章 4: The cave (2)
When I opened my eyes again, the cavern was so much darker than it was before. I could barely see in front of my face as it took times for me to adjust to the darkness. But with help from the moonlight that now shone the the crack in the ceiling, I was finally able to see again.
It was cold. Very cold. And I was half submerged in water. I hurriedly got out, hoping that I would not get a cold from this. I probably wouldn't since I bathed in ice cold water during winter.
Not like I had many options anyway.
After squeezing as much water I could out of my tattered pants and slipping them on again, I looked around me to see what I had to deal with.
The moonlight pouring in illuminated the bushes growing around the water's edge. I stumbled towards them, remembering the berries I'd seen dangling from their small branches. my stomach growled in fierce agreement, and my heart soared as I found plump, small berries that looked to be bursting with juice.
As soon as I reached them, I grabbed the branch only to draw back with a hiss. Inspecting my cold hand, I felt something warm run down my palm. Sniffing it, I confirmed my fears.
Blood. And why?
Because the damn branches were covered in tiny thorns! I could feel a few lodged in the meaty part of my palms. After pulling them out gingerly with my teeth, I sucked the wounds, hoping that they would dry enough so no more leaked out.
I shivered as I felt a breeze hit me from somewhere, and following the dircetion in where it came from, my eyes were drawn to a sight that I had completely forgotten about before.
It was the stone throne. The majority of the rays of moonlight were concentrated on that area, resting upon the form of the magnificent sword from earlier.
Even from this distance, I could tell that this sword was of exceptional quality. Or at least, it looked better than all the other swords I'd seen in my life up until now. In the moonlight, the hilt glistened with the shine of gold, the same gold I'd see from a thousand valis coin that was rarely seen in the slums of Daedalus.
I was about to go check it out when my stomach growled loudly again.
'I guess the sword's not going anywhere. I mean, nobody else is in this darn hole except me."
Tending to my painful hunger, carefully this time plucked just the fruit from the branches and bit into it. It was not sweet as I'd hoped it would be. Instead it tasted sour, like a plum that once rolled off a cart and I'd managed to snag it before anybody could notice and take it.
It was not distasteful though, and I ate about a good fifteen of them before I felt satisfied. I crawled back to the water and scooped up a handful to drink. It was cold to the point I felt my teeth almost freeze.
Only after a couple of scoops did I realize that I'd ended up here through the sewers, and that meant there was a possibility this water was contaminated.
I mean, it didn't taste bad. It tasted like normal water. I guess that meant it was safe? I shrugged and drank to my fill before I saw something in the water. Taking a closer squint, I realized what it was.
It was my old hammer that had somehow reached the shore of the pool as well. I slowly walked over there and scooped up my old tool. I looked around, hoping to see if my chisel was also nearby, but I didn't find it.
Not like it could serve me any purpose here. I doubted a rusted old chisel could help me pick my way out of this place. I took a proper look around as much as the low light levels afforded me. The entire cavern was circular in shape barring the cliff face which had water gushing down it. It was far too tall for me to climb, and I couldn't get back out the way I was brought in.
The only place for me to stand around in was the small bit of bank I was standing on. Everywhere else was just water.
I focused my attention on the stone chair again, this time going closer to investigate the treasure embedded in the seat. As I got closer to the sword, I was able to see it in more detail.
The hilt was made of gold if my eyes were right. The handle had swirling intricate carvings on it, and jewels were embedded in the part where the blade connected. The blade itself was of standard shape, but glistened beautifully with a silvery gleam in the moonlight resting upon it. It's edges sparkled with how sharp they were.
Mesmerized I put my hand out, pausing for a moment as my head span. It felt sacrilegious for someone like me to touch something so precious and expensive looking.
And that's when I heard it. A shallow whisper echoed around the cave, penetrating the air all around me with ghostly tones.
'Grab the key...turn the lock...'
I whirled around an shouted.
"Who's there?!" My eyes frantically searched up and down, looking for someone that could have been hiding somewhere, anywhere. There were not many places someone could hide without me seeing them. The bushes were not big for someone to crouch in. The cliff face was too smooth for someone to climb so they could not be hanging around there.
The only place else they could be was within the water. I fearfully scanned every inch of the water I could see, desperately trying to focus on the parts of the pool within the shadows that I could not see clearly. My biggest fear was my gaze suddenly landing upon somebody peering out of the water at me.
But thankfully, nobody was there. Then the voice rang out again. This time, it did not come anywhere from the lake. It felt as if the air around me itself was speaking to me
'Grab the key...turn the lock...'
Instead of pondering on where the voice was coming from this time, I instead looked around for anything that might resemble a key of some sort.
"What key?!" I shouted in desperate terror.
'Grab the key...turn the lock...'
"There is no key around here! Even if there was, how am I meant to find something that small in here of all places?!" I shouted again to nobody in particular. my voice bounced around the walls, driving it further into my head that I was all alone in this place.
I shifted my head back to the sword embedded in the throne.
"Could this be they 'key'?" I wondered aloud, "Even if it was, where's the lock?"
I reached out again to grasp the handle, this time unflinching as I was determined to hold it this time. my fingers closed around the hilt. The metal was cold, but comfortable to hold.
As I did so, I suddenly noticed something. Carved on the backrest of the throne was some sort of writing. It looked oddly similar to the alphabet used here in Orario. But I had not even learned how to read the common-hand, so how could I possibly read whatever this was? Some sort of...ancient language if the ancient throne was anything to go by?
I grabbed the sword firmly and slowly pulled it out of the seat. it caught for a moment before sliding out fully. I held it up in the moonlight, marveling in awe and amazement. It was even more beautiful now that I was holding it upright. And it felt so wrong in my hand.
