Chapter - 11 Beneath Ashveil
Seris, who destroyed Ashveil Borderlands before the main story began, later became the mid-boss of this novel world.
Lucien's first aim was to find her before she killed someone.
Lucien landed on the corner of a house because there were many people in the center.
He took every step carefully because Lucien didn't know anything about this place. The author of this novel world had never shown detailed information about it.
While searching for her, Lucien didn't find any clues.
Lucien knew Seris must be in a basement prison. Then Lucien saw a large house. This house was much bigger than the others.
Lucien stepped in through a window. There was no one inside. He looked around.
A Few Minutes Later
He still didn't find anything, so he went to the first floor.
While searching, he reached an office-type room. He went inside.
There were many chests in the room. He opened them.
Lucien saw many gold and silver coins inside.
"I will take these coins with me when I leave this place," Lucien thought inwardly.
Lucien thought this because his main goal was to find her, not money right now.
While searching further, he found a ladder in the room. Lucien looked around and then went down.
Lucien started to smell blood.
"This must be the basement," said Lucien.
Then he saw a door and opened it. Lucien saw many prison rooms.
He went inside and saw elves, humans, and many other monsters captured there.
The smell of blood in this place was very strong.
Lucien could see the dead eyes of elves and humans.
Those eyes had no hope. By looking at them, Lucien understood they were all waiting for their deaths.
While going deeper inside, he saw another door. This time, he heard human voices.
"Hey, you know our two members went missing while they were chasing a girl," said one person.
"Where did they go for that mission?" another replied.
"Solaris Holy Empire."
"Hey, it's been two years. They went missing and we found no trace of them."
"Well, whatever. Even if they were killed by someone, I don't care."
Another replied, "Well, I heard from others that those people were killed by the boss. "
"Really?" the other said.
Lucien listened to the conversation. While listening, he used sense magic to check how many people were inside the next room.
"Two people."
He took a long breath.
Before entering, he covered his face.
"Let's go," he said.
Lucien opened the door and saw two people sitting on chairs.
They noticed Lucien and quickly grabbed their swords.
"Hey kid, how did you reach this place?" one of them said. He swung his sword.
Lucien dodged the attack and punched the man in the stomach with his right hand. He fell to the ground.
"One down, and you—"
Another bandit cut Lucien off. "Do you think you can escape by doing this? Hey kid, surrender yourself now or you are going to die."
Lucien said nothing and stepped forward.
A Few Minutes Later
"Two down," said Lucien.
After looking around, he saw one prison room in this basement area.
But this room was much bigger.
Then he looked inside and saw her.
Seris Fadehart.
Her lilac hair hung loose and messy.
Her violet eyes looked tired and dull, with dark shadows under them.
She looked pale and weak, her clothes hanging loosely on her thin body.
Lucien took a long breath.
"Hey, are you okay?" said Lucien.
She didn't say anything. She wasn't even looking at him.
Lucien picked up a sword from the ground and used Aura to break the lock of the prison room
"What are… you doing?" Seris asked in a weak voice.
"Nothing. Just—you're coming with me," Lucien replied.
"What?" said Seris.
Seris looked at Lucien and saw a white-haired, blue-eyed boy around her age.
After breaking her chains, Lucien gave her food that he had taken from the upper floor.
Seris was confused, but she took the food.
"Can I really eat this?" Seris asked.
"Yes," Lucien replied with a warm smile.
Seris quickly started eating.
Lucien gently patted her head.
"You can eat slowly. No one is going to take the food from you," said Lucien.
After hearing this, tears started to fall from Seris's eyes.
"Thank you," Seris said in a low voice.
It had been many years since she last heard those words.
Lucien realized he hadn't introduced himself yet.
"Well, my name is Lucien."
Seris looked at him and replied, "Seris Fadehart… my name."
A Few Minutes Later
When Seris finished eating, Lucien asked,
"Do you want to escape this place?"
Seris looked at Lucien with wide eyes. Lucien understood she was afraid to escape.
After all, she had been imprisoned since she was four years old and beaten every day.
"No one is going to harm you as long as I am here, so don't worry about anything," Lucien continued.
"If you want to come with me, then grab my hand."
Seris didn't say anything at first.
A Few Minutes Later
"If you are okay with this, then…" Seris said softly, and she grabbed Lucien's hand.
After grabbing her hand, Lucien smiled.
"Let's go."
After leaving the prison room, Seris stopped Lucien. She pointed toward the imprisoned humans and elves.
"Those people… please help them," Seris said.
Lucien said nothing, but inwardly thought,
"I also want to help them, but taking them all out is nearly impossible and I already fell into their trap."
"When I entered this house, I found no one inside the leader's house. That clue was enough—it was a trap."
Lucien could sense that the house was surrounded by many bandits and a strong Aura user.
"He must be the leader," Lucien thought.
Lucien asked, "Can you break the prison gates?"
Seris replied, "If I had more mana, then I could break them."
"Then I will share my mana with you," said Lucien.
Seris replied in shock, "Can you really do that?"
Lucien thought inwardly,
"I've never done this before, but I know the process."
Lucien hesitated for a moment.
He placed his hand on Seris's shoulder and carefully slowed his breathing.
Unsure, he gently tried to synchronize his mana with hers. At first, it felt unstable—but then their mana began to align.
Taking a breath, Lucien opened a small mana conduit, letting only a thin stream flow into her body.
A weak magic circle flickered beneath Seris, forming on instinct rather than practice.
Lucien frowned and focused harder, guiding the mana toward her core, afraid of using too much.
Slowly, she began to feel the mana in her body.
"It worked," Lucien thought inwardly.
Seris took time to convert Lucien's mana into her own.
Seris took a long breath.
"Now I can break the gates and chains."
"When you are done, take everyone outside this basement," said Lucien.
"Okay," Seris replied.
When Lucien was leaving, Seris thought inwardly,
"He isn't a normal kid."
She thought this because when Lucien shared his mana with her, she felt a massive amount of mana.
Seris didn't know whether her decision was good or bad.
Lucien exited the house through the window and saw many bandits holding swords.
When he stepped outside, the sun was setting and the moon was rising in the sky.
He held the sword he had picked up earlier.
Then Lucien smiled.
"Let's start the party."
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END OF CHAPTER 11
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