Zectas Volume III: Malediction of Veneficatl Valley

by John Nest

  Rewards:

  * Intimacy with Simiavulg race has increased by 20

  * Saruras' Emblem of Entry

  * 5,000,000 exp

  Smoke smiled when he saw the massive experience reward. He guessed that another notification would pop up.

  + Level UP!

  You have 10 stat points ready for distribution.

  Your HP has increased by 5,000.

  Your MANA has increased by 5,000.

  Fame has increased by 1.

  + Level UP!

  You have 10 stat points ready for distribution.

  Your HP has increased by 5,000.

  Your MANA has increased by 5,000.

  Fame has increased by 1.

  He excitedly watched the two Level Up windows pop up one after another. He could have leveled up more if he had been hunting monsters all this time, but Smoke was confident that gaining the Manatl ability was worth the trade-off.

  "Now, you see, I had placed a sensor on the shore that would detect if any Simiavulgs stepped into the lake. I used my Lightning Dash to get here as soon as Saru triggered it."

  Indignus nodded his head towards Tenvis and Meras. The two temple masters walked towards Saru and tied the albino Simiavulg's hands.

  Smoke did not notice what was happening, as his focus was on the results of his quest. His eyes widened when he realized that Indignus had been watching them for more than four hours.

  "You mean to tell me that you saw everything?"

  Indignus happily nodded. "Yes. I saw...everything!"

  'No wonder why no one else came to help us against Calamar and the sharks.' thought Smoke.

  Smoke was confident that Indignus' remark served to emphasize that fact. He didn't realize that it wasn't aimed at him until the Grandmaster's gaze landed on Saru.

  "As per our sacred rules, no one may interfere with a test in progress. Yet, Saru, you helped the DarkElf anyway. As such, you will be banned from Saruras until all of the current temple masters retire."

  "What? No!" Smoke shouted.

  He looked at the great masters and pleaded. "You can't do that. He was just helping me. Saru was just being a good Cuezaltzinian. How can he be punished for doing what is right?"

  On the other hand, Saru remained stoic. Smoke wondered if Saru already knew that this would happen once he got off the shore to help.

  Doctus answered with a sad voice. "What is right is to follow the rules. We cannot disregard our sacred laws." Two of the brown-staff wielders approached Saru, grabbed him by his arms and started leading him away, making his tied hands apparent.

  "Please, stop this now. Please, Indignus, he..."

  Indignus raised his hand and gave Smoke no chance to properly defend Saru.

  "Do not try to sway me with your words, DarkElf. We must uphold the law. The fact remains that Saru broke the rules and he will be held responsible for his actions."

  Indignus looked to the other Simiavulgs present and spoke.

  "Saru shall spend the night in the Prison House while his belongings are gathered. He will be escorted out of the village tomorrow morning."

  "Doctus, you and the others could talk to Indignus. You could make him reconsider, right?." Smoke desperately asked the orangutan Simiavulg to back up his claims as he used the Beggary ability on him, but got a warning notification instead.

  WARNING: Cannot use Beggary ability on the same person for the next 31 days.

  Countdown Timer:

  > [2 Hours left] Doctus

  > [2 Hours left] Tenvis

  > [2 Hours left] Castas

  > [2 Hours left] Meras

  > [5 Hours left] Indignus

  Doctus only looked away with a sad face. Smoke looked at the other great masters, but all of them followed Doctus' lead.

  "Castas, you're in charge of finding appropriate accommodation for our esteemed guest. I believe he could use some rest right about now." Indignus commanded with an unpleasant smile.

  Yet Smoke could see right through Indignus. He knew that the Grandmaster only wanted him out of the way.

  Helplessly, he could only watch as Saru was taken away. Smoke was forced to leave the shore and awkwardly dragged his feet along while following Castas, who held her head down and tried to avoid eye contact .

  * * * * * *

  Smoke stared blankly at the plain wall of the room that Castas got him. The chimpanzee temple master brought him to a tavern called The Contrite.

  He had just cleared a level A quest, but he did not feel triumphant at all. Painful memories flooded his head as he thought about the sacrifices Zectians had made for him.

  Adder lost his left arm to save Smoke, though it fortunately grew back. However, Mitleid was not as lucky. The Manaetor King, who Smoke had loathed before, became a close friend. Yet this friendship only resulted in Mitleid's death. Rudel, the winged Centaur, next in line to be Pferde's chief, was cursed to be a Tikbalang after he met Smoke.

  Now, an albino Simiavulg would be banished from the only place he had ever known just because he decided to help him.

  TUK TUK TUK.

  His regretful thoughts were interrupted when he heard three knocks on his door.

  "Who is it?" Smoke asked.

  "It's me." answered Doctus. "I've come to bring the authorization letter you requested."

  Hurriedly, Smoke opened the door. "Thank you so much, Doctus."

  Doctus handed the scroll which allowed Smoke entry to the dungeon where Saru was imprisoned.

