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.
Capítulo 21: Spoils
[Clear Mind has evolved]
A prone body lifted itself from the ground in a silent battlefield.
Aldric slowly got off the ground. His body was aching and pained.
Through the pain and discomfort, it felt like he was much stronger than before. His darkness felt boundless and his soul essence expanded without end.
It felt like his reserves doubled.
He tried to recollect what happened to him after beating the stone mimic.
"I touched the statue and it drained the darkness out of me."
He spoke in a soft voice.
He remembered gaining a few Memories from the fight and decided to focus on that.
Name: Aldric
Rank: Dreamer.
Dark Core: Dormant
Dark Sprites:[267/1000]
Memories:[Unwavering Spark],[Cragborne Armor],[Malice Of The Deep],[Cavedweller Garms][Water Basin][Charm Of Balance][Silk Robes][Silk Pouch][Warding Eye][Stone Coffer][Tesseract]
Attributes: [Insight][Tranquil Core][Destined]
Aspect:[Made In Abyss]
Aspect Rank: Divine.
Aspect Abilities:[Dark Well]
Aspect Ability Description:[You can manifest the Darkness within.]
He focused on the ones he didn't recognise.
[Memory: Warding Eye]
[Memory Rank: Awakened]
[Memory Type:Tool]
[Memory Description: In a city overrun by the undead, a young maiden's eyes were imbued with stalwart vitality. Capable of warding off those that should not be.]
In a shimmer of light, a necklace appeared in the air. Made of interlocking silver, the chain had an ominous eyeball attached at the end. The strangest thing was the green flame emanating softly from the eye. Despite its ghostly appearance, the fire was pleasantly warm to Aldric.
He put the necklace on and continued to read his runes.
He looked at the second to last memory.
[Memory: Stone Coffer]
[Memory Rank: Ascended]
[Memory Type:Tool]
[Memory Description: "Why aspire to be like me when you can become me." A boisterous voice spoke to the stone.]
He summoned the object. A large grey marble-like stone chest dropped loudly on the ground. It had illustrious designs making the treasure chest look regal. The moment Aldric thought to open it, the chest swung open.
Soft burgundy cushions lined the inside of the chest in a diamond shape. Aldric could tell that the chest was much larger on the inside.
'It must have a spatial enchantment.' He thought.
"Amazing!". Aldric was elated.
This memory would pay its worth in gold in the long term. A storage memory was extremely rare and sought after.
He summoned his silk pouch and poured all but 20 soul shards that he had collected since receiving the pouch. He kept the 20 for an emergency energy source.
From experimenting, Aldric had learned that he could make use of soul shards. He couldn't gain Dark Sprites from them to get stronger however they were capable of acting as batteries to recharge his depleted darkness reserves.
This was one of the characteristics of his darkness abilities that he figured out.
He did not need to know how to control the soul essence to gain the energy stored inside of it. His darkness could absorb it for him.
Now in a good mood, he looked at the last Memory.
He could remember that he gained the last two memories from the awakened spider and fallen stone mimic, however he did not remember beating another creature.
[Memory: Tesseract]
[Memory Rank: Unknown]
[Memory Type: Unknown]
[Memory Description: The Magnum Opus of its creator. It's eternal purpose; to return to them.]
Aldric felt a large drain on his soul essence.
It took 1 whole minute for the memory to fully form.
A black stone floated in Aldric's palm. It was the size of a golf ball. It could fit inside Aldric's palm soundly if he clenched it.
Aldric studied the strange memory.
It had a glossy surface that reminded him of the ebony statue from earlier. Infinitesimally small runes were engraved all over the surface. It was way too small to make out if even noticed.
No matter what Aldric did, nothing could make the Tesseract budge. Not his darkness or soul essence.
He chose to leave it be for now as his [Inisght] was giving him feelings of joy from discovering the Memory.
Now calm from all the excitement, Aldric quickly dismembered the corpse of the Queen Spinner and retrieved all its soul cores. He collected the cores from the stone mimic that was scattered across the ground and placed them in his silk pouch that he kept on his hip.
Looking back at where the statue used to be, Aldric looked at the hole. Within the ring of bones, a spiralling staircase that led into the abyss was below.
He followed the staircase downwards and was cautious with every step he took. His mind seemed to be extremely still and unwavering.
Instinctively, he focused on his attributes.
Attributes:[Insight][Tranquil Core][Destined]
It seemed that the presence of the strange memory caused an evolution of his [Clear Mind] attribute.
He read the description.
[Attribute Description: "You are a tranquil lake. Unwavering to the forces that try to influence it."]
Aldric knew that the effects of his previous [Clear Mind] were now available to the rest of his body and not just his mind. Even maybe his soul. Giving him soul protection would be a massive boon.
As for his body, it might not seem like an improvement however directly calming his body would save him life-saving time instead of calming his body from his mind.
"Just by receiving the unknown memory, I evolved one of my attributes."
Aldric's day kept getting better.
Finally, after an endless amount of stairs, Aldric reached the end of the spiral.
A massive door met him. Made with the same ebony material as the statue, the gate was adorned with countless designs of unknown origin that looked as if it originated from a lost time. It was mesmerising to Aldric.
The size of it made Aldric think that it was made for a mini giant.
All of a sudden he felt something in his soul sea.
He entered the dark void filled with a floor of clouds, Aldric looked at his soul core and noticed a ring formed around the black hole soul core. it looked like the ring of a planet.
He could tell that it was a Memory spinning so fast that it looked solid in its path. He knew what it was and what it wanted.
Exiting his soul sea, Aldric summoned the [Tesseract].
After some waiting, the familiar black stone floated in the air.
The stone contorted and shifted. Opening fully to a flat shape. Ethereal rings of runes wrapped around the shape and glowed.
Aldric knew he couldn't fathom what the item was doing and if what he saw was truly its appearance. It felt as if it was in a higher dimension.
The item formed into the shape of a black key.
Aldric was confused as the gate did not have a single opening until it suddenly did. A small keyhole was perched above his head in the centre like it was always there.
Now armed with a key and a door Aldric had a choice to make.
Should he go back and try to find a way out?
Or should he journey deeper into this cursed realm?
Aldric made his choice.
************
Thanks for reading my loyal readers.
Any thoughts or theories?
Till next time.
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