The bones of the skeletal blight lay crumbled in a heap of green ooze that sizzled across the temple grounds. The temple itself was a black giant structure that gave off the air of impossible ancientness, its walls filled with vines that seek to reclaim the structure back to nature. On its stone columns that lined the entrance were carved depictions of gory deaths, its black gates bent and broken and, on that gate, lay the bodies of five ascenders, impaled in grotesque manners.
Ashira had turned and dry heaved, the sight of the dead ascenders almost driving Moyo to nausea. Their bodies had been stripped of armor; their flesh riddled with weird carvings that seemed to drive a spike of pain through his head whenever he stared at them for too long. He turned away and glanced back at the bones of the category 5 blight that were now on fire with green flames that Eogan seemed to have conjured. Ashira got her bearing and turned back to them,
“What horror could had done this to them?” she asked,
Moyo thought he was pretty sure the dead blight was the cause, seeing as they were all silver rankers, it would be by the undead hands of the diamond ranked blight. Eogan walked close to the bodies, slamming his staff on the ground as vines shot out and gripped the already weak gates, crumpling it while retrieving the bodies in a bed of vine,
“Usually, I would say the blight seeing as it’s the only horror in this already cleared dungeon, but looking at the bodies, I shudder to think of my theory” he said,
“And what would that be?” Moyo asked,
“self-mutilation, sacrificial ritual” he replied,
Ashira walked closer,
“don’t stare too long at the bodies, if I’m right those marking are abyssal made and they would leave you in pains if you stare at them too long” Eogan said,
“Learnt that the hard way” Moyo replied as Eogan nodded darkly,
“We need to leave this dungeon, report this matter to the silver guardian protecting the dungeon and get out of their way as no doubt the brigade would be turning up” Eogan said,
Moyo had hoped not to have any encounter with the brigade for a while, he might as well vanish from dungeon delving. However, if the case got reported, the delving guild may be obliged to hand in the name of the ascenders who were witnesses to the event. Eogan turned to them,
“Now that my secret is out, I can’t publicly walk around as a diamond ranker, the Azartes clan would take it as an insult to their power, hence I would need to leave this planet immediately” Eogan said,
Moyo glanced at the man Ashira called a plantsman, curious but not willing to even ask what that meant, he nodded. Stretching one hand out to the man,
“Thank you, for the protection and the advices” he said,
Eogan smiled, a sort of warm fatherly smile to children and in that moment, he felt ancient,
“You have a lot of questions, I know, and it isn’t my place to tell you. Just know that when you get strong enough or happen to be in house Kairos space, mention the name Eogan the green” Eogan said and tossed Moyo a green shimmering coin,
“Show this to any gold or diamond ranked ascender then and I would be aware of your position soon enough, be safe young ones, I will be watching your display in the tournament” he said as Moyo nodded,
Together they stepped out of the dungeon, Eogan shrouded back to bronze, stalk in his mouth as he nodded at them and disappeared. Moyo took in a deep breath and calmed himself, Ashira glancing skywards with her jaws clenched,
“I’m of the opinion we tell Mr. A first before this silver ranker, he gave us the mission anyways” Ashira said,
“True, but I’m guessing whatever branch of the delving guide in this world answers to the government, right?” Moyo asked,
“Yes, but I don’t feel particularly interested in entering political games on planets, especially when those games eventually involve the brigade” she said,
Moyo nodded darkly,
“True, but it would seem odd if we went straight to the delving guild, how are we going to contact the silver ranker anyways?” he asked,
Ashira brought out the parchment map that glowed and tore it in two as a presence settled over them, it felt pesky to Moyo who fought the urge to crush the power as it felt a bit weak to him. Ashira on the other hand, behaved like she hadn’t even noticed. Then Mira the silver guardian appeared in front of them, clad in her armor, one eyebrow raised,
“Be quick” she said,
“I have to watch that pesky silver ranker from the glowing sun kingdom”
“We encountered blights in the dungeon” Moyo simply said,
Mira paused, unsure if she had just heard what he said and, in a move, brought out a red rock and crushed it so fast, Moyo was sure she didn’t even consider the ramifications. Two auras of silver rank blazed to life and appeared next to Mira, oneclad in yellow armor, two large guns or as close to guns as Moyo could imagine were strapped to his back, with a pipe running from the weapons to his armor.
