Athelei had a problem.
'It's not here…'
Indeed, his problem was not because there was a foreign, ominous, and dangerous Mystic Pattern circle inside his mind. It was the absence of his much-anticipated Stain of Existence that was bugging him.
'It should be due to this place…' He thought as he scanned the seemingly mundane area in front of him.
Athelei was currently standing at the edge of the mysterious zone. The area where he would lose contact with his own wisps whenever he sent them inside. Presumably, this had been where the Ogre Magi had built up their base inside this kingdom-city.
Past tense, because Athelei knew that those Magi were no longer in the area.
How was he able to figure it out? Well… if you can't call the black smoke that was billowing out of some invisible dome the answer, then… he would be totally stumped.
'I can safely assume that something foul had occurred inside there. Just based on the fact that there had been a chaotic battle just now, an accident is a likely event, right? Perhaps something delicate had been broken, or some substance was let loose… Either way, it is likely something that is harmful to flesh beings…'
Athelei watched as his snow-white skin was slowly being tainted by a creeping purple hue. Feeling the warm and soggy sensation brought by it, he couldn't help but squint.
He was jotting down his observations into a new mental book.
'It affects my human body, but not my wisps, thus it is also a physical threat and not a spiritual one. It is also invisible to the naked eye, so could it be some sort of radiation… No…'
A wisp that had been lingering near Athelei scanned the spreading purple pigment.
'It's some kind of toxin or poison.'
Athelei's eyes flashed as he used his wisp's senses to execute Inspect.
'How does it affect my body?'
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Wyrm Venom Residue
- Causes cellular collapse once it mixes with blood to create an acidic solution after a few minutes of maturation. (Humans)
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Cough!
Before Athelei's body could even develop a cold sweat, it had already turned into incorporeal grey fog.
A wry chuckle resounded within the fog, 'Terrifying...'
Athelei then ended up scanning the few still-breathing High Orcs as he recalled the Mystic Pattern circle inside his mind.
'And I was wondering why they were still kept alive...'
At first, Athelei thought that the Ogre Magi had simply left in a hurry due to how urgent the situation was. They did not have the time to manually finish off every High Orc, despite how injured they were.
'Lou'both's teacher definitely knew what Wyrm Venom could do... He didn't kill the High Orcs himself and simply did something to make them unconscious.'
As for dealing with himself, Athelei wasn't sure why he hadn't been killed or even damaged. He had been just a few steps away from Lou'both, and yet the mysterious Ogre Magus did not do anything to him.
The skin-only body that Athelei had formed did not have a single physical wound, not to mention his wisps were still alive and floating. No explosion obliterated them, despite how it was likely that the teacher had supplied Lou'both with his vocabulary of Mystic Patterns.
The student had been saved, and yet Athelei was unscathed— as if the teacher had assumed that he would surely have the same fate as the High Orcs.
Only the Mystic Pattern circle in Athelei's mind had been what they left behind. It was probably there to stop him from escaping, at least if he had been a creature without a unique consciousness.
'I really wonder what that Magus was thinking...' Athelei couldn't help but think of many different scenarios while he drifted around the kingdom-city's ruins.
He watched, powerless, as the unconscious High Orcs that had survived the battle either bled to their deaths or were dyed in a sickly purple. He observed Hilvar, in particular, whose wounds were heavy and numerous.
The explosions summoned by Lou'both were violent and immense. Athelei found it amazing that the High Orc leader had survived the dozens or so casts of [Bone Detonation]. Though, it was still reasonable given the Rank difference between the two.
'Unfortunate...'
A resigned sigh echoed out in the silence.
Hilvar's end was just a few moments away.
'I was at least able to stop him from dying at the hands of Lou'both. Truly... the only way I could've guaranteed a true and lasting victory was if I had abilities on par with the Nefarious Icon.'
A flicker of dissatisfaction flashed within Athelei's nonexistent eyes.
'My little tricks worked wonders, and my wishes had been fulfilled. And yet, I did not expect him to meet his end at the very moment my plans were completed.'
Athelei let out a dry laugh as he watched Hilvar's body dissolve before his very eyes. 'In a way though, such an end has its charms,'
First was the High Orc's skin, then his flesh, organs, and muscles.
It all turned into liquid, which then turned into vapour in the air.
A skeleton was all that was left behind.
"Hah,"
Athelei sighed, half in satisfaction and half in discontentment.
Hummmmmmmmm!
A familiar pulse made the world tremble, but no living being was in the area to perceive its discomforting presence. Athelei reflexively cut off all his senses and the world turned into a lifeless grey.
