Kancor walked through the decaying grey forest, he avoided the razor sharp blue grass and sliced the few red vines that tried to attack him.
“This trip has been even more uneventful than the last…” He muttered. “The average level is 25, some regions are completely dead even.”
And it has been 15 years since I saw an animal. He thought.
He had been more than a century trapped in this island, at first the region was still full of life. Around a thousand humans lived spread in different villages and two greater elementals guarded the ruins at the mountaintops.
Now they are all gone… He hated it, he hated the land, he hated the air, he hated the curses that were imposed to him. He hated the people that he met and withered away. He hated himself, for surviving when everybody else didn’t.
He finally reached the end of the forest, a frontier created by a barrier to contain a deadly poison. “Please Theserea, harbinger of life, bless me with your power and grant me your protection.” He started casting the spell. “Poison immunity.”
His mana circuit glowed red as his spell activated and he stepped through the barrier. “I should try to change the incantation, I hate praying to her.”
After crossing the poisoned wasteland, he arrived at the outer rim of his base.
Notice: You have entered the domain: Hell’s paradise.
Kancor was greeted by the system when he left the poison. Back home, I can’t believe I’ve been out for 3 months already. I hope the spirit hasn’t gone mad while I was out. He thought about his apprentice, the mysterious spirit-like creature that he found some months ago.
She was an anomaly in almost any possible way. But she also was the first being to be naturally born in the deadlands, if you ignore plants of course.
Kancor couldn’t understand how it could happen. How can something pure be created in this decaying apocalypse? How can this poisoned mana serve as building material for such an uncorrupted creature?
“Welcome back Kancor.” Liz’s voice greeted him from inside the hut while he was lost in his thoughts.
“How did you know it was me?” He asked as he opened the door, but he froze when he saw her.
“My magic sense has levelled up a bit.” Liz said. “How is the world out there?”
“I think you are the one that owes me an explanation, what are you doing up there?” Kancor finally addressed the elephant in the room.
“Training.” Liz replied.
“YOU ARE HANGING FROM THE CEILING WITH MANA THREADS AND YOU CALL THAT TRAINING?!?!?” Kancor yelled.
“Yup.” She replied. “I must focus on their shape and strength or I will fall.”
Liz was hanging from the ceiling using several mana threads, not thicker than those used for tailoring. She was looking in the opposite direction from Kancor, and a spinning mana orb floated over her hand.
“Can you at least look at me while we speak?” He asked.
Liz rotated slowly, focused on maintaining her mana under control. Finally, she looked at Kancor with her purple pupils glowing. “So you are at least level 60 huh?”
“And you have acquired an identification skill.” He replied.
“I’m much stronger than before.” She said. “I don’t know how much time you have been out, but it was enough for me to increase my power a reasonable amount.”
“I can see that. Please tell me you haven’t killed any of my pets in the process.” He asked as he sat down.
“Please, the weakest was level 20, I doubt I could take it out even in a 1v1, let alone fighting the whole pack together.” The mana sphere in her hands splitted in half and formed two smaller copies, each of them turning in an opposite direction.
“Good point, but I'm pretty sure you have at least one or two tricks up your sleeve.” Kancor said. “Why don't you show them to me.”
“You said that you weren’t going to teach me anything else.” She replied in a cold tone.
“But I could always give you some advice about them. From the perspective of a warrior who is supposed to fight against mages.” He explained.
“Very well.” In less than a second, a mana needle was formed using some of the mana stored in one of the spheres, then, it was launched towards one of Kancor’s eyes, but he managed to dodge it and the needle ended up stuck behind him.
“Hey, that could have left me blind!” He yelled.
“Please, I doubt that a difference of more than 50 levels can be avoided
using some concentrated mana.” She said coldly.
“It might be my imagination, but I think you might be a bit angry for
some reason.” Kancor pointed out.
“May I ask what makes you think that?” She asked. “Liberate.”
The moment she said that, the mana inside of the needle exploded. The
explosion managed to throw Kancor and make him hit the wall.
“Things like that.” He got up and walked towards her. “Why did you
make that needle explode?”
“You told me to show you my spells.” She moved her shoulders. “It isn’t
my fault, besides, I didn’t even scratch you.”
