NOVEL WEB V1 Chapter 57: Prophecy
- 1st Person POV
-Present Time-
With certainty, I pressed ‘Yes’ and automatically shared it with Siegfried and he accepted.
Right at that instant though...
“A Prophecy!??” -Cardinals-
All Cardinals in a hurry clasped their hands in a prayer as they smoothly knelt. Showing that the gesture has been done for many years.
Soon the Saint of All began to speak, his voice was far different than the usual gentle tone. It’s more commanding and ever-present echoing within the meeting chamber.
“The North Star shines its light piercing through the land engulfed in darkness. Yet, In time the darkness will consume the light and with it, The Tyrant shall rise.” -Saint of All-
(“Uh... What?”)
My brain tried hard to compute what the Saint had said but it came up with nothing so I was left speechless only staring at the cutscene in front.
“By your words.” -Cardinals-
They are in sync as the light vanishes from The Saint’s eyes returning it to normal and his hair gently straightens as forces of gravity do its work.
His face grows pallor and a sheen of sweat glistens as he takes several breaths to compose himself.
“Ugh...Apologies, it always takes a lot out of me.” -Saint of All-
The assistant priests around him including the cardinals sprung into action as they assist him to rest on a particular chair with lavish decoration and filigrees to emphasize a person of authority sitting there.
After spending several seconds turning into minutes. Colours returned to the Saint’s face which he then spoke.
“Now where were we?” -Saint of All-
The Cardinals sat on their respective seats and began discussing the situation about the prophecy that had been foretold.
Like a big lore dump, I got an explanation regarding what is a ‘Chosen’.
In short, the Chosen is a being appointed by a Deity or Deities to enact their will in this material world. Blessed or in some cases cursed with powers corresponding to The Deity or Deities that chose them
Long ago in the Age of Myth, there was no such thing as chosen but after the Creator decided to banish Deities away from the material world. That is the only way for them to somewhat directly interact with the world. The Saint of All is chosen and I assumed would be from all the 6 deities that Saintear worshipped.
In short, the chosen this time would belong to what they call The Tyrant.
I and Siegfried followed suit listening to their discussion until their eyes landed upon us.
“The Deities knew that they will be the key figure as such I believe they should go there but...” -Saint of All-
He looked at us with worry and The Cardinals nodded together silently understanding the meaning.
One of the Cardinals, draped in what I recognize as God of Light’s symbol turned towards us and said.
“They need to be stronger within that harsh land, much stronger than they are now.” -Cardinal of Light-
As soon as he said that, a notification panel appeared before me and presumably Siegfried as well since I had shared the Quest.
-System-
You cannot progress The Unique Quest: Prophecy until you’ve experienced Rebirth.
-System-
“Ah...”
I see, then I need to reach LV100 to continue. I gave a silent nod to Siegfried and he reciprocated.
“Then we shall train ourselves to be up for the task. To whom we return when we have grown stronger?”
“A valid question, Light Father would you be up to the task?” -Saint of All-
“Certainly my liege.” -Cardinal of Light-
That person... how should I say this? He is an aged man with a neatly shaven white beard adorning his face and the same colour on his hair as well.
Judging by his arms and build, suffice to say he had undergone significant physical training though most of it is hidden by his Priestly robe.
Turning his head towards us, he then spoke.
“Once you have grown stronger, come find me and we shall discuss how to proceed. Ah! I see you already have the emblem. Then I shall give this one to you instead.” -Cardinal of Light-
He gave a glimmering orb to one of the priest attendants as they moved over to Siegfried and gave him that.
“That will allow you to gain free access to Saintear’s Basilica. Alert one of the priest attendants and they will guide you to my office.” -Cardinal of Light-
I looked at Siegfried as he looked at me. We both silently nod.
“Then we shall return after we’ve grown stronger. If you excuse us.”
The Cardinals nodded and on cue, the lavish door behind us was open as we left the Basilica.
--
“That was interesting...” -Siegfried-
“Yeah. I assume you got an emblem?”
Siegfried nods a few times confirming what I suspect from the glimmering orb.
“Well... Shall we grind then?”
“Sure! We needed to reach Rebirth after all.” -Siegfried-
Agreeing on that, we decided to grind in Saintear since we are here after all.
-Frozen Mountains (LV50-100)-
Saintear is a mountainous kingdom so it is not a surprise that the Area is riddled with high grounds adorned by snow-covered trees.
By wearing our winter gear, we stave off the bitter cold of this Area as we journeyed further climbing the mountains.
“There!”
I pointed in a direction and without wasting a single moment, Siegfried’s figure blurred as he leapt towards the patrolling monster.
“Come over here!” -Siegfried-
He grinned and bellowed with a sign of {Skill} activation causing the entirety of that monster group to focus their target towards Siegfried.
Those are wolves with fur white as snow and icicles as their claws.
After spending a few moments staring at them. Their {Status} bar is displayed at the corner of my view as usual with other monsters.
*GRRRRRRRRR* -Artic Wolf Henchmen-
*BARK!* -Artic Wolf Leader-
A loud bark came from the biggest of the pack as several wolves dashed at incredible speed towards Siegfried.
Then-
!!!?
*BOOOM*
Around me, piles of snow burst revealing 3 more of those wolves.
(“Well, I certainly didn’t expect they hide within the snow.”)
“MAG!?” -Siegfried-
He yelled a bit busy dealing with the group of wolves on his own.
