Tale of Eldramir

Blearily opening his eyes, Ezekiel slowly returned to consciousness as he felt his mana reach full capacity once again. Feeling the mana within him once again reach the fifth Step of Tier one, he could tell that he’d been unconscious for at least five hours.

Taking as deep a breath as he could without injuring himself, he tried to push himself up.

“Eerrg!”

He let out a quiet grunt of pain as he felt several injuries flare up as he reopened what he could feel were fairly large bruises and scabbed over cuts.

Relaxing his body as best he could, he began thinking of methods to get out of this situation.

‘Wait! I still have those bandages that Issa gave me!’ he remembered.

Letting out several grunts of pain and suffering some lightheadedness as he reopened some of his wounds, E managed to successfully get his bandages from his pack.

Before using them, however, he sat himself up against the wall and channeled his mana to inspect his body.

He found that there were several pieces of shrapnel still inside his body, as well as several cracks and injuries to his bones and other internals.

Worst of all were his legs, which were practically shredded and filled with bits of metal.

Knowing that there wasn’t anything else that he could do about it, Ezekiel grabbed the sheath of his sword and put it in his mouth.

Still channeling his mana, he quickly pulled out all the shrapnel in his legs before wrapping his legs up in the enchanted bandages as fast as he could.

Gritting his teeth so hard that he heard the sheath crack in his mouth.

They were quickly soaked in blood as he reopened all his wounds. But he could feel the Life magic from the bandages quickly working.

Better yet, it seemed like Void mana’s ability to enhance other forms of mana and magic also applied to the magic within the bandages.

Looking down at his legs, Ezekiel could see the flesh regrowing and knitting back together again.

It seemed like Issa’s statement regarding the effectiveness of these bandages was only in regard to other types of mana.

Even after his legs were fully healed, Ezekiel could tell that the enchantments still had power in them, having mostly used his Void Mana as opposed to the bandages Life mana.

Grabbing his sword, Ezekiel grits his teeth for the next part that he was dreading.

Holding the tip of the blade towards himself, he stabbed into his own flesh several times in order to remove more of the shrapnel that had gotten stuck inside him.

Grunting in pain as he was forced to cut himself open to remove the shrapnel, he did his best to fight through the pain, feeling fortunate that he didn’t accidentally knock himself out in the process.

Unfortunately, healing these wounds seemed to use the last of the bandage’s power as well.

Worse yet, most of the shrapnel was in his back. It was only a few pieces, as he had mostly managed to reinforce his body, and his pack had covered his torso when the explosion went off.

Wincing as he stood up and feeling the tightness in his muscles as they were forcibly and poorly healed, Ezekiel forced himself to his feet, using his sword as a crutch.

“Oooof!”

Only to slip and fall on his face when his sword slipped out beneath him.

Taking a moment to catch his breath, Ezekiel used the wall for support this time as he climbed to his feet. Catching his breath as he did and taking a better look at the walls and ground in the process.

Everything was smooth. It reminded him of what the floors of a hospital might’ve looked like in his past life. Nothing looked carved, but it wasn’t like concrete either.

He’d never seen such smooth stone in his life, and he could tell that it was reinforced with mana, making it far tougher than most stonework would be.

Barely able to see, even with his enhanced vision from channeling his mana. Ezekiel knew that the only choice he had was to move forward.

Hopefully he would find something that could get him out of this situation. Maybe even help out the others from the Roaring Titans.

Making his way down the hallway, feeling an annoying itch from his remaining wounds, especially the areas with shrapnel still in them, he noticed that there seemed to be seams running horizontally along the walls.

Looking back to see how far he was from the Void Lock, he decided to take a chance once he got far enough away that he could barely see it.

Channeling his mana into the seam on the wall, he flinched back in pain as his eyes were bathed in bright light, illuminating over a dozen feet worth of the hallway in both directions. All spread out from the point where he had channeled his mana.

Allowing his eyes to refocus, he realized that the ‘seam’ in the walls was actually an incredibly tiny Runic script that glowed with light as mana was channeled through it.

He couldn’t tell what level of enchantment these Runes were, but he could tell that it was far more advanced than anything he’d seen before.

If he was right, then, rather than being carved, a Cavern Mage actually shaped the stone when it was reinforced to make these engravings.

Taking a chance to catch his breath, Ezekiel realized that the light was slowly fading, but the amount of mana he’d used was almost nothing.

