Chapter 15: The Anvil and the Rose

Ben went back to the town and rented the inn for a night. The only thing he could think of was the word (Savior’s companions). The colorful orbs during his vision back at the prison named themselves as the failed saviors. Shouldn't the companions that followed them have perished as well? Aelina said she was one of the saviors' companions, Grant was as well. What are the idea of being the savior's companions and if the saviors have failed then why did they not follow? It was a strange occurance based on Ben's own perspective, maybe something happen... however simply hitting the question with more questions was bound to make Ben sleepy.

Sleep soon overcame Ben as his eyes closed.

*************

Isabella was awake after Ben left the shack. She was looking at Aelina who was lightly sobbing inside the shrine.

Isabella: “.... Ben… he seems to be a good person. I didn’t feel any ill intent from him.”

Aelina: “Yes… but the question right now is why did Grant do that…” her eyes were slightly red as she turned to Isabella.

Isabella looked over the crates of black crystals and the large broadsword. Her hands lifted a black crystal. Her eyes looked at it directly.

Isabella: “... these crystals’ magical powers are empty. Grant must’ve drained them before he died.”

She started to tie her red hair into a ponytail. Her hands went to her waist only to find nothing there.

Isabella: “.... oh right… we were robbed.”

Aelina: “I’m sure Ben grabbed everything from the bandits.”

Isabella knelt down.

Isabella: “I’m sorry… I couldn’t protect you… letting you fall into danger like that.”

“It’s fine… it was my fault for being stubborn…” (Aelina)

Isabella: “... what do you intend to do now?”

“Grab our stuff back, see Grant’s Grave, and…” (Aelina)

Aelina glanced at the large broadsword, then slowly walked back outside to where the night sky was. Her eyes closed shut. Isabella simply shrugged and went beside Aelina, her chest up high.

*************

After a hearty breatkfast of the casual transparent soup and stiff breads. Ben walked towards Grant’s shack he found Isabella standing there next to the door. Ben slowed down and met eyes with Isabella.

“Hello, I’m B-”

“Ben right? Thank you for helping us yesterday.” (Isabella)

“Umm, no problem. I just happened to follow the goblin’s track.” (Ben)

Ben looked at Isabella, her appearance was a lot different from before, from a sickly person to a person of a dignified look. Her eyes are filled with determination as she held her head up high, and her looks are charming. Aelina, who came out of the shack, was a lot cleaner before.

Her blond hair cleansed of dirt, her long hair from before was gone. Now it formed a particular hairstyle called the Chignon (A bun that was formed at the nape of the neck and has a tighter binding than regular buns).

“Ben, did you see any of our belongings in the cave?” (Aelina)

“Sorry, I didn’t see any of them there. We can report to the guild if you want.” (Ben)

“It’s fine, we didn’t bring anything valuable with us anyways.” (Aelina)

“Isabella seems to be a swordsman right?” (Ben)

“?, how did you know?” (Isabella)

“Well, um… the look that you have makes you look like a knight. Also your hands have calluses so you should be holding something that you trained with for a while. Your stance is also straightforward as if you have been disciplined in military arts of some sort.” (Ben)

“Wow, you sure do pay attention to small details. Just don’t gleam at me again next time.” (Isabella).

Her body kinda shivered as she said that. Ben could only blink a couple of times in response to that, as he realized that he basically oogled a girl from head to toe with specific details in mind.

“Right… sorry about that.” (Ben) Ben scratched his the back of his neck in embarssment, yet his mind floated off back to Isabella's image.

(She's pretty...my lack of words, I'm an idiot. What am I thinking.)

“No problem, with the money that you gave us. We should be able to take care of ourselves, right Aelina?” (Isabella)

Isabella looked back at Aelina standing behind her.

“Hmm, indeed. What’s your plan for today Ben?” (Aelina)

“Well, I’ll probably chop some firewood for the village and go off into the woods since my adventure kind of stopped suddenly yesterday.” (Ben)

“Heh, well do continue saving people like us.” (Isabella) She smiled.

“Well… you know where to find me if you need to.” (Ben)

Ben grabbed the large pile of fallen trees, a red like aura dragged upon it. Immediately, Ben grabbed an axe on his side and sliced the pile of fallen trees in the middle, cutting away the branches and the trunks into two pieces. Grabbing the trunks with branches he slowly started to peel off the branches off of the trunk with a dagger as he sat down on a large stump.

“Efficient aren’t you Ben? Where does your strength come from?” Isabella asked

“Once you get used to this, the aura gets used to it and I can just grab it while my aura attached themselves to the trees automatically.” (Ben)

“I’m not sure if it’s the idea of a habit that allows you to use your aura as you will…” (Isabella)

“Even Grant couldn’t use his aura for convenient uses.” (Aelina)

Ben simply continued to cut off the branches of the wood, piling the small branches to the side in a small pile, while the logs were placed in the wooden wheelbarrow.

