Prince of The Abyss

When Aether awakened, he found himself in a small bed, not really of the best quality, but it was better than their sleeping bags. Looking around, the walls seemed to be made out of bone, which meant...

”I’m in the city of bones?”

He rested his forehead in his palm, but quickly took it away as a stinging pain came over him.

Taking a look at his hand, it looked to have gotten skin. In many places, you could see the muscles inside his hand; most have healed, but of course, it would hurt like hell if he put something hard on it.

A headache came as he slowly started to remember.

They had gone into that... tower, wanting to explore it, and they found that strange book, that revealed a tunnel that wasn’t there before... one that led them to that... beast.

’Damn...’ He felt his hair rise when he thought about it.

Just what kind of monster had he killed...

It was a reality check, one he probably needed.

That if it wasn’t for the little advantages he had against some, and that he had for those he killed and were a higher rank or class than him, he would have probably died.

Even here, if it wasn’t for the advantage he got while it was dark, it would have been over for him.

...

But wait, didn’t he...fail?

’The flame...’

Where had it come from? It had saved him, so he was grateful for it, but just who had used it?

The only person who had been around him had been Kade... but at the same time, the boy was a Will-less, so he couldn’t have done it, so had someone come from another tunnel... or could Kade have done it...

The book...

Did Kade awaken a Will-

”You’re awake!”

Aether looked up to see the boy who was carrying a small tray with food, well, food was an overstatement, it was only some bread and water.

”I’m so glad you were out for weeks, you know?”

The boy rushed to him, putting the tray on a drawer next to him.

...But wait... weeks?

That much time had passed since he fought that beast?... But it made sense... he had gotten some serious injuries... and thinking of it, maybe the headache wasn’t from him remembering, but rather his head getting rammed into a wall.

Aether patted his forehead with his other hand, seeing that he had bandages.

”You got pretty battered... I-”

”If you’re going to say that you’re sorry, just leave my room,” Aether said with a serious face, as he let his arm fall back on the mattress. ”Everything that happened was my decision, I wanted to get the piece, I wanted to go in the tunnel, I wanted to explore the tower, doesn’t matter if you couldn’t have helped, plus, you had a wooden sword... although.”

Aether tilted his head.

”Were you the one who summoned that weird flame?”

Kade staggered a bit, almost like he wasn’t expecting to be asked that question.

”It was...” The boy said a little nervously, like he didn’t want to speak of it. ”But... I don’t know how I did it... It just came out... and I wasn’t able to do it again, even if I have been trying...”

So... the book had really been telling the truth: a Will-less can awaken a Will. But it was a bit complicated by what he could see...

Kade awakened when he was in grave danger and wanted to help him, a deep desire, probably when his Will was strongest, just like his was when he awakened his Skill after saving the boy from the bandit.

But the boy couldn’t use the Will anymore... unlike him, who got the skill permanently...

”Have you fought any monsters?” Aether asked, trying to figure something out.

”Well...” The boy scratched his cheek, not making eye contact. ”Not really, I’ve been busy with my job, after all, we didn’t have that much money to get a place to sleep, food, and things to treat you, even if they didn’t do much.”

Aether’s eyes widened as he heard that.

”You got a job?”

Kade chuckled.

”I did, one in the city, not at the Inn, since they didn’t allow me because you took me away last time, but I got one that paid enough... how glad I am that you awakened before winter came... I was starting to get worried, since it’s so close.”

The boy had really done a lot for him... he was... impressed, but at the same time, grateful.

Even if he wasn’t that strong, he was able to take care of himself on his own.

...

But wait.

”What day is it?”

The boy looked surprised by his question, but quickly responded.

”Hm? It’s the twenty-second of November... why?”

...

One day... that was how long it was until his birthday.

He was going to turn sixteen tomorrow, marking his seventh full year that he has been away from home, eight if he counted the one where he got trapped in the withered, but it wasn’t a full year.

Still, seven years... it was almost frightening, to think just how much time had passed... he didn’t really remember much of his home Kingdom... of his family, of his people.

After all, out of those years he had been home, he only remembered those after he turned four...

’Two years away... from becoming an adult... why do I not want that time to come?

Aether looked back at Kade.

”How much money do we have left?”

The boy reached into his pocket, revealing forty-three embers... that was the money they had.

It wasn’t a lot at all... was it even going to be enough for their journey?

And he wasn’t really sure he could fight, so they couldn’t take a job from the board... so what were they going to do? Just risk it?

Well... they could just spend all their money on food, and then live in their sleeping bags, and drink water from rivers... but were they ready to live in the Wilderness, after all, who knew what monsters could attack them?

But did they have any choice?

...

He could try to fight with his left hand... or get some low-paying jobs that didn’t require fighting, but at the same time, it was going to be hard to get one with so many people after them.

...

He was going to figure it out... but now he wanted to do something else.

”What time is it?”

Kade squinted his eyes. ”Almost midnight, why?”

Aether chuckled at his suspicion. ”No reason.”

Getting out of bed, Aether felt his leg hurt, but only slightly, meaning it had mostly healed enough for him to walk and do most things he wanted to do.

”I’m going on a walk, I want to get some fresh air.”

Kade watches as Aether passes him. ”You should get rest... but you wouldn’t listen if I tried to stop you, so just go.”

...

...

Aether walked through the city for a while, but as he felt midnight was drawing near, he headed towards the middle of the town, his reason for doing so was that the ribs were here... and he was going to climb them.

He had to say, it had been a little hard to do so, not only because of the texture of the ribs, or his lack of skill, but also because he tried not to hurt his leg more. But in the end, he was able to climb up the rib.

On top, he could see a lot of the city... but more importantly, he could see the sky, and its beauty... the many stars that were in the sky... stars that were actually gigantic, but they were only small because they were far away from them.

...

Maybe that was why home felt so small... because it was so far away.

...If he had to say, it was probably midnight by now, and even if it wasn’t, it was soon going to be.

So could he say that he was a sixteen-year-old now?

...

When he first got trapped in the Withered, a part of him thought that he was going to be back home by this time, but look at him now, in a book, but at the same time still in that place... he didn’t know if he was trapped, well kinda, since he didn’t think he could get past the camps anymore without the relic he had.

...

He could have left... but he didn’t, because he wanted revenge...

But did he want that anymore?...

He wanted to get stronger, so maybe he could find a way to get them back...

But if he came across the same decision, of getting home and getting them back... what would he do?

...

The latter...

...

It was stupid, and he knew that, after all, what were the chances that there was some way to bring back the dead... and plus, even if there was, he had to be really strong, and he wasn’t even a Seeker, so it was going to take a while to get there.

...

But I guess this only told him one thing.

...

He had to finish this book this year; he wasn’t going to wait until he turned seventeen.