Relictombs

The two days has passed nothing great happened, and it was time to go to the ascension portal. Me and Seris walked into an ascension gate. As I used the ring the Djinn gave me back then. I don't have to feel the same pain I did that day. But the same can't be said for my soldiers as when we entered I realized that they can't be summoned.

"Your mana symbolizes death, while one of the most impactful aether used in this Relictombs is vivium. Vivium symbolizes life" The Djinn's voice rang inside my head

I couldn't summon the weaker ones but maybe I could summon some of my generals and the monarchs. But I'm going to need some privacy if I'm going to test that.

"Imagine you manifested the death armor here" Ash chuckled

"Would I be able to?" I asked also curious

"Let's try to not break the tomb shall we" Sylvia butted in

As We walked further inside it felt different than the one we entered before. We were in some kind of taiga. Which seemed nearly as big as Amazon if I looked from where I was. The snowy blizzard, and storms. But this environment brings up many sour memories. I turned to see Seris holding up well against the cold, and then proceed to move towards the cliff. Before I jumped down I asked her if she could also land without dying. She shook her head saying that the jump would be too high. I nodded and looked down until a thought came into mind, but I buried it as soon as it came up.

"Yea princess carrying someone you barely know isn't the brightest idea," Ash said

I sighed, and when I was about to say that we should move Seris got close to me and wanted to look down, as she looked her gaze went back at me.

"You can land there without dying?" She asked

"Uh yeah" I replied

"How about while holding another person," She asked

"I shouldn't have any problem" I replied

"Then why don't you carry me down" She suggested

My eyes widened at her boldness, she was either bold or innocent.

I stood unable to answer her question, later after her face got red, and coughed

"Forget I ever said anything" She shot me a death glare and started walking down the mountain

We walked down the mountain in silence as the only sound there was is the blowing wind and occasional bush rustling. As we walked for a few hours, and then another few hours we decided to find a temporary place to stay. We walked down the mountain to find some kind of cave or opening in the walls that was big. We searched for a few more minutes until we found a cave. We entered, and I sensed the area to find nothing.

"It's safe," I said

"Good" She replied

We both got in a little deeper as I used the wood I collected from the trees outside and lit a fire. It was a decent light source as the cave was so dark. I looked for a few rocks to surround the wood so the fire wouldn't spread. As I was searching I heard a wild rustle in the bushes outside. I came out but saw nothing. I returned to place the stone as I walked back I saw Seris already getting comfy in her boulder using it as a chair, and drinking what smelled like tea.

I placed the rock and closed my eyes as I entered the void greeted by Ash, and Sylvia who were sparring. Ever since I placed them here they sure spar a lot, I noticed that Ash's human form was still the same. I walked towards them to join in as I needed to stretch.

Seris POV

I still couldn't shake off how stupid my suggestion was, and because of that, we both had an awkward walk. I was impatient and wanted to leave this area as soon as possible. I hated the cold, no I despise the cold it's uncomfortable when it's cold hence the stupid suggestion to let him carry me down was something that popped into my head so we could find the portal to the next zone as fast as possible.

We both walked down the mountain while I took a few peaks at Jin-Woo to see how he was doing under the cold to my surprise he didn't even use mana at all to cover his body, but his facial expression was normal.

"Seriously what is his body made of," I thought as flashbacks of memories came by whenever I had physical contact with him I felt my face warm as I shook all those thoughts away

We walked and walked for hours without end as I felt that I may have put too much mana on making my body warm I turned to him, and asked if we could find someplace to rest. He nodded, and we began to search for a cave it was dark, and the snow blizzard was big and thick as I could barely see something if it wasn't in front of me.

While I was searching Jin-Woo found a cave so we went in after he gave the all-clear. I saw him bend down placing a few pieces of wood as he flicked his finger, and fire appeared on his index finger which he used to light up the wood. He then left to do something I didn't bother to follow him and sat on a boulder next to the fire while I brew some tea using the fire to make it warm as I saw Jin-Woo coming in looking at me, and continued to place the rocks he gathered around the fire, he then went to a dark corner in the cave and sat there as he closed his eyes.

