CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Warm sunlight fell onto my face, and cool winds raced through the air, ruffling my hair as they sped past me. I blinked a few times, and got used to the brightness. A wide field of grass lay before me, and the blades were not a conventional green, but rather a greenish blue, as though they had been enchanted.
“What is this place,” I whispered.
A few trees lay around me, not in any planned structure but more as though the seeds had fallen randomly and sprouted all over. I looked past the greenery, and saw more trees and fields.
I turned around, glancing in the other directions, and noticed that the same sight lay before me wherever I looked – trees and fields.
However, I quickly noticed that there were two things that I could not see.
Freya and Acnologia.
The Dragon was nowhere to be found and neither was the elf. Nyx, I said. Could you open up my map and check Freya’s location?
Silence replied.
Nyx? I called out.
More silence.
What the heck?
I recalled what had happened right before this. I recalled having ropes of light bind me. I recalled losing my sensations and collapsing to the ground.
Is this a vision then? I looked around. It would make sense given Freya and Acnologia were not here.
I closed my eyes for a second, and enhanced my concentration. I focused on my inner energy, but instead of channeling it into my hands to cast a spell, I sent it to my mind.
A mild shock rang through my head, but I kept still. I tried to imagine waves radiating from my head, trying to reach out to the spirit.
Nyx, I called out. Where are you?
“…Zoran…” a voice spoke, its tone weak.
I concentrated harder, and willed more and more energy to flow into my mind, enriching my concentration. I heard something snap and a harsh shock passed through me. I grasped the sides of my temples, and pressed on them to ease the pain.
“Phew, that was hard,” Nyx chuckled. “Good job, Diablo.”
DING!
Congratulations! You have learned a new skill
Mind Arts!
It is said a universe exists within the mind. Now you can explore this mysterious world.
Effect 1
Intelligence increased by +2%
DING!
Congratulations! You have learned a new skill
Meditation!
Focus and concentration are the paths to greatness. This skill might not pack a heavy punch, but in the hands of the right man, can turn the simplest of spells into a force to be reckoned with. All effects last for only five minutes after skill is deactivated.
Effect 1
All regeneration rates increased by +1% while skill is being used.
Effect 2
Spell casting times will be reduced by 5%.
Effect 3
Spell Mana consumption will be reduced by 5%
My eyes widened. Interesting.
“I’ll say,” Nyx said. “I completely forgot ‘Mind Arts’ was a thing.”
I closed my screens. “Where were you?” I asked. “I tried calling out but you were gone.”
“Something blocked me out,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going on.”
“I do not understand either,” Acnologia spoke.
“Oh, you managed to get here too,” I said.
“Indeed. And from what I understand, we are currently within your Spirit Space.”
I looked around. “We are?” I asked.
“It appears someone has forced your consciousness into this space.”
“That sounds painful,” I said. “And also something I should be worried that other people can do.”
“Now is not the time for such a worry. We must first try to understand the situation that we have gotten ourselves into.”
“What was that light we saw before?” Nyx asked.
“I have no idea,” the Dragon said. “It seemed a very odd contraption. I have never seen a chamber filled with so many runes.”
“Yeah. That was very odd.”
“Whatever happened there, it doesn’t matter right now,” Nyx said. “How are we supposed to get out of here?”
“I don’t have the faintest clue.”
I looked out into the open fields, and questions filled my mind. Why was I here? Who had brought me here? And to my own Spirit Space at that. That was like kidnapping someone, and bringing them back to their own house.
“Only, this guy seems to know how to use your house for some reason,” Nyx added.
A shiver ran down my spine. “That’s just very creepy.”
A gust of wind blew past us, stronger than before. “Come,” a voice whispered from the gale, its tone weak but its words clear.
“Who’s that?” I jerked my head in the direction of the wind, expecting to see someone, but seeing nothing other than trees and grass instead.
“I cannot sense a presence here,” Acnologia said. “It is most puzzling.”
“You don’t say,” Nyx added. “I have no idea what exactly is going on here. But it’s possible, given the situation, that there is someone else occupying this space.”
“What?” I asked. “Someone else forced their way into my Spirit Space?”
“Well, it sounds absurd when you put it THAT way.”
“What other way am I supposed to put it?” I blinked.
My feet shook, and I glanced down at the surface. Suddenly the ground beneath us tremored violently, throwing trees, grass, and also a very annoyed Eternal across the surface. I fell a few feet from where I had stood, sliding across the grass. I grasped the blades in my hand, tearing them from the ground as I came to a stop.
DING!
The Herb Lore skill’s screen came up.
Name
Blue Mist Grass
Rarity
Common
Condition
Fresh
Special effect
Increases Agility for five minutes.