The other silver ranker was clad in black with a purple sash tied to his waist, floating in the air with arms covered in purple gauntlet that gave off the power of crushing strength. Moyo eyed the gauntlets, sure he could crush them if he really dedicated himself to it but kept mute, they were peak silver rankers in any case and any armaments they had on them was only an extension of their fighting capabilities.
The gold armored silver spoke first,
“You crushed the emergency beacon, what sort of issue would be on ground for a guardian of the red dust kingdom to require the help of a soldier of the sun?” he said,
Moyo guessed that was the silver ranker watching over the glowing sun kingdom, then that meant the man in black was from the black blade kingdom. The black blade surveyed him and Ashira and subsequently dismissed them,
“Well?” he asked Mira,
“blight” she said,
The two silver rankers paused and immediately sprang into action, delving into the dungeon Moyo and Ashira had just left before popping out a few seconds later,
“Total evacuation” the glowing sun said,
“Agreed,” the black blade said,
Together they conversed quickly before seemingly contacting their various kingdoms, Mira turned back to them,
‘that’s a category 5 blight, how did two silver rankers manage to kill it?” she asked, glancing at both of them,
Moyo spoke first,
“We didn’t, we were on a mission for the delving guild and entered the dungeon only to meet such sight” he said,
“Dead ascenders with inscriptions that drove pain into our heads written all over their bodies” Ashira complemented,
Mira eyed them dubiously, but apparently the story made a lot of sense, there was nothing two mid rankers could do against a category 5, theoretically. Moyo was hoping to test out his strength against it, but just remembering the amount of power and oddly enough a twisted form of authority it carried was enough to dissuade his warrior side from such endeavors.
A while later rows of marching soldiers in red, gold and black armor entered the wind barrier, behind them were banners depicting the different kingdoms. Moyo was amazed at how fast they mobilized, and apparently, so was Mira who stared at them. Then a man walked out from the red army clad in red armor himself, only with a cape of gold.
In his hand was a bastard blade, gold and shining with all the aura of a gold ranker. Yellow hair, brown eyes with a figure that seemed in place on the statue of a demigod given form. He walked closer as Mira knelt and the other two silver rankers from different kingdoms bowed at the waist in greeting. Ashira knelt, Moyo following suit as it seemed proper.
The gold ranker paused in front of them,
“Speak guardian” he said,
“Hold!” a voice said from behind,
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From behind the lines of both the glowing sun soldiers and black blades strode out two individuals. The glowing sun had a man in gold armor, bald head with an eye patch on one eye. Floating above his head were two orbs of golden light that radiated gold ranked power, while the black blade was a woman in black armor that seemed to suck in any form of light close to it.
Black cropped hair with a lithe shape, she had a long sword strapped to her back, a cold look on her face,
“This is a matter of continental safety commander Zortes, would you jeopardize the safety of the continent?” the bald-headed man said,
“Hold your tongue, lest I rip it from your mouth commander Lirun” the commander known as Zortes said
The female commander as Moyo guessed folded her arms and spoke,
“Now that we’re all here, perhaps we can get to the point, a blight in our dungeons is no small matter” she said,
“Indeed Pevina, speak guardian, who saw this blight?” Lirun asked,
Mira pointed to them a bit too quickly for Moyo’s taste,
“These ascenders claim to had been on a mission for the delving guild branch of the red dust kingdom my lord, they encountered the blight first” she said,
Moyo always thought there was only one gold ranked ascender per kingdom, and now that he was seeing differently, it seemed odd in retrospect how they’d only be one gold ranker in a kingdom. The three commanders turned to them and Moyo felt the gazes of three gold rankers settle on him like a weight, the sheer power astonishing,
“Speak silver rankers” Lirun said,
Ashira spoke this time, narrating their experience while taking delicate care to remove all traces of Eogan in the story carefully. At the end the commanders were ordering the silver ranked soldiers within their ranks to go into dungeons where ascenders had occupied and bring them out for a forced evacuation. They would help slay whatever dungeon boss occupied the bronze or silver ranked dungeons and safely bring out the ascenders.
In over an hour the job was done, disgruntled ascenders who sulked about their dungeons shut their mouths up upon seeing the gold rankers. Moyo and Ashira were taken in for questioning, but Moyo knew better than to believe they would be set free soon, not until the brigade member arrived that is. Marching out of the barrier, the army of the red dust escorted them back through the portal to the kingdom of red dust where they were escorted to the silver ring.
