Chapter 9: Chapter. 9: Relics & Testing

I stared at the tall and skeletal ceiling of crisscrossing archways and sprawling pillars, it glistened with blue dots and had small spots of reflected golden light upon its stone. It was wide and pretty, a feat of architectural engineering of the Golden Era, and yet there was nothing much within my mind. It felt like a single thought kept coming back ⁠— recurring, banging inside my head with a powerful headache.

I should have died.

No matter how I thought about things, it was clear as day. I could feel my flesh knitting, it was an odd feeling that sent tingles throughout my body. I could feel my insides shifting, my ribs moving back in place, my organs wriggling underneath my skin. The amount of things that were getting fixed made no sense to me, I didn’t understand how I had sustained so much damage, and how I wasn’t dead.

Perhaps it was due to my Life Essence being higher than before thanks to the Tincture of Fallen Flames, but I didn’t understand it. I felt like I was lucky to be able to sustain so many injuries. I understood that my Fallen Flames had some anomalous properties, allowing me to sustain and manage more pain that should have been possible for me.

They seemed to temporarily suppress my injuries and also enhance the healing factor of my body allowing most wounds to close in a matter of minutes, at least for the blood clot to form. However, even then, I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. I had been careless, period. Very careless. It was a learning experience, but my body had retained the injuries from before consuming the Tincture, and yet I had survived everything.

It did not make much sense to me. Therefore,

I should’ve died.

There was no debating it. Though, perhaps there were things I could’ve avoided. Fighting a lot of the Beasts of the Dark Hollow was hard, or rather, learning to fight them was hard. Now I was sure I could fend off two Prowling Harvesters at once without even being touched by them.

So, takeaway was that I had had my learning experiences, just like how I had injured myself the first time I used the pick, or how⁠— well that was it really. I had to learn how to fend for myself against the monstrous creatures of the Dark Hollow. Killing them felt natural, perhaps it was because of the festering ‘it’s either you or them’ mentality that I had taken after so many years.

When one’s life is in danger, there is no time for dilemmas.

But even then, that still left me with the thought of the fact that under no normal circumstances should I have survived everything that had transpired. And well, technically speaking I certainly wouldn’t have.

I fiddled with the [Everlasting Elixir of Health] within my hand. Its glass felt somewhat rugged, yet purposeful and more else it felt cold and calming. A Fourth Grade Relic had saved my life this time around, and it was mine.

A Relic had saved my life this time around, but what about next? Perhaps it was my greediness that got me into such a situation, the insistence to keep going deeper into the Grand Mine. But in reality, I didn’t blame myself, it was either that or returning to the camp with nothing much to show. I would return and rot for at least a month before having the chance to set off again.

I wanted to feel like I had gotten the most out of every journey because of that. So I pushed. It was an impatient decision, perhaps a desperate one, but after almost twenty-years of living without seeing anything but the Grand Mine, I was tired.

So I didn’t regret finding myself fighting stuck in the underground vault. I could’ve fought the Compound Golem a lot more carefully and avoided having my ribs and numerous bones be broken from a shockwave, but in the end, the outcome had already happened, and I had learned from it as well.

I didn’t blame myself over what occurred, but then the Prowling Harvesters came⁠—

I frowned. The only thing I could’ve done differently was not destroy the door, but my mana would’ve still been in dire straits. Nothing that would’ve allowed me to fight them, and I couldn’t exactly control whether they would be there or not.

I guess, things were inevitable in that aspect?

Everything could’ve been avoided if I had just returned, perhaps that was my only mistake, but I was impatient so I excused it with that.

I should’ve died…?

I doubted for a moment before closing my eyes and taking a deep sigh.

In truth, it was undeniable that I should have died and I in fact had gotten lucky with the Relic find. However, I didn’t regret my actions, and given the choice I would do it every time even if I didn’t know the outcome ⁠— or at least, I liked to believe that.

So then… There was nothing to learn from it? Well that wasn’t quite right, but the thought shouldn’t have been as haunting as it was previously, I stood by my choices, and I had certainly gotten quite a lot of rewards for it as well.

I got up, feeling completely rejuvenated as I looked at the glittering gold. I felt a smile in spite of knowing that I didn’t actually have that much use for it. Nevertheless, I got up taking in the structure of the vault and the mountains of gold coins, I could feel my breaths travel far and wide across the large chamber.

For a moment, feeling the calm and peacefulness inside the room, I had a feeling I could stay there forever. However, I didn’t luxuriate for long, instead choosing to kneel down and scoop a handful of the golden coins, throwing them inside my carry bag along with the journal.

