Rise of the Devourer

Book 2: Chapter 13 — No better time than now

Noah read through the quest again, wondering what it meant. He had gotten it the moment he had stepped in Heartillia, did that mean the shard was somewhere in the city? Or did it specifically mean this place? How would he even find something like that, when he had no idea what the Shard may even look like?

His thoughts raced, as he walked through the hallway before being led to a set of chambers with the view overseeing all of Heartillia. Noah sat himself on a wonderfully soft bed and if he hadn’t been distracted, he would’ve noticed the temperature being a pleasant cool, with a little magical light runes lighting up the insides.

But right now, all he could think of was the quest. Opening his menu, he tried to search for any more information, but nothing showed up within the message, or his mini map. No quest markers, and no guidance points.

He continued to look for information when a knock at the door interrupted him. Noah frowned, wondering who it could be, when a familiar voice called out.

“I have something to discuss,” Erwest said from outside the door. Noah stared in surprise, not expecting the man. Opening the door, he saw Aurelia standing behind the tall paladin.

“Sure,” he said a moment later, walking aside as the two of them entered and took a seat.

Noah walked to the bed, before he decided to grab the chair instead. Taking a seat as he picked one of the fruits from the table, Noah looked at the Paladin. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

“Before we discuss, do either of you have some method to make our conversation private?” Erwest asked.

“Not really. I didn’t bring any wards with me,” Aurelia said.

“I could bring you two into my Dimensional Storage. Can’t get more private than that,” Noah replied.

“No. And it didn’t work on me last time, did it?” Aurelia said.

“I’ve grown since, and I managed it on Raesar. I’m sure I can do it,” Noah said.

“Still no, I would rather not,” Aurelia leaned back, crossing her arms.

“How would the Dimensional Pocket work?” Erwest asked.

“I just touch you, and then bring you two inside with me, and then I use meditation to keep up my mana for as long as I can,” Noah said. “You may feel a bit dizzy from the scene inside though.”

Erwest considered it, before giving a nod. “Very well.” The paladin turned to look at Aurelia and Noah followed his gaze.

Aurelia seemed like she wanted to refuse. Her eyebrow twitched, before she let out a reluctant sigh. “Fine. But I don’t want to stay in there a second longer than I have to.”

“Alright,” Noah said. “I’ll need your hands.”

Reaching out and grabbing their hands, Noah activated Dimensional Pocket. His mana whirred, straining. For a moment Noah wondered if the ability would fail, but the spell kicked in with its familiar blue light as the three of them were transported inside.

Swirling colors of layered space moved all around the three, and Noah let go of their hands, focusing on activating meditation. “I won’t be able to keep you here for long, so let’s be quick with our discussion.”

Aurelia murmured something, as a ball of light flew around her.

“It is about Lord Krios. I do not trust him,” Erwest said.

“Oh?” Noah asked, raising an eyebrow. “The man seemed quite friendly and nice to me.”

“Friendly and nice do not mean he is good in nature. I think we should refuse his quest,” Erwest said.

“While I don’t particularly disagree, but I’m not sure why you think he cannot be trusted. It is his city that will be wiped out should a rift open,” Aurelia said.

“The why I do not know, but I find his timing too convenient. A rift to a vault within an abyssal cult that can only hold D rankers at best. Given his position, he should have the ability to call for any kind of adventurer he wishes for, but he chose to call the two of you, provincial adventurers without any track record besides the cult raid on Iron Fist. And me, a paladin of the Hellion’s Church. His actions do not make sense,” Erwest said.

Noah frowned. “I think you’re being too suspicious. Are you sure it’s not because he warned me against the Hellion’s Church?”

Erwest looked at Noah for a long moment. “No, it is not. I understand what my church stands for. Lord Krios can have his own opinions, but what he said was ultimately the truth. The goddess is not her church, we are her limbs, her tools to carry out justice. But we are not, and can never be her.”

“You say that, but being told that would still make you biased, don’t you think. Not to mention, the convenience thing sounds too stretched to me. I don’t see any reason for the Lord to lie to us about this. What would he even gain from it?” Noah asked.

