Chapter 76: Finish Them All
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*Boom...Boom.....Boom*
"Ughhhh."
Lowen groggily awakened to an incredibly loud booming noise, it was almost as though someone was repeatedly hammering a leather covered anvil.
*Boom...Boom...Boom.....Boom*
As the noise got increasingly louder as well as close, Lowen slowly opened his eyes.
*BOOM!*
With a final thunderous thud, the thick frozen wall in front of Lowen exploded forth and a cloud of frozen mist kicked up. After only a few seconds, the mist resettled and Lowen's vision spotted a tall figure. In his hand, he carried a torch for light, while in the other, he carried that same familiar battle hammer. As the man waved the torch around, he was shocked at the scene that laid before him. The ground was littered with frozen mangled corpses, many of which were incomplete. Legs, arms, torsos, heads, the number of corpses that had limbs torn from them clearly outnumbered the ones that had been slain by a blade, and the ones pierced by frozen shards, greatly outnumbered the ones that were simply ripped apart. Waving the torch around, the tall figure noticed the ground was a cloudy mix of frozen ice and blood. Armor was cracked and caved in and broken shields and weapons were strewn about everywhere, this was a true battlefield.
The man couldn't help but whisper quietly.
"How can this be."
The man remembering his objective looked around even more and wondered if Lowen was still alive, looking into the darkness, the man cautiously said.
"Lowen, boy are you here? Are you still alive?"
The man honestly didn't know if he should even speak or not. After rescuing Clovis, the man returned to the cave and immediately noticed the darkness, after grabbing a torch, the man made his way here but his movements became slower and more cautious after he noticed the eery stillness within. Even more so was the absolute silence that remained, the only sound the man could hear was his own footsteps and breath. Finally, he came upon the chamber but every entrance was sealed with a thick layer of ice.
Lowen hearing the man's words wanted to reply but found his thoughts were somewhat muddled not only that, Lowen even found it slightly difficult to speak.
With no reply, the man's voice once more spread out in the darkness.
"Boy, if your still alive than answer me."
Once again the chamber remained silent. Lowen tried and tried but still couldn't quite form his words. Lowen quickly closed his eyes and began to circulate his ki as well as inspect his body. Sensing his body Lowen felt nothing out of place no matter how many times he checked but when he circulated his ki, something was wrong or more specifically something felt odd. When his ki entered his limbs everything was normal but when it got to his mind something didn't feel right. Lowen continually circulated ki within his mind again and again and again, finally, after 100 or so times Lowen felt as though something was unblocked and his ki flowed naturally.
The man asked one last time.
"LOWEN ARE YOU ALIVE!"
With no reply, the man shook his head disappointingly and turned to leave.
(Damn, he managed to do all this but in the end, he couldn't make it, poor kid.)
Lowen finally whispered.
"I'm here."
Although this voice was low, how could the man with heightened senses not recognize that childish voice. Following the noise, the man ran over and quickly found Lowen. Staring at him in shock the man yelled.
"Boy, you're still alive, holy crap. Looking at this mess I was sure you didn't make it, why didn't you answer me earlier?"
Lowen himself didn't know the answer, so he just honestly shook his head. The man as well didn't see that as important and instead, looked Lowen up and down.
"Boy your clothes are in tatters, are you injured somewhere?"
Lowen looked down at himself and his clothes were indeed in a terrible state. Not only had Lowen been through one hell of a fight but Rize's shards had stabbed into him multiple times. Right now, Lowen's clothes were ripped and torn all over, causing his appearance to be worse than that of the poorest peasant. Everything was hanging on by only a few threads and seemed as if it would fall apart with the slightest breeze. After being stabbed with those shards, Lowen's body was wrecked and he.....Looking over his body there was nothing.....nothing wrong whatsoever. Lowen's eyes widened in shock and he began patting his body all over. There were no wounds. Lowen had begun healing his body earlier but he was nowhere near close to finished, that's when he had noticed something odd with Rize's body.
Lowen's mind suddenly flashed and he remembered that weird floating purple chunk. What was most bizarre though, was the fact that he had somehow forgotten about it. Lowen ripped at the small amount of cloth that remained on his chest and looked for some sort of wound. The purple chunk had flown at him with a speed he could barely keep up with before it entered his chest. Looking at his chest, there was no injury whatsoever. Lowen's mind began to swirl in chaos.
