The Truth about the First Floor! The Foolish Candidate is Born!

Kay and Liria, after a quick analysis about the youngster fight and magics, where walking towards the end of the first floor.

Kay was wearing the hide of the dog he skinned, with Liria wearing another type of fur. Somehow, Kay thought, she seemed even more beautiful in that silver cloak. It was like the coat highlighted her skin and hair.

Looking at his own hand, Kay remembered the talk he had with Liria.

"Your main affinity is fire." She had said, a couple minutes earlier, lowering the hand that was in front of his face.

"How do you know that?" He had asked in search for the answer.

"It's a little trick that the Runecrafters had come across a couple of centuries ago." She begun, with a nostalgic smile on her face. "Fact is, when using a spell, the element you used will mix in your Jing, and for us Runecrafters, we deterrence some of that Mana, with the characteristics of that element we just used. That is where lies our affinity." She finished the explanation.

"What is in your mind, my apprentice." Liria, the one who was walking ahead of him, asked, shaking Kay off of his flashback.

"Just your explanation, that's all… still, there is something that just… don't add." the youngster said, looking seriously at Liria, which made her tense a bit. "Just how old are you? I mean, when you spoke of that method earlier, you had a homesick look upon your face. Like you lived and participated when this method was created."

Liria stopped, making Kay stop too. She looked at the stone ceilling, with a contemplative look upon her face.

"I'm old enough to have fought against the first Magic King, long before the humans had conquer Amynistrad." She said, beginning to walk once more, leaving a mouth agape Kay right after her.

"But… but the first magic king lived thousands of years ago." He said, walking by her side now.

"Yes, but you know us elves, longest live span out of all the five kingdoms and all that shit." She said, nonchalantly. No, it was almost like she desired it to end already, her live that is. The way she spoke of something most people would kill to have… it just felt wrong.

Her voice was tired and her body language spoke volumes about her frustration. It was almost like it was a curse for her, something Kay couldn't really relate with, so he just kept quiet.

After some minutes of quiet walking, they came across a big door. It was black in color and had a few runes inscribed in it. However, instead of the usual blue that shone in the walls of the dungeon, it was a scarlet red, almost bloody in color. A little above the runes, a skull rested. It's void orbs looked at both Liria and Kay, almost testing they're will to advance.

Kay was about to open the door. He knew after all that the boss room was right behind it, but Liria stopped him.

"If you touch this doors without reading the runes first, you're going to die." She said, with a sad smile on her face. She knew why she couldn't advance from this point. The second Magic King made sure of that.

"Then, what is inscribed there? I mean, why don't you read it?" Kay asked, and she sighted. That was the moment of revealing the truth.

"Kay, do you know why only humans could made past the first floor of the dungeons of Amynistrad?" She asked, the volume was above a mere whisper, and Kay shook his head, feeling tense at her expression. "The truth is that, only humans who know about Runecraft can go beyond from here. If someone tries to open it forcefully, they would trigger a defensive mechanism that would kill them immediately."

Kay gulped at that, he was thankful that Liria had stopped him, however, something she spoke just wasn't right…

"Wait… then, you're only teaching me Runecraft so I could open this door?"

"Yes… you see, after the humans prevailed against the four ancient noble clans, after the Magic King slayed my lord and lover, I became part of a guild of thieves. We would rob graves and sell the goods, while keeping some of the treasures to ourselves. We came here, by my wish, to recover my lord's diary, but only a human with Runecraft could do so... a trap that would forever bind me here, since you need a Key to open the exit."

"So… that's all I am to you… a key?" Kay asked, annoyed, scratch that, he was absolutely livid! His Mana exploded outwards, and he looked at the door and it's runes. "Patakh ett hasha'ar mevulegann!" The young man, no, the sorcerer screamed, making the door in front of him burst open. His eyes shone with power, and the Mana around him and inside of his body was swirling with pure, unadulterated hatred. Walking towards the gate in front of him, he kept going, his Mana scaring the beings that were ahead of him.

Yes, the boss room was filled with skeleton soldiers, and all of them knew that the kid in front of them was in another league.

'How… how could he open the door without any knowledge in the Runic language. Screw that, how does he possess all this power?' She thought, before a sudden though crossed her mind. 'Fire is his affinity, and all this Mana… could it be? No, they were all slayed with my master… he couldn't possibly be one of them, right?'

All Kay saw was red. He was tired of it, of everyone lying to him. He just wanted to restart it… to be free… but no! Everyone had to try to manipulate him.

In his anger, he failed to noticed that, the boss of the room wasn't afraid of him… in fact, he seemed to be exited at the prospect of a challenge.

