Arc | Chapter. 62: Monsters, Annoyances and a Forgotten Place (Patreon)

Chapter. 62: Monsters, Annoyances and a Forgotten Place

I watched as the so-called Terror of the Sands was ripped apart by Malz’s skill, its flesh and entire being flying across the land as if it had been pulled apart by an immeasurable amount of gravity in a single moment. It was quite the eye-candy, and I would’ve certainly been impressed if it hadn’t been for one thing:

The so-called great immemorial ancient beast that roamed the land and haunted this town was nothing more than an S Tier monster.

It was… disappointing. Even after the town’s people began to celebrate all around I still found it disappointing. I had been hoping for something fun, to at least get a level up even if the monster couldn’t actually fight back against me. But instead, I had been met with something that I could kill with a single skill.

It simply made me feel like the excitement I had felt had gone to waste, that it had been essentially useless. And well, it made sense. It was the equivalent to getting excited to go to a waterpark and instead going to the dentist. It was disappointing and annoying at the same time. It almost felt like betrayal.

But at the same time I should’ve been skeptical.

Jake had said it, there probably weren’t any SS Tier monsters around. Meanwhile the thought that this beast wasn’t SS Tier never even crossed my mind; hence it was slightly my fault. A sigh left me as Malz tried to say something to me, but at that moment the man⁠— Si-Arik approached us both, his entire body trembling with slight fear.

He first looked at Malz. “H-How did you kill Saraknel just like that?”

She paused. “I used a skill, it was just an S Tier beast after all.”

The man blinked, as if the words didn’t make sense. “T-That was the terror that plagued the land, y-you can’t just do that⁠—”

“It was disappointing,” I said, shaking my head before turning to my companion. “We should leave now, Malz.”

Malz, the Dragon of Shadows slowly nodded and followed me after I began to walk away from the stunned man. He was the so-called strongest warrior of the village, he was A Tier, but I didn’t see how they couldn’t get a few S Tiers to get rid of super terrifying monster⁠— or maybe they had thought it was SS Tier, [Appraisal] wasn’t a common thing after all.

Well, nothing mattered really.

I simply walked across the town as the people around exploded in celebration, some were hugging each other, others were scavenging for parts of the oh-so-scary worm, and others were simply crying of joy. Lots of the people thanked us, which was nice I guessed, but it was still something that bothered me to no end.

Seconds turned into a minute, and the town gate from where we entered was now visible, but just as we were about to cross it the sound of rushed footsteps and shallow breaths entered my ears.

“Waaait!”

I turned around only to see Si-Arik arrive before me, he was lightly sweating but seemed almost panicked. Taking a deep breath he met my gaze, and after a second of hesitation he spoke.

“You’re even stronger than your companion are you not?”

I raised my brow. “I guess I am?”

Malz nodded in the background. Si-Arik took both of our answers and then he himself nodded in acknowledgement, his gaze meeting mine as he asked.

“Who are you?”

I blinked, feeling some level of annoyance. “Arc.”

He shook his head. “No, that’s not what I mean, who can I credit this to?”

“Credit?”

What was he talking about?

“That’s right, your title, what do you go by in the land?” He asked.

“Oh, she’s the Heroine of Frost!” Malz piped up.

I tensed but realized I couldn’t actually afford to care right now, not when we were in the middle of nowhere. Even if it became a small legend on the surrounding towns it certainly wouldn’t be making it to Draliz or anything like that. A sigh left me.

“Sure, let’s go with that.”

The man paused. “The only other person to call themselves a hero is the Ultimate Warrior of Mir-Sunre…”

“Does that matter?” I asked, almost annoyed. Then I shook my head. “No, it doesn’t matter, you can just credit it to Arc, or Malz the Dragon of Shadows, I don’t really care.”

With those words I turned around. Malz hesitated but ultimately followed after me, all while we left the man and his town behind along with their celebrations for the dead beast.

It had been a brief visit to Miri-Sunre, I had enjoyed the feast but it was overall a negative experience solely because of what happened rather than anything else. So I didn’t see myself visiting any time soon, nor even trying to make a living or a home here⁠— I didn’t like the desert.

