Chương 25: I’m Going.

"Okay… There is something you can do."

"What is it? Name it." She stared at me.

"You can show me the way back to Elderwilds." … There is someone waiting…

"Why do you want to go back to Elderwilds?"

"There is a friend I'd like to bring." She looked confused for a second.

"Wait, is this the friend that saved you from the Elderfang?" Actually, she was the one protecting me, but for now it's better to keep it hidden.

"Sure."

"I see… Okay then —" A footsteps ran towards me and Aeris.

"I'm so glad I found you here." He was breathing heavily.

"Calm down, Eli… Tell me what's going on?" Aeris said.

"It's…" he took a long deep breath.

"It's your mother, Freya." …

"She is cursed."

"What" I said, It felt like the ground beneath my feet had suddenly disappeared.

"It just happened… somehow, I don't know."

"Let's hurry." Eli nodded. My eyes looked at Aeris, she was just standing there. Speechless. Her eyes widened, I called out her name.

"Aeris!"

"Aeris!" I shook her but she stood still, like a rock, stared at one direction. I tried my best but she didn't even blink, then she broke and her knees gave up on her. She dropped down. I quickly grabbed both of her shoulders.

"Hey, look at me. Aeris." That horrified look on her face, I know that look. The same look that Iris had when we got separated.

"It will be fine, don't worry Aeris." She didn't speak, not once.

"Hey, trust me. Okay…" She looked at me, I noticed a sudden change in her eyes, like she trusted every word of it. I picked her up.

"Come on, let's hurry." We all rushed towards her home as quickly as possible. Aeris's group had already gathered at her house, blocking the doorway.

"Move!" Aeris shouted. Her group moved aside, making a way for her. I finally saw Freya, she was laying down and unconscious. The older bishop was here, the same one from earlier during the celebration. He was holding the empty clay pot in his hands. I'm certain, it was the Holy water. The older bishop turned their head towards me and Aeris. Aeris didn't wait even for a second and rushed to Freya, Oren was sitting aside her.

"Is she going to be alright?" Aeris asked the older bishop.

"She is resting for now. After a few hours she would regain her consciousness but she has to take the holy water on a daily basis. If she misses even a single day, I'm afraid she will die."

"How could you say that?" Aeris screamed.

"Aeris." Oren said.

"Don't Aeris me, how could you let him say that."

"Aeris please calm down." He said.

"No, I won't."

"Aeris, they are helping us, so CALM DOWN!" Oren stood up and shouted. Aeris looked at him, then went quiet. I couldn't just stand there, I had to do something, I had to help her out.

"Hero." The older bishop looked at me.

"A word." I nodded, Both me and the older bishop stepped outside.

"So, how did this happen?" I asked him.

"We have no idea, it was strange how she got that in the first place, there were no signs of curse." His voice lowered.

"How bad is it?" I asked.

"I am not going to lie but she is in a critical situation. For now we have to rely on the holy water, but that won't be enough for the long term."

"Isn't there any other way?"

"There is and I am certain The Archbishop had told you about it." I recalled what the Archbishop said.

'So, in other words. You want me to go to the cursed ruins and investigate it, am I right?'

'Yes, indeed we would like you to investigate the ruins. Although the decision would be yours alone. Since it would be an extremely difficult challenge for you. I won't deny the fact that doing this could risk your life. Or you might end up getting cursed yourself.'

"You mean cursed ruins."

"Yes, I am afraid so. But doing that would endanger you greatly. For now it's the only way." It's true that there is a risk of entering that cursed ruin, but If I don't, Freya would die and all those other people who are suffering from the curse will die. More importantly, I won't be able to forgive myself, knowing that I know a way and chose not to go. She told me I was like a daughter to her and in this short time… She stood up for me, believed in me.

'No. I don't believe you.' She said to her daughter.

'And, even if you're right. I still don't believe she is a bad woman, or unlike other nobles.' I do think of her as my mother, her gentle pats on my head, her voice, it reminds me of my own mother and she is dying, I can't let that happen to her. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. My fingers folded and balled into tight fists. Not this time, not her.

