Chương 4: -4- Consecrated In Blood

Calder—Tomb Of The Kings Calder's hand continued trailing along the icy wall as he fought to keep his breath calm in the darkness. His form crossed into Dectus's as they hurried toward the faint light of the intersection ahead. Every time they passed through each other, a deep spiritual cold seeped into Calder like his soul had been dipped in ice.

He let Dectus reach the corner first and then pressed himself into the same space as they both peered around the edge towards the sound of quiet talking and the faint whisper of a torch struggling against the biting cold. One figure wrapped in a thick grey and white cloak was riffling through the contents of a sarcophagus. In his right hand he held a staff of intertwining black bone with a core of what seemed like pure blue light coursing through it and spilling slightly from the top like a mist.

Just beneath his cloak, Calder could see the edges of a fine red wizard's robe trimmed in coppery silks. What drew Calder's eye in terror and realization, though, were the things reaching from the man. Dark shadowy figures just beyond this realm extended from him like shadows of the torchlight. They had bare, ruined bodies covered in twitching mouths that seemed to lap at the death around them and thin, clawed hands. The number of them madly shifted along with the light from the torch. That…

that's one of the things that could prey on a soul… or a man… He's a Kalderan soul forger, isn't he… He looked at Dectus, and Dectus nodded sharply towards the next chamber, a disgusted look in his white eyes.

"Yes… yes, don't worry, Culbrian, we will find you some stray soul scraps in here somewhere; they kept up on the consecration, but no one is perfect, and there will be plenty below in the dungeon." The eerie figure cooed to the horrors winding around his body and then reached out and stroked one lovingly. It let out a moaning rasp that Calder felt like he shouldn't have been able to hear.

The figure abruptly turned and walked into the chamber Calder had been consecrating earlier; there was already one other inside also rifling through sarcophagi roughly. Calder winced at the disrespect to the dead and the hundreds of hours he had spent keeping Gundrim's final resting place pristine. The brute had even leaned a wicked-looking halberd against the mural, and Calder could see the scraped paint where it had slid slightly.

"Rendar, anything of value? A drop of king's blood or at least a magical heirloom?" The mage said softly as his horrid companions coiled around him.

"Nothing, and I still haven't found the supposed passage into the dungeon, not even a hint of it." Rendar's brutish voice whispered back.

"Something is odd about this place; I have never been to a burial ground with so few spirits. The only one we have seen is that pittance of a soul Culbrian devoured on the way inside." The mage said thoughtfully.

"You could let your pet go hunting; maybe it can find the damn hidden door, or at least something beyond stone and bone for us." Rendar said dismissively, breaking an arm from Gundrim's skeleton with a dry snap before simply tossing the body out to search under it. That was the final straw for Dectus; he gestured severely with his sword towards the room. Calder took a deep breath and appraised the situation for a moment. He didn't have an identify skill so he had no idea what level these men were.

Thankfully, if they were high-level, they probably wouldn't have even bothered to sneak in. Calder was willing to bet a single skilled second-tier warrior could kill his way through the entire town as long as he didn't have to fight everyone at once. Warriors past the hundredth level that had managed to beat the trial for advancement were always considered elite and, honestly, probably unmanageable for most small towns. Alright… based on what I'm hearing and seeing.

And unfortunately some stories from the front about the creepy bastard with the... undead... eldritch? soul thing dripping off of him is a soul forger or wizard of some kind. And if he is anything like the others, that thing can and absolutely will kill me, and I can't do a damn thing about it without magic, or at least a magic weapon. Calder's eyes roamed over his solid but simple weapon briefly. Yeah, no hidden enchantments are going to magically sprout from this thing.

The only magic we regularly have around here is the… consecration… paint… Calder stared back into the room at the still untouched fine clay pot nestled right between the two enemies against the currently being looted sarcophagus. Well, shit... now I wish I had actually put it away like I was supposed to. Dectus was officially over waiting for Calder, mistaking his planning for cowardice. With a silent scoff, he stalked through Calder and straight towards the room.

If Dectus can distract them, maybe I can dip my sword in the very expensive, holy, nearly irreplaceable magic paint and hope that actually makes my sword count as magic for fighting a soul-eating monster and its owner. Dectus strode forward with purpose right through Rendar and towards the mage just as he turned. The mage's eyes went wide, and he scampered back a few steps, an evil smile on his face.

"Why don't you look fierce? How did I miss you before…? You practically radiate power compared to most." Calder's eyes widened at the confirmation. He can see Dectus just like I can. Rendar looked over in confusion.

"Vin, what the hell are you mumbling about?" Vin glanced towards his companion and waved his hands in an intricate pattern once, then again, both times ethereal drips of oil like mana pouring from his spell. The first fell upon Rendar's eyes, leaving them with a white haze. The next settled over his weapon, giving the halberd against the wall a malevolent shimmer. Rendar's gaze immediately locked onto Dectus with a startled expression.

