Knossos(5)

(Happy New Year to everyone and also to my story... well, actually I started writing it shortly after Christmas 2021, but little matter. I hope it will be a good year and that you enjoy the chapter).

'MOVE DAMN IT!

When he heard the sound of approaching footsteps, he did everything he could to make his body move.

'spasm'

His hand spasmed and began to move closer to the pocket that contained the potions. It might have seemed like something normal to move the hand, but in Mark's case, it felt like his body was moving tons.

With immense effort and muscles screaming in pain, he managed to reach the pocket and pull out the potion, but now he had to bring it close to his mouth.

'sounds of footsteps'

It seemed to take hours for how slowly he moved and began to sweat from the agitation of the footsteps getting closer and closer, but finally, he succeeded.

'gulp'

He swallowed the red liquid as fast as he could, not caring about the discomfort he was experiencing by drinking on his stomach.

The effects of the potion were quick and Mark began to feel strength in his muscles again, but his state was still weak. He braced himself and lifted himself with the help of his sword.

"HMMF!" -Although he was now standing, his legs were trembling under his weight.

He tried to walk using the sword for support but almost fell to the ground again. Mark had underestimated the effects of the transformation. The last time he had used it, he had immediately fallen asleep, and Riveria had been in charge of healing him during that time, so when he woke up, he didn't have much of a problem, but now that he was experiencing its effects, it wasn't something fun.

"Like hell, I will die HERE!" -If he could not move, he would face them with the magic he had left.

Footsteps across the hall grew louder and louder confirming to Mark the presence of at least five people. The tension began to rise as time passed and the footsteps grew closer.

Mark reached out his hand and began to accumulate the Falna ready to cast spells at any time, or at least he was until he saw who the group was that appeared at the tunnel intersection.

'Haaaa, seriously...' -All the tension Mark had built up disappeared with his sigh.

(Shortly after.)

"How are you feeling now Mark?"

"I'm not at my best, but at least I've recovered 50% of my strength."

Mark answered Anakitty and looked at the state of the others.

Besides Anakitty, there was Raul and three other members whom Mark did not know very well. Nick and Koko, respectively level 3 and 2 of the raccoon race, and Shifon, a level 3 elf.

Fortunately, none of them had serious injuries, but the mood of the group could not have been lower. The reason was the person lying on the ground with a pale complexion and heavy breathing since there was a deep wound on his torso that had been frozen.

"How is Finn doing?"

Anakitty looked at him hesitantly and then shook her head, confirming Mark's concern.

The weapon Finn had been wounded with, had inflicted an anti-healing curse on him, so no matter how many potions he was given, Finn would not heal. Since they had few options and Finn kept bleeding, getting weaker and weaker, they decided to freeze the wound with magic thus stopping the bleeding, but as long as the curse persisted Finn's end was inevitable.

"W-We need to stay calm everyone, we still have several potions and we were also able to find Mark, we will definitely be able to find a way out."

Although Anakitty was trying to encourage her companions the effects were practically zero. Her whole disposition expressed insecurity and the fact that their captain, an experienced level 6 adventurer, was lying on the ground dying, made it worse.

"By the way, Mark, how did you survive alone all this time, you also said you met Valletta." -Shifon asked, managing to distract the others from the fears they were feeling, as they too were curious how he did it.

"Mostly luck." -Mark said with a sigh, getting confused looks from the others.

"Luck?" -Raul asked.

"Yes. First of all, I figured out how they monitor us, but let me continue." -Before the others could ask questions, he blocked them by raising his hand.

"There are several eye-shaped artifacts in this maze that detect our location, but now the problem. Destroying them will buy us time, but we will consequently reveal our location, and at that point, the person watching us will simply lower all the gates to lock us in a cage.

As for Valletta, she underestimated me and I took the opportunity to escape, but as you could see I was not in the best of shape and I don't think she will make the same mistake."

The little joy Mark had brought was brutally crushed by the depressing truth, but there was one point Mark did not mention.

'Why was I not afflicted by the curse?'

The reason he attributed his survival to luck was especially that. If he had his status reduced in that situation, the chance of survival would have dropped to zero, and that was why he could not understand how he remained unaffected. Even if a person had 'abnormal resistance' it was not possible to resist a curse and to heal it required a person who could break curses.

