19 19: The Gates Fall
"What in the Foul God's wrinkly asshole is this!" Vearus exclaimed.
Vera couldn't help but let out gasping laughter at her brothers horrible use of language. Even Jax'in couldn't resist the urge to laugh. The whole situation was all to similar to him.
"Don't worry yourself Vearus, I had the same reaction when I first used the codex."
"Wait, seriously?"
"Well of course, although I had just taken a handful of arrows to the chest when I activated the codex."
The two siblings both looked at Jax'in with looks of complete shock. Neither could believe that what they were hearing was true. Both of their minds were running along the same thought.
"How did you survive?" Vearus finally voiced the unspoken question.
"..."
Jax'in was silent. After all even he wasn't entirely sure how he had survived. He remembered very little of the fight that ensued that night. He had always just given a general idea of the fight, he remembered taking three arrows to the chest. But that's where it ended.
His silence didn't go unnoticed however, Vera had snuck up next to him and slipped her hand in his. Finally pulling him out of his thoughts by planting a loving kiss on his cheek.
"Hmm? Oh, yes... I actually don't really know how I survived that night."
"How do you not know?" breathed Vearus.
"Brother stop."
"But if he survived that, he must've been saved by some hidden life master. There's no other explanation."
Jax'in had slipped away from the two siblings, moving in favor of looking around the armory. His eyes roamed from weapon to weapon. Each of the hundreds of weapons were made from Silver and Ebony.
It had only been a few minutes from when he started looking, than his eyes were drawn to a pair of pitch black longswords. The candlelight in the room seemed to be drawn to the pair. He couldn't help but reach out and lift one off the rack it sat on, what he saw made his eyes bulge.
-User has discovered Voidsteel Longsword-
-Durability 200/200
- Weight 20lbs
- Damage: Strength + 50% Intelligence
-Enchantments: 100 slots
No sooner had he picked up the sword than Vearus had walked.
"You have a good eye," Vearus stated "those blades were forged using ebony that had been found in the Mana Oasis."
"I'm a little surprised you would choose such weapons over any of the others."
"Why do you say that, Vearus?"
"Because, out of everything in this armory those are considered to be the most difficult and unwieldy of weapons, they're heavier than any longsword is supposed to be."
Jax'in nodded his head at Vearus's words, just the one sword was heavier than even normal ebony weapons. He could only imagine how much more difficult it would be to swing such weapons in the midst of combat.
"These are the sheathes." this time it was Vera who spoke up from behind him.
She was holding two beautiful black leather sheaths that were reinforced with polished steel. She quickly handed a single sheathe to him, which he promptly slide the first of the pair into before picking up and sheathing the second sword.
"Oh, Jax'in, what are these stat points for?"
"Ah, those are free points you can place in any of your stats just by thinking about which stat you want to put them into, but your going to want to..."
"My strength caps out at 150, my constitution is now 127, wh..."
He never got to finish his sentence as he suddenly pitched forward unconscious. The 'System' putting him in stasis while his body underwent explosive growth. Jax'in and Vera only barely caught him as he fell, narrowly preventing him from bashing his skull in on the floor.
"Eep!" Vera squeaked as she was nearly toppled over by her brothers weight.
It only took a few moments to get the guards attention and have them open the doors. They were extremely surprised to see their Prince unconscious but were quickly waved off by Jax'in under the guise of him being fatigued.
By the time Jax'in and Vera got back to the Dining Hall all the civilians had been separated into two groups. Those who could fight, and those who couldn't. Those that could fight, he could see that they were already being given a crash course on combat by each of the Instructors.
He was soon waved over by King Ysna, who presented him with a book and a surprised look at the pair of weapons attached to his belt.
"This is the Dual Wielder's Codex, Instructor Kubo will help instruct you on its proper usage..."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
"Are you sure you want to pick that pair of blades?" King Ysna asked with a hint of concern.
"Yes, I do believe these weapons might just give us the fighting chance we need."
And with that, he walked off towards Instructor Kubo.
*Ting*
-User has learned new Skill (Dual Wield)-
"Good, you've finally grasped the basics of the technique." Instructor Kubo punctuated his sentence with a sharp clap of his hands.
Jax'in sunk to the floor, it had been four hours of grueling training, his whole body felt like it was on fire. Chest rising and falling in rapid motions as he fought to control his breathing. His arms felt like warm sap as he let the twin blades rest on the floor next to him.
"That will have to be all I can teach you today. Rest while you can."
Jax'in couldn't even mumble a reply as Instructor Kubo walked off towards a group of civilians that looked to be in dire need of help. It took him another few moments to realize that someone was stroking his hair.
A slight white glow radiated from her hands as she stroked his hair, slowly washing away his fatigue. A small smile grew on Jax'ins face as he rubbed his head against her hand.
"Hi." he said softly
"Hi."
"Are you done training?"
"Yeah. Instructor Kubo really has earned his nickname as the 'Tyrant Instructor'."
They both chuckled as Jax'in slowly rose to a sitting position. His hands still resting on his twin longswords.
[Outside The Main Gate of the Great Pyramid of Hontul]
A gangly shadow with talon-like fingers approached the massive gates with long, slow strides as it slowly craned its neck to scan the doors.
"Sssso they've locked themssselvesss behind thessse doorsss."
The hissing voice that escaped the shadowy mouth of the figure sent out chilling wisps. After only a moment longer it let out a long breathe, releasing a long dark cloudy wisp. Unlike the other cloudy wisps, this wisp slowly lengthened and become solid.
"Thessse doorsss are in my way..."
It snatched the solid wisp out of the air as it finally formed into a giant Warhammer made of ice. As it raised the icy Warhammer over its head, every last one of the shadow beasts materialized behind it.
*CRASH*
The Warhammer struck the gate, shaking the massive gate and leaving cracks along the frame. It kept hammering strikes onto the gates. Forcing the cracks to spread wider and longer as the strikes became harder and heavier.
The guards only just inside the door readied their weapons as the blows rained in.
"Go alert His Majesty. The gates won't hold for much longer." An older guard ordered, waving one of the younger ones away.
"Yes sir!" the young guard responded as he ran off for the Dining Hall.
Each of the remaining guards drew their weapons in front of themselves, letting out a collective sigh before steeling their gazes on the doors. The moment the younger guard disappeared from sight the giant gates crashed inward, flushing sand and dust into the air.
"May the God's bring us to the Great Gardens!" The guards roared in unison as the first shadow beast burst through the dirt and dust.
[Back in the Dining Hall]
*BOOM*
The chandelier shook as the noise from the gates falling resounded throughout the hall. Everyone looked up and around as the sound slowly faded into silence once again. No one had managed to utter a single sound until the very doors to the Dining Hall burst open, revealing a young guard with a taut, worried expression on his face.
"The Main Gate has fallen."
