Chapter 36: My Adventures with Gaelith

  As I reawakened with Checkpoint, my hands immediately flew to my face. I could still feel it – the searing pain, the skin ripping apart. The memory of the explosion was so vivid it brought me to my knees, my mind convincing me the pain was still present.

  But it wasn’t, and I forced myself to remember that. Taking deep, steadying breaths to bring myself back to my senses.

  “What happened?” Gaelith asked, sounding confused yet keeping his distance.

  I shook my head, pushing the phantom pain aside and regaining my composure. “The bodies…they’re mined.”

  “I see.” He replied, his radiating sword glowing brighter as he raised it above his head. “Don’t look.”

  I averted my gaze, staring at the walls. Bright illumination filled the room, followed by eerie, high-pitched groans. When it was safe, I turned to the source of the sound and saw them. Small grotesque creatures. They resembled small goblins, but their skin was slightly different than the norm. It was streaked with red-glowing, pulsating veins that ran up their disgusting bodies. Their eyes burned with the same ominous red. Boomspite Lichlings, level 60.

  The creatures moaned and cried, clawing their eyes, blinded by the luminosity Gaelith’s blade had created. When I stood up and prepared to strike, their cries ceased, and they became alert. They skittered back toward the walls, disappearing into thin air. I brought my hands together and shot a Wind Arrow toward the last place I’ve seen one of them, but it just hit the wall, sending up a cloud of dust and debris.

  “Where are they?” I asked nervously. The vivid memory of my face exploding still haunted my mind and I wanted revenge.

  “Gone. For now.” Gaelith replied, lowering his sword.

  “What? Gone?” I repeated, in disbelief.

  “Yes.” He said, nodding. “They’re a tricky bunch. They hide beneath a veil of invisibility, attacking when you least expect it. They know I never check the bodies, so it’s been a long time since they tried something like this. You, on the other hand…an easier target.” he paused, his tone becoming thoughtful. “I assume you knew the bodies were mined thanks to this God of Time of yours?”

  “Yes.” I nodded.

  Gaelith exhaled heavily. “I see. Well, I didn’t expect to find your friends this soon, and…dead. I had hoped to gain your trust. What else can I do?”

  The answer came to me instantly - a perfect way to test his true intentions. But it was too risky to let him know I had it.

  “What is this Darknessbound Core you just thought about?” he suddenly asked.

  “Get out of my mind!” I snapped at him.

  “Forgive me. I just want to help.” He sounded apologetical. “Your oath forbids you from telling me, right? So, I find this method highly effective in keeping us both satisfied.”

  “That’s not the problem here.” I retorted.

  He nodded. “I understand and will refrain from doing so in the future. This Core, though?”

  I was still angry at how easily he had entered my mind, but the cat was out of the bag. I just needed to be careful with my thoughts around him from this point on.

  I pulled out the two shards in my possession, showing him the small gap where the missing piece would complete Erebus’ confinement. Then, seeing how Gaelith already learned what it was by reading my mind, I decided to explain further – where I found it, its purpose, its ability to imprison Erebus for at least the next millennium when he would become someone else’s problem – a different world's problem.

  Gaelith observed the shards in silence. “So, Karl was guarding these...”

  I nodded. “Yes. I found it in the room he protected.”

  Gaelith sighed heavily. “That makes sense. The Destroyer knew I couldn’t face Karl, so he hid something so vital there.” He took a deep breath. “I can find the missing piece.”

  I blinked in surprise. “You can?”

  He nodded. “May I?”

  Before I could answer, he drove his sword into the ground. Only now did I realize he carried no scabbard for it.

  Gaelith stepped forward, taking the shards from my hands with care. As he took them, I saw his hands, covered by his knightly gauntlets. He held one shard in each hand before muttering something in a language I recognized as ancient Tepanese, but his voice was barely audible, so I couldn’t quite catch the words.

  Soon, the shards began to levitate, spinning slowly above his hands. After a second, the shards dropped back into his gauntlets.

  What did he even do? He wasn’t known to possess any magic outside of the combat type.

  He handed them back to me. “Follow.” He ordered simply, retrieving his sword and resting it against his shoulder as he began to walk, exiting the chamber and continuing inside the corridor.

  ***

  I wished we could’ve done something for the bodies of Lena, Dina, and Kelltins, but with the magical mines embedded in them, it was impossible. I didn’t possess the type of magic needed to safely disarm them.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Before leaving, I placed a marker from Temporal Trace on the puzzle wall, ensuring my future self would know this place was important.

  [Temporal Trace: A mark has been set]

  We progressed through three more floors, descending deeper and deeper into the tomb in search of the third shard. Along the way, I used another Lumindew – Gaelith’s radiating sword could only illuminate so much without turning you blind. I was running low on the night vision consumable, though. Only two were left for this run unless I found more.

  We fought more Void Scorpions, Void Spiders, and the occasional Void Wasps that joined the party. The fights proved to be easier than expected. I wish I could say it was thanks to me, but it was due to Gaelith’s incredible strength. He allowed me to take most of the kills after I explained my need for XP, understanding without qualms.

  By the time we slew the last monster in the vicinity, I had gained 5,236 XP, enough to level up.

  [Déjà vu System: Level 26]

  [Loop Count: 37]

  [Experience Points (XP): 3,138 / 18,500]

  [Skill Point Available: Choose a skill to level up]

  A new quest appeared as well.

