After I finished mourning the death of Perezoso, I found a tunnel where I could exit the lair of the leviathan. In the middle of the tunnel, it branched off into a treasury. In there, I found a collection of coins, my stuff, and a chest. First, I grabbed my bag, which still had everything in it such as the cloak of lion and griffin fur. Then, I turned to the chest.
When I opened the chest, I glimpsed a staff, and then my vision blurred and a purple-tinted man popped up in a hologram in front of me.
“I AM RUNETIZO! THE STAFF THAT YOU HAVE JUST SEEN IS ONE THAT ONCE BELONGED TO ME! IT IS USED TO STRENGTHEN ONE’S MAGIC THROUGH THE USE OF RUNES ENGRAVED INTO IT! THE STAFF OF RUNETIZO IS VERY POWERFUL AND HAS BEEN USED TO HOLD BACK WAVES UPON WAVES OF MONSTERS! DO YOU DEEM YOURSELF WORTHY OF WIELDING SUCH A WEAPON?” Runetizo exclaimed.
“Uhhhhh…” I hesitated, “yes, I deem myself worthy of wielding the Staff of Runetizo!”
“VERY WELL THEN! I WILL TEST YOUR MIND WITH MY TEST!” Runetizo barked as an intense pain went through my head, similar to the one during Thiro’s test.
“YOUR MIND IS STRONG AND ANGLED TOWARDS DOING GOOD! I, RUNETIZO, GRANT YOU ACCESS TO MY STAFF! YOU MAY ALSO ASK FOR A BLESSING ON ONE ITEM!” Runetizo proclaimed.
“I choose invisibility on my cloak!” I responded.
“ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE!” Runetizo made some gestures and my cloak started glowing faintly.
I was immediately sent back to the physical world. I was clutching the Staff of Runetizo in my arms with Iris over me.
Good, you’re finally awake! I was worried for a second there! Iris exclaimed.
I’m fine! It’s just that I just got the Staff of Runetizo! I smiled.
Runetizo? As in the Runetizo? The one who sacrificed himself to save Tyronius? Iris asked in astonishment.
I don’t know who that is… but I’m pretty sure it’s that Runetizo. I replied. Iris, do you know any fancy languages?
Actually, I do! Iris replied. I know Elvish, which is spoken by the elves, and Drakonese, which is spoken by the drakes, which look like hybrids of dragons and humans.
What is “Legendary” in Drakonese? I asked.
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Pauranika Kimbadanti. Iris replied.
Then I am naming the Staff of Runetizo Pauradanti. I declared.
Hmmmm, decent name, Mensal! Iris complimented.
Thanks! I replied. I took out my cloak. Runetizo also enchanted this with stealth.
I started recovering my energy, and once my EP was full, I went through the crack that I was sucked through. I remembered that we were underwater and turned into a dolphin. When I swam out, I saw a worried-looking Haiuthon, who upon seeing me, apologized, saying, “Why, Mensal, I’m so glad to see you! We were all so worried about you after you got trapped with the leviathan that is imprisoned there! What did you have to do to escape the leviathan?”
“Was.” I corrected.
“What?” Haiuthon asked.
“Well, I would like to say that you are incorrect in saying ‘the leviathan that is imprisoned there’. ‘Was’ is the correct word to use instead of ‘is’.” I responded.
“Wait… no…” Realization dawned on Haiuthon. “We no longer need to worry about the leviathan?!”
“Worry no longer, you are right, the leviathan is dead, and I got something from it too! Well, Haiuthon, do you want to see Pauradanti?” I asked.
“Who’s… Pauradanti?” Haiuthon asked.
“Well, it’s a what…” I explained.
“What’s Pauradanti?” Haiuthon corrected himself.
“Well, it’s a staff… you might better know it as… the Staff of Runetizo!” I exclaimed.
“Wait… the Staff of Runetizo, as in the Runetizo?” Haiuthon reacted similarly to Iris.
“With a guess, I would think so, but I don’t know who he is…” I complained.
“Well, he’s a great hero from long ago who sacrificed himself to save Tyronius! Warrior as he was, he and his staff held back hundreds of monsters alone!” Haiuthon replied.
“Wow, but how did Tyronius need saving? We both know of battles where he fought hundreds alone!” I questioned.
“Well thought; Tyronius needed saving because he had been injured by a very powerful demon and was out of energy after killing it,” Haiuthon explained.
“Wow,” I remarked, as I recalled Tyronius sharing how he killed and how to kill a powerful demon in his journal.
“Well, farewell, Mensal, I’m certain you’ll pass the tests, now that you’ve slain a leviathan!” Haiuthon swam off.
Oh no, the tests! I’ve probably gone over the time limit, with all of the time unconscious and fighting Perezoso! I panicked.
After I reached the surface again, I took out the 3rd trophy and read the note. 23613228 1221 152691862. I thought for a while, Why did they write me numbers? Am I doing Sudoku or something...? Then, I realized… it was a cipher! Since there were numbers, I thought it was the A1Z26 cipher, but when I decoded it, I got wfmvh lu ozirz, which was certainly incorrect. Then, I decoded it using the A1Z26 cipher with the alphabet and got Dunes of Laria. On the map, I saw a group of sand dunes labeled Laria. After checking the back of the note and finding nothing, I headed towards the group of sand dunes, occasionally cooling myself with Giant Raindrop.