| Collapse of Xyrus Academy |
POV: Ráel
"My name is Alea Triscan, as you figured out. I am one of the of the six lances and the corpses that you probably spotted upon your arrival were my troops. Each lance was in charge of a battalion composed of top mages." She let out another heavy sigh, and for once, I was glad she wasn't able to witness the gruesome slaughter that'd turned this once beautiful place into a grave of mangled corpses.
"After the commencement of the six lances a few months ago, I had been training them to work as a team to clear dungeons and other unknown areas. The six lances rarely go on missions together, unless we are to explore an S class dungeon or above," she continued after pausing for a gulp of air.
"From the direction of your footsteps earlier, it seemed you came in from a different entrance. This place is actually connected to three dungeons. Which dungeon did you come from, Ráel?" Alea wiggled her body, struggling to prop herself up against the wall.
"I came with my classmates and professor from the Widow's Crypt. Everyone else was able to make it back out, but I guess I wasn't so lucky." I took a seat against the wall next to Alea as I surveyed the carnage displayed before me. I was able to vaguely imagine what'd happened by how the bodies were positioned and where they had sustained their fatal injuries.
"I'm not sure how old you are, Ráel, but no one should have to see something like this," Alea whispered, her voice laced with remorse.
"Don't worry, this is not something new to me I have always been fighting and as for my age it doesn't matter in a situation like this but you can probably guess" I said as I absorbed even more life force at this rate I should be able to reach white stage in 6 to 12 months time.
"My troops and I came from an A class dungeon named Hell's Jaw. We were assigned to investigate the dungeon after getting reports of inconsistent sightings inside. The adventurers that had come back alive were ones who frequented the dungeon for training. The ones that made it back were barely alive and they all spoke about how the beasts residing within suddenly became stronger and fiercer. Was that the case for the dungeon you came from as well?" Alea asked, her words coming out slower than before.
"Yes. Just on the first floor, an army of minion snarlers welcomed us. The minions weren't bad but two queen snarlers showed up. One of the queens, after eating the other queen, turned from gray to black and its strength jumped a few fold. I suspected this was the cause."
"What do you mean you suspected?! Are you saying you've seen that demon before?" Alea's limp body suddenly sprang up as her head turned back toward me, shock evident in her voice.
"I'm not sure if it's the same one, but yes," I responded frankly, finding it quite ironic as she called him a demon when one is standing just before her.
"The same one? You think there's more than one?" Alea's already pale face drained to an even whiter color.
"The new continent" it's all I said as I started to think about the war that is coming lost in my thoughts.
What... are you thinking of, Ráel?" Alea let out a strained cough as fresh blood escaped from the sealed wound where her mana core once was.
I always found it intriguing that, while beast cores were capable of being harvested and used as tools to enhance mana, human mana cores weren't. When a mage died, their mana core shattered and the mana accumulated inside dispersed. Was it because we gathered mana from the atmosphere that this happened?
"When my team reached the first floor of Hell's Jaw, there was nothing off about it; the mana beasts were the same ones that were recorded. It was when we reached the final floor where the master of the dungeon made its den. The Hades Serpent, which was an AA class mana beast, should've been something I could've beaten myself fairly easily." There was no trace of boasting or overconfidence in her tone. It was just a fact to her.
"The Hades Serpent, which was known for the blue fire spouting along its long spine, looked different. At first, we were confused because it didn't look like it had any flames at all, but when we looked closer, the reason we couldn't see the flames against the black walls of the cave was because the flames themselves were black.
"It looked like thick smoke flickering wildly along the spine of the hundred-foot serpent. That particular Hades Serpent also had a black horn jutting out of its forehead while its scales, which were recorded as being a matte grey color, were a sleek black..." Taking a deep breath, I noticed Alea shivering.
"The fight was gruesome. I lost five of my men to that Hades Serpent. The fight took several hours but I was able to kill it. When we tried to retrieve the beast core though, it wasn't there." She broke into another fit of coughs so I took a bottle of water out of my dimensional ring
"Open your mouth" I instructed her
She hesitated for a moment but she eventually did as she was told. As I gently squeezed the bottle over her mouth, the water trickled into her mouth.
She let out a small yelp in surprise at the cold liquid but soon after, began fiercely gulping down the water. She whispered a small thank you before continuing on with her story.
Eventually she started explaining what happened when they came down here and how the demon killed all of her troops and torturer them.
"He wasn't even surprised to see us there. Vritra, he... that thing, just looked at us before..."
"Before?" I asked.
"He gave us two options." Tears and blood continued to stream down her once beautiful face as she willed herself to finish, she continued to explain.
"Vritra... He left after leaving me like this. I'm not sure if he knew someone was going to come, but the last thing he said before going was his name... and that Dicathen was going to become a warzone..." As blood dribbled down the corner of her mouth, she turned her head toward me.
"This may sound preposterous but can you do me a favor?" Alea let out a faint smile, revealing her teeth, stained with blood.
"Sure, anything." I said knowing full well what she wants.
"I always thought that I didn't need anyone... as long as I was strong enough. I never had a family or lover... to depend on... but you know? I-I really don't want to die alone right now..." Alea bit her trembling lower lip. "Can you hold me?"
Without saying a word, I gently wrapped my arms around Alea's fragile neck and waist, leaning her head against my chest.
"I'm scared," she muttered. "I don't want to die..."
I stayed silent that was the least I could do for her even though I have ulterior motives coming here I respect her strong will and determination to fight till the end.
Still in order to climb higher you have to step on others corpses along the way, that is how the world works.