  [New Quest Available: To Bee or Not to Bee #1]

  [Slay 100 Void Wasps]

  [Current Status: 5 / 100]

  [Reward: 7,500 XP]

  Great. Another one.

  I allocated my skill point to Temporal Trace.

  [Skill Upgraded: Temporal Trace lvl.6]

  [Next Level: lvl.7: Time Plane becomes clearer to the naked eye. Number of maximal marks: 15]

  Next, I allocated the additional stat point to Intelligence, bringing it 20.

  [Intelligence – 3rd Milestone Reached]

  [Intelligence Damage Scaling Increased by 15%]

  [Disenchantment Magic Available]

  Nice. Disenchantment magic is always useful. I wish I had it before we left the guys' bodies, so I could’ve tried to disarm those magical mines...

  The scaling was also great. The damage stats on the Core System worked in such a way that each adventurer had unique damage scaling based on their class and subclass. For example, as a Spellsword in the Arcane Duelist subclass, my damage scaled with both my Agility and Intelligence stats. With the scaling increased, my magic damage just became significantly stronger. I was curious to see exactly how much it had increased.

  That’s why weapons and armor were important additions to one’s kit. They enhanced your stats, which, in turn, boosted your damage outputs – or defensive capabilities, in case you belonged to one of the more durable classes and were leveling up your Durability.

  The next milestone for Agility – and its corresponding update in damage scaling – would appear at 30 points. I was still five points off, but that should probably be my next goal.

  As we walked through the corridor of the tenth level, I glanced at Gaelith. A riddle he was.

  “How did you do that? With the shards, I mean.” I asked, breaking the silence. “Scratch that – what was that? What kind of magic did you use?”

  “You're better off not knowing.” He replied flatly, moving forward.

  “But I do want to know.” I pressed.

  He stopped in his tracks, replying coldly. “Some secrets I will take with me to the grave. This is one of them. I ask you to respect that.”

  I sighed, letting the matter drop. For now, his promise to lead me to the third shard was enough. I just hoped it wasn’t a trap.

  “What can you tell me about this place?” I asked, trying a different angle. “Seeing how you claim you’ve been here for the past thousand years, slowing Erebus’ progress, you must have learned a lot.”

  Gaelith replied fairly quickly. “First thing to know – it isn’t a tomb. Not in the traditional sense.”

  I blinked. “What? Of course it is. There were plenty of loculi on the first level.” I pointed around us. “And here as well.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Gaelith asked, his tone almost mocking. “How much attention did you pay to them? Did you try reading the names on their plaques?”

  “Well, I…” I trailed off, trying to recall. We were a bit occupied fighting off the undead and what not to notice much about the plaques. Perhaps previous me had more time to investigate this, but I had no recollection of that.

  “Here.” Gaelith said, motioning toward a side chamber. He stepped inside confidently.

  Still wary of his intentions, I activated Distance Gauge to scan the area. It turned out to be clean, but the gauge detected movement behind us.

  “There’s someone behind us.” I muttered.

  “I know. It’s the lichlings. Ignore them for now.” Gaelith replied, pointing his radiating sword toward a loculus, illuminating a plaque. “Read this.”

  I looked at it as I approached his side, seeing clear letters, not sure what his point was. When I was about to tell him that, I suddenly realized what he meant. The words on the plaque weren’t there anymore. Nothing was written on it.

  “Illusion magic?” I asked, puzzled.

  “Yes. The Axul kind.” Gaelith replied. “It’s a simple illusion. From a distance, the plaques appear normal. But when you focus on them – provided you're skilled enough in magic – you see through it. The Axul’s illusion magic was unmatched in my time. That’s why they remained hidden for as long as they did.”

  “I always thought the Axul were secluded by choice.” I said, still staring at blank plaque. “Are you saying they were hiding?”

  “In a way.” Gaelith replied thoughtfully. “People were always curious about them, and the Axul weren’t exactly a trustworthy bunch either. But that’s a different story.”

  “Different? How?“

  “Yes.“ He nodded. “You see, the Axuls were the first humans to wield magic. The System appeared much later, granting magic to all of humanity under mysterious circumstances. But the Axul predates it. Their magic was…different. Non-System reliant. That made for a tense era to live in.“

  The history books tend to brush over the Axul fairly quickly, so I didn't know much about them. Yet, why would Gaelith lie about this?

  “So, what could they do?“ I asked curiously. “With their non-System reliant magic?”

  “Many things, and that’s all I can say.” he replied flatly.

  I decided to shift the subject, but still stay on the loculi. “So, are they all empty, then?“

  “No.” Gaelith replied. “Each and every one of them used to hold a person. But not anymore.”

  His vague, contradictory answer left me puzzled, but he refused to elaborate further, walking away.

  Though, as he stepped away, something else caught my eye. One of the plaques was shining with a purple hue.

  “What’s this?” I muttered instinctively, making Gaelith stop in his tracks.

  "What?" he asked, but I ignored him for the moment.

  I stepped toward the plaque, and the Déjà vu System reacted.

  [Temporal Trace: Vestige of Time #1 - Available]

  What’s that? Is it similar to the memory fragments I had already collected in the previous loops?

  I reached out and touched the plaque, entering another memory - one about a child possessing great magic and a promise for the future.