BleedingTears
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Arcanist - Chapter 95
🕑 Added 2025-05-12 17:19:23 +0000 UTCThe young servant led him through a set of colorful corridors, down a pair of spiraling steps, across the under halls of the mansion where portraits of important-looking men and women dotted the walls. He was silent through all of it, with only their steps resounding about the walls.
And yet Valens knew, due to prior experience, that the longer the march went on, the more it meant the person he was being guided toward would be more important.
So this Mr. Gray, the rich patron who happens to support Duality Guild’s cause, is a mysterious person. Should I expect to keep to certain etiquette rules when I meet him?
He decided that much was inevitable, so he kept his hands pinned slightly to his sides and allowed the servant to lead him through another staircase. After a repetition of the earlier effort, they finally came across a stone door that looked painfully simple compared to the apparent opulence of the mansion’s general character.
“I don’t see—”
“Here, Mr. Kosthal, allow me,” the young servant cut him gently, after which he reached for the singular button by the wall, and pressed upon it. The stone door groaned slowly open when he did so, revealing a dark passage beyond it. “This way,” he concluded with that expressionless face.
Valens glanced at the dark passage, then back at the servant. He had a few doubts about the matter, but a slight probe through the Resonance showed him that nothing out of the ordinary waited for him beyond.
Better I check it, though.
For good measure, he stretched his neck out and peered into the darkness. That was when he felt a sudden touch around his back… which grew stronger to the point that it flung him stumbling into the dark passage.
“Hey—”
The stone door screamed, and turned, and closed with such swiftness that it betrayed its earlier incompetence in a way that left Valens speechless. And through the fast-closing slit he managed to glimpse at the face of the young servant for one last time.
He looked somewhere between apologetic and worried.
Then the door closed.
The Resonance changed.
A notification blinked.
One that was disturbingly familiar to Valens.
[You’ve entered a Cursed Rift. Shadows loom in its depths.]
“Great,” Valens muttered as a wave of dust trickled down from the now-closed stone door’s edges, locking him in this dark passage.
With Gravitating Earth, he tried to force a way out, the ground underneath his feet answering as a pair of sharp spikes jutted out of the soil. They stabbed with decent speed at the door, blasted into pieces and sprinkled across the passage in a shower of gravel, managing to leave only two faint impressions on the door’s solid surface.
Next came the Inferno, but Valens might as well have tried to burn the ground than the door by how it remained completely undamaged by the tongues of furious fire. He tried the other spells in his arsenal to see if he was being kept here by some trick of magic, but quickly found that this particular Cursed Rift was oddly simple.
The walls are too thick, and I can’t feel anything under the ground. Just a thick door was enough to leave me helpless.
Perhaps Garran could’ve crushed the damn thing with his strength, or Dain hacked a way across through it with a sword, but as he was now, Valens couldn’t do anything since the stone door was actually a giant block of stone that was marginally bigger than it looked.
It goes deep in the ground and wide to the walls. Why, though? I thought I was a guest, and the mysterious owner was curious to meet me. Surely he wouldn’t go through all that trouble just to lock me in, would he?
Looking around him, it seemed the only way to find the answer was to hope this dark passage would lead him to this so-called Mr. Gray.
Not like I’m a stranger to this sort of situation.
A Fireball blazed alive over his fingers, and it was with a sweep of his tailcoat jacket that he started his march across the dark space.
It was silent and damp here. There were no bugs in the soil. No wind across the stretch. No life other than Valens’s heartbeat.
Soon, the simple cave-like interior gave way to a carpet of marbled tiles, covering the ground and stretching over to the ceiling. Set into either side of this part of the passage, which was wide enough to let a five-man party pass together, were archaic torches staring silent at Valens’s passing. Beyond them stood towering statues of marble, lined in two rows that were parallel to one another, clad in medieval plate armor and clasped in their hands different weapons.
Valens set the torches ablaze to provide himself more light to peer into this odd scene, and saw he was confronted by a score of statues beyond which stood another stone gate much similar to the one the young servant opened prior to his sudden betrayal.
Why do I feel like they all are staring at me?
The slits around the helmets were dark, and the frequencies of the statues were silent, but Valens felt the unmistakable sensation of being stared at by a group of hungry warriors.
“Pardon me,” he said, as if they could hear him. “But I don’t feel comfortable enough to just pass from between your groups. We will do this in my way.”
The moment Valens reached for Gravitating Earth to make sure the statues were encased in a shell of hard soil to keep them at bay, an outside force poked into the Resonance and sent a score of strange frequencies filling swiftly into the statues.
Shit. I knew it!
They came alive one by one as the ground underneath their pedestals rose in order to meet them. Valens strained as the marbles held strong against the soil, but with enough mana they gave in, cracking loudly while spikes flew out of the holes that opened around them.
A giant sword twice Valens’s size hacked a wide sweep across to clear a few of them while at the front, a mighty shield rose to meet the incoming missiles with ease. Spears and glaives tore through what was left from Valens’s assault, sending the gravel clanking loud across the broken tiles.
