sage System. "How do I harvest the Red Dragon Flower properly?" "ANSWER: IT''S FINE TO HARVEST IT ANYWAY, AS LONG AS THE STEM IS PLUCKED OUT WITH IT, IN ONE SWIFT MOTION." Huh, so Pyro was kind of right. Wait¨C "How do you know how to harvest Red Dragon Flowers? There should only be one in existence according to the tale." "ANSWER: My creator, Luke Wolkan, has a plant and seed of each one in existence." Wow, he really was accomplished. "Okay, I''l just pluck it out then." As I reach down to pluck it, Pyro pokes Sage continuously with a curious look on her face. How cute, she acts just like a cat. In one swift motion, though there being a slight resistance, the flower comes loose, a giant root coming out with it. "Alright, we can leave now. Sagey, put this in the inventory." Sagey flies back to me just as Pyro tries to poke it again. "Aww" The root disappears into nothing as I put Sagey back into my robes. Pyro stares at me with the look of a child who just got their toy taken away. It''s¨C too cute!! I must ignore it! I start walking past her, trying to ignore her as she continues to look at me with that face. I continue to walk while she just stays put. "Are you really just going to leave the Dragon''s valuable corpse here?" What? Did she just say dragon corpse? My head snaps backwards. How did I even miss it? It''s massive!!! I quickly run back to the dragon corpse and touch its scales. "Amazing, these are all so high quality after all these years. How has it stayed in such a condition and not decomposed after hundreds of years have passed? Each of its body parts could make a Draconic tier artifact!" "Of course the corpse hasn''t decomposed. What do you think this is, a wyvern? Ancient dragons, like gods, are immortal beings. We could never die to the likes of time." "It''s an ancient dragon?!?! That means it has¨C it has the¨C" "Indeed, it has the Golden Dragon Heart. " A normal dragon heart has two uses. You could use it to make a Draconic to Ancient tier artifact, or you could eat it. No one really knows what the deciding factor for success is, or how it works, but only ten percent of those that consumed it, managed to successfully gain its powers that are said to be able to give you the mana of the dragon you consumed. The Golden Dragon Heart on the other hand, is in the category of Golden Monster cores. Sometimes, strong monsters develop golden cores. Once eaten, they say you will gain the powers of the monster you ate. And the Golden Core of an Ancient Dragon, one of the strongest, and the most intelligent monsters to ever exist, different from regular dragons, is in my hands. I want to eat it. Then, I will surely become much stronger, so nobody I love will ever have to sacrifice their life for me ever again. "You shouldn''t eat it though, you would definitely die if you did." Pyro says nonchalantly. Sagey suddenly flies out of my pocket without me giving him any instruction. "POSSIBILITY OF SURVIVAL AFTER INGESTION OF GOLDEN DRAGON HEART: 0%" What? I didn''t even call for it. But if it''s what the Sage System says, I guess I''ll have to believe it. "Fine, fine just put the whole corpse in the inventory then." I say before the dragon corpse disappears into its inventory and I angrily stuff Sagey back into my robes. My smile drops for a second before reappearing, we begin walking back to the hill of debris under the hole, Pyro hovering beside me. "Say, how are you able to descend back down into the mortal world?" "Oh, well that''s because this girl is my saintess, I gave her my blessing, you didn''t know?" I stop and turn to her with a confused look on my face. How would I know? "Wait, what? I thought you didn''t know anything about the Church that humans made and dedicated to you?" She continues hovering to the site without stopping. Seeing this, I resume my walking. "I didn''t know anything about the Church until you told me about it. I mark them with my symbol, appointing a new saintess every generation." "If you didn''t know about the church, why would you appoint a saintess?" She must have a good reason, but I can''t really think of any myself. Pyro finally stops and looks at me with a straight face. Here it comes. "Why not? They''re pretty." "What? So you''re just giving babies your great solar power, because they''re pretty?" "Yeah, what''s the problem with that? I did the same for you." KGH¨C Was that how she saw me? I want to refute that, but I can''t. You know what Arthur, she can''t possibly be that dumb, to give that much power to small children. In fact, all of the saintesses since the beginning of records, have all been kind, merciful, and holy. It can''t possibly be a coincidence. She''s likely just choosing them based on her subconscious thoughts¨C maybe she can see the future and her instincts just tell her to choose them. Right? I clear my throat, trying to return myself to a calm state. "Well, if all you need is your mark on a person, why didn''t you use me as your vessel instead of her? My body should be able to exert much more of your power since I have two of your blessings and the affinity with the sun." Her face turns red, immediately turning away after becoming self conscious of it. "Wel-well that''s because... you''re a man..." What is she talking about? Why does that matter? I would''ve been able to save both Rachel and¡ª No, stop it Arthur, it wasn''t her fault. Be grateful that both you and Rachel are alive. Being able to use a god''s magic would''ve been cool though¨C I wonder how many magic circles she would have if it was convertible. "Why does that matter?" I say with a straight face, though glowing in radiant, divine light in Pyro''s eyes. She quickly rotates her head, looking back at me with a single eye peeking out, between her fingers, covering the rest of her face. She begins to breathe heavily, as the air around her begins to get warmer, almost hot. "Puff; Puff; Does¨C Does that mean¨C you''re giving me permission to¨C to¨C AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!" She ends off, screaming with a high pitched voice before she raises her hand to smack me. My Heightened Senses activate instantly. Oh no, getting hit by a god''s uncontrolled strike?! That''ll instantly kill me!!! I need to do something before that hand comes down! I use Body Enhancement, concentrating all of it on my head and using Iron Body. This is still not enough! I need to do even more! I use Swift Wind and increase the air resistance of the air between me and her to the maximum my current skill level can set it to. Lastly, I activate flame claws on both my arms and legs, forming them in a defensive position while crossing my arms. This should be good enough right? She''ll probably hold herself back a lot, or instead, her subconscious will. I can trust her subconscious, since it''s always been right choosing her saintesses. Then, her hand stops rising, comes to a halt, stopping at the furthest point. Here it comes¨C In an instant, her hand seemingly teleports in front of my out of nowhere. What is this speed?!?! My eyes close for the duration of a blink, bracing for the impact of the blow. When they reopen, my surroundings have changed as I find myself in another hole in the wall. What''s with me and craters in the wall? "Oh no, Arthur¨C I''m sorry! Where are you? I''ll come heal you immediately!!" I move my eyes to the voice coming from below and see Pyro inside a hole, with lava covering all the sides. What a troublesome god, at least I got back to where I wanted to be. I can''t really feel my back though. Chapter 49: Zidden’s End Chapter 49: Zidden''s End "Oh, there you are Arthur! Let me help you out!" She flies up to my crater and easily grabs me with one hand and pulls me down to the floor, my body covered in a layer of warm, healing light. Wow, she''s strong. Gods really are something else. Just before reaching the ground she drops me. My body instantly reacts and braces itself for impact as I softly land on the ground. Wow, I know I said it before that this healing skill is overpowered, but to heal that quickly? This is insane. I wonder if I''ll ever be able to do that. "I''m so sorry for that Arthur, please forgive me!!" She says while releasing her flight and slamming into the ground while deeply bowing down with her head to the floor. Well, she''s not all that bad. At least she isn''t completely oblivious and knows how to apologize. "It''s fine, let''s just not do this a third time to make this a common occurrence." Tears of water begin to spew rapidly out of her eyes, creating a current almost at the force of a river. "BUAHHH!! I''M SO SORRY, IT WON''T HAPPEN AGAIN!!!'' Huh, I never really noticed it before, but I guess gods cry out the same tears like humans don''t they? She screams out, while banging her head on the ground over and over again, causing the room to shake and small rocks and dust to fall from the walls and ceiling. "I said it''s fine, just stop crying, I forgive you!" She''s going to bury us and all of the treasures I worked so hard to get at this rate!! After banging her head on the ground one last time, she stops crying and lifts it up, leaving a small crater in the floor and revealing a completely bruised forehead covered in small rocks. What? She was damaged by the rocks? "Really? You forgive me¨C" I quickly charged at her and knelt down, placing my hand on her forehead to check it. "AR¨C ARTHUR?!! WHA¨C WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!" She screams out, in a daze. Her face as red as a cherry "Just be still, I''ll be done in a second. This is uncomfortable for me too." Throughout this entire adventure, I''ve unwillingly had to touch dirty rocks. Now I''m doing it willingly. This is disgusting, but I have to do it to find out if she can actually bleed. Pyro''s eyes swirl around in circles as I continue to hold her. "Really? Right now? But my face is all dirty, covered in rocks and tears and this isn''t my real body¨C" She stops talking when her eyes meet mine, which are full of determination. What is she talking about? Just stay still! After her eyes meet mine, she closes her eyes and stops moving. Good, she stopped moving. But why is she breathing so heavily? Is she that uncomfortable? Well, I should just hurry up then. I move my face closer to hers and activate Heightened Senses along with Body Enhancement, concentrating fully on my eyes. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. At this point, Pyro begins to shake heavily as I begin to move my hand closer to her. And in one swift motion, move the back of my hand across her forehead, dusting the rocks off of her forehead. Huh¨C it''s completely damaged, the rocks were just so finely crushed that it looked like bruise marks. Looks like I was wrong, I should stop trying to find the similarities between gods and humans. It would be much easier to find the differences. Pyro stops shaking and opens her eyes, full of confusion as I let her go and stand up, while she falls face first to the ground. Huh? She fell? She pushes herself off the ground in a rather pathetic manner, with blood rushing out of her right nostril. She''s bleeding! But how was that slow fall able to make her bleed so much when she wasn''t damaged at all even after banging her head over and over, even leaving a crater in the ground? "Ouch, that hurt¨C it''s too bad you couldn''t build up the confidence to go through with it¨C" She begins to breathe heavily while wiping the continuous river of blood rushing out of her nose. "But I can take the lead instead if you don''t want to. Huff; huff; huff¨C" What is she talking about? No, aside from that, could gods turn into monsters? I''ve never heard of such a thing occurring before, but it looks like they can! "No thanks, let''s just grab the treasures and get out of here." She slowly rises without saying a word. I was joking before, but could she really have turned into a monster? But then, abruptly, she lunges herself at me, but I swiftly move to the side and dodge her attempt. She slams face down into the ground once again. Looks like she isn''t. It looks like she''s listening to my words and keeping her power controlled now, otherwise, I would''ve ended up in a crater again. She struggles, but eventually pushes her head out of the hole in the ground she created. "Aw, come on Arthur, no need to be shy. Let this goddess take care of everything for you." Her smile disappears and she remains silent as she looks at me, gazing in the direction of the hole, with a serious, almost emotionless look on my face. Tin. His body has probably already been consumed by the lava, every part of his body melted by now. I want to ask¨C to have Pyro bring him back to life, but that would be impossible. "Arthur¨C" Pyro begins to say before I cut her off, putting on a cheerful smile. "Don''t worry about it, let''s get out of this stupid dungeon." Pyro''s smile also returns. "Yeah!" She''s a great friend. She can be annoying at times, but I guess even someone with her personality can gain some wisdom after a thousand years. We walk slowly over the floor of hardened magma, the slime released after I broke its mana core. "What a shame, there''s barely anything that''s salvageable from this. Almost everything has been swallowed by the lava." I say without expressing an emotion of sadness. I reach into my robes and take out Sagey. "Take every treasure in this room that you can." "YES, ARTHUR." The small stone ball says, immediately flying off and storing every visible treasure in its inventory. Huh, well that''s new. We continue to walk slowly, without exchanging any word until we reach the end of the room, where there is a single blue warp gate standing alone. Me and Pyro stand in silence as we wait for seemingly nothing. I was wondering what the exit was going to be like. So it was a warp gate huh? Zinc Zidden was an engineering and alchemy genius far ahead of his time, yet his name was never recorded in history. I wonder, was there a sign during the creation of this dungeon that spelt out Zidden Dungeon in the human language? Because there is no such thing anymore and I doubt the discoverer of the dungeon just managed to name it Zidden by accident. There are so many mysteries in the world. I wonder which one I''ll discover next. I look at a wall close to the warp gate with a few engravings on it. What a shame, I''m sure Zidden would have had a lot to say in his final message. But nothing can be done because of that lava slime''s disgusting slime that''s hotter than anything I''ve ever felt flooded the entire room, there''s nothing that I can do. Then, Sagey flies back to me, catching my attention as I concentrate on the empty room behind it, nothing but gray, hardened rock. "COLLECTION COMPLETE" "TOTAL ARTIFACTS COLLECTED: 74" Hm, that''s actually not that bad. 74 is quite a large amount. If I remember correctly, the Wolkan only had around forty ancient to divine tier artifacts "ESTIMATED ARTIFACTS DESTROYED: 251" WHAT?!?! NOOO!! Wait, no. Calm down Arthur, maybe the artifacts weren''t even that good. "OUT OF THE 74 ARTIFACTS COLLECTED: 2 ANCIENT TIER ARTIFACTS, 15 DRACONIC TIER ARTIFACTS, 57 LEGENDARY TIER ARTIFACTS" WHAT?!?!?! IF THERE WERE 2 ANCIENT TIERS OUT OF 74, THEN OUT OF 325, THERE COULD''VE BEEN AT LEAST EIGHT IN TOTAL!!! AND THERE COULD''VE EVEN BEEN A DIVINE TIER ARTIFACT IN THE MIX! NOOOO, YOU DAMN SLIME!!! I SWEAR WHEN I DIE, I WILL DEFINITELY KILL YOU OVER AND OVER AGAIN!!!" I stand, holding my head and gripping tightly on my hairs, utterly defeated. In a burst of controlled anger, I grab Sagey tightly and stuff him back in my robes. "Arthur, I¨C I''m sorry, I was watching the whole time but¨C" I place my finger on her lips, her mouth immediately stops moving. "I know, we can talk about it later. I need some time to... make my peace. You can leave me with Rachel now." Pyro looks down, face full of sorrow and eyes looking as if she would burst out crying at any second. But she doesn''t. I was far too unfair to her, I had thought I was able to control it but I guess couldn''t and ended up projecting my anger on her. "Alright." She says as a beam of orange light shoots down from the ceiling, as if there was nothing there to block it. Pyro''s beautiful, divine, almost translucent orange spirit begins to leave Rachel''s body, starting to ascend up the beam of orange light only looking upwards. "Wait, Pyro¨C" Her ascent stops as she looks back down at me. "I''m sorry about what I said earlier. Thank you for saving me and Rachel. I will come visit you soon." Her spiritual body flies out of the beam of light and warmly hugs me. "Thank you for understanding Arthur. You might not have realized it before but the majority of your anger isn''t directed at others, but yourself. I hope you don''t take my next words lightly. It wasn''t your fault, so don''t beat yourself up about it." We both looked at each other with emotionless eyes, but full of comprehension. Pyro breaks that cycle, smiling cheerfully at me before she returns back to the pillar of light and disappears. "Well, now I''m just left here with you." I say while turning to Rachel, now lying on the floor motionless. I knew she had many secrets, but to be the saintess? No wonder why she had that insane artifact and didn''t care that much that I was the apostle. Considering that we''re both the two most important figures in the Church right now, we''re going to be spending a lot of time together. Hehe, I just had a great idea to get my revenge on what she did. I grab her and carry her in my arms before stepping through the warp gate. Wait, aren''t I running out of time? I should''ve asked Pyro to send us back! Chapter 50: Back to Ashland Chapter 50: Back to Ashland After stepping through the warp gate with Rachel, we are transported to a tunnel of light blue lights rapidly flashing past us. So the interior of this warp gate is blue huh? This is the first color other than orange lava and gray rock I''ve seen for how many days now? Probably somewhere around four days. I probably have about a day left before Dustin dies so I''ll have to hurry and get back to the capital. But until then, I can just relax and enjoy the lights after all that work. I look down and notice Rachel no longer in my arms, but instead lying asleep on the floor. Hmm... She is laying on the ground, but she isn''t getting any further away from me. I guess it doesn''t matter whether you are standing up or otherwise. I crouch down, before falling down to the ground next to Rachel, my hands behind my head, as I stare up emptily at the blue lights flashing past in the ceiling I wonder where this gate will take me. Hopefully back to the capital am I right? Actually, lets not worry about that and just relax¨C I close my eyes and begin to relax my muscles, slowly drifting off asleep. Less than a second later, my Heightened Senses suddenly activate, and I immediately force my eyes open. Oh come on!! I only relaxed for a second!! I activate my Flame Claws as I descend down, through the bright day sky. Wait¨C where''s Rachel? I look in all directions, left, right, and down. Until I finally see her above me, still unconscious and descending down in a freefall. There she is! I quickly charge to her, clawing onto and pushing myself through the air. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. I deactivate Flame Claws once I get to her, so that she would not be harmed by the fire, and hold her into my arms, as we descend down, headfirst. It would be quite painful if I were to land on my head from this height. Using Swift Wind, I realign my body, rotating my body to fall with my legs facing downward while also slowing down my fall. Now that that''s settled, where are we? I take a quick glance at the ground, squinting my eyes to see the ground better. Wait¨C I recognize this place, this is the entrance of the Zidden dungeon! No wonder why the warp gate ended so quickly! There was barely any distance between the two places at all! Wait¨C are those people? I concentrate Body Enhancement on my eyes and stare intensely. Wait¨C those are people! It''s total chaos down there! It looks like they are running out into the road in a hurry, away from something? But what are they running from... My gaze moves in the opposite direction that the people are running from, eventually ending at one point, the Zidden Dungeon. They''re all running out of the Zidden Dungeon? What''s happening? Could it have something to do with me? My thoughts are interrupted as I begin to hear screaming from below, getting louder and louder every second as I descend. Crap, if I can hear them, that means they''ll soon be able to hear and eventually, see me! Suddenly, my head sets ablaze in a red fire, masking the entirety of my face, up to my hair. That should be good enough right? It covers my entire face and my hair. Making the flames red does cost a little bit more mana than I thought, but it will be able to hide the color of my magic. Surely with both of these factors hiding my identity, no one should be able to find out who I am. The orange color looks a lot better than red though... As we continue to descend, the fire gets thinner, almost being completely blown out from the dense air resistance while the screams from adventurers become clearer and more discernible by my heightened senses. "AAAHHHH!!!" A muscular, male adventurer brandishing a large iron sword screams while running, pushing past other adventurers. "Please, my party members are still inside, you need to save them!!" Another adventurer screams while holding a dungeon guard''s collar, that was stationed there by the Ashland''s adventurer''s guild branch. What could possibly be happening for an adventurer to lay their hands on an imperial warden? Does he have a death wish or is the situation really that terrible? "THE DUNGEON IS COLLAPSING!! WE''RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!" Another, older adventurer screams while running in circles. What? The dungeon''s collapsing? I''ve heard of this phenomenon before, sometimes there are dungeons that just collapse out of nowhere. But I have heard of people who claim to have found a Hidden Dungeon in the dungeon that had just collapsed. I always thought it was fake but now that I have witnessed it first hand, it makes sense. Dungeons are made to pass on the legacy of the creator of the dungeon to someone worthy enough to inherit it, though the people who usually find them just got lucky and just sell the treasures after finding it. It makes sense since after fulfilling the point of the dungeon, it would collapse. I keep my eyes looking down, to make sure that no one looks up and accidentally sees me. It was a good idea for me to mask myself with fire. Normally the guild branches that manage a dungeon are really greedy and if they find out someone found the hidden treasure room of the dungeon they managed, they would charge the adventurer who discovered it and take a large portion of it from the adventurer; especially if the adventurer who discovered it was a low rank, which I am. There are even some cases where the guild branch tries to take all of the treasures from the adventurer. Though they happen rarely, since the court would get involved and they would always lose and have to give all of the treasure to the adventurer. I don''t have the time, nor do I want the time to give the greedy guild any of my treasures, so I should just stay hidden. I switch my focus from the ground to Rachel. It''s fine for me to set my head on fire as a disguise since I have some resistance to heat thanks to my blessing, but I don''t think Rachel does since she was struggling just as much as Tin in that heat exuded by the lava slime so I''ll have to try something else. I move Swift Wind''s air resistance from my legs to my mouth. "That''s better, I can breathe and speak now. Sagey, do you have some kind of mask in your inventory that I can use?" A robotic voice comes from my clothes. "YES." A pale yellow mask, the same shade as Sagey with a similar blue gem in the middle appears in my opened left hand before I grab it. Wow... it looks just like you, Sagey. Was everything Luke made, created after your design? Or do you just want your face plastered on as many things as possible? Either way, this works well enough. "Thanks." "YOU''RE WELCOME." Did it just respond back to me? Whatever. I carefully place the mask on Rachel''s head. Oh no, it might be a little too big and loose, this isn''t good, I might have to just tie it on her face with some ripped cloth or just wrap her face with cloth or it could fall off. I think about ripping my robes before quickly shutting down that idea. I can''t rip something this valuable! It''s a luxury good! Even though it was made for luxury purposes, it''ll still be classified as at least an ancient tier artifact! Slightly startling me, the gaps between the parts of the mask begin to move and rearrange itself, eventually stopping once it perfectly sits on her face, the gaps disappearing. Woah, I guess it wasn''t just a mask after all. I wonder why I even thought anything Luke Wolkan ever made would be a lower grade than Legendary, even if it was for unimportant reasons and he barely even tried making it. I wonder what tier of an artifact Sagey is. So far, nothing has been able to destroy, or even leave a scratch on it so its made of high quality material. It has seemingly infinite mana and infinite knowledge. It has to at least be a divine tier right? As I quickly approach the ground, people begin to notice me and move out of the way. Well there goes that plan. "BOOOOM!!!" My body comes crashing down in a fiery explosion like a meteor, the impact creating a small, thin cloud of smoke and dust that disappears in less than a second. Well that didn''t hurt that much. I hear several quick and loud footsteps around me in the second that it took for the dust cloud to disappear. When the dust cloud fades and my vision is returned to me, I see a group of people in uniform wearing iron helmets and armor surrounding me from all sides. "Criminal!" A voice comes from behind me. I turn around and see a grumpy, serious faced man without his helmet and wearing full plate iron armor lined by some kind of yellow material. He must be the leader of this imperial warden platoon. "Criminal! I am Qule, commander of the Imperial Wardens." What kind of name is Qule? I''ve never heard of him before. He must just be trying to intimidate me with his position. He''s likely just the captain of this small village''s wardens. Calling me a criminal is a bit much though, I can tell he''s just trying to frame me and take my treasures, hell, he isn''t even trying to hide the fact that he wants my Elderwyrm robes. "You will return the treasures you stole from our dungeon as per Imperial law. You will relinquish all your weapons... robes¨C I mean treasures, release the fair maiden in your captivity, reveal your identity, and quietly follow us¨C" I''m done listening to his bullshit, I don''t have the time for this. I re-activate Flame Claws and jump away, in the direction back to the Adventurer''s Guild branch, with Qule screaming in the background, his voice getting softer and softer as I continuously get further away. "HEY!!! Get back hereee..." Lets see, it was this way right? I follow the long dirt road, through the forest, back to the village. I keep my flaming mask on as I reach the town square where there are many couples smiling and talking with each other. How nice, to be able to spend time with your loved ones. I jump down, holding Rachel on my shoulder and walk up to a recognizable face. "Holy crap!" He screams out in fear while backing away with his arms up. "Oh, I thought you were a monster. How can I help you adventurer?" "Still wearing a green suit I see." His face becomes confused with his hands clasped together. "I''m sorry, have we met? I feel like I would remember someone with such a... unforgettable appearance." I reach into my robes. Crap, I forgot all my money was lost in that trapdoor! I whisper silently to myself while keeping my hands in my robes, moving them around to seem like I was searching for something. "Sagey, give me a gold coin." A gold coin appears in my hand and I pull it out of my robes, holding it out in front of the man with the green suit. "Ah, it seems we do know each other, I''m sorry, I guess I just forgot for a second. How can I help you, my lord?" Making people do things is so easy. I just have to give them a little money! "Tell me where I can find the warp gate back to the capital city." "I''m terribly sorry my lord, but there are no warp gates active right now, we''re celebrating the lord of this village''s birthday. I take out ten more gold coins. "What about now?" He stares intensely at the gold coins in my hands with drool exiting from his mouth, before he quickly grabs them out of my hands and places them in his pocket. "There should be no problem, your highness, please follow this lowly servant." He''s calling me his highness now huh? Money really can make people do anything. "Oh, as for the lady¨C" He begins to say before I quickly cut him off. "I will take care of her, just lead the way." Chapter 51: Ashland Trickster 1 Chapter 51: Ashland Trickster 1 The man in the green suit leads the way, slowly jogging as I keep up with him, by just walking, with Flame Claws deactivated. I didn''t think before that he could be working with the mayor against me. I don''t know how information could have traveled that quickly, but he has been acting extremely suspicious. He''s been leading us to a part of the city I''ve never seen before. I haven''t seen anyone here other than the three of us since the town square. I shift my focus from our surroundings to the man in the green suit happily jogging in front of us. Now that I think about it, Ashland is a border city, a city full of adventurers, so how could everything possibly be shut down just because it''s the mayor''s birthday? I don''t know how this information spread so quickly, but I''m certain of it, this is a trap. "Where are you taking us? And how much longer will it be before we arrive?" The man in the green suit doesn''t turn around in a coherent manner, calm and logical. "This servant is taking you to the finest warp gate in our city, your highness. I couldn''t dare to possibly make you take the same route as those dirty, low ranking adventurers. But I do apologize for going so slow, I have a bad leg from an illness I contracted when I was a child." Wow, what a dignified and complete response, he didn''t even give me the chance to ask my questions and answered them before they were even spoken. He''s a great actor, I would''ve fallen for his tricks if I were anyone else. But it''s too bad for him, that I have the ability to discern lies. Using the blessing granted by Pyro, my eye glows in an orange light as I stare at the man in the green suit, who had been outlined with a red light ever since he started speaking. If he is going slow on purpose, that means my ambushers have not yet finished their preparations. I let out a long sigh. It''s a shame I don''t have the time to deal with all these corrupt wardens and the mayor, but I have to get back as soon as possible. "Your highness? Is there a prob¨C" His sentence is abruptly ended, by my fist, as I knock him unconscious. It''s a shame, he was a great actor. I would''ve loved to see him in a show, but alas, he chose to collide with my enemies. It would''ve been fun if he was still acting right now, acting unconscious, but he doesn''t seem to have any physical training, and I didn''t hold that punch back. I softly lay Rachel down on the ground before walking back to the man in the green suit and crouching down to his body. In one pull, I rip his green suit off and swing it up and down, eleven of my gold coins dropping out, and fifteen more silver coins falling out. You don''t deserve to take my money. I pick up the eleven gold coins one by one, collecting them in my hands, as well as a single silver coin, leaving the fourteen other silver coins scattered across the ground as I stand up. Wow... he made fourteen silver coins in a single morning? What a sly scammer. I feel bad for the people that he stole money from. My flaming head rises one last time, before disappearing into the air. Now that every warden and corrupt employee of the Ashland Adventurer''s Guild knows about my appearance and is out to get me, there''s not much of a point in keeping up this disguise. The mask was too flashy and mana-consuming anyway. "Sagey." Sagey flies out of my robe''s left sleeve and hovers in front of me. "Store these coins in the inventory and give me another one of those masks." I say while holding up my right hand full of coins, and pointing at the mask on Rachel''s head with my other. "Yes, Arthur." The coins in my right hand immediately disappear, while a mask the exact same as Rachel''s appears in the same hand a second later. "Wow, this texture is nice." I say while admiring the mask. sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. I am unable to admire it for long as I am forced to slap it onto my face when my Heightened Senses suddenly activate and my instincts warn me of danger. Someone else is here, likely a conspirator with that naked man on the ground. I want to beat the shit out of him for ruining my moment with this mask, but I''ll let it go. I quickly pick Rachel up and start slowly walking away. If he is a conspirator of the mayor, he''ll probably go away since he came here after I had already deactivated my flaming head. I continue slowly walking away, concentrating intensely on my ears, waiting for any sudden movements. After silently watching for a few seconds, the unknown figure disappears from the detection of my senses. Ha, I knew it, these supposed wardens of justice care more about taking money than stopping someone who could have killed someone, while kidnapping another. Because... that''s what it would look like to other people. Come to think of it, I didn''t even see a single church in this village. When I return, I''ll make sure to take care of these criminals. I begin tracing my steps, running back to the town square and Adventurer''s Guild only using attributeless Body Enhancement and Swift Wind to decrease the air resistance in front of me. I run into a gap behind two houses before I get into the Town Square, leaning slightly as I peek into the town square, the couples and music gone, the only thing that could be heard being the loud marching of wardens and platoon leaders shouting orders. "PLATOON 5 AND 6 TO DISTRICT 6! PLATOON 4 TO DISTRICT 3 THROUGH 5! PLATOON 2 AND 3 TO DISTRICT 2 AND PLATOON 1 TO THE ZIDDEN DUNGEON! HEAD OUT!!!" Wow, there sure are a lot of them. Oh hey, it''s that Qule guy or whatever that''s shouting all those orders. I guess he really was the captain of the wardens in this city. I thought he was just lying and trying to intimidate me even though he only looked like he had the strength of a B rank. But looking at the quality of all the other wardens, his strength and mana is still the highest. Most of them are D rank and there are even some that are E ranks! The Imperial Warden Code states that there must always be a warden that''s at least a B rank on duty for a Warden Order to function. And if they don''t have one, an Imperial Warden from the capital will temporarily act as an overseer for them, taking control of the Warden Order and checking all the files until they get a new one. I guess the mayor is working Qule to the bone, without vacation, so that no Imperial Warden from the capital will arrive and find out about their corruption. The mayor sure is being risky, it just takes a single anonymous letter to the Imperial Wardens in the capital for them to send an Investigation Platoon. I set Rachel on the side of the house. I can easily just take off my mask and walk through that commotion since they don''t know what I look like. The problem is, these robes, the captain of the Warden Order in this village has already seen it and probably already engraved it into his memory since he wanted it so badly. I take out Sagey from my robes. "Do you perhaps have some kind of clothes that aren''t that¨C aren''t artifacts?" Sagey''s eye lights up blue and hovers above my hand. "SEARCHING... SEARCHING... SEARCHING..." Wow... it has never done this before. It just goes to show the genius of Luke Wolkan. "AN ITEM THAT MATCHES YOUR DESCRIPTION HAS BEEN FOUND." The comfortable and silky Elderwyrm robes on my back disappear as it is replaced by a tight and stuffy, eleven-part suit lined by gold and platinum and medals made of precious gems. What the hell? Is this the only article of clothing in its inventory that isn''t an artifact? Just what kind of event would constitute wearing such a decorated attire? "THESE ARE THE CLOTHES SIR LUKE WOLKAN WORE AT THE ROYAL CEREMONY OF HUMANS AND DRAGONS EIGHT HUNDRED AND TEN YEARS AGO." Eight hundred and ten years ago huh? That would make sense since the peace treaty between Humans and Dragons has ended for almost seven hundred years now, I mean technically, the dragons broke it, launching attacks on humans, ever since Luke Wolkan died, but the dragon king only made an official declaration of the destruction of the treaty a century later. But this is too much. I rip off every medal and article of the clothing and throw it on the floor until it was just the shirt, pants, and coat left right in front of Sagey, as he stares in silence. "Alright, put everything on the floor into the inventory." Sagey stays silent for a second, the blue light in his eye flickers for a second before the clothes enter its inventory, disappearing in a blue light. "Yes... Arthur." I look around myself, checking every part of the clothes. "It''s still too fancy." I rip off the sleeves of the coat and half of the sleeves on my right leg, rubbing dirt over the rest of my body. "Alright, that should be believable enough. Thank you Sagey." Did I just thank a brainless object? Sagey flies back into my dirty clothes before I feel it stop moving. Why do I feel like it was mad and throwing a tantrum? I look back at Rachel who is still laying asleep. Hmm, but what do I do with her? It will seem suspicious if I carry an unconscious girl with me when the village is in turmoil. Should I just put her in the inventory? No, it''s too large of a risk to try that, if it fails, she could die. I have never tried putting a living thing inside before. I could ask Sagey, but I will admit¨C I am a little bit scared of it right now, it seems like it''s mad at me for whatever reason. Wait¨C I''ve just thought of a great idea!! I walk out from the alley, heading straight in the direction of the captain of the wardens, though also looking like I was heading in the direction of the adventurer''s guild, with Rachel on my back. A Warden looking like a platoon leader begins to approach me, his hand on his sword''s pummel. No, I don''t want you! I need to speak with your leader, not you! I suddenly trip on a hole in the ground, and fall, bumping into Qule. I drop pathetically to the ground, letting go of Rachel. Pushing myself up, I reveal my clothes and body covered in dirt as I quickly scurry to get to Rachel. "Rachel, no!!" As I try to get to Rachel, a sword is aimed next to my throat. "Who are you boy, answer me truthfully, before I end your life." Says Qule in a stern and serious voice. Haha, yes¨C you''ve taken the bait!! Chapter 52: Ashland Trickster 2 Chapter 52: Ashland Trickster 2 "Please forgive me Great Commander of the Imperial Wardens, I was just trying to pass." I say in a pathetic, pleading manner. "Enough, that''s not what I asked. Tell me your identity and what you''re doing here, or I''ll kill you." So that''s as far as flattery will get me huh? I guess since he''s corrupt, he hears flattery a lot and gained some sort of resistance to it. From what I''ve seen from the mayor, he''s quite thorough. He probably gave Qule some discipline lessons. "Me and my sister, Rachel, decided to go visit the Zidden Dungeon because we heard it was a cool and safe place to visit," Tears begin to form around my eyes and snot in my nose at this point. "But¨C I don''t know what happened¨C the dungeon suddenly started collapsing and a rock fell from the ceiling and hit my sister, knocking her unconscious, and now she won''t wake up!! And our parents¨C" No, you shouldn''t go any further Arthur, this should be believable and sad enough for him to let us go. I don''t want to make him feel too sad and sorry for us, and give him an opportunity to help us and redeem his evil self from my wrath. Because I acted like a pathetic and weak boy with a sad story to tell, I kept my face down, looking at the ground to make it seem more believable, but I had failed to realize one thing¨C that Qule would be truly evil. Would you look at this fucker? He''s staring so intensely and intently at a young girl with her clothes torn. Haha¨C I want to end his life right now. How dare he think of committing such despicable acts on a child. Flames slightly begin to form around my right hand. In the next second, Qule shifts his focus and sees me groveling on the ground with my hand to my chest. "What are you doing boy?" "I apologize, Great Warden Commander, I have shown such a weak and pathetic side of myself, being unable to even protect my sister despite being the son of Baron Faylot." Hooo¨C I almost lost myself here. Just calm down Arthur, you can get your revenge later. What you need to do right now is to get out of here and get back to Dustin! Now that I mentioned the name of a noble, this scum of the world should back away. "B¨C Baron Faylot?! I apologize for my rude actions, young master, and being unable to recognize you. Please understand, Ashland is in a state of disarray right now, and we can''t exactly send you out right now. But we can move you and your sister to the medical bay, and once we resolve this situation, we will send word to the baron immediately." He says while moving around nervously, frantically making hand gestures to make sure I feel reassured. "Thank you very much, but I want to return back to the estate as soon as possible so I can go into isolated training and make sure I''ll be able to protect my sister and never let harm come to her ever again!" I say with great pride and determination in my voice, raising my fist up in a pledge. "Young master I¨C" He begins to say before I cut him off. "And so that I can become someone as great as you, great warden commander!!" Normal flattery may not be able to break into you, but the flattery from a young child that has a higher status than you, but looks up to you, is all that a low rank knight could ever want. "Young master¨C" He looks at me with eyes full of happiness as tears of joy start to form in them. "But I still cannot let you go, it''s too dangerous¨C" He abruptly stops speaking as he sees my hand full of gold coins being held up in front of his eyes. "My father gave me a little bit of pocket money. This is your reward for helping us. If you let us pass, I''ll make sure father gives you an even greater reward once I return home." He immediately snatches the ten gold coins from my hands. "I''ll gladly take you up on that offer young master, I hope you have a safe trip home, and if you ever need guidance with the sword, just come to me!" He says enthusiastically while pointing at himself with his thumb. "Thank you sir! I''ll also gladly take you up on that offer, hahaha!" I''m down ten gold coins but still up by thousands. If only the lava hadn''t destroyed everything, it probably would''ve been tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands! I say while I seemingly struggle while lifting Rachel over my arms and walking away, to the adventurer''s guild with her. "Wait up!" Qule shouts from behind. Did he figure out that I was lying? Don''t say those words Qule, or I''ll kill you right now and everyone else here, instead of later. Do you want to stay alive for an extra few days or not?! I slowly turn around, in an almost creepy manner. "Here!" He says while throwing a brown bronze tablet at me. Holding Rachel with my right arm, I struggle to catch it with my left hand, almost dropping it but managing to get a hold of it and seemingly admiring it. Just a bronze tablet huh? And it doesn''t even say his name on it! Hahaha, how cheap this city is. "Thank you, sir Qule! I won''t ever forget what you''ve done for me today!" I turn back, and continue my slow stumble to the Adventurer''s Guild. I''ll fucking kill you when I get back, just you wait Qule. *** Back at Qule, he thinks about what just happened. "Baron Faylot huh? I''ve never heard of that name, and I don''t remember ever telling that boy my name. Hmm... well! I guess I''m just that famous hahaha!!" A platoon leader walks up to Qule, confused and curious. "Captain Qule, who was that boy?" The pathetic Qule strikes a cringeworthy pose in his ignorant and disgusting happiness.. "That was the son of Baron Faylot! And don''t call me captain. Call me commander, or sir Qule." The platoon leader''s face changes into that of disgust, but mainly of confusion. "Right..." *** It''s just as I thought, the adventurer''s guild is still running perfectly fine¨C after all, not everyone who comes to Ashland for the Zidden Dungeon, most real adventurers come here to enter the Goblin Forest. Just before I get into the Adventurer''s Guild, I drop my act and carry Rachel normally, holding her on my back. I look around the room, searching for the receptionist desk. What the hell? I''ve looked around the room multiple times, but I can''t see it at all! Where the hell is it? And what the hell are all those adventurers doing over there, crowding and blocking the entire section of the guild? I walk up to it and hear loud, indiscernible screaming from all the adventurers shouting at the same time. Ugh¨C why can''t they understand that no one can understand what they''re saying if they all scream at once? I could use Heightened Senses and Body Enhancement on my ears to separate the sounds and make the sounds more discernible, but that would just rupture my eardrums! I slightly lean right to get a better look at what the adventurers are crowding in on and see the receptionist being crushed and trying to calm the adventurers down. Great, just my luck. I want to help her, but if I use my powers here and news of me not being weak gets to that bastard, Qule, it will get troublesome. I begin walking away, to find someone before purposefully dropping a gold coin and shouting. "LOOK, IT''S A GOLD COIN!!" Every adventurer in the crowd, and in the room, stop shouting and turn in silence, seeing me pointing at a shiny gold coin, the calm before the storm, if you would. Before they all stop what they''re doing and come charging. Ha, they''re all so easy to manipulate. I walk up to the receptionist who stares in amazement at the massive crowd surrounding the gold coin, not even noticing me approaching. I wave my hand in front of her face to try and get her attention, but her focus does not falter Wow... her concentration is insane. She must really want a gold coin. I place a gold coin on the counter, and her focus finally breaks, as she looks down at the gold coin being placed under my finger. Then she looks up. "You, you''re the one who dropped that gold coin!" I try to respond, but she moves quicker than me, grabbing my right hand, without the gold coin, and clasping it between hers. "Thank you for getting rid of those adventurers, it was so loud and hectic! I would say that I hope you enjoyed the Zidden Dungeon experience, but thanks to the dungeon collapsing, and your