Grumbling, Lanek made his way to the base of the monastery’s tower at Caelis’ direction. Apparently, there was a hidden hatch that led to the water source for the monastery. Man, these Talon people were paranoid. They were in this massive fortified city and still felt the need for more defenses. I mean, the city did fall, but they didn’t know it was coming. Or did they? No, that doesn’t make sense, according to Caelis the Order fell fighting the dungeon break.
He found the hatch after Caelis pointed out its exact location to him. Without her aid, he likely wouldn’t have found it, that’s how seamlessly it had been blended into the rest of the floor. Opening up the hatch, he saw a ladder extending into the darkness. Oh good, this looks perfectly inviting.
Lanek began climbing, only reaching the bottom of the ladder after ten minutes. At this point, even Caelis was complaining about the Order’s paranoia. Although, Lanek couldn’t help but roll his eyes. She didn’t have muscles to tire out by climbing. In fact, the damn spirit just floated down next to him while he climbed.
As he reached the bottom, lights activated, highlighting a wall with several glyphs upon it, each a different color. Before touching anything, Lanek looked around and found a room roughly the same size as one of storage rooms. There was no furniture or equipment, just the glyphs on the wall.
Lanek liked the look of the room as a panic room in case things went south really fast. He briefly considered making this his base of operation, but quickly discarded the idea. He would be damned if he went up and down that ladder every time he needed something.
“So, any idea what the glyphs on the wall are for?” he asked Caelis.
“Indeed. They are all activation glyphs, each for a different function. The yellow one should be avoided, it activates the lights for the entire monastery. The faint red one is for heating, it should provide hot water and heating elements for cooking. Unfortunately, it looks like its power source is failing or has failed entirely, so you can’t use it until you replace it. The purple glyph is for defensive wards, also out of power. The white one is for preservation, likely for food in the pantries and again, no power. Finally, the blue one is for the water. It looks like it has sufficient power, you just need to push some mana into it to turn it on.” Caelis explained.
Shrugging, Lanek placed his hand on the blue glyph and willed his mana into it. He felt a connection snap into place and his mana drain rapidly before the glyph glowed steadily. As the glyph came to life, Lanek noticed a blue line of light leading to a window that had not been there before. He looked at Caelis questioningly while gesturing at the window.
“It was covered until you activated the glyph. Like the hatch above, it was made to blend in seamlessly.” she replied.
Lanek walked over to the window and found himself staring into a large tank of water, filled with these glowing blue balls of light flitting about the chamber. There were dozens of the creatures in there, all just moving about without any rhyme or reason that he could see. Curious, he tried identifying them.
Water Wisp
lvl 1
Water wisps are water elementals that are often found in freshwater sources throughout the world. These creatures, unlike their more powerful cousins, are non-sentient beings that neither level up nor evolve. Water wisps exist to cleanse water and are often transplanted into corrupted water sources in an attempt to restore them. Occasionally, villages will pool their resources to acquire one for their well.
“Water wisps?” he asked Caelis.
“Ah, is that how they did it? Clever. It looks like they collect rainwater into this cistern and let the wisps keep it fresh and clean. Since you just woke the wisps up, I would recommend not drinking the water without purifying it yourself first for at least a few days.”
“Why did they need to be woken up in the first place?” Lanek asked curiously.
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“The wisps need a steady flow of mana to remain active, without it they will go dormant and hibernate. In the wild, they feed off of the ambient mana in the air. In here, the wisps would be fed by the glyph and its associated power source. I would guess that the power source simply shut off to preserve itself as the water wasn’t being consumed for so long.” she responded.
“Hmm, any ideas on how to provide power to the rest of the glyphs?”
“There should be power sources in here somewhere, we just need to feed them with mana. It won’t be easy, however. They are probably storing MP in crystals, but those typically need to be filled by dozens of people for weeks or months before they are full. I’m guessing the Order had multiple people rotating through here regularly to fill them.” The spirit explained.
“So, it would be pointless for me to try to fill them on my own.” Caelis nodded in response to Lanek’s statement.
