Beatitudes

Episode 81.

They finally reached the end of the passageway after a little while had passed. There were no barriers of any sort obstructing them as they saw the passageway they were walking through abruptly widen up to a larger width than normal. They had reached the second floor without a hitch.

The three of them all stared at the wolves from where they stood at the point marking the end of the passageway behind them and the beginning of the second floor, Harry in particular, had battle intent practically bursting out of his eyes once again as he regarded the group of beasts in his sight as his potential disposable sand bags.

Nothing needed to be said as they all knew what was to be done anyways, a hammer that looked poised to smash some bodies apart was hefted upwards in preparation for battle as the hilt of a sword in another’s hand was gripped harder as well, while one of the males and the only female readied their respective weapons, the other male in the middle of the trio had no need for that as he held out a hand, trying to look cool while white mist bursted forth from his outstretched hand before quickly condensing into the shape of a sword. His sword was a cut above the rest, though that was still up for a discussion, now was not the time.

After that bit of posing was done, the trio all moved forward as they took that first step into the second floor of one of the many tainted mountains that dotted the land that was the tainted zone.

And just like the first time when they took a step into the first floor of the mountain, as their feet touched down properly on the second floor, the beasts occupying the second floor all quirked their ears up and turned their heads towards the entrance all at almost the same time like they had immediately been alerted  of their presence with that first step. The next instant saw the beasts all charging at the trio, reminiscent of what happened in the first floor.

Isaac brandished his sword in one fluid motion as his knees bent into a ready to charge position, following which he bursted forward with his sword.

“This should end quick…”

The other two behind him had also charged forward, following closely behind him as they displayed a growing understanding of teamwork

Being the only one who was literally in Isaac’s mind and could hear everything he said, Astral  couldn’t stop himself from speaking up,

Astral : Your dialogues are always so nauseating…

Isaac: Hey! What do you mean by that

But his questioning reply was met with only silence as Astral  said nothing more to him. Isaac could only indignantly put his focus back to slaying the beasts that charged at him, directing all the emotions he felt onto them.

The beasts of the second floor were no different from the ones on the first floor, the only difference being in their numbers and yet Isaac, Harry and Hiya also fought no differently from how they fought the beasts on the first floor. Hence, the result of the battle royale between the three humans and the numerous beasts was also no different from how it was in the first floor, a total wipeout without much stress or pressure felt.

Harry had already vaguely realized it about a few days ago, he was born in this world for the battles fought and the brutal vibes of wars waged. Ever since he was young, he had always been hearing the stories about the glorious fighters and divine powerhouses that wielded immense powers and had the wonders and miracles of life and the world at large in their fingertips.

But never had he had the chance to witness one such person like that, nor had he even had a chance to become like them when he heard there were those like him that had the chance and became one of those many figures in the stories. And when he had braved the risks and eventually got played, when he had gone of his way to set course to the capital cities of the human settlement so he could likewise be one of them, but instead ended up a caged prisoner of the pit with an unknown fate, he had questioned himself during a few of the many days he spent trapped in that inescapable hell hole, questioned his decision as well as his actions; Could he really have been able to be what he had heard in the stories even if he hadn’t been caught here, if he couldn’t be than what was his purpose for coming to life, what was he to do if he ever managed to escape, where would he ever find his place to be…

For someone who hardly thought about much, it was an impressively remarkable feat for him to have thought about so much; such was his cluelessness, his uncertainty and his reluctance to continue the way he was. It was also one of the reasons why he had chosen to follow to wherever they went, the current group of people he was following. He couldn’t make his way back to where he originally came from and he had no clue as to what to do next or where to even go to.

At that point, he had already stopped thinking, it wasn’t something he could do for long anyways. So when Isaac had come to him and mentioned a chance to leave the pit, without a thought or hesitation and perhaps a tiny bit of instinctual rapport, he had tagged along.

Even then with everything that happened, he never expected things to turn out this way. He was just a journeyer through a large forest with a group of people he was barely familiar with, nothing like a fantasy or a dream was there to see. It was only until when they got to Sarang, a capital city of one the mysterious elven settlements, and they had come into contact with the origin pillar, that he placed his hand on the pillar, got transported to the mysterious space and chose his class. Only then did he finally realize that he was probably answering his calling. It sounded a little flimsy and perhaps a little bogus as well, but with the stories and things he grew up hearing, he had come to believe in those terms and phrases.

And it was only a few days ago, experiencing battles with tainted beasts and feeling the power coursing through his body, did he finally come to terms with the fact that he was doing what he wanted and would never stop fighting alongside those beside him, provided they didn’t all break up in the first place.

All in all, it was a good feeling whenever he fought beside them like this and experienced the feeling of growing stronger and inching slowly towards the level of those he had always only been able to hear about and had never seen.

He had been born into the world to experience all this and relish in the berserker ways of battle. It was so much fun for him, even with the threat of death he knew was there. Who cared if he died with those beside him anyways, he barely had anyone to care about him since he was known as an orphan back in the city he once called home anyways, dying with them who he had only known for a few months probably wouldn’t be a bad thing. Such were his thoughts.

It was a white pike, which was already somewhat of a signature move from Isaac, that brought the last beast down to the ground. Allowing it to join it’s fellow wolves in the afterlife, if there was ever one for them.

It came as no surprise or as a big achievement that they were able to handle slaying two groups of beats consecutively. According to Adam, it was always easy for a group although maybe not as little a number as theirs, to handle low level mountains like these. It was all too easy.

So Isaac and the others were already standing casually in wait for the now anticipated red colored, like the color of blood, screen of light to pop up like it did the previous times. They were barely tired, it felt a tad too easy…