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Last Thread: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/4179141/

Archive: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Black+Clover
> Please vote if you feel like it.

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/raw/BNVnE8wg

Thread theme:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM52nMYbmks [Dream On]

>Please consider leaving a comment with your prompt selection!

You push your silver-white magic into the sequin crystals clinging to the tendrils. As you continue to run forwards, you quickly form a magical bond with the crystalline beads – together with your exhaled breathe, you force the magic of the flesh to crumble and fall into your shiny flecks of moonstone. You notice Cryz glance over to you just briefly as he continues to do the same – albeit much slower. You are happy – your spells are casted separately...

You spend 17 mana.
Mana [114/165]

You have restored 17 mana.
Mana [131/165]

Cryz have restored 11 mana.
Mana [128/165]

Cryz spend 14 mana.
Mana [117/165]

The two tissue stems begin to wither and then crack and collapse under the massive organic weight of the membrane sacks. As you continue to jump over the massive cracks and try to find your balance on the unsteady ground, a glimmering cloud of your magic escapes the rotten fleshy remains of the two weeds to follow and then flow inside of you; you waste no time. Your hand is painfully yanked by Cryz as his legs slip to fall into the chasm.

His gaze says ‘Stop staring’ – he quickly stands up and drags you further to the other side of fleshly overgrown chamber. Your eyes dart back and forward – there are more than ten of those tentacles – with a flowing orb of egg sacks – still present in here; most of them are aware of your presence now and are all bending in unnatural way to cover you in disgusting mucus. Cryz pulls you back when he notices one of those orbs flying towards you...

He pulls left – you pull right. A comedic mistake, really, but it’s not funny. The fleshly casing of the mutated yellowish blotch burst right in your face; yet another greasy and sick wave of all manners of disgusting germs, illnesses and dead fluid covers you head to toes. You cover your eyes, but a horrible, almost cacophonic crack and then a hiss makes you open them in fear. You can’t see anything; you rub your eyes only to feel a horrible pain...

Cryz does not even bother to check on you – he is covered in the liquid as well, but less so than you. Almost selfishly, he continues to drag you behind, you fall on your knees to scratch them into blood only to force yourself to stand up. The blurry figure of Cryz shouts something at you, but you are unable to hear what is it he wants...

Then, in the middle of your charge – as you get even closer to where the door to the other room is suppose to be, another of those fetid spheres crashed on top of Cryz and another explosion of pus-like liquid covers you both... You try not to cry; if Fezar is trying to humiliate you, he is doing it rather well. Another sting makes you stop as you continue to stumble onwards. You soon realize that dozens of snakes, like leeches, have now bitten into and are now clinging to your exposed bodies. They dangle and quietly screech, continuously pushing venom into you.

You gained an affliction: [Mutated Hamsin Snake Venom]

> The next tangible damage to your HP will also additionally damage you for the amount of reserved damage you have acquired because of the venom. The abeyance damage will continue to grow by -1HP every turn/update until it reaches your HP maximum despite how much current HP you have. Removing the Mutated Hamsin Snakes by force will cause -1HP damage as well as the reserved damage. The snakes are natural and not creatures of magic.

Health [5/5] [-1HP Pending Damage]

Cryz is covered in them as well and they are likely causing him just as much pain. Practically blind and rushing away from the other catapulting stems, both you and Cryz fail to spot the end of the chamber. You smash your back and Cryz smashes his shoulder into the walls of flesh; you just barely avoid getting trapped inside of it now.

It’s hard to see but you are more than certain a few more of those cysts of bile are flying towards you.

> Please roll 1d100 – best of three – to avoid the attack.

> Use Sequin Magic to drain the magic of Fezar’s flesh covering the exit.
> Rip off the hanging snakes before the venom becomes worse, trust Cryz to take care of the wall.
> Ask Cryz to take care of Fezar’s magic as you attempt to drain one of the orb flying towards you with your magic.
> [Write In]

Rolled 75 (1d100)

>>4215181
> Rip off the hanging snakes before the venom becomes worse, trust Cryz to take care of the wall.

Rolled 91 (1d100)

>>4215181
>Rip off the hanging snakes before the venom becomes worse, trust Cryz to take care of the wall.

>>4215181
> Rip off the hanging snakes before the venom becomes worse, trust Cryz to take care of the wall.

Rolled 65 (1d100)

>>4215340

Pushing your shoulder harshly against the wall, you grab the sleazy body of one of the toxic looking, lemon-hued snakes – its skin covered in mutated spots - tightly in your hand. You ignore your revulsion as you stiffen your grip and pull – the grooved fangs force you to pull and twist the disfigured lizard. The finger-sized reptile clings like a leech; it takes a lot of effort to finally rip off just one of them. Cryz looks at you and attempts to do the same...

Damn it, this is going a while; the time you don’t have. You finally sense/notice another sack flying in your direction. There is not enough time to argue and pull the Diamond Kingdom’s mercenary; you are forced – or so you tell yourself – to grab the man into a tight hug and jump away from the place of the landing. The membrane orb explodes in a fountain of ashen-yellow grease. Because you are already completely drenched in the liquid, you can’t really say for certain if this new explosion made it worse. You raise your hand to call forth the Sequin Magic.

The silver cloud manifests a hail of ivory-hued sparkling trimmings to cover and envelop the newly hatched snakes. Cryz breaks the hug; he pushes you and himself back to the wall before cleaning his mouth to breathe.

The man decides against speaking, he twists his palm and summons his own burst of clandestine magic. Quickly, the sequins form a thick, shimmering layer not too far from where you find yourself. Grunting and grumbling, the man attempts to ignore the pain as he begins to drain Fezar’s mana into the crystalline shards of his summoning...

Cryz spend 25 mana.
Mana [103/165]

Cryz have restored 33 mana.
Mana [136/165]

There is a silent contract between you now: with his back turned, Cryz trust you to keep track of the rest of the tadpole stems, and so you do. However, the pain caused by the leech-sized snakes it not helping; one by one you continue to rip off and squash the snakes in your hand – together with their venom. The pain eventually becomes so insufferable you begin to feel yourself losing conscious. You painfully slap yourself across your face to wake up.

You have removed an affliction: [Mutated Hamsin Snake Venom]
You lost 2 health.
Health [3/5]

You narrow your eyes – you soon realize that several more orbs are now flying towards you. Fezar’s Flesh Magic slowly – extremely slowly – withers and crumbles off the wall to reveal a pathway further. You don’t have time to warn Cryz – you simply push his back into the tunnel before the exit is able to grow further. There are stairs, and so the two of you end up painfully rolling upwards. Cryz groans as he picks you up by your elbow and stands up.

“I am picking the next room,” Cryz tells-states as a matter of fact, you answer him with silence. There are several massive explosions in the chamber you were just in. Fezar’s flesh magic soon shrinks and consumes the entrance.

Cryz collapses after ascending few more stairs – the corridor is tight and dark, with only his glowing fangs to light it. Timidly, you manifest about a dozen of glowing sequins to light up the hallway. Cryz is looking worse than you.

“We need to remove those snakes before it’s too late,” you mutter quietly yet compassionately.

Cryz harrumphs at you. He, however, nods soon after. He grabs one of the squirming snakes clinging to his elbow before ripping it off. He crushes the snake like a worm, its innards trickling down his palm. You shake your head as you silently squeeze your knees to approach the man; it’s not really the time to be timid or shy. You grab one of the snakes and pull it, forcing Cryz to wince in pain and bite his lips: an effort to avoid looking weak and pathetic.

“That freaking hurts.”

“Well I am sorry,” you pout at him as you grab and pull away another annoying snake before tossing it away.

Eventually, you and Cryz get rid of the snakes. Despite his front, Cryz’s condition is just slightly worse than yours. Reluctantly, you help him stand up as you continue to ascend the stairs until you find yourself in another room...

“You smell dreadful,” Cryz weakly mocks you as he refuses your support and begins walking by his own.

‘So you do’ – you think silently. Now is not the time for arguments, is it...? You hear a trickle of water, however... and so does Cryz. He gives you a short, surprised expression before he quickly summons multiple sequins to light up the chamber. Fezar’s magic did not influence it too much, there are patches of his Flesh Magic clinging, and slowly growing, from the walls and the ceiling but not enough to destroy the ancient legacy of what this room used to be. There is a narrow but deep basin pit, now just enough water to dip your toes, starting from the wall.

There is a carving above the pit with a naked man standing straight, with his back turned towards you. In his right hand, above his head, he is holding a crystal. A very big woman is floating above the man like a manifestation.

From both sides of the pit there are two statues, twice your size, of naked, mature and beautiful women. Those massive sandstone statues have their hands put against each other – there are holes in the sides of their palms. Perhaps, those are fountains – but now, with no water left in the palace, it is hard to say. Cryz grins to himself.

“Can’t fault the king of this palace for his taste in women,” he says out loud.

You frown and turn around, trying to make sense of this place. Perhaps this used to act as some sort of holy basin? You look around, there’s a single open corridor leading even further – there is really no way to go but up, it seems.

Before you can discuss things further with Cryz, a massive eye – or the innards of it – emerges from the flesh that is clinging to the walls. You take several careful steps away from it, and Cryz follows. You raise your hand for a fight but instead, the eyeball swells up bit by bit until, instead of an iris, there appears to be a moving image of another part of the palace. You notice the tall, burly man – the one using Handprint Magic – awkwardly leading Lanarel by his wrist – you can’t really hear them but there is no need – their lips do not move. They are silent...

“What are you playing at, Fezar?” you turn around to face the ceiling of the room. There is no answer.

