36 - Edgehollow

According to Alon, it would take him one or two days before he could fully break the bracelet.

He found some old notes from his family's instructional books and saw a similar seal to the one binding Ai and, apparently, Amelie used three different strong magical seals to completely shut off her magic. It explains why the bracelet was so thick and the magic oozing off it was suffocating.

In the end, I've decided to leave Ai in Alon's care but not without making sure that she won't cause any trouble once the bracelet is broken. I don't have any other choice since she won't be useful in our journey if her powers are sealed off.

So I gave her a scroll with a teleportation spell written across the thin piece of parchment.

"If you say the words out loud, you'd be teleported to wherever I am. Use this as soon as the bracelet comes off, understood?" I remember telling her as we stood inside of Alon's workshop and she nodded, taking the scroll from my hand.

That conversation happened nearly two days ago and Ai is still not here.

We've been travelling for more than a full day and have only stopped three times to eat and sleep.

The journey is peaceful so far, except for the few times that Camiya, the Druid, nearly got killed by the Sleipnir that she's riding. I find it interesting and odd at the same time.

A Sleipnir is a legendary eight-legged horse that was once a limited mount in-game that could only be attained through a secret level 500 dungeon somewhere in Laraudia. I heard that only 6 players have obtained it throughout the 3-month long event.

They're five times faster than the average horse, thus making our supposedly week-long journey to a 3-day ride.

Sleipnirs are supposed to be very friendly beings regardless of the race of its rider. They don't even care if Demons are near, making them one of the very few animals in the world to feel comfortable around the dreaded race.

But, for some reason, Camiya's Sleipnir seems to be distressed about her. That, or she just simply has no idea how to ride a horse at all.

"We can rest here." I heard Elizar's irritating double voice call out from behind me. He somehow made me his assistant during the entire journey and it irritates me to no end.

I whistled loudly, turning the others' attention to me. I signaled for them to stop and they finally slowed down.

We're currently in the middle of a wasteland; no any other life form in sight. Just a vast expanse of dirt and dead things.

We'll probably reach Edgehollow in a few hours. I wonder why Elizar wanted to rest now that we're near our destination.

We set up camp in the middle of nowhere with the heavy dark atmosphere obviously taking its toll on some of our companions.

"Stop forcing yourself and sit down." I grumbled in annoyance towards Camiya as she almost stumbled on the ground.

She looked like she's sick. I don't know if it's from her usual cowardice or if it's because of where we are. Druids are highly sensitive to darkness and a small mistake on her part could cost her her life.

The Demons, on the other hand, are full of energy. I guess they're feeding off of the darkness that's surrounding us. After all, Niflheim and Edgehollow are almost the same.

{ Detect Threat }

{ Detect Life }

Mysteriously, there are no monsters nor creatures anywhere. We're already near the capital of Edgehollow and yet the smooth travel is making me feel like there's something deeply wrong about everything.

"You look uneasy." Elizar comments behind me.

"I'm just keeping myself alert, sir. You'll never know if there's a sudden enemy attack." I replied as polite as possible. He nodded and walked away, entering the small tent that the two Berserkers built.

I want to know more about him but if I use a spell against Elizar, the Marionette would surely feel it. I'm still unable to fully control my powers and so I'm still not familiar on how to mask them from people who have the same class as I do. I need to find a way to freely practice my skills to find out both my limitations and the effectiveness of my spells.

I turn my head towards my companions and I sigh as I see Leviathan still bugging the hell out of Camiya. The Druid is obviously nearing her limit as she weakly pushes away the intruding Demon.

"If you don't stop your friend then I might do something that we all won't like." A deep voice spoke beside me and I met with the fierce eyes of the Human Assassin.

The way he spoke made something tick inside of me, causing my temper to rise. The thought of strangling him crossed my mind, but I shook it off.

"Then stop her yourself. If you can, that is." I dared him, almost growling out the words.

Leviathan could incinerate him in a second and I wouldn't even stop her.

The Assassin and I stared at one another and I felt the rising need to kill him off myself. My right palm, where the infinity tattoo is hidden, began to itch terribly.

[ Can you do it, Blair? ] Amon's screeching voice rang in my head, making me more irritated and annoyed.

[ You need to shut the hell up. ] Belphegor retorted back to Amon.

The Assassin was the first one to break off eye contact and made his way towards the two women with Leviathan obviously teasing him with the way she smirked at the man.

"Get away from my sister, woman." He said and pulled Camiya away from her.

Leviathan, being the stubborn and unpredictable Demon that she is, held onto the Druid's wrist. Camiya winced, obviously getting hurt from the two immature people.

[ Leviathan, stop. ] I grumbled at her, infuriated with the swirling emotions in my chest.

She pouted at me before letting go of Camiya. We watched in silence as the two walked away, with the Druid almost tripping from the harsh pull of the man.

[ You do know that you can subdue him anytime, right? ] I hear Amon in my head and I find myself agreeing with him.

[ Next time will be the last. ] I replied, calmly.