Fear, a word known by all. A word misinterpreted to simply mean, to be afraid. In recent times, most living creatures, especially humans, attach fear to various emotions thus creating many different kinds of fear. For example, fear of commitment, fear of loneliness, the fear of being inferior and so many more. It is a misconception that the greatest fear of all living things is death, that is life's greatest lie.
The worst kind of fear, the kind that is not simply an emotion but an instinct, the type that is the cause of mankind's most atrocious actions-the fear of the unknown.
Rio stood perfectly still. He didn't blink, didn't speak, didn't even breath. His thought process, the only thing running at a hundred miles per hour, tried to make sense of his current situation.
'What is behind me?, A monster?, An evil spirit?, Could it be the keeper of this place?',
"You can rest easy, my lord. This humble servant would dare not harm a single hair on your noble figure", the being said as he moved to Rio's side all the while keeping its head bowed.
It moved towards the cracked door of the cathedral and Rio was instantly puzzled at what he saw, the creature form shrouded in shifting shadows that twist and writhe with every movement. Its features were obscured by the depths of its hooded cloak, leaving only the faintest hint of glowing, ethereal eyes that pierce the darkness with an eerie intensity.
"I assure you that you are safe here. I am Alister, humble servant of your grace".
"Why do you keep calling me your grace?", Rio asked.
"The answers you seek lie within the temple", Alister said.
Although still wary of him, Rio nervously agreed, simply because he felt drawn to the cathedral or rather what was inside it.
The two walked in the cathedral, their footsteps echoing. The state of the interior of the cathedral similar to its outside, chunks of mold had grown on parts of the grey walls that had visibly cracked, tattered remnants of tapestries and faded murals adorn the walls, depicting scenes of piety and devotion that have long since been forgotten by the passage of time. An altar stood at the center of the hall, its marble surface cracked and weathered, yet still bearing traces of its former grandeur. Here, amidst the debris of fallen statues and broken pews, one can almost hear the echoes of hymns and prayers that once filled the sacred space.
Alister's gaze grew colder as he witnessed the horrible state of the cathedral, it was like he was reminded of a painful memory. He quickly withdrew his cold stare, then touched one of the statues near the altar. The altar immediately began to quake, it then moved out of its original position revealing a flight of stairs the led underground.
"Please follow me, your grace", Alister said to which Rio agreed.
As he walked down the stairs Rio couldn't help but ask, "You've been here before?".
"It was a few lifetimes ago, when I served as the head of this temple", Alister answered then said, "Before you ask anymore questions about this place, my lord. I would like to ask a question?".
"Alright", Rio said.
"What do you know about the current churches?", He asked Rio.
Rio took his time to recall all the information about the churches then replied.
"There are four major churches on the continent. The church of Twilight, church of the sea god, church of Eternal rest and the temple of the mind. The churches maintain a close but not friendly relationship with each other. They allow each other to spread their teachings but were in no way to force common people".
"And their current headquarters?", Alister asked.
"The only one I know of is the Temple of Dawn belonging to the church of Twilight at the Ashton empire", Rio replied.
Alister pondered on the information and let out a sigh as he said quietly, "So dream is now lost".
"What do you mean?", Rio asked getting more confused by Alister's reaction.
"Your grace, we have arrived", Alister said ignoring Rio's question.
Rio looked ahead and realized they had already reached the foot of the stairs. The room they arrived at was pitch black, the only source of light was a huge silver door that stood right at the center of the room.
The more Rio studied the door, the more he noticed the intricate details on it, but what was strange was that the design followed a system Rio was very familiar with, runes!
"Where does that door lead to?", he asked.
"Forgive me your grace but I only know that I was supposed to lead you here", Alister said, apologetic.
Suddenly fearful Rio asked, "who told you to?".
Alister's response was a simple word,
"You".
'What the heck does that mean' Rio took a step back, utterly confused.
"Rest assured, your grace. All will be answered once you walk through that door".
Rio didn't know why but he knew that Alister was telling the truth. Coming to terms with what he had to do, Rio braced himself, closed his eyes then pushed open the door before his fear took over.
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The battle against the hydra raged on. The creature's abilities proved rather troublesome with some of the warriors already suffering critical injuries.
"When's the rest of your team going to join? Do they plan on just watching from the tunnel?", Cain asked.
Although he could easily defeat a creature of this level if he wanted, his intuition warned that something was very wrong with the general situation and there was the issue of finding Rio.
'The kid's rune spell is still active, that means his alive but I can no longer sense his mana so he's most likely somewhere else.
You better make it back kid, I want to see what fate has in store for you'.
"Why isn't it taking any damage?!", Katrina shouted anxiously interrupting Cain's thoughts.
"No, it's taking damage", Zyran replied then slashed the air sending claw shaped mana attacks at the hydra. The attack cleaved right through its defense, severing one of its heads and leaving a nasty wound along its chest.
The warriors were elated to finally see the monster damaged, only to have that turn into dread when the wounds started closing rapidly.
"As expected of an A-rank boss monster, its regeneration is on another level", Ryker grimaced.
"You guys might need to gather the rest of your team", Cain spoke as he landed beside them quite a distance from the black water lake. The hydra seeing that the intruders moved away from its immediate range focused it's attention to the silver chains that bound two of its heads.
