Pieces of Puzzle (2)

Following his conversation with Jace, Alec gleaned several vital revelations. First and foremost, the fortress where he had awakened was not merely a magical construct; it was, in fact, a memory-based dungeon. This cryptic edifice had been meticulously crafted through cult rituals, a creation steeped in intrigue and artificial design. The mechanics governing its operation remained veiled in obscurity, marking a singular encounter for Jace and his team.

Alec discovered that they were currently ensconced within the very core chamber of this memory rift. This chamber served as the linchpin, the vital nexus linking the memory rift to the subterranean dungeon beneath Dunhaven's city streets.

Jace's disclosure regarding his mother's prior departure to confront the cult's forces outside the rift brought clarity to the situation. Alec had, in part, already deduced from Richard's cryptic words that the cult's forces might be laying in wait, poised to strike the moment Jace and Lorelei ventured beyond the rift. The once-looming threat now seemed more transient, its menace less pronounced.

Amid these revelations, one truth remained unshaken in Alec's mind – his mother had not walked among the living a mere week ago. The Covenant of Vermillion had uncovered her core and sought to resurrect her, an endeavour that had catastrophically unravelled, leaving a trail of unintended consequences.

With these newfound verities, a plethora of questions swirled in Alec's feline thoughts. Was he, too, a product of resurrection, much like his mother? How had he come to occupy this baffling memory rift? These riddles stubbornly persisted, shrouding his elusive origins in an impenetrable veil of mystery.

Quest: Strange Fortress

Description: You've awakened in an unfamiliar body within a mysterious fortress. Your task is to explore this place and uncover the truth about your presence.

Difficulty: Unknown

Objective: Explore the fortress

Reward: ???

Clear conditions: Reach the ground floor and search for clues regarding your presence here. (Completed!)

Claim Reward: Y/N

Alec's gaze narrowed with suspicion as he regarded the quest screen, which now beckoned him to accept the rewards. Yet, it still tantalizingly displayed '???' as the offered bounty. His unease began to deepen, like a shroud slowly enveloping his thoughts, casting shadows of doubt.

With his uncertainty mounting, Alec resolved to turn to Jace and Lorelei for insight into the system and the quests that seemed to be an integral part of this new world. He needed answers, or at the very least, a glimmer of understanding to pierce the shroud of his perplexity.

Alec ventured to communicate his query with a soft and hopeful "Mew..."

"Quests? I'm not certain what you mean," Jace responded, his voice laced with inquisitiveness. He cast a searching glance toward Lorelei, who had her nose buried in a book and typically maintained her silent demeanour unless prompted by Jace.

"I have never heard of monsters being associated with quests," Lorelei chimed in, not looking up from her book.

Alec followed up with a hopeful "Merrow..." as he shared details about the quest and the sub-quest that had bestowed upon him the boon of a skill.

This sudden revelation seized Lorelei's interest, drawing her out from the confines of her book. "A skill, you say?"

Alec, puzzled, responded with another "Mew?" to inquire if there was anything unusual about that.

Lorelei, her voice laced with a hint of uncertainty, offered her insights, "Well, I'm not sure. The only ways to gain new skills are either by consuming skill points or attuning an external essence to your body. These methods unlock skills that align with your unique affinity. Skill points can be acquired through levelling up or by conquering dungeons."

Jace, ever the source of knowledge, continued, "Other than that, in rare instances, you might complete a hidden achievement within a dungeon, which can reward you with a skill."

Alec found himself in a state of perplexity. He wanted to seek his mother's guidance, but it seemed that even she was grappling with the same confusion, as evidenced by her binding of the High Priest for questioning. But she had to know something.

Initially, Alec had assumed that everyone in this world operated under the same quest system. However, he had been mistaken. It turned out that he was the star of his very own cosmic sitcom, where the scriptwriters had a penchant for complexity. There was something profoundly unique and perplexing about his existence, as if he were the only character in the story who had forgotten their lines.

Alec's tiny feline head was starting to throb, as if someone had spiked his milk with riddles. He couldn't help but wonder if he was the punchline to some grand cosmic joke. It hadn't been long since he landed in this bewildering world, and already his brain was on the verge of demanding a union-mandated catnap to clear the clutter in his thoughts.

Speaking of naps, Alec pondered what a tiny, quest-bound feline like himself might need to keep his quest energy up and his kitty tummy content. Strangely, he hadn't felt a single pang of hunger since his perplexing awakening. Not that he'd had much time to contemplate it amidst the magical mayhem and centipede chases. Food, water, and shelter, which would have been the first things on a former human's mind, were lost in his newfound fascination with magic and his brisk giant centipede sprint.