“I agree. I heard you were imprisoned by the Clover Kingdom? Listen, this has nothing to do with me,” Cryz complains audibly as he looks up the ceiling as well, “I have nothing against you, or want anything to do with you, actually. Those three Magic Knights don’t like me either, you know? Let me go, and you can continue doing what is you want to do them with – no problems.” You frown at Cryz. Again, the two of you stand in lingering silence.

“It was worth a toss,” Cryz shrugs his shoulders unapologetically.

> What would you like to do now? Perhaps you can clean your clothes in the little puddle that is in the basin? Maybe you should rest and watch what Lanarel and the man are doing – although eavesdropping is not well-mannered. Maybe you should try drinking the water? – Your throat is really sore. Do you want to talk with Cryz?

>>4217678
clean clothes

>>4217678
just clean clothes

>>4217678
>Clean our clothes, hair, and face.
>Ask Cryz, wouldn't the Diamond kingdom punish him for abandoning his comrades, not to mention returning without the artifact in hand?

>>4217678
>>4218122

+1

>>4217678
>Clean our clothes, hair, and face.

>>4218122
He is mercenary so safety of others is probably not of the importance

You sigh and bow your head to the tiny amount of water present in the basin, “We have open wounds and we are covered in whatever-disgusting-liquid was inside those egg-sacks. We should try and clean ourselves. I’m first.”

Cryz perks his eyebrow, “What do you mean – first?” He raises his right hand – as well as your left. “We are connected, and I’m covered in this filth as well. We are like this because of your reckless decision, you realize?”

You frown, “There was no point going through the other room – at least now we are on our way to the library.”

“Are we really?” he answers you with sarcasm. You lightly push your wrist as you slide down the long basin...

A hollow splash echoes across the empty chamber as the cold water gently drizzles your skin. A louder splash is made when Cryz falls into the basin – his dirty boots promptly dirtying the water. You place your hand on top of your shoulder to begin removing your dress. Your cheeks flushing, you quickly turn to Cryz. Cryz is not looking at you, fortunately, he is struggling with his own clothes. He really thinks of you as a kid. You battle your timidity and shyness as you slide off the shoulder of your messed up dress. You soon realize that with your and Cryz’s wrist connected – it will be practically impossible to take off your clothes. Perhaps this is for the best – this is not the place and situation to expose your body. Cryz is attempting to clean his wolf fur – its impossible using only water.

Step by step, you gather water in your palm and toss it over your clothes and face. The basin water quickly gains the consistency of oil and colour of sun-exposed grout; it soon becomes impossible to clean anything in such gruel. Cryz realises this too. With a quiet grout, he wetly places the wolf skin back on his shoulders. Your clothes are wet, soaked and drenched in water and organic liquid. It feels very uncomfortable. If only you had a linen blanket...

Cryz glances at the fleshy – yet still shaped by nothing but magic – eyeball. You can see: his eyes are set on Lanarel. The Vice-Captain and the bear-like man are forced to traverse the gruesome hallways in the same manner as you. The man is the one leading their duo, but despite Lanarel being visibly uncomfortable and somewhat bashful, she follows him. They approach a deep gap between two collapsed floors before stopping. The man looks at Lanarel and she visibly sighs with defeat. She touches the floor and both of them disappear in a flash of wind.

Cryz looks at you, then back at Lanaral and sighs. “Why did I have to be stuck with you?” He complains once more.

“As well; I’d rather be with your ‘friend’ than with you, Cryz. He looks reliable and uncomplaining; not like you.”

He answers with snarl. “Avrill? You don’t know what you are wishing for, kid. He joined us only for the sake of it.”

“What do you mean?”

Cryz shrugs his shoulders, “Avrill is competent and accepting, but he’s hard-headed. Every dungeon me and him went to, together, he ended up triggering most of the traps. He does it for adventure, he does it for adrenaline.”

“He already got what he came here for, then. What about you, are you planning on returning without anything?”

He salivates. He takes out a surprisingly clean handkerchief to remove the droll.

“If we accidently stumble on some treasure, of course I am going to take some – or all of it – with me as we escape. But if not, then it’s one of the rare blunders. There’s no point, you need to be alive to enjoy the riches.”

“What about your comrades, won’t the Diamond Kingdom punish you if you return without them?”

Cryz rolls his eyes, “Let me repeat – all three of us are mercenaries, we’re not part of the Diamond Kingdom’s armed forces. We are allowed to be independent, just because of how useful – and honestly dispensable, for the Diamond Kingdom – we are. Is this your first ‘dungeon’? Of course it is. There’s still some milk on your lips...” That’s the sanies; you awkwardly yet immediately rub it off. “It’s not just this one, even without your criminal and his magic, those places are dangerous. Traps, beasts, uncontrollable mana: the King doesn’t want to lose soldiers.”

You pause for a few seconds before – with a rather disappointing and hollow voice – saying:
“Is money really all you care about, then?”

He folds his hands across his stomach, forcing you to nudge closer; you wish he would stop doing that. “Yes.”

You ponder whenever to tell him straight how sad that is, but is it really your place to judge? Do you even care?

Cryz looks away after the heavy silence lingers. He runs his fingers across his green hair before raising his hand and summoning another snowstorm of sequins, “I don’t see any doors. Let’s see if there are any hidden pathways...”

There is – one. His silvery crystals gently glide in a soft whirlwind around the room until they settle and glue themselves to several places of the chamber. Some of them cling to the ceiling, while others form a beautifully shimmer layer to cover the nasty fleshy bubbles. Most of the sequins, however, fall inside the brazier’s floor...

“Is there a secret pathway here?” Cryz asks himself, “I don’t see any flesh – it must be one of the palaces King’s.”

“This place is too small to be the royal baths,” you follow his thoughts. “It must’ve been used for something else.”

“I am more than certain that is going to lead us down. But then, we can just continue up the corridor.”

“The further it takes us from Fezar’s magic, the better. I’d rather deal with the traps set by the King.”

> What would you like to do now? Should you just continue further up the stairs? It seems to be some kind of secret pathway leading down. What could be the use of this place? It is too deep to be just here for as a fountain, or a drinking well. It doesn’t seem like Cryz cares about the library, he only wishes to escape the palace. Lanarel and Avrill are alive and well, but it is impossible to know where they are now. Hopefully, Virginia is safe as well... Perhaps it’s best to set some kind of red lines with Cryz so you don’t end up dying in a middle of a trap? Perhaps.

> I had a brain-error and forgot I mentioned a corridor leading up so I had to quickly edit the update to include that.

>>4219861
> Follow Cryz's lead and go downwards.

Maybe the water was intended for religious purposes, like ritual purification.

>>4219933
> Follow Cryz's lead and go downwards.

Virginia can survive on her own and the library isn't worth the danger

>>4219962
It might be if we want to find some harder hitting spells, or potentially even another healing spell, before going into the fight with Fezar. For now though, I am more curious what might be down the secret passage and we might be able to come back this way later.

After a short deliberation you lightly sway your hand left and right in approval. A secret passage? You’re curious.

Cryz barely acknowledges your say-so, as if he was planning to go this route regardless. The man awkwardly squeezes some of the dirty water off his cloak before raising his hands. With a long breathe he gathers and then releases the magic from within the sequins. The flickers of the semi-opaque flame surrounding the magical flakes consume the protective sandstone magic concealing the secret passage. There’s now a hole in the basin’s centre...

Cryz spend 17 mana.
Mana [111/165]

Cryz have restored 22 mana.
Mana [133/165]

It is as big as a dining table. Cryz weaves the cloud of magic to surround his neck and gently melt into his body as if it was sparkling mercury snow. You feel the hop in your mana. Cryz pulls you towards the hole – although he himself attempts to approach it rather carefully. The sandstone tiles look missing, not broken, as if they were puzzle pieces. The water is rather slippery; thankfully, the border walls of the basin are dry and easy to grab at.

Cryz breaks a piece of rock and tosses it into the hole. It disappears in the shadows of the “well”. It’s very deep.

“Is it possible a secret passageway in a cleaning pool would lead to a treasure room?” Cryz ponders out loud.

“I doubt it,” you tell him, soon realizing he was talking to himself. You pout and turn away before a very quiet grind trembles your feet. The tiles fold into each other one by one, as if toy-snakes made out of wooden bricks. In an instant, the hole grows two times the size. In another, the hole soon covers the entirety of the basin’s flooring.

Again, you and Cryz rush into different directions. You feel a sudden pain rush through your arm as you strain it – you yield the battle of directions as Cryz manages to climb up the steep walls and grab into the edge with one of his hands... He attempts to pull but is unable to. You grip Cryz’s left hand as you find yourself above the hole...

You soon realize Cryz is not going to be able to hold on for much longer. You pull the edge of your scarf to release multiple layers of it and form a rope – the enriched, iron-hued scarf should be strong enough even without your Linen Magic. Your eyes dart madly as you attempt to find somewhere to throw it towards... the woman statue!

You toss the folded noose – it falls above her head, slides over her neck and refuses to go below her massive sandstone chest. You wrap the other end of the scarf several times around your wrist to make absolutely sure you do not let go of it. You let out a sigh of relief as you pull yourself towards the statue. You look towards Cryz.

“It’s alright, try and climb up slowly now,” you reassure him.

“I thought that cloth covering your neck was just – to be honest – a good fashion piece.”

Was that an attempt to compliment your scarf?

The ancient sandstone statue cracks; massive fractures above her feet shatter the foundation and send it plummeting down. The weight is impossible to battle; you and Cryz can only yell as it smashes and heavily damages one of the walls before dragging you with it. The massive stone chunks break off it – some of them barely avoid hitting you in the head. As the statue collides with another part of the wall it somehow gets stuck.

The statue is barely large and long enough to cover the massive hole in the basin – but the crackling fractures near its head and feet are not giving you much hope. You somehow manage to cling to your scarf while holding swaying Cryz by his hand. For a girl like you, he is very heavy. You look down – you can’t see any kind of ground.

