Three days later…
Abyssal woods – Around Twelve kilometers from Ordial.
Me, Avy and Odale were all in a carriage, which slowly made its way through the forest. After our meeting with the Guildmaster concluded, we all had headed back to the inn to rest. Now, just a few hours ago, we departed from Ordial and are on our way to the location where the Guildmaster wanted us to head to – to fulfill his request.
The request is rather simple.
Just delivering a letter for him – nothing complicated. However, the location where it needs to be delivered, was a completely different story.
It was a location known as the 'Deadmans Graveyard'. In the Guildmasters office, when Gidou revealed the location, both Avy and Odale didn't seem all that amused to journey to it. At first I was confused, but after getting a rundown of what it was – I could understand why they were rather hesitant to go there.
Supposedly, the 'Deadmans Graveyard' is a unique one of a kind location where no life can exist. It's a patch of the world which had been corrupted by a 'root' of malice – having happened many, many years ago. Due to the corruption, the magical energy in the Graveyard was more akin to miasma than anything else — though, it wasn't the same. Gidou described it as something even more potent than miasma, but didn't exactly give it a concrete name.
Most people cannot handle that corrupted energy – plus, the corrupted magical energy keeps creating powerful monsters that rely on that corruption to exist. They're not exactly alive as the moment they step out of the Graveyard, they cease to exist, but they're not classified as undead either.
From what I understood, they're considered a completely unique race of monsters – most often called the 'Wicked'.
Now, at first I had considered declining upon hearing about the corruption. I mean, I had barely been able to handle the miasma in the Fire Princes domain, if the energy spread across the Graveyard was meant to be even more potent than just miasma, there was no way I'd be able to resist it.
However, it seemed as though Gidou had been aware of that fact.
Because he gave a rather interesting artifact – something called a 'runic stone'. Apparently it's a creation of the dwarves, made specifically to block this specific energy within the Graveyard. As long as I kept it on me, I should be fine to venture into the Graveyard — or at least, so said the Guildmaster.
Avy yawned a bit, looking back inside the carriage.
"How far are we?" Inside the carriage was Odale, his skeletal body completely hidden now. His hands were covered by thick gloves while his head was completely hidden by a scarf and a mask – which completely hid his face. While at first I had thought about simply letting Odale continue chilling in my shadow, the Guildmaster said that it wasn't a smart idea.
While for the most part the magical energy given off by Odale was hidden whenever he was in my shadow, if someone was sensitive enough or simply strong enough, they would be able to sense Odale and potentially perceive me as a threat. So, instead he used the Guild's resources to prepare special items to cover Odale's exposed skeletal features, so he could walk beside me at all times.
Odale looked at the map provided to us for this journey, tracing the path we were on for a bit, before looking over at Avy. "It's about a day's travel for us at this pace, Lady Avy. There is technically a shortcut we could take, however it's off path and would require us to head into the denser parts of the forest, which would not allow for the carriage to travel through."
Avy sighed.
"So, a long road ahead…" Then, she turned around, giving a quick 'thank you' to Odale before leaning back and looking at the sky that was partially blocked by the tree branches above us. "Hey, at least this will be more interesting than the cycle we've been doing for a while now."
"I suppose…"
I sighed lightly, moving my gaze back onto the road we were on.
After a bit of time, I looked down before taking out my guild card. For this journey Gidou decided to raise my rank to a much, much higher one.
Partially so no one could object to us being sent to the Deadman's Graveyard, but also partially to… 'accommodate' for the strength I had been hiding this entire time from the Guild – or at least, that's what he said. I did object to this decision, as it felt unfair to have my rank jump to a much higher one without putting in the proper effort – plus I didn't want other adventurers to complain about favouritism, however the Guildmaster said that if anyone had any complaints, he would simply pin the high jump on it being a 'reward' for an excellent performance during the dungeon raid.
So, instead of the 'D' rank that I was before — the Guildmaster raised all the way to 'B'. He would have even raised it to 'A', however thankfully Odale advised against it, pointing out that a jump from 'D' to 'A' would certainly create a lot more suspicion compared to a jump from 'D' to 'C' or 'B'.
"B-Rank…. Feels like it should be special, and yet, I don't feel much of anything seeing it on the card." I thought, exhaling and placing my card back inside my pocket. Perhaps it was because I hadn't really earned that rank, that it didn't feel special to me.
But what had been done, was done.
Can't exactly go back and request the Guildmaster to lower it back down.
"Faofa, is everything alright?" Avy asked, snapping me out from my thoughts. I looked at her for a second, before shaking my head and chuckling lightly. "Haha, yeah – sorry. Just zoned out there for a second." Rubbing the back of my neck, I took in a deep breath before exhaling. Avy looked at me with a slightly unconvinced expression, however didn't say anything else about it – she simply turned her gaze back onto the road, crossing her arms.
