The Beginning After The End (New Heights Book 2)

by TurtleMe

  I see the sorry state that the drunk is in. His eyes are wide and his body stiff, as if he’s petrified. He’s muttering something and I can see tears stream down his eyes while the crotch area from his pants are a darker shade.

  Suddenly, he retracts his bloodthirst and I can breathe again. I take deep gulps of air and end up coughing. I could see the other Adventurers and the workers of the inn doing the same, some in a worse state than I am.

  The masked man turns back to the counter and faces the trembling waitress at the front desk, as her face is a full 3 shades lighter than it was before.

  “I believe there is a sack of rations under the name ‘Note’ that a friend of mine ordered not too long ago.” The masked man speaks, his baritone voice clear and precise.

  “Y-yes! I’ll get that for you right away!”

  He gives a slight bow to the waitress as she hands him a sack of food and he leaves as the whole inn just watches him go off, not daring to make a sound.

  ARTHUR LEYWIN’S POV:

  “What took so long?” Jasmine divides the food and puts it into each of the pouches attached to the saddle of our horses.

  “Ah I had a little quarrel with one of the Adventurers at the inn! Haha.” I scratch my head as I hop on my brown mount.

  I could feel Jasmine staring at me suspiciously, her half closed eyes judging me.

  “Don’t mind don’t mind! I didn’t make a big deal out of it! I didn’t even hurt the guy!” I just wave my hand to try and convince Jasmine from going back into Dragonspine Inn.

  Jasmine just shakes her head and gets on her horse as well, snapping at the reigns to go.

  “Haap!” I do the same as we head towards our destination.

  I think back over the last two years. Jasmine wanted me to get to A class as soon as possible to explore the dungeon we were heading towards today. Along the journey to raise my class, she ranked up as well, becoming an AA class Adventurer. There was still quite a bit of a level difference between her and Kaspian but she did improve a lot during these two years. When we weren’t on missions or exploring low class dungeons, we were sparring. At night, I made sure to meditate for at least a couple of hours before I went to sleep. During these past two years, I broke through into the light orange stage, which I count as a success considering how much time I spent meditating.

  No. The biggest improvement throughout this period was definitely my body. Not using mana made me take a step back and remember how to use my body and sword efficiently so I can be that much better when I augment myself. I can’t say I’m at 100% in terms of strength, since the physical reach of my limbs and my muscles are not as developed as it was when I was an adult, but I no longer feel awkward or restrained when I fight now. I fine-tuned some of my sword techniques to better fit my current body, which I’ll need to improve along the way.

  I can’t say it was an easy ride and I have scars on my body to prove it, but I know it was worth it. Coupled with my Dragon Will assimilated body and the use of mana rotation, I could finally be at ease in knowing that I was on the right track for the future.

  Jasmine has gotten stronger than ever before. While journeying with her, I noticed that her biggest flaw was in her swordsmanship. Growing up while only learning fire attribute skills for a little until she was deemed unfit, she was on her own to learn how to best control her swords to fit her wind attribute skills.

  I wasn’t the best at wind but that didn’t mean I couldn’t teach her skills regarding it. She passed the AA class examination by utilizing the new skills I taught her along with her double blade techniques she developed on her own. I wanted to take the AA class exam as well, but the merit point requirements made it so I needed to complete a lot more missions or clear dungeons before I’m eligible to.

  I send out a mental transmission to Sylvie. She’s been acting strange ever since we came to the Beast Glades. We would always keep in touch, but for some reason she didn’t want to come meet me yet, even when I go back to Xyrus to visit my family. Every time I tell her to come back, she says there’s something she needs to finish before coming back. I could definitely tell how much she’s matured though. We can hold conversations and her emotions have developed to become more complex.

  While I went home a couple of times during the first year, since last year, it’s taken too long to make the trip back to Xyrus and come back to the dungeons every time. Instead, we stuck to letters and meeting Father or Mother every so often at Guild Hall, where the transportation gates are. She has been pretty dissatisfied by this fact but she doesn’t keep me from being an Adventurer. I could tell my father has been keeping up with his training because he broke through into the solid orange stage now, which is impressive for someone his age. He smiles at me proudly both at himself and at his son who’s doing well.

  They’ve also been telling me a lot about what’s happening at the Helstea House. My sister is still quite a bit away from forming her mana core, but I was surprised when I learned that Lilia awakened a couple of weeks ago. Her awakening caused her bed to implode, which was about average for a mage. Her parents were ecstatic to say the least by this and didn’t wait to enroll her into Xyrus Academy. After being tested, while her mana core was about average, it turned out that her mana veins were excellent. She had a high capability to absorb mana from her surroundings, which was essential for all Conjurers. I guess she’ll be my senior at school when I start going next year.

  Snapping me out of my thoughts, I hear, “We’re here…” as Jasmine slows down her mount, approaching a clearing in the woods we were traversing.

  In front of the dungeon entrance, which was just a cave in this case, was a group of people clearing their camp and getting ready to go in. I guess we were the last to arrive.

