Wild Era 2, Ch 20: Remnant of Decay

Kelin spent a good part of the night investigating the library, studying every design and inscription he could find.

Gaius helped by finding stonework that was altered with inscriptions and murals, even if they were hidden beneath the ruins. 

The result was fruitful.

He used his time on watch to continue his research and got some sleep in between. By the time morning arrived, he had a better idea of the origin of this library and what type of remnant this was.

He also had some additional clues to the sense of decay in the elemental crystals.

After breakfast, he gathered everyone toward one section of the library and a series of murals that he’d unearthed from broken shelves and fallen stones. 

What was there now was a series of images that stretched along the back wall, detailing the rise of great powers.

“This dungeon is from a world of the undead,” he announced as he pointed at the wall. “These murals show some of their gods, or at least the Seventh Evolution beings that they call gods. There’s a small chance they’re at the Sixth Evolution instead, but the Seventh is more likely.”

“What’s this one?” Galin asked, pointing at the first image. “It looks like some sort of zombie king wearing a crown, and then a lich leading an army. But I can’t tell any more than that. Then there’s a shadowy wraith sort and a big skeleton made of bones. There’s an inscription here too, but I can’t read it.”

Kelin glanced at the images and nodded, but his mood was too serious to laugh. Unlike Galin, he had no trouble reading the inscription.

“The Four Divinities of Death,” he explained as he pointed at the four figures. “Each of them is labeled underneath with their title. The Lord of Decay, the Lord of Silence, the Lord of Plague, and the Lord of Bones. 

“According to these murals, each of them rules over a quarter of the nations of the undead. They are the four main servants of the Sovereign of Undeath, as well as the rulers of all below them.”

He turned his attention to higher on the wall, where there was a dark figure whose hand was outstretched like a shadowed sun over all the murals below.

He had heard rumors, but the murals had confirmed them with information he’d never known before, including about that figure.

That was the sovereign who was supposed to be at the height of the undead, or perhaps the origin of them all. 

He wasn’t sure why the title of sovereign was the same as the Sovereign of Silver Chaos, but he had a feeling there were truths hidden in the name that he would encounter one day, for good or ill.

A mystery hidden behind the truths of the Seventh Evolution and whatever was beyond it.

He pulled his attention back to the four divinities below the sovereign as he explained them one by one.

“The zombie king is the Lord of Decay,” he said. “He rules over that type of undead, as well as the Law of Decay. The others are similar. The lich is the Lord of Silence and a master of undead magic. The wraith is the Lord of Plague, and the skeleton is the Lord of Bones.”

“So zombies, magic users, wraiths, and skeletons?” Maro asked with a frown. “Seems like the Lich of Silence overlaps with the Lord of Bones.”

“Perhaps,” Kelin said, tilting his hand slightly. “It doesn’t explain that correlation, but there’s no need to doubt the overall idea. There are also other races of undead not mentioned here, like vampires, who do not correspond directly to one of those four divinities.”

He turned and pointed at the second mural, which showed hordes of different types of undead rising from the ground, being born from darkness, and walking out of a dark sun.

“Their origin myth is there,” he said. “That mural says ‘We wake beneath a darkened sky, faithful to the Sovereign of the Shadowed Sun. May his hand cover the stars and hold all in its cold embrace.”

“Creepy,” Serai said, frowning. “I’ve never heard of these Lords of the Undead.”

“Immortals,” Kelin said, nodding. “Except for a few rumors, I hadn’t either until I saw this. It confirmed some things.”

He’d heard of Decay and Silence, and some rumors of Plague, but not about the Lord of Bones or their names as the Four Divinities of Death.

It sounded like each of them carried some aspect of the Sovereign of Undeath, whose power was perhaps all four of those combined, but he couldn’t say for sure.

Given the other races of undead, their sovereign probably had other powers as well, and these four lords didn’t cover them all.

It made him wonder how the Sovereign of Silver Chaos matched up, but he decided it had to be close, one way or another. 

The undead were powerful and they continued to invade this galaxy, but they were mostly contained within dungeons. 

That suggested some type of equilibrium.

He believed that if it came down to it, the Sovereign of Silver Chaos would win, but he also knew that his sovereign had only announced his presence about 5,400 years ago.

Based on the stories these murals told, as well as the sense of passing time preserved in the walls, he had a feeling the Sovereign of Undeath was much, much older.

“Beyond the history lesson,” Maro asked as he looked around, “are these murals useful to us?”

“History is useful,” Kelin said with a slight smile. “But yes. This library and that librarian, as well as that codex you just got, all belong under the domain of the Lord of Silence. That’s why these murals are here. Now you know to be careful with it.”

He glanced around, noting the greater number of murals related to Silence rather than the other Lords of the Undead.

“It looks like this library was a sort of outpost of Silence, or an embassy, perhaps,” he explained. “But the dungeon itself is a remnant of a city that belonged to the Lord of Decay.”

