Chapter 11: They Just Watched

Shadows danced on the walls as the two of us walked down the narrow set of stairs. The feeling of triumph that filled my chest before slowly subsided, replaced by the somber mood that permeated throughout the dungeon. Lilith held her lamp within her hands while I chose to keep mine turned off in order to preserve the reserves within the mana stone in its bottom compartment.

The light tapping of our feet against the stone stairs rang out for who knows how far, echoing out into the depths of the spiraling stone stairs. My fingers couldn’t help but twitch in anticipation as we walked down, who knows what awaited us beyond these spiraling steps?

I ran my fingers over the dusty brick walls in curiosity, this dungeon was probably really old.

My thoughts continued to stray for a few minutes, coming back to reality only upon seeing the end of the staircase. At the end of the stairs was a massive hall that stretched forward into the dakrness, similarly made out of the same bland grey bricks. A large stone door was placed on the end of the hall while numerous bookcases lined the walls, unlit torches placed on the metal sconces between every two sets of bookcases.

Wooden tables were also placed all around the room in a seemingly erratic manner, books and scrolls littered the tabletops, some even scattered all over the floor. This gave the entire room a feeling of wizened eccentricity.

As I snooped around curiously, Lilith walked over to one of the sconces and removed the torch from its previous resting place, setting it alight using the small fire within her lamp.

She set the lamp down on one of the tables as she browsed the bookcases with a blazing torch in her hands. Curiosity took over me as I did the same, bringing out my own lamp and lighting up a torch in the walls. I randomly picked a book from one of the tables, blowing the dust away from the cover and flipping it open; being met with the sight of letters and characters I couldn’t understand.

‘I’ve seen these characters somewhere before…’ These characters were probably in another race’s common language, one I didn’t know. The book in my hands closed as I returned it to the table, kicking up a small cloud of dust. I coughed lightly as I covered my eyes, waving my other hand around to keep the dirt away from me.

I kept rummaging around until I found a book written in the human language. My hand brushed against the book’s cover to remove the accumulated dust, revealing the cover.

The Secrets of Dwarven Beer, by Crasus.

My brow twitched a little. I was expecting a tome filled with ages of universal wisdom that could give me a transcendent view on life. This book… was filled with another type of wisdom. I sighed as I returned it to the table. I picked up one of the scrolls, hoping for something better than a guide to brewing beer.

The scroll in my hands had a small wax seal that I removed. As the rolled up paper unfurled, a flash of blinding white light emanated out from the magical circle engraved on the scroll’s ancient paper. My eyes abruptly narrowed in shock as I used the hand holding the torch to shield my face.

Thankfully, the scroll didn’t contain a powerful spell that would vaporize me in an instant. What came out of the scroll was a small ball of light. The ball of light flew up and hovered above me, at the same time multiple scrolls around the room also began to let out a dazzling white light.

Lilith showed a surprised expression as the scrolls all around her abruptly lit up, creating a large amount of balls made out of light. The balls of light began to float up around us, bathing the room in a beautiful white glow. They gathered together in a large circle that encompassed the entire room before turning into blurs that impacted with the unlit torches.

“Ah!” A small cry left my lips as the torch in my hand was hit by a ball of light, almost making me drop it. The light merged with the torch’s fire and slowly turned it into arcane flames, giving the flame a sky-blue tint. The same happened to all the unlit torches in the room. Everything was enveloped in a light-blue glow. The entire room was now lit up, magic runes all over the walls began to give off a dazzling blue radiance.

This entire place was a massive library. I admired the large collection of books and scrolls that were no longer shrouded in darkness, my eyes were wide and wonder filled my expression. Due to the light that now filled the room, my eyes were drawn to a set of books on a shelf beside me.

Basic Mana Manipulation, Volume 1

A Study on Mana Stones, by Aván

Magic Theory, Volume 3

Axalerá Manaúvr Eléksis, Vombre 1

Elemental Affinity, by Mavon

Monsters and Earthly Mana, by Aván

Some books were written in languages I didn’t understand, and some only caught my interest for a few moments, but what really caught my eyes were the books about magic. I saw Lilith use magic before, and it was amazing how much someone could accomplish with a little mastery over mana.

Magic was hard to learn, although most people had some basic control over mana, to become a true mage, experienced mages were usually needed to teach children at an early age.

Moreover, the rarity of books about a specific school of magic were hard to find. Only nobles and rich commoners were able to afford the two. Even rarer was the idea of going to a Magic Institution, only truly talented individuals were accepted there.

The chances of me learning magic from just these books was pretty low without a mentor, but it wouldn’t hurt to try. I grabbed all of the books and reached towards my bag, intending to store them within and read later, before a powerful voice rang out from the ceiling.

“Stop there, human.”

My ears started ringing after I heard the voice, I looked up from where it came and saw a massive face made of stone form on the ceiling above.