"You know, I hadn't expected that old geezer to be that strong."
"...Yeah, that was unexpected." To some degree.
I mean, one would assume a once high-ranking adventurer that has simply retired and taken the position of Guildmaster would still have some strength and skill left over from their days as an adventurer. But then again, going off of Gidou's age alone, you wouldn't be blamed for making the assumption that most of his strength would have faded by now.
Him setting up several barriers before overpowering me, Avy and Odale all with ease was completely unforeseen.
…Actually – could that be why he was able to overpower us so easily? Because of the barriers? That… would make sense. One of the barriers he had set up was one that was eliminating magical energy in the area inside of the barrier, so technically speaking, he didn't overpower us because he was strong — but because he had weakened us.
I facepalmed, sighing heavily.
"I'm such a slow fool…" Avy raised an eyebrow while looking at me, before moving her gaze away. Lowering my head back down, I looked back to the road. "Then again, even after the barriers were lifted, I wouldn't have wanted to harm him… I'm not someone to attack someone just because they figured me out."
Adding that comment in my mind, I rubbed the back of my neck a bit before looking at Avy. "I suppose his little showcase back there kind of showed us that there are still people out there that can catch us off guard. If anything, perhaps that small altercation was a valuable lesson." Avy looked at me for a second, seemingly thinking about it for a moment, before exhaling and nodding.
"..Maybe."
I smiled, patting her on the shoulder, before focusing back onto the road again.
Serve as a lesson… Yeah — it most definitely was. It showcased a major weakness between me, Odale and technically Avy. If the opponent we were facing could set up any sort of magic or magical energy nullification barrier – we were nearly defenceless. Me and Odale would be completely out of the game while Avy would be weakened.
A countermeasure to be able to combat such situations is perhaps something I should look into acquiring.
A couple of hours later – it had gotten dark. We stopped our carriage by a small pond inside the Abyssal woods, and set up a small campsite to rest for the night. According to Odale, based on the map, we had another fifteen hours to spend on the road before reaching the Deadmans Graveyards border.
So, we had quite a long road still ahead of us — however, we should be able to make it to our destination tomorrow before dark.
Avy was inside the carriage, having decided to head to sleep early so that she could take the reins of the carriage and we could depart as soon as the sun showed itself again. Me and Odale were sitting at the campfire, with Odale reading through his old journal, while I was busy cooking a couple of fishes I had caught earlier in the pond.
Fireflies in the forest gently illuminated the area around us, while the subtle crackle of the campfire mixed together with the calm cricket songs that were occurring all around us. It was a rather calming, stress free atmosphere around us.
"Fascinating…" Odale stated, turning a page in his journal.
"You're surprised by something you wrote?" I asked, looking at him with a slightly teasing expression. Odale looked at me, laughing lightly. "Well, yes, while I did write this entire journal by hand, I had forgotten most of its contents over the years. Especially some of the spells I had written down in it."
"Spells?" I raised an eyebrow.
Then I remembered what Odale had told me back in the dungeon. "Oh right, you were a great wizard or whatever in the past."
"Ahem, the title was 'Grand Mage' but yes, I was." Looking back inside his journal, Odale gently placed his hands on the contents written in it. "I had forgotten most of the spells I created when I was alive. A lot of the weaker ones still remain in my memory, however the ones that are written in this journal have completely slipped out of my mind over the years that I spent in that dungeon as a prisoner."
I suppose that made sense.
Even as a genius, I don't imagine it'd be entirely possible to keep all of your memories intact while spending such a long time trapped in a prison created specifically for you as a punishment by some 'divine' beings.
"What kind of spells are written in there?"
Odale looked rather hesitant for a second, before closing the journal. "Some very powerful ones. I definitely should not cast them carelessly. Not only do they require a lot of magical energy, most of them are very, very destructive." Then, after placing the journal to the side, he looked at me. "Although, none are as powerful as the spell I developed while trapped in the dungeon."
I raised an eyebrow. "Which is…?"
"I would be delighted to show you, however it is one I should avoid casting leisurely. In fact, I believe it to be one that should only be cast in a dire scenario." Then, he looked at the campfire in front of us. "It is a spell I made to represent the disaster of my kingdom. A 'replication' of the grandiose event that brought it down."
I remained silent for a moment. "I see… Though, if it's as powerful as you say… Why didn't you use it against me during our battle?"
"Simple," Odale leaned back a bit, looking at the starry sky that shone through the tree branches above us. "I didn't possess enough magical energy to cast it there. It is a spell that I made based off of the cataclysmic event that was brought down onto my kingdom by the 'Angels' after all."
