Capítulo 86: Drain
"Wake up!"
A loud voice shouted in panic.
"Wake up, Aldric!"
Jolting into a stance, Aldric assessed the situation immediately. His battle-hardened instincts on high alert.
With [Insight] screaming nothing of immediate danger to him, the leader did not rush to meet the situation but responded in a calm manner.
Equipping both his [Mantle of the Underworld] and his [Sundered Sorrow], Aldric exited his tent in the dead of night.
Looking at who woke him up, Kura looked extremely panicked for whatever reason. Sweat dripped down his face with wide, dilated eyes.
"What happened?"
Aldric asked. Keeping his communication clear and simple.
"Look at the boundary of the temple... Something happened."
Kura responded in a nervous voice. The type that reflected just how alien and surprising the current situation was to him.
In the darkness of night, most people would not be able to see a thing; however, the expansive light-emitting memories were bright enough to cover the temple as well as the open area that surrounded it.
For the eight days that they had been staying inside the temple, the boundary of fog that was ubiquitous in the Phantom Verge only covered the surrounding jungle. Leaving the temple and the open space around it clear of any fog.
However, it seemed that something changed.
The temple seemed to glow.
The archaic monument shined with a dark blue light. Like streams in an estuary, webs of flowing light spread across the temple and the surrounding area. Reflecting a blue hue into the air above.
From the roof of the temple down to the very last step and into the surrounding open space, the nerve-like streams covered everything.
That was not all.
A thick miasma of fog spilled into the open space. With only a metre of clear space surrounding the temple, the fog nearly met the temple at the foot of the stairs. Encroaching deep into the territory of the temple, devouring a radius of over 30 meters.
"Has anyone gone near the fog?"
Aldric asked. Silently looking at the glowing ground beneath him.
"No, only I and Marielyn are awake, and we haven't approached it."
Kura responded immediately.
"Ok, maintain the area. We need to investigate this."
Aldric spoke as he went to check on the condition of the researchers. With their tent closer to the temple in case of an attack, he stood at the foot of their tent and was about to knock before Judas sprang out.
"What happened?! I heard a large commotion."
He shouted.
Aldric assessed the old researcher. It was clear to anyone who saw him that the old man was just asleep and woke up. Dressed in a flannel-patterned pyjama set.
"Wake everyone up; we have a situation."
Just behind the tent, Aldric noticed a worrying sight.
The large stone doors to the temple were wide open.
'What on earth is going on?'
A shroud of darkness emanated from his feet. As if it was rising from the depths of hell, a black shape emerged.
A titan of darkness bled into existence, a familiar knight stood tall.
However, it seemed that there were some changes to the Oathbound Knight.
His overly large stature of 2 metres grew even more, standing over 2 and a half metres tall. The previously archaic armour that covered the apostle was now covered in thick black tendrils interlocking around his figure like thick chains. Each tendril was filled with an opaque black liquid. The familiar red flame still remained, blazing through his eyes as well as now emanating from his heart. Forming a vermilion circle on his chest.
His previously battered and aged knightly armour looked pristine. A mirror-like black surface that reflected everything that looked at it. It reminded Aldric of the reflective abyss of the dark sea when it was sealed. Even his old helmet was now wrapped in thick tendrils, wrapping around his head like a bandage.
A similar change occurred to his greatsword. A red flame burst from the centre of the sword above the handle with cracks reaching the tip. Lines of red jetted across the cracks like a lava stream.
Overall, it was safe to say that the wraith had undergone a significant change.
"Bael, keep an eye on them and make sure no one enters the temple."
THUD
The wraith dropped his great sword onto the ground while gripping it tightly. Standing like a monolith in front of the researchers.
Aldric left to complete an initial observation. With Kura and Marielyn to his left and the now-awake Iris to his right, they descended the steps and met the boundary of the encroaching fog.
"Let's start."
Aldric secreted a thick layer of darkness into his palms. Bringing his hands together, a shape began to take form. Where desire and intent met ability.
Opening his hands to the sky, he commanded.
"Fly."