A single mote was all it took to light up nearly thirty feet worth of distance. This would make traveling through the Ruins of this Temple of the Void much easier.

Continuing to travel down the seemingly endless hallway, Ezekiel finally noticed something that he hadn’t when the hall was still dark. It seemed like this hallway was actually very slightly curved. Likely wrapping around whatever was in the other hallway he hadn’t taken when he was running from Aldor.

Finally, Ezekiel found himself in front of another Void Lock.

However, unlike with the other Locks he had seen, this one had glowing writing across the top of it. Writing that lit up much like the light strips along the walls.

“Second Archive.” Ezekiel read aloud as he read the words above the Void Lock.

Ezekiel was somewhat excited. This was exactly what he was hoping to find. Someplace that might have more information. More answers.

Afterall, turning back would force him to fight Aldor, and he wasn’t confident about facing a Tier two Hunter, Spirit, combination that desperately wanted to kill him.

Bracing himself, just in case something was behind it, Ezekiel opened the Void Lock.

The wall of stars disappeared in an instant. Behind it was a dark room with no lights, but Ezekiel could make out nauseous bookshelves that were filled to the brim with texts.

Remembering from his past life that books as old as these were going to have experienced some decay, Ezekiel was careful to examine them as he entered the room.

But as he got closer to the books, it seemed like there wasn’t anything he needed to worry about. Even in the dim light, it seemed like there was no damage to any of the books. As if time itself hadn’t been able to touch them. They were all nearly pristine from what Ezekiel could see from in the dark.

Being as careful as he could, he reached out and gently tapped the spine of one of the books.

Feeling a resistance in line with the books from the Harkem Library, Ezekiel pulled gently, then harder, until eventually the book came free from its place between two others on the shelf.

Opening it gently, he ran his fingers over the pages. Nothing happened.

Feeling more confident, he walked back to the now closed Void Lock and activated the lights.

This time, he decided to put a full one hundred motes of mana into it. Covering his face in preparation, he was able to stave off the glaring brightness as the entire room lit up.

Dozens of rows with numerous books were within the room, as well as several desks and workstations where Ezekiel could see broken supplies and tattered books.

Further in the room were few items that Ezekiel did not know the origin of that were broken.

Several seemed to be tools, but more seemed to have resemblances to relics he had heard of and had been described to him by Hunters from the Titans.

Bringing up his sword, Ezekiel reinforced himself far more than before. As far as he knew, there shouldn’t have been any reason for the damage in this room to be present.

Walking around, Ezekiel saw several markings on the ground. Jagged and rough, he could tell that they weren’t created by a steel weapon.

Minor scorch marks supported this theory but meant that it couldn’t have been made by the Cruor, but instead it must’ve been a Flame Spirit.

Making his way around the room, he found two more doorways, but it didn’t seem like there was anything alive in this room besides him.

He even did his best to examine the ceiling in order to see if anything was somehow hiding up there.

Seeing that there wasn’t anything to be afraid of at the moment, Ezekiel took the time to examine the books, reading the various titles of the ones that were still intact.

He also found that, beyond the shelves that were full, there were also several that were collapsed and empty.

Making his way over to what seemed to be a reception area of some sort. Ezekiel managed to find what looked to be a directory for the books, as well as a couple of personal journals and some coins within the drawer he found.

Looking for anything that could help him figure out the layout of these ruins, he found a title for a book called “Geography of the World.”

Going over to the shelf that the book was supposed to be on, Ezekiel quickly flipped through it, finding a map that correlated to what he knew of the nearby geography, allowing him to find out the name of the Ruins from when it was a city.

“Senera, the City of Flowers.” Ezekiel muttered as he found his location.

From the drawings within the pages of the book Ezekiel could tell that this city was once a beautiful area with a wondrous scenery.

From what he knew from Harken’s history regarding the local areas, the Rot used to have a large presence in this region, before the Cruor shifted regions due to the eventual lack of Life mana that was best for Rot propagation.

Given how abundant in Life mana a city like Senera must’ve been, it was almost certain that the Rot’s presence in this region was significantly higher than what their current history indicated.

It might even be possible that the Rot held a significant amount of territory before the Bone and Fang Cruor held control of this area of the Desolate Lands.

