I blinked, a shiver traveling through my body before it became a like a wave of calm and relief. Finally, after a long breath I gave him my answer.

“I know. I just need to figure out how not to lose myself to it.”

There was a silence, the Hero of Arlas stared at me in silence for what felt like an eternity. Before finally, he shook his head. I couldn’t see his expression due to his helmet, but to some extent I felt like there was an air of disappointment.

“Out of all the things you could’ve found…” He knelt grabbing onto So’las’ Spear, he stared at the corrupted object. “You found probably one of the most corrupted relics I’ve laid my eyes on.”

I shrugged. “In the end, it’s what allowed me to kill that thing.”

“I suppose so, but to…” he trailed off. “Want to be something greater… this spear is something from a civilization that played with corruption and failed at taming it. Using their failures you expect success?”

“It’s not an expectation.” A sigh left me. “I have no other choice. For as long as I breathe, for as long as I can see, for as long as I can…” I grabbed onto my chest, the palpitations of my heart traveling through my hand. “Feel… I’ll continue trying to get out of this place. I shall return to my… home.”

I closed my eyes as the pain in my body began to spread.

“In the end, that is my only desire. Before I became a hero I had no family, so having one now, even if it’s just a sister…” I closed my eyes. “I cannot fail.”

“I see.”

He pondered in silence, before speaking up again after a minute of the both of us sharing our presences.

“I hope you know that I’m disappointed.”

I breathed. “I know that⁠—”

“But, I also have another piece of advice. I didn’t know mana itself could be corrupted, but yours has already started its process. While I do not know of what the effects of having corrupted mana are, I think there is a chance your wishes may come true.”

“The effects of corrupted mana?” I paused. “That is⁠—”

“That is for you to find out,” he interrupted. “I’ll get going now.”

He turned away, giving me his back.

“This may be the last time we speak. So, good luck, Arc.”

“Thank you.”

And with a gust of wind he left. Ashen sand exploded all around me as my mind immediately raced for answers. What the Hero of Arlas had said, set off quite a lot of stuff in my mind. My mana was corrupted, and its effects were…

In fact, I didn’t even understand what it represented but I had a feeling I had seen it before with the Dragon of Frost.

I raised my hand, black flakes coming from it, signifying that it clearly was long gone. I could still use it, though the corruption was slowly going up my arm and ultimately it would take my entire body. Though, I paid no attention to that, instead I focused beyond my flesh and onto the power coursing within me.

The twisted and corrupted one that I could also manipulate.

I rubbed my fingers together as a piece of blue ice was formed. It was a simple ice cube, except it had flakes of corruption and it gave a completely different aura.

“Perhaps… arcane magic might be the answer…”

I didn’t even know where to begin with it, since I understood that it was a power outside the System. I didn’t know if it was exactly the power of the corruption since it seemed distinctly different, but at least I knew one thing. Arcane magic brought corruption with it, but considering it was also something that seemed stable, perhaps it was the answer I was seeking for.

“To be something more, huh?”

And at that moment screeches resounded in the distance, signifying that I had to leave this place for good. Shaking my head I covered my already corrupted hand with ice and grabbed the spear. Its name was Sol’as’ Spear, as for how it was created, or who Sol’as was, I didn’t know.

With the use of [God Step] I left in search of a safe space.

◇ ◇ ◇

I didn’t know how long I spent, but eventually I found a place where I could rest my mind.

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It was a small building, it wasn’t even of a civilization I recognized. It was a mix between modernity and magic; it’s magic consisting of runic symbols, however it worked. The doors would seal upon flicking a switch, it had a form of warm orange light and multiple rooms. One of them seemed to be a study.

The walls were decaying, but I still sat on the oddly shaped chair as I stared at the ceiling, my body was all bloodied from scraping the corruption that I could; the visible one anyway. My injuries seemed to be healing much faster than usual, though my leg showed no signs of coming back and my hand…

I hadn’t amputated it, but I was definitely considering it. Though, having my dominant hand be made out of ice was… an uncomfortable concept so I held off from it. In the end, I had chosen the painful process of skinning my entire forearm plus whatever corrupted muscle there was⁠— and now I was waiting for everything to heal.

“I’m safe…” I sighed.

I had been in the building for more than an hour now, and it hadn’t clicked until now. Finally, my heart calmed, and my more rational mind took over.

I am… fucked.