He pointed at a mural at the end of the line, which showed a sprawling city that was somewhat similar to the one outside.

A zombie with a dark crown sat on a throne above the city, looking down on it from a hill. His armor was black and had spikes protruding from the edges that were tinged with rust. 

There was a massive two-handed sword leaning on the chair beside his shoulder. Its blade was silver but mottled with darker spots that moved as Kelin watched.

Some touch of Law or an Immortal’s command was still in these murals, preserving them against time.

“After those Four Divinities, there are also seven lesser Lords of the Undead,” he said as he pointed at another mural. “But their names aren’t listed, just that title. They seem to cover some of the other races, like vampires.”

He spent a little longer looking at all of the murals and explaining them to the team, and then he got back to work as he checked on the four spells on his staff, which he’d put into place during the night. 

He had two empowered Soul Arrows and two intensified Soulfire Bolts ready, all of them intensified by Blaze at fifteen times their mana cost for eight times the power.

With the upgrades to his staff and his own deepening abilities, it was possible now to hold these intense versions in place. 

It was a total of 710 mana and 326 soul energy, all balanced thanks to the power of his staff and his control. It took constant attention, but he was able to handle it.

The staff glowed with an intense golden light as it channeled mana into a containment field, but it had no trouble with the amount of energy.  The spells drifted slowly around the top like two golden comets and two rainbow ones.

Each of the spells was strong enough to eliminate an enemy on their own, and he could still add Soulfire Infusion talismans to them for another thirty mana at a time. 

He looked at the staff with a strong sense of satisfaction as he tapped the end on the ground.

This was what it meant to be a mage and to prepare for battle.

“Let’s keep moving,” he said. “There are two more challenges and then the final fight.”

If his estimate was correct, the next one should be enough for him to reach Level 100 and Evolve, so hopefully it had an Epic ability reward.

If not, he would keep working on it. His abilities should still be enough to guarantee a good advancement.

He led the way out of the library, and as he turned around to face the next mana concentration, he noticed an aspect of the statues and the carvings on the pillars and gates.

From this angle, all of the monsters carved into the stone had their mouths sealed shut. Most of them were tied by ropes or chains, but there were also gags and stranger things like muzzles.

It was something he hadn’t been able to see from the other direction.

From one direction, the monsters were subservient to Decay, but from this direction, Silence ruled, like it was an argument between the two divinities.

Then he turned to look at Maro as he pointed the carvings out to him. 

“Be careful with that codex,” he said.

Maro looked at the carvings and grimaced. Then he nodded in agreement. 

With that, the four of them set off again, heading for the next challenge.

On the way, they encountered more wandering monsters and repeated their tactics from the day before. 

Kelin left most of the work to the others, only setting up his ward and the talisman shields as needed. 

Their new armor helped their defenses, so it was easier for them to endure, and as their abilities improved, they were starting to get the upper hand now and then, although only when it was three to one and it still took them a while to wear down the monster.

He let them struggle, but he stepped in to finish the monsters off as necessary. He also continued practicing Soul Paralysis and his other spells, employing them at normal and non-Blaze levels.

Here and there, he created mana shields to block blows and trained that ability as well.

He managed to rotate through most of his repertoire, and sometimes he stepped up to let the undead strike him directly and set off his Reactive Sigils.

Their movement across the city was slow and productive. 

They had struggled to deal with thirty monsters their first day in the dungeon, but now they were able to handle forty and they suffered fewer injuries and desperate moments.

By the time night fell, they’d covered half of the distance, but everyone had gained another level and reached 92.

Kelin remained at Level 98.

They were closing in on him and they would probably start to notice that he was leveling more slowly than he should soon, but he wasn’t concerned.

He’d already decided to tell them about his soul bond with Gaius. They’d seen the elemental and it was no longer a secret he needed to keep. Plus, the longer he waited, the stranger it would be when he did announce it.

They spent the night in a ward circle and the next day they continued their progress. 

That night, they camped outside the ruin that marked the second challenge.

Their levels rose to 94, while Kelin reached 99.

Congratulations, Lord of Wildfire.

You have gained a Level.

Your Soulbonded Elemental has also gained a Level.

You gain 3 Intelligence, 1 Wisdom, and have five free attribute points to assign.

He tossed the free points into Aura, which took it to 326, while his Intelligence and mana pool were up to 716.

They’d cleared probably half or more of the monsters in the dungeon, but his stock of defensive talismans was dropping quickly. 

He’d started with 150 Warden’s Talismans and they’d burned through 84 of them so far.

In other terms, it meant he’d saved the team from death 84 times.

Running through a higher Evolution dungeon was no joke. It was only his preparation and insight that kept it manageable.

As they kept watch, he pulled a work table out of his storage and set up a crafting area. Then he got to work on making more. 

That night and most of the next day, he continued to work, only resting as needed. 

One talisman after another appeared beneath his hand, inscribed on more of the First Evolution fire drake scales that he’d brought along.

