Prince of The Abyss

...

The pain was unbearable. As all of his senses were enhanced, it also included the tactile sense, which made the slightest of cuts and stabs hurt like hell. But even now, as a bearer, for a single thrust to hurt like this? What could it be? What kind of sword was he using?

As The Fool slowly dragged his blade from his chest, he felt every bit of the blade touching his muscle, each hurting like a needle was piercing them.

But, he wasn’t going to fall this easily.

And yet he could move.

...

[You have killed a Bearer Beast, The Fifth]

[Your knowledge grows stronger.]

[You have gained a relic]

”That was underwhelming to say the least.”

But it was to be expected, since his ability made him sensitive to any attack. Which might seem more as a flaw than an ability, but when you consider how hard it would normally be to even land an attack, even more a poison that most don’t know exists, and that breaks the soul.

His flaw was that, like the others, he let his mouth do the work, and he underestimated him too much. It’s easy to learn your opponents’ abilities whenever they tell you what they are. Even more to take advantage of it.

He had prepared the rocks for the Queen just in case he needed to run, and to serve as a distraction. It would have probably not worked, but now he was glad he had done it. Since with them he was able to overwhelm one of his senses, so that he wouldn’t notice him stabbing him. Only the pain that came after.

The relic was another card, probably one that he would have to look at later. But they weren’t that important anymore, since they had stopped giving him important information about the past, his past. Just the same thing over and over again.

Either way, that marked the fifth zone he owned.

...

Or did he? He hadn’t challenged The Fifth in his zone, so that couldn’t mean that he had gotten it. But it also couldn’t mean it was still his; he was dead. And it didn’t have an owner, meaning that anyone could claim it...

”Damn it!”

Aether rushed, strolling down the streets to get to the zone. But many others were running in the same direction, with the same intent as him, to get ownership of the zone.

They had probably heard the earth shake, signaling the fall of one of the Knights, and knowing that he was probably having a meeting with the Queen, they could have a chance to claim a zone, since it meant immeasurable wealth, and without being killed by the Queen, or the Knight they would have tried to challenge.

His lantern cast away most of the shadows, but there were still the stubborn ones that stayed, and he could not help them. Hopefully.

”The quickest way to the zones! Fast, fast!”

The shadows looked at him, confused about how such a lowly human could come up to them and demand something from them. Did he not have any manners? But when they saw his marks, their demeanor instantly changed as if they were speaking to a superior.

Aether followed their directions, moving through buildings, knocking down some trash cans along the way, and almost tripping many times from going too fast.

Once he reached the fog, he knew that he couldn’t go as fast anymore, as it would be a death wish with the lack of air inside it. But he didn’t worry, for that very same reason. Because of the thick air, he was sure that not many could get past. And he was right, since while walking around, he had found many people knocked out. This was also concerning because it meant that many had reached the fog before him.

And if there was someone used to it, they could get to it easily.

He had learned the zones, how to reach each one, maybe because he owned four of them, but he got to the fifth relatively fast. But there was a building inside, which could only mean someone had gotten here before him.

Gritting his teeth, he entered. Where he saw a masked noble, one who wore the same mask as the noble he had seen on the first, he came in the Second Ring.

He was nervous and irritated, since someone else had gotten here faster than him, but it was to be expected that with his kind of money, he could hire many people to help him.

But he was happy that it was him, since that way it wouldn’t be hard to kill him. He also didn’t have to show mercy since he knew he wasn’t an innocent man, but one who used humans as horses.

”You’ve made a big mistake coming here, I have to kill you, you know, to get this zone, but you could have evited this.”

The man didn’t respond; he didn’t turn around to face him. Instead, he laughed, and from the shadows many... slaves, if he had to say, the same kind that he used as horses, appeared, some with knives, and some with other weapons.

”It will be my pleasure to kill Prais’s vessel.”

The next second, the slaves dash at him from every corner; no matter what he did, he would be hit, or rather, that was what he thought. As he summoned his cloak and threw it in the air, that way no one knew where they were going. And for the nobles, from it, he appeared rushing at him with the tip of his blade, and directly headed to his head.

But before he could even touch his skin, one of the slaves grabbed him and pulled him back. Aether had stopped him, though, by killing him with his blade.

[You have killed a Reader Fragment...]

[Your knowledge grows stronger.]

Not even the Codex bothered to say their name, since neither were they strong, nor were they that important.

But as he took one down, the other soon followed, as if he was giving away free bread. He ramapaged, to the point the codex couldn’t keep track.

[You have killed a Reader Fragment...]

[Your knowledge grows stronger.]

[You have killed a Reader Fragment...]

[Your knowledge grows stronger.]

[You have killed a Reader Fragment...]

[Your knowledge grows stronger.]

[You have killed a Reader Fragment...]

[Your knowledge grows stronger.]

...

’Hey, at least I’m getting some shards from all of this.’

The nobleman cursed, seeing that his whole army had been destroyed, and grabbed a small knife from his pocket.

”Stay away from me, you rat!”

Aether didn’t respond; instead, he continued to follow him, as he slowly backed away into the wall. His shadows seemed frightened, which meant that the main body was also scared, scared that he would be killed.

Scared of a Reader.

But most were also just readers, so it probably didn’t mean that much to them.

Either walked forward, drawing his blade as he got closer, until the tip penetrated bit by bit, as he screamed in agony, trying to get someone to help him. He even cut his own hands by gripping the blade and trying to push it away.

But it had not worked, and even if it did, the poison was already there. And when it took effect, he fell to the ground, clenching his chest from the pain. His body wouldn’t listen, and his mind would wander around constantly.

...

[You have killed a Reader Echo...]

[Your knowledge grows stronger.]

Because the owner of the zones, no matter how new he was, had been killed, the building would collapse first, and then he could take it. And that was what he did, he waited until it was over, and claimed.

His fifth zone..

It was crazy to think that, as he had never considered he would ever reach this point, it was surprising, but it was a great surprise. Even if things would only get harder and harder from this point on, it motivated him to keep going.

His name was becoming known, but not as The Fool, but as The Promise Child. Even if the percentage of people who knew him as the former was larger than the latter, it was still a big feat to have two nicknames.

The day that he would have to fight The Jack was also coming closer, and he knew that if he could get his hands on his card, he could learn many things, very important things that would tell him what had happened all this time back.

The day when he will have to fulfill his promise.

That was the least he could do, after he had helped him so much until now. For keeping in on the ground and not letting things get to his head. And even the simple things as helping him get into the First Ring, and saving him from that beast that day in the bunker.

He had always helped him as much as he could.

And soon it would be his turn to do his part of the deal.