(A/N: I'll be going straight to the convergence zone)
It was a mess, Alacryan mages were fighting left, and right against monsters. As I scanned through the battlefield I saw a familiar group of people.
'Despite the sight for sore eyes that is my fairlady Caera, I think it'd be a good idea to leave right about now,' Regis commented.
Yeah, I agreed, my eyes still glued to the three of them.
As I was about to turn away, however, I caught a glimpse of Caera just as she made a fatal mistake. She misstepped, tripping over a corpse, giving the wave of monsters a chance to pile on top of her like starving animals.
"No!" Taegen roared as he tried to make his way towards the girl, pushing and throwing aside the horde of monsters practically climbing on top of him.
The other guy was in no better shape, doing his best to keep the monsters on his side from joining the ones trying to devour the girl.
'Uh, Arthur? What the hell are you doing? '
"I need answers, and they're the only familiar people I've seen, so my options are limited." I replied.
"And I'm repaying my debt if she didn't stop them, if I fought them, my body would be torn apart and I would've gone berserk last time" I continued
willing aether through my legs and dashing as fast as my body would let me. My dagger blurred around me, cutting down all the monsters that stood in my way until I finally drew close to Caera.
She had said that to me at my weakest point. If she hadn't—if she had heeded Taegen's prudent warning—I wouldn't be here now.
As the translucent aura surged around me, making the very air grow heavy, the demonic monsters reacted. Their pale spiney bodies stiffened from the sudden pressure, while some of the weaker ones even fell unconscious.
Clearing off the monsters that had piled on top of Caera, I found her lying on the ground, bleeding and unconscious.
Without thinking, I bent down, leaning my ear over her face to try and hear her breathing.
'Wow. She's even prettier up close, "Regis said with a whistle.
Regis' voice brought me back to reality, and I jerked away.
They were my enemies. They were the ones responsible for killing so many of my people. So why was I helping them?
Why was I relieved that this girl was still alive? Destruction mana danced at my self doubt as I heard Regis yelling at me to snap out of it.
"Step away from her," said a growling voice from behind.
"She's alive, go and treat her," I said as I turned towards them.
"You," Taegen said.
"Sorry, I'm still not interested in fighting you," I said.
The mace-wielder charged forward with explosive speed, and his lightning-clad mace blurred straight at my face.
Stepping forward, I dipped just below the path of his weapon and struck below his ribs, right at his liver with all of my aether concentrated on my fist.
My counterattack didn't connect, though. In that split second, he had managed to bring his other hand up to block my strike. Still, the force of my attack sent the crimson-haired warrior skidding back. His expression turned to one of surprise as he looked down at the hand that had become a bloody mess from blocking my attack.
"Like I said, not interested," I said, as I sheeted my dagger.
"My apologies for his crude behavior... and thank you for saving her," the swordsman said. As he lowered his head, I noticed his eyes lingering over the teal cloak draped over my shoulders, as if he was familiar with its owner.
At that moment, the sky suddenly changed. The once blood-stained sky cleared to show a beautiful expanse of blue, but something was missing.
It was the giant red orb that I had mistaken for the sun. It was gone, and so was the pillar holding it up.
"Finally!" a voice whooped from afar.
I couldn't quite grasp what was going on, but the hundreds of corpses that had littered the desolate ground were gone, along with the red sky.
The swordsman let out a sigh as he sheathed his longsword. "It looks like this wave has finally come to an end."
"This wave?" I asked. "Does that mean there's more?"
Going down on one knee, he handed the girl's sword to the mace wielder before gently picking her up. "Until we can get close enough to destroy the power source, these waves will continue."
"Power source?"
"That giant red moon that you saw in the sky," he explained.
"Apologies for the questions, but this is the last one," I said, surveying the mages setting up camp. "Why are there so many Ala—people here?"
This time, the swordsman looked at me with a curious expression. "Why? Have you never come across a convergence zone on any of your ascents?"
My mind spun as I tried to make heads or tails out of his question before answering vaguely. "This is my first ascent."
The swordsman's eyes narrowed as he studied me. "Even if it is your first, thorough research is always done unless you're seeking death. And with your strength, it seems more plausible that you've had formal schooling. Where are you from?"
'Say you're from the outskirts of Vechor!' Regis sent.
"I'm from the outskirts of Vechor," I said quickly.