Eventually, he replenished the full stock of talismans, bringing the number back up to 150. 

It was about twenty-two hours worth of work, with roughly one talisman every fifteen minutes.

By the time he was done, he had to shake his head to dismiss a headache.

When the talismans were replenished, he rested for the first part of the night and then he took the second watch with Serai.

The winter sylph gave him a thoughtful look as she sat beside him, and then she turned to watch the other direction.

“I have seen people make talismans before,” she said, sounding curious as she glanced over her shoulder at him, “but never that swiftly, and especially not with the power that I know those have. Your speed is incredible. Your hands fly and the runes seem to come to life on their own, like you are only wiping away the surface to reveal what’s already there, but I know they weren’t.”

“I’m just very familiar with the structure,” Kelin said with a chuckle.

It was mostly true, but it was more that he was an archmage. 

Otherwise, this level of production would never have been possible. 

His understanding of runic structures was much greater than a usual inscriber at his level. What took him fifteen minutes might have taken them five hours or even longer. 

Most of the work was in smoothly connecting the runes to the overall structure and maintaining a careful and consistent mana flow. 

In order to create a talisman, everything had to be balanced in place to stay stable on the material. 

What he was doing was more like laying down a complete pattern at once.

A younger inscriber would have had to carefully carve one rune after the other and spend ten times as long double-checking the connections and balancing each point.

He already knew every point of balance and added them as he went, so that it all came together at the same time. 

His method of carving the runes was also more elaborate and comprehensive, with parts of the pattern created all at once, which was what Serai was seeing.

“So how did a sylph end up in Celadon?” he asked, changing the topic as the night stretched on. “It’s rare for your people to come here, but even rarer for one at your level and age to join the guild.”

Serai was silent for a moment. Iceflakes drifted around her, forming in her aura and then dissipating in the wind. 

“When I was young,” she said eventually, “my family came to Celadon as merchants, to open a trade channel between our home world and Lareth. They didn’t plan to stay for more than a few months at first.

“I was only eleven at the time, but once we were here, I started to have a dream that came back every night. It was about a great phoenix made of snow and ice, rising up from the world and breaking the mountains. 

“My parents sent a message back to our elders, asking what it meant, and eventually they got a response from our great ancestor, Lady Winter. She said that it meant I had been born at a moment of change and that the phoenix symbolized my potential for the future, which would be shaped by my existence on Lareth.”

She paused as she looked around. For a moment, she looked lonely, but then she shook her head and it was replaced by calm determination. 

“That was twenty years ago?” Kelin asked, feeling thoughtful.

“About that,” Serai said with a nod. “My parents were planning to go home and take me with them, but the Mother told them to stay here and to see what I became, and especially to let me find my own path, or that the phoenix I dreamed about might never rise.
“So they stayed, and I stayed, but I kept dreaming about the phoenix. When I came of age, I decided to take matters into my own hands and joined the guild. My parents didn’t like it. They thought I’d do better as a merchant or a crafter and never wanted me to become an adventurer.”

She smiled at that with what looked like a mix of fondness and frustration.

“Our people are great mages and warriors, and not only merchants, and Mother Winter’s warning to let me find my own path was still loud in their ears, so they didn’t try to stop me, but they are not happy about it. They send me messages every week asking me to come back and find a different job.”

“They sound like good parents,” Kelin said with a chuckle. “Perhaps soon, you’ll be able to show them how far you’ve come.”

“I told them I was following Winter’s Path and a Dream of Ice,” she said with a sense of humor. “Those are old sayings among my people, although it’s something ambiguous like what a fortune teller might say. At least they can’t say it’s not true.”

Kelin chuckled at that.

Running this dungeon was making Serai’s life more dangerous than it had to be, but at the same time, if she hadn’t met him, she might already be dead. 

That Sarathian assassin had been chasing her team when he first met them, and then Orest had nearly killed all three of them in the last dungeon.

That did not seem like a path of good luck.

If she wanted to survive, she’d have to wrest her fortune from the stars and take it for herself.

This dungeon was a good start.

He continued chatting idly with her, but most of his attention was on her mention of the dream twenty years ago.

That timeline was about the same as he’d been reborn here. 

He wasn’t so arrogant as to think that she’d received the dream because of him, but he wasn’t sure it was just a coincidence either. He frowned as he began to consider why he’d been reborn here too.

Perhaps something on Lareth was unique. 

Sometimes, great events were stirred by unique gatherings of mana and energy. Something like that could have called to his soul to come here, out of all the possible worlds in the galaxy, and also given her that dream.

He glanced at the city around them with its remnants of the undead and legends he’d never seen before. 

Then he nodded slightly.

Perhaps Lareth did have something special about it, like true remnants from the Chaos War that held strange power. 

It wouldn’t be surprising if that was the case. Lareth was a wild world that was barely settled, with a heritage that matched the era.

Just from this dungeon alone, he’d learned secrets that even a Level 699 Archmage hadn’t known. 

There had to be a reason they were here.