“I have slumbered for thousands of years, waiting for the chosen of another realm to come and free me from the chains that bind my spirit. You two… are not from another realm. This is not your place.”

The voice was filled with archaic majesty, sending chills down my spine as I felt my own powerlessness. It felt like if this being wanted me dead, I could do nothing against it. Sweat began to roll down my forehead as I stood there paralyzed. I glanced at Lilith and saw her display an expression of defiance, although fear was visible in her eyes.

Her fists were clenched and she grit her teeth, as if she was trying to resist this being’s will. To this the being above let out an impressed sound.

“Not many would try to resist me like this, or is it just because I have long since been forgotten by the world above..?” The face in the ceiling spoke in bitter melancholy, “No matter, fate has brought you two here for a reason. Are the both of you perhaps linked to the fate of those from the realm beyond ours?”

The face above displayed a thoughtful expression as it murmured to nobody, “Is this encounter by mere happenstance, or is it truly something greater? It has been millennia since I last saw you, when will I lay my eyes upon you once again, I wonder?”

Its thoughtful expression disappeared as it moved its gaze upon us once again, “The both of you were sent here for a reason I know nothing about. I will send you away, but I will first bestow upon you knowledge from the past that has long since been forgotten.”

Suddenly, my vision is blinded by white. The ringing in my ears intensified until I felt like I was going to go insane. My mouth opened and I let out a soundless scream before I felt my body give way and collapse on the floor below.

The white blankness in my vision began to fade and in front of me… was a war.

Billions of mortals clashed on the ground below me, the ground had long since been bathed in a river of blood. The clouds were dark and thunder danced across the sky, the war was such a massacre that even the clouds cried blood.

Humans on top of horses galloped across the battlefield, slaying all those in their wake, only to be blown away by a massive explosion. A group of dwarves had manned a massive cannon on top of a mountain and destroyed the company of knights. The dwarves aimed their cannon at another group, but several demons appeared out of nowhere. The dwarves were surprise attacked and most were killed, the remaining three giving a good fight.

When the last dwarf was stabbed through the chest by a demon, he looked down the mountain and saw hundreds of millions engage in bloody slaughter. A tear rolled down his cheek as he gave a final scream filled with anguish.

The scream was drowned out by the deaths of many others; he was only one of the endless casualties.

Death was everywhere and it sent chills down my spine as I watched them slaughter each other ruthlessly. I felt like retching, but I didn’t have a body. I was merely watching something that happened in the past.

Even though I was high up in the air, my vision was perfect and I could see everything happening with crystal clarity. My attention was drawn to a man in the middle of a battle.

He was kneeling down and tears of blood ran down his face as the woman in his arms—his beloved slowly lost her life to a vicious wound in her back. Soon, he was killed by an enemy that caught him unprepared.

He was only one of many.

Next, my vision went to a little girl crawling out of the remains of a destroyed house. Tears were also running down this child’s face as she clutched a doll in her hands. Behind her, a massive ball of fire was headed in her direction. It hit the ground and incinerated everything. Only ashes remained.

She was only one of many.

I wanted to cry as I saw a man violently struggle against two demons that held him. In front of him was his pregnant wife. One of her eyes were missing and a demon ran his knife across her throat, killing her. The man finally freed himself and lost himself to madness, wildly attacking the demons barehanded. He suffered numerous stabs, slashes, and cuts and only went down after strangling a demon to death while a sword protruded from his chest.

The two of them were only one of many.

A young teen slowly burning to death on a stake. An elven mother sacrificing herself to save her child. Innocent villagers hungrily devoured by massive monsters. A dwarf listlessly standing in front of the remains of his burning home. A beast-man soldier watching as all his friends died one by one.

…They were only some of many.

I watched thousands—millions suffer.

I wanted to close my eyes. I couldn't.

I wanted it to stop. It wouldn’t.

I wanted to leave. It wouldn’t let me.

I had to watch. I had to see.

Finally, I watched a young boy hide behind a merchant’s stall as his mother tried to fight off hundreds of enemies in a burning village. She was a powerful mage, but they inched closer. And closer.

She died.

My entire being shook, I couldn’t take it anymore. I opened my mouth and let out a scream. My scream finally rang out, but it wasn’t loud enough. I kept screaming, I felt like my throat was about to rupture, but I kept screaming.

I opened my eyes and saw the face made out of stone look at me from the ceiling above. My vision went blurry as my body curled inwards, my broken screams died down as I sobbed noiselessly.

They just watched. They started it and they just watched. Countless people died in that war they started and they just watched.

…The gods… they just watched.

Chapter End.

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Author’s Note:

Okay, that was dark. Sorry about all that gore, that war is an important part of the plot and a lot of things will be happening after Dust avenges his mother. I hope you all give me your opinions and suggestions, I’d really appreciate it. Also, what do you think about this story having scenes like this? They won't be everywhere, but they'll happen.

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