Chapter 3 - Ellios the Mage

A burst of scarlet flames shot out from Ellios’ fingers and lit up the room, it was as if the sun had risen in that root-covered dome. Scorching flames moved together at a single point and formed a long spear that pierced the Brancher's chest.

The spear of flames wedged itself into the centre of the Brancher's body and exploded. A pillar of fire scorched the roof and floor. Rei was so close to it that it might as well have consumed him and yet he felt nothing.

Rei’s body didn’t burn, if anything it embraced him with a warm tingle. Like a nourishing scarlet blanket had flowed over him and burnt away the stresses and aching in his body.

The Brancher's charred figure wriggled about as the massive hole in its chest continued to grow until even its arms and head fell away into ash. In a matter of seconds, the devilish flames had nothing left in their grip except the steamy remains of a blackened monster core.

Rei couldn't hold any longer, the only thing he could feel as he drifted off was the warm sensation of blood falling from his forehead and staining his hair. Not even the pain from his broken bones was strong enough to keep him conscious.

Ellios lowered his hand as steam still poured out from his palm. After the last spec of flames escaped his hand, the ring cracked open and the crimson gem at its centre shattered.

“The very last of its strength has been exhausted… to think that I would have used it for a human's sake. They’d be losing their heads if they were to see me now–”

Cough! Cough!

His violent coughs shook him to his last strand of energy. He tried standing but nothing came of it, he had nothing left to give.

After chuckling to himself, Ellios reached out his shaking hand toward Rei,

“Order! Travel!” He commanded as another ring cracked away from around his fingers.

His body vanished into a burst of light and appeared standing beside Rei. He knew that if he sat down he would quite easily never be able to stand again.

“I’ve never been one for destiny but…this was quite the coincidence that I met you. Although my time is over, something great can still come from it. Perhaps I was put here to help you.”

‘He was willing to risk it all and die…for a monster no doubt. He might be brave or just downright a fool, but I have come to be fond of this fool. For things to finally end, I believe this is what must be done.’ Ellios convinced himself as he stared over the fainted boy.

A powerful white ember appeared inside the palm of Ellios’ hand. He placed it over Rei’s bloodied body and the bruises on his skin began to fade away, restoring his pearly complexion to normal. The blood around his mouth faded away and his ribs which were moments ago shattered, mended themselves back to normal.

The last ring on his finger cracked open and burst to pieces, marking the last of his accessories.

“It isn't from a goddess but I hope you’ll accept this old man’s gift as thanks. If you truly wish to be strong, however, then you cannot climb this Tower. You must devour it! Devour the enemies you slay, devour every last doubt and fear you have, and strive for victory. Most of all, never lose sight of what’s important.”

As his last breath left his body, a stilling light emerged from the gaping wound at his chest. It illuminated the room with its holy light and hovered over Rei. A pure white flame that encompassed the hopes and goals Ellios carried.

Ellios smirked and his body crumbled like ash from a fire, it lifted off the ground and swirled over the flame. It grew livelier with more ash it consumed until it was nearly as large as Ellios himself.

The flame halted and a moment later it curled into a tight ball, that disappeared into Rei’s chest.

…

{User Rei Alos has been registered}

***

I opened my eyes to a bright yellow light that spanned across the sky. Its beautiful open airs held many fluffy clouds, too many to count. My eyes stared blankly out into its majesty before realising the situation.

The sky, what’s the sky doing there?! Am I outside the dungeon then–how did I get here?!!

I gripped a hand full of the soft substance beneath me and brought it to my face. I recognised that lush green texture, it was the soft grass of the first floor.

How did I end up outside of the dungeon… more importantly, where is Ellios?

I jolted onto my feet and scanned around for the two trees that led to the dungeon. I spun around in circles driving myself crazy looking for them but after a while, I had to accept that they were gone.

I was definitely in the same place as before, I recognised the area perfectly. The hills, the grass, everything was there except…Ellios.

“All I remember before passing out was that strange fire that hit the Brancher. It could have been him, right? So then maybe he escaped in all that…yeah, yeah he might be alive!”

I tried convincing myself and forced a smile but deep down I knew there was no way he’d escaped. I couldn’t explain it but for some reason, I knew he was gone.

