Spirit Guardian

Daniel was startled when he turned around. A blue energy with a human structure was standing on a pile of bones. He gave off a mysterious aura, making Daniel feel a little uneasy. He felt like this person was someone beyond his understanding. He couldn't help but feel pressured under his cold gaze.

"Haha, don't be scared young man." The person suddenly laughed and swiftly got closer to Daniel. His face was as cold as ice but his style of speaking made Daniel comfortable. His opinions about the person abruptly turned positive.

The person got closer to Daniel, tapping his shoulder gently. "So… You finding this hidden area was a coincidence or did you know about this place?" He inquired of Daniel, trying to find how he discovered such a well-hidden place. He had been guarding it for centuries, yet he had never seen anyone coincidentally or intentionally coming to this place.

Daniel felt the pressure in his words, despite his friendly behavior. He knew that he'd be killed if he tried to fabricate anything. Well, not like he had much reason to lie. He opened his mouth without thinking twice and said, "Oh, I was just killing the vile monsters when my leg accidentally fell on a certain rock." He briefly explained.

"Hmm… I see… So when that happened, the shadow hands attacked you and your companion. The trap is working well even after centuries…" The man chuckled, confirming that Daniel wasn't lying.

"Yes… I was lucky that the senior helped me, otherwise I would be a corpse by now." Daniel bowed down, showing his gratitude to the man. He was exceptionally polite with this one, not wanting to displease the man.

The man nodded and said, "Aha, no problem at all… Now that you've come here, you shall be the one who frees me from these shackles." The man said, puzzling Daniel with his words.

"Huh?! Which shackles? I don't see any…" Daniel asked, a confused look flashing across his face.

"Aha, I forgot no weak creature can see these shackles." The man chuckled, remembering something important. Unknowingly, he had offended Daniel by calling him a weak creature, 'But then again… I am truly weak…' Though Daniel to himself.

The man immediately realized what he had done, seeing the expression on Daniel's face. "Don't feel down, young man! I see a lot of potential in you! If you keep working hard, you will achieve something far greater than this old man could." He tried to cheer Daniel up, more like buttering him.

'This cunning old fox is pretty good with his words, heh…' Daniel thought in his mind and chuckled...

"Um… may I know about senior's past?" Daniel asked with a curious look on his face. The man nodded slightly before he started briefly telling about his past. "It started when I was wandering in the forest of whispers, about 400 years ago…" He said, taking a little break.

"Huh?! Wandering in the forest? Why?" Daniel suddenly asked, irritating the man. No one would be pleased when someone interrupts them in the middle of a story, right?

"Listen to me first!" The man shouted at him, feeling a little annoyed. He quickly refined his composure and continued his story. "So, I was wandering in the forest, searching for the ruins of the ?$#?" Just as he said the last word, Daniel couldn't hear anything. It was as if the game was trying to hide it from the players.

"Hmm… weird." Said Daniel, not paying attention to what the man was saying. He was completely lost in his thoughts. The man noticed his weird behavior and waved his hand before Daniel's eyes. "Hello? Are you even paying attention?" The man said with a murderous glare.

"Ah… yes…" Daniel snapped out of his thoughts and hurriedly nodded his head, feeling chills run down his spine when he made eye contact with the man.

"Hmm… you better be listening…" The man's expression turned normal, continuing his story. "When I finally found the ruins, I became enthusiastic about exploring them, completely ignoring the risks." The man said, regretting his decision from back then.

"When I entered the ruins, I was attacked by countless shadow monsters, not as weak as the current ones at that. I kept fighting for days and weeks before realization struck me… I was trapped inside the hellish place…" He continued, not wanting to recall those nightmarish memories.

Daniel shuddered at the thought of it when he heard about the monsters. To think that monsters who could horrify such a strong expert existed… It was truly enough to scare the hell out of a normal person.

'This game is not as simple as everyone thinks it is… we have barely explored 5 percent… no, 2 percent of the game world…' He thought, imagining how much work the game devs had to put in to create this masterpiece.

"As I kept fighting the monsters for years and years, I fell into this place, just like you… But what happened to me after I came here was unexpected…" The man said, continuing his story.

Daniel's curiosity peaked when he heard about something unexpected happening to the man.

Seeing the curious look on Daniel's face, the man chuckled slightly. "I met a remnant spirit of #?#$" The last word was filtered once again. Daniel didn't think too much about it this time.

"The next thing that happened was, I was assigned the role of the guardian of this place, resulting in me becoming a spirit guardian. This amazing power I have is all thanks to that authority… But it came at a cost…"

"A cost? And what is that? Is it more important than power?" Daniel asked, not being able to hold it in.

"Yes… the cost of this power was…"

(Author: Alrighty! We got some storytelling for today! Hope you like the chapter and give me lots of power stones as well as other gifts if possible, lol. Big thanks to @OneExtraCookie, @Tanvir_sandhar, @Air_Ace, @Primas, and @White_FLame for sending gifts, powerstones and golden tickets! Tysm everyone! Keep supporting!)