"Surely he can't be thinking of sleeping without the fire right?" I asked myself

I got up, and took a few pieces of wood, enough for a campfire with some rocks as I came into the cave I placed them near him and used one of the wood to transfer the fire. When the area around him lit up I stared at his face for a moment he had sharp facial features, the closer I looked it was clear that he was attractive, but he just doesn't do expressions at all. I soon realized.

"Why am I thinking so much about him," I said as I stepped back my face feeling warm

I went back to my place and brewed another cup of tea as I turned to see him still in the same position, not moving at all. A few hours passed by as he didn't move an inch from his position. I was getting worried so I walked towards him and placed my finger under his nose His breath was very warm.

"Well he's still breathing," I thought as I pulled my hand back

"Now I think sleeping would be great," I thought as I took out a bedroll and a few blankets

I set up my bedroll next to the fire as I laid down covered with my blankets, and closed my eyes.

I opened my eyes because of the sunlight that came through the entrance as it hit my face directly I got up from my bedroll and turned back to see Jin-Woo in the same position. I stood up, tidied up my bedroll, and blankets then walked towards Jin-Woo. As I placed my finger under his nose again he was still breathing.

I then pulled my hand back and placed it on his shoulder to shake him, but his right hand grabbed my hand as soon as I placed it on his shoulder, he then pulled me down as he stood up suddenly he switched our position and he was kneeling on top of my body, he locked both my hands with his right hand and his left hand on my neck. He was on top of me his eyes glowing purple gazing at mine

"It's me" I managed to say my voice weak because of his choke

His eyes suddenly widened as he released his grip, and said

"I am very sorry," He said as he stood up, and offered me his hand

Once again our walk became awkward, but I couldn't stop thinking about what had just happened. I never felt this feeling before, when he held me down like that there was an alien feeling growing inside me, and I just didn't know what it was.

Sung Jin-Woo POV

I spent a few hours sparring with Ash in martial, and weapons combat while I sparred with Sylvia in mana and magic combat. In the void, I could still summon my soldiers, so I also trained with Igris and Bellion. I spent the entire night training so my senses were at their peak currently. As I was sparring against Ash I suddenly felt a touch on my shoulder.

I immediately left the Void and grabbed the hand that touched me pulling it down as I knelt on top of it with my right hand holding both of its arms, and my left hand on its neck, as I began to choke it.

"It's me," It said as I found the voice familiar

"Seris," I thought as I released my grip

"I am very sorry," I said as I got up, and offered my hand

"Very smooth Jin-Woo I didn't know you like to dominate over women" Ash commented but I ignored it

We continued our walk down the mountain. As we killed a few yetis, Ice bears, Ice goblins, and some kind of weird snow monster. As we went in deeper into the forest me and Seris realized that the creatures became more intelligent as they were now utilizing traps, and weapons to hunt us.

"Stay on guard," I said to her as I walked a little further to see ahead

I gave her the all-clear, but as we continued a little further suddenly an Ice cage appeared around me. I punched it there was damage, but it immediately repaired itself in less than a second. As I kept punching it I heard a rustle in the bushes. As yetis came out holding spears ready to plunge towards me, I raised my hand and squashed them, but two spears managed to hit me from behind. I turned in their direction and squashed the rest.

"Find the casters that are casting this cage" I shouted

At first, I saw her hesitate, but then she shook her head and started searching for the caster

"Now come at me you sons of bitches" I shouted as a wave of ice spears appeared in front of me. I raised my hand shattering them all, while some managed to hit me some did pierce through, while most of them shattered on impact. I managed to squash the ones who threw those spears, I tried to punch the cage again, and it regenerated a lot slower. I punched it with my full strength and leaped out of the cage.

