“Get up girl, you’ve slept enough.”

Jennifer groaned, feeling coarse hands shake her awake. A sharp spike of pain through her shoulder cut through the daze. She grabbed onto Irwys’ shoulder, pulling herself up. Her throat was dry and her eyes felt like fire.

“My head, no, everything hurts,” she groaned, pulling her leg near her. The limb had swollen a fair bit and was now a nasty red. “That’s going to hurt.”

“I bet it will, I'm surprised you're still alive after that much magic just poured itself into you,” Irwys exclaimed.

Whose fault is that? She almost said out loud, but the strange swordsman had stuck with her throughout the dungeon so she kept quiet.

“How are we going to get out? You hadn’t told me anything about that chamber. Whatever that was,” she proclaimed, having a look at her surroundings. They were still in the same area, the walls containing murals of various kinds. Jennifer touched her shoulder, her mind wandering back to the images that had flashed in her mind, and the immense numbing pain. Her breath got caught in her chest at the memory.

“There should be an exit into the sewers nearby, we’ll get out from there,” Irwys said, and she rolled her eyes internally at the obvious deflection of her question.

“Can you walk?” He asked, looking at her leg.

“I don’t think I can. Not anymore. Am I-”

“Stop. I think I can do something,” he said and paused. He looked around the area once, before nodding to himself.

“I need you to swear something for me before I do. Swear that you will not mention what you see here to anyone.” His grey eyes stared back into hers, a grave expression on his face.

She almost made a joke asking if he was going to confess his undying love to her, but his expression made her stop. Swallowing once, she nodded.

“I swear.”

‘[Boon: Royal Knight’s Oath of Trust] obtained!’

‘[Boon: Touch of Anyvrin] obtained!’

Strength coursed through her body, her mana replenished itself faster than before and she could feel her wounds healing. Jennifer stared wide-eyed with surprise.

“You are a-” she choked, a chain tightening in her mind, preventing her from saying the words out loud, warning her.

A Royal Knight.

Jennifer had heard of the Royal classes, one of the most renowned class changes of all. It was a class that most royalties had the ability to hand out to a certain number of people. It was a mark of trust, and a mark of honor to gain one.

Jennifer stared at Irwys, her eyes burning with questions. The man got up and went to scout around without acknowledging her curious gaze.

That explains how he walked out mostly unharmed from the brawl, but then, why would a royal knight be here? Which kingdom? There's no royalty in Lienmont.

“If you can walk now, then let’s move,” Irwys called out from ahead, and Jennifer filed her thoughts away for later. Standing with support from the walls, she put some weight on her leg, there was still some pain but it was far more manageable now.

What a ridiculous skill. Jennifer thought, shaking her head.

Jennifer made her way ahead, her attention drawn to the mark engraved on her hand. A dark blue diamond with three crescent moons around it, all intersecting at the diamond’s end.

She tried to probe further into the mark.

Mark of Time

The Mark for the chosen of Time in the trial of the Seeker

The system prompted itself in her mind with its content, and there was no change when she tried to check for any more information.

Chosen? Trial of the Seeker? Is this some kind of strange curse? Why would I be chosen in the first place, because I completed that trial? What about Irwys then? Does he have a mark as well?

She eyed the swordsman, there hadn’t been any hints that he’d gotten something like that and if he had a mark, then she couldn't see it on him. Jennifer put the system prompt out of her mind. She first needed to get out of this place and find her family.

I just need to explain to them that I chased after a man into the dungeon as a dungeon break was happening and then somehow fought an ogre in a ruin deep inside the dungeon and got some strange mark from it. Yes, today has been a perfectly normal day.

The caverns narrowed further ahead, the roof coming down low enough that she would touch it if she jumped.

The first sign of their escape route was a disgusting stench coming from up ahead. She watched Irwys grimace as well, taking a second to prepare himself before he walked ahead. Jennifer stood for a second before she made her way into the area.

The ancient walls changed into smoother stone walls, clearly molded by a mage of some kind, and then further worked on by craftsmen. Making her way through a narrow gap, she jumped down and splashed into the filthy water.

The disgusting area and the stench almost made her gag, but she fought the impulse. A sudden idea came to Jennifer and she started to channel her mana, starting the Agile Wind spell. Concentrating, she pulled the spell shape in her mind, but instead of finishing the spell and applying it, she looped it over and over in the same pattern. Then, she started to increase the speed of her loops, going faster and faster.

She felt the wind stir around her body, forming a circle, sending the abhorrent smell further away from her face, almost forming a protective bubble of wind. Jennifer smiled, surprised at the sudden inspiration.

“Follow quickly,” Irwys called out from ahead and she made her way through the filthy waters. The sewers quickly became pitch dark without the natural ambient light the dungeon let out to illuminate the area.

