The Light Dwellers think they're so safe in their light and order-filled cities. What idiots. While they keep bathing themselves with their prideful light, they don't realize they're so blinded by it that they can't realize something fundamental: the stronger the light, the bigger the shadow. And the bigger the shadow..... the bigger what lurks in it.

????

"My name is Edresia Sanctum"

Everyone else in the room was smiling like they knew perfectly what was going to happen.

"Well, uh, nice to meet you. I already said that, but i'm Andrew Tenebris, a nomad"

And their expectation were completely destroyed, for they did not know that Andrew's level of ignorance about Kieris was superior to that of a child. Their jaws were almost touching the ground, and Trask looked like he saw a goat dressed in purple feathers singing like he was at the opera.

"A-A-Andrew, you don't seem to be particularly surprised"

"Ehm, no, should i? Is her name particular in these parts, or is it because i'm not surprised by her healing skills?"

Trask's jaw lowered even more and he almost began to shout.

"Are you kidding me?!? She's the Ar-"

A fist of light quickly flied to the man's face in the blink of an eye and stuck him directly to the wall.

"I give up, just let him bleed out"

Leind said, even more annoyed than usual. Dles seemed to be trying to hide behind a bed, while Edresia kept smiling passively, some of her veins, sticking out trough the forehead.

"Oh, forgive him, he just likes to joke a bit too much"

"No problem. I'll still strangle him for the Shalps juice though"

"You seem quite able in making serious threats with such a calm voice and face"

"Thanks.... i guess?"

"Anyway let's forget about Trask, would you accompany us in a tour of the city?"

"Wait, are you sure? I'm a complete stranger to you"

"I know, but i haven't been in this part of the city for a long time, and i think inviting you to this small trip is a good way of repaying Trask's damage. What do you think about going tomorrow morning?"

"Yeah, it's good. Thank you very much"

"Oh, it's a pleasure. Dles, could you lead him to one of the freem rooms?"

"I can just sleep here, you know? I'm good with that"

"Oh, but it would incredibly rude to let a guest sleep in here! That won't do at all!"

"Ok, ok, i'll go. Thank you again. Show me the way Ms. Dles"

Dles finally stopped hiding and waited besides the door.

"Oh, Lux, don't add Ms. it makes me sound so old. Just call me Dles. Being called by Ms. or by my surname by someone close to my age feels too awkward"

"I'll keep that in mind"

"Good, now follow meeee"

Dles and Andrew left the room, leaving alone Edresia and Leind, along with the maybe not dead Trask. Leind still had her stern face, gazing at Edresia, who kept a slight smile. The sun was still shining, but was slowly beginning to set.

"Why did you just invite him like that. That's supposed to be family only"

"I know, i know, but..."

Tears began flowing on her cheeks.

"THIS IS THE FIRST PERSON THAT TREATS LIKE I'M NORMAL IN AGES!"

She cried tears of joy, as her eyes sparkled ad bright as the sun and her hands stood together in sign of praying.

"MY PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED! FINALLY! SOMEONE I CAN TALK TO NORMALLY! NO ONE CAN RUIN THIS! I CAN FINALLY STOP TALKING ABOUT POLITICS AND.... AND LUX! MY FAITH IN THE GODDESS IS UNBREAKABLE, BUT I CAN'T KEEP TALKING ABOUT HER! I'M A YOUNG GIRL! I MUST TALK ABOUT CUTE BOYS AND FLOWERS! NOT HOW TO EXTERMINATE DEMONS!"

"You sure you can say that?"

She stopped for a moment, before blushing intensively. She breathed heavily, then continued.

"Yes, yes, you're right i'm sorry. Must keep my calm"

"Still you're quite damn rude, you didn't see us for months and you invite a stranger just because he doesn't know you"

"Oh, grandma, don't be jealous, i'll pass as much time as you want with you"

"Who's jealous, dammit?!? And of course you'll do that, damn you! I'm too old to fell lonely! And don't call me a damn grandma!"

"Yes i know grandma, i love you too"

Edresia hugged Leind tightly, the warmth and love coming from her spreading to the old woman's body.

"Rrrrgh.. i love you too kid"

Leind seemingly reluctantly hugged back, her old bones cracking a little bit from the effort.

"Ouch, dammit"

"Sorry grandma"

Edresia slowly let go, worried about her grandam's health.

"Is everything ok? Do you need me to heal something?"

"What? No, what are you saying? I'm harder than damn steel"

"Yes, yes, don't you think it's time to sleep?"

"What are you talking about, it's early!"

"Now, now, people your age must sleep early"

"I'm not a damn kid!"

"Ssssssshhhh, just sleep"

Edresia put her hand on Leind's forehead, releasing a fickle white light. The old woman, who was about to say something, fell on a bed she stood next to. Then the girl used her magic to lift her in the air, along with the almost surely dead Trask, and dragged her off to the sleeping quarters of the church. She passed through the main hall, remembering all the times she prayed and played in it when she still wasn't constantly occupied with her duties, when she was still a normal girl. She did not regret becoming Arch-Cardinal, but she did regret leaving her family behind. It was painful for all of them. But they somehow managed to accept it and she even found the time to visit them in, as little of it she had.

