Chapter 179: The Unknown

I lost all sense of direction for a split second. Then, my sense of direction returned along with gravity. We fell to the ground with a loud thud. The creature wheezed as it struggled to breathe. 

It took me a moment to notice I had fallen on top of the monster. I frantically searched for my sword and twisted it while still stuck in the creature as soon as I grasped it hilt. 

It wailed and reached for me, I felt its claws dig into my skin and tear my clothes as it lived its last moments. I released my flames as it struggled. It felt like an eternity until it stopped moving. Out of breath, I pulled my sword out and got off the creature. 

Was it really dead? It wasn't trying to trick me like before, was it? 

Seconds passed as I watched the creature's motionless body anxiously. Then, its soul appeared. It floated towards me and, despite my unwillingness to take it in, melted into my chest.

Images flashed before my eyes, but they disappeared before I could make any sense of them. 

Exhausted and wounded, I stumbled to the nearest wall and sat by it, leaning my back to it. The cold marble was nothing next to the cold I felt in my chest. 

I used Soul's Respite to heal my wounds, the finally glanced around.

The first thing that caught my attention was the sunlight touching the ground not too far away. Looking around, I could tell I was in an old, ruined building. The creature's rift had brought us here – how far away was I from Asher and Lucius?

My first instinct was to call Asher's name, but I stopped myself. We didn't have our telepathic link anymore. No matter how much I tried to, I had no way of contacting him.

It only occurred to me now – considering the vastness of this world, not having a way of contacting anyone remotely was more than just an inconvenience. 

As the souls circled around me, slowly healing my wounds, I furrowed my brows.

"No way, right?" I mumbled, ready to curse at my own stupidity as I opened my interface. I browsed the different panels, searching for a certain feature that all games probably had. Only when I searched through the entire interface and failed to find it did I sigh a breath of relief and alarm, mixed together.

If there had been a messaging feature this whole time, I'd have probably never been able to look anyone else in the eye again, out of embarrassment. So, in a way, it was a relief to make sure it didn't exist, it meant it wasn't my fault that I had so little contact with people. Yet, it was alarming because… come on, shouldn't all modern games have such a feature? 

While my experience with games was extremely limited, I did have at least a rough idea on how they worked. An in game communication system seemed rather necessary, especially in this game. 

I felt the souls finally finish healing me. With a sigh, I forced myself to get up. I was spent – all I wanted to do was fall asleep. Yet, I looked around, hoping to figure out where I was and why that monster had chosen to come here.

I walked around the ruined building and with each step my amazement grew. It clearly wasn't a castle, fortress or anything military like that. It reminded me of a somewhat modest mansion. I counted two floors, though the second floor had been completely swept away, along with most of the roof and about half of the outer walls.

On the still standing walls were paintings, though they were too ruined to be made any sense of. I also found some remains of furniture and something that resembled a statue, though unfortunately almost everything was lost to the elements.

Despite the ruined look of the place, it was incredibly alive. Plants grew through ever crack on the floor tiles. The walls were covered in moss and vines and there was even a tree growing through the massive hole in the roof.

Colourful flowers, plants of all kinds and the animals and bugs that lived here made this place feel less sad. Despite my fruitless efforts to find out where I was, I couldn't help but smile faintly as I walked around the place.

That is, until I came across a dark metal trapdoor, sealed with magic.

I could sense the demonic magic – I could even see its dark purple glow faintly, thanks to whatever had happened to me months ago. 

It wasn't tainted or diluted like the creature's magic – this felt a lot more like that of Vixia or Delthur's. Or maybe even mine. I wasn't quite sure.

I hesitated – was it really a good idea to try and lift the seal? What would I find in there? 

My hope was maps, more information. My gut told me corpses.

I took a deep breath and carefully touched the trapdoor. The metal was cold under my fingers, yet the magic surrounding it had a certain warmth to it. I traced the flow of magic with my finger, until I found the spot it all converged. I really had no idea of what the hell I was doing, but it felt like a little nudge to disrupt the flow of magic would be enough to break the seal.

My magic gathered at the tip of my finger and… Lo and behold, the seal shattered like a thin sheet of glass. 

The trapdoor was surprisingly heavy, so much that I needed the extra strength of Fallen Grace to lift it. And when I finally did that, a ladder descending into the darkness awaited me.

"No way this ends well." I whispered as I sighed. "Here we go."

I knew that going down there wasn't the brightest idea – it was the unknown. It was dangerous. What if more creatures like the one who attacked us slept down there? What if this was a trap? What if the trap door closed once I was down there?

Yet, my curiosity got the better of me and I descended the ladder.

I stepped on the cold, hard stone tiles much sooner than I expected. Only one I'd done so did I create a tiny flame. As its purple light illuminated my surroundings, I held my breath.

It was a workshop.

There were weapons hanging on the walls. Armour sets were lined nest to the ladder. I could see some magical devices clearly used to make these weapons and armour. Was that a smithy that functioned with mana?

I approached the large device. It had the aesthetics of a steampunk style, mixed with magic. I could see some crystals powering it. 

Furrowing my brows, I stepped closer. The crystals looked similar to the quest-giver crystals of the Ereth, but these were silver in colour instead of the bright pink of the others. 

I hesitated – so did this place belong to Ereth? It didn't feel like it. Besides, there was a seal made with demonic magic, so no, my previous thought had to be wrong. 

Refusing to touch the crystal, I looked around the room as much as I could. This place was a treasure trove – if I had more time, I'd have loved to read all the books on the shelves, check all the weapons, try and figure out how the smithing device worked and all that, but I knew that Lucius and Asher were probably panicking right now.

Promising to myself that I'd come back to this place when I get the chance, I climbed the ladder. The bright sunlight blinded me as I reached the surface. I closed the trapdoor, then knelt beside it. Could I recreate that seal, I wondered.

I called forth my magic and pictured the weave of magic I had destroyed just a little bit ago. Would replicating the shape work? I decided to give it a try – what was the worst that could happen, right?

Explosions. But oh well. I decided it was worth the small risk. I forced my magic to flow in the same way and shape as the seal I had broken. At first, it was a challenge. Magic was inherently chaotic and without the aid of the interface, it took a lot of effort to get it to work with me.

Eventually though, I did it. The seal, albeit weaker than the old one, was visible to me. 

I sighed a breath of relief, then looked up at the sky. Now came the real challenge: Going back to Asher and Lucius.

I was about to fly up when a thought crossed my mind. My expression filled with self doubt, I decided to go ahead and try my idea out anyways.

I used Soul's Aspect, allowing my body and power to take on the aspect of the corrupted demon I had killed just now.

My hands itched as they became more claw like – I could feel a tail appear on me, as well as a pair of horns sprouting on my head. It hurt – not too much, but enough to make this an unpleasant transformation.

Thankfully, I didn't take on the ugly appearance of the monster – my skin was still pale, and my tail was thin and elegant. I raised my eyebrows – a thin and elegant tail didn't help with combat at all, did it?

I shook my head – I could think about all of that later. I raised my right hand – claw – and focused. Could I do it?

I felt the soul within me stir – the demon was remembering something. A smile appeared on my lips as the warm memory disappeared.

A rift slowly formed at the tip of my fingers.