Herald of death

Resisting the urge to step forward, Ethan closes his eyes and imagines the runes of a Lightning Bolt. With a sliver of Ether, he sends it into his leg, jolting him out of the beaconing trance.

Tackled by Derek, Grant falls to the ground, crawling towards the pit with dilated eyes. His nails scrape against the stone, chipping on it. "Let me! I need it!" he screams.

Ethan maintains the image of the spell's sigils and throws another lightning arc at Grant. Both contract, Derek's strength squeezing the air out of Grant's lungs. He inhales like a drowning victim, turning to his back as Derek stands up.

"You radge," Grant spits. He rolls to his feet, Derek grabbing him by the shoulder. "Can't stop yourself from hurting me, can you? Nearly crushed me with your bloody spell."

"I saved you," Ethan says. He moves away from the pit, turning around to see Ivy rushing in.

She looks at the scene, her eyes soon drawn to the pit. Russ barks, snapping her out of her nascent trance. She asks, "What's happening here?"

"Your Thief can't control himself," Ethan says. The words escaped him as if his thoughts were unregulated. He closes his eyes, examining the closest obelisks' Ether to distract himself from the conversation.

"Easy for you to say with your costume that costs a month's pay!" Grant yells. He pushes away Derek's hand and approaches Ethan. "You rich bastards can't help yourselves, always looking down on us. What if I need the money?"

"Grant!" Ivy calls. "It is obviously a trap. Just like the food, if you take that money, you'd be guilty of greed. Can't you see? Why are you so angry? Why am I so angry?"

"It wants to make you say or do something you'll regret, out of wrath," Ethan guesses aloud. The obelisks' Ether mimics a slick surface, hiding shifting writings below. It is impossible to read through.

Ivy circles the pit, observing the statue. Behind it, she says, "There is another one here."

Ethan approaches from the other side, keeping an eye on Grant and Derek. The second statue, hidden behind the swollen frame of the first, depicts a man with an effeminate face. A crown rests on its head, golden and inlaid with gems. It sits atop a laid-down dromedary, with demons playing instruments at its sides.

'I recognize neither of them,' Ethan thinks. He peers into the Ether towards the three who stayed behind. 'And Mikko won't be able to come here.'

"I think that's Paimon," Ivy says.

"Paimon as in one of the kings of hell?" Ethan asks. His memories flash with fragments of the Ars Goetia. He skimmed the book in his father's library but never read it.

"I don’t know," Ivy says. "There's a character in a game with that name. When you look her up, it also gets you an image of that guy, riding his dromedary."

'Wasn't he linked to secret knowledge? But dealing with demons requires sacrifices,' Ethan thinks. He summons a gold coin and flings it into the pit. It tumbles onto a pile, triggering a clattering coin slide. Illuminating the room in a red hue, the eyes of the stone statues fill with crimson light.

A voice appears, omnidirectional, deep, and commanding. "What knowledge do you seek?"

Another voice, more sinister, adds, "Know that asking for more than your offering is worth will have consequences."

Ethan ponders for a moment. What's the limit of this thing's knowledge? And how does it gauge the value of knowledge? Such a thing is subjective, as is the value of an offering. He approaches the pit and asks in Eldorian, "What offerings would grant me the knowledge of exactly who the man I spent my life chasing is? His location, weaknesses, allies, and plans."

Ivy's gaze turns to Ethan, her jaw slightly ajar. The top of an obelisk reveals itself. The English words carved in it read, 'All your possessions and more. Your wealth, your gear, the remedy to your companion's demise, your power, your knowledge, your memories, and your life force.'

"You just spoke their language," Ivy realizes. Her eyes move to the side as she thinks. Glancing at the answer it gave, she says, "You were surprised when we mentioned the people living outside the dungeon. But you spent time with them, or you wouldn't know their language. Did you use it to make sure no one here could understand your question?"

Ethan flicks another coin in the pit. The statues repeat their offer, "What knowledge do you seek?"

"What is the Eldorian sigil for the word: burn. And how may it be integrated into a spell?" Ethan asks. The same obelisk uncovers some more, revealing the sigil with its entry and exit points, labeling them as such. "Unless it used the knowledge that I knew to deceive us, it seems honest."

Ivy's gaze stays on Ethan, as if she were expecting an answer to her rhetorical question. She takes a handful of silver coins from her haversack and throws them in the pit.

"What knowledge do you seek?"

"How dangerous is that man? Is he a danger to us?" Ivy asks, pointing at Ethan. He tenses at her question – the information could be a danger to him.

"Your meager offering does not scale to the desire you have for this knowledge," the second voice says. Air escapes Ivy as if a blade had pierced her lungs. A red strand shoots out of her, crossing the space to the first statue's maw. Derrek grabs her as she falls to her knees, black veins appearing on her neck.

Another obelisk uncovers itself. 'He is the last moment of thousands who thought themselves unreachable. He is master of murder in all its forms, a manipulator, liar, thief, and betrayer. He wears countless masks and speaks in a thousand voices. He is skilled, patient, relentless, and a being of sheer will. Only if you're a danger to him by your actions or knowledge will he be a danger to you.'