"Seris I'm out" I shouted using Dragon's fear blood spilling out of me thankfully none of the spears hit any important organs, and there were no more yetis.

I was slowly losing consciousness because of the amount of blood I lost.

"Dammit I got careless," I said to myself

"You weren't careless all of the spears had aether in them, and the ones that managed to penetrate you had a big amount of vivium aether in them" Sylvia explained

"At times like this I need a healer, but Beru is with Virion, while Min Byung-Gyu was with Arthur" I cursed myself for being arrogant

"Potions" I mumbled as I tried to focus on opening my inventory, but the pain made it hard, and lastly I fell unconscious

Seris POV

I jumped from tree to tree finding suspicious-looking yetis as I found them I cut them down and continued searching because Jin-Woo said casters which meant there were multiple, and for them to make him unable to escape meant that there were a lot of them. In less than a minute I managed to kill five of them.

As I continued my search I heard a shout that made me shiver, but I heard what he said so I turned back and went back to him. When I arrived there I was horrified by the sight I was witnessing. I saw the cage still intact, but there were dozens of spears inside it as I saw hundreds of corpses, and spears spread around the snow ground, I looked around to find Jin-Woo. I froze at the sight before me as I saw Jin-Woo collapse his body littered in ice spikes, I ran towards him to check his vitals, as I was relieved he was alive I pulled out the Ice spears and bandaged his wounds, after that.

I took out a vial, and I realize he won't be able to drink this. I opened his mouth with my hand, drank the liquid, and locked my mouth with his as I slowly inserted the healing elixir inside him I felt my lips touch his soft, and cold lips, My face was burning at that point. I managed to feed him two vials because of how bad his wound was, and I carried him towards a cave we discovered a little while back. I found it and entered the cave. I placed him on the floor as I took out materials for a fire, and lit up the campfire.

I sat beside him cleaning his wounds so they won't get infected my eyes were locked with his lips as I remembered what happened my face got warm. As I finished I couldn't help myself but touch his body. As I touched his abs they were as hard as stone, while his broad chest was also hard and muscular, I then started to touch the muscles on his arm, when I touched them It was like touching metal.

Realizing what I was doing I stopped myself from touching any further as I stood up and took out two bedrolls, and a few blankets. As I moved Jin-Woo so he was laying on the bedroll I also covered him with a few layers of blanket. I set up my bedroll on the other side of the fire, as it was starting to become dark. I sensed the area first before deciding to sleep, as I felt nothing I went towards my bedroll and slept.

Sung Jin-Woo POV

I woke up in the Void as Ash greeted me.

"How bad are my injuries," I asked

"It would've healed in less than half a day, but because of Seris's treatment it should heal in the next hour" He replied

"At least I now know what kills me in this world" I sighed

"No it was my mistake Vivium isn't your biggest weakness" He replied

"What do you mean?" I asked him with curiousity

"As long as you have death mana running through your body you'd have no problem to Vivium, but I forgot to teach you how to infuse your body with death mana no more like I didn't think you'll need it here," He replied feeling guilty

"Could you tell me now?" I asked as I rubbed my temples

"You need to generate mana from the black heart but you cannot release it outside of your body. Keep it inside your body for a few days, and then when your blood turns black the process is done" He replied

"All right thank you," I said as I slowly returned to my body

I woke up in a cave, and I was covered in a few layers of blanket, as I got up there was a little stinge of pain but it was bearable. I started doing what Ash informed me, slowly I infused death mana into my body. A few hours have passed but I felt no difference, so I continued until morning.

Seris POV

I woke up to the blinding light that slipped through the cracks of the entrance, as I turned to see Jin-Woo not there anymore, I jumped and started to look around, I was finally able to see him in a corner he was meditating again, but I felt a strong pressure inside him so I didn't want to disturb him, as I stand on guard, I heard occasional rustle but nothing too big, as I looked back at Jin-Woo I could see thick black mana particles inside his body.