A large black shape darted in the air into the wall of fog. Defined feathers could be seen on a pair of dark wings. A raven took flight.
Blitzing through the air, it dived into the thick fog.
A secondary effect of Aldric's awakened ability was that he could now mildly sense and feel his darkness after it had left his body. However, he was unsure if it was a growth of his dormant ability of manifesting darkness.
With a faint feeling extending into the fog, Aldric could not hide his sudden shock when he felt the raven disappear.
It was akin to the experience of suddenly losing feeling in your arm or leg, the profound emptiness.
Only for the feeling to return immediately after but spatially displaced behind him.
With a shocked look on his face, Aldric swiftly turned backward. Only to see a familiar shape darting in the air.
"Damn!"
He shouted.
Quickly grabbing a stone off the ground, he threw the stone with his dark, essence-enhanced body. His arm blurring at the throw. The stone submerged into the fog.
Only for a familiar tug to draw his attention behind him.
SMACK
Turning around with a raised hand, the stone slammed into his palm with a sound.
"We are stuck inside a spatial distortion. Iris, send your echo straight ahead."
With a nod and a dust of soul essence, a dormant mount formed.
The domesticated lizard completed the same strange, distorted journey. Walking straight through the fog and walking out the other side.
"What the hell is going on?!"
Kura shouted. Watching the strange sight made his heart sink.
'How the hell are we going to leave this place?'
He thought to himself.
"By the gods!"
Marielyn said in alarm. The sight put her on her edge. Tightening the grip around her mace.
Iris kept quiet as her mind raced to analyse what she saw.
"Spread out and try to look for any weak points. Do not even touch the fog; we don't know what it will do to you."
With that, the investigation began.
Heading back up the steps of the temple, Aldric had someone to question.
At the gate of the temple, he could see his apostle. However, kneeling in front of him was Judas. The elderly man was muttering strangely, as if he was having a panic attack.
"No... not again... not this time."
A spark of anger filled Aldric. Blinding his senses for a moment before he took a deep breath. Connecting the dots, what was happening was not good for him or anyone else at all.
Gripping the man's shoulder, the silently furious man lifted Judas into a standing position.
A disturbing coldness leaked from his palms, chilling the man's body in seconds, followed by a heavy weight.
"Listen to me, Judas. Tell me everything that you know about the current situation."
His voice shattered whatever illusions and stories that were playing in the man's mind. His survival instincts awakened him to the subtle danger emanating from his escort.
With sweat dripping down his face and with an expression of pure terror. Judas gripped Aldric's shoulders and shouted.
"Aldric! I promise it wasn't me! I know. I know!"
He shouted and communicated as if he was talking to himself. This version of Judas was a far cry from the veteran researcher from before.
"I would never wish this on anyone, let alone myself! Not again!"
His erratic body language and shaking body transferring through the grip on his shoulders.
Aldric's patience was waning. From being awoken in the middle of the night just after finishing his guard shift to having to deal with a threat on him and his team.
"Judas! What is happening?"
Aldric spoke. Emitting a sudden spark of killing intent. Just enough to focus and alert the man but not enough to stun his nerves.
Removing his hands from Aldric, the man lifted his palms and showed them to the hunter. Like a subservient animal showing its stomach in the face of a true predator.
"Ok! Ok! Someone activated the defence mechanism of the damned temple!"
The elderly man began to walk around in a circle erratically as he communicated his thoughts. His hand rested on his chin as he thought of what he was about to say.
"I told them not to touch it! Who the fuck dared to play with a millennia-old ruin?"
His panic-ridden talk continued.
"It had to be intentional! It obviously wouldn't engage the defence mechanism if it was just the doors that were opened. Who was it?!"
'So touching the door was a ruse to limit everyone's contact with the temple.'
Aldric thought.
A pair of glittering black eyes stared at the spiralling man. Recognising the gaze, the elderly man finally took a deep breath and centred himself.
"I'll show you."
Walking ahead without looking back, the man attempted to enter the temple. Only for Bael to block his movement.
Aldric nodded at the apostle to move aside and walked beside the professor.