“These wheelbarrows seem quite new… did you make them yourself?” (Aelina)

“Hmm, yeah. I made them…” (Ben)

“I can see that you’ve learned a little from the carpenter, it seems like you also managed to place dry leather as the handle for it as well. Usually people would simply finish the product without placing any aesthetics and create a size large enough for a horse to carry, a wagon.” (Aelina)

“.... it’s nothing special, just a little adjustment to transportation, and it’s not like I need a horse to carry a couple piles of wood. More convenient for my own sake.” (Ben)

“Hmm, anyways we’ll be off. When will you be back here?” (Aelina)

“I’ll probably be back here when I have enough materials… so about three days to one week, including the travel time.” (Ben)

“Alright. You said Grant’s grave is at the lakeside right?” (Aelina)

“Yeah, his grave is at the lakeside buried with his loved ones.” (Ben)

“I see… alright, *Aelina looks at Isabella* let’s go visit Grant.” (Aelina)

Isabella simply adjusted her belt and started to walk aside Aelina as they started to walk towards the lake. Aelina waved, Ben simply waved back as he placed the logs on the wheelbarrow.

*************

Ben looked at the map of the village mountain side, he knew that there was a ruin that he wanted to visit during his small journey around the place. Even though this was considered to be a fantasy, magical world where humans were always in danger, there was a giddy feeling that Ben felt when he explored the world, a world that was entirely different from his old world. Abbs said that there was an abandoned castle far in the distance of the village. It was said that it used to be a place where it was the frontlines against the creatures of the dark. After decades of peace, the castle was abandoned. The country deemed the stronghold as a pointless piece of arrangement since the dark ages had passed. It was no longer the frontline for the Kingdom of Lanners, however it was simply an abandoned castle in the middle of nowhere. It held no strategic value or resources important enough for the kingdom to keep it.

As Ben walked down a small path riddled with weeds and small wild flowers, his gaze was in disbelief, the castle that was said to be in ruins seemed to be somewhat maintained. He was expecting more of a destroyed castle walls and monster filled habitat, yet there was none, the walls were not cracked. Ben looked at the inner courtyard, the dirt ground was littered with decaying swords and barrels, a station with an anvil laid silent as the charcoals from the fire had long died. The doors that led inside the castles were painted red, however as time passed by the luster of the colors faded away, burnt by the intensity of the sun.

Opening the door, a large symbol on the ground was engraved on the stone tiles of the castle. The insignia was an anvil and a rose on top of it. The engravings were deep enough to be filled with a bucketful of water.

(If anyone dropped their keys here, it’ll be problematic.)

Ben continued to look around, seeing the tapestry hung upon the walls, the old armor stands, the target practice dummies riddled with cuts and stabs. It defined the definitions of a barracks within a small keep of the castle. The stairway was grand, enough for the image of a group of knights to march down these very steps and into the battlefield. The stairs lead into a large hallway, which contains 5 doors, 2 on each side and one at the very end of the hallway.

The door at the end had two tapestries on either side of the door. The quality of wood on the door was higher than the other four doors. It was obvious that the door at the end was the commanding office. After checking the four other rooms, which only contained a small armory, food storage, kitchen, and a diner room for the leadership. Ben decided to go to the door at the end of the hallway. Feeling the doorknob with his hand, he finally opened the door. A musty mold like smell drifted slowly outside of the room. The curtains were closed and the bookshelves were dilapated however the shelves still contained books on them. Ben walked over and took a look at the books on the bookshelves. Most of them were mainly military tactics and past historical records of battles within the Kingdom of Lanners. Ben continued to look through the desk and opened some compartments, most of them were empty containing only some remnants of paint and scrap papers.

(Nothing of use here huh…)

Ben walked back outside and took a look outside of the small keep’s window. Night was arriving and the inside of the keep was getting darker. As Ben walked back to the stairs a faint light softly glowed through the small round window above the main entrance. Dust particles could be seen floating through the dim orange light.

(The sun is setting… I might as well stay here for the time being)

Ben placed down his rucksack and started to place the materials needed for a campfire. He moved the carpet away prior and prepared the floor above the stairs for a campfire. A small rug and a blanket was placed aside.

(... this would be the first time I’ve camped in this world huh… sadly the barrack’s beds were all disgusting, or I would’ve dragged one out here and used it.)