Her memory trip stopped, as she had finally reached the sleeping quarters. They weren't different from most of the building: all white, with angelic decorations and big windows. Their guest was already sleeping in one of the few unused rooms, it was a very tiring day for him after all. Edresia tried to look for Dles, and she found her sitting on the bed of her room, gazing at the plants she put besides her window.

"Why are you sitting there Dles?"

"Sis, i was waiting for you"

"I see, well then, let me bring these two to their rooms"

Leind and Trask both floated away to their comfy beds, while Edresia literally blessed them with good dreams. Dles, instead, stayed awake, loking happily at the golden-haired girl.

"You're not going to sleep?"

"Why should i? You just got here, so i want to pester you as muc-"

"Sorry, but i am really tired"

A white light brightened the room, and Dles fell in slumber,as deeply as a dragon. She was put in a comfortable position, then she was left alone under her soft blanket. Edresia was really too tired. She already had to deal with Gorwyn's fall accident, while also keeping at bay any politician, noble or high-ranking Church member who wanted her to deal with the problem immediately. Even if she wanted, she could not destroy a dungeon just like that, many preparations were necessary, along with a lot of funds and personnel, and she didn't have any of those at the moments.

She decided to stop thinking about tiring things and went to her room, right next to Andrew's, and fell directly on her bed, not even thinking about changing clothes.

"I just want to sleep forever....."

Saying so, her senses slowly left her, and sleep took over.

Next Morning

"Hey kid, wake up, or do you want to taste my damn cane?"

"Uh, what, who?"

Andrew was awoken abruptly by an annoyed elder, who clearly had no patience for such things. He smelled a smell of bread and milk in the air, which woke him up immediately. The warning helped him as well.

"Yeah, ok, ok, i'm going"

He got up from the bed and followed Leind to yet another room, where the others were already having breakfast. Trask was unexpectedly alive and well, eating a big piece of bread, Dles was drinking milk like her life depended on it and Edresia was calmly putting her piece of bread in the milk.

"Good morning, Andrew"

"Oh.. uhm, good morning. How are you doing?"

"Very well, thank you. Trask, don't you have something to say?"

".....Sorry for yesterday, i went a bit overboard"

"No problem, i'm good now"

"Now, that everything is ok, why don't you seat with us?"

"Thank you very much"

Andrew sit with them, the smell of hot milk and bread making his stomach rumble. He had two pieces and one bowl for his breakfast, which he din't waste time in eating. The milk was delicious and warm at the right temperature, and the bread was crunchy and incredibly pleasing to his tongue. While he was still eating, the others had finished and went to prepare themselves along with Leind, who had eaten before everyone else, since she woke up early.

When he was done with the food, the others were already waiting outside of the church. Trask was trying to convince Edresia to go to a tavern, while Dles wanted to go to a flower shop and Leind wanted to visit some famous churches.

"I 'm ready. So where are we going?"

"Andrew, we must go to a tavern, right?!?"

"No, a flower shop, don't you want to see the local plants?"

"I think he should learn about Lux's damn greatness"

The three were watching him intensively, almost like puppies, trying to convince him to agree with one of their proposal. Once again, Andrew crashed their expectations.

"I think Edresia should decide"

"Oh, thank you! Well, we should walk around the city i think"

The others weren't very excited at the idea, since they knew the city so well that besides the places they wanted to go there wasn't anything that interested them very much apart from the market, but accepted nonetheless, since it would be selfish of them only to go where they want. After all, it was Edresia's day.

They decided to first go to the market, where they knew they would see all kinds of things. They walked through the calm streets of the area where they lived, which was mostly inhabited by people who worked in other areas of Kieris in the morning.The buildings were well built, without things like cracks or discolored spots, made of both wood and stone. Some of them had small gardens in fences right besides the alleys, which gave them a strange atmosphere, still, very pleasant. There were other churches, but they were all bland and without too many decorations.

Finally they reached the center area of the city, bustling of people, some adventurers, some merchants, some farmers, even some nobles.

"Wow, so many people! Just as i remembered"

Edresia was smiling brightly, gazing with curiosity, along with the others who could still be surprised at the spectacle after seeing so many times. Meanwhile Andrew didn't understand what they were so happy about, since he was used to seeing that number of people around in England. From there they walked through the crowd, and after ten minutes, they finally reached the market. It was full small shops, all with the most diverse and cheap products. Dles took advantage of this situation to buy a lot of good quality food, which she paid with some bronze coins. Andrew didn't ask about them, if that was a common value through the world then he would have been quite suspicious, but nonetheless he tried to understand how the money worked: the bronze coins were obviously used for economic things, like food, and the few silver ones he saw must have been for more expansive things, since he saw someone buy a horse with two of them. He hoped to see gold ones, if there even were, but he didn't see any.