At the foot of the gate, a singular stream of blue light flowed into the temple. Flowing like magma, the stream was protected by a glass-like barrier. All the cracks of flowing light coalesced at the entrance of the gate. From all four sides of the temple, they returned to their source or arrived at their destination.
Entering the temple, Aldric had no idea on what to expect. Unlike the cathedral in the Forgotten Shore, this temple was magnitudes smaller. Like a small pyramid placed at the top of the stairs, it did not scream magnitude or size.
It was the size of a cafeteria. In the shape of a square, it was filled with open space. No statues, no figures. The insides of the walls were covered with murals and runes.
A strange replica of the temple outside was in the centre of the temple. Standing over one story tall and the width of a small home, the replica was not made of stone.
Instead, it was made up of the same glass-like substance that transported the mysterious glowing light. The light flowed so smoothly that Aldric thought it was a liquid, similar to a lava lamp.
It seemed that the glass structure was a basin to hold the viscous light. With over two-thirds of the glass completely filled.
A terrible feeling went through Aldric's system as he noticed the strange system increasing in volume.
'What will happen when it is full?'
Staring at the researcher, it was to his surprise that the man was not focused on the ancient knowledge that lined the walls of the temple. Staring at the basin of light, he began to finally explain what he knew.
"It was here 25 years ago that the government's third archaeology team was wiped out. Never to be heard from again."
Aldric kept quiet.
"I was just outside the boundary of the temple before a sudden shroud of fog engulfed the area. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get past the elusive barrier. It was as if it was cut out of space itself."
He began to step forward, walking slowly to the centre of the room.
"Luckily, our escort had someone with a telepathy-related aspect in the group. With the fog not interfering with the range of her ability, it was my job to do whatever I could to help them from the outside."
The old man let out a small chuckle. A look of helplessness was etched on his face.
"But what could a young awakened who survived his first nightmare by hiding beneath a carriage do? All I could do was listen to their last words as they were drained of their essence."
Aldric listened closely to the man's monologue, but his heart dropped at what he just heard.
"What do you mean by that?"
Aldric shouted. Losing his calm at the look of hopelessness on Judas' face. As if he had given up completely.
"There is no off button. There is no pause or reset. This temple will siphon the essence of every living being in its vicinity until we are all dead."
Judas admitted.
"Why do you think there are no nightmare creatures or wildlife surrounding the temple?"
He questioned.
Aldric thought back to the cathedral. He thought back to the Crimson Spire and the Catacombs. Every single one of these areas was devoid of life. All because there was a bigger monster claiming the territory.
"So that's why there isn't a guardian nightmare creature defending the temple. The temple is the guardian."
Aldric spoke out, connecting the dots.
Judas' face grew even more tired at the mention of a guardian.
"All the evidence points towards that, but that is not the case."
Alarm bells began to ring as soon as Aldric heard that. The biggest reason as to why they took this contract in such dangerous territory was due to the lack of a guardian. From the Crimson Terror to the Guardian of the Nameless Temple, anything that protected a monument was horrifically strong.
"When the basin fills up with sufficient essence, it will begin to actively drain our essence. With only a single hour of survival for awakened ranked humans."
A weight sunk so deep inside Aldric's stomach at the mention of such a slow but silent death. What was an Awakened without any soul essence?
In their short conversation, a burst of light engulfed the entire room. As if the sun was bottled indoors, the contraption was awake.
RUMBLE
GRIND
THUD
At the foot of the crystal that was now filled completely with the ethereal light, a set of stairs leading deep into the base of the temple revealed itself.
"And a pathway will unveil itself."
The sight of the exit lit up a part of Aldric's primal brain; however, the contemporary part of his mind recognised it for what it was. A challenge. A danger.
The guardian.
"Whatever that thing is, it is in a deep slumber. 25 years ago, they chose a slow, painful death over fighting that thing."
Aldric's mind was in complete disarray. While he knew of potential dangers going into this expedition, it seemed that everything that could have gone wrong went wrong.
'This feeling. This dread.'
