The area he came across quickly deviated from the road. Here it was pure wilderness with several bugs flying around the place and trees covering everything he could see.
He was looking for a cave and whilst the trees looked nice they also blocked the view of the stars with their canopies so that left him with only his memory to go in the right direction.
He trusted his instincts and his senses felt right about the direction he was walking.
The further he walked, the better the feeling became.
A few creatures had to be warded off but the travel was otherwise uninterrupted. Malum came across a clearing where he saw several vines coming down what looked to be a cliff.
Malum tried to find a way up but strangely he started to feel bad whenever he walked away from those vines. He walked back and investigated the area.
Cutting down the vines, he revealed a cave entrance to which Malum felt a rush of happiness.
Whatever mystical ability he had gained, was clearly beyond human and thinking back Malum could only link it back to his death. He had been given a second chance and a gift as well, and Malum wasn’t one to deny gifts.
He remained cautious. Whatever was in this cave was valuable and someone carved it into a necklace. Perhaps it was stolen goods that couldn’t be fenced, or even an inheritance meant for a worthy finder.
His Uncle had long told him of Inheritance Graves, places where cultivators left their legacies toa tested few. Because cultivators had for more trouble reproducing than most they tended to keep their inheritances in their graves where they would test those who tried to claim it.
Perhaps he was to hopeful, Malum tried to dim his own hopes in case of disappointment but in his heart he wished for it to be true.
He pulled a torch from his belt and used it bright flame to guide him inside the cave. He kept his senses sharp and moved with care.
The cave opened up to a larger system, where he found 3 separate routes. Malum searched each entrance and found the second one to be the best.
So kept his eyes peeled and entered deeper into the cavern.
The rocks were uneven and it made walking even harder as the cave held a certain moisture in the air that also clung to the rocks.
Looking at where to stand and his ability did flair up. Some areas spoke badly whilst others seemed fine.
He looked closer at where his ability deemed dangerous and where it deemed fine and found himself agreeing with its conclusion.
He noted the results and continued to walk further. Through the darkness he continued to travel downwards when he found himself coming to the bottom of some underground hill. He continued to walk where it was deemed safe when suddenly he felt a shiver go down his spine.
Immense danger was felt at his current location so Malum quickly dived as far as he could towards a safe area.
He felt himself bash against the rocks he landed on, but once he turned around to see what had happened, he was happy that he had only came out with a bruise or two.
Arrows with drops of liquid coming off their heads had whacked against the rock in the direction to where he had once stood.
He moved back closer to test his ability and now found the trigger to the trap he had stood on. It seemed like some weight plate which clicked down whenever it was set off.
Malum chucked a rock and saw how soon after the click a set of arrows would come flying out from a wall in the darkness.
He walked closer to that and found a gap in the rocks where he found crossbows automatically reloaded via a complex mechanism.
Malum tried to shift the rocks apart to get a better look at the mechanism but couldn’t budge through the rocks. He looked for another way to enter but found nothing.
Keeping his intuition sharp, intuition being the new name of his ability, he continued down the cavern.
Every now and then he would see another gap between rocks and during those Malum remained cautious. Through a few he could see the glint of a steel tipped arrow, he continued after noting their location.
Walking slowly, and Malum focused on his intuition. Every sound was heard, every smell registered and his sight remained keen.
Several more arrow traps later and Malum came across a new one.
He could hardly see it, but thankfully it was one of the few he was familiar with. A thin line of rope was held across the cave with it setting on something on the ceiling.
His ability had managed to catch it, which allowed him to avoid the danger entirely.
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His new ability was turning to be as strong as Malum had hoped. It was life saver, but it could also be a fatal weakness if he relief on it to much. He didn’t know if some attacks didn’t set it off, and he would only learn if it was already too late.
He closed his line of thoughts and focused in on collecting his reward. He stayed vigilant and passed the many traps ahead of him.
Eventually the cave began to narrow and with it coming to a close Malum felt his senses heighten.
Walking slowly forwards and Malum noticed the torch light slowly was blocked by a steep cliff. He looked up and saw the cliff only continued to rise.
Before him and his treasure was a cliff, one he would need to climb.
Malum attached his torch to his mouth and with it having only limited time left Malum forced himself to get going.
His footing was decided entirely by his senses and ensured that each time he checked for any floor traps. It was slippery but every step he took was firm.
Confidence in his ability only confounded upon its effects.
Higher and higher he climbed towards the top and towards his goal. Up every ridge, and every mossy stone, he climbed higher and higher.
He looked down to see the darkness below him. The abyss he had once been lost in, now he had surmounted it.
With torchlight in hand, he turned to see the top. Was it a mountain of gold, or perhaps the ancient inheritance of a Martial Sage. No, it was a door.
Inside of which Malum found a pillar of stone with a hand print painted on.
