I forced myself back to my feet, stumbling as the stars that flitted across my vision with every breath began to fade.
Sil stepped through the doorway, the rippling surface writhing around him as if he was walking through a wall of water.
He vanished as if he’d simply walked behind a curtain.
I used [Insight] on the doorway.
Doorway of the Void - Destination unknown.
That did not sound like a good thing.
I stumbled forward, pressing a hand to the back of my pounding head. Warm liquid greeted my fingers. I needed to heal. My other hand reached for the satchel at my side, where I kept my healing and stamina tonics. I pulled one out and ripped the cork free, chugging the liquid.
Warmth spread through my body as the healing properties went to work.
Still stumbling, I moved to the corpse of the creature, the flames had finally died down—perhaps even snuffed out by the gust of wind that had filled the room.
I nearly toppled over as I bent down and pulled my dagger from the charred flesh, the pain in my torso flaring up intensely. The leather around the hilt of the dagger had melted off, leaving it bare, and the blade was warped.
“Hells,” I muttered as I grabbed the other dagger, which was in mostly the same condition. I’d really need to find something stronger if I was going to use [Dragon’s Flame] like that.
Warped daggers in hand, I faced the rippling doorway and then stumbled inside.
The wall of black slithered as it closed around me, pulling at my skin and hair. The surface was suffocating at first and my body began to panic as I pushed through it.
It was a similar feeling to the darkness that had permeated the doorway into the room, but thicker. More alive.
It writhed around me, as if the tendrils that ran across my skin were thousands of tiny fingers pressing.
With a heavy breath I pressed through to the other side, finding myself in a large cavern which flickering torchlight.
A dozen bodies of the creatures like the one I’d killed in the barracks lay slumped across the floor. Many of them had smoking holes in their bodies that I could see as I moved further into the room.
“Sil?” I called out, my voice echoing against the walls of the room.
I used [Insight] on one of the corpses, the golden words appearing in the air before me.
Cascaded Abomination - These creatures were once the subjects of children’s tales across the world of Kurandis. Once myth, the abominations began appearing across the countryside, ravaging villages and killing all in their path. Though they may not have eyes, their long tongues allow them to sense movement through the air. The glands found in their mouths secrete a potent toxin that causes rot when it comes into contact with living flesh. These creatures mostly hunt in packs, and are believed to be easy to control.
A sound like rock cracking echoed from further in the cave, drawing my attention. I pressed forward, moving past the corpses and into a smaller tunnel that led out of the cavern.
Torches hung from the walls, their flickering light bathing the aftermath of whatever battle had happened here in orange and yellow that danced across the corpses.
I pushed down my panic, the growing fear that kept threatening to grip its fist around my heart and squish it, and continued forward, stepping over more bodies of those creatures.
Another crack of stone forced me to pick up my pace.
The tunnel led to another large cavern, this one had stone stairs that led up to a platform in the center. My eyes traced the path ahead, where Sil stood before what looked like an altar made of rock. Something shone with green and blue light before him, painting the air around his body in a strange hue of colors.
“Sil, what are you doing?” I asked as I started up the stairs. The healing tonic had finally finished mending my body, and I could move without jolts of pain filling my chest. “We need to get out of here.”
He didn’t look back at me or even acknowledge I was there.
I was halfway up the stairs when the room shook, the light around him growing brighter. It revealed more of the room surrounding the staircase, deep ravines that stretched far into darkness. Darkness that strange light did not break through.
I glanced over the edge of the staircase to find several of the creatures like the dead ones I had passed by scrambling up the side of the ravine.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
I stumbled back as one screeched, its body shambling over the edge and rising to full height before me.
Rushing forward, I used [Swift Strike] on my hand and slammed the warped dagger into the side of its head. The screech died off as its tongue went limp, and I ripped the dagger free, sending the creature’s body falling over the edge.
I never heard it hit the ground.
More of the creatures climbed over the staircase ahead of me, blocking off my path to Sil.
I growled at them, baring my teeth. They screeched, long tongues flicking the air, black, porous eye holes staring back at me.
I moved first, using [Swift Strike] to lash out at one of the creatures before me. It tried to dodge my movement, but I brought my other dagger up, the blade digging into the thing’s chin.
Purple blood spurted out of its mouth, the wet, viscous liquid smacking against my face as I pulled the dagger free and shoved the abomination away, its body tumbling into another.
The blade might have been warped, but it still cut through the flesh with the same ease as a dragon’s claw through fabric.
It wailed in pain as its clawed hand fell to the floor with a wet smack, its tongue lashing out at me.
I ducked away from it, using my other dagger to swipe up at it. The blade cut through the wet-looking flesh and half its tongue fell to the ground beside its hand. I kicked at it, sending it tumbling down the stone ravine before turning to the next one that came at me.
I continued fighting, my daggers warping more with each subsequent attack. The metal had been so heated by my [Dragon’s Flame] that they were softer than they should have been.
Above me, at the top of the platform, the light around Sil’s body grew brighter, drawing the attention of some of the abominations.
I used that to my advantage, finishing off three of them as the other three turned and began their ascent up to the altar.