In whatever Aldric had done so far and accomplished, there was always a layer of confidence. The feeling that everything would be ok. But it seemed that even that had its limits.
Judas' body began leaning on the strange contraption. Small light particles began to float from his head and shoulders. Wisps rising into the air like steam in a shower.
"So this is what it feels like."
He spoke guiltily. A slight grimace on his face at the feeling.
The next words that came out of Judas' mouth sounded so lifeless and dead. As if they came out a corpse.
"You know Aldric. I had to listen as they exhausted every single possible avenue of survival. Listen as they slowly lost hope. Listen to the agony of their soul core drying up and crumbling."
Slowly approaching the man, Aldric sat beside him on the steps of the contraption.
He spoke in a calm voice.
"Listen to me, Judas. Did they tell you anything? Any details that could have helped their situation? You have been reliving that day for over 25 years; have you not figured anything out?"
With a deep sigh, Judas was quiet for a moment as he reflected on something. Whether it was his question or something else, Aldric did not know.
But it seemed that the elderly man was thankful for the distraction.
"Well, I suspected that the origin of the spatial distortion relates to the Storm God. They were also known as the God of Travels. The contraption is run on the spirit essence of the Phantom Verge and the essence of those trapped inside it. Fuelling the system that condemns those trapped to never find the end of their journey. To never reach their destination."
The flow of essence leaving his body did not slow down. However, it did not seem debilitating enough to hinder him. A true slow death.
"You can't destroy the contraption, and you can't leave the vicinity of the temple. We are prey stuck in a spider's web, waiting for death to follow."
Aldric was beginning to lose his patience, and it seemed that Judas had served his use.
"Gather your team. Tell them whatever you have to, but make sure they don't panic. I'm going to fix this."
He ordered with authority.
Only to be met with silence and a face that was numb to the world.
----------
STEP
STEP
"So why on earth are we going into the monster's nest?"
Marielyn asked with a look of confusion and nervousness.
It had been 5 minutes since the essence siphoning began. Specks of light trailing from their bodies, but not from Aldric. With his dark essence, it seemed that he was safe from the strange essence drain.
All three of Aldric's cohort had taken the news as best as they could. With each of them being a survivor of the Forgotten Shore, death was never far away.
In Kura's hand was a soul shard. Slowly integrating the soul essence within it to counteract the passive siphoning of his own core.
A big part of their calmness was due to the large supply of soul shards that Aldric had gathered during their journey here. With his Dark Sprites and Dark Core, there was nothing to gain if he absorbed the shards himself. Luckily, his special constitution had bought the team much more time.
Aldric chose to not give any to the research team. Not yet, at least.
"We need to see if we can kill it. That would be the fastest way out of here."
Feeling a gaze on him, he looked to his left. A pair of glasses looked at him.
After gaining his attention, Iris began to speak.
"So who triggered the mechanism?"
Aldric looked ahead at the question. While it would not help him to discover the culprit, a part of his mind raced with theories and ideas.
"Judas hinted that it took more than opening the gate to trigger the trap. It was intentional. And we are the targets. I doubt they could get past Marielyn and Kura. Even Bael was guarding the door each night. Perhaps there was a delayed activation set during the day."
He responded. It was a complete mystery.
'I did not expect this so soon.'
While Even Horizon was not as strong as any of the legacy clans, what they had was potential. Potential that would not go unnoticed by the clans or even the great clans. Where the Firekeepers had joined Clan Valor, Event Horizon had remained independent. After all, you can have enough power, but you can never have enough control.
"Iris, it has started."
The young woman responded with a nod.
The long flight of stairs ended, leading to a long tunnel lit with small lines of blue light. Familiar repeating runes lined the walls.
A sharp spike of danger ran through his gut. Reminding Aldric of that night on the statue of the builder. That feeling of unescapable danger surrounding him.
Murmuring began to fill his ears.
"WEAK"
"DON'T BELONG"
"ALONE"
'That's not a good sign.'
Aldric thought.
But it did not stop there.
**********
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First chapter over 3k words. Clap it up.
Till the next one.
Capítulo 87: Despair
But it did not stop there.
