Alure’s Crypt.

7:40 pm, 16 th Peniel 1091.

Syèl’s and Shokō walked down a path lit up by the flames within the trenches on the wall until they reached the top of an inclined slope. The flames traveled either side of the cliff, along intricately designed networks, until they lit up a complicated maze below. The duo only had a brief moment to look at the maze’s structure before a gust of wind blasted them off the cliff, and sent them sliding down the inclined path.

However, that brief second was enough for them to realize that the maze spanned over three thousand cubic meters in size. It would take hours to reach the end assuming they knew the correct path. Otherwise, it could take days, or even months to get out. Syèl doubted they would be allowed to explore the maze at leisure. Something somewhere would surely intervene to make their job harder.

Syèl and Shokō rolled to a halt at the bottom of the slope. They rose to their feet, then dusted moss off their bodies as the examined the maze’s entrance. The entrance, if it could be called that was a simple, doorless arch. In appearance alone, it seemed to invite anyone into its embrace.

However, a stone plaque placed at the top of the arch belied its true, wicked intentions.

“Beware, All Who Dare 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 joked and made his way into the maze, followed closely by Shoko.

Alure’s Crypt was cold and dark, barely lit by the overhead flame network. An evil aura lingered in the air, threatening to suffocate any adventurers who made it there. The walls outlining the maze were jagged with several symbols etched onto them. Bits and pieces crumbled off walls, but they still stood firm, defiant to the decline of age. Soft wailing sounds, like the cries of a child long forgotten occasionally echoed within its walls, sometimes far, sometimes near. This was undoubtedly a place of death, and the stench only served to emphasize that point.

*Crunch*

"The hell?" Syèl softly cursed and 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. These were all that remained of those who lost to the maze.

Shokō examined the skeletons with an apprehensive gaze. She looked at Syèl, who until now had been leading the way, "Do you know where you're going?"

"Don't worry,” Syèl assured her with an arrogant smirk. “I’ve got the layout of the entire maze in my head."

Shokō’s brow shot up. They’d only had a second or two to look at the maze from above before getting shoved off. Someone capable of memorizing something of that complexity deserved praise. "That's impressive. You're really not an average guy are you?"

Syèl chuckled and looked at her. "I could say the same about you."

"How so?" Shokō paused, intrigued by his statement.

"Your doppelganger ability. The other one is also controlled by you isn't it?" Syèl said.

Shoko suddenly went rigid, and her eyes turned cold. "What makes you say that?"

Syèl smiled and folded his arms across his chest. "You did a pretty good job of hiding it. I thought it was automated when it fought the cockatrice."

Shokō’s eyes narrowed. "Was it Gruger?"

"Bingo!” Syèl clapped with a shit-eating grin on his face. “Maybe it’s ‘cause you were so desperate. 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. Normally, the clone would 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 body the information received belongs to. The fact that Shokō could do all of that flawlessly could only mean one thing...

Syèl took a step towards her, and a dangerous light shone in his eyes as he said, "You... you're like me aren't you?" The fire in her eyes confirming his suspicions.

"What do you mean like you?” Shokō replied with a shake of her head. “I don't even know who you are." Though she said that, she had already begun to reach for her sword.

"Does the name 'Project Rebirth' mean anything to you?"

Boom!

Shokō exploded. She grabbed the halben by the throat, slammed him against the wall, and demanded in an unfamiliar ice-cold voice, "Who are you?!"

"The chokehold is really not nece-" Syèl joked, but Shokō’s enraged grip tightened causing him to wince in pain. "Ouch! Okay, okay. Release me, and I'll talk." She did as he asked, and Syèl, coughing, and spluttering, looked up at her and said, "Well, thank you."

Shokō ignored the malice in his eyes and questioned him, "You were saying?"

"Ah, yes. About that..." Syèl suddenly sped off, leaving a trail of dust for her to eat.

A vein popped in Shokō’s forehead as she gripped her sword’s hilt. “When I find you..." She chased after him, and if the maze were to be observed from the top, one would notice that the path the chasee and chaser took was the correct path out of the labyrinth of over a hundred combinations that could have directed them the wrong way, especially at this speed.