I got hold of a coin for a moment, examining the reflective surface of the metal and the indents running along its edge. Then I looked at its sides, one held indescribable patterns and the other, seemed to have the side profile of a human with elongated ears. I held it for just a moment, before tossing it aside, it hit the other coins with a dull clank and that was that.

The vault had an oddly calm atmosphere, where everything was a mix of gold and soft blue hues. The only sounds came from my breathing. I observed the piles of sparkling yellow for a moment, before finally deciding to look for other things. I stowed the [Everlasting Elixir of Health] inside the carry bag, and decided to follow the naturally formed trail of ground that the gold sort of formed.

I stepped past the intricate pedestal that held the Fourth Grade Relic that I had acquired and ventured further into the vault. The tall skeletal ceilings were something to admire as I saw arches hang overhead along with the unbelievable amount of gold, it was a nice distraction for just a moment.

Peeling my eyes away from the construction and new sighs, I looked forward and saw what seemed to be a wooden chest before the path did another turn. I raised my brow as I arrived at its side. It had linings of golden metal with intricate patterns, its wood had an ashen appearance, giving it quite the mysterious feel.

I knelt before it and tried to push it open, but it was locked. Though, since it was made out of wood I paid it no mind as I activated [Fallen Embers]. In an instant, my hands were covered in bright azure flames, and promptly transferred onto the wood.

It basically exploded into a mess of writhing flames as soon as it was touched, crackling and burning at a rapid pace that could potentially damage its contents. I panicked for a bit before extinguishing my own flames and praying they would stop burning and⁠— they did. Much to my surprise the fire died when it shouldn’t have. I felt surprise, confusion, a mixture of both, and the only thing I could say was:

“Huh…” I took a breath. “I guess I should find out more about [Fallen Embers] altogether… But that comes after I am done exploring, of course.”

I smiled and peered at the chest, only to see a large amount of luxury jewelry. Collars, rings, bracelets. I stared at the precious accessories for a moment, before deciding to take some for myself. I didn’t really know what I would do with them, but they were basically free, and weren’t too much of an inconvenience. I tried some of them on, including what seemed to be some triangle shaped things, metal constructs of thin threads, shortly after finding out that they could be clipped onto my ears to make them pointy and long.

In the end, I ended up taking a handful of silver bracelets ⁠— that ended all on my left hand ⁠— and a what seemed to be a hair clip. I brought it to my face to move some of my hair out of the way and paused as I saw some of my hair in a different color. It was white. Confusion grew within my mind, but I still clipped my hair and focused on other things. I didn’t really have a mirror to see if I had grown instantly old or not.

And my hands were⁠— well they were still my hands. If anything my skin seemed softer and less dry. I thought for a moment before shrugging.

“I’ll look for a mirror later.”

With those words, I moved onto following the trail once more. The contents of the chest were simply jewelry, none of them were magical or even something that I considered overly beautiful. In the end, it was a vanity thing that I didn’t care to engage on⁠— my wrist shingled. It wasn’t something that I didn’t care to engage in too much.

And so I moved on.

◇ ◇ ◇

The vault was much larger than I had ever imagined. The trail weaved and did random twists, but as the minutes passed I still found myself traveling deeper into the chamber, and I saw the ending wall grow near. The place was big enough that if it wasn’t filled to the brim with gold and gems it would’ve been quite terrifying, it was as big as the entire mining camp itself.

Nevertheless, I continued with the resolution of seeing the entire place, and finally I neared the end after another minute. The ending wall was a couple of meters away, and there was just a single turn left. For just a moment, I grew nervous. I had been walking for what I thought were twenty minutes, and I simply felt there had to be something at the very back.

Something that was worthwhile. And also, the fact that the trail made it to the very back in of itself was some sort of signal in my mind. So, all in all, I simply got excited.

I reached the end with clinking from the gold coins at my feet as I turned, and my heart skipped a beat as my eyes widened seeing a white mass. With a single more step, I saw yet another pedestal full of carvings and patterns. My eyes looked at its base, as small light fixtures floated around it, and slowly took its full appearance before finally landing on⁠— nothing.

There was nothing atop of the pedestal. I stared for a moment, blinking and in disbelief, there were even magical particles floating on the air nearby. The only place in the room that gave off a feeling of the Golden Era, had nothing? My eyes fixated on the place for a second, before noticing a mirror next to the pedestal, it was almost inconspicuous, hard to see and tucked.

I shook my head for a moment, remembering my previous confusion regarding my hair. I could see my hair within my vision, but it was patchy from all the blood, so I couldn’t really observe if I had some changes or not. Then, my eyes moved to the mirror and I sighed, taking a step forward.