"What is he doing?" I asked myself

A few hours have passed since I've woken up, but there were no signs of movement from Jin-Woo, the only thing that I have to know if he was alive was the black mana inside him growing denser.

"What are you trying to do," I thought

It was night again I didn't need to sleep so I stood guard while watching him, his mana seemed to be stable at the moment.

"Did it fail?" I thought suddenly something appeared next to him a middle-aged man with long red hair, a neatly trimmed red beard, and glowing purple eyes. He also wore silver-red armor with a high collar and a reddish-brown tailcoat, his mana similar to Jin-Woo's dark, destructive, and filled with malice. The creature turned from Jin-Woo to me and then walked outside the cave.

"I'll stand guard for now," It said in a deep, and dark voice

"Uh yes" I managed to say still surprised

I turned back to see Jin-Woo and wondered

"Just who are you Jin-Woo," I said to myself in a whisper

It was the next morning something changed in Jin-Woo, there was a thick black mana particle in the place where his heart was, as I was about to step in the red-haired man stopped me by grabbing my shoulder, and shook his head. He snapped his finger forming a barrier around us.

"What's happening?" I asked

"The awakening of The King Of The Dead" He replied

As he finished those words a pillar made out of black-purple mana particle formed around Jin-Woo, breaking the cave roof, and towering to the sky. The amount of pure mana the pilar had and the amount of dread the mana emitted was something that even made the whole floor shake, as the pilar slowly fade I turned back to Jin-Woo to see his eyes opened, his grey eyes glowed purple, but then returned to grey. He stood up from his position his gaze empty, as he walked towards us the barrier around us slowly opened.

"Antares it seems like you managed to come out," He said confused

"Most of my mana are properties of destruction rather than death, so I had no problem coming out." He replied making me confused

"Although I am not formed from death mana, I am still the undead you revived" He continued

Jin-Woo tapped at Antares's shoulder, and Antares returned to Jin-Woo's shadow once again.

Suddenly Jin-Woo cut his palm I was confused at first, but I became more confused as black blood came out from his cut, as his wound slowly heal, and fade like it never existed.

"Let's start to move again," He said with a weak smile

"What was that?" I asked

"It was an experiment of some sort" He replied

We walked down the same path until we encountered the cage, Jin-Woo crouched as he scanned the cage. He touched it, and the ice melted no it looked more like it decayed at his touch.

"We should look around for a bit and disarm traps," He said

"All right" I replied as I walked in a random direction

Sung Jin-Woo POV

I looked around for any hidden traps and scanned the area to look for any hints of mana or aether, as I looked around I could see an open field ahead of me. I called for Seris to meet me. When she got to me I pointed at the open field, we walked further our guards up. When we were in the middle there was a pilar. I infused mana into it but nothing happened, then Seris did the same, and nothing happened, I looked around, and I saw an arrow flying towards Seris, I pulled her to me to avoid the arrow from hitting her and created a barrier.

"Thanks," She said

"Don't thank me yet this is a trap" I said

"How are we going to get out? Once you deactivate the barrier the arrows will hit us" She said

"Antares" I called

Antares appeared from my shadow and bowed

"Your orders"

"Kill them all," I said

Antares went out the barrier and started charging towards the ones firing the arrows at first I could hear sword clashes, but those were soon replaced by explosion sounds as I saw Antares flattening the area.

"What is he?" Seris asked

"He's my summon" I answered

"A summon that strong, and you're stronger than him," She said but it was more to herself as she sighed

Antares managed to return unhurt as he sunk back into my shadow he whispered to me

"I found the portal just follow my mana trace it would lead you there," He said

"Follow me Antares found the portal for us," I said

As I followed his mana traces it led us deep in the forest until I saw the portal covered in snow, we both entered the portal awaiting the next floor.