Chapter 11

"Ludger come with me let's become adventures"

"Adventurers? Are you sure about that? it's a dangerous job"

"Yes. I don't have anything to lose, and we need to get stronger"

"why tho?, for now, I'm content with my life in the village"

"you probably won't believe me, but I know the future, after a year there will be an attack from Slane theocracy, their goal is to kill a Captain-warrior Gazaef Stronoff"

Ludger's expression darkens not expecting to hear something like that from his new friend

"you must lie now right Lex?"

"Sadly no, many will die…" After a little bit of thought Lex doesn't remember the persona of Ludger,

his square face, short black hair, tanned skin, small horizontal scar at his left pupil and height of around 1,8m should distinguish him from the other villagers. Maybe because of being a heavy sleeper, he was slaughtered in sleep

"You will die too Ludger," he said don't know what really happened

"Give me time to think" He recedes his right arm from the shoulder of Lex, stands up and goes to his room, and sits on the double bed that he shared with his beloved wife.

He quietly murmurs "Sara what do you think I should do?" He thinks about fist first encounter with Sara it was love at first sight. After they had grown up he proposed she said "Yes", Sara was a beauty with a charming face, long back hair and skin white like snow. After their marriage, he builds his house with help from his father. They were a happy couple until the day of the birth of his son Lance.

"You were so a kind person, for sure you would be happy for me helping that lost soul"

man after collecting his thought stands up grabs shorts that lie on the floor and goes to the room of his deceased son, throws a cloth to Lex he grabs it

"Put them on, then go with me, I'm gonna surprise you". After Lex put on shorts two men go to the outskirts of the village over a short walk, to his view comes an abandoned old house

"What exactly you wanted me to see, old house? For now, I'm not impressed"

"you'll see"

they pass through doors with openings at every one of the step floor creaks. Decaying buildings after a closer look have at least 90 years. Termites long ago ate most edible wood, if the inspector would see that building he would declare residency uninhabitable and to be demolished

House was shaped like a lither T one long hall splitting at the end into two rooms

"I go to the left and you right "

"All right"

telling that hall was in ruin would be an understatement, planks on the ceiling looked like if any vibration occurred they would fall, broken tables and showcases lay on the floor everything was covered with dust and spider webs, and Lexes bare feet were now coated by dust

"What is this place?"

"Once upon a time, My Great grandfather was a great adventurer... " As Ludger speaks one of the planks under Lex broke, left leg get stuck in a hole as deep as his knee. Annoyed Lex puts a little bit of force into his right leg jumping forwards, result getting freed and in the place where he stood, is another hole, looking in the process like a freak "Continue"

"y-yes so my ancestor was an adventurer, after his last venture which was a heist at a dragon lair, his team broke up. They split the loot, and then my ancestor settled in freshly founded Carne village, he hired some workers from E-Rantel to build this place"

Lex looked at Ludger with eyes full of curiosity "Why so?"

"From what my father told me, he was an eccentric person, he believed that human greed can make us go beyond our limits, did you see showcase?" "Yeah" "Before they were full of treasures, earned or steeled from his adventures, you could take one thing as long as he recognized of being worthy, or defeat him to earn all of his riches"

"Okay but why this place is so devastated?"

"Because as I reminded you before he was a strong person so he never recognized anyone, and was weirder he never got defeated by any of the many challengers, after his death many scum and greedy adventurers, come here and plundered all of this place"

"All Right but if he was your ancestor why your family don't defend this place?"

"it's simple why, he was an all-powerful person his children don't inherit any of his talents and power, after his death we don't have any means to protect this place even so, my grandfather sacrificed his life to defend our legacy. He perished by hands of those despicable people"

"If there is nothing to earn why do we come here?"

"there lies buried dog, ancestor left to us hidden legacy "

Excited Lex repeats the words "Hidden Legacy?!"

"Yes, my ancestor before his death said to his son to don't bury him in a normal way and ordered him to put his corpse with all of his armaments in the hidden cellar he himself build"

both men finally arrive at the end of the hall "Okay Lex go to the room at the right.." He points his index at the floor "And stay at that segment of the floor " Lex does like he was instructed. Then Ludger goes to the room on the other side, something clicks, and a segment of the floor where Lex stands tics too, thanks to the weight something unlocks as another part of the floor starts to move under panels, uncovering hidden stairs Ludger comes to Lex with an ignited torch "Where you get that ?"

"somebody was so greedy to even tear off planks trying to find some other treasure, but he left torches human stupidity doesn't have any limits" He lights one torch of the other and gives one to Lex.

Both of them go through dug out a tunnel, stairs are high enough to think that person really hated his job resulting in stairs that were easy to fall from, Lex goes first, and after a moment one of the tiers Has irregular size he trips, in act of desperation right-hand grabs stone wall, five fingers stick into the stone then he stabilizes himself "Be careful, quality of this stairs is horrendous"

then he takes of hand from the wall, five deep holes remaining as they go lower Ludger clearly sees what did Lex do "Lex what did you do to train your hand to this stage?" " I was a lonely guy"

Ludger doesn't understand the joke, after a moment of awkward silence Lex continues to speak "After the incident in the woods something Awakened in me. My body became stronger, now when I think about it, something is wrong with me. Reaching that level of strength is impossible for humans, even if they break their limits and achieve a heroic state. In all likelihood, I'm no longer human anymore"

"wait.. if you are so powerful will you need me at all?"

"Don't worry I have a plan for how to make you stronger, but before that, I'll need to make some tests"

as they go lower sense of smell of wonderful aroma hits Lexes nose "Did you smell something? I feel the flavour of spices"

"no, I don't feel anything"

"strange, look staircase ends"