Chương 14: Deathly exhalation

Beneath the light of the two moons, a trio of adventurers stood looking at what looked to be the entrance of a closed up mine. It was half overgrown by bushes and some fallen stone as one of the beams which propped up the entrance had given way. From the villagers, they had been told that Verdant steps had sprung up next to a vein of iron-rank celestial jade.

In the last decades, two of the four shafts had been closed as all of the jade had been extracted, and many in the village feared that the same would happen to the rest soon enough. Serene, with the sharpest aura senses, had also been the one chosen to carry the improvised tracking stone. After about six hours of searching the dark forests, each of them with a glow stone hovering above their head, she had felt the tracker beginning to pulse.

After some trial and error, they'd managed to triangulate this entrance as the pulse had grown ever stronger. As they stood in front of the entrance, Serene could feel it almost vibrate in her hand.

"This seems to be the place. Can you feel it?" She whispered, words formed by wind right next to the ears of her companions. The others nodded. They had to strain their senses to feel what was obvious to Serene, but the ambient magic in this mine definitely carried the cold timbre of death.

"Then let us head down there and see what we find. I believe in our united paths, but we should look to make our escape if things seem dire." Kite stated.

"Yeah." Dragonfly said.

"I might be a bit battle-crazy at times, but Master Force has definitely beaten that lesson into me enough times. This place gives me chills, and not the pleasant, tingly kind." They each looked at each other once more for resolve, before Kite took the lead, entering the abandoned mine shaft. None of them could escape the slight sense of dread as the feeling of death literally filled the air around them. The mine shaft itself was rather dilapidated as it led downwards.

Fortunately, it seemed to have been dug out by someone with an essence power to shape stone, as the tunnel was both stable and smooth. Only near the entrance had it begun to show signs of instability. Here and there, small branching tunnels broke off in other directions, but so far all of them had been dead ends from their quick looks inside.. Verdant steps' mining operation had been relatively small in scale.

Instead of a vast, deep complex there were a series of separate, smaller mines where the precious jade could be found, at least according to what they had been told by the villagers. That's why it was a bit odd to see the tunnel suddenly veer off to the right and downward, breaking the otherwise smooth layout. As they got closer, the light of their glow stones revealed that the oddity looked like a more recent addition to the mine.

Almost at the bottom, someone seemed to have broken through the wall on the right side, connecting the tunnel to another. This continuation had the look of a naturally formed cavern, and the floor became both uneven in most places and quite slippery. While the wall looked to have been broken down after the rest of the tunnel had been abandoned, it still didn't look to have happened in the last few days. More like the last few months. A fine layer of moss was already growing where the two tunnels were now connected.

With nowhere else to go, the trio continued after having checked all side tunnels to make sure that nothing hid behind them. The cold feeling of deathly stillness was even more prominent down in the natural caverns, after about fifty meters of passing through a series of smaller, connected caverns filled with moss, they ducked beneath a passage with a lower ceiling. As they did, the creeping sense in the air intensified, and the trio realized that they had found the source of the deathly affinity.

The cavern was the biggest yet, oblong and about ten meters wide and forty meters deep. Moss had grown here as well, but apparently changed by its surroundings. When he was younger, Auntie Dove had told Kite that mosses were some of the most adaptable plants and that some had astonishing abilities of absorption to fit into a new environment. The moss in the cavern had blackened, but not withered.

One could even see a faint grayish flickering light from within the clumps, like the embers deep in the coals of a dying fire. What drew their attention though, was the effigy in the middle of the cavern. It was about four meters high, almost touching the roof of the cavern, and seemingly consisted of a mass of interconnected bones from animals, although some bones from the mortal races could be spotted inside the twisting thing.

All of it seemed fused together by a layer of white-gray calcified stone, and the same gray white glow pulsed deep within the grooves of the skeletal components. It looked not entirely unlike a grotesque tree.

"You don't need to be a great scholar to know that this quite certainly isn't a natural formation…" Kite mumbled, stunned by the sight. They began to carefully move into the room, but hadn't taken many steps Serene gave off a sharp whisper;"Something is here. Something foul, discordant. Dangerous." As in all cases regarding aura detection, Serene was the first of the group to detect a change that had begun in the effigy before them, the others not noticing until a couple of seconds later.

A potent aura had begun to unfold from within the effigy, thick with the deathly feel they had been forced to familiarize themselves with. Its bronze-rank strength meant that the intensity was taken to new, unsettling heights.

