Health Points: 20/240
Mana: 130
Alex blinked at the amount of HP he had remaining. Twenty. If Alara hadn't come along he definitely would have perished in that battle.
His mana being this low was probably because of the use of two of his skills, which meant that he would have to be a bit more careful about how and when he used his skills in the future.
He activated the [Mending] skill and his hands started to glow a bright green. He didn't have to know the ins and outs of magic to feel the pure life that radiated between his palms.
Bringing his hands to the side that had taken the hit from the half-troll, the spell went to work. Immediately, he felt better; still not a hundred percent, but it no longer hurt to breathe. He was sure to have one hell of a bruise though.
Health Points: 35/240
Mana: 100
So healing just fifteen of his HP would take thirty of his mana? That was good to know, especially because the skill hadn't come with a specified mana cost. It was odd that most of his activatable skills didn't have a cost in their description, but still took mana. Definitely something to figure out later.
Another blinking notification drew his attention as he started to heal himself. He was surprised to find that he had unlocked a new skill. It had been a while since he had gained any that he had completely forgotten it was possible to unlock skills naturally, it was just incredibly hard to do so. It would be a useful ability, especially if he needed an extra burst of speed at a moment's notice.
[Dash: (F-Rank)(Active) Imbues the user with increased speed for a 5 second period. Can be activated a second time to extend the duration at the cost of more mana.]
It was strange that this skill also didn't come with a mana cost, or explain how much mana it would take to extend the duration. Maybe that was something that would come with more usage of the skill? He had no way of figuring out at the moment, so he just filed the thought away for later.
Health Points: 80/240
Mana: 10
Out of mana, feeling a lot better than he had previously, and with a new skill in his arsenal, Alex dismissed the menus and took in his surroundings. He was standing just outside the mouth of a cave entrance. Two silver doors covered in symbols and runes had been blown off their hinges and were scattered haphazardly just inside the cave, meaning that whoever wanted into this vault came prepared.
Even standing where he was, Alex could feel an intense pressure coming from inside the cave. Yep, this was definitely the treasure vault. Why Dragnar thought he could handle this was beyond him. The goliath had seemed to barely tolerate Alex before the battle started, so why would he trust him with something as important as protecting the treasure vault? Surely, any one of the others were better suited to the task.
Alex shook his head, the reasoning didn't matter. What did matter is that he was here and he had a job to do. A job? Since when had he started to care about this whole mess? He didn't want to be in this situation, so then why did he feel like he was responsible for helping?
This whole shitty thing had only happened to him because the stupid pod had glitched out and brought him here instead of Vorcast. He shouldn't care about the outcome of the battle. He shouldn't care what happened to any of the other party members. He shouldn't care about whatever is in this vault. But he did. All he could do was sigh loudly and enter the cave.
***
"Are you sure it's here?" One of Ishrak's underlings, Samuel, posed the idiotic question aloud as it dug through the pile of shiny relics and treasures. Grumbling to himself, and contemplating why he had brought the damn imp along, Ishrak tapped his foot impatiently on the ground.
"Of course I'm sure it's here. Do you think I would have gone through all the trouble of starting up a raid if I didn't?" His scathing tone and dismissive attitude told the imp all it needed to know and to shut up. Samuel just nodded its head along in acquiescence and continued to dig through the pile.
Truth be told, Ishrak was starting to doubt the reports he had gotten. When he had first learned about the treasure vault containing Arburnok's seal he had nearly started a raid right then and there.
The elders had cautioned against being so brash and warned the young Daemon noble to tread with caution.
Being the elders, Ishrak had no choice but to accept their words and delay his raid for an extra year. So what if he slit their throats in their sleep later that day for daring to give such stupid advice?
He didn't have time for idiots, and the only reason Samuel was still alive after asking the same question five times in a row was because he didn't want to risk touching any of these relics himself.
Who knew what they were capable of? These relics were locked behind sealed doors for a reason. It was a shame runes and magic symbols stood no chance against dwarven ingenuity… and explosions. "Would you hurry it up? The realm's defenders will know we have breached the vault by now."
Even as he spoke it aloud, he picked up on the faintest of mana traces. A human? They would dare to send a human to stop him?! It was almost laughable, if it wasn't so perfect. This human would lead them to the seal…
***
The cave went on for what seemed like an eternity to Alex. He felt like he had been walking for hours already, but just as he was about to give up and turn around he heard the sound of something clattering on the ground. Renewed with a wave of energy, he ran forward towards the sound.
The rocky interior of the cave gave way to marble flooring as Alex came upon the treasure vault. A massive circular room expanded before him with pillars of bronze supporting the roof of the cave and keeping it from collapsing.
For as far as he could see, piles of shiny objects and relics littered the floor. So this was the source of the intense pressure?
