Chapter 313: Interitus And Cleobis (III)

The previous bravado the priest seemed to have had faded away at the mention of Rezar's name. it was comical, but in all honesty this was the first time Rezar has been faced with this such of reaction as most of his enemies or opponents don't start fearing him until he has fed them their own entrails…. But not in the literal sense of the word, it would most pro ably be gross to do so. But this priest was scared of him, it was something that seemed deeply ingrained in him all the way to the very depths of his bones.

Rezar did not seem as if he wanted to know why, though it would be a lie to say he wasn't exactly curious about the sudden nature of this Priest's terror of him. It was a refreshing change of pace than having people always foolishly attacking him and looking down on him. For once a man just want to be feared you know, and this was one such time, which is to say that Rezar's reputation preceded them, and it was bloody fucking amazing. He felt that there was just so much he could do and take advantage of with this news.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Go get your masters before I trample you into this disgusting marshland.!" Brutus threatened as his wraith like form seemed to ripple. There was no sign of the hull he once was, now he was just a creature of nightmares that would give even the toughest of men pause, and a chance to rethink their life's choices.

"I have no master! I serve the most holy one. B-but I do have two commanders from the inner circle of the Saintess, they're the ones in charge of the current excavation." The Priest, or perhaps it would be better to call him a cleric, said. He seemed a whole lot amicable than his previously scared state suggested, but perhaps he was this amicable because of his fear, but be that as it may, he had said some things that raised flags for everyone present, and also none of the undead were moving, even in the face of enemies they were, literally just an army of really stupid zombies without direction or orders.

"What excavation are you talking about?" Rezar asked as he took a few steps forwards, until he was a few feet away from the Cleric.

"The ruins of an ancient empire were discovered by the head of the death brigade Malik. We believe it to be the remnants of the kingdom of the primordial vampires, or at the very least one of the kingdoms of the six primordial vampires. Well seventh if you are included in the equation, but nothing can be gained from you. The Bone Necromancer and Corpse Doctor of the death brigade of the theocracy, the twins Interitus and Cleobis have been sent to investigate and search for any remnant treasures of the empire.

However, this location probably used to be a dungeon, it's filled to the brim with an abundance of resources, especially a kind of living mineral called a sanguine ore, capable of becoming infinitely stronger by absorbing the nutrients in a living creatures blood. With it we can probably outfit our entire armies with unique weapons that would grow infinitely stronger the more of our enemies that are killed. However, we've only been able to harvest a little bit of the ore as this location is filled to the brim with monsters and traps and puzzles. We're aiming for the birth rock of the ore, the magical orb that births the mineral by terraforming its surroundings." Rezar raised an eyebrow at that, then turned to look at Screet, who silently incline his head towards the cleric.

There were some unspoken words between the two of them, and one of those words was a myth that has been circulating around Elysium right from it's very inception, and that was the existence of a birth rock. It is believed that in every location where minerals and ores could be mined, a birth rock existed there that forced its environment to become terraformed to produce the type or types of minerals produced with said vicinity. It is hos mines are formed in Elysium, and why in some cases, resources can never be exhausted.

Some people are not as lucky as they would find themselves in a location without a birth rock and in the end exhaust their resources, a prime example of that would probably be the snow elves. At the moment Morte Bianca was believed to actually have multiple birth rocks, and endless well or resources that would fuel the creation and advancement of multiple civilizations. But that was just speculation and up until now said rock has never been found as they were literally the hardest thing to find in all of Elysium. You would find it easier to find a particular grain of sand on a beach than to find the birth rock responsible for terraforming a particular region or territory. Hence why it was widely believed to be a myth as there has been no solid evidence apart from the rumors that such a unique treasure exists.

"Birth Rocks are myths, how can one actually exist, and better yet how is it possible that you people were able to deduce that one actually exists in this place that you have found?" Screet asked as he narrowed his eyes, looking ever stoic as his tail swished back and forth behind him.

"We have a diviner, or better yet I would say we have two grand diviners. One of them has the normal gift of divination, though he is getting on in years so his divinations are not as regular and not as accurate as before. However, the second diviner is quite young, rumors say she's just a five-year-old girl, and that she's capable of actually divining the locations of hidden treasures and precious resources with pinpoint accuracy. It was from her divination that we were led here to search for the birth rock, and whatever treasure left behind by the primordial vampire and his people."

"So why are you out here and not in there with them… searching for this birth rock. I have an inkling suspicion it's not just you and the two death class users that are here. So how many of them are you and why are you the only one left behind?" Rezar asked as he took a closer step to the cleric, standing directly opposite him with a knowing smile on the cleric's face, finding his somewhat dull eyes amusing.

"No it's not just us/ we have an entire garrison here with us, but those soldiers are in there with them. for some reason the undead zombies couldn't go into the ruins with us, apparently since they were mindless and unevolved and would probably rot away in a few hours to a few days the entrance rejected them, though we don't know how. Since I'm the weakest I was left behind to watch over the undead. We have already cleared all enemies and beasts from around this area as the Hion Wetlands are home to a rather nasty clan of ironridge crocodiles and Mud Tadpoles.

We've forced them off and left the undead here as a deterrent. Intreritus and Cleobis can't maintain their connection or control with the zombies from within the ruins, which is why they're pretty stupid and harmless now. But wait! Why am I answering all of your questions?" the cleric suddenly asked as Rezar smiled at him and turned to Brutus.

"You can stop possessing him now Brutus, we've probably gotten everything we need from him." The cleric took a step back with widened eyes as a blue and black fog spilled out of his nose, eyes, ears and mouth, streaming all the way back to Brutus as it became a part of his eldritch and specter like body.

Rezar didn't even notice that the cleric was possessed until he had moved a little bit closer and noticed how dull and unfocused his eyes were. Brutus has grown stronger, in a nutshell he could actually use a form of compulsion by possessing people with a bit of his essence and having them spill their guts to him. Looks like it was about time to promote Brutus to chief investigator or interrogators or torturer, or something like that. but whatever it may be, it would be a very good way to utilize his abilities, this was awesome.

Rezar shifted his gaze to the Cleric, he really wondered just what he could or should do to this cleric. He had given them all the information they needed, and he seemed really innocent and simple as his manner of replying under possession was incredibly…. Nerd like. But be that as it may a decision has to be made… or at least it would have been made if the priest did not turn around screaming and scrambling away from Rezar like he had just came face to face with the devil himself. Rezar slapped a hand on his face a gave a soft chuckle as he turned to Screet to say.

"I actually forgot he was scared of me…. Hah! Funny."