339 CHPT 339: The Letters must be Broken for the Knowledge to be Sealed...
The Tangent had been completed, The Undead Dweller lay in a torn mess at the center of the cave, no longer a problem to the young pack as they scoured for loot and gear to leave as something stronger than what they entered as.
Claude's fears for Ursula had shrunk slightly, but his anxieties never wavered as a whole. And being in a dark cave more than a hundred feet below ground did nothing good for his mind. They needed to leave, and continue ripping and tearing their way towards more power back out in the real world.
"Alright. Let's get out of here. Fill your rucksack with any extra stuff you might want to sell or use and let's mo--"
His words were cut short followed by his-- now booted, feet tripping over something. It felt like a pole. When he looked down at the ground that's what he found.....sort of.
No longer than ten inches and no thicker than a rolled up piece of thick paper, the black metal pole looked about as inconspicuous as possible. Aside from the incredibly old feel it radiated. Almost like the Ancient Seeds.
"[How nice...]" Arne said as he picked up the pole, feeling it's uncanny warmth as soon as his fingers connected with it.
He immediately began studying the object, finding little detail on it other than three slash marks on the north and south end of the object. When he moved to touch the scratches-- or insignia, arcing bolts of magic bit at his finger with interest.
DING!
[Scroll Recognized!]
[Intelligence Level Required for Spellbreak: 12]
Without an ounce of hesitation, he opened up his System screen and upped his Intelligence Stat from a ten to a twelve. By the time he was done, Ursula stood across from him eyeing the object in his hands in awe as the magical bolts flowing from the slash marks continued to bite at his flesh. It was even beginning to vibrate.
"You've got a Scroll!" She said, the freckles on her face that rose just above her mask danced as her face twisted into a shocked smile.
"Looks like." Claude said.
They stared at each other for another handful of seconds in silence before Ursula raised her hands in confusion, "Well? The hell are you doing? Spellbreak it."
Claude shrugged, "I don't.....I don't know how to do that to be honest."
Ursula shook her head in disappointment, "All that damn reading....for what? It's simple, Claude. Spellbreak....?? Spell....Break??" She said, completing the motions of breaking something with her two hands.
"Ohhhh. Right." Claude replied before grabbing both ends of the Scroll and holding it out in front of him. As soon as both of his hands hit the surface, the small magical sparks that emerged from the two slash insignia grew into flowing flames that laced his hands in a bright blue glow.
"It's.....it's hot." he said as the Scroll vibrated strong enough to make his arms shake.
"Yea....it's vastly undiscovered Magic." She replied.
"Ok...." Claude sighed and closed his eyes waiting a few seconds before snapping the Scroll in half.
SNAP!
It broke with almost no effort. Immediately after, it was like the floodgates of raw and old magic spilled from the broken halves and flew straight into him with their searing magical heat.
In a flash, his eyes burst open, glowing as two electrical blue disks. He looked down at the scrolls, watching the waves of magic pour out of the two broken ends and go straight into him. Within the flaming blue waves, he could see lines....markings...letterings that shifted and morphed as if each sign represented a world of things all dependent on how you viewed each vague yet solid shape.
"[The Arcane Texts...]" Arne noted, almost in awe as if they'd never get old despite the vast number of Spells he must've seen in his time.
VWOM!
Out of nowhere, the violent cascade of magic ceased. Leaving them standing in silence while he held the two smoking halves of the Scroll.
"How do you feel?" Ursula asked.
Claude nodded, "Good."
DING!
[Physical Spell Recognized: (Second Frenzy LV1)]
CRK!.....crck!...crcrk!
"Well...what's the spell?" Ursula asked.
"...."
Crkck!....CRcrkckc!
"Claude...?" She pressed, now sounding worried as he turned to the exit of the cave to look down the dark hallway.
"Listen.." he said, no longer worried about any Spell or magical language.
The distant noises continued, growing in repetition and fading into sync with the song of the Banshee's. His eyes glowed, night vision working overtime to peer through the darkness. He could see things moving, at the end of the hall back by the long staircase that ran down the cave walls and led them to the boss.
He squinted, trying to focus his vision until the small moving shapes suddenly were easily guessed to be rocks.
Part of him relaxed until Arne spoke, "[Claude.....the others...the others in the walls.]"
Plop!
Following his words, a large blur of white fell to the ground down the hall from them, smashing into the cold floor with a meaty impact. It stayed still for a few seconds before slimmer shapes rose from the blob of whiteness and began pressing against the floor. Limbs.
The Ghoul pushed itself off the floor and reared it's face at them from across the hallway. A mask of dark red blood and unholy blue eyes peered back at them followed by a scream of hunger.
"SCREAAAA--"
CRNCH!
Another Ghoul fell directly on it, smashing it's head like a watermelon with it's weight and hard fall.
Suddenly the sound of rocks falling picked up as more of the Ghouls that once laid hidden in the very terrain of the Tangent began to emerge now that their cannibalistic and tyrannical ruler had fallen.
"Oh shit....." Ursula whispered.
"Ok. We got to go, don't stop to fight, just run and kill the ones that get in your way, listen to your senses. They'll be coming from everywhere."
Following his words, two more fell to the ground down the hall from them, in the distance, even more rolled down the stairs as they burst from the walls like undead termites.
"Shit! Everybody move!" He said before breaking off into a sprint, "We have to escape before they bring down this whole cave!"