current state, it wouldn''t make sense. Anyways, how can I help you today?" Great, so she understands that I am in a hurry. "Don''t worry, I had a great time in the dungeon." She tilts her head, looking at me in confusion, wanting me to explain further. "Can you just direct me to the warp gate back to the capital? I''ve finished with my business here and would like to return." I slither my hand out of hers and move the gold coin up the desk with two of my fingers. "Oh you don''t need to pay me for this information, you''ve helped me enough and this information is free for all adventurers!" She slides the gold coin back down the table to me. Seemingly giving up, I take the gold coin back and put it in my pocket. "The warp gate back to the capital of Usagan Kingdom is just through the door, past the long hallway and the cost to get past is one gold coin, and two for two people." She side-eyes the unconscious, beautiful and radiant Rachel on my shoulder before letting out a long sigh. "I see you have a girlfriend now, it sure is nice to be young." What is she talking about? She only looks like she''s five years older than me though? "Hm, no. That would be illegal. Hurry along now, I''m sure you want to get back as soon as possible." I laugh nervously. "Haha... thank you." I quickly move away to the door with Rachel, the receptionist''s eyes too focused on us to see me place a gold coin on her desk. There''s nobody here, that would make sense since most people here came here to gain experience, they''re all D to C rank adventurers who probably arrived here through the use of a carriage. They don''t have the kind of money to pay for a warp gate, as shown from how everyone dropped whatever they were doing and came running after seeing a gold coin. A single, half asleep person sat in a chair next to a small portal. What the hell is this gate master doing? Is he asleep? Should I just step through the gate since he won''t notice me? The person sitting at the gate stops snoring, his sleep ruined as he suddenly starts coughing terribly, after his cough stops, he almost dozes back off to sleep before he notices me in the corner of his eye. He stares intensely at me as if he was looking at a ghost, not saying a word before he throws a punch at the air, directed at me. What the hell is he doing now? sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Um, excuse me sir¨C" "AHH¨C NO¨C DON''T COME ANY CLOSER!!" He screams out while moving his hands above him with a terrified expression. Before he opens his eyes again and takes another look at me. "Oh, you''re just a kid. I thought you were a reaper coming to take my life. Scram kid, this warp gate isn''t a game, it costs money to go through it." I walk up to the man and hand him the bronze plaque given to me by Qule. "Huh? What''s this? Lets see, it says, Warden Captain. What''s this supposed to be? A present? I don''t want it, I don''t like that Qule guy." Of course it wouldn''t work, I should''ve known. "Fine, here''s 2 gold coins, now let us pass." I pull out 2 gold coins from out of the inventory, acting like I took it from a pocket behind me. The gate master stares in surprise and amazement at the gold in my hands before quickly taking them and placing them in his pocket. "Hoho, thank you very much sir, I apologize for not being able to recognize a customer, please step in with the lady whenever you''re ready." I immediately walk through the gate without a second thought, tired of the situation and the wasted time. What a stupid interaction. I ought to get older already so I can avoid these. Wait¨C I forgot to ask what stage he was as a gate master, well, it''s too late now. I can''t even relax though, this gate really is low quality. There is no color in this tunnel, just white lights and the void. The lights aren''t even moving by me that quickly! Sigh, I already know this is going to take a long time, let''s just sleep. I lay Rachel down and fall down, turning to my side and closing my eyes. Chapter 53: Shitty Warp Gate Chapter 53: Shitty Warp Gate I lay with my eyes closed, trying multiple sleeping positions for five minutes, until I finally get up and open my red eyes, not of fire, but of the terrible nights I''ve spent in the dungeon, all that stress coming back to me all at once, the moment I relax my muscles. Ugh, I feel like shit. I guess Pyro''s healing is limited to just physical injuries, or that it can only heal injuries that are present at the time of healing. I fall back down on my back. Damn, it hurts just thinking about it, can''t my Heavenly Martial Body or whatever do anything to help it? I swear, these skills and blessings can save me from life threatening attacks and injuries, but can''t do anything against sleepiness. How logical. And this constant loud whirring! God, it sounds like there is a tornado beside both of my ears, constantly erupting my eardrums every second for the past five minutes!! God¨C I''m never stepping into a warp gate made by someone who can''t prove their rank. I thought that the portal master would at least be a 2nd rank, but it looks like he was just a 1st rank, apprentice gate master! If I ever see him again, I ought to send him to learn gate magic so that he can at least become a 2nd rank. Abruptly, the already slow white light begins to slow down even more, until the lights come to a stop. Though I struggled slightly, my body managed to get up and stand, mostly, upright. I turn my head, looking all around the tunnel, now completely still, as if time had stopped. What the hell is happening? I''ve never seen this happen before in a tunnel! It''s like time has stopped... I immediately flick my head around, behind me, quickly preparing and shooting out a giant beam of orange light in an instant, before jumping back. My Heightened Senses didn''t even react! Did I get it? My facial expression softens and relaxes for a moment before quickly returning to seriousness, and extreme caution. Activating Heightened Senses and Body Enhancement on my eyes and ears. The moment the blinding light particles fade away, I am hit with surprise, as doom lingers over me. There''s nothing there?? I quickly jump back to my original position, and look back to where I was just at. What? There''s nothing there either? What could be causing this phenomenon then? The white light begins moving again, but instead of passing behind me, they move from behind, forward. The lights gradually gain speed, until they reach the maximum, still visible speed like before; but the lights continue speeding up, beyond the maximum, until they get so fast that the light lingers, and looks like a constant beam. What the hell? Could it be that the mayor found out that I went in here and that the gate regulator is pulling me back?!?! That''s impossible, a 1st rank gate regulator being able to do that? That''s unheard of! What could it be then? I swing my head around, examining the lights in the tunnel again. The lights are getting dimmer, it can''t be¨C the warp gate¨C it''s being hacked!! The destination''s being tampered with!! The moment the lights die out, signifying that I''ve reached the destination, there will be no coming back!! The only thing I can do as the passenger in this situation, is to wait, and hope that the gate regulator will defend me! *** Back in Ashland, Henry, the gate regulator sleeps soundly on his wooden chair, his hat over his eyes, blocking the sunlight, and his head tilted up to keep the hat from falling. The man happily dreams of gold coins as drool drips from his chin and down his neck, snoring loudly. *** No!!! The light has almost completely faded! What is that useless bastard doing?!?! *** In Henry''s dreams, he rides, laughing joyfully on a sheep, while also eating mutton coated in gold. *** The lights stop and disappear, leaving the tunnel in complete darkness. Damn it, I can''t even see a single thing since there''s no light! That means we''ve arrived at our new destination set by the warp gate manipulator, but still, how can something be this dark? Out of nowhere, the void of a warp tunnel is lit up again in white specks painting the black canvas of the void like stars in the night sky. It''s beautiful... Does that mean that that shitty gate master actually managed to defend the gate from manipulators? Even though it was a close call, I''ll still give him the benefit of the doubt. I will spare your life if we meet again¨C The white lights begin to move, but instead of them passing behind or in front of me, they start to move above me. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. What?! If the lights are passing me, and going up, that can only mean one thing, that we are going down!! The lights are passing by faster now!! I can''t even see their speed anymore, but I know that they are still there because I can still see Rachel! That means that we are going to be reaching our destination soon, and that when we get out of the warp gate, we''re going to be falling!! Rachel''s still unconscious, I need to get her¨C Out of nowhere, we are transported out of the void and into a light blue sky, with the sun high above us. Shit, not the sky again!! I just fell from it less than an hour ago!! I immediately create a sort of plate with high air resistance, below me and Rachel, making us fall much, much slower. So Swift Win can do things like this too huh? It''s basically like wind magic. But from all the things I''ve discovered from this, there is one clear difference between wind magic and Swift Wind. Wind magic, like any other elemental magic, creates physical things from mana. While Swift Wind, uses mana to manipulate already existing air in the physical plane. With a sense of relief, from the Swift Wind used below us, I thoroughly examine the sun and our surroundings. Looking at the position of the sun, and factoring in the time that we spent in the tunnel, and finding the difference from the positions of the sun, it''s about 20 minutes higher than it should be. That''s... not too bad, what would''ve been the worst case scenario would have been if day turned night, that would be the worst case scenario because it means there would be a gate master powerful enough to make a warp tunnel faster than light itself. But it looks like my path back to Dustin will be delayed, yet again. I really can''t take my time anymore, I''ll kill anyone who stands in my way if I have to. But damn, my eyes kinda hurt. I hope Rachel can get up soon and heal them, otherwise, its gonna be a rough journey home, my senses being dulled by around fifty percent. I look down from the sky above me, and down at the ground below me. "Ha, would you look at these guys? They look like they''re just a ragtag group of bandits who managed to get ahold of a kinda pathetic looking gate master. I would say he looks like a 2nd rank gate master, 3rd rank at most. They even got themselves a little spike trap down there. I guess they didn''t care about the life of their victim, they just wanted to take whatever valuables they had, and leave, huh? I don''t need to worry about troublesome things like holding back and sparing their lives. I''ll just kill them. I remove the majority of the plate of high air resistance, and begin quickly accelerating as I fall, my clothes catching the wind, sort of acting like a parachute. While the remainder creates a bubble around Rachel as she slowly drifts down. I''m coming for you!! *** "Hey boss, didn''t that mage say that there were two people in that warp tunnel or whatever? I can only see one. And I think that they are still conscious, I can feel the rage of the sun coming from him or something¨C" One of the bandits says before another stuffs his mouth with their hand. "See, now you''re just spouting bullshit, how could you make eye contact with someone that far away? And how would you tell if they were conscious or not? Stop fooling around and get back to work, if I see even a single spike not drenched in that expensive poison that merchant gave us, no food for any of you tonight!" "What do you mean that the merchant gave it to us boss? Haha, we killed him and stole it from his inventory, hahaha!!" All the bandits laugh together, while the gate master trembles heavily in the sidelines, even more so as the bandit boss begins to approach him. "Dumbie did make a good point though, didn''t you say there were two? I only see one. What you tryna do? You think I''m dumb? I''ll cut your tongue off if you''re lying, tell me, you tryna set me up? Is that person up there gonna kill us?" The gate master crawls backwards. "No-no¨C I''m certain of it, there were 2 people in that warp tunnel! And how could I set you up when you''re so much smarter than me?" The bandit boss pulls the gate master''s long brown hair, and holds him up like a toy. "Of course I''m smarter than you. But are you trying to say I''m blind? Because I only see one man up there! You promised me two!" The gate master grovels and tries to release himself while he pleads. "Pl-please, I don''t know what happened, but I''m not trying to set you up!! There must''ve been a malfunction with the gate or something!!" The bandit boss drags the gate master to the spikes and dangles him over them. "LOOK! YOU LOOK AND TELL ME HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE UP THERE!!" The gate master keeps his eyelids shut as tears fall out of his extremely red eyes. "THERE''S ONLY ONE PERSON!! I''M SORRY!!" He continues crying as he waits for his death to come, but neither the bandit boss or anyone else says anything or makes any moves. Slowly and afraid, the gate master opens his eyes, only to be struck with the same fear as the rest of the bandits, as he looks upon the glorious art of a man, holding a sun that covers the entire sky. "An Angel?!" The man exclaimed in joy, before the sun started to leave the man''s hand and fell down. "WHAT THE HELL?!?!" *** Chapter 54: The Sage’s Warp Gate Chapter 54: The Sage''s Warp Gate I hover in the air, my Flame Claws latching onto the air beneath me, as I look down, upon the scene of completely razed, scorched earth, nothing left except black, charcoaled wood from the fallen trees and wood formerly known as a platform. Nothing else could be seen, even with my Enhanced Vision. That attack felt much more powerful than how it was when I used it in the dungeon. My attention averts to the sky, specifically, at the sun. It''s probably because of the sun, I did have a theory of it before, but I''m certain now, the sun definitely makes my magic much more powerful, I don''t know if it''s because of the blessings or because of my affinity, but it just is. Maybe that''s the part that was missing about my Sun''s Gate, it needs to be present where the light is shining! I''ll definitely have to test that later. On another note, it seems like even after spending all those days in the dungeon, without seeing the sun, my eyes are not affected. Pyro must''ve given me another blessing or something. My eyes return back to the ground, as I scan for any movements. Hmm... I can''t say for certain because of my downgraded vision, but it seems like they''re all dead. If they died from just that, that just goes to show how bad the gate manipulator was, and how much worse that shitty gate master who created the warp tunnel is. Stressed, tired, and angry, I pull on my hairs and ruffle them a bit before letting go and exhaling deeply, slightly getting more and more annoyed as I speak my thoughts aloud. "Haaaa... this is so annoying, I have no idea where this place is, where the closest town is, or where the closest city with a warp gate is!!" Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. I exhale again, this time a lot less long. "Hoo... There''s no use in getting angry and wasting more energy, but I am hungry and I do want water. I should''ve gotten some food or at least a drink before we left Ashland. I need to quickly find a way back to Dustin. But where do I even start?!" I glance down at the pile of ash below me. Maybe I shouldn''t have killed the gate manipulator and forced him to send me to the capital. "Haa... no, that''s not a great idea. How would I have been able to trust him when I just killed all his allies and threatened him? You made the right decision, Arthur." I pause for a second, not even believing my own words. "But how do I get out of here?" I stare blankly out into the forest in my heavy procrastination and sloth. You''re going to regret it heavily later if you don''t stop procrastinating, Arthur. I know, I know, but can''t I just take a break now? I''ve only been working non-stop for the past four days. You''re in the final stretch of this journey Arthur, you can''t give up now! You''re right, you have been working non-stop, so don''t let your work go to waste. Don''t let Tin''s sacrifice go to waste. Arthur remains still the moment he hears his subconscious mind remind him of a word he forcefully removed from his thoughts, several emotions rush through his body, starting from his brain, until he can even feel them in his feet, welling up inside him while many parts of his body begin acting without his discretion. Stop, don''t you ever mention his name ever again. The other voice in Arthur''s head disappears as Arthur regains control of his body and the emotions rush back from the toes and fingertips, moving back to the brain, the emotions condensing itself into a single invisible point in the furthest parts of Arthur''s mind, and the gate to it being shut. I''m not ready to face that yet, I''ll make sure to repay you tenfold for what you''ve done for me. His mind reverts back, as he shakes his head around in a confused manner, looking across the ground and the sky. Huh? What was I talking about again? ... Right, I need to save Dustin. Well, let''s not waste any more time. This newfound determination sure is great though, I don''t know what caused it, but I feel much more energized! Sagey flies out of my pocket and we stare at each other in silence. Tilting my head and staring at it in a playful attitude, I wait in anticipation for its message. "WOULD YOU LIKE TO USE THE SAGE SYSTEM''S WARP GATE FUNCTION?" What? It had a power like that? "What else can you do?" Sagey shakes for a second. "PLEASE WAIT. SCANNING ALL FILES. REQUIRED TIME: THREE DAYS" THREE DAYS? Even with the processing speed that''s probably faster than my brain''s processing speed, it would need to take three days in order to scan all the files?!?! It''ll probably take it weeks in order to list all of it after the scan, and months for me to read all of it! I can''t do that!! "Actually, nevermind, but next time, whenever you have a good idea that you classify as a good idea for the situation, just tell me, and if I can''t respond, just do it. Your judgment is more logical than mine." "SCAN PAUSED. NEW ORDER RECEIVED. CHANGES MADE. SAGEY CAN NOW ACT WITH ITS OWN DECISION IN ORDER TO PRESERVE USER''S LIFE AND SUCCESS." "Great!" A green warp gate opens next to me, in the air. "WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO?" "The capital city?" "CORRECTION: WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO IN THE CAPITAL CITY?" Amazing, so it not only has the ability to create warp gates, it has the power to be specific with the destination, without needing a warp gate to be set beforehand? What an overpowered artifact you made, Luke Wolkan... "Hmm... I would like to go to the temple first but..." I look up at Rachel who is now visible, though still high in the sky, as she continues to slowly drift down. "Set the destination for the Mint Estate in the Capital City." "DESTINATION SET. PLEASE ENTER WHEN YOU''RE READY." I continue to look up at Rachel, ignoring the words of Sagey, moving slightly around the air, before releasing Swift Wind around Rachel, as she begins to come flying down like a meteor, although, still unconscious, her eyes closed, while she begins to quickly gain speed. Perfect, now I just have to catch her. This should be the correct spot. If my calculations are correct, she will fall directly into my arms at this point. I lift up my arms, my concentration on her unbreaking, bracing for impact as she gets closer and closer. Now! I create a few barriers of slightly higher air resistance that she falls through, before falling lightly into my arms. Just. As. Expected. Sagey looks at me, almost seeming confused, but doesn''t say a word as I come walking back to it, carrying Rachel in my arms in a gentlemanly manner. It''s nice to be able to enjoy breaks now that I have time. What if the doctor''s calculations were wrong though? My facial expression becomes that of slight anger and irritation. Damn it, why do I always have to think of the worst case scenarios and ruin my fun time? I swear, it''s great for calculations and fighting, but it''s terrible for relaxing. I speed up and quickly go into the green warp gate without wasting any more time. The next moment I deactivate Flame Claws and open my eyes, seeing that I have appeared in a completely neon green tunnel, not a single spot of darkness. Wow... this is different. It''s a little bright but, at least it makes no sound. It is a bit weird though, how was I able to look at the sun, which is much brighter than this light, perfectly fine, but looking at this green light hurts my eyes? I set Rachel down before turning back to Sagey. "Say, Sagey, how would you rank in terms of warp gate masters?" Sagey replies the moment I stop speaking, without the slightest hesitation. "IF WE COUNT ALL THE FACTORS, INCLUDING SPEED, COMFORT, TUNNEL SECURITY, AND ACCURACY, I WOULD BE UNMATCHED IN ALL OF THEM." Sagey is never certain about anything because there is always a possibility that it could be wrong, but for it to say that statement without stating the possibilities, it must really be confident. I think I just saw him smile. Wait, did I just say him and see it smile? What the hell am I doing? I must really be tired, how could an artifact possibly show emotions and have gender? I cover my eyes with my hand before I clear my throat. "Do you think that you could maybe make the lights a little bit dimmer? It''s a little bright." "YES, ARTHUR." The tunnel loses most of the green lights and becomes similar to the previous warp gates, a pitch black tunnel with many green dots racing past me. It truly is beautiful to look at when there''s no terrible whirring sound. "So, when exactly do you think we''ll arrive at the Mint Viscounty Estate?" "WE WILL BE ARRIVING IN TWENTY SECONDS." Great. Chapter 55: Martha Chapter 55: Martha I sit on the ground, with my legs extended and my arms holding me up, I move my feet around as a way to pass the time. "WE WILL BE ARRIVING AT THE MINT VISCOUNTY ESTATE IN THREE," Finally, that was so slow and boring, I wasn''t even counting but it just felt so slow. Being able to think at faster speeds and see the world move slower than it actually does is a terrible downside to it. I slightly contract my elbows before pushing off the ground and standing perfectly upright. Still, it does have its perks. "TWO," After getting up, I lower myself down again, and pick Rachel up, rising back up and holding her without struggling, like she wasn''t even there. Okay, so after I drop Rachel off at the Mint Estate Clinic, I just need to head to the church as quickly as possible and get the phoenix feather, and holy water from the holy grail. How will I get it? I don''t know, but I''ll worry about it once I get to it. I suddenly feel a weakness in my legs and almost fail to react to it, my knees dropping slightly before I quickly take a strong step forward and scoop Rachel up. Ugh¨C I might have to visit the Mint Clinic soon, as well after this is all over. Please just hold on for a little longer Dustin, and my legs; I''ll fix it all soon. Though, Pyro''s healing is a lot worse than I originally thought¨C but it''s probably because the vessel she used was too weak to contain even a fraction of her power. I saw her mana before, and if I were to convert it to magic circles, she would be considered a third circled mage, like Isabella. If that theory is correct¨C My mouth widens, turning into a devious grin, completely forgetting about my fatigue weakness, while my eyes stare intently at her as I start exhaling like a man who is unable to contain his desires. ¨Cthat means I''ll just have to make her stronger so that she can heal me and cast blessings onto me whenever I get into a fight. Haha¨C since Pyro decided to give the blessing of healing to her instead of me, I''ll make sure to make good use of her blessing! I wipe the drool off my face as I continue to stare intensely at her and the new orange symbol of Pyro on her forehead. It''ll be fine since we''re going to be spending a lot of time together anyway due to being apostles of the goddess! What''s wrong with her being a little stronger and having the ability to assist me¨CI mean the church, better, if it''s an option? My extremely weird and downright creepy behavior is forcefully ended as Sagey shouts: "ZERO, WE HAVE ARRIVED AT DESTINATION!" What? But it didn''t even say one¨C The tunnel of Green light and black void ends as we plop out of a Warp Gate, my legs giving out before I quickly turn, rotating Rachel''s body around me as I land on the hard rock floor on my back. While I stare up at the bright sun and sky without clouds, Rachel''s still motionless body lies on top of mine. Seriously, I understand that she''s tired from all of that, since I experienced it as well, and I know that I have a mental fortitude stronger than most, but how could she sleep through all of that? All those loud noises and explosions, the constant movement, and the blinding lights, honestly, it''s quite impressive. Since we arrived here already, maybe it''d be fine to just¨C relax a little... I start to drift off, but just a second later, I awake again, to the sound of loud marching and metal clanging. Shit, did I really almost just fall asleep, even after I said all that about having a strong mental fortitude? How embarrassing. I guess intelligence and mental fortitude are different things, just like... Tin said. The stomping gets louder, as I sense people forming around me like what happened after I exited the Zidden Dungeon. Still, I don''t turn my head. Am I getting deja vu? I feel like I''ve been in this situation before, haha... we''re in the Mint Viscounty Estate, so these people wearing metal armor should just be guards. I hope there is someone there that can recognize me and bring me inside but even in the worst case scenario, they won''t kill me though. I start to close my eyes in a calm and relaxed state, before suddenly stopping just before they shit and opening them widely. Wait, how did they form here so quickly? They aren''t a military household, so they shouldn''t have people patrolling around the estate. Are they soldiers from another noble or worse, an enemy? Don''t tell me¨C are they knights from the Corrupt faction? I swing my head backwards to get a look at the soldiers and just see a few soldiers wearing standard mass produced iron armor without any noble''s insignia on it that stumble backward, almost scared after seeing me turn my head and look at them. I was wrong? What could it have been then? I tilt my head forward and see the Green Warp gate, still open. Could it have been that they saw the warp gate? Even still, it would be impossible to react within twenty seconds when there are no guards patrolling¨C Arthur puts his thoughts on pause as he comes to a realization. Right¨C this was my fault... I took my sweet time going inside the warp gate when it was already opened... I drop my head back, once again looking up at the sky. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Sagey, you can close the warp gate now." The portal closes, slowly getting smaller and smaller, until it disappears, all without making a sound. "Don¨CDon''t move, state your identity, or we-we''ll stab you!" I hear one of the guards standing behind me say. Is he seriously being wary of a kid whose clothes are in tatters? Come on man, I put a lot of effort into this appearance, I would''ve rather you been arrogant than afraid. He''s not cut out to be a soldier, his parents probably forced him to. "You won''t know me, but my name is Arthur Ventrike, I''m a student at Wolkan Academy, I''m not an enemy, I''m a former patient here and as you can see, me and my friend here need medical attention¨C" The guard abruptly cuts me off. "Art-arthur Ventrike? I''ve never heard of tha-that name! Are you trying to lie to me and trick me because you think I''m scared of you? W-well, I''m not, so don''t you lie to me! You kids and your silly games, guess what? Adults have jobs to do and no time for your pranks!" What the hell did he just say to me? Hearing his words, I immediately turn my head, with a seriously annoyed and angry face, back and see a frail looking man, shaking heavily as he, the only one pointing his spear at me, holds his spear. I''ve just been in a dungeon for the past 4 days and fought through life or death situations, by myself, and watching my friend die, right in front of me. But you¨C a mere guard who can''t even hold his weapon properly, dares to say that to me? I am the only one who can blame myself for that incident, but this guard has the nerve to ridicule me on things he knows nothing about?!!! I should really just kill him right now. Even if I''m not in prime condition, it''s still enough to take care of a sorry, corrupt excuse of a guard like you. I begin to feel a dark flame, full of rage, ignite in my chest as I slowly move Rachel off of me while a tiny flame emerges in the pupils of my eye, slowly beginning to increase in size, simultaneously as many small orange particles begin to emit from my hair. When I start to turn around and get up, the guard who said that, drops his spear and falls to the ground, slowly crawling back, while the other guards start retreating backwards. Just before I fully rise, ready to pounce at the guard, and my hair along with my eyes set ablaze, I feel a hand grab onto my shoulder. What? I didn''t even feel their presence! Who are they?! "Excuse me patron, please forgive this lowly guard for his words, he does not have high enough clearance to be given your precious information. I plead with you to calm down so you do not cause any trouble for yourself and the young mistress." My emotions come to a halt as I see her, a tall, serious looking woman with stern glasses and a welcoming smile on her face, and professionally kept black hair, styled in a braided bun. It''s the receptionist at the desk when I was leaving the clinic after I recovered from that poison! I couldn''t sense any mana from her before, but it looks like it was because she didn''t want me to. For her to be able to get through my Heightened Senses, she''s at least a Royal Ranked Swordsman! "You and your... partner here seem to be injured, we''ll take care of your injuries for free if you would please allow me to take you inside." Yes, if it''s her, I can leave Rachel in her care. From what I''ve seen from Lillian, she may be clumsy, but she has a good heart. This person must be one of the famous retainters of the Mint Viscounty I''ve heard so much about: Martha. I politely remove her hand from my shoulder and move down to pick up Rachel, relinquishing the fire fueled by rage, both externally, and internally. "Thank you, but I can''t receive treatment right now, I still have unfinished business. Instead, please take good care of her, she''s a very important person to me." Martha''s face becomes troubled, losing her stern demeanor for a second as she looks down at Rachel in my arms, and back at me, with a face of confusion, and slightly that of terror. "I¨C" I interrupt her before she gets the chance to speak, placing Rachel in her arms as I turn away. "Sagey, open a warp gate to the Temple of Pyro." "COMMAND RECEIVED. DESTINATION CONFIRMED. PLEASE STEP IN WHEN YOU''RE READY." A green portal appears and I walk inside seemingly, without turning back or saying anything. "Sagey, make sure you close the gate after I walk in this time. If you understand, don''t respond." I walk through, and the portal instantly begins to close after I step in. I really wanted to take her offer and finally be able to relax! I cry silently inside as I stand in the dark warp tunnel, split by green light. Chapter 56: Agon II Chapter 56: Agon II "ARRIVING AT DEST¨C" Wow¨C that sure was quick, it hasn''t even been a single second since I stepped in and we''ve already arrived! Sagey definitely has the right to call himself unmatched, he can create warp gates so fast, they could be used in combat to redirect attacks like Terminus did in the most famous novel, The Wizard of Space and Time! My vision of the dark tunnel ends, the last view being a blinding green light, as I exit the warp gate that closes immediately after I step out, almost falling, but managing to keep myself up. Appearing before the Grand Temple of Pyro, shining brightly, reflecting intense white light from the sun with its spotless, sparking white marble exterior. Agh¨C my legs hurt, I want to lie down. But this place really is bright... It wasn''t this bright the first time I came here, when it was high noon; but I guess this is a good thing because it means everything in the church is fine even though neither Dustin nor the other cardinals are here? It''s suspicious, but maybe Dustin''s shadows are just running the church in his stead. Whatever the case is, I just need to hurry up and get the ingredients so I can finally rest. I take a high squat for a few seconds, motivating myself in my thoughts and just resting for a bit before recovering the energy to continue, as I walk into the Church. In my undisturbed stroll, I examine the surroundings while focusing on my thoughts. No guards huh? That''s weird. The Grand Temple of Pyro is really more of a military headquarters of operations instead of a place for prayer, so there are normally guards stationed at every entrance to keep the regular civilians and potentially dangerous intruders out. So why have I not seen a single holy knight or priest at all the entire time I''ve been in here? My mindless stroll comes to an end, at another gate, as I reach the end of a hallway, in the Temple''s exclusive room of prayer, without a single person to be seen inside or out. Still no one huh? Hmm... should I just go in to pray enter the Realm of Flames for a little bit? Time flows faster inside anyway, and I did promise to pray and see her the next time I get the chance. I raise my foot in the direction of the room, before setting it back down on the ground in its original position. No, I haven''t made amends with Tin yet. I can''t face her, not after what I said to her. Her healing right now would be nice though... I take a left and walk up the stairs, to the Executive Board room. Following another one of my memories, taking the direction I remember Dustin took me to, to the Task Room. If there is anyone in the temple, they''ll definitely be at the Task Board Room! As I continue to the Task Board room, I hear the sound of grunting, not from just one, but from many grunting constantly. What is that noise? People are grunting, could they be training? But from where? I look around the hallway, before returning my gaze to the end of the corridor, the Task Room. It can''t be from the Task Room, it''s usually full of chatter,and the noise doesn''t echo through the hall from that direction. I bring my sight back from the Task Room, slowly following the wall on my right, until it stops at an ominous window in the wall, a much more reasonable guess to where the noise comes from. I walk up to a balcony in the wall, the only source of light peeking through its windows, other than the light coming from the stained glass windows. Is that noise coming from outside? Looking out the window, using Body Enhancement and Heightened Senses, my face remains the same, hiding my emotions as I try to fully figure out the situation. Half naked men, wearing no armor or any clothing other than pants, are on the ground, in uniform rows across the dirt platforms. There sure are a lot of them, and they seem to be training, doing some sort of Push-ups on the floor. This must be the training grounds then, and since this is the Grand Temple reserved for official members of the church, that must mean that they are Holy Knights! So this is where they were, I was afraid that the church was abandoned by all of its members, or even worse¨C that the corrupt faction took over, and killed all of them. But, where are the priests? My eyes roll in their sockets, shifting my focus from the half naked men doing intense exercise, to my left, to the direction all of the Holy Knights are facing. "TRAIN HARDER YOU USELESS MAGGOTS, IT''S THE ONLY THING YOU CAN DO AND THAT YOU''RE GOOD FOR!!" A loud and familiar, annoying voice could be heard coming from the far end of the direction the Holy Knights faced. This voice? Is that Agon II? I immediately turn my head to him and stare with a wide smile, in great amazement and amusement. Ha, wow¨C they really put Agon II in charge of training the Holy Knights? What were Dustin''s shadows thinking; having a priest oversee knight training? How amusing. Well, as long as he turned a new leaf, and agrees to help improve the quality of my¨C I mean¨C the church, it should be fine. Even if he only became a bishop because of all the elixirs and interventions by his father, he still has the mana and divine power of a bishop, so he''ll be a little useful. "IF I COULD HAVE THIS WORLD MY WAY, NONE OF YOU WOULD EXIST IN MY SIGHT YOU DIRTY SWORDSMEN!!" Arthur''s face stays smiling from former amusement, and disbelief of what he just heard. What. My eyes widen, my smile gone, now staring intensely at Agon II, exuding a great invisible killing intent, shooting straight out of my eyes, to Agon. The killing intent travels quickly, as Agon falls down on his wooden platform, above the training grounds, as he shakes in fear, other armored guards on the platform, running to help him up. There has always been a long standing prejudice against swordsmen because as everyone knows, there have been six mages who have reached the 9th circle before, and there has even been one that has reached the 10th circle. However, compared to mages, there have only been three swordsmen who have reached the stage of Grandmaster, said to be equal in strength to that of a 9th circle, Great Sage. However, none of those Grandmasters reached the stage after that, and all of them reached the Grandmaster Stage in the later half of their lives. This is important to note, because unlike mages who just need to meditate, or cultivate mana, swordsmen need to be actively and constantly training their bodies in order to get stronger; which is much harder to do when they become old. Even if I''m a mage, and no longer a swordsman, I can not just let this man who has never touched a sword in his life, talk bad about all the heroes I respect and revere so much, including my master who taught me everything about swords that I know!!! Without using Swift Wind, or any mana to strengthen my body, I jump down the balcony, and enter the training grounds in a loud boom and a large explosion of dust. I walk out of the dust cloud, unharmed, with my eyes locked onto Agon II, like the eyes of a hawk set on its prey. Projecting my voice with mana, and a face with a smile hiding a much more wrathful emotion, I shout: "How''s it been Agon II? Have you been having fun playing with what''s not yours?" The Holy Knights around me stop their grunting and exercise as I walk by them, their complete attention directed at me, as they watch in silence. While Agon II trembles in fear with every word I say. "Don''t you think what you said about swordsmen was quite mean? I''m sure if Dustin heard you say that he would shed a tear." I shout as I continue walking past the Holy Knights, before taking a right and resuming my march to Agon II, now in the middle of the rows, stepping on the marble tiles that separate the sections of the training grounds. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Truly, like father, like son." I finally stop my march, as I arrive at an opening, where the rows of sweaty, half-naked knights end. A single man with long blonde hair, in the center of a half circle, before the platform that the cowardly Agon stands on, continuing to do push-ups through all the commotion. Who is this? He is placed apart from the other soldiers and continues to exercise even though he can hear me. The mana and the strength I can feel coming from his body is that of a Royal Ranked Swordsman, despite looking like he just turned 20! I am curious, but that can wait, I must take care of this filth first. Pyro, please just give me the strength to continue my act for a little longer. God¨C why did I have to jump down from that high balcony without using mana just to look cool? I can barely feel my legs at this point! "You know, I just came here today to check out the vault, but I was confused as to why, no one was out guarding the Temple. So I looked around, and after all my searching, I finally found the reason. Do you care to take a guess?" I say, now smiling brighter than ever, though Agon II swings his arms around as sweat falls from his bald head. My smile gets wider, now baring my teeth like a wild beast, and revealing my eyes, glaring at him so hard, flames could be seen erupting from them. "I come to find a cowardly old man, with the mind of a child, standing over Holy Knights like he, himself, was Pyro!!" Flame Claws appear on my limbs, enveloped in swirling, bright orange flame, as Agon II, pushing his bodyguards, shrieks in horror. "HI-IEEEK!! VERAN, DON''T LET HIM GET ANY CLOSER TO ME!!!" How pathetic, if he was going to scream for help, he could''ve at least acted confident like before. I haven''t even done anything yet. But who is Veran? Suddenly, the blonde man between me and Agon II stops his exercise session, holding his position mid-set before pushing himself off the ground, and standing up, before turning around to me, and picking up his sword off the ground, then beginning to unsheathe it. So his name was Veran huh? I was curious about him anyway, so let''s see how well I can fare against a Royal Ranked Swordsman. But... Sagey, I''m not attracted to him or anything, but he''s a good looking guy right? Right, I turned off his function for being able to hear my thoughts. Well, whatever. Just as he takes the tip of his shiny sword that reflects the light from the sun out, he charges at me, the wind delayed, not even noticing that he began running. Hmm... he''s definitely fast, but compared to Dustin and that second homunculus, this is a speed I can keep up with! If I was still in my prime condition... right now, I might be able to block one of his swings? Just before I get ready to react to his downward swing directed at my head, I sense a stronger, and faster person with a dark aura sneak up from behind me, swinging his sword upward and parrying the other sword. Woah¨C so fast! I wasn''t even able to detect him until he had already gotten within swinging range! But this dark and sneaky aura, is it an assassin? Or could it be? In a split second after the parry, I look down, behind me and see a man wearing full black cloth, easily fending off the blonde haired man''s sword. "Don''t worry about Revan, sir Apostle, I''ll take care of him." I knew it! It was one of Dustin''s Apostles! Immediately responding, and taking the opportunity, I fly up to the platform, and fly high above it, before holding my arm out, with my hands outstretched, turning back to face the Holy Knights. "HEAR ME! I AM ARTHUR VENTRIKE, YOUR LONG AWAITED APOSTLE AND LIBERATOR. UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF PYRO, I WILL NOW EXECUTE DIVINE LAW!!!" My voice booms, across the giant training grounds, while the Stigmas on my body shine as brightly as the sun, high in the sky, as I hold a giant ball of flames four times the size of the platform in my hands that covers the sun. All the Holy Knights'' gasps echo throughout the training ground, as they start bowing down, on their knees, in a deep prayer position. My mana circuits hurt... Chapter 57: Inspections Chapter 57: Inspections I look down and see Agon II staring in terror, not at me, but at the giant ball of flames in my hands. Noticing my gaze down at him, he immediately gets off his ass and tries to get up, but falls. After attempting it a second time, he succeeds and manages to stand up with his hands slapped together, before planting his forehead on the wooden platform, slamming down at it with great force. "Pl-please forgive me... I was wrong. I apologize for what I said! Please don''t kill me... I can be of service to you!" What the hell? If I didn''t have Heightened Senses, I wouldn''t be able to hear him say that at all, through the sound of the swirling flames just above me! Agon continues groveling on the floor whimpering and sobbing, repeating the same thing over and over, barely audible. "Please-please-please..." I don''t say a word of response to him, as I continue to look at him with a serious face of disappointment, the anger no longer being shown on my face as I reflect in my thoughts. Sigh, while I don''t trust him in the slightest, that he will change his ways, or that he''s actually sorry, my arms hurt a lot from having to keep it in the air for so long. Seriously, how can I be this tired? It was only four days! The ball of swirling orange flames starts to get smaller, as it seeps back into my palm, until it is fully gone, the only thing left lighting the sky, being the sun. Ahh, much better. I look down, to the half circle of marble set just before the wooden platform, and see the man in black clothes with his sword sheathed, and the man with long blonde hair, Veran, lying unconscious on the ground, facedown, still gripping tightly to his sword, while his limbs lie outstretched across the marble. Looks like the shadow is done with that guy as well. Thank god he took care of him, though he doesn''t have a single scratch on him. They''re both Royal Ranked swordsmen but that shadow is at least ten times stronger than him. If I was in prime condition¨C I wonder¨C who would win between the two of us? From high above the ground, my desire is highly visible, as I grin intently at the shadow who, noticing my eye, slightly chuckles before looking back to the rows of Holy Knights, his left arm still resting on top of his sword. He chuckled? I touch my face and feel my mouth, a smile spread widely, before I quickly return it back to a straight, and serious face. Haha... to see my smile from this distance, truly terrifying... I look back down at the platform and then to the Holy Knights, all with their heads down as they all wait in silent anticipation. Thankfully, no one else saw it. Now, before I actually fall unconscious, let''s do what I promised, and get this over with. I drop down the wooden platform, completely erasing the impact of my fall with Swift Wind. Once I land, Agon II and his bodyguards shake even more intensely as they hear my footsteps, over the wooden platform get louder and louder. Once I get close, mere feet away from them, I examine the four of them. Just four bodyguards? Ha, I guess since there were these few people on his side, he placed all his trust in Veran. Who was he anyway? Wait¨C I look closer at the Holy Knight bowing at the far right side of Agon, who shakes much more than the rest. Wait¨C that face, I recognize him! It''s the guard that stopped me in the main entrance, from the first time I visited the temple! I move away from Agon II, who stops shaking and lifts his head, looking at me as I walk to the man on his far left. The guard shakes even more, sweating profusely as I stand in front of him, avoiding eye contact with me like his life depended on it. "Hey man, how''s it been? No need to be so nervous, we''re friends aren''t we?" He doesn''t respond, keeping his eyes locked on the ground, quivering fiercely. I crouch down to him, and place my hand on his shoulder, glaring at him intensely, pushing my killing intent into his body through my arm. "Hey, are you not going to respond? You know I''m talking to you right?" He shudders, not a single part of his face still dry, as sweat leaks through his armor, darkening the wooden platform. My tone and face completely changes as I speak in a cheerful way, stopping my killing intent and smiling brightly, as I share my blessing of the body with him, warm orange light glowing from the both of us. "I just wanted to say that I was totally wrong and I completely forgive you for what you said, since you were just doing your job and I was acting like a spoiled brat!" The guard finally turns his head, and looks up at me with a face full of relief. "R-really? You forgive me?" I keep my cheerful smile up as I keep my eyes closed, facing him. "Yep!" The guard starts sweating, even more profusely, from an instinctual fear, and creepiness running across his body as I begin to open my eyes. "Better yet¨C you can even strangle me to death right here. That''s what you said you wanted to do right?" I say while glaring at him with pitch black eyes of insanity, looking like a maniac while he shakes terribly in horror, before abruptly stopping, as he falls unconscious, while a yellow liquid drips out of his armor.. "Tch, what a coward." I say as I start to get back up, Agon''s gaze quickly turning back to the ground. "All of you get down there, and one of you carry him down as well." Agon II and his conscious bodyguard instantly get up, sensitive from their fear of me, and quickly run down the platform, before returning to their position, their heads planted on the ground on the white marble floor. Sigh¨C now it''s time for the tough part. I hope there aren''t too many who are corrupt or evil, and that they don''t run away if they are. That''d be annoying since I only have one person who''s strong enough, and that I can trust at my disposal; I imagine the other shadows are still guarding Dustin in his bed. I have to finish this up quickly and get the rest of the ingredients. I walk up to the front of the platform, facing the training grounds, taking a deep breath before I clear my throat, getting ready to enhance it with mana and speak, before suddenly stopping just as I''m about to speak. No, I need to get to Dustin quickly. I don''t have the time to check if all of them are evil or not, they could even just choose to and answer. But even if they do answer at the same time and I can tell if they are evil or not, is truth not just what someone believes? One person could believe that something that is false, is true because they have convinced themselves of that lie. I don''t have time to consult people''s perspectives on what they believe and convince them otherwise. I''ll need to use the perspective from a higher being, a universal perspective; an absolute truth. I close my eyes and concentrate deeply, using all of my consciousnesses to form my image of an absolute truth from all my opinions and accumulated knowledge. The amount of information and the speed of the calculations so quick, the memories are split and stored in different consciousnesses. The moment I open my eyes, a third eye, in the shape of Pyro''s Orange Sun, that shines much more brightly than the one in my left eye appears. In that moment, I gain access to all the knowledge across all of my consciousnesses. My central consciousness, stationed in the center of the endless bookshelves in the library that is my mind. And for a second, I get the chance to ask a single question: "Who is evil?" My voice booms out, the vibration of my voice booming through the air. Supernaturally however, everyone in the training grounds hears it just as it is, at the same volume as any other. Just a second later, the symbol of Pyro on my forehead loses its light and crumbles away. Yet to face the drawback, I stare across the training grounds where all the Holy Knights keep their heads down, staying still, in amazement as I see the ratio between those glowing in green, versus those in red. Everyone¨C all of the Holy Knights here are good! I look down at the obvious offenders who lie on the marble floor. Well save for these five idiots. Every single one of them. I look slightly past Agon II and his bodyguards, to Dustin''s Shadow and Veran. Ho... it''s no surprise that Dustin''s shadow is good but Veran as well? If he wasn''t evil, why did he work with Agon II and obey every one of his commands? Well, I''m sure he has his own circumstances, the only thing that matters is that he''s not evil. This just makes my life a lot easier. Then, I shift my vision, directed at the eyes of the shadow, and then move my eyes back to Agon II, hoping that the shadow understood my signal. Please kill them! I can barely keep my body upright! Fortunately for me, he understood the assignment and in an instant, unseeable even by me, quickly unsheathes his sword and sheaths his sword in an instant, while the heads of Agon II and the bodyguards fly off their body all at the same time, as they roll around the floor for a short while, before they stop rolling. What the hell? That was so fast, I couldn''t even see it! He''s definitely faster than that second homunculus I fought in the dungeon. I can only compare his speed to that of Dustin! Out of nowhere, I suddenly start laughing out loud like a maniac. "HAHAHAHA... Shadow, come here. I need your help to stand up." He seemingly disappears, and teleports next to me, while he starts to lift my arm and go under it, placing it over his shoulders. I can''t believe Dustin created an organization that was all good, save for a few. All the more reason for me to keep working so that he can survive. A break would definitely be nice right now. "LISTEN TO ME KNIGHTS, YOU HAVE PROVEN YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS HERE TODAY, ALL OF YOU STILL BREATHING¨C" What do I say? I wasn''t planning on saying anything and I can''t improvise anything on the spot. It''s like my brain just shut down... Shit, I completely forgot about drawbacks. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 58: The Vault Chapter 58: The Vault Some coffee would really be nice right now. Actually, an elixir for energy would be even better, but those don''t exist... I try to clearly instruct Dustin''s shadow, but all that comes out is a weak whisper, with sound left, that could be heard, almost completely masked by my dry exhale. "Shaadoow¨C" I abruptly recall my voice, shutting my mouth in shock at the horrific noise I just made. What the hell was that? I sound like I haven''t had water to drink for days! My mouth slowly opens to speak once again, as I move closer to his ear, hoping he would be able to hear what I was saying. "I have three ingreedientss to save Dustin... I neeeed to geet into the vaulllt..." After staring at me blankly, trying to figure out whatever the hell I just said, he nods. He managed to hear what I said? Phew¨C thank Pyro. Even as the one who said it, if I heard someone say that, I would not have been able to hear it even with my Heightened Senses. Then, he starts moving to the edge of the platform, facing the Holy Knights who now have their heads up, staring at me with much anticipation. S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Hey¨C what are you doing? I said to take me to the vault. I can''t give a speech, my mind is barely working right now! He looks out across the vast training grounds and starts to pull down his mask. What? He''s revealing his identity here? What is he thinking?! A shadow''s identity can''t be known by anyone, or their life could be compromised! I stare in utter surprise, my eyes almost popping out from their sockets as he finally pulls down the mask. What?!?! Another mask?!?! Then he starts to speak, a purple colored aura forming around his neck. "I will continue from where the apostle left off, you are all not evil, and the apostle applauds all of you that are alive for your righteousness! The corrupt Agon II has been killed, and the church will fall under a new leader, our glorious apostle here: Arthur Ventrike!!" What? The voices of hundreds cheering and shouting, fill the entire Grand Temple of Pyro, and throughout the entire capital city. "HOORAY FOR THE GLORY OF PYRO!!!" "HOORAY FOR OUR GREAT APOSTLE!!!" No... don''t give me more work, I can''t take it... just let me rest already!!! "Our sick leader, the Commander of the Holy Knights will be back and fully recovered soon, thanks to the great Apostle!" He holds me up. Oh well, up I go I guess. "HOORAY FOR OUR GREAT APOSTLE WHO SAVED OUR COMMANDER!!!" Heah, I feel like a baby. This feels nice though, I don''t have to stand up using my own body anymore. Then he brings me back down, my legs, whose muscles were completely relaxed. In the moment of impact, I was unable to react, still basking in comfort and relaxation, and just dangled from his arms that still held me, just at a lower setting. I finally open my eyes, in a delayed reaction, seconds after the drop. "Ahem," The shadow whispers to me. What''s happening? I look at him with a face that shows no care in the world, smiling ignorantly. The shadow turns back to the confused Holy Knights and outstretches his free hand toward them. "The Apostle is tired now, you are all dismissed. The inspections are over. Wait for further orders while completing your daily tasks!" All the Apostles salute uniformly, placing their straightened hand to their forehead as they shout: "SIR, YES SIR!!!" Before they quickly rush out of the training grounds in their uniform rows, teamwork calibrated perfectly, as they efficiently head to the various entrances around the training grounds. Uh... looks like the situation was dealt with, so it doesn''t matter. "Sir Apostle, what ingredients do we need to get from the vault to heal Sir Dustin?" I can''t speak, you idiot, give me some coffee or something! I open my mouth to try to say these unintelligent thoughts in my head, but not a sound comes out. "Give me a second Sir Apostle, I have something that might be able to help!" No way... does he carry coffee in his clothes? That''s next level preparation! He pulls out a small brown pill from his robe. Ew what the hell is that? It looks like shit and smells like shit, don''t tell me¨C I was just joking about an elixir! Please no!!! I try to get away from him, pushing my neck as far away as possible while I try to free myself. NOOOO!!! *** After my mind returns, I find myself on a wooden platform, under me being my lunch of beef jerky, leaving a terrible taste in my mouth. I quickly spit out the saliva in my mouth onto the floor, in a desperate attempt to get the taste out of my mouth while the Shadow''s shadow looms over me. "It''s great to see you awake again, Sir Apostle." Huh, who is this? And what''s he talking about? I look down from the platform, looking outward to a giant, empty training ground, as my memories flood back to me. "So it was you!! You''re the one that fed me that disgusting elixir¨C" I abruptly stop talking as I see the shadow''s unchanging, serious face. Wait, I can speak and think normally now! My movement is still a little less than optimal, but its better than before. I can finish my work with this much. "Please forge that immature display I just showed you. Thank you for getting me into my right mind, let''s go and save Dustin." He slightly leans forward, and puts his hand on his chest, in a sort of bowing fashion. "Very well sir, please give me instructions, and I will fulfill them." "Lead me to the vault." "Very well sir," He begins to jog, instead of run, in consideration of my current state, before I suddenly shout out and stop him. "Uh actually, Sir Shadow, my legs are still quite damaged. Could you carry me on your back, so thst we can get there faster?" He looks at me with a straight face, staring directly at me, but not focused on anything. Then, he walks back and turns his back to me, while crouching down. "It will be quite a rough ride. Make sure you don''t fall off." Yes!! I get to relax for a little longer! I climb on and wait for him to start. After I grab onto his shoulders tightly, and I lock myself in place, he gets up. Ugh, I can already imagine how bad the recoil from this elixir is going to be. Hopefully Pyro will save me again¨C Then he starts running. He starts slow, but in just a few seconds, he runs at a speed at which I can''t even comprehend what the surroundings are, the wind resistance so great and acting so quickly, that I don''t get the chance to activate Swift Wind the entire journey to the vault. After numerous passing by multiple rooms, taking countless turns, and going down numerous stairs, we arrive at the Vault. "Dammit¨C I just took an elixir so why do I feel more like shit than before?" My playful nature suddenly changes to that of doom after I look up and see the giant vault door. Wait¨C I don''t have the key, I forgot to take it from Dustin before I left for the adventurer''s guild!! We''ll have to go back and retrieve it from Dustin''s belongings, but that will set us back by at least an hour! After the shadow drops me off and I look up at the door, he begins to walk up to it. What is he doing? Is he planning on breaking the door down? That''s impossible, even I can tell in this state, from here, that that''s Divinum, a metal much more powerful than black iron, said to be metal blessed by the gods in the Mythical Age! I am certain that even using all my power, I won''t even be able to leave a scratch on it! The shadow continues his march to the center of the door where a hollowed stone, carved in the outline of the Symbol of Pyro. Maybe I''ll be able to open it if I use my blessings from Pyro. I don''t know how that will even work, but maybe the light will affect it? It''s worth trying so that we don''t have to take a detour back to Dustin and go searching for the key. I begin to get up, my legs trembling heavily from the accumulated fatigue, and jog after the shadow. Once he arrives at the gate, he stops and reaches for something, though I don''t manage to see it because of the angle I''m looking at him from. Is he really going to try and cut it down? Does he actually not know why it has never been broken into, in history, even though there are none guarding it? To my surprise, the gate suddenly starts moving, the doors sliding away as the Vault of Pyro opens, revealing a massive, grand room brightly lit up, not by torches or magic lamps, but by the light radiating from the artifacts shaped in the figure of a phoenix, that are set at the top of each of the tens of pillars holding up the room. Woah, I have only ever seen paintings of phoenixes, but these look so much more real than those paintings. They must''ve been crafted by Desali or some artisan like that! And this room, it''s so vast and so full of gold! It might even have more artifacts than Wolkan Academy! I wonder if the Shadow will let me take any of them hehe. I almost get distracted, trying to go and touch a round shield made of some bronze colored material, but the phoenix statue on the pillar, looking directly down at me, scares me off, also reminding me of my mission. Why did I run away so cowardly when all I did was make eye contact with a statue? I must really be losing my mind, but it just looked so real! But forget about that, I need to get what I came here for: the Phoenix Feather, and holy water from the Holy Grail. But where are they? From the corner of my eye, I notice something so sparkly and magnificent, that compared to all the other treasures, that shine brightly under the phoenix statues, it''s like the difference between sunrise and high noon. Standing behind that statue, is the biggest pillar of them all, with a phoenix statue so giant and realistic, the flames on its back could be seen swirling around. Woah¨C that must be the Holy Grail then! I am afraid of that giant phoenix above it, but I can concentrate now that I found what I was looking for. I confidently walk up to the grand podium the gleaming Holy Grail is set on, that has many runes inscribed onto it. But as I get closer and see the phoenix up close, a bit of confidence is lost as I quiver in my boots, not because of fatigue, but genuine fear. "Uh... Sir Shadow, are you sure that it''s okay for me to touch the Holy Grail? I see some kind of runes engraved on it, it''s not going to unleash the seal on the phoenix above it, that''ll eat me when I touch it right?" The shadow looks at me from afar, in an amused manner, looking relaxed as I imagine him smiling underneath his mask. "Why are you standing so far away then?!" My voice echoes through the room, my words delayed, as it takes over six seconds after speaking for me to hear his response. "Don''t worry about it, you''re the apostle aren''t you? The runes will probably make an exception for you, so just take it already!" Probably? Did he just say probably?!?! Ugh... well, he said it was safe earlier so even if the runes do something, I won''t die. Just swallow your fear and do it already, Arthur! I punch myself in the chest before swiftly grabbing the goblet with great precision, using both hands. I sigh in relief, before I start laughing. "Hahaha, that was easy! Where do we look for the phoenix feather now, Sir Shadow?" I hear a rumbling from behind, but I don''t turn, when I see the Shadow''s mouth start to move. His mouth is moving, looks like he knows the location of that too! This''ll be great, we''ll be able to get back to Dustin and save him in less than an hour! "What do you mean where? Just pluck one out from any one of them!" Huh? What does he mean any one of them? He says that like phoenixes are common here, but I haven''t seen a single one. The rumbling from the stone falling to the ground stops, as the area surrounding me starts to get brighter. Finally that annoying sound stopped, I was getting sick of how non-rhythmic it was. The light starts to get brighter and brighter. Alright what the hell is that¨C light... I turn around and come to face the giant flaming phoenix perched on the ground behind me, sitting patiently, as if waiting in anticipation, as it tilts its head in a playful, pet-like manner. "CAAW CAAW CAAW!!!" The birds screech out in a terrifying and ear rupturing sound. What the hell? All of the phoenix statues were real phoenixes?!?! Chapter 59: Primordial Phoenix Chapter 59: Primordial Phoenix A screech, louder than all the others come from behind, bringing me back to face the biggest Phoenix of them all, who continues to stare curiously at me. "CAAAAWWW!!!!" Looking at the terrifying beast, my body stops its shaking, now completely still, my face completely pale, while my eyes stay completely locked onto the phoenix, unable to even blink. Uhh... maybe it''s friendly? *** S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This phoenix had never moved its body since Arthur saw it, only moving its head and neck, as it wondered about the reactions of humans and the sense of familiarity it felt coming from the boy. Unable to figure out the reason from just looking at the boy from afar, it decided it would be able to find out if it got closer. And so, the graceful Primordial Phoenix, began to move. It spread its wings out, to signal to the small human, who seemed terrified, that it was not going to hurt him, slightly glancing over at the other human in full black clothes who seemed calm, so there was no need to assure him. The Primordial Phoenix thought the small human in front of him understood what it meant by spreading its wings, and leaned in to finally figure out what was the cause for the sense of familiarity. *** I stood still in fear, no longer being able to feel, or move any part of my body because of the beast''s terrifying battle cry, when it spread out its giant wings, so wide that it completely blocked my line of sight. What the hell was that? Was that battle cry and spreading out its wings the beast''s way of declaring to all the other phoenixes that I was its prey? And now it''s leaning in to eat me!!! Help me shadow! You said it was safe!!! I try to look back at the shadow in order to signal for help, but only my eyeballs could move. My head would not turn no matter how hard I tried. Move goddamnit!!! Noticing the divine orange light start to get brighter, I knew the phoenix was approaching quickly, and moved my eyes back one last time, before I unwillingly close my eyes, a natural body response in order to brace myself, in a situation of danger. NOO PLEASE DON''T EAT ME YOU TERRIFYING, GLORIOUS MONSTER!!! ¨CWait what? When the phoenix reaches me, the feeling of comforting warmth on my stomach is not what I expected. Huh? What''s this? Did the monster not go for my head? Did it go to eat my liver and intestines instead? How gruesome, though, this feeling of having my guts eaten out isn''t exactly what I imagined. It feels kind of nice, actually, like my bed I slept in before all these events. I wonder if it can eat me whole so I can be this comfortable all over my body. Seconds pass, and I soon feel my body frozen in fear, start to thaw, returning control to my body. Don''t get me wrong, I''m not complaining, but doesn''t death happen much quicker than this? Could it be that I''m still alive? Reluctantly, I slowly lift my eyelids and open my eyes, sparkling from the light coming from the phoenix. It''s snuggling me with its head like a pet bird!! Oh my god, the cuteness levels!! I CAN''T TAKE IT!!! My body falls flat on the ground, as the giant phoenix follows after me, resting its head on my body. This is truly the greatest feeling, it''s like having five blankets on, while sleeping on a bed fit for a king after having no sleep for five days. Oh no... my mind is starting to drift off... I can''t sleep yet... I still need to... Arthur''s eyes close in the warm comfort of the Primordial Phoenix''s aura. *** After basking in the faint energy exuding from the small boy, the Primordial Phoenix comes to a realization. Yes! This is her energy! I haven''t felt such a pure form of it for thousands of years, but I''m certain, this is the energy from mother''s youngest daughter!! Does that mean that her bloodline continues? What a glorious day! With this boy here, mother''s legacy may continue! This calls for a celebration!!! The phoenix rises and shifts its attention to the silly man in dark clothes playing with the other phoenixes, throwing Firestones into their mouths and petting them. Uhh... let''s see, what was the language that humans spoke again? Was it Aegelan? "Human, what do you know about this boy?" The man turns away from the phoenix and in an instant, appears in front of the phoenix. "Greetings, great Primordial Phoenix, I am one of Dustin''s shadows. You remember him right? He was the young boy that came here about thirty years ago, when he became the commander of the Holy Knights." The shadow takes a deep bow, showing great sincerity. "Yes, I remember him. And you. Answer my question, Keeper. Why does the energy of Pyro come from this boy? He is no saintess appointed by that childish girl. Is he¨C" The keeper interrupts the Primordial Phoenix like it wasn''t even speaking. While he maintains his deep bow, without looking back up. "He''s not, you should give up on that dream of yours already, there is none of divine blood left in this mortal world. He is just her newly appointed apostle." The Primordial Phoenix flaps its wings, a sea of flames appearing all over the ground, only a small circle untouched by the flames, centered around Arthur being left. The other phoenixes stay still, all cautiously watching the man in black from atop their tall pillars, the treasures under them, unharmed. The Primordial Phoenix leans down, looming over the calm man in black, who''s still unfazed keeping his bow, as blazing fire erupts from the Primordial Phoenix''s head. "WHY WAS I NOT IMMEDIATELY TOLD ABOUT THIS? YOU WERE TO REPORT ANY OF THESE..." The Phoenix stares down at Arthur''s unconscious body, its flames getting more intense, and redder. "FALSE APOSTLES TO ME IMMEDIATELY SO WE DID NOT REPEAT THAT BLASPHEMOUS SITUATION EVER AGAIN! THAT WAS THE DEAL I MADE TO YOU, THAT''S WHY YOU ARE WHAT YOU ARE!!!" The man in black remains calm, still avoiding the Phoenix''s eyes, as he moves down to Arthur, taking off his black cloak and placing over Arthur''s sweating body. While the Primordial Phoenix watches the man''s actions carefully and patiently to explain himself. "Calm down, Great Primordial Phoenix, this boy is the real Apostle." "WHAT?! KEEPER, YOU MUST HAVE LOST YOUR MIND!! THERE ARE NO SUCH THINGS AS REAL APOSTLES! I CAN''T BELIEVE YOU FELL FOR THE ONE THING I PREPARED YOU TO NOT FALL FOR!!" The man in black finally looks up at the phoenix. "He has the mark." "BAH, THEY ALL HAVE A BLESSING, THAT IMMATURE GIRL IS TOO GENEROUS AND TOO MERCIFUL TO TAKE ACTION." The keeper''s calm and patient demeanor turns serious. "He has Meridal''s eye." "WHAT?!?!" The Primordial Phoenix screamed out. Not in anger, or of impatience, but of surprise. After it''s loud exclamation, the phoenix looks at the man, thinking intensely and for a long time. "I trust that even if you may have lost your mind, you would not dare to spout lies in my face just to save a mortal." The man in black returns back to his calm manner, taking another bow. "I will make sure not to betray that trust of yours, Great Primordial Phoenix." "Hmph, now speak, what is the reason why you have come? Are you just here to take some of my treasures and leave, or did you come here for a more respectable purpose?" "I''m sure you know the answer to that already, Great Primordial Phoenix." "Fine, just take a feather and go. Make sure to tell the boy when he wakes up, to see me when he gets the chance. I''ll be waiting." With a single flap of its wing, the Primordial Phoenix disperses the flames all around the room. After the flames disperse, the Great Phoenix outstretches its magnificent wings, and begins to get ready to take off, before the puny human says one last thing. "Wait, great Primordial Phoenix, what if you didn''t have to wait to see him again? We needed a fast ride back to Dustin anyway." "Are you trying to coax me into acting as your pet mount, human? I will not fall for such petty tricks." The keeper begins to act super friendly to the Primordial Phoenix, slyly smiling, acting like an inexperienced merchant trying to kiss ass. "Oh, how could I ever trick you into doing something you wouldn''t want to do? You can see the future for crying out loud! All I can do is to remind you of what you know what you will have to do. I''m sure you saw that as well." "Kgh..." *** Ugh what happened? I want to know, but I don''t want to open my eyes and leave this comfort... oh, I''m recalling my memories again! Yes, I recognize this feeling, it''s the feeling of that phoenix! Did it eat me? Oh well, that''s fine too. I can regret it later, but why waste this comfort if I will regret this later and die, either way? "Mmph, it''s so warm, it feels like a Wildebear is embracing me in its fur." From the edge of my ears, I hear a faint sound, almost like someone is saying something, but their voice is being muffled by the large air resistance? Wait, this sound¨C I activate my heightened senses, which increase the sensitivity of my skin as well as my other senses, basking in the warm feeling for a little longer. This voice is that of Shadow''s! Regrettably, I abruptly lift my head out of the little cloud of comfort, and open my eyes. Woah, we''re in the sky!! And I''m not falling anymore,nor do I have to fly while using my own mana! Hmm... it seems like the sun is still up, so we haven''t been gone for too long. If I had to say, it''s been about an hour since we entered the temple¨C Just¨Cshut up. Just let me enjoy this moment for a little longer. I look down from the beautiful view of the sky, as I notice a light shining almost as brightly as the sun, coming from under me. Hmm? "WHAAAAT?!?!?!" I''m on top of a phoenix? Does that mean I tamed it? Oh my god!!! That means I''m a tamer now! And I didn''t just tame any monster, but a divine beast! Other than a mage, my second goal as a child was to become a Beast Tamer, a Legendary Beast Tamer, if you will. I plop down on the flaming orange feathers of the phoenix and start waving my limbs around, trying to pet the massive phoenix in the only way I know how. In a muffled voice I cry out. "You''re such a good boy!!!" The phoenix somehow manages to hear this cry of mine and responds. "CAAW!!" It''s screech, unbelievably loud, cutting through the air resistance as it can be heard just as loud and clear as it was back in the vault. "Hahahaha!! That''s really loud. This must be how normal people with pets, who don''t have to train all day, feel. How amazing! I should take breaks like this more often! Maybe once a year." Ahh, this is great, now we have all the ingredients to save Dustin! Just hold on for a little longer, I''ll get you out of that case soon! Chapter 60: The Holy Grail Chapter 60: The Holy Grail "How cute, this one has never acted that way with me before." A voice, nearly blocked by the wind, says from behind. Right, the shadow was still here! I lift myself out of the warm bed of soft feathers and look back to where the voice came from. "Sir Shadow, do you have the Holy Grail?" "Of course, great Apostle, there''s no way I could possibly forget it, when its the only thing I have to remember." Raising his hand in the air, and waving it to show his empty hand like a street magician beginning his performance, he reaches into his black, flat, cloak. What is he doing? Pulling his arm out slowly, in a rather comical way, he eventually retrieves the giant goblet, made of a gold-like material, while his cloak remains flat, and undisturbed the entire time. He then, like a street magician at the end of their performance, outstretches both his hands into the air. While I begin applauding him with claps, my face expressing surprise, as my mouth stays open. This is the face that a normal person would make seeing that right? How did he do that? I didn''t see his cloak move at all! He sure knows a lot of tricks about spatial bags. That was quite a unique experience, seeing the comedic side of magic, it sure has infinite potential, as long as you can imagine it. That show was pretty fun to watch. Of course, fighting for rewards is more fun, but this is a different kind of entertainment. A less violent kind. I continue applauding him as he continues to act like he''s accepting my applaud with great gratitude, continuing to look around, as if there was anyone there watching him, other than me. But for him to be acting this way, that only young adults, and children would, he must be much younger than I thought. But why have I never heard of any genius that could rival me, ever in history? Even that Veran guy in the training grounds, that I never heard of, was a Royal Ranked Swordsman, and he only looked a few years older than me. I would''ve even believed it, if someone told me he was just eighteen years old, but I''ve never heard of him! Why did my master never mention it? Why did Headmaster Darkfallen never speak about it? I have the Sage System now, but if I didn''t, I wonder how I could compare to the other, unknown geniuses, with just my sword alone. As my hands start to feel hot from the constant clapping I''ve been doing over the past few seconds, I stop using as much force as before, the sounds getting less loud and being heard less frequently. Noticing this, the Shadow changes up his act, and ends it with a bow, to his audience. The Holy Grail in his hand tilting, as all the Holy Water within begins to pour out, though the shadow doesn''t seem to notice, continuing to bow as the divine liquid falls onto the Primordial Phoenix''s feathers, and disappears, either to absorption, or evaporation. NOOO WHAT IS HE DOING?!?! I grab my hairs in fury, firstly enraged at the Shadow. "THE HOLY WATER!!!" I screamed out, since it looked like the shadow somehow, still did not notice. DAMN IT!! This is just what I get for being so relaxed! The shadow slowly raised his head, his mask covering the majority of his face, but his eyebrows moved high up his forehead. The kind of eyes that a friend makes when they successfully trick you into believing something false. What''s with that face? He throws the Holy Grail out of his hands, without hesitation as it flies down the Phoenix, through the air. Noo!! I stare at the falling goblet in disbelief, completely locked onto it. As I begin to react, activating Heightened Senses and preparing to use Flame Claws, but stop as I imagine hearing the shadow say something, though what he said suddenly exits my memory immediately. What was that? Did he say something? Still, just noticing the imaginary sound, I stop the forming of Flame Claws and change my view back to the shadow. He''s reaching into his cloak again? When he pulls his hand out, he holds another goblet, a complete replica, exactly identical, even under my Heightened Senses, shining just as bright as the previous one, and made of the same gold-like material as the last one. What? There''s another one? Or was the last one just fake? Suddenly, the shadow starts to burst out into laughter, and I look slightly above the goblet, to his face, laughing hysterically, and his mouth opens so wide, I can even see his smile under the mask. "Haha, you should''ve seen the look on your face! Hahahaha!!" He calms down a bit after a few seconds, though his smile is spread so wide that it''s still visible. "Haha... I''m sorry for tricking you Sir Apostle, but since you''ll be using this thing a lot from now on, I thought it would''ve been better to teach you about it as soon as possible." His humor comes back for a second as he bursts out in laughter again, while I stare at him with my arms crossed, unamused by the situation but staying silent, hiding my true feelings under a serious stare. He really got me good with that prank, but what does he mean, saying that I''ll be using it a lot from now on? And how does he know how to use it? The Holy Grail is the most precious artifact of the church, that can normally only be used by someone trusted, a bishop or higher, and even then, they would need the unanimous approval of all the cardinals. And even if he is Dustin''s shadow, and Dustin is the only person of cardinal rank alive right now, that still wouldn''t explain how this shadow learned how to use it when Agon was still a cardinal. How does he know? After another second of his laughter, he pulls himself together and his relaxed, happy face snaps into a serious one. Woah, how intimidating... "The main usage of the Holy Grail is that it can produce holy water instantly, just by pouring Holy Energy into it, there''s no need to wait for long prayer from a Priest, and collect his tears in order to make Holy Water with this. And the quality, or I should say, effectiveness of the Holy Water is determined by the purity of the Holy Energy put into it, but it multiplies the effectiveness of the Holy Water by tenfold. I''ll give you an example, if your average Priest made Holy Water, it will be decently effective, but if the priest pours his Holy Energy into the Holy Grail, then his Holy Water will be comparable to that of a Real Cardinal." Wait, if it can make Holy Water instantly, why don''t they just use it to mass produce Holy Water? Wouldn''t the huge amount of Holy Water made from it, save thousands of the sick and injured? The Shadow continues, examining my face intensely as I lose myself in my thoughts. "I can tell exactly what you''re thinking, Apostle Arthur, but that''s not the case. I said earlier that a bishop could use the Holy Grail if all the cardinals permit it, but there''s another requirement after that to use it. It''s to get the approval of this bird." He looks down at the floor of feathers under us, the Phoenix carrying us on its back, soaring through the sky like a flaming comet. The bird? Did he just call this divine beast a bird? And what does he mean that they need to get the approval of the phoenix? Is the phoenix sentient or something? Do all the phoenixes in the Vault decide whether someone can take their treasure or not? "Many have attempted it, but less than ten have actually passed. Not even the first apostle from that tale long ago, was able to use the Holy Grail. The Primordial Phoenix has the power to see the nature of mortals, and what they want to use it for. It decides based on that. Even though hundreds have failed, the phoenix is still generous. It allows everyone who tries¨C well, except three¨C to use the Holy Grail one time if their deed is noble enough." S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Primordial Phoenix? I''ve heard of that name before! It''s the first phoenix, a godly beasts, created and tamed by one of the original gods, Pyro! So, I guess the tale was right. Pyro did create the phoenixes. But Pyro creating something? Wow. I didn''t know someone like her was capable of that, but I guess a god is a god. But wait, does that mean he just called a godly beast, a bird? The shadow looks up from the phoenix and stares at the vast sky, all lit up by a single ball, high in the sky. "If there is anyone who isn''t specially selected by the Primordial Phoenix that tries to take the Holy Grail, the Grail''s automatic defense system, engraved into the goblet through the use of runes, that were created with the mana of all the gods, will activate. So you don''t have to worry about keeping the goblet with you at all times, so that no one takes it." He brings up his hand and sticks out his thumb, getting rid of the serious mood and smiling cheerfully with his eyes closed. Wow, he''s right, that is a great feature. I was worried that I had to bring that with me everywhere I go¨C wait, if what he says is true, that only those specially selected by the Primordial Phoenix can touch it, and that less than 10 people were ever given permission, how the hell is he holding it right now? I look at him, confused, before making my way over to the side of the Phoenix''s wing, taking a few seconds because of how wide the phoenix''s wingspan is. Once I get there, I carefully hold tightly onto the phoenix''s wing so that I do not fall off, and look down. Yeah, I was right! There are so many things that don''t add up, if wandering through the church and staging that inspection thing took fifteen minutes, and getting to the vault and looking around took two minutes, what the hell took up the rest of the 43 minutes?!?! At this speed, we should''ve been able to get back to the Mint Estate Clinic in just three minutes! I can see the Mint Estate approaching right now with my Heightened Senses, which means that we''ve been flying for 3 minutes. Which brings us down to 40 minutes of unrecorded time. Wait, I saw that all the other phoenixes the shadow interacted with liked him, and he is friendly enough with the Great Primordial Phoenix to just call him bird... Don''t tell me¨C THEY WERE JUST PLAYING AROUND WITH EACH OTHER FOR FORTY MINUTES?!?! DO THEY NOT HAVE A SENSE OF URGENCY?!?!?! Wait¨C if they were playing around, then that means¨C" I look back at the shadow who slowly makes his way over the wing to me. IS HE THE ONE WHO TAMED THE PHOENIX?!?! NOO!! I WANTED TO BE A TAMER!!! I look at him with a face of detriment, while he looks back at me, confused, unable to figure out what, or why I looked at him like that. Chapter 61: Phoenix Feather Chapter 61: Phoenix Feather I fall to the floor, on my knees holding myself up with just my arms as I stare, my eyes dizzy and in disbelief. HOW CAN THIS BE?!?! "Uhh... are you okay?" I don''t respond to the shadow''s comment and continue to be depressed, staring intensely, but directed towards nothing. The shadow speaks again after staring at me, awkwardly waiting a few seconds for my response, that never comes. "... We''re approaching the Mint Estate Clinic soon, so if you''re not feeling well, just hold on for a little longer, okay?" ... He stares at me for another second before he makes his way over to me, while I can clearly hear the worry in his voice. "Wait, are you actually not feeling well? The energy pill should''ve lasted at least another hour!" He hurries down to me, and pulls me away from the edge of the wing. "Here, take another one." I''ve yet to respond or react to any of his words or actions since now, but when I take my next inhale, a weird smell suddenly enters my nose that my body fails to react to. This can''t be¨C wait, what''s that smell? I take another sniff, but still, I am unable to tell what it is that I''m smelling, nor if it''s a good smell or not. Wait, did he say energy pill? My dead eyes, devoid of light and life, temporarily disappear as I shift my eyeballs to the weird, but familiar yellow pill in his hand. Wait, Energy pill? Yellow? Again? Doom strikes me as I finally come to realization and my body identifies the smell of the pill. NOOO!! IT''S THAT DISGUSTING YELLOW ELIXIR HE FED ME IN THE TRAINING GROUND!!! I try to push myself away from him, but his other arm, holding me in place, has too strong of a grip around me. "Come on, Arthur, don''t be so difficult, you''ve taken this before and know how effective this pill is. Well, there will be a terrible drawback, but it''ll keep you in prime condition for a few hours!" IT HAS A DRAWBACK?!?! THIS IS THE SHITTEST ELIXIR EVER! WHAT KIND OF ELIXIR GIVES YOU A DRAWBACK?!?! He slowly moves his hand closer to my mouth, while I struggle as hard as I can to delay the inevitable, moving my neck back and pushing with both my arms, but his hand doesn''t budge. What the hell is he? A block of iron? Why¨C won''t¨C he¨C budge?!!! DAMN IT, I''M NOT EATING THAT!!! "I''M FINE, I''M FINE, I DON''T NEED IT!!" I scream out with my eyes closed, just as the energy pill gets as close to my lips. "Huff¨C huff¨C huff¨C" He holds the pill just shy of my mouth, without moving, before he abruptly retracts both of his arms, dropping me down to the Primordial Phoenix''s wings as he stares off into the distance, holding his hand over his forehead to block the sun, setting in the west, though still relatively high in the sky. "Brace yourself for landing, Sir Apostle, we''ve arrived." What? Brace myself? Why would I need to do¨C THHAAAAAAAAAAAT S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The phoenix suddenly shifts from its fast, but steady flight, to an insane dive, straight down, no longer like a calm comet flying across the sky from afar, but more so like a giant, uncontrollable flaming meteor flying directly at you, while you can''t do anything to stop it. I try to grab onto the phoenix''s feather, but it''s too late. The last thing I see before falling down in an uncontrollable free falling spiral being the shadow holding onto the phoenix with one hand, and waving at me with another. You motherfucker. "AAAHHHHHH!!" I CAN''T EVEN DO ANYTHING BECAUSE OF THE DEPRESSION THAT BASTARD CAUSED BY TAKING MY PHOENIX FROM ME!!! I fall, without the ground being visible. "AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" I fall further. