The door threw up a cloud of dust as it swung silently open. Cautiously, the group swept into the temple discovering no resistance. Jack’s eyes traced over every inch of the wide foyer that served as the entrance chamber for the temple. The room itself sported layers of dust which coated every surface from the decrepit stone benches positioned next to the doors to the vases in each corner of the room. After a moment, Raina and Alindal relaxed slightly.

“Looks clear. Should we move on?” Raina said over the mind-link. In order to avoid being overheard, they had agreed to stick to mental communication.

In response, Jack held up a hand. He crept forward eyeing the floor suspiciously for traps. Upon reaching the door on the other side of the foyer, Jack examined it thoroughly then pressed his ear against its metallic surface. Next, he released the self-imposed limiter on his hearing for the first time since his transformation. The effect was a bit different than he remembered. Through the metal door, Jack could hear the sound of creatures moving about in the chamber beyond. However, the difference wasn’t in the strength of his hearing. He closed his eyes and he could roughly picture the room past the door.

There were ten creatures walking about in the chamber. Six were two-legged based on the rhythm of their steps while the others were four-legged. Additionally, the room was much larger than the foyer in which they stood, so Jack guessed it must be the main chamber of worship. Assuming the bipedal creatures were lightweavers, the quadrupeds were likely the light beasts in the service of the Eternal Light. The beasts didn’t sound very large. He turned back to the group who were watching him curiously with the exception of Alindal who was busy running his hands over the elaborate motifs carved into the walls.

“We’ve got ten enemies waiting for us,” Jack said. “Six lightweavers and four quadrupedal creatures that are roughly the size of a dog. There are probably more of them deeper in the temple but that’s what I sense in the next chamber.”

“Were you using a Skill?” Cordan asked.

“No,” he answered tapping his ear. “I just have really good hearing.”

Cordan shook his head while Raina expressed her surprise. “That’s not good hearing, that’s insane! What are you part bat?”

“Maybe, but I’ll leave it to your imagination,” he said smirking.

Raina pouted but he ignored her and addressed Cordan and Alindal. “Ready for a scrap?” Everyone nodded after taking their places behind him. He placed a hand on the inner door. “Remember, don’t kill the lightweavers. We need them alive.”

Cordan’s voice sounded over the mind-link. “Alright. Alindal, do you have any methods of dealing nonlethal damage?”

“Yes,” Alindal answered right away. “With water or wind magic and the Weaver’s Needle, I should be able to disable the lightweavers instead of killing them or at the very least, disrupt them enough for someone else to incapacitate them.”

“Good. Jack, since you have a blunt weapon, you can help incapacitate the lightweavers. I’ll cover you. Raina, your job is to keep any enemies off Alindal. Can you do that?”

“Heck yeah!” Raina responded. Another bit of excitement slipped through the mind-link. Jack gave her a sidelong glance and had to stop himself from shaking his head when he saw her rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet; eyes set on the door.

“Someone’s getting all fired up,” he remarked. Raina actually managed to keep her facial expression focused, yet both the mild blush on her cheeks and the slight increase in her pulse after hearing his words betrayed her embarrassment.

Cordan who was ignorant of her reaction continued, “Ready up everyone. Even if this is a D-rank area, it could get dicey.”

With a thought, Jack summoned mental representations of his Ethos and Mana so he could keep track of them in the fight. He frowned at the lowered value of his Ethos due to the Logos ailment he’d received earlier and hoped it wouldn’t cause any problems. Once more, he counted down before pushing his way into the chamber.

The inside of the chamber was mostly bare with open space taking up the majority of it. Unlike the foyer, the main chamber was practically immaculate without a single speck of dust. Along the walls, Jack spotted several intact benches and stone ledges jutting from the wall. At the very back of the chamber opposite the group, a massive altar to the Eternal Light dominated the view. It was similar to the altar he’d seen in his vision of Arcen and the inquisitors, yet this one was far larger and more opulent in design. Atop the altar, a glowing yellow crystal hummed with latent energy that Jack could practically feel on his skin. To the left of the altar, another single engraved door presumably led deeper into the temple.

