Chapter Thirty-Three

Dazed, Arden scanned the tiny desolate island. His gaze snapped to a black bird perched on the dry, cracked ground.

At first, he thought it was a statue, but then it tilted its head to the side, bringing one deep emerald eye into line with his.

He froze as those eyes looked familiar. Too familiar. They were the same as his own.

To make it worse, there was intelligence behind those eyes. He knew some birds were smart, but it almost felt like the bird was calculating something while staring at him.

Several seconds passed as they stared at one another before the bird lifted one wing. Without a hint of magic, words appeared on the ground.

“Complete the communion to unlock our birthright.”

Arden looked back up, only to find the bird missing. In the next moment, a yank shot him backwards as if connected to a bungee cord stretched to its limit.

The next thing he knew, he was staring blankly up at the sky through a canopy of trees. Mind snapping into focus, he shot upright to find himself in the middle of the clearing.

Confused, he scanned his surroundings, but the platform was nowhere to be found. The rest of the cleared appear to be the same. He moved his hand to push himself up to his feet, coming into contact with something. Figuring it was his spear, he looked down.

Eye wide, he stared at a translucent wood staff. Upon wrapping his hand around it, he felt a pulse of magic from the staff. It felt warm to the touch and nearly weightless.

He delved deeper with his mana sense and jerked back. The staff blazed blinding bright in his senses. Too bright. The staff had so much mana packed into it, he didn’t know how it didn’t explode.

Yet despite the power stored within, he couldn’t help but to grasp it. It was comfortable to hold as if it was made for him, which if he was right on its origin, it probably was. He wasn’t sure what the tree spirit wanted from him, but he wouldn’t pass up on an obviously powerful item.

Besides, he could feel it connected to him somehow. He wasn’t sure what that meant, but it probably had something to do with whatever the tree spirit did when he used the Race Purification card.

At the thought of the Race Purification card, he scanned his body, but nothing seemed out of place as far as he could tell. Same height, despite feeling like he shrunk right before he entered that weird place with the bird. His skin still had the tanned complexion that all desert elves had from being a desert focused race and his long black hair fell into his gaze, proving it was the same color it always was.

He tucked the strands behind his familiar pointed ears. It might be a good idea to get a haircut once he returned to civilization.

Whatever the card did, it didn’t seem to change his physical appearance. That realization caused him to peer inward. At first, nothing seemed out of place. His veins seemed a little wider and tougher, but otherwise appeared healthy, as if copious amounts of mana didn’t just flood them.

Even his mana core didn’t seem too odd, though now it was mostly a deep green with slight tinges of the other shades of green. The power he felt was nowhere to be found, however.

Before he entered the weird island with the bird, he felt it enter somewhere deeper, so maybe it was waiting for something to trigger it.

A shiver ran through him at the thought of so much mana flooding his body again. If he was right about the message the bird left, he needed to complete the last step to reach grade one. Maybe that was the key to trigger the changes the card brought.

Was it a good idea to trigger such an explosive rank up in the middle of a potentially hostile forest? Did he have much choice in the matter? If the tree spirit was right, the fairies wouldn’t accept him without purifying his race.

His parents told him it was better to wait to enter grade one until after gaining his class, though. Something about earning better rewards because he completed the quest without access to his own mana, but was it worth risking failing his quest because of it?

Acceptance from the fairies was likely the key to completing his quest, or at least in unlocking the next step. The idea of another stage to the quest sent a pang of worry through him as he realized he didn’t have much time left.

He brought up his quest information, worry building.

An era long past (Legacy).

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

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

The spirits of the first granted you their blessings, but is it enough for the fairies to find you worthy?

3 spirit blessings.

Time Limit: 2 hours.

Only three gave him their blessings? Though now that he thought about it, that made sense. He didn’t leave a great impression on the poison or fungi spirits. What did the blessings even do? Maybe it had something to do with the staff.

Always more questions than answers.

A footstep reached his sensitive ears. They twitched, pinpointing the source, causing him to spin to his right, but nothing was there.

Paranoid, he raised his new staff ready to whack anything that jumped out as he approached the dense foliage, only to think better of it. He didn’t want to blow himself up if the mana packed staff exploded on contact.

With one eye on the source of the sound, he scanned the area the platform used to be, but his spear was nowhere to be found. Maybe whatever made the platform and the trees holding it up disappear took his spear too.

No time to make a new one. He leveled his potentially explosive staff at the treeline, but upon approaching, he found nothing. With a frown, he poked around the area just to be sure.

