2-56 Descent VI

EnroItzal

Just as Erin thought about taking a short breather after her intense battle with a Demon, the room began to tremble.

[Sixth Sense activated. Threat detected.]

Her tails stood up with her ears at the warning of her skill.

“Now what?” Erin groaned but forced herself to her feet in order to confront whatever threat was heading her way.

But the threat wasn’t something as easy as that.

A piece of the ground broke off and fell into the dark depths below. That piece of ground was only a few feet away from Erin. She took a peek and found that under all the ground of this room, there was nothing but a huge empty space. It wasn’t just the ground that was giving out. Even the ceiling was starting to crumble piece by piece. The whole room was finally giving in to the destruction it had sustained.

“Oh fuck...” Erin muttered. She spent not a second more in the room and dashed towards the sole exit in the room. However, the collapse of the ceiling ended up piling a massive amount of debris in front of her, essentially blocking her path out of here.

She ransacked her brain for ideas but the ground beneath her feet was the next to crumble in the wake of the room’s collapse. Even if she had time to move away, where could she run to? There was no way out of this room. Her window of escape had long vanished. She clad her body in Arcane Armor as the ground beneath her feet succumbed to her weight and the gravity of the depths below.

The air brushed past her skin harshly. In the face of her plummeting into the depths below, her body felt weightless. The fall was long but it didn’t feel long. She had no idea if such length of a fall would kill her but she was sure it would definitely at least leave her heavily wounded. Or worse, crippled. It would leave her vulnerable for her enemies to do as they please to her.

Her Mana was still plenty for a few uses but her stamina was at the lowest it could be. She could barely stand with the current amount of energy. The reason for her exhaustion wasn’t solely due to the fight with the Demon but also her hunger and tiredness. She had been fighting from morning till night. The last meal she had was a light breakfast on her way to The Singularity.

There were plenty of ways to save herself from the fall but her exhaustion had left her without any option. She could only hope that her Arcane Armor was enough to break her fall. But somehow… she doubted her Arcane Armor was capable of such a feat. She didn’t have any basis for her doubts but that was the premonition she had.

Even so, there was nothing she could do.

“No. Never give up. Not while I’m still drawing my breaths. There must be something I could do. Anything.”

Her thoughts went to Arcane Aegis, her only other Magic Art specialized in defence. She used all of her skill points and raised Arcane Aegis to level six. She then conjured it beneath her, in hopes it would break her fall. As further assurance, she cast another. After leveling Arcane Aegis past level five, she had gained the privilege to conjure up two Arcane Aegis simultaneously. But of course, this also came at a price of higher Mana expenditure but in the face of her likely death, the price was simply a bargain.

However, the fall wasn’t the only thing she needed to worry about. A loud screech grasped Erin’s attention. She looked up and found six winged monsters swooping down at her. They had the appearance of a Wyvern but that was only up until their head, which bore the resemblance of a wolf. Their skin was black but patches of dark red scattered across their body.

“Bloodwings?” Erin muttered the name of the winged monsters from the result of her Appraisal. They were no larger than a dog and they were inhabitants of this large cave of tunnels. Erin found it odd that such relatively large monsters with wings were living in compact spaces. She wasn’t able to tell where these creatures emerged from. A quick glance of her surroundings gave none of the answers she sought. Nevertheless, their reason to be wasn’t her present concern. Their existence was.

She quickly fired six Lightning Bolts but the Bloodwings, being aerial monsters, swiftly dodged the attacks. As they closed in on Erin, their jaws span wide-open, revealing the rows of fangs in their mouth. Erin clicked her tongue and cast Thunder Shell. She had wanted to finish the Bloodwings with the minimum usage of her Mana but that was proven impossible. The Bloodwings bit down on the lightning barrier encasing Erin and the moment that followed, lightning was transmitted to the Bloodwings who bit the barrier. Erin dispelled the barrier and swung the Storm Glaive across the Bloodwings’ elongated necks.