I felt her breathing become weaker and weaker, and moments later—she passed away in my arms
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Just then a massive amount of mana and life force was released in the atmosphere i sat down on the ground as I started meditating and absorbing the life force I don't know how long it took but the process gave me immense benefits
My core now only needs about 6 months to break through white stage my understanding of mana and the elements increased a lot all the basic elements should be about level 80 to 90 and with the deal that I made with her and those spells and theoretical knowledge I should achieve complete mastery soon.
I used a bit of earth magic to make proper burials for the soldiers and for her they were useful to me so this is just a bit of work for me.
After creating graves for everyone and putting them inside, I decided to leave this place.
Needless to say, the guard in charge of the teleportation gate looked fairly startled when he saw me. He must've received orders to be on the lookout for me because, as soon as he verified who I was, he hurriedly began making multiple calls using the artifact he had on hand.
As a carriage arrived and took me to the Helstea Manor, I was surprised to see Arthur waiting at the stairs.
Before I could say anything he came and punched me in the stomach.
"That's, what you get for doing that in the dungeon"he said as put a hand around my neck and said let's go inside now.
"Ohh is Arthur Leywin jealous that he could not act like the hero beside I had a job to do so I could not let you get hurt your mother would kill both of us she is dangerous when she is mad" I say him with a smirk on my face.
"Hahaha, don't mention it just the thought of it makes me scared" he replies as we both go inside.
Just as I got inside I felt a dark presence looking straight at me.
"One problem child wasn't enough now the other one goes and does the same as Arthur" Alice said as she looked coldly at both of us.
"Yes, and here I thought you were better than that Ráel." Ellie said sounding disappointed and shaking her head.
"Ey I dont always get in trouble when I go out" Arthur said sounding offended at his mother and sisters word.
"Don't worry, I just fell down in another dungeon that was connected underground from there I found the exit and now here I am" I said to them not telling them the truth ignorance is a bliss sometimes.
"A professor came here with Arthur and told us that you were lost trying to save her." Alice said sounding surprised by my actions.
"Anyways I am tired from all that fighting and I could take a shower so if you will excuse me ladies and Arthur" I said not wanting to talk more about this.
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POV: Ráel
"ATTENTION RENOWNED STUDENTS OF XYRUS ACADEMY!" a rather high-pitched grating voice echoed throughout the campus. "AS YOU MAY ALL BE AWARE, YOUR INSTITUTION IS CURRENTLY UNDER ATTACK BY MY LITTLE PETS. NO NEED TO FEAR FOR I AM BOTH JUST AND MERCIFUL!" The voice seemed to taunt the students as he said this because there was a dwarven student in the jaws of a discolored black-fanged wolf, a B class mana beast.
I was observing everything from the rooftop of the academy as the chaos in front of me started to spread.
"HUMAN STUDENTS, AS LONG AS YOU RAISE BOTH YOUR HANDS AND SWEAR YOUR ALLEGIANCE TO ME, THE MANA BEASTS WILL NOT ATTACK YOU! ELVES AND DWARVES, DO NOT STRUGGLE AND ALLOW MY PETS TO DESTROY YOUR MANA CORE AND YOU WILL BE FREE TO LEAVE!" The voice let out a deranged laugh that sent a shiver down the students spines. It was enjoying the carnage that was going on in this school that had been so peaceful just hours before, everything is so unexpected from a place representing the future of those children to this place.
The carnage continued for a while as the same voice as before spoke once again.
"AHEM! TESTING… AH AH… PERFECT!" The sound was coming from the bell tower near the center of campus. "STUDENTS AND FACULTY MEMBERS OF XYRUS ACADEMY—I WOULD LIKE TO WELCOME ALL OF YOU TO JOIN US FOR THE FINAL CEREMONY. I ADVISE EVERY ONE OF YOU TO MAKE YOUR WAY TOWARDS THE BELL TOWER, AS THIS IS SOMETHING YOU GUYS WON'T WANT TO MISS! DON'T WORRY, MY LITTLE PETS WON'T BITE ANYMORE~ I PROMISE."
He waited in the shadow for everyone that is alive to show up, soon enough it will be time to act I thought to my self as I observed everything from above.
"WELL IT SEEMS THAT EVERYONE ALIVE HAS MADE IT TO THE GRAND FINALE OF TODAY'S SHOW! I THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING!" The high-pitched tenor had a piercing quality that made everyone turn their attention back towards the bell tower.
And he appeared wearing a gaudy red robe, decorated with an unreasonable amount of jewelry, he wore a mask, It was a simple white mask with two slits for his eyes, and a crudely drawn jagged smile the color of blood.
He started laughing like a maniac as I could see a mixture of emotion in the students' and professors' faces: fear, anger, desperation, confusion, frustration, and helplessness as they were all stunned into silence by the abrupt laughter.
It was then that the masked man tossed the object he was holding behind his back onto the floor, it was a head of the dwarfen girl in the disciplinary commitment.
At the sight of that a lot of people started vomiting, some even passing out.
Another member of the Dc started screaming and asking for a fight against the red haired boy now known as Draneeve.
And the fight did not end well for him after being toyed around with a snap of his fingers he burned down the boy good usage of flame magic.
"NOW! I apologize to you all for the delay! Without further ado, we will now commence with our main event! Fellas, bring them out!"
As Draneeve grandly waved his arm like some conductor, the frozen mana beasts stirred and sat up straight as a line of hooded figures, covered in robes, came out from the bell tower, each dragging with them a student.
So it's time to act I thought as I put my mask on from back when I was an adventurer and took dragon slayer out of my dimensional ring
"Time to start the hunt" I murmured slowly.