Chapter Thirty-One

Arden awakened with a groan. He clenched his eyes closed to stave off his blinding bright, spinning surroundings.

Unfortunately, even with his eyes closed, it didn’t stave off discomfort. Any twitch sent a jolt of pain through his wrung-out body. Blissful blackness overtook him soon after.

When he next awoke, any previous pain was nowhere to be found. In fact, a energizing energy radiated through him. This time, when he opened his eyes, his vision snapped into focus to reveal the ceiling of the hut.

Pops sounded as he sat up, but other than a bit of stiffness, his body felt better than ever.

“Finally awake? Good, I was worried you may oversleep.”

Still not fully awake, Arden commented, “Oversleep?”

In the next moment, his mind snapped into focus, gaze shooting down to his rapidly flashing Ortus bracelets. They flashed far faster than ever, as if they tried to draw his attention to something urgent, and urgent it was when he opened his menu.

An era long past (Legacy).

Survive the ancient forest below a forgotten civilization and uncover its secrets.

You have encountered the home of the fairy. They found you unworthy of their gifts. Prove yourself worthy by completing the trials of the firsts of life.

5/5 Trials Completed

Time Limit: 4 hours.

A jolt of panic shot through him. He shot to his feet and turned to leave, but a force forced him back. Unlike every other hut, the force didn’t push him out, but kept him in. Eyes wide with panic, he spun back to the chunk of wood that housed the presence.

“Patience. There is still plenty of time. Running to the fairies now won’t help you. It may even hurt you.”

Arden pushed against the pressure as he tried to turn back to the exit. “Easy for you to say! I could ruin my future if I let the timer run out.”

The presence spiked, crushing Arden. Before he knew what happened, he crashed to his knees. On instinct, he lashed out at the pressure with his own aura, but unlike last time, whatever dwelled within him didn’t help. A deep exhaustion hit him when he tried to push.

“Your body may have recovered, but healing your soul isn’t so easy. It is a miracle you didn’t do permanent damage. Only the foolish stretch their souls so far past their capabilities. If I hadn’t pulled you back, you would be a husk. Now quit fighting. The fairies won’t accept you as you are. You barely reach the minimums with your diluted blood. Even at your best, it may not be enough.”

Arden slumped, seeing no point in fighting the force. The presence knew more about the forest than he did. Why question its word? It was an ancient, all knowing tree spirit.

He stiffened as the spark within sputtered. It was far too weak to push back the presence, but it gave him enough of a jolt to question what was happening. Tree spirit? How did he know it was a tree spirit? Was it messing with his thoughts again?

The spark within him flashed as if to confirm his thoughts. Rage ignited, he pushed himself to his feet and glared at the chunk of wood, but all he received was an amused flutter before it spoke.

“Marvelous. Even with your diluted blood, it is awakening nicely. Maybe in time it will awaken on its own, but by then it will be too late. Even if it wasn’t it would lack the potency you need. You have the potential. It just needs to be purified. Fortunately, we have just the solution if the greedy little snake gives it up.”

Finally catching on, Arden’s mind flashed back to the shining card the snake claimed from the lamia. What would a race purification card do for him? He was an elf, sure, some odd combination, but what would make him more elven do? His parents tested him and didn’t find anything unusual.

Unless they lied? He wouldn’t put it past them to lie about something if it benefitted him in the end. They dumped him in the dungeon and had a bunch of cards pre-prepared for his Ortus Initiation. They had to know something. Even they wouldn’t prepare a bunch of nature affinity cards for a desert elf unless they had a suspicion.

His suspicion grew as his mind replayed the seemingly unconnected threads of his childhood. What was the chance they raised him in a village so close to a perfect environment to nurture his nature affinity in the middle of the desert?

Sure, his mother said they had other plans in case Ortus initiated him into a different affinity, but something told him that was a lie. They had to know all along there was a high chance he initiated into nature affinity.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Also, there was the fact they settled down in some isolated village when they were far strong enough to find a better place. They could have easily found a place to live closer to Magna Vita Urbs, where there were a lot more resources.

He didn’t doubt they loved him, so their decision to raise him where they did had to have a reason. They never seemed worried about someone finding them. They never hid their strength from the other villagers or whenever travelers wandered through, so they picked the place because it would help him, which meant the dungeon.

The tree spirit remained patient as Arden’s mind ran through many realizations, face morphing from disbelief to self-depreciation.

He should have realized something was off a long time ago. Just the fact they changed the subject every time he questioned things should have tipped him off.

One thing was for sure. He would force answers out of them the next time he saw them. No more avoiding he would get his answers. They hid things from him, no matter their reasons.

Arden released a long sigh and returned his attention to the chunk of wood, anger gone. “So, I need the Race Purification card from the snake?”