[Experience gained +30% - Level Progression: 40%]

But she only managed to lop two of the Bloodwings’ heads off. Their instincts were sharp but that was only to be expected since they lived in a dark environment. Out of the remaining four Bloodwings, one rushed at Erin immediately after the death of its peers. It was aiming for the moment between the swings of her weapon. It was obvious to Erin the other three that stayed behind were using its peer to analyze her strength.

“Neat strategy for a bunch of creatures but—”

Erin cast Lightning Barrage, sending dozens of lightning bolts to hunt the Bloodwings down. The rushing Bloodwing was instantly roasted to a cinder while the remaining could only try to run.

“Huh?” Erin blurted out. The last one used an unexpected trick. The moment it saw the dozens of lightning bolts heading its way, it did not simply fly around in hopes of dodging the attacks. It stayed behind its peers, using them as shields. When the Lightning Barrage struck, it waited until the spell expired on its own before beginning to retreat.

[Experience gained +45% - Level Progression: 85%]

“What a human thing to do.”

The Bloodwing was able to avoid its death at Erin’s hand. However, its death was only delayed and not prevented.

Though the last Bloodwing quickly retreated by flying back to where it came, Erin threw the Storm Glaive in her hand. The speed of the Storm Glaive wasn’t something a mere level twenty-three monster could outrun. Without even a shriek of its last breath, the Bloodwing was shuffled off its mortal coil.

[Experience gained +15% - Level Progression: 100%]

[Erinthea: Level 29 increased to Level 30]

[Skill Points +2 | 2]

[Ability Points +2 | 10]

[Level Progression: 0%]

With the new points she just received, she allocated them all into Arcane Aegis, raising it to level seven. She felt the shields becoming stronger but she still harbored some doubts.

“But this is all I can do. What’s left is to brace myself for the impact.”

The bottom of the depth, the end of her fall finally came into sight but that only brought a foreboding feeling to her bones. This was the moment of truth and a testimony to how far she had come with her Magic Arts. She closed her eyes and prepared her body for the shock that was about to be transmitted to every part of her body.

Even though the Arcane Aegis wasn’t part of her body, she still felt it touching the ground. Naturally, there was no pain but it was an ominous sensation to feel it shattering into pieces without the accompanying feeling of pain. The first Arcane Aegis was destroyed and she felt the rebounding force overwhelming her body but not to the amount that it would hurt her. The second Aegis came into contact and just like the first, it shattered into pieces.

“I’m not done yet.”

Erin quickly conjured up another Arcane Aegis before she touched the ground. The gap was barely half a foot but she succeeded. As a Fae, she was light despite her physical strength. Yet, her body weight, along with the gravity, shattered the third Aegis and caved into the ground. However, the third Aegis was her saving grace. It broke her fall enough for her to survive the long trip. Still, it was a heavy landing. She wasn’t completely unharmed.

“Shit...”

Erin couldn’t move. The entirety of her body was numbed to the point that even she couldn’t feel her tongue. Even moving her eyes was a difficult task but her eyes widened nonetheless when those things came into her view. More than a hundred Bloodwings were descending from the hole she fell through. Now that she had a wider view of the hole, she noticed a number of magic circles were present along the wall of the hole. Since Bloodwings were pouring incessantly from these magic circles, she realized those circles were summoning formations.

“This is a trap… So he had a contingency plan… Damn it...”

She willed herself to move but the backlash from the fall, coupled with her exhaustion, even moving a single finger was an impossibility. She could only watch as she awaits what would come after if the price for Revenant wasn’t met.

But before that happened, a strong wave of energy swooped over her.

“What—”

Erin had resigned herself to her untimely fate but that sensation reverted all of her resolutions. The space in front of her eyes began to ripple and swirl. The space split apart and a man walked out of the split space.

The man heaved a sigh of relief when he laid his eyes on her. “Thank the stars. You’re alive. I was worried when I felt your Lust Deviant took over you and erased my mark.”