Rendar rushed up towards his halberd, snatching it and taking a ready stance on the other side of Dectus.

"How the fuck did you miss this guy? He looks meaner than fuck." Rendar said before taking a probing stab towards Dectus. Dectus barely even moved; a single step away from Rendar and a violent slap with the flat of his blade sent the halberd nearly from Rendar's hands. His eyes went wide, and he took a step back, getting out of the imposing ghost's reach.

"Oh, calm yourself; he can't actually harm you. Your halberd is just enchanted; just don't let him actually kill you with your own weapon. Now Culbrian here… could use some practice… help him." The awful being oozed from the back of Vin and crawled onto the ground, the form twisting and bending until it stood like a horrifically stretched man with both of its clawed arms dripping into long blades that jutted straight from exposed bone.

The nightmarish entity faces Dectus hungrily, and he raised his sword slightly in front of his face, bending his knees expertly, priming to respond to whatever the abomination tried. Calder took the tense situation as his cue; he did his best to scuttle silently into the chamber and nearly crawled across the floor towards the sarcophagus while everyone was focused on the two specters. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Calder's heavy hand fell a bit too solidly onto the edge of the sarcophagus as he reached towards the paint jar with his other hand. Rendar's head snapped over to him and widened in surprise. Calder stood all the way up and looked down at the warrior with a resolved expression. Rendar went from surprised to unabashed fear.

"What the fuck, uh, Vin? Fuck the ghost; help me with this scary fucker. Gods, boy, did you eat the other yokels?" Rendar joked, regaining a measure of confidence when he realized Calder had no armor and just a battered sword in one hand a small paint-leaking jar in the other. Ha, ha, very funny. I really hope you're okay with your last words being a shitty joke I've heard at least three times before.

Calder slowly tipped the paint down the edge of his sword, starting at the hilt and letting the slightly glowing golden paint drip down from there. He locked eyes with Rendar while he did it, not giving in to the fear trying to creep its way into his thoughts. This piece of shit is destroying everything you have spent your life maintaining. Stay mad, Calder; if you're fucking mad, the fear won't win.

Rendar's cocky smile started fading when Calder didn't even respond, just staring him down while slowly preparing his blade. Then finally Calder took the last dregs of the paint and poured them across his knuckles, making sure to get as even a coating as he could. Vin looked at him with amused curiosity that changed into dawning realization, glancing from the paint to the enchanted lines on the walls. Back to how Calder had totally coated his blade in it. He immediately cast a hand out.

Oily mana gathered to him with each sharp gesture. All hell broke loose as everyone in the room broke into motion. Dectus moved with fluid aggression as the Abomination slashed at him with both arms. He stepped into the first blow, catching the blade on his vambrace; the second he angled away with an elegantly tilted parry. He slashed after the parried arm, carving a deep rent into the foul ethereal flesh. It leaked a dark, dirty substance—more shadow than blood.

Dectus settled into a volley of parries and sharp steps, slowly beginning to whittle down the creature. Calder flung himself forward under a bolt of sickly blue energy flung from Vin's hand. He crashed into Rendar roughly, the bolt missing him by a handbreadth. Where it passed over his skin, a painful wrongness crept across his senses. Like worms had just tried to climb into his flesh. Rendar recovered from his stumble and hefted the halberd, looking from Calder to Dectus.

He smiled unkindly and circled slightly so he had a clean shot at Dectus's back. Dectus was far too busy with the abomination to even see it. Calder looked at him in disbelief as he made a bit more room and wound up faking a slash towards Calder before whipping the halberd around to axe into the back of Dectus's neck. Calder was ready; the man's power and speed were impressive, but his feint had been terrible.

His sword swung in with bone-shattering force in a diagonal slash that drove the halberd straight into the stone hard enough to chip it slightly. He didn't have time to celebrate. Calder felt that creeping wrongness again and threw himself towards Rendar again, out of the way of the bolt. Rendar brought the haft up in a vicious jab that cracked something in Calder's side, but they both went down in a tangle of limbs. Roll you fuck, over the shoulder.

Calder surprised himself as he exited the tangle of metal and limbs by throwing his body over his shoulder and staggering straight to his feet, sword still in hand. He looked down at his opponent and faked a stab. The halberd swung awkwardly out to block. Calder stopped short and put all his weight into a stomp that landed squarely on Rendar's face. Bone crunched, and a choked gurgle escaped Rendar as mana gathered around him desperately. Calder roared and brought his foot down again.

This time it met a shimmering blue barrier. Calder looked up in surprise; Vin had a look of sheer concentration on his face as his oily mana poured into the barrier, saving Rendar for another moment. Rendar's skill activated, and he swung the halberd with impossible force. Calder was too close for the blade to hit him, but the haft folded him over and sent him sliding across the stone painfully.

