-Black Palace-

“Argh...I’m bored...” Bastille moaned while chugging an entire mug of beer, which was promptly refilled by a maid.

“It has only been a few minutes since they entered…” Edward sighed as he eloquently sipped his tea.

“What do you think they are doing right now? Not something dangerous I hope! Maria will kill me if Clover is injured! Haha!”

“I doubt it, it's only a low ranked realm. There is a zero chance of dying in one.”

“Ah! I’m jealous! It has been too long since I’ve entered a Spirit Realm! Damn being a Guildmaster! I just want to go out and adventure again!” Bastille moaned as he buried his face into his mug and continued to drink.

“Bastille, I don’t think you should let any of the other Seekers hear you damning your position…”

“I’m only joking of course! Besides, I’m getting too old to be a Seeker! Haha!

“Old? Hardly. You are only forty-six years old and in the prime of your life. You still have a good eighty years left. By the elemental lords, Don is around seventy years old and he is still taking missions! If your old master can handle it, so can you.” Edward snorted as he thought of the stern aging man.

“I know, I know...But you have to admit that thirteen years of paperwork has gotten to me! I mean, just look at me! I’m nowhere near as buff as I used to be! I’ve been practically wasting away! Haha!”

“Buff?” Edward nearly choked on his tea as he stared at his Guildmaster. A single glance at his domineering form is all one needed to know that what Bastille had just said was an understatement. “If you don’t call yourself buff, then I hav-”

“Umm, hello? I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” The voice came from an Azir boy. He was still in his teens and had black hair and a black tail. Although his appearance was friendly and vibrant, his skin was a sickly white which gave him a frail appearance. “I’m not late for the Spirit Realm, am I?”

“Hmm?” Bastille hummed as he stared at the Azir boy. “No, they just went in a couple of minutes ago. As long as you are at the Silver rank or below you are free to go in.” By the silver medal that was on the Azir boy’s robes, he could tell that he was at least somewhat capable.

“Thank you!” The boy shouted as he walked over to the portal. But before he could step inside Edward spoke up.

“Wait one second!”

“...” The Azir boy stopped in his tracks before slowly turning to face Edward. “Yes?”

“What is your name?”

“Is there a reason why you would need to know?”

“Of course. Every Seeker that enters the Spirit Realm is supposed to fill out paperwork. In the unfortunate event that someone was to die in the Spirit Realm, I would need to record it so that there wouldn’t be any inconsistencies in our files.” Edward lifted an eyebrow and glared at the sickly Azir. “You wouldn’t have some reason as to why you won’t tell us your name? Would you?”

The Azir boy stood in silence for a few seconds before shooting Edward a wide smile. “Hehe...Of course not!” He chuckled. “My name is Damion!”

Damion? Where have I heard that before? Bastille wondered but did not inquire further.

“Thank you. You may proceed.” Edward said as he wrote down Damion’s name on a piece of paper.

“Thank you again!” Damion exclaimed before shooting Bastille a smile.

“Alright everyone, get up!” Chowder shouted as he gazed at the Seekers that were sprawled in numerous piles. The Seekers moans and groans of pain echoed throughout the air causing Clover and Karim to silently thank Bastille for his previous warning.

The Seekers slowly and painfully picked themselves up from the ground. After a minute, the few hundred people coalesced around Chowder, with Clover and Karim at the front.

“Hmmm….” Chowder hummed. “There are a lot more of you all then I had previously thought! I need to get the number down to three hundred...” The purple cat spirit scratched its head with a small paw as it scrunched its face in thought. “Ooh! I know! Elimination round!”

“Elimination round?” A Ga’jong Seeker spoke up. “Why do we need an elimination round just because there are too many of us? The more competition, the better!”

“Exactly! Since I already know that I’m going to win this, I don’t care how many opponents there are!” An eager and confident Kortanji exclaimed.

“Hehe...You two are already complaining?! Don't tell me you are scared that you will be kicked out this early on!” Karim shouted at the two of them with his mouth curled up into a mocking sneer.

“I agree. A simple thing like an elimination round is no reason for complaining! Only those who are not confident in their abilities would object to such a thing!” Francis chimed in.

“Hehe...For once, I agree with, milord, over there!” Karim sneered at the Kaldian squire. Thankfully, Francis was not stirred by his provocation and ignored the half-elf.

“Confident?! Of course, I am! In fact, I wouldn't even need three seconds to take down the two of you!” The Ga’jong snarled as he placed his hand on his sword.

“You bastards need to train for ten more years before you can think about mocking me!” The Kortanji bellowed as it lifted its spear and aimed it at the duo.

