Chương 5: Forged In Fire, Part One

Panic swept through Oscar as he struggled to reorient himself in the midst of an abrupt awakening. The smoke in the air was thick, obscuring his vision. Instinct told him to run, but he couldn't just abandon everyone without at least trying to see if he could help. After steeling his nerves, Oscar shoulder charged the door and broke through. The inferno blazed on, consuming the inn like it was a ravenous beggar at a feast. The door for the room to the left of him slammed open, revealing Amari.

Without hesitation he rushed forward and kicked open the door in front of him. Amari ran inside and quickly returned with a dazed Chloe.

"Oscar, get moving and do something!" Amari shouted. Jane emerged out of her room, lightly singed and covered in soot, but still alive. Josiah also came out of her room, but his left arm looked to have been burnt pretty badly. That just left Gita and Brock still left to escape. Their rooms were on the opposite side of the hall. When Oscar and Amari got close to Gita's room, they saw her door was splintered, allowing them to peek inside.

Her window was shattered, and the room was empty, so she must have escaped already. The others had immediately left through the window in Oscar's room after being rescued as he had the safest route out for now, so hopefully they would find her.

"I can't get Brock's door to budge! Debris must be blocking the way. Shit, Brock are you in there?" Amari was frantic, unable to stop moving.

"…Y-Yeah… I can't open the door with this beam in the way," Brock said in between coughs.

"The window is also blocked. I might be able to move the shit out of the way, but it'll burn me. Is there anything you can do on your side?" Oscar looked at Amari, who just shook his head looking lost.

"Brock… I don't know what we can do. Is there something you can use in the room to maybe dislodge whatever is blocking the window?" Brock didn't answer, but a second later they heard a loud curse, followed by a scream, and then the shattering of glass. Amari, figured that Brock had made his escape, and wasted no time looking for their own escape. His movement came to a halt as he had to stop once an explosion of flame from one of the spare rooms knocked him back.

"Amari, please tell me you have an idea of how to escape."

"I don't fucking know man! I thought we'd have enough time to save them and get out!" Amari admitted. Oscar refused to die like this. As he was thinking of what to do, a beam that was in the ceiling fell in front of them. The beam landed slanted, and where it landed, it had broken a part of the ceiling, which led up to the attic.

"Amari!" Oscar shouted, hoping to snap Amari out of his daze.

"Our only choice is to climb that beam! I think the attic had a window, so we can go out through there!" Amari nodded his head, not confident, but also he knew there was no other choice, so he ran up the beam with impressive agility. Oscar followed, but his dexterity was shit, so he slowly walked up the beam. All the while, he did his best to ignore the searing pain as his feet burned. When he got up to the attic, sure enough there was an open window.

"There's a shed below us. It'll hurt like hell, but… it's better than burning," Amari said, then he jumped. Instinct took over and Oscar didn't hesitate to follow. His jump was far from graceful, and likely it was just the adrenaline, but it hadn't hurt one bit. As he hopped off the shed's roof, Amari wrapped him in a hug.

"Good shit, man! I'm embarrassed that I froze up like that," Amari said.

"Now, let's find the others." The two walked around to the front of the inn and spotted the rest of their group huddled together. Upon seeing they made it out, the group rushed to embrace them. As everyone celebrated their narrow escape from death, Oscar felt uneasy. His eyes scanned around, looking for… he didn't really know. There was something off about this whole ordeal.

"Guys, how come no one has come to help, or like… ya know, investigate?" Oscar asked. As if on cue, a dozen different sources of light popped up in the darkness of night. The lights got closer and closer until Oscar could see it was torches held by the townsfolk. Flames flickered, revealing solemn expressions. When the crowd was about thirty or forty feet away, they all stopped and just stared at them.

"What the hell are you all doing? We need help! There might have been other people in there that need saving!" Josiah yelled. The middle of the group suddenly parted, revealing a sole individual that spoke to them.

"I'm so sorry, children… Allow me to correct this mistake." An elderly man draped in robes of red that were decorated with bits of armor, walked forward with steam rising off his face. As he walked, Oscar saw that the man was using a thick broadsword as if it were a walking cane. Once he got closer, he noticed what was causing the steam. The old man was crying. Whatever class or skill this man had, it was causing his tears to instantly turn into two thin lines of steam. But… why was he so sorrowful?

"I had hoped to grant you all a quick death. I know what plagues you, dear children. I can smell the taint of corruption from that dreadful man radiating off your soul." He stabbed the sword into the ground, his steamy tears still unending.

