Round 1

I put it around my neck, and then it began. I heard something furiously flapping in the kitchen, and suddenly a bird attacked me from behind the door. It must have squeezed through the tiny crack in the window; otherwise, I have no idea how it got in there. It was frenzied, and I barely dodged its aggressive dive. I had to swat at it multiple times when it tried again. I screamed, but luckily managed to muffle it partially, not to alert the neighbors.

"If you don’t stop, I’ll have to shoot you, and it’ll be the first time I’ve ever killed anything like this! What’s wrong with you? Could you be sick?"

No sooner had I finished speaking than the bird collapsed to the ground as if some invisible force had hurled it down, breaking its neck. I wanted out of this cursed place. But on the balcony, there were suddenly hundreds of birds, swarming like giant larvae. They hopped over each other, pecked, and tried to reach me no matter what. The sight gave me a panic attack!

I panicked! "What am I supposed to do now?" I thought. "I can’t just leave through the door; besides, it probably wouldn’t work, since it’s sealed by a notary from the outside."

Thud! Another bird crashed weakly right into the living room window, making me jump. "What the hell is going on?"

I pulled my crossbow from my back and prepared to defend myself.

I had to shoot two of them because one scratched my ear when it flew into my hair, and another tried to peck my eyes out! Thank goodness I’d practiced so many times before, aiming at various targets. In the end, I didn’t even feel sorry for them. They were like monsters, creatures that wanted to devour me. That’s exactly how I saw them.

I didn’t want to stay there another minute! I had two options: either call for help and have to explain everything, or face these birds myself. I chose the second option. (+1 aura point)

I grabbed a blackened tablecloth and, with a dull kitchen knife, made two holes for my eyes. Then I threw the cloth over my head. Not a bad shield, right? What else was I supposed to do?

I opened the balcony door in a panic, and they all flew into the apartment as if summoned. I don’t even know how I managed to slip back out, but I was shaking on the stairs for a whole hour afterward. I think that was the moment I realized I had ornithophobia. Really!

Does it surprise you that I went back there? Of course I did, even though I had nightmares for three nights after that incident and felt like the shadow of that shriveled old lady was haunting me. So, what drew me back?

The stone was somehow defective. I couldn’t explain it any other way at the time. I couldn’t take it off. I slept with it, bathed with it, and wore it to school despite the teasing from my classmates.

But they didn’t know that I had started experiencing strange visions. Maybe that was my only stroke of luck; otherwise, they might have sent me to some children’s institution for the insane. The stone opened doors in my mind, revealing a consciousness far beyond anything I’d known before.

And that’s not all. My hands suddenly became a source of some electromagnetic energy. For instance, I managed to heat up cold tea in a mug without even touching it. Or I cracked a bathroom tile just by staring at it intensely while I was in the bathtub.

Naturally, I didn’t tell anyone about this, not even my mom. She did find it odd, though, where I had gotten such a piece of jewelry, and I fed her probably the worst excuse my twelve-year-old brain could come up with—I told her I found it lying in a bush. Can you believe that?

Anyway, I went back there because I couldn’t stop thinking about those birds gnawing on that dried-up mummy, and I was also curious about what other treasures poor Mrs. Grügman might have hidden there. Ready?

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Round 2

My shock was even greater when I found that all the birds had died. It was disgusting, and they’d started to stink. Feathers were everywhere. Even today, I can’t find the words to describe that scene. The smell of death, like visiting its very nest. I covered my nose and carefully stepped over their twisted bodies.

In the living room, I had another surprise waiting for me. The woman had moved, of course. I tell you, she got up and walked several meters before collapsing again from exhaustion. How was that possible? I didn’t know back then. I just had a hunch that her soul had never really left that sealed apartment, but in my shock, I didn’t dwell on it. I guess I’d grown used to fear by then, right?

My gaze landed on the black, ingrained stain now on the empty chair. That stain is something I can’t erase from my memory. Maybe worms once bred in it or something, I don’t know. But it was alive.

It oozed and started to follow me along the floor and walls like her shadow. I wanted to vomit, stuffing my knuckles into my mouth and trying to shut my eyes, to calm myself down, convincing myself it was just my imagination. But it kept intensifying.

I kept evading it—I was faster, after all—while opening drawers and peeking into old closets filled with clothes completely chewed up by moths. I felt like I was in a trance, and call it what you will, but I justified it to myself because the woman was no longer alive, and those things belonged to no one.

One thing that caught my eye in my rush was a fold-out bar that, instead of liquor, was filled with bottles of various clotted liquids and a collection of dried herbs. That woman was undoubtedly some kind of herbalist.

I grabbed a few bottles and shook some of them to mix the contents. One actually looked like liquid pearl. The other two were mediocre, though that bright yellow one, even through the cork stopper, smelled like piss. I stuffed them in my pocket without a second thought. (potions total +3)

The stain was almost upon me, and I suddenly felt as if someone was screaming into my face, breathing on me. Before I even knew what was happening, a flash burst from my hand and illuminated all the metallic objects in the room. Suddenly, decorative spoons and other metal trinkets, including figurines, coins, and strange dice resembling those used in tabletop games, flew from somewhere. (rhodium +352Rp)

They all crashed onto that bizarre entity with a clatter, and the spoons seemed to press their rounded backs into it, scraping at the filth. I took a few of those dice as well, to examine them later.

I ran to the last closed room, which I assumed was the bedroom. I wanted to slam the door shut behind me, but it fell off its hinges.

Then someone started banging on the front door. And suddenly, I was terrified they’d discover me there.

“Hello! Who’s there? What’s all that noise?” I heard Mrs. Pels shouting as she knocked on the sealed door. “Mr. Fors, if you broke into that apartment, I’ll make sure the authorities know about it. Handle it however you want! Can you hear me? Don’t pretend you can’t hear me, because I know you can! Are you in there?”

Suddenly, there was silence, and I was pretty sure she was straining her failing hearing by pressing her ear against the door.

“Hmph! If it turns out you secretly expanded your place, you won’t get away with it. I’m telling you, this will be a big scandal. Good day!” she said indignantly, and I heard the shuffle of her feet in the hallway before she slammed her door.

I looked down at my hands. How did I do that? I tried waving my hands a few times, but nothing. There was some other magic at work. I was definitely getting better at it. Somehow, I already knew in my mind that all that energy flowed from my consciousness, drawing strength from the stone. Geomancers would surely find out about it in time.

Suddenly, a picture fell off the wall. I was so startled I nearly stopped breathing. And then flies started pouring out of the corpse, at first just a few, but soon an entire swarm emerged from her stomach, and I covered my face, trying to burn them with flashes of light. (Elúvéris -1%)

But they kept landing on me, and I swatted them away, retreating. I even swallowed a few and gagged, tripping over something behind me and falling right into that cursed, fallen painting.

Profile

* Elúvéris (Magical Vitality): – 99%

* Health Vitality: – 100%

* Light Resonance (Magical Power): – 1

* Progress Level: – non-mage

* Aura (Mental Barrier): – 2

* Potion Crafting Skill: – 0

* Total Potions: – 3

* Rhodium: – 352 Rp

* Unlocked Items: – 1

* Tamed Creatures: – 0

* Overall Progress: – Level 1

+Location Completion – Abandoned Apartment of Old Mrs. Grügman