“Stop!” Chowder exploded. “Fighting is strictly prohibited! If any of you attack one another than you will be instantly eliminated and banished from this realm! Do you understa-” But before Chowder could finish, he was interrupted by the portal that had started to hum and fluctuate. Everyone, including the Kortanji and Ga’jong, stopped what they were doing and stared at the portal. After a few seconds, a person stepped out. “Ah, it looks like we have one more competitor.”

Clover looked over at the wildly fluctuating portal, only to widen his eyes in fear and malice. In an instant, Clover poured Arcana into his Devyse and pulled out his spear while entering a fighting stance! At the same time, he burned Arcana throughout his body and shouted out an ancient command!

Erepirkie!

As the Arcana in his veins reacted to the ancient language, the earth around him shook and trembled as dirt and rock clumped together to form a deadly lance!

“Damion!” Clover snarled as he glared at the Azir boy that had nearly killed him and his friends.

“Ooh it’s you! I’m surprised that you became a Seeker! I would’ve thought that you would never leave the safety of Vanden’s walls after what I did to you!” Damion sneered as he looked at the half-elf in front of him. “No, really! It’s commendable that you even have the balls to enter a Spirit Realm!”

“After what you did to me and my friends, I will never forgive you!” Clover shouted as he flung the earthen lance towards the pale boy. But to Clover’s surprise, Damion did nothing to stop it. He did not attack nor did he dodge, he merely continued to smile at Clover with the same mocking sneer.

“Stop!” Chowder bellowed as he raised a single paw. With a single flick of his wrist, Clover’s lance exploded into dust. “You impertinent half-elves! Did I not just say that fighting was prohibited! I will have the three of you banished if you attack each other again! Do you understand?!”

“Yes, sir…” Clover mumbled as he continued to glare at Damion. Wait...three of us? Clover thought as he looked around. To his surprise, he realized that Karim was a few meters away and that he had also pulled out his own weapon. With a halberd in one hand and lightning arcing over his body, Karim's usual goofy appearance had become fierce and ominous!

At Chowder's command, the three of them withdrew. “Do you know who that is?” Clover whispered to Karim as they fell back into the group.

“Nope! As a good partner, I decided to back you up. After all, that is what friends do!” Karim whispered back while shooting him a wide smile. For some reason, Clover did not believe him, but he decided not to keep pressing the issue.

Hmmm? I know that we recently met, but I don’t think he would lie to me...Maybe he really is just a good friend…

“Now then, if anyone interrupts me again, then I will promptly banish them from Denari’s Realm…” Chowder grumbled as he looked around at the many faces of the crowd. “Now then, I shall begin the explanation of the elimination round!”

Damn it...Why is he here? And how? There is no way that Damion is only at the Silver rank! Maya told me that he was able to kill a Centaur with a single blow! Clover thought as he turned his head to glare at the pale Azir boy. He must be using some sort of spell that lets him enter Spirit Realms! Maybe he has a Spirit item that lowers his Arcana capacity! Clover shook his head as he thought that. After all, Spirit items are insanely expensive. And an item that could allow Gold or even Blue ranked Seekers into low ranked Spirit Realms unimpeded would definitely be impossibly expensive! There is no way that someone his age could afford something like that! The only way that would be possible would be if Damion was a prince of some kingdom or at least part of a wealthy family! But that was doubtful as he did not look wealthy in the slightest. In fact, he looked poor and ragged. His clothing was weathered and damaged and he wore no expensive jewelry! No! It has to be something else!

“Now then! First things first!” Chowder exclaimed, stirring Clover from his thoughts. “Everyone is too be separated!” And with a single clap, Clover and everyone else vanished. In less time it took to sneeze, Clover was teleported to a new land.

“What the hell!” Clover exclaimed as he fell head first to the ground. “Where am I?” He mumbled while spitting out a mouthful of dirt. As he looked around, he noticed that the land around him was covered in black ash and dirt with the only foliage being sparse patches of brown grass. The few trees that covered the landscape were lifeless and their exposed carcasses were heavily scarred by the claw marks of unknown beasts. And It was dark, with the only light coming from the orange haze of a perpetual sunset. The orange light caused darks shadows to jump and meander about.

Clover extracted his spear as he surveyed the dark landscape. It would be a lie to say he wasn't a bit anxious. The jumping shadows and the chirps of ominous insects made him feel as if he was surrounded by some unknown entity.

“Boo!” An ear-shattering shriek exploded beside Clover’s ear, causing him to sprint away in terror!

