NOVEL NEXT Chapter 36: Your Enemies are Closer
"What in the hell happened?!" Midnight yelled as he barged inside the room with Sun and Frederick. "What happened here?"
"Elliot accidentally attacked Francoise. "Lance said.
"If he was the one attacking, why is he in this state?" Frederick asked.
"It seems like his attack was one of those with Lifesteal," Lance muttered. "But it's a rare type it seems."
"What is it called?" Frederick asked.
Lance was deep in thought, trying to remember what it was. "I think he yelled, 'Ethereal Strike'."
"From the Ethereum," Midnight whispered. "Frederick, how did he come in contact with such magic?"
Frederick sighed, "I don't know."
"What's wrong with it?" Connor asked, fidgeting in worry.
"Ethereum is a skill set that drains HP from their users," Midnight explained. "It has been said that this skill set was from ancient Adventurers. Back when no one was still Sacred or Legendary, let alone Godly."
"Adventurers would cast these spells and exchange or drain something from them. Be it HP, body parts… or souls," Midnight finished with a worried sigh.
"Soul?" Connor fell to his seat. He felt like his world fell apart. "What if Elliot's soul was eaten by the skill?"
"That's a possibility," Frederick said. "But his HP is still raising. Meaning, he's still hanging in there."
As the people around him conversed, Elliot was floating in a vast empty pit of darkness. It was as if he was swimming in space.
"Where am I?" he asked himself.
A white light burst from afar. "That looks like an end of a tunnel."
Elliot swam towards the light. The small opening got bigger and bigger until it swallowed him whole.
His eyes fluttered open and he saw himself in the middle of a forest. Tall towering trees covered the entire forest floor. The trees were gray, as if he was in the Forest of Gray Lake.
"Don't tell me…" Elliot trailed off and ran towards the familiar woods and into a familiar lagoon. "The Manual is seriously messing with me."
The Gray Lake was calm, but something was different about the island that held the stones.
There were two trees. One was pitch black and the other was pure white. The precious gems were nowhere in sight.
"What is happening?" Elliot asked in panic. He walked towards the trees, his eyes widening when he didn't sink down the serene, untouched waters.
He got to the tree, holding its trunk, searching for clues. Any clue as to why these two trees were here. Any clue as to why his mother told him that the tree held secrets.
"What is the secret?"
'The secret is creation,' the male voice spoke for the first time since the Skirmish at the Gray Lake occurred. 'You know that.'
"But what does it mean?"
'You will know.'
"What if won't?"
'Then you die.'
"What do you mean?"
'Keep your friends close…'
'For your enemies are closer.'
The trees swayed, as if they were dancing to a missing rhythm. They twirled around each other and Elliot could feel a strong pull from the space in between the trees.
"I'm not done asking!"
'But I am done answering.'
'Good luck, APRIL.'
"I'm not APRIL!"
'You are.'
Elliot awoke in his bed. He was at his room.
There were two people sleeping at the edge of his bed, each on the opposite side.
Lance sat up, looking at Elliot and widening his eyes. "You're awake!"
"Y-Yeah."
"You don't know how worried we are," Lance scoffed. "What in the hell even happened?"
Elliot shook his head, trying to remember what happened the night before. "I accidentally casted a spell towards– Gramps! How is he?"
"He's fine," Lance said. "Now, continue."
"T-The spell drained my HP since my MP wasn't enough," Elliot said. "But how much did it drain?"
"1," Lance said seriously. "Only 1 was left in your HP."
Elliot gulped. An attack against a Level 100 like Francoise caused him to lose almost all of his health. As the old man had mentioned, he retired from being an Adventurer a long time ago. He couldn't maximize his skills since he shifted to becoming a Blacksmith.
Meaning if Elliot would use Ethereal Strike against people like Lance, Frederick, Luck or Midnight, it would drain all his life.
It will kill him.
"What can you say about it?" Lance quirked his brow.
"I'm sorry," Elliot muttered. "I didn't mean for it to happen. And after Gramps gave me the weapon too. That wasn't a good 'thank you' gesture."
Lance sighed and fell to the bed. The movement made Connor snap out of his sleep and jump in shock. He looked at Elliot and stood up, running towards Elliot.
"Connor I–"
Elliot couldn't finish when Connor gave him a light punch in the shoulder. Connor was seething in both anger and worry.
"Don't pull something like that again," Connor said. "You're going to give me a heartache."
"You'll have a heart attack though, not a heartache," Elliot snorted that earned him another light punch from Connor.
"You're so mean!" Connor sobbed. "I thought I'd lose my only friend."
Lance scoffed, "What about me then."
"You're a bodyguard," Elliot and Connor chorused.
Lance scoffed again. "You two are mean. I'm hurt."
Elliot apologized to his guildmates for worrying them. Midnight said it was okay, Frederick said to not do it again, Sun said he should be careful next time, while Luck didn't even care.
"Such a jerk," Connor uttered.
"It's okay," Elliot said. "I'll go to Francoise for now. I'll apologize for being such a reckless person."
"Let's all go!" Lance cheered.
From the corner of his eyes, Elliot spotted the guy who told him that Connor was at the guildhouse a few days ago. The man waved his hand at Elliot and Elliot smiled back.
I still don't know his name, yet I smile at him.
"Lance," Elliot whispered. "Who is that guy?"
He discretely pointed at the man. Lance narrowed his eyes and hummed. "That's Ed. He's the weakest in terms of strength."
"What do you mean? He didn't level up enough?"
Lance shook his head, "His affinity is a rare one. His skills involve around nullification."
"That's a cool ability," Elliot nodded in approval.
"Not really," Connor sighed. "He canceled a lot of my casts when we were hunting the lions."
"They're on the same level as Luck then. In terms of being a jerk of course," Lance grinned and fistbumped with Connor.
"Why wasn't he like that to me?" Elliot said, stopping in his track. "He even waved at me."
"He waves at everyone," Lance and Connor said creepily.
Elliot shivered. "Don't do that!"
As they walked, someone was calling Elliot.
It was Isabelle.
"Kid," she called. "Come here."
Elliot was looking around and pointed at himself. "Me?"
Isabelle rolled her eyes. "Do you think I know any other kid? Hurry!"
They walked towards her and got inside her shop. Lance and Connor had never been here before and it made the younger boy excited seeing all the gems.
"This place is beautiful," Connor said.
The middle-aged woman led them down the shop and into a closed door. "They said that they had nowhere else to go."
"They?" Elliot asked.
Isabelle opened the door and there, the three boys' eyes widened.
Ripple and Frost were lying in the beds, wounds and bruises littered their bodies.
[[ Ripple ]]
Level 49
HP: 40/50,000
[[ Frost ]]
Level 48
HP: 25/50,000
Elliot gasped, "What in the hell happened?!"