Rise of the Devourer

Noah stepped through the portal, feeling the flickering layers of space around him. The transportation took a long moment that seemed to stretch on endlessly before abruptly ending with him standing within a giant hall of marbled stone. Myriads of magical items and auras tugged at Noah’s attention, but he found his eyes drawn back to the man in front of him.

“Welcome, my dear guests!” the man’s voice echoed through the chamber, resonating the magical portraits hung on the wall. A ping sounded in his mind, as he noticed a new notification arrive, but his attention was caught by the man in front of him.

He wore a velvet red blazer with a white shirt underneath. Golden adornments that looked a lot like military medals hung upon his chest, with the man’s silver hair slicked back in a polished look.

Noah noticed Aurelia bowing her head, and followed along, giving a small bow. Erwest only gave a nod.

“I hope your journey did not feel unpleasant. Some of our guests don’t react very well to spacial transportation methods, especially at this distance so I was concerned,” the man, who Noah was now certain was the Lord, said, eye-ing them up and down.

“I’m used to it,” Aurelia replied.

“I’ve got Astral resistance, didn’t feel much,” Noah said.

Erwest nodded. “Not an issue.”

“Great! That is most lovely to hear!” Krios exclaimed.

Noah looked at the man, not having expected… this. He was prepared for a lot more ceremony and authority when he’d heard of the man’s stature. Even his aura felt nearly non-existent to Noah, almost like a faint whisper. He wasn’t stupid enough to think that meant the man was weak. The opposite, if anything.

“You’re Erwest, I believe? I had heard you were a paladin, but what I see tells me something else.”

Erwest kept his passive expression, but gave a small nod. “Some circumstances have made it so.”

“Very well, I shall not pry then,” the Lord said, patting Erwest’s shoulder once before he moved on.

“You, my beautiful lady, must be Aurelia Fauster. I’ve heard of your strength, and it seems the battle allowed you to Rank up as well!”

“You flatter me, Lord Krios. I’ve got much to learn,” Aurelia said. Noah glanced at her, and could tell she did not feel as flattered as she looked.

“Nonsense. At your age, your level and strength are both commendable. Especially for this region. At your current progress, you could easily match up to adventurer guild members from the central kingdoms as well.”

“Thank you,” Aurelia replied, and the Lord seemed satisfied. At last, he walked up to Noah, looking at him with an expression of anticipation.

“You must be the Outerworlder, Noah Brown.”

“The one and only,” Noah replied with a grin.

“Confident! I like it. I’ve heard quite a bit about you. I hope Erandir has been to your liking?” Lord Krios asked.

“Aside from almost dying multiple times, it’s been fun for sure,” Noah replied.

“Indeed. I heard a rumor that you attached an Abyssal Parasite to your arm, is that true?” Lord Krios asked.

Noah wondered how rumours of him had spread this far. Though, if the Lord knew enough about them, he supposed finding out something like this would not be difficult for the man either.

“It’s true, yes,” he replied with a shrug.

“Quite the adventurous choice. The church of Hellion was not pleased to hear of it,” Krios replied.

“The goddess herself did not seem to care, so I think I should be fine,” Noah said.

Krios paused for a moment. “The goddess Hellion and her church are not the same entity. Like how the Incarnation of Void is not the Abyssal cult. Or else we would ban all void magic. It would be good to keep that in mind.”

Noah snuck a glance at Erwest to see if the man gave a reaction. Not finding anything from the Paladin, he turned back to look at Krios. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Wonderful. Now, let me formally introduce myself as well. I’m Krios Al Valraunt, the lord of Heartilia and a lightning mage of some decent skill,” the Lord said, for a moment letting the grip on his Aura loosen. Noah felt the intensity of the magic coming from the man, a strong pulsating power that crackled around him that made his skin tingle from the sensation.

I wonder who’s stronger between him and Raesar.

“Now that introductions have been made, let me escort you to the banquet hall, my family is waiting with a feast that we’ve prepared for you,” the Lord said.

Noah’s party followed along. The castle was tall, pillars of marble like stone rising up top with carvings of what seemed like historical tales with angelic creatures etched at every corner. The abundance of mana within the air was another thing that stuck out to Noah. Every breath he took seemed to replenish him more than normal and he wondered if it was the mana density simply being higher or an effect within the castle itself.