  Smoke was about to dash to the prison when Doctus' hand stopped him.

  Doctus spoke with apologetic eyes. "Please tell Saru that I would have tried to save him if I could. But Indignus and the four representatives confirmed that Saru entered the lake, the designated testing grounds, before your fight against the kappas was over. He clearly broke the sacred rules and I am truly sorry it has come to this."

  Smoke nodded and went straight to the prison house.

  The faint moonlight made Saruras' prison house look even gloomier. In front of it stood Smoke, who was still on a call and busy whispering to his subordinates. "...Okay, Ledur, copy that."

  He was about to enter the prison when a blue-staff wielder blocked his path. "Where do you think you're going?"

  "I'm here to see Saru. Doctus has allowed me to visit him." Smoke showed the piece of paper with Doctus' seal.

  "Alright, follow me." The blue-staff wielder led the way to Saru's prison cell.

  Cold and poorly lit, Saruras' dungeon had the ability to suck out any optimistic thoughts you might have in your head.

  Held prisoner in a windowless cell, Saru was sitting in the center of the room and meditating. Smoke walked over to the front of Saru's prison cell. He performed a Simiavulg bow and waited for the albino's response.

  Saru stood up and walked over to him. The albino stretched out his hand between the iron bars and patted Smoke's hand. "Sorry about all of this, Saru. You didn't have to save me and get stuck in here."

  "Don't worry about it. I did it for myself. I couldn't stand Indignus' way of thinking any longer," said Saru with a smile.

  "What's the deal between you and Indignus anyway?" Smoke asked.

  Saru made a dismissive gesture with his hand and said. "It's too long of a story to tell. It's late and you've had quite a day."

  "A day that could have ended very differently if you hadn't rushed to my side. Please, I wish to know more about the Simiavulg who saved my life."

  Smoke saw Saru's eyes glisten before he quickly turned his back. A few seconds passed before the Simiavulg faced him again.

  "My father was Indignus' predecessor. I don't remember much about him myself, but I learned about who he was through his journal. His name was Indigatus. He made many contributions to Saruras, the most famous one being the Sniping ability made available to the physical-type Manatl specialists."

  "Even after he reached the state of red-staff enlightenment, he still wasn't satisfied. He wanted to gain more knowledge."

 
Smoke noticed Saru stroking his white fur before the Simiavulg spoke again.

  "When my mother got pregnant with me, my father infused Mana with the properties of all three specialized Manatls into my developing fetus. Sadly, my mother died giving birth to me."

  "Is that why you're pretty good with Manatl? But why do you still wield a white staff? I thought it was a mark of a beginner?"

  "I read this from my father's journal. He wrote that white isn't a color; it is an occurrence when all colors meet. That's what he did with me. That's why I turned into an albino Simiavulg. I'm supposed to have the aptitude for all three specialized Manatls, which is why I have a weird appearance."

  "The reason for having a white staff is, surprisingly, the same as yours. When the time came, I didn't pass the test of the jar of Sensus. At that time, no one had failed the test before and everyone was confused."

  "I assume my father expected that I'd just become better at one specialized Manatl and slightly worse at the other two. In the end, of course, the sacred rules prohibited my acceptance into any of the specialized temples, but my father was confident that he would be able to teach me the ways of Manatl himself."

  Saru composed himself and took a deep breath before proceeding.

  "However, two years passed and my Manatl showed no signs of advancing to the next level. I had improved my control over it and extended its duration considerably, but I was still unable to create any form of a specialized Manatl."

  Smoke nodded slowly as he listened.

  "I can't imagine how my father must have felt during those two years. Whenever he wasn't dealing with issues around the village, he'd spend all of his free time with me. I remember him being restless and impatient. He had been committing so much time to teaching me, but to no avail. I probably looked like a burden to him in his quest for knowledge."

  Saru sighed, shook his head and went on.

  "Soon afterwards, he left the village. His last entry in the journal states that he was leaving in order to find a way to bring out my latent potential."

  "So, there's a chance your father might still be alive?" Smoke asked eagerly.

  Saru quickly dismissed the idea and said. "No, I don't think so."

  Smoke picked up on the sensitive topic and avoided it as he listened to Saru continue.

  "Anyway, before he left, my father resigned and left me in the care of Indignus' household. Out of respect for my father, Indignus raised me."

  The albino Simiavulg bit his lip.

  "He used to be like a second father to me. He was kinder back then and taught me a lot. In fact, I received my father's journal from him. But everything changed when he left Saruras village twenty-five years ago."

  "Indignus left Saruras? Where did he go?" Smoke asked.

  "No one knows. All I know is that after he returned, he never treated me like a son again. Only as a servant or some kind of freak. To this day, he keeps reminding me of how I am my father's worst mistake."

  Smoke couldn't say anything. Although his parents died when he was young, he still wasn't alone and no one had called him a mistake.