Now knowing what the Ruins were called, Ezekiel began looking for books with information regarding the city itself, including a basic outline of the city structure and significant buildings.

Learning more about the Temple he was in after finding the relevant information, he found out that the name of the last Grand Scholar of this Temple of the Void was named Joan Vermily.

She was a Tier three Life Mage, one of the many that called Senera home.

Making sure to keep note of the name, Ezekiel grabbed a few books regarding the city that he thought might be helpful for the Guild when he got out of here, as well as at least one book pertaining to techniques for each of the elements.

It made his pack a bit heavier, but there wasn’t much he could do but live with the extra weight.

Taking one last look around the room, Ezekiel decided it was time to head out, so he looked at the two different doors. Neither one was labeled this time, but they were on different walls, one across from the Void Lock and one next to it, so he didn’t think they lead to the same areas.

Taking out one of the coins he’d found in a desk, he flipped it into the air to determine which way he should go.

“Tails.” He muttered as he turned to the door in the wall next to the Void Lock.

With his direction determined, he began to explore once again.

After wandering around the new area for a while, he figured out that the area he was in was similar to the private quarters with the personal research rooms and individual areas for the different Scholars of the Temple.

Allowing the lights along the wall to be lit as he made progress, he didn’t light them up in full, as he hoped that he’d be able to retain most of his mana should he run into anything.

During his time in this area he’d found that most of the rooms were cleaned out from whenever they had evacuated.

It also seemed like there wasn’t any damage in this area, compared to the damage that he’d found in the Second Archive.

Outside of a few more coins, as money was apparently the last thing they needed, it seemed like there wasn’t anything of value for him right now.

However, one thing that he found incredibly strange was the condition that everything was in. There was little to no dust, and it seemed like there was no decay in any of the objects he’d found.

It seemed like there was something going on with the Temple that neither himself nor anyone else in the Empire was aware of.

He’d likely only find out if he managed to make his way to the Quintessa Temple of the Void at some point in the future.

He was also very cautious, as he knew that somewhere in these Ruins was an area where the Cruor were sealed and locked away, at least for a little while. So, he didn’t want to go wherever they might be. He knew he wasn’t likely to survive if he did.

It seemed like this area was almost fully explored, however, so it was likely he was going to have to take another chance when he made his way back to the Second Archive.

It seemed like luck was on his side, however, as it seemed like the last room he needed to explore was the room belonging to Joan Vermily. The additional colors and designs indicated someone of a higher Tier owned this room.

Opening the door to the room, Ezekiel slowly peeked in not expecting anything different, but still cautious all the same.

“gah!”

He immediately let out a yelp of fright and leapt backward from the door after taking a look inside.

Taking a moment to calm his heavily beating heart, Ezekiel forced himself to go and open the door once again. This time making his way inside without flinching backward.

Inside the room was a large desk on the opposite side of the room, facing the door.

Scattered around the room were a number of devices that seemed to be used for sensing mana and preserving different plants. As well as cabinets filled with elixirs of varying colors and types.

But the thing that grabbed Ezekiel’s attention the most was the still mostly intact corpse sitting at the desk. Her face was partially cut open, and black mold was running down half her body.

From what he could tell, it seemed like she had been infected and poisoned by the Rot before dying, but the Rot hadn’t managed to feed off her body, dying alongside her.

The most confusing thing to him, however, was the lack of any trails leading to or from this room. It seemed like she hadn’t allowed the Rot to escape and spread from her body as she and it had killed each other.

Making his way to the desk, Ezekiel took a look at the different items laying on the desk. The one thing that stood out the most was the journal she seemed to have been writing in before she died. A pen still resting loosely in her hand.

Slowly taking the journal away from her, Ezekiel began to read, skipping to the end to find out what had happened here, and to see if there was any information regarding the Cruor that still resided inside the Temple ruins.

Entry One Hundred Seven: Senera’s defenses are starting to fail. It seems like the Rot have decided that the City of Flowers would make a fine target for the new territory. They likely hope to gather enough mana to further widen the crack in the Grand Seal.

Unfortunately for them, this Temple doesn’t have what they are looking for.

Our Relics are not as old as they believe, regardless of the age of our Temple. Most have been moved to other Temples far away or given to the Church of Ten. The only major Relic that still remains is the Void Core that the Ancient Void placed in the foundations of the Temple.