"Then a talent such as yourself would've been reported to the capital. Unless coming back alive from your first ascent is your rite of passage, "he said, as if thinking aloud rather than directly talking to me. "Regardless. I must tend to Lady Caera before the next wave begins. I will relay your message to her. "
The swordsman walked away, with the crimson-haired warrior following close behind. A soft white aura enveloped his hand, stopping the bleeding.
After a few steps, I watched the brown-haired warrior holding the girl stop before looking back over his shoulder. "It'll be about twelve hours before the next wave comes. It'd be best for you to rest a bit before moving forward with the rest of us."
I frowned. "Together?"
"You can go off on your own to see if you fair better, but the fact that the red moon still comes up means that the ones that have tried up until now have died, since destroying that is the only way out."
I blankly watched as the swordsman walked off before focusing on what to do next.
Hey. How did you know the name of a city in Alacrya? I asked Regis as I studied the other Alacryans.
'Not a city, but a dominion, which is another word for kingdom. And it's because of Uto's will. I don't know everything he did, but I do know some basic knowledge.'
And you never thought to tell me this?
'The knowledge I have hasn't been very applicable while fighting beasts,' Regis quipped.
"Fair enough" I said
"We should seperate ourselves for now" Regis said
"Agreed" I replied
Despite the flaring annoyance at my companion, I let it go. If it wasn't for him, the swordsman would've been a lot more suspicious than he already had been.
I had managed to catch the mace-wielder by surprise, but I had a feeling that the next time, it'd be a lot harder for me.
I let out a sigh, rubbing my temples. Now wasn't the time to care about that. There was something even more important I had learned.
Through the short and rather tense conversation I had with the swordsman, it seemed that our suspicions were correct.
I was no longer anywhere near Dicathen.
The dungeon I had wound up in happened to be somewhere in the very continent I had been at war with.
I scanned the area for a while, while I was replenishing my destruction mana, and aether. While I was resting two people came to me offering me to team up, but I declined them both since I liked working alone, in my previous one I've always did things alone. The first one was a girl called Daria something, while the second one was a man named Trider.
The next wave was starting, I got up and stood a little far from the big group. As I ready up It was different from the previous wave, I didn't put any thought about it, as I imbued destruction mana once again.
I felt a difference my vision was now blood red, grey, white, and black. I turned to see the group of mages red, while the sky was also red the ground was black white grey. I took a stance as I felt adrenaline rushed. I charged cutting of the carallians as Daria told me what they were. I didn't pay attention to the other group, all I could think right now was killing, and destroying the carallians I paid no attention to my surrounding as I blasted the ground.
One hour and forty minutes has passed, I stopped using my destruction mana, and started only using aether.
Despite my distracted state, decades of fighting and honing my instincts came into play in an instant as I felt, rather than saw, someone rapidly drawing near me.
Spinning on my heels, I grabbed my surprise attacker's wrist, pressing the tip of my blade against... her throat?
I paused my attack for a split second out of surprise, and in that split second, the hand holding my white dagger was grabbed by a large hand, and I found myself face to face not only with Caera—whose wrist I had in my grasp—but also with Taegen, who was grabbing my hand, and the swordsman, whose humming blade was aimed at my exposed side.
Rather than wavering at the sudden turn of events, I bristled in anger. "What is this?" I said in a deep and cold voice.
"Unhand her," Taegen ordered as his thick fingers crushed down on my hand.
"She attacked me." I responded calmly in a level tone, but the aetheric pressure I emitted affected even Caera's protectors as their expressions grew strained.
"I thought... I was imagining things," Caera muttered, but she wasn't talking to me. Her quivering red eyes were fixated on the white blade a few inches away from her throat.
"But I was right..." Caera's eyes were locked onto mine, her expression harsh. "Why do you have my brother's blade?"
"I found it in one of the zones before coming here, same with the cloak, and most of my supplies" I replied as I released my grip
Caera's face was a motley of expressions; she somehow seemed afraid, happy, crestfallen, and hopeful all at the same time.
She opened her mouth to speak but hesitated, almost afraid of what she might hear.
"I found them crytalized, no one was there," I said
As soon as I saw that, a tear started to form from Caera. But she immediately wiped them off.
"Do you want to continue the talk somewhere private?" I asked.
She nodded, so all four of us entered a tent to talk. I told them what I saw in the zone where the centipede was, and I gave them the hard news.
I walked out of the tent with a sour mood. Why why why do I care for these people I asked myself.