"I'll go." I said.

"Tell me where it is." Another voice cut through the air and reached my ears, she stepped out.

"I'll go too." Aeris said....

"Aeris, I know what you are feeling, but listen to me, it's dangerous. And she needs you here. Trust me, I'll find the cure and bring it to you." She looked at me seriously.

"I said I'm going, Nova. There is nothing you could say that will change my mind. If there is something out there that could cure my mama, I will go." She didn't back down.

"Aeris —""I know it's dangerous, but I can handle it. It's my mama, Nova."

"Alright." She turned to the older bishop.

"Tell us the way, where is that cursed ruin."

"Are you sure you want to do this,""Yes!" we both said together.

"Alright follow me then." He began to walk.

"Where are we going?"

"To the archbishop's ruin."

"Why?" Aeris asked.

"We can't just let you go empty handed, you would need the holy water with you." We both followed him, and reached the archbishop's ruins. It was quiet and people were still working. That boy, he is still working. We entered the ruins. It was dark at first but then it lightened up, just like before.

"Please wait here. I'll be back with the holy water." We both sat down, quietly. It was strange how the archbishop's ruins were different from the ruin I discovered back in Elderwilds. No one was around at that moment, just Aeris.

"Activate Environmental Analysis." A flicker The display appeared. TECHNOLOGY LOG ANALYSING ENVIRONMENT… The entire ruin detail came up in front of my vision. The information scrolled faster than I could read. MATERIALS DETECTED HUMANS DETECTED RESOURCES DETECTED ANALYSIS COMPLETE: ANCIENT RUINS AGE: 847 YEARS.

"What are you doing?" Aeris asked.

"Shh, not so loud. I am searching the environment here."

"Why?" She whispered.

"There might be something here that could help us. Just keep it down or else they will find out." She nodded.

"Aeris, would you mind looking out while I search, make sure to warn me if someone comes."

"Okay, but better do it fast." she whispered, I nodded. The display changed. ADVANCED STRUCTURE ANALYSIS: AVAILABLE COST: 50 EXPERIENCE POINTS (CURRENT BALANCE: 55 EXPERIENCE POINTS) (DO YOU WANT TO ACTIVATE?) Wait, advance structure analysis? I have seen that before… I remember, back at that ruins, I wasn't able to upgrade this skill, because of less experience points. Now I have enough to upgrade. Should I use it or save it?

Why I am thinking that, I need to find if there is something in this ruins that would help.

"Activate." I whispered. ADVANCED STRUCTURE ANALYSIS: ACTIVATED ANALYSING… MATERIAL FOUND MYTHRAL PASSAGE ONE FOUND PASSAGE TWO FOUND The advanced structure analysis was different, it analysed the entire ruin. It showed the detailed passage like a Map itself, Each thing that the log found was shown where they were located, what they were made of, how many layers there were. Everything looked more clear. ANALYSIS COMPLETE: STRUCTURE BLUEPRINT AVAILABLE. Wait, this unlocked the blueprint?

That's useful, I mean if I want to replicate this ruin someplace else I only need materials and I could build the entire structure from scratch.

"Nova, the bishop's coming this way."

"Close Log." The display disappeared in thin air, just in time. Like it was never there. The bishop arrived along with two other bishops that were carrying wooden barrels on their backs.

"Thank you for waiting, we have brought you two barrels of holy water." The bishops dropped down,"This is the best we can do for you, I hope this barrel would be sufficient enough against the curse. Use it however you might see it fit. Now these barrels are yours."

"Thank you for these barrels, I will surely make a good use out of it." I said.

"Now, how do we get there?" Aeris quickly asked.

"Take this." The older bishop took out a clay tablet. Aeris took it and started reading it.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's the direction of cursed ruins. All of it has been written down on the tablet. It shall guide you to the cursed ruins."

"Thank you, let's go, Nova." The older bishop interrupted.

"A word of advice, if you may consider." Aeris turned back.