However, even the authority granted to me by the Temple Emblem as the Grand Scholar can’t grant me access to that area. Only a true Void Mage can go there, so I know that the Ancient Void’s legacy within this Temple will be safe.

Entry One Hundred Eight: It seems like the City has been overrun. As it stands, the Temple has been evacuated, and I am the only Scholar remaining.

This is not a bad thing, however, as I am the only one that can control the defenses the Ancient Void constructed in all his Temples. Of the Ten Temples built by the Ancient Void, ours is one of the last three still standing after the Cruor Tide began destroying the rest.

It shames me that I couldn’t protect this Temple from the taint that is the Cruor, but I saw no other options that would allow the survivors of the city escape, as well as to destroy as many Cruor as possible.

The page was ripped, and a few scribbles cut off what was written before the entry continued.

As it is, I know that I will die here, but hopefully I can take that bastard with me. I know that a Tier three like me cannot take out what I assume is a Tier four being like the Spreading Ooze, but who knows. Maybe a miracle will happen. I stand within a home built by the Ancient Void after all.

Entry One Hundred Nine: I’ve won. I managed to use a Relic that had enough power stored in it to kill the Spreading Ooze. But it seems like his death knells summoned forth a number of his spawn from his evaporating corpse.

There’s nothing I can do about the Cruor in the city, but I can at least ensure that the Rot that have overrun the Temple can never leave. Hopefully the lack of mana for them to feed on will kill them all off. To that end I ran as fast as I could to my personal study, as the control node for the Temple was in here, and I needed both it and my Emblem to seal off the Temple in full. As well as killing every Rot I saw and using was mana I retained to ensure that it couldn’t spread after my death.

On the off chance that someone manages to get inside and read this. I leave you all that remains from my personal effects. I have no need for them in death. Make good use of them. Hold the Ancient Void in your heart and kill as many Cruor as you can.

There were numerous entries prior to these three, but it explained much of what he needed to know. He now knew why the Rot were still alive within the Temple, having been sealed inside to cut them off from the fight.

It seemed like they were sealed in various areas of the Temple, not just the entrance area.

But apparently the final Grand Scholar didn’t know that the Temple would be preserved when fully sealed.

He couldn’t help but let out a small shiver as he thought of the remaining Rot still within the Temple. He didn’t want to consider what would’ve happened if Grand Scholar Joan hadn’t cleared out this area already.

A thought then occurred to him. Was the area outside of the Void Lock totally cleared? He hadn’t seen any Cruor when running from Aldor, nor did it seem like there were any remains when Aldor and the Spires were hiding in wait, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t any there.

‘Hopefully Aldor runs into them before I do. One less problem for me to deal with at least.’ Ezekiel thought to himself.

Moving on, Ezekiel began exploring the room further.

A few of the things he discovered were the Emblem that Grand Scholar Joan used in order to have authority over the Temple’s magic, the second was an empty Void Pouch, and finally, there were the numerous potions and elixirs within the cabinets.

After attuning to the Void Pouch, he took some time to label all the potions according to the information in the cabinet and downed one of them at the same time.

“Erk!” He let loose a grunt of pain as he felt the last remaining shrapnel that he’d been doing his best to ignore force itself from his body.

A mild burning sensation ran its way through his body as he felt the effects of the potion run their course.

Taking a moment to examine his body, he was overjoyed to see that the Tier three healing potion was effective, and it seemed like all his injuries had disappeared.

Throwing everything into the Void Pouch, Ezekiel then examined the emblem he’d taken from Grand Scholar Joan’s body.

The moment he attuned himself to the emblem, blueprints and information regarding the Temple of the Void he was in immediately filled his mind, bringing him to his knees as the information bombarded his every thought.

A pulling sensation also invaded his thoughts, attempting to drag him to somewhere he couldn’t see.

Dropping into a meditative trance, the pain in his mind faded and began to settle as the information organized itself into his already existing memories.

He couldn’t help but let out a curse as he realized the full extent of the Cruor that still remained in the Temple.

The floor that he was on didn’t have anything left, at least not in the area he was in, but according to the Runic enchantments he could access due to the emblem, he could tell that there were at least two more subfloors that were fully infested.

It was like a forest of fungi and mold people.

Worse yet, while Grand Scholar Joan had managed to kill the Tier four Rot with the aid of now destroyed Relics, there were still half a dozen Tier three Rot remaining.