“I hate you.” Kancor said.
“Believe me, it's mutual.” Liz smiled at him.
----------------------------------------
Kancor and Liz spended some hours catching up after that, apparently, Liz had reached level 8 some weeks ago, but she was unable to make any meaningful progress after that.
On the other hand, Kancor told Liz that the decay was close to killing all of the deadlands. According to him, the whole region would die in a couple of decades at most.
“You aren’t going to leave me stuck in here for 20 years, right?” Liz asked.
“The alternative is for you to join me and the rest of the victims of the decay.” Kai replied, “Honestly, I feel honoured that you want to follow in my footsteps that bad, but I would advise against it.”
“Can’t I just leave the region, it’s not like the whole world is decaying, right?”
“You are right, as far as I know only this region is infected, but I don't think you can leave that easily, the bridge that connects this island to the main continent was destroyed after all.” Kancor explained.
“Can’t I just create a boat or even swim?” Liz asked.
“Swim?” Kancor looked confused for a moment. “Oh you think I meant a sea island.”
“Is there any other type of island?” Liz asked, confused.
“Honey, we are on a sky island.” Kancor clarified. “There is literally nothing between this island and the mainland. Nothing but a one way ticket to the endless abyss of course.”
It took a while for Liz to understand what Kancor meant by that. This world was much more different from hers than what she imagined. Not only the magic or the system were different, but the composition of the planet too.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
According to Kancor, the world consisted of 6 main continents. The main difference was that these continents were floating in the sky. Even the wisest scholars failed to understand why the world was like this, or what was at the end of the abyss, if there was an end to begin with.
The biggest continent was called the mainland, it was mostly controlled by the Great Empire, and the remaining nations were mostly vassal states. For some reason, Kancor seemed quite resentful of the Empire.
Two of the remaining continents were also mainly human dominated, but the presence of the Empire wasn’t as influential there. The smallest of all the continents were the deadlands, barely big enough to be called a continent.
He also said that one of the continents was completely wild, dominated by mindless monsters, that the second biggest one was controlled by demons, and that they somehow managed to create a stable portal within their realm, whatever that means.
Finally, he mentions that the last continent was ruled by both dragons and spirits.
“Dragons!?” Liz’s eyes opened wide as she heard that word.
“Yes, your typical giant winged lizards. They are extremely strong and can breathe fire or other elements depending on their type.”
“Breath fire?” Liz was quite confused now. “Can they at least shapeshift?”
“Shapeshift!?” Kancor was now the confused one. “Only certain demon species can shapeshift.”
“Huh…” Liz was quite underwhelmed by this world’s dragons. She was quite close with Rouge and her descendants, but this dragons felt like a cheap copy of them.
“So there is no way for me to escape from this place?” Liz asked.
“No…” Kancor started thinking for a moment. “Well maybe…”
He thought about one of the elementals that guarded the mountaintops. “Actually, maybe her portal isn’t broken yet…”
Liz stared at him, not wanting to ruin her seemingly only way out.
“I think there might be a portal in the ruins of the ice elemental.” Kancor finally admitted. “But the journey there is quite challenging, not to mention that you could get infected on our way there, and in that case I wont allow you to leave this region.”
“So, as long as I don’t get infected it's all good, right?” Liz smiled.
----------------------------------------
The journey to the mountain ruins took almost two weeks of climbing and avoiding red vine’s and other plant’s attacks. Usually Kancor could easily deal with them, but occasionally Liz had a chance to test her spells.
“What’s the deal with that mana sphere anyways?” Kancor asked. “You keep playing with it even when I sleep.”
“It's both a little mana storage and a way to train.” She explained. “As proud as I am of my mana manipulation abilities, I'm still unable to reabsorb the mana that has already left my body.”
“You are telling me that every time you cast a spell, you take its mana and store it in that orb?” Kancor asked, as he opened the stone door that led to the inner ruins.
“Not every time, some spells just waste their mana once they are casted, like Liberate. And a fraction of every spell is always turned into this disgusting mana residue.” She said as a little blob of black tar-like liquid fell from one of the holes in her forearms. “But I’m proud to say that I haven't had to refuel this orb in the last month.”