The boy only noticed the giant bone sack with the immense Claymore sword coming his way. In fact, he just noticed that the sword was thrown towards him when it was too late. He was pushed out of the way.

"Hey, what's the big idea…" He stopped mid sentence, looking at the form in front of him. It was Liria, with her face contorted in pain.

A giant blade was nailed at her chest, and she kept spitting blood. Her eyes looked at him for a moment, before she screamed in pain as a giant skeleton hand took the sword out of her abdomen. She had fallen in front of him, in a pool of her own blood.

"Li… Liria… why? Why have you done that!" He screamed, pain and confusion in his eyes with the prospect of his master and friend being killed… no, scratch that. He became charmed by her beauty, her confident attitude did make his heart flutter and he admired her strength and wisdom. He loved her, but he knew the feeling was platonic, so why?

"I… I don't know… in a moment I saw a giant sword heading your way… the other, I was here… in front of you…" Her voice was fading, and she had trouble breathing.

The strangest thing, however, was that neither the boss or the skeletons were attacking. It would be the perfect time to kill them, Kay was distraught, and his power sudden power surge ended.

It was almost like they were mourning over her death. It was, after all, possible. According to her, she liver here for a few centuries and the monsters probably saw her as one of them own, since she existed there from the age this dungeon was formed. Kay understood that, what he couldn't understand was why?

Why he felt guilty? Why he felt so much pain in his chest, like he wanted her to survive, even after being betrayed by her. Liria's face then begun to, once again, change. Not her expression, but her age. It was like she was aging a year by a second.

At that moment, Kay understood something. She wasn't going to make it.

When an elf begins to age like that, it is because they're Mana was depleting from this world. She took his hand and begun to spoke words that would forever be marked inside himself.

"Kay… you need to become the Magic King… I don't know how, but somehow… you're a descendant of the Phoenix clan…" She said, shocking every monster who heard it. Kay, however, was just focusing on remembering her last words, as if that would keep her alive. "I'm pathetic you know… I came here with my crew to find my lover's legacy… something he left for me… and it ended up killing every elf that was with me… never once I thought that his legacy… his will… would come to me after a millennia. I couldn't even go beyond the first floor… and yet… you came for me… the last gift the Phoenix clan gave to this stupid servant… Kay… please… become the Magic King… please, correct the bad blood between humans and elves… please… I beg you… bring back those golden days where everyone could be happy in Amynistrad."

After she finished those words, her skin, wrinkled and aged beyond recognition, begun to turn itself to dust.

After the skin, came the muscles, and after the muscles, it was the bones, and soon, only dust remained of the dark elf once named Liria.

At that moment, in front of his enemies, at the doors of death, Kay cried. Rivers and rivers of tears.

"If only I heard what she had to say…" He kept lamenting to himself, all the while the skeletons kept looking at him, like they where allowing him this, as if they themselves understood the pain he was in. "You know what… screw this! I'm going to become… the strongest Magic King that ever existed… and I'll make you proud, Liria!" He said, sobbing between the words. After that, he rose up, and looked at he skeleton general in front of him.

He was big, 5 meters at least. He held a giant claymore in his right hand and had another one held by a sheath at his right side. He also wore a big silver armor, with a few runes in it.

Kay, knowing of what was going to transpire here, took his little Cutlass and positioned himself.

No words where exchanged, for this was a duel to the death. Using his shoe, Kay marked a rune on the floor, and with his eyes still red and swollen, he spoke, beginning the conflict that would mark the born of 'The Foolish Candidate'.

"Za'azu'a!" the bolt no, the immense lighting erupted from his hand, making his way to the skeleton.

He took the attack head on, and became paralyzed by his mistake. The legion of Skeletons then decided to made themselves useful and went to attack Kay.

The boy, doing his best to dodge, inscribed more and more runes, and shoot more and more spells.

He Double Cast again and again, cleaning all the armies out of his way. He felt himself beginning to get exhausted, but he pushed those concerns aside, and kept using more and more spells.

Unknown to him, his Mana control was rapidly getting better, making it so that he could double cast with ease, and going even beyond that. He kept attacking, not caring for the wounds he received. He kept advancing, without seeing all the arrows that hit his back. He kept writing more and more runes, without even sensing his Mana reserves depleting.

After that, when there wasn't any enemies left, he went towards the fallen boss. He looked resigned, almost happy to be defeated by such a warrior. Kay was tired, no, he was completely exhausted, but he kept walking. After a couple steps more, he rose his sword, and with a quick strike, he impaled the general skull, killing it on the spot and making it's presence disappear, turning it's giant body to dust.

Only a key remained from the fallen general. Kay was about to take it in his hands, but the fight from before, together with his wounded up body, caught up to him, making his eyes closing, and with a loud thud, the candidate fell unconscious.