As for Jace and Lorelei, it was evident that both of them were thoroughly traumatized by mother's antics. They responded to Alec's questions with all the enthusiasm of a pair of wet blankets. Their expressions made even the dead look positively lively. Alec couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy for them; they were just innocent bystanders caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Alec's ears twitched, and he swiftly glanced behind him. Jace's blue sword materialized in his grasp, while Lorelei closed her book, her gaze turning vigilant. A massive draconic silhouette abruptly manifested behind them.

Their anxiety melted away as they recognized the newcomer – Alec's mother. It appeared that she had successfully cleared out the remnants of the cult's forces outside the rift. However, she wasn't alone; two more figures accompanied her, both draped in familiar crimson robes. Their lack of limbs and the obsidian chains piercing their eyes and torsos revealed the extent of their captivity. It was evident that Mother had questions for them too.

[Scarlet Executioner Lv38]

[Sanguine Conjurer Lv33]

"Lord Trelawney…," Lorelei muttered, a note of surprise in her voice.

Evidently, Lorelei shared an unspoken history with one of Mother's newfound captives. As she wove her serpentine path towards the trio, Jace and Lorelei, weary yet reverent, rose to kneel in humble homage. Alec, with grace befitting a tiny feline sovereign, perched upon Jace's sturdy shoulder.

The cultists, bound by chains both cruel and unforgiving, were yanked with a lack of ceremony that echoed their tormented existence. Their forms unceremoniously joined their comrade, forming a somber trio of crimson-robed souls.

Mother's gaze, ancient and knowing, found Alec, and the familiar, maternal warmth once again flowed through the unspoken bond they shared. At this point, Alec had grown accustomed to the gentle embrace of her presence, and in response, he returned the warmth with a silent purr of understanding.

In this silent communion, Mother's colossal maw dipped in a gracious nod, as though finally confirming that her cherished offspring remained in a state of well-being. Her rumbling voice carried a symphony of emotion, a sorrowful token of regret, just as it had in their previous encounters. It was the same lament of the unfulfilled quest, a plaintive melody echoing through the cavernous chambers of their shared memories. It spoke of the voids in their memories, the relentless pursuit of truth, and the inexorable journey to recover what had been lost. It was a song of the lurking dangers and unforgiving perils that lay ahead, and an elegy to the bittersweet sadness of a parent compelled to part from their child for the sake of safety.

Alec comprehended her intentions, yet he couldn't escape the intensifying waves of sorrow washing over him. He hadn't known her for long, but the bond they shared, the raw and pure love that flowed through that connection, momentarily made him resist the notion of her departure. His inner gremlin, that shadowy reflection of his thoughts, also shared in the melancholic tide.

But Alec swiftly gathered his resolve. He recognized that while his own awakening in an unfamiliar land might be disorienting, her journey had been far more treacherous. She was a being burdened with a history, resurrected for the selfish whims of a cult, and pursued relentlessly once she began to piece together fragments of her past. Her only solace lay in her child, even though Alec suspected she didn't possess the key to his past either.

Not that Alec had any intention of revealing his own uncertain history. His past life felt like a fading dream, a dream from which he had finally awakened in this enigmatic world. He had entertained the notion that perhaps there was something fundamentally wrong with his own memory.

However, he couldn't afford to be selfish. She needed answers, and with her formidable power, she could compel the universe to yield them. Feeble as he was, Alec recognized that he would only be a hindrance. In response to her, he expressed his understanding and sorrow through a simple 'meow,' sharing a wave of empathy and promise through their unspoken bond. Perhaps one day, when he had amassed the strength, they could embark on the quest for answers together.

His response seemed to catch Mother off guard, as if she had anticipated resistance from the child. After all, he was still just a child. But she swiftly regained her composure, lowering her colossal serpentine neck and tenderly nuzzling her immense snout against Alec's small kitten frame. Jace and Lorelei remained kneeling, a loyal guard of knights in silent homage.

A sudden thought, like a whisper of intuition, graced Alec's feline mind. In a fluid motion, he summoned his quest tab, a verdant window awaiting his response, hovering before him like an mysterious portal to hidden knowledge. Mother observed him with curiosity as Alec unhesitatingly accepted the strange '???' reward.

In the blink of an eye, the very air around them seemed to shiver and shift, like the cloak of night unfurling to reveal a secret. An obsidian stone, seemingly conjured from the depths of the cosmos itself, descended into Alec's waiting paws. It exuded a chilling aura, as though it were a relic drawing warmth from the very world. It appeared that seeking answers from human recipients might lead him to naught, but with a shared origin between him and Mother, there was hope that she held the key to the mysteries of quests and rewards. Alec's focus honed on the cryptic stone.

