Talax felt faint from the sudden drain in his mana. His mind grew cloudy for an instant, and he turned his attention to his core, wanting to assess how much mana the spell had consumed. To his astonishment, more than half of his mana pool had been drained. This was by far his most expensive spell to date, but it was for good reason. As he observed his new temporary companion, he couldn't help but wear a satisfied smile.
The ghostly figure of the spectral guardian stood idly, patiently awaiting his orders. The only indication that the creature wasn't a product of his imagination was the rattling breaths of death emanating from its spectral helmet. Talax decided to test the limits of his newfound companion by raising his arm and pointing a few meters away, commanding it with an air of authority.
"Go stand there." The guardian, ever obedient, turned without hesitation. Its insubstantial armor made no sound as its spectral feet carried it toward the designated spot. However, the echoing breaths grew more pronounced, as though they were emerging from a deep well.
"Well, you can't use it when stealth is required, but other than that, it can be an asset," Vesperine commented thoughtfully. "That breathing, though... It's disgusting."
Talax nodded in agreement and issued another command. "Go search the chamber for any enemies. If you don't find any, come back." The spectral guardian stood still for a moment, then bowed its head and started walking toward the ruined arena.
Talax watched him with an impressed expression and a small smile playing at his lips, realizing that he now had a new companion he could rely on to avoid danger and defend him. Vesperine drew closer to the chest and began inspecting the rest of its contents.
Vesperine exclaimed, "There is one more spell tome in here. Oh, what is this?" She reached for a small bottle shaped like an hourglass, containing a blob of black liquid that seemed to shift between its two compartments.
Talax temporarily set aside his eagerness for the spell tome to inspect the intriguing potion. "Oh my... This... This is a very valuable potion."
Intrigued, he asked, "Really? What does it do?" Vesperine's gems gleamed briefly as she shared its properties with an impressed tone.
"It's the Death's Embrace Elixir. When consumed, it thrusts the imbiber into a brief, harrowing experience of the passage of time. In moments after ingesting it, the drinker undergoes a rapid aging transformation, approaching the brink of death for five minutes, granting a haunting glimpse into life's final moments."
Talax gazed at the unassuming elixir, a mix of awe and disquiet washing over him. Vesperine turned to him with a palpable eagerness in her voice. "Can I have it?" Reluctantly, Talax nodded, watching as she cradled the elixir reverently and placed it in her bag.
Vesperine clapped her hands and hopped in excitement. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You don’t know what this means for me. Once I return to the order, I will be praised and rewarded for bringing something so valuable to the overseers!"
Talax's heart raced upon hearing the elixir's incredible value, and his greed stirred within. However, he suppressed the emotion, recognizing that some compromises were necessary. It was a worthy investment if he could secure loyalty with Vesperine and her order as a whole. He didn’t know whether he would need their help at some point, but it was always good to make new friends, especially friends that were thieves and assassins.
With a generous smile, he nodded and murmured, "Of course, of course." Then, he redirected his attention to the chest, his patience dwindling. He reached for the last spell tome, and the magical book sprung to life.
Arcane knowledge of obscure origins, filled with enigmatic incantations, perplexing configurations, and intricate mana calculations, flowed into his mind, unraveling the secrets of hidden magic.
Minor Hex: By a mere touch of your hand upon an opponent, you cast a hex that hungrily devours its own mana. When the hex is triggered, it unleashes an implosion that inflicts severe damage upon the target and, to a lesser extent, those in proximity.
Summon time: 3 seconds, spell duration: n/a, cooldown: 3 minutes
A wide smile blossomed on Talax's face, his satisfaction uncontainable. He was rapidly evolving into a true mage, with a few more spells in his arsenal, and he could envision himself not even needing a sword or his bow anymore. Yet, a different kind of comfort and security still came from the feeling of clutching a deadly blade. He was certain that even if he learned a spell capable of world annihilation, he wouldn't forsake his trusty conventional blade.
"So, what is it? Some kind of spell that raises the dead?" Vesperine inquired with curiosity while examining a shiny blade.
