Stygian Mage

“So, how do we know the information about the Vestige?” Soren asked as they all walked through the jungle towards their destination.

Two days had passed since he arrived in that cave. They had to wait there for the entrance to open so Soren simply found a place outside the cave and had cultivated to spend time. Right now, they were moving towards the entrance that was supposed to be the main one, according to their info.

“We got it from that Rank 2 Initiator’s family; the one who’s Vestige is this. He had informed them about this place and had told them that he would leave an Inheritance here in case he died. But his family couldn’t survive the battle against time and withered away a few decades after he left. They actually had the information about the Inheritance only and had lost the coordinates; that’s why we needed to find those first before making a move.” Tera explained as they all walked with some gap between them.

Soren nodded once and then didn’t ask anything. He had come here just to try his luck; he was hoping to find something in the Vestige that might help him in his breakthrough to Rank 1. He knew the possibility was very low but he wanted to try anyway. Though, he was aware of the risks he was taking. The place he was going to right now was filled with Initiators and many of them were from the Liston Family. He had his mask on so it wasn’t an immediate problem, but direct contact with them would not be good for him. Most of all, if he somehow had to fight any one of them, then his risk of exposure would shoot up tremendously.

Moreover, if the other person turned out to be related to the Liston Family by blood…..at that point, he could do nothing but try his best to just run away.

“We will be taking a slightly longer route; we don’t want to have any contact with those Rogue Initiators and the ones from any Families,” Smiley said in a leisure manner as he broke off a small branch from a tree and played with it like a kid.

Soren, Wood, and Hound nodded to acknowledge as the three followed Smiley and Tera; ignoring Smiley’s actions altogether.

……..

Soren gazed at the small cave in front of him with his eyebrows deeply furrowed; this cave opening was….just too small. According to the information they had, this small cave with a height of around 1 meter was the supposed Vestige of a Rank 2 Initiator.

At first, Soren thought that they came to the wrong entrance and this should be the one that the Beast used to go in and out. But soon after, Smiley checked the coordinates and confirmed that this was the place.

…

...

…

Do we have to crawl? – This thought went through everyone’s head as they stared at the small opening with absolute silence.

Soren also kept looking at it and suddenly, another thought went through his head.

Dwarf!

He had read about the ‘Intelligent Beings’ and knew that such a race existed. He didn’t know all the details about them but he knew that their average height was also somewhere around 1 meter.

Cough!

Tera coughed once to gather everyone’s attention.

“We don’t have much time. The other entrance can also open at any time now, so we have to finish our job here quickly and escape as soon as possible.” Smiley said as he bent down and went inside the cave. Because of its height, they had to crawl all the way on their four limbs.

…

“How much further is it?” Hound asked as they all crawled on the floor; one behind another.

“It shouldn’t be that long,” Tera stated as she took the lead.

……….

“Is this the gate?” Soren asked as he stared at the cave wall blocking their path.

They were now standing in a small cave room which looked like a place where any Beast would live. The floor was littered with feces and furs; there were also some bones scattered around. This place looked exactly like a Beast’s lair, no matter how one looked at it.

The height of the ceiling here was high enough that they could stand now, but their path forward was blocked by a wall. The cave seemed to have only one entrance, the one from where they came.

“There’s still some time left; we will have to wait here for a while,” Tera said as she checked the time on her communicator.

“But there is no path ahead. Are we going to dig?” Wood asked in confusion.

“The cave wall in front of you is not a wall. It’s a part of a Cover Spell which Initiators use to protect their places and residences. It’s different from the normal spells as you don’t cast this spell yourself; you have to draw the Spell Formation at the center of the place and the spell will create a protective shield around that formation. Of course, the power and the radius of the protective shield depend on the Spell Formation and the quality of the Mana Crystal which is used to provide Mana to it.” Tera explained further.

This knowledge was something new for all the three Rank 0 Initiators; Soren, Wood, and Hound. Soren exclaimed in his mind as he thought deeply about this new knowledge he just got.

“The Spell Formation works purely on the Mana Crystals so it will keep working as long as it receives Mana, regardless of the creator’s life status.” Smiley also chimed in as he gave some trivia about it while still holding the branch from before.

“This Spell Formation is a little different from the common Cover Spell as it is made to open for a while after certain intervals; this one is mainly used when someone wants to leave an Inheritance.” He continued as he moved forward and gently rubbed the coarse wall that was, supposedly, not a wall.

“Ok, get ready. It will open in about 10 minutes.” Tera said, gathering everyone’s attention.

….

Ten minutes passed by in….ten minutes.

Soren was anticipating something grand while staring at the wall, waiting for it to open. He didn’t know the details so he thought that the Cover Spell would create a big disturbance during the opening. And that’s why he was constantly on alert; while they were quite a distance away from where all the Initiators had gathered, there was no guarantee that no one would notice this place—especially if there was a loud noise here.

