"What are you talking about? Of course we won't be killing any monsters."
"Then how am I going to get stronger?" Asked Ace confused.
Iliqen shook his head. "You should know that levels aren't everything. I've seen warrior defeat hunters that are tens of levels above them. No, what matters are your talents as well as your quick wittiness in battle. Stats are only to support you in battle, not to decide if you win or not."
Iliqen walked up to Ace and handed over a skill scroll. It almost looked the same as the one he found before when he acquired [Hemorrhage], the only difference being a gold tint together with a different symbol.
"Take this and learn it. It should help you recover as well as fully activating your class specialization."
Ace couldn't believe his eyes. He learned the spell and awed at the description. It increased healing taken, recovery speed and... "yourself? It helps me find myself?" A bit confused by the last part, he just assumed it had to do with finding his class specialization.
"Thank you!" Ace exclaimed with a wide grin on his face.
"This is my investment into you. I hope to find you help fight against the opposing forces in the future."
"Of course! Whether it be orcs, trolls or goblins. They'll pay the price for what they've done."
Iliqen nodded and walked to the door. "It's about time I leave. Live well until we meet next time."
"Good luck with the patrolling." As the door closed behind Iliqen, Ace didn't wait a second to try the new skill he acquired. It was a passive skill but still worked as an active.
Activating it, he felt his mind soothe. His surrounding became of dark cyan color and what could only be explained as ink flowed through his eyes, mouth and ears. Ace wanted to react, to think and react about the situation but wasn't allowed. He felt stuck, like someone was holding him in place.
Ace panicked and tried forcing himself free but nothing changed. The more he struggled, the more stuck he find himself. His body was being squeezed, his heart pumping blood loudly. His breaths sounded like typhoons. After a few seconds, white noise spread through his head. It started almost unnoticeable but slowly grew louder as Ace struggled to free himself.
From seemingly out of nowhere, he started tasting something he'd never tasted before. It was disgusting. He wanted to throw up and he felt his stomach churn but his body didn't let him. The taste came in waves. Sometimes very strong and others mild. In the midst of all his senses spiring out of control, an incredible searing pain came rushing through his body. Like thousands of needles were puncturing his veins.
In a split second, everything went dark and he lost consciousness. While unconscious, he felt when someone moved around him. The walls seemed to tremble every now. It seemed like earth itself would shake but the source of the shaking was too far away. The source of the shaking seemed to die down after some time. It was then he felt someone enter his vicinity. The door to the house was closed very softly.
The person stood by the sofa but then slowly walked over to him. His senses were screaming at him but whatever he did, his state didn't change. Something then touched his cheek, then the bed. Things around him were changing.
The person who'd stood next to him walked back to the couch and stayed still for some time.
Then, everything stood still. Only the person on the sofa moved to a beat. Their heart. After quite a long time. the earth started shaking again, the person on the sofa moved and everything was awake. Everything moved and shook.
This went on for what felt like an eternity. Until one day when the person who'd occasionally stay beside him stopped showing up. After the second time the shaking stopped, something tugged at him. As if something very important was happening and he was missing out. The more time that went on, the stronger the tugging became until it became too much. He wanted to scream.
Ace opened his eyes gasping for air. His environment seemed to be the same but his body didn't hurt anymore. Standing up and looking around the place, he noticed a note sitting on the table in front of the fireplace. He picked it up and read it.
"Hello Ace, it's me Sage! I hope it's you at least as I told Jude not to touch the letter. Anyways. I decided to join the night guards after the battle a few weeks ago and it's been real fun. It breaks my heart that you're going through such hardships by yourself. I wish I could help you somehow but the strange tall man told me it was something you yourself had to go through."
Ace chuckled as he read the letter. He could totally imagine Sage saying everything that stood on the letter. He continued reading the next sentence. "You might wonder where I've gone. Well, since I joined the night guard, I've been trained in the arts of archery as well and tomorrow is my first time heading out scouting."
He turned the page.
"Since we don't know when you will wake up, I have Jude on feeding duty for the days that I'm gone. I really hope to find you awake and kicking again once I'm back."
"Love, Sage."
Ace was bewildered.
"I've been asleep for weeks?" He thought, mad at Iliqen for not warning him. Wanting to know the situation of the orcs, he clothed himself and was about to head out. But just when he grabbed the door knob, he felt someone approach. Without thinking, he hid himself behind a shelf.
The door opened and Jude's voice was heard. "Good morning sunshine!" Ace saw how Jude stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed Ace missing from the bed.
Ace caught himself still hiding and walked up to Jude from behind. "I'm here." He said and tapped Jude's shoulder. Not expecting Ace to appear from behind him, he jumped, almost dropping his bowl of food in his hands.
"Sorry, sorry. I didn't know you'd be so scared." He said while chuckling.
"What the heck man! Why'd you hide?"
"Well..." he scratched his head. "I wasn't really planning to, I just did."
"Anyways, good to see you up again!" Jude's once sour expression turned into a grin. "I got you some food."
They spoke for a bit, helping Ace catch up on what he missed. It wasn't much. Four groups had been formed that entered the dungeon daily and their levels had increased by quite a bit. They hadn't seen orcs since the battle and almost everything that was destroyed because of it, had been repaired. Overall, everything seemed to go a lot better than before the battle.
Ace was happy to hear everyone living comfortably and that they were getting stronger. That's when Jude mentioned something unexpected.
"Between you and me, I don't think it was an orc that killed Asher." Ace almost spat out the food he was eating. "Sorry? Asher died?"
"Oh yeah. Sorry, I forgot it happened after you fell asleep. Yeah, he was found laying dead next to a tree with an orc axe stuck in him. I knew he had a bit of a personality but I didn't wish death on him. Absolutely not."
Ace sat quiet. He didn't know what to think. While he wanted Asher to pay, that was mostly just to break a few bones and leave him crippled, not kill him. Jude then said, "Sage certainly didn't like him. While I'm not one to gossip but from what I heard, she had smiled when she found out he was dead. I couldn't really look Sage in the eyes after hearing it. Gives me the creeps just imagining it."
Ace laughed. "She was happy for my sake." He thought.
"You mention Sage. How long ago was it that she left?"
"She left two days ago with the night guards to scout for orcs. From what I heard from some of the guards, they'll be gone for another day or so and then return."
"Ah alright."
"Sadly, I'll have to leave for now. My party and I are heading in to the dungeon soon and I don't want to keep them waiting."
"Oh for sure, don't worry about it. Thank you for informing me."
They said their goodbyes and Ace was soon left to his own again. The fact that he'd been asleep for such a long time made his heart ache.
"I must be really far behind everyone else now. And here I thought I could keep pace." Ace took on a pair of shoes and headed out.
The sun was right above him as he closed the door. It was time to catch up!