Not enough magical energy…?
Jeez louise, guess it must be quite strong if the magical energy he had back in the dungeon wasn't even enough to cast it. "What about now? Would you be able to cast it if needed?"
Odale looked a bit uncertain for a moment, before nodding. "I would… though, only once. The spell would use up most of my magical energy and if I used any big spells before it, I wouldn't have enough to cast it then."
So in a way, it was similar to my 'Serpents Wrath' skill.
A special, unique 'ability' which was a strong 'trump card' but could only be able to be used if you had sufficient energy. I sighed, laughing lightly. "A bit scary that you were able to create such a spell while trapped… Makes me wonder how you did it."
"Well, creating a spell doesn't necessarily require you to possess the magical energy that would theoretically be required to cast it. After all, a spell can be created by simply creating the formula that one would need to replicate to cast it." Odale explained a bit, before shrugging. "Though, this method is considered inferior to just creating a spell on the spot using magical energy, as you can't immediately test whether the spell's formula would work as intended."
I see… So spellcrafting is something that can be done in two ways?
That's useful to know. In fact, perhaps I could use that knowledge to somehow learn to use magic or sorcery myself…? I mean, I have managed to get by so far by simply using my skills and abilities, but it wouldn't hurt to have some extra cards in my hand to play, in case of anything.
"Question," I looked at Odale, who eyed me slightly. "Would you be able to teach me how to use magic or sorcery?"
Odale remained silent, as if perplexed by my sudden request. After a bit of silence, deliberating inside his mind, he exhaled. "I can teach you either one if you wish so, though… Are you certain you want to learn magic or sorcery? Your abilities already seem powerful enough for you to not have trouble with most enemies. Plus, if you managed to take down the Southern Beast with those abilities before facing off against me, then they are more than enough, no?"
"Perhaps… I was simply thinking that it'd be a good idea to have more options to fight with – in case of anything, you know?" Odale remained silent.
Then, he turned away, scratching the chin of his mask for a moment, before exhaling and picking up his journal – standing up afterwards. He moved closer to me, sitting down beside me. "Very well. I can teach you the basics of magic or sorcery — whichever one you like better. However, when it comes to spells—"
"I'll try creating my own."
"...Not to sound disrespectful, Lord Faofa… But it takes immense experience and skill to be able to engage in spellcrafting, especially if you wish to create high level spells. It's not something just any mage or sorcerer can do."
I nodded.
"I am aware of that… However, it's something I wish to at least try to do." Odale remained silent for a moment again. Then, after an exhale he opened his journal. "Alright. I'll teach you the basics, alongside some low level and ground level spells to practice with. After all that, you can take a shot at spellcrafting."
I smiled, patting Odale lightly on the back. "Thanks, I appreciate it."
"It is a pleasure to be of service to you, my Lord."
As the gentle fire of the campfire continued to crackle, the night went on. Me and Odale spent a rather long time going over the basics for magic and sorcery, with Odale wishing to see which one would suit me better. Eventually, after much learning – he decided on teaching me sorcery, as the skills I possessed were ones that already ate up my magical energy.
Adding magic on top of that, would make me run out of magical energy quite often according to Odale.
Once that was decided, the two of us decided to rest ourselves as well, extinguishing the campfire. Odale set up a protective barrier around us for the night before going to sleep himself – so that monsters wouldn't come sniffing around.
Gotta say, sleeping under the stars, with a view of the beautiful night sky… It was mesmerising. It even reminded me of my previous life — more specifically, my childhood, when me and my family all had headed out camping in nature. It was a great time. I had so much fun on that trip….
A bit of a shame I didn't appreciate it as much as I should have.
Eventually, after stargazing for a bit, I drifted off to sleep – lightly snoring while the new moon in the sky above us gazed down at the land.
….
I slowly opened my eyes. "What…?" I felt weightless… again. Around me was nothing but a black void. "Seriously…? I'm back here again?" I could recognise my surroundings a bit. Looking around, I searched for the thing I had seen the previous times I found myself here. That giant black hole-like thing, from which red veins spread across this darkness.
However, I couldn't find it.
There was… no sign of it. In fact, now that I think about it, there weren't even the black veins that I had seen the last time I was here. "Is this… not the same place as that then?" I thought, shedding a light sweat.
Moving my body, I tried to move from my spot. While it felt quite… weird, I was able to 'move' forward within this void. It felt like I was swimming… like, swimming through air… or something. "This must be another dream…" I thought. But, even with that thought — I sort of doubted the validity of that assumption. Could this be just a dream? It feels so.. Real.