“Yes, the card will do the snake no good. Actually, giving it to you may solve her predicament, but convincing her of that fact may be difficult.”

He smothered an internal wince at calling the snake it all this time. To be fair, she tried to kill him multiple times and hadn’t been the friendliest to him when she wasn’t trying to kill him.

Now that he thought about it, she did seem like a spoiled princess. Was that why the card wouldn’t help her? A little snake couldn’t be the peak of her race?

As if sensing his thoughts, the tree spirit broke the silence. “Both yes and no. The card would elevate her race a small margin, but nothing more than what she would grow into naturally and even then, it wouldn’t bring her any closer to her goals.”

Used to his parents’ crypticness, he asked the obvious question, not expecting an answer. “I’m guessing you won’t tell me what she wants?”

A flutter of amusement radiated through the hut. “To escape the dungeon, of course.”

In the next moment, something landed on his head, followed by a familiar jab of numbness. A small scaly head hung down in front of his eyes, pouty annoyance in its eyes.

In a blink, she struck his nose, numbing his face, but Arden smirked when the numbness and bite mark healed just as quickly.

A long hiss reached his ears as the snake head retreated out of sight. Out of spite, she pulled on his hair as she nestled into her hair nest.

Based on the snake’s reaction, he knew she understood them, so he asked, “What do you want for the card? You heard the tree spirit, the card won’t help you escape.”

A series of hisses greeted him, but since he didn’t understand the snake, he didn’t know how to respond. Something told him it wasn’t something he wanted to give up.

Fortunately, the tree spirit joined the negotiation, if one could call it that. “I wonder what your parents would think about that?”

The shifting snake suddenly grew deathly still. So still that he could barely feel the feather light snake atop his head.

Several seconds of silence passed before the snake hissed again. The response was a rapid series of hisses that Arden felt had an annoying, spoiled tone mirroring the time a noble high elf heiress traveled through their village. Fortunately, that annoying girl hadn't stayed long. In fact, the girl wanted to leave just as much as everyone wanted her gone.

A flutter of amusement filled the hut. “Oh yes, I would dare. I think I would enjoy the result.”

The next series of hisses seemed much more subdued, but still defiant. “Young one, that card will do you no good. Also, because it’s pretty isn’t a good reason. I thought you wanted to escape the dungeon? Will you throw away the chance out of stubbornness? If your parents heard you threw away your chance at a legacy class after all the work they put in, they would be quite disappointed.”

Arden jolted at the revelation. Legacy class? Were they competing for the same class? Was that why she didn’t want to give up the card? How? Only humanoid races had classes given by Ortus. Just the fact the snake didn’t use her cards proved she didn’t have access to the Ortus menu.

Yet again the tree spirit answered him, proving it had some mind-reading powers, or maybe he was that obvious. “This stubborn little snake is more than she seems. Not that she could prove it until she gives in and hands over the card. Since she seems intent on keeping the card, her current form may as well be her true form, as I doubt another opportunity like this will show up again anytime soon. Eventually, her parents may come retrieve her, but I wouldn’t put it past them to let her stew here for a while as punishment.”

So, she isn’t from the dungeon? Was she in a similar situation to him? That seemed to be too much of a coincidence. The spirits hinted it had been a long time since the last time someone took the trials. Plus, before they met the fairies, the snake seemed to be repelled from the platforms like the other creatures of the dungeon. Unless she accomplished some condition. Maybe she had a quest like he did. No point in speculating when he could find out.

Arden stared at the chunk of wood, silently waiting for an answer to his questions. What he received brought both relief and disappointment.

“I can’t read your mind, young one. Only those of the mind affinity can read minds. I just guessed based on your aura and expressions. In this case, I’m assuming you want to know why the snake is in the dungeon and how she got here? Unfortunately, it isn’t my place to answer, and I doubt the little miss will divulge. Though I’ll say it’s for her own good and partially a punishment.”

A couple of hisses was the response. They seemed almost resigned, but still reluctant. “Good girl, maybe you learned something during your little exile after all.”

Rapid fire hisses filled the silent hut of a similar tone to the start of the conversation, but they lacked the bite from before. “Yes, I’m sure you will, but that involves giving up the card.”

Far slower than she usually moved, the snake slithered down his back into his robe, then into her stash.

After a few seconds of shuffling, a scaly head poked out from his robe, a shining card in her mouth. She dropped it into his hand before shooting back into his robe, then out faster than he ever saw the snake move.

Just as she exited the hut, he caught sight of a massive stack of cards in her mouth even bigger than the last time he saw it.

“Don’t worry, she will be back when she calms down. Now hurry up and use the card. Time is running out.”