Tale of Eldramir

As the lift taking Ezekiel to the bottom of the Temple’s underground floors continued to slowly descend. He couldn’t help but allow his thoughts to wander.

Was there a better way than this? Was there something else that he could do to stop this? Were the answers he was seeking worth risking his life for? Would his actions actually make a difference?

These and many other questions ran through Ezekiel’s mind.

Thinking back on it, he realized that the best option might’ve been to sneak past Aldor and try his luck outside the area behind the Void Lock.

The biggest problem with this was the fact that he didn’t know what the situation outside was like right now, so he couldn’t determine if he’d be walking out to an ambush from the Spires and the Cult of Light.

He also couldn’t defeat Aldor in a fight right now, as he’d be forced to fight both Aldor and his Spirit.

He might’ve had an extra life due to Lina’s gift, but that didn’t mean that he could just throw his life away needlessly, just to beat Aldor.

He also hadn’t told anyone else about this gift, as he wanted to keep it as a trump card just in case.

As he ran different scenarios through his head, he found himself becoming more confident about his choice.

If his survival depended on his ability to run away, then running to the Void Core, a place that only he could access, was the best bet right now.

Rather than just waiting for his eventual death should Aldor manage to break the Void Lock somehow. That, or starving to death while trapped within the Temple.

Worse yet, the plan was originally for the whole team to explore the Temple alongside him, but now that he was alone, he was worried that Gerome, or one of the other Tier fours, would try to break open the Void Lock forcefully.

This would take some time, and leave them quite weak, which meant that when the broken Lock led to the failure of all the other Locks, they would be quickly overrun by the Rot inside.

As the lift reached the bottom floor, Ezekiel braced himself.

He knew that there would still be a short hallway before he met with the Rot, but he still felt it necessary to be cautious.

Glancing down to make sure the boots that Quentin had given him were tightly secured on his feet, Ezekiel stepped out of the lift, sword held at the ready, and mana already channeling through his body. He knew he wasn’t ready, but he would move toward his goal all the same.

Outside the Temple of the Void, near the entrance of the city where the Reaching Spires attempted to ambush the Wandering Titans.

Fires blazed as countless bodies were burned in pyres.

Leaving bodies behind in mass would attract more Cruor to their location. As would the fires, however, allowing the Cruor to feast on their bodies would simply make them stronger.

“Have the bodies been dealt with yet?” Gerome asked as he sat on a fallen pillar.

“From what we can tell, there are no more bodies that need to be dealt with at the moment. The pyres have been lit, and there are several patrols keeping a look out for possible Cruor attacks.”

The team captain of the Wandering Titans that was speaking with Gerome held a manifest with a list of names. It was a list that was distributed to all the Guilds taking part in this expedition.

The symbol on the top left corner showed that this was the list of members from the Reaching Spires. Beneath it was a list from the Stormy Clouds.

Several dozens of names had been crossed off. Indicating that they were deceased from the fight that had occurred previously. The names that still remained indicated the members that fled.

In addition, there was another name that had been hastily written down on the Storm Clouds Guild list.

Meryn had, unfortunately, managed to run away when he realized that he was no match for Gerome, and that the old Titan wasn’t losing his Spirit anytime soon.

Worse yet, he was able to get Kameira and run as well. But not before the Tier four Guild Leader from the Roaring Ruins had managed to take a foot from the Lightning Hunter when they were fleeing.

“All relics and other valuables from our enemies have also been gathered up. Although, I’m assuming that it will be used to pay compensation to the families of our Hunters who perished?”

Gerome said nothing, his chest tightening as he closed his eyes and nodded his head. The losses of the Wandering Titans and Roaring Ruins had been miniscule when compared to the practical annihilation of the Storm Clouds Guild and loss of the majority of the Reaching Spires Guild.

This was by far the worst conflict he had ever been in since before he’d been a part of the founding of the Wandering Titans.

Guilds often fought, but with the risk of the Cruor, they’d always prioritized getting away from the conflicts, rather than truly killing anyone.

At least, that’s what he knew of the higher Tier Guilds. The rumors of Tier one and two Guilds killing each other for benefits was something that he’d always thought of as rumors, but apparently that was not the case.

Not if the more powerful Guilds could destroy each other as easily as they had today.

“Sir! There’s one more thing that I was asked to bring to your attention.”

The Captain from the Titans held out an emblem with the Roaring Ruins symbol on it.

“Guild Leader, Trissy Highland, wishes to speak with you as soon as possible. I’ve been told she’s getting a checkup at the medical tent that was set up North of here. Apparently, they managed to secure some prisoners from the Temple of the Void Ruins.”

Gerome let out a sigh but didn’t complain. He knew that this was coming, though that didn’t mean he was looking forward to it.

“Alright then. I guess I’d better be on my way.”

The captain nodded before turning to leave.

