Spoils

[Clear Mind has evolved]

A prone body lifted itself from the ground in a silent battlefield.

Aldric slowly got off the ground. His body was aching and pained.

Through the pain and discomfort, it felt like he was much stronger than before. His darkness felt boundless and his soul essence expanded without end.

It felt like his reserves doubled.

He tried to recollect what happened to him after beating the stone mimic. 

"I touched the statue and it drained the darkness out of me."

He spoke in a soft voice.

He remembered gaining a few Memories from the fight and decided to focus on that.

Name: Aldric

Rank: Dreamer.

Dark Core: Dormant

Dark Sprites:[267/1000]

Memories:[Unwavering Spark],[Cragborne Armor],[Malice Of The Deep],[Cavedweller Garms][Water Basin][Charm Of Balance][Silk Robes][Silk Pouch][Warding Eye][Stone Coffer][Tesseract]

Attributes: [Insight][Tranquil Core][Destined]

Aspect:[Made In Abyss]

Aspect Rank: Divine.

Aspect Abilities:[Dark Well]

Aspect Ability Description:[You can manifest the Darkness within.]

He focused on the ones he didn't recognise.

[Memory: Warding Eye]

[Memory Rank: Awakened]

[Memory Type:Tool]

[Memory Description: In a city overrun by the undead, a young maiden's eyes were imbued with stalwart vitality. Capable of warding off those that should not be.]

In a shimmer of light, a necklace appeared in the air. Made of interlocking silver, the chain had an ominous eyeball attached at the end. The strangest thing was the green flame emanating softly from the eye. Despite its ghostly appearance, the fire was pleasantly warm to Aldric.

He put the necklace on and continued to read his runes.

He looked at the second to last memory.

[Memory: Stone Coffer]

[Memory Rank: Ascended]

[Memory Type:Tool]

[Memory Description: "Why aspire to be like me when you can become me." A boisterous voice spoke to the stone.]

He summoned the object. A large grey marble-like stone chest dropped loudly on the ground. It had illustrious designs making the treasure chest look regal. The moment Aldric thought to open it, the chest swung open. 

Soft burgundy cushions lined the inside of the chest in a diamond shape. Aldric could tell that the chest was much larger on the inside. 

'It must have a spatial enchantment.' He thought.

"Amazing!". Aldric was elated. 

This memory would pay its worth in gold in the long term. A storage memory was extremely rare and sought after. 

He summoned his silk pouch and poured all but 20 soul shards that he had collected since receiving the pouch. He kept the 20 for an emergency energy source.

From experimenting, Aldric had learned that he could make use of soul shards. He couldn't gain Dark Sprites from them to get stronger however they were capable of acting as batteries to recharge his depleted darkness reserves.

This was one of the characteristics of his darkness abilities that he figured out.

He did not need to know how to control the soul essence to gain the energy stored inside of it. His darkness could absorb it for him.

Now in a good mood, he looked at the last Memory.

He could remember that he gained the last two memories from the awakened spider and fallen stone mimic, however he did not remember beating another creature.

[Memory: Tesseract]

[Memory Rank: Unknown]

[Memory Type: Unknown]

[Memory Description: The Magnum Opus of its creator. It's eternal purpose; to return to them.]

Aldric felt a large drain on his soul essence.

It took 1 whole minute for the memory to fully form. 

A black stone floated in Aldric's palm. It was the size of a golf ball. It could fit inside Aldric's palm soundly if he clenched it. 

Aldric studied the strange memory.

It had a glossy surface that reminded him of the ebony statue from earlier. Infinitesimally small runes were engraved all over the surface. It was way too small to make out if even noticed.

No matter what Aldric did, nothing could make the Tesseract budge. Not his darkness or soul essence.

He chose to leave it be for now as his [Inisght] was giving him feelings of joy from discovering the Memory.

Now calm from all the excitement, Aldric quickly dismembered the corpse of the Queen Spinner and retrieved all its soul cores. He collected the cores from the stone mimic that was scattered across the ground and placed them in his silk pouch that he kept on his hip.

Looking back at where the statue used to be, Aldric looked at the hole. Within the ring of bones, a spiralling staircase that led into the abyss was below.

He followed the staircase downwards and was cautious with every step he took. His mind seemed to be extremely still and unwavering. 

Instinctively, he focused on his attributes.

Attributes:[Insight][Tranquil Core][Destined]

It seemed that the presence of the strange memory caused an evolution of his [Clear Mind] attribute.

He read the description.

[Attribute Description: "You are a tranquil lake. Unwavering to the forces that try to influence it."]

Aldric knew that the effects of his previous [Clear Mind] were now available to the rest of his body and not just his mind. Even maybe his soul. Giving him soul protection would be a massive boon. 

As for his body, it might not seem like an improvement however directly calming his body would save him life-saving time instead of calming his body from his mind.

"Just by receiving the unknown memory, I evolved one of my attributes."

Aldric's day kept getting better. 

Finally, after an endless amount of stairs, Aldric reached the end of the spiral.

A massive door met him. Made with the same ebony material as the statue, the gate was adorned with countless designs of unknown origin that looked as if it originated from a lost time. It was mesmerising to Aldric. 

The size of it made Aldric think that it was made for a mini giant.

All of a sudden he felt something in his soul sea.

He entered the dark void filled with a floor of clouds, Aldric looked at his soul core and noticed a ring formed around the black hole soul core. it looked like the ring of a planet.

He could tell that it was a Memory spinning so fast that it looked solid in its path. He knew what it was and what it wanted.

Exiting his soul sea, Aldric summoned the [Tesseract].

After some waiting, the familiar black stone floated in the air. 

The stone contorted and shifted. Opening fully to a flat shape. Ethereal rings of runes wrapped around the shape and glowed.

Aldric knew he couldn't fathom what the item was doing and if what he saw was truly its appearance. It felt as if it was in a higher dimension. 

The item formed into the shape of a black key.

Aldric was confused as the gate did not have a single opening until it suddenly did. A small keyhole was perched above his head in the centre like it was always there. 

Now armed with a key and a door Aldric had a choice to make.

Should he go back and try to find a way out?

Or should he journey deeper into this cursed realm?

Aldric made his choice.

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Thanks for reading my loyal readers.

Any thoughts or theories?

Till next time.