  “Cheh… I guess we’re stuck with more Augmenters.” I hear an all too familiar, snotty voice. Getting off of my mount, I walk towards the group of Adventurers when the blond fire Conjurer from the examination site gives me a distasteful look. Jasmine follows behind me as an armored Augmenter steps up and holds up his hand in front of him, gesturing for a shake.

  “Please don’t mind Lucas and let me introduce you to the party. My name is Reginald Brooks and I’m an A class Augmenter. I am an Earth Attribute yellow stage core that specializes in using a hammer.” He points at the giant hammer that was on the ground where the group was.

  Reginald had a short, messy brown hair that matched his eyes. He had a very square face that made him seem more masculine with his short beard and 1.9m height and broad shoulders.

  The group consisted of Reginald, Kriol, and Brald as the Augmenters besides us. Kriol was a very defensive, water attribute Augmenter that only used a gigantic shield as his weapon. He was rather short, at around 1.7m and was kind of fat. I could tell he was strong though, by how firm his body was overall, despite his belly. Brald was a very noble-looking man that stood at about 1.8m. He wore a white metal armor that covered his shoulders and chest only, with a cape behind him. With a trimmed blond hair with sharp hazel eyes, he seemed like a real lady-killer. To my surprise, he was a real gentleman and offered us handshakes and a smile.

  “I go by Brald and just became an AA class, light yellow stage Augmenter. I am a fire attribute Augmenter that specializes with the broadsword and shield. I’ll be the one to lead us today.” He beams.

  After the Augmenters introduced themselves, the Conjurers stepped up. Aside from Lucas, there were 4 other Conjurers. One of them was a lanky man and the other a girl, while the last one was the serious-looking, bespectacled black haired boy that was also at the examination site! What was his name again…?

  “My name is Elijah Knight. A class, dark orange stage conjurer… single specialization in Earth.” He says simply.

  I can’t help but eye him carefully. There had to be more than that. He wouldn’t be able to get by with skipping the exam and being placed into B rank by just being an Earth Conjurer no matter how young he was.

  The beady-eyed lanky man th
at looked well into his thirties came up next. He had a smug look on his face despite his less than attractive appearance, with his crooked nose and parted brown hair. “Ahem! I go by Oliver and I am an A class, dark yellow stage Conjurer. I am an Emitter deviant, specializing in healing.” He sticks his jaw out smugly while crossing his arms.

  Despite his attitude, I can’t say I’m not glad to have a healer this time.

  “Hi! My name is Samantha but you guys can just call me Sammy! Dark yellow stage, A class Conjurer with a Single specialization in water at your service!” She throws in a wink at my direction. Samantha looked to be around her mid twenties and was an attractive woman but by her attitude, I’m sure she knew it too. She had wavy blond hair that flowed down her shoulders and light blue eyes that looked almost grey. Her eyes were big and round; making her look cuter and her short height of about 1.5m complimented that well. While her assets weren’t abundant like a certain wind Conjurer from the Twin Horns, she had a nice figure and I could tell Oliver had a thing for her by how he kept taking side-glances at her.

  “Jasmine, light-yellow stage, AA class Augmenter. Wind attribute with dual swords.”

  My partner says without batting an eye.

  “Note, light orange stage, A class Augmenter. Fire attribute with specialization in sword.” I said simply.

  Brald smiled at us, “Welcome you two! I’m certainly glad to have another AA class in the group!” The other two Augmenters nodded in agreement while Oliver and Lucas had faces that showed they didn’t care while he simply announced that he was a fire specialized Conjurer who was at yellow stage. Elijah kept his stone face while I notice how Samantha keeps looking at me, trying to look through the mask somehow.

  “I can’t help but ask. Mr. Note, there have been various rumors about you saying that you are not an Augmenter, yet you clearly just announced that you are.” Reginald asks, picking up his giant hammer and leaning it against his shoulder.

  “I haven’t been using my magic for a while due to personal reasons. That must’ve been the reason why those rumors came up.” I just shrugged, signaling them to move on.

  Noticing that I didn’t want to indulge their curiosity, he simply coughs and sets up the formation for the party.

  It would basically be Brald in the front, since his shield and sword style was the best fit for the front line. Beside him were Reginald and I, who both specialized in offense. Guarding the rear was Kriol with his gigantic shield to prevent us from getting flanked and Jasmine beside him ready to kill anything that may get past him. We were all in charge of protecting the four Conjurers with Oliver in the dead center, the most protected since he was the healer.

  “We should head out immediately!” Brald declared. He was assuming the position as the leader since he was the front line and the only other AA class besides the quiet Jasmine.

  This dungeon was deemed AA class, meaning parties with only A class and above are allowed to enter. Brald recently found out that there was a hidden tunnel that leads to an unexplored portion of the dungeon, which we would be exploring today. This meant that most of our dungeon exploring would be through uncharted parts. Everyone unsheathed their weapons while even the smug Conjurers put on a serious face as we stepped into the dungeon named by the first explorers “The Dire Tombs”.