Then, a couple of minutes later we returned to the pyramid where Regis’karr seemed to be waiting outside. He raised his brow regarding me and sighed.

“That Saraknel worm was really disappointing, no?”

“Extremely so,” I said, not bothering to stop.

Regis nodded somewhat understanding. “So what will you do now?”

“Go to the Forgotten Places.” I answered simply as I passed his side.

“And if it’s not what you expect?”

His question gave me pause, I turned to meet his gaze with a frown and just shook my head and continued into the pyramid. Even if it wasn’t what I expected then it didn’t matter, I’d just be in a bad mood for a few days and figure out something else.

With those thoughts, I went to sleep, leaving Malz and Regis behind.

* * * * *

Regis’karr watched as Arc made her way into the pyramid, he had no idea what she was thinking about but it seemed that the small encounter with the Terror of the Sands had thoroughly messed with her mood.

Finally, after a moment he turned to Malz, the Dragon of Shadows, she was looking at him.

“Do you need anything?”

“Does she normally get this upset?” Malz asked.

Regis’karr paused and got to thinking, truth be told; he hadn’t known Arc for that long, when he met her she was already in a bad mood due to the situation with the Hero of Shadows. However even though she was, in his experience, upset seventy-five percent of the time, it was also largely caused by him.

“No she does not, but she is prone to get upset,” Regis’karr lamented. “Why?”

“Nothing, just thought it was strange.” Malz shook her head. “I even exposed her identity to the locals and she didn’t seem to care.”

Regis’karr blinked at what had just been said to him, slowly parsing it before it finally settled…

“You did what?!”

Malz paused. “I said she was the Heroine of Frost and she didn’t even bother to deny it.”

“Why would you do that?!” He asked in a panic.

Malz smiled awkwardly. “I just wanted to see what kind of reaction she would have, that's all…”

“B-But what if she got angry?” Regis’karr asked, uncomprehending.

“Well then, she gets angry.” She shrugged. “No use to that, it’s logical given most heroes aren’t particularly vocal about their hero status.”

“So even then, you did it?”

“I did.” She nodded. “That’s why I found Arc’s mood strange, I didn’t think the fact that the worm was just S Tier was a huge deal, but it seemed to be for her. It makes me feel a bit bad.”

“Right… I guess so, but I still don’t see why you would do that?”

“Wanted to test the waters I guess.” Malz turned to the pyramid. “No use in discussing it since we won’t come to any sort of agreement. I’m going to sleep now Regis’karr, goodnight.”

He blinked as the woman walked into the pyramid.

“Goodnight…”

And she vanished into the entrance.

So she had spread her identity and gone completely unpunished even though he had been hit in the head for landing in the middle of town? Regis’karr sighed. That seemed a bit unfair.

With that, he too walked into the pyramid and went to sleep.

* * * * *

The early morning rolled around and Si-Arik hadn’t been able to catch a blink of sleep, the last words of the Arc, the white-haired woman, had been replaying in his mind.

“No, it doesn’t matter, you can just credit it to Arc, or Malz the Dragon of Shadows, I don’t really care.”

Arc was the white-haired woman, who had been called the Heroine of Frost by her companion Malz who had been called the Dragon of Shadows. Both were extravagant titles. The first meant Arc was a person on the caliber of the Ultimate Warrior of Miri-Sunre, and the second title meant that Malz, the peculiarly pale woman was a dragon.

Of course, it could have been that both were lying and that nothing was real. But deep in the back of his mind Si-Arik couldn’t dismiss the thought so easily, it was an almost niggling feeling that told him that wasn’t the case.

It told him that the truth had been told to him, but somehow at the same time he needed reassurance and that’s why he had ventured into the desert. As soon as the sky began to clear, before the sun even rose from the horizon he moved in the direction the stranger had left in.

It had taken well over an hour but finally he saw something, a gigantic pyramid of sandstone. He didn’t understand where it had come from, because he knew the land, but it was there, and it was nearly perfect.

Was this where Arc and Malz had gone?

Si-Arik trudged forward, but just as he was about to slide down the sand dune, the earth began to tremble. His heart skipped a beat as he stopped himself, the pyramid itself seemed to be violently shaking, each of its four sides almost separating unwillingly⁠—

What?