[I think I know the answer.]

Mark raised an eyebrow in anticipation of the answer.

[Curses, as I have said in the past, are a form of magic that requires a cost from the person casting them, and the reason it is so harmful to the body is that it also affects the soul. Look at the lying pallum for example].

Mark focused his sight on Finn's aura, which besides being weaker than usual, had some black veins.

'This makes me even more confused. If Finn who possesses such a powerful aura has been cursed, for what reason am I okay?'

[This is because your soul is of a higher rank than others, both because of remaining conscious in the soul realm and because of the corruption that is taking place in your soul. As you know body and soul are connected, so when you were injured by the cursed weapon, your body was damaged but the curse failed to attach to your soul].

'...So am I immune to curses?'

[If they are inferior to corruption then yes.]

'Good news I would say, but it doesn't change the situation much.'

Looking at the state of the others, Mark realized that their dependence on Finn's presence was stronger than expected. As long as Finn remained in that state, he doubted they would be able to placate their insecurities.

[The host may not be able to heal his wound, but you can do something about the curse.]

Before he could even react to the news, various pieces of information flooded his mind about how to remove the curse.

'Do you think I can do that?'

[From what I could see, the host possesses more than enough experience in handling the aura.]

Taking a deep breath, he turned to the others.

"I think I have a way to remove Finn's curse."

"M-Mark can you seriously do that?!" -Raul grabbed his shoulders tightly, looking at him as if he were the last hope, and the others were no less.

"I can, but I need time and to be still."

"Time...time..."

Seeing him whispering to himself agitatedly, Mark thought of using the second effect he had 'intent,' which was to give courage, but it did not seem to be necessary.

'smack!'

"Okay, it can be done."

Slapping his face, Raul's whole attitude changed, surprising Mark. Instead, the others had only a smile on their faces.

Raul might not have been the most inspiring, talented, or smartest person, but he was still a beacon to others. No matter how terrified he was before each expedition or how completely normal he was, never once had he stopped following Finn, and this tenacity of his not wanting to give up no matter what enticed others to be no less.

"So what's the plan?" -Anakitty asked.

After a moment of reasoning, they began to regroup on what they knew. First, continuing would lead them to face Valletta and her cursed weapons. Second, Valletta and the Evilus members were not tamers, but even so, they were not afraid in releasing monsters into their base. This meant that they possessed something that made them unappealing to monsters.

"Ah... I think I can do something about that."

As if he had a flash of genius, Raul began to explain the plan he had in mind.

'This is crazy.'

That was the only thought on Mark's mind after listening to him, but considering the situation, they were in and the only means he had left was overloading his magic circuits, some madness was necessary.

"Since each of you has your role, it is time for me to do my task." -He said as he approached Finn.

"Mark... take care of him." -Raul said worriedly.

"Instead of thinking about him, think about yourself. You and the others will be the main targets." -Seeing Raul scratching his head in embarrassment, he turned to Finn.

"Finn what I'm about to do should cause you a lot of discomforts, but in any case don't reject the feeling you're going to feel, otherwise healing you will be impossible, okay?"

Finn opened his eyes with difficulty and nodded weakly.

What Mark had to do was not simple. He had to flow his aura into Finn's and slowly devour the curse. The Guide said that as long as Finn did not reject it there should be no problem, but Mark's doubt remained.

'Let's go with round two, 'Golem heart'.'

(Change of perspective)

"WHERE-THE-FUCK-ARE-THEY!!"

Valletta had now lost what little calm she had left. That day was supposed to be a fun hunt where she would make her prey experience true terror, but now the matter had become tiresome. She received constant reports from her subordinates of areas where they might be, but when she got there, all she found was the wreckage of the artifacts they used to control the maze.

"Miss Valletta, I received the information from Mr. Barca that he has restricted the area. Now the only place they have to escape is toward us."

"Finally!"

She laughed with joy at the news. She had already told Barca to restrict the area, but if too many roads were closed, it would also create problems for the other groups, so she could only wait.

She quickened her pace at the idea that she could finally kill them, and after walking for what seemed like an eternity, she found the two she had most intended to kill, Mark and Finn, with the former seeming to control the latter's wounds.