And in his sight, a familiar splotch of black ink. A wisp. A Stain of Existence.
It had emerged from within Hilvar's corpse, floating just where his heart would have been.
A vaguely humanoid figure formed from grey fog gradually manifested. Athelei reached out and took the Stain of Existence within him.
Images flashed into his mind at that very moment.
It was the battle that had just occurred... plus a little more.
Athelei witnessed the moment that two huge Mystic Pattern circles were summoned into existence. There was one inside the other. It shone in the sky, like a ceiling of white light, putting all of its intricate details on display.
'Concentric circles!' Athelei inwardly exclaimed, yet he was not so surprised by this revelation. Now it was no wonder that Hilvar, who was practically at the peak of Rank 3 in terms of [Energy], had encountered a wall. The [Seed of Emotion] was the work of an Ogre Magus who was equivalent to a Rank 3 Artist, and Lou'both was just blessed with a wondrous situation because of it.
Time seemed to stop as every conscious being froze in place. Their eyes glazed over in moments as they all collapsed and fell into a deep slumber.
The only movement visible in the area came from the tendrils of liquid darkness that grew out of Athelei's wrist.
The next image then flashed.
A robed Ogre, much larger than Lou'both was standing before the writhing tendrils. On the Ogre's face was an expression of wariness, with slight hints of dread as he gazed at the monstrous form that Athelei had whimsically taken.
The Ogre seemed to be speaking to itself as the images flashed past Athelei's eyes.
"True... demons... rebirth... gods... return..."
Athelei could barely lip read a few of the words in Acivis, and even then, he wasn't sure if his guesses were correct.
In the next images, both the robed Ogre and Lou'both were gone.
And then as swiftly as the images came, they left. A few of Athelei's questions had been vaguely answered thanks to those images, but it wasn't enough.
Whatever that robed Ogre was saying to itself was scratching at the deep recesses of his mind.
The fact that these answers just made his curiosity stronger almost drove Athelei insane.
"I need to figure out how to get inside that mystery zone..." He muttered to himself as he thought about what straws he could grasp for even a little bit more info.
Just as he was about to leave, though, a small swirl of energy caught his eye.
Athelei's attention was snapped back to Hilvar's remains as he sent his wisps to observe the corpses of the other High Orcs— even the ones who had died before Lou'both and the robed Ogre Magus escaped.
What used to be pearly white bones were slowly being dyed a deep purple. The vapour that had been born from their flesh turned out to have been lingering around them.
Athelei watched as the skeletons and the vapour behaved like magnets, where the latter kept seeping into whatever microscopic pores there were.
It was a slow process, but Athelei was not bored in the slightest. He had placed his full attention on every corpse in the area.
Jotting down notes, and making use of Inspect.
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Trinity Analysis Skill: Inspect (Level 9/10) -> (Level 10/10)
Cooldown per target: 14 Hours -> 12 Hours
Information: Requesting for a target's basic stats now no longer has a cooldown.
Surveillance Targets: 6 -> 8
Appraisal: +1 Level
Judgement: +1 Level
Examine: +1 Level
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His Analysis Skill had finally levelled up in the middle of his observations, but he only gave the notification a fleeting glance as he nodded in approval.
It took an entire day before the vapour had finished settling inside the skeletons, and now Athelei could see a battlefield filled with creepy purple skeletons lying about.
Shards of Greater Goblin bones seemed to be in a similar state, although according to Inspect, those bones were incomplete, and of different classification.
As for those High Orc skeletons, Inspect reported as followed,
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Marinated Bones
- An Oxhorian Spawn delicacy usually consumed by the well off and nobility.
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"A delicacy!" Athelei exclaimed as he cast Inspect on all the skeletons in the area. He asked different questions for each unique set of bones until he had a comprehensive file inside his mental library.
Excluding all the technical data he had collected such as average weight, average acidity, average density, and many more obscure facts and trivia, the screen below was what he got;
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Marinated Bones
[ "Sour Candy" ]
- An Oxhorian Spawn delicacy usually consumed by the well off and nobility. Created using the venom of Wyrms and High Orc bodies. Named and discovered by Helli'van during the Era of Life of the Oxhorian calendar.
- When consumed, creates a soothing effect that relaxes the mind and promotes [Demonlife] regeneration. (Oxhorian Spawn)
- Highly lethal poison when ingested. Causes severe [Mana] poisoning. (Humans, Orcs, Ogres, Goblins, typical Monsters)
- Causes slight demonification. (Animals, Beasts)
- Tastes like lemons.
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