“Ah! One more thing before you go.”

The captain stopped.

“Out of curiosity, would you have made the same choice I did? The choice to not go for the kill, right off the bat?”

The captain was quiet for a moment, gathering his thoughts before he answered.

“May I be perfectly honest with you, sir?”

“You may.”

“I don’t think you were in the wrong, but I do think your choice is why we lost as many as we did. As it is, the Spires and Clouds got what they deserved.”

Gerome just nodded his head again. The answer didn’t relieve him of any of his guilt, but it didn’t make him feel any worse either.

“Thank you for your honesty.”

The captain nodded his head before actually leaving this time.

Gerome continued to sit, staring at the pyres that were burning in the distance.

Westly poked himself out from beneath Gerome’s collar, nuzzling into the neck of the old man in an attempt to comfort him.

“Thank you, my friend. I’ll be okay.” With that said, Gerome pushed himself onto his feet. “Well, I guess it’s time to see what that little windbag wants.”

With that, they headed to the medical tent with haste.

Arriving at the tent, he noticed something that made his blood run cold.

Brucey was sitting outside, being treated by several healers and Life Mages. Their Spirits glowing green as their energy was used to undo what damage they could.

Brucey, upon seeing Gerome and Westly approaching, flinched beneath their gazes and turned away as they walked past him. Their faces displaying their darkened mood.

Entering the tent, Gerome saw Garrad and the rest of the Titans and Roaring Ruins members that had been sent off to the Temple ruins.

Unfortunately, not all of them were whole, as he noticed that Filia was missing a leg, Herend had half his face covered, and may very well be missing an eye, and Ishkel seemed to be missing and arm, and was wrapped head to toe in bandages that were glowing green.

It looked like Ishkel was talking to Trissy, who was looking more and more frustrated as he spoke.

“What happened?” Gerome asked in a voice that demanded focus and attention.

“Sir! It... it went like this.” Garrad spoke up, providing a full explanation of the events that had occurred.

Gerome and Trissy sat in silence. Both of them listened and petted their Spirits to keep themselves calm as their anger continued to rise.

“I didn’t think those bastards would be able to think that far ahead.” Trissy finally said as Garrad finished speaking.

“I doubt it was the Spires that thought of it.” Gerome refuted. “Did you manage to capture Laymond?”

“Yes. but there’s something wrong with him. He did something to himself when he realized that he couldn’t escape. Something that... destroyed his Spirit in the process.”

Garrad turned to one of the beds on the far side of the room.

Gerome immediately got up and walked over, pulling back the blanket that was covering the body that was lying there.

Lying utterly still in the bed, the only signs of life being a slight rising and falling of his chest, was Laymond Harper. Wounded, but nothing life threatening, and otherwise healthy.

Barring the utterly golden eyes with no other colors to be seen within them.

“What is this?” Gerome muttered in horrified fascination.

“By the Ancients...” Trissy said as she looked over from beside Gerome.

Gerome backed away from Laymond’s body, turning back to Garrad and the team entrusted with Ezekiel’s safety.

They all looked weary, tired, and, above all else, guilty.

“I want you all to know that this was not your fault. None of us expected them to have a Void Mage that they were willing to spend pure crystals on to rise to a level where they could open the Void Locks.”

The Titans in the tent said nothing, their mood not changing.

“One thing we know for certain, Ezekiel is alive.” At this point Westly moved to perch on Gerome’s head, drawing the attention of the team.

“That kid is one of the most resourceful people I’ve ever met, and that’s including low ranking Hunters. So, for now, rest up. When I’ve regained a sufficient amount of mana, I’ll head down to the ruins myself, and break open that Void Lock myself. You said it yourself, there were no Rot lying in wait while the Spires and Clouds were inside, right?”

“Right.”

“Then in the morning I and another team will set out. For now, you all rest. You all look like you need it.”

“Sir!?” Tracy quietly spoke up from where she was lying on a bed. “What about Mina and the rest of the prisoners?”

“They will be dealt with appropriately. You don’t need to concern yourself with them anymore.”

Tracy just nodded her head before lying back and falling asleep. She had burned through almost all of her mana today and was extremely tired.

Turning to Trissy, Gerome gestured to the entrance of the tent.

As the two headed out, Gerome addressed Trissy with a solemn voice.

“Is Mina in any condition to talk? I noticed she wasn’t in the tent, and from what I could tell, it seems like she isn’t dead.”

Gerome knew that the best person to ask about this was Trissy, as it was Ishkel who had taken her out of the fight. He didn’t want to pry too much into what happened, as it could touch on Guild secrets if Ishkel had to use something special to win, but he needed answers.

“Unfortunately, not. It seems like during the fight, Mina got scared when she saw they were losing, so she tried to run, abandoning her Spirit in the process.” A look of disgust crossed Trissy’s face, same with Gerome.