I closed the screen and tried to stand up. The ground beneath me still shook, only it wasn’t as harsh anymore. Suddenly I heard a loud crash and I turned around.
And there, far in the distance, something had appeared. A massive structure of stone emerged from the ground, rising to about five times the height of any of the closest trees. The ground stopped shaking as more of the structure rose, and completely stopped when it had finished rising.
I glanced at this stone building. It was rectangular, with about four levels in total, placed in a pyramid-step architecture. A series of clear crystals lay studded onto the walls, right where one level ended and the other started. The stone itself was a fuzzy grey, like many shades of the color had been splashed onto the structure.
“Well,” Nyx said. “Did not think that would happen.”
“I was also not aware that you could snatch herbs from your own Spirit Space,” Acnologia said. “How does that work?”
“Well this herb thing isn’t even supposed to be here in the first place. Remember? Diablo’s Spirit Space is supposed to be dark and empty.”
“Ouch,” I said.
“That does make sense though,” the Dragon said. “So this foreign agent populated Diablo’s Spirit Space with this scenery we are in right now.”
“Seems like it.”
“Okay, guys?” I looked at the building. “Can we please get back onto topic now? We need to worry about this massive structure that just rose out of nowhere.”
“Yeah,” Nyx said.
“I do not sense anything off with it,” Acnologia said. “But I have not seen such a thing before either.”
“Neither have I.” I walked toward it, and glanced at its gray walls.
“You’re going to enter it?” Nyx asked.
“Well, I don’t see anything else happening here. So I either enter it or just stand still until something else happens.”
“Fine, you have a point.”
Standing w
here I was, about a hundred yards from the structure, I could see its entrance — a large opening about fifteen feet high with a big, silver jewel atop it. I noticed small runes inscribed into the wall around the entrance, and I realized that this was not just any structure.
A temple, I realized.
“The runes here might have some connection to the ones we saw in the tunnel,” Acnologia said.
“I was thinking the same thing.”
“I still don’t feel any presences within this place,” Nyx said.
“You sound worried about that.” I stood before the entrance, and took a good glance at everything around it, soaking in the sight and trying to discern any valuable information.
“Well,” he said. “I feel a little suspicious about a large temple that rose from the ground without a single presence inside it. What did this thing come up for?”
“There’s one way to find out,” I grinned and stepped into the place.
Immediately, I heard a rumble and a massive slab of stone dropped down from the walls, sealing off the entrance. I didn’t need to go use Meteor Fist on it to realize this entrance had been sealed off.
“Well, that’s not a good start,” I mumbled.
“Be on your guard, Diablo,” the Shadow Dragon said, and I nodded.
I looked before me, and activated my Night Vision skill. Pillars of stone stood along the flat surface — about fifty of them in total — arranged in neat rows and columns. There was hardly more than three or four feet between each one, cramping up the pathways. I looked closer and noticed that each of the pillars — at least the ones closest to me — had a rune inscribed onto one of their sides, with the rune itself unique in each case.
“What is all this?” I mumbled as I stepped closer to the first row of runes. I looked around, trying to see if there was an entrance anywhere, but didn’t find anything.
“There’s something on your field map though,” Nyx said.
DING!
The spirit brought up my screen.
I saw an image that was a pretty good representation of all the paths I had before me, however, this map indicated there was some kind of door at the center of the place.
“But there isn’t one,” I looked forward, but didn’t see an entrance or exit.
“There is,” Acnologia said. “It’s just not on the floor.”
What? I glanced up. And there, in the ceiling, was a small section of open roof, a square opening about three feet in width.
“I can fit through that.” I walked up to the center. I was careful with every step, and made sure there was nothing off about the pillars before I walked through them. There was no telling what kind of traps one could set up in here.
I stepped to the middle of the floor and looked up, at the opening above. I could see only darkness within it, even with my Night Vision skill turned on. But that didn’t deter my will to get up there.
I launched myself off the ground, and into the air. I made sure I didn’t use too much force — just enough to get me into the hole. I passed through the square opening, and gripped onto the surface of the next floor. I pulled hard, and hoisted myself up quickly.
“This place is giving me the creeps,” Nyx said.
That does not make me feel good. I glanced around but I couldn’t see much in the darkness.
Actually, I couldn’t see anything, which was quite odd. My Night Vision skill showed me at least very rudimentary forms in a worst-case scenario.
I heard scuttling around me, and my shoulder’s tightened. My hands reached out for Dawnbreaker but on second thought, I moved them back to in front of me.
Let’s use my arts spells this time, I thought.
All of a sudden, eyes emerged from around me, about a hundred at once. At that instant, I tried to think of how many creatures there were, and then I realized something. The position of these eyes was odd. They were creepy.
