The Ascenders Odyssey

Silas finished reading the journey of Divine Queen Seraphina. Jasper, his voice dripping with admiration, exclaimed,

"She's a badass! Did you see how she took down those Arcadian nobles? Talk about a power move!"

Ethan added, "No kidding, but... 'Divine,' I never heard of such a title before."

Silas thought a bit, "Maybe 'Divine' is above 'Supreme,' and this book is a proof for claim."

Ethan exclaimed, "No way, Altheria has only nine Supremes.

Ethan left the Queen's room, his mind reeling from the information he had just absorbed.

Silas, seeing that Ethan had let his guard down, said, "I think it's best if you stay on your guard. We need to find a clue to leave this place."

Jasper suddenly chimed in, "Let's explore the temple!"

"No," Ethan said instantly.

"What the hell? How can we find a way out if we explore the temple?" jasper asked.

"He's right," Silas added. "We need to explore the temple to find a clue or an exit."

Ethan hesitated. A part of him yearned to delve deeper into the temple's secrets, to uncover the history buried within its walls. But another part, the cautious part that had been dormant for far too long, screamed at him to be wary. He had a feeling that this place held more dangers than just ancient history.

He took a hesitant step forward, his boots crunching on the loose gravel. The air in the chamber was thick with the dust of ages, the scent of damp earth and forgotten things filling his nostrils. As he moved deeper, he felt a strange energy emanating from the walls, a chilling premonition that this was no ordinary temple.

Suddenly, a low whisper echoed through in his ears, "Sword."

Ethan flinched. 'It's never gets old' he thought to himself. Seeing Ethan's reaction.

Jasper said, "Is something wrong? Do you want to take a poo—"

"Shut up," Ethan cut him off, his voice sharper than he intended. He was starting to hear the whispers more clearly now. 'Weird,' he thought. 'I was able to understand the whispers, is it because of the awakening?'

Watching Ethan, Silas asked, "Do you think of anything which might be the exit?"

"Sword," Ethan said unconsciously, the word tumbling out of his mouth before he could stop it.

Silas, his voice laced with curiosity, asked, "Why do you think so?"

"Queen's Sword, it makes sense, doesn't it? The dead knight was guarding that room "Jasper added, his voice brimming with excitement.

"Hm, it's possible," Silas conceded, "but the question is, will he go?"

Ethan felt a shiver crawl down his spine, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. He recalled the knights, their terrifying strength. "I- we can't survive in this place," he muttered, "so I will do what I have to do."

"Great!" Jasper exclaimed, his voice filled with an unexpected enthusiasm. "We can have our first kill! Yahoo!"

"Who said anything about fighting?" Ethan snapped, his voice sharper than he intended. "We are sneaking into the room?"

"What? We need to fight—" Jasper began, but his voice trailed off.

"That's a good plan," Silas interjected. "We can't fight a monster without knowing our powers."

"What the hell? You too, smarty?" Ethan retorted.

"It was just basic... common sense," Silas replied, his tone mildly defensive.

.....

Ethan moved with the stealth of a shadow, his footsteps barely audible on the stone floor. He crept down the stairs, his eyes darting around, searching for any sign of movement. A surge of relief washed over him as he realized he was alone. He had successfully evaded the watchful eyes of the knights.

He reached the bottom of the stairs and found himself in a large chamber, 'this the place where the knights guarding'.

He surveyed and found the room which knights guarded before but currently there was no knights. 'Thank goodness'

"Where are knights damn at" jasper yelled

"Idiot, don't distract him" Silas said

Ethan opened the room but there was nothing, his heart sank, and legs was started trembling 'all the adventure was wasted' 

Silas said "hm, there is a stairs in this room"

"what" Ethan asked he can't see any stairs

"Really, I don't see any," Jasper also said, confused.

"Go to that monster corpse and remove it" Silas said. Ethan complied to him.

As soon as he removed it, he can see a way underground.

"How did you know?" Jasper asked, surprised. "Well, you see that monster clearly, it was the same monster, which was killed by archer knight, and as for how I know there is stars its easy since knight guarding this room and putting monster on this hole here, so I guessed it, those knights have little intelligence it seems" Silas explained his reasoning.

Ethan slowly entered the hole which gradually transformed into a cave as he walked, eventually leading him into a hall.

Dust lay thick on the floor, and the air was heavy with the scent of damp earth and forgotten things. As he cautiously approached the door, a low groan echoed through the chamber, followed by the clang of metal against metal.

Sounds were so loud, that it made all the sleeping monsters wake up and running towards where they heard sound, but the knights stopped them.

Ethan's heart pounded against his ribs. He tried to open the door, but it was heavy and rusted, groaning in protest. As he struggled, the sounds of battle intensified – the screams of the monsters, the clang of swords, the grunts of the knights. He felt a shiver crawl down his spine, his breath catching in his throat.

Just as he was about to give up, the door swung open a fraction, revealing a narrow passageway. But before he could squeeze through.

jasper suddenly said "Get down"

But before Ethan can respond an arrow whizzed past his head, embedding itself deep into the wooden doorframe.

Ethan froze, his heart hammering against his ribs. He slowly turned his head, his gaze falling upon two knights – an archer and a swordsman was standing guard a few feet away.

"Ethan, we don't have much time," Silas said, his voice urgent. "The monsters will be here any minute now. I think the other knights can't hold them off much longer. You need to make it fast."

"The hell you mean 'fast'?" Ethan retorted, his voice laced with anger. "I don't know the first thing about fighting!"

The swordsman knight lunged forward, his sword glinting in the dim light. "Fine," Ethan muttered, grabbing a rusty iron rod that lay discarded on the floor. "If you want a fight, I'll give you one."

'My heart's racing—too fast, way too fast. I can feel the sweat in my palms, and my grip on this weapon… it's not as steady as I'd hoped. What if I mess up? What if I'm not strong enough?

No, stop. They'll be coming at me with everything, and I can't afford to freeze.

Breathe, Ethan. One step at a time. Just focus. This fight isn't about being perfect; it's about surviving, proving to myself that I can do this. Everyone starts somewhere, right?

I don't have to win flawlessly. I just have to fight.'