They explored the whole market, all buying something for themselves: Trask bought a barrel of Shalps, Leind some holy accessories, like bracelets or necklaces, Dles took some seeds for the garden, Edresia only paid for some blessed potions to use just in case. Andrew didn't have any money so he didn't know what to do, then he checked his archive and saw that he could materialize coins with his darkness element, thought they would have disappeared if they got close to holy energy. He made a few bronze coins with [Dark Solidification] and bought a map of all of the city, along with a map of the sewers that he bought from a shady man who was all the way in the back of the market, who he found only thanks to luck.

The day passed quickly as they finished the visit to the market, for then Edresia bringing the others where they wanted, since she knew they wanted her to know more about their interests. They kept going around till the sun finally began to go down.

"Oh, it's quite late. We should go back"

"Yeah, you're right"

"I'm kind of tired of bringing around all of your stuff, so let's go"

"Trask, that's your damn duty, don't complain"

"I have to do something before that" Andrew said.

"Really, so late? What do you need?" Edresia responded, a bit surprised.

"I just want to test out the map, to see if i can orientate myself with it. Also i saw in it a shop of artifacts that only opens at night. I'm interested in it"

"I advise against it, it seems very suspicious, it could be dangerous"

"It's not a problem, i can handle myself. And then again, it's time for me to find a tavern, i can't just be taken care by you all the time"

"....Very well, then i wish you safety. Let's see each other tomorrow"

"Bye, Andrew. Come again, i want someone to drink with me!"

"Good night"

"Sleep well, kid. And don't trust anyone you meet at night"

"Yes, thank you very much for everything"

The others walked away, as Andrew disappeared from their view by going around a corner. He checked the map, to see where exactly was his destination. He discovered it was only five minutes away. He quickly walked trough the setting light of the city, trying to avoid the gaze of others. He could have simply used a stealth magic, but he didn't think it was necessary. After entering a very dark dead end, he found what he searched for: an entrance to the sewers. It was small, blocked by bars and the smell coming from it was like rotten corpses were thrown in daily. He took out Perditor from his dimensional pocket and cut the bars, then proceeded to jump into it and explore them, not before repairing the bars with his magic. The smell got even more intense, and he thought that he could faint at any moment, but still resisted somehow.

The sewers were like a labyrinth, even if he had radar-like magic, he hadn't developed it enough to be able to analyze such a complex system, even though he had [Night Vision]. He was glad he bought the map for safety. But still, alone he could not find a suitable place for his new home base: the second Altar of the Abyss. He decided that the best place for it were the sewers, since hardly anyone would go there, apart from petty thieves and thugs who used them for emergency escapes. At least that's what he thought.

"Murgin, you there?"

"Yeeeeeees, what do you want?"

"Where's a suitable place for your Altar in these sewers?"

"Finally, i waited so long for this! Now, let me check...... Uhm, about there.... yes, there, it's perfect!"

Suddenly little black spheres appeared.

"Follow them, they'll guide you, i'm too lazy to give directions"

"Wow, how enthusiastic..."

The spheres moved at a constant speed and Andrew followed them cautiously, wondering what he would find.

*thump* *thump* *thump*

"What was that?"

"Don't ask me, i'm not omniscient. The maximum i can do is analyze things through your eyes"

Andrew felt a little chill up his spines.

"Please, not Rulia again"

"I doubt it.... well, i hope not would be better"

*screeeeeeek*

"Is someone scratching a blackboard?"

"That is some evil strategy, right there"

"Shut uuuuup"

Andrew kept following the little guardians, and he heard noises whenever he moved, be it steps, banging, scratching and sometimes even small, twisted laughs.

"Not even Amnesia can prepare me for this shit"

"Yeah, forgetting everything wouldn't help"

"NOT. What i meant"

"Whatever, we're almost there"

Andrew, after walking for a minute, deactivated [Night Vision] after reaching a wall full of enigmatic drawing, candles and demonic rats carved into it. The wall gave him an eerie feeling he never felt before, he wanted to leave as quickly as possible.

"Yeah, riiiight here. Good smell of dark forces in here. Feels like being at home. Now, do it, you have the spell to do it in your mental database"

"Yeah, let me check..."

He was about to find the magic, when he heard a voice behind him

"Manthiiiiing"

"What?"

"Manthiiing"

"Maaaaanthing"

He turned around.

"Manthing"

"Man..... thing"

He saw lots of little lights in the dark.

"Man.."

"...Thing"

"Manthing"

He knew those weren't lights. Those were eyes.

"Manthiiiiiing"

"Manthing"

"KILL MANTHIIIIIIIIING!"

Hello guys! Liked the chapter? It was even a little bit longer than usual! Well, seems like Andrew began to familiarize himself with the city and Edresia, that's a bit of progress. Also, what are the creatures that are about to try to kill our MC and fail miserably and violently? Because, let's be honest, you know it's gonna be easy peasy lemon squeezy for him. And some of you probably understood what they are already, since they're inspired by some of fantasy's favorite little bastards. At least i hope someone did. Because if not..... shame on you, shame on youuuuu (not really).