> Attempt to climb out of the collapsed basin – perhaps using the other statue?
> Jump inside the endless hole. Perhaps there’s a way to soften your landing?
> [Write In]

>>4221941
>> Attempt to climb out of the collapsed basin – perhaps using the other statue?

>>4221941
>> Attempt to climb out of the collapsed basin – perhaps using the other statue?

>>4221941
> Attempt to climb out of the collapsed basin – perhaps using the other statue?

You struggle. You attempt to pull Cryz upwards while holding on to the slowly crumbling statue with your scarf. Not good, there is no strength in your arm – you can’t haul him up. You sigh, there’s only one way to get on top.

You sigh with embarrassment and defeat. “What are you waiting for? Use my body and help me up here.”

His glassy, hollow eyes stare at you. After a brief but argument-free jeer, his empty hand tightly surrounds your legs. This is a life and death situation, yet, it is still very embarrassing. You bite your lips and close your eyes doing your best not to think about it; there’s a swelling and a sharp cut as the scarf digs into your palm and elbow. You feel Cryz reach for your thighs, then your torso as he finally reaches for your scarf – his weight immediately lifts.

You awkwardly open your eyes to find the man’s face just a few inches away from yours, his breath disturbingly heavy and warm. The two of you are in a semi-embrace. He is looking up, barely acknowledging you. You stay like this for a couple of seconds before Cryz finally does what you were unable to and lifts himself on top of the jammed sculpture. A few more shards break and collapse above your head. He grabs your hand and pulls you up.

Under your weight, the statue suddenly grinds and recedes even lower. You shake your head. With swift haste you untie the scarf surrounding the broken statue before quickly weaving another. With a wide swing you toss it towards the second remaining statue – it misses. You try again. You miss, again. The distance is just too immense.

“How good is your throwing hand?” you ask Cryz in panic. Cryz grabs your scarf before you even offer it to him.

“I’m sure it’s going to be better than yours, kid,” he says with clear sarcasm. He tosses the linen lasso and – beginner’s luck – it falls over the head of the naked woman and tightens around her chest area. Cryz grins.

With a yelp you grab Cryz into a tight embrace as the statue beneath your feet suddenly splkits into rubbles. Your feet clumsily sway around in air before you and Cryz smash into one of the walls of the sandstone pit. Somehow, Cryz manages to hold on to the safety line that is the scarf; this time it is he who is protectively (?) holding you...

He takes a deep breath before gently pulling himself up, “Let’s just take it slow and simp-”

There is a loud scratch before a line of shadow falls over your eyes. A sharp scour precedes multitude of sandstone tiles unfolding high above your head. One by one they begin reshuffling and reforming the empty basin’s flooring.

Cryz pulls the scarf. Is it your imagination or not that you hear a rip? “We’ll need to use our magic open it again, get ready.”

You nod as you lower and then raise your open palm to summon a clot of magic from which you shape sequins...

However, in almost an instant, your magic-less scarf ultimately tears in two. You gasp. His body collapses on top of you before spiralling into completely opposite direction of the pit; you hear him smash into the opposite wall before continuing his descend and pulling you after him. The eternal darkness continues for several minutes...

*** *** ***

It is the middle of the night, yet everything is vivid and intense. You gasp for your breath as suddenly find yourself standing on open garden of olivine acacia trees – the “shadows” they cast are as hot and blazing as fire – their unnatural greenish glow engulfing the ground beneath them. The purple, iron clouds surrounding the field are unnatural and eldritch – they resemble massive steps of the pyramids, each of the long, cloudy layers are as big as a tower and they fall into each other as they continue to rise higher and higher. It’ll be impossible to climb them.

“Cryz?” you ask out loud as your head slowly turns left – nobody is attached to you. You freely raise your arm.

You hope this is not the afterlife – this is now how you imagined it. You take a few steps out of the warm, bluish shadows only to suddenly feel an immense cold overwhelm and slowly freeze you in place. You don’t really have a choice but to return to the protection of the enchanted foliage. From the iron clouds you feel a magical presence.

Then, a ghastly human-shaped body passed through the leaden clouds to face you – on the exposed chest of the man there is a three-leaf clover that is dimly burning with light. There are at least dozen of such bodies here: others are hidden and flickering inside the iron clouds. He comes closer and closer but stop before the trees.

He opens their mouth but an inaudible language and voice escapes his empty lungs. Yes, it’s a bad reverie...

> What would you like to do now? This dream is so unlike the others. It seems the shadow of those trees is shielding you from those “ghosts”, somehow – even if they wanted, they wouldn’t be able to approach you. You can’t understand him but maybe he can understand you? Should you try asking the ghost... well, everything? If this is a dream, that means you’re alive. If this is the afterlife that means... what? Should you try waking up...?

>>4224277
>Ask the ghost, is it one of the Clover Kingdom's citizens from long ago?
>Does it want to defend the palace from what Fezar is doing to it?
>Can it help us?

>Our scarf got ripped in half
AAAAAHHHHHH!

>>4224337
+1

Without a thought you step back to lean your back against the crystal trunk of one of the trees – the heat of the shadows forces cold sweat to trickle down your face. Your breathe hardens at the sight of the spectre – his bluish body trembles like a piece of cloth exposed to a storm – but there is none – whistling sharply enough to cut the insides of your ears. Despite the passing seconds, no other ghost joins him from their respite beneath the clouds.

“A-are you one of the Clover Kingdom’s citizens?” you ask him after a brief fright. You continue looking at him.

He remains silent, only slowly tilting his head.

“D-do you know what’s currently going on with the palace? Do you need my help? Can you help us?”

Again, he opens his mouth to speak. His language is strange and ancient, as if a wooden puppet trying to imitate a grasshopper – the echoing of his voice does not help. It’s not something you can understand no matter how hard you try – you can’t help but look confused. The deathly ashen man responds with a torturous cry before he raises both of his hands with another loud shrill and points them towards the mercury cloud formations; it looks as if he was trying to bend and open them with his magic – but that surely can’t be it. He circles and steps closer to you.

You yelp as he suddenly launches himself forwards – his, clear as crystal, chalky hands reaching for your face. As soon as his body enters the greenish shadows it turns him into a black mist in an instant. The only thing that remains floating is a small three-leaf clover, from which an emerald glowing bird begins to emerge. It looks and tweets at you before gracefully and quickly flying back into the metal-hued clouds. Does that mean... yes or no?

Cheep... Chirp... Cheep... Chirp... Tweet...

You raise your hands once you realize it is not the overcast of the olivine trees’s shadows – it is your body that is glowing with the colour of jadestone. One by one mystical and similar birds begin to materialize and escape from within your body before the number of them becomes impossible to count. They whirl around you like a dust devil before their greenish glow blinds you – there is a note of silver present in their bodies. They grab on to you...

*** *** ***

File: The place to where the se(...).jpg (57 KB, 558x635)

57 KB JPG

You wake up in cold sweat – your entire body shivers from the sudden chilly temperature. Your tired eyes dart left and right as you find almost nothing but darkness; no, that’s not right. There’s a glitter of peridot and aquamarine looking gemstones far-far in the ceiling; it is a massive, expansive and windy sandstone cavern you find yourself in. The sandy formations making the cavern easily crumble into dust: those sands sing and whistle with melody.

“Finally awake?” you hear Cryz say from out of nowhere after which a sudden white glow of his magic blinds you. The man manifests a layer of sequins he places over what appears to be a wall. It illuminates the surrounding area; just barely. It is a long and deep ceiling-free passageway. It resembles a canal without the water. It is one.

“...How are we still alive?” you look up – you can’t even see from where you fell. “I thought we were going to be splattered like pancakes.” Your stomach immediately growls in response. “...I’d like some pancakes right now...”

“Me too,” Cryz confesses before raising his hands in a yawn, “I had the strangest dream; I woke up an hour ago.”

“And you didn’t wake me up?” you ask suspiciously.

Cryz frowns, “I tried to, but you didn’t respond despite my attempts. I guess kids are heavy sleepers at your age.”

You pout yet again as you slowly stand up. You decide to ignore his jab. “Where are we?”

“Damn if I know, could be anywhere,” Cryz quickly stands up to join you as you begin to follow the trail of the titanic, dried-up canal. The further you move the more numerous and brighter the gemstones become until eventually you are able to notice dozens of raised platform-bridges carved in a way to carry the water from the main canal. Some reach the sand carved and grinded walls... the walls – they are covered in honeycomb-shaped holes. You continue to walk with Cryz in silence until you approach a strange and enormous limestone arch, beneath it is a fountain-like pedestal through which the water travelled first. The white shiny particles hang in air.

Holding to the top of the arch there is a half-broken – its head is missing – glass sand statue of an ape-like creature with a long and twisted neck. It has six legs – or could they be arms – connected to the arch as if in a tight grab...

> What would you like to do now? You can always try and climb out of the dried up canal and try and look around without travelling the “official” route? Fezar’s presence is unlikely here, either it is too deep or something else making him unable to devour this place with his magic. No bile and pus to cover you head to toe, at least for now.

>>4226331
>try to climb out of the dried up canal

when are you going to go back to the old way of voting? it makes it easier for uncreative people like me to vote

>>4226331
>try to climb out of the dried up canal
>Investigate the statue more closely
>Ask Cryz what he dreamed about and describe the dream we had ourselves.

>>4226415
Not sure if it's too late to add this in, but

>Check our scarf, does it look like it could be repaired?