"Bronze rank…" Kite said, almost out of breath as the aura fell upon them. With Serene's potent aura as a bulwark, they managed to stabilize their own and avoided having them entirely suppressed, but the pressure was palpable. It felt as if a vast, cold fist had taken hold around them, slowly squeezing. They could see how something was emerging from within the effigy.

"Do we fight or flee?" Serene asked with a whisper of wind.

"Fight!" growled Dragonfly, summoning her flaming greataxe. They could see a faint glow starting to pulse within her, the air shimmering with her exhalations. Kite let out a steadying breath.

"It will be the greatest challenge our paths have crashed against. The danger will be great. But yes, I say we fight. However, let us remember the words of my master. Pride is a sword too brittle to keep you alive. If things are turning for the worse, we make our retreat." Serene thought for a while before nodding.

"I need to face this. If I'm ever going to face them again without cowering, this will have to be a stepping stone." her voice whispered, the small chimes replaced with the deeper timbre of a gong. With that, they advanced at that which emerged from the effigy, now distinguishable as a creature. It was vaguely humanoid, at least the arms and torso now which had emerged so far. Its body looked only semi-corporeal, consisting of a gelatinous fog of a gray color so dark that it might as well have been black.

The arms and torso were elongated and rather thin, each appendage reaching over two meters out from the calcified bones of the dark monument. The head was only a swirling, blank mass of the same material as the rest of the body, turning to take in the trio with quick, twitching movements. As the whole, long torso seemed to have exited the confines of the effigy, it didn't progress any further, either unable or unwilling to wholly emerge.

With another surge of aura, a myriad of conjured bones appeared around its body, forming an asymmetrical armor. A huge skull, complete with antlers, formed over the creature's head, giving it hollow eye-sockets which seemed to gaze at the adventurers approaching it with cold anticipation. WWJS: [Monster] Tenebral Wraith Rank - Bronze The final conjuration was a long mass of bones capped with a jagged head of black, blank stone, which formed a cruel mace for the creature to wield.

It didn't roar at them, but all three could feel its aura flicker menacingly. Serene hung back while her two companions advanced the remaining ten meters toward the thing, which her instincts told her was another spirit albeit quite a lot more dangerous. Her song and auras flowed around them, strengthening their advance as she sang a spell.

"Find the rhythm of your heart's song" The spell enhanced an ally with a certain resonance which increased their damage dealt. The additional damage increased with each attack in proportion to the force of the blow, up to a certain limit. So far, few battles had been long enough that the spell would have a chance to build up enough to make a difference, but Serene felt that it was quite likely to be worth it in this situation.

Kite was the first to receive the blessing, Dragonfly having to wait about a dozen seconds for her turn. As the duo closed in, the spirit adjusted its position on the effigy as the point where the monster emerged from slid over the surface and therefore disproving the notion that it was completely immobilized. Its body faced Dragonfly, whose quick advance became a sprint due to the sudden attention as the monster exhaled torrent of black drops against her, trailing a line on the ground.

The cavern floor seemed to crumble and melt slightly where the liquid-looking spiritual matter landed, before a flicker of light heralded a calcified bone spear erupting from the ground at that spot. This meant that Dragonfly currently advanced toward a rapidly closing line of spiritual acid and erupting spears, a collision she didn't quite feel like experiencing. With a shout she leapt, daringly waiting until the final moment before pushing off the ground with a magically enhanced leap.

She cleared the exhaled attack with only centimeters to spare, as her charge continued through the air. However, the bronze rank monster was both faster and slightly more clever than any beast or spirit they had faced before. Its jagged mace was already moving in an upward arc to intercept her in an attempt to smash her from the air. Kite whispered a short prayer to Hero as he saw the counterattack begin, and activated the charging power of his belt.

Combined with the boost from Serene's aura, it felt like he flew across the rocky terrain in an attempt to help his friend. The additional speed let him arrive just in time to raise his arms before bringing out his halberd in a downward swing to meet the rising shaft of the mace. A bronze-rank monster of this size and strength had considerable strength and momentum invested into each swing. Had the mace been a thing of true bone and stone, Kite's attack would lack the force and mass to hinder such a blow.