“Well, shit. Guess we should just head back upstairs.” he grumbled.
“Yes, I want to go over those maps with you and you will tell me about your class.” Caelis’ tone made it clear that the last part was not a request. Lanek nodded before climbing the ladder and returning to the conference room, stopping by his new quarters to get his lantern as the sun was setting.
Caelis wasted no time, diving right into her questions. “How did you get Soulbinder? What skills do you have?”
Lanek, having expected something like this explained how he had received the class from the Primordial of the Wild and his two primary skills, [Soul Contract] and [Soul Shackle]. She listened thoughtfully, before taking a deep and wholly unnecessary breath.
“I honestly don’t know how to react to this. The Void and a Primordial getting involved? Things in the world must be more dire than I first assumed. However, I must tell you to be extremely careful with this class going forward.” she said.
“Why? What do you know about it?” Lanek asked, getting worried.
“Not a lot, to be honest. The class was already a thing of legend when I still lived, but the legends had nothing good to say about Soulbinders. The stories of my time caution us to eliminate Soulbinders as soon as they are discovered. But, the description the System gives you of the class doesn’t make it sound evil and the System never lies. It isn’t forthcoming, but it always tells the truth. The Soulbinders of the past must have been corrupted somehow.”
“Why do you say that? What did the stories say?” Lanek said, panicked at the thought that he would be hunted down.
“That Soulbinders were conquerors and dominators. From what the stories say, the Soulbinders of the past did not make contracts like you do, they enslave the souls of the dead. Once the soul was enslaved, the mind of the victim was destroyed, making them little better than undead. However, unlike a necromancer, the enslaved servants of a Soulbinder retained the skills and abilities they had while alive.”
“But, I can’t do anything like that. I can’t force anyone to do anything.” Lanek protested.
“Not yet. The truth of the matter is that these conquering Soulbinders did exist. Perhaps it is a choice, hence why I told you to be careful with your class. The wrong choice of evolution or even the actions you take could result in a corruption of the class and make you no better than the old Soulbinders. However, I can say with certainty that the class shouldn’t get corrupted without outside influence, the Primordials wouldn’t make something like that. Until now, I didn’t know that the Primordials were the source of the class.”
“That’s a lot to take in. I promise to take care with my class and speak with you about my evolutions before I make a decision. I can’t promise to take your advice, it is still my life, but I will consult you. Fair?” he asked.
“Yes, I understand. Now, no more needs to be said about the topic, at least not yet. Let’s take a look at the maps you have of this area, I want to bring something to your attention.” Lanek complied, sifting through the maps until he found one showing Caelis’ location. After placing the map on the table, Caelis continued.
“Look to the east, do you see that city? It is called Laethon and was our closest ally. Due to its proximity to Caelis and the Ashen Depths, its economy and power was also dependent on access to the dungeon. As such, we had a pact of mutual cooperation and defense, which worked much to our advantage as Laethon had some of the finest soldiers on the continent. It wasn’t as large as Caelis nor as populated, but it was heavily fortified. Adventurers from Laethon should have continued coming to the dungeon even after the city fell.”
“How long does it take to get there?” Lanek asked.
“Typically, it would take an adventurer four days to walk here or a day and a half to two days if they had a mount. Most travelers would stop in one of the villages along the way to rest for the night. There were several villages that were little more than collections of inns and farms on the road between Laethon and Caelis.”
“I’m guessing you want me to go to Laethon and investigate?” Lanek asked the pensive spirit.
“Yes, but I don’t know what you will find or what threats lie along the road.”
“Neither do I, I’ve not traveled to the east side of the city, much less beyond the east walls. I’ve tried to stay clear of the pit.” Lanek explained. “But, I’m willing to give it a try, but only after I’ve talked to Ograch. The Night Arrows may have been out that way and have some information.”
With that, Lanek decided to turn in for the night, rather tired from the revelations of the day. One thought haunted him until sleep took him. Could I really become like the old Soulbinders?