"Nah, my dreams of becoming a necromancer died with the spectral guardian. That's as far as I go when it comes to raising the dead. The spell is a minor hex that deals damage upon physical contact. It's quite effective," he responded nonchalantly.
"Nice. Take this. It's a good dagger, far better than the one you're sporting, which looks like a butter knife," she remarked incredulously, pointing at the old knife hanging from his belt.
"I'll have you know that this 'butter knife' has saved my life multiple times," he replied, strangely feeling compelled to defend the humble knife. Nonetheless, he accepted the offered dagger and examined it in his hands. He had been so engrossed in the spell tomes that he hadn't noticed the other items in the chest.
The blade was dark, with a subtle curve on one side. Its handle was wrapped in leather, adorned with intricate gold embroidery. All in all, it was an impressive-looking dagger. "It's pretty, but is it any good?" Talax asked.
Vesperine nodded, providing some reassurance. "It has a base attack of +8, which is rather impressive for a dagger, especially at your level. Additionally, it offers an extra +2 necrotic damage, which can weaken your opponents. So, if I were you, pup, I'd take it and not complain."
Talax raised his hands in a gesture of surrender and affixed the new dagger to his belt. "I didn't say a word! So, you can analyze weapons?" he asked Vesperine as he approached the chest and picked up a small animal skull, its eye sockets embedded with two black gems.
She nodded, "Only daggers. It's one of the abilities of my short blades skill. Hmm, I know what this is..." She gathered a handful of glass-like orbs with a multifaceted surface and brought them closer to her face. "They are called gloomstones. As far as I know, artificers use them."
She extended them toward Talax, but he shook his head, already occupied with the skull. "You can keep them," he murmured, infusing mana into the skull.
A connection was forged, and he sensed the anchor landing on his newfound plane of death magic within his core. He nodded, concluding that it served as an amplifier for death magic, much like his totem. The next time he summoned the spectral guardian, he resolved to use the amplifier to strengthen the summoning and, more importantly, conserve his mana.
He tucked the small skull, eerily resembling the shambling horror but on a smaller scale, into his bag and moved on to examine the last item inside the chest. Vesperine handed him three gloomstones, suggesting they might prove useful at some point, and he accepted them gratefully.
Together, they peered inside the box, revealing a small wooden box no larger than his palm. Vesperine hummed and opened the lid. "Mmm, it's a phylactery." Talax looked at her, puzzled. "A what?"
Vesperine picked up the box and studied its contents. It contained a bundle of dried herbs, an ancient-looking rock, a necklace made from chipped bones, and a coin.
"Some mages use phylacteries for certain spells. Some spells require specific components or materials to take effect, I'm sure you're aware of that," Vesperine explained. Talax nodded vigorously, attempting to hide his ignorance, and replied, "Of course, of course."
Vesperine raised an eyebrow but didn't comment further. "This phylactery contains components for death spells. You don't have a spell that requires a ritual yet, but you should keep it. It may come in handy at some point."
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Talax accepted the small box and tried to stow it in his bag, only to grimace when he heard a grinding noise. His bag was already at maximum capacity, bulging from the various items he had collected in the dungeon.
The sound of his spectral guardian's return reached his ears, and he watched the ghostly figure coming back with another smile on his face, reveling in the manifestation of his growing power. He had a ghostly protector now, after all. But just as he was reveling in this newfound strength, an otherworldly breeze swept through, and the ghostly form gradually lost cohesion until it disappeared entirely.
Talax was briefly alarmed, fearing that something had attacked his guardian. However, upon inspecting his core, he realized with disappointment that the spell had simply run its course. He sighed and decided to wait patiently for the thirty minutes to elapse so he could summon the spectral guardian again.
Vesperine, having observed the guardian's disappearance, teased, "Well, I guess it just couldn't last long enough to satisfy anyone's needs."
Talax grunted and, after a final scan of the cave, suggested, "We'd better go. Let's see what the others are up to." Vesperine shrugged, almost reluctantly, and they began making their way back.
