Eternal Elysium

Slithering through the alley, a snake-like figure rose from the ground.

Then, making a hiss-like sound, it deformed and blended together, taking the form of a woman with long black hair and a small face. A little different than the one she had last taken during the fight in Ains mansion.

Her eyes went past one of the old walls where a pile of garbage had gathered. Her nose perked up at the pungent smell as she took a step forward.

Her right hand sank right behind the dark tree tethered at the center of the garbage pile and away from any sunlight.

As she searched behind it, a rough texture with splinters at the end came right at her hand. Without any thoughts, she grabbed it and pushed it forward.

The wall in front started to creak and slid to the left, opening a passage for her to enter.

Sina looked around, making sure no one was present, and entered through the door.

After some seconds passed, she reached a room that stored several things packed in sealed states.

As she walked through the room, sometimes her body would start to boil over; at other times, she felt a cold shiver running over her.

As she reached the center of the room, a glass container came into her view.

"Five… Just five." She repeated, her breathing heavy.

Inside she saw the five artifacts she needed to take.

A deranged crystal with several sharp corners.

A thin, double-edged sword with a black hue and sharp tip.

A pale grey stone with vines wrapped around it.

And two more weapons she had not seen before.

Grabbing each one of them with caution, she started to store them in her storage ring.

As she got ready to leave, she stopped to look around her one final time.

The room was quiet and dark…

…I would never come back here. She thought to herself and clenched her fist.

As she came back to the alley, her eyes saw a broken mirror. She stared at it for a few seconds. Several broken fragments reflected her face in different shapes and forms—no… that's just hallucinations.

Sina cleared her throat, still affected by the powers of artifacts, and looked at the night sky. Her eyes went dull for a moment as she dissolved into a formless rope and slithered away again in the dark alley she had come from.

A few seconds after Sina left, new footsteps echoed following her departure.

Several figures stood there in silence and looked at the wall and in the tree's direction.

"Peter, you can handle things from here, right?" Rose asked; in her hand was a small compass with a curved needle moving at a fast pace. Her eyes remained closed as Mathew held her shoulders.

Peter nodded.

"I will. You both should leave now. I will have other knights clear the area…"

"Mathew, let's go." Rose answered back with a strained voice.

'Using this compass is tough… being blind while using it, the world really hates us!'

Rose thought and let Mathew look at the compass and held his hand as he led her through the streets.

Seeing them leave in a hurried step, Peter sighed.

Following that, five knights dressed in white armor came from behind. His gaze remained on them as he said.

"Let's make sure we can seal them safely…"

The knights nodded and opened the hidden passage.

Peter's thoughts turned chaotic as he remembered the 'Lock eye' being used by Rose and now new artifacts being collected from here.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

'We are summoning high-level artifacts from headquarters one after another… What is wrong with this cursed year?!'

*****

"Are you sure we are in the right place?" I asked as we walked through the forest.

From the corner of my eyes I could see the city walls and the buildings lit up with light.

"I don't know." Franz shook his head, walking ahead.

His eyes searched through the forest.

"But my spirits have told me to wait here… Their instincts are better than ours, so let's have some faith in them."

… He suddenly is starting to look reliable. Is the world coming to an end? I thought internally and nodded at Franz with a dubious gaze. He still had no weapon in his hands, making me even more curious about how he fights.

"Hey, Franz… You know how to fight, right?"

Franz looked back, his mouth left agape by my words. He opened his mouth several times only to close it again and sighed.

"Asher, how unreliable do I even look to you? For goddess sake, I am also a high-ranking member of the Temple!"

… Reliable, my foot! You were just running around in the Pristel mansion!!

I almost cursed out loud but in the end managed to keep my mouth shut. I didn't answer Franz anymore nor entertain any other thoughts while being with him.

The longer the conversation goes, the more I seem to be becoming.

"Hey Asher," Franz called out.

"What is it?"

"Do you know about the artifacts grading system? Temple grades each artifact in tiers and class as well."

I raised my brows in surprise. Artifacts are graded? That's actually… worth knowing then!

"No, I don't… I have only heard them being called low, mid, or high grade… A definite term will make sense." I said in a small voice and shook my head in denial.

Franz, seeing this, nodded thoughtfully and raised one finger, taking a teaching pose.