Checking the path that he had come from; he could also see Aldor and his Spirit exploring the rest of the floor where he was stuck.

It seemed like there wasn’t much to find. As he had run into the Void Lock that was cutting off the infested areas. A Lock that the idiot was trying to break through.

A small ticking sensation attracted Ezekiel’s attention as he continued to examine the emblem.

His blood seemed to chill in his veins as the information regarding the sensation came to the forefront of his mind.

The Void Locks were breaking down.

According to the information in the emblem, the Void Locks fed off the Void Core left behind by the Ancient Void.

As the knowledge of the Void Core invaded his thoughts, the pulling sensation grew stronger.

However, after so many years of disuse, it seemed like the destruction of the first Void Lock resulted in damage occurring to the enchantments.

The Void Locks were no longer being fueled.

Worse yet, it seemed like the Rot had woken up well before he had gotten here as well, since they were doing everything that they could to break the Locks that were sealing them inside. Chipping away slowly over the course of several months.

They were slowly succeeding.

From what he could tell from his connection to the enchantments, it would only take a dozen more times opening the Void Locks, or the destruction of just one more, for every single one of the remaining Locks to fail, releasing a practical horde of Rot Cruor into the city.

It seemed this was also something the Grand Scholar Joan hadn’t been aware of, as she didn’t think the Rot would’ve been able to break free no matter what they tried.

Although, there was no way she would know that the Void Locks would break, destroying the enchantments that kept them fueled.

Digging deeper into the information in the emblem, he realized there was only one way to stop the Rot from breaking out and killing his entire party from the Titans.

There seemed to be a back door behind the Second Storage area, which was also on this side of the Temple. If he could get to it, he would be able to directly descend to the lowest floor.

From there, only one room stood between him and the Void Core, that only he could access, as both a Void Mage and the emblem holder. The room didn’t even have a Tier three Rot within. Only a couple of Tier twos.

Not only that, but the sensation pulling him towards the Void Core grew stronger and stronger. He couldn’t help but think that there was something there that might give him answers.

Taking a few deep breaths to affirm his decision, Ezekiel left the quarters of the Grand Scholar.

Making his way to the Second Storage area, the first thing he did was stare in shock at the number of mana crystals left behind.

There were several dozen of each type, including pure crystals. But he refrained from using any, as a sudden increase in his mana would prove that he’d used treasures found in the Ruins.

He could literally feel a tightening sensation in his chest from the contract they were all forced to agree to in order to get the Roaring Ruins Guild’s help.

So, with much reluctance, he did not immediately absorb the pure crystals to get to a higher Step of power. Regretting his prior choices, as it meant that he wouldn’t be able to fight in his best possible state.

The second thing he did was attune to a few more of the Void Pouches inside. He then filled them with everything that he could find within the storage area.

Finally, when there was nothing left to hold, Ezekiel walked over to one of the back walls.

At first glance, there was nothing there. But upon placing the Grand Scholar’s emblem on the wall, several lines appeared as a section of the wall shifted and sank inwards.

A hidden backdoor opened, leading a short way to a lift that would bring him down to the lowest floor.

Taking a deep breath, Ezekiel gave a short prayer to the Ancient Void. Hoping that he would find what he needed to at the bottom of the Temple, and that he would survive for long enough to get there.

He didn’t actually care about killing all the Rot right now. He knew that, even if they did escape, they’d be wiped out by the combined forces of the Guilds above ground.

But that didn’t mean that his party at the entrance would survive, nor did it mean that he’d get to see the people he loved ever again.

The only regret he really had was that if he died, he was going to be directly responsible for Gerome’s death, if the old man hadn’t finished off that Cult of Light Hunter by now.

Given the number of hours that had passed by this point, he’d hoped that the battles would be finished, but there was always a chance they’d retreated or regrouped, so he couldn’t be certain.

“Stop.” Ezekiel muttered to himself.

The pulling sensation was making him dizzy at this point, and the excess thoughts and worries weren’t helping him focus on his goal.

He knew he couldn’t be distracted right now, so he forced himself to focus on the current problem. Reactivating the Void Core to make sure the Void Locks wouldn’t break down and find out why he was being drawn to the root of the Temple.

Stepping into the hidden area, Ezekiel walked toward the lift that would take him straight into a nightmare. He could only hope that everything he’d been through up to this point would be enough for him to survive.