As a dreamer, awakened nightmare creatures did not trigger his flaw: [Tarnished Soul]. With each subsequent rank of nightmare creature that he faced, more symptoms would reveal themselves. From auditory hallucinations to visual hallucinations. The next stage was physical changes.
After his near-death experience with the dark sea monster that battled the builder's statue, Aldric had learned of the severity of his flaw. The tentacled creature had to have been at least a Great nightmare creature to elicit such reactions.
It was in that cold sea that he learned of the silent killer within his flaw. The fact that he would feel each stage of feedback concurrently. Numbing his ears and scrambling his sight, all the while untold changes occurred to his physical body.
That day he had nearly died. He was lucky to have survived.
However, ever since Aldric had ascended ranks and became an awakened, it seemed that his flaw had changed to match this development.
Now as an awakened, Fallen creatures did not elicit any response. With each stage reflecting this change as well. While this could have been a perfect respite from his terrible flaw, that would not be how flaws worked. So while he could now fight a Corrupted creature with only auditory hallucinations, the intensity of those hallucinations grew in horrific magnitude.
What used to be incoherent mutterings of the void were now disturbing, intelligible remarks. Almost tailored to his subconscious fears and insecurities.
This was a topic that Aldric had long thought over the past few months.
Remembering what flaws were defined to be as well as what research in the waking world determined them to be and their origin, it was a lot to digest.
Flaws were perhaps even more tailored to each individual than their aspect. Representing the law of imperfection that the Gods created to battle the void, it was the antithesis to the abilities and boons gained from an aspect.
A distortion of something that somebody holds dear. A contradiction of a person's personality. A reflection of their fate.
In the case of Sunny, his flaw had contradicted his personality to the maximum. A shrewd survivor who knew only lies and deceit could now only utter the truth. Made infinitely worse by his corresponding aspect and [Shadow Bond].
With this, Sunny had grown to build bonds with those he met. Putting him in situations that his past self would never even think of participating in. Sparking his ambitions and desires beyond mere survival.
So in the case of Sunny, his flaw acted as an opportunity for growth.
However, Aldric had concluded that his flaw acted as a limiter.
Limiting his growth in what he could accomplish, limiting where he could go, and limiting his mindset.
Aldric truly believed that his flaw conspired with fate to act against him.
The idea that he could not have gotten Weaver's lineage even if he was sent to the Coral Labyrinth. With his dark essence, he could have killed the Vile Thieving Bird's Spawn without having his essence drained. But even thinking of going near a Great creature as a dreamer would have meant his death.
Aldric could not explore unknown regions of the dream realm like Nephis was doing or constantly challenge creatures stronger than him unless he had to.
He definitely had to think on his flaw more. Perhaps he was missing vital information relating to his aspect.
But in this instance of time, something was wrong.
The voices in his head instantly went quiet. The telltale signs of a visual hallucination stopped.
All that was left was a harrowing feeling of fear. Alien-like and mind-breaking. The feeling was alleviated by the [Dauntless Will] enchantment on his [Sundered Sorrow] and his [Tranquil Core] attribute.
The hunter looked around at his friends, each reflecting faces of abject horror and fear.
Just ahead of them, the tunnel ended in a clearing.
A dome of mirrors.
Every single surface of the circular room was covered in mirrors. But they seemed different from ordinary ones. The surface of each mirror was embedded with enchantments. Lines of runes were written over the surface like a page in a book.
The blue light produced from the bulb reflected within the entire room.Strangely enough, the light did not bounce off each surface and reflect until they lost energy.Rather than creating that strange infinite effect when you put two mirrors side by side, it seemed that someone had limited the capabilities of these mirrors with the runes present.
In the centre of each mirror was a thick metal rod, with large chains connected to it. With each link being absurdly large, all of the chains were directed to the middle of the hall.
But what was in the centre was the source of the anomaly. Sparking the feeling of dread and insanity in the minds of those present.
Something was chained.
The guardian of the temple.
In a whisper filled with panic, Marielyn expressed her feelings.
"What the absolute fuck is that?"