But Kite had seen it appear along with the rest of the bone armor, and knew that his intervention wasn't doomed. With the sound of a cracking mirror, the conjured weapon dissolved halfway through the swing, Pattern-shattering Counter breaking it apart. The additional drain of mana was even amplified by Kite's racial gift, Void Sheath. The spirit's arm continued upwards, but the sudden loss of its reach meant that its aim was off as the swing passed harmlessly in front of the rapidly approaching Dragonfly.

Half a breath later, her flaming axe collided with its bone armor in a spinning special attack. The blow cut deep into the bone and cracked the plate, but most of its momentum was stolen by the armor. Any iron-rank monster would probably have been badly staggered by such an attack, but the tyranny of rank took its toll. This was in more ways than one, as it not only suffered less from the attack but had also begun a counterattack. Its other bone-covered fist snapped up against Dragonfly, still airborne.

Kite barely had time to shout " Ward'' before the attack struck, crashing through the barrier and colliding with the side of Dragonfly's torso. She was launched towards the side of the cavern, but while Serene's spell had been too late to help her avoid the blow, it was enough to arrest her path toward the stone wall. Dragonfly was caught by a torrent of air as she tumbled to the ground, winded and staggered. Soon after, another chant echoed in the song which filled the cavern.

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"Renew your flesh, return thine song!" The spell was a rather conventional healing spell, providing a burst of healing followed by a lingering restoration of health over time. Thanks to the spell and her gradually ramping abilities, she snapped out of it and ran back toward the battle now raging between the dark spirit and a beleaguered Kite. Its attention turned to him after it sent Dragonfly hurtling towards the wall, it had conjured a new mace and swung at Kite. Fortunately with the same result as last time.

This had given Kite some opportunities to land attacks of his own. His javelin sat lodged in the bone armor near where the spirit met the effigy it emerged from. Roots had spread and even dug into the incorporeal body beneath. While the restrictive roots had a non-existent effect on the monster, Kite hoped that the draining would at least accomplish something over time.

After that, he had scored a hit with his halberd against its armored torso, as his magic-shattering special attack sundered a part of the conjured armor and delivered the disruptive force into the spirit's body below. After using the Disrupting strike quite frequently in every fight, Kite had learned more about how wide-spread its effects were. Smaller, simpler or more singular magical conjurations such as weapons or limbs were usually dispelled in their entirety.

However, larger and more complex objects might only be partially removed, and such was the case with the bony armor which covered the hostile spirit. His special attack dissolved the parts he struck and often more in a small area, but not the whole armor. While it wasn't applicable at the moment, he also knew that it would work against most enhancement magic as well.

Their first exchange was followed by more as the spirit, which seemed to possess only a rudimentary intelligence, repeated the tactic a few more times. It was still quite the ordeal, as Kite's ability was hinging on him actually being able to actively intercept the weapon which was wielded with a speed and strength much higher than his own. So far he could keep up, even delivering some damage of his own, but he felt relief as Dragonfly rejoined the fray.

As she ran, she even grazed herself on a couple of the bone spears which still jutted from the ground to further stoke the blazing power within her. Multiple, small attacks were perfect for giving her ability the boost it needed to make a difference. She went in hard, attacking the creature's other arm with heavy swings to keep it off Kite's flank as he had quite enough to deal with. All the while, each of their swings built up the damaging resonance provided by Serene.

This benefited them both, but Dragonfly felt it the most as the resonating force helped her axe shear through the bony armor while Kite usually dispelled the plates anyway.. For a short while, they found a bit of a rhythm as the creature had to split its attention between them. Apparently having enough of being on the defensive, it once again employed its exhaled attack of corruption with the forest of spears following in its wake.

Dragonfly once again leapt above the sprayed line as the creatures swept it back and forth in front of it, forcing the pair to scramble out of its way. Kite quickly realized that his options were quite more limited as he tried to sprint out of range, not quite making it. The foul attack splashed over his right lower leg, his wooden armor crumbling before him almost fainting by the sudden pain. Short spikes of bone had shot out at chaotic angles from the point of contact, most angled out and away from his body.

Two of them had not, unfortunately, instead piercing through his lower leg. Blood ran freely as he stumbled into a roll, further aggravating his injury. The line continued pursuing him, but he was saved from a more thorough exposure by another gust of wind from Serene which carried him out of immediate danger. Breathing through the pain, he pushed himself up to one leg. After a short delay, he heard Serene's wispy voice.

"I can't cleanse it. It is the wrong kind of magic." she frantically conveyed, as Kite understood that she was talking about the cluster of bone spikes stuck in his leg.