Malum held his hand up to it, expecting a reaction. There wasn’t any.
He looked around the small room and found nothing but the pillar and the strange torch. He inspected the latter and found it’s kindling to never seem to cease.
It was a never-ending torch. Something Malum was happy to bag as a treasure. It would save him thousands of coppers but he continued to look for better.
The hand print confused him. Why was it on the pillar?
He inspecting further wanting his ability to help answer him in his question. Sadly all he got was slight distaste for the sign.
He walked out the door where he then looked around. At the top of the cliff, it bordered the edge of the cave. The door was a cut out from the cave leading into endless rock.
He looked at the cave wall and noticed a small hole above the door. Smelling a delicious feast, he climbed up the small ridges in the cave wall and with a torch in hand looked into the small hole.
He could barely see anything but he could swear that there was some empty space there.
With a good feeling he got his sword form his sheath and used the back end of the handle to widen the whole so he could see more. What he didn’t expect was for the repeated bashing to fold the wall entirely. With the falling of rock, Malum dodged out the way.
After the dust cleared, Malum climbed again to see what awaited him and the gap indeed lead to an empty area. Inside Malum saw several carvings on the wall that looked almost like a language. The similar etchings hinted at repeated words and one in particular was different from the rest.
It seemed to be a name. Considering it was perhaps a grave it made sense, Malum just needed to know if there was treasure. It was damp and he was bruised and he would also need to climb back down.
He scammed through the text before he stopped at one point in the carvings. It was small whole. Malum tried to look through but found the end quickly cut off. He looked through his pockets and shoved a coin through it.
It fit surprisingly well and Malum heard how it fell surprisingly far before it stopped around where his feat was.
Considering he had dropped it around waist height Malum now doubted the hole was a coincidence.
Malum tapped deeper into his intuition and tried to ask it what to do. He found the answer lacking, so he tried to enhance it even more.
He folded his legs and laid down. It was a simple pose his Uncle had taught him, one which allowed him to focus more. He felt down to his soul where he tried to find the source of his intuition.
The ball remained closed but whips seemed to follow a path away from the ball. They travelled up to his head where Malum struggled to see where it arrived to.
He decided to push on his soul to release more of the whisps. As they travelled up into his head he opened his eyes again to see colour brighten up the room.
No longer was darkness here, instead Malum could see a lot of grey and a few red and green areas.
He quickly checked the green and red areas and he found a coin sized whole on each one. He tried to know what to do exactly but got no answer so instead he put a coin down each green one and hoped for the best.
At first he placed inside coppers as he didn’t want to waste his precious money but once he ran out he was forced to place a silver into the last slot.
After it fell he heard a click and rush of pleasure ran through his body. He quickly returned to the other holes where he place a silvers down each one.
Every click made him euphoric and the final one made him have to lie down.
It was like a message to all his muscles, and once he heard the sound of stone moving he knew he had struck gold.
Light peeled back into the cave and Malum felt a rush of pain fall into his skull. Green and red escaped back into darkness and with it Malum felt his entire brain overheat.
He forced out a potion from his backpack and drank the potion with haste. He clutched his head with agony as the pain thankfully eased away.
Whatever he had done, had flared back the pain he had once been plagued with. Malum just hoped to god that it went away.
First though, he would need to see if it was worth it.
Walking into the lit room, Malum found himself looking upon several chests and a pedestal with a book laid upon it.
Above was a carving that radiated a certain message.
He put his hand closer and from his soul he felt the words, “My Legacy, Khan Manaman.”
With his hope running high Malum opened up the book and founds its label to radiate, “Sword of Poison” Inside he felt the words meaning both “Mortal” and “Apprentice”
He couldn’t stop smiling at such a sight. That meant this book was a step on the right path towards his immortality as Apprentice was the official name of the next step.
He checked to see if it went higher but after the first few pages mentioning the first steps of training the pages began to lose their radiating meaning to eventually just being scribbles.
Malum only felt it was because his soul was perhaps to weak to get the meaning so he left the book for later and checked out the chests.
Inside he found several glass bottles filled with a variety of liquids. In one he found a book which radiated, “99 Poisons to Kill a God”
A rather ambitious title but Malum had heard they were rather extravagant, if his Uncle was any example than that idea remained true.
Inside he felt the words had much stronger radiation than the book and it seemed to hold 99 recipes for several different poisons. As an alchemist he found some to be similar but most of the ingredients he had never even heard off.
He put it in his backpack and kept the bottles that flared up his intuition. Considering how long they had remained idle, most had lost their potency and whilst Malum would usually pockets the bottles, he wasn’t wiling to risk his life over it so he just took what seemed good.
With his gains being already so high Malum cared little for the small waste.
With his pockets more than full, Malum worked his way slowly back. This time finding his pace to hold an extra skip in its wake.