They walked through the halls, entering a long corridor from which Noah could take a look outside into the city. The sight made his eyes widen in surprise. They were high above the ground, with a garden surrounding the castle premises. Beyond the garden walls, Noah saw the city, finding bridges with capsules of metal carved with magic that looked an awful lot like trains. The streets were paved, with multiple lanes for carriages and footpaths separated neatly. Glowing runes filled the city, tall multi story buildings rising into the skies. He could see multiple carriages moving without any animal to draw them, likely powered by magic, but not that far from how a car would look.

The sight was a strange mix of modern and fantastical scenery, unlike the middle age period of development the rest of the world had looked like. At last, Noah noted his gaze ending at the wall surrounding the city, with a glimpse showing a bridge leading over a river of some sort, but the rest was obscured from his sight at this distance.

“Enjoying what you see?” Krios asked, noticing Noah’s glance.

“Yeah. I’m… quite surprised actually. This city feels almost familiar to me. Even if distinctly different,” Noah replied. “The buildings, those trains, the car-like carriages, just the feel of it reminds me of home a little.”

“Is that so? Your world must be an interesting place then. Heartillia is the only city in Meilor with a significant Celestian population, and the city reflects that. There’s an abundance of magic in the city, or, as much as there can be for a D grade mana zone. The actual Celestian territories obviously have much more. Nonetheless, this city is one I feel proud of,” Krios said.

Continuing to watch the sights, they quickly reached the doors leading to a banquet hall. A soldier saluted the lord, before giving a nod to Noah and the others, as he opened the door. Inside, a long table spread across the hallway, lined with food of various sorts. On the other side, a woman stood in the chamber. Her hair was a pristine silver, and she wore clothes of white and blue with a few tasteful ornaments set upon them. Noah noticed the ethereal blue wings folded behind her back, as the woman walked closer with a smile.

“This is my wife, Ayra,” Krios said.

“It is a pleasure to meet the three of you,” the Lady said, and Noah dipped his head, trying his best not to stare at the gorgeous woman.

“The pleasure is ours,” Aurelia replied with a smile.

As they entered the halls, Noah heard a door being burst open loudly. Instincts kicked in as he summoned his spear, ready to face whatever was coming.

“Dad!” a kid shouted, before freezing as he saw Noah and the others. “Who’re these guys?”

“Arlos! Didn’t I tell you we had guests?” Ayra said, as the kid winced, rushing to his father.

“It’s fine,” Krios said, as Arlos ran up to his father to hide from his mother’s gaze. The lord turned to face Noah. “Apologies for my son. He’s still learning his manners.”

Noah de-summoned his spear. “Sorry for drawing a weapon. I’m not used to… not sensing people arriving close to me,” Noah said, before his eyes went back to the child. Arlos had silver hair like his mother, but his eyes had a deep orange color similar to his father.

“He’s not awakened yet, so that is to be expected. And exactly why he must learn to be more disciplined,” Krios said, before turning to his son with a stern smile.

The kid ran behind his father with an eek, and Noah couldn’t help but smile. “Can I have lunch with you, father?” the boy asked.

“Didn’t you already have lunch?” Ayra asked.

“Uh- right, yeah I did,” the boy replied, averting his eyes.

“Arlos… did you feed your food to Evrax again?”

“No…” Arlos said, in the most unconvincing voice ever, and the woman sighed.

Krios simply laughed, before telling his son to go ahead and take a seat with them. Happy, the child rushed ahead and sat down at the table.

“Let us start as well, or the food will get cold,” Krios said.

Noah nodded, feeling surprisingly hungry at the sight of the food. A variety of dishes were present in front of him. The first looked to be some kind of steak, but the meat was nearly pitch black in color. Hesitantly, he cut into it, before taking a bite.

You’ve consumed [Obsidian Quarox Steak].

Health and Stamina regeneration increased.

Noah’s eyes widened in surprise as the notification flashed in front of him. But even more so by the taste of the food. The meat melted in his mouth, as flavors rushed him all at once, and he began to dig in.

“I hope the food is to your liking. Given my rank, I don’t really need to eat anything at this point, but I like to still enjoy the pleasure of eating. As such, I’ve hired quite the skilled team of chefs to prepare things.”