Within moments Valens was staring at a score of statues looking mightily fine, marching in an arrow-shaped formation toward him. That shield-holding, giant-looking, lifeless statue took the lead while his companions settled a step back from him, empty eyes staring into Valens’s face.
[Lifebound Statue - Level ???]
The crimson letters in which the names of these unnatural beings were written were impossible to miss, and now that the frequencies breathed life into them, Valens could feel the strength brimming in each one of them.
Not quite as strong as the Templars. Closer to the Oarfangs I’ve met in the Necromancer’s Rift, I’d say. Trouble is, I don’t have nearly enough space here. If I let them corner me, I’m done for.
“I don’t know what sick game you’re playing,” he said as he backed down a step. “But I will let you know that I’ve dealt with worse than this.”
Though I had help. That is important. Help is always important. Without the Templars, I couldn’t have dealt with the Weeping Horror’s tendrils. Without them—
He shook his head. This wasn’t the time to think about what he did not have, and couldn’t have for that matter. No, it was focus that he needed.
It’s simple. I did this many times. Trap them somehow, then cut into those frequencies. Lifebound or not, these statues are not alive. Not in the general sense, that is.
So then, brute force wasn’t the way to go here. Control was the key.
Control, yes.
They moved. A singular effort shared among the group of statues, marching forward in perfect discipline with steps arranged and weapons hauled in a way to not hamper the movements of their companions.
The shield was first to come in, and the statue who manned it nearly rammed it into Valens’s face, only to lurch toward the side when the cracked marbles underneath his feet gave in.
“Control,” Valens said, smiling at it. “That’s the key, eh?”
Then they were on him.
He breathed in as the other statues marched over their fallen companion, extending themselves out toward him in a heated effort. The tip of a giant spear made an impression in Valens’s senses before it exploded outward, coming at him with blinding speed. Another one took an insidious sweep at his legs, stretching its spear in such flexibility that the wooden weapon nearly cracked in the process.
Valens launched himself backward with the Light Feet just in time to escape the spear aiming at his legs, but not fast enough to save his chest from the first one. It tore a giant gash across his stomach, tearing through the silken shirt and into his flesh, spattering blood down to the ground.
With one hand over his chest, Valens stumbled back, vision blurry with pain, heart thundering loudly in his ears. He managed a quick Lifesurge to patch the slit and breathed in relief when it occurred to him that the wound was rather shallow.
Lifemana waves poured into his chest and stitched the skin in masterful precision, while with his free hand Valens sent the ground wavering to keep the statues away.
I can’t let this go on much longer.
If he let them press him continuously, he would soon run out of space to do anything about the assault, and to prevent them there was only one thing he could do.
Move.
And so, he moved.
Light Feet sent him toward the statues, sound vision picking the frequencies in a mad rush, the echoing pain of the wound keeping his mind focused. He reached for the side wall and pulled at a large piece of it, sending it crashing into the statues while making his way toward the shield-wielding giant.
Valens didn’t let the lumbering giant find its footing. He wrapped the soil around its feet, forked it round and round as if they were tree roots, pinned the statue there all alone. Its shield came sweeping toward him, but he ducked forward, Light Feet keeping his body light and agile, and reached the creature’s body before he finally placed a hand on its shoulders.
The Lifesurge threads tore into its internal frequencies in maddened speed. There wasn’t much of anything in there for Valens to work with. Not a rotten core like the Necromancer’s Horde, or a structure as complicated as the Heartstone of the Undead.
What he found was one trifling cord from which poured a great deal of ambient mana into the creature, and acted as though a string used to guide a puppet.
You’re playing with me, is that it?
Valens snapped the cord with the tip of a Lifesurge even as the statue struggled against the earthen bindings. The moment he did so, the creature went still, the shield clasped in its hand plopping down with a loud clank.
‘Ding’ You have managed to defeat [Lifebound Statue - lvl 155]! For killing a creature above your own level, you are granted bonus experience.
Your First Trial hasn’t been completed yet. The gained experience has been stored.
One down.
The others managed to free themselves from the chaos of having a giant boulder crash in their midst by the time Valens dealt with the first one, and were now staring with empty eyes toward him. There was no emotion in their gazes. No life other than a muted obedience toward whoever planted those life cords into their bodies.
But life, Valens knew, wasn’t just about the mind or the consciousness of it. It was everywhere, right underneath their feet, sideways across the walls, up high in the ceiling. Life was everywhere, and Valens could feel its weight as clearly as the heart beating in his chest.
Gravitating Earth pulled at the fine specks of soil spattered over the broken tiles, at the earth beneath them, at the walls with their frequencies alive over the Resonance. The great passage answered Valens’s call, and the ground swayed in giant waves that sent the score of statues stumbling.