“You are a monster…” Kancor started inspecting some books that were scattered around the place. “Since you are that proud of yourself, can you please deal with those two golems please.”
“As long as they are not higher than level 25…” She said as she activated her identification skill, and her pupils started to glow.
Four mana threads formed from her hands as five needles floated around the mana orb. They are just around the corner… She could sense their mana, slowly approaching them. They have much less mana than me, one of them has even less than Kancor. But they are certainly stronger than the red vines.
Finally, two rounded rocks surged from the dark corridor. They were half as high as Liz, and their limbs were short.
“Level 18 and level 23, seems like I can rest for now!” Kancor laughed as he continued reading the book.
“Fck.. I should have aimed lower.” Liz cursed. “Anyways…”
Her threads moved fast, rapidly immobilising the weakest golem. The strongest one however, managed to avoid her attack and launched towards her.
“Liberate” A needle exploded behind the golem and launched him towards her. She didn’t waste time and created a mana rod that she used to hit the golem. “Liberate” Another needle exploded right on top of the golem, crushing it against the ground.
Swiftly, the mana rod shifted and became a thick rope that she used to try to tie the golem, but it managed to free one of its arms and attack Liz.
“Congratulations, you have been infected by the decay.” Kancor joked after tearing up the golems arm.
“In my defence, it is 15 levels ahead of me, and my attacks are useless against it.” She excused herself.
“In that case I suggest you either increase your power or try charging those needles a bit more.” He said. “Come on, I think I know how to man the portal now.”
“What about the other one, I can’t maintain my threads forever.” She looked at the other golem, that was tied up and lifted above the ground, helpless.
“So even if you can trap it you can’t kill it, it seems like your spells are just for show.” He teased her as he destroyed the golem’s head with a single punch.
“I hate you…” She muttered.
“I love you too, little spirit.” He joked smiling.
The dark corridors lead to a huge open hall with some magic circles carved in the floor. 3 condensed mana orbs were placed in three of the four corners of the magic engravings.
“FUCK!” Kancor coursed. “That stupid elemental must have consumed the remaining orb.”
“What's the problem?” Liz asked.
“The problem is that the portal needs 4 orbs to work, or it simply won't have enough energy.” He answered.
“Why can’t we just use my orb?” Liz asked.
“Because these orbs are made with a huge amount of condensed mana, as impressive as yours is, it's still too small for this.” Kancor explained.
Liz remained silent for a while, analysing the 3 orbs. “I must agree with you, this is beyond anything I can create now.” She finally gave up. They are quite inferior to the ones I used to create. Not to mention Kai’s, these things can’t even be compared with his creations…
She remembered the mana cores Kai created to help him level up after reincarnating, each one of them could easily take your core to level 200. Suddenly, her eyes say a little vibration in the mana.
“I think there is something over there.” She said, still focusing her gaze in that direction. “And whatever it is, it's big.”
Kancor and her walked towards the adjacent room, they had to kill two more golems that rested inside the corridors, and finally arrived at what could only be described as a tomb.
“Wow, this thing is huge.” Liz said, looking at the remains of a huge ice golem.
“I guess she decided to take her life on her own terms.” Kancor said, reading the engravings of the wall. “I hope whoever finds this ruins hasn’t seen the horrors that surround it. And if you have, I hope the world has found a cure for the curse that now corrodes it.”
“She was quite a drama queen if you ask me.” Liz joked. “But I guess she is not wrong.”
“You are right, she liked to exaggerate.” Kancor said.
Liz's eyes opened wide as her gaze met the elemental’s chest. “Hey Kancor, is it possible that she has a mana orb inside her?”
“Elementals have a core instead of a heart, but it should have decayed to nothing…” Kancor jumped towards her corpse and forcefully opened her chest, finding a pure mana core inside it. “This stupid elemental… Of course she would isolate her core even if it meat to die much faster”
Kancor took the core from her chest and walked towards the portal room. “Come on, I can always ask for forgiveness if I see her in the afterlife, now we have a portal to activate.”
Liz followed him to the portal, still vigilant. One thing she understood during her travels with Kancor was that she was better than him in anything regarding mana, and that included enemy detection.
“Are you sure you don’t want to get out of here?” She finally asked.