Aldric could only agree with her.
In the middle of the hall was a creature. Reflective but dull. Short but large. Still but moving. An enigma.
A contradiction.
It took a quadrupedal form, with black, dull, leather-like skin. The eye sockets of the creature were closed, showing that the creature was asleep. Its hind legs folded like a lion resting in slumber.
It was the size of the Spire Messengers that caused the dreamer army so much grief during the siege of the Forgotten Shore.
His mind could not comprehend what he was viewing.
The beast oozed an unknown force. It reminded Aldric of feeling the oppressive force of true darkness. A unique force outside of the world's laws. It was in the likeness of the mist creatures in the underworld, but different.
The utter silence of his flaw made his mind race.
'Is that a nightmare creature?'
He thought.
While the profanity of nightmare creatures triggers his flaw usually, dealings with those that ascend the path of divinity do not. Hence, Aldric was safe when he dealt with Masters and Saints in the waking world.
Only for that silence to be changed with a buzz. A strange static. As if his flaw was attempting to compute what it was seeing.
Looking closely at the walls again, the runes that lined the mirrors seemed to be filling up with the same mystical blue light that Aldric concluded was soul essence. With just above fifteen percent of the mirror filled up with glowing runes, the rest were inactive. For now.
'Damn it all! If that thing awakens, we are dead!'
Aldric did not need his flaw to assess the danger of the beast that slumbered. While he could not begin to think of the nature and origin of the monster, it was definitively above the Corrupted rank. A Great creature or even higher. If he could even use those hierarchies to measure the strange creature.
"Retreat!"
Aldric ordered.
The group dashed back down the tunnel. Blitzing past the archaic walls and up the stone steps.
Collapsing on the ground inside the temple, they caught their breath. Without the chance of using any soul essence to strengthen their body unless they wanted to die quicker, it took a small toll on their bodies.
HUFF
"Aldric. What can we do?"
Kura asked in a slightly numb voice. The events of the night clearly taking their toll on the electricity-generating awakened.
Aldric looked at his other teammates. Iris sported a face of utter intensity as she computed every possible pathway out of this hell. Marielyn seemed to struggle with accepting the current situation.
"Iris, how long do we have until the monster awakens?"
Aldric asked. Knowing and trusting in her observational and calculation skills.
Taking a steady breath, the raven-haired woman spoke out. Her face showed a look of harrowing hopelessness.
"It is highly likely that the essence being drained is going to be used to disable the binds holding that thing. So whoever survives the initial drain of soul essence will have to deal with that thing afterwards. Likely kept in mind for higher-ranked beings."
Analysing the state of the runes in its lair, it was about ten to twenty percent full. So we have about 45 minutes left."
Aldric agreed with the assessment.
'Our only option is to somehow leave the field of fog.'
"Ok, follow me."
He ordered.
Leaving through the gate of the temple, Aldric came across the group of researchers sitting silently on the top steps of the stairway.
Aldric did not care to analyse their well-being or feelings. After all, it was one of them that put them in this situation.
Whoever had triggered the mechanism clearly did not know how to disable it. After all, no one did. Not the Sword Domain nor the government.
This was a death trap.
"Judas! The temple is yours to study. Take your entire team and find a solution. Our lives depend on it."
Aldric told the despondent team.
Judas had a small glimmer of desire in his eyes. The desire to survive. Perhaps the proximity of death had made him reconsider his need for survival. And if not for himself, at least for his team.
Walking right past the group, Aldric marched down the stairs, with his team trailing behind him.
It was time to figure out how this worked.
---------
30 minutes later.
They were no closer to solving their issue.
Aldric had walked through the fog over twelve times.
He manifested a raven to fly above the temple, but the result was the same.
He had cut the fog 10 times.
The [Miasma of Rot] from his blade had no effect.
Kura released an electricity-coated arrow.
Marielyn blasted a light beam through the fog.
The first of the researchers had collapsed from essence exhaustion. With the rest close to following.
Judas was nowhere close to solving their dilemma. Only he was safe for now with an ascended soul shard hidden in his palm.
It was dire.