>>4226415
changing vote to this

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>>4226376
>>4226415
Hello. I very much appreciate you guys keeping track and continuing to participate in the quest so far. Sadly, I'll have to postpone today's update until tomorrow. Regarding the prompts, I have been having a hard time coming up with them without making the list appear lackluster and one of them looking like the obvious choice - as people have been easily deciding on it - so I wanted to try a write-in with a few ideas/suggestions instead. I am not sure how that is working out so far so I'll try to return it to the old way if you won't mind leaving a comment with the prompt decision please

>>4228547
That's okay, take your time. Regarding the voting options thing, I personally don't mind doing write-ins, but I think the older way of doing things is still the better option. A lot of anons might not vote when faced with a 'What do?' although, you've been better about it than most in that you've generally supplied a bunch of suggested topics along with the prompt.

>>4228547
that's ok take your time

>>4226415
+1

You tilt your head before loudly harrumphing. “I don’t have a good feeling about crossing that gate,” you say as you turn away from it. You approach the tall, dark, sandstone wall of the canal. Cryz doesn’t complain, he simply follows you to the carved hedge. The damp air makes you shudder uncomfortably. You make an – useless – attempt to reach and grab the edge of the wall; the river-way is just too deep, it is impossible. You look at Cryz.

“What?” he asks you, “Too short?”

You frown, “Unless you want to risk going through the gate – give me a lift.”

The man frowns before reluctantly approaching you. After an audible exasperation, he raises the hand that is connected to yours and then bows to allow you to step onto his shoulders. With your wrists clumsily stuck together he is not going to be able to lift you by from his knee – you realize. You try to put your shyness as faraway as possible before squeezing the man’s shoulders and starting to climb his back with your naked feet.

You tell Cryz about the dream you had yourself before you ask him to recall his. With a few sarcastic remarks, Cryz admits that his dream was similar to yours, only that as soon as he saw the ghost he attacked him with his magic... the finale was the same, however, a whirlwind of green magical birds emerging from his body to take him away.

‘What was that all about?’

You wobble as he stands up – you have to bow a little bit because of your arms. Even then, your combined height is not enough to reach the edging. You ask Cryz to wait as you unravel your – now damaged – scarf. At first glance it appears you lost at least one third of it when it got ragged previously; one edge is badly torn as if with scissors...

You sigh: your scarf is not meant to be used without your magic. Once again, you tie it into a snare before tossing it with no capability to see what is above the canal and with only a faith optimism of grabbing onto anything. It takes a few desperate tries, but eventually your lasso tightens around... something. You unroll your scarf in order to drop it lower and allow Cryz to use it as well. Slowly, the two of you get out of the aqueduct to find rough land.

File: The dry river passageways(...).png (868 KB, 858x658)

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The shadowy sand is in sharp contrast to the rest of the cavern. While it is impossible to carve such a strange texture by hand, it is still manmade. The sandstone structure have been shaped by one type of magic – Sand Magic. The sand here varies greatly in colour, size and purity. The cave is unilluminated but even in such darkness some of the sandstone scarcely glimmers and varies in tone. You and Cryz summon a couple of sequins to make the dimness bearable. The shadows of immensely tall pillars reach the open ceiling – where the canals continue.

You can spot multiple floors in those catacombs, they all countless honeycomb-like tunnels in each layers level of the wall. There is a strange, upside-down pyramid structure way-way far above – only a single maze-like waterless tunnel leads there. Aside from where you currently are, the rest of the “floors” will be impossible to climb by regular means. Extremely carefully, you follow the edge of the tunnel to take a closer look at the statue.

The statue remains lifeless despite you approaching it as close as a few meters. You toss a quick glance to search for the head but... it’s not anywhere near – perhaps long ago it was taken by the stream? You sidestep from the archway to come closer to the deep basin with a stone pedestal in the centre of it. From up here, you can easily see that, after passing over the pedestal, the canal continues onwards. The pedestal is creating the lingering dust.

Cryz painfully jolts you back towards him – again, you wince and awkwardly stumble and hit him. You raise your head in annoyance before quickly realizing that, this time, Cryz didn’t just do it to be annoying. The man’s glass eyes uneasily dart left and right as he looks at the darkness in front of him with a serious expression. What did he see? You open your free palm to begin gathering mana. You notice it: small shadows darker than the dusky haze...

“The only thing that keeps me going is the idea that ‘if there are traps – there is treasure.’” Cryz speaks to himself.

> It is not attacking you yet. Wait patiently and if there is any danger – jump back into the waterless canal.
> Prepare to battle, send off magical sequins at one of the shadows in an attempt to capture and drain its magic.
> You don’t trust the glassy monkey ‘guardian’. Surround and drain it with your sequin magic before jumping back.
> Avoid the archway entirely. Pull Cryz and convince him to jump into the waterless basin with the pedestal in it.
> [Write In]

>>4229804
> It is not attacking you yet. Wait patiently and if there is any danger – jump back into the waterless canal.

it doesn't hurt being cautious

>>4229804
>> Prepare to battle, send off magical sequins at one of the shadows in an attempt to capture and drain its magic.

I think Cryz could be right, if there are guards then there could be something worth guarding.

By the way Melk, to make sure I understand this correctly, it looks like there are multiple levels to the canal at higher elevations, and it seems like we would need to find a path through the tunnels to get higher up and potentially reach the inverted pyramid?

>>4230293
changing vote to this

>>4230293

Support.

Thank you for sticking with QMing and not being a giant flake Melk.

You raise your empty hand towards the shadows. Deciding not to waste words, you awkwardly squeeze Cryz’s hand to motion him to do the same. The mercenary tosses you a fleeting – and annoyed – look before finding a balanced and secure posture and stepping aside. It looks like he is leaving this battle to you alone – is he for real?

You hem before shaking your head and summoning a cloudburst of magic that with a crackle, as if air freezing into ice, quickly starts to form sequin crystals. The sparkling freckles illuminate the vicinity of the dark landscape through which they soar. One by one they cling to the small-scale body of the shadow, revealing it to your eyes.

There are at least three more creatures like it moving in the shadows. It is a limestone bust of a frog-like creature; it is half buried in the dark, obsidian sand but, like a worm, it destroys the ground as it dithers. Its head is featureless aside from a small mouth and a massive, gurgling sack beneath its chin. The ‘frog’ croaks with a grind.

> Please roll 1d100 – best of three – to avoid an attack.
> Please roll 1d40+10 – lowest of the three – for the cost of the spell.
> Please roll 1d40 – best of three – for the amount of mana drained by your Magic. 1 or 40 will recover no mana.

> [Write In]

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>>4230293
> Not exactly. There is the main, massive canal on the ground floor of the cavern which you fell into and have been going through so far until you climbed out of it. It continues further past the arch and the pedestal and, probably, breaks at some point. There are multiple levels to the cavern with tomb-like and honeycomb-like holes to which bridge-like canals lead to. Like this >>4226331 There are a lot of them. Even the closest bridge is so far above your head it is currently impossible to reach by normal means. The highest of the water bridges leads inside the pyramid. So I hope that makes sense.
>>4232252
> Thanks for the kind words!

>>4232356

Rolled 98 (1d100)

>>4232356

Rolled 38 + 10 (1d40 + 10)

>>4232356

Rolled 21 (1d40)

>>4232356
I have no idea what to write

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21 KB JPG

>>4232401
>That's a good roll.
>>4232414
>You can bully Cryz.

>>4232356
>call Cryz a fucking weak coward

Rolled 72 (1d100)

>>4232356

>>4232361
Yeah, that helps a lot, thanks for clarifying! I'd also like to echo the other anon's words. Thanks for QMing, you've been super consistent and posted daily for almost 9 months, it shows some impressive dedication compared to a lot of other QMs. BC quest is easily my favorite quest in the catalog and I hope to keep following it.

Rolled 30, 9 = 39 (2d40)

>>4232464
And now the first is for spell cost and the second for mana drain.

>>4232464
>you've been super consistent and posted daily for almost 9 months

>Has it already been that long? Wow. Cheers for the kind words as well Anon.

>>4232859
I was here since thread one and I'd also like to echo the other anons and say thanks for QMing

>Would be good to have one more set of rolls.

Rolled 8 (1d100)

>>4234567

>>4234578
oh wait, I wasn't looking at what quest i was rolling in but i don't think that anybody else is gonna roll

>>4234580
>I feel that might be the case sadly.

>>4234592
should I roll again?

Rolled 25 + 10 (1d40 + 10)

>>4234604
fuck it I am gonna roll

>>4234606
>Sure, a simple 1d40 as the last if you could.

Rolled 38 (1d40)

>>4234606
I like rolling

>>4234610
Nice, we got a net gain of Mana with that now!

Rolled 38 (1d40)

>>4234609

“Are you for real Cryz?” you stutter in shock. Despite your fury, you keep your eyes set on the limestone creations. Before the closest of the stone bullfrogs can do anything to you, you clutch your empty hand to force your parasitic sequins to radiantly drain the magic inside of the creature. The limestone cracks and crumbles with a loud echo before the statue collapses once all of its mana is drained from its sandy carcass. Strange, dust-like hazes escapes from within its body before the remains fall to form a pile. You don’t waste time “eating” it’s magic.

You spend 35 mana.
Mana [98/165]

You have restored 38 mana.
Mana [136/165]

“Are you going to just stand there?” you finally turn towards him.

The mercenary winces before suddenly and rather violently grabbing your neck and pushing you to the ground together with him in a very awkward kneel. You protest and prepare to smash him in his chin with your hand to break the lock before a rumbling wind whistles above your head. It is a rough, heavy wind. Sand covers you both.

“There’s no reason to rush,” he mutters in your ear before pulling you up. A strange, sandy dust lingers in the air as he turns to face the other two frog-creatures crawling in your direction. He harrumphs – stating rather truthfully, “I was hoping to see how will they be attacking you but then I realized that, if it’s something bad, I’ll end up carrying your injured or unconscious body around with me.” He, too, manifest a vapour of sequins...]

It looks like the moment those creatures release the spell – they are no longer able to exist, like Trap Form Magic.