  Chapter 31: Dire Tombs

  Stepping into the dungeon, I felt the temperature suddenly drop as we descended down a slope. I stood to the right side of Brald, who had his shield up in position and his sword drawn.

  Jasmine and I did some research on the Dire Tombs dungeon we were in now. It was a unique place, even amongst the mysterious dungeons. The beasts that made their homes here have been described in the records as undead. I’ve never heard of mana beasts that could come back to life. Because of this, one of the hardest aspects of clearing this dungeon seems to be the endless amount of undead mana beasts.

  Digging deeper, some Adventurers and mage guilds even speculated that inside the bottom of this dungeon might be a special artifact that can reanimate dead mana beasts, but no one has been able to prove it.

  Clearing the dungeon meant that the area has been explored. It’s different from conquering the dungeon, where the mana beasts inside have been defeated and the treasures looted.

  This dungeon has been cleared, or at least it was until Brald discovered the hidden passage, but never defeated.

  “We’re approaching the first level of the dungeon, stay on guard. The mana beasts here aren’t strong, but there’ll be a lot of them. Don’t waste your time trying to collect the mana cores from the beasts…they don’t have one.” Brald declares.

  I hear a faint muttering from Oliver, our healer, who’s complaining about the lack of rewards from this dungeon.

  While the goal of defeating a dungeon is to loot the accumulated treasures high-level mana beasts have collected, most of the profit, usually, comes from collecting the beast cores on the way down. In most cases, even if parties can’t defeat or even clear a dungeon, they can still come out with a hefty sum from just the beast cores, which could be sold for a high price. One of the reasons this dungeon is so unpopular, and why our party is the only one inside the dungeon, is that the mana beasts here have no cores. This meant a big chunk of revenue from trying to clear the dungeon would be gone.

  “GRRRRRRRRR”

  I narrow my eyes and focus. We just reached the end of the descending passage and into an underground cave around 50 meters in diameter. Looking around, the whole cave is glowing in a dim blue color. Above us, the cave was covered in stalactites that seemed to threaten us with their sharp tips gleaming. There were around 20 mana beasts that looked like big bats, except with no wings but instead four limbs. The hollow body of the bat-like mana beasts had their ribs fully visible and inside it, where the beast core should’ve been, was a cracked rock.

  I guess it was true.

  “Batrunners! They’re not strong but they attack in groups. Minimalizing the usage of our mana is going to be the key inside this dungeon! Get ready!” Brald roars over the growling of the Batrunners, all of them positioned to pounce, with their patches of fur standing on end and their teeth bared.

  “Form and torment the foes around! Fire Cyclone!” I hear a yell from behind me and I realize it’s Lucas who casted the spell.

  Suddenly, four twisters of fire 3 meters high swirled into life around our group and spread out.

  *YELP* *YELP*

  Many of the Batrunners were eaten up by the fire tornadoes and were burned up. The ones that were fortunate enough to escape the tornadoes fled, trying to circle around and attack us.

  I could hear Brald click his tongue, dissatisfied that Lucas just ignored his orders and casted a spell that wasn’t needed.

  The fire cyclones killed most of the Batrunners and the ones left were badly burned so defeating the rest were quick.

  “Next time, follow orders and don’t waste mana like that. Your spell was overkill.” Brald growled.

  Lucas just rolled his eyes, “I don’t see the problem. We killed them fast enough so that everyone else could save their mana.”

  Shaking his head, Brald just ushered us forward to the other end of the cave. Before going into the next room, I hear crunching noises behind me and to my surprise, the Batrunners that were just killed dug themselves out of the ground, looking rather unhurt, aside from their ribs sticking out.

  Dire Tombs…What an unfortunately fitting name for this dungeon.

  We just ignored them and went into the other room while Elijah quietly casted a wall of rock over the entrance so that the Batrunners couldn’t follow us.

  The opening on the other side of the cave lead us through another dark corridor that was around the width of 4 people, standing shoulder to shoulder.

  I could tell everyone was a bit more relaxed upon leaving the first cave but I couldn’t shake this uneasy feeling.

  “Fwishshshsh!”

  “Clang clang clang!”

  My shortswor
d blurred as I instinctively parried the projectiles aimed towards Samantha.

  “T-thank you...” even under the dim blue lighting, I could tell that Samantha’s face paled as the earthen spikes that almost killed her landed on the ground beside her feet.

  “Something’s wrong…there were no traps last time.” Brald picked up one of the pointed rocks to study it but was baffled.

  The presence of traps meant that there were high-level mana beasts capable of conjuring spells with activation requirements.

  “Stay alert everyone.” Jasmine already had her twin daggers guarding her vitals but Reginald and Kriol readied their weapons as Samantha inched a bit closer to me, her hand pinching my sleeve, her free hand gripping her wand.

  Fortunately, we reached the end of the hall with no other traps deterring us. The next cave that we arrived in front of was similar to