The army command was situated in the gold ring, a giant structure of crystal and brick, it was built in a square like structure, guards and men in armor patrolling round the building as the giant metallic gates opened up upon seeing the general at the front of the army. Inside the structure was a typical barracks, training took place on the grounds of the building. Men clad in simple shorts fought each other with an array of weapons, each wearing what looked like a tag that symbolized their specific ascension level by the colors on them.
The iron rankers who wore a rusted tag around their necks seemed to be involved with menial labor, Moyo had tried asking one of their guards about that but received no reply. He resolved to notice the workings of the army by himself, seeing as they were treated as nothing but suspects. Ashira sat quietly close to him, eyes closed as she pretended to be asleep, but Moyo could see how tensed she was, ready to spring into action at any given moment.
From his observations, the iron rankers were nothing more than recruits, aspiring experts willing to join the army and they were significantly more than the other rankers. The bronze rankers were mostly the ones on the field, training in all sorts of forms, from hand-to-hand weapons, to mana users and even body aura users going at it against themselves. The silver rankers were mostly the instructors of the bronze, clad in what Moyo assumed was the full training attire of a red robe with a black sash at the waist.
They eventually got to what looked like the administrative building and were led into the halls, Moyo noted it looked more like a palace than an administrative building. The first thing they encountered was a large golden statue of a man with a large Warhammer in his hands, pointing at something in the distance. Moyo read the description beneath the statue,
Jager Azartes,
Emperor of the red dust continent and all its kingdoms,
Prime diamond ranker and patron of the red dust army
So, this was the diamond ranker, Jager Azartes. The larger than life man had a beard that screamed Viking, a scar running down his left eye and a large canine beast at his side. Clad in armor so big, Moyo was sure it weighed a lot; however, his attention left the statue to the paintings on the walls and ground. Depictions of wars and a man kneeling before Jager himself and being bestowed a crown, probably the gold ranked king of the red dust kingdom seeing as he was in red armor with his helmet under his armpit as he took the knee.
They left the entrance and walked deep into the building, Ashira had been quiet all the while, never uttering a word and Moyo followed suit. They were led into a room where a man in military attire of a red top made of some material he was unfamiliar with, the love of the color red seemed prevalent in the kingdom. The man was a tall broad chested individual with a short-cropped hair and two blades strapped to either side of his waist, he gave off the aura of a peak level silver ranker and his demeanor was ice cold.
He sat in front of them, arms crossed,
“Ascenders Moyosore titan blade and Ashira three-fold style, supposed wandering ascenders looking for dungeons to delve and without a team no less.” He started,
“So far, since you entered the kingdom of red dust, you have conducted yourselves in a manner befitting your rank, then again, congratulations on the ascension to silver rank, as fast as it was anyways” he said,
Moyo heard the suspicion in his voice, that of an interrogator wondering how a level 160 bronze ranker managed to make it to silver rank that fast. Moyo nodded,
“Thank you” Moyo simply said,
The interrogator seeing as how Moyo had answered simply turned to Ashira,
“Now it says here that you got the job to investigate the dungeon from Mr. A of the delving guild?” he asked her,
“yes” she said,
“And you weren’t suspicious why an organization would employ two ascenders not even to the peak of silver rank yet on such dangerous mission?” he asked,
“In his words, he said we would be inconspicuous,” she replied,
The man nodded along,
“And after clearing your dungeon, you entered the dungeon?” he asked,
“Indeed, where we saw the dead blight and the desecrated bodies of the ascenders laying on the broken fence” she said,
The man drummed his hands on the table, glancing at the both of them, Moyo sighed and closed his eyes, he could at least grab a bit of sleep. He heard the fingers pause, keenly aware the eyes of the interrogator were on him,
“Do I bore you Mr. titanblade?” he asked,
Moyo cracked his eyes open and gave him a level headed stare,
“You and I both know we have no idea what killed the blight, cause it sure isn’t a team of mid ranked silver rankers,” Moyo said,
“But with the brigade soon to hear of this matter, you need a scapegoat, a person to blame it on, and you know you can’t blame us, right?” he completed,
“I assure you Mr. titanblade, no one plans to blame you” the interrogator said,
“Look interrogator…” Moyo said, pausing and staring at the man expectantly,
“Jaal, interrogator Jaal” the man said,
“Interrogator Jaal, the only reason we’re here is to show some semblance of control, and I understand, however I’d be grateful if we could get this over with” he finished,
Interrogator Jaal stared for a few seconds and sighed,
“ensure you remain in the kingdom of red dust, we might inquire of you for more interrogation when the brigade’s representative shows up, plus you leave the safety of the walls of red dust and any of the other two kingdoms could pick you up easily for interrogation” Jaal said,
“Besides, it would be a shame to be treated like a criminal by the other two kingdoms”
Moyo smiled,
“Oh, don’t worry about us, we’ll be just fine” Moyo replied.
