Rise of the Devourer

Noah held up the key to Aurelia.

“Where did you find that?”

“From Viktral’s storage device in my Inventory,” Noah said. Opening his Inventory, he fumbled around before pulling out a glass vial filled with a crimson liquid.

Using Identify, he pulled up the item’s name.

[Potion of Healing (Uncommon)]

A Potion of Healing. Can be used to heal injuries by applying directly, or by drinking the potion.

“There was this in the bracelet, and a dagger, actually, two daggers, some books, a robe, a ring, and a lot of mana stones of different grades,” Noah said, counting on his fingers as he listed each item.

Aurelia made her way to Noah. She extended her hand, and Noah handed her the key. Looking at the key for a while, she then looked at the potion Noah held.

“And you can just take things out of storage devices?” she asked.

Noah shrugged. “Apparently.” Opening his Inventory, he scrolled through the items on display. “He really did have a lot of stuff though.” Reaching into the Inventory, Noah pulled out the Abyssal Cultist robe.

The cloth was black, with little markings beside an eye on the back. “Creepy,” Noah said. He looked down at his shirt, which still had a giant hole torn through it, and was now coated with dirt and blood. “Eh, better than what I have I guess.”

Taking off his shirt, Noah placed it into his Inventory.

1 x Dirty and torn shirt added.

Noah dismissed the notification and put on the robes. Moving still hurt his chest injury, but the pain was mostly gone now, with the injury itself nothing more than a bright pink patch. Noah moved around, inspecting his new attire. The robe was slightly too small, making it look more like a long skirt.

“How do I look?” Noah asked Aurelia.

Turning, she frowned. “Like a cultist I’d want to murder on sight.”

“Come on, it can’t be that bad,” Noah said.

“What would you think if someone dressed in the robes of a reviled cult that had tried to sacrifice you?” Aurelia asked.

“Fair,” Noah replied, his enthusiasm at having new clothes slightly curbed. Opening his Inventory, he looked at the rest of the items. The ring caught his eye, and he grabbed it, noticing an eye set within it. The eye looked right back at him, twitching and moving ever so slightly. “That has to be cursed,” Noah said, showing it to Aurelia.

A look of disgust came over her face as she watched the eyeball moving around. “Abyssal Eye ring. Common in these cults. It provides greater mana capacity and channelling. But no, it isn’t cursed. Definitely disgusting though,” Aurealia replied.

Noah stared at the eyeball ring. “I hate how it keeps looking at me,” Noah said with a shudder. “Do you think I should use it?”

“If you want to. As long as you don’t mind having a disgusting eyeball on your finger,” she replied. “When you’re done playing with your new toys, let me know and we’ll head down to the cellar.”

“Alright,” Noah said.“Guess I’ll have just have to settle for creepy powers now.” He slid the ring on.

[Ring of Abyssal Eye (Rare)] equipped.

[Identify (Basic) → Identify (Intermediate)]

With the eye ring sitting snugly on his finger, and he selected it in the menu.

[Ring of Abyssal Eye (Rare)]

The Abyssal eye captures all. Provides a boost to mana regeneration. Increases total mana capacity. Increases Identification abilities and perception.

Noah’s eyes went to the two bars on his overlay. The bottom one increased by one-fourth and slowly filled up.

Idly, he glanced at Aurelia, using Identify on her.

[Flame Warden - level 68]

I can see her level now.

Closing the menu, he picked up the other item—two daggers with curved edges that were bound together with blood red blades came into Noah’s hand. He checked the description.

[Twin Daggers (Uncommon)]

Twin daggers forged in iron.

“Neato,” Noah said, dropping the daggers back into his Inventory. “I love the convenience of having an Inventory ability.”

He searched for Aurelia and found her dragging the cultists corpses onto the altar.

Noah frowned, walking up to the summoning altar. His eyes remained on the pile of corpses as Aurelia brought Viktral’s body over last, dropping it into the pile. Aurelia walked further back from the corpse pile, dipping her head, and whispered something under her breath.

Flames rose around her hands, gushing toward the pile in a stream, and the bodies lit up in flames.

A swirling whirlpool of emotions filled Noah’s chest, as the fire slowly consumed each of the bodies. He didn’t feel sympathy or pity. They would’ve killed him if he’d let them be. He had to ensure his own survival. But his breath still shook slightly. He had taken lives today. Perhaps he’d have to take even more lives tomorrow. How many times would he do it when his life was at stake? Noah did not know. But he knew he would have to. That this was far from the last time.

