-Whoosh!
-Whoosh!
Just because he could cast a fast spell doesn't mean that I have gotten slower in any way. I made it through the forest area, avoiding most of his spell attacks before they could even take form.
Even though it was an entire island, I could feel the precision in his spell. Guy knew what he was doing. Too bad we were enemies, or else I could have asked him to teach me about those spells he was trying to chant.
-Whoosh!
Nearing the gate area, where Oriel had told me about, I reached a strange place where woods were shaped in convergence, creating a circle opening that seemed empty from the outside.
"Slow," I smirked as I ran even faster and reached the gate. Using the key, I immediately unlocked the gate-
[You Have Died!]
[Restarting from the last Save Point!]
"Huh?" I woke up again, this time a bit taken aback. I didn't sense any magic coming closer to me, nor that skeleton guy had approached me like last time. Hmmm, did I miss something?
'Let's try once more,' I braced myself again as I moved towards the place. This time, however, rather than saving Evelyn and Oriel, I went to face the skeleton guy first.
"Welcome guest! Sorry to show you such a shabby sight," he spoke as he took out the key first. The flame in his skeletal eyes turned a bit more fiery than before.
"It's all right. Though I am curious… just what exactly is this place?" I asked as I looked around the mansion. There were huge stairs leading to the second floor behind him and two narrow pathways on both sides of the stairway that took deeper into the mansion.
"Oho! It has been a while since I got a guest that didn't try to kill me at first sight," he laughed with that creepy voice of his, as if he was amused by the whole charade, before he continued," you tell me. What do you think this place is?"
"A Ghost World?" I asked with a curious mind and he nodded," it is."
"An Island of the Dead?" I asked again, and he nodded again with his smile widening," that is also correct."
He waited for me to speak more before I made a guess," a cemetery?"
Though he shook his head as he spoke," that is a bit off mark. While it may be a resting place, it is not really a cemetery. This place is a memento of my wife, Elizabeth Schringer, who gave up her life to give me this place, so that I can achieve my dream."
"Seems like a lovely wife," I commented on his words and looking at his expression, it seemed he was smiling.
"That she was," he answered with his flame becoming more warm than hot," though she was a foolish one in the end. Or perhaps I was the one? Her love became my curse in the end… to be trapped in this lonely place that doesn't let anyone live more than 10 days."
"Women can be hard to understand sometimes," I shrugged before asking," so, is this place like a trap? Is there really no way out?"
"A Trap? Hmmm… that can be one way you can look at it. As for getting out of here, I believe there has to be a way, though I don't know where that is. I do have the key to a place, but I still haven't found the exit," he spoke, as he seemed really apologetic about it.
"Hmmm… what about the convergence gate on the other side of the island?" I was a bit confused. I mean, it was obvious to see that the place is the exit… was he lying or was that gate an illusion?
"That gate is… well, it's not the exit. It's an entry point from another dimension that fuels the power of this world. I can understand why you would confuse it with that. Come, let me show you something," he spoke as he snapped his fingers.
The entire scene changed as I found myself near the convergence gate, which I thought was the exit.
"Watch it carefully," he spoke as he unlocked the gate with the key that he held in his fingers. He held it properly, unlocking it extremely slowly. Though even though he was doing that at a slow pace.
[Eyes of Mana!]
I could see a large amount of dark mana pouring out of that portal. That guy did it only for a few seconds before he closed again. At this point, I was already on my butt, barely able to stand. That mana was way too overwhelming!
"You see. That is what I was talking about. It would be very troublesome if someone ends up opening the entire gate at once. Not even I could survive that," he spoke in a rather calm tone, but it made me shiver down the bones. I guess I should never jump to conclusions.
"With that done, I would like to know more about how things are going in the outside world. You don't seem like those bandits that have been coming once in a while," he chuckled with a friendly tone before I stood up and nodded,
"Yeah. I am an adventurer."
My answer made his blazing eyes lit up even more… literally. He looked at me with a really sharp gaze before asking," this must mean that you have a lot of stories to tell, don't you?"
I smiled as I nodded before speaking," Kind of… though I think I should save my friends first," I looked at him, making him surprised even more," you should have told me that first. Though I don't have any healing spells in my arsenal."
He spoke as we vanished from there, arriving back at the place where Evelyn was almost lifeless, and Oriel was still trying his best to shield her.
[Purify!]
I apply a large area wide spell to heal Evelyn and Oriel at once, making them turn at me with an astonished but delighted face. Though their eyes turned sour as they saw the skeleton guy.
"Adam…?" Evelyn was confused as I raised my hand before looking at the skeleton." She is Evelyn, and he is Oriel. Ah! I am Adam… Totally forgot to introduce myself."
I introduced them as if introducing two friend groups with each other.
"It is okay. I should be the one introducing myself first… I am Gray Ian Schringer, you may also know me as the Former Sin of Greed," he spoke, putting even me on guard.