Upon returning to the central chamber, they discovered someone already present. Edward was sitting on the floor, reading a small piece of paper with a concerned expression. Talax was briefly puzzled, wondering about Qalo's whereabouts, but then he noticed that the older noble was leaning against the unconscious form of the half-orc. Without hesitation, he sprinted toward the scene. Edward looked up at the sound of Talax's rapid approach, quickly pocketing the piece of paper he had been reading.
"You survived. That's... Disappointing..." Talax bared his teeth but chose to ignore the old man's comment. Instead, he knelt beside Qalo and began to assess his injuries. Qalo had several deep stab wounds, and his skin showed signs of burns.
"What happened?" he demanded, looking into Edward's eyes. "We went up against a crystalline golem, a vicious little thing. It could stab better than Vesperine, and its body acted like a magnifying glass, sending beams of light," Edward explained. Talax inserted some elfroot leaves into Qalo's mouth, hoping they would help.
Talax turned his accusing gaze back to Edward and pressed, "Why are you unharmed while Qalo is in this state? Did you use him as a shield as well?" Edward's face contorted with anger, and he took a threatening step.
"Instead of thanking me for bringing back the wild beast, you're questioning me?" Edward roared in anger. "I should have left it to rot inside that cave!" Talax stood up, his patience with the man reaching its limits. "He is not a beast!" he shouted back and was prepared to continue when something caught his attention behind Edward.
He saw Callum staggering toward them, his face covered in vicious cuts, and one of his legs appeared to be limp. Talax searched behind Callum for Franny with anxious eyes but couldn't find him. In his haste, he demanded, "Where is Franny?" Callum shook his head with a helpless expression. "Still inside..."
Talax wasted no time and sprinted forward, his racing heart in sync with the thunderous beat of his boots against the glistening floor, creating a discordant symphony of urgency. As he reached the foreboding symbol-marked door, he thrust it open. The chamber that lay before him was a surreal maze of obsidian columns that stretched endlessly in every direction, forming an imposing forest of darkness. Small pockets of inky blackness hung suspended in the air, intensifying the oppressive atmosphere as if the shadows conspired to choke the life from the chamber.
Talax blinked momentarily, caught in the disorienting vastness, but he quickly regained his bearings as the sounds of battle drew nearer. He resumed his sprint, and the cacophony drew nearer, urging him onward. The columns played tricks on his perception, their forms shifting and swaying, acting as illusory sentinels attempting to block his path.
Talax got lost several times as he navigated the shattered columns and destruction. However, each time a new round of noises drew him closer to his target. Amidst the chaos of shattered obsidian columns and debris, he finally found Franny. The once-unyielding columns now lay in ruins, some toppled, others dismembered, and some hanging perilously from the ceiling without support.
Franny weaved his way through the chaotic debris, desperately trying to stay alive. His body bore brutal marks, and wounds and blood painted his once-clean armor. His armor had been rent apart, with a vicious gash dangerously close to his chest, gushing torrents of blood. He appeared to be barely hanging on.
Hot on his heels was a colossal spider with a sleek, glistening body that faintly shimmered in the dim light. Its pincers snapped together with insatiable hunger each time it drew near to Franny. What was more terrifying, however, were its spindly legs that resembled razor-sharp swords, each step leaving deep grooves etched into the chamber floor.
The arachnid moved with eerie grace, a macabre dance that carried it from column to column. As it traversed the obsidian forest, it left a trail of silken webs in its wake, pooling on the ground like inky black puddles, steadily encroaching and entrapping a frantic Franny.
The only thing that kept him alive was the most unlikely spell at Franny’s disposal. The spell Radiant imp of Sansor, that he rarely used because it was impossible to control the summoned imp, due to its erratic and unpredictable nature.
The shining imp appeared to be having the time of its life. It bounced around in a streak of light that seemed to discomfort the massive spider. Each time the monster tried to close in, the imp laughed manically, held its protruding belly, and jumped at the spider's face, blinding it and causing it to writhe in pain.
The radiant imp was struggling to restrain the beast, and with each breath, it inched closer to the exhausted Franny. Talax grabbed his bow, knocked an arrow, and activated Explosive Arrow. His hand moved with each of the spider's unpredictable jumps, making it challenging to aim at the nimble creature.