That was the first thought that crossed my mind, and the only one for sometime. It repeated, banged⁠— bounced inside my head repeatedly, before finally I managed to shift to something more productive, and that was… doing something about things.

Realistically, only my arm was corrupted. My body had been; reinforced by the corruption but it didn’t seem to be in a constant state of decay. The problem was my mana. It was constantly being nibbled at, constantly consumed, and the feeling was rather alarming.

“On one hand I can do this…” Within my left hand a bird of ice appeared. “And on the other…” And within my right hand another bird of ice appeared, except it was a deeper shade of blue and it emanated flakes of corruption.

I placed both of them at the table, just staring at them. The corrupted bird seemed almost unrefined and a lot less detailed, yet I also knew it was considerably more sturdy. It was a product of corrupted mana, while the other one came from my normal mana. I didn’t know the consequences of having corrupted mana but, I had to at least figure something out.

And so, I closed my eyes playing with the corrupted mana within me. I recalled recent memories; the memories of my battle against the Dragon of Frost and taking a deep breath I pointed my hand at the door.

“Arcane Magic: Everfrozen.”

Ice blasted forward before doing absolutely nothing. It almost felt like just telling my ice to go forward rather than making any sort of spell. Shards of corrupted ice pelted against the wall and that was all that happened.

The sight made me let out a breath.

“Well, it’s not like it’d be that easy.”

I stared at the ceiling, and just as I was about to pinch the bridge of my nose I changed hands, fearful of my corrupted appendage.

Things were hard. I wasn’t even sure of what happened once I learned Arcane Magic, but I had a feeling it wasn’t as simple as just learning it. There was probably another step to it and as for what it was… I really wasn’t sure.

I shook my head and turned to the papers at the desk. Their language was not one I could understand, though oddly enough the letters within it immediately reminded me of something.

The circle that I had seen in the sky while fighting the Dragon of Frost.

The letters were the same as the symbols within the circle…

I immediately began to shift through the numerous papers until I found one with a graphic, it was a circle reminiscent of the one the Dragon of Frost had used. I stared at it for a few moments, and then I decided to use my mana to emulate it.

First was inscribing it in the air, and… nothing.

I quickly realized that I understood nothing about what I was looking at, so even if I was onto something I couldn’t even use it. I assume Arcane Magic was reminiscent of the normal magic of the system; where at least you had to understand what you wanted to do in order to use it.

Except, if I didn’t know what the inscription was actually meant to do, it’d be near impossible to use it.

However, I still decided to gather every single paper I could find that featured any inscription in relation to the magic circles. It was a small step towards what I was seeking, at least that’s what I felt was the case.

Finally, as I picked up a paper off the floor I paused reading a bloodied writing.

‘This is my salvation…’

It was written in dried blood, its color nearly black indicating its age. Except, the thing that astonished me was that… I could read it.

The Hero of Arlas mentioned that he hadn’t seen anyone, so how come someone had managed to… write in this place?

My mind spiraled for a moment before I quickly began ransacking the entire building in search of more hints.

◇ ◇ ◇

Though in the end…

I stared at the bloodied paper.

There was only this…

A sigh left me as I looked at the stack of papers by my side. It was small, maybe a total of thirty; all of them had some form of illustration. While I still couldn’t really understand anything I felt that it was a start.

However, the main thing that interested me was the bloodied page. I had to find more of them, or rather I had to follow in the footsteps of the person that did it. And it was clear to me that they had left this place. As for whether they lived or died after, I wasn’t particularly sure, but I had to at least find out where they went.

And hopefully, they had found out a way to deal with the corruption.

A deep breath left me as I stowed all of the papers away in my jacket, binding them into a pocket at my back to avoid losing them. I looked at my arm for a moment before shaking my head.

I was on a time limit.

I took the insides of the building, and a few minutes later, I headed for the entrance. I grabbed the corrupted spear, its presence leaving a permanent corrupted mark on the wall, and then I opened the door and walked outside. I made sure to take note of the architecture of the building. I needed to find more notes from the civilization, and also, I needed to find where the man had gone.

Finally, after a few minutes of memorization I left in search of new information.

* * * * *

Elsewhere, the Hero of Arlas stood before a gigantic structure. A monolith of corruption, his great sword glinting as he took a deep breath.

“Now it’s time to cleanse this area…”

And then, he attacked the heart of the corruption, beginning to cleanse the corruption for the first time in centuries.