But every thought of Soren was betrayed in a grand manner as the time of the opening arrived. The Cover Spell didn’t make even the slightest noise and just faded away in front of their eyes.

Everyone started coughing as they waved their hands to fan the dispersed dust that was accumulated on the wall all these years.

Contrary to Soren’s thoughts, the Cover Spell didn’t create even the slightest disturbance; if the coughing was not counted. Seeing this, Soren’s alert status deflated like a balloon.

“*Cough*…*Cough*…Let’s go. *Cough* we need to hurry up.” Tera said while fanning the dust as she moved ahead. She did not cast any spell to remove the dust, even though she could easily do so; a simple prevention in the situation they were in.

Others also followed her inside the gate that had now opened.

…………

“What’s the plan, Faron? Are we going to stop them all?” A girl asked Faron as they looked at all the Rogue Initiators who were getting ready for the opening of the entrance.

She was an average looking girl with long brown hair, tied in a pigtail. Her beauty was nothing to write songs about but she gave off the feeling of a sweet girl next door. Her expression remained gentle and sweet even when she asked the question to Faron.

Faron looked towards the girl who had light freckles around her nose as he thought about their situation.

The girl’s name was Carla; she was one of the Rank 1 Initiators affiliated with the Liston Family. She was wearing a brown colored one-piece dress; its bottom completely covered her knees while the sleeves came close to her elbow. No matter how anyone looked, the dress looked like something a housewife would wear while doing her house chores. The whole setup was clearly not cut for combat, but none of the people who noticed this said anything; they were all aware of what the consequences could be.

Even the Rogue Initiators were not deceived by her sweet looks as they had already experienced her other side. She was clearly a Spellcaster but when a fight had broken between them, she had actually used that staff to bash the heads of the Initiators; all with a constant sweet smile on her face. Her smile had never faded even when her face was covered in blood and white brain matter; instead, she licked the blood that dripped towards her lips from time to time. Her actions had sent shivers down the spine of anyone who saw it up close.

…

“What do you think?” Instead of answering Carla, Faron asked another person that was standing there. Clear displeasure appeared on Carla's face as she also looked towards the person in question.

That person was a man with a height of around 190 centimeters. His skin was completely tanned which made his shiny bald head look like a brown mirror. His face had an uncanny resemblance to Ward; even their dressing style was the same.

He also had a few scars on his face and neck which made him look quite threatening, and distinguished him from his son—Ward. But contrary to his looks, his expression was calm and serene; like whatever was happening around him was of no concern to him.

This man was Wayne.

“We won’t be able to stop them if they all come at once. We only had an upper hand till now because they had no unity and clashed with us one by one, but when the door opens, they might all unite and attack us together if we try to stop them. And mostly, we also have to pay attention to the other Family’s Initiators and that Rank 1 Beast.” Wayne expressed his opinion on the topic in a tranquil voice.

Faron nodded as he also agreed with it.

“Then what are we going to do? Just let them go in and take what is ours.” Carla said in a questioning tone.

“No, we don’t do anything,” Wayne explained. Faron also understood this point as he took over and explained further, “They might band together and fight us if we try to stop them but if we just let them be and don’t do anything, they will start fighting amongst themselves—trying to be the first one to go in.”

He continued, “We don’t need to be their common enemy, we just have to wait by the side and look for a chance to go in. Once we are in, they won’t have the advantage of numbers on their side; we will.”

Faron finished as he too looked at all the Rogue Initiators who were waiting to fight for the Vestige.

Faron, Carla, and Wayne were currently standing on top of a small cliff which was just beside the gate that was supposed to be the ‘main entrance’ of the Vestige; according to them, of course.

They were not aware of the exact timing of the opening but they had a rough idea based on the facts and clues left by the Beast living inside. According to their conjecture, they only had to wait for a few minutes more for the opening. The Rogue Initiators also knew this and that’s why they were getting ready to fight for a chance to go inside the Vestige.

….

Faron and the others from the Liston Family had decided to not stop the Rogue Initiators from entering the Vestige and just wait by the side for a chance. The other Families that were waiting around the Vestige did not have the same thought though. All the Families gathered there had actually agreed to not fight with each other before the opening; they did not want to fight amongst themselves and let the Rogue Initiators reap all the benefits.

Not all the Families were friendly with each other but they all had decided on this unanimously. But this agreement did not include fighting the Rogue Initiators together; every Family was on their own and could decide their own course of action.

Liston Family decided to wait and take advantage of the fighting to go inside the Vestige. Some of the other Families also decided to do the same, but some Families were just too prideful.

And because of this, as the time of opening came close, they all divided into three factions: The Rogue Initiators who were ready to fight the ones stopping them from going inside; the prideful Families that were standing in front of the opening to stop them from entering; the rest of the Families who were staying put for the time being and were waiting for a chance to sneak in.

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