“Was this your first time killing somebody?” Aurelia asked in a whisper.

Noah glanced at her, noticing how her brown eyes shined golden against the light of the flame.

“How could you tell?”

“I’ve been in this job long enough to know,” she replied, looking back at the pile as the flames burned bright enough to illuminate the entire cavern. “Seen it often enough.”

Noah grew curious. “Why do you still do this then?”

“That’s a difficult question,” she said. “In part, it’s because of the money. Being an adventurer pays better than almost any profession out there. We can travel freely across the continent and are allowed in almost any country. The strongest of adventurers are world renowned names that shape entire empires. The wealth, the renown, the respect. All of it appeals to me.”

“I feel like there’s more,” Noah said.

“Well. If I had to give just one answer, it’d be that I could not sit by doing nothing. I’ve seen what happens when people don’t fight back. When no one steps up. And I don’t want to see it again,” Aurelia said, looking back at Noah. “If we had not killed them today, they would’ve taken the lives of many other innocent people.”

Noah didn’t reply, and the two of them stood in silence as they watched the fire eat through the bodies, leaving nothing but ash behind.

Once the flames had consumed everything, Aurelia made her way down the altar. Noah followed her. “Do you think I can become an adventurer?”

Aurelia glanced back up and smiled. “Yes. You not only managed to free me in what should’ve been an extremely confusing situation, you also kept your calm enough to not jump in blindly. And tried to de-escalate. It’s more than what I expect from any newbie.”

Noah smiled back. “Ah, to think all that time bullshitting and lying in job interviews would help save my life from a magic cult. Life is wildly unpredictable, huh?”

Aurelia chuckled. “So, Mr. Outerworlder. Do you have any good abilities?”

“Well, I have this thing,” Noah said, reaching into his Inventory to grab the two tomes he obtained. They were giant old books bound in leather, both written in a language that Noah couldn’t read. He wondered if his language comprehension was limited to spoken words. “Can you read these?”

“The tomes? Of course not. Tomes are written in runes forming the Astral Script. Only Celestians can read them. You’ll need a Tome crafter to decipher them,” Aurelia said, grabbing one of the tomes.

“How do people use them then?” he asked, inspecting the other tome.

“Ritual magic. You use the tome as a conduit and let the script do its work. If you needed to be able to read these, then most Awakened wouldn’t have a majority of their abilities,” Aurelia said, flipping through the tome then closing it with a clap.

“This one seems to be for an infliction based ability, which is always good to have. What’s that one for?” Aurelia asked.

“It says Tome of Sight.” Noah studied the swirling violet patterns drawn on the cover.

“Perception based abilities are good, in general. But not always worthwhile. Though given the circumstances, I’d suggest using them, and you can replace it with a better ability later if you unlock one. I can draw a ritual circle for you, though I can’t say it’ll be a good one.”

Noah put his hand on the giant book, and a prompt appeared in front of his eyes.

[Tome of Sight (Common)]: Unlocks a sight based ability upon use.

Would you like to use this item?

Yes/No?

The book fluttered open, words glowing a bright blue and gold as they flashed with magic.

“I think I can use this directly,” Noah said, glancing at Aurelia.

“Interesting. Try it? Though I’m not certain if the process will be pleasant,” Aurelia replied.

After a moment’s consideration, Noah shrugged and selected Yes.

Please select a Path for the [Tome of Sight].

Noah selected [Void Hunter] after thinking it over. A Hunter Path might have good vision abilities. With a bright flashing light, the book dissipated into the air and a strong wave of mana flowed into Noah’s body, and settled near his abdomen.

[Tome of Sight (Common)] consumed.

[Void Hunter] has unlocked the ability [Void Hunter’s Eye]

Noah felt a new sense open up as his vision expanded. Suddenly, it was as if he’d just taken off extremely blurry glasses for the first time in his life. Little details from even across the dark and dim cavern were visible to him.

[Ring of Abyssal Eye] has increased [Void Hunter’s Eye] to level 3 temporarily.

Reaching out to his newly gained ability, he selected it, opening the description.

[Void Hunter’s Eye (Basic) - level 1 (level 3)]

You can see clearer than ever, and your eyes can peer through the darkest depths. Become capable of perceiving in multiple directions at once around you.