Shokō rounded a corner and saw a pale-face Syèl running back toward her. “What the?” She muttered in disbelief as the halben ran behind her.

Syèl’s face was unnaturally pale, his eyes trembling from true horror and fear. The proud halben had never looked so vulnerable as he did at that moment. Syèl raised a trembling hand and pointed down the path. "I'll tell you whatever you want. Just, please get rid of them.”

"Huh?" Shokō, stunned by the halben’s sudden change in demeanor, looked down the path and soon saw the reason for his odd behavior. Her lips curled up in a teasing smile, as she looked at Syèl. "Surely you can beat them. Those are just low-level poltergeists."

Poltergeists were spirits of the dead who could not find peace. Their unsatisfied emotions bound them to the living realm and forced them to haunt the area where they perished. The ones Syèl ran from were low-level poltergeists that most likely rose from the adventurers who died in the maze. They were black and murky, like liquid mist, but one could still make out the shifting form of a human within all that mess.

"P-please. I can't handle things like that,” Syèl whispered.

The terror and sheer helplessness in Syèl’s eyes made Shokō uncomfortable. She could tell this was an emotional response brought on by trauma. However, she could not begin to imagine what kind of trauma would cause a grown teenager to fear ghosts. However, even considering all that, this man knew something no one should. She had to get to the bottom of it first, even if it meant taking advantage of this moment of weakness.

Shokō pointed her sword at the approaching poltergeist, then looked at Syèl. "So, are you going to tell me who you really are, or do I let ghost-kun here take care of you."

Syèl’s eyes shook, but his resistance crumbled as the poltergeist drew closer. "Okay, okay! I'll tell you,” Syèl relented. “I'm in the same facility as you. We met earlier, though you ignored me."

Shokō’s brows furrowed as she studied the halben. "I do not recall meeting someone like you."

"Well, I didn’t have pointy ears and long white hair,” Syèl argued. “But I’m sure you remember our mutual acquaintance, Suzuki."

Light sparkled in Shokō’s eyes as recognition dawned. "Ah, I see. You were the other guy."

‘The other guy.’ Syèl snorted. Something about that line just about pissed him off. "Yes. The other guy. Now, will you get ghost-slaying?"

"Of course." Shokō pulled out a small magic sword from her inventory. The sword’s blade was especially intriguing as flames danced around its edge. "Poltergeists are weak to fire."

Shokō leisurely walked toward the poltergeists and casually slashed the murky balls. The poltergeists let out ear-splitting screams as the flames consumed them and reduced them to ash.

"Seriously?" Syèl’s eyes widened in disbelief as he watched Shokō easily wipe out the horde of monsters. “It can’t be that easy,” Syèl muttered as he charged a small fireball on his palm. He launched the fireball at a poltergeist and watched as the helpless ghost wailed as it was reduced to ash.

Syèl shook his head and let out a wry smile. ‘These aren't ghosts. Ghosts can’t be killed.’ The halben’s attitude suddenly took a 180. His eyes which initially bore fear hardened with rage, and anger at the humiliation he had just endured. “Die, you impostors,” Syèl ordered as he launched an endless barrage of fireballs at the poltergeists.

Poltergeists were relatively weak creatures. They could not deal physical damage and could be quickly dispatched with spells. However, they possessed a frightening power of their own, which was most effective when they were used in combination with other monsters.

The poltergeists retaliated against Shokō and Syèl by engulfing them in their murky mist. Shokō and Syèl’s visions went dark as the curse produced a dark light-screen over their eyes.

You have been cursed with Blind .

"Shit!" Syèl cursed.

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. Also, if Shokō and Syèl chose to wait until the curse passed, the poltergeists would simple renew the curse.

You have been cursed with Slow .

You have been cursed with Blind .

"Shut it!" Enraged, Syèl unleashed a new spell. "[Fire Dome]" Flames burst out out the halben’s body and took the form of a dome as they rapidly extended outwards, burning everything caught inside to a crisp.