No, now that he was closer he could tell it was coming from one object specifically, Alex just couldn't tell which object that was. The other thing that worried him was the suspicious lack of intruders. Maybe they had already gotten what they came for? Even so, Alex wasn't one to just half-ass something. He would make sure nobody was here.
Keeping his head on a swivel and the [Blades of Beruviel] firmly in his grip, Alex walked into the chamber. He didn't need to get close to any of these objects to tell that they were artifacts of power. Like that mirror over there, the chest full of dark-tipped arrows over there and that… Nope, that was just a normal coin.
Focusing on the task at hand, Alex walked through the room, weaving his way from treasure pile to treasure pile. He definitely hadn't imagined the noise earlier, so where were the-
Alex tripped over a small silver box that had avoided his notice and as he righted himself he froze. There. That was the source of the pressure he had felt. This small little box exuded an aura that went far beyond anything he had felt before.
It almost felt like he was standing in the presence of a god again, but it was different somehow. Heavier. Angrier. Even inside of the box Alex could feel how wrong it was.
Why would they lock something like this up? Why not just destroy it? Why was he reaching out for it? Why was he opening the lid? Why couldn't he stop himself?
The silver box dropped to the ground with a thud. In his hand, Alex held a small cylindrical blood-red crystal. In the back of his mind, he knew that this was what the intruders were after, but he just couldn't help himself from examining it.
Strange runic symbols had been carved into the crystal and the more that Alex stared at this thing, the more he knew he should put it back into the box.
That singular thought was what allowed him to tear his gaze away from it and he quickly grabbed the silver box he had pulled it from. This thing was dangerous, whatever it was.
Just as he set the crystal back into the box a sharp pain caused him to drop it to the floor and the crystal tumbled into the open. Why had his left leg suddenly gone numb? Surely it couldn't be the metal blade piercing it, right?
Unable to keep himself upright with a blade sticking right through his calf, Alex fell to the floor. Standing over him and picking up the crystal was a red-skinned being that reminded him a lot of Yvesse. How could she possibly be here? No, this wasn't her. Alex blinked the tears welling up away and took in this stranger.
Curved ashen colored horns, pointed ears with metal studs acting as earrings, nails that had been filed into sharpened points and a distinct lack of concern for the human who had a sword sticking through his leg was Alex's first impression of the being who now admired the crystal with an expression that bordered on obsession.
The regally robed figure's smile was as wide as could be, showcasing sharp fang-like teeth, as they then looked at him with orange orbs for eyes that made Alex feel like he was staring into Hell itself.
"Svalk yn tor aka, vane ek lora." The stranger's voice was deep and pleasant sounding, even if Alex didn't understand what they were saying.
A fresh wave of pain washed over him as the blade was withdrawn from his leg and Alex couldn't help the cry of anguish that escaped him. What he was feeling now was a thousand times worse than the pain he suffered when he had been beaten in his previous life. No amount of broken bones could measure to the pure suffering just his leg was going through.
The pain was almost intolerable, it was as if his whole leg had been engulfed in flames. In a sense, it was. The sword that had been stabbed through his calf was enchanted with Hellfire, and would cause an unimaginable amount of pain to anyone who suffered its sting. It would continue to engulf Alex until his whole body was covered in the invisible flame and he would be burnt down to nothing. Not even his soul would remain.
He was doing all he could to just stay awake as pure panic started to set in. Surely Dragnar was right behind him and would cleave this person in two with his battle-axe. Surely Alara would appear out of nowhere and stick an arrow in this thing's head. Surely someone… Anyone would come and save him.
"Ik dort ton nekka, lod seni miara." The stranger's whip-like tail, now carrying the sword covered in Alex's blood, pressed the blade to his throat. "Gen ak tora."
***
"Prepare to die, human." Ishrak finally had it. The Seal of Arburnok was his. He was surprised they had managed to seal the powerful Daemon in a crystal such as this, but perhaps the methods done to achieve a feat like that had been lost to time.
It mattered not. This raid was a success, and the clans would rejoice that he had recovered Arburnok. So much so that they would probably grant him the title of Duke.
He would have to kill all those he had brought along for the raid, but that wouldn't be too great a setback. There would always be those who yearned for the attention of Daemon nobility and he could easily replace those who perished.
He had already gotten rid of the most annoying pest, Samuel's body was somewhere, buried by treasure. It was a shame though that he would have to kill this human.
There was something about him that intrigued Ishrak. He could take him back as his "reward" for the raid, but the others would scoff and raise too many questions as to why he had brought back a mere human. Outside of being used for sacrificial rituals or used as playthings for their amusement, humans offered no real value for Daemon society.
Oh well, Ishrak mentally shrugged, he got what he had come for. He slashed his tail forward and slit the human's neck with the sword.