With their bodies still half-stuck in the ground the limestone shadows continue to creep closer – each of the creatures has round throats with an unknown, magical essence they are preparing to release on you. Cryz’s crystalline tinsels append and form an illuminated layer around of the frogs – catching it mid-charge. Without wasting a second, the man begins to depleting the limestone creature of its magic. Just like the last, it crumbles.

Cryz spend 41 mana.
Mana [95/165]

Cryz have restored 10 mana.
Mana [105/165]

“I-I feel like you are spending too much magic on those creatures – they are not that strong,” you say.

Only one of those creatures is left, but they could be more of them in the shadows...

> Trust Cryz to take care of the last of the frog-creatures.
> You have much better – and conservative – way of using sequin magic than Cryz. Do it yourself.
> Do not waste any more of your magic and simply wait for the frog to attack and then dodge out of the way.
> [Write In]

>>4232885
> Your welcome. Thanks for sticking around.

>>4234776
> You have much better – and conservative – way of using sequin magic than Cryz. Do it yourself.

>>4234776
>> You have much better – and conservative – way of using sequin magic than Cryz. Do it yourself

Since our healing magic is still gone, our HP is much more important to protect than our mana

>>4234783
>>4234866
>Swell, can I have a triple of 1d40+10 and 1d40?

Rolled 6 + 10 (1d40 + 10)

>>4235870

Rolled 28, 12 = 40 (2d40)

>>4235870

Rolled 26 + 10 (1d40 + 10)

>>4235870
May we have more low costs, please?

Rolled 16 (1d40)

>>4235870
High drain, but not too high, please.

Rolled 24 (1d40)

>>4235870

You raise your hand to summon forth a torrent of mercury-hued mana. With a crackle, the smog streams through the air and quickly solidifies over the last – or at least last of the currently present – frog-like creations. Sweat of both struggle and tenseness rolls and falls from top of your forehead as you concentrate and – with haste – force your magical sequins to drain the statue’s inner mana. There is an echoing crack before a dust of magic lifts off...

You watch the eyeless frog-like statue stop and begin to crumble into dust after its magic is drained. You quickly sway your hand towards yourself in an attempt to lose as little of the converted magic as possible. You surround the sparkling opaque belt around yourself and Cryz, basking in its effects – there’s not as much mana here, sadly.

You spend 16 mana.
Mana [89/165]

You have restored 24 mana.
Mana [113/165]

Cryz’s rolls his glassy eyes, “It’s all just sand and glass; I wish that there were at least some valuable gems around.”

You hem before you quickly realize the fractured form of the statue you attempted to siphon is still being held together by magic. Almost unthinkingly you raise your palm to prepare another spell but there’s no time. The swollen limestone throat of the carved beast explodes into fragments before a tempest of cursed and thick magical sand haze hurls in your direction. With a finally tremble, the ‘frog’ completely subsides under the sand.

> Please roll 1d100 – best of three – to avoid the attack.

> Just a reminder that you currently have 3/5 HP and Cryz has 2/5 HP.

> Trap Form is a spell with random elements as well, even for Mydias. That means every trap will have a different mana cost – that means the amount of mana currently inside of it that must be drained – as well as a different DR.
So similar magical traps and creatures will vary a slight bit. I thought that would be fair to point out.

Rolled 56 (1d100)

>>4236504

>>4236504
> It's so weird, my IP changed by I can still use formatting but sometimes that's not the case.

Rolled 11 (1d100)

>>4236504

Rolled 43 (1d100)

>>4236504

Rolled 45 (1d100)

>>4236504

Well crap... Dying to a frog, what a way to end.

In reckless manner you grab the edges of Cryz’s cloak and attempt to pull the both of you away from the cloud of magical sand; the man blunders and, once he realizes the incoming threat, he makes his own attempt to pull you along towards him. You tussle and stagger until the both of you trip directly into the demoniac haze. Like dust, it covers you head to toes; it clings to your skin. You gasp for air and collapse on top of Cryz, juddering erratically...

You gained an affliction: [Mydias’ Plageskin]

> Cursed sand magic clings and withers your body. All of your DR rolls are lowered by -5.

Eventually, the strange, shudder inducing pain stops and you are able to open your eyes. Both you and Cryz stood in the very epicentre of the attack, and so both of you now suffering from the drawbacks. With gasp, you push yourself up and dash your head away from Cryz; instead, your eyes dart the darkness in search of more statues.

After a brief minute, you calm down. Cryz begins standing up from the ebonite floor with an audible groan and joins you inspecting the shadows. He raises his free hand and scrubs the clingy sand beneath it with his fingers.

“This is annoying... You didn’t drain enough of its magic,” he says.

You bite your lips, “I know that! I...I don’t know why didn’t work.”

“Well, you will either learn to be more careful, or you’ll die,” he says in an undeserving, high-spirited voice.

You don’t want to hear it from him!

You snort in dismissal before taking a step forward but Cryz forcefully pulls you back and nudges his head towards the canal. You give him an annoyed glare demanding for an answer but he just stands there, allowing silence to hang on. Suddenly, another rumbling sound quietly echoes from the darkness deeper into the laid out sands.

“We are not going to get far if we don’t know how many of those things there are. Let’s just follow the canal.”

You raise your mouth only to hold it like a captured gold-fish, you can’t really argue... You sigh and nod, “Okay.”

The sand on your skin is coarse and rough, you fight against your longing to scratch it. Cryz visibly struggles not to do the same. You circumvent the headless monkey statue making sure to keep a very close eye on it – thankfully, it does not come to live. You walk around the pedestal basin manifesting, like brazier, coruscating ‘ash’ particles...

Cryz turns to you, “You said it was the staff and now the crown that made this Flesh Magic criminal this strong?”

“At this point, I think it’s both,” you tilt your head to look at him with your narrowed eyes. You ponder and sigh, “I don’t know much about it. The only other staff of that kind I’ve seen had an empty glass orb. Wardress Virginia said that it can be used to amplify and strengthen someone’s magic.” You decide against telling him the whole story regarding the “Snowglobe Magic” user. Just in case Cryz becomes too curious about acquiring it, you add, “It’s a Dark Magic Tool.”

He rubs his chin, “That makes it even more valuable.” He frowns and shakes his head, “I see what you are trying to do, but even together, the crown and staff are not worth it fighting that person. So, we are not going to do that.”

You two continue walking the edge of the deep canal until you notice a massive statue far-far on the horizon... all you can see of it is the mild, greenish outglow, but it appears like that is where the waterless canal ends. Hopefully you can continue safely from there until the hanging pyramid.

Ever since you passed the pedestal, to brighten the path forwards, you have been manifesting glowing sequins and forcing them to spin around – also, in case there was a trap or two. It is only now the shiny spangles lift and begin to slowly hover and escape into the canal. You pause and, with a sudden stop, force Cryz to halt as well. Your eyes follow the glowing tinsels are they fall on top of a dark object to mildly brighten it with silver glow.

It is a body, a carcass of a man completely sheathed in a heavy layer of salt-like looking crystal. His body is lying in the bottom of the canal, as if he was supposed to be carried by the water. He appears sculptured, with his clothes, hair, and face scowls left incredibly intact. He is holding his hands close to his chest, and beneath them there is a casing of a grimoire with a dimly shining three-leaf clover. Not possible: the tomes disappear when the user dies...

But if the sequins are clinging to him that means this body-corpse still has magic, or it’s a trap, or something else.

> Tell Cryz the rest of the story regarding the staff, about the attack on the Blue Rose Headquarters.
> Leave the body of the man alone; continue down the canal until you’ll reach the statue. Hopefully, it’s safe.
> Jump back into the deep waterway and inspect the statue closer. Try to see and check if the grimoire is real.
> Use your Sequin Magic to drain the magic from within the sand-encrusted grimoire and body.
> [Write in]

>>4238091
>> Use your Sequin Magic to drain the magic from within the sand-encrusted grimoire and body.

perhaps he isn't dead, he might just be taking a nap

>>4238091
> Use your Sequin Magic to drain the magic from within the sand-encrusted grimoire and body.
> [Write in]
>> Get Cryz to help us by saying we will tell him more about the staff if her agrees.

>>4238096
Seems very likely, like the narration said, the Grimoire would have burned away if the owner was dead.

>>4238404
changing vote to this

> Time to roll then!
> Please roll 1d40+10 – lowest of the three – for the cost of the spell.
> Please roll 1d40 – best of three – for the amount of mana drained by your Magic. 1 or 40 will recover no mana.

Rolled 11 + 10 (1d40 + 10)

>>4239419

Rolled 11 (1d40)

>>4239419

Rolled 22, 27 = 49 (2d40)

>>4239419

Rolled 35 + 10 (1d40 + 10)

>>4239419
Costs!

Rolled 19 (1d40)

>>4239419
Drains!

>>4238091
I hope that once we get our linen magic back we can somehow learn to make a mana leech blanket from this experience. That’d be cool.

>>4239684
That'd be cool, for sure

You use your scarf to slowly lower yourself and Cryz inside the canal and then carefully approach the preserved body. You kneel in front of the statue to inspect it closer; the salt-like carcass remains unmoving. Hesitantly, you place your hand on top of the concealed grimoire. This close, you can feel the mild magic present. It is impossible to reach for the grimoire: it is entombed together with the user by means unknown. You raise your hand above it.

“There is still magic inside, and grimoires don’t disappear unless the owner is dead.”

“How long has he been here, thousands of years?” He glances at the body, “He is –obviously- dead.”

“We don’t know that for sure,” you harrumph as you prepare to drain the magic from within the white sand enclosure. “Perhaps he is currently in some kind of magical comatose? If we trigger his magic, he might wake up.”

“Are you trying to get us killed?” Cryz asks you dubiously, “It could be a trap. Come, let’s just move on.”