She walked ahead, and slipped, barely preventing a disgusting bath in the mucky water. She pulled her feet up to see something slimy climbing her leg. She kicked the creature away, disgusted, and rushed ahead swiftly to prevent more from jumping on her. Slimes that small weren’t a threat, but if they swarmed her, then there was a chance that they might drown her. She’d heard of new adventurers dying that way sometimes. Perhaps one of the worst ways to go.

She ran ahead, hearing the squelching sound of the slimes clinging to the various surfaces and doing whatever slimes did. The sounds of her steps through the water echoed in the sewers, along with whatever else lived down here. She wasn’t curious enough to find out what was creating the clicking noise further ahead.

They walked in silence, the only noise the splashing water from their footsteps. Irwys stopped occasionally to check the area and to see which direction to take at any intersection. Jennifer experimented with her new spell casting method. She could manipulate the mana in the spells without having a skill that altered them, something she hadn’t thought possible.

A sudden tremor almost made her slip on the slimy ground, the sewers shook, dust falling down from the roof, as the shaking eventually slowed down.

“Is it the dungeon again? What is going on?”

“No, it’s from above. Something sent that shockwave through the ground.” Irwys said, his words clipped.

“We need to get out and quick,” he said, grabbing her hand as he ran ahead. Jennifer didn’t pull her hand back, running with him. Her leg hurt every time she stepped on it a bit too hard, but she ignored the pain.

Why is he so unsettled? Because of that tremor?

Light shone through a bit further ahead. A small crack in the roof, letting light in with a rusted, half broken ladder leaning against the wall, leading out.

“I’m gonna go up and then pull you up, alright?” he said and went ahead. Grabbing onto the ladder, he jumped high kicking against the wall and grabbing the ledge as he pulled himself up.

“Grab my hand, tightly,” he said, leaning down through the gap and Jennifer jumped to grab his hand.

“[Lesser Strength]” he said, using a skill, and Jennifer felt herself being pulled up like a child. She kicked at the walls, climbing up through the hole.

Climbing through, the first thing she noticed was the filthy area. They had climbed out into the outer slums somewhere. Irwys let go of her hand, a frown covering his face. He turned to scan the area and walked towards the other side alley. Jennifer groaned as she sat on the hole's edge, pulling her legs out.

Another tremor went through the ground shaking the area once more. She heard screams in the distance.

Boom.

Fire covered the sky, rising like a pillar of death. A powerful shockwave hit Jennifer, and she tumbled crashing through the pile of trash, into the wall. Her ears began to ring as the world spun around her. She pulled herself out of the trash, climbed on her feet, took a few steps further, and stumbled out onto the streets.

Strength returned to her body with each step, the Boon healing any injuries she had and feeding her strength. Her ears popped, healing once again and she shook the blood out of them as sound returned.

She heard screams, another tremor going through the ground. An explosion sounded in the distance as flashes of red covered the sky. It was night outside, but the sky had turned an ominous red. She kept behind the walls, peeking around the corner.

Fire spread near the city walls as giant silhouettes made their way through. She saw a giant scaled beast walk out of the dust cloud, a kick from it's massive legs brought down the poorly made slum houses. Men rode its back, leather covering it's two large tusks as the beast roared thrashing the area around it.

“To the Eastern Gate! Terra Blazers, follow me!” a man decked in heavy armor screamed as he charged towards the monsters.

Irwys grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back in as a blur passed in front of her face. His sword flashed, piercing a strange twisted monster. It twitched, and raised its arms. They ended not in hands but in blood-coated scythe blades. With a final shudder it fell limp on the point of his blade.

“W-what just-”

“Demon. Slither Blades. We need to get out of here now,” he explained, pulling his sword free of the monster’s corpse. She watched in a daze as he pulled her along through the burning streets. Monsters ran through, being picked on by adventurers and guards. The slum areas were mostly empty, without many experienced people to fight against the beasts, the residents of the city were helplessly slaughtered.

She ran ahead in a daze, the destruction around her felt like a bad nightmare. Irwys fought off the beasts as they ran after him, Jennifer looked around, corpses lying around, of both people and monsters. Screams covered the whole city.

Someone needs to stop this-

Jennifer stopped, a lanky beast crouching further ahead. She felt the hair on her arms rise. A human face looked back at her, but its features were all wrong. Three misshapen eyes, two that joined together at the base, eyelids connected into one. Red patches covering its face as a bulbous growth in its jaw created a bump in its cheek. The thing scraped its talons against the floor, crawling on all fours like a strange human spider. Bony rips peeked through the chitinous armor that covered its body.

The beast looked at them curiously, tilting its head, before it opened its maw to reveal tens of sharp fangs lining its jaw.

sKReEE!!!