******

Night has fallen and the orange scenery was replaced with a calm luminescent blue glow, reflecting off of the stones and the walls of the keep. The place seemed lonely as the campfire simply continued with its orange flames. Ben stirred the campfire with the last piece of branch, afterwards simply throwing it into the flames as the fire tried to climb towards Ben vigorously. The flames crackled with it’s last few moments as it slowly dimmed, a soft orange fire persisted throughout this. Ben's mind began to flutter and slip away from conscious thoughts.

In the middle of the symbol on the first floor, the blue light crept into the engraved place as if it were water filling those gaps. The blue liquid glowed as it touched upon the orange light. The blue liquid finally solidified within a few moments as the night skies covered the moon.

******

Ben waking up to the bright morning, a chill went past him as he flung off his blanket as he got up. Stretching out his body as he looked around with a morning daze. Yet something shiny caught his eyes and he looked down the stairs at the symbol. The gaps that were there were gone, replaced by a blue shining rock-like substance. Ben immediately packed up his bags and went down the stairs to the blue symbol on the ground. Everything on the symbol was colored blue, except for a small spot on the flower. Ben knelt down and touched the blue luminescent stone, feeling a smooth waxy like covering, the stone was chill to the touch as well.

(Interesting…)

Ben looked into the flower, the small spot contained a small gap that a gem could be inserted into. Ben slowly sat back up and searched within his bag for something similar. Yet, nothing seemed similar to the shape of the gap. Until a noise squeaked itself into existance from behind Ben.

(Squeak*) Ben looked up and saw a mouse with a red ruby on its mouth. It ran towards Ben and stopped before the small gap, dropping the red ruby on the ground before it ran away. As if it was dropping off a delivery.

(....was it a familiar?... is there summoning magic in this world?)

Ben picked up the red ruby and placed it into the small gap without hesitation. Slowly, drawing his sword out in case of anything. Yet when the ruby was placed into the gap, nothing happened. As if the wind pushed him, Ben’s body was being pushed off of the blue insignia, falling upon the stairs, the flower insignia slowly grew a red rose and a blue anvil from the middle of the circle.

(There shouldn’t be any magical specialties within a man-made castle.)

Ben walked towards the red rose and the blue anvil. There were no hammers, tools, or any ores. Simply the flower and the blue anvil. As Ben stood there dazed, a voice entered his thoughts however, the voice was of a woman’s voice.

“Young one, a soulless sprite, human… creature… yet a being blessed… for you to carry a nameless fate, hardships are abound… I am simply a spirit that forge its power from the beings who wield the swords and shields alike.”

“A spirit that is created from the weapons of humans and creatures alike… almost sounds like a military like spirit… what purpose?”

“I sense something within you, yet you’re considered to be dead already. However, there is intelligence within you. You… must have an undying will?”

“.... nothing of that sort… also I’m not dead…also a spirit like you shouldn't have appeared within a recently abandoned castle… why are you here?”

“Spirits are not bound to a single place, we’re free to move anywhere as long as we can keep our own promises and livelihood. We are merely observers…”

“Observers… what are you doing here?”

“The red aura… you inherited from the Berserk Warrior Grant”

“... these auras are inherited? I don’t remember anything about inheriting…”

“The spirits of the dead have the ability to send their abilities to the ones they trust and know. However, there are multiple instances where it fails to do so.”

“.... have you met Grant before?”

“Simply his spirit as he possessed the great sword with his might and pride… The power he had as he wielded his sword was stronger than most of the other individuals who wielded a sword or shield. Albeit, just a little stronger than the average of the ones I have seen.”

“Well… why are you talking to me then? Is it because of Grant?”

“I simply found you sleeping here, carrying the red aura of Grants… one of the individuals that have a decent history… I wonder… I ponder… what’s so special? You… an individual… who possess no power… no strength.. Yet for some reason the spirits and magic speaks to you as if it’s natural. Your magical abilities flow without problems, your mind is clear enough for the spirits to comprehend your abilities and allow you to use their powers. “

Ben simply stood there looking at the red rose.

“Anyways.. time is short, touch upon the anvil. Afterwards I’ll disappear.”

Ben continued to look at the red rose at the side.

“What’s your purpose?”

“Spirits have their free will to do whatever they feel so… don’t worry… the spirits may have personalities however we will never try to harm an innocent mind.”

After listening, Ben touched the anvil with his hands. His eyes feeling heavy were closed, his hands feeling the heated anvil felt a leathery surface. Ben opening his eyes saw a leather bracer, a rose and anvil symbol was engraved on the top of it. Ben wore it upon his right hand, gripping his hands, and testing the feeling.

(Just a leather bracer with a logo? Is this spirit trying to promote something?)

“.... what does this bracer do?”

Ben spoke out, however, nothing happened, or given an answer.