“Gah!” He yelped in fear as he ran! Each step was a long stride that carried his body forward for nearly a mile before he stopped and looked back. To his surprise and anger, the perpetrator of the offending noise was Chowder.

The purple cat floated in the air as he laughed his head off at the Seeker’s graceless escape. “Haha! I thought all Seekers were brave and courageous! Not fearful and cowardly!”

“Shut up! Everybody would flee if they someone shouted in their ear!” Clover proclaimed as he glared at the spirit. “Besides, I didn’t run in fear! I ran because I thought I was being attacked! It was just a survival reflex!”

“Okay, okay….Mister Seeker...I’m sure that’s the reason why you nearly wet yourself…” Chowder said as he tried to stifle his giggles. Once he composed himself, Chowder teleported to Clover, his furry face only a few inches away from his own. “Anyways! It looks like your out of luck!”

“Why do you say that?”

“Hehe...Because you have been sent to a particularly unpleasant realm! But don’t blame me! The teleportation is random!”

Clover furrowed his brow at this. “Really? You had no say in the matter?”

“Of course I don’t! I have no ill will towards any of the contestants! Why would I purposefully make your life slightly more troublesome?” Chowder defended himself as he crossed his arms.

“Fine, fine. I believe you….So what now?” Clover asked.

“Nothing too difficult! Your only goal for this elimination round is to survive longer than four-hundred and eighty-four Seekers!”

“Survive?!”

“Haha! Of course, I only meant survive in the figurative sense!” Chowder laughed. “Lord Denari has instructed me to let everyone know that they have no need to fear death in his realm! Anyone who does die will be immediately banished from his world!”

“That's a relief…” Clover sighed. At least that's one less thing I have to worry about…

“However! That does not mean that you should be careless in his realm! After all, the pain you feel here is the same as that of your mortal world! If you are to die, make sure that it is quick and painless!”

Clover turned a shade whiter as heard this. As a Seeker, one must always be ready for pain and death. Even for veteran Seekers, it was impossible to fully remove the fear from one's heart. This was even more so for younger Seekers who were in the prime of their lives.

“Why four-hundred and eighty-four Seekers?” Clover asked once he recovered.

“That is because Lord Denari instructed me to provide him with one hundred Seekers for the next phase! And the way I have come about to accomplish this task is by pitting each Seeker against an unending assault of enemies that only become stronger as time goes on!” Chowder grinned. “Only the strongest, quick-witted, and most resilient Seekers will remain!”

“That sounds fair enough,” Clover muttered. “How will I know if I made it to the next stage?”

“Once one hundred Seekers remain, I will teleport you out! But before I start, I must ask you one last time. Are you sure that you want to compete?”

“Of course!” Clover exclaimed without a single shred of hesitation. How could I back out now?! If I left, I would become the biggest laughing stock in the Guild!

“Good! Good! But I wonder how brave you will be an hour from now!” Chowder sneered before clapping his paws together and instantly teleported away.

Clover was left alone in the dead landscape. Still holding his spear he began to explore the land.

Bastille told me that it is important to familiarise myself with my surroundings in case I am attacked. That way, I can use the landscape to my advantage, and use it against my foes! Clover thought as he recalled one of Bastille's first lessons.

However, as Clover looked around, he could not see any advantage he could exploit in this inhospitable terrain. The land was covered in black ash and dirt. The trees were short and spread apart. There were no rocks that he could use for cover. It also appeared that he was in a valley, as he was surrounded by steep hills.

Kith…Siss...Kah….

“Who’s there?!” Clover exclaimed as he looked around. But to his surprise, he saw nothing.

Kith….Sasss….Kuth…

Clover gulped as he continued to twist and turn as he looked for the strange noise. At first, he thought that it was the wind. But that was ruled out as there was no wind in this dead land! He decided to leave this area and to traverse the steep hills that surrounded him. But as he walked forward, he noticed that his movement was restricted. Looking down, he noticed that there was a pale white arm sticking out of the ground which was now latched onto his foot!

“What the hell!” Clover screamed as he jumped away from the hand. In instant, the dead land turned into a hellish landscape as hundreds of arms poked out of the dark soil.

Scree!

Ear piercing shrieks shattered the silent air as hundreds of ghoulish heads popped out of the earth! Their bodies soon followed as the reanimated bodies woke themselves from their eternal rest! In less time it took to take a single breath, Clover became surrounded by the restless undead!

Ghouls?! But they look different then the ghouls I’ve read about! Clover yelled in his mind as he looked at the horde. While they were all partially decayed and missing limbs like ‘normal’ ghouls, these ones also had small horns on their foreheads and thin tails. Every ghoul also had a small gem in between their foreheads. No! I can’t stay hung up on that! I’m already surrounded! I have to fight my way out this ditch!