The monster shrieked, jumping at them. Irwys turned around, parrying its claws. She heard the clicking sound of claws coming from behind her. Jennifer turned around to see two more beasts, closing in on her.

“[Hidden Edge]!” Irwys shouted, his blade blurring as the monster was severed into two. “Run!” he shouted and dashed ahead, Jennifer running after him as the monsters gave chase.

They sprinted through the alleyways, Jennifer throwing whatever she could find behind her to slow down the monsters. An explosion went off nearby, bringing the buildings down behind them. Jennifer ran after Irwys for a while, eventually, they found a spot to hide themselves in.

"What in Sera's name is happening here?" she asked, breathing heavily.

“The Sand tribes have invaded, I don't have time to explain. Take this and get to the guild and find someone named Serila, tell her I’ve sent you to her, and show her your mark, she’ll take you to Prince Laiken.”

Jennifer stared at the insignia in her hand, a crown with a circular ring going around it. She turned towards him, eyes wide with confusion.

“What are you-” she felt a faint presence in her mind, right after which a storm of sand exploded around them. Like a crashing wave, it lifted her up, carrying her away. She screamed as the sand swirled around her, carried by razor like winds that made her skin crack.

A huge limb of sand grabbed him and blasted him away. Jennifer fell, her mind screaming at her to run but her legs refused to move.

A dark figure made its way near her. Sand circled around the man, his skin tanned and his hair tied into a tight knot behind his head. The man turned to look towards her.

All her instincts screamed at her to run. She pulsed her mana, gathering all of it together.

Agile Wind!!

Jennifer used both of her agility boosts, shoving all her mana into it, a painful throb went through her chest, as her mana reserves dried out, a strong wave of dizziness hit Jennifer and for a moment the world went blank.

‘[Class: Resourceful Enchanter] has reached level 16!’

‘[Skill: Lesser Arcane Analysis] received!’

Her mind snapped, consciousness rushing back in. Jennifer found the ground moving closer towards her. She kicked the ground, dashing ahead, and used the momentum from her fall to further boost her speed.

A massive wall of sand burst through the buildings like an avalanche as the presence in her mind suddenly appeared ahead.

She turned right and ran through fallen buildings, her momentum carrying her forward. Sand spikes burst through the ground near her feet, piercing her leg.

“Aargh!” she screamed in pain, stumbling. More spikes burst through the walls, piercing her left shoulder. They lifted her up, smashing her against the wall and pinning her.

Jennifer bit her tongue, killing the scream that threatened to rise out of her. She tried to use another mana bolt, but only a painful throb pulsed through her head. She was out of mana.

Jennifer groaned painfully, kicking at the spike to free herself, but it didn’t budge. Red blood flowed down its length, joining the blood from her arm as it dripped from her hand. The man flew through the streets, a hellscape of sand following him as he entered the side alley. Sand swirled around him in a storm, covering the buildings.

I-I need to-

The spike twisted and another scream tore itself out of her throat. She grabbed the spike, the sand now red from her blood, and pushed. Like a hot knife being plunged into her nerves, pain spread through her body, and her hands turned limp.

She turned to look at the man. His green eyes looked at her as if trying to search for something. Her eyes shifted to his shoulder, a dark blue mark engraved on it, glowing a dark sheen.

“Are you really a mark?” the man asked in a language she did not recognize.

“Matters not, the result is the same regardless,” he said, a strange finality in his voice.

Jennifer’s heart thundered, her mind screaming at her to struggle, to fight against this monster, but her body refused to move.

He grabbed her by the throat, the sand spike pulling itself out from her shoulder, as he did. Jennifer looked at the man, his eyes coldly regarding her, almost as if waiting for something.

She tried to lift her hand, but it was of no use, her body felt like it was made of lead.

Mooove, damn it! Move! You are my arms, you’re supposed to move when I ask you to! She fought, slowly raising her arm to grab the man’s hand, trying to pull her throat free.

He quirked an eyebrow at her with a curious expression on his face, but there was no mirth in his voice.

“At least you have some fight in you.”

“Argh!” she screamed as the spikes pushed further in. She tried to grab the dagger at her belt, but sand covered her hands, binding them in place. It crawled over her body, covering her up to her torso. She felt something draining from her body. Strength left her, as the mark on the man’s shoulder blazed a bright white. She kicked his leg, weakly, trying to free herself.

Her skin shriveled as her eyes started to blur, tears flowed down her cheek but soon dried up, swallowed by the sand. Her lungs burned as her heart strained her chest. Pain blossomed through her body and she started to gasp for air but found none.

“W-Why?” she croaked, her voice hoarse and broken. Cold green eyes stared into hers.

There was no reply as the sand crawled up her neck, covering her eyes and her body went slack. Darkness took over, her mind slowly drifting off as her last remaining strength faded. Gently, death embraced her.