They were escorted out of the building, left in the grounds of the barracks where trainings were seemingly being packed up. The iron rankers were nowhere to be found and the bronze rankers were making their way into a series of buildings Moyo assumed were their quarters at the far left side of the barracks. He and Ashira made their way to the gates of the barracks, walking out into the silver ring proper where different vehicles of shapes and sizes flew overhead or moved on the cobbled roads.
Ashira sighed and cracked her neck,
“Delving guild?” she asked,
“definitely” he replied,
Together they began navigating their way down to the exit of the silver ring, passing the ring square where different building littered the horizon. From the delving guild branch which they saw, to a loot market in from of a very tall building that they stopped by to sell the loots and dungeon core with them. The entirety of the loot with them amounted to 500 gold coins, with the exception of the rock armor that had been destroyed during the fight with the blight.
Ashira kept all the coins, seeing as Moyo had no physical pouch to store coins and his vault wasn’t an option. He however took 50 gold coins and went in search of any food stall, coincidentally finding another seller who had the roasted meat he learnt was from an avian creature that was found west of the kingdom. Splurging 10 gold coins on the delicacy, he and Ashira finally made their way to the silver gates of the ring, the peak silver rankers who guarded the gates nodding at them as they passed through.
They had earlier put in 5 gold coins each for a tag of their respective ranks and were expected to retrieve them by sun down on that same day. As they walked out of the gates, Ashira spoke,
“you’re awfully quiet” she said,
“I could say the same for you” he replied,
“Just letting my mind catch up to what we just went through”
Moyo glanced upwards, squinting at the sun that shone down on them,
“The blight or the interrogation?” he asked,
“Both, that blight didn’t magically get there, plus you heard what Eogan said, those ascenders were actively summoning it, something I have only heard of before” she said,
“it’s been done before?” he asked,
She nodded as they resumed their walk,
“Rumors, a certain cult that has been nothing more than terrorists in the archailect, can’t say their name, it actively triggers some sort of response from the brigade and I’d hate to draw attention to ourselves so soon” she said,
“There are cults in the archailect?” Moyo asked again,
“Sure, a few, the notable ones are the 6 cults of the supreme beings, not that the supreme beings ever recognized them in recorded history, but they all follow one aspect of each of the supreme beings, and usually they just do their own thing” she said,
“At the end of the day, they’re the same as us, ascenders, just fanatical in their beliefs”
“Are they also unmentionable?” he asked, she shook her head,
“No, they’re fairly known and, in some galaxies, accepted even. most people just don’t view their fanatical adherence to one particular aspect of a supreme being as healthy” she explained
“In what way?”
“The cults focus their ascension on only the particular aspect of the supreme being and forsake the rest. For example, the cult of Alastor, supreme being of edges use only intent. No mantles, no aura, no mana, no technological weapons, just blades” she said,
Moyo scrunched his eyebrows in confusion,
“That would make them vulnerable to those with those powers” he said,
Ashira shrugged,
“I don’t really know much about the cults, but from what I’ve heard, they are so invested in their aspects that they can battle those with all other powers to a standstill, oh and a master controls each of the six cults"
"No rulers?" he asked,
"Not that anyone has heard or known off,” she completed,
“So, this cult that must not be mentioned, they aren’t part of the six?”
“No, they follow the teachings of something darker, dark enough to have ties to the abyss it would seem” she said,
“This feels like something way over our head” Moyo replied,
“I agree, it’s why we need to get to the delving guild and get ourselves out of whatever is brewing in this world” she said.