"I knew one day that Calus would find the strength to make his move, but to use kids like yourselves? I'm sorry, but I can't let him incubate an army. No matter who he uses…" The elder gripped his sword again and intense flames exploded out of his hands, traveling down the entire length of the blade, igniting it in a glorious fire. A tall and wide ring of flames also snaked its way around Oscar and the group, trapping them inside it with the man.

"I, Sir Ardeo, of the Hallowed Inferno, shall douse you in the cleansing flame of my fallen Order. You have been mislead into heresy, but here I stand, ready to offer redemption in my flames. Stand and fight, or freely accept my judgment. You shall be purified all the same." And then the fight began. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. With terrifying speed, Ardeo closed the gap and swung at Jane.

No amount of preparation could have prepared her, or anyone of them, for this. Either due to pure luck, or maybe it was Ardeo's old age, but Jane was able to somehow dodge out of the way. She wasn't, however, able to anticipate his follow up. Ardeo chained the miss into another swipe, and this time it connected with Jane's wrist. The flames cauterized the cut and set her severed hand alight as it fell. Jane fell to the ground as she screamed in agony.

With no weapon available to defend themselves with, the best they could do was just dodge and evade. Ardeo then turned his focus away from the incapacitated Jane and looked at Brock. A piece of wood that had fallen from the inn had landed within the circle, so Brock made a run for it. Brock grabbed the wood, but Ardeo was already upon him. He brought his sword down and easily cleaved through the makeshift weapon. Brock tried to throw a punch, but Ardeo slapped his hand away.

Ardeo then lifted his blazing sword and prepared to end the last connection that Oscar had to his past life.

"[Disarming Strike!]" Amari cried, catching both Oscar and Ardeo off-guard, as he threw a punch into Ardeo's unprotected side. The blow struck true, causing Ardeo to drop his weapon, which continued to burn even as it lay in the dirt. Ardeo quickly recovered and threw out a kick at Amari's midsection.

"[Propulsion Kick]," the elder said, and his foot caused a small explosion when it made contact, sending Amari flying backwards. He flew through the air but got lucky as he landed right on the edge of the fire ring. The smell of charred flesh flooded Oscars nose which made him nauseous. Ardeo stopped to reclaim his sword. Oscar looked around for Brock and saw him already tending to Amari. The fire from the inn had spread to the surrounding area, hitting other buildings and trees, flooding the area with smoke.

The smoke hung low and heavy, constricting them like it was a prayer from a tyrant. Oscar lost track of Ardeo until he heard a scream to his left. Chloe this time, he thought it sounded like. He didn't have experience with knowing how a burn victim sounded when they were on fire, but he had to imagine it was just like this. His stomach twisted and turned, his fear and panic mixed together, rendering him unable to act. The smoke had created a headache, further rendering his thoughts muddied.

He wondered where Brock was and if he was fine, but his thoughts got interrupted when he spotted the flaming sword approaching him through the smoke.

"My weakness has made this a cruel endeavor, hasn't it, little ones?" Ardeo said as he slowly approached Oscar.

"I never should have been so dormant. Look at how my abilities have atrophied…"

"Sir Ardeo! We just wanted to speak with you! Please, stop this and we can find a solution," Oscar pleaded, but as Ardeo got closer, he saw even now, the man remained weeping.

"I don't blame you for your mistake in speaking with him. It is our fault for lying to the world, telling all about how we slew Calus. They teach the kids about his terrorism, but end it with a falsehood about his demise and go about their lives thinking that pure evil has been exorcised from their world," Ardeo said.

"But that's false… Calus was always going to find a way to return. A [Scholar] with unbounded knowledge and infinite time… This was inevitable. Our deceit could only last for so long."

"Just let me explain! Please!" Ardeo stopped in front of Oscar, planted the sword into the ground once more, and spoke.

"The truth is that we couldn't beat him. Whatever class he had acquired, or perhaps it was whatever it is that lives over on that forsaken continent that had acquired him instead… Regardless, Calus was too great. Only trickery and deceit were what gave us the hollow victory that day."

"This Calus… he appeared to me and said to call him Friend. He is forcing us to retrieve these soulstones that you, and some others, apparently have. Please, have mercy on us! Even though we don't know the specifics of what he did, I can tell he's corrupted and evil. We don't want to help him!"

"I can smell his touch on you the most. You, most of all, cannot be allowed to live. If you must blame someone, blame that bastard Calus… As well as myself and my former companions for failing you all those years ago…" With that, Ardeo raised his blazing sword up, and with great speed he brought it down onto Oscar. The blade was mere millimeters away from Oscar's face when time stopped. A figure emerged from the flames, and stalked their way towards him.

