Chapter 272: Wards of Eternity (III)

Chapter 272: Wards of Eternity (III)

Wards of Eternity (III)a stepped back, both of her feet feeling heavier than a condensed heart of a star, pulling her down. She withstood, though, like a bow of a ship against the raging storm. There was little besides exhaustion belting against her bones; they creaked and cried like newborn babes, each pull of the fingers a task beyond tasks.

Her weary eyes looked onward where, piling like fall's leaves, thousands lay in the shape of a strange cliff, forming a figurative and a literal bridge. The stairs that once shone in silver were now nowhere to be seen-- filled with corpses from top to bottom. There was no end in sight as there was no measure of time since she begun.

Beside her, Ethan walked up, wretched and broken. Rather than relief, there was only apathy in his gaze. He was told it was over, but he didn't believe it. How many other times had he thought it was over? It never was. Over and over and over and over and over. Wave after wave. It never ceased, like the constant waves rolling onto the sandy beaches.

The two remained standing on their feet despite only wanting to lay down and collapse, to close their eyes and drift off into the dreamland beyond scope. But they didn't dare. No, perchance, they were too tired to even sleep. A woeful paradox, but a reality nonetheless.

"Is... is it really over?" Ethan quizzed through parched lips. He must have shaved off the tender motes a hundred times by his teeth, bleeding his lips dry by this point.

"Maybe...?" Emma replied, panting. Hundreds of strands of her hair lay glued to her skin, some through sweat though most through blood. There wasn't an inch of her that wasn't crimson-- the only question was the color's shade, entirely dependent on how dry the blood was and which surface it latched itself onto.

A window appeared in front of Emma, drawing her eyes over onto it. She read haphazardly through it, finally reaching the last line and collapsing, sitting down. For the first time in days, or weeks, or even months-- since time was impossible to latch onto while constantly fighting for their lives-- she could relax. Wear and tear immediately brought her into the dreamland and, seeing her like this, Ethan followed suit.

The two slept for a while before waking up. Though refreshed, they were hardly like new; every fiber of their muscles ached as they struggled to sit up, quickly gorging down a meal.

"What'd you get for a reward?" Emma asked as Ethan shared a passive Skill he'd gotten.

//Shadewoven(SS-)

Passive: at the cost of 2% of max Mana, teleport to any shadow within your sight. The action's stealth is based on your native Stealth stats.

Passive: increases Mana regeneration by 80%.//

"Oh, that's pretty good," she commented, chewing on some beef jerky.

"Pretty good?" Ethan scoffed. "It's game-changing. This place is oddly stingy when it comes to movement skills, especially for agility-based classes. This pretty much nullifies the greatest weakness of my class-- lack of instant mobility. What about you? What'd you get?"

"A skill as well," Emma commented, sharing the info.

//The Final Rhapsody(Quasi-Heroic)

Cooldown: 24 hours

Mana Cost: N/A

Health Cost: 40% of current HP

Passive: gain 1% to ALL stats for each opponent you are facing. Gain additional 15% life-steal, 25% Health Regeneration, 40% Physical and 30% Magical resistance if the number is at least 30.

"Well, there's a horde," Senna pointed at the approaching four figures from their left-- Yuki, Daniel, Sigmund, and Lek. "I guess not every trial's individualistic like mine."

"Na, we got admitted as a pair," Emma said. "Hey guys!"

"Jesus, what happened to the two of you?!" everyone exclaimed immediately.

"Master, are you okay?!"

"Damn, Cain's gonna get pissed when he finds out who hurt you..."

"We're fine, we're fine," Emma quickly waved it off. "The blood ain't ours."

"Whose is it?"

"Eh, a few thousand folk, I think? Anyway, did y'all pass?"

"Yuki and I did," Sigmund immediately replied, slapping the young man's back as he laughed. "This kid's a fuckin' badass, I tells ya'! We got amazing rewards because of him! Saved my ass like a million times!"

"We did okay as well," Daniel said, smiling at Lek. "Who's still missing?"

"Kramer and Delilah aren't here," Senna replied. "Elypso and Taima are missing as well. So are Jamal and Cain. Nope, there's Jamal."

Walking from the front with a rather lackadaisical demeanour, Jamal whistled a low tune while he held his blade hung over his shoulder, the latter lapping about behind him.

"'elo, 'elo! Looks like almost everyone's here, eh?" he immediately greeted with laughter.

"You're in a good mood."

"The best! See this babe?" he immediately pointed at his sword that looked entirely new yet immensely old. "Prolly the strongest sword in the world! No, scratch probably-- it's definitely as strong as at least next ten combined."

"Oh? Share the info, share the info!" he immediately did, a look of absolute pride swelling on his face as everyone became appalled at the sight of the insane stats that shouldn't be allowed. In the meantime, Elypso, Taima, Kramer, and Delilah joined up with them as well, combining everyone with the exception of one.

"Only Cain left, eh?" Jamal mumbled. "So, we were right."

"Yup, pretty much."

"Right? About what?" Ethan asked, puzzled.

"Usually, when we split like this," Kramer explained. "He somehow winds up fighting something or someone well beyond what should be allowed for the floor. And usually returns fairly beaten yet about twice as strong as when we last saw him."

"Now we wait, I guess."

"Now we wait..."