  "Most other villagers weren't very kind, either. As time went by, my peers all got promoted to staves of other colors, while I kept holding a white one by my side. Kids started calling me 'stupid' or 'crazy', while their parents considered me a failure. One day, someone must have said something along the lines of 'me being a disgrace to the mighty Simiavulg race and thus undeserving of being called by a proper Simiavulg name'. Hence, they began calling me Saru."

  "What's wrong with Saru? I like the sound of your name." Smoke said as he tried to console him.

  "You see, 'Saru' is what you'd call a Simiavulg kid whose name you don't know. It's the equivalent of being called 'Hey, you'. It's not a proper name."

  "Oh, I didn't know that."

  "Don't worry about it. I'm used to my new name. That's why I was really happy when you performed the Simiavulg bow in front of me. In fact, I feel closer to you than to any of the Simiavulgs here."

  Smoke clenched his fists as he listened to Saru's story.

  "Saru, why did you remain here, in the village? If everyone is just making fun of you, don't you think it would've been better to leave?"

  "For a long time, I used to believe them. I used to think that I was some kind of failed experiment. But eventually...."

  Saru opened his palms and created three small Manatl barriers that had the characteristics of all three specialized Manatls.

  "So, your father's experiment did succeed?!"

  "I know it did. Of course, the damage had already been done by that point. I've never displayed these skills to anyone else except you. Since I wasn't allowed to train in any of the temples, I used the information from my father's journal and taught myself. I've assessed that, at the moment, my level of proficiency is that of a brown-staff wielder in all three of the specialized temples."

  "Wheet-whew!" Smoke whistled loudly.

  Saru waved both his arms in disapproval. "I'm still far from my goal. Apparently, the brown and black levels of proficiency are worlds apart."

  Smoke nodded in silence as he intently listened to Saru.

  "Although, I did get a clue from my father's journal. In order for one to become a brown-staff wielder, he or she must obtain considerable amount of skill and strength through years of training."

  Saru smiled as he recalled his father's journals.

  "The tricky part is, for one to get to the level of a black-staff wielder, he or she would need to relinquish those hard earned abilities obtained while becoming a brown-staff wielder."

  Smoke shook his head. "Sorry, I don't get it."

  Saru's smile disappeared. "Hm, I can't really explain it clearly because I haven't done it myself. Hopefully, someday I'll reach that level of enlightenment."

  "Knowing you, I'm sure you'll reach that goal someday." Smoke said encouragingly.

  Both of them smiled. Smoke observed that Saru's posture seemed different. The Simiavulg sat straighter and prouder.

  Smoked rubbed his chin as he wondered. "Just out of curiosity, what is your real name?"

  "Ahh, it's been so long. I believe the name my father gave me was...Scelus."

  Smoke offered his hand to the imprisoned Simiavulg.

  "It's nice to meet you, Scelus."

  Saru was taken aback at first, but quickly smiled as he reached out his hand.

  "It's nice to meet you too, Smoke. Though I think it'd be best to just keep calling me Saru."

  SHUFFLE SHUFFLE.

  The two white-staff wielders heard footsteps heading their way. Two blue-staff wielders came down. When they came into view, one of the guards called out to Smoke.

  "DarkElf, your time is up."

  Smoke said his goodbye to Saru and went back to his room in The Contrite tavern. There, he logged off in order to get some much-needed sleep. Due to his test earlier, he had skipped his scheduled power nap.

  * * * * * *

  On the edge of the shore, near the pile of rocks stood a busy Smoke. He quickly did an inventory check on the Simiavulg items he bought from the village's merchant shops.

  He limited his shopping time because he wanted to join Saru when he walked out of Saruras. As he finished his inventory, he saw an albino gorilla Simiavulg walking with his white staff in hand towards him.

  Smoke smiled at the four great masters accompanying Saru. "I guess Indignus was too busy to see you off, huh?" Smoke asked Saru.

  "We've already said what we needed to say to each other." answered Saru with a straight face.

  "Are you sure you don't want to stay in Saruras? Even if you can't train in the specialized temples, I'm sure there's plenty of other stuff you can do in the village." Castas asked Smoke.

  "I'll come back. Besides, I think I already know how I could continue my Manatl training. I just have to do some other stuff outside of the village first." Smoke answered.

  "Please do. You're more than welcome to come back any time. Just give
us a call so we can have Doctus activate the bridge for you." Meras answered.

  "Remember to practise your Manatl daily. The Manatl ability is hard to learn, but is even harder to maintain." Tenvis said to Smoke as they shook hands.

  As Smoke finished his farewells with the great masters, he observed that all of them were facing Saru.

  Castas cleared her throat and spoke. "I'd like this to be added into the annals of Simiavulg history. Today we bid farewell to Saru, a white-staff wielder who has done the most altruistic act I have ever witnessed in my life. For that, you shall be remembered as the one who fought off Calamar, the lake's colossal guardian."