Chapter Three: Journey to the West
---
[Name: Dusken
Innate Name: -
Rank: Seeker
Level: 0
Spell Cards: -
Scrolls: 1
Material Cards: -
Talent: Abyssal Star (locked)
Side abilities: [Scion Of the Abyss]
Innate abilities: -
Legacy: None]
---
Dusken fixed his gaze on the scroll tab, where the number "1" prominently stood out from the rest.
He had mostly focused on his talent page before, but now he wanted to see everything.
This was his first time receiving a scroll, though its concept wasn't unfamiliar. However, exhaustion clouded his thoughts, while pain coursed through his body, slowing his mind.
The fatigue was both physical and mental, and only sheer willpower kept him standing. The endless, hellish desert landscape around him didn't help at all.
Focusing his drained mind on the screen before him, the ethereal words of the soul script shifted to reveal information about the scroll.
Scroll name: [Way of Grace]
Scroll rank: Awakened
Scroll level: 1
Scroll description:
[A treacherous creature travelled the Neverending Desert for months, preying on the weak and hiding from the strong. It was a vile, hypocritical, and cunning monstrosity that feared death and acted cautiously until the day it overestimated its abilities and fought a brave ten-year-old. The insane young child won, and the treacherous creature, who had roamed the desert for months, met its end at the hands of a crazy level zero.]
Dusken made a strange face.
"That's... not much. Yeah, I'm not moved at all."
Scrolls were magical equipment granted by the Calamity Codex to humans when they slew certain creatures. Their appearance wasn't consistent, as luck played a significant role.
Still, the description of this one was well-written - too well-written that he felt secondhand embarrassment just from reading it.
Shaking off such thoughts, Dusken refocused and examined the scroll's inscription. The soul script shifted once again.
Scroll Inscriptions: [Pathfinder]
Inscription Description:
[This scroll is inscribed with a special eidric, enabling it to guide one to their destination.]
Dusken's eyes flashed with an imperceptible glint.
"I'm not imagining this… or am I?"
He rubbed his eyes, but the words remained unchanged.
"Using this scroll, I can locate the god's palace with relative ease?"
Excitement and joy surged through him, but he forced himself to remain calm. He reviewed the information again with a steady, analytical mind.
That was when realization dawned.
The scroll's description echoed in his mind: "fought a brave ten-year-old and met its end at the hands of a crazy level zero." The words reverberated repeatedly, sending cold sweat down his brow.
His worry wasn't due to the way he was described but because there was more layered, shrouded information hidden in this description.
His concern wasn't with how the description painted him. Rather, it was the unsettling layer of hidden information it hinted at.
Dusken glanced at Kyle, whose red hair caught the light as he leaned against a boulder. The stretching shadow shielded him from the blazing sun as he rested, seemingly drained from using his side ability.
'Why isn't Kyle mentioned in the description?'
The thought nagged at Dusken. The more he dwelled on it, the deeper his doubts grew.
'Could he have another side ability?'
It seemed like the most plausible explanation. If Kyle had a power that diverted the creature's attention, it might explain why Dusken was the focus of the description.
Alternatively, it could have been Kyle in the story, but that seemed impossible. Dusken had proof - it was his scroll.
"Argh, my brain hurts," Dusken muttered, running a hand through his white hair with a grimace.
He considered the possibility he was overthinking. But a glance at Kyle, who was now gazing back at him with confused green eyes, only deepened his unease.
Dusken quickly averted his eyes and returned to the floating screen.
The scroll could guide him to the god's palace, where he'd face a trial and, hopefully, return to the real world. First, though, he needed a safe place to recover.
'What a bother.'
Letting out a frustrated sigh, Dusken approached the creature's corpse.
He yanked out the bone weapon embedded in its head, causing the viscous liquid to ooze from the wound. Carefully avoiding the flowing blood, he began to carve into the beast.
From behind, Kyle's confused voice cut through the hot breeze of the desert.
"W-what are you doing?"
Pausing, Dusken glanced back at him.
"I'm collecting the edible parts of the creature," he said evenly. After a moment, he added, "If you have a better option for food in this desert, be my guest."
Without waiting for a response, he resumed cutting. His movements were practised and efficient, the result of years of training that began when he was only eight. Combat wasn't the only skill taught to him.
He opened the creature's chest, revealing a small golden crystal engraved with intricate runes - a core shard, similar to beast cores he had encountered in Earth's video games.
Dusken pocketed it. He couldn't use it until he reached Level 1, but it would be valuable later.
As he worked, his blade pierced something inside the beast, releasing a trickle of black liquid.
Kyle shot to his feet, alarmed.
"Don't touch that!" he shouted.
Dusken raised an eyebrow, waiting for an explanation.
Kyle's face paled as he pointed at the liquid.
"That's… soul-devouring poison. It's supposed to exist only in demon snakes of the Demon Clan.
It kills by paralyzing the victim, devouring their flesh, and consuming their soul. It's an excruciating death."
Dusken's heart chilled. He immediately distanced himself from the corpse.
'So dangerous,' he thought grimly.
Two possibilities crossed his mind. Either the creature was part demon, or it had consumed a demon snake's poison sac without dying.
Based on the soul script's description of the beast as a "creature," he leaned toward the latter.
A cold, ruthless calculation filled his eyes.
"I won't hesitate."
He glanced at Kyle, a resolute glint flickering across his face before disappearing.
---
After relocating and resting, Dusken prepared to move again. He had wrapped the harvested meat in torn strips of his robe and decided to use the scroll.
Holding out his hand, he focused on the tugging sensation in his mind. Golden particles swirled around his hand, forming a small glowing space.
Kyle's jaw dropped as he watched, shock flashing across his face.
Dusken reached into the golden void and pulled out a white scroll. The space vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
Unfolding the scroll, Dusken admired the intricate rhombus-shaped symbol drawn within. Smaller symbols - eidrics, magical languages imbued with power - decorated it in a darkly beautiful pattern.
Dusken hesitated. He had heard of the costs associated with scrolls - sometimes fatal. Still, he clenched his fists, jaw tight, and whispered hoarsely:
"God's palace. Locate the god's palace."
The symbols on the scroll shifted, twisting and glowing. Dusken felt his mental energy drain rapidly.
"Curse it."
Non-awakened individuals like him couldn't use magical energy, relying on their mental reserves instead.
Dizziness overwhelmed him, but he gritted his teeth and persevered.
The symbols floated from the scroll, arranging themselves into the words "North," "East," "South," and "West." The west symbol glowed red.
'F-finally,' he stumbled, almost falling to the ground.
The symbols slowly returned to the scroll, and he immediately dismissed it, making it disappear. Fatigue was etched across his face as he inhaled sharply.
He had heard how draining it was for a non-awakened to use scrolls, but now that he was experiencing it firsthand, he understood that it was no easy ordeal.
He was still quite surprised that the scroll had easily located the god's palace, though the severe drain on his mind made sense. Letting out a heavy sigh, his vision blurred slightly.
He knew that more dangers awaited him at the god's palace since he was a target to be eliminated.
A crooked smile twisted his lips as he looked toward the west, which turned out to be on his right.
The desert stretched on endlessly under his blurry gaze. He recalled a phrase commonly used on Earth when people travelled west and mumbled to himself:
"So, it's a journey to the West, huh? So cliché."