“So much for hopes⁠—”

My breath caught in my throat as I tripped, the tip of my foot banging against something. In a moment, I hit the cold ground and even though I used my hand to stop myself, it got twisted and a coin had dug into it, giving me a dull uncomfortable pain.

I grunted and looked behind me, only to see bones⁠— it was an arm that was sticking from the pile on gold, and on it was a glittering blue bracelet made out of sparkling pearls. Its beauty captivated me in an instant, and the World’s Voice awoke me from my stupor.

[Fourth Grade Relic ⁠— Bracelet of Twilight ⁠— Wearing this bracelet will grant the effect of Twilight to the bearer and a limited amount of vision in the darkness.

<> Twilight: Under darkness the individual’s presence is diminished by a large margin, making them harder perceive ⁠— detect, see and smell.

The Bracelet of Twilight is a ceremonial bracelet worn during coming of age ceremonies and only removed if the ears are clipped or lost.

This Relic was produced by the Elven capital of Sylleria.]

A Relic!

I glazed over the description, and while it seemed rudimentary and nothing more than a somewhat useful thing, the bracelet was otherworldly, each bead sparkled and irradiated light in a beautiful manner. I gloated in the feeling for a moment, before getting up and promptly grabbing it from the boney hand.

It seemed to be reaching towards something, but my gaze followed and found nothing more than a pile of gold. I stared for a moment, before sliding the bracelet over my left hand along with the other silver accessories. I felt no immediate effect, but I was more than content.

Now with a smile, I walked towards the mirror, not really caring about the surrounding gold coins or glittering jewels that I saw. The [Bracelet of Twilight] might make it easier to navigate the mines as well, and it might allow me to not have to use my flames in such a manner.

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The only reason I used them was for light after all. Being harder to perceive seemed like a great thing too, perhaps I would be the one ambushing this time around.

Finally, I reached the mirror, though I was looking at my feet. Slowly, I moved my gaze up, ignoring my torn clothes, though I could see some ugly brown scars in certain areas where I had been the most scratched and clawed by the monstrosities I had fought.

Then, I reached my shoulders, and even if I ignored my completely torn and bloodied outfit, both of my shoulders were scarred with brown marks, almost as if they had been burned ⁠— all of my scars were like that ⁠— then my eyes wandered to my neck where I had a large one.

I extended my hand for a moment, and ran it through that skin only to find it feeling coarse and dry. The scar was large and slightly reached onto my cheek. I frowned for a moment, and shook my head only to catch sight of my hair, or the tips of it at my neck. They were white.

My eyes wandered further only to note that in fact, my hair was black but it had white undertones. Almost as if I had white hair growing beneath my black hair. It was quite hard to see unless I moved my hair around. Then, finally, I met my own gaze and paused.

My eyes were blue, they had always been blue, but they felt different now ⁠— looked different. I felt as if my own gaze was boring onto me, and my irises were much more radiant. With a dark blue rim around and gravitating towards white in the center, a deep azure color.

I stared at myself for a few minutes before awakening from my stupor, averting my gaze onto the wall I scratched my cheek awkwardly.

“That’s… odd, to say the least…”

My voice went nowhere and was heard by no one, but voicing out my thoughts allowed me to digest things just a bit better, so I had done it anyway. I looked at myself in the mirror once more, taking in my new appearance before shaking my head and turning around.

I didn’t know if I liked or disliked the changes, but they had already happened, so it wasn’t as if I could do something about them or change them to say the least.

Finally, with a sigh, I headed back to the entrance.

◇ ◇ ◇

I lazed around the first pedestal, leaning on it as I thought about things for a moment. I had acquired two Fourth Grade Relics, they were the lowest grade. One was essentially a way for me to not die, some form of instant medicine that cured and healed my wounds, but it had a limited amount of liquid.

If I was being honest, its effects seemed a bit too good for a Fourth Grade Relic considering it had the word ‘everlasting’ in its name, however, there was also something in its description that I didn’t know what to think of. It was a warning after all.

Be warned that the body can build a tolerance towards the Elixir of Health.

Perhaps, it meant that it would be less effective the more that I used it⁠— it definitely meant that.

I shook my head and turned towards the blue beaded bracelet I wore. The [Bracelet of Twilight]. The extent of its effects remained to be seen, but it also didn’t seem all that great. At least not in an obvious manner, though it was certainly incredibly useful in my position, and in the mines.

Overall, I was incredibly happy with my findings.

I nodded before looking at the open vault door. Unfortunately, leaving the place was going to prove to be difficult.

I raised my palm and ignited a flame on it. I stared at it for a moment, before finally sighing. It was inevitable, but it was something that I wasn’t particularly excited to do, and that was learning more about my flames and how they actually worked.

