Aldous stumbled out of the portal created by his Waykey, gasping for air. His body was on fire, metaphorically speaking, from both that stupid boy’s attacks and a combination of overusing his demonic transformation. He’d just get the master to supply him with a healing potion. His body turned in on itself as his Card’s duration expired and he became once more a frail, balding man. But even the Card reverting his demonic state didn’t save him from whatever toxic energy the boy had flooded him with.
Bare feet slapped against the dark gray bricks of their order’s secreted location. It was, like most demonologists’ lairs, filled with dark stone that gave off a heavy oppressive aura. Several crocks in the stone also glowed a sinister red, adding to the feeling of evil and darkness while it gave off dense amounts of ambient fire mana, or as most called it in civilized parts of the world, Ambia.
Several acolytes looked at Aldous, albeit only briefly as he glared at them, even through wheezing and staggering steps. They knew better than to attempt to speak to one of their superiors. It took him a long time, much too long, to find his master’s quarters and he stumbled into the large room with less decorum than he would have liked.
The large towering frame of the man dwarfed Aldous by two feet, making him eight whole feet of towering muscle. Of course, that was because the man was a Reledar, a demonic race of the Abyss known for their hoofed feet, dark red skin and horns atop their head similar to a goat. They were one of the many Abyssal races that had created Netherlings back in the past.
Green eyes that spewed flame from the sides bored into Aldous’ pale gray ones as the demonologist’s master gazed into his very being. Or at least it felt like such to him. Bowing the best he could in his painful predicament, Aldous spoke to his master.
“Lord Akadesh, I…”
Aldous was stopped as his master raised a large hand.
“You would interrupt my meditation for such paltry things?” Akadesh said, raising up from a meditative pose and giving Aldous a look that could only be described as condescending.
The large demon appeared before Aldous in the blink of an eye, a large hand lifting the dying demonologist off the ground so that their eyes met.
“Ten years worth of resources pumped into you and you flee like a coward. And from what?”
The demon’s eyes flashed as he used an ability to peer into Aldous’ memories, making the demon hum in thought and drop the man. Akadesh pursued over the memories he had witnessed. It was nothing strange, much too mundane for him really. Though he could say that there were better things to use their nefarious talents for than killing low level families. But if that’s what his underlings liked to do, he had no reason to stop Aldous.
No, what caught his eyes was the man Aldous had fought. Not that the fight was anything of note, rather it was the energy and feel that intrigued him. He had only felt such energy before, back when he had led a failed incursion as a young demon into the Voidlands. That meant this man was a Voidborn. That wasn’t anything real dangerous or important. It was rare but nothing out of the ordinary.
The real thing that caught his eye was the sigil that lit up on the man’s right hand when he had blocked Aldous’ demonically-imbued strike. There was only one being who had a sigil of a three pointed star surrounded by tentacle-like chains. Yarla the Darkdweller, as the denizens of the Abyss knew her as. Last he knew, the god of the Holy Pantheon, Yavera, had sealed the woman away. Had the Dragon of Unending Silence escaped without his superiors noticing? No, that couldn’t be it. She had somehow chosen a champion, that made much more sense. He’d have to keep an eye on that man, whoever he was. And he knew just the person to send.
With a mental command, Akadesh opened a portal and summoned one of his best assassins. A petite woman in a flowing black robe and matching hakama. He had abducted this woman as a child from the Eastern Continents some twenty years ago. She had a blindfold over her eyes and wore a wrought iron collar carved in sigils that suppressed her emotions. Her dark, raven hair was kept in a side-ponytail and scars littered her toned frame. The most striking of her features however. Were two black wings, resembling a crow’s, that grew out of her back and necessitated a backless robe design. A mark of her half-youkai Tengu bloodline.
“Tsukiyomi, dispose of Aldous here, then head to the West and observe this mortal. Should he show any sign of growing too strong, feel free to strike him down.”
“Yes, My Lord.”
With that, Akadesh returned to his meditation, ignoring the pleading sounds of his subordinate that soon turned into a pained gurgle and then silence.
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As a result of your actions, a new skill has been discovered.
[Meditation]
Uncommon
Level 1
Wow look at you, sitting on your ass and acting like you’re some kind of Buddha. I sure hope nothing attacks you while you act all sage-like. Increases regeneration of all resources per level of this skill while meditating.
Meditation is Level 2.
Tyler grunted as, despite the fact his eyes were closed, he could still see the damn system prompts which as usual, were snarky blue boxes that spoke in his head. Either way it was nice to get Meditation as a skill finally. He could feel the effect immediately too as his health and mana regenerated much faster than previously. Speaking of health and such things, he had reached two breakpoints in that battle, with his Dexterity and Constitution both reaching 100 or above. He felt healthier and more sturdy than ever before. Not to mention he also felt much more flexible, he could probably do a standing split and hold it if he had to guess. Not that he would try of course. Still, that fight had taken quite a bit out of him, and he was content to just meditate and recover.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Or he would have, if something hadn’t his cheek. He tried to ignore it, but he kept getting poked so he figured some bug or something was trying to attack him. Opening his eyes, he saw the girl from earlier. She looked scared, and hesitant. But she was the one who had kept poking his cheek for some reason. Upon seeing his eyes open, the red-skinned girl yelped and tumbled backwards. That just made Tyler sigh as he turned his attention to her.