"I can handle it, but I will have to borrow your strength with the recovery." he hissed through gritted teeth. Not waiting for a reply, he bent down and struck the mass of conjured bone, unleashing his dispelling attack again. Fortunately, this bone was as conjured as the rest, and the spikes dissolved into nothingness, followed by a spurt of blood. Serene was quick to follow up with the more directed healing.

He took stock as he stood unsteady on the cavern floor while waiting for the healing to progress enough to allow him the use of his leg again. Dragonfly had won a few moments as the monster had trailed Kite with its breath attack, and she had not been idle. After a couple of heavy, sundering strikes which also bathed its form in flame, it had been forced to return its attention to her. By now, her internal fire had progressed her speed to a level where she could remain engaged with the spirit a bit more easily.

What would earlier have been a square hit could now be dodged or at least turned into a glancing blow, while her ramping attacks tore ever more at her foe. Kite felt a stirring within as he witnessed her fight, pink curls trailing her ferocious yet controlled movements, her grinning face lit from within with a fiery glow. Bloodied, but defiant. Returning to the present, he withdrew his bow, already in the motion of drawing the string as it fell into existence in his hand.

Shuffling forward, limp slightly less prominent with each step, he let loose a steady stream of arrows. Three heartbeats. Release. Three more. Release. He was injured, but so was she. And as she fought on, so would he. Since their encounter with the fallen sect members turned bandit during their Adventure Society examination, Kite had practiced a lot more diligently with his bow. He was not a master archer by any means, but at least proficient enough to have a chance at hitting a human-sized moving target.

As his current was quite a lot larger, he felt confident in at least contributing. Each arrow struck the wraith, dissolving the armor and dealing the disruptive force damage anathema to spirits. The arrows weren't expertly placed, the hits not even close to clustered. But after the third arrow, Dragonfly caught up to what he was doing. While her fiery axe wasn't as dangerous to the wraith as the disruptive force of Kite's special attacks, the flames would still damage it even through the bronze-rank resistance.

The more of the damage not absorbed by the armor the better, and she started capitalizing on the openings created by Kite's arrows. She got two solid hits in before she had to duck beneath the swung mace. A follow-up in the shape of a gauntleted fist clipped her shoulder which sent her spinning away, but she rolled quickly to her feet.

"It's preparing its breath again. I can feel it in the aura!" a shrill windy voice suddenly warned them as Serene recognized the signs, having witnessed it two times before. By this time, Kite felt comfortable enough using his tender leg, and he decided to try and seize the initiative instead of being caught in the attack again.

"Dragonfly! Head!" he shouted before activating the charging ability of his belt once more, as it had become available again. His charge carried him toward the creature at an angle. He stepped up on a lower, protruding part of the vile effigy before pushing off. While Kite didn't possess any powers to assist his leap, his momentum and increased speed helped him along as he quickly gained altitude. Passing along its torso, he swung upward with his halberd which struck the creature's conjured skull.

It dissolved with a sharp cracking sound, once more revealing the amorphous mass of vapor which formed something akin to a head on the wraith. Even as he descended, he could see Dragonfly once more leaping in, already looking like the disc of the sun as she and the fiery axe spun end over end in one of her most powerful special attacks. The wraith had already raised its mace high to strike down at Kite, but changed its target as the new threat closed in.

Kite saw the telegraphed attack, and had barely landed before shouting as he threw his halberd in a spinning arc toward the raised weapon. While his aim was true, only the shaft of the weapon struck its target at an awkward angle. That slight touch was enough though. The jagged mace descending toward his friend dissolved yet again, moments before Dragonfly's whirling attack struck.

The axe's head parted the roiling, smoke-like substance of the creatures 'head', coming to a stop close to its sternum before a terrible gout of flame tore out from the weapon, straight down. This attack was one of Dragonfly's more powerful finishers, and the unleashed jet of explosive flame quickly filled out the entirety of the bone armor, light and fire blazing out from every crack.

Almost the whole of the spirit's incorporeal body was wreathed in the inferno as the armor became a container for Dragonfly's fiery wrath. That was how the trio, while bloodied and exhausted, felled their first bronze-rank monster. They could each feel as the deathly aura winked out of existence, the spectral body losing all coherency as the bony armor dissolved. The effigy remained, inert but for the small flickering glow deep in its recesses.

Kite almost slumped to the ground in pain-mixed relief, but remained on his feet as this was no place to relax just yet. The deathly pall in the air had lessened, but not dispersed entirely.