"Arthur you have to tell the difference here they did nothing to hurt you continent, like they said ascenders are not allowed to go to war" Regis said
But you don't need to force yourself to think of these people as your enemies. They're still just—'
"Shut up!" I roared mentally. "They are my enemies. And no matter how sentient you are, you're still just a weapon. Remember that." I snapped
Regis grew silent, and the anger boiling in the pit of my stomach grew. The destructive mana was dancing inside me.
I went to separate myself again to calm myself. I found myself under a tree a few dozen meters from where the big group was, I focused on channeling my aether to my aether channels and core as I slowly adapted to the feeling of pain when I imbue destruction mana. I wanted to try and tap on the destruction rune using the destruction mana, but I think this wasn't the best place to test it. As I was meditating, a familiar navy-haired girl came towards me, but her guards were nowhere to be found. I suppressed my anger as much as possible before opening my mouth to speak,
"Can I help you?" I asked my voice a little harsh
"Was there no corpses at all in there? "She asked as tears were dropping.
"No, there wasn't anything but items in the crystal stones. I'm sorry," I said.
"Why was I sorry"
"Why is there guilt inside me"
She sat down a few inches beside me, her face facing down as she covered her face with her hands and started crying. I let her cry until she stopped. I turned my gaze to her when she was silent. Her eyes were more red and she was red around her eyes and nose.
"How strong was the beast?" she asked
"Definetly stronger than the Carallians by more than tenfold," I replied
She nodded, and stood up before she walked away.
"Thank you," she said, and then she left.
We grouped up to discuss something, but I didn't listen at all because I wanted to leave as soon as possible.
"How far is the power source from here?" I asked.
"You're planning on going there alone, aren't you?" Daria sighed.
I responded calmly. "Is that a problem?"
"Don't you have any sense of responsibility? Because of your presence, the carallians have been augmented to such a degree that five of us died in that last wave! That's unprecedented in convergence zones! "
"So? You all know what you sign up for when you're going on an ascent, and here I am to be blamed because of just being here, where's the logic in that? "I snarled.
Caera stood up, storing the dagger in a dimension ring. "Even if he leaves, a part of the wave will follow after him and if he dies, the carallians will revert back to their previous form. Where exactly does the problem lie?"
"H-He should take responsibility and stay here to protect the rest of us until we get out of this zone!" Daria sputtered, her cheeks red in anger.
"I don't even know any one of you" I replied
I looked back at Caera, who remained unfazed as she responded. "Don't you mean, he should stay here and protect you?"
Daria let out a scoff before she whipped her gaze to me. "So this is why you didn't accept my offer. I didn't realize you were a dog of the Denoirs."
I grabbed her neck, and started to choke.
"I've had my patience drained from me ever since I've entered the Relictombs, and I'll congratulate you for being the first fucking one to make me burst out, "I said as I threw her back on the ground.
"I don't care what you think of me, or what you say of me. Usually I'll just ignore it but my patience isn't really at it's best right now. Follow me or stay here is your call I don't care" I said as I turned back
Caera Denoir POV
While I did want the mysterious man to also stay, but I saw in his eyes that he was eager to leave so I helped him out a little. But Daria offended him, leading him to burst out his anger, and walked away.
"Careful, Miss Lendhert," Arian said as he finally got up, patting the dust off his matte armor. "While exploiting your blood name is frowned upon in the Relictombs, everyone here should know that Lady Caera doesn't take lightly to insults and Denoirs are rather known for settling scores."
She just huffed, and left.
"I wonder who he is" I asked myself
I told the other two to stay here as I wanted to check some things out at first the were reluctant but eventually agreed.
I followed the man to an opened space where the fight was, I saw him standing his red mana covering his body. But I saw his hands change, I saw red scales for a moment on his arm, but it quickly changed back to a normal hand. He punched a boulder shattering it, as I saw his once topaz golden were slowly turning scarlet red, his mana was rampaging out of control like a beast in a cage.
He managed to take hold of it again, and his eyes turned back. I was shivering in fear when I saw that mana, it was even more scarier than my mentor's mana.
"Is he a scythe?" I asked myself
"No I've never heard of a scythe with golden wheat hair"
He looked like he was angry as he clenched his fist blood dripping from both of his hands, releasing back his dreadful red mana. I didn't want to pry any further, so I returned to the others. It was then that the man came back, his face expressionless, and he looked like a walking corpse.