“I’ll tell you more about the staff if you help me here,” you say.

“I knew there was something you were hiding, kid. Sigh; just do your thing first.”

You close your eyes and concentrate; you allow the ancient mana to gradually trickle up from the body beneath the coating of white sand in form of white smog. Like using a thread and a needle, you lay all of magic into you.

You spend 21 mana.
Mana [92/165]

You have restored 27 mana.
Mana [119/165]

Nothing happens. There is much less, but you can still feel some magic inside.

Cryz narrows his eyes at you as he approaches closer, “I guess you –do– need help.” He says sarcastically as he raises his hand to follow your example; from his palms a line of sequins whirl into the air and land on top of the salt-like body fossil. He exhales, and hastily begins drying the body from the rest of magic inside. There is a loud crack as the sand breaks under the overwhelming lump of silver magic until it quickly withers leaving a small orb.

Cryz spend 50 mana.
Mana [69/165]

Cryz have restored 12 mana.
Mana [81/165]

“You killed him!” you shout in disbelief as your eyes dart to look towards the crack on top of the tome. It’s empty.

“I...” Cryz hesitates before he clears his throat and shakes his hand, “I didn’t. Look, the chest of his is mummified.”

You pause, take a closer step forward and hold down your vomit. You decide to trust him on this one. You gently sway your hand to produce a couple more sequins – the dozen of decorative glitters hang above the white body but no longer cling to it. You frown, “I don’t understand. Why does it look like he was holding the grimoire, then?”

“It looks like he had it when he was entombed in this sand like this.”

“That would mean he had his grimoire on him when he... no, not he, just his magic was preserved.” That’s cruel. “So this is some kind of necropolis,” you deduct, “And... not-yet-dead bodies were send here through the basin.”

The two of you continue walking through the canal. Cryz’s raises his head to look over the many honeycomb-like holes in those catacombs. Your eyes follow his. He harrumphs, “There are too many tombs here for it to be just for the King’s family or important people. Did they do it for every single person in the kingdom? Dedicated...”

A promise is a promise, so you tell Cryz the rest of the story regarding Charlotte obsessed mage who, apparently, thanks to the staff, had enough magical power to trap the entire room of Magic Knights in his “Snowglobe Magic”.

Eventually, you reach the end of the massive canal – only it does not split into ascending waterways and stone passages, but narrows until it stops in front of a strange and massive (at least two hundred meters tall) limestone statue of a lion with glimmering yellowish quartz decorating the body like primordial coat. The head is that of a stork, designed in the same way aside from a dimly radiating and long beak– it is lowered, opened and empty...

You look up – there are hanging riverways high above you, many of them on different elevations.

The opened beak of the stork is just big enough to enter inside. You recognize the material it is made out of; it is not sand. They call it the “vitric mana”, but the children, and most people, usually refer to it as “judging stone.” It is a pale, white-greenish crystal which brightness changes depending on how much mana the person holding it has. During your childhood years, the kids used it to make fun of those with lesser amount of mana than them.

But back then, they had a single, coin-sized crystal in their hands. The beak is massive in size and weight. You turn to Cryz who begins to salivate; he too quickly recognizes the value of this beak. It is rather useless, but expensive.

> Attempt to climb the half-lion half-stork statue from behind until you reach the top of its body.
> Enter the inside of the beak and attempt to set off the judging stone using your sequin magic.
> Cast sequin magic on top of the beak. It does not appear as if there is any magic here to drain it.
> [Write In]

>>4239809
>> Enter the inside of the beak and attempt to set off the judging stone using your sequin magic.

Hmm, I wonder if we did something wrong with the body, or if it was always going to crumble away like that

>>4239809
>> Enter the inside of the beak and attempt to set off the judging stone using your sequin magic.

>>4239809
> Enter the inside of the beak and attempt to set off the judging stone using your sequin magic.

You look at Cryz before taking a step ahead – towards the beak. Your hand is jerked back as Cryz does not follow.

You raise your eyebrow at him, “What are you doing? Let’s go.”

The man shifts visibly and uncomfortably, “It’ll close on us, like a trap. Instead, let’s find a way to break it.”

You frown, shifting your eyes towards the titanic limestone bird head – its eyes are closed. “We shouldn’t be wasting any time, Cryz. Look, the canal ends here. There should be a way to reach the upper canals using this statue.” Your fingers uncertainly hover below the long beak of the statue before you press the cold gemstones.

“What are you afraid of?”

“I have some history with giant creatures trying to devour me.” He says.

You are unsure if he said it with a sarcastic tone or not.

You hollowly strike the emerald stone before you make another attempt to pull him inside the beak, “Good thing it’s not a creature but a statue.” You sigh and grunt and pout, “Do you have any other ideas on how to get there?”

Cryz rolls his opaque eyes. With irritable annoyance he shrugs his shoulders and takes an indecisive step to follow you. The judging stone has been sanded by Mydias’ magic to a deadly sharpness – the decades haven’t blunted it one bit. You carefully raise your hand from the edges of the beak as you continue deeper inside its green gloominess until the light outside of its maw is practically non-present. Alright; you start manifesting sequins.

As soon as your silver magic escapes your soul, the ashen emerald lights up with dim radiance. The two limestone mandibles suddenly close on you. Suddenly, as if wildlife, yours and Cryzs’ bodies begin blazing with ashen magic; it was as if all of your mana was released at once. You feel wobbly and weak, having to push yourself against the carved stone jaws. Then, an ear-crushing, cacophonic grind roars and booms beneath your feet as the thousands-years-old demarcated neck falls into motion. With a harsh deafening dissonance – of course it rings even louder inside of the stork’s head – you feel the colossal beak lift far into the air. The emerald stone trembles beneath...

“I told you it was going on close!” Cryz raises his voice a bit uncalmly, “I knew it, it’s going to ear us alive now...”

You decide against falling in line with the panic. It is strange that Cryz is not aware that the beak has been made completely separately from the rest of the statue, with a different and unique material: there is nowhere to swallow you. Your powerful and overwhelming mana continues to smash into the limestone walls as the creature’s head continues to rise. Cryz’s right hand is painfully clutching yours; he is breathing uncomfortably.

The moment the statue stops moving, and the two mandibles open up to reveal an exit, Cryz rushes outside. You inelegantly smack your shoulder as you are forced to follow him. Enormous slate pillars of your magic frantically blast off into the air before finally calming down. With a whistling sound, they fall and smash into your body.

“See, it didn’t eat us,” you tell Cryz light-heartedly before realizing he is still shuddering. “That wasn’t ironic?”

Cryz grasps his chest with his empty hand and grips it ever tighter. The man closes his eyes and stays like that for a second. He turns around and gives you an arrogant glance. He scoffs, “Does it matter? Where are we going now?”

You scoff back. The creature has raised you multiple meters high – is it a beginning of another waterless channel and it leads further and deeper towards one of the floors of the necropolis. The channel hangs above several others but below quite a few more. Your eyes trail the channel leading to the pyramid; at last, it is clear to see. To your disappointment, it is practically near the ceiling of the catacombs, even its’ beginning hangs far above you.

Slowly, the sandstone of your channel crumbles lightly – not enough to be of any concern – as the lion-bodied statue removes its head when the presence of your mana no longer bolstering its glow as it begins to descend.

The cavern embankment the channel continues to lead to is prompt with dozens of human-sized holes, many of them empty. What else can they be but tombs? Several of them, however, are enclosed. A disc-shaped, obsidian stone separates each of the vaults from you. In the stones’ centre you can easily notice a dust-covered carving.

You wave your hand – your spiralling, sparkling sequins quickly attach themselves to each of the dozen stones.

> Try to climb to the next canal using your scarf as a rope. Continue to do so if successful.
> Approach one of the locked hollows and attempt to open it physically. Ask Cryz for assistance.
> Use your Sequin Magic to drain and open the way inside one of the random tomb-vaults.
> If you rest and sleep you just might restore enough mana to have the half-stork statue rise you higher.
> [Write In]

>>4242233
>> Approach one of the locked hollows and attempt to open it physically. Ask Cryz for assistance
>> Ask Cryz, was he scared back when he was sent to capture the Oracle Beast too?
>>> Why did he kill it, in the end? Did he kill her cub too?

Seeing as we don't seem to be in immediate danger, may as well ask Cryz some questions. I'm wary of going to sleep in this place, although it would probably be way safer to do it here than up in the meat temple. If the others have all been stuck up there for more than a day, they could be in serious trouble.

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158 KB JPG

>>4242382
> Hope you don't mind me waiting for a few more votes.

>>4243046
Fine by me man, maybe poke qtg

>>4242382
+1

>>4243046
I saw the update earlier but I forgot to vote

>>4243051
> I'll advertise it but not right now.
>>4243122
> No worries about that. I can use this time to do the characters list I keep delaying...

>>4242233
>>4242382
This please. +1

>>4242382
sure this

You approach the closed vaults closer. You raise your hand above it only to lower it after –could this be a trap?

You ponder before turning to face Cryz.

“Is this the reason you shattered the ‘Oracle Beast’?”

The man turns his head with annoyance. He hems, “What are you implying? ...No, it was just too big to carry.”

If you remember correctly, the bear was the size of a house – or higher. Certainly, it was as big as the statue here.

You frown, “You had no reason to kill it like that. You couldn’t transfer it to Diamond Kingdom, but you looked into her eyes – it was a mother.” You look away cautiously, “It was just a large but ordinary grizzly bear after all.”

He raises his free hand into the air above him, “I had no reasons not to kill it either – you got me. I was planning to shatter you and the rest of the people caught in my crystal traps, you know. I’d like to leave no witnesses behind.”

“The ones you captured were kids,” you squeeze your hand into a fist, “Are you not bothered about that... at all?”