*GRRRRR* -Artic Wolf Henchmen-
“I’ll be okay!”
I shouted back as these wolves closed in on me. Taking a glance at a spot behind those wolves, I simply cast a {Spell}.
“[Warp]”
The cast bar appeared in a split second as the magic happened. With a snap of a finger, my view changes from seeing the fearsome icicle fangs of wolves to their snowy white tail indicating that I just teleported behind them.
Raising my left hand subsequently I cast.
“[Lightning Wave]”
Though this one takes longer to cast allowing the wolves to realize where their target is though it’s already too late.
*BZZZT* *BZZZT* *BLAAARRR*
The air crackles with electricity, and soon after blast of thunder and lightning occupies my view accompanied by the sounds of wolves whining.
Certainly, I can see a big difference in terms of size compared to when I was low LV and low Tier in {Spell}. These ‘Wave’ {Spell} when upcasted increase in AoE and I hope in damage as well.
As the visual effect of the {Spell} faded...
*KAING* *KAING* -Artic Wolves Henchment-
Crackling sparks occasionally jolted around the body of those wolves pulling their muscle and fur taut preventing them from moving. It seems the side-effect [Paralyze] has settled in.
Taking that chance, I began to cast a follow-up {Spell}.
“[Thunder]”
*RUMBLE* *RUMBLE* *BLAAARRR*
As the cast bar finished, the magic visual effects began. Flashes of light and sparking electricity occurred engulfing the wolves eliminating them in one fell swoop. Leaving behind glimmering orbs in their wake.
“Fiuf... That’s dealt with and-“
I twist my head to check up on Siegfried, he stands surrounded by glimmering orbs. His hands are malformed in short, they look bulky as if he used his ‘Blunt’ morph but there is an addition to it.
The bones appearing from those bulging flesh are covered in icicles which made me think about the arctic wolves. I think he [Consume] them to gain their {Skill}. But he did all of this so quickly...
“That was quick...”
My steps were quietened due to the snow as I approached Siegfried. His head twitches noticing my presence as he turns.
“They are pretty low LVs only the Leader is the same LV as us. We better look for higher LV mobs.” -Siegfried-
He crouches and gathers those glimmering orbs as I do the same.
“Yeah... If I remember correctly, at the cavernous system of these mountains. Where Crystal Golems are lurking… In the handbook, they’re LV80ish. Shall we?”
I pointed my finger to one of the cavern openings.
“Hell yeah~” -Siegfried-
He walked right into the mouth of the cave with spring in his footsteps as I followed behind.
-Frozen Mountain ‘Icy Caverns’-
*Drip* *Drip* *WHOOPSH*
I can hear winds howling in the distance accompanied by water that drops from the icicles as we explore the cave.
From one opening, it branches to myriad of ways with my [Light] gives some vision.
The cave walls echoed our footsteps but also we can hear players shouting their {Skill}, {Spell}, and their signs of battle as well.
--
“Fuck, this place is already taken.” -Siegfried-
He grumbled seeing players tackling several ice golems in one of the cave openings.
“Chill, hehe. We’re going to find a spot sooner or later.”
I chuckled from my joke as I heard Siegfried withheld a snort of his own.
--
(“Ouh? This might be a good place. But why is it empty?”)
We arrived at a vast empty opening adorned by countless icicles and their reflective surface glistened due to my [Light].
“Hmmm... where’s the golems?”
Scouting around I didn’t see the ‘characteristic’ structure of a golem. Rather...
*HAAAAAAAAAHHHH...* -Wendigo-
Something exhaled as a shadow moved in the background. Looming like a dangerous predator I can finally see its form.
No... It is not an ice golem.
Standing with a height of 7 to 8 metres towering over me and Siegfried. This humanoid creature looked extremely unsettling as if it had not eaten any food for days. I can see the rib bone display so openly and its face...
Although it is humanoid, I only see it as its body structure. Instead of a human head, this creature has a deer skull for its head. The deer skull has bits and pieces of gore adorning the mouth. In exchange of eyes, it has an eerie glowing orb moving around emitting a blue gas.
Arms longer than standard proportion with slender fingers and pointy claws.
“FOOOOOOOOD!!!” -Wendigo-
It growls and I can smell a sharp scent akin to blood wafting to my nose as it crawls on all fours looking at us.
Just in time, a {Status} bar appeared revealing its name.
(“I see... it’s a Wendigo and it’s around LV90... Can we defeat it? It explains why this cave is empty.”)
Before I can suggest running away though, I see a silhouette of a grin adorning Siegfried’s face.
Knowing that I simply sighed in acceptance and held my staff tight in preparation for an incoming battle.
“[Star Fragment]”
Several crystalline fragments formed on top of my palm as I ‘internally’ commanded it to hover just above my head. I have a plan in mind...
Without even communicating, Siegfried already played his role as a Vanguard. He utilised his taunting {Skill} to gain Wendigo’s attention as it uncannily turned its head to him making a ‘Cracking’ noise.
(“If I remember correctly, each [Star Fragment] functions as mini-me although they are counted as separate entities differing from me. Which means...”)
With a little bit of focus, I commanded [Star Fragment] A to cast [Double: Refresh] as the crystal glows in golden light signifying it is casting a Light {Spell} and a cast bar appeared.
While the other two are casting [Physical Boost] and [Magic Boost] respectively towards Siegfried and me.
Prepared enough, Siegfried unleashed a warcry as we started the battle!