◇ ◇ ◇

First thing I did was distribute my attribute point into agility, making it 15. It was a bit embarrassing but I had only remembered until testing. Then, I tried a myriad of things from kicking, to igniting my flames in specific spots such as my hair, arms, legs, even back. There were a couple of things I wanted to test and find out about my flames, though not every single one was possible, I tried the ones that were.

First discovery with punching, and doing physical actions was that my flames carried momentum, like any torch would, except it would be extended a bit. So, punching would send a small flare, or well most actions would. It was how I had managed to wipe the mana projectiles that were sent my way.

How I had managed to survive most of the time for lack of a better word. However, I also found out something that was very interesting and slightly illogical. It happened when holding my pickaxe as I tried to pretend I was fighting something.

Turns out, I could ignite any part of the pickaxe so long as I was holding it. So I could ignite only the pick and ignore everything else. I also tested the same thing by touching the ground and trying to ignite a part that was further away, but saw no result.

I didn’t understand its limits nor did I find a way to replicate it with anything but the pickaxe itself. So I moved onto other things such as regulating and trying to shape my flame. And to my surprise, it worked somewhat, but I saw no use in it. I could make the flame on my finger look like the flame of a burning candle rather than the usual look that was akin to burning alcohol, but I saw no use in it.

Then, there was something else that I tried to test but saw no effect in.

The description of Fallen Flames said they were cold and hot, ethereal. I saw the ethereal part, and the hot part, but no matter how I tried I couldn’t make them colder. It was a bit disillusioning, but I was glad that I got it out of the way.

And finally, I tried a bit about burning myself, and well⁠— in conclusion was that, the ignited area wouldn’t hurt no matter what, but the rest was in intent. I also found out I could quite literally burn the blood stains off of my skin. So I did that, and soon I was clean.

I had taken a fire bath, oddly enough.

My clothes still remained dirty sadly, but my discoveries left me more than satisfied and prepared to head out.

With a small smile, I grabbed a handful of coins from the ground and marched towards the opening in the vault door. For some reason, my heart was shaken as I stared at the bridge and the abyss at its sides. But I knew better now, though there was only a single worry, and to confirm it, I threw a coin.

It hit the bridge and with empty clanks it bounced until finally it rolled off the bridge. To my surprise, none of the statues activated. My eyes widened for a moment, before turning to a frown.

Again.

I threw a coin, same distance, same result.

Again.

Same result.

Again…

◇ ◇ ◇

No matter how many coins or things I threw onto the bridge, the same result persisted. I had even tried some of the jewelry from the chest. Something was wrong, but I couldn’t quite tell, at the same time there was no way for me to be prepared other than step onto the bridge and jump back to safety.

I took deep breaths, my chest moved up and down as I prepared myself to jump at and then back. I even tried pulsing [Fallen Embers] a couple of times as an exercise before I finally readied myself for the potential twenty seven bolts shot at me.

In a second, I jumped onto the bridge and immediately hopped back as my eyes darted around, but once more, there was nothing. No movement or reaction from the room.

I did it again.

And again…

In the end, there was no reaction as I stood on the bridge. I felt myself growing nervous, but promptly shook my head and decided that I was going to get back to the other side as soon as possible. I already knew how to evade most bolts, and getting injured wasn’t my biggest concern anymore. I had a Fourth Grade Relic that could heal me, and that was all that mattered.

With that in mind, after a breath, I ran.

I ran through the bridge, my footsteps echoing across the large chamber and below the bridge. They were dull, quick steps on rock, hurried and fast thanks to my agility, in less than ten seconds I made it to the midway point, but even then, there was nothing.

I ran a bit more, and none of the statues reacted. With a frown, I slowed to a walking pace as it finally dawned on me that the statues simply weren’t going to react. But I didn’t drop my guard as I walked towards the door.

And soon, I reached it. None of the statues fired at me.

I crossed the door, standing on the entrance before looking back into the chamber. The vault door was so far away now, and I could see the blood splatters on the bridge, the atmosphere was still odd and chilly. Yet, doubt surfaced in my mind as I dug into my carry bag and took out a coin before throwing it.

It streaked through the air with a golden glint, before landing with a ring, and that sound was akin to an alarm as the entire room flashed orange and not one but three statues activated and shot two volleys at it.

And then, there was silence.

I blinked, took a breath and then turned around. I didn’t need to go back there, so it wasn’t of my concern. I held onto the bag and also touched my bracelets.

It was time to return, but I was happy. I had gotten so much done, and I was gone for two days at most. So all things considered, I would return before the Supervisors would set off to search for me, in the eventuality that they did.

Of course, not like any Supervisor would search for me, that I was sure of.

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