Parallel Vol. 1
Chapter 25: Of Ghosts & Beasts

Alure’s Crypt was a labyrinth designed to keep out intruders and slay all enemies. Adventurers who chose to enter the crypt were given one glimpse of the entire maze when they exited the pathway from the trapdoor. After which, the path would incline downwards and they would slide down to the entrance of the maze.

Nullification stones embedded in the walls of the pathways and maze prevented the use of magic past a certain height, and an invincible shield prevented explorers from scaling the walls. These added together, prevented explorers from simply flying over the walls with magic.

Spanning over three thousand cubic meters in size, it would take hours to get to the other side, assuming they knew the correct path. Otherwise, it could take days or months, even years before others exited the maze. Of all the people who had entered the crypt till then, none had made it alive to the other side of the maze.

Like the adventurers before them, Shoko and Syèl made it to the end of the pathway, eyes wide at the puzzle beneath them. Three seconds later, the floor gave way beneath their feet and they slid roughly down a moss-covered slope.

The duo rolled to a halt at the bottom of the slope. They stood up, dusting the moss off their bodies and looked up at the entrance to the maze.

The entrance was made of a doorless arch, simply inviting adventurers in. A stone plaque placed at the top of the arch belied its inviting nature.

Beware All Who Dare To Enter

Here Lies Alure, Goddess of the Dead

He Who Wakes Her Shall Suffer Her Curse.

“Well, nothing says come on in like a giant sign warning you of your death,” Syèl said as he entered the maze followed closely by Shoko.

The walls outlining the maze were jagged with several symbols etched onto them. Bits and pieces crumbled off but the walls stood firm, defiant to the decline of age. There was an eerie silence around, and they could not shake the feeling they were being watched.

*Crunch*

“The hell?” Syèl raised his foot. He frowned when he realized what he had stepped on. The bones of a previous explorer lay on the ground, its ribs crushed by his foot. Now that he looked closer, there were several of the crumbled bones lying around, their previous owners, having lost to the maze.

“Do you know where you’re going?” Shoko asked. She had switched her gear to regular travelers clothing. She did not want to get the stench of decay on her favorite clothes.

“Don’t worry. I have the entire layout of this area in my head.”

“That’s impressive. You’re really not an average guy are you?”

“I could say the same about you.”

“How so?” She paused, intrigued by his statement.

“Your doppelganger ability. The other one is also controlled by you isn’t it?”

Shoko went rigid, her eyes turning cold. “What makes you say that?”

Syèl smiled, folding his arms across his chest. “You did a pretty good job of hiding it. I thought it was automated when it fought the cockatrice.”

“Was it Gruger?”

“Bingo. Perhaps it was because you were desperate but you slipped up. Your <Endless Mirage>> skill was far too fluid between the both of you for it to have been automated.”

What Syèl was pointing out was the absurdity of the doppelganger skill. It was one thing for it to be controlled by the system to react to commands issued by the player. However, for it to be controlled by the players themselves required a degree of mental strain which most are not capable of.

To put it in the simplest of terms, imagine suddenly having two extra arms, two extra legs, all the while processing different visual and auditory information without losing sight of which of the information belongs to the original. The fact she could do all of that flawlessly could only mean one thing...

“You... you’re like me aren’t you?” Syèl took a step towards her, the fire in her eyes confirming his suspicions.

“What do you mean like you? I don’t even know who you are.”

“Does the name ‘Project Rebirth’ mean anything to you?”

Shoko grabbed him by the throat, pinned him to the wall and lifted him off the floor. “Who are you?!” her voice was cold, revealing a darker side to her.

“The chokehold is really not nece-” The grip on his throat tightened causing him to wince in pain. “Ouch! Okay, okay. Release me and I’ll talk.” She released her grip and he fell to his feet. “Well, thank you.”

“You were saying?”

“Ah, yes. About that...” He turned around and sped off, leaving a trail of dust for her to eat.

A vein popped in her forehead as she equipped her sword. “When I replace you...” she chased after him, both of them burning through a maze meant to demoralize adventurers.

She rounded a corner and saw Syèl dashing back to her, color completely drained from his face. He ran behind her and placed her in front of him like a shield. “I’ll tell you whatever you want, just get rid of them please,” he begged.

“Huh?” Stunned by his sudden change, she looked to where he had just run from and understood the reason for his odd behavior. A demonic grin spread across her face.

“Surely you can beat them. They’re low-level poltergeists.”

Poltergeists were spirits of the dead who could not replace peace. They became warped by their unsatisfied emotions and haunted their places of death. The ones Syèl ran from were low-level poltergeists that most likely rose from the adventurers who perished in the maze. They were black and murky, like liquid mist.

“P-please. I can’t handle things like that.” He looked like a stray cat in the way his eyes widened.

“But you were fine with the skeletons.”

“Walking skeletons is scientifically impossible. There needs to be some muscle to hold them together.” He said, deadpan.

Shoko blinked twice, stunned by his skewed reasoning. “So, are you going to tell me who you really are or do I let ghost-kun here take care of you.”

“Come on! Don’t you know it’s bad manners to talk about the real world in games?”

“I could always leave you here. Wait, that’s a brilliant idea,” She said, and started marching towards the gathering of poltergeists.

Behind her, tears poured down Syèl’s eyes. “Okay, okay I’ll tell you. I’m in the same facility as you. We met earlier, though you ignored me.”

Shoko stopped and turned around. “I don’t recall meeting someone like you.”