“It died, but because it died from betrayal, not sacrifice, the backlash damaged her soul, right as Ishkel struck her in the back with his most powerful attack. If not for her armor, she’d be dead. As it is, due to the damage to her Soul, the Life Mages aren’t able to heal most of the damage, lest the infusion of Life mana destroy her entirely.”

“... Then I guess we just have to wait. Those two were the only survivors, right?”

“Yes.

“Then I can only hope that things will get better in the morning. Also,” Gerome’s demeanor turned more serious as he addressed Trissy, “if at any point you see my bond with Westly break, you are to immediately evacuate. Full retreat, take as many members of both our Guilds as you can, and try to make your way to the outpost. It’s an Empire controlled area, so the Spires and the Cult won’t be able to get you.”

Trissy didn’t say anything. She knew full well that, if Gerome lost his Spirit, then there would be nothing he could do against Meryn, and she wouldn’t be able to survive a two vs one battle with Meryn and Kameira.

If the both of them died, it would be easy for the two Tier four enemy Hunters to destroy all their remaining Guild members.

For now, all they could do was wait until the morning, and hope that Ezekiel would be alright when they broke open the Void Lock.

Back under the ruins of the Temple of the Void, Ezekiel was still standing in front of the entrance to the lowest floor.

Using the Emblem, he could sense all life forms currently within the Temple’s domain, as well as get a rough estimate of their strength.

Unfortunately, that meant that he could sense a Tier two Rot Cruor that was sitting directly in front of the entrance to the secret passage that he was currently hiding in.

He had been waiting for quite some time for it to move at this point, but even though he could sense the other Rot moving about, this one seemed content to remain where it was, without taking a single step from its current position.

He had been looking through the information stored in the control emblem, to see if there was anything he could do to make it move, but the only thing he’d found was a one-time-use activation of the Void Locks.

One-time-use because the system would lose access the moment that he used it due to the damages.

Worse yet, the only door he could use it on that would actually do anything was the one that connected to the room in front of him. This second room had a Tier three Rot inside it, and he wasn’t willing to take the chance of having to run away from that, as well as the Tier twos right in front of him.

Checking on his mana regeneration, Ezekiel realized that it was likely well into the night at this point. So, he only had a few hours before morning, which was the most likely time that someone would try to break open the Void Lock.

A part of him wished he still had some of the explosive ball bearings from before, but since he now knew they were simply a booby trap left by Merlot, he was happy to be rid of them.

Taking a moment to check the locations of the Rot with the emblem again, Ezekiel noticed some movement from the area that Aldor was in.

It seemed like he’d stopped mindlessly attacking the Void Lock that led directly to the Rot. Instead, he’d managed to find some relics that were left behind in the other storage area.

“Oh no.” Ezekiel muttered under his breath as fear gripped his chest.

He could recognize a few of the relics that Aldor had found. As well as the items Aldor was now taking out of his bag.

They were weapons. Enchanted weapons that were charged with Tier three mana. If he used those weapons to the point of overloading their enchantments, there was a chance, however small, that the shattered weapons would release enough force to damage the Void Lock.

Ezekiel wasn’t sure if they’d be strong enough to actually open the Void Lock, but he also wasn’t sure how much damage the enchantments in the Temple could take before they all failed.

“Why didn’t you just use that earlier you stupid bastard!” Ezekiel swore under his breath as he opened his eyes, bringing him back to his physical viewpoint.

He then realized that Aldor was probably told not to use those weapons unless he was fighting a Tier three or higher, and they were probable last minute lifesaving treasures.

“These cultists are truly insane.” He muttered.

Resting his head on the wall, he focused once again, looking at the location of the Rot in the room next to him.

Taking a deep breath, he knew he couldn’t wait any longer.

Seeing that his mana was full, he pictured the shape of the room and passages he would have to go through in order to get to the Core room.

He would be cutting it close, but if he expended at least a full Step of his mana he might be able to get past the Rot waiting in front of the door.

Breathing deeply to calm himself, he began channeling as much mana through his body and sword as he safely could, before opening the secret door.

The first thing he noticed was the smell. It was like a sweet yet sour scent of decay and rot that clearly contributed to the name of this Brood of Cruor.

Worse yet, since his senses were sharpened by his physical enhancements due to his Void Mana, the smell was significantly worse than he had expected it to be.

Immediately gagging at the smell, he nearly lost control of his mana, before taking a deep breath with his mouth and holding it.

Lines of bioluminescent lights appeared as the door opened, and a clicking sound echoed outwards as the attention of the Rot turned to him.

The Rot were like human shaped mushrooms with bits of bark poking out of them as mold seemed to slough off their bodies as they moved.

The bark-like appendages acted like claws, while in the middle of their “faces” was just an empty hole with strange glowing feelers sticking out of them.

“SHREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!”

A deafening shriek reverberated through the room as the Rot charged forward, but Ezekiel had regained his bearing even with the shriek and had dashed forward at full speed.

The Rot in front of the door was larger than him and took up most of the width of the passageway.

Making an overhead downward slash, Ezekiel managed to take off one of its arms as he nearly slammed his sword into the ground.

His body tensed as his foot hit the ground, and he immediately activated the boots Quentin gave him for a short burst of speed.

His body was immediately blown forward, and as he tried to stop himself after blowing past the Rot, he slipped on a bit of mold that didn’t register on the emblem’s sensors.

SLAM!!!

Sliding face first into the wall, Ezekiel was nearly dazed for a moment, and was barely able to dodge a swipe from a Tier one Rot.

“SCREEE!!!”

The Rot continued to shriek at him as they tried to rush him, the Tier twos out pacing the Tier ones.

WHOOOSH

A gust of wind partially knocked them back as Ezekiel dashed out of the way, nearly hitting another wall as he made his way out of the room.

Unfortunately, while there was only one room that stood between the lift and the Void Core, that didn’t include the passages he’d have to navigate to get there.

There was still nearly a hundred feet between him and the Void core, and the passage wasn’t a straight line so he wouldn’t be able to just use his boots in one go to get there.

Suddenly, Ezekiel felt something try to wrap around him from the ceiling.

Swiping his sword in a circle above him, a fungal tentacle fell to the ground, and the ceiling lit up as more lined the path he needed to take.

Running as fast as he could, Ezekiel could feel the air behind him slice apart as he narrowly avoided yet another attack from the Rot.

He continued to swing his sword at anything that tried to grab him, and he took heavy steps to try and plant his feet securely as he moved, barely managing to keep himself from slipping.

Just as he got to the corner he needed to take; a heavy force slammed into him from behind.

Barely able to see behind him as his body was pressed against the wall, Ezekiel could see that the Tier two Rot he had cut through earlier had charged him from behind. Its brethren were following quickly.

“MmmMmMMmmMmeeEEeeEaaAaaAaAAaatTTttTttTt!”

A raspy and warbling voice breathed hot humid air onto Ezekiel’s head as the Rot spoke.

As it reared back, intent on using its remaining claw to rake through Ezekiel’s body in order to consume him in small chunky pieces.

Lifting his feet off the ground and pointing them in the direction he had come from, Ezekiel pushed mana into the boots as he possibly could, holding the output for as long as he could handle it.

Down to less than half his mana, Ezekiel was pushed even harder against the wall as gusts of wind blessed out from his boots.

“Arg!”

Ezekiel let out a grunt of pain as the Rot holding onto him was blasted backward, its claws tearing into his shoulder.

As the Tier two Rot was sent flying backward, it knocked over the others that were chasing after it.

Cutting the mana to the boots, Ezekiel saw that he only had a little bit further to go before he got to the Void Core.

Seeing more Rot in the passage he needed to traverse, Ezekiel reached into one of his Void Pouches, pulling out a pure mana crystal, immediately absorbing the mana as he channeled more mana into his boots, this time blasting forward to get past the Cruor.

Reinforcing his body as best he could, Ezekiel took several hits and was slammed into the wall before he could stop. Rolling from his spot on the ground, Ezekiel forced the boots to activate again.

Slamming into one more wall, Ezekiel was barely conscious at this point, and was fully dazed as he looked at where the Void Core was located.

“SCREEEE!!!”

Seeing the large room with a black sphere full of stars in the center, Ezekiel grit his teeth as he activated the boots one more time, blasting toward the Core.

Slamming against face first, Ezekiel was barely able to make out the clicks and shrieks of the Cruor that were charging toward his location, the entire floor now aware of his presence.

All around him there were Rot Cruor trying to get close, but several louder shrieks caused them to quiet down. Now, only clicking noises were heard. The Tier twos were closing in on him.

As one, the Tier two Rots leapt at him to get the first taste of his flesh.

Raising his hand to the sphere behind him, Ezekiel channeled as much mana as he could into the Void Core.

A full Step of mana was absorbed, bringing him to nearly no mana left at all.

A quiet woosh of air was all that was heard as the Tier two slammed into one another.

Ezekiel was nowhere to be found.

Floating in a dark void, Ezekiel could make out countless stars in the distance, as well as galaxies that were both big and small. Some overlapped others, some clumped, all shifting and moving as they passed by his line of sight.

As Ezekiel slowly regained his focus, he noticed that the stellar bodies he was seeing were moving in a specific pattern.

Slowly, the various stars and galaxies that filled his eyes changed shape until they took on the form of a familiar humanoid figure, whose body was made of stars, whose mantle was made of nebulae, and whose eyes were made of two endless spiral galaxies.

“Congratulations. I see you have opened the door.”