Calder groaned as he pushed himself up; something important inside him had been ravaged by that hit, and the pain was immense. Dectus and the abomination were dancing back and forth across the floor soundlessly. Wild, wide slashes and snapping mouths chased after Dectus as he continued gliding around the creature. He ducked under a blast of vile magic from Vin before crashing his elbow into the creature's side and then interposing it between himself and the mage. You can move, you can fight. Get the fuck up.

Finish the smug asshole, help Dectus. The soul mage, or whatever the hell he is, is busy. Calder crawled forward, his sword clicking along the fine stonework that was smeared with blood. Drops of glimmering consecration paint mixed with blood. Rendar was a blubbering mess trying to pull himself off his knees as he squinted through smashed features; one of his eyes had simply burst.

"That piece of shit!" Rendar garbled out, getting a leg under himself. Calder got next to him before he could get the rest of the way to his feet; Rendar only managed to glance at the danger before the sword fell. Calder's first swing was wretched, pulled off horribly by broken bones stabbing him from inside. It fell low on Render's leg, nearly taking it off below the knee. Rendar fell back on his face with a scream.

Calder steadied himself and placed the sword tip on the back of Rendar's neck and pushed with all his weight, letting it sink through flesh and bone down to the stone. Rendar fought still for a handful of heartbeats, grabbing at Calder's legs before finally going still. Calder wrenched his sword free and marched slowly towards Vin. The man was still flinging bolts of miasmic light at Dectus every chance he got.

One finally found purchase sailing into the ghost's leg and blowing part of his thigh apart like a strong gust through a fog bank. Dectus faltered, and the abomination got its first clean blow in. The blade sank into Dectus all the way through his arm as he shouted in soundless pain straight into the beast's face. His sword was dropped as he caught the next stabbing blow with his hand.

They wrestled silently back and forth for a moment, Dectus sending knees into the creature's wretched torso over and over to little avail. Calder Reached Vin at the same time as the mage saw the looming shadow from the sconce light cover him like the shawl of death. Calder grabbed him by the shoulder and jammed the blade through his back. He set his feet and pulled up with what little strength he had left, carving the blade up and wrenching it through bone with a final vicious jerk.

Calder looked to Dectus, a smile on his blood-soaked face that died a stillborn death. Dectus was still locked in battle with the abomination; killing the mage hadn't done a damn thing to get rid of it. With a resigned sigh, Calder took a ready stance and shuffled into the fight. He nearly died immediately as the creature wrenched its blade from Dectus and whirled away, flinging a slice at Calder as it did. He managed to stop most of the force with a hurried block, but it still chopped into his arm.

Where the blade cut, a cold seeped into his bones. He could feel an invasive presence, like something had just been stolen from deep within himself. To his horror, the creature's myriad of cuts visibly sealed.

"Oh, that's bullshit," Calder growled out and stepped next to Dectus. Dectus looked at him appraisingly and gave him a single nod, his emotions unreadable. Calder waited and watched; he was hurt, but he could still fight. Whatever the creature had done to him had stopped as soon as the blade left his flesh, and the consecrated paint was doing its job; it was enough that his blade could interact with the specter. Dectus reached out a hand, tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention.

The sudden chill startled him into looking over. Dectus had one foot forward and his sword angled back for a charge. Dectus began counting down with his fingers. Three, two, one. They both exploded. Forwards towards the abomination, mirror images of the other swords held the same. While one was all perfection and exacting angles, the other was a struggling mass of blood and muscle merely mimicking the perfection he strove towards.

Dectus hit first, his blow spinning in past the abomination's guard and severing an arm. Calder was right behind him, roughly batting aside the other arm and hacking down into it. Dectus pulled his blade down and thrust in one clean motion, skewering the creature. Calder hacked into the arm again and pivoted his blade tight before thrusting it roughly at the creature's chest. The monster caught Calder's blade with a soundless hiss, stopping it short.

Calder let it have the blade; his now empty hand coated in paint slammed into the face over and over while he hugged its still dangerous arm tight under his arm. Dectus swung up sharply, and the thing's head spiraled off into the tomb. The creature dissolved into mist in Calder's hands. A heavy, sickly blue smoke that sizzled when it crossed near the consecrated enchantment. Calder staggered as essence from his kill flooded into him. Sheer untapped potential to be used when he accepted a class.

[Vin Hur Tier-1](Lvl 18) [Soul Binder] Slain [Rendar Lorn Tier-1](lvl 13) [Crashing Warrior] Slain [Chimeric Soul Hunter Tier-1] (Level 19) Slain Essence Gained [New Classes Granted] The last thing he saw before he let himself sink against the stone wall of the tomb was an approving look upon Lord Dectus's normally stoic features.