AoE (Area of effect) spells or attacks targeted a given space and affected everything within it. The detriments to such attacks were that they usually caused more mana or ki and also attacked allies caught in their range.

"You could have warned me!" Shoko screamed as the flames died down. She was also blinded and as a result, did not know he was just a few feet behind her. Luckily, her Instinct warned her of incoming danger, giving her the time needed to slice away most of the flames.

"Don't shout so loud. I'm right behind you,” Syèl protested as he sat on the ground and rested his back against the wall. “Besides, they might have run off if I alerted you,” he reasoned while waiting for the effects of the Blinded curse effects 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. Unfortunately, the Restoration School of Magic was one which the blood mage would forever find difficult to learn.

Shokō sat beside Syèl and hugged her knees to her chest. Her arms shook, and her head tilted this way and that, reacting to any sound she heard. Her actions and the panic on her face showed she was not used to the darkness. It greatly unsettled her. She ‘looked’ at Syèl and muttered, "C-can I...?"

Syèl instinctively understood what she wanted. He was all too familiar with how scary the darkness could be. "Sure."

"Thank you," Shoko mumbled and scooted closer to him. She 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 against the warmth.

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

East of Kerta,

7:53 pm, 16 th Peniel 1091.

Across the continent, Kashi and Kira had just crossed the eastern Kerta borders. After studying the map he obtained from the Brotherhood, and juxtaposing the information with word of mouth from players, the daeben had been able to plot the average direction of most Summoned after leaving Kerta.

Kerta was located at the middle-eastern corner of Rosendun, one of Destia’s ten significant territories. Rosendun itself was situated at the southeast of the continent with the forever ocean surrounding its eastern and southern borders. A massive river flowing out toward the forever ocean separated its western border from Serisis, while it shared its northern borders with both Imperium and Merriheim.

Rosendun’s agriculture was unique in the sense that it was the only true marshland in all of Destia. Several deltas ran along its southern territories, and the primary food source for the families living in those territories were fish products.

Very few Summoned were interested in exploring the murky swamplands and instead chose to either base themselves in Kerta or prepare to head northwest in hopes of reaching Imperium.

Kashi could relate to their feelings. The southern regions were terrible to adventurers because of the high chances of diseases and the terrible terrain conditions. To make things worse, some areas had devolved to swamps and housed several terrible beasts that camouflaged themselves in the murky waters to ambush unsuspecting adventurers.

This was one place that definitely suffered from the realistic nature of VR games.

Some people ignored all these detriments and still chose to head down there. They were soon disappointed to find that most villages were poor and hence could not offer any meaningful reward for quests they gave out. Taking into consideration the cost of healing potions, scrolls and mana potions amongst other things, the situation soon devolved into one where the expenditure remained higher than the reward.

And if one chose to ignore the villages and went further south, they would soon be met with the Forever Ocean, which was impossible to cross without a sturdy ship or lots of money.

To put it in clear terms, no one in their right mind would go to such a place that seemingly had no rewards, and punished the adventurers for their trouble.

Despite these clear disadvantages, Kashi still chose to head toward these areas after being exiled from the city. A natural assumption would have been that he considered his level too low for an expedition to the north. But that assumption would be wrong.

"Oh..." Kashi's eyes brightened as he and Kira walked out of a forest south of Kerta. Laid out across the horizon was one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen. An expanse of lush green fields went as far as the eyes could see, with sparkling clear streams and lakes, scattered around.

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

Kashi instinctively took out his easel, paint, and brush from his inventory, and without a word, began to paint the scene before him, pouring his heart and soul into every stroke of his brush.

Several hours later, he finished.

Art increased by 5

Painting Mastery increased to 9

Do You Wish To Name This Piece?

Kashi stared at the prompt, shocked by the last line. Named pieces were usually reserved for items of artistic value over a hundred. The 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, Kashi 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. He would need to draw from his heart if he wanted to create masterpieces.

‘Good information.’

Kashi 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.

Kashi signaled Kira, who till then had been lying beside him, and the duo descended the hillside, their target a column of smoke rising to the sky off in the distance. Since ancient times, smoke had always been a tell-tale sign of some form of civilization.