I held my hand up to my chest and clenched tightly over my torn-up shirt. The moment my hands touched my skin, I shifted them all over my chest, touching and poking at it.

“My body doesn’t hurt anymore, wait…are my wounds completely gone too? None of my ribs are broken anymore, was it all some weird dream or something?!”

While patting myself down I noticed something resting against my legs. The hilt of my crappy sword sat beside my leg with about three fingers' length of steel attached to it.

“Oh yeah, it broke…damn it! I guess I got to scratch out the dream idea then.”

I fell back into the grass on my butt with my head tilted up at the sky.

What am I going to do now? There shouldn’t be too much risk of getting back to the outside world, since I know the routes with the least monsters. Even so…

“THAT SWORD COST ME EVERYTHING I HAVE!!”

A pair of passing eyes suddenly locked on to me from across the open field where a group. A group of adventurers were fighting a pack of Funk when they suddenly overheard my little outburst.

Screaming out in the fields probably didn’t make me look all too sane. My face turned so red that I had to cover my face out of embarrassment. I just lowered my head and made a run for it, hoping nobody would recognize me later on.

After a bit of running, I finally reached the exit, a large cathedral doorway of solid white metal that rested against a wall of shrubbery.

The doors always remained open because of how busy the entrance to the Tower usually was. The only times the door would close would be for an outbreak but that was a once-in-a-blue-moon event I was yet to see.

A massive crowd of people passed through the doors in two separate rows, forming a line going in and another on the other side going out of the Tower. All sorts of adventurers could be seen, from one simple look it was pretty easy to determine how strong someone was.

Usually, their armour and weapons were a dead give away but sometimes they’d be a little harder to judge.

Directly in front of me were two men dressed in tunics with nothing else but a sword and spear between the two of them. They didn’t look overly well-built either, not that I could comment seeing as I had a rather skinny build myself.

Those guys were probably newbies like me, which placed them at the Bronze ranking.

It’s the system that Istoria’s Adventurers Association came up with to rank adventurers based on their level of strength and abilities.

The lowest is Bronze, followed by Silver, Gold, and Obsidian, and then the highest and most prestige rank is Legendary status. Although a legendary ranking had only ever been awarded to one individual in the past, making it a very exclusive title.

At least that’s what I had heard.

My nose smashed into a solid wall, forcing back my entire body as I stumbled onto the floor.

“Ow! What the hell…?” I looked up at a pair of shiny silver greaves in front of me.

A large man towered above me, covered in bulky silver armour and a massive golden sword on his back. Every piece of equipment on him was so lavish that it felt wrong for me to even look at it.

“Watch where you’re going kid, what’re you blind or just stupid?!” He barked.

His big angry scowl peaked through the slits of his helm as he glared down at me, then after a brief period of silence he scoffed and pushed past me.

“I don’t have time for weaklings, pig shit like you should know your place!”

I glanced over my shoulder behind me at the row of people heading out of the Tower, while all the people into it were in the opposite line.

“You bumped into me though…” I complained silently.

My disapproving comments went unheard as the armoured jerk walked on without any care for those he was shoving aside.

That guy seemed solid, it felt like I had walked into a brick wall or something. With expensive equipment and a build like that, he must have been at least a Silver rank for sure.

Moving to a higher ranking didn’t just mean a cooler title, it meant more opportunities. The higher rank you had the more options you got for quests in the Tower or with adventuring parties.

Since a party is formed with other adventurers to fight monsters, you have to rely on others while you’re fighting for your life.

It only makes sense that you wouldn’t want to put your life in the hands of weaker adventurers. That’s often the reason why Bronze-ranked adventurers only form parties with other Bronze ranks.

I walked out the cathedral doors and into the general plaza. The moment I left the Tower I could feel the cool evening air across my face, it filled my nose with the scent of freshly cooked potatoes and meat.

A symphony of sweet and savoury sauces filled my senses as the harmonic laughing and conversations of citizens touched my ears.

I’m finally out~

I walked away and took one final look over my shoulder at the Tower, scanning over the doors to make sure nothing dangerous would come charging out behind me.

I knew it was a silly thought but after something like what I had just gone through, it didn’t seem so far-fetched at the moment.

“I’m safe now…thank you Ellios.”