He used his bow's zoom ability and released the arrow at the last possible moment. The arrow sailed through the forest of columns and struck the spider's back, creating a mana-fueled explosion. Although the arrow barely grazed the creature as it moved at the last second, it still managed to inflict some damage.
However, there was an unexpected consequence he hadn't foreseen. The small explosion of mana washed over the nearby columns, destroying three of them and taking out large chunks of the rest. The brittle columns crashed to the floor with a resounding bang, and debris rained down on the confused spider.
Franny noticed Talax's actions and a relieved expression spread across his face. The imp, upon spotting Talax, made a rude gesture and continued pestering the distraught spider. Talax rushed closer to his friend and loosed a couple more arrows, failing spectacularly to find a target.
As he approached, he witnessed the spider lunging at Franny, who at the last moment activated his ability Sword of Light, deflecting the incoming attack. The spider screeched in agony when it was bathed in the divine light of the sword. Light magic seemed to be anathema to the creature of darkness, causing it to shy away and seek refuge in the shadows of the columns.
Seeing the spider's reaction, Talax got an idea. He took cover behind a fallen column and in the distance, he heard another crash, signaling the toppling of another column. He quickly unslung his bag and anxiously searched for his precious beads.
With a sigh of relief, he felt his fingers touch the small rocks and pulled one out. He imbued it with mana, causing it to radiate a golden light. Talax looked over the debris, scanning the area, trying to locate the spider. He spotted it a few meters away, locked in combat with Franny, while the imp continued to pester the creature, preventing it from delivering a serious blow to Franny.
Franny fought valiantly, attempting to overcome the spider's razor-sharp legs and get close enough to attack the creature. Talax, seeing his friend in grave danger, hurled the glowing bead. The bead soared through the air and struck the monster directly, landing harmlessly among the scattered rocks. With a burst of blinding light, it illuminated the oppressive darkness.
The spider screeched in agony, its blindness causing it to recoil and move away from the source of its torment. In its disoriented state, the creature moved as if drunk, knocking over columns that came crashing down, further harming the spider.
Franny fell to the ground, seeking refuge among the toppled columns, and shielded his eyes from the blinding light. For some reason, the bead's reaction was far more intense than Talax had anticipated. He couldn't determine whether it happened because he had used it in the domain of dark magic or for some other reason.
The whole chamber was bathed in white light, making it difficult to even keep his eyes open. Amid the chaos, Talax heard crash after crash as the blinded and pained spider tried to escape the intense source of light magic. He could only see vague outlines, but with mounting horror, he realized that the spider was headed in his direction.
Talax turned around and tried to run, but in his blinded state, he stumbled and fell face first to the ground. He moaned in pain as something fell right next to him. Blindly reaching out, he felt pieces of rocks that crumbled into dust under his fingers.
Another column toppled near him, and he felt the force of the impact wash over him, making his hair whip around violently. In his desperation, he called out for Franny, but his voice was drowned out by the chaotic noise of falling columns.
Suddenly, he sensed a weight settling on top of him, and coarse fur brushed against his skin. With horror, he realized that the crushing weight belonged to the spider, which wriggled and swayed as if trying to escape but remained trapped. Talax grunted and moved his trapped hand to his belt, attempting to free his new dagger.
After several excruciating moments, Talax managed to free his dagger and, with a bracing breath, stabbed the spider in the underbelly. The creature screeched in both anger and pain. Talax expected the monster to retaliate and attack him, but to his relief, the spider remained in place. He wasn't sure why the spider didn't react to his attacks, but he was grateful nonetheless.
Talax continued to stab the spider repeatedly, black ichor raining down on him like a waterfall as he wore away at the necrotic-damaged flesh until he began to see the spider's skin decaying and falling off in chunks. He lost track of time, his hand growing numb as he continued to poke at the giant spider with his dagger. At some point, the spider stopped moving.
Hysterically, Talax began to laugh, black blood choking him when he opened his mouth, but that only made him laugh harder. Damn his luck! He didn’t know if he was lucky or ill-fated. In that moment, he heard an ominous groan and the next moment it felt as if the heavens themselves bore down on him.