“Hah!” Clover exclaimed as he chose a direction and ran towards the ghouls that occupied it.

Erepirkie!

By burning Arcana and shouting the ancient command, Clover forced the black earth to bend to his will, causing the dark dirt to coalesce into five lances. It is risky to burn too much Arcana this early on, but I need to punch my way through as quickly as possible!

Clover launched each one of his lances, their dark forms resembled falcons as they dive-bombed their prey. Each earthen spear met its target by either piercing their chests and stapling them to the ground or by puncturing their heads with enough force that they exploded!

“Although I have killed beasts before with Bastille, it feels weird killing undead. Weren’t they people at some point?” Clover whispered to himself before shaking his head. “No, I don’t even know what they are! They don’t look like any race I know of!”

Clover decided not to worry about this right now. After all, he was currently surrounded by bloodthirsty enemies that only wanted to kill him! There was no time to feel sorry for them! In fact, as he thought to himself more and more ghouls rose from the ground and replaced the ones he killed!

“Shit” Clover cursed he ran into the mod of enemies. Everytime he attacked, he would fill his arm with Arcana and release at the moment of impact, exponentially increasing the power of each blow! His spear was like a harbinger of death! Each time he stabbed and pierced a ghoul would fall over and die, again and again! Soon his spear was covered in a dense black blood that stank more than manure.The ground too was soaked with the stuff as well, but it was indistinguishable from the dirt and ash.

“Crap! Every time I kill one, two more take their place! Not only that, but they are getting stronger and are starting to fight back!” Clover yelped. “I can’t fight forever! I have to preserve Arcana by running away!”

The ash and dirt provided little traction for Clover as he crawled up the steep incline. To make matters worse, the ghouls also climbed up albeit a tad slower.

“Gah!” Clover cried out in alarm as a hand shot out from the dirt, nearly grabbing his throat! All around him, more and more ghouls rose from the ground as they smelled the presence of the living! His feet were continually grabbed, as too were his hands. But Clover would fill them with Arcana, and kick and punch back! However, his bones and skin were not strong enough to handle continuous Arcana filled strikes. His hands soon became covered in cuts and lacerations. His feet were only slightly better as his boots provided some protection from the blows.

After what felt like hours of continuous attacking and dodging ghoulish hands. Clover made it the top of the ditch. And what he saw caused him to exclaim in wonderment.

It was a palace, in the middle of nowhere. Although he was a couple of miles away, Clover could tell that it was massive. It was made entirely out of black stone with multiple spires towering over it. Its large walls were hundreds of feet tall with hundreds of splendiferous glass-stained windows covering them. Even the doors were gigantic! Even if ten Bastilles were standing on each other's shoulders they would be able to walk through them unimpeded!

However, Clover could not admire it from afar. As he stood there, more and more hands popped out of the ground while the ghouls that followed him up were close behind!

It looks suspicious as all hell, but that palace may be my only hope to survive this as long as possible! Clover decided as he ran towards the ominous building. As he sprinted towards it, more and more ghouls would rise up. Clover would only cut them down if they impeded his path. Otherwise, it was pointless to worry about them as their numbers were endless. After twenty minutes, Clover arrived in front of the large palace.

“It's much bigger up close…” He breathlessly muttered. The palace was surrounded by a deep moat. Looking down, Clover could not see the bottom, only a dark abyss. The only way into the palace was by walking onto a bridge of black stone.

Scaa!

Looking back, Clover saw that the undead horde had caught up! His only choice now was to cross the bridge!

“Damn it!” He exclaimed as he sprinted over the peculiar bridge.

“Please hold up! Please hold up! Please hold up!” He pleaded as he heard the bridge creaking and cracking. It was clear that it had not been used for millennia.

As he crossed the bridge, Clover noticed that the army of ghouls had stopped just before the bridge, not daring to step a single foot closer. Instead, they looked at the palace in fright before they turned away and ran.

“That's not a good sign…” Clover mumbled. After reaching the other side, he collapsed. “I might as well rest up! If they won't attack me, then this round will be a breeze!” After a couple minutes of resting, Clover stood back up and inspected the massive entrance.

Creek…

The impossibly large doors slowly opened as Clover neared. Their age-old frames squeaked and squealed in protest as some unknown force controlled them.

“Well...I couldn’t be called a Seeker if I don’t explore this place…” Clover mumbled as he looked into the dark palace. Although every sense in his body was telling him not to enter. He felt as if he was being forcefully pulled inside.