He stayed silent for a few seconds and said.

"The grading system is not that hard, really. We go from higher to lower in class, with A, B, C, D, and E, with E being the lowest. But that's not all; there is one more thing to know here. It's further classified and said in terms like tiers by adding E-1, E-2, etc., till E-6."

'E-6? Class and tiers? What does this even mean?' I frowned, thinking hard. And thought of my mask for a while.

"What about my mask? What's its class and tier ranking?"

Franz stopped and stared at it for a while, then calmly said.

"Ah, your mask, right! It should be a class C and tier 4 artifact if my memory serves me right…"

'C… it's higher than I thought.'

"Does C correspond to beast and awakened rank?"

Otherwise, if I start with E class as an awakener or newborn, C will be equal to transcendent or avenger rank. The Mask of Panoply isn't that strong.

"It does," Franz said and paused, his eyes scanning the area surrounding us.

The forest was densely packed with trees, making it hard to see what we were looking for.

"...E corresponds to the weapons that can even hurt creatures from beyond. While above that signifies weapons and things that hold strange abilities."

"Thanks."

Franz raised a brow at the sudden gratitude and turned to look back, the corner of his lips curling up.

"For what, Asher?"

Sigh…

"Thanks for the information, Franz. Do you think I am an unreliable brat like you? Tsk. Tsk." Clicking my tongue in disdain and walking forward, I blinked twice as a flashlight hit my face.

"Close that, you idiot!" I yelled, raising my hand to cover my eyes.

Franz chuckled and closed the flashlight, spinning it on his fingertips.

"Haha… Asher You sound like a damn owl."

I frowned, feeling an indirect hit, and sighed, lowering my hand.

"Which owl talks? Are you still that fat cat… Well, the size of your brain has not changed; I can see that."

Franz stepped forward with a heavy step, his eyes narrowing. "Are you picking a fight?"

"And what if I am?" I said, slightly raising my voice.

"Pfft—"

"Oh, sorry! Sorry! But I can't… Jokes aside, let's focus on finding clues."

Franz's facade broke as he burst into a small fit of laughter.

'Ah, here I thought I could finally kick his ass.'

Disappointed by Franz walking ahead, I sighed and quietly followed his lead.

'Okay, so I have four Charms of Confusion and three Charms of Light… They should be enough for tonight, right?'

I thought and clenched my fists tightly.

I had tried making five charms of each but then realized that since they have a limited amount of time in which they need to be used, making many at once will be disastrous to my wallet.

And it turns out the chances of making them were not 100 percent after all, even with the goddess mark on me. Out of five tries in making charms of confusion, I succeeded in making four of them… And for Charm of light only three in four turns.

…75% success rate, not bad for the first time.

According to the book, the chances should be around 25%, but mine were a whopping 75%. I was not sure if it could be called beginner's luck or not, but I still wholeheartedly thanked Goddess Celestia for her kind blessings upon me.

Looking at Franz walking carelessly and freely with his hands inside his pocket, I felt my head throb. Even though I had been thinking for a while, my focus still remained on my surroundings.

The enemy was better at hiding than anyone else I had ever seen. And there were presumably four of them at that—how could he be so confident? This was even beyond me.

"Hey Franz, I am serious, but will you be able to handle—"

Boom—!

A loud sound echoed through the forest, making the trees quake.

It was as if a cannon had been fired.

My eyes widened instantly as I turned to look in the direction of the sound. Birds flew away as a small light started to light up in the middle of densely packed trees.

"Let's go!"

Franz yelled and ran in that direction.

Seeing this, I followed his lead. My steps quickly accelerated; at the same time, so did Franz's speed, boosted with my help.

Franz's eyes widened for a moment as he noticed the difference in his speed but quickly understood Asher had done something.

He didn't resist the change and hastened even more as loud bangs echoed even louder than before.

As the view cleared, my eyes widened as I saw the trees being blown away at an astonishing speed.

A woman stood there in the dark with her hand raised and finger pointed at Rose and Mathew.

Not waiting even a moment, I quickly raised my hand and summoned a white disk-like structure and threw it forward in their direction.

"Morgana," I yelled in the rune language.

And then—

A blinding light flashed before my eyes.

The light shone brightly, and the darkness of the night vanished.