Movement to his left sent him spinning, but before he could clobber the target, a familiar snake made her way up his leg, then nestled herself on his head. His tense shoulders relaxed slightly. The snake must have made the sound.

That was when he remembered the massive stack of cards in her jaws when she left. His hand slipped into his robe, but all he found was his stash of cards.

Despite himself, he felt a stab. Did the snake not trust him to carry her stash anymore?

The feeling passed a moment later. Whatever. It didn’t matter to him. Once he left the dungeon, he wouldn’t see the snake again. Why did he care about her stash of cards, anyway? Sure, he would love to raid the stash, but they weren’t his to take.

He shifted his mind from the small snake coiled atop his head back to the quest he had less than two hours to complete. The quest description hinted at visiting the fairies again, but should he connect his soul tether first? With the snake nearby, he might be safer, if only because of its presence.

His parents seemed insistent that held off though. What were the chances the fairies would give him a third attempt if they rejected him before he reached grade one?

A numbing stab broke his thoughts. The numbness passed in moments, but it was enough for him to focus on the outside world again. Dangling in front of his vision was a tail which pointed in the direction the fairies should be.

Well, the snake seemed to want him to visit the fairies now, but if she was so insistent, why didn’t she just go by herself? Did something block her? Yet again, more questions and without a tree spirit translator, he couldn’t understand the snake.

The pause seemed to be enough to annoy the snake further, causing something shocking to happen. A flat feminine voice tinged with annoyance spoke in his head. “Hurry! We don’t have much time. If you don’t, I’ll be stuck here for forever!”

Surprised gave way to annoyance, remembering all the times the snake bit him to get his attention. “You can talk? Why didn’t you talk before?”

All he received was another numbing bite. The temptation to stay where he was burned strong, but he also refused to sink to the snake’s level.

Still, he shook his head, sending the snake slithering down his back, then he began walking toward the path out of the former wood attuned trial clearing.

Even before he reached the path, the snake returned to his head but didn’t retaliate, likely satisfied it was getting its way.

Nothing jumped out at them as they traversed the path returning to the intersection. He paused, worried the fairies would reject him as the snake fidgeted atop his head.

If her escape hinged on him meeting the fairies, that meant she thought he would pass. That or the snake needed him to fail to succeed herself. The tree spirit mentioned the snake also had a legacy quest, so maybe he was the key to complete her quest.

He needed answers, and now that he knew the snake could talk, he had a source of answers. So instead of venturing further, he stayed where he was and broke the silence.

“I need answers. Why do you need me? Can’t you just go on your own?”

There was a long pause before her voice spoke in his head. “Quest condition.”

As he thought but he wasn’t satisfied. “Does this quest condition hinge on me passing?”

A slightly longer pause followed as the snake seemed to think through what to say before she answered. “Yes.”

Eyes narrowed, he pushed further. “Yes, what?”

The snake fidgeted on his head as her flat voice gave way to one of desperation. “Yes, I need you to pass for me to complete my quest!”

Arden’s eyes widened at the emotion he felt in the voice. He almost felt bad for the snake. It seemed desperate to escape for whatever reason. Though he couldn’t blame her. Who knew how long she was in the forest? At a certain point, it probably became torture to stay in the dungeon.

He wasn’t to that point yet as he still had plenty to gain, but based on the stack of cards the snake possessed the same couldn’t be said about the snake.

Curious, he sent his senses toward the snake. For the first time, he actually focused on how strong the snake was. With her emotional turmoil, which translated to an erratic aura, it didn’t take much to gauge her strength.

Around the same as him. Why did he think she was much stronger? Maybe it was some racial bonus that gave her advantages.

Whatever the reason, it didn’t matter now that he had his answer, there wasn’t much point in delaying. If she insisted on him visiting the fairies now, despite having hours left, that meant she was confident about his success or desperate enough. She may know more about what was to come.

That thought pushed him forward to the relief of the snake atop his head, who fidgeted less as he walked down the path but wasn’t completely still, displaying her own nervousness.

Like last time, he felt potent mana radiating from ahead, but this time, he weathered it fine. The only effect was a slight warming.

That changed the further he traveled down the path. It was like he walked through hot water, but he refused to back down. One foot in front of the other, he pushed onward.

Soon all he could focus on was the super-heated mana pouring into him and pushing against him.

Suddenly, the heat and pressure vanished.

He blinked, vision refocusing. When it did, any air he had in his lungs vanished. He stared ahead in a daze, both in fear and wonder. Hundreds of little winged beings fluttered about surrounding a shining boulder sized deep green crystal.