Did I just hear test? Or am I hearing things?
"What do you mean by test?" I asked.
"Here, grab my hand." He said as he held out his right hand. I of course took it. He then pulled me up.
"The test you asked? Well, I guess I should tell you what is this test. The test is for you to conquer a dungeon." He said as he handed me a bottle of water.
I have a lot of things to think but I gulped down the water quickly.
*Phew
It feels good. The sweat sticking to my body and the dirt that my shirt and pants have is quite annoying but I guess I will just have to wash them later.
"Conquer a dungeon? How? I mean, I am not yet prepared to take down someone normal with experience. Besides that, I do not have the stamina or experience of the so called dungeon." I said.
"Heh. Kid, this is one of the requirements you need to pass. Everyone starts out like you. No experience nor the stamina. But eventually, you will get used to it. Besides, I will adjust the difficulty according to your level."
I sighed. I mean, seekers explore the world in search of secrets right? I should have expected that this would be the minimum requirement for you to pass.
With that, I renewed my resolve. He saw that and just laughed a bit.
*Phew "Kid, you are one hell of a newcomer. We finished hand to hand combat quite quickly thanks to your self taught skill, but here is the fun part you are waiting for. Let's get inside first."
I nodded and we both went inside. He then moved the sofa and living table to the corners making the space open.
"As you have already known, us seekers have called for spirits to aid us in battle. With the said spirit, we can borrow their power for us to use. Before we start. Do you have an astral artifact?"
"I do have one. But uncle said that the spirit within is slumbering right now." I said as I show him my astral artifact. I can call this mine right? I mean this was a gift from my dad to me, so I can say this is mine.
"Let me see." As he did the same thing as uncle did.
"The spirit is slumbering alright. But I have a feeling that I shouldn't delve into it any further." The same thing happened. The only difference is that he handed it back without dropping it.
"What is the spirit inside?" I asked.
"Well, I cannot really see past the fog. I only saw green eyes staring back at me. Telling me to leave." He said nonchalantly.
"Kid, did anyone besides me checked that?" As he pointed to my necklace.
"Yes. Uncle did."
"Haaah. No wonder it is on guard even when sleeping. The big guy disturbed it." As he put his palm on his forhead.
"Anyways kid, let me check if there is any astral artifact I brought with me." As he rummage through his bag.
"First of all, let me tell you about some important stuff. What I will give you will be a new astral artifact. What I mean is that no one had bonded with it. I keep them to see if there are any potential partners for them. And if they were to be bonded, no one can break the current bond with their host. But they can destroy the astral artifact that they have."
He is still checking but I have questions.
"So, no one can break off the bond between the 2 right? Does that mean that each seekers has only one astral artifact?"
"Hmmm… Technically yes. Many of the seekers have only one astral artifact. But not because of them cannot form a new bond when they have one. It's because, astral artifacts are quite rare. Many seekers searched around only to return empty handed. After all, these astral artifacts are very old and powerful."
I nodded in silence. I get it. Seekers can form as many bond as they want, but due to the rarity, they only get each one.
"Besides, the higher your rank is, the more astral artifacts you get. There we go!" As he pulled out a jewelry box.
"Inside of this 3 astral artifacts." He said as he placed it on the floor and opened it.
"So, will I pick one or will you?" As I kneeled looking at the displayed astral artifacts.
"You will be the one who will choose which one of them."
"But how do I know which one is for me?"
"Let your heart be the one to judge."
I was gonna continue to ask him but kept silent. I know what he's saying. So, I checked the jewelry box.
The left one is a ring. It has embedded amethyst in the center. Adorned with several intricate designs that looks amazing. I also saw a text inside the ring as well. The right one, is necklace filled with skulls as the design. It is barely visible when close, even more when seeing this in a distance. Should I be surprised that I expected this? Anyways, in each skull also has texts written behind. I cannot tell what language this is.
Lastly, the middle one, is a thin bracelet. It somehow looks like sea of stars? Probably just some shiny dust inside. It has no texts or any distinct features. It looks like a normal bracelet.
"Each one came from different dungeons with different stories surrounding them." As he pointed to the ring first.
"This one was used by an ancient royalty to turn an entire village into hell. It was said that having this brings victory to anyone who wields it. Be it another country, or powerful spirits, the spirit inside this will bring them defeat. Many enemies died at the hands of both the prince and the spirit. Even to the point that he found no enemies to fight and need to fight his own kingdom. Thus they were seperated. The human, in jail. Binded and mouth shutted down with metals. The spirit was put to a deep sleep and sealed to the dungeon I went."
He then pointed to the necklace.
"This one came from the north. Near the mountains. The story about this one is that, this were used by an ancient priest. The scripts say that the spirit inside is crazy. It will anyone who pleases it and curse anyone who it dislikes. But it also served as justice. They used it as a judge to determine wether someone is guilty or not. When being a judge, it does it's work properly. It's said to be the shield that protects any innocents that was in harm's way. It is also used on war. Said to call upon fellow spirits to support its own people."
"Lastly, the bracelet. There was almost nothing said about it but it was said that this bracelet was once worn by a powerful being. That they brought peace and protection for their people. That's all for this one."
"Now kid, which one?" Dante asked.