“Well, I did not have pointy ears nor was I this skinny. You may remember through our mutual acquaintance, Suzuki.”

“Ah, I see. You were the other guy.”

The other guy. Whether it was his many pride or just plain pride, something about that line just about pissed him off. “Yes. The other guy. Now, will you get ghost-slaying?”

“Of course.” She unequipped her weapon and took out a small sword with a burning blade. “Poltergeists are weak to fire.”

Sword drawn, she charged forward and slashed the murky balls, reducing all of them to ash.

“Seriously?” Syèl stood up when he saw how she was wiping them out with ease. He charged a small fireball and fired it at one of the ghosts. It burnt to ashes, releasing a loud wail. These aren’t ghosts. Ghosts can’t be touched.

With that in mind, he charged a small fireball and launched it at one of the floating bodies. It burst into flames, crying out in pain.

Poltergeists were relatively weak creatures. They could not physically damage anything and were easily dispatched with fire spells. However, they possessed a frightening power of their own. They retaliated against duo by engulfing them in their murky mist.

You have been cursed with Blind.

Their visions went dark from the curse rendering them unable to see anything. They may be unable to physically hurt, but they had several powerful curses.

“Shit.”

Poltergeists had no smell, nor did they make any sounds so it was nigh impossible to track them once cursed. To make matters worse, there was no way of knowing how long the curse would last, and if they waited till it was over, the poltergeists would simply curse them again.

You have been cursed with Slow

You have been cursed with Mana Drain

“Shut it!” Enraged, Syèl released one of his spells. “<<Fire Dome>>” Flames burst out from his body, forming a dome around him. Everything caught inside was burnt to a crisp.

AoE(Area of effect) spells or attacks targeted a certain area, hitting everything in it. The detriments were that they usually caused more mana and also attacked allies caught in its range.

“You could have warned me!” Shoko screamed. She was also blinded and as a result, did not know he was just a few feet behind her. The flames from his attack had been unbearably hot.

“Don’t shout so loud. I’m right behind you. Besides, they might have run off if I alerted you.” He sat down and rested his back against the wall, waiting for the effects of the curse to wear off. A priest, priestess or someone well versed in the restoration school would have been able to get rid of the curse instantly.

Shoko sat beside him, hugging her knees to her chest. Unlike him, she was not used to darkness and was terrified, having lost her sight. “C-can I...?”

He understood what she meant instinctively. He knew the terrors of darkness all too well. “Sure.”

“Thank you,” she mumbled as she scooted closer to him, laced her hand around his arm and rested her head on his shoulder. “Warm...” Syèl’s body still retained some of the heat from his last attack, and she snuggled in deeper into the warmth.

The two sat in silence as they waited for the curse to pass.

Across the continent, Kashi and Kira were about to cross Kerta’s eastern borders. Through the map, he had obtained from Kerta, and word of mouth from players, he had been able to plot the average direction most players were heading in after they were done with Kerta.

The city was located in the middle of Rosendun, one of the ten major countries of Destia. Rosendun was situated at the southwest of the continent with the forever ocean surrounding its southern, eastern and western borders.

As a result, aside from Kerta, a few villages, cities, and the capital, the rest of Rosendun were marshlands. Players were uninterested in exploring these regions and chose instead to head northwest, with hopes of crossing alive into the Imperium.

He could relate to their feelings. The southwest and southeastern borders were terrible on adventurers because of the high chances of diseases and the terrible conditions. To make things worse, some areas had devolved to swamps and housed several terrible beasts that camouflaged themselves in the murky waters.

Even if someone bested all of the challenges, the villages were small and did not offer much as they were mostly farming and fishing towns. Behind all of that was the ocean, which was impossible to cross without a sturdy ship or lots of money.

To put it simply, no one in their right mind would go to such a place that clearly had no rewards whatsoever.

However, Kashi was still heading towards these areas after being exiled from the city. Most would assume he simply had nowhere else to go as his level was too low to start an expedition to the north.

They would be wrong.

“Oh...” Kashi’s eyes widened once they left the forest outlining Kerta’s border. Beyond was one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen.The exit came out on a hill overlooking a clear expanse of lush green fields as far as the eyes could see, with sparkling clear streams and lakes scattered around.

A black panther chased a herd of deer across a stream, upsetting a school of ducks who in turn took off into the air, quacking their disapproval at the running figures.

Kashi found himself taking a seat and his removing his easel, paint and brushed from his inventory. Without a word, he painted the scene before him, pouring his heart and soul into every stroke of his brush.

Several hours later, he smiled brightly as he finished the painting.

Art increased by 5 (+5 Art)

Painting Mastery increased to 9

Do You Wish To Name This Piece?

He stared at the prompt, shocked by the last line. Named pieces were usually reserved for items of artistic value over a hundred. The poor quality of the materials he used made his work quite good but less than great. Its artistic value should be sixty at the most- and that was him being proud.

Staring at his brush, he understood why it was so. By pouring his heart into his work, he had produced something slightly above average. This meant it would not be possible to keep pouring out named pieces at a whim. He would need to draw from his heart if he wanted to create masterpieces.

Good information.

He decided to name the piece “Of Beasts and Nature.” Sure he did not have the best naming ability, but it was not like anyone was going to buy it. He placed the finished painting into his inventory, along with everything else.

Signalling Kira who till then had been laying beside him, the duo descended the side of the hill, their target a column of smoke rising to the sky off in the distance: the tell-tale signs of some form of civilization.