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! ¡ªOOOFFF" My fall stops as I hit a soft and springy surface, bouncing up and down until all the force from the fall disappears. I''m alive? And this soft surface¨C "I love you Primordial Phoenix! I knew you loved me! From now on, you''re my phoenix!" I spread my arms and wipe them on the Phoenix''s feathers, trying to hug the entirety of his giant stature. Seemingly accepting my affection, the phoenix remains still as I continue to hug it. The keeper watches this scene unfold from the ground, completely unharmed and clothes undamaged. *** You''re really going to let a human child pet you? I thought you were a proud divine beast! The Primordial Phoenix''s voice somehow appears in the keeper''s mind. Be quiet. I''ve waited two thousand long years for this. I will allow the boy to continue petting me. This brings back memories, when I was just a small bird. Meridal, mother, why did you have to send me away to protect that child? You said you would return... *** I let go of the feathers and roll off the wide back of the Great Phoenix, who had his wings retracted, acting unconscious as I freefall from it, before taking control of my legs and landing perfectly on my legs. Love to do it. Then, the loud sound of metal clanging started to come. That must be the Mint soldiers from before. I feel like I''m more stable now, and able to control myself from killing that guy, but that''s just my biased theory. I place my hand on my chin and hold it, moving my finger across it frequently with a relaxed look on my face. They should know me by now, so this should be a speedy process. But hmm... where will my phoenix stay though? It''s almost as big as the entire clinic, so it can''t exactly just come in with us. And that will just be one of the better case scenarios. One of the worst case scenarios, would be the Imperial Wardens being called, or even worse, the Royal Guard! They''re strong swordsmen coming from the fearsome Kingdom of Auroria, many of those in the Guard, being at the Swordmaster and Imperial level! The commander of the Guard said to be a former rival of my master! It would be a bit troublesome for these two powerhouses to go fighting each other in the middle of the city. I can''t really tell how strong the Primordial Phoenix is, but just from the feats and stories I''ve heard of, he''s at least at the level of an 8th circle! I say 8th circle, because I''ve never met, or felt the power of a 9th circle. And you can''t really compare the mana felt from a swordsman, to a mage. But if I had to say who''s stronger, my master, Thorne would be stronger. Author''s note: (Shit about the Kingdom of Auroria will just be my personal fun, and few will understand the jokes I am making) I look over at the shadow and he looks back. "What are we going to do about the Primordial Phoenix?" I try to signal to him, just using my eyes, while slightly nudging my head in the direction of the Phoenix. The shadow looks at me in confusion, his eyes squinting and his eyebrows moving along with it. "I don''t know what you''re doing, Apostle, but let''s just hurry to Dustin before he actually dies." Right, all this would all be for nothing if Dustin dies. Still, I am worried about my phoenix... "I already have the phoenix feather right here." He reaches into his cloak and pulls out one of the phoenix''s giant orange feathers. Seriously how does he do that? And how could he just rip a feather off the Primordial Phoenix? I sigh deeply, looking at the phoenix, staring back at me with its calm, but ferocious-looking red eyes. Reluctantly, I turn away from the phoenix and start walking to the shadow, the loud iron clanging and heavy stomping becoming more clear. Just before we start walking away, I take one last look back at the Phoenix, but the sadness I was expecting to feel, is instead replaced by surprise. What? Where did it go? How did it fly away already? I had my Heightened Senses activated, which would''ve definitely been able to hear, or at least feel it fly away, from the flapping of its wings, or the wind pushing toward me from its take-off! What insane flight it has! Matter of fact, I hadn''t realized it when we were flying, but it didn''t flap its wings a single time! Otherwise, me and the shadow would''ve been blown away! What an unbelievable power, it truly is worthy of being called a godly beast, not just from its appearance, but from its powers as well. After my cold and calculative mind finishes its analysis, my emotional one comes back. Wait, the phoenix is gone! I can''t believe it... it was my first tamed beast, and it ran away after just one hour. Maybe I''m not that good with animals after all... I suddenly, slightly felt something soft touch my hair, something that drifted down so slowly, and so light, that even with Heightened Senses, I barely felt it. Did something touch my head? I swear, it better not be the shadow''s hand, trying to comfort me because I know he can''t relate since he''s the one who tamed the Phoenix! I turn my head around, ready to throw hands, but come to an unexpected surprise as I see the shadow staring at me in disbelief, though, I can tell that his eyes aren''t directed at me. What is he looking at? He''s looking a bit higher than my eyes. Does he have eye problems, or is there¨C I move my hand above my head, when I suddenly feel my hands touch something, my instincts urging me to retreat for a second, feeling an unknown object. Woah, what the hell was that? It feels kind of soft, which is weird, because how can some random dust or something be softer than my hair? Oops¨C The unknown object on my head, suddenly falls down, as I anticipatingly wait. I stare in disbelief at the objects that slowly drift down, my eyes following it carefully and my hands cupping themselves as the object stops its drift, ending in my hands. I... I can''t believe it... it''s a Phoenix Feather!!! Chapter 62: The Keeper Chapter 62: The Keeper If it gave me this, that must mean that it does love me back! I hold the phoenix feather up at the sun, as if I was offering it to Pyro, while tears of joy flow out of my eyes. After my uncontrollable excitement passes, I start to thoroughly examine the feather. Hmm... What do I do with it though? We already have one for Dustin. Maybe it just gave it to me as a memento? My eyes spring up, my excitement reignited from the cloud of confusion OOOH, MAYBE IT WILL GIVE ME POWERS LIKE A SECOND LIFE!! Then, they fall back down into a cautious stare. I don''t really want to test that out though... I look up from the feather, to the shadow whose face has not changed, his jaw still wide open. Why does he continue to look at me like that? Is it really that interesting? I mean, he has one too¨C I rescind my thoughts as my eyes drift to the left, where he holds onto his Phoenix Feather. Wait, why is his feather completely red? I quickly turn and look back at mine. Mine is fully orange, with no red! Wait, if I remember correctly, which I do, all of the feathers on the Primordial Phoenix were red, I didn''t see any orange on it! None of the other phoenixes in the vault had orange feathers either! This must really be something special then. Who knows? It might really give me a second life! I would ask the shadow to tell me about it, since he looks like he knows something, seeing how surprised he is, but he doesn''t seem to be in a state suitable for talking. Well, whatever the case is, the most important thing is to get to Dustin right now. I open my mouth, about to call for the Sagey to put the feather in its inventory, but I stop as I suddenly see the feather slightly shake. What? Did it just move? Is it alive? ... Come on Arthur, pull yourself together, stop procrastinating and go to Dustin already. You probably just imagined it. Even if you didn''t, it was probably the wind! Yeah okay, that makes sense. I should stop procrastinating. I look at the phoenix feather intensely, though, no thoughts are formed in my head. Huh, for some reason, I feel like I shouldn''t put it in the Sage System''s Inventory. ... ah whatever, just hurry up with it and stop wasting time. I sigh and carefully place it in my cloak, before I start to walk to the entrance of the clinic, the shadow''s eyes following me intensely, while the rest of his body remains still, his jaw still dropped down. What the hell is he doing? It''s creepy... I place my hand on his shoulder and look him directly in the eye. "Shadow, let''s go." The shadow''s eyes dilate, before contracting and returning back to normal, as if he was in an unconscious state beforehand. "Alright." He says sternly, showing no emotion. He said alright, like he was agreeing with me, but he isn''t moving at all. Well, it doesn''t matter, I''m sure he has his priorities in place. He can catch up to me whenever he wants as well. I take my hand off his shoulder and resume my walk past him. The shadow stands there, staring at the position where the phoenix once was. *** Ha, I can''t believe it. I knew it liked the kid, but for it to give him that feather? Wow, just wow. That kid really is loved by Pyro. The keeper turns his head westward. I can feel the ocean''s mana draining by the day. If he really is the chosen one, he better live up to our expectations. He''s growing quickly and steadily, faster than any other I''ve ever seen before, but I still can''t shake off this uncomfortable feeling... "Hooo, well, let''s hurry up and save Dustin with this feather. It would be a waste to use that boy''s feather and ruin a godly beast''s future just to save a mortal." *** "Hey guys, you remember who I am right?" The guards shake in fear, their hands looking like it could drop their weapons any second. Ignoring their reactions, I look at the fifteen of them and examine their faces carefully. Huh, looks like that guard isn''t here anymore. That retainer, Martha probably took care of it, I was worried I might not be able to control myself, and do something I wanted to do. I should give her a nice tip later. "Alright, you can all go. I will give you a warning, there is a creepy man in full black clothes over there so proceed with caution, but he''s not dangerous... I think." I start to walk past them but through their shaking hands, they bring two of their spears together and block me off from passing. "Oho, what do you think you''re doing?" I say in a mischievous and sly tone with my face looking at the guard who crossed his spear on my right. He pauses, but finds the courage to speak. "We- we are afraid of you, but there are protocols set in place and important people rec- recovering here! You- you may kill us, bu- but we will not let you pass!!" I would normally applaud them for their commitment and dedication to their work, but unfortunately, I don''t have the time right now. I think I''ll spare them, but they won''t be without injury if they try to stop me again. Just as I start to walk past again, a second row of guards cross their spears before me. Immediately reacting, but just before I activate Flame Claws, the shadow appears and grabs my elbow. "Don''t worry about him, he''s with me, we''re going to cure Dustin." I try to speak, but he covers my mouth with his other hand, as he walks through the guards, who immediately retract their spears as he comes walking. "Great job, keep up the good work guys!" Be shouts back at them. "THANK YOU SIR!" They immediately shout back. Turning around, I see all fifteen of the guards showing their respect to the shadow, dropping their spears and saluting. Wow... how is this guy respected but I''m not? Once we get far enough, and take a turn, he removes his hand from my mouth and lets me go, giving me a chance to catch my breath before continuing. God damn, he has a strong, airtight grip, I couldn''t even breathe with his hand over my mouth! It''s almost as if¨C no wait, yeah, he''s an assassin. He''s probably killed people the same way before. After the shadow looks at me, and sees that I''ve slightly recovered, and my breathing has mostly stabilized, he confronts me seriously, his voice getting louder with a slight anger to be heard. "Arthur, we gotta hurry, but before that, I have to say this, you can''t just go killing anyone who stands in your way just because you''re in a hurry. Sure, there are some cases where it is necessary, but you can''t just say that one life is more important than fifteen innocent people, just because you know that one person!" I feel my heart rate increase, listening to him, childishly snap back, shouting defensively at him in anger. "I wasn''t going to kill them! I was just going to scare them off, or maybe just injure one of them slightly!" "That''s not the point! You had another way out of that situation! You could have flown away, or just waited for me to come!!" He''s right, what the hell is wrong with me? I thought that since I never had these emotions in the capital city, and only in Ashland, when I came back, I would be fixed! But reflecting back on how I acted toward that guard in the Mint Estate, when I came back, when I saw Agon II, and even now, it''s still the same!!! Has the barrier, the capital that the Demon said was protecting me all this time disappeared? No. That''s not it. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The shadow continues after taking a deep sigh, and seemingly, calming down. "Hooo, do not think of me as harsh, Arthur, I would not have acted this way to any other child, and especially not Pyro''s true apostle. But I know. I know who you really are, and I will use all of the world''s resources so that you can complete your mission, if I have to. But right now, you are not ready. You are not stable enough. Dustin is a great man, but he will only be a small part of your great story, and so will I. You do not know my powers, but even with them, I do not see or know everything. So after this, make sure you fix yourself. I am certain that you will become the strongest in the future, but I know not which path you will take afterwards. And I cannot take that risk; I would rather sacrifice the whole world in order to kill that monster instead of giving it to you, and have you kill that wizard, if there is even the tiniest chance of you becoming like him. I would kill you here right now and do it." In his speech, my mind is forcefully made calculative, as I examine every part of his words and memorize them. "After we heal Dustin, you must promise me that the first thing you do is to fix yourself. Get yourself into the correct mindset and love life and mortals, for they are all important. I will take care of the situation with your father, so promise me you will do this. I do not have the Eyes of Truth like you, but trust me, I will know. If you don''t know how, if you allow me, I will erase it, and make it again. But if you refuse, that''s fine, I will not force you." I continue to stare at him intensely, focusing not on his face, but his words, engraving them deeply into my mind. Everything he says is true. But how does he know all of this? Who is he? What¨C no, the questions can wait for later. "I promise I will take care of it, don''t worry about me." "Very well, now let''s go pay Dustin a visit." He begins to run, though still at a pace I can keep up with as I run after him using mana to enhance it. Damn, how is he so fast? I don''t even feel him using any mana! And I can''t even use Flame Claws right now because my current state wouldn''t be able to control them well! We continue running, entering the building in one second, and going up stairs in the next, while I pant heavily, starting to slow down. Damn, am I really going to fall behind when Dustin''s on his deathbed? No! I won''t! Knowing that I am still in no state to control Flame Claws, I try something else, changing the regular mana used for Body Enhancement, to my orange, solar mana. This works... better? It''s faster, but even at a lower concentration, it''s still hard to handle! Ugh... I don''t have the brain power right now to think of names! Gah, whatever, lets just name this Solar Body Stage one or something! Noticing me struggle and fall behind, the shadow slows down with me, still going at a speed faster than any ordinary Knight Swordsman could run, as we continue up the stairs. "One more thing I forgot to mention earlier, I know I was bad at explaining the functions of the Sage System, but you should use it more!!" What is he talking about? He says that like... he knows everything about it! God, it''s so hard to think! The shadow continues as I continue to pant uncontrollably now. "I was short on time, but I mean, you didn''t even use it to check my status, or even that bird''s!" He pauses, as if to let me reply, but I am unable to. "I''ll hurry and prepare the Phoenix Feather before you get there. Make sure you bring the Red Dragon Flower!" He says, before dashing off and leaving me to climb the stairs myself. Oh god, hurry up legs! I continue my speedy but ugly ascent up the stairs. HOW MANY STAIRS ARE THERE?!?! Chapter 63: The Keeper’s Concoction Chapter 63: The Keeper''s Concoction "HUFFFF¡ª HUFFFF¡ª" ALRIGHT, I''M ALMOST THERE! I CAN SEE THE SUNLIGHT COMING THROUGH THE GLASS CEILINGS OF THE TOP FLOOR! Noticing, and using the majority of my remaining energy for thinking, I calculate the distance and angle between my next step and the door. It''s a perfect distance. I can make it! As I bring my right foot down, seemingly taking my next step up the long stairway, I push all my mana, and concentrate it all onto my right leg, propelling myself off the step and speeding through the air, to the door at the top of the stairs. Continuing to use my energy for thoughts and Heightened Senses, I am able to think at my usual pace. Examining the height of the stairs, I suddenly notice a fault. Each stair is a bit higher than I expected, my leg will hit one of the stairs and make me faceplant into the floor at this rate. Were my calculations off? No, that''s impossible, not with my normal calculations. I need to contract my legs, my knees up to my chest. But, I can''t do that right now, not going at this speed, or in this condition. I need to try something else, I need to somehow use Swift Wind, but it won''t be able to fully stop me at the speed I am going. In my flaming flight up the stairs, fire from the high concentration of Body Enhancement mana still lingering, a curved shield made of green particles appears, only covering my legs, as I start to quickly slow down. At the same time as my launch starts to slow, my body starts to rotate downward, my legs going back and up, while my head rotating down and forward. All according to plan, now I just need to control my arms and react fast enough, so that I don''t accidentally faceplant into the floor. My body eventually rotates 180 degrees, my head now faced at the stairs behind me, while I see the stairs passing me get closer and closer as my ascent up the stairs lose speed, and gravity starts to pull me down, my beautiful brown hair being brushed by the... somehow clean stairs, kept in good condition. Ew¨C wait, how are all of these stairs clean? Not even the Grand Temple of Pyro had stairs as clean as this¨C stop thinking useless thoughts Arthur, you could get brain damage from this if you hit your head on these stairs! I return back to focus, my eyes closed as I concentrate fully on how the stairs hit each of my hairs, and how far the symmetrical stairs got into my relatively long hair. Not yet... not yet... Now! Just before the next step that would have struck my head, I instantly open my eyes, and find the location of the step. I send the signal of action that travels from my brain, through all the nerves between, until it reaches both my arms, and they react. No longer flailing with the direction of the body, I take control of them and transfer all my mana into them, and push off the stairs, continuing my launch to the top of the stairs, and landing perfectly on my feet at the top. Perfectly done. I think to myself, while taking a short, second long break, pretending to fix up my suit, even though all I did was straighten my rags, before rushing through the door and taking out the Sagey. Wait, didn''t the shadow, I mean, oracle guy, say something about the Sage System? Ah, whatever, no time to think useless thoughts. "I''m here!" I shout, while I hold Sagey in front of me, who just turns on, it''s empty, dark circle, lighting up blue. I continue running, while scouring the room full of physicians in formerly white clothes, now drenched in an extremely dark red blood, for the man that knew my secrets. At the far right side of Dustin, one of the shadows in black clothes stood at a desk, holding a Phoenix feather in a small vial of boiling water. There he is! Looks like he already finished everything up, mixing the Phoenix Feather and Holy Water together. Damn, looks like I am the weak link right now, just hold on for a little longer Dustin! I change my direction, and sprint toward the shadow, while letting go of Sagey, and letting it fly next to me. "TELL ME QUICKLY, HOW DO I MAKE THE ANTIDOTE¨C TREATMENT OR WHATEVER?!?!" I shout out all at once, without breathing the entire time, my breathing getting louder and sounding more sickly after. The Sage System immediately analyzes my instruction and responds, a screen quickly pops up next to me from Sagey''s projection, though I cannot be bothered to read it at the moment, having total concentration on my breathing, and just staying conscious, until I arrive at the desk. "Alright I''m here¨C HUFFFF¡ª" Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Arriving there, I take a short break, placing my hands on my knees to keep myself up and breathing heavily to catch my breath. "Now it has been a long time since I made that recipe, so just in case, make sure you read those instructions carefully. Don''t worry though, I completely remember how to prepare it, so give me the Red Dragon Feather." Still catching my breath, I continue to breathe heavily, keeping one hand on my knee to support myself, while using the other, outstretching it to Sagey. "Huff¨C give me the Red¨C Dragon Feather." The Sage System says something, but I am not able to fully hear it, the noise coming from the loud work of the Physicians also quieting down, now being replaced by a loud, sharp ringing. Damn that sound is loud, am I losing my hearing right now? Did Sagey say something important? Probably not, it probably just said command confirmed or something useless like that... The Red Dragon Flower appears from blue light in my hands, before I immediately lift myself up, and hand it to the Keeper. Looks like my vision still kind of works though... damn, I can''t keep this up, I might be able to last until the treatment is finished being made, but I won''t have enough mana or energy to burn the parasite out of him afterward! When I lift up my eyes, hearing a sound other than the loud ringing, I see the shadow shouting at me with a not so calm face, his mouth opening wide each time he speaks. Damn, I can''t hear a single thing he''s saying, it''s starting to get a little blurry too. Did someone use fog magic in here or something? My eyes slowly begin to close, but they immediately open once again, after something enters my mouth, going down my throat, as I start coughing uncontrollably, now able to hear the loud screaming of the Physicians, from behind, and the perplexed face of the shadow in front of me. Damn it, did he feed me another one of those energy pills? This is going to hurt like a bitch when the effects go away, but let''s just finish the job for now! "CAN YOU HEAR ME, ARTHUR?" The shadow screams loudly from my front, surprising me as I focused on the disgusting taste on my tongue. Ouch, my eardrums. "Yes!" I scream out, trying to sound as enthusiastic as possible. "READ THE INSTRUCTIONS!!" Right¨C I forgot about that! Both me and Sagey start moving to each other''s line of sight, meeting in the center of us both, the screen it projects, longer than it has ever been. "FIRST PLACE THE PHOENIX FEATHER INTO THE HOLY WATER, DO NOT HEAT IT UP WITH FIRE, THE PHOENIX FEATHER ITSELF IS HOT ENOUGH TO DO THE JOB¨C" Yeah yeah, the shadow has already prepared all of that for me, tell me something that I don''t know, after the preparation is complete! I scroll down, scanning through all the words regardless of the fact that it had been prepared. Looks like my brain is working well again, even if it''s temporary, this pill''s effectiveness is unmatched! That is, unless its drawbacks are terrible... Let''s see, after the Holy Water boils from the Phoenix Feather''s heat, rip off the petals of the Red Dragon Flower? I slightly glance over at the shadow, who looks at me impatiently, and down at his concoction. Yep, he''s done that already, removing only the petals, still leaving the stem and the anther untouched, those are important, because that''s how we''ll make more Red Dragon Flowers. But, how does he know this? I look up at him for a second, with a curious and confused face, before quickly turning back to the Sage System instruction screen, making a face as serious as his. Now''s not the time, Arthur! Focus! I continue scanning through the instructions until I reach the step after the preparation steps come to an end, and give me steps about things I hadn''t seen the shadow do yet. Alright, this is it! Step 7: mix the concoction until the Holy Water turns red, and the petals have dissolved. Got it! "It says to mix it until the petals dissolve and turn the water red!" "Alright!" He responds quickly, reaching into his cloak to grab something. Wait, isn''t this concoction heated by a phoenix feather that could bring the highest level of Holy Water to boil in just a few seconds? What is there in this place that could withstand such a heat without melting and ruining the concoction? I don''t think Black Iron would even be able to last long enough before melting. That''s right! I have a sword made of Divinum! Surely that would be tough enough to withstand the heat of the Phoenix Feather without melting! I open my mouth to instruct Sagey to give me Dustin''s sword, but no voice comes out, before I close it, my face filled with dread. No! The sword is too big to fit inside the small vial! Only the tip would be able to fit through that tiny opening! Plus, it''s covered in dirt and monster blood! I need to find something else to use! I stop worrying once I see the shadow take out his hand from his cloak, and in it, he holds a small, thin white rod about a fifth, the width of a Manapen. What... is that? You can''t just mix it with any rod made of just any material, it needs to be made of Divinum¡ª Once the rod touches the concoction, my body instinctively reacts, moving my hand to cover my eyes to protect it from the rod that now glows in a bright white light. That rod is made of Divinum?!?! How is that possible? Who would waste such a precious material for something as petty as that?!?!?! The shadow mixes the concoction well, but noticing the way I look at him, he frowns. "What? It served a purpose didn''t it? Now tell me the next step." Uh, let''s see: I read out the steps from Sagey''s projection to him, without giving myself the chance to process the information first. "Step 8, Throw the anthers of the Red Dragon Flower into the concoction and wait for the Phoenix Feather and the anther to react, both dissolving into the mixture." When I look up from the screen, and back at the shadow, I see him already finished, and waiting for the next step. Damn he''s fast, seriously, how the hell does he know all this? I spin my head back, afraid of his anger and continue reading. Oh, there''s only two more steps left! "AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!" I hear a scream, sounding like Dustin''s voice, come from behind, where all the Physicians shuffle around, their footsteps frightening me. I immediately turn around and see Dustin outstretching his arms stiffly, as if he was possessed, while almost all of the Physicians try to keep him down, the other four shadows joining in to help, only barely able to hold him even with all their combined strength. No, Dustin! An angry voice from behind draws me back to finish the job, stressing me out immensely under the terrible and suffocating pressure. "ARTHUR, DON''T GET DISTRACTED!!" "Uuuh¨C Right! Step 9..." I struggle, stressed and unable to focus while trying to find where I left off. "FASTER!!!" Damn it, I''m trying! I continue to scour the screen, until my eyes light up. There it is! "Cut the Red Dragon Flower Stem and only throw in the inner stem to the concoction!" The shadow quickly unsheathes his sword, and throws the stem up into the air, before perfectly peeling it and throwing in the inner stem. Don''t get distracted. "Next¨C" "Forget it, we need to go now!" I try to speak, but the shadow interrupts me and grabs the vial by the hand and disappears, seemingly teleporting, and appearing beside Dustin. With only one free hand, he pushes all the physicians away, leaving just the shadows as he pours the vial in his mouth. What? But I haven''t read the last step yet! I quickly look back from Dustin to the Sage System''s last step. "Step 10, pour the concoction into one of the patient''s openings, or let the patient inhale the gaseous concoction through the nose, then wait for the parasite to crawl out, and kill it before it gets to anyone else." What?!?! How did he know all of this? Even if I did tell him the steps, he already performed every step up until step 7, and even the steps after that, he already finished doing the step before I finished saying it! It was more like I was just reigniting a memory that was just forgotten in his head, rather than giving him new information! Chapter 64: Black Blood Parasite Chapter 64: Black Blood Parasite My head swings back to Dustin as I hear him scream out in a terrifying screech that, I imagine, could only come from a demon hailing from the depths of hell, filling the entire room, seemingly coming from all directions. "GHH''RYYYLLAAAA-SZ''KTH!!!!" AAAGH!! My ears! I shut my eyes, immediately covering my ears, and suddenly feeling a weakness in my legs, as I fall down, crouching in pain. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!?!" An angry voice screams, cutting through the horrifying screech of the demon, that strikes more fear in me than the demonic screech. Unable to even hear my thoughts, I am forced to scream even in my mind. I''M TRYING TO SAVE MY EARDRUMS, WHAT ELSE DO YOU THINK I''M TRYING TO DO, YOU CREEPY, ALL-KNOWING BASTARD!! "GET OVER HERE ALREADY!!!" The keeper continued to scream. WHAT THE HELL IS HE TALKING ABOUT? MY WORK IS DONE¨C SHIT, I DO HAVE MORE WORK TO DO, I STILL HAVE TO BURN IT TO DEATH AFTER IT LEAVES THE BODY, OR IT''LL JUST LATCH ONTO ANOTHER PERSON!! I quickly get off my lazy ass and start running. Opening my eyes, but still keeping my hands on my ears, I difficultly, struggle while looking around to find the location of the shadows, discombobulated by the deafening noises entering my ears. Damn it, where are they? Still in a disoriented state of blurry vision, I squint my eyes to try and see better, looking for the dark colors of the shadows'' clothing in the completely white room. YOU KNOW, ONE WOULD THINK THAT IT WOULD BE EASY TO FIND A SPLASH OF BLACK IN A SEA OF WHITE, BUT JUST RUNNING IS ENOUGH TO COMPLETELY LOSE MY SENSE OF DIRECTION. THIS BLURRY VISION IS DEFINITELY NOT HELPING EITHER!!! "GET OVER HERE!!" WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK I''M DOING?!?! "ARTHUR!!!" I should hurry up though, he''s a little scary... Let''s see, if running is making me lose my sense of direction, and is the major problem, then I just need to not run. I abruptly stop in place, dropping my hands from my ears and closing my eyes, waiting, and waiting for the moment. "ARTHUR!!!!" There it is!!! I keep my arms to my side, and eyes closed as I start running, directed and only running from the direction I heard the keeper''s terrifying voice from. God, his voice is terrifying, I hope I don''t accidentally run into any of them. I keep running until my instincts, that I had been unable to read through the puzzling, endless demonic scream, warn me enormously of an extreme danger in front of me. Stop now! I''m here! I swing open my eyes, and bring my run to a stop, staring in horror down at the screaming patient directly below me. Damn, I almost just hit an ill patient, thank you instincts! But, Dustin really looks like a demon right now, his eyes are completely red and he''s twitching his body so much and so randomly, it''s as if ants were just suddenly appearing on his body and suddenly disappearing from his body the second he tries to swat it! "STAY CAUTIOUS, THIS IS NOT DUSTIN. YOU NEED TO KILL THE PARASITE THE MOMENT IT LEAVES DUSTIN''S BODY, OR TWO MEN WILL DIE HERE TODAY!" The keeper screams out in impatience and fear, while actually struggling to hold Dustin''s chest down, along with the other shadows who restrain his limbs on the cracking, luxury, wood operating table. Why do I have to do it? Why can''t he do it? He''s much stronger than me and even tamed a phoenix! Also, what does he mean by two men? My discontent and slight annoyance is brought to an end by the sudden resolution of Dustin''s petrifying demonic screech, his body stops moving, returning to a more unconscious state. What? Is it over? I would say thank god, but I should still be cautious like the shadow said. Contrasting my thoughts, I weaken my wariness and look over to the shadow who, just like me, starts to turn his head to me, from looking down at Dustin. But unlike me, he had a horror-stricken look on his face, when we caught each other''s gaze. What''s with that look on his face? It''s not like the treatment failed, he stopped screaming! Wait, did it fail? sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. I start to turn my head back down to Dustin, just as the Keeper starts to open his mouth. "DON''T BE FOOLED¨C" Is Dustin''s neck bulging, or is that just me? "THE PARASITE IS¨C" The bulge on Dustin''s neck gets bigger and bigger, as something travels up his throat. What the hell is that¨C "NOT GONE!!!" The parasite is revealed as the keeper''s sentence ends, a dark red, worm-like thing, with a mouth, if you could even call it that, full of rows of repulsive teeth, like a death leech from hell. It springs out of Dustin''s mouth and in just a few moments, once it fully exits, my face immediately turning into disgust, my nose wrinkles and eyebrows furrow. What the hell is that disgusting creature? Damn, that thing is disgusting, but I have to take care of it now! Just as I try to cast Dawn to shoot it dead in one shot in one go, the unbelievably fast parasite jumps at the shadow holding Dustin''s right arm, before my Dawn orb even finishes forming, at the moment, just being a single, tiny spiral of fire. What the hell? How is it so fast? I made an oath to make sure Dustin doesn''t die, but now someone else is about to die right now because of my weakness! If I just let the parasite take him, I will be unable to prove to myself, and more importantly, that shadow, that I treasure life! I WON''T LET THAT HAPPEN!!! The orb of Dawn finishes forming, but instead of trying to shoot the parasite with it, I direct the Dawn at myself, shooting at my Manaheart. But instead of the solar blast exiting through the other side of my body, it stays inside. In that moment, another, much hotter and orange ring appears around my mana heart, running much faster than the other circles, while my body instantly sets ablaze, from the top of my hair, to the bottom of my feet, the rags on me immediately burning, and crumbling into nothing as the dense orange flames replace it, so dense that not a single part of my body could be seen through it. While the Keeper stands still, looking at the situation in horror, unable to do anything. *** The Keeper closes his eyes filled with fear, but a small hope remains. Damn it Arthur, you have to do something! If you let this man die, I cannot give you my treasures! Please, please don''t let Luke''s legacy be wasted! When the Keeper''s eyes reopen, his eyes light up, as all his fear washes away. Yes¨C Luke, your sacrifice was not for naught, your legacy has fallen into the hands of a worthy successor... Sigh, I guess I''m down sixty thousand platinum coins now. I should give it a rest as well, just find a successor and retire like you. *** In the next moment, just as the death leech latches onto the, still, shadow, that drops Dustin''s hand and stands unmoving, accepting his fate like a true warrior''s heroic death, I appear, my mind in state of madness, after pouncing from where I previously stood, and rip off the parasite from the shadow''s body, my hand only leaving the dense flame for second before it returns and disappears in the blazing flame. Immediately noticing the disturbance, the shadow opens his eyes and jumps back, along with all the other shadows who leave the vicinity. The only one who has yet to move, being the keeper, who closes his eyes, smiling to himself as he continues to stand beside Dustin. The shadow in front, however, keeps moving back, as even in my unconscious, mad state, I move away from Dustin. After getting a suitable distance away from him, the dense orange flame erupts once again, increasing to the size filling half of the entire estate, continuing to expand even more, I fly up into the sky, a giant pillar of fire as wide as the entire estate, shoots out. The top of the pillar, as high as a mountain, its peak, insurmountable. The temperature discharging into the air from the pillar''s surface is great, however, inside, it is even greater, filled with the rage of a madman. DID YOU REALLY THINK THAT YOU COULD TAKE SOMEONE ELSE''S LIFE IN FRONT OF ME, AGAIN?!?!!! I hold the squirming parasite tightly in my hands, as it tries to squirm out, and even at times, try to bite me. DIE!!! The fire around my hands starts to become lighter, a lighter orange, into white. Damn it, I want to kill this thing, but even with my hottest, white flame, this disgusting parasite seems to be affected by the white fire more than the orange fire, but it just doesn''t melt fast enough!! I am able to keep it locked in place right now, but my rage is leaving me, along with my energy! I don''t know how much longer I''ll be able to keep this up. My hands start to weaken, giving the parasite room to squirm, as I am forced to cede it more space, before I notice and grip it even tighter, using even more energy. Where the hell are you, shadow? You always yell at me and give me advice, but where the hell are you now?!?! I begin to lose hope, my arms weakening once again, before I push back, and squeeze the putrid parasite even harder. What the hell are you doing Arthur? Since when have you ever depended on people? You are the greatest genius, not the greatest follower! If you can''t figure something out, then just think harder! Like a miracle from god, I notice an object shrouded in a blinding, divine-like light, shining from my chest. What the hell? I glance down, and my serious eyes light up in joy and greed as I look at it. That''s right¨C I have the Phoenix Feather! And if everything was planned out by fate, and the shadow has yet to come to save me, I must be following the correct path! That means this Phoenix Feather is the key to my success here. But how do I use it? I smirk to myself, though still conscious of the strength used to keep the parasite still. Well there''s only one way isn''t there? I must hold it! And absorb the mana, or something like that. In a confident leap of faith, I release one hand from the parasite to grab the Phoenix Feather, while the parasite immediately reacts and tries to escape from my grasp. Even though I threw out the idea of the conservation of my energy and used it all to squeeze the parasite with my right hand as hard as possible, the parasite still makes progress squirming out my hold. Looks like it''s not enough. I want to go faster, but since I''ve already used all my energy on my right hand, and the artificial 4th circle I''ve implanted into my Manaheart is disappearing, I''m afraid I won''t be able to last much longer. Am I afraid though? I grab ahold of the Phoenix Feather and hold it tightly, it''s warm, almost hot mana seeping into me, and spreading throughout my body, supplying me with all my mana, and more. Of course not. The white fire returns back to its vibrant orange counterpart, however, the temperature has not dropped, rather, it has increased by twofold, and continues to rise by the second, while the parasite, for the first time since leaving Dustin''s body, screams it''s pathetic demonic screech, blackening, and crumbling to dust. So long, you dirty parasite. Chapter 65: Coma Chapter 65: Coma *** Before Arthur''s great pillar of fire erupted, everyone was at peace, they were working as usual, the day almost coming to an end, as they fantasized of what they would do after their work was over, grab a few drinks at the tavern, eat some good food, spend some romantic time with their spouse, or maybe just lay down on their beds and rest. But their fantasies were brought to an end as a blinding pillar of fire erupted out of the ground, in a loud, almost deafening, sound. Across the capital, the civilians ran away in fear, dropping whatever they were doing, only trying to get as far away from whatever that thing was, as possible. They believed it was the end of days spoken of by the fanatic cultists that frequently appeared throughout the capital. In the Wolkan Royal Academy however, the students, intrigued by the unique display of magic, gazed out their classroom windows, nothing of fear, and only of excitement, the children conversing with each other, unconcerned by it. "Look at that fire pillar! It''s so big!" One girl enthusiastically said to another. "Yeah! I wonder who casted that, because they must be an idiot to use magic as powerful as that in the capital city, the headquarters of the Imperial Wardens!" Another replied, in a belittling tone, void of empathy, before both of them laugh, trying to act cool to the other. "HAHahahaa..." The voices fade into the distance, as one girl looks out the window, at the fire, but not focusing on anything. Oh Arthur, where are you? Please be safe and come back soon... In the Usagan Royal Palace, two figures sit at a fancy table and sip on their hot tea, both staring out their gold-lined window, empty of emotion, both having an attendant stand at their side, who only look straight, their eyes and attention at the other side of the wall, unwavering. One has short brown hair and wears very thin, but fine yellow cloth, the other, with long silver hair and heavy diamond, gold plated armor, their ox shaped helmet off, and set on the table as they both continue to stare out the window, taking another sip of tea. "So, Sir Chrono, would you like to take care of this with your Royal Guards, or should I?" The man in fine yellow cloth says, turning from the window to face the armored man at the other end of the table. "You know how much I like a good battle, Sir Scorso, but unfortunately, as our negotiations have ended, my Emperor wishes me back as soon as possible. As this city is under the jurisdiction of your Imperial Wardens, I think I will take my leave." The cunning man says with a polite smile on his face, while Scorso continues to look at Chrono, unamused and expressionless. "Very well then, I wish you safe travels on your journey back and the prolonged prosperity of both our kingdoms. Make sure you bring more of this tea next time, it''s quite good." His face turns into a polite smile just as Chrono, as they shake each other''s hands, before the Commander of the Aurorian Royal Guards places his helmet back on his head, and leaves with his attendant. Scorso and his attendant continue to stay in the room, unmoving and not speaking a word, until the Royal Guards leave the room. "Looks like the fire is gone, do you care to take a crack at it, Vice-Commander Potato? Or do you want me to find another to take care of this?" Scorso says in a friendly tone, laying his neck on the top of the chair and staring back at Potato with a smile on his face. "I will do as you instruct, sir." Potato replies automatically, sounding like a robot, empty of emotion. "Come on, don''t be like that." Potato leaves the room, in a slow pace, gently closing the door as he leaves, before springing through the palace, his destination already set, like a robot. "He really isn''t a great talker." *** The great Pillar of Fire starts to thin, as I finally regain feeling of my mana circuits after the pure, orange mana drains from my system. My mana circuits are completely emptied and don''t refill even though the sun shines above me, my Manaheart too damaged for the task. Great, now that that''s over, I can finally relax, not that I would be able to keep staying awake, even if I wanted to, which I don''t, so it all works out for me. Hopefully my Manaheart can heal from this, either by that Heavenly Martial Body or Pyro. As I fall through the sky, unable to move any part of my body or use any magic, I notice the Phoenix Feather, not drifting through the air like a normal feather should, but instead latched onto me like there was a magnet inside my body, and the feather was magnetic. What the hell is that doing there? Don''t tell me my skin that I spent so long refining was punctured by a feather! Ah... what am I saying? How could that possibly be the case? Just stop thinking, and just relax... Trying, but unable to even close my eyelids, I am forced to try and sleep with my eyes open. Sigh, this is not ideal, but this is still fine. I''m fine with this. When I begin to get relaxed, my eyelids somehow close by themselves, another obstacle, once again, blocks my way to relaxation, that being¨C the pain of Mana Deprivation Reflux. FUCK!!! DAMN IT!!! SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT!!!! NOT THIS AGAIN!!! My body involuntarily winces at every, constant, burning pain coming from the Reflux, however, unlike the time in the Adventurer''s Guild where I used all my mana, this time, I had used all of my mana, and more, creating an artificial manaheart, and using an unrecognized mana, much more powerful than what my mana circuits could handle. NONONO!!!! WHY ISN''T THE FUCKING PAIN STOPPING?!?!!?! On my face, nothing of pain could be seen, in fact, it looked relaxed, much more than it ever has, like I had reached the state of nirvana. Wait, I think I''m starting to get used to it¨C SHIT!!! The entire way down, I could do nothing while feeling the pain of what could be imagined as how a demon would torture a mortal soul in hell. SHIT, I''M APPROACHING ON THE GROUND NOW, PLEASE SHADOW OR WHATEVER, SAVE ME!!! Just as I fall through the hole I made through the roof of the Mint Estate, I come to a complete stop, feeling no impact of the fall whatsoever. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. I''m alive? Oh thank you shadow¨C OW!!!" Even after landing, I am unable to take control of my body and continue to suffer in pain. The hand that held me lowers, and reveals the face of the person who saved me. Wait, that''s not what the shadow looks like, he doesn''t have white hair... Who is this? I continue to try and examine the person holding me, with just my peripheral vision, unable to even move my eyeballs, but cannot come to a conclusion. "Why isn''t he moving? Is he dead?" Wait, this voice¨C it''s Dustin! Has he recovered already? How fast! A swordmaster really is¨C OW!!! FUCK!!! JUST LET ME ENJOY MY REUNION IN PEACE!!! The man with white hair says, dropping to the floor and holding me up like an offering to the sky, while he begins to sob. "O'' Pyro, I''m so sorry... I''ve killed our one and only savior that you''ve finally sent down to save us, in your mercy!" What are you talking about Dustin? I''m alive! And stop crying! Every time a tear drops on me, it hurts like a sword just pierced through me! Just then, another man, wearing dark clothes enters my peripheral vision. "He''s fine Dustin, he just can''t move his body. He looks like he''s unconscious, but he''s awake and probably suffering in intense pain. This other voice! It''s that shadow! If he''s speaking so calmly, that means that he has a plan to help me with this stupid¨C OW¨C FUCKING PAIN! "What should we do then?" Dustin asks, no longer crying. "Don''t worry, I have just the thing to help him right now." YES, I KNEW YOU HAD SOMETHING SHADOW! THANK¨C FUCK!!!!" The shadow walks closer to Dustin, now standing nearer to my central vision, as he reaches into his cloak and takes out some kind of elixir. An elixir? Nice! It will taste disgusting, but I''ve only ever had positive results from healing elixirs. In fact, I think the only elixir that I''ve ever taken that was really terrible was that energy pill¨C The pain from the Mana Deprivation Reflux comes once again, but I ignore it, as it is masked behind the doom, and horror of me remembering a painful memory, the horrible taste in my mouth from the inspection grounds. No... NOOOO!!!! I try to shake my head, with all of my nonexistent might and all used up energy, but it doesn''t move no matter how much I try. Eventually, I somehow manage to move my eyeballs, and try to shake them left and right to signify to the shadow that I don''t want it. In my central vision, our eyes meet and the shadow sees me shaking my eyes. Oh thank god he saw, I would rather suffer this pain for another day than to eat that again¨C Under his mask, he smiles, his expression softening, looking at me in amusement. Wait, why is he smiling at me like that? What is he doing? No¨C NOOOOOO!!! The keeper lowers his hand, pinching the yellow colored pill into my mouth, easily opening it because of the relaxed muscles in my jaw, before he takes it out. NO, I WON''T SWALLOW THIS, I CAN''T!!! Still looking at me in amusement, he speaks. "Don''t worry, that isn''t the energy pill, you can swallow it." You know, it does taste a little different. It definitely doesn''t taste good but, it''s not as bad! SHIT! Ah fuck, whatever, anthing to get rid of this pain I guess. I finally relax my last muscles in my throat, and let the pill slide down my tongue, not feeling any special effects at the moment of ingestion. Hey, this elixir tastes kind of weird, but I can''t quite put my finger on it. I don''t feel anything yet either. What a weird pill¨C I come to realization as I begin to feel the effects, my heart rate and breathing, the only body functions left that I could feel, starting to slow down. No fucking way, there''s no way that this bastard really just fed me a sleeping pill¨C Chapter 66: Lillian Mint Chapter 66: Lillian Mint *** "Looks like that goddess is watching, she sure is protective of him though." The Keeper says while looking down at Arthur''s naked body that shines in a blinding light where his private parts are. S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "BOOOM!!" Just as Arthur falls asleep in Dustin''s hands, an unexpected visitor comes, crashing into the already, extremely destroyed Mint Estate. The four shadows become wary, their swords appearing out of nowhere, into their hands, stacking up between their apostle, and the unknown intruder. Dustin and the Keeper don''t change their expressions, only watching the situation for the moment. As the person''s silhouette emerges from the dust cloud, the Keeper seemingly recognizes him, and summons a giant white piece of silk, from what seems to be nothing, throwing it over Arthur''s entire body. Dustin seemingly recognizes the figure as well, reacting half a second later, his face tensing. "What business do you have here, Vice-Commander of the Wardens?" Once Potato exits the cloud of dust, he comes to a halt, standing mere feet away from the shadows who wildly release their killing intent. However, the machine-like Vice Commander ignores them, and instead looks directly at the boy in Dustin''s arm whose face is covered. "Is that the boy who caused this? Is he the Apostle that had been mentioned so much? Who is he? What is his name?" The Vice Commander''s expressions and tone do not change throughout all his robotic questioning. Dustin''s voice tremors through the air, releasing his killing intent and mana throughout the room, unaffecting the already unconscious physicians, but freezing the shadows in place, making even the Robotic and expressionless Vice Commander of the Imperial Wardens start sweating under his immense pressure. "I don''t remember you greeting me back, Potato." In a more shaky, yet still, unfazed voice, he responds to Dustin. "My apologies, congratulations on your recovery, Sir Dustin, Commander of the Pyroean Holy Knights, I hope you may reform the church well¨C make it like it was before Agon. That''ll make our lives a lot easier¨C that was a joke." Dustin''s brow raises in confusion, that the totally emotionless Vice Commander of the Wardens made a joke for the first time, his killing intent dissipating, allowing the shadows and Potato to move again. Quickly taking the opportunity, Potato returns to his emotionless expression, remembering his duty and regaining his determination, his intense eyes set on Arthur once again. The shadows become tense as the warden looks like he''s about to make a move, but unexpectedly, the warden moves his hands back behind his back, at ease, and turns around, slowly walking away. "I will take my leave for now, and the Wardens will pay for the damages here today, but if I find out even a single person was hurt by your Apostle, justice will be brought down upon them like anyone else, with no exception." He jumps away, out the same hole through the ceiling he flew in from, without saying another word. The Keeper pats Dustin''s shoulder. "You can take care of this. But one more thing before I forget, the boy held the Inspections on your Holy Knights that you spoke about, and they all saw his face." Dustin strains his face and hands, all the blood vessels in them clearly visible, but still conscious, and aware, to not squeeze Arthur''s body that he holds. "How¨C how many failed?" Dustin says in pain, bracing for worse news. "Of all the Holy Knights¨C" Dustin keeps looking down, with a dark expression on his face, of terrible gloom. "¨Conly four died." Dustin''s face, not exceedingly positive nor negative, shoots up in surprise, waiting for more. "ARE THEY THE FOUR¨C" "Yes, they''re the four you''re thinking of. You did a good job training them Dustin. I''m sure none of them will give their apostle''s identity away." The Keeper lifts his hand off Dustin, who stares straight, focused on nothing with a face of bewilderment. The Keeper starts walking off to the door, before he suddenly stops. "Oh yeah, one more thing, I fed him two energy pills and he spent the last four days in a dungeon, so let him rest well. Make sure you keep his identity a secret. I''m sure you''ve found out about the Arcanus Cult by now, and I''m sure they''ve already figured out his identity, but there''s no need to ruin his interactions with the public civilians." Dustin, snapping out of the cloud of amazement and joy that clouded his thoughts, organizes his thoughts, and screams jokingly at the Keeper. "Wait, why do I have to do all of this? Aren''t you going to help out at all?!" "Nope, I''ve been doing all the paperwork for centuries up until Agon, it''s time for you to take up that mantle and do the paperwork yourself! Plus, I''m off to find myself a suitable disciple." He waves his hand back at Dustin without turning around another time, before slowly walking out the door. Dustin stares at the empty doorway for the Keeper to come back, but he doesn''t. "WHAT?!?! YOU''RE LEAVING?!?!?! Dustin wants to run out the door to chase after him, but as he tries to get up, he notices the weight in his hands, and stops, taking a deep sigh. "Ahhhhh, looks like our long awaited apostle came in my time, but our Vault Keeper left. What should I do?" He scratches his head with one hand, while balancing my body on the other, before he looks back down. "Well, for now, let''s just let the boy rest." *** THE SHADOW IS LUKE WOLKAN?!?!?! I abruptly lift myself up, ending the calm air in the room with my sudden, wild movements. Where am I? Is this still the Mint Estate? It looks... fixed? How is that possible? I''ve only been asleep for¨C wait¨C how long have I been asleep for? Why is the room pink? I immediately look across the room, through the window and see the sun low in the sky. Looks like it''s either Dawn, the rising sun, or Dusk, the setting sun. That''s not too bad, what''s more impressive is how they managed to fix the place in less than 24 hours. I look away from the window, to a giant, fancy, gold plated clock on the wall. That''s... quite fancy... This room is a lot better than the room I was staying in before. Hell, it''s even better than the bedroom I have in my own house at the Ventrike estate! I look down at my own hands and examine my body. Hmm... it all feels fine, and I''m able to move my joints around as well as before. As for my manaheart¨C I close my eyes and concentrate on feeling my mana, pushing my solar attribute mana through my manacircuits and summoning a small orb of Dawn. Yeah, looks like my manacircuits and manaheart are working fine, this Heavenly Martial Body sure is great, not just healing my physical body, but also my mana organs. I look out the window again with calm eyes, finally relaxed and fully recovered, all my missed days of sleep and stress non-existent. He''s probably saving my father from court, the both of them. Even so, I want to speak with him, I want to see Dustin alive and well again. I close my eyes and bask in the shining sun. I hope it''s Dawn instead of Dusk, I want to feel the sunshine for a bit longer... I continue to stay sitting upright while basking in the calm and warm sun when suddenly, a bird ruins my peace. "CHIRP-CHIRP- CHIRP!!!" my muscles tense, a vein in my head appearing as a result of me tensing up, before the vein quickly disappears, with the relaxation of my muscles. You know, a bird chirping would normally be nice early in the morning, sounding peaceful, and having a rhythm with it. But, WHY IS IT SO LOUD?!! IT''S AS LOUD AS A BOULDER FALLING OFF A CLIFF, EXCEPT, IT''S IMPACT IS DIRECTLY NEXT TO MY EAR!! Hooo... calm down Arthur, this is your first rest since you were poisoned. Just relax and enjoy your vacation before you have to go to school again. My neck kind of hurts, but that''s probably just because I moved my body upright so quickly. I don''t know, I''m not a physician. But to solve that pain, I probably just need to lay down, so let''s lay down. Just as I begin to drop back down to the bed, I am interrupted from my peace once again. "CHIIRRRPP!!!" THAT''S FUCKING IT, I''M NOT GOING TO HAVE MY EARDRUMS RUPTURE THE MOMENT I RECOVER FROM MY INJURIES!! WHERE THR FUCK IS THAT BIRD?!?!?! I spring back up, in a fit of rage, and throw the blanket off my body, and stand up. Huh? The pain is gone? What changed? I turn around and look back, not at the bed, but the glowing orange bird that slowly drifts down the air like a feather, while asleep, curled up into a circle, before plopping down onto the white sheets of the bed, waking up and shaking its feathers. The baby Phoenix looks back up at me excitedly. "Chirp!" Looks like I was right that it was different other than the fact that it was more orange than the other feathers. Except that I thought that its use would be to give me a second life in the scenario that I died. But I was wrong, instead of getting a second life, instead, I got a baby phoenix who can give me burning mana, so strong that it''ll cripple me. With a dark expression on my face, and my eyes completely focused on the glowy, plumpy ball of warm orange light, I outstretched my hands at it suspiciously. "Chirpp!" The baby phoenix screeches out as I grab it, and bring it up to my face, snuggling with its soft, warm feathers. IT''S SO DAMN CUTE!!! HOW CAN ANYTHING BE SO CUTE?!?! I hold it up in the air, admiring its cuteness like a religious believer would to Pyro. Even if it didn''t have any powers, I would choose this over a second life! The phoenix chirps cheerfully, smiling at the familiar solar mana coming from the awake, and moving, friendly human. "Chirp-chirp-chirp!!" I can tell that it''s definitely the Primordial Phoenix''s son¨C or is it a girl? Hmm... I don''t know, do phoenixes even have genders? "Ah, it doesn''t matter!!" I bring it up to my face and hug it, before it moves by itself and climbs up to the top of my head. "Chirp!" Awww, it think''s my hair is its nest! Wait, does that mean it also thinks I''m its father? Oh¨C what should I name it? Out of nowhere, a familiar, but surprising voice comes from the opposite side of the bed, in a low and tired, early morning voice. "Arthur?" I freeze in place, as I come to realize the identity of the voice, and all the missing pieces come together. We-we''re in a room fancier than my own, in the Mint Estate in the capital where neither the viscount, nor viscountess stays, and a room like this would only be used by nobles... plus, this voice¨C The figure of a thin humanoid is lit up as the sun rises behind her, her long, messy hair sparkling under the sunlight, as her white undergarments, slightly too loose for her, droops down as she lifts herself up, rubbing her droopy eyes. I was sleeping next to Lillian?!?! Oh no¨C how long was I unconscious? Well, it should be fine right? I mean, she is younger than me and acts like a kid, sleeping next to her wouldn''t be too immoral right? There''s nothing immoral about two siblings sleeping next to each other. Lillian stops rubbing her eyes and stares at me. Noticing her gaze, I look up to see her as well, but unbeknownst to me, my heart skips a beat as our eyes meet, my perception of her forever changed as she stares at me with her seductive blue eyes. "Did you sleep well?" Chapter 67: Terminus Chapter 67: Terminus "W-what are you doing here¨C no, why am I here?" I say, feeling my body temperature start to rise, as my heart begins to get faster. What the hell are you doing Arthur? How are you stuttering on your words? Aren''t you trying to be the cool and calculative character like in those novels you enjoy so much? I don''t know! This is my first time being in this experience! I''m sure you know very well since you''re me, that I''m not experienced in romance! Lillian completely lifts the blanket off her body, and sits on the bed with her legs neatly set under her. How indecent, I can''t look! I quickly close my eyes and spin around, turning my back to her as I feel my cheeks warm up. Lillian shows slight surprise, but her face returns to a sly smile, her face also overcoming with a slight blush before she speaks. "Well, the Commander of the Holy Knights brought you here, and since most of our Clinic was broken, and you were in critical condition, we had to move you somewhere." Lillian laughs cheerfully, seeing my body stand so stiff, still unmoving. "So Dustin had the great idea to let you stay in my room, in the estate! Since the Mint Estate Clinic was being repaired, it would definitely not be a suitable place for the great Apostle of Pyro." She knows? I reckon she would be able to order me to do anything if she kept it a secret, even... My red face grows more vibrant. What the hell are you thinking Arthur? Don''t think such indecent thoughts! You''re too young!! My body must''ve stiffened more, or done some other sort of reaction because Lillian started laughing more. "Tehe, don''t worry, your secret is safe with me, but don''t take it the wrong way, I wasn''t the one who wanted this, Dustin said that it was fine since we were both pure children. Yeah, I don''t know what I am, but my thoughts right now are definitely not pure, Lillian. I slightly begin to calm down, after looking away from her. Taking the chance of mind clarity, the first thing I notice are my clothes. Wait... if I remember correctly, my clothes were completely incinerated right? So... why do I have clothes on?!?! I cough, trying to calm myself from the newfound embarrassment. "Ahem, do you know who changed my clothes? I''m pretty sure I was nake¨C" Lillian interjects, cutting me off before I finish my sentence. "What?!?!?!" She quickly notices her impolite outburst and from what I can tell, turns more red from embarrassment as well. "Ahem, I mean, doctor William has been in charge of your well-being and moved to the main estate." Oh thank god he''s safe¨C wait why did I feel the need to say that? Why wouldn''t he be safe? "Actually, all the physicians moved with their patients to the estate to continue their work." The discomfort I felt and my abnormal body temperature disappear and return back to normal, however my face darkens to gloom, as I hear her say the word patients, and realize the memory that I had forcefully removed from my mind as a coping mechanism. That''s right, in my rage, killing the parasite, I completely forgot about my surroundings, and where I was at, I can''t believe I wasn''t able to control myself, I''m not in a dungeon anymore where there were only monsters trying to kill me, I''m in an extremely populated city where regular civilians live! "How many died?" I say abruptly, in a low, and weak, defeated voice. "What?" Lillian blurts out without even being able to process what she just heard. *** I can''t waste this opportunity, everything was perfect, and this is the only time I''ve ever been with him where we didn''t have to deal with anything troublesome! He even sees me as a woman now, and not just a clumsy girl! I can''t let him go! *** "You don''t have to worry about it Arthur, it wasn''t your fault and they were going to die anyway¨C most of them had incurable illnesses¨C" "I DON''T CARE!!" I scream out loud, turning back to her, full of rage, while my voice tremors with uncontrollable anger and guilt, Lillian''s shocked, and afraid face. Startling the baby Phoenix, it falls off my head, but manages to flap its wings and fly back to the bed, and crawl under the blanket. Seeing her face, I hold myself back and bite down on my lip, regretting what I had done, and forcefully calming myself down. "How many died?" I say coldly, without showing emotion. She looks away, her face pale and looking terrified. "Th-there were no physicians that were injured, b-but five patients did unfortunately die." Immediately after saying this, Lillian looked up and saw my face, becoming horrified as she looked upon my unreadable dead eyes, staring through her in disbelief, as I felt my breathing start to increase rapidly and uncontrollably, being overcome by the guilt. I killed five people? sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. I grab my face, as I start to suffer an identity crisis. No... that can''t be right... I''m not a murderer, I can''t be¨C I''M ARTHUR VENTRIKE! I''M THE HERO! HOW CAN I BE A MURDERER?! My eyes, now having a sprinkle of insanity added to them, as I stare at the only other living being in the room, Lillian who stares at me like I was a terrible monster. We stare at each other, neither moving, blinking, nor exchanging words, until I am the first to end that cycle, closing my eyes and feeling the mana inside of me, channeling 90% of it into one point, and discharging it out the window, a beam of orange light the size of a needle, that disappeared in the time of a blink. This power... the shadow was right, I''m not mentally strong enough to wield this power, my mind is far too unstable. I can''t wield this power yet... I concentrate deeply on my mana circuits, and using the remaining 10% of my mana, I use it to block three quarters of my mana circuits, leaving only twenty five percent of my mana circuits usable. That should be enough to seal my power for now. I''m so sorry those that were killed because of my weakness, I don''t even know your names... I''m so, so, sorry... "That was a good shot, Arthur." I immediately open my eyes, forgetting about all my sadness for a moment. It''s the Shadow! I need to know if he''s Luke Wolkan! I open my mouth to speak, but my slight moment of ignorance disappears, as I remember everything once again. The Keeper hovers through the window and flies between me and Lillian. "I''m glad to see you place value on human life now, but like I said, it''s time for you to prove yourself by making amends with whoever that''s directed to. Otherwise, as stated in our contract, I will kill you and¨C" "DO IT THEN!!" I stomp up to him, screaming at him directly in his face. "IT''S JUST AS YOU SAID! I''M NOT READY FOR IT! DID YOU THINK I WANTED TO BE CHOSEN?!?! THIS ALL HAPPENED BECAUSE YOU CHOSE ME!!" "NONE OF THOSE INNOCENT LIVES WOULDN''T HAVE BEEN LOST IF YOU HADN''T MADE THAT SENTIENT ROCK, TIN WOULDN''T HAVE DIED IF IT WASN''T FOR ME BEING CHOSEN!!!" "So if you want to kill me, then fine, do it. But know this, I might have caused their deaths, but your hands aren''t clean either." "Dispose of me according to your will." I say while sneering at him, before I close my eyes and outstretch my neck as far as I can, giving the Keeper a clean and easy way to slice. "Save that neck for another day Arthur, as I hope that day never comes." What? I open my eyes and see the shadow emotionless, speaking strictly. "This was all a test." A test?! "Though extremely disrespectful and rude, you have shown your great commitment and love to the preservation of life, so you have passed." I look at him in disbelief. Did he really just say that this was a test? Does he not care for life at all even though that''s what he''s preaching to me? He means to say that five people, who he could have saved, he let die? ALL FOR THE SAKE OF A TEST?!?! The Keeper''s face remains unchanging, his eyes still calm and showing empathy, his mask covering the majority of his face, but the most easily imaginable image of his face, would be relaxed, perhaps even with a smile. "Don''t get the wrong idea Arthur, they were all evil members of the Arcanus Cult, there''s no need to spare a thought of whether to spare them for those vile, demon worshiping bastards. You did good, no innocent people were harmed from this incident. You did good." The Arcanus Cult?! Of course! If they sent their acolytes to the Mint Estate, that must mean that they already know my identity! If that''s true then, that would mean that I''m not a murderer! "Really?!" I blurt out, unable to contain my happiness, smiling gleefully. "Yes, really. But you still have to go back to Ashland right now, this is not for my sake, this will be extremely helpful for you as well." "Yes, of course! I''m¨C sorry about my outburst toward you, I wasn''t in the correct state of mind." I say remorsefully, awkwardly scratching the back of my head. "Don''t think too deeply on it, it just goes to show how much you truly valued their lives. It''s easy to fix your behavior with discipline, but when one''s true nature cannot be changed so easily. Yet, you have shown to me your true nature, and it is enough." "Oh'' yes, thank you sir! Uh, one more thing before I leave, are you¨C Luke Wolkan?" The Keeper''s eyes widen. "That''s a very good guess, Arthur, but it seems like you''ve only used the clues about Luke Wolkan that I gave you, and didn''t bother to care about the rest. What a shame though, I thought my name ought to have been as famous as him by now or at least around children. Take another guess, I''ll give you one last clue." What? He''s not Luke Wolkan? How can that be? How could he possibly know about the Sage System and the recipe for the treatment for Black Blood if he wasn''t Luke Wolkan? I have to think about this carefully, he said his name should be famous, especially around children, but he''s been alive since Luke Wolkan''s time 700 years ago? How is that possible? No human that I can think of matches his description! I''ll have to pay extra close to this next hint he''s going to give me then. I activate Heightened Senses and Body Enhancement concentrated on my eyes, but something goes wrong. Body Enhancement doesn''t work? Damn, it must be because I got rid of all my mana! Whatever! I''ll just have to make due with Heightened Senses then! I push all my energy to my eyes as I stare at his right hand that slowly pulls open the right side of his cloak. What? There''s nothing there! What am I supposed to be looking at or figuring out from this? Then, without dropping the cloak, he moves his left hand into the empty and open space in his cloak, and out of nowhere, Sagey appears in his hands. What? Sagey? I didn''t even notice you were gone! Oh how I missed you! My joy is ended as I begin to comprehend the reality of what I had just witnessed. Wait, did he just¨C use the inventory? There''s no way, I thought he was just a fictional character! "So, what''s your guess?" He says joyfully with a playful smile on his face. "Are you Terminus?" He rips off the black mask from his face, the black robes quickly warping out of existence along with it. "Good guess, getting it on the second try isn''t so bad. Chapter 68: Personalities Chapter 68: Personalities (I wanted to kill myself writing the latter half of this Chapter) (Don''t get your hopes up too high, I don''t think it''s sexual but still, READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION) His pale purple robe lined with the shapes of the moon, sun, and stars, colored by original dyes rest on his body while his somehow perfect, sparkling, slicked back, gray hair rests over his head. Wow, his robes look just like they were described in the novel! But just like the novel, it looks a little... bland and underwhelming. Hmm how should I put this? It looks like it was made by a child, the shapes are different sizes, and the color palette other than the yellow sun just looks pale and boring. The only piece of evidence that makes me think that it was made by a somewhat skilled artisan, is that on both sides of the robes are perfectly symmetrical. Still the robes are a little underwhelming, I was expecting something cooler with a better design "Come on Arthur, don''t be so disappointed from the look of my robes, it''s an ancient relic made by the greatest artisan of my time!" I close my eyes to give them a short time to rest. Why would I care? I''m not a historian¨C wait, maybe he''s showing me this to give it to me?! In that case, I''ll gladly accept any of his artifacts! Terminus sighs as he sees me open my eyes, and sees the greed in them. "Haaa, this artifact isn''t for you Arthur, I''m going to hand over all my treasures to my disciple." Wait¨C didn''t he say he would give me all his treasures?!?! Why is he changing his mind now?! "Wait, why can''t I be your disciple? I thought you were going to train me!" I say, whining out loud like a true spoiled, noble kid who, for the first time, doesn''t get what they want. "Arthur, I''ve been alive for over seven hundred years now, in my time, space magic what something that has not even been theorized yet, well actually, it has but because of the lost history of the Mythical Era, the people of my time has never thought of it yet, let alone, practiced it." Why is he telling me this? I can take a straight answer! "I was just an attributeless, 6th circle mage, well since I was attributeless, I guess it would be more fitting to call myself a 6th circle magic scholar whose dreams at being both a swordsman and mage had been shattered, only being able to reach the 6th stage of both paths no matter how hard I tried. I was supposed to be a Great Sage, or a Grandmaster, everyone put so much hope in me, but I couldn''t even surpass the first wall. Fifty years, or two generations after me, a young boy who was also called the genius of his generation, however, unlike me, I could tell that he had real potential." Terminus unexpectedly bursts out in laughter. "And do you know what he said to me? Hahaha! He told me that I was a genius and he wanted me to be his mentor and teach him! Me! A talentless old man, who had nothing except his brain left. I was in absolute disbelief, but not mad, it was already a normal occurrence for children, especially nobles to make fun of me, but for some reason, for the genius of the generation to do the same, it just made something snap inside of me, I almost killed him, haha. Eventually I began to see eye to eye with him, and after 80 years of engineering and a contract with the Primordial Phoenix, at the age of 155, him being 95, we found what he calculated to be 80% of the forgotten or hidden knowledge in the world. Fun fact before we continue, did you know that the Transcendental Wizard was also a space affinity mage like me? Quite the coincidence, no? Anyway, so we stored all of it, along with all the present world''s knowledge, inside the first and only artifact to surpass the Godly tier that we created." He holds up Sagey, letting it shine in the bright sunlight, all of our attention focused on admiring it. "We named the tier after godly, Eternal. Then, immediately afterwards, Luke founded a school, and died a short while later. I followed his last request, to leave it to the Sage System, to choose the person who would be his successor, and the one to slay Arcanus. After he died, life got boring. I didn''t know why he didn''t make a contract with the damned phoenix like me, but now I know, immortality is a curse, however, I had a promise to uphold." "I worked with the phoenix these past seven hundred years or so, settling in the church, acting like a shadow since it was built just above the vault, and quite convenient. I also attended the meetings with the Sages of Knowledge from time to time to discuss philosophies with the intellectuals of each generation which is quite fun. And after 700 years have passed, here I am, finally having reached the stage of a 9th circle Great Sage in magic, not just in knowledge." Processing... Processing... My mind continues to process the massive amount of information he had just thrown onto me. While my mouth hangs open without realizing it. "Look, I guess what I''m trying to say is, you have no talent for space magic, and don''t worry, none of thr treasures I''ve promised you will be taken from you, I was just talking about the artifacts I made specifically for space magic, that you wouldn''t be able to use." My mind snaps back from its trance, trying to process the life story that he just imparted onto me, the moment I hear those words. Huh? I get all the treasures? "Haaaa¨C yes you get all the treasures, you can ask me any other questions you want to later." I should get going now like he said, if he''s being so adamant about it, there must be something to be gained right? Even if he didn''t tell me, I would''ve still gone, the sooner I get back to Ashland, the better. I wish that I could get all the information I want about how everyone is doing, but that''ll have to wait. That kid, Bran is probably freaking out since so much time has passed and it''s closing in on 5 days¨C wait how many days has it been?! "Wait¨C how long has it been, Sir Terminus?" I say with great distress showing on my face. "That''s not something you should be asking me¨C" He moves out of the way, and Lillian, who had been hidden behind him is revealed. "Physician?" He continued. Right, Lillian had still been in the room! I completely forgot about her through my outburst, rollercoaster of emotions, and being hidden behind Terminus! She''s probably terrified of me now because of all the displays of insanity I showed! Damn it, I hope this doesn''t cause trauma for her in the future, I swear I won''t ever show such a scene ever again! Due to the guilt I felt, I avoided eye contact, keeping my head to the ground, and just hoping for her to end this awkward silence and give me a response. However, after seconds of nothing, my curiosity and worry start to take hold of me. Is she really so terrified and traumatized by me that she won''t even speak to me when the Wizard of Time and Space, himself tells her to? Or could it be that she just doesn''t want to speak to me at the moment because she''s childishly pouting? That would be one of the better case scenarios, but what if she fainted because of how afraid she was? Shit, I don''t know! I''m going to look! Just before I decide to manually look up of my own will, Lillian finally speaks. "Arthur?" My head stiffly flicks upward, like a machine, at the sound of her voice, gulping nervously as I prepare myself for what horrors I would see on her face, before I turn on my sensory processor. Please don''t look terrified or angry! To my fortunate surprise, her reaction was neither mad nor scared. Unfortunately, it was due to my narrow mind that I could not formulate a reaction worse than what I thought. Nothing could have prepared me for what her face looked like. "My, I never knew you had such a wonderful side to you, Arthur! I forgive you for everything you did! AH~ I can''t hold myself back anymore!" She holds her cherry red face, panting heavily as she stares at me with uncontrollable lust. Shit, what the hell?! She''s younger than me but acts just like Pyro the first time we met! I feel my own face start to do this same as my body rapidly heats up. However, in my rapid body temperature increase, I stay frozen, more so than I ever have, my fingers twitching, but nothing else. I close my eyes to organize my thoughts, and when I open them, I look straight up, avoiding the beast in front of me as much as possible. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Ah¨C how could I be so foolish? She must be acting this way because I made her so afraid, that it caused her personality to change, I think it was called trauma bonding? Wow I can''t believe I did that, I really have to fix myself since it even caused this child''s mind to collapse! . . . Right? GOD DAMN IT! CAN THIS FUCKING BRAIN STOP BEING SO SMART FOR ONE SECOND?!?! I''M TRYING MY BEST TO CONVINCE MYSELF BUT IT ISN''T WORKING! GOD, PLEASE, JUST FOR ONCE, MAKE MY BRAIN DUMBER!!! Seconds pass, but my body temperature still continues to rise at a rapid and steady pace. FUCCCCKKK!!!! DO SOMETHING TERMINUS!!! I finally turn to Terminus and see him gone, no longer in his spot. Did he... DID HE JUST FUCKING LEAVE ME?!?! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED ABOUT SUPPORTING ME AS MUCH AS HE COULD?!?! THIS ISN''T THE KIND OF SUPPORT I WANT RIGHT NOW!! GET ME OUT OF HERE!!! Suddenly, I hear a chop and something falls on the mattress. "I apologize Arthur, for ruining both of your romantic time, but this old man just thinks that both of you are too young to be doing this right now. Ahem, it seems she has forgiven you so I''ll just tell you." I stare down at her unconscious body laying down on the bed, my body still yet to calm down, continuing to rise in temperature as I ignore his words, fading into the background. "Huff¨C Huff¨C" "Arthur!" Terminus says, his voice finally reaching me, the shout finally snapping me out of my trance. "Huh? Oh, yes, please go on." I quickly respond after returning to reality, wiping the drool I felt off my mouth. Oh god, what the hell was I thinking? Terminus looks at me skeptically, but also sympathetically for a while, before he speaks once again. "I don''t know if anyone told you this, and you might not believe me, but I don''t think that this is how you act normally, this might be a coping mechanism you made to relieve your stress, so make sure you go to Ashland and fix that. If you still act like this afterwards, I think I''ll need to question you later..." What does he mean? Pyro said the same thing but I didn''t notice anything wrong! Well, I guess I wouldn''t be able to know if what they''re saying is right. Is it really that big of a deal though? Chapter 69: The Bad Ending Part: 1 Chapter 69: The Bad Ending Part: 1 Terminus coughs to clear his throat. "Ahem. That''s my fault for getting sidetracked, to answer your question, you have been asleep for seven days." Multiple parts of my body twitch but I remain still, and continue listening to Terminus'' words with a darkened expression. Seven days? THAT''S A WHOLE WEEK! THAT''S MUCH LONGER THAN THE AMOUNT OF DAYS I PROMISED BRAN! Inside my mouth, I grit my teeth to release some of my anger. Damn! He must be thinking that I died in the dungeon by now. He''s just a little kid! What if the bandits I killed were affiliated with other bandits and knew of Bran''s existence, and are now interrogating him on where the other bandits are? What if they killed him when he didn''t give them the answers they were looking for? My face almost falls into absolute devastation when my next terrible theory comes along. It''s a bit extreme, and I might be thinking too highly of myself for this, but what if he took his own life? After years of being abused, even his own brother and parents abandoning him, I come along and promise him freedom and a loving family. Except, what if I just suddenly never come back? His one and only hope left in the world, gone? In the horror of my own thoughts, Terminus'' voice that has yet to reach me, continues to play. "It seems like you had too much fatigue built up because even after seven days of no sleep straight, and taking two energy pills, you should''ve only slept for two days... It seems like you expended more energy than I thought with the Eye of Truth and whatever it is that you did to kill the parasite." Ignoring everything he said, I speak immediately after he stops, with a blank expression on my face. "Is Rachel awake?" "No, she has been asleep for longer than you have, not even I know when she will awaken." "I see, I should get going then." I must''ve had a glimpse of the future, though immediately forgetting it, but feeling something strange rampage inside of my mind. Another consciousness must''ve taken hold of it, and are keeping it from me. Those damned bastards. I start heading for the window, but then suddenly, Terminus calls out. "Aren''t you going to take the Sage System?" I pretend to think about it for a second, turning around and seeing Terminus'' skeptical face. "No, I think I should take the Warp Gate." I say, while putting on an ever so fake, cheerful smile. "Alright then, as long as you try to get there as quickly as possible." I nod my head down and jump out the window. *** After staring out the window for a few seconds, Terminus bursts out into joy, smiling greatly as he monologues out loud, pretending as if he were talking to someone. "Haaa, finally, our dreams can be fulfilled, you were right Luke, Arthur will definitely be the one to beat Magnus Arcanus. He will save the world, and I will finally be able to rest." He stops speaking for a moment as if he was listening to someone else speak. Thrn, he abruptly continues monologuing, in a different more serious tone. "Were those five people who died really all members of the cult? No, they weren''t. But seeing his reaction was enough for me to realize his pure heart. I want to keep it pure for as long as possible, and thus, mourn for them even now, in my heart. If I can, I hope he will never find out." Terminus stops speaking for a second, and bends down to pick something off the bed. "Aww look! He even has offspring of the Primordial Phoenix that could only be hatched when used by someone with a pure heart! Just look how cute this baby Phoenix is! It truly reflects on the heart of its owner!" *** The Wizard of Space, so happy, he fails to detect the unwanted linster. Just below the window balcony, one person stealthily hovers above a cloud of green air with an unreadable frown hanging from it, before he disappears into the air in a fiery blaze. I killed 5 innocent people... I pull a piece of cloth from my clothes and wrap it around my face, before sneakily running through the ridiculously long line to the Warp Gate, to the front. "HEY WATCH WHERE YOU''RE GOING!!" The adventurers yell. I don''t have the Sage System, so I''ll have to try something else. Without exchanging any words, the Gate Master''s lock onto mine, as I forcefully make my eyes look worried and in distress, to pull at his heart strings. Eventually, the gate master opens the gate. I''m sorry for doing this. Entering Ashland once again, I immediately run to the adventurer''s guild receptionist closest to me. "Do you know where Bran is?" The receptionist looks at me in confusion. "I''m sorry? Who?" "He''s a young boy about 12 years old who has blonde hair, uhh, he has a twin brother!" The receptionist who looked at me with confusion the entire time, suddenly jumped up. "Oh! Those bandit twins! Yeah I know them, I haven''t heard any news about David for almost two weeks now, but I heard that failure got into some trouble with the Bracken Bandits uhhh¨C I think it was two days ago?" I grit my teeth hearing her say his former name. How could parents be so terrible to name their child that? Two days ago? That means if I didn''t fucking enjoy myself and sleep for so long, I could''ve still met up with him!! Damn it! "Where? WHERE ARE THE BRACKEN BANDITS LOCATED? DO YOU KNOW?!?!" I scream out uncontrollably, saliva flying out of my mouth. "No, that is all the information I can give you for free, if you want more, you''ll have to pay for it." She says while closing her eyes and crossing her arms, annoyed. Her eyes swing open as she hears the loud crashing on the table in front of her, where my hand is slammed in the middle of the broken desk. In it, is the amulet I got from the Wolkan Academy''s vault, the Eye of the Storm. "Is this enough?" Her eyes widened immensely, staring in disbelief. "Yes¨C please hold while I get the manager to handle this transaction¨C" I slam my other fist on the table. "Just tell me where they are!!" "The-y usually hang around the lower merchant district¨C their base is a stone cube with iron barred windows¨C" I''m sorry! Please be safe, Bran! S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. I rush over to the slums of Ashland, and see old people with long dirty beards, lying at the side of buildings either dead or sleeping. How terrible... but I cannot stop to help them right now. I continue running through the streets until I stop, coming across a coughing old man in old rags covered in a dirty blanket. "Sir! Can you direct me to the lower merchant district?" Moving slowly, like a sloth, he eventually managed to lift up his arm, and points to the end of the road. "Thank you sir!!" I continue running until I reach the end of the path where I see a sorry excuse of a merchant district, all the goods set on a dirty piece of cloth, with a sign of carpentry in sight. What horrible living conditions... The slums have never been this bad in the capital! My attention is diverted as I hear screaming from the far end of the district and see the stand, and all the stands behind it, in a trail, in tatters. The stands and merchants, being destroyed by a group of bandits wearing poorly made iron armor. THERE YOU ARE YOU FUCKING SCUM!!! I activate Flame Claws, and in an instant, slice off all of their heads, making sure they feel the burning pain before they die. "Where are these bastards'' base at? The cube of stone." I say while looking down at the poor merchant, on the floor, looking up at me in fear. A few seconds later, he gathers enough courage, and points. Following the direction of his hand to a building a few houses away. I would find this funny, if there was something to be laughed at. "Thank you." I rush over, and break down the door, where three other bandits inside, sit at a wooden table playing cards. Surprised to see me, they are stunned for a second before they grab their weapons. "Kill him¨C" One tried to say, before their heads fall off their neck. I lay over their decapitated bodies, my facial expressions unbothered by the lives I just took. Looks like I''ll have another list of people to go over when I get the chance. Where is their jail cell? Please be okay, Bran! I run through all the rooms on all the floors, but still fail to find the cellar. Damn it! Where is it! I know they have a cellar here! I come back down to the ground floor where the bandits'' bodies lie. Okay, let''s think rationally about this, Arthur, if you were going to not hide it somewhere, because you''re so smart, where would you put it? I look down at the floor, and then the bandits'' bodies. Yep, definitely right there. I kick their bodies away from the table and then the table itself, their playing cards flying all over the room. On the location where the table used to sit on top of, was where a wooden tile, a slightly darker color than the others on the floor. How obvious, I don''t know how I didn''t even think of it before. I must really be losing my touch. Enhancing my arm with mana, in a single pulling motion, I rip the latch off. The moment the air in the cellar touches me, I suddenly feel my brain process something, but the concept quickly leaves me. Huh, how dark and ominous, and it reeks of filth. I feel bad for you, Bran, for having to stay in this hole, but don''t worry, now that I''ve found you, I''ll clean you up well after I get you out. "Bran?!" I shout into the hole, the voice not echoing, but the smell strongly flying into my nose. "Holy crap that smells terrible! Haha" But since it didn''t echo, that means that it''s a small cellar. I jump down into the cellar without using Swift Wind, reaching the bottom less than a second later. "Wow, it really is dark in here, and this floor." I step up and down. "It must be hay!" My heartbeat starts to become unnatural and beats randomly. "Bran? What''s wrong, do you need some water?" I cast a Dawn to light the cellar, the bright light blinding me at first since I had grown accustomed to the darkness in the cellar. "Wow that''s bright, and ha! What do you know? This is hay! But I must say," My eyes start to look up, slowly moving up the ground. "This cellar is really terribly made, haha..." I had been trying to convince myself otherwise ever since the opening of the cellar, hoping with everything I had, and praying as much as I could for a miracle, laughing and joking to try and cope. But I knew, I knew the truth, and stopped trying to convince myself as I laid my eyes upon Bran''s motionless corpse, blood all over the floor, seeped out from all the cuts all over his body and clothes, absorbed by the hay and turned into a scarlet color. Blood and bruises covered his whole face, a dark trail formed from the blood likely spilled out of his mouth, and on his eyes, his beautiful eyes filled with the endless vitality of a child, has now darkened, only half open, and the life long gone from it. Finally, as a last desecration to his corpse, on his head laid his messy, formerly blonde hair, now browned, dyed in the filth of the cellar. As I stare, even though my face was lit by the light of Dawn, my darkened expression did not change, the last ember of hope left, dies out, the rage no longer fueling it. So this is how it is? No... I''m sorry... If only I was quicker. I don''t even feel any anger in me anymore. Has my heart hardened? No, it''s far too early to say that, but this helplessness and emptiness I feel inside has replaced the anger. Does it feel better? No. Actually scratch all that, WHO SAID I WASN''T MAD? IF WHAT I FEEL RIGHT NOW ISN''T ANGER, THEN WHAT IS? I feel my internal organs start to heat up, starting from my heart, and traveling throughout my blood, my mana circuits and blood vessels fusing together from the mana plane, lava coursing through my veins as blue fire, for the first time, erupts out of my body like an explosion, traveling through the entire room in an instant, turning it into a furnace of sorts. Also like an explosion, it leaves my consciousness dizzy, everything left a blur. *** When I awake once again, I stand, flying above a pile of ash that stretches for as far as the eye can see, everything that''s not ash, either smoke or flame, Looks like I still haven''t found Bran yet, I guess I''ll try to find Tin''s wife next then. PLEASE READ AUTHOR''S NOTE Chapter 70: The Bad Ending Part: 2 Chapter 70: The Bad Ending Part: 2 I fly past the burning piles of ash and fire, the entire district filled with screams, ignoring it like it wasn''t even there, flying back the route I came. It''s really a shame I wasn''t able to find Bran, but I''m sure he''s safe. In my flight, completely forgetting the world below me, I look up at the pink sky, and the sun setting in the west, with my pupils'' completely devoid of light, a black husk of its vibrant brown self. That''s also a shame, I wanted to see the sun high in the sky again. Wait, why did I want to see it again? I think it had something to do with what I thought back at the Mint Estate Clinic, but I guess I forgot. Whatever, let''s not get so worked up about it, it''s probably no big deal. I need to stop procrastinating, it''s quite a bad habit of mine. How will I be able to find Tin''s wife without Rachel, or any other party member? I don''t know, but I guess we''ll see, who knows, I might just see Bran eating some candy along the way! In my mindless flight back, retracing my steps, the fiery houses and smoke filled air come to an end. Hey, it''s not so hot anymore. I wonder what''s different, but I guess I shouldn''t get off track. Inside the adventurer''s guild, it''s quite empty, all except for a few who form a small crowd around the receptionist''s desk, a few sentences being heard before it turns to indiscernible screaming. "I WANT TO TAKE THE FIRE EXTERMINATION QUEST!" "SIGN ME UP!" Papers fall down through the air, as the small crowd of adventurers grasp for them, quickly running past me, out the door once they get one. What dedicated and good adventurers, they''re all so eager to help out against the fire monster thing or something similar to that. I hope I can be like those adventurers in the future! When the crowd disappears, I come face to face with the stressed-looking receptionist. Oh hey, that''s a familiar face! I don''t quite remember who, but if I don''t remember her with evil intentions, that must mean she''s good! "Hey ther¨C" I try to say, closing my eyes and trying to put on a smile. "Oh hey! It''s you! What can I do for you, great patron? Oh! Have you come back for your change? I have it right here!" She hurriedly reaches down below her new, unbroken desk. "There''s no need for that, I need your help to find someone." I say, while continuing to smile at her with my eyes closed. She lifts her head out from under the desk. "Oh, you''re talking about failure right? You must not have been able to find him because of the fire some crazy arsonist started in the slums, I heard it started somewhere near the lower merchant district actually. What is she talking about? I don''t remember speaking to her about this, or seeing a fire, my memory is perfect! I haven''t even tried looking for him yet, I just got here. My memory is perfec¨C An imaginary cracking noise is sent to my brain, as I feel my mind start to scream in pain, even though my brain remains undamaged. "AUUUUURRRGGHHHHH!!!!" I scream out in pain, holding my head and tugging on my hairs in order to try and relieve even a bit of it. "SIR? ARE YOU OKAY?!" The receptionist looks at me with a face full of worry. However when she blinks and her eyes open, her worry for me turns into worry for herself, now looking up at me, now standing upright and looking down at her. She looks at me terrified, like I was a monster. "AAAHHHH!!!!" We merely exchange glances at each other, but when her eyes meet with mine, she shrieks in fear. "Is something the matter, madam?" I say while unknowingly staring fiercely at her with my pitch black eyes, endless like the void, and tilting my head to get a better look at her. What? Is something on my face? Why''s she screaming like that? The receptionist''s body, frozen in fear, looks at me with eyes that begin to calm down, still far from normality. "N-no, there''s nothing wrong, dear patron." She says, her voice trembling as she quickly looks away from me once she notices she has control over her eyes. "Alright then, could you please explain more about Bran, I mean failure? And what we spoke about last time?" I smile widely, showing great sincerity again by closing my eyes, however, an ominous aura continues to exude from me. "We-we''ve spoken about this before, you asked me about failure, the twin brother of David and gave me this artifact in-in exchange for telling you where the Bracken Bandits were located!" My eerie smile stays unchanging, while my eye slightly twitches, staying silent and continuing to stare at her. "Did you say something? I¨C I''ve never spoken to you before and I''ve never gone looking for¨C ... who?" My eyes become unfocused and my smile disappears, my head tilting as I try to remember, my eyes regain focus as my pupils suddenly veer back at the receptionist. "Haha¨C hahaHAHAha... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" I laugh maniacally, my voice echoing through the entirely empty guild hall, my smile remaining after I stop. "Greetings ma''am, how are you doing this fine evening?" She stares intensely at me, in great fear, unable to respond. "I just have one question for you." I lean in, up close to her sweating face. "Where is the C rank adventurer, Tin''s loving wife and kids?" In her nervousness, the receptionist gulps, the soft dulled sound moving throughout the silent room before she speaks. "Didn''t you want to know where Bran is¨C" I smash the table, the erupting sound cutting her off before she finishes her sentence. Her panicked eyes try to shut, but open again in the time of two blinks, focusing solely on my hand, drenched in blood, dripping down as I lift it up. When it goes up to my face, the receptionist starts praying to Pyro as she sees my face, no longer smiling, my eyes, marked by insanity, attracting her gaze no matter how much she tries to go against it. "I DON''T KNOW WHO BRAN! IS JUST ANSWER!" I grab her wrist with my blood covered hand, and hold onto it tightly, the pressure I put onto it increasing by the second. "WHERE. DOES. TIN. LIVE." The receptionist bursts out into tears, screaming while her hand that I held turned purple. "I DON''T KNOW!! PLEASE!! PLEAse..." I stared, first seeing her blackened hand, the blood from my hand transferring onto hers, and then the puddle of tears under her. And it made me angry. As I left the adventurer''s guild, there were no humans left, no adventurers or workers, the only thing being a puddle of blood that happened to be from the same person as the new coating on my hand. Time to do this the old fashioned way I guess. *** Adventurers carrying water buckets run past me, to try and put out the trail of burning houses behind me, the only source of light in this dark, cloudy night created by the smoke. Ah, so this is it, the last house on the street. I will admit, it would have been easier for me to find this place if Rachel was here with me, but I''m here now regardless. Now all I have to do is hope that this is the right house, or I may have to stay in this village until morning. I take a look down at myself, walking back to the building I just left to get a better look at myself with better lighting. Hmm... I don''t know how my clothes got this ragged, but this is certainly not a respectful appearance for apologizing to the family of Tin who¨C What happened with Tin again? I don''t know, maybe it''s his birthday or something. In that case, this attire is perfectly fine. Just as I finish looking at myself and convincing myself once again, I turn back to the last house, but something low on the ground catches my eye. Huh? What''s this? I lift up my shoe and see a crumpled up, flat blue lily on a dirt patch, broadening my range of vision, I look to the right of it, and see a whole garden full of flowers. Ah, how beautiful. These flowers would be a perfect gift to give him! Well, maybe not him but his wife. It doesn''t really matter, any gift at all is better than none. Without hesitating, I crouch down and with one hand, pull out a handful of red flowers from the dirt patch. I''m not a florist, but these flowers look pretty good. I pat down the flowers a bit, to remove the dirt from them, as well as my clothes where some of the dirt landed. Perfect. I walk up the steps of the porch and taking a deep breath, I knock on the door, softly and rhythmically, the door slightly pushing in a bit. No one''s responding huh? I guess I''ll just take that as an invitation in! I grab the doorknob and slowly push it open. "Huh, what a nice and cozy place, you sure got yourself a good house, Tin." I look at a single picture standing on a wooden shelf, where Tin, along with a woman and two children smile happily in a grassy meadow, full of flowers and plants. Looks like this is Tin''s house. "And a good family too!" I make my way further into the house, admiring the welcoming furniture along the way. "I brought some flowers for you and your wife! Since you know, it''s your birthday..." My voice lowers as I suddenly feel a sticky pull on my shoe when I step into the dark living room, and a weird sound comes from it. S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "What the hell is this stuff? It smells like¨C blood..." I intensely look down at my feet, but still can''t get a good look at what it is without light. Finally, I hold up my hand and summon a dim Dawn, making me certain of my idea. Yeah, this seems to be a relatively small puddle of blood. My eyes continue to look up from the blood beneath me, revealing a sea of blood spanning from the small puddle beneath me, to the edge of what Dawn lights up. Okay, so not just a small puddle of blood, but where is it coming from? The bright blue moonlight shines through the window as the smoke from the fires start to clear up. Ahh, how beautiful, it''s like looking at the sun. Just... calmer. I can feel all of my stress and troubles leaving me. Drifting away like ash through the wind. However, as I bask in the moonlight, one large shadow blocks my face from being soaked in the glorious moonlight. I fight the urge as much as possible, but eventually, I succumb to it, and open my pitch black eyes, now seeing the room in its actual self. Yeah, there sure is a lot of blood over the floor, it seems what I stepped in was but a fraction of its entirety. Finally, after much delay, I glance over at the three hindrances in front of me, blocking my view with the moon. I glance at it for a long time, without showing any emotion through its entirety. I only look away for a single second to unroll the makeshift bandages I wrapped around my head, standing the lowest in the moonlight, of the three figures dangling from the ceiling. One the size of a woman, her feet reaching as low as my chest, and the two other figures, whose feet don''t even touch the tips of my hair. I take one last deep breath before I fall to the ground in a blurry daze as all the forgotten memories rush back into my head, unable to even hold myself up with my arms, collapsing onto just my head and knees. "HAAAAARRGGH¨C HAAG AAAAHHH" My body ached, my breaths coming more frequent and shallow, coughing uncontrollably while gasping for air as tears and saliva slobbered out from their openings. Unable to deal with the overload of information and emotions, as the final blow, my mental brain shatters, crackling into fragments and scattering across the library that is my mind. In the far end of my mind, one point reaches a state of clarity within its own insanity. Tin, you were right, humans are evil. But I''m not speaking to you right now to apologize for not being able to stop them. I''m sorry that I was unable to be any different from them... Chapter 71: The Bad Ending Part: 3 Chapter 71: The Bad Ending Part: 3 I awaken from my slumber in a familiar, dimly lit room, in my familiar, dimly lit bed, under my blanket smelling of me. My eye, full of desperation and lined by dark circles, stare longly at the ticking clock at the opposite side of the room, showing no clear anger or sadness. Starting when the short hand pointed halfway to 9, and ending when it struck midnight. I slowly raise my hand up to where my left eye was, and hold it still for a long time when I feel the bandage around it. I lift the blanket off of me, and step through the door, wincing away from the bright light as I step through, but continuing down the empty hall, to the only other door in it, the office of the patriarch. I walk slowly and uniformly down the long red carpet, until I reach the grand wooden door, and creak it open. Just as I expected, the man responsible for my appearance sits at his desk, looking not a day older than me with his pitch black eyes, the same as mine, looking directly at me. We stare into each other''s dark eyes, in silence for a long time. "So you''ve chosen to take the same path as me? My son?" I continue to remain silent, not showing any more emotion than I previously had. "I remember now father, I know what you did." Neither of our faces change, as we continue to stare at each other. "I did not want you to take the same path as me, so I did what I had to do. But it seems like it was for nothing." Through his pitch dark, emotionless eyes, a slight form of sadness appears on his face for a second. *** My father held two titles, his second title being, the Flash of Lightning, given to him by being the fastest swordsman in the kingdom. But just like me, he was said to be the greatest genius in his generation, and it was true, he became an Imperial ranked swordsman at just the age of 35. Breaking all the previous time records, like me, and he has never lost once in an official duel. However, no other swordsman would recognize him because of his personality. He was a famous ladies'' man, because of his looks, accused of being involved in many scandals, even one with the queen, however, no evidence had ever been presented and all the cases were dropped. But that''s only the reason why regular swordsmen despise him, all the swordsmen worthy of respect, other than Thorne Bladesong hate him because of his talent. Not due to envy, wanting it for themselves, but due to jealousy, how he has such unbelievably awesome talent, but doesn''t use it. Since his time in the Wolkan Royal Academy as a student, none have ever seen him train with a sword, his perfectly clear hands empty of calluses, always lazing around, sleeping whenever he had the chance. So they named him, the Lazy Swordmaster, a title accepted by everyone, both his friends and enemies. I knew nothing of my mother, and very little about my mysterious father. I have very few memories of spending time with him, I had always been the one to go and find him, trying to play with him, but he was always working. I never knew why everyone called him lazy. But even when I took up the sword to learn the Ventrike sword form, he was not the one to teach me. I was just taught by one of the senior Knights in Ventrike County. I had not expected him to visit me deep into the mountains, but even after I had finished my training with Thorne, he had not come out to welcome me. *** S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "You''re an evil person¨C" My right eye begins to water, the endless darkness within changing back to a vibrant brown under the tears, my nose and eye turning bright red. "But I''m also evil¨C" I try to smile, but my mouth trembles as I try to lift them, finally being pushed down from the weight of my tears. The heartless count, above his baggy circles, for the first time ever in my memory, trembles in shock, his eyes widening immensely and his pupils dilating, his distant eyes, void of emotion slightly becoming less dark. His eyes, still widely opened, rises from his chair and walks up to me, bringing me into a warm embrace. "You''re not evil Arthur, you''re simply broken. If anyone else was in your place, they would be equally as devastated as you. Everyone makes mistakes, but what''s important is that you learn from them, and if possible, fix them." I push myself away from his slim, but tall frame, forcing my head down, the tears continuing to fall as I childishly scream out in anger. "But how?! I''ve taken hundreds, maybe even a thousand lives! What can I possibly do to make it up to them?! There is no such thing as resurrection! I will never be able to bring them back!" He looks down at me with confused eyes, trying to understand, but sad to see the sorry state his son is in. He grabs my shoulders and I look directly into his not so fierce eyes, starting to calm down. "I- I''ve done almost all of what some guy a thousand years ago declared as immoral and illegal, hundreds of times in order to keep the demons from invading. I cannot empathize with you because these emotions are hard for me to understand. But, I know I know that dwelling on what you did in the past and beating yourself over it will not accomplish anything, you will not bring them back to life, and you will not honor their deaths. Even if you can''t pay it off in one life, it will be a step in the right direction that you can build up on in your next. It''s often easy to do the bad thing, and hard to do the good thing. But I know you can do it. You''ve always done it up until now and I¨C I know you can continue to do it." He tries to put on a smile but it just ends up looking weird. "The path you''re taking now will be lonely, and no one will ever know of your great deeds, your name forgotten to the world, only to be remembered as the lazy, or failed genius of the generation. However, in the record of Ventrike, you will always be remembered by what you did." He reaches into his coat and pulls out an ordinary looking, rusty bronze key. "This is the key that opens the door to the Grand Library. It is the fastest way for any Ventrike hero to grow, and is filled with all the knowledge collected by Swordmasters, Archmages, and Sages. But there will be no way to get in, or to get out before you get to at least the 9th stage, regardless of how long it takes. You won''t be able to speak with anyone or do anything other than what''s already given to you in the room." His face darkens again, but his eyes show a bit of sorrow. "I wish that there was some other way instead of this, but this is the only way for you to possibly get strong enough in time. Of course, I won''t force you to since I didn''t do it myself. Who knows? There might even be another way to finish you mission, like what I did with your¨C" He pauses before finishing his sentence, his sadness returning back to a straight face, but his eyebrow twitches into a frown for a second before returning to his emotionless state. "You must enter the Grand Library, you will be safe there¨C" He looks at my confused face, and seems to study it intensely. "My title of the Lazy Swordsman is accurate. Even though I trained everyday, and I completed my mission stopping the demons'' advancement to the mortal world, I was only able to do so after making an alliance with a demon, one of the cardinal sins... Haaaaaa¨C just know that it''s not safe for you to be out here anymore, the seal placed around you is gone and you could be attacked by any of her minions regardless of where you are. The Library is the only safe place left for you." He grabs my shoulders again, now looking distressed, but then, seeing my calm face, he calms himself down. "I''m sorry I was never able to spend time with you and give you the childhood you deserved, I had truly wanted to give you the life that I never lived. But, the prophecy came, and you were chosen¨C" Count Loran Ventrike tries to put his feelings into words, but with feelings so complicated, he cannot. Suddenly, I lean towards him, smiling, and wrap my arms around him, hugging him tightly. "I know, thank you." His eyes widen in surprise, but they soon soften under the warmth of his son''s love. His smile starts to lower as he hesitantly lets me go, watching me with sorrowful eyes, reaching his hand out to try and grab after me, running out of the door with the key in my hand, headed for the Grand Library. "I will always be on your side¨C" The Count makes a fist and grips strongly on it. "I will make sure no one ever disturbs that boy." He looks to the wall on his right, and calls upon his sword from the stand using his sword bond. He unsheathes the black¨C obsidian blade from its black-platinum sheath. Standing still for a couple of seconds, before his afterimage blurs and disappears. Chapter 72: The Bad Ending Part: 4 Chapter 72: The Bad Ending Part: 4 "This is the Grand Library? Father was right about this place being safe. I can''t really tell if this barrier is stronger than the one around Wolkan Academy, but it feels like much more ancient magic." I place the key into the hole, and making a loud thud, I turn the key, and the door slowly opens, the key being swallowed whole, inside the lock. "So this is where I''ll be staying for the next however long, huh? It''s quite... large." I make my way inside the massive room, quickly turning back as the doors make their loud sound, scratching against the floor as it shuts tightly behind me. Yeah, I don''t think I''ll be able to break out of here anytime soon. I turn back and continue my way down the mystical spiraling bookshelves, lit up by the single ray of light coming down from the dome in the center of the room. When I reach the center of the room, and stand directly below the dome of light, I see ten giant sacks sitting at the front of all the spiraling bookshelves. What''s in these? Food? I open the sacks, each of them, one by one and fall down after searching the last. "Ahh¨C all of them are just full of grain pills! Come on, couldn''t there be jerky or something? I haven''t had any good food to eat since before¨C well, everything really." I stare up at the ray of light shining down on me, and then back down at the bookshelves. "This really resembles the library inside my mind." "Speaking of which¨C" My vibrant brown eyes turn back to pitch blackness. "It''s time to collect all my fragments." *** A man with a long blue beard that stretches to his feet, sits, meditating under the light of the sun, on top of a mountain of worn and torn books, circled by empty, spiraling, charcoaled bookshelves. From the loud screams and explosions above him, his calm blue eyes finally open, staring out at the Grand Entrance to the room, covered in weathered marks of battle, but under its charred coat, it remains undamaged. Has it been ten years now? Looking closer at the door, microscopic white lines cover the frame. When all tallied up, it numbers to 3651. I haven''t been this bothered with noise since that time nine years ago when I heard that demon who stopped time and almost killed me in the Zidden Dungeon, along with hundreds of other horrific, demonic screams. It''s been quite quiet since then, but this noise, it really bothers me. Even the screaming from that time nine years ago only lasted for a few hours. But this time, it has been continuing for one day, seventeen hours, forty three minutes and nineteen seconds¨C and counting. I had wanted to stay in the Grand Library until I reached the 10th circle, but there isn''t really a point anymore. A glowing, orange eye appears on Arthur''s forehead, closing his right, he views the entire library from everywhere all at once, becoming one with the library. I''ve read all the books there are to read, but I''ve still yet to climb over the wall to the 10th circle. I start to get up, pushing myself up from my knee. But now that I''ve seen the wall myself, while in my right mind, all those insane fragments pieced back together, correctly this time it makes it even more unbelievable for Magnus to be a 10th circle. First off, to even have a chance of reaching it in less than a thousand years, you would need a talent that breaks the laws of the universe. It''s still possible for him to have reached it in his time, I heard that the mana in the air was multiple times higher than it is now. But as I currently am, it won''t be possible for me to reach it even if I was given another hundred years. I need to make do with what I have at the moment. I stare up at the transparent dome above my head and look at my reflection. But first, I should clean myself up first. Making no movements whatsoever, my long, blue beard is set ablaze, and completely disappears in the blink of an eye, not once touching the bottom of my chin, cleanly, and perfectly removing my beard. I feel around it with my hand. Hmm... feels smooth enough. Then, my sets ablaze in a blue fire, that also exhausts in less than a second, black droplets exiting from my sweat pores. That body cleansing technique sure is useful, but it kinda felt like there was more to the manual, like there were some pages to it that were purposefully torn out. The author had some foreign, ancient sounding name, so I''ll probably never find him., My nose sniffs, smelling the terrible stench coming from the dense black liquid. "Ugh, it smells terrible though¨C I should take a wash in actual water to get this shitty smell off of me." I leap off the mountain of books and land without making any impact, or with the ground even knowing I landed, and walk through the empty bookshelves, throwing a grain pill into my mouth, as I casually stroll to the room where the sound of rushing water comes from. "Damn, regardless of how many I eat, I can never get used to this disgusting, earthy taste. The smell coming from my body definitely isn''t helping it either." The noise has now been continuing for one day, seventeen hours, forty three minutes and twenty seconds. I splash under the artificial waterfall, constantly being drained and produced again from runic letters. "Hoooo, it''s cold but it feels nice." Just as I get up, the water around me evaporates, the circle of evaporation staying until I get out. Then, with a snap of my fingers, blue fire appears around me, this time, remaining for longer. When it disappears, my naked body is styled with a dark colored, full-body armor, made of my heavily condensed mana. "Now it''s time to see what the hell is making that noise." I disappear, and reappear at the door of the Grans Library where I had tried to break out from, hundreds of times, marked all over by my magic and my microscopic tallies used to track time. "Haaa¨C finally, after ten years, I can finally leave this dull library. Father was right, I hadn''t reflected on it since now but, it was lonely. Placing my hand on the newly formed orb that I noticed, from after I became a Great Sage two years ago. Hesitantly, after a pause, I raise my hand, and grab it, the orb turning blue before it disappears, the door beginning to open. Behind me, the mountain of books I had created, start to levitate up as high as the dome, all together, like a single being, before separate, scattering and filling the bookshelves from where they were originally placed. Huh, how neat. When the door fully opens, I turn back around, and see the stone hallway full of cuts, signs of intense battle, and directly in front, a skeleton is all that''s left, his spine, and the rest of the skeleton being forced to the wall, by a crimson greatsword, in his hand, even after death, never letting go of his chipped obsidian blade. I stare at the skeleton''s blade with a blank expression for a long time. That sword it''s holding is father''s Time-slashing rapier. As I walk closer to the skeleton, my blank expression turns to a smile. I kneel down to him and pull out the greatsword lodged inside him, and throw it forcefully into the wall. His skeleton falls to the ground, rattling but not falling apart. Continuing to stare at the sword tightly held in his hand, I admire it with warm eyes. "It''s fine now, you can finally rest." I carefully loosen his fingers from the broken rapier, and stick it deep into the ground. "Thank you for waiting for me all this time, you are the best dad I could have ever wished for." I calmly walk out of the long, lonely hallway, the echoes of my footsteps, the only sound to be heard. As I walk in silence, unable to get the picture of my dad''s skeleton out of my mind, I hear a crack come from in front of me, my body immediately reacting, I take a large leap backwards, returning back to the entrance of the Grand Library. I quickly recover and stare back at the place where I just stood. What''s that? Did I bump into a wall glass or something? No, that''s impossible, there''s no way I wouldn''t have been able to detect something in front of me. If it''s not that? What else could it be? A voice comes from my left. "Wow, that was a long jump, but you sure are younger than I imagined." What? My senses weren''t even able to detect him! Is he Magnus Arcanus? Just as I try to jump back, the old man with a beard that circles around his neck like a scarf, snaps his fingers, disorienting my thought process and flow of mana. "Let''s take this battle somewhere more fitting." We both stand, hovering high in the air, above the lifeless field of gray stone, where chunks of land seemed to have disappeared, in a variety of shapes, like the atoms that formed the matter had just been cleanly ripped out. I wasn''t certain of it before since I couldn''t feel his mana, but I''m certain of it now, this old man here is Arcanus! What he did just now was definitely teleportation, shortening the space between two locations and merging them! Just like what Terminus did, except it looks like he can erase space as well. "So, how have you been doing? Personally, it''s been nice feeling the fresh air for the first time in thousands of years." He says with great joy in his voice, while I stare at him fiercely with indifference, not saying a word. "Not much of a talker huh? Well, that''s fine too, I just wanted to congratulate you on being the last one alive!" I squint my eyes, looking at him much more fiercely with my Killing Intent. "You¨C did you kill everyone?" He rotates his body upside down, happily playing around like a child. "Everyone? You mean all the humans? No, how could I? I''m not a monster! I just killed every strong person, and you just so happened to be the last one! I must say, you''re really good at hiding, I''ve been searching for you for over a day and two nights now!" My eyebrow flinches. A day and two nights?! If what he says is true, then that means he eliminated all the strongest mages, swordsmen, and martial artists in less than two hours! "Were you the one responsible for that skeleton back in the stone hallway?" S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Arcanus looks at me with a confused look. "Who? You mean your father?" My eyes widened in surprise. What?!! How does he know that?!! He bursts out into laughter. "HAHAHAHA!!! You should''ve seen the look on your face! Haa... You must be wondering how I knew right? My body trembles slightly, as I stiffen my muscles. "Don''t be so cautious, I''ll tell you,I just want to enjoy some conversation with another human for the first time in two thousand years. Did you really think that those old geezers¨C" He pauses and looks at himself, curling the tip of his beard. "Huh, I guess I''m an old geezer now too, anyway, how could just six mages, just barely at the 9th stage possibly be equal to me? I had full control inside, and could''ve left whenever I wanted." "As much as I wanted to kill your traitorous father myself, I stayed true to my will and waited. When I was released from the seal, your father had already been a skeleton." If it wasn''t him, then it must''ve been those demons, I have some more questions, but I can find them out from the demons I find in hell after I finish this guy. He looks at me with a smile under his beard, continuing to rotate around in the air. He doesn''t take me seriously at all, I was caught off guard at first, but I can beat him in an instant. I will make him pay for what he said about my father. I stare at him, my eyes now void of emotion, and unwavering determination, my first target set. "Oooh, are you curious for more? Well, I''ll happily entertain you with the answers you want if you entertain me with conversation." He smiles cheerfully floating in the air with his legs crossed. I raise my hand, forming a condensed rod of mana in it, catching it and pointing it at him. "No, I would much rather end you now instead of letting you live for another second. It''s time for you to pay for the crimes of killing the gods and Great Sages. And as the disciple of those whom you''ve killed, and as the Apostle of the great goddess, Pyro, I will now bring Divine Punishment down upon you." Arcanus looks at me in shock, like I did something unbelievable. "Are you sure? I mean, the people who reached the 9th stage in this era are stronger than the Great Sages in my era, especially that Grandmaster! It felt like I was fighting Seraphis Dawnbringer all over again!" Damn it, if he''s made such a comparison, that means he truly must have I feel the suppressed flame of wrath inside me start to burn again. "Huh, let''s see, who else did I kill that was memorable? Oh yeah, there was someone else just like me in this era who used space magic! He was quite hard to kill because of all the unique artifacts and traps he set, it took me longer to kill him than all the others who reached the 8th stage and above combined!" The fire blackens into its true form of wrathful hellfire. "Kgh¨C ENOUGH!!!" Like a star exploding into a supernova, my black hellfire bursts out in all directions, setting the entire area stretching for the next mile on eternally burning black flames. The recoil striking back heavily, my breathing rate increasing, while a black fire appears on my chest. "Huff- huff¨C" Is this the power of wrath planted in me by that demon of wrath? How disgusting... but it looks like it worked. "I must say, your presence feels much stronger than any of those that I fought before, and especially whatever you did just then¨C" He tries to pat down the black flame that devours his robes. "That was quite the powerful move." "But is that really all? Are you really the prophesied one to defeat me? I allowed those Great Sages to seal me, though immediately regretting my decision, and waiting the full two thousand years in fear that they would be too powerful for me to handle, but not only did they not even reach the 10th circle, they also rejected my offer for peace, and tried to kill me! Even though we have the same enemy, I cannot let someone who tried to take my life live. Especially one who shares the same blood as them." Holding the black fire as much as possible, using all the strength left in my body to try and suppress the pain, I hover in the air, defenseless and pathetically gasping for air. "Huffff¡ª Huffff¡ª" "I''m sorry Arthur, this was the most enjoyable conversation I''ve had in two thousand years, but if it makes you feel any better, you never even stood a chance." Arcanus slowly raises his hand, changing our surroundings to his Mind''s Realm, his magic circles flying out of his chest and enlarging, creating a dyson sphere around us. In the center where he stands, aside from the ten white mana circles surrounding us, another forms in his hand, taking the shape of a staff, and being pointed at me. So this is his Mind''s Realm, how empty, but fitting, just like how I can''t understand how to surpass the wall to the 10th circle, I can''t understand the mind of the Transcendental Wizard. Ha, I never stood a chance, he''s already reached the 11th circle. And here I am, thinking I was the hero of the story, but relying on the power of demons, and still losing. What a pathetic tale. "It seems you''ve finished making your amends with this world." I smile broadly, without looking up from the ground, while his staff points directly at head. "Ha, hardly, but what can I do?" He stares down at me with a remorseful and hesitant look on his face. "Goodbye." I tilt my head down, accepting my fate for the final time, as the sound from his staff whirrs for a second, before it releases a colorless deletion ray that erases anything out of existence, quickly traveling through the air, until the sound suddenly stops, and I feel the air get warmer, my head still attached to my neck, quickly opening my eyes, to figure out the situation, but a familiar, calming voice comes first. "You''ve grown much taller, Arthur¨C but I miss your beautiful brown hair, and beautiful eyes¨C" Pyro!! She''s alive!! I feel all the wrath inside me leave as I hear her beautiful voice, all my loneliness being¨C tripled. "KHHHGGK¡ªHKKKFFF!! Why are you making such a sad face Arthur? You look much more handsome smiling¨C KHHHGGK¡ªHKKKFFF!!!!" Without me even knowing, my mind gone blank, my face had changed, with her warm golden blood dripping down on my arms, quickly losing their heat and color. "I''ve missed you for a long time¨C you promised that you would''ve come to visit me¨C" I stare up at her uneasy, smiling face, where her golden blood drips from her lips. "Your¨C your wound¡ª" Her hair begins to lose its life, becoming paler and paler. "Shhh¨C it''s okay, now, I''ll always be there to save you¨C" She moves her fingers across the black dot where the hellfire was, on my chest. "But you using this power¨C saddens me..." Her blood drains to a sickly white, her hair losing all color as the last flames in the Realm of Fire die around us. Her lifeless body falls against mine, weightless, and the world around me collapses into cold silence. My mind goes blank, unable¨C unwilling to grasp the reality in front of me. The fire, both around me and within me, is gone. All that''s left is the dark, empty shell of what this place used to be. I sit there, frozen in the ashes, the last flicker of hope snuffed out, leaving nothing but cold emptiness. Chapter 73: Again Chapter 73: Again "EUUAAAAAHHHH!!!" I fall down from the bed in a loud thud, caused by my head. my weak arms barely able to hold me up, as I cough uncontrollably, hardly able to breathe, each breath drying my cracking throat. Pyro¨C Pyro¡ª "HUH¨C HUHH¨C KHHKHH!!!" Through my shallow breaths and vomit, I continue crawling to the window, reaching my hand out at the window where the light from the sun scatters across the room. Pyro¨C Pyro¡ª Pyro... "PYR¨C HRRUKKAFCSUGH!!!!" Just as I reach the window, the light suddenly fades, throwing me into the shadow of darkness, my trembling hand pointed at the light unable to be held up any longer as my heart contracts, my throat erupting one last, terrible cough, before my body entirely falls down to the ground, my vision beginning to blur into unconsciousness. "No... Pyro¡ª" What? Is that... blood? Did Arcanus'' attack hit me too? Ahh¨C Pyro, it looks like I''ll be able to meet you again soon. As I drop my eyes, I block all thoughts from forming, falling to my false happiness, having no desire to do anything else. Suddenly, the door creaks open, but I keep my eyes shut. "Hey there Arthur, I''m just here to do your daily check-up, it won''t take too long, so just bear with me¨C" This is a familiar voice, but I care not for it anymore... Seconds after entering the room, the physician finally looks up from their clipboard, and sees me on the floor, under the window, covered in blood. Immediately, they drop their board and start running to me, their heavy stomps causing vibrations in the floor below me. Huh, what a familiar scenario. I must just be imagining it because I''m on the brink of death. But they are too late, my mind already turned off, my unconscious body laying in the shadow, face covered in blood. *** I calmly, upright and still, wrapped tightly in my warm, white blankets. The sun has set seven times now, seven long days in this extremely realistic dream of mine. I have yet to make a conclusion on whether this is a dream or that I have really returned back in time. But I do know one thing, I am set in one of the worst, and longest memories I have, the pathetic state I was in, in the Mint Estate Clinic, just after my poisoning. I stare out the window where the sun''s light enters the dull room. Most things in this world are the same as the previous world I lived in. However, some aren''t Looking directly at the sun, I flinch back, away from its red light. If this world is real, and I truly have regressed into the past, then with all the knowledge I''ve gained from my previous life where I reached the 9th stage, I can start again, and fix all of the bad decisions I made in my previous life! A blurry image of three knotted ropes is plastered to the center of my mind, causing my face to wince in pain. Yeah, I''ve been getting those terrible memories reminding me that they exist from time to time, and they give me pretty bad migraines, but thankfully the images are blurred. One of the things I''ve learned from the theories I read in the Grand Library, and experiencing it myself, is that the mind and mental fortitude aren''t imaginary things that exist on a separate plane of reality, they physically exist in our bodies just like mana circuits! Unfortunately, I had to learn it the hard way, my first time gaining consciousness in this dreamworld or whatever, when my memories flooded back into me, I wasn''t even able to stay awake for a minute, gagging, and vomiting. Thankfully, my memories stayed, and with them, I managed to create the first lock, which finally allowed me to start thinking clearly. But, since the mind is a physical thing that I have enhanced and accomplished in my previous life, that also means that the annoying voices from these insane mind fragments, that drove me to insanity, are also back, constantly chatting as they know that I can hear them now because of the One Mind manual I read from the Grand Library, which was really helpful in teaching me how to collect all the fragments together and enhance your mind. It was a really useful manual that was the only reason why I was able to piece my scattered fragments back, but the first step is to release them, and it''s more of a perception thing, once you gain the new perspective of the world, it''s not that easy to forget, especially when I have no control over my mind and can''t perform the next steps! So, I''ll just have to put up with this for now. I turn my head, and look directly straight at the wall opposite of me. Everything and everyone I''ve met so far has been normal, but, there''s just one thing about this world, or dream I should say, that''s quite off, so much so that I haven''t been able to even form my first mana circle yet. That being the abnormally red, giant sun in the sky. I''ve only seen it once but from what I remember, if the memories are even accurate, and uncorrupted by the other fragments, the sun was definitely red, and unlike the bright sun that only took up a small part of the sky, yet lights up the entirety of it, this new one is much bigger, somewhere between 3 to 5 times. There''s nothing wrong about it, the temperature feels about the same as how the air felt inside the library, and so is the amount of sunlight that it gives off, but¨C it just feels a bit ominous, not like the warm orange, unharming flames of Pyro. It must''ve been her who sent me back, there is no way, no matter how powerful the attack, that it could kill a god with a single blow. It would at most just make them fall into a deep slumber, which means she sacrificed her safety and remaining life energy to send me back. Pyro, if you''re in this world somewhere, whether it''s fake or not, I swear, I will stop at nothing in order to find you, and repay back to you all that you''ve done for me. I will save everyone in this life. I stare out the window at the sun, like a hero would after receiving their divine mission. That is, if the hero was incapable of moving, nugget, wrapped in multiple blankets and rope. Oh right, there was one other reason why I haven''t been able to do any of the things I''ve wanted despite regaining all my memories and stabilizing my mind. The door creaks open, William stepping through with his clipboard and a tray of food. "Hey there Arthur, how are you doing?" He says, walking up beside the bed, and setting the tray of food on the stand. "Mmmm¨Cmmpm" I mumble, trying to speak through the ball of bandages stuck in my mouth. "Woah, don''t get so feisty with me, I can''t hear you clearly, but I already know what you''re going to say, and no, I will not be untying you. Especially not after I found you half dead by the window seven days ago, then finding you unconscious again by the window, but this time you actually managed to climb up to it and almost fell!" Okay, well to be fair, I wasn''t in the correct state of mind at that time, I''m fine now! He flips through the papers on his clipboard before setting it down on the stand. Then he unveils the metal top from the tray, showing a bland assortment of pills separated in different cups. With one hand, he takes the bandage out of my mouth. This is my chance to finally speak to him! Right as I open my mouth to speak, in his hand, he holds all four of the cups, and a glass of water in the other. Oh for fuck''s sake¨C He throws all the pills inside my mouth along with the glass of water, the majority of it spilling out of my mouth and being absorbed by the blankets surrounding me, before he immediately stuffs the bandages back in my mouth. How great, nothing like the taste of pills after eating pills for the last 10 years. And now I get to enjoy some moist, wet cloth that''ll linger over me for the next 24 hours! "Trust me, this is for your own good and safety. I''m a very experienced physician, and no one''s ever died under my care¨C" walks away to the table where we had created the antidote, taking a look at some paper on the table as he continues to talk. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Well I mean, you are my first patient since finishing my education with my master, but that''s besides the point." He walks back up with another clipboard. "Right, yeah, 2 for energy, 3 for nutrition, and 2 poison neutralizers. Check, check, check!" Finally, for the first time since entering the room, he makes eye contact with me, unamused by the situation. We stare for a few seconds before he makes the first move, taking a chair from the table and bringing it up to the bed, both of us now on the same level. "Look, Arthur, I know this process is very boring and painful, the other physicians told me not to tell you this, but you are actually making steady progress to recovering! We don''t know what the ingredients of the poison you ingested is, so we have no way of treating you. So for now, just direct your anger at me as long as it keeps your heart pumping, and your lungs breathing." He then gets up out of the chair and grabs his clipboard, calmly exiting and closing the door behind him quietly, as I stare, expressionless, at the door from where he had just left. Wow, how touching, I might''ve even shed a tear if he hadn''t left my room in such a mess! I WOULD BE ABLE TO RECOVER MUCH FASTER IF YOU JUST LET ME OUT OF THIS HUMILIATING SACK OF WET BLANKETS!!!! Chapter 74: Blanket Seal Chapter 74: Blanket SealUgh... it''s so hot and humid in this seal of blankets... I need water... Seriously, how did they let William take care of me? He''s supposed to be helping me recover, not to let me die from dehydration! I did try to jump off the window the second day but I didn''t actually do it!!! I''m going to die in this ball of blankets before I even manage to do anything! I close my distressed eyes for a few seconds before I open them once again, calmly observing the objects around me. This would have been so much faster with Heightened Senses... But okay, the first thing I need to do is to get this stupid bandage out of my mouth. That''ll be easy, all I need to do is open my jaw enough so that the bandage falls out! Except... my mouth is already opened as low as possible, which means there''s only one option left. Surely it won''t be that bad¨C right? Using what little energy I got from those energy pills I''ve conserved from the past 5 days, I bite down on the daily renewed, extremely compressed ball of bandages as hard as I can, decreasing the size, only by a single centimeter. Come on you shitty body, have you forgotten the training you''ve been doing for the last seven years with the greatest swordsman on the continent? Are your muscles so weak that a simple poison can destroy it so easily?!?! With the motivational speech I gave myself, I bite down even harder, putting all my energy and more into it, but the bandage''s size does not decrease any more. Oh, well I guess a simple poison can destroy it all that easily. It''s only been seven days since I was poisoned, unlike in my past life where I was only rid of my depression a month later, but wow, this body really sucks. With the addition of the centimeter in my jaw''s range of motion, it is enough. I hold my bite down on the bandage for another second before abruptly releasing it, and swinging my jaw open as far as possible, when reaching the end of its range of motion, it pushes past its restraints, and dislocates. "OOROWW¡ª" The bandage drops out of my loosened jaw as my eyes close in pain. They open cautiously, but quickly return to normal. Actually, it''s not that bad, or at least, as bad as I imagined. I kinda just hurt at the moment of dislocation. I play around with my jaw a bit, moving it around, sideways, until I finally feel it relocate back into place, and close it. Yeah, that wasn''t so bad. The problem now is that I still can''t get out of these blankets and make the antidote myself, but now that I can breathe properly, I can finally start removing the poison from my body with the Body Cleansing Technique! It wasn''t that useful in my old life since I had already reached the 5th stage of my Heavenly Martial Body with it, and was already immune to all the poisons I found in the library, which had a time-accurate, all plants and plant seeds garden, in which I just stuffed each one in my mouth one by one, they were pretty tasty, but I had to keep myself reserved otherwise I would be liable for the extinction of plant species thought to be extinct. So I just used the skill to clean the impurities out of my body, like... waste from grain pills. But for my body right now, it is the perfect thing to help me recover from this poison. It''s what the manual was made for, and all I need to do is to calm my mind, and concentrate. Of course, I would also need to breathe in order to concentrate, so I haven''t done it yet. I don''t want the body cleansing to fail, and instead of me just being hot and humid in this seal of blankets, I would instead be hot, humid, and also smelly. So let''s do this properly. I fix my posture, my spine straightened in this seal of blankets, forced upright on top of my bed, unable to even relax and lie down, and slowly close my eyes. Wait, if I''m just now using the body cleansing technique, and I''ve been encased in these blankets and rope for the past five days, how have I not needed to defecate or at least urinate? Even encased in numerous layers of heavy blankets, the rumbling from my stomach erupts very clearly throughout the room. Oh right, it''s because this piece of shit that''s supposed to be my physician has only been feeding me FUCKING PILLS AND HALF A CUP OF WATER FOR THE LAST SEVEN DAYS!! I''m definitely going to get him back for doing this to me. I try to put on a menacing, and intimidating appearance, but unfortunately for me, nuggets with rumbling stomachs aren''t intimidating. Finally when the rumbling stops, I finally calm and concentrate. Okay, here goes: SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT PEE PEE PEE PEE POISON POISON POISON POISON First, transparent, water-like sweat appeared all over my body. The sweat appears intensely in large amounts on my scrunched face, making an expression of pain. The sweat slowly moves down until it reaches my chin, before it drips down falling onto my soaked blankets. As I continue to concentrate intensely, the sweat begins to become less transparent, becoming a darker color until it fully blackens. Seconds after the black substance protrudes out of my skin, I awaken, my eyes swing open, and with anger plastered all over my face, the blankets around me begin to expand, the strands of the rope beginning to get strained and rip, before it finally snaps. The blankets, soaked in sweat fly out in all directions, scattering across the room. The almost solid-like black substance, not traveling as far. Like a starving, ferocious beast finally being freed, I roar, flexing my muscles tightly as the hazy air scatters the light around me making for a blurry view. "ROOOOOAAAARR!!!" The hazy air, trapped within the blankets with me, finally obtains its freedom, it''s disgusting smell lingering behind, as if it was giving me it''s thanks. "I NEED WATER!!!" I run out of the sweat-polluted bed and charge to the bathroom. Sticking my head under the water rune, and slamming my hand on it in my impatience, and glugging down the water pouring out of it, as if I had an endless stomach, staying still under the faucet for twenty seconds, until I finally remove my hand from the rune and wipe the water from my face. "Ahhh! That was refreshing." My gaze veers off from the faucet, to the toilet and then the tub further inside the room and staring prolongedly at it. I haven''t bathed in warm water for a while now, but should I really be wasting my time showering right now? I move my arm up to my nose and take a whiff, quickly turning away and cringing afterwards. "Yeah, I really should." I grab hold of the doorknob and bring it to a close. *** I step out of the shower with a towel over my head, my face rid of wrinkles and stress. S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Did I just spend the last 30 minutes wasting time? Maybe. But was it worth it? Definitely, I''m going to be taking warm showers a lot now. I even get to smell flowers everywhere I go instead of the terrible smell of grain pills! I dry my luscious, vibrant hair off, and step outside the bathroom with my fancy green bathrobe around me, ignoring the disgusting black filth around the bed, and the smelly blankets covering the sides of the room, as I walk up to the balcony, leaning on it''s rails and staring up at the sun. How calming, but this red light in the sky is not very off putting. I squint my eyes at the sun with a strong dislike for it. I am certain of it now, this world is not a dream, I really have regressed back to the past. But that is not Pyro. I know her warmth far too well, she does not act in such a way, if what I feel from her is kindness and justice, then what I feel from this is punishment and execution. I continue staring at the red sun, but no thoughts form, all I do is look. But suddenly, ruining my calm state, the door begins to creak open. Damn, I wasn''t even able to hear his footsteps coming up to the door, I really need to get my Heightened Senses back. "Hey there Arthur, how are you doing¨C" He pauses in his sentence for a second, looking up from his clipboard taking a long and loud sniff through his nose, even audible to me from the opposite side of the room. "EW! What the hell is all this crap Arthur? Clean it up!!" He exclaims, only looking at the blankets and black substance, while having a disgusted expression on his face, before he finally looks up at the window and sees me staring with such a calm expression on my face while looking up at the sun, as if I had reached enlightenment. "NOO!!" He drops his clipboard and charges at my calm self just admiring the weather. Once he gets close enough to me, he tackles my legs and grabs onto them tightly. "Hey- What the hell are you doing?!?!" I say, trying to shake this determined bastard from me. "I''m saving your life!! I don''t know how you got out of those ropes, but I won''t let you do it!! I''m not letting go until you listen to me!!" "I''m not going to jump off, I just took a shower!! Get away from me with your dirty body!" I continue trying to shake him off, but also to not to hurt him. Tears begin to drop from his eyes, falling on my new bathrobe and legs. "Don''t do it Arthur! You have so much to live for, you can get past this obstacle, don''t throw your life away! You''ve already started recovering!!!" I try to push him off of me with my arms now, at least wanting to get his tears from ruining my bathrobe and clean skin any more. "God damn it you bastard, I don''t need any motivation and I already said I wasn''t going to do it, so get the hell off of me before I hurt you!!" He resists my attempts and instead wipes his face on the bottom of my bathrobe, his tears being absorbed by it. "No! I won''t let go! I would rather you hurt me than to hurt yourself!!" Seriously, why the hell is he being so damn clingy?!?! Is he deaf? I don''t need his cringy motivation, he can save that for someone else some other day! What kind of doctor acts like this?!?! Think Arthur, how do you get this idiot off of you before he makes his way up and gets his dirty tears on your hair? Right! This guy loves money! My attempts of trying to get him away from me are suddenly brought to a halt, his crying finally stopping, as he looks up at me in confusion. "If you let me go right now, I''ll give you a platinum card." I say while smirking deviously. He stares up at me blankly, without letting go of my legs. "No, I won''t let my patient die just for such earthly possessions." I stare back at him, my emotions controlled and unchanging. "Fine then." I lean down and grab him by his lab coat, then drop him on the floor, walking towards the table full of papers. I thought that he was the greediest person alive, is that one of the inaccuracies in this world like the sun, or did he just put on that act for me in my past life? Why? Chapter 75: The Theory of Potential Chapter 75: The Theory of PotentialI pick up the papers and squint at them intensely, squinting to be able to concentrate on them faster. I know the poison didn''t have an effect on the abilities of my mind, just the state of it, so why is it taking me so long to process it? Didn''t I call myself the Heavenly Brain? Is this really all that I amounted to at the time without Heightened Senses? How pathetic. I continue automatically scanning the pages, setting aside the time for processing, later, instead trying to figure out the limitations of my mind in my fragmented library. Hmm... well it looks like my ego then wasn''t there for nothing, at least the information is being recorded properly. They should last for at least another 80 years, which isn''t good by any means, but at least it gives me time to develop my mind, eventually being able to make this information able to last longer. I close the book inside my mind''s vast library, casually strolling through the shelves as my physical body continues flipping through papers. Now that I have seen the wall myself, I know now, why all the known geniuses who reached the 8th circle, and are called archmages, have not surpassed the wall and become a 9th circle after 800 years of none having reached such a result. There are two things a mage needs to reach the 9th circle, time, and talent. It could be the worst talent imaginable, only being able to form the first circle at the age of 100, but as long as that talent exists, they can surpass any circle as long as they have enough time. The problem with humans nowadays is that we have a short lifespan, all the Great Sages in the Mythical Era had long life spans due to the greater amount of pure mana in the air. Because of our short lifespan now, we measure the speed at which someone can reach the next stage, and use that momentary data to determine talent. However, that is the problem. There needs to be a balance between your current capacity, and how many circles you have. Mana circles enhance the power of your manaheart, but just like how you cannot lift something heavy if your muscles aren''t strong enough, your manaheart cannot handle mana that''s too powerful. It will seem good, even great at the moment, but your manaheart is actually exhausting your future potential in order to keep your current state preserved. In the end, your potential will be completely exhausted and you will be unable to surpass that wall. Of course this is just a theory of mine, and I can''t explain how Magnus Arcanus or Luke Wolkan managed to reach the 9th circle, but it''s rather convincing isn''t it? I spent the last five days and nights to form this theory so it should be! If Magnus Arcanus also exists in this world, I will have to train as much as I can, but also keep my growth balanced so that I will not exhaust my potential, and surpass the wall to reach the 10th circle. I don''t know if the training I''ll be doing for the next 10 years in this life will be able to match his 2000 years of training, but I''ve spent the last ten years in my past life reading all the books and manuals inside the Grand Library, so as long as I don''t get one shotted by him, some of the techniques that were created after he was sealed might work on him. He is very weird though, the last words he said to me makes no sense, he said that we shared the same enemy and it felt like he sincerely just wanted to talk. Well, regardless, if he needs to kill any of the people I know to achieve his goal, I won''t let him. Exiting my mind''s library, I begin to process all the information from the pile of papers, I''ve for some reason, sorted. Now, with all of that being said, what the hell am I looking at right now? These aren''t my letters! Information continues to be processed, and recorded, my internal clock alarming me of the time passed. What the hell?!?! I''ve been inside my Mind Realm for an entire minute? So to William, it just looked like I was flipping through papers like a madman, and then suddenly, as if I had a change of heart, started to organize them?!?! I was able to spend hours inside my Mind Realm in the past, while only seconds passed in the real world! Did it just make the time I spent in the Grand Library longer? Yes! But it was entertaining! The chaotic worrying inside my head comes to a stop as a great idea forms inside my head. Wait a minute¨C time, yes! Time exactly! I didn''t spend time inside my Mind Realm because it just made the ten years I spent inside the Grand Library last longer, but because of that stupid reason, I disregarded all thoughts on that matter and blinded myself, twice!! Haha, get it? Because I ripped my eye out that one time... okay, lets just start speaking to William before I make myself look even crazier to him. I hold up the stack of papers in my hands and walk up to him, who continues to lean on the wall, lying on the floor and staring at me in surprise. "What are these? They aren''t my letters." William slowly gets up off the ground like an old machine, awkwardly keeping his hands against the wall, and his limbs stretched out like he had no joints "Holy crap, I thought you had actually gone insane, and were going to kill me. You know, whatever the hell it is that you did just now definitely didn''t make me think any better of you." I couldn''t help but ignore whatever nonsense he just said, concentrating fully on how much he struggled getting up. Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Wow, he moves like an old man who''s never trained his body a day in his life. I mean, he is a physician who''s studied his whole life in that field to get where he is now, but he is seriously weak. Once he fully arises, he stretches his back, then his arms, then his legs, then the rest of his body. ... After stretching, he walks up to me and snatches the papers from my hands. "And you''re right, these aren''t letters, you don''t have any letters, why would you? These papers are a draft copy of the book I''m writing¨C" I suddenly grab him by the shoulders, with a nervous, alarmed expression on my face, abruptly cutting him off. "What do you mean?! Explain more!!" First of fear, then of confusion, William finally decides to be happy, enjoy and let his ego take over. "Oh, you want to know more about my book? Well, if you are a fan, I''d be happy to give you a signed copy once it publishes¨C" I shake his thin, flimsy body back and forth repeatedly. "No, what did you say about the letters?! Are you certain I''ve gotten no letters?!" "Stooo¨C ppp sh¡ª aaa¨Ckiiii¨Cng mee¡ª" Oh¨C right. I bring my hands to a stop, his neck taking the majority of the force from the shaking, as it continues to spin around for a while before it straightens and his eyes look back into mine. "Uuuooh¨C yeah, no, there were no letters sent to you, were there supposed to be? I thought students attending Wolkan Academy were allowed to contact anyone outside during a semester?" This is impossible, how could there be no letters for me? Is that something else that''s changed in this world? I''m not revered as the genius swordsman? Or could it be that¨C I''m in someone else''s body? My mind is still it''s genius self, that''s filled with all of my memories, good and bad, but what about my body? I felt nothing wrong with it because I assumed that my muscles were less refined because I was younger and I had the majority of it destroyed by that poison, but that''s because I''ve yet to do anything to it! I haven''t tried running mana through it yet, or testing my limits. Could I have regressed into someone else''s body?!?! "William, quick! What''s my name?!?!" I scream in full panic while William continues to look at me in confusion. "Arthur?..." "WHAT''S MY FULL NAME?!?!" He raises a brow, while also slightly tilting his head, slowly extending each word and syllable as he speaks. "Did you have a family name?" My alarmed face changes as I freeze in fear, my hands unknowingly tightening harder on William''s arms. I''m in someone else''s body? Impossible! There''s no way, everyone I know will just think of me as a random stranger! All of my plans will be ruined! I have to see for myself!!! I quickly release my grip from William and run out of the door with nothing but my bathrobe. No¨C no¨C No!!! I can''t have regressed into someone else''s body! As I rip the door open, looking back at it as it gets left behind me, I enter the hallway. Turning back to the center, I see it, a mirror directly in front, and I see myself. Oh Pyro was right, I do look better with my brown hair! I admire myself in the mirror, unfocused on anything else. Oh, and my beautiful left eye, how I''ve missed you, so. I stop my posing and admiration for myself, returning my smiling face to its cold, emotionless self, and calmly walk back through the door. William leans backwards on the chair of the table where I set the pages of his book. "Oh hey, did you find what you were looking for? Did you lose your memories or something? We get people here who say that a lot." That''s rather concerning, and I probably would have had to say yes if I was actually in someone else''s body, but I''m not. "No, my memories are fine, and my full name is Arthur Ventrike." He continues rocking his chair while acting bored. "Really? I''ve never heard of that name before." Yeah, so it wasn''t that I had regressed into someone else''s body, it was just that he was an idiot. I breathe in, and take a deep exhale. "My father is Count Loran Ventrike." I bring up, in a casual and forgetful tone. "Oh really? He''s my favorite swordsman, I watch all his official matches and tournaments, if you could ask him to give me an autographed sword that would be great¨C" He stops rocking, bringing his chair back on all four legs, staring straight at the table for a moment, as if to process what I had just said, before turning up and looking directly at me. He stares intensely for a moment, then becomes unfocused, then staring intensely again. He breaks our calm eye contact, when out of nowhere, he jumps up from his chair. "Holy crap, I can''t believe I didn''t notice earlier! You look like the spitting image of him!" His joy is short lived however, as he starts to think, and looks away from me. "Wait, does that mean they gave me a real child who was actually in critical condition as my first patient ever?!?! And the son of a noble at that?!?" Yeah, and if it was any kid other than me, they probably would''ve died under your care. "I''m so sorry Arthur, I thought you were someone sent here by my master as a trick. He pulled some pretty bad ones on me when he was teaching me, so I was extremely cautious of you, and ended up just tying you in blankets and rope, but as you can see, it didn''t work out so well." What did his master do to him that was so bad that he became paranoid of children? It makes me shiver just thinking about it, my master''s done some... pretty horrific things to me too. I think I''ll forgive him just this once because we both have strict masters... "Wait, if you are a noble, does that mean you were actually willing to pay me a platinum card if I had let you go? NOO!!!" He grabs his hair and pulls on them, in a state of great regret. And there it is, changing the subject back to money. There''s the William that I know! Well, it''s nice to see that he won''t take money from children at least. Or, children who aren''t nobles? Ah whatever, he doesn''t take from the poor. He''s a good doctor in that aspect at least. Yes, that aspect, that singular aspect. Chapter 76: Sagey Chapter 76: Sagey"So? Where are my letters?" He walks back to his chair and begins to rock it again. "Oh, I don''t know." He says with a shameless look on his face, as if it wasn''t an important thing to know about the locations of where he worked. How did he even become a physician, and why did the Mint Estate choose him as the one to monitor my recovery? I''m about to take his head from his neck and play with it like a ball if he rocks that chair and throws that ball one more time. My anger is temporarily subsided as I notice a unidentified error. Wait, what is that ball? It looks familiar¨C Just as William throws it up once more, I reach out my hand, just above William''s, and grab it as it falls down before he even manages to react. "Hey!" He stops rocking, his chair coming back down in a powerful slam. I bring the weirdly textured ball close to my eyes, and pretend to inspect it thoroughly. Finally looking up from the ball, and seeing William''s mildly angry face, I hold the ball out, further from me, so that we both have a clear view of it. "Where did you get this... rock?" "I don''t know, I just found it on the table when they first assigned me to your room. It was weird looking but felt unique so I just kept it as a good luck charm. Why do you want to know?" I bring the rock closer to me and end eye contact with William, looking back at it with gleaming eyes. "This is mine." He leaves his chair with haste, and immediately objects. "What?! No way, it''s my good luck charm!" I make direct eye contact with him, forced to tilt my head up because of the difference in height between his tall, adult stature, versus my shorter, undeveloped body. However, as if our bodies were switched, I stare at him with low, relaxed eyes that know, but wish not to tell, for he, so much lower, that it isn''t worth my breath. What is he, a child? But I will admit that this back and forth conversation between the two of us is quite interesting. I was too blinded at the time, due to my understandable rage, that I held no empathy for him, not wishing to see a sign of humanity in him, but instead like a demon. But I think I understand now, why Arcanus would put off killing me, just for the sake of conversation. Isolation is lonely. The ten years I spent in the Grand Library were lonely, the only conversations I held, with my own mind fragments. But those voices left me as well once I followed that manual''s instruction. I desired companionship. My relaxed eyes close, as I stealthy smile to myself. "How silly, I had an artifact amulet around my neck when I came here, didn''t I? I''ll make you an offer since you''re so adamant. How about I give that Divine Tier artifact for that rock?" William''s eyes light up, his greed practically visible through them. "Really?! But why are you making such a deal? Is this rock valuable, or are you just trying to trick me? I won''t ever treat you again if you''re tricking me." After going through a cycle of emotions when he spoke, he finally settled on a serious look, as if he was interrogating me. My sneaky smile slides into a wide grin, as if I were dealing with a child. "No, all that I say is genuine, that rock is a family memento of sorts, and that amulet has no use to me." William''s face makes no visible changes, continuing to stare at me intensely, not yet believing my words, while I continue basking in enjoyable conversation. As much as I would like him to never be my physician ever again, it''s true, I read the Mythical Age Encyclopedia of Artifacts written by: who would''ve guessed, Luke Wolkan! And, unfortunately for me, I had chosen just about the worst artifact from the Wolkan Academy Treasury. The Eye of the Storm is a Divine tier artifact, the tier above ancient, which were the highest tiered artifacts I found in the Zidden Dungeon. And its abilities are, well, lets just say, it''s worthy of being a divine tier artifact, definitely, no matter how shitty the craftsman who made it, you can''t make something bad with a body part of a god as a catalyst. The Eye of the Storm is made with the eye of the God of Lightning, and I''m not a lightning mage so it does nothing for me. When I exit my trance of thoughts, I see William who, with a big smile. stares directly into my eyes. We stare at each other, neither of us saying anything. "So, are you going to accept the offer?" He nods his head ferociously, up and down, up and down, up and down... "Yes, of course!" So is he going to tell me where to go? What the hell is he doing? After much more staring in silence, William finally understands the meaning of my annoyed face. "Oh! You wanted to know where to go? Just go to Martha, she knows everything about this place, in fact, I just transferred to this clinic by order of my teacher about a day before you arrived!" Oh, so that''s why he doesn''t know about anything. But something doesn''t add up, skipping past all of his other superiors, and immediately telling me to speak to a retainer of the Mint Viscounty, the head Physician of the Capital Mint Estate Clinic, and the boss of his bosses. Just who is he? Who is his teacher? Martha didn''t seem to be the type to just let any slacker work in her clinic, she seemed competent and professional, like the perfect assistant. "Haaa... Alright, I''ll go find her, since you''re so useless on remembering locations, just go get me these three herbs: One Ashveil Fern," I hold up one finger. "Two Lunarfrost Blooms," I hold another finger up, as William continues to stare intensely at my hand instead of making eye contact. "And one Windshade Root." He brings his face closer, looking even more intensely at my hands as I drop my middle finger. Finally snapping out of his trance, he straightens his back and looks back at me with a displeased face. "Hey, why do I have to do this? I''m not your servant¨C" His voice ends abruptly, now fully concentrated on my rising hand that holds the rock. "Shh, artifact remember?" He nods his head intensely, all the while, his eyes never veering away from the tan colored orb in my hand. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. I suddenly feel the urge to cough, and bring out my left hand to mask my mouth before letting it out. "Oh, and find me another room while you''re at it, this room is not to my liking." I quickly turn around and leave through the door without awaiting a response. Yeah, I''m going to need those ingredients quickly. I stare at my hand, its back side covered in blood. Looks like even after all that body cleansing, I was unable to remove all the poison. I look down at myself, and then up at the mirror directly outside the door. Huh, should I really be going out into public just wearing a bathrobe? ... Ahh, whatever, I''m sure it''ll be fine. I''m a patient here after all. My eyes look up and slightly to the left from myself, directed toward the reflection of the door number. The same room that I was in, in my past life huh? Ha... fun times. I continue walking down the hallway, taking the path that I remember from my memories. I examine the dull looking orb closely as I continue making my way down. Hmm... This really does just look like a regular rock that''s just been smoothed. I lightly tap on it with my finger. Funnily enough, this artifact wasn''t mentioned in Luke Wolkan''s Encyclopedia of artifacts from the Mythical Age. I guess he really was secretive about it, only managing to finish it days before his death. I stuff the round rock into a pocket in my bathrobe, taking a turn and continuing down the hall. Well, I have regressed four weeks before my story with the Sage System originally started. Actually, it''s more like three weeks since a week''s already gone by, yet today is the first day that I''ve done anything. Sagey only turned on with its bright blue eye three weeks later in my past life, never making any movements at all in the days prior so I''m sure this is just part of the process. It''s probably registering me as the user as I walk down the hallway right now. Making another turn, I suddenly look up, and to my shock, forced to make a decision immediately, I run back around the corner, and peek, circling it. Is that Lillian? Reminiscing on my past memories about her, completely oblivious to the area or details, I feel a smile spring from my mouth. But my excitement is short-lived, as I finally get past my blinding memories, and see the current Lillian, straight faced and serious like an experienced merchant, while also holding herself highly, dressed in the finest gown, and maintaining the proud posture of noblesse. Did Lillian ever act so dignified in front of me? I remembered her being extremely clumsy, and bad with directions, yet she marches at the spearhead of the formation? Was how she acted with me fake, or is this elegant appearance of hers fake? Trailing closely behind her up the stairs, came six veteran-looking knights, their hairs grayed, and scars covered their faces. That insignia on their armor is the Mint Viscounty''s! They look and act so much more different than the arrogant guards in the clinic after I came back from the Zidden Dungeon in my past life, they must be part of the Fesselteed Guard, one of Viscount Mint''s two Knight Orders, stationed at Mount Fesselteed, the capital city of the Mint Viscounty territories. Since they are known to only move at the Viscount''s command, that must mean that the Viscount arranged for this transfer! After the knights come to a halt, reaching the top of the stairs, behind Lillian, there is one more who climbs up the stairs, their footsteps so light and faint that they''re barely audible. Martha! There she is! "Alright, I''m here, you can all go now." Lillian says, scoffing and in an annoyed-displeased manner, standing in a place not visible in my line of sight. "Young lady, the Viscount said¨C" One of the knights with less gray hair tried to say, before being abruptly cut off by a high pitched noise from Martha. "Tsk." The knight stops moving his mouth, their face becoming slightly paler. "S- still, she should have at least one guard¨C" The knight is cut off once again. "The young lady wishes for you to be gone, so why are you still standing here? Or are you trying to say that you could best me in a duel?" Martha stares intensely at the pale knight, staring daggers from her eyes as he admits defeat and retreats. "No, I would never mean to imply that, we''ll leave the young miss to you, Dame Martha." The younger knight hurries past her, down the stairs, the other knights slowly moving with him. After all the knights clear, Martha takes a low bow. "Have a good rest, young lady." She keeps her head down until the sound of the closing door comes. Wow, how impressively professional, she would seriously be the greatest assistant ever! I want to have her. Suddenly, without lifting her head, her figure blurs, and disappears. Ah shit, I knew she noticed me. "Do you need help finding the way back to your room, Arthur?" Her shadow looms over me, blocking the light from the lamp behind. Chapter 77: Second Lock Chapter 77: Second LockDespite there being no such killing intent directed at me, my body freezes over just from my mind''s panicked imagination, heavily warning of the dangerous killing intent that simply doesn''t exist. "Oh no, I was just¨C" The killing intent¨C it''s just too powerful¨C No it fucking isn''t get a fucking grip on yourself. God, these fragments are so rowdy these days, who do they think I am? An amateur? I''m sure all of my memories were shared with them so they should know what I''m like. Martha swiftly places her hand over my mouth, and carries me in her hands like I were a princess. "Don''t talk Arthur, you haven''t recovered yet." She says, with her warm, kind eyes, melting away the encasement of fear that surrounded me. Carrying me like this huh? This is quite embarassing, I''m not a toddler anymore¨C but, for some reason, the warmth from her chest feels quite nice... Martha continues, with her "I''ll make sure to tell doctor William about this. I''ll have him check up on you more often and secure you to a safer room so that you don''t accidentally get lost again, and get injured!" What? No! I don''t want to see William anymore than I have to!! If I''m going to be confined in an inescapable room for god knows how long, I might miss all the events that occurred the day that I started my journey! I try to speak, but with her hand blocking my mouth, all that could be heard is indiscernible, muffled noise. "Calm down Arthur, trust me, this is for your own good. I can''t have you getting lost again, what if I didn''t find you, or a potentially dangerous person came into the clinic without permission, and took you away seeing your face and condition?" What kind of scenario is that?!?! And I don''t need comments on my appearance right now, let me go!! As I continue to struggle, though making no progress, Martha keeps a tight hold of me, as if she were just carrying a wooden log, light and motionless, without struggling in the slightest. She looks at me with sorrowful eyes, filled with tears, while continuing to ignore my flailing. "If I had not found you, you would have gotten lost whether you wanted to or not. Because you were so afraid, and in such an unstable mind, you might''ve avoided my nurses and physicians, actively running away from us who are just trying to help you, and bled out, dying a terrible death. Arthur, I know that this whole experience is very scary for you. You carry the weight of a mind that sees more than most could fathom. You can turn a blind eye, but you will never forget and live in the bliss of ignorance. That is why you already know that the two most likely scenarios for you after this are either death, or having to live with a body that can never wield a sword ever again. Even still! You should not give up and throw your life away just because one of your paths has been blocked, you have numerous talents other than just swordsmanship! There are so many people who love you regardless of whether you had talent or not! So please, don''t give up, and let me take you to our clinic''s most secure room, where you will be monitored 24/7. Let''s beat this illness together." She puts on a bright smile, while I continue to freak out inside my head. NOOO!! DON''T SAY SUCH HORRIFYING THINGS WITH THOSE HEARTWARMING EYES! IT MIGHT ACTUALLY MAKE ME BELIEVE YOU!!! "Thank you for understanding, Arthur." WHAT!?! I finally notice my head, that had already been nodding in agreement since she began talking. NOO!! I''VE ALREADY FALLEN FOR HER TRICKS!! My body freaks out, moving around wildly, trying to escape from her grasp, while my attempts at screaming for help fail, muffled by her hand''s tight seal. "MMPHMMFFPHHMM!!" Martha lets out a sigh, her eyes dropping down as if disappointed. "Haaa... I didn''t want to have to do this Arthur, but if you keep being so difficult, then with the authority given to me by Headmaster Darkfallen, I will use force if necessary, in order to keep you safe from yourself." She reopens her eyes, suddenly changing from her loving, warm eyes, to the fierce stare of a nocturnal in the night. What the hell? Is she really going to kill me?!?! Frozen in fear, and unable to look away, I maintain direct eye contact with her as she makes no sudden movements. Okay... it looks like she isn''t going to do anything as long as I don''t make any more movements. But damn, she has such a frightening stare. I think I almost peed myself. I begin to calm down as my view of her becomes less and less visible, though still unable to feel any stronger control over my fear-stricken body. Yeah see? She isn''t so scary, I was just imagining it like before, I''m just imagining it¨C My eyelids begin to slowly, ever so slightly, drift downwards feeling a fatigue and weakness all over my numb head. Wait, this taste¨C My eyelids spring open once more, seeing her calm warm eyes above me clearly one final time before my eyes start to fall once more. Badengrat, she fucking drugged me with a sleeping pill¨C Non-hazardous plants, section 2b... *** I open my eyes, and calmly raise my upper body up to a 90 degree angle, without the use of my hands. She made some good points in her speech. If I had heard those words from her at this point in my past life, I might''ve gotten the motivation to start anew, without the need of a Sage System. I think I might''ve become a scholar, or maybe a philosopher. Continuing to keep to myself, feigning ignorance of the room around me, I raise my hand up from my clean, weirdly textured, yet comfortable blanket, and stare at it, and discreetly, myself. It has been three hours since I''ve last been awake, meaning it should be around noon right now. My hand, stained with the blood from my cough, is clean, my bathrobe has been replaced by some thin, loose clothing that I''ve seen other patients wear before. This room is unfamiliar to me. Where am I? I finally look up, and carefully examine the gray, metal room around me, but there is not much to see. How dull, everything in this room is lit up by reinforced magic lamps, no sunlight or any windows leading to the outside either. The only thing in this room other than this bed and the metal walls, are the reinforced glass windows that line the entire room. Oh boy, Martha wasn''t kidding when she said she was going to put me in the most secure room. This place is not going to be fun to live in, it''s more like a jailhouse if anything. I need to get out of here quickly, where is William the one time I need him? I search around the room, feeling stares directed at me, but unable to see through the thick opaque windows. What the hell kind of a patient room is this? How is this place meant for a recovering patient? This feels more like a room you would quarantine someone who had a deadly, and terribly infectious disease into, so that they wouldn''t spread it! What do they think I am? An animal?! I was poisoned, not infected! After successfully processing the information, the hunger in my stomach and the thirst in my throat finally reached me, striking unexpectedly, and the feeling lingering. "Ah, what the hell is this situation? I want some food." I slowly lift the blankets off of me, and turn my body to the side, my legs dangling from the height of the bed. Without seeing any shoes, I jump off without a second thought, the cold metal floor pulling the heat from out of my warm body. How chilly. But at least it''s making me more awake, the effects of the sleeping pill are not yet all gone. Treading across the cold iron floor, barefooted, I make my way up to the black iron door, the one and only entrance and exit in this viewing room of confinement. As I approach the door, new, obstructed voices begin to sound behind the dark, opaque windows. I knew my senses were right, there are people watching me in the room beyond this one. Why are you being so relaxed? How are you so sure that you weren''t captured by the Arcanus Cult, or another Evil? Like falling asleep, I suddenly find myself in my Mind''s Realm Library, standing still, I close my eyes and without expression, wait patiently for the voice to continue, deep in concentration. You know nothing of the true nature of your so-called friends, so deluded, believing that you have reached omniscience just because you''ve read books for a mere ten years? You don''t have your magic, and have only recovered half of your pathetic self, barely even being considered an Advanced Rank. You don''t have an infinite number of lives, you are neither omniscient nor omnipotent and you''ve failed in both of your lives. Just accept that fact, and let me take over, I will get you, us, out of this situation. In my infinite domain of knowledge, the corrupted fragments of my mind piece together with each other, all becoming one, except with my central mind. With their combined influence, their voices ring forcefully throughout my head, desperately trying to break through my first lock and enter my central consciousness. But like arrows to a fortress wall, my mind does not crumble, another voice already occupying the attention of my central fragment. "You carry the weight of a mind that sees more than most could fathom. You can turn a blind eye, but you will never forget and live in the bliss of ignorance." Haha, how funny, the irony being that we''ve never spoken or seen each other up until this point, yet, she''s struck the arrow right on the bullseye. In my Mind''s Realm, I walk away from the central projection of thoughts, down to the edge of my library where cracked ground separates my library from the shadowy islands that surround me. As I walk up to the edge of the edge, like a hall of mirrors, shadow-like versions of myself emerge almost exactly as I do, their numbers numerous, each that I can see in my line of sight, colored differently from the next, all staring directly at me, mimicking my arrogant smile. But unlike Martha''s perfect analysis, your argument was quite lacking, I am almost ashamed that your minds are even related to mine. I will admit you almost had me, almost had me thinking I was going to go deaf after all that ringing! Hahaha... I am certain, not everything that I do is with complete certainty, but out there, there is an equation that makes sense of anything, and everything. If you don''t get a definite answer, that simply means you have not included all the factors. Despite how difficult it would normally be to find all the factors and substitute them into the equation, for a situation as simple as this? Thanks for being so stupid, my fragments, you definitely live up to your title of being fractions of my power. I''ll use this second lock well, and get rid of all of you soon. As a last display of mockery to them, I wave my hand without looking back, their islands drifting further from my island, into the darkness as a metal chain wraps around my library, the two ends coming together and forming a tight, second lock. Walking back to the central platform, I stand still, a blinding light flashing, the next thing I know, appearing back in front of the metal door. Ten Seconds. Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. A short lasting smile appears on my face, as I walk up to the door, and knock. Chapter 78: Morality Chapter 78: Morality"tap tap tap" A soft noise sounds, echoing through both sides of the heavy metal door each time my hand strikes it''s hard plating. After the three perfectly timed knocks, I lower my hand and stand in front of it patiently. "What was that?" "Did the patient wake up? "Quick, go and check!" Several obstructed voices behind the thick glass spoke, too muffled to discern who was speaking. Regardless of the obstruction, the panic in their voices, audible without the need of much concentration to hear it. Martha said that I would be monitored at all times. Yet, these physicians seemed to have been so deep in conversation that they weren''t even able to notice me, even after I had already reached their door. Who are these incompetent people? After many sounds of falling and glass breaking, the heavy metal door opens very slowly and dramatically. Finally. After a few seconds of waiting for the heavy metal door to open, making a terrible scraping sound from the two metals scratching each other, I come face to face with the nurses that were put in charge of monitoring me, or rather, almost face to face. What the hell is this? There''s a second and third door after this one?!?! Those two doors literally make a glass airtight chamber before it actually connects to the exit!!! What the hell is this place? Did she actually put me in a lab? And why the hell is that nurse standing so far away, three airtight doors away from me?! I don''t have a disease!!! Pulling down a metal lever, the nurse with blonde hair, that''s closest to me, opens a hatch, creating a small hole in the third door from me. "What do you want?" She says in an annoyed and dismissing tone, with an ugly frown on her face. Hoh, would you look at this? How surprising, never have I ever seen a nurse treat their patient in such a way, especially not in a clinic operated by the Mint Viscounty. I thought that someone as¨C hmm... I don''t know how I feel about calling Martha strict anymore, seeing her act that way, ugh, it gives me shivers just thinking about it. But I never thought that someone as competent as Martha would let such a person work under her. I look away from her and glance over at the other two, one dark blonde, the other, with dark orange hair. Both of them side-eye me, their bodies barely visible from my angle, but their wine glasses very. My eyes narrow as I stare intensely at the dark purple wine swirling in their glass. I see, so all three of them have no idea what their job description requires them to do. They must''ve all tricked Martha while hiding their true colors from her. Once they got assigned to their dream position, just having to keep an eye on a sick kid from time to time, and acting professional when another nurse or physician occasionally comes to deliver medicine, they could do anything they wanted, showing their true colors. I fully understand their minds now, what an obvious ruse. By the time I finished organizing my thoughts, my eyes had already returned to normal, staring blankly at the glass of wine. "So? What do you want?" The nurse in the front repeats once again, with the same attitude. My eyes regain focus hearing her voice, returning their gaze back to her. Fine, if none of them wants to treat me respectfully, like they should, I''ll do the same. It''ll be a quicker way out of this room anyway. I haven''t done this in a while, let''s see if I''ve lost my touch yet. But I wonder, how far should I go? Ah whatever, I guess I''ll find out along the way. As I begin to open my mouth, I bring my hand up hastily, abruptly letting out a loud and raspy cough from the bottom of my lungs into my fist. "AHKEUGH!!!" The nurse backs away from the door, her hand quickly reaching for the lever, and keeping it on, and gripping onto it tightly as she observes me heavily gasping for air, my eyes on the ground, and hands on my knees to keep myself standing. Under my long messy hair, my eyes stare at her intensely, carefully observing the reactions of her, and the other two nurses. Looks like I won''t need to hold myself back dealing with them. I take my hands off my knees, and slowly rise with a sickly expression, looking like I am barely able to stay awake, on my face. "Good afternoon miss, I woke up just now, and I was wondering if I could trouble you for a cup of water and some food?" The annoyed and disgusted expression on her face remains unchanging as she stares at me with those hateful eyes. "You have water and food next to your bed, if you want more, you''ll have to wait until the next designated meal time. Until then, you''ll just have to wait. There''s nothing I can do." She shrugs her arms, closing her eyes while I continue staring at her with raging eyes, hidden under my hair. Ha, what a fucking joke, how could a clinic ever deny a patient food if they need it? I was right about not having to hold myself back, I''ll make sure to ruthlessly end all of their careers. "Well, if that''s all, I''ll be closing the door now. Next time, only call us for something important, actually just don''t call us for anything!" The three of them laugh together, the two in the back fully emerging into view to clink their wine glasses, while the one in the front pulls up a lever, the large metal door starting to close as she hurries around to join the other two. Suddenly, a loud thud that splits the loud scratching noise of the metal door echoes throughout both rooms. The noise catches the attention of the nurses, who divert their eyes back to the dull metal room beyond the glass chamber. Seeing me collapsed on the floor, they freeze, too shocked to process the visual information that their eyes tell them. A second later, when their wine glasses hit the ground, they finally snap out of their shock, and begin to panic. "Holy crap, go get a physician right now!" The blonde leader of their group shouts anxiously. "I''ll go get Doctor William!" The one with dark orange hair runs out of the room, her heels clacking loudly as she hurries up the marble stairs. While the blonde haired freaks out, the one with dark blonde hair remains calm, but confused. "Wait, why do we even need to save him? Wouldn''t it be better if he died?" The blonde snaps back at her without holding back her anger. "No! It would only be good if he died after a month! If he dies now, in the first day under our care, what do you think Martha will say? She''ll start to get suspicious of us! Especially if the patient died from being crushed by the door, so go stop it!!" The dark blonde haired nurse, unfazed by the insults, as her confused expression remains plastered over it. "Uh, which one was it again?" The head nurse groans in annoyance. "Ugh! Just go put him on the bed so it doesn''t look like we were careless when the physician comes!" She storms over to the lever command center, bumping shoulders with the dumbfounded nurse who just stares, trying to process what the other just commanded. "Wait, but isn''t he infected with a disease? I don''t want to catch it by touching his body!" The darker blonde says while the blonde pushes up a lever, and pulls another two down, the heavy metal door stopping its