Ezra’s head throbbed in pain as he looked around, but his chest had stopped hurting and he no longer felt dizzy. “How did I even get here?” he questioned, puzzled by it all. The last thing he remembered was plucking mushrooms near the brook. Looking at his hands he noticed they weren’t trembling anymore and he could even walk straight without stumbling. “Did the poison just wear off? But how?” “It did not wear off. I saved you, my dear Lord,” Marlin muttered. As Ezra looked at his hand, he noticed something strange. Marlin’s cursed eye had turned cloudy white and his lips looked parched and withered. “What the hell happened to you? And how did we get here?” Marlin opened his lips, but his voice sounded scarce and shaky. “I intertwined my soul with yours and took possession of your…body. I brought you here, brewed the...Dewglaze potion and saved your life. But it took a great toll…on my powers. I need to sleep…now. You can thank me…later.” With that, Marlin closed his lips and shu
Ezra felt like he simply could not avoid getting involved with the deities no matter how hard he tried. It was as if they were pulling the strings of fate from above, and he was being forced to obey like a puppet. Every choice and every secret led him to one shrine or another and there he would inevitably find himself entangled in the net of fate. Although Ezra still had his doubts about the robed one standing before him, there was no way for him to be sure he was telling the truth.“How do I know you’re not lying?” he asked. “The God of Magic does not have any physical form. Those devoted to him merely worship the elements and pray to the sacred arcane crafts.”Oferion smiled and replied in a soft voice, “You are as skeptical and inquisitive as your mother. I like that in a child. It often leads to a more thorough judgment and a more well-rounded character.”“You said you knew my mother.” Ezra paused midway before adding. “You said her name was Alantra Fien, but I think you don’t kn
The burden of truth was too heavy for Ezra to bear. He had come here hoping to seek answers and rediscover his past, but Oferion’s revelation only added to his mental trauma.“I…am not the son of a crazed murderer! I cannot be!” Ezra denounced, clenching his fist.Oferion however, remained calm and replied in a gentle voice, “Your father already paid for his crimes. And you forget that you also have the blood of one of the bravest elves running through your veins.”“I don’t believe you. If my mother was an elf, why don’t I look like her?” he asked.It was true that Ezra looked like a perfect human and had no features that could liken him to any kind of elf. But Oferion knew something that he did not.“How kind do you think fate would have been to you if you looked like a dark elf? Do you think the Romanovs would still have adopted and accepted you as one of their own?” Oferion sighed and shook his head. “No, my dear boy. They would have either left you to die out here or fed you to the
Oferion approached Ezra and tapped on his chest with the tip of his staff. The gem on top of the staff emitted a bright blue light which spread across Ezra’s skin and gently entered his body.Ezra felt a gentle warmth seeping into his chest and gradually spreading all across his body. His eyes blazed with azure fire, and the tips of his fingers started glowing as pure magic energy rippled on the surface of his palms.“I grant you the power which rightfully belongs to you. Now, you must choose whether to follow the path of shadows or seek the light at the end of the tunnel,” Oferion proclaimed aloud, his voice echoing in the ruined monastery.[Magic Talent level: D][Awakening Completed!][Magic Power maxed out!][Current Magic Power: 500%!][All shooting skills enhanced!][Enhanced shooting skills unlocked:][1. Magic Surge (level 3) (active)][2. Enchanted Hand (level 3) (active)][3. Dragon Eye (level 3) (active)][4. Reflexive Armor (level 3) (active)][5. Shadow Cannon (level 1) (a
The wooden beams supporting the roof of the monastery crackled and snapped like twigs as the flames spread across the room. As the fire bolts kept raining upon the building, it quickly turned into a pyre, with smoke billowing out the hole in its ceiling like a chimney.Ezra realized that if he stayed inside this building even a minute longer, the whole structure would collapse on his head and bury him alive. He could already feel the heat from the flames raging around him, and the smoke made it extremely difficult to see anything.Tying his silk kerchief around his mouth, Ezra took a deep breath and touched his Lunar Howl pendant. “Summon Spectral Companion!”The spectral white wolf leaped out of the pendant and howled. Hearing the ferocious predator’s hunting cry, the Centaur Warriors accompanying the Brutes scampered away in fear.However, the four Brutes attacking the monastery held their ground. Since they were high-level humanoid hybrids, they were extremely resistant to intimidat
Ezra was surprised by this unexpected notification. Silencing wards were usually deployed by mages and adventurers to block teleportation spells and prevent sneaky enemies from dashing from one location to another by using their agility skills.However, Centaurs had never been known to be magic users. If anything, they despised magic due to their past encounters with human sorcerers. “Who the hell is using a silencing ward here?” Ezra looked around him, unsure who else was trying to hunt him down.Oferion’s monastery had already burned down, and there were no other safe havens in the Starlight Forest. Ezra’s only option now was to keep moving and get back on the road as soon as possible.Keeping his Reflexive Armor active, Ezra equipped his enchanted revolvers and carefully made his way through the forest.The Centaurs lurking nearby had their eyes glued on him, but they weren’t too keen on attacking him abruptly since their arrows and bolts had already failed to get through his magic
As the dark fog wafted in Ezra’s direction, the veins on his arms turned black and his skin changed from peachy white to stony gray. His lower body gradually became numb and after a while, he could barely feel his legs.“What is with this fog?” Ezra had never experienced anything like this before and it made him anxious and uncertain.Just then, his system panel flashed open, displaying a terrible status effect.[Warning: Lethal proximity to Dark Fog.][Necrotic Rot contracted!][Skin and flesh decay accelerated by 100%.][Step out of the fog to slow the decay.]“Necrotic Rot? How is this even possible?” Ezra was shocked by the status effect displayed on his system panel. As far as he knew only necrophages and necromancers could inflict Necrotic Rot.But there was no way the undead had raided this forest or else the Centaurs would not have survived the onslaught. What was even more shocking was the presence of a Centaur Shaman in their midst since Centaurs despised magic and were amon
When Ezra had received the notification about the Centaurs, he expected to face a horde of archers and heavy melee attackers. But the Shaman threw all his plans and stratagems out the window.Not only was the Shaman capable of casting minor hexes and curses, but also knew how to effectively deploy wards. And to make matters even worse, this Centaur had pledged his allegiance to Zepheroth which granted him the power of raising the dead with his dark magic.Hearing the guttural grunts of the resurrected Brutes, Ezra turned around. The resurrected Centaur Brutes looked even more formidable in death. Their eyes had turned pitch black, and their battle axes were enveloped in darkness. The Shaman’s dark spell had not only raised them from the dead but imbued them with dark magic. Their hides had turned mottled gray, and dirty black veins had popped up on their arms and necks, making them look like diseased abominations.Ezra downed a magic restoration potion and reloaded his revolvers with