“... she did say she’d disappear after I touched the anvil.”

Ben tapped on the bracer and nothing happened. Deciding that the leather bracer must have some sort of functions. Ben walked out of the castle ruins and looked at it from the outside. The castle was still the same as it was before. Ben took out his map and looked at it. The only other place that is marked as interesting by Ben was the small pond that was said to contain remnants of the battle that was there.

According to the reports that Abbs said, was that in the past the small pond had some strategic value for the monsters. It was said that the monsters were able to create more by simply being there. Yet, the idea of how it created more with simply a small pond of water was unclear. The report stated that the creatures simply erected a small statue and it worked. However, as the humans tried to destroy the statue it continued to stand there with a determined will, an aura that allowed it to survive the onslaught of magic and swords on it. To this day the statue is still there, the fear of its power has disappeared as the shrine seemed to have ceased it's activity long ago. However, the guild would continue to send scouts over to these shrines to ensure

(The monsters… during the horde battle at the village their intelligence on war is rather educated… specially that grade C monster rank Kobold… the ability to spread its troops and contain the adventurers and the patrol knights was rather impressive, even though it had overwhelming odds… are monsters in this world smarter than humans?)

*****

Ben walked through the woods and arrived at a small lake, an ominous statue stood within the middle of the lake. The statue was in the form of a monster with its claws around a small globe that was on the foundation of the statue as if trying to crack the small globe with it’s power or suppress it.The monster’s mouth was wide open as it’s tongue slithered above the small globe. The statue resembled a devil, yet it also resembled a ghoul with wings.

The place around the small lake was littered with dead leaves on the water’s surface. The lake formed the image of an eternal lake, never-ending, the baby blue colored water wasn’t transparent, it’s color formed as if it were blue marble tiles. An otherworldly feel to the lake’s atmosphere settled on Ben's eyes. It was as if nothing was living within the lake, the tree leaves around the lake were brown, orange, sickly and dying while it's neighboring trees were vibrant green and at the peak of it's spring growth.

(The fact that the trees are dying near the statues, clearly states that it’s intentions are to kill…)

Ben walked towards the lake, handling a small pebble. Ben threw the pebble into the lake, no sound came from it as it hit upon the surface. The pebble simply hit the surface and continued to stay on the surface, it didn't bounce, it didn't sink it simply stayed where it was thrown at.. Ben walked around the lake, observing the outer side of the place. There was nothing breathing, living, or alive. The trees were dead, the lake had no fish or plants.

Ben took out his adventurer’s badge and read the words within it.

*Daily Week* - Investigate the castle and report if there are anything new (x)

*Daily week* - investigate the Lake of Moride - the ominous statue (x)

*extermination* - eliminate any creatures in both locations listed above

(if possible) (x)

Rank D- Ben Scat

Rank Exp- (2/10 quest promotions done)

(Well, it seems like the quests are all done now.)

Ben looked around the lake once more. He grabbed a stone near the lakeside and threw it at the statue.

An invisible barrier bounced the stone off of it.

“Seems like the statue does have a way to protect itself.”

As Ben started to walk away from the lake, his bracers suddenly glowed red. Ben felt the aura behind him grow. Immediately he dodged to the left and into the pile of dead leaves. Shaking off the dead leaves, Ben faced the statue and the lake once more. There were two dark creatures on the lake surface, one was holding a bow and arrow while the other was holding two scimitars swords. These two dark creatures had no definitive nature other than the idea that they were dark shadows formed of a certain creature that could stand on two hind legs. Ben recognized them as if they were similar to the anubis god, it's shadow form portrayed a jackal or dog like head, with it's humanoid body fleshed with darkness. It's form was definitive however the being had no definition, it was as if Ben was looking into the darkness itself.

Ben could only get up slowly and run. The aura of these creatures were filled with a strange feeling, the magical orbs that tend to linger around the air had disappeared. The archer shot once more, while the other one started to dash towards Ben’s location.

Drawing out his sword, Ben deflected the arrow off of him as he continued to run away, his hand holding the sword throbbed in pain. Ben dived into the thick forest, using the trees to cover him, however the arrows that flew from the archer immediately pierced through three to four trees past Ben’s eyes. The arrows were strong, the creature's power were beyond Ben's comprehension. These powers were truely supernatural to this world's common sense.

Ben continued to run until he saw the dark creature in front of him, waiting patiently. Ben stopped running and faced the dark creature with two scimitars. It’s blue eyes glowed with a pale green flame. Ben could only stand where he was, trapped between two unknown creatures. The scimitars shined within the dull sunlight, shining brighter as the creature walked towards Ben with heavy footsteps. The scimitars crossed, as if it had already determined Ben's fate.