Valletta was suspicious, but not too concerned. Finn was one step from the grave, and although it was true that she had underestimated what a monster Mark was, even he did not look well with his pale complexion.

"Ptff... HAHAHA! Look what we have here, the two deadweights who could no longer be protected by their dear friends."

Mocking them, she slowly walked toward them, but suddenly, from a blind spot on the ceiling, Raul launched at Valletta, but for a level five like her, such an attack was nothing but a joke.

Before Raul could even hit her, Valletta grabbed his face and threw him against the wall not far from Mark and Finn, who remained completely still during the whole scene.

"Did a level 4 seriously think he could defeat me? You know Finn, right now I almost pity you for the fellow good-for-nothings you possess." -Valletta said with disdain.

"...Good for... nothing? No, they are the best."

As soon as Finn showed a faint smile, Raul immediately rose to his feet and with an expert archer's precision, threw a stone at the bag hanging over Valletta's group, coating them in a foul-smelling cloud

"What is that stench!"

"The dust from the magic stones collected in Melen." -Said Raul, who, even though he was smiling to maintain his image, his whole body was shaking with agitation.

"What?!" -Valletta shouted, as she tried to get the smell off of her.

Valletta's agitation was normal. She and the other Evilus members hold a crystal that made them invisible to monsters, but now it was useless. Unlike normal monsters who would keep away from that smell, for the new species, however, it was heavenly.

'Rumble'

From the side tunnel, Anakitty and the others arrived chased by a monster parade of the new species, but as soon as they smelled it, all their concentration focused on Valletta's group.

"Fuck!"

Valletta's Group was inundated with monsters, but that was not the end for her.

"!"

She narrowly dodged being skewered by Raul's rapier, and when she tried to counterattack with her broadsword, she could not, because the weapon was blocked by the stream of monsters.

"It's our turn."

Raul unrolled the scroll behind his back that released a huge collection of weapons, from katanas to chains.

"No matter how hard I had worked to become a first-level adventurer, everything I did was second-level, and that goes for all the weapons you can name as well."

Raul the one who had no talent, opted to learn the use of any weapon, thus becoming a jack of all trades but master of none and obtaining his alias of High Novice.

Taking two daggers on the fly, he charged toward Valletta making several cuts to her, but he did not stop. He picked up his rapier and began to attack, and when he saw Valletta advancing, he retreated and began to use his spear. In all that chaos, Raul was able to figure out which weapon to use at the right time for maximum results.

"DON'T FUCK WITH ME!"

In a rage, she broke free from the chains with which Raul had surrounded her and tried to drive her fingers into the boy's face, but a small hand blocked her.

"YOU?!"

"You did a great job, Raul."

"Captain..." -With tears that could no longer be held back, Raul looked at the figure he had sworn to follow.

"What do you think you're doing in that state EH?!"

Indeed as Valletta shouted, he still had most of the wound open and his body was holding on by miracle and willpower.

"Today, Valletta, we are just extras for the real actors."

Smiling, he felt someone jump over his shoulder, and then Mark's figure appeared in the air with his weapon aimed at Valletta's head.

With her wrist restrained and surrounded by the monsters, Valletta could only tilt her face, feeling the electricity-covered blade begin to burn part of her face and right eye.

"AAAAAAAHHHRH!!!"

'If I had not been weakened.'

Watching the woman cry out in pain, Mark regretted that he had not been able to kill her on that occasion, but after his previous fight and Finn's treatment, he had almost no strength left. Besides, it was time to go, he could hear more monsters coming, and Finn was coughing up blood.

"Run!"

With Raul's shout, all members ran in the direction from which Valletta had come, managing for the first time to head in a direction that had not been decided by their opponents.

"OHI VALLETTA, YOU WILL LOOK WONDERFUL WITH THE EYE PATCH ON!"

"I WILL KILL YOU!"

Hearing Valletta's pained shout from afar, Mark smiled in satisfaction. Since he had been in there he had been treated like a rat in a trap and had finally managed to get his revenge.

The others who kept running looked at him wordlessly, but they too burst out laughing soon after. It was time for them to find a way out of that maze.