[???]

However, even after he had claimed the mysterious reward, the screen displayed nothing more than three question marks. It was as if the system itself could not fathom the peculiar item. Alec was on the verge of projecting his queries to Mother when, as suddenly as it had materialized, the stone vanished from his paws.

His thoughts froze in place, arrested by the seething maelstrom of anger emanating from Mother. Jace and Lorelei, attuned to her emotions, sensed the same eruption of fury and stood up, their weapons materializing as guardian sentinels, ever vigilant against the looming threat, their steadfast protection encircling the diminutive Alec.

Yet there were no tangible threats, at least none that Alec or his companions could perceive. Instead, Mother engaged in an intense, otherworldly staring contest with the quest reward. Her colossal, clawed hand reached out and bore down upon the obsidian stone, shattering it into a thousand pieces. An ethereal azure radiance bathed the entire chamber, as if it were a ghostly maw attempting to consume every vestige of warmth within.

Eerie whispers, elusive and cryptic, soon began to seep into Alec's ears. With each passing moment, they swelled in intensity, a riddle too profound for even his otherworldly comprehension skill to decipher. Shadows swayed in a macabre dance, intertwining with these spectral voices, all beneath the surface of the living world.

A chilling wave, colder than the deepest abyss, coursed through Alec's paws, seeping through his very bones and edging closer to his very soul. Jace and Lorelei were not immune, their necks beading with cold sweat as they cast their gazes upward, toward the source of this sudden chill—the shattered remains of the obsidian stone held in Mother's colossal grasp. The fragments undulated and coalesced, as though they were whispering secrets of the unknown. And finally, the name on the screen transformed into something other than '???.'

[Stellar Essence]

Alec's blood ran cold once more. It was not the first time he had encountered that particular name. It had been with him all along, a constant presence, each time he accessed his stat screen—a name that had remained a cryptic companion in his journey.

Mother, attuned to Alec's fear, wasted no more time with the swirling stardust in her colossal claw. With remarkable precision, one formidable claw rent open the fabric of reality itself. From the void thus created emerged a shadowy leviathan, as dark and unfathomable as the abyss, its malevolent eyes aglow with sinister red. It leaped forth with insatiable hunger, swallowing the swirling dust of the Stellar Essence in a single, voracious gulp before vanishing back into the void from whence it had come.

In an instant, the oppressive atmosphere that had gripped them was dispelled. The lingering shadows retreated, and the world once again basked in the embrace of warmth and light. Before Alec could react, his mother's colossal draconic snout loomed over him. She delicately sniffed him, and then she rose and emitted a rumbling question. It was a question of the origins of the strange stone and of the sudden and profound fear that had overtaken Alec.

Alec, in response, expressed his story with a series of meows. He conveyed the curious nature of his quests, the rewards he had earned, and the perpetual presence of the Stellar Essence. It was a silent tale woven with feline eloquence.

Mother's response was to beckon him, an invisible force gently lifting and presenting him before her colossal snout. She requested that he remain still and open himself to her, a moment of panic flickering within Alec. He didn't understand how he was meant to do this, but his inner gremlin guided him. Alec closed his eyes just as Mother's formidable claw tenderly touched his furry head. With nervous thoughts projected to her, he inquired if this would cause him any pain.

In response, he was enveloped in a soothing warmth, as if her presence whispered, 'Not if I can help it.' There was a final message, a gentle reminder, conveying a cautious tone. It was a plea, an urging not to accept quests from the system, spoken with a tone that resonated with a mother's profound love.

Suddenly, presence delved deep into the depths of Alec's consciousness; its intrusion akin to a tempest that threatened to disrupt the sanctity within. Something within him, the guardian of this sacred sanctity, cried out in fierce defiance, as if to ward off this unwelcome intrusion. The sensation was akin to resisting a transgression against the very essence of his being.

Yet, trust in Mother compelled him to suppress his inner cries. There was no physical pain, but the discomfort was palpable. It was like a phantom worm, a minuscule entity, burrowing beneath his skin, scouring every hidden corner of his essence. Alec pressed on through the unsettling discomfort, fully unveiling himself for her, an act of vulnerability and trust.

Then, within the unfathomable depths of his being, she grasped something. Every fiber of Alec's existence roared in defiance.

PAIN.

Agony erupted through him as a part of his very self was wrenched away with relentless force. Every cell of his being screamed in unison, and he, too, found himself shrieking under the relentless onslaught. The pain was akin to the sensation of having his mana completely drained, much like his first encounter with such anguish. And just as before, he succumbed to the searing darkness, his consciousness slipping into oblivion