He shrugs, “I prefer not to, but they got caught in one of my many traps. I just wanted to capture the beast.” Cryz takes a few steps closer to be as near to the blocked-up tombstone as you are, “You were there for the same reason, weren’t you?” He pauses, “No, I think you had the opportunity to look in its eyes and didn’t – how so?”

“I was looking after and taking care of those kids,” you say in a mutter, “I didn’t really want to see my future.”

“If you did, you might have seen yourself ending up here,” he says sarcastically.

“You did, and you still ended up here,” you retort. You clutch the edges of the stone door. “The future is not going to change just because you are aware of it. And it’s unexciting. You told me but I forgot, how much did you see?”

Cryz groans quietly but – or so you feel – can’t find it in him to counter. “They were just small glimpses at some events in my future. I know that I am not going to die here, because many of those things did not happen yet, that’s the important bit.” He smirks as he grabs the other side of the vault’s stone door to push it away, “You, on other hand, don’t know if you’ll survive this or not. Unexciting or not, it’s helpful. Maybe it was useful after all.”

After a short struggle, the two of you manage to push away the round stone shielding another saltified corpse in the deep hollow. You find the petrified, ashen white body – not unlike what you found before in the canal – lying peacefully in the dark. You can see by the strokes and lines left after petrifaction that the clothes of this person are much more intricate; they are much more royal-looking. Just like the previous man, this one has a ‘grimoire’.

You frown before pushing your free hand beneath your chest. “This is too bizarre for me,” you voice concern.

“All cultures are beautiful,” Cryz says with a mocking grin, “Even if they entomb you while you are still alive.”

You sigh and glance behind yourself, “We have to find a way to reach the pyramid, I see no other way out.”

“If it is even a way out,” Cryz mutters before bopping his shoulders at you. He looks over the mummified body and smirks, “I wonder if they thought that if they left some of their magic like this, they would continue to live on in this world.”

“That’s... creepy,” you mutter back before raising your hand. Are you going to drain the last remains of their life?

> Use Sequin Magic to drain the magic entombed in the human-shaped carcass.
> Ask Cryz to help you drag the body out of here and to the beginning of the channel to put it in the beak later.
> Ask Cryz if he is comfortable about the idea of spending a ‘night’ here, to sleep and replenish your mana.
> [Write In]

> I apologize for the delay!

>>4245542
>> Ask Cryz if he is comfortable about the idea of spending a ‘night’ here, to sleep and replenish your mana.

> I apologize for the delay!
no worries

>>4245542
>> Ask Cryz if he is comfortable about the idea of spending a ‘night’ here, to sleep and replenish your mana.

>>4245542
>> Ask Cryz if he is comfortable about the idea of spending a ‘night’ here, to sleep and replenish your mana.
> Ask Cryz to help you drag the body out of here and to the beginning of the channel to put it in the beak later.

Huh, I wouldn't have thought of using one of the bodies to make the elevator go higher.

You summon a streak of sequins with a sway of your palm; you allow them to fall and cover the chest of the human-tomb like a layer of snow. You hesitate. You straighten your bend knees and cover your throat from the heavily lingering, rotting air. This does not help, you cough and sneeze into your sleeve. This hollow has been locked for thousands of years, inside of it – a dead, petrified body – who knows what this air can do to your lungs.

You wince – this is the first time in six months you are so worried about sicknesses, about illnesses. You miss your Healing Magic. You turn away from the body to look at Cryz who has been patiently waiting and watching you.

“What do we do?” you ask him – you place your empty hand on your stomach to cease the hungering rumble.

“Oh, you are asking me?” Cryz says with a sarcastic surprise. He bites one of his nails and spits it away, “Did what I said making you think draining his body is morally wicked, or something? Don’t think about it; do your thing, kid.”

Your eyes sulk beneath your red forelock, “It’s not that.”

Short reminiscences of the man from your dream in the land of tranquil emerald trees and voidless desert makes you pause. You shake your head, “The beak of that statue is made out of ‘judging stone’. It raised us only this high because that’s how much mana it noticed us having. Sequin Magic has not been too reliable in draining more than we use on it. Even if we drain each dead mage we have in those tombs here, it might be just a waste of our time.”

Cryz lazily leans against the cold wall of the concave – deeper into the darkness – only the crystal braids in his hair and his fangs illuminate a soft reddish-yellow glow. He looks over the body and harrumphs, “We have a choice?”

You hesitate, “I have two ideas, but we could combine both.” You explain, “We don’t have to drain those bodies of their magic, instead, we can just bring them with us inside the stork. Vitric mana does not care about affinities.”

Cryz lazily yet at the same time suddenly pulls you towards himself to, once again, approach the body of a man corralled before his final breathe in a salt-like carcass of sand and stone. His eyes were closed, and his face had a peaceful expression – perhaps the process was not painful? Perhaps all of them did it willingly? Cryz grabs beneath the head of the petrified body and slowly struggles to raise it a meter above the ground, “It’s heavy.”

“I-I’ll help you,” you frown with a mutter. You raise the left wrist that is connect with Cryz’s to take the carcass beneath its torso, and then your free hand to take it by its legs. Immediately, your muscles strain... This is not going to work. You drop the body with a hollow fall and offer to use your scarf instead. There is a risk of course: there is a chance it might rip, again, as well as the fact that you will have to drag the body against the jagged canal floor. If you are not careful, it might just crack and release its buried magic. However, there are many graves...

You tightly wrap one end of your enriched scarf around the salt-stone mummy and the other around your and Cryz’s stomach and legs. It’s intimate. Slowly, as if you were draft horses of the peasantry – you begin pulling and dragging the tomb-human from its rest. The solidified remains leave a deep trail as it begins to slink behind you.

“And your... second... idea?” Cryz exhales. His glassy eyes close as he follows your step in unison.

“I don’t know how many of those bodies we are going to need. Should we rest and replenish our ma-”

As soon as you leave the honeycomb vault, the dust covering the catacomb primitive doorway sizzles and falls. Your eyes dart and widen at the sudden explosion of magic reveals a jackal-like head sculpture in the centre of it... it is carved into the same sandstone as the door, but with magic. There entire head consists of a long face-sized maw, which suddenly opens to reveal a mouth with piranha – or maybe shark – like teeth. You hear a fizzle...

> Please roll 1d100-5 – best of three – to avoid the trap.

> [Write In]
> If you guys cold offer your thoughts so far, feedback – negative or positive – that would be appreciated!

>>4245943
> Maybe I shouldn't include nudging prompts... ha-ha.

Rolled 79 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>4247382
I have no idea what to write

>>4247392
> That's just in case somebody does. It's -5 btw but I'll count it as such so no need to reroll.

Rolled 42 - 5 (1d100 - 5)

>>4247382
This part of the quest has been interesting so far, it's a bit difficult to tell if we're missing something or heading in the right direction.

Rolled 30 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>4247382

Impulsively you grab onto Cryz to drop yourself to the ground. It is the one time you are thankful that is it so easy to clumsily stumble and fall. Your face gracelessly smashes onto the sand – it gets into your hair and mouth. Cryz grunts awkwardly right in your ear. You spit away some of the sand that got into your mouth. The fizzle sound echoes from the cavern walls before there is a loud whistle sound – several of them. Above your head, a barrage of sharp needles – each about the size of your finger – flings through. They quickly disappear in the darkness...

That was close.

You wait with an anxious worry to make sure the magically wired trap door has no more surprises. To your astonishment you are the first one to attempt to stand up; Cryz is laying in wait until your head is perked high enough to see the door. Your eyes rise to inspect the eyeless jackal figure and its mouth. Traps only work once.

You sigh as Cryz stands up as well. He lightly chucks away some of the black sand weakly clinging to his clothes.

“You were saying?”

You place your hand beneath your thrashing heart, “I think we should rest and replenish our mana.”

The man takes a quick glance at the surroundings of the canal. You are currently hanging dozens of meters above the ground encircled by the lingering ‘souls’ of the past. You already know this is an extremely weird suggestion, but what other choice do you have? He slides his fingers inside the wolf fur – must be warm and comfortable - covering his shoulders before replying, “As long as you are not going to complain about the cold and will not attempt to cling to my warm body, that’s fine. I don’t care, but I hope you realize your ‘friends’ are still up there.”

You hesitate, “Virginia and Lanarel are Senior Magic Knights: we need their help more than they need ours.”

He shrugs and lazily turns away, “I would prefer we left this place as soon as possible, but if it’s your bed time...”

You give him the ‘I’m not going to even entertain your joke’ glance.

He weakly pulls you to follow him to one of the walls of the canal; he leans his back against it, slides down and then further wraps himself in his wolf fur. You don’t have much of a distance to work with so you too place yourself against the wall to calm down. Certainly, everything you touch is cold; your white battle dress is not enough to shield you from the coldness and the wind. You try and weave your scarf to make a light blanket.

After a brief moment, you realize there is a chewing sound. Your stomach crawls on itself from hunger: all of supplies – be it food or water - are trapped inside your grimoire. Starving, you turn to see Cryz munching on some strange dried fruits. Nonchalantly, the man turns to you with a smirk, “I’m not sharing this with anybody else.”

You harrumph and turn away.

“Unless...” he prolongs – he makes ‘m-m-m’ sound to make it look as if he is thinking, “Unless you can tell me something about your Magic Squad or the Clover Kingdom which I can later sell to the Diamond Kingdom as useful information.” He licks his fingers, “Those are the Dararam Apricots, dried, just a few can fill you up completely.”

You are speechless. He said is so honestly.