“As much as I would like to do that, leaving this place would mean to condemn the whole world to suffer this curse.” He responded. “And it would be quite hypocritical to leave after forcing many others to stay till their death…” he whispered. And my curses don’t allow me to leave until all the decay is destroyed.
“I see, well, I’ll come back for you once I become strong enough.” She happily said as she stepped inside the magic circle. “Just promise to wait for me, ok?”
“Of course, someone must take care of this place after all.” He replied.
Kancor sat down and started to cast a spell in a language Liz didn't understand. His mana circuit glowed red as thin mana tendrils grew from him. Slowly, a red barrier surrounded Liz, until she was completely unaware of what was happening outside.
She inspected the structure of the magic circle before entering, but she didn’t understand how it worked. “Now my magic sense is completely blocked.” She said. “Well, I guess spatial magic works differently in this world.”
Karcor rapidly felt the strain of the spell, even if he wasn't mage, it shouldn't be this hard to control the portal. “I guess I’m much weaker than what I thought…”
Notice: The portal spell is at 20%
He smiled after listening at the notification, this old portal still worked after all.
Notice: mana residue buildup is at 70%, purging is recommended.
Fck I thought I’d have more time. He cursed as he activated his skill.
Notice: The decay is advancing rapidly, you are now level 68
Notice: The decay is advancing rapidly, you are now level 67
Notice: the portal spell is at 50%
Notice: You have been cursed due to excessive mana residue buildup.
Notice: You have been cursed due to excessive mana residue buildup.
Notice: The decay is advancing rapidly, you are now level 66
Notice:...
…
Notice: The decay is advancing rapidly, you are now level 59
Notice: the portal spell is at 75%
Notice: You have been cursed…
Kancor’s body started shifting as the curses accumulated. His skin turned black as coal, his fingers grew long claw-like nails, a long tail rapidly grew from his back, just to wither away seconds after.
But he didn’t stop, even if the floor was covered in a pond of black mana residue, even if his body broke down, he didn’t stop.
Notice: You have been cursed due to excessive mana residue buildup.
Notice: The decay is advancing rapidly, you are now level 39
Notice: [] is watching you.
His focus broke for a second, but he tried to ignore it and continue the spell.
Notice: [] is curious about your intentions.
Notice: the portal spell is at 90%
One of his arms was broken due to the curses, it fell off like a dead tree and turned to dust before touching the ground.
Notice: The decay is advancing rapidly, you are now level 30.
Notice: The spell is at 95%
A memory of his past appeared in his mind, Kala, the little girl that would become an angel, scolded him after he lost their funds gambling.
You were right Kala, but even if the safest option is not to play, one can only win as much as they risk…
Notice: The portal spell is at 99%
And I'm willing to risk it all!
A bold smirk appeared in his face, even in the brink of death, the fallen hero cursed the world that treasoned him, and the gods that ruled it.
Notice: You have lost one of your curses.
Notice: the portal spell has been completed.
Notice: you are now level 11.
Notice: you have been cursed, total curses, 85.
Notice: [] is looking at you angrily
[]: You shouldn’t have done that.
Suddenly, the black liquid gathered in front of him and turned into a tall black humanoid figure.
[]: I thought of you as a wiser man.
“What can I say, people always called me a madman.”
[]: …
I guess I’ve lived 186 years more than what I should have… Kancor thought, as his severed head fell to the ground.
----------------------------------------
He remembered that day as if it was yesterday, the fear on their faces as they encountered a higher existence, it easily wiped out his companions as if they were nothing, but it left him alive.
He looked at what remained of his hands, cursed beyond repair, after decades of pushing his limits, all for what, he couldn’t do anything…
“Stand up Kancor!” A beautiful hand appeared in his sight. “We’ve been waiting for you.”
Tears started flowing from his face as he saw the girl. “Kala?”
“You didn’t think we would reincarnate without you, right.” The black haired man asked.
“Rexis!?” Kancor looked at his old companions, all smiling at him, clean from all the curses and wounds they acquired during their life.
He finally grabbed Kala’s hand and stood up, leaving his past wounds behind. “Thank you, for waiting for me.” Tears runned through his face as the group started walking towards their new and final adventure.