Capítulo 19: Defeat
"Mutter"
"Mutter"
The sounds were slowly getting infinitesimally louder in Aldric's head. He soon realised the sound was not coming from the outside.
Being so distracted, He did not even register the signal from his [Insight] attribute warning him of above.
Lit by the green flames, a humungous spider was hanging upside down from the ceiling. This spider was as large as a house and as wide, too. It was completely black. With chitin-like armour covered by overgrown hairs, it was a formidable creature. 8 pairs of ghostly green eyes were split in two on either side of its head and 8 legs that were horrifically long and sharp. They could easily pierce through stone.
It had an open maw just as large as the Cave Spinner's that Aldric fought before. Besides its horrific appearance and size, the most noticeable part of the beast was its back. Spikes were etched on its back leading to behind its body where another mouth was. The mouth was twice as wide as the front and had 2 fangs hanging over the maw like a sabertooth tiger. It looked grotesque to anyone who viewed it.
"BOOM"
Aldric was brought out of his distraction by a large explosion in front of the statue.
A horrific beast stood before him.
With his mind distracted, Aldric recognised the threat and chose to fight. No strategy, no plan.
Coating his sword in darkness, he met the beast head-on. His coated blade cut one of the 8 legs of the spider off.
"Wham"
Aldric's body was slammed off the ground and bounced across the floor.
One of the 7 other legs of the spider took advantage of Aldric's tunnel vision and dealt considerable damage. Sweeping him off his feet.
Aldric stood up undeterred and got ready to attack.
The murmuring was getting louder. It was as if he could feel it in the deepest parts of his soul.
Most of the impact was absorbed by his armour but he could still feel the damage inside his body.
He placed a hand on the cut above his brow to stop the blood from getting in his eyes.
'What the hell is wrong with me'
'I need [Clear Mind]'
Aldric controlled his breathing and focused on his attribute.
What he didn't realise was that the beast would not give him a second of respite. Why should it?
The beast raised itself on its legs and contorted the back of its body forward towards the intruder.
"WHOOSH"
A white jet of silk burst out from the back maw of the beast at unimaginable speeds.
If Aldric was focused, he could have dodged the easily telegraphed attack. But he was not.
Only a sharp enough signal from [Insight] stopped him from being pierced in the heart.
"AARRRGHH"
The silk jet burrowed through Aldric's shoulder and came out of the other end.
Using his claymore as a cane, he clutched the wound in agony.
This was the second most painful injury he had ever received. The first was his eye burned with boiling blood and his arm dissolved by corrosive acid.
"I have to leave. I can't focus." Aldric gritted out.
He dashed towards the exit as fast as he could. Dodging jets of silk the beast spat out now that he was completely focused.
The beast let the intruder go. After all, it could not afford to leave its territory.
----------
Aldric was livid.
The past 60 days were one of the worst he had ever experienced.
Forced to run with his tail between his legs. All his training amounted to nothing in that fight. His base instincts took over.
Licking his wounds like a rat, he had spent the last 60 days healing, recuperating, and hunting. He constantly focused his darkness on the wound. It took a week of persistent focus to close the wound fully. It was the size of a fist that was in between the crevice of his collarbone and shoulder. His shoulder was completely destroyed as well as a small part of his back from the exit wound.
It was pure agony. His darkness did not offer any relief to his pain. Just a cold heavy feeling on his searing wounds.
Aldric had a lot of time to ruminate over his fight. He did so many things wrong.
Overconfident, uncautious and too instinctual.
He could list a hundred and one things that went wrong but the crux of the issue was the murmurings.
It was not just sound. It was the effect it had on his body.
Like eldritch abominations were speaking directly to his soul from a higher dimension. Speaking words that his mind couldn't comprehend. The feeling only got stronger and more disorienting as he stayed there. It was horrific.
[Tarnished Soul]
His flaw reared its ugly head at last.
Aldric was not one to take things as they came. So he thought.
Ever since his defeat, he theorised what the effects actually were and here were his preliminary findings.
"I am fine in the presence of creatures one rank above me. Anymore and I start to feel signs of corruption. It starts off with auditory hallucinations in the form of murmurings. These only get louder and more debilitating if I stay in the presence of the creatures. Who knows what the next stage is."
"What exactly was there that caused it?"
He knew that the rank of the spider was not above Awakened like his previous enemies. It probably had a higher number of soul cores. But it was still awakened.
"The statue. Something was off about it."
Aldric instinctively knew what triggered his flaw.
After healing, Aldric was on a rampage. To get stronger. To prove to himself that his defeat was a mistake that never should have happened.
He did not leave a single beast alive.
Name: Aldric
Rank: Dreamer.
Dark Core: Dormant
Dark Sprites:[252/1000]
Memories:[Unwavering Spark],[Cragborne Armor],[Malice Of The Deep],[Cavedweller Garms][Water Basin][Charm Of Balance][...][...][...]
Attributes: [Insight][Clear Mind][Destined]
Aspect:[Made In Abyss]
Aspect Rank: Divine.
Aspect Abilities:[Dark Well]
Aspect Ability Description:[You can manifest the Darkness within.]
With his [Cragborne Armour] having been repaired in his soul core, his body was now recuperated and his mind was ready.
It was time for his rematch.
******
Thanks for reading.
Any thoughts or theories?