"Another most interesting development. You being in such close proximity to one of the stones, one of the fragments of my very being, has granted me just a bit more power," Friend, or rather Calus, said.

"C-Calus! What the fuck is happening? This guy is a monster!" Oscar shouted.

"Yes, it would appear that he is in fact not as weak as I thought. The soulstone fragments must have granted him more than just a longer lifespan," Calus said.

"I mentioned to you that some people throughout history possess the ability to grant classes to others. I come to you now, as you face certain death, and offer such a gift." Oscar wasn't really in a position to refuse, but also he knew this was basically signing a deal with the devil.

"What's the class?" Calus shrugged.

"No idea, all I know is that it was supposed to be a gift from what I discovered out on that voyage to the island that reforged me. Decide now, I cannot maintain this interference any longer." What other choice did he really have? It'd be best to take whatever it was he was offering and deal with the fallout later. At least he might still be alive to do so.

"Do it." Calus pulled out a scroll from underneath his robe, and laid his full hand on Oscar's face and spoke in a language unknown to him. Then he felt a pool of energy flood into him, knocking him out for a brief moment. And in that brief moment, a wall of text spoken by an unknown voice filled his mind. Class Obtained! New Skills Obtained! Class: [Abyssal Acolyte] acquired! New Skill: [Nullify] acquired! New Skill: [Malleable Shadow] acquired! Time resumed and the slash from Ardeo connected with Oscar's skull…

and bounced off. Somehow able to find it in himself to not gawk, he retaliated with him sweeping at Ardeo's legs, which while ultimately it failed in knocking him off balance, it did force Ardeo did back off for a moment. Oscar might have gotten a bit of breather, but he didn't have a single clue as to what his other new skill did. The skill that had saved him was easy to figure out, but while [Nullify] might have saved him this time, somehow he felt that it wouldn't work again so soon.

His gut feeling was that it'd be a long cooldown. That left him with his last skill, [Malleable Shadow].

"Trust your gut, Oscar. This class system has to instill a sense of intrinsic understanding for new skills otherwise no one would be able to use them," Oscar thought to himself. So far, a lot of the skills he'd heard weren't exactly straight forward, so it was likely that by just having the class, a persons understanding of what it gave them would be more clear to the owner than an outsider. Listening to his instincts, his first thought was that he could weaponize his shadow.

Oscar realized that Ardeo was speaking to him, but it was probably just more insane ramblings and apologies, so he continued to tune him out. He knew that it'd have to be him to make the first move, otherwise Ardeo was most definitely be the victor. He would just have to trust himself and figure out the skill right now in the moment.

"[Malleable Shadow: Essence of Spear]," Oscar said, the words coming from deep within him. Once he finished speaking the skill, he saw his shadow that'd been cast from the flickering flames, peel off the ground and flow up his leg, and then up to his hands, pooling together to create a spear that was crafted entirely from his own shadow. Without thinking, his legs sent him into a charge at Ardeo, the spear aimed at the old man's heart.

Unfortunately for Oscar, while he may have been able to use the skill correctly and create the weapon… that didn't mean he had gained the proper training to use the instrument effectively. Ardeo parried the strike with ease and slammed the pommel of his sword into Oscar's face with the shadowy spear dissolving and returning back to being his shadow. His nose crunched, and the force of the impact threw him onto the ground as he cradled his broken nose.

"The tricks that man taught you won't be enough. As much as it saddens me, this has only hardened my resolve in purging you of the corruption that pollutes your veins. I, Sir Ardeo, First General of the Hallowed Inferno, swear to you that I will search for a way to finally kill that accursed man," Ardeo said. Then he unleashed a harsh swing downwards onto Oscar… and once more, Ardeo was thwarted by an outside influence. Oscar heard a snap of the fingers that was then followed by a man who spoke one simple word.

A word that he'd just heard a few hours prior.

"[Reroll]." Oscar watched as the blade, which was once again, inches away from his face, get yanked up ever so slightly and have its trajectory be altered just by an inch or two. Ardeo's sword instead cut into the ground inches away from his right ear. A tempest of conflagration pooled up within Ardeo's eyes, his rage of being stopped written plain upon his weathered visage.

"Sorry I'm late. I've become quite the heavy sleeper these past few years. You mind if I take over from here?" The newcomer said as he stifled a yawn. Oscar stared in disbelief at the man who had saved him. And then disbelief became despair once more as he remembered just how odd this man had been. Out of everyone in this town… why did it have to be him? However, despite his reservations, he was in no position to complain.

It mattered little who saved him, only that some did, because it damn sure wasn't going to be himself. The most unlikely of heroes, Bruno, the Honest and Fair Gambler, had come to join the brawl.