(What the fuck, what in the hells going on? That thing flew directly into me but I'm not injured in the slightest. Not only that, but all the wounds I sustained in battle, their all gone.)
Lowen shut his eyes and again sensed his body's state but still felt nothing wrong or out of place. It was then, that again he remembered how something felt weird within his mind. Lowen once more began to circulate his ki and concentrated to his utmost on his mind.
(How, how could I have forgotten something that literally just happened a minute ago.)
The man looked at Lowen curiously and wondered why he hadn't said anything for a while but noticed he was trying to concentrate and decided to simply wait. It seemed that whatever Lowen was doing, it was important.
As Lowen continued to circulate his ki and sense his mind, Lowen heightened his senses and focused, that's when he felt it. There was a small undulating pulse of power in his mind. Lowen concentrated harder and harder on this small spot and finally, he caught a glimpse of it, it was there, buried in the recesses of his mind, like a thought that you couldn't shake, it was there. A purple chunk made out of some unidentifiable material covered in hundreds, no thousands of intricate inscriptions. It was this chunk that tried to make him forget. Lowen extended a small feeler of ki towards that purple chunk. Just as his ki was about to make contact, Lowen felt a huge suction force coming from the purple chunk and his ki was, surprisingly absorbed. It didn't stop there though, the purple chunk kept absorbing Lowen's ki and as it did, like a black hole, it began sucking in his energy at a faster and faster rate. After only a few seconds it had absorbed all of Lowen's ki before it immediately started to absorb his earth energy. Lowen started to grow panicked, if it could absorb both his ki and earth energy then what energy could it not absorb. Could it absorb the energy necessary for life? If this suction continued Lowen wondered if he might just die. Lowen immediately tore at his own earth energy, severing his connection to the purple chunk, seizing its absorption. The purple chunk, in return, began to pulse repeatedly, almost hypnotically. After a few seconds, the purple chunk stopped pulsing and tiny purple droplets of liquid formed on its surface. A few seconds later, they began to condense together and formed one full drop. The drop of liquid hung at the edge of the chunk for but a moment before it plummeted into Lowen's mind and disappeared.
*Drip*
Even though this happened inside of Lowen's head, Lowen was sure he could clearly hear that purple drop splashing somewhere within his mind.
After that, Lowen felt a sudden chill spread across his entirety. It felt so cold it was almost hot and that feeling continued to amplify and build becoming painful. Just when Lowen reached his tolerance for that pain, it once more changed, giving him a soothing feeling, as though he were floating in a large warm lake. All of this happened within only a few seconds before disappearing entirely. Lowen's eyes shot open and he abruptly stood up making the man in front of him jump back in surprise, had the man not been so surprised, he might have noticed a small glow of purple in Lowen's eyes but since Lowen's eyes were already purple, seeing this was already a difficult task. After only a moment the glow of purple had already receded and Lowen's regular purple eyes remained.
"Lowen are you ok now?"
Lowen ignored these words for a moment and looked around, something had changed but he couldn't tell what. Walking over to a boulder Lowen suddenly punched out.
*Boom*
The boulder exploded on contact sending large chunks of rock and debris in every direction. The man took a step back and looked at Lowen in wonder. Lowen, on the other hand, clenched his fist repeatedly and stared curiously at his hand.
(So my strength hasn't improved.)
Lowen looked around the chamber and got into a stance. Suddenly he disappeared from sight and began running all around the chamber. Executing his shadow steps Lowen ran jumped and dashed in every direction. He was so fast that he ran along the wall for a few moments before returning back to the ground, finally stopping his steps. Looking in no place, in particular, Lowen's thoughts were again on his body.
(My speed hasn't increased either, so then what has changed?)
As Lowen was busy with thought, the man turned to him and started walking over.
"Lowen, what's going on with you? Is something wronnnnnnnnnn...."
That's when Lowen noticed it. Looking over, Lowen noticed the man's words had yet to finish but he was still speaking, not only that the man had taken a step forward but his foot had yet to touch the ground. Lowen raised his hand and noticed that it too was slow. Suddenly, Like a puzzle coming together, Lowen's thoughts snapped in place.
(Time seems to be moving slower, no... that's not right. My thoughts, it's my thoughts that have become quicker. Everything seems so clear now.)