Capítulo 20: Victory
A young teenager entered a massive clearing adorned in thick-plated armour and a large claymore.
Darkness was emanating from his body. Like wisps of steam rising.
His eyes were cold and focused.
[Clear Mind]
With his attribute ready, he ignored all the mutterings in his ear. This was not the time for distraction.
He could see the beast resting on the ceiling in a web. Unaware of the intruder.
Inhale
Exhale
The darkness from his body travelled down to his sword. Coating the edge of the blade in deep black.
'Dark Slash'
A wide arc of darkness travelled from his blade towards the ceiling.
The arc was much larger and stronger compared to his first fight. It was a testament to his increased reserves and skill.
The solidified amalgamation of darkness cut through the air swiftly and met the spider's body.
The slash cut through the armour of the beast. It was not large or strong enough to bisect the beast fully. Creating a deep gash on its torso.
Aldric followed through with 3 more slashes as fast as he could. Aiming for the back and head of the spider.
"SCREEE"
The beast was severely injured and rabidly tried to counterattack.
It fell to the ground and charged a jet of silk to kill the attacker.
The jet was the size of Aldric's head and would pulverise his body if it landed.
Aldric swiftly dodged the attack with ease and pushed forward to finish it off.
In a sprint, he directed darkness to his palm in the shape of a ball. Given the increase in sprites he accumulated, the ball was twice the size of his head. It also allowed him more control of the darkness after leaving his body.
'Compress'
He compressed the ball as much as he could.
It was now the size of a golf ball.
While still being attacked and dodging, he threw the condensed orb towards the front mouth of the beast.
'Black Sun'
The concentration of the abyss travelled towards the beast slowly like a spirit.
"BOOM"
An explosion of darkness erupted from the body of the beast. Completely broken, chunks of the spider were sent flying across the space.
Green blood splattered everywhere.
[You have slain an Awakened Demon, Queen Spinner.]
[You have gained a Memory.]
Aldric didn't pay any attention to the runes and focused on the large stone statue in the room.
Now seeing it for a second time, its beauty still outstanded him.
He noticed something he didn't see last time. A layer of bones littered the floor in a circle around the statue.
"MURMUR"
"MURMUR"
The sounds were getting louder as he stayed in the statue's presence.
Yes, it was the statue.
Aldric was certain that the statue was the trigger for his flaw.
[Insight] warned him of the rank and class of the beast. Signalling it was a higher rank than the Queen Spinner.
The more he looked at it, the more it felt it was staring back at him.
It was as if it was beckoning him closer. Closer to take a glimpse at its divine visage.
Aldric took no chance and stayed where he was. He could remember the statue had an enthralling effect when he was close to it. Feeling it for the first time in conjunction with his flaw was what caused his debilitating mental state during first fight.
"It's time for some payback" Aldric spoke coldly.
With five consecutive dark slashes, all aimed at the stone statue. The stone figure shattered into pieces. Bits and pieces refused to break as if it there was actual flesh connecting the stone.
After being attacked, the fallen monster would not take this lying down. It sent a stone appendage from the back of the statue at blinding speeds towards the attacker.
Noticing the attack, Aldric dashed towards the stone arm and pressed forward.
'Dark Blade'
Aldric sent a fully charged slash that took 30 percent of his reserves from a closer distance, nearly depleting his reserves.
Finally, the stone statue was completely shattered.
[You have slain a Fallen Demon, Stone Mimic.]
[You have received a Memory.]
What happened next shocked Aldric.
Where he was just aiming, an ebony statue stood still. Made of a glossy reflective marble-like material, the statue was in the same pose as before with its hand reaching forward.
As if attempting to touch someone.
The beauty of it shocked Aldric. As if its previous rendition was just a cheap copy.
Unconsciously, Aldric got close to the statue one step at a time until he was right in front of it.
[Insight] was acting up.
The thing about his most trusted attribute was that it was not just a danger-sense ability. It was described as being able to guide him "with the subtle sense of the unseen".
This was one of those times.
Aldric did not even think. He just did as his instincts told him to do unconsciously.
Reaching towards the offered hand of the statue, Aldric gripped it firmly.
It was very cold to the touch.
The statue resonated with the darkness inside of Aldric. As if it could feel something familiar. Something it was longing for.
So Aldric let go.
Pouring out all the darkness he had available inside of him, Aldric channelled it through his body into the statue.
Nothing seemed to change as he did so.
10 seconds passed.
At the 20th second, just as Aldric was about to completely run out of energy, the statue broke apart into specks of darkness.
Floating in the air like little pockets of space.
It was a beautiful sight to witness.
The specks coalesced into a small shape. Like a black hole attracting all the darkness. It spiraled into a small shape and burst towards Aldric.
Having no time to react, the black shape metaphysically entered his chest.
[You have received a Memory]
Just as he heard the voice, Aldric's body exploded in a world of pain and agony.
**********
Thank you for reading once again.
I've been getting a lot of engagement in the comments of my last few chapters so thank you very much. It feels good that my story can be a source of discussion.
A lot of talk about where he is. Perhaps the next few chapters will shed some light on that.
As for timeline-related stuff, don't worry too much.
I read a comment about having a system for memories and such. Thanks to greenman for the suggestion. I will make a random number generator for it. I won't show the numbers in the story itself but maybe in the author's note if you are curious. Let me know.
See you next time.
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