The rest of the group that stayed in the tunnel jogged up to join them.
"We've decided to work together for the time being", Zyran informed the rest of the leaders about his circumstantial alliance with Cain.
With the rest informed but still wary, Cain spoke,
"I've discovered three problems in this dungeon. First, apart from that one there were only two types of monsters in this dungeon. That's odd for dungeons of this level known to have a least four different types of monsters within.
The second and third problems are related, the Tier-2 mages among you should be able to tell that the lake is the main source of power for the hydra, so we win by getting it out of the lake or getting rid of the lake completely. Which brings me to the third problem, that lake and its hydra are man-made".
The last fact made all members of the alliance jolt. The idea that a monster of this level was created by a person.
"I suggest we fall back to the tunnel and wait for the reinforcements from the church", commander Bale said to which some agreed.
"It's definitely a case the church will want to investigate. But can we really just leave the like that?", Reina asked.
"It shouldn't be able to leave the lake seeing as it would run out of energy and it looks preoccupied at the moment", Norman said.
"It seems to be struggling with something something", Gus said as he squinted to see what held the hydra down.
"That's the kids' spell, it's surprisingly powerful", Cain blurted out drawing puzzled looks from everyone.
"Do you mean your partner?", Bale asked.
"I wouldn't say we're partners rather I'm just lending a hand while trying to figure out what's so special about him", Cain replied.
"And where is this special partner of yours?', Zyran asked.
"After getting pulled under that lake, his presence completely vanished. I just hope I can keep my promise to old man Davison". Cain sighed as he spoke.
Upon hearing his words, the Silver Talons were left stunned as they connected the dots and realized the second intruder was actually -someone who had made several unreasonable requests to tag along on high level missions despite only being at adept tier- Rio!
Gus turned to ask, hoping that he hadn't guessed right," Rio?".
"You guys must be familiar with him", confirming his guess.
Reina snapped,
"You bastard! How could you bring a fourteen year old in an rank A dungeon of all place and then you let him get dragged off. You better pray he's fine or I'll cut your eyes and feed them to you!".
The mages from other guilds were shocked to see such an outburst. It was commonly known that the leader of the Silver Talons was always calm and collected even in perilous situations and presently she was far from calm.
Noticing the others reaction, Gus smiled.
"This is how she gets whenever Rio is involved. It's her overprotective side", he explained.
"But it's necessary right now. How could you bring a kid to a dungeon of this level and who the hell are you?", Ryker asked pointing his sword at Cain.
"Calm down. I'm on your side, I also want to find the kid. Besides, I'm pretty curious about him. You guys probably have an idea about his strange mana right?".
"Why should we tell you anything!?", Reina spat. Just as she was about to hurl another bout of curses, everyone present suddenly sensed the arrival of another group.
The church? Have reinforcements finally arrived?. These were the thoughts that wandered through the minds of everyone.
The figures were soon within viewing distance. Seven figures, six dressed in full black while the leading figure wore a navy blue colored three piece suit, clothes that were out of place in dungeons.
Asides the fact that another unexpected group had found their way into the place, what caught the attention was the insignia on their clothes. Positioned vertically, a silver sword inscribed with countless runes, with two sets of wings extending from the hilt. This insignia that belonged to one of seven high noble powers on the continent, a family that had a two thousand year long history of completely annihilating its enemies and the only family that boasts over eight Exemplars warriors-House Dacre.
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As Rio ventured beyond the door, he opened his eyes only to find nothing but an empty throne room. A round table was placed at the center with eleven chairs around it.
The setting reminded him of a story about a kingdom of ancient times called Camelot. It was said that the king named Arthur would sit and discuss with his twelve knights at a round table.
The room itself was grand and opulent with a high ceiling adorned with silver crystals. Upon loser inspection, Rio noticed that each chair had a diamond shaped crystal embedded at the top of the backrest.
With nothing else happening, Rio decided to sit on one of the chairs. As soon as he sat, the crystal embedded into the chair glowed white showing tiny complex runes inscribed on it.
Rio wondered who could have designed such a complex rune.
"I'm sure you have no idea why you're, your grace", a voice said.
For the first time, Rio noticed a woman sitting across the table. No, it was that he didn't notice but rather the strange woman was there till he sat down. The woman had fair skin, her hair and eyes were pure white. Her beauty was simply exquisite.
For some reason, Rio found it difficult to look into her eyes, the more he tried, the harder it was.
"Unless you want to see all possible outcomes of your future, I'd advise against looking at my eyes", the woman said, her voice soft and lifting, like the gentle rustle of leaves on a breezy day.
"Actually, it would be viewing all past events and future possibilities at once", she explained further.
Rio thought that would be unpleasant and deemed it too harsh a price for looking into a person's eyes. But could he even consider this woman a person?
"Who are you?,
What is this place?,
What is that thing that led me here?,
Why do both of you keep calling me your grace?,
Why am I even here?!", Rio threw a fury of questions that had been gnawing at his mind.
The woman responded in with her calm voice,
"I am the guardian of the inevitable.
Destiny incarnate, Inevitability, are among the names I've been called across time.
I am fate, one of the endless".