Daria came towards him as I felt something bad was going to happen since he isn't mentally stable right now.
Wait! " She said
The man looked back over my shoulder, locking eyes with the brown-haired caster. "What is it?"
Daria flinched under his gaze but steeled herself and glared back at him. "Assuming that everyone here follows you, by the time we reach the power source, most of our mana will be too drained to face the guardian."
"So?" he simply replied
"You don't seriously think you're strong enough to take on the guardian by yourself after sprinting a marathon, do you?" Daria snapped, stomping toward me. "You're going to need all of our help. Hell, even if you see all of us as dead weight, at least you'll need to be at full strength, right?"
"Just get to your point."
Her brows furrowed and she opened her mouth to talk back but stopped herself. "To be honest, I have no confidence in being able to get past whatever monstrosity is waiting for us after fighting against the last carallian wave."
Daria turned around to face the rest of the ascenders listening in.
"Therefore, I have a proposition, but I'll only do it if he accepts," she said while pointing back at the man. "I have a way that allows all of us to travel while the burden of mana usage falls solely on Orid and myself. We will get everyone there in top condition at the fastest possible speed only if our safety is prioritized."
Immediately, a few ascenders started protesting until I finally spoke up.
"I agree." he said as his face was still expresionless
I honestly didn't know what to expect. Daria had seemed like a capable mage and even if Alacryan mages weren't very flexible with their elemental manipulation, I had hoped for something...more.
Instead, I seemed to be staring at what looked to be a large...sled...made entirely of ice. At the center was a large tarp hanging off a tentpole as a makeshift mast.
"You expect all of us to ride this?" Taegen asked, towering over the ice sled.
"I've condensed the ice several times so it's sturdier than it looks. I got the overall structure shape from the oceanriders and I've tested it several times myself," said Daria with a hint of pride.
Everyone waited for the man to get on the sled first while Daria stood on top of the ice vehicle, expectations high as he walked toward her.
Placing his hand on the surface of the ice, he pushed down with adequate force making the ground shake and the ground cracked.
"Are you seriously questioning the integrity of my spell right now?" fumed Daria as she threw back her mage robe, letting the luxurious cloth slide down her exposed back to reveal a series of tattoos. "I have four crests and two emblems, you jerk!"
"And I didn't use any mana there," He replied leaving Daria dumbfounded
"No mana was used yet the ground cracked from his impact" I said to myself surprised
He climbed atop the panel of ice, facing his back to her. "We've wasted a lot of time. Let's move."
One by one, the rest of the seven ascenders aside from Daria and myself began boarding the large sled until we were all squeezed together and holding onto the railings that Daria had so helpfully conjured.
Daria then started to conjure wind to push the sled while Orid used his earth magic to smooth the ground.
As the others became comfortable, they began to actually enjoy the ride, I kept looking at my brother's dagger until I saw my tears drop. I quickly wiped them away, and scanned the area to see if anyone else saw that. That was when I locked eyes with the man. I felt my face warm up as I knew that he saw that, I quickly turned back, and looked down in embarrassment.
We arrived, Something was wrong. There was no proof that something was wrong, but my body felt it. And judging by how anxious Taegen looked, his face in a fierce scowl and his gaze darting left and right—as if searching for something—I knew I wasn't the only one.
The earth suddenly trembled, causing Keir to lose balance and let go of his spell.
"W-What's going on?" he shouted, trying to scramble back to his feet.
The earth shook once more, even stronger this time, followed by a bloodcurdling roar that reverberated from the very ground beneath.
My hair stood on end and a familiar voice affirmed the very action I was about to take.
But the ground rose, and I felt a rush of vertigo as the entire sled rose closer and closer toward the red sky.
Keir, who had been trying to get back to his feet, was thrown from off of the edge of the sled and knocked unconscious by one of the panels of earth circling around us.
His body quickly receded from view as he fell off the edge of the rising ground, carrying us higher and higher.
Another beastial roar resounded, unmuffled this time and loud enough to make me dizzy, followed by a silhouette of something both large and tall enough to be able to eclipse the majority of the sky.
Then, it looked at us. The tower that had cast a massive shadow over us was, in fact, a long serpentine neck.
Resting on the top of the neck that stretched over ten stories high was the leathery head of a bat with a disproportionately large mouth and two piercing purple eyes... each larger than a carriage, and boring directly down at us. That was the last thing I saw before slowly losing consciousness.