It felt and looked like a sword that belonged to a strong adventurer, a mighty hero, or even a noble king! Instead, who was holding it? Some gutter rat of Daedalus who was only good enough to scrape sewage from the sides of the sewer drains. And apparently I was not good enough even at that because trying to do that was exactly what got me in this situation in the first place.
My heart and my mood dropped, as for the first time in a while yet, I felt the complete and utter insignificance of my existence. I lived in a city alongside people who were famous worldwide for their power and their achievements. And yet I was...nothing.
It was during this elf-deprecating train of thought that the voice rang out again. This time much louder.
"Grab the key...turn the lock..."
This time my body froze. Instantly, I was stumped in confusion before trying to move my arms. To my horror, they would not move. I then tried my legs. Nothing. The only thing I could move was my head and my neck.
But even my mouth would not open on my command. I struggled to regain control of my limbs, while simultaneously trying my hardest to figure out what the hell was going on.
The voice rang out again, this time even louder than before.
"Grab the key...turn the lock..."
My blood ran cold as my arms and hands began turning the sword around and pointed the blade at my own chest. I was not the one doing this! I made strangled noises in my throat, my head thrashing around as I saw where this was going. Again that cursed voice sounded once again.
"Grab the key...turn the lock..."
My arms suddenly pulled back against my own volition, plunging the sword deep into my heart. My mouth finally opened as I coughed out copious amounts of blood which splashed on the floor. I slid down to my knees, clasping the sword. I couldn't even scream, as my brain and chest were flooded and overwhelmed by pain.
But it did not end there. my hands travelled further up the hilt, and twisted the blade around. My heart exploded, and when I say exploded, I meant it as I felt it combust in a shower of blood.
"So this is what you meant by turning the lock eh?" I managed to say with mirth in the midst of my agony. My eyes began drooping as I became weaker and weaker from the massive blood loss. Just as I was about to lose consciousness, I heard that voice again.
'Awaken Oh King of Chaos!'
My body jerked as I threw my head back with a gasp. my vision became blurry and I felt something well up inside me. In my mind's eye, I saw a keyhole emitting bright light through it. I saw it turn and suddenly, it came apart, revealing the light behind it. I finally lost it as my consciousness dived into it.
---
It all came rushing back. The memories of my previous life, played before me like a movie screen. Everything since the day my old mother had me, to the day I died. Everything I'd done, everything I'd experienced. The things I'd enjoyed doing.
I remembered that the metal cocoons were called cars, that the giant metal birds were called planes. I remembered the friends I did have in my old life. I remembered all the books I read. I remembered my fencing skills, all the medals I'd won in the sport.
I remembered all the important things which I now realized I needed the most right now. All the anime and manga I'd seen, the many wiki pages I'd read. Everything I knew about each of these individual worlds came rushing back. Especially Danmachi, which I remembered watching many times in the past. And I realized it was the world I was in now.
I remembered my embarrassing death, and how I'd met Nekros, the person who'd reincarnated me here. I remembered the 'gifts' he'd given me, which included the sword currently wedged in my chest.
I remembered the name he had given me when he sent me here. He called me the 'King of Chaos'.
And suddenly, everything made sense. The weird happenings I'd experienced as Lyzof, the supernatural things that kept happening throughout my early years. For Chaos was extremely protective of its host. And it had protected me from imminent death several times.
Which meant it had resided in me from the moment I was born...again.
And so Lyzof Keele stepped aside for a moment, as Alex Turner resurfaced from the recesses of my memories once more.
---
Coming back to, I found myself in the cavern once again. The ground was stained dark with my blood. But the sword this time was in my hand, glowing brightly with a great white light. The light had sparkles in it that were encompassing the entire length of the sword as well as my hand holding it.
I looked own at my chest to find no signs of a wound anywhere, although my shirt had a hole in it, the only evidence that I'd been stabbed at all.
The sword, which I now identified as Arthur's Holy Sword Excalibur created by the Lady in the Lake, was now glowing even brighter in my hand. It the began shifting. I saw the metal bending out of shape as well as the handle. But with the resolve of my older self returned to me from my previous life, I knew exactly what was going on.
The Holy Sword was shifting form to fit the wielder. And in my very hand, a bright shimmer of magic ran down the sword. It left behind an entirely new weapon in my hand.
It looked like a cane, the hand embedded with jewels along it. I pulled on the top, and the wooden pieces of the cane slid apart to reveal a sharp blade inside. I recognized the type of weapon this was. It was a Shikimizue, a Japanese chokuto blade hidden inside a cane and the jewels that had adorned the old form was now embedded along the handle.
I guess I had to follow anime tropes.
I was startled as a light suddenly appeared near me. I unsheathed the blade and pointed it at the source. It was a torch that had suddenly lit up on the wall above the throne.
Suddenly, more and more torches started lighting up with whooshing noises as they began appearing around the walls of the entire cave. The cavern was eventually bathed in new light.
I held up my sword confused before I saw the engravings on the throne again. This time I recognized it was in English. It read,
'CONGRATULATIONS KID!'
My ass.
I heard footsteps approaching me from the left, and I quickly swivelled around to hold my sword at the source of the noise. My eyes widened as i saw who was making the footfalls, before they narrowed again and I mustered as much venom as I could in my next words.
"YOU..."
Nekros came into view, with an infuriating smirk on his face.
"How've you been Alex?"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------Read this story ahead of Webnovel on my p@treon:
p@atreon/ Vulkizaro_Zoromi
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