“Do you…need something?”
Honestly Tyler had no idea what to do in this situation. The kid had just lost her parents and…shit he could see where this was going and he did not like it one bit. Still, he couldn’t just leave her alone in this gods forsaken forest. He was interrupted when the girl spoke, her voice hoarse but still the voice of a girl.
“Hungry. Need food. Haven’t eaten since…”
The girl trailed off and fiddled with her hair, turning to look at the corpses of her parents with tears in her eyes. Shit, he should do something about that. Tyler grunted, looking at the corner of his vision. He had regenerated all his resources by now and while he was a bit sore still, either way though he couldn’t just let this girl be by herself. Especially with her dead parents’ bodies nearby.
“Right uh, what’s your name, kid?”
Wiping at her tears, the girl responded. “Kelshatharnagh.”
“Right…I’m just going to call you Kelsie. Is that okay with you?”
At her nod, Tyler moved to the altar and looked at the mess. Turning his gaze to Kelise he made a shooing motion for her to move away, which she thankfully did. At least she was smart. With her further away he had time to work. Tyler did not want to dig graves with his bare hands and he thought about using his staff or a stone or something before he settled on one of his bread and butter skills.
Tapping into Mana Manipulation, he formed tendrils of his energy that ended in spade-shaped constructions, he started to dig. Or tried to anyway. For the first ten minutes or so, he had to figure out how to solidify his mana enough to pick up the dirt instead of just pass through it, which was easier said than done. But eventually he got the hang of it and began his dirty work.
Mana Manipulation is Level 26
…
Mana Manipulation is Level 30
He dug two graves next to each other, one for Kelsie's father, and the other for her mother. They were about two and a half-feet wide, seven feet deep, and six feet long. Enough to keep the bodies decently protected. At least in Tyler’s opinion. Once he had lowered their bodies down, he moved the dirt back over their new graves by turning the spaded mana into long beams for ease of moving all the dirt, rocks and soil.
Next, he finished it off by taking a large stone and shaping it slightly and chipping away at it with one of the dead demonologist’s sickles, the makeshift plaque read:
Here lies two people who loved each other until the very end. They are survived by their daughter. May whatever afterlife awaits them be better than the life they lived.
Tyler had zero idea what he was doing, not really. But as he clasped his fist in one of his hands and bowed, something rang. Like a faint gong.
Two spirits, for what else could they be called, rose from the graves in the forms of the man and woman. They did not speak, but Tyler got the impression that they were thankful. The two spirits held out their hands and a ball of light coalesced in front of them before it formed into a card. Tyler took the card and looked it over.
[Gravekeeper’s Lament]
Type: Spell Card, Passive
Rarity: Growth.
Description: This card increases the damage of attacks against, and the defense against attacks from, entities of an alignment that is not your own. Increases the effectiveness of stats against demons and undead. Slightly boosts cultivation speed. This card scales based on how many spirits you have helped, slain, or exorcized, shown as Spirit Power.
Current Spirit Power: 2
This is a Growth card, and like Growth items, will grow with you even past the bounds of this world and beyond. If you make it that far.
This new Card was…something. He couldn’t tell if it was underpowered or overpowered. But it was something new at the very least. Though the fact that it grew based on how many spirits he dealt with was odd. It’s not like he had any idea on how to exorcize spirits. And he hadn’t seen any at all in his time in this world. Not counting the two in front of him.
Tyler was pulled out of his thoughts when a green portal appeared and opened onto what looked like a very dark, but very large cave with a river of…green liquid flowing down. A tall man stepped out, at least he assumed it was a man. He was covered in a dark brown cloak that obscured his visage and all Tyler could see was a thin gaunt hand that beckoned the spirits. The spirits bowed to Tyler before entering the portal and sitting in what looked like some kind of longboat. The man turned to Tyler and tilted his head, then looked up at something before shaking his head and leaving through the portal, which closed soon after.
“That…was weird. Some kind of Undertaker maybe?” Tyler spoke out loud to no one in particular.
Ah well, he doubted he’d see that man again. With that taken care of, Tyler put the new card into his Catalog by shoving it into his chest where his heart was located, turning it into energy. THen he spent the rest of the time pilfering what items the demonologists had made before burning their bodies instead of burying them. That took another 30 minutes, as he had to find dry enough wood to ignore using what little camping techniques he could remember from Earth.
Finally, he returned to Kelsie with a makeshift bag made from one of the dead men’s robes. He had to carry the kid somehow, right? Slinging the cloth over his shoulder, Tyler instructed her to climb aboard.
“Let’s get out of here and get you some food then. Preferably something not mushroom-related. I doubt most of this stuff is edible for kids.”
Kelsie, for her part, just blinked and ever so slowly, climbed into the bag. Tyler then lifted his legs and with little effort, started to walk out towards the exit. He had spent long enough in this god forsaken mushroom forest and he would be glad to get out of it. First though? Food. For Kelsie at least.