> Suggest to Cryz to open a couple of more tombs but this time disabling the traps with your Sequin Magic. If you are going to restore your magic in your sleep regardless, you might as well make some use of your current mana.
> Refuse to entertain Cryz and carry on fighting the hunger and thirst. [This will lower your DR by -5 further.]
> Tell Cryz about the inner layout of your home city and where the most important buildings are.
> Tell Cryz about the Blue Rose Magic Knights you know of and what magic they posses and use.
> Tell Cryz about the interior of the Blue Rose Headquarters and how to reach the more important rooms.
> Tell Cryz about the Grimoire Tower located near your home city of Kikka.
> Tell Cryz about the legend of the monster trapped by a Magic Emperor inside the “Jewel Glass Waterfalls”.
> Make up a lie. [What sort of?]
> Jump on Cryz to attempt and steal the fruits and put them in your mouth so there’s nothing he can do.
> Wait until it’s time to sleep and – after you make sure Cryz is asleep – try to steal some of the fruit from him.
> [Write In]

>>4249121
> Our homeland and comrades are worth more to us than a few pieces of fruit.
> Point out that if we fall unconscious from fatigue or hunger, he's going to be stuck dragging an unconscious teenage girl by the hand wherever he goes.

>>4249850
I was really tempted to actually give him information on the White Yul and the families in it, but I feel like it would be really out of character for Cynthia to do something so spiteful, even if she does hate some of the White Yul in particular.

>>4249858
+1

>>4249121
Sell our body for food. (no fucking, just cuddling and groping)

>>4251559
>create an onlyfans account

You furrow your brows, “I’m not telling you anything about my homeland for a few pieces of fruit.”

Your stomach growls to betray your words. Cryz smirks, “So I take that as a no? Well, I am not forceful.”

“If I fall unconscious from fatigue or hunger, you are going to have to carry an unconscious body around with you.”

The man gives you a quick glance and then tilts his body away. He continues to chew on the apricots gluttonously and half-caringly, “It won’t come down to that, kid. You are not that desperate so you are not that hungry. Besides, I only have a limited amount of those and I really don’t like the feeling when you are hungry; pangs, you know?” He puts his hand on his stomach to emphasis his point. “You always have time to reconsider.” He smirks.

You close and open your mouth like a fish. Unable to hide your anger, you tuck yourself in your scarf to fall asleep.

*** *** ***

Once again, during your drifts of soft unconsciousness you are awaken in the in a brightly vivid landscape. It is a massive open desert with a garden of acacia trees under the blazing, greenish shadows of which you finding yourself standing beneath. Once again, the heavy-iron clouds surrounding the desert twist and turn, and no matter from each side you look they resemble massive staircases meant for giants. They appear much closer...

And, once again, there is a ghastly figure present not too far from the nearest cloud formation. It is not the same ghost, although on his chest there is a tree-leaf clover not too dissimilar to the previous one. His previously royal and intricate clothes have turned to spectral rags, with only their outlines still being semi-solid and tangible. Once he notices you, he raises his head only to then continue standing there, motionless. He watches you meticulously.

You try asking him question, but to no avail. The phantom-like citizen of this ancient kingdom doesn’t even acknowledge you words. Perhaps he is simply waiting to attack you if you try to leave the protective shadows of the trees? You decide against trying, who knows what is going to happen then? Instead, you turn around and wait.

*** *** ***

Your mana has been restored.
Mana [165/165]

You gained an affliction: [Mild Hunger]

> You are really hungry. All of your DR rolls are lowered by -5.

You wake up hungry, cold, and with annoying muscle cramps. Your nose drizzles and your cough echoes. Marks left from lying against the hard sandstone have been imprinted on your body, not forever, hopefully. Your exposed feet are quivering and you are forced to cover and massage them to bring them to life... Despite your body now completely filled with mana, it does not make you feel right or powerful. You toss a quick glance towards Cryz, who is still soundly sleeping. He, too, is shivering. Apparently, the wolf-skin is not enough to keep you warm. You sigh, of all the people you had to share your magic with this selfish opportunist. You kick him...

“Ough,” the man suddenly opens his eyes in shock and pain. You didn’t mean to hit him that hard. “Did you...?”

“I-I didn’t do anything,” you respond with an awkward wince, “Wake up. Let’s go and try this again.”

“Going into the creature’s beak?” Cryz raises his body to take a half-sitting position, “Can’t you do this alone?”

You roll your eyes and refuse to reply. You are not a thief but he makes it very hard to not even consider doing it to him. The two of you approach the beginning of the canal, to where you brought the mummified body. The stork’s head have been lowered back after it brought you to the middle-level canal. You have no other choice but to climb down. It takes you and Cryz a few more hours to descend down all the canals together with the stone body using your scarf – even slightly damaging it further. No encased body was meant to return from their tomb.

Once you land on the solid ground you take a few minutes to regain your breath before, once again, approaching the immense beak made out of bright green judging stone. Cryz is less, but still, reluctant to enter inside the maw of the creature, and his usually optimistic and laidback attitude is missing. First, you push the petrified body between the two mandibles before entering yourself. Cryz’s connected hand grabs onto yours – probably – instinctively as soon as the beak closes with a sharp noise. In a grinding motion, the head begins to ascend higher.

The insides of the beak are soon burning with magical, mercury flames brought forth with by your mana. You see the stone grimoire, and the now-white clover, burning with its own, unique magic. After several seconds, the statue stops moving and the beaks open wide. You sigh with relief once you realize you are standing in front of the highest canal; your heart skips a beat when you realize just how far above the ground you are. Cryz forcefully pushes you outside, as soon as the two of you leave, the stork’s head slides away to descend to the middle canals.

You shake your head and tighten your first. It takes you a while to travel through the ascending, zigzag river-way until you finally reach the point of the upside-down pyramid. There is a single, deep hollow that leads inside. You make sure to continue using your sequin magic as both a torch and a detector of traps: but there aren’t any here...

Finally, you reach a flat chamber with a central fountain-like platform. Despite the darkness, the statue in the very centre of the chamber continues to dimly glow with its own, eldritch yellowish-glow. Despite this structure being here for thousands of years, it is still just as intense and menacing. Thankfully, it illuminates the whole room. Cryz is drooling; you wonder if it is because of the expensive material or of the fact that the statue depicts a tall and mature, as well as naked, body of a woman standing bend over the chamber. You’d call her beautiful, but that is not the case. The figure has a snake-like neck and instead of a face there is an eight fingers hand holding a sickle.

You decide to stay silent about Cryz’s tastes and fetishes. You raise your hand to manifest a whirlpool of sequins.

To your surprise, they cling to the many of the objects inside of the chamber. Some fall to the legs of the statue, others attach themselves to ceiling, while the four heaps of sequins are quickly glued to limestone doors with strange, glimmering and engraved texts. It is rather likely that those are the tombs of the most important people.

> Investigate the woman-like statue.
> Use Sequin Magic to drain the magic on top of the ceiling.
> Investigate the protective walls of the crypts.
> [Write In]

>>4253054
>> Investigate the woman-like statue.
>> Try to drain the statue's legs of mana, it is almost certainly one of the traps guarding this room and it might spring if we investigate farther.

>>4253115
+1

it wouldn't be a surprise for the tombs of the most important people to be trapped

You nudge your head towards the statue; it doesn’t take long to convince Cryz to investigate it before anything else. The closer you get to the pedestal, the more unnatural the way she is bend – like a twisted worm – looks to you. He raises his free hand towards the glowing statue only to lower it, hesitating, “How’re we going to break it?”

You take a deep breath and a step forwards, “Its best that we don’t. This must be some sort of trap as well.”

Cryz angrily slams his hands down, “This king has a nerve making traps out of expensive materials. What gives?”

You shake your head and clench your fist. You push your magic into the white-snow flecks as they quickly begin siphoning the shining magic of the sandstone manifestation. As you do so, the statue grows brighter – the magic inside overflows the glassy outer surface. You feel it: it is not a trap but a creation alike Sol’s golem, something like this is going to much more magic to drain in order to disable than a regular trap. You pull back your hand when your sequins are completely filled with its magic – the cloud of manifested magic recovers your mana.

Cryz flicks his fingers once you are done. He raises his head towards the chest-area, “It should be safe, then...”

A short, crunching sound interrupts him. You raise your head to the source of the sound – the huge hand-face. Unnaturally – it is a statue after all – one of its eight fingers cracks and stands up, only to falls back on the sickle.

It continues to remain motionless.

Cryz looks at you and shrugs, “Let’s leave breaking that for now.” He begins pulling you towards one of the four pentagon-shaped doors to investigate it for him. You can’t help but smirk to yourself – the ancient language etched and engraved on the gatedoor’s surface is something neither of you is going to be able to read. A few sequins dazzle on the surface of the door – it is enchanted with magic, as well. It is strange; however, no other tomb hollows previously had their own protective statues, or enchanted runes. Cryz attempts to drain the magic.

But he stops as soon as his mana leaves his body and enters the sequins. For a second, you see the ancient letters erupt with blinding light before Cryz backtracks as to not disturb it further. There is a flash in your eyes before you can see again; as well as a ringing. And then, you – and Cryz – hear an echoing voice loudly booming in your mind.

‘It is a sharp blade that can easily kill, yet most are not afraid of it.’

> Say something.
> Step away from the vault door and continue draining the statue.
> Step away from the vault door and attempt to drain the ceiling.
> Step away from the vault door and walk towards another tomb.
> [Write In]

>>4254863
> Step away from the vault door and continue draining the statue.

it might be talking about the sickle

>>4254863
> Say something.
> Is it water? Most people are not afraid of it, but it can form mighty rivers and cut throught the Earth.

Oh cool, a riddle! Water makes a lot of sense to me, since the pyramid had that sacred pool and a bunch of channels to guide waterflow and now this place we've fallen into is a massive series of aqueducts.

>>4254951
oh yeah you are on to something changing my vote to this

>>4256375
>>4256375
>>4256375