Chapter 6: A Rune and A Seal

Reyn found himself standing inside the third floor. He thought he was going back to the darkness but he was directly transported to the tower. Now that he thought about it, he cannot leave the tower unless he cleared the last floor. Luke even warned him not to enter it.

At first, he was just casually playing it and didn't care on what will happen next. Now however, he was beginning to fear. The game has given him something that he hadn't felt for awhile now. A heart pounding and life threatening situations where he could live at the highest point while thinking that it's only a game.

Reyn was someone who thought ahead. It was clear that one might get stuck inside the tower unless they defeated the peak room. From now on, he need to be very careful when making decisions.

"Huh?" Reyn realized that he was holding something. He looked down and saw the bread in his hand. It was exactly the same as the one he was eating moments ago. He was also wearing the grey sleeves now. Without much of a thought, he finished the bread and cast his gaze around.

The third floor had faint yellow lights glowing on its walls. It was even darker than the first floor, but the air was better. Just like the first floor, it had a stairway leading to the next floor.

Sweeping his gaze around, he saw something that wasn't there before. Floating atop the pile of corpses was a glowing object. It was round in shape, the size of his palm. There were some symbols inscribed on it.

Reyn watched it with wary eyes. Someone might have put it there while he was logged out from the game. He looked at the status of his Swordsmen and found that there's about thirty minutes left before he could summon his last spirit.

Summoning a single Swordsman, he ordered it to approach the floating object. When nothing happened after the spirit got close, Reyn decided to inspect it himself.

With carefully placed steps, he climbed the top of the corpses. At arm's reach, a new notification appeared in his vision.

[Lesser Spirit Memento (Rune)

- Formed from the will of slain spirits. It solidified from their memories and bindings to the physical world.

- The stronger the rune, the higher the chance it will awaken your spirits from their past glories.

- Awakened Spirits can either occupy your Spirit Capacity or Hero Capacity.

- Awakened Spirits have double attributes.

(Rune can be upgraded using Spirit Shards, Soul Essences and Shadow Quintessence)]

Reyn's eyes widened after reading the description. He immediately grabbed the object.

[You have obtained Lesser Spirit Memento]

'Alright... I have 9 Spirit Shards, 4 Soul Essences and 7 Shadow Quintessences.' Reyn counted. He recalled that he acquired 2 Shadow Quintessences on the first floor and hadn't used it yet.

He looked around some more and found a faint light coming from the inside of a chest, just around the left corner. His feet rapidly trampled on the corpses as he rushed to the source of light.

Red lights escaped from the lips of the chest as he opened it. Inside, a red scroll shone. Reyn took the object and unfurled it. An immediate translation appeared in his vision.

[A soul imprisoned. Escape not.

Laknur

Say the word, and one may enter.]

"Laknur?" Reyn uttered silently after reading the notification. Just as he said the word, the scroll in his hand turned to ashes, and a hole opened up from the very space in front of him. Fiery lights flashed out from the hole, obviously projected from the other side. He didn't mean to activate the seal.

Looking confused, Reyn didn't know what to do. There might be great rewards on the other side or unforeseen dangers he won't be able to prepare in time. He gathered his thoughts, but only came to a conclusion that it's an opportunity he couldn't pass.

Without even noticing it, he got close to the portal and entered. He was immediately surprised after stepping out into the other side. The portal was connected to a pathway leading to a platform, the size of a basketball court.

Darkness was all there was to see beyond the pathway and the platform. Reyn, still mesmerized by the promise of rewards followed the pathway. However, he was snapped back to his logical thinking when he nearly tripped on the edge of the pathway and saw that he couldn't see the bottom--an eternal fall awaited him if he committed a single misstep.

"What is this place?!" Reyn couldn't help but utter loudly.

"You're in my hell!" A raspy voice answered.

Reyn followed the source of the sound and saw a figure, sitting at the center of the platform as a new notification appeared.

[Akira, Tormented Soul]

There were torches on each corner of the platform. Their flickering lights barely reaching the center.

Reyn observed the figure and shuddered involuntarily. A thick aura of murderous intention surrounded the figure, it manifested into a dreadful figure, of horns and fangs and claws. He could only swallow hard while pushing forward.

"You're not scared.." The voice of the figure, echoed, "Come then."

Reyn finally entered the platform after carefully traversing the pathway. He wished it had some railings. One might lose their balance and just fall to their death.

He checked the cooldown of his last Swordsman and found that there was about 24 minutes left. In his mind, the figure at the center of the platform was a boss that he had to defeat. With his will, five Swordsmen appeared and surrounded him.

Akira got up, shoulder sagged, and arms lifelessly hanging. He wore a mask on his lower face. Two red dots beneath his bony forehead lazily directed their gaze at Reyn.

The masked man reached down and pulled out a burning sword from the ground, the exposed ribs in his chest seemingly like lips, gaping open from the ripped flesh and tattered cloth.

"'Tis not that I dislike being intruded. I like it not less for an intrusion. Hundreds years have my sword not tasted blood." Akira's voice sweep across the platform, carrying his intention. Death was the only thing it winded.

[You have no Spirit Capacity for a new spirit!]

[You have no way of capturing the soul!]

Reyn's eyes widened as he looked at the notification in his vision and exclaimed in disbelief, "Akira is the reward!!!?"

The masked man bent low, a maniacal laughter sounding like a whoop escaped from his mouth as he accelerated at full speed, covering ten meters within just a second.

Reyn was shocked by this, but his spirits were not. A Swordsman intercepted the bloodthirsty soul.

Akira was not only quick on his feet, his strikes were lightning fast. The Swordsman, however, blocked all of his precisely aimed slashes, parrying the last. With a quick counter, the spirit slashed air as the soul disengaged with an agile step back.

Akira's eyes were in disbelief as he stared at the spirit. Ordinary Swordsmen couldn't even keep up with him. Even the skilled ones shouldn't have been able to parry his extremely dangerous attacks. But the reality is that he was a soul, damned to an eternal torment. He was just a fragment of his past self at this point, only maintaining a bit of his memories.

The rest of the Swordsmen left Reyn's side. They limped their way toward the shocked soul. Akira deftly avoided their reach. This awed Reyn even more. The tormented soul was like a world champion in long jump. What was really amazing is that Akira was not doing it at full sprint, it was on a stand, and not jumping to the front, but to the sides and the back. A single hop from the soul was over 5 meters. It was more than enough to keep a safe distance from the spirits.

Noticing that the Swordsmen were trying to grab him, Akira warily observed the spirits. Using their body as a shield or a blindspot, he maneuvered easily around them as he finally found an opening for the ultimate goal. He let out a scream of delight as he dashed straight toward the summoner.

"A brat who hasn't tasted blood has no place in a battlefield!"

Reyn frowned and scoffed at the shamelessness of the soul. Thankfully, he had made a good choice by running back to the pathway as the soul slammed against an invisible barrier, not allowing him to leave the platform.

"Kid, come back here! I'll make your death slow and painful." Akira pressed on the invisible barrier like it was a glass panel.

"You piece of crap! I'll come back!" Reyn gritted his teeth. His Swordsmen were all congregating back to his previous location. There might be a good chance that they will catch the spirit off guard. But even though Akira's attention seemed to be fully on him, Reyn could tell that the soul was not someone that could be easily outwitted by a simple thing. He gave up on it, and decided to leave. There was no use on further embarrassing himself.

"You dare shout at me, kid!" Akira punched the barrier. "When you come back, I'll make mince meat of you!"

With a wave of a hand, the Swordsmen disappeared as Reyn carefully made his way back to the portal.