"You shall go tomorrow instead of tonight." The older bishop was right, it was a bad time to go at night and without preparation, if we had moved at night, there was a strong possibility we could fall into a trap.

"What, I'm not waiting for tomorrow, I'll go right now." Aeris said out loud. It was clear she was not thinking straight. Her emotions were affecting her decision. I had to somehow convince her to stay put for tonight. It was the same as telling a lion to not eat you when you're right in front of it.

"Aeris, he is right, we need to stay put today." I said.

"How could you say that, Nova. It's my mama we are talking about. We don't have time to rest."

"I know that but please understand, We don't know what's in the cursed ruin, we have to be at our best if we want to survive that. Going now is a suicide." Aeris stayed quiet, while clenching her teeth.

"Fine, let's go. We'll go tomorrow." She said,"Before you go." The older bishop bowed down.

"I would like to thank you on the behalf of this citizen. Please accept my humble gratitude."

"It's okay, please don't worry." Soon after we left, each of us carrying a barrel.

"Wait, Aeris." She stopped.

"Could you put that barrel down?" She did as I said.

"Inventory." I said and stored both the barrels in my inventory.

"Now, we can go freely."

"Wait, what kind of magic is that?"

"It allows me to store anything in the inventory." The barrels disappear right in front of Aeris, she was in disbelief.

"What just happened? How did it disappear?"

"Don't worry it's fine, come on." Both of us walked back to her house. Freya was still unconscious, I touched her forehead. She was burning up, her breathing was unstable and her pulse skipped a beat. She had a high fever, but it seemed nobody knew what to do when she was in a fever, like they were only dependent on the holy water. There was still some water left in a wide clay pot that looked like a wop.

"Do you have any spare clothes that are unused?" I asked Aeris. She quickly went inside and brought me her clothes.

"Nova, if you want to change, you can do it in my room." She said,"No… It's for her." I took a piece of cloth and dipped it into the clay shaped wop which was still filled with Holy water.

"What are you doing?" Aeris asked.

"This will give her some relief." I folded the wet cloth and put it over her burning forehead. Just in a few seconds the cloth became warm and water droplets dripped from it. The fever was likely very high. I squeezed the warm water and dipped it again. And applied it again on her forehead.

"So did you notice anything?" Aeris asked.

"Yeah, she is burning up, we have to constantly do this for her fever to come down."

"Leave this to me, you both should sleep." Oren said. Soon after, morning came and we both were ready to go to the cursed ruin. Freya was still asleep but her fever had come down since then. Oren walked towards me and bowed his head once again.

"Please, look after my daughter." He said.

"Don't worry we'll be fine, papa." We started heading towards the cursed ruin. As we were walking, a figure was waiting ahead. It was Eli.

"Wait, what is he doing here, Aeris? It was supposed to be us two."

"We need him, he is best when it comes to finding something." Aeris handed him the clay tablet which the older bishop had given him. He was reading it carefully then quietly started walking ahead of us. We were outside of the misfit city and were following his lead. For a few hours neither of us uttered a single word and just kept walking quietly. I kept glancing at Aeris out of the corner of my eye, something about her was different.

Her eyes stayed dead focused past the horizon, like it was the only thing that had mattered to her. The landscape started to change, the yellow grass had disappeared after a few kilometres. No grass, no trees, just a dried up land with cracks on it.

"Hey, are we going in the right direction?" I asked and he simply nodded yes. Why do I have this strange feeling, that something's wrong.

"The land has no trees and grass, this means we are getting closer to the cursed ruin. Nothing grows near cursed ruin, that was what the tablet said. So we are on the right path." Eli said. Something in the distance appeared in front of my vision.

"We're here." Eli said.

"Wait, is this what I think it is?" A massive white structured building stood in front of me, with glass shattered windows, dust masking the appearance of the building, cracks formed on the walls but it was still intact. It left me speechless. A Flicker. The display appeared. TECHNOLOGY LOG ANALYSIS COMPLETE: RESEARCH LAB AGE: 845 YEARS.