None of the thirty remaining survivors was stupid and they took things as calmly as they could. There was no visible harm to resting till a problem was identified and this was something they unanimously agreed on.As they expected, there was something that was out of the ordinary and it was found after two hours of waiting.The quiet rumble that came from the depths of the chasm was enough of a wake-up call.Theo of the Arco twins was the one who made the first comment, breaking the silence. None of them believed that crossing the bridge would be easy from the start, however, the realization that some unknown danger lurked beneath was enough to bring them flashbacks of their time in the maze.“There’s something down there as well? Why is this trial so difficult?”“Good thing we were patient…”“Patient? What does that do for us?”“Theo is not completely wrong. Every stage of the trials had been harder than the last”, Oscar took a deep breath.“Indeed… Something that can cause such a ru
Aiden was dumbfounded. How was this a reward? It simply contradicted itself. The problem it caused was having him be a prime target for the Zaltyr, but it would also save him from them once.Then, is the mark erased once the life-saving opportunity is used?[Yes, everything returns to normal after that]This made him heave a sigh of relief. He tried to look at this from a positive perspective. This meant the mark was not meant to specifically protect him from the Zaltyr, its main purpose was to protect him from every other thing that tried to kill him.Thinking about it this way made it easier to accept the fact that he was going to be in trouble with the Zaltyr sooner or later, albeit only slightly.Elder Zarek watched Aiden go through his thoughts for a few minutes while he thought of the command he had received from The World Seed.Aiden had recovered his thoughts at this point and decided to check on his elemental seed. He was elated to see the changes to his elemental seed.The mu
No one cared who had said that word because they all ran. The sight of the gray tentacles rising like pillars from the depths of the abyss was enough to scare every one of them.At the same moment, there was a rumble that spread across the skies of the city at that moment. Everyone heard it. Aiden, sitting in the restaurant was jolted from his thoughts and joined everyone else as they looked up at the ruin.He witnessed a few of the tentacles of the beast appear on the edge of the ruin as he had seen before they entered the ruin.‘That bridge, huh? They might be lucky enough to escape'.He did not care much if these people beat the ruin and made it to the temple. He had gotten his rewards and he was happy with that.Tristan and his group had immediately dashed off the bridge, but the tentacles came down on the bridge at a lightning-fast speed.This attack ripped the bridge apart, leaving just three people from Tristan’s group unscathed.Tristan’s face was painted with horror like ever
None could ask the other for help because each had someone attacking them, however, they were not noble scions for nothing. Despite being overpowered by the golems, they dealt some damage over time.It was not immediately obvious, but they managed to hold their own, and avoid grievous injuries even though there were several close calls.It took them each about an hour to circumvent their respective golems and deal enough damage to break through their chests.Hadrian was the first followed by Oscar shortly after with Tristan clocking in third, a few seconds behind Oscar. He was unhappy with this but he had no time to be unhappy because his face soon changed into a somber look. Oscar who had just tried to pick up the glowing multi-coloured orb was surprised to find the orb roll away from him and float up to meet the orb that came from Tristan’s golem. This also meant that the orb in Hadrian’s hand was the only one that remained.Oscar and Tristan noticed this, but they could do nothin
The crowd was pulled from the tragedy that the nobles caused, and some people started to point to the group suspended above them, whispering and murmuring various pieces of gossip.This was a topic that excited them all, however, the ones who were most excited for the revelation were the nobles who finally knew the people who beat them to occupy the highest floor of the tower.They did not hide the wicked grins on their faces and Aiden saw these grins on their faces. He also saw that the group were starting to descend from the sky into the midst of the crowd. That was bad and was quickly made worse when he noticed the nobles setting their hounds on the group.He could guess their thoughts. Even if the group was stronger than they were, given the position they occupied, they did not believe it and wanted to know for themselves how powerful they were.This gave Aiden a headache and his mind began to spin quickly, looking for a big enough distraction that would give the group a chance to
“Stay on his heels!”“He must not get away or you’re all getting three months in the dark!!”These words were like adrenaline shots as he redoubled his efforts. Right behind him, the footsteps that stayed right on his heels also got faster.“Kid, you running away will only make your father suffer more pain”.Refusing the urge to think, he scrunched up his face and ran faster. Unknowingly, he had tears streaming down his face. The thought of his father suffering the punishment the Viceroy would pass down was like a knife stabbing at his heart but he kept running.“Go, I’ll hold them back”Recalling the smile on the face of the man he called father and the order that he gave, he had no words. He had turned around and ran. He couldn’t stay even if he wanted to.Suddenly he ground to a halt as he turned around and let out a bitter smile. ‘Even though father held them back, it wasn’t enough’, he thought to himself.The footsteps that were not too far behind arrived in a few moments.“Stay
"What do you think happened to him?""Your Highness, his body has signs of dark energy. He must have been corrupted as a result""In that case, how long will he stay unconscious?""I have never seen such potent dark energy. Normal people would be dead if they were in his place but his body is purifying itself. A true marvel to behold, Your Highness""As for how long he will stay unconscious, I cannot give an accurate answer, but at the rate his body purifies itself of the dark energy, I believe a few days to a week should be sufficient""You said he is an arcana?""A newly awoken one, Yes. Due to various factors, his seed has been sealed and I cannot determine what element he has an affinity for""Look after him and let me know the moment he awakens""Yes, Your Highness"The door closed leaving two people in the room with an unconscious Aiden.One of them was an old man with a white beard and grey hair while the other was a young man who stood behind the old man like the disciple he w
He could hear the murmurings of the servants, maids, and guards who lined the walls as he was led to The Viceroy's Court.He had no way to understand what happened as he had no recollection of those events.For a sixteen-year-old whose whole life had been dedicated to being the best he could be as he followed in his father's footsteps, this was a massive blow.His legs paused which led to him getting dragged along until he found his footing again. His mind was blank and his eyes unfocused until he felt the hands holding onto him leave him.His eyes focused again as he assumed he was standing in front of The Viceroy and that the trial was about to begin but what he saw was unlike what he expected.In front of him was the figure of a man he had spent his whole life working towards. This was his father, Fraser Tarren."Father", he muttered as tears streamed down his face.His head was bowed as he felt he could not look his father in the face after what had happened but what he got was tw