Lowen's body had not become stronger or faster and time hadn't slowed, Lowen's thought process had become a few times faster. Before The man could finish his sentence, Lowen finished it for him.
"Nothings wrong, as a matter of fact, I feel great."
"Ah, oh, is that so?"
Lowen smiled happily while nodding his head up and down repeatedly.
(I don't know what this thing in my mind is but as long as I don't allow it to absorb my energy willy nilly, it doesn't seem to be too dangerous.)
Feeling his mind, Lowen couldn't feel that chunks physical form whatsoever. It was almost like a soul in the way that it existed but wasn't an actual physical object. Lowen grew curious about the origin of this object but after a while, he gave up. He had never heard of anything like it and decided it would be best to search for clues later when he learned more about the world. Looking at the man Lowen noticed he was looking away awkwardly. Taking a step forward in curiosity, the man suddenly took a step back. Lowen was confused at first before the man pointed downward. Following where he pointed, Lowen noticed his once-tattered clothes were now nowhere to be seen, Lowen stood there buck naked. After all that wild movement and his clothes being in a terrible state already, they had torn off of him earlier. Looking at the man avoiding eye contact, Lowen couldn't help but laugh wildly.
"HAhahahahaha what wrong, never saw a pecker before."
Lowen then began shaking his hips left and right, swinging his member back in forth while laughing. The man continued to look away awkwardly while whispering.
"What's wrong with this kid."
The man then quickly looked around before finding Rize's dead corpse, stripping him down he threw the clothes in Lowen's face.
"Kid wear this before you catch a cold."
Lowen took the clothes appreciatively but continued to laugh uproariously. In his mind, he was still an old man and felt no shame whatsoever showing his soldier. After a few more moments Lowen's laughter finally settled down and he put on Rize's clothes. Although they were the enemies, Lowen felt nothing in particular about them, to him they were simply spoils of war. Remembering that Lowen ran over and picked up Colts earth bracelet and Rize's sapphire ring, putting both on Lowen wanted to test them out but unfortunately there were still things that had to be done within this cave. Lowen picked up his sword and it wrapped around his arm. Picking up Colt's damaged mace, Lowen looked at the man and said.
"You ready?"
The man nodded, he knew exactly what Lowen meant, there was still work to be done. The two left the chamber and the two made their way through the cave. Although all of the goblin soldiers had been killed, that didn't mean all of the goblins were dead. There would still be goblins that weren't fighters. This was the part Lowen didn't like but unfortunately, it was absolutely necessary. As the two made their way through the cave, they slaughtered without mercy. Every goblin they found whether they be male, female, young or old, the two killed indiscriminately. Goblins never forget, so if these goblins were allowed to live, the possibility of them seeking revenge, even if it were 0.01% that chance was too great. The two finally cleared the whole cave killing hundreds upon hundreds and were surprised when they found hobgoblins but even they had to be ended.
After they were all dead, the two made their way to the cells but when they got there they were both shocked. Lowen sensing the auras within the cells could immediately tell that only a third or so remained.
(Did a few goblins come here knowing they were doomed and decided to kill as many as they could before the end.)
Seeing the cells though, Lowen shook that thought away. If that were true then why did some cells have living people as well as dead and all the cells were still locked. The two quickly went into action and tore open every cell there. Lowen made his way into one of the cells and noticed the strangeness of those that were dead. None of them had any marks or wounds on their bodies yet they had died somehow. Lowen grabbed a distraught woman by the shoulders and shook her a bit, bringing her back to her senses.
"What the hell happened here? Who killed them?"
The woman, however, shook her head and with tears streaming down her face she trembled with fear and said.
"They....they just all died."
Lowen's mind suddenly went back to Rize's death. He remembered how he felt when Rize used his power on him. It was like his soul was leaving his body, add to the fact Rize had used that same power just before his death. Lowen couldn't be 100% sure but that was the only thing that made sense. Lowen couldn't help but think.
(Was I too slow. If this was caused by Rize, why didn't he use it on me or on this guy he tortured. He obviously has a deep-seated hatred with him and me yet we two are still alive, this doesn't make sense. Could it be he couldn't use his power on us.)
Lowen had too many questions and barely any answers. If he was asked to explain what happened today, there would be plenty of places that were just left blank. In the end, Lowen could only sigh. He did everything he could but it wasn't enough.
(Is this considered a win?)
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