Their weight and strength worked against them. What few managed to throw themselves out to Valens crashed into the pillars of molded earth, broke through them with difficulty only to find more waiting for them. For every pillar they managed to breach, there were three others caging them, and three more surrounding them in big circles that turned the place into a maze.
Valens’s maze. And here, he could see everything.
‘Ding’ You have managed to defeat [Lifebound Statue - lvl 156]! For killing a creature above your own level, you are granted bonus experience.
Your First Trial hasn’t been completed yet. The gained experience has been stored.
‘Ding’ You have managed to defeat [Lifebound Statue - lvl 157]! For killing a creature above your own level, you are granted bonus experience.
Your First Trial hasn’t been completed yet. The gained experience has been stored.
‘Ding’ You have managed to defeat [Lifebound Statue - lvl 148]! For killing a creature above your own level, you are granted bonus experience.
Your First Trial hasn’t been completed yet. The gained experience has been stored.
Snapping the life cord threads, Valens moved like a snake slithering across the holes in the earth, catching the statues unaware. One by one he singled them out and dealt with them in silence until the Resonance showed him there was only one such creature left from the group.
It waited silently by the end of the passage, before a similar stone door. Valens paused at the peculiarity of it, since this giant wasn’t clad in plate armor like the others, nor was it holding a weapon. No, in its hand was clasped a simple lantern in which a fire blazed faintly as if it were about to go out.
“Would you be kind enough to open that door for me?” Valens asked, drops of sweat trickling down from his head. His legs stung with the effort, and without the Apathy, his heart refused to calm down as it pounded brutally against his chest.
He waited for a few seconds to see if he would get an answer, then shook his head when the statue remained silent.
“I guess not,” he muttered. “Well, you’re not giving me much choice. Let us send you to your rest, then, shall we?”
He reached for the Gravitating Earth, but not before he checked his mana pool. Dealing with the statues had been costly, to say the least, which left him with only a quarter of his mana pool left. Thankfully, it was being renewed even as he stood against the statue and would be at full in an hour’s time.
Next time, carry a few of those manastones in your pocket. They’re not much, but better to have a few drops at the ready than nothing.
Nodding to himself, he pulled the earthen pillars and wrapped them around the statue’s limbs, pinning it in place. He even wrapped a part of condensed soil across its featureless face in case the creature could somehow see him. That done, he neared the statue and placed a hand over its kneecap.
Snapping the life cord was one smooth effort.
‘Ding’ You have managed to defeat [Soulbound Statue - lvl 143]! For killing a creature above your own level, you are granted bonus experience.
Your First Trial hasn’t been completed yet. The gained experience has been stored.
The name earned an arched eyebrow from him as the statue went still, the fingers clasped around the chains of the lantern growing limp. The metallic, archaic tool slid slowly from the statue’s hold and crashed into the ground, the fire burning inside of it wavering weakly.
Not the best weapon you’d bring to a Rift, I suppose.
He was just about to reach for the door when his skin prickled with a sudden dread, and he didn’t know how he flung himself backward with a Light Feet when that sickly, weakly wavering flame in the lantern spattered in an ethereal tongue toward him.
An earthen block rose from before him to respond to what he assumed was a last-ditch effort from the statue, but when those wavering lines of fire passed through it and latched onto his chest, Valens let out a surprised yelp.
He grimaced in expectation, and yet there was no heat. Nothing but an odd sensation around his chest that wormed its way through his innards, making for the empty side of his chest, right toward his… core.
This… Void!
Those weren’t real flames, not when they left the sickening stench of void in their passing all around his body.
Valens perked up, fingers of his right hand tightening as he managed a Lifesurge up to his chest. He could feel the threads of void-tinged mana closing down on his chest cavity and sent his Lifesurges to choke them down in waves of mana.
“Not that one!” came a voice, followed by the amused laughter of a man that echoed across the passage. “You should have another Surge! Use that one!”
Valens didn’t have time to see about this voice, but he frowned when the Lifesurge threads passed vainly through the void-tinged ethereal flames. They continued on, completely untouched, toward his chest cavity.
Ah!
Panic grabbed him and sent a shiver down his spine. Disoriented, Valens looked around, but there was nothing around him but the cold walls, the still statues, and the wreck he caused across the passage.
That voice… Damn it, I have no other choice!
Grinding his teeth, he reached for the Hexsurge and sent it against the void-tinged flames slithering around his chest, feeling all the while that he was being played at, and being played at by someone who knew he had two different surges!
……
Comments
Caleb Reusser
I'm going to be disappointed if he somehow ends up working with Mr. Gray after this.
BlastYoBoots
Also there are multiple mention of “marbles” as if marble statues or “cracked marbles” as if Valens tried to trip them with hard marbles spilled across the ground; usually it’s singular “marble” or “marble statues” if referring to carved forms, so I wasn’t quite sure what was going on at points.
BlastYoBoots
(Minor correction: “Valens launched himself backward with the Light Feet just in time” —seems either an extra word “the” is there with Light feet or a missing word “the Light Feet spell” or something.)
