“Good to meet ya, Caster,” Elenore said, wearing a toothy grin that revealed a small gap between her two front teeth.
A thud echoed from further down the hall. A series of hurried footsteps were approaching them.
“Elenore, the Council wishes to speak to the Minion.” A man stood in the doorway, dressed in a brown robe with a hood that covered his head and face. His hands were clasped together, but his garb shielded any skin from showing. At first, the total darkness under his hood where a face would be was pointed toward Elenore, but it slowly moved toward Caster.
“It is awake? Why is it not in containment?” The hooded man seemed to only speak in seething whispers. He took a step toward Caster, but Elenore quickly sat up and shoved her arm out with an open palm.
“You quit it, Keith, Caster ain’t gonna hurt nobody.”
Kenneth Shallowfin Level 130 Status: Aggressive Tip: He looks how the word powerthirst sounds
“Caster? You named it?” Keith seemed appalled at the concept.
“He named himself, but yes I helped.” Elenore stood. “Come on Caster, I’ll take you there.” Elenore leaned down and grabbed Caster by his sides, then picked him right off the couch and held him like a child would a puppy.
This is humiliating.
Keith stepped out of the way as Elenore walked through the doorway and into the dark halls lit only by torchlight. The flickering flames revealed nothing but more and more hallways as they traveled down the path. Soon enough, they came upon a pair of ornate doors lined with gold framing.
“I got it,” Keith quickly walked in front of Elenore and opened the righthand door for her, and they entered.
The next room was dark. The only thing illuminating the huge rotunda was a series of obsidian rectangles that stood two men tall. Each was facing a round table that nearly touched the intimidating blocks. Each one had an ornate marking on its face that glowed with an ethereal hue, each color unique to itself. From right to left, they were white, yellow, blue, green, and red.
Keith closed the door and stepped aside, letting Elenore and Caster pass. She walked up to the table and set Caster down atop it. He stood there, cautiously looking at each of the obelisks.
“How did you access the Arena!?” The blue obelisk asked, its hues strobing in cadence with the speaker’s nasal voice.
“Perhaps he is The Usurper’s spy,” said the green obelisk, in a whisper.
“We should not have allowed it to return to consciousness. It is far too dangerous. Adept Keith, slay this creature.” The Red obelisk said in a boom.
Caster looked back as the sound of fumbling cloth whooshed toward him from behind.
A curved, bloodred dagger was pointed downward less than a forearm away from Caster’s head. Keith held it in his hand. The only thing stopping his strike was Elenore’s grasp, firmly holding his wrist in place. His hand quivered as he tried to press down, but Elenore didn’t let him move another inch.
“You leave Caster be. He ain’t gonna do no harm to nobody.” Elenore’s tone was calm but firm.
“The council ordered it, Elle.”
“This ain’t a fight you win, boy.”
“No, Councilman Red ordered it. But I am ordering you both to stand down. There will be no bloodshed in these sacred chambers.” The yellow obelisk strobed.
Elenore let go of Keith’s wrist. He immediately returned his dagger into the sleeve of his robe, and retreated to the corner, arms folded.
“Answer our questions, Minion. You have breached our highest arcane and sacred magic. To what end? Who sent you?” Asked the white obelisk.
Caster took a deep breath.
“Look, I have no idea why I’m here, or how I got here. Your guess is as good as mine.”
“Such petulance! From a mere Minion?!” Blue cried.
I have to do something to make them believe me! I know! Caster glanced at his stat sheet. Sure enough, one of his two Abilities caught his eye. Not the Scaling Strike, but the Primordial Disintegration Ray. It would take ten seconds for it to change, but once it was ready, he would let it loose to show them he meant business.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Come on Caster, don't let them push you around! Have some faith in yourself!
“For the last time, I am not a Minion! I am a human being! From Earth!” Caster raised his tiny voice. The obelisks were silent. Green and Blue even seemed to gasp.