He backed off, lowering his head to the ground to see what was happening. Somehow he had a bad feeling about things, and then, the walls came down. Within the explosion of dust he saw the shadow of wings, then others joined, and with flaps⁠— it was all dispersed.

Si-Arik’s heart almost stopped as he saw not one, not two, not three, but eight dragons. All of distinct colors, sitting there and atop of a black dragon he saw a person. It was too far away for him to see the details other than the fact that they were mostly white colored⁠, and then the majestic beasts took flight. Rapidly disappearing from the desert.

Si-Arik watched, unknowing of what to feel. All he could do was gulp in awe as the realization clicked.

Malz was the Dragon of Shadows, and Arc was the Heroine of Frost…

And then he stood there, unknowing what to do with that information.

* * * * *

Today we set off in the early morning towards the Forgotten Places. I felt relaxed after waking up. I didn’t know why exactly, but I welcomed the feeling after what happened last night.

As always, I rode atop of Malz, or Mally, she had exposed my identity last night, but after I brought it up she apologized and said she shouldn’t have done that and wouldn’t be doing it again. Which actually surprised me and made me leave it at that.

Regis’karr gave her a glare afterwards but I had no idea what that had been about. And now, that didn’t exactly matter either, all because today we would be reaching one of the many entrances towards the Forgotten Places. And I was cautiously excited.

It was the place where the corruption was…

And where arcane magic was from…

Arcane magic, the same thing the Dragon of Frost had tried to use against me. Magic that was more powerful than the System’s, somehow or in some way. If it hadn’t been for my SS Tier skill I was certain I would have died. It had been more than a challenge, it was a death battle that I had no chance of winning if not for the skill.

And now, I was moving towards a place where it could potentially be commonplace…

It was dangerous, and it was something that would’ve been a terrible idea without the presence of all the other Grand Dragon Elders, but thankfully they were here with me. And it served to assure me of my potential worries and focus solely on what I cared about, which was leveling up.

I knew that the Hero of Flames wasn’t the ending point, in fact it was far from it.

Which was why I had to grow stronger.

All in order to carve a place in this world and live without fear. I didn’t know if the corruption would eventually come for me, or the keeper of order, but the matter of fact was that my identity as a hero was a lot more troublesome than I had initially anticipated.

With that in mind, we rode on for hours until finally we reached the end of the desert, where a stone cliff laid that oversaw the ocean and below it there was a wide plateau of rocks. That’s where we landed.

“Alright, everyone follow after me.” The Dragon of Earth said as he headed towards a cave.

I said nothing, but the nervousness in the air from the dragons was palpable, even Malz seemed to be stiff. However nothing was said as we ventured deep into the underground chamber. There were twists and turns, numerous falls, but eventually we stood before a withered black door.

It was easily over thirty meters tall, engravings littered its surface, and yet with a quiet chant that I did not understand, the Dragon of Earth made all of its crevices light up. A moment later the door opened and I found myself staring at a dark abyss that seemed to almost… move, but at the entrance there were stone tiles.

I inadvertently gulped, unknowing of what I was filling. “This is…”

“It’s one of the many entrances to the Forgotten Places,” the Dragon of Earth said. “And your destination.”

I nodded as I took a step forward towards the writhing darkness. It was… unsettling.

“Be careful Arc.”

I heard Malz voice, followed by the same worry by Regis’karr as I took another step forward and at that moment, danger blared, a screech resounded and I was hit⁠—

In a single moment I was thrown out of the darkness and collided against the stone wall of the chamber with an explosion of rubble, I broke out into a bloodied fit of coughs as a shivering screech resounded. I heard the door close shut, and yet the danger remained⁠— the dragons immediately attacked as I barely managed to open my eyes, and at that moment I saw it.

A broken being, one that I instinctively understood we stood no chance against.

[̴C̶h̷i̸m̷e̴r̵a̴ ̴o̷f̵ ̴t̷h̶e̸ ̵E̴r̵_̷o̶_̶.̵ ̴T̴i̴e̶r̸:̵ ̴_̶_̶]̷