And then it hit me.
Spiders.
I put my hand in the air. “Asgionis!” I yelled. A flame burst around me, increasing my speed, but also illuminating the entire room.
A multitude of massive spiders stood before me, each one taller than I was, and their bodies were as dark as the night itself. Thick webs ran across the room, and there were strands all over the walls, spinning from the floor to the ceiling. Broken bones stuck to the webbing — the remains of whatever these things had killed.
DING!
My Analyze skill screen popped up.
Race
Giant Spider
Level
601
Dammit, a shiver ran down my spine.
“Are you scared of spiders?” Nyx asked.
Can’t remember, I said. Hopefully not.
The insects moved toward me, with their legs scuttling along at fast speeds. I quickly put my hands up into the air. “Erkiela. Peona. Rivorka,” I said, using my Chain Casting skill to send three attacks at once.
A blast of raging fire sunk into the creatures, setting their bodies alight, but they still charged toward me, faster than before. My second spell — ‘Peona’ — activated an instant later, and a twister of wind emerged around me, expanding out in an instant.
The flames spread around, causing even more havoc, and the strong gales picked up the spiders, throwing them hard against the walls. Their health had already gone to just a fourth of what they’d been, and that was when my ‘Rivorka’ spell activated.
A dark cloud emerged above me and expanded out, filling the whole room. Before the spiders could even react, shards of sharp ice shot out of my personal storm cloud, and impaled the spiders in seconds. The creatures went down, and their health bars sunk to zero in a flash.
About five seconds later, every last one of them had died.
DING!
Congratulations! You have defeated:
Giant Spider Nest (Lv. 640)!
That was the creepiest thing ever. No one’s ever been intrigued about what a spider next looks like, and it makes perfect sense why. Reward: Silk of the Giant Spider. Reward: Fangs of the Giant Spider. Reward: 16700000 XP. Reward: 1800000 Sol.
I looked at the XP reward. Wow, that was worth it.
DING!
Congratulations! You have advanced a Wind Arts spell:
Peona: Storm Gale Level 3!
Wind speeds will now be increased, and will cause greater damage. There’s a small chance of an enemy falling unconscious when they enter the winds due to breathlessness.
Mana Cost
200
Casting Time
5 seconds
Cooldown Time
5 minutes
Range
300 Yards
Effect 1
+10% Agility to all allies for one minute
DING!
Congratulations! You have advanced a Water Arts spell:
Rivorka: Ice storm’ Level 4!
Temperature of the ice generated will be lowered. The chance of inflicting freeze burns will be increased.
Mana Cost
400
Casting Time
5 seconds
Cooldown Time
5 minutes
Range
350 Yards
Effect 1
-5% Agility to all enemies on field
I closed the screens, and I picked out an odd humming sound that resonated all around. A wall of white light emerged out of nowhere, and surged into me.
One moment I was in the chamber, and then next I was in a small room. What the heck? I looked at the darkness around me.
“We seem to be on the top floor,” Nyx spoke. “At least, that’s what your map says.”
“This place does not look safe,” Acnologia said.
“What do you mean?” I asked, and then I noticed the floor. There was about a foot of spider webs rising from the surface. I looked past it all, and saw that there was something at the far end of the room, covered completely by strings of webbing. I heard a noise come from above it and I looke
d up.
Shivers ran down my spine once more as a massive spider, even larger than the rest, looked at me, its eyes of orange glaring at my form. I quickly used my Analyze skill on it.
DING!
Race
Giant Spider Queen
Level
867
Holy hell. My muscles tightened.
“Well,” Nyx said. “This is weird.”
The Spider Queen jumped down, and shot a web at me. I dived out of the way, and rolled back onto my feet.
I put my hand into the air. “Uher!” I yelled. The Dark Phoenix emerged from the ground, its form too large to fit the room. It slammed into the queen, throwing her against the wall. Much to my surprise, nearly a fourth of her health had disappeared just from that one attack.
And then I realized that my Dark Arts spells were hell of a lot stronger here because this room was pitch black.
I grinned. Places of darkness give me a huge advantage, I realized. I used my Chain Casting skill and cast two spells. “Beltair. Uher!”
The room turned even darker, as if that was possible, and my phoenix surged out. The bird smashed through the side walls, and smashed into the spider. The chamber started breaking apart, the spider queen now immobile on the floor. I looked at her health bar.
A third left, I noticed. I rushed up to her, and slid Dawnbreaker out. “Bladestorm!” I yelled. I sped around her, and struck her multiple times a second, her health coming down significantly with each strike
The queen tried to stand up, but it was too late. I held my hands up. “Oskis!”
The Eternal: A Boxed Set (World of Ga'em Book 6) Page 67
