Somewhere in the dark forest,
"It seems that the pressure has reduced for now." The mysterious man sighed.
"Is that person gone? Or is he just suppressing his aura?" The mysterious man said skeptically.
"Either way, I must find out who or what that is." The mysterious man said while moving at highspeed to the source of the light.
Meanwhile, at the cave.
"Okay what the heck is this!?" Thalor said as he stared at the floating text in front of him.
It read out:
"Welcome Young Lord! In order to use the Phoenix Lord System, you must complete the quest "Arise From The Ashes". Do you accept this quest?
Yes or No?"
"Phoenix Lord System? Wasn't that the title of the book?" Thalor said as he stepped back looking confused and then he said. "S-so the book is in me now??" Thalor said.
"But then what's this?" Thalor said as he referred to the floating text.
"Firstly, no, I don't accept this quest. Give me power!" Thalor said as he looked at the text.
The text then changed to:
"You can't use the system until you complete the quest!"
"Ugh! Fine then. I accept!" Thalor said
The text then said:
"Quest accepted!"
"Arise From The Ashes
Details:
For the young Lord to use the system, he must make an important sacrifice and arise from his ashes.
Reward
Access to the system
Penalty
Failure to access the system
"Sacrifice? What sacrifice" Thalor said as he read the text.
Suddenly, the whole cave started to shake violently.
"What's going on!?" Thalor screamed as he struggled to regain his balance.
Then, a door slid down from one end of the cave which led to the forest. Taking this opportunity, Thalor ran through the door quickly as the cave collapsed.
Some minutes later, the cave was completely collapsed with no possible way in.
"I think that was the cave's defense mechanism to prevent other people from discovering it." Thalor said as he got up slowly.
'First, I need to know what sacrifice this 'system' was talking about." Thalor thought as he stared at the menu-like screen in front of him.
Unfortunately… He didn't have the time to think.
Suddenly, Thalor felt an immense pressure weighing down on him immediately forcing him to his knees.
Simultaneously, the system made a warning-like sound as the floating text changed to:
"Warning!!!
You are being attacked by a S.E Wave far stronger than you.
Mobility has been compromised"
"Oh shit!! Has that bastard found me?" Thalor said with a grim look on his face.
But his heart truly skipped a beat as he heard a gloomy and bloodlust voice from his back saying,
"SO, YOU WERE HERE BRAT!" The mysterious man said with intense bloodlust emanating from him.
"Agh!" Thalor spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Received Injury to Internal organs.
Vitality decreased by 50%"
"Damn you system!" Thalor screamed as he suffered from immense pain.
"Good! Now, I'll make sure to tear you into pieces! HAHAHA!" The mysterious man laughed as he was overcome with rage.
Thalor gritted his teeth as he stared at the mysterious man with serious eyes. He reached for something in his pocket and threw a ball-like item directly at the mysterious man.
The mysterious man caught it easily and then said, "Hmph! You think this will st-!" Before he could finish his statement, the ball-like item exploded emitting white powder which covered the mysterious man's face causing him to lose focus.
Thalor took that opportunity to run for his life as he ran straight into the woods.
After the smoke cleared from his face, the mysterious man grinned as he looked at Thalor.
"Shadow Arts: Shadow Beast Creation!" The mysterious man shouted. Then, four Grade 9 Heaven Phase Shadow Demon Wolves appeared.
"Follow that kid! And get me all four of his limbs, one for each of you." The mysterious man said with ghastly grin that made him look like a demon.
(T/n: Well damn.)
Obeying the command of their master, the Demon wolves moved with great speed as they soon caught up to Thalor.
Thalor, who was overcome with adrenaline, only focused on running. His mind was set on only one thing only.
Survival!
'Please don't catch up! Please don't catch up! Please don't catch up!" Thalor said frantically as tears began to drop from his eyes.
'I can't die here!'
'I can't .!'
RIIIP!
Suddenly, a disturbing sound of something being ripped off was heard. Thalor suddenly felt nothing at his right arm. Turning his head slowly, he noticed that his right arm was ripped off
By one of the demon wolves.
Thalor's pupils constricted as he stared at the place where his right arm once was. Suddenly, pain immediately rushed to Thalor's head.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" Thalor screamed at the top of his lungs, holding the right side of his body.
At the collapsed cave, Claire and the Squad of knights just arrived. Looking around the cave's surroundings they didn't find Thalor anywhere.
Now when Thalor ran from the mysterious man, his whole body kicked into overdrive causing him to run about 10miles away from the cave. Therefore, the reason they couldn't find Thalor.
But when they were about to give up and search the surrounding areas, they heard a ghastly scream coming from the east side.
"Thalor!!!" On hearing the scream, Claire immediately figured out that it was Thalor but just as she was about to rush out to help him. One of the knights stopped her.
"What are you doing!? Get out of my way." Claire said as she glared at the knight.
"No can-do princess. I know you're too weak to sense it but there's an aura of an SSrank close by. It is too dangerous for us to head there." The knight said with a grin.
"Yeah, that's right! And judging from the scream, his probably dead so why bother?" Another Knight said with a glee look.
"What are you…!?" Claire suddenly realized.
They Never Wanted To Help!
Soon all the other knights agreed saying, "Yeah! Why should we risk our life for a useless good-for-nothing"
(T/N: I hope the writer kills them off in the most painful way ever."
"Hmph! The world will be better without him." One knight shrugged.
Claire just stood there dumbfounded. She just stared at the knights with fear and devastation.
Soon another scream rang out across the forest.
"THALOR!!!" Claire screamed as she tried to head to the forest but was knocked out by one of the knights.
As her eyes blurred, Claire fell to the ground unconscious as she muttered, "T-Thalor, I-I'm sorry…" She passed out.
Meanwhile, at the trunk of a tree, a bloodied figure could be seen laying lifelessly on the ground. The person's limbs were ripped off roughly, chunks of meat could still be seen where their limbs once were.
That figure was none other than Thalor, his eyes were no longer vibrant with life. He just stared lifelessly into the dark forest.
The floating text, as if mocking him, read out:
"Your vitality has reached 1%
Death Imminent!"
Thalor didn't have the strength to speak. He just stared at the floating text in front of him with despair.
"Ha! What a sight. Well, now that I've handled this snot-nosed brat. I guess I'll go swat some flies that are buzzing around. It seems like your girlfriend came back for you. Too bad she'll just end up dead or maybe I should toy with her before killing her!! It's been a while since I've touched a woman. Hahahahaha!" The mysterious man laughed as he licked his lips, his eyes filled with uncontrollable lust.
'N-no! Please don't touch her! S-someone please save her!' Thalor begged from the deepest parts of his heart but alas, his vocal cords had no strength to voice them out.
Staring at the gradually fading back of the mysterious man, Thalor felt his life flashing before his eyes as his body shut down gradually, he thought, 'P-Please, S-save he…..'
Sadly, Thalor shut his eyes and stopped moving.
He died.
Surprisiingly, following the death of Thalor, the words of the floating text changed
"Requirements has been met!
Quest: Arise From The Ashes has been completed!
Revival In Progress!
Scanning for potential threats!
One low grade threat found!
Activating System Overdrive!"