“This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten,” Noah said with a mouth stuffed full of food.

Even Aurelia was eating happily, though she’d waited till Noah had taken a bite. Erwest on the other hand, simply sat at the table, not touching anything.

“Haha, I’ll be sure to let the chefs know their work was appreciated!” Krios said.

“Can’t these be used in place of potions?” Aurelia asked. “This is clearly magical cooking, so it seems like it’d make sense.”

“It can be, and sometimes is. But food is a lot less intense in effect than a potion with equivalent effects, so mostly it is just a thing people enjoy for pleasure,” Krios said.

“If it were up to me, I’d pick this over potions any day,” Noah said, as he bit into what looked to be a chicken wing, but had turned out to have an almost sweet flavour. More notifications popped up in his vision, informing him of his boosted health, stamina and mana regeneration.

“I certainly know of people who do. But the shelf life is not nearly as long. These things lose their magical abilities quickly, unlike potions which stay good for a really long time.”

Noah listened, before wondering if he could just store all of the food in his dimensional pocket. He already knew time did not pass for any items stored there, and he enjoyed the idea of being able to eat a meal like this wherever he wanted.

“Can I know who the chef is?” Noah asked.

“I’ll send you his information if you’d like. He has a famous restaurant open within the city, though I sometimes ask him to take time off for me. If you wish to meet him, I can make the introductions,” Krios said.

Noah nodded in thanks, as he continued to devour his meal.

After stuffing himself as much as he could, and slipping a few plates from Erwest’s portion into his dimensional pocket when he thought no one was looking, Noah sat at the chair, feeling content.

Aurelia had eaten less, but even her lips had a smile lingering upon them. The meal came to an end soon, and the servants took the plates away as Noah watched them with eyes of longing.

Erwest let out a cough, glancing at Noah for a moment before turning towards Lord Krios. “Pardon me, but I believe there must be a reason you have summoned us so quickly all this way?”

Krios looked at the man, raising an eyebrow. “One reason was indeed to meet the three of you, and thank you for what you did. My people and I, we are both grateful for this tragedy that you brought to light. But you are indeed correct. I do have something I wish to ask of you three.”

Noah straightened in his chair at the Lord’s words. The food and the sights had made him forget for a moment just why he was here, and that this man was someone with far more authority than all of them.

“What could adventurers like us do for you, Lord Krios? Surely you have far more powerful people at hand,” Aurelia said.

The Lord paused, before raising a hand. Noah sensed multiple shadows move around the room. His hair rose on his back as he realized they’d always been present in the room, just outside his awareness. The servants left as well, closing the door behind them.

“I do indeed. But they are not people who I can trust with this work. My men have raided an Abyssal cult near the city, just beyond the old city walls. In this cultist hideout, we’ve found an Astral Rift. But the rift itself is unstable, and anyone over D rank walking inside will likely collapse it. I need adventurers who I can trust with this task that are also capable enough,” Krios said.

“What’s inside the rift?” Aurelia asked.

“We think it is a vault, or a hidden dungeon. Possible outside Erandir and in a pocket dimension,” Krios replied. “I have other people I can turn to, but you three seemed the most suited to me for this task. I will of course reward you handsomely as well if you accept, and put in a good word with the guild should you succeed.”

Noah hummed in thought, before glancing at Aurelia.

To his surprise, it was Erwest who spoke up. “We would like some time to consider.”

“Of course,” the Lord nodded. “In the meantime, I have prepared chambers for you three to rest. Feel free to utilize them, and even if you decide not to take the quest, I will not hold the choice against you.”

“Thank you for your understanding,” Erwest replied, and got up silently to leave.

Noah looked at the lord, nodding once, before he joined Erwest, Aurelia getting up with him as well.

The three of them walked outside the banquet hall, before a guard began to escort them to their rooms.

Many thoughts played in Noah’s mind, about the Lord and the entire situation, but he kept quiet for the moment.

His gaze went to the notification he’d gotten upon arriving at first, and he opened his notification box to check. What he saw made his eyes widen in shock.

Quest: Shards of [???] updated!

There is a Shard of [???] near you. Find it, and obtain it for yourself.

Difficult: Extremely Hard

Reward: Unknown

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