I chucked one of my daggers—the blade completed ruined at this point—at one of their backs, and it bounced harmlessly off it. But it was enough to get its attention.
The abomination screeched as I barreled up the stairs toward it, dagger twirling in my offhand. I used [Dragon’s Palm], the flames sprouting into a swirling ball in the air before my hand.
I released the attack as the creature turned to dodge away, the flames smacking into its side. Another piercing screech filled the chamber, echoing off the walls, and then I was on the others, slamming my dagger into the back of one’s head as I pressed my palm against the other’s back.
Flames erupted along its skin as [Dragon’s Palm] streamed out of my body.
I pushed them both out of the way, the flaming beast’s screeches fading into the ravine below.
A fog had grown around Sil, swirling with blue and green as the light behind his body brightened.
Closing the distance quickly, I grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. The light exploded outward, blinding me, and I stumbled backward. The air rushed around me—not outward, but inward, as if someone had taken a massive inhaling of breath.
When my vision returned several moments later, the light was completely gone, the room covered in darkness.
“Sil?” I asked into the blackness.
“Yeah?” His voice came back from close by.
I reached out a hand, feeling for him. My fingers brushed against something cold and glass-like. I squinted as the darkness fled, another bright light appearing in beside me, above Sil’s head. Soft music flitted through the room.
We both looked around slowly, making sure there were no other threats in the room. My eyes landed on the altar once more, this time able to see it clearly since Sil was no longer in the way.
It was a broad, stone structure with a large crystalline piece set into it. The crystal, which must have been the source of the light before, was now empty and clear, thousands of tiny cracks visible along its surface.
“What was that?” I asked.
His gaze met mine. “It called to me. I could hear the voices in my head beckoning me forward. It was like…like it always has been, but stronger. I couldn’t stop myself. But it showed me things…”
He let the words hang in the air, his eyes locked on mine still.
“I understand everything now,” he said, continuing. “Our worlds…they’re connected in more ways than we thought. I…I think this is my world, actually.”
I raised an eyebrow and glanced at the cavern around us. “How do you know?”
He shook his head. “Something about it feels like coming home. But there’s also something off about it. If I reach out…” he held out a hand to the stone floor, his fingers pressing against it.
The music grew momentarily louder and light spilled from his hand, his eyes closing as he seemed to focus on something I couldn’t see.
“I can feel the earth beneath me. The stone, the dirt, every part of it is alive…or was at one point. Now it is fading. It’s like a body on its way out.”
The light faded and he opened his eyes, the music returning to the soft melody that accompanied his glowing orb of light.
“It’s hard to explain, but I think that crystal was the last of my world’s life essence. And now that I’ve absorbed it…”
He bowed his head, his lips moving as he whispered something I couldn’t quite understand.
We both stood there for several moments. There was a heaviness to the room. The same kind of heaviness you might feel at a funeral. I’d attended far too many of those in my time. Humans had short lifespans. I’d buried too many friends.
It was why I’d forced myself to stop caring so much and focused my attention on the things that called for it most.
I reflected in that moment on how much had changed in the past weeks since I’d reawakened from my death at the [Hero]’s hands. Not only had I allowed myself to grow closer to humanity, but I had put myself at risk by walking through a doorway to another world without having any idea what I was going into.
It was reckless.
The world rumbled around us, several chunks of stone falling from one of the walls into the ravine on either side of the stairs.
“We should probably get out of here,” Sil said, looking back toward the exit.
I agreed, and we set out back through the tunnel, passing by the bodies of the dead abominations that he had killed in his trek to get to the altar. We approached the doorway, the shimmering, rippling portal that would lead back to my world.
The cave rumbled around us, but I stopped, putting an arm out for Sil to stop, too.
He looked at me with confusion in his eyes.
“If your world was dying, why were you sent to mine instead of back in time to save yours?”
Sil’s eyes met mine and his mouth lifted into a sad smile.
“I think my world was always dying, before I was even born. I think I was sent to your world so that a part of mine could live on. Somewhere new. Somewhere better.”
I swallowed hard. Everything I had learned these past few weeks did not suggest that my world had been any better. I’d have to make sure it was. I’d have to do everything in my power to stop the [Hero] and regain control of everything. Then…then I could focus on making things better.
“We have a lot of work to do.”
“Yeah. Best get started?”
We took one last look around the cavern, Sil’s eyes misting slightly. Then I stepped through the blackness and right into the middle of a fight.
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FantasySlice of LifeAdventureActionLight Litrpg
Orius Kane already lived his legend. He reached the apex of magical power, survived his age’s greatest calamities, and retired to the Realm Keepers: a circle of Archmages sworn to keep the world from ending.
What to expect
- OP MC
- MC and Apprentice Pov
- Organisation building
- city building eventually
- Weak to strong side character
- Slice of life moments
- No MC romance
Starring
- Orius Kane - Our Irreverent Realm Keeper
- Emmeline De Valemont - Our suffering guide/apprentice
The golden age of magic may be dead. Orius Kane disagrees. He’s willing to drag it back, kicking and screaming if he has to.