Erin blinked at the unexpected individual. “Aedan…?”

“I know you have questions but first things first,” Aedan said and looked up. The Bloodwings were now less than ten meters away from them. “These nasty things...” He reached his hand into the rippling space beside him and pulled out a pouch seemingly from the empty air. He scattered the contents of the pouch at the Bloodwings. The contents were grey powder-like substances.

Erin tried to speak but a croak was all that she could manage. She knew what those powders are from her Appraisal result. They were Gray Spores, highly flammable substances.

“Close your eyes,” Aedan said and produced a small spark on his fingertip.

The small spark touched a single speck of the Gray Spores dispersed into the air. That spark quickly spread to all the other spores in the air. The dark tunnels were immediately brightened with the most intense blaze that these parts had ever had. The small sparks transformed into a sea of flames. The Bloodwings caught on to Aedan’s trick much too late. Even with their aerial prowess, they were too slow to run from the expanding flames.

Erin did as she was told. She closed her eyes to avoid being blinded by the intense blaze. When she felt the blaze had subsided, she slowly opened her eyes. A frowning Aedan was there to greet her first sight.

“You look like shit,” he remarked.

“You asshole…” Erin muttered weakly. She was starting to regain her body senses. “What took you so long?” She extended her arm.

Aedan took it and pulled her to her feet. Since she had yet to fully regain her senses, she used Aedan as her crutch. “You knew I was coming?” he asked.

“I didn’t know but I suspected that you have an array of tricks.”

“Well, I had prior matters. Trust me, I would have come sooner if I could.”

Erin’s eyes narrowed. “You really did put something in that drink, didn’t you? It suppressed my Lust Deviant.”

“Forgive me for that. It was a precaution in case you went on a rampage with your Divine Gift.”

“You couldn’t have told me?”

“It was also a test. To gauge your Patron Goddess’ reaction.”

Erin clicked her tongue. “And the result?”

“Nothing absolute.” Aedan shrugged. “But I do have some idea of your Patron Goddess’ character. She showed no reaction ever since I suppressed the gift bestowed unto you. Right?”

Erin nodded.

“She doesn’t seem to know her gift was… temporarily made unavailable or— she knew what I had done and she simply didn’t mind my deed. I say it’s the latter reason.”

“And what conclusion have you drawn from that?” Erin asked.

“Gods are prideful and their wrath is easily incurred, or at least for the gods I personally know. This case is especially true when their grace is belittled. But your Patron Goddess, she didn’t show any response. It stands to reason she has done this for a long time, long enough to be able to tolerate the mortals’ defiance against her grace.”

Erin sighed. “You know, there’s so much I wanted to ask you, you enigma of a person, but right now—” her stomach grumbled. “...t-the Necromancer t-takes priority...” She managed to finish her words.

Aedan stared. He had a blank look but the corner of his lips were twitching.

Red filled Erin’s cheeks and she looked away. “D-do you perhaps have anything to eat and drink?” Erin asked in a low and timid voice.

Erinthea - Faerie-kin: Five-Tailed Fox-kin

Level: 30 | Status: Mild Exhaustion

Might: 22 | Arcane: 35 | Finesse: 30

Magic Arts

Spirit Magic Lv. 8 | Arcane Edge Lv. 5 | Arcane Armor Lv. 10 | Lightning Magic Lv. 10 | Arcane Aegis Lv. 7 | Mystic Tail Arts Lv 1

Combat Arts

Sword Art Lv. 8 | Fleet Foot Lv. 5 | Brawler Lv. 5

Innate Skills

Appraisal Lv. Ex | Night Vision Lv. Ex | Sixth Sense Lv. Ex | Toxin Resistance Lv. 8 | Lust Deviant Lv. Ex | Mana Harvest Lv. 1 | Lightning Resistance Lv. 1

Unique Talent

Mystic Blade Lv. Ex | Revenant Lv. Ex

Level Progression: 0%

Remaining Skill Points: 0

Remaining Ability Points: 10