"I sense no more auras here." Serene chimed in relief as she joined them. While undamaged, she still looked weary after casting quite the number of spells during the battle.

"You both fought very well. I am most impressed with your paths. The temple will sing your praise when we return."

"Well-" Kite answered between breaths, "I must say that people who look down on yours are prideful fools. Your mere presence helped us reach new heights and made sure we did not falter."

"Besides, it's also most beneficial to have someone along that can sing of my glory." Dragonfly added with a grin, earning an amused look from the priestess. It faded quickly however, as she gazed around the room.

"I promise to regale you with more melodies when our business here has been concluded. This one is still standing, after all." she said while nodding at the dark effigy.

"While I believe that having someone study it would be important, we can't just leave it behind for weeks as we travel back to the city. The societies will want to know of this, but they'll have to manage with the remains." Kite said grimly as he turned to Dragonfly.

"Would you mind doing the honors?" The radiant grin he got in response felt like it could light up the entire cavern, deathly energies be damned.

"Kite, you sure know how to treat a lady!"

"So, this was inside the effigy?" Iris asked as she was examining the dark cube on the table. Its glassy surface contained depths of gray mist and it felt cooler to the touch than it should be, given the temperature in the room.

"Indeed." answered Kite.

"We found it as we took it apart."

"It sure makes sense that a death essence could be used as a base for such a creation. But my mind is still reeling as if to why? Why set up something so dark down there? From what you described, it definitely wasn't a natural manifestation." Iris mused, looking thoughtful at the object. When the trio had returned, dawn had just begun to cast its light over the sky as the stars faded from view.

Tired after a long night of searching and fighting, they had still made it a priority to tell of their findings to the leaders of the village who had been horrified when hearing about the effigy and its guardian.

"It was a good thing that you managed to prevail. From what you've told me, it's not unlikely that the effigy might have continued to spread the deathly affinity. As it did, more numerous and dangerous monsters would have manifested over time. But there seems to be something here we do not understand, and I do not like it. Neither the means or motivation for such a creation is known. You should report back to the adventure- and magic societies as soon as you're rested enough to travel." Iris said grimly.

"Then we shall do just that." Kite replied before gesturing to the death essence on the table.

"And we should bring that in as well. Better to let the Adventure Society dispose of it than risking being used for other dark purposes." He picked it up and stored it in his dimensional bag, before the trio of adventurers were led to a cottage lent to them as a place to rest. Even as the sun rose, sleep overtook them all quickly. After a proper rest and a small feast laid out by the village, it became time for the trio to offer their farewells to Verdant steps and its inhabitants.

They had gathered beneath the tree, on the small plaza where they fought the mourning revenants. Elder Sprout, defender Scythe and journeyman Iris had all gathered to see them off.

"Are you sure you don't want to join us on the return journey?" Kite asked Iris.

"Thank you again for the offer, but no. I still have some geomantic rituals left, as the small siege of spirits left me unable to complete them all. As long as you pass on the need for an escort back in four weeks time, I'll be ever grateful." she replied with a smile, as Dragonfly gave her a farewell hug. Elder Sprout cleared his throat for attention.

"You sure arrived late, but you also saw our village through this ordeal. We're grateful." he stated gruffly, holding out a small box to Kite.

"Something we thought to keep for the future, but you've gone and deserved it." In the simple box lay a small, green stone with a faint green light in its center. Every now and then, there appeared a small mote of light on its surface, which was drawn into its depths before merging with the central light. WWJS (What would Jason see?): [Item] Awakening stone of Gathering Unranked - Uncommon An awakening stone containing the power of collection.

"An awakening stone…" Kite breathed.

"Such a precious gift. I'm not sure we can-""You can and you will." muttered elder Sprout.

"Found it in one of our rice fields, and Scythe needs another essence before she could use it anyway. This way, our karma is severed. Go with the heaven's blessing." he finished, reaching out and closing the lid before turning around and marching off.

"What he means to say is that our gratitude cannot only be expressed in words and the rather meager reward from the contract. Let us contribute to the path of one of you. That way, what you did here will be immortalized in you, as will our village." Scythe added with a smile before bowing with cupped hands.

"May your paths reach the heavens and beyond." After returning the gesture, the trio started their journey back toward Gilded, occasionally waving to a villager or returning words of farewell. It was a long journey back, after all.