“Whoa… it’s like I’m seeing in 4k. Having the full HD Isekai experience,” Noah said, looking at everything around him in fascination. “I think I can see mana now.” When he turned to Aurelia, her mana was a brighter shade of red and gold.

“Not quite,” Aurelia replied. “What you see is my aura. Every Awakened has one, and it is technically the mana you release, but whenever I say that the mages get mad and go on a long rant on why exactly I’m wrong.”

“I see. My aura then,” Noah said, clenching his fists. Translucent wisps swirled around him. “This is sick.”

“Why would it be sick?” Aurelia asked, confused.

“Not literally. I meant, this is very awesome and I like it,” Noah replied, feeling more than ready to put his new abilities to use. “So, what now? We go in?”

“Not yet. You still have another tome to unlock,” Aurelia said, holding out the tome.

“Oh right, I forgot.” Noah took it, and pressed his hand on top of it.

[Tome of Infliction (Rare)]: Unlocks an Infliction ability.

Would you like to use this item?

Yes/No?

Noah selected Yes, picking [Exsanguinator]. Wisps of energy flowed into him once again, stronger than the previous tome.

[Tome of Infliction (Rare)] consumed.

[Exsanguinator] has unlocked the ability [Bleed].

[Bleed (Basic) - level 1]

Blood is what you reap, and blood your enemies will shed. Inflict the [Bleed] status effect on enemies. Can be applied to weapons.

“It says I can inflict the Bleed status effect on enemies, and I can apply it to weapons.”

“That’s a good one. Quite handy too. Typically only shows up in rare or above,” Aurelia replied.

“What Path did you get?” Noah asked. “If you don’t mind sharing, of course.”

“Warrior Monk and Flame Warden,” Aurelia replied.

“You have two Paths then? The cultists only seemed to have one,” Noah said.

“Not everyone unlocks all their Paths immediately. To rank up, you need all your Paths to be at the advancement threshold. You can unlock three Paths but having all three slow down progress since you need more tomes for your Rank E advancement. Although, it also gives more rewards. Most people need to rank up twice before they unlock three Paths. I’ve even heard of a few that had all three Paths from the beginning, but that’s very rare,” Aurelia replied.

Noah hummed in thought, slotting the information away.

Aurelia continued. “I got two because my dad knew a few conditions to unlock two at once. And I knew exactly what I wanted, which helped me pick. And having all Paths together often provides Path Fusion options. I’m aiming for my third Path for my D rank advancement, and a fusion with it.”

“Path Fusion?”

“Exactly what it sounds like. Two Paths, and very rarely three, combine to make a stronger one. It also frees up a slot for you to take on another entirely different Path too.”

“What’s the Path Fusion you’re aiming for then?”

“It’s… a bit silly,” Aurelia said, glancing away.

“Surely not? I won’t laugh, I promise,” Noah said.

“It’s… from a myth. One my dad told me a long time ago. A legendary Path called Sunlight Warrior. That’s my goal. I’m told one of the few ways to get a legendary Path is through Path Fusion, well, outside of being chosen by some deity or god. But those often come with Oaths or Restrictions, because it’s ultimately borrowed power.”

Noah noted everything Aurelia said for his advancement.

“Alright, moving on. You said you had mana stones, right? Eat an F grade one before we head in. Do not eat a higher grade mana stone,” Aurelia said with a stern tone.

“What’ll happen if I do?” Noah asked, picking out an F grade mana stone from his Inventory.

“You’ll get mana poisoning if it’s one grade higher after a small boost in strength. If it’s two, you’ll get a rapid burst in strength for a while before you become paralysed as the mana makes its way through you—that’s really painful. Possibly lethal. Any higher, and if you’re lucky, you’ll just explode from the inside and die on the spot. If not, you’ll slowly die as the mana breaks you from the inside out piece by piece,” Aurelia replied.

Noah gulped, closing the Inventory. Feeling ready, he followed Aurelia deeper into the cavern while she wrapped new bandages around her fists.

“The cellar is a bit further in. Be careful, there might still be some people or things alive,” she said.

“Things?” Noah asked, a bit concerned.

“What? Feeling nervous?” Aurelia said.

Noah grinned back. “Excited, if anything. Let’s sweep this place clean.”

Aurelia tightened the bandages around both her fists. Clenching her hands a few times, she grinned. “You got it.”

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