They moved quickly catching their enemies by surprise. Jack barreled toward the nearest enemies, a pair of lightweavers who turned toward the sound of their entrance. Immediately, he felt a surge of strength and speed.

[Cordan has used the skill Psycho Boost.]

+15 Might

+15 Agility

With Jack's Agility more than doubled, he reached the lightweavers surprising them about as much as him. Thankfully, he recovered faster than they did. He took one look at their gaunt forms and decided against hitting them with his metal club or his fist for fear of causing internal damage. Like a striking cobra, his hands flashed toward the pair gripping the collars of their robes. Their garb in hand, Jack lifted the lightweavers into the air and slammed them into the ground, careful to have them land on their backs instead of their heads. The maneuver worked, for the most part, although Jack’s technique was sloppy and one of the pair slipped his grasp sending the man skidding across the floor. Thankfully, his acute hearing provided assurance that he hadn’t killed his opponent since he was still breathing. He noted that despite being knocked unconscious neither lightweaver lost their grip on the lanterns they carried.

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

A creature comprised of golden metal and light raced past him toward the group while another came at his flank. The creature was fast. If it weren’t for Cordan’s buff, Jack wouldn’t have reacted in time to its attack. Lucky for him, he was fast enough. He sidestepped the creature’s pounce as a soft chant started to fill the air. He glanced toward the altar to see the remaining four lightweavers bowing their heads in prayer while holding their radiant lanterns out in the group’s direction. He dodged the four-legged creature’s attack again when it tried to take advantage of his split focus. The beast lowered its position digging its shining claws into the ground while its tail of light whipped back and forth.

Cordan shot a charge of magical energy from his sigil gun which struck the beast while its attention was on Jack. The force of the shot tore off one of the beast’s legs and sent it sliding a couple of feet. Despite the injury, it tried to get back up but Jack was there. One swift kick to the head carrying the force of his augmented Might caved in its head. He looked back in time to observe Raina bisecting the other light beast with her sword. Heedless of the danger, she charged the two remaining hounds who were standing between her and the chanting lightweavers. Jack moved as well.

He couldn’t help but appreciate the speed and finesse of Raina’s movements when she rolled under one of the beasts as it pounced and turned the momentum of the roll into a sword thrust to skewer the other. The attack only scored a glancing blow since the beast managed to dodge the stab, but it was still impressive. Jack turned his attention away from her fight. His target was the remaining lightweavers. As he passed, he heard the discharge of Cordan’s sigil gun and a pained cry from one of the beasts.

Sensing his approach, the lightweavers sped up their chant; however, Jack wasn’t the only threat. Alindal cast a spell from his position by the door. A burst of wind shot past Jack and slammed into the two leftmost lightweavers. They were blasted off of their feet and sent sprawling. Meanwhile, the last two raised their lanterns as they completed their chant. They began swinging the lanterns in circular patterns which left trails of light in the air. Their bright yellow robes shifted as they moved and shimmered strangely in the light of their lanterns. Jack reached them just as they stopped. The pair, a man and a woman, pushed their lanterns forward and shouted a single word in a language that Jack couldn’t understand. The word transformed into power which infused itself into the traces of light in front of the lightweavers in an instant. Instinct told Jack to dive to the side and he listened.

He felt a sudden heat on his neck as he dove out of the way. Glancing back, he saw a thin beam of light sweep through the area where he’d just been. He quickly determined the source of the attack when he dodged a second beam. Three orbs of light floated above the heads of the two remaining lightweavers for a total of six. The orbs released a barrage of lasers at Jack who only successfully dodged some of them even with his enhanced agility. Fortunately, the attacks didn’t inflict significant damage, but given the number of attacks being thrown out, he didn’t want to tank them all with his Ethos especially when they had only encountered half of the reported lightweavers and the penalty to his Stamina. The orbs continued to fire at him while he maneuvered around the room eventually finding cover by ducking behind the giant altar. The female lightweaver shouted angrily at him in their mysterious language.

