The young man and the spirit finally had some time to relax without worry. Neither of them needed to eat or drink anything, but the young man had gained an exhausted mind after everything that happened. Walking into the spirits old house, he found a soft bed and a comfortable pillow that fit his head perfectly.
Climbing into bed, as soon as he closed his eyes, the young man fell to sleep. It was going to be a while before he awakens.
'Interestingly enough, he didn't die. Maybe it was time that I got out of this crypt, well after we deal with the king. That bastard must die.' Sitting in the chair, the spirit waited for the young man to wake up.
A warm wind flew through the town, dust particles flew into the air and floated through the forgotten city. Like snow they slowly fell down, slight gusts of wind pushing them up and down. The wind made them take shape, humans, objects, lights, food.
Then they started to move. At first, it was just as if they were moving forward, walking their own path, but then they started to move more. First, it was riding bikes, or baking bread. The next, you could see the outline of little children playing with their siblings, the adults relaxing while talking to each other.
Soon, a bunch of the dust started to head towards the large building in the center of the town. 'Curious,' The spirit followed cautiously. Their clothing changing from causal clothing into suits and dresses, even the young children looked like they were dressed up.
The large group slowly entered the hall, when the spirit followed them through it, he saw the reason he was stuck to this desolate town. Inside was a grand ball, lit with countless floating lighting stones, which made the room shine with a glorious radiance.
The hall was perfect, simply perfect, but there was something that he needed to see, if only for one last time. Running up the stairs to the second-floor balcony, overlooking the town, he saw a lone dust figure. It looked as if it was going to jump off of the balcony into the streets below.
Hesitation written all across its face as it gripped the railing with a tight grip. The dust figure paused for a moment and looked back. A smile was on her face, her smooth skin glowing with power that could be mistaken for mana, but she was a mortal. Damn it all she was a mortal.
She raised her hand, beckoning him forward. A smile written all across her face, her deep blue eyes stared at him as he stared back. Her hair, no longer sitting in that messy ponytail that she always had it in, now flowing like a graceful river, and that dress, oh that dress put the cherry on top. Its golden jewels left everyone who looked at them stunned in their beauty.
He was glad that he had convinced her to try it on that night.
He took a step forward, but he was too slow. Another dust figure walked past him, his grey eyes staring into hers like a deep storm and the ocean, unrelentingly close. They ran up to each other and embraced each other with a great hug. The spirit closed his eyes and stepped back; it was too late for them.
On the far edge of town, he could see a great amount of dust gathering. Deep reds and oranges collapsed in on themselves as they grew stronger. Then they charged, house after house was swallowed into oblivion as they fueled the fire, only the stone houses left standing. The two dust figures looking on as they realized what was happening.
The young dust cloud, his grey eyes searching for his partners eyes in the panic, grabbed her arm and ran inside the large building. Down towards the cellar where the fire wouldn't get them. They yelled and yelled but the others around them just wouldn't listen.
'I must warn them,'
But he knew it was useless...
The two tried the cellar door but it was locked. They panicked and screamed but it was no use... The young woman, her eyes a chaotic mess of tears and redness, looked deep into his grey eyes. She could not speak but he read her lips anyways "I love you, Amzo." They kissed for one last time, under the blaze of Frath.
"You were always so beautiful, Angilina," Then there was nothing except bright yellow dust, filling the entirety of the town.
The spirit, his stormy grey eyes empty, walked out of his town's town hall for the last time.
"I will pay this back 100x times over. The king must die,"
---
Time was hard to count in the stone town. It used to be filled with people who worked on the same clock, and established their own days, but that was a long time ago.
"Hey, it's time to wake up," The spirit kicked the bed, attempting to wake up the newcomer. His arm was considerably better compared to last night, and his leg looked like it was never burnt by the undead in the first place.
"Ugh, what time is it?"
"Time to get up, idiot,"
"You don't know, do you?"
"Nope, now get up. We need to leave,"
Finally relenting, the young man stood up.
"You can pick out a set of clothes from the closet over there. I don't have any need for them anymore."
The closet was made of a dark wood, it's edges singed like there had been a house fire. Opening the closet, the young man could see a couple different sets of clothes hung up. A black outfit, which looked lightweight and good for stealth, a blue casual set of clothing that looked great for the beach, and a yellow pants suit which looked like it was for a more formal setting.
"What do you suggest I should take?"
"Hmm, maybe the black outfit? Bring some of the other clothes too because those ones will rip, especially while fighting or running."
"There's a pretty durable bag under the bed. You can use that instead of holding everything."
"Got it,"
Stuffing all of the clothes wherever they fit, the two got ready to leave the town for good.
"Wait a minute, move that rug at the foot of the bed,"
"Um, alright."
The rug was a small, burnt rug which looked like it could use a serious thorough cleaning. Underneath it was a loose floorboard which was removed soon after being revealed. A small ladder led down into a hidden room.
The two descended into the small basement, which was lit up by some floating white lighting stones. Some of the lighting stones had fallen to the ground some time ago, leaving shattered stone on the floor.
On an armor stand, which looked to be on its last legs both figuratively and literally, a lone set of armor in rusty condition rested. A spear laid against the wall next to it. The face of a menacing monster engraved on the spear's head.
"Is this what you wanted me to get?" The young man asked. Wondering if this was something that was even usable.
"Yeah, pick it up and follow me. We're making one last stop."
The two walked out of the spirits' stone house and towards a building that looked like an hourglass but with the top off.
"This building is something that we used to use to collect mana. Essentially, it attracts and gathers natural mana inside a giant whirlpool and refines it as it swirls down. Creating a decent supply of mana without having to worry about impurities."
Walking inside they could see a dull red glow, then a bright yellow, and again turned into a dull green. The lighting stones continuously changed colors, probably from the mana inside the building.
"Oh, it feels so nice to be in here again. Alright, place the armor right underneath the center funnel. It'll send the mana through the armor and cleanse it."
It felt like nothing that the young man had ever felt before. He felt... disgusted. Like someone had just thrown shit at his face. His body begun to spill out a dark energy that protected him from the mana.
"Wha... what the hell are you doing?"
The energy spread through the mana like blood in water. The light fading out until all that was left was a black swirl of corrupted mana. It looked unstable at first but slowly returned to that slow circling motion.
"What the hell did you just do?"
"Idk, it felt weird,"
"What do you mean I don't know?! You just changed something in the mana, a CORE principle of it nonetheless, this might be useless now... all of this would have been for nothing if this doesn't work."
"Hey, you still haven't even explained to me what mana is yet..."
"Whatever, just place the armor in the center of the room, if it doesn't work then we'll just have to find something else to protect you with."
Placing the armor in the center, as per instructions so to make the spirit less pissed off, the swirling corrupted mana flowed down and down and condensed from its gaseous form into a liquid.
The liquid fell onto the armor and spread quickly throughout it. Each drop dyeing it a deeper shade. Like poison in a bloodstream, it moved fast and expanded throughout it.
Soon enough, after around 20 drops of that dark mana, the armor lost the rust and begun to fix any damage that was left behind. Sort of like how his body would heal up naturally, but different somehow, like it was just copying the ability.
Finally, the dark armor looked wearable.