70 Found One
“Another challenger I see.”
Benzard heard the being that was held by a yoke before him speak with a blank expression upon its face, yet… bloodlust oozed like a river from this creature the moment it saw him enter!
It was only by feeling and not looking at this creature’s face that Benzard understood that his conjecture might have been right.
Even though it was bound, it still released a terrifying amount of strength that Benzard was sure was above his own.
When the choice to pick from between the paths, one holding a powerful yet dormant presence and another holding a weaker yet hostile presence, his mind had tried to reason out the best possible choice.
Was this a case where reverse psychology worked? Where the one with the dormant presence was actually the hostile one and vice versa?
Or was it reverse, reverse psychology where the choices were just as blatant as they appeared to be?
In the end, Benzard decided not to waste time, picking the path which had the stronger presence.
One might wonder why he would choose this instead of a weaker opponent just to be safe, but the answer was relatively simple.
Benzard wasn’t here because he was forced. He was here because he wanted the legacy of Fulgardt the Immoral.
Challenging a stronger existence than his own? He would definitely do that.
This place was a Labyrinth, the resting place of a warrior who wanted to grant challengers the opportunity to gain what he had cultivated over the years.
There was definitely a way to overcome each stage of the trials in store.
Would fighting weaker opponents count him as worthy to inherit the strength of someone who was known to seek strength to such a frightening degree that his moniker became ‘Immoral’? Certainly not.
At least that is what he thought.
Besides, if it was just about surviving, Benzard was pretty confident in being able to escape if things got too hairy.
Before him was a half-human, half beast. It towered over him even when it knelt down, bound by a thick yoke in the darkness.
A human face coupled with beastly features like fox ears at the top of its head, large canine teeth as well as very long hair, red fur that covered its entire upper torso except its chest and animal feet were the extent of its description.
This creature didn’t look hostile, but it sure as hell didn’t take lightly to seeing a weak human saunter its way and stare at it so casually.
The fact that this creature wasn’t hostile was merely a half truth.
“Will you also try to kill me?” the creature asked with a straight face, a faint glint lighting up in its eye.
Benzard did not give an answer. Upon seeing that it was bound, he reined in his extra caution and vigilance, taking the time to scrutinise every detail available.
‘It speaks in the Known Language, which means it bothered to nurture diplomatic relations in its past. At least I hope. Can I get anything by talking to it?’ Benzard thought.
“Hmmm. Let me give you a piece of advice, challenger. Nothing awaits you at the end. It’s too much of a price to gain what’s ahead. You humans care for the future and family almost as much as my kind do. If you have hopes for such, I advise that you leave this place,” the man-beast said.
Benzard frowned.
“You really think I’d believe that?”
The man-beast didn’t answer. It simply lowered its head and closed its eyes.
‘Some piece of advice. I didn’t come all this way for nothing. I’ll see it through to the end. A future? A family? Those two have been dying over and over again since the past few days. I need this! I need strength that defies logic! Only then can I be free from this sorrow and helplessness that you left me with, Eobald!’
Benzard didn’t bother conversing anymore as what he needed to do was pretty much clear. These guys were merely here to be killed, not reasoned with.
Fulgardt wouldn’t orchestrate a charity where he had to make friends with these bound creatures, right?
Regardless, something was meant to happen.
In less than a moment, Benzard’s sword had left its scabbard and whipped its way towards the man-beast’s throat!
THK!
The shaggy hair and flesh of the man-beast barely ruffled under Benzard’s strike, which greatly shocked him!
‘What?!’ he thought. ‘I didn’t add any natural element, but I packed a significant amount of mana in my strike! This should have done some damage at least!’
Benzard scowled as he pumped more mana from his core and swung his sword again!
A white flash lit the space with a steady and vertical motion as it sought to split the man-beast in half but…
The result was the same.
The sword failed to penetrate the creature’s skull, as if the man-beast was protected by something or possessed an invincible body!
‘What’s going on?!’
The man beast didn’t flinch. He kept lowering his head as if he wasn’t fazed at all by the attacks.
In that moment, something within Benzard’s chest nagged at him, pushing against his mana core.
‘Hmm? That again? What happened back then? Is there something wrong with my core or did something really invade me?’
Benzard being an expert who had mastered his body significantly, breathed out as he searched for what it was that suddenly began to nag at his core.
His senses created a blueprint of what was possibly happening within him, his mind travelling over the muscles, blood vessels and bones until he saw his bright blue core that was stationed in a separate section of its own!
It looked like a bright, glimmering world that oozed of life, thick and brilliant veins spreading from it and reaching into his body!
‘What is that?’
A small black ball was latching onto the bright core, shifting ever so often with vigor and shaking the mana core a bit.
Benzard’s first instinct was to remove it from his core and examine it separately.
He produced thin wisps of mana from his core that grabbed onto the small ball of darkness and began trying to yank it away!
However, as soon as the wisps tried to pull the small lump of darkness away, the mana that made them was greedily absorbed by the lump!
The lump of darkness wiggled as it then went on to draw more mana from Benzard’s core incessantly!
…!
‘Damn it! What is this thing?!’
Benzard was shocked by this sudden development.
He wanted to create more wisps that could grab the lump of darkness and pull it away but the result was something he feared.
Soon, the lump of darkness began to grow, bubbling creepily until it suddenly expanded outwards, creating thin tendrils that rushed into Benzard’s body!
Benzard’s state of sensing his internal conundrum was immediately disconnected and he found himself looking at the man-beast, back in the outside world!
Before he could exclaim the question of what was happening again, a strange sensation ran through his body and he vaguely felt a strange connection to the darkness that was around!
Benzard’s superior sensory capabilities and awareness of his own body had allowed him to notice these minute changes even with the low rank of his new affinity immediately, unlike Skullius.
His body felt like it was being supported by that lump of darkness!
Now that he looked at it, the darkness around him was very strange. It was not just a lack of light. It was too thick.
Was this the same thing that was within him?
‘Come to think of it, it reminds me of the darkness from that place…’ Benzard thought as he remembered the first path he had gone through.
He raised his hand towards the darkness and his keen eyes noticed a fluctuation within him as well as a change that occurred with the darkness he tried to get a feel of!
He moved his hand as he looked at the darkness and it shifted towards his hand slightly after the influence of the dark lump resonated with him.
‘Interesting,’ Benzard said with a light smile. ‘It’s something I can manipulate?’
***
Reon had just exited the space where he had been blasted by both a deep darkness and a stellar light.
When he faced the choice of the two paths with different presences, he didn’t hesitate much before entering the one with the weaker energy signature.
His usually calm demeanour was long gone as he felt uncomfortable about the current state of events. Everyone was split up and there was no guarantee that the others were alive.
Nothing made sense anymore.
Why were they risking this in the first place? It would have been better if they were together but…
“Your ambition is the one that has killed the last of us, Benzard,” Reon said with a deep frown.
Upon entering in the dark space that held a powerful enemy, he calmed himself and prepared to attack with his quickest attack at the sight of his enemy but…
“Oh… I finally found another one. A rather weak one though.”
Reon’s heart almost stopped as he saw a huge, bald and naked man munching on the head of an old man who wore a set of grey robes, struggling to free himself as he was bound by a yoke!