“I agree with Noah on this one. I can’t think of any reason for Lord Krios to be against us,” Aurelia said.

Erwest sat quietly for a moment, before nodding. “Regardless, I believe we should remain focused on our mission at hand. We are here to stop the Abyssal cult, not raid them for treasures or gain favours with a Lord.”

“So you say, but the astral rift could end up leading us closer to whatever the cult has been doing in these parts. I think it only makes sense to go investigate further,” Noah replied. “Not to mention, I need tomes to rank up. And this quest could be the way for me to obtain them.”

“There are other ways to obtain tomes,” Erwest said.

“Are they as fast? Each day we waste is a day closer to an Abyssal Rift opening here and wiping the city out,” Noah said.

The two glared at each other for a moment.

“Let’s leave this talk for later. First we need to find out more information,” Aurelia said, breaking the tension.

“Indeed. And you two need training,” Erwest.

“Me, I get, I’m new. But Aurelia?” Noah asked, surprised.

“She is not much better than you. She has some training, so she’s not wild like you are, but her basics are weak. She has not even mastered her aura properly yet. All signs of someone who has not had any guidance on their Path.”

Noah looked at Aurelia, but the woman simply shrugged. “He’s not wrong. I never had a teacher. I’ve just been stumbling my way around through the dark.”

“Which is fine for an F ranker, but a D ranker needs to be better. Regardless, she is not the one I am the most concerned about,” Erwest said, before turning to Noah. “You are.”

“I can hold my own,” Noah replied. “I did in the fight with Iron Fist.”

“You nearly died that day. It was the All-Mother who saved you,” Erwest replied.

“Touche. But I took down two people, both a higher level than me.”

“They underestimated you. What would you have done had they been prepared? If they had run away to wait out your abilities, had they been using more defensive measures? You won’t have your advantages forever. At some point, people will recognise that you are an explosion. Dangerous at a short distance, but easy to avoid. You can punch at a level above you should be able to, but it drains you. You have no stamina. And that will get you killed sooner than later.”

Noah looked at Erwest, feeling surprised by his words. “Well… I guess you aren’t wrong,” he admitted. “I didn’t expect to hear any of this from you though.”

“If I am to be a part of this team, I would like to do my job properly. And what you have here, is not a team. We are merely three individuals fighting together, and hoping for the best. If we wish to do something as dangerous as infiltrating a cult, we need to work as one,” Erwest said.

“What do you have in mind then?” Aurelia asked.

Erwest looked at the woman, and then nodded. “Our quick arrival will be a boon. We will be infiltrating the cult as escaped cultists and adventurers, the only reasonable path for any of them to take would be by foot. And given the distance, it would take a month for them to arrive. At the very least, three weeks. We will have that amount of time to train you two, and learn more about what is happening in this city.”

“How exactly will we be training?” Noah asked.

“Your shackles are good for willpower. Keep using them. But your body needs honing. You have also used skill tomes without any real foundation. I will be fixing that so you can better use your weapon. Then, over anything else, we will practice Aura control. It is not something an F ranker would normally need to know, but your case is special. You will learn to suppress your Aura, and how to use it on others for dominance. How to hide where you are, and obscure your location and how to move without being detected,” Erwest said.

“We’ll also need to make sure we get a tome that will help Noah with stealth. My eyepath will help with scouting and I can hide myself if need be. I did grow up in Nixis, so I’m familiar with blending in shadows and moving undetected.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Noah said, wincing. “But I’m almost out.”

A moment later, he let his ability turn off, as the three of them returned back to the chamber with a pop.

Breathing in, Noah felt the high mana density quickly filling him back up, and he saw a notification telling him Dimensional Pocket had leveled up.

“I believe we have our plans made,” Erwest said, standing up.

Noah stood up as well. “Indeed. So, what’s first on the menu?”

“I don’t understand,” Erwest asked.

“We’ll be training. So what’s first?” Noah asked.

“You want to start… right now?” Erwest asked, looking surprised.

“Sure,” Noah shrugged before grinning at the man. “No better time than now to start.”