“Al!” he called out. A moment later, a torrent of water blasted across the chamber. However, the lightweavers raised their hands in unison and a wall of solid light formed in front of the attack. It cracked and shattered under the force of Alindal’s spell, but it succeeded in spoiling his assault. Fortunately, the attack created an opportunity for Jack. He threw his metal club at the male lightweaver’s head holding back enough that he hoped it wouldn’t kill. Before the man even hit the ground, he activated the Magician's Manipulation Skill for the first time and reached for the water left on the ground from Alindal’s magic.

[Magician's Manipulation activated.]

Mana: 290/300 (-10 Mana/sec)

He intuitively understood how to use the ability even with his inexperience. The water swirled under the direction of his mind as he directed it toward the female lightweaver’s head. The woman turned on him after his weapon hit her companion in the head which left her oblivious to Jack’s ability. Nearly a dozen beams of light burned into the altar as he ducked back behind it. The water reached the woman’s head and coalesced around it forming a ball of water that cut off her airflow. The orbs of light over her head winked out as her concentration shattered. She clawed at the water in an effort to free herself but her hands simply passed through the liquid. He dashed from his cover toward her while she fell to her knees. Since he didn’t actually want to kill her, Jack released his control of the water which left her gasping for air. Before she could recover, he unceremoniously bonked her on the back of her head knocking her unconscious.

A brief scan of the room showed that Raina and Cordan had finished off the remaining light beasts. With no immediate threat in the room, Jack walked over to the door left of the altar and focused his hearing. He didn’t hear anything beyond the door so he moved away for the moment.

“Anyone hurt?” Alindal asked.

After a quick round of status checks, they determined that no one had suffered any injury. Jack set about checking the health of all of the lightweavers and sighed in relief when he discovered none of them had critical injuries. With that out of the way, Jack placed a hand on one of the lightweaver’s lanterns by the altar. He concentrated on identifying the object the same way he did with Relics. If this didn’t work, they were screwed.

[Congratulations, you have identified a Relic!]

Name: Lightbearer’s Lantern

These lanterns are carried by supplicants of the Eternal Light who offer their immortal souls in exchange for power.

Relic Grade: E

+3 Strength

+3 Focus

Relic Ability

Eternal Light’s Tribute

The user becomes tethered to the Eternal Light offering it their health and mind in exchange for power and inner peace.

Effect: -1 Ethos, Mana, and Vigor per minute.

[Warning: This is a Cursed Relic, equipping it will incur negative effects.]

A weight lifted from Jack’s shoulders as he processed the notification text. He could actually destroy the lanterns which meant the plan was a-go. Based on the description of their function and the explanation given by the Twilight King, he wasn’t surprised that the lanterns were Cursed Relics. Any Relic that inflicted detrimental effects on its user was considered a Cursed Relic. Most were considered unfit for use although some madmen existed who made use of such Relics. Wasting no time, he activated his World Core Skill.

[Activate Relic Dematerialization? Y/N?]

He selected yes and the lantern instantly dispersed into motes of light which were absorbed into his chest. Once the last mote disappeared into his body, another notification informed him of the result.

[1250 Eidos received.]

Honing in on the number, he discovered that the Lightbearer’s Lantern had given him five hundred Eidos and his Scion of the Logos trait had provided the other seven hundred and fifty. A smile curled onto his lips as he did some quick math in his head. Destroying all six lanterns would net him seventy-five hundred Eidos— enough to push him into D-rank immediately. He looked up to find the rest of the group eyeing him. He grinned wickedly and said through the mind-link, “We’re in business everyone!”

Getting up, Jack moved on to the next lantern.