“He speaks of the Waking World,” said Green.
“This is the Usurper’s work, without a doubt,” said Blue.
“Then we must kill him now,” Red demanded.
Caster raised his hands, and let his true power flow for the first time. A beam of majestic blue and teal light launched forward, flowing from both his hands. Like a stream of stars, they surged forth, annihilating the portion of the table that stood directly in front of Caster. It cut through the rest of the structure in less than a second, splitting the entire thing in half faster than his eyes could even track.
Even as the heat cut the table in two, a flash of light lit up before Caster's eyes. It felt as if the world came to a halt as he read the new alert.
Ability Learned! Sense Warding Equipment!
This Ability allows the user to detect and identify any Warding equipment currently being used by nearby allies and foes. Requires Level 30 Arcane, 30 Faith, and 30 Occult. 30 Luck can be used to substitute one of the three needed Stats. Costs 50 Mana. 5 Second Casting Time.
'Warding Equipment' is a category of armor that was made through the specific crafting process known as Warding. Armors belonging to this category feature a very high amount of Arcane, Faith, and Occult Resistance.
Equip Ability? [Yes] No
Error! Multiple Stat Requirements Not Met! Ability Not Equipped!
Another Ability already? I just figured out what this one does! I can't use this one yet either. Oh well, just stick it in with the other new one, I'm a little busy right now!
Caster cut the flow of his unlimited mana from the beam like a child stepping on a hose. The light stopped, and everyone gazed in awe and the sizzling remains of what was left of Caster's first victim.
"I am not your enemy. I don't know where I am, and you people are freaking me out! So quit it and be nice!" Caster demanded.
Level Up! Faith Increased +1!
There was a short series of hushed murmurs that spread from each block to the next as if the councilmembers were whispering in a chat without their audience being able to fully hear.
“Min-child, what else do you remember? Can you speak more of the… ‘Earth’, as you call it?” Asked yellow.
Caster looked down.
I think they've changed their minds about me. Earth? I know that place. City? Was it my hometown?
“I’m sorry. Like I said, I can’t remember anything.”
“I believe him. He was attacked and weaponized by The Usurper. We will not know why until he recovers his stolen memories.”
“Are you certain this is the case?” asked white.
“We have seen this trickery once before. It is The Usurper and The Usurper alone who can both alter the very memories of a person and change their physical form. Do we not remember Archmage Gill?” said Blue.
A silence of understanding fell over the obelisks.
“What are we to do? Sail him across Conquest Bay, request access into New R’lyeh, find Archmage Gill, hope that aged madman is still alive and senile enough to cast an incredibly dangerous - and strictly forbidden in all City-States I might add - incantation that might return his human form, which maybe will return his memories?” asked Green.
“Precisely,” answered Blue.
There was a moment of silence as if the council was so shocked by the idea that they had no way to counter it.
“What say you, small one? Do you think you can find redemption and clear your name from the taint of The Usurper’s influence?” asked White.
“The alternative is death,” said Red, calmly.
These block… things sound like they’ve never been told off in their life.
“I have no idea what any of you are talking about, but it sounds better than listening to you guys trying to figure out whether Keith over there should kill me or not. Just give me a map so I can figure out what the hell is going on myself.” Caster sighed.
There was a silence. Then Yellow spoke.
“Elenore, guide him to New R’lyeh.”
Elenore Amberkirke has joined the party!
Quest "Find out what on Earth is going on" Complete! Reward: 1 Level! Choose A Stat To Increase! Vitality, Attunement, Strength, Dexterity, Arcane, [Faith], Occult, Luck
What the... oh, they're like video game stats. Duh. I guess I just leveled Faith last so it's still hovered over it. I wonder if I should do health, can never go wrong with more HP. But on the other hand...
Vitality, Attunement, Strength, Dexterity, Arcane, Faith, [Occult], Luck
Occult sounds too cool to miss out on.
Occult Increased +1!