Like, I can physically feel my body, drifting through…. Whatever this place was. I could feel a mix of sheer coldness and sheer heat surrounding my body – as if I was in a spot where I was right next to the sun and right next to the coldest thing imaginable, at the same time.
Floating through the space, I eventually reached something new.
A door.
A singular door – within this nothingness.
"That's… strange. And a bit sketchy…" Despite that suspicion in my mind, I moved my hand towards the handle of the door. The door was simple, and the handle on it was one which felt rather….. Familiar to touch. As if I had 'touched' it many, many, many times before.
In fact, the door itself felt a bit familiar.
Like I knew it.
Like I had interacted with it many times in the past. Turning the handle, I gently pushed the door open – a bright light slightly blinding me from the other side. Stepping through, I found myself in a… eerily familiar location. Gone was the darkness – now I was… in a room.
But not just any room…
"My old bedroom….?" I thought, stepping further inside it. The door behind me shut, before disappearing. Shedding a slight sweat, I exhaled before looking around the room. It definitely was my old bedroom – specifically, the one I had when I lived with my parents.
It had all of my old stuff.
My old desk, bed, closet, shelves, books, computer…. Basically anything I could think of that I had owned when I lived with my parents. "This is so… odd. Am I somehow back home, in my old world?" But if that were the case, then shouldn't I be in my own apartment?
After all, I moved out from my parents house eight or nine years before I met my unfortunate demise that evening. And when I moved out, I took basically all of my stuff with me… This bedroom definitely was not filled with this much stuff when I left.
My gaze wandered across the room for a bit, before falling onto a photo on my desk. It was of… my family. However, even the photo looked strange. Picking it up, I examined it a bit closer. The faces of my family and what not… they were completely blacked out.
Only my face was visible.
Or at least, my 'old' face – without the markings I have over my body now. Though, I didn't look completely normal either in the photo. It looked like there was…. Blood coming from my eyes. "What the hell..?"
"Why?"
I flipped around nearly instantly, turning around to look at whatever had just spoken behind me. As soon as I did, the room disappeared, replaced by the black void again.
However, I wasn't alone in this darkness.
There, in front of me, stood a small girl, dressed in a light pinkish dress, holding a small snake plushie. Her face was obstructed by her light brown hair, and her head was held low. I shed a slight sweat, dropping my guard slightly before letting go of the strange family picture – the item disappearing near instantly once it fell into the void.
After a bit of hesitation and silence, I reached my hand out towards the little girl. "...Hello?"
"Why?"
She asked again.
I raised an eyebrow – hesitating to move any closer to her.
'Why'? Was that addressed to me?
"Why… Why.. Why…?"
The girl slowly raised her head. Suddenly, a horrible chill ran down my spine. I instinctively backed up from the small girl a bit, before my body suddenly froze. "What the—?!"
"Why?"
"Why?"
"Why?"
"Why?"
"Why?"
"Why?"
"Why?"
The girl kept repeating the same question over and over, and over again, raising her head more. Her entire body began twisting and warping, until I finally got a look at her face. Crying, pure red eyes with a dark 'void' blocking the rest of her face. "Why did you leave?!" The girl suddenly screamed.
The entire dark void around us shook.
Then, I felt something touch me. Dark red arms began to reach from the void, before wrapping around my body. Then, suddenly the dark void was filled with the familiar red veins. The girl slowly approached me.
"Why did you leave… Why… Why did you leave?!"
The girl kept repeating the same question. I felt fear rush up and through my body at a rapid pace. I was terrified at this point. "This isn't real…! There is no way this is real…!"
Once the girl reached me and placed her hands on my body, I felt a sharp pain course through my body. "Why did you leave?" She asked again, before suddenly flying up and placing her hands on my face. Then, red spider-like legs burst out from her back, smashing into the 'ground' around us.
"Why… did you… leave?"
She asked, reaching her hand one of her hands towards my forehead.
I saw flashes of an eye staring at me. Then, whispers echoed all around me. It felt like something was calling my name. I tried to resist, to pull away, however my body didn't move. I was completely immobilised.
For a moment, it felt like I would be harmed then and there.
"This must be a dream…! This cannot be real!"
I thought, right before the girl's hand finally touched my forehead. I felt a strong force in my mind, followed by a powerful headache. For a second, it felt like I was about to lose consciousness. A deep, distorted voice spoke to me – however its words were inaudible.
For a few moments, I was trapped in this hell.
Until…
Vessel in danger.
Taking action now.
I suddenly flung awake, flinging up, breathing heavily. Looking around, I was… back in the forest. Not too far from me, was Odale – still soundly asleep. "...Just a nightmare…." I thought, exhaling. Looking down at my hand, I could see it visibly shaking.
"...But it felt so…. Real…"