Only 20 minutes remained. Either they would die from a depleted soul core or the monster would awaken.
Aldric focused on his biggest asset.
[Insight].
Taking a chance to focus his mind, he filtered out the noise. Utilising the proficiency that he gained over the past year and a half, he looked at the fog ahead of him.
Nothing.
A subtle air of danger buzzed around him. Not enough to warrant anything but dangerous nonetheless.
Slowly, he looked towards the temple. Looking through the gate and at the small opening.
Danger
'I guess I don't have a choice.'
Aldric resolved himself.
It was time to make a decision.
With a focus on his runes, Aldric summoned an auspicious memory. One that he had not used once since receiving it.
In a stardust of essence, something had formed. A blood-red orb sat on his palm. Its surface covered in numerous veins.
Looking at the orb, his senses screamed at him to not even look at it. Danger rumbled in his soul, but death was close anyways.
'Besides, something inside of me is telling me that this is my only option.'
Like the box of Pandora, nothing would be the same after this.
[You have acquired a Seed of Chaos. Do you wish to consume it?]
Looking at his team, it was time for some words.
"Listen up. I apologise for this situation. In truth, I had some misgivings about this whole thing, but they were not warranted at the time. I guess hindsight is the best teacher."
All three of them had faced death in the face numerous times. However, there was something about not facing death head-on in a battle. But this slow and certain death was psychological torture. It gave them time to think. Think of their future, their ambitions, and their families.
Aldric's calmness had inspired them to relax. To take each minute as it came. To be calm enough to have hope. After, it was Aldric.
The Dark Hunter. The war ender. The dream army's blade. The Singularity.
And their leader.
In the months that they knew each other, they had concluded that Aldric was special. In the likes of Changing Star and other exalted Awakened. His ability to manifest his desires and find the right path to success.
His journey would not end here.
"Aldric. I chose to follow you, and I stand by that."
Iris spoke out in a quiet voice. She had long since decided to join her fate with Aldric's. And this was not the time to doubt it.
"Exactly! I choose to be here. Don't take away from my choice."
Kura shouted. Extending his heightened emotions to shouting at his leader.
Being a self-proclaimed man of principle, he could not show any cowardice in front of his team. It was time to stick with his choices, no matter the consequence.
Marielyn was strangely quiet.
"You guys remember how I felt in the Forgotten Shore."
"Useless."
"Defective."
She let out a self-deprecating laugh.
"Can you imagine a girl with an aspect powered by the stars being sent to a starless realm? Living in a castle where my only path to power was taken from me to survive. I felt like a walking corpse most of the time."
Raising her head and looking at Aldric.
"But when I stared death in the face during the siege of the Crimson Spire, it was you and Bael that saved me. Not Changing Star or her cohort but a man fighting in the front lines and his echo. Bael carried me past the soul-destroying light and into the spire."
She stopped and took a breath to calm her rattling mind.
"That's why I'm here. Not with the House of Night, or the Fire Keepers, or anyone else."
Marielyn concluded. A small smirk on her face.
"I'm glad to hear that. It makes this choice a bit easier."
His sombre words sparked alarm from the group, but no one questioned him. It was not their place to do so, and the situation did not call for it.
"Alright. Marielyn, be ready to heal me if anything bad happens. Iris, wake me up if I fall unconscious for longer than five minutes. Kura, keep an eye on the researchers."
Aldric gave out his last orders.
Inhale.
Exhale.
[You have acquired a Seed of Chaos. Do you wish to consume it?]
'Yes.'
The red orb in his hand raised in the air off his palm and went straight into his temple. Right between his eyebrows, where his faded crease was.
And the world burned.
*********
Thanks for reading.
TobyTheDoggo: I would but I'll read something new that's revealed and go straight to going through the stack. I can only stack when nothing is really happening. Like the Bastion fight. I don't know what to think about slayer to be honest.
Any recommendations on how to make reading more convenient? Maybe a side chapter of memories and runes that you could look back on. Let me know if anything comes to mind.
Till the next one. Enjoy your weekends.
Estado de energía semanal
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