Grant's jaw drops as he reads the obelisk. He staggers backward, starring at his newfound fear. Ethan feels a familiar weight in his hand, hidden behind the shadows of his torch. He summoned his Glock inadvertently while reading, only realizing it now.

Ivy's and Derrek's gazes fall on Ethan, the trio now starring at him. He unsummons his pistol, relieved that this thing didn't give out his name or even a title.

'Or if you are a target,' Ethan mentally adds, the missing information making him think. 'This thing didn't answer thoroughly and left more than one blank that would require another question. And they undoubtedly crave those answers now, heightening their price.'

"I'm sorry," Ivy stammers. She stands up, leaning on Derrek's shoulder. The veins on her neck signal that it consumed a large amount of her life force. Derrek takes a vial out and hands it to her, its translucent content swirling with red strands. "I shouldn't have."

"Don't ask any further. You wouldn't want to pay the price for it either way," Ethan says. He approaches from the obelisk that answered his questions.

"Intimidation leveled up."

'I can't risk asking something that will drain my life force. Beside the furies, there is nothing here I could regenerate it from, if the blade even endures. I should at least use the occasion to obtain something I don't particularly value, but that will still be useful,' Ethan thinks. He summons the rest of his gold coins, adding the ring of ice transmutation. 'It would be a lot in the otherworld, but not to me. Should I add an item I have use for?'

"If you don't mind us hearing your question, I could ask it for you," Ivy says. She approaches, holding her hands in front of her. The black veins on her neck are receding. "If the price we pay depends on our desire to get an answer, it wouldn't cost me much."

Ethan turns to her, contemplating her idea. It is tempting. Is she proposing that in hope of getting on his good side? Even without predator's sight, he can see her heart rushing, throbbing a vein in her neck. She's terrified of him. How many times has he seen that look? Dozens, perhaps hundreds. It appears on all the bystanders who witness him working.

Ethan flicks a coin in the pit, and the statues repeat their offer. He asks in Eldorian, "What offerings would grant her the knowledge of my father's killer location, weaknesses, allies, and plans?"

'The worth of feeling a little safer,' the new part of his obelisk reads. The answer tightens Ethan's chest. This means he could know, but the risk of them uncovering too much gnaws at him. Only in death could he trust them to keep a secret, and he has no desire to kill them. They aren't the monsters he hunts, and unless they deceived everyone, they are just wannabe adventurers.

"We won't tell anyone," Ivy says. Her strange ability to read Ethan irritates him. Or is it just a logical conclusion? She steps forward, still holding her hands before her, but stays several paces away. "I'm sorry I asked what I did. Let me make it up to you."

'She's strangely calm,' Ethan thinks. It surprises him; most people can't think straight when their bodies are in a panic. He'd have to word the question in a way to conceal any identifying information, but then he could receive an imprecise or incomplete answer. Besides, he doesn't trust this place. He summons five of his demonic Ether crystals, adding them to the offering his holds. "There is someone in this labyrinth who can answer my questions. No need for you to put yourself in danger."

"Then what do you want to ask with that?" Ivy asks, pointing at the objects in his arm.

Ethan lowers everything into the pit, careful not to break the crystals. As the voice finishes its line, he says, "Teach me spells of equal value to the offerings I gave."

A large surge of Ether bursts from under his obelisk. It sips into it, carving Aetherian sigils onto the stone as it uncovers. They burst with light, escaping their medium to rush into Ethan's mind. Fully uncovered, the obelisk cracks and breaks.

"You learned the Sound Dampening spell. You learned the Mind Shroud spell. You learned the Fear spell," the system announces.

'I thought it would carve the spells, not mimic a spell book. Is it because I used the word: teach?' Ethan thinks. He straightens up, the light of the sigils leaving his sight.

"Everything alright? It looked like two or three spell books at once," Ivy says.

"I'm fine," Ethan answers. He gazes upon the shattered obelisk. Does it mean he obtained as much knowledge as it will give him, or did it break because of the Ether's intensity? He circles back around the pit, towards the entry door. He adds, "I'll find a place to rest; don't follow me. And don't ask anything stupid; I can hear through walls."

They gasp in surprise as he turns predator's sight on. It isn't a proof of his ability, but it will scare them a little more. Ethan crosses the stone door's threshold, leaving the room for the corridor holding molding books.

Mikko, Fabio, and Andrei sit there. With their eyes closed, they try to control the threads of Ether touching them. Mikko is the most pitifully proficient of them, succeeding in bringing a thread from his index into his forearm. With no training, Ethan, and even Tombstone, could control Ether threads by visualization alone. Are they lacking something, or is it Ethan who was different?

He passes them, his ears focused on Ivy and her group. The three of them pooling their resources, she asks for spells with the same wording as Ethan. Listening, he thinks, 'Should I have trusted her? It would have been foolish, but I'd be closer. … If only I could.'