advance, and the two glass doors sliding into the wall. "What the hell are you saying? Oh my god, why did I even help you get into this clinic? If you''re going to do nothing, then at least get out of my way so I can save all of us from being fired!" She storms past the other once again, intentionally hitting her shoulder on hers. "God, I mean, just use your brain for a single second. Why would I ever accept head physician Martha''s offer of watching this dying kid if he had a contagious disease? He just ingested some kind of deadly poison, I would never put myself in harm¨C" She abruptly pauses in her sentence, after she passes through the three doors, and enters the metal room, speechless as she looks down at my face, no longer blurred by the thick glass doors. "Oho~ get over here girl, I just had a great idea!" "W-what is it?" The other blonde nervously peeks into the room from behind the third door. "Just get over here and look!" Hesitantly, the other nurse makes her way over to where the head nurse crouches down. "Wow, he looks like an angel!" "I know right? And I can have him to myself for the next... however long we manage to keep him alive! Ah~ I''m getting so excited just thinking about it! This scene is so romantic! Quick, help me take off his clothes, I want to see what he looks like underneath~" Without hesitation, the other nurse crouches down and the two of them begin to unbutton my gown, their hot breaths blowing onto my face with each lustful exhale, under my clothes, a slight streak of sweat runs down my back. God damn it William! Where the hell are you?!?! I won''t be able to act anymore, I''m about to kill these nurses if they finish unbuttoning this shirt!!! Suddenly, as they reach the last two buttons, a loud stomping echo comes from the marble stairs above, beyond the room around us, a quick clacking noise sounding in the background, overshadowed by the aggressive stomping. "Arthur!!!" There he is! My closing act! William''s voice screams, a loud slam quickly following it, from the impact of his fall. After a short recovery to regain the feeling in his weak legs again, he storms forward, directly at the two terrified nurses, struck frozen in fear huddled around my body, holding a side of my gown with one hand, while the other is lightly planted on my bare skin. "What are you two doing?!" The enraged William shouts frighteningly, feeling his moral compass, what he had been taught by his parents and everyone he knew since he learned to speak, suddenly being challenged strongly, in the place he had worked his entire life to get to. The blonde haired nurse, face pale in horror, looking at the alarmed orange haired nurse standing behind him, trying with all her might to not look into the physician''s menacing eyes, while the other nurse can only keep their head down as she sulks in dread. "I¨C uh, it''s not what it looks like!" She says, finally looking into the doctor''s furious eyes. "Oh really? It isn''t? Because what it looks like to me is that three nurses who got assigned to a risk 4 patient, decided that instead of watching the near dead patient, decided to celebrate, drinking wine while their patient collapsed unconscious due to their incompetence!! Afterwards, because they got so drunk, they decided to take advantage of their unconscious patient at death''s door, and do such horrors to a child, that I cannot speak of because the sun is in the sky, while in a room of our respectable clinic?!?! AM I WRONG?!?!" Nope, you are absolutely spot on William, that was some impressive guessing. "N-no, you don''t understand, we-we were just trying to open up his shirt because he was having trouble breathing!" "HE HAD TROUBLE BREATHING?!?! DO YOU EVEN HEAR YOURSELF?!?! HE DOESN''T HAVE A BREATHING DISORDER! EVEN IF HE DID, HOW WOULD THAT EXPLAIN WHY BOTH OF YOUR CLOTHES ARE OFF?!?!" William stomps on the ground in front of them, the heavy impact echoing throughout the metal room, causing both to begin trembling. Both nurses keep their eyes to the ground, keeping their eyes from moving to their greatest extent, until the dark blonde finally gives in, the tears overflowing out of her eyes tremendously. "BUAH!!! I''M SORRY, PLEASE!! I DIDN''T MEAN TO, I WAS JUST¨C "YOUR TEARS MEAN NOTHING! YOU SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT THAT BEFORE COMMITTING SUCH ATROCITIES!! NOW GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM BEFORE I MAKE YOU!!" The nurses are stuck, too scared to move their hands from me. Ultimately, William violently pushes both of them away, with much effort, picking me up and carrying me on his shoulder. "I will make sure that the two of you receive suitable punishment for this." He says while looking back at the two nurses who struggle to lift themselves off the ground, pathetically crying in a desperate attempt to draw William''s sympathy. "And you, I will be reporting this incident to Dame Martha so don''t even think about trying to escape. Make sure you tie those two up and I won''t speak of you in it." William looks at the trembling, dark orange haired nurse who stares at her friends with petrified eyes before walking up the stairs without looking back another time. "I''m sorry it took me so long to get to you Arthur, you must''ve been so scared, but you don''t have to worry anymore, I''ve got you now." sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. William whispered in a soft, empathetic voice, my eyes opened, staying silent as I lay in his warm arms. ... Chapter 79: William Chapter 79: WilliamI lay unmoving on his shoulder, with a complex expression on my face, too deep in thought, staring blankly at the steps after us, as William treads upwards. His face, also out of touch with reality, as he reflects on the event that had just played out before him, his brows randomly wincing aggressively at times, but staying silent, his automated steps being the only noise echoing in the dull, empty hallway. "Say, why do you want money that badly? You don''t seem like the greedy type." I say without the movement of any part of my body, limped around his shoulder like a noodle. His automation up the stairs abruptly ends, his bent leg hovering above the next step of the stairs. "Were you conscious when those nurses were committing those horrible acts onto you?" He says in a sad, almost angry tone, his voice both clear and trembling at the same time, setting his foot down on the step in front of him. Shit! I spoke without thinking! Now he thinks I''m some pervert who enjoys being abused! After a few seconds pass, as if I let his words marinate, so that I can fully process it, I reply in a trembling, almost scared voice. "Y-yeah, I was awake..." My muscles suddenly contract, producing a large, abrupt shaking on his shoulder. Damn it! Hold still, body! Don''t start freaking out! Maybe he hasn''t figured it out yet! "Oh Arthur, I''m so sorry that you had to go through such horrible atrocities, I will make sure that all three of them get the punishment they deserve! You must''ve been so scared. This just had to happen when you just started recovering!" He stomps on the stair loudly with his next step, pausing for a second before continuing his ascent. "I didn''t know where you were relocated, by the time I had finished planning for your new room, you were already gone, and no one I asked knew where you were. I know this still isn''t a fair excuse, I should''ve searched harder for you, so you can put all the blame on me. I can be your therapist, or even find you one so please, don''t be so scared!" William''s speech abruptly comes to an end, the silence that comes after it, unnatural, and almost deafening. So this is the real William, a doctor with an unbreakable sense of justice, and empathy like no other. His will, even stronger will when children are involved. He must have had a rough upbringing. If I had to guess, he probably experienced what those nurses were about to do to me. It''s unusual, I feel a strong burning rage inside me, even though I have yet to awaken my Solar Mana. Regardless, if those who did that to him are still alive, I want to kill them with my own hands. As William continues to carry me up the stairs, through the silence, a new substance absorbed by the stone stairs, its dark color trailing behind the newly passed stairs. William¨C he''s a kind person... "Thank you." My voice comes out with a long sigh, my nose beginning to fill with mucus as a sudden wave of emotion overwhelms me. William''s shoulder tightens, a spasm occurring from out of nowhere, just I finish speaking. His eyes narrow, with much rage to be seen in it, but then suddenly, his down-pointing frown suddenly softens as he relaxes his eyebrows, fastening his grip, before he starts up the stairs again, two steps at a time. I had forgotten since I started training, but it''s not so bad to be treated like a kid. I lay happily on William''s shoulder, now enjoying the faster bumpy ride, hiding my wide smile, I hadn''t shown since I was a kid, under his freshly cleaned lab coat. S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It smells so nice... I wonder if he can tuck me in like dad... *** Feeling the harsh red light of the sun shining on my face, my eyes wince away, almost like a spasm, pulling my blanket over my head to block it. Ugh¨C I''ll never get used to that sun. A second later, I pull the sheets off my head and sit upright, staring out the window, staring directly at the sun. "Red." I blurt out randomly, in a dry and sickly voice, the emotion void from it, with no context to make sense of it. Half asleep, my brain is yet to be turned on. "Yes, it is red indeed." A voice from my left side spoke. "I like it much better, orange. The red seems a bit too violent for me to be looking at, the first thing in the morning." The voice speaks again, almost responding automatically. "Right? It''s much too violent for me as well, it reminds me too of blood, doesn''t it?" The voice speaks steadily, my brain beginning to turn on, sending me signals of something yet to be processed. "Yeah..." The horrifying memories and nightmares I pushed behind me, ache throughout my head in a blurry image, but the pain manageable enough for me to keep it hidden. "Hey who are you again?" I turn around with my finger at them as I turn my body to face them. "Greetings, Arthur." My brain, still half asleep, fails to process the signals my ears and eyes give it, unable to recognize the person, covered in blood in front of me. Hmm... who is this? Why can''t I remember who they are? Lets see, rectangular glasses, well kept black hair¨C Chapter 80: Pure Mana Circle Chapter 80: Pure Mana CircleI sit still on my warm bed, staring blankly at the boring bedsheets under me, in the cold lifeless silence under the light of an unfamiliar dawn. Now I just have to wait for William to get me my herbs. I try whistling, but I forget that I''ve never learned to whisper before, only a terribly pitched sound, similar to that of a demonic shriek coming from my vocal cords. I don''t want to risk draining my future potential by forming a circle with this sickly body. Even if I could, it would not be worth it, making a normal circle when I could make one out of pure mana. Normally, only Archmages have pure mana circles, after they have aged many years. Even then, only their 8th one, that made them an Archmage, is one made of pure mana. That''s what was believed to be the only way to form one, which is why the gap of strength between an 8th stage, and a 7th stage is so large. A Pure Mana Circle is something that only mages can have, it allows the holder of it a higher mana output at a time, but it also increases the rate at which mana regenerates. But that''s only what the public believes. After reading a copy of one of the many radical theories that were outlawed by the Pyro Church''s history of conservative leaders, I realized something, and began experimenting. One of the great pioneers of magic in the dark age, after the records of the Mythical Age was lost, Ternamin Eslan, said that since pure mana, which deviates to form all the different attributes of mana, is the source of all magic, then one must have all attributes of magic, in order to form a pure mana circle, also saying that when one becomes an Archmage, they get access to all elements of magic. Of course this is all wrong, and he was killed by the Church for it, but reading it got me thinking, what are all the factors that contribute to forming a pure mana circle? After spending ten days calculating that problem, the calculations entirely taking place inside my mind, as there were no papers to write on, or pens to write with, I had finally arrived at my answer. But unfortunately for me, I was not in a favorable situation. I had only found that book of theories, two years into the Grand Library, after reading through a quarter of the books in it, but due to the uneasiness I felt, I rushed my training, and had already been a 7th circle, Grand Wizard for months at that point, with no way to fix my mistakes. The day I figured out the answer, I formed my first Pure Mana circle, and reached the stage of an Archmage. Later, when I formed my 9th circle, I was finally able to prove my theory, when it was also a circle made of pure mana. Calculating the solution and requirements for making a Pure Mana circle Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Yet, even with two pure mana circles, it was not enough to match up with Arcanus'' 11 circles. I''m very perplexed by him, and space magic. Maybe that''s why Terminus told me I had no affinity for space magic. When Arcanus was about to finish me off, he opened his mind realm, where eleven colorless rings sprang from his manaheart. I''m not sure if the color of space affinity magic is just white, or if every single one of his mana circles were made of Pura Mana. Arcanus is a very large abnormality, every single one of my theories would be true, had it not been for him, regardless of what the topic of the theory is, if Arcanus is brought up, and used in the equation, the result would make no sense. He was stated to have transcended the 9th circle, into the 10th circle before he had reached the age of 50. Yet, he was able to reach another realm, never even thought to have been possible, even after exhausting his talent, reaching the 10th circle before he had reached the lifespan of a manaless peasant living in poverty. I had reached the 9th circle before him in my previous life, at the age of 23, while he managed to reach it at the age of 25. But that was only after I had read all of the thousands of training manuals and magic theories, written by all the greatest minds in their respective fields! He managed to reach the 9th circle with just his single mind, without any help! His entire being is unexplainable, he breaks the laws of reality without even needing to try, and his talent... is immeasurable. Even with a second life, and knowing everything about my opponent, I am not confident that I can beat him in ten years. Even if I was given a hundred, I would say my chances of winning are less than two percent. Am I really the chosen one that Luke Wolkan prophesied? I just feel like a regular person, deluded by all the people who think too highly of me. I stretch my hand out at the sun, letting its red light peek through the crevices between my fingers. Regardless of all that uncertainty, I am no longer put down by those thoughts. Being ignorant to these things would be nice, but I do not wish for it. It will be nigh-impossible to beat Arcanus, but despite how much this goes against my beliefs, I will make that event possible. If there''s anything I won''t do, it''s to waste this opportunity you''ve given your life for me to have, Pyro. I bring my fingers to a close, blocking off the sunlight, before I release the muscles I use to hold my arm up. I need to put my hand down before someone sees me doing something so cringy. It slowly falls from its vertical stance, but quickly accelerates back into the bed, while I keep the muscles in my face relaxed. As I sit in silence, turning off my brain to take a break from the thoughts, I suddenly open my mouth, trying once again, to whistle. But this time, no matter how long or how much I try to exhale, not a sound comes out. I eventually shut my mouth, keeping a straight faced mask on, while hiding the embarrassment I felt for myself, retreating in utter defeat. After recovering and temporarily removing the emotion of embarrassment from my mind, I return to my boredom. Yeah, this is going to be really boring. William better get my ingredients soon. I wonder if I can start producing my own mana again if I have two pure mana circles, or if it was only the case for my 8th and 9th circles¨C My body suddenly springs up from my rest. I just had a great idea! I can just go find the herbs myself! Chapter 81: Sneaky Chapter 81: SneakyI slowly move out of bed, carefully raising the blanket off of me, and rolling to the side of the bed, so that the bed would not make a creaking sound. As I continue rolling without a sense of distance, I abruptly stop myself once I no longer feel a solid surface supporting my head, forced to keep it up with my own muscles. Martha said that she corrected her mistake, and would only let her most trusted, and senior physicians to keep watch over me. If she was concerned enough with my health and safety, that would mean that she must have placed guards around the room so no outside threat would be able to harm me, or take me away. And it wouldn''t be those pathetic freelancing mercenaries given for free by the crown to guard all noble estates in the capital city. No, she must have gotten experienced guards at least at the Expert Stage of swordsmanship; people that I cannot fight against at the moment. After rotating my neck into a horrifying degree, I stare down at the low floor, the bed quite far off the ground. After examining the distance attentively, I slide the rest of my body off the bed, and like a cat, I delicately land on the tips of my feet, masking almost all of the sound. And I''m sure, since Martha is so caring of my safety, she gave them strict orders that I''m certain they''ll follow, since she''s the one paying them and not me. I snatch the yet to activate Sagey, and the blue amulet from the bed, making a low swooshing sound as my nails scratch the bed sheets as I grab it. I bring the amulet up to my eye and seem to be inspecting it thoroughly, Hmm... I guess it isn''t really mine anymore, since it isn''t, so I think I''ll just leave it here for WIlliam. I turn to another direction, where an annoying light keeps stabbing into my eye. Oh, it''s just a mirror. I throw the Eye of the Storm back onto the bed, and slowly set Sagey on a table in my path as I walk over to the mirror. I try a variety of poses, and facial expressions, like a blind man who sees the world for the very first time, in a hurry to see everything there is to see, and fascinated by all of it. Even in my constant sick condition, I still look better than ever! There weren''t any mirrors back in the Grand Library, so the only time I would see myself would be in my reflections from that cold pool of water. And, that reflection definitely didn''t do my appearance any justice. I bring up my arm, and roll the sleeves of my patient gown up. I can''t say that I never miss the muscles that I permanently lost after this poison. I had admired the strength and durability of swordsmens'' tough muscles, but I never managed to grow much muscle, despite how much training I did, and how strong my body was. Not having giant muscles is more suitable for my fighting style, and if my strength doesn''t change, why not also be flexible as well as strong? Dad is also thin like me, but he is one of the strongest, and the fastest swordsman there is. Maybe the stopped muscle gain is just a genetic trait of the family, and I''m glad for it. I can''t even imagine myself being as giant as Master Bladesong. I pull my sleeves down, and look at myself in the mirror, the posing and facial expressions finished. This gown on the other hand, I can definitely imagine it off of me. It is way too conspicuous, and if anyone were to see me, they would probably think that some crazy person escaped from a hospital. I look away from the mirror, and glance over at the unsuspecting, plain, simple door, aside from all the fancy goldwork embroidered onto it. Hmmm... but first, I must be certain. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. With my eyes entirely focused on the door, I begin to move away from the mirror, and sneakily creep over to the door, paying close attention to each step I take, and the acceleration at which my foot descends, before I allow it to make contact with the ground. Once I arrive, just arms length from the door, I stop, and carefully lower myself down onto one knee, then placing my hands flat on the ground, and finally bring my belly down to the floor, and the rest of my body. My plan is being carried out perfectly! I haven''t made a sound yet. Now I just have to see if my suspicions are right, or that I''m just too paranoid from all the traumatizing events I''ve seen, let''s see! Using my hands, I pull my body closer to the door, until I can smell the metal from the gold. I then bring my face as low to the ground as I can, and turn it sideways, focusing solely on the cracks under the door. If my memory of the Mint Estate''s hallways are correct, that means that there are Magic Lanterns all over the walls, and another two on each side of a door! I stare intensely at the crack, as a steady stream of light continues to pass through, the amount and otherwise, unchanging. Ho, I''ll admit, these guards take their job pretty seriously, I haven''t heard a single sound since Martha left the room. But my determination will not falter! I will not leave this position until I am certain of my theory, and that answer can only come when one event occurs! The event at which these damned guards move into the light and stop its steady flow! I suddenly feel my body start to perspire, a drop of sweat forming on my forehead, slowly making it''s way down to my left eye. Each time it moves, I concentrate harder on it, and as I concentrate harder on it, the more irritation I feel from that area, and the more I lose focus. Still, I keep my eyes on the crack. Just as the drop of sweat reaches the end of my eyebrow, a portion of the light coming from the right side of the door stops, my eyes no longer being illuminated by light. Yes! I knew there was someone there! And since no sound was made, that means they were standing there the whole time! Yes! I caught veteran assassins! I quickly push myself off the ground and dust off my clothes, tiptoeing back to the bed, as I celebrate quietly in my head. Wait, why am I celebrating? If there are guards, then that just means that it''ll be harder for me to escape. I think about slapping myself on the face, already in the motion of bringing it up, but bring it to a stop before it makes impact. As I stand in place, I scan the room for anything that could help me. Ugh, this room is so boring and clean, there''s nothing here, and these weak eyes only scanned half of the contents of the room when I gave it five whole seconds! After I recover from my anger and open my eyes, I begin scanning the room once again. My eyes abruptly pause a second into scanning. What the hell? Is that a closet? How did I not notice that tje first time?! These damned eyes! I squint my eyes, my face wrinkling as I pinch the top of my nose in disappointment, as if in pain. I sigh quietly before the wrinkles disappear, beginning to walk in the direction of the closet, opening my eyes a second later. Haaaa... Now let''s see what''s inside this thing. I swear, I will... do something... bad... if there is just another pair of clean patient gowns. I swing the doors of the closet open, bringing them to a complete stop before they reach the end of the closet''s edge. Just before I swing the doors open, I instinctually close my eyes, and keep them closed, only opening them again several seconds later. Huh? Is there no dust? That means someone had cleaned it out beforehand, which means that someone was expecting me to change clothes myself? Hmm... What could they have prepared for me? As I lift my eyelids open, I stand happily with anticipation, but as I fully grasp the identity of these clothes in front of me, the muscles in my jaw release, dropping my jaw open as I stare dumbfounded at it. There''s no fucking way the only clothes in here is a one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, fourteen piece suit! That''s going to incapacitate me even more than this patient gown! I turn around and stare at my reflection, from the mirror on the opposite side of the room from me, trying a variety of poses and expressions, but my excitement is no longer present on my face. Ehhh, it''s not that bad, it. If I just stay away from crowded areas and don''t draw attention¨C yeah no, why am I even trying to convince myself? I can''t go out like this! I turn back around and grab the suit from out of the closet, and throw it on the bed, inching over to it after it lands, and makes a small, but nonetheless, present, sound. *** Finally throwing the last piece off of me, I breathe a sigh of relief. That was harder to take off than I thought. I miss you Sebastian. I will make sure to ask father to give you an increase in pay once I get back. After fastening my boots, tightening them one last time, I slowly make my way over to the window, awkwardly moving away from the patient gown, and 10 other articles of clothing scattered all over the bed, in my not so flexible pants. Jumping, and sliding myself through the window without another look back into the room or mirror. Chapter 82: Another announcement... Chapter 82: Another announcement...Hello readers, thank you for reading my novel and being understanding about my stress this past week. I know I know, you must be thinking that I have just begun to love taking breaks after taking my first one ever, these past 80 straight days of writing, and it''s true, these last few days have been great (except for having to study all night for my midterms that are, for some reason, given out in the first week of the second marking period, but I was ready to start writing again after that. Now, getting to the main point of this announcement, I will unfortunately, be taking another break today. The reason for this is that yesterday, 11/1/2024, I got two vaccines on both my arms, and they are just so unbelievably sore. Adding on to that, even after six hours of being awake, I have this terrible headache, and 100 degree (Fahrenheit) body temperature. It''s not yet a fever, but I''ve been stuck to my bed for the last four hours. I will hopefully recover tomorrow and have another Chapter out, but as of today, you shouldn''t expect a Chapter to be released. I will begin writing as soon as possible, and I will never make this a regular occurrence. I sincerely apologize, and I thank you for understanding. See you tomorrow. S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 83: Garden Chapter 83: GardenAfter getting to the other side of the building, I look down at my clothes, and aggressively wipe them, brushing all the leaves and dirt from my white shirt, and black pants. Ugh... the dirt just won''t come off! I can mostly remove the dirt from the pants, but it still leaves a blurry brown area! These leather shoes are just beyond saving. I finally put away the anxious expression on my face and look up. As I do, a field of flowers and tall, uniformly lined bushes planted on the grass plain that surround the stone pavement appear. Ah whatever, my shoes would have gotten dirty anyway hiking in the mountains. The plants planted on this estate are very numerous, it''s expected that a Clinic should have their own garden of herbs for fresh ingredients, but the Mint Clinic here practically grows all the herbs that have medical properties in their vast gardens, even having space for decorative plants like flowers and large bushes. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The flowers change as I walk through the garden, blooming beautifully as the sun rises over the building behind me, casting the shadows away. The vibrant flower colors in my peripheral vision swim past me like a rainbow river, so calm, diverse, and uniformly arranged. The queen must really treasure the Mint Viscounty, to give them such a large estate in the capital. As I make a right turn to an open area the shadow over me finally disappears, another structure, far more different than the peaceful garden of flowers around us appears in sight. Its dominating presence stood tall in the sky, over the height of the other buildings, just barely tall enough to be visible above the tall wall of bushes. Nevermind, the queen gave them two estates. I had almost forgotten about that one. Ahh, this place really is calming. I can see why the Mint Clinics are considered the best, they have the most clean buildings, the best environment, the most Physicians, and the best Physicians. In the midst of my enjoyable sightseeing, I suddenly hear a noise, like light rain dropping on soft grass. Is it going to rain? It would make this peacefulness even nicer if it would, but it would surely hinder me if it rains while I''m in the mountains. I turn my head up to the sky, squinting my eyes, while also holding my hand, horizontal to my forehead to block the sun''s blinding rays from entering my eye. "No, there are no clouds in sight. There is no rain." I turn my head back down, my long hair automatically blocking the sun from entering without the need of manual blockage. What could it be then? I might as well find out since I''m lost regardless. I''ve never been at this location before. I close my eyes and concentrate deeply on the constant sound of a light drizzle of rain. The sound originally sounds like it''s coming from all directions, and also from nowhere as I fail to locate the direction it comes from. But as I block off my other senses, first my sight, then my touch, then my smell, and finally, my taste, I enter a state of total concentration on my ears, my hearing now comparable to that of Heightened Senses. As I continue to wait, the range of where the sound comes from changes from just a direction, to a location, until finally, I sense a single drop of water falls onto a blade of grass, a sound that normally couldn''t be heard, but to me in a state of total concentration, I hear it. Like a droplet of water falling into a void of complete silence and stillness, that tiny vibration from it echoes loudly inside it. And after that single vibration in that void, my eyes finally open. There you are. I record the distance and direction I heard the vibration from, visualizing it into the physical world as all my senses begin returning to me. 237.65 feet in a straight line away, 77.12 degrees counterclockwise from my currently faced direction. I stare out at the pavement in front of me and tilt my head in confusion. So... basically go straight, and take two lefts? I was going to do that anyway. "Haaa... and even after all that, it''s still not as good as Heightened Senses." I put my hand over the back of my neck and start walking over while staring at the sea of blue up above, circling the aggressive red ball of fire that cuts off its peacefulness that would exist had it not been for it. I try to whistle again as I continue strolling, but it ruins the peacefulness even more than the sun, so I stop. "Hm?" As I take a left turn around the large bush, the sound of falling rain gets clearer and louder, easily able to tell the direction it comes from. Taking another turn, I pause for a moment, while my foot hangs in the air before I set it back down and continue walking. Ha, it was just a gardener watering plants. It was so obvious, but I just kept overthinking. I manage to take another 70 steps closer to him before he finally turns around and notices me. "Hey there, what can I do for you?" The man says with a big smile, as the water coming out of the sprinkler in his hand stops. Not ignoring, but yet to respond to his question, I stare very attentively at the long wooden rod in his hands, that has a large wooden circle in his hands, with a hundred tiny holes. A Magic Tool? It''s just like the waterfall made of runes I used in the Grand Library! Only¨C smaller. I took the effects of Runic Tools and Magic Engineering for granted before I entered the Grand Library, Lamps, Toilets, and Heaters. I only thought of Runic tools as Enchanted swords and staves, a lesser version of artifact weapons, made of Magical material, used by those who can''t afford the price of artifact weapons, as a less powerful, but still, very useful alternative. I had thought of all other Magic Engineering products, and its engineers as failures, not used for fighting, but instead, for utility, simple quality of life since that was what the nobles around me believed. I like to think of myself as different, who appreciates all things for what they are. But this is one of the few times I was wrong, I was so vested in the idea that anything not used for battle and war was lesser, since nobles love their glory or whatever, that I failed to realize how much magic engineering improved life. After reading the biographies of those who lived in the past, it became clear to me that we have life so good. Though the information is a little outdated, since runes and magic engineering, unlike elemental magic and alchemy, has only been constantly improving each day since its creation in the Mythical Era by a little known mage, who only managed to reach the 5th circle by the age of 50, truly a great story, I really want to test the runic engravings I learned from those ancient books. I''ve been wanting to since the first year I entered the library, but since there was nothing to carve with, or carve on, I could do nothing. Truly a terrible regret. I nod with my eyes closed, my body with myself. As I open my eyes again, I stare for a short while before flinching back in surprise. Shit, I was too lost in my thoughts! It''s so weird because it feels like I''m thinking at the same speed, but I''m not. My entire perception of time has changed! After pulling myself forward again, looking back up at the gardener''s calm, still smiling face, I start laughing awkwardly. "Hey hahaha... sorry for wasting so much of your time, I was just lost in my thoughts." The gardener continues to look into my eyes while he continues to smile, his white teeth shining brightly in the sun, reflecting its light into my eyes, making me all the more nervous. "Uh... so how long was I out?" The gardener puts his hand up to his chin, and rubs at it for a while while he stares up at the sky. "Hmm... not too long, just under two minutes, I''d say." Two minutes?! Wow. That is a long time, and I wasn''t even able to pull myself out of my thoughts anytime in between. I only escaped because I finished processing everything! As the Gardener sees my eye twitch, without any other part of my body moving, he drops the sprinkler and his smile as he reaches his hand out to reassure me. "Oh! But you don''t have to worry, I don''t mind it at all. It''s these interactions with patients that are the highlight of my day!" Patient? Do I look like a patient? I thought my disguise was pretty good, how did he find out? Hoo... just calm down Arthur, just play it cool. "So, what can I help you with? I haven''t seen you here before, are you a new patient? Did you get from your room?" No! He totally thinks I''m a patient! I can totally still play this off, I''m the Heavenly Brain, or mind, same thing. "Oh¨C no, I''m not a patient here¨C" I suddenly pause as I come to say my last word, stretching its syllable out as long as possible, as he looks at me with curious, anticipating eyes. Think of a reason! Any reason at all!! You can''t waste time thinking, you think slowly! Ack! I''m doing it right now! Come on! Wait, that''s it! Lillian! "I''m a friend of Lillian''s! I''m also a student at Wolkan Academy, we''re on break for the weekend so we''re just wandering around the city." I say in a confident voice, emphasizing Wolkan Academy greatly. "I was just wondering where the exit to this estate is, I just overslept, and it seems that Lillian and Martha left without me hahaha..." HAHAHA Yes! This is why they call me the Heavenly Brain! My reasoning is flawless! Sure it''s not true that students get exempt from school on weekends, but how would he know that? Plus, I added that Martha and Lillian just left, and if he knows where the exit to the estate is, he should know that I''m telling the truth! After I look up with my smug face, my bubble of confidence is popped as I see the gardener staring very intensely at me. Shit! Did he see through my lies? We lock eyes without any words being spoken for a few seconds, him continuing to examine my eyes as I nervously await his response. The silence is finally broken as a bird chirps in the background. The gardener''s face lights up with a smile once again. "Hohoho, if you go to Wolkan Academy, that must mean you''re a noble right? I apologize for my terrible manners, I''m not well versed in the etiquette of nobles." He slightly leans his upper body down, as if a bow. "Ha... hahaha¨C don''t worry about it, I can see you''re a very good person who enjoys their job." Phew, thank Pyro he believed me. I''m sorry for lying, but I really gotta go right now. The gardener crouches down to pick up the sprinkler, before he brings his body up straight again. "You wanted to know where the exit was right? You see that estate in front, over there? Not the clinic to the right." He points at the large building where the main estate of the Mint Viscounty in the capital is stationed. The building where I had stayed in my previous life. "Just go through those doors, and take a left after you reach the receptionist''s desk. That building serves as both the lobby to this plot of land on the lower floor, as well as the residence of the Viscount''s family, and his vassals on the upper floors." Oh, I was wondering why the rooms were the exact same in the building I just escaped from, I was put in a different room this time! The room I originally stayed in, in both my lives, was in the Viscount''s Capital Estate. Just as I begin to turn around to run, following his directions, I pause before turning back. "Do you by any chance grow Ashveil ferns, Lunarfrost Blooms, or Windshade roots?" The Gardener scratches the top of his dry hat made of straw. "I''m just a farmer who waters the plants. All I know is the names of the medicinal herbs. I don''t know anything about the names of those decorative plants or those poisonous ones." Well, it was worth a try. "Alright, thank you very much sir, have a good day!" I shouted back at him after I began running, turning my torso around to face him as I waved to him. He waves back at me, before turning around, and returning to watering the plants, the soothing sound of rainfall returns behind me as I pretend to run. Chapter 84: Final Announcement and pause Chapter 84: Final Announcement and pauseYeah, so it looks like I''m going to be making another drastic decision. After seeing the condition of my novel, and being unhappy with how I wrote it, with all the mistakes I made, I''ve decided that I can no longer write this thing. This is for a majority of reasons: I already spend the majority of my free time in the day writing this, so I have no time, nor the motivation to rewrite my older Chapters. I''ve learned that my writing skills aren''t amazing, I haven''t asked enough question to realize the novel that you want to read. Ever since Chapter 9, when I left for my vacation to China, I have not proofread any of my Chapters after I finished writing them. Every single Chapter after that point is basically a first draft of the Chapters, and I just released them, without ever going back to check them, like they were finished products. I don''t write my Chapters at one single time, it''s normally spread out very unevenly throughout the day, and my writing is very reflective of the current emotions I had at the time. Because my writing is not constant, I sometimes lose the feelings that I was trying to convey, and forget to include important moments because they slip out of my mind after a few minutes. Anyhow, I think we can all agree that Arthur is a little bit too smart. It''s almost as if he''s the narrator since no one other than him explains how things work. Rather than learning about the world with Arthur, he''s basically just narrating for me, which doesn''t seem realistic. Arthur''s thorough thoughts probably take up thirty percent of the novel, maybe even forty percent. And my dialogue, and descriptions aren''t amazing either. I could go on and on about all the terrible qualities of my novel, yapping for another two thousand words like I do in normal Chapters, but I won''t. Now, I know I said I wasn''t going to take a break again, but it looks like I lied. Again. I don''t know when I''ll be back, but I''ll only start writing again once I feel confident enough, or sometime before December if you want a range. It could be a single week, but it could also turn out to be multiple. On that note, if you have read this far, congratulations, you''ve arrived at my special Q&A section, where I''ll answer questions that I think you have. Firstly, do you like Arthur Ventrike? No? Well too bad, because I do. When I come back, I will write a novel set in a world with a power system similar, but much more refined. I like to think that I''ve succeeded in the creativity department at least, but maybe not. If my new novel becomes decent enough and receives a contract offer like this one, will I make the novel contracted? Well, I don''t have a clear answer for that, not that you''d believe me after I''ve gone back on my promises so many times. But as of right now, 11/5/2024, 9:31 AM EST, I will not sign the contract. Of course, this opinion may change if I see people enjoy my novel, since I do need money to pay for college in the future, and saving a few hundred dollars would be better than making zero dollars. We''ll see. Now, if you''ve read past all that yap, and are still here, I''ll give you a treat, every single one of the arcs I wanted to get through (that I remember as of writing this announcement)(I hope I don''t regret this) sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Arthur cures himself, looks for Dustin, before the start of his story in his previous life but gets denied since Dustin is a much more serious man, and Terminus is also not there, chilling somewhere with the Sages and Philosophers, I dunno. Arthur tries to get in touch with Pyro, but entering the Realm of Flames, where the fire is much more intense, bigger, and the throne is much more extravagant, a goddess sits atop it, with her crimson red hair, just as beautiful as Pyro, but much more... fierce. Do you know who I''m talking about yet? It''s Pyro''s mother, Meridal! Goddess of Fire, and justice/truth! In this world, Pyro is not a god anymore, and Meridal is the only god to survive Arcanus'' rampage, but she manages to keep Pyro safe, by taking Pyro''s divine power, and along with her own, she casts a curse of sorts, removing Pyro''s immortality, but having her soul never die, endlessly reincarnating as a mortal. Arthur finds Pyro, who is a saintess candidate, for the first time in thousands of years where two with the stigma of the saintess appear, Rachel is still out with the Dusty Knights, serving a pilgrimage of sorts. Pyro doesn''t have memories of the previous world, or of previous lives, but is still madly in love with Arthur, it''s really poetic. Ah you know what? I just realized that I won''t be able to reveal all my ideas, just like how I wanted the bad ending parts to fit in 1 Chapter, but it ended up taking 10,000 words to finish, so I''ll just skip a whole lot. In this world, Arcanus has memories of the ones prior and escapes five years before the seal was originally undone. The cause of the disturbance in the air when Arthur was teleported to the outside world by Arcanus was because of the Arcanus cult, they released manuals with the power of demons to the entire world. Suddenly all the untalented in the world received talent worthy of being called a genius, had they been in any other time prior. Turns out, Arcanus isn''t actually evil, he killed all the gods and strong people that Arthur knew because he gains strength from absorbing true talent. He despises demons, but killing the demonic humans, basically everyone in the world by that point, would not make him stronger, but would instead hasten the fusion with the demon world. He needs power so that he can fight the demons. Firstly, neither celestials or demons are stronger than another. The demons lost the war because they invaded the mortal world, an area out of their jurisdiction. Demonic Power that they use is far weaker in the mortal world, and mana is also much weaker, and cannot be regenerated after consumed in the demon world. So Arcanus needs as much power as he can get, to stop the fusion of worlds. Loran Ventrike, a member of the long Ventrike line who are a force, unknown to the mortal world, that have trained heroes within their family, that have went down to the demon world, and defeated their forces. Their bloodline has a very special power that enables them to use mana to their fullest capabilities, even in the demon world. But, for the first time ever, Loran, the first to break this tradition, fails his mission. But luckily for him, the queen of the demons took and interest in him and well, Loran entered the queen''s bedchambers, and after a long, rough, and loud night, he emerged from the room, He was given many artifactual items, and a throne was placed next to the queen''s, in her massive Demonic-Steel Castle that took up five percent of the entire Demon Realm, which was twice the size of Aegela. Ten days later, Arthur was born under both parent''s eyes. However, in the great feast held by the Queen, to celebrate the birth of a great heir, later in the night, when the feast had finished, the queen laid in her bed, with much anticipation, the one who she waited for never arrived. After two hours, the queen finally realized Loran would never come, and sent all the hundreds of thousands of demons residing in her castle to search for him. But she was too late. Loran, with the small baby wrapped, sleeping silently in his hands ran quickly, without any of his artifacts, or sword, he ran. Just as he had reached the entrance to the demon realm, from whence he came, just as the demoness arrived, her eyes now turned crimson and full of rage, about to release some sort of awesome power, he grabbed a small glass-like shard from his cloak, and fell through the wall, escaping from the Demon World with nothing but the cursed baby Arthur in his hands. Wow, I really wrote three paragraphs just for his backstory. Looks like I got off track again. In the end, Arthur fights Arcanus to the death, and wins, with neither holding any spiteful feelings for another. Then Arthur goes to the Demon Realm and defeats them once and for all, bringing peace across the realms, and Pyro gets her memories back. Oh, and Isabella is cool. Arthur kind of teaches her how to make Pure Mana circles, and his theory on advancing slowly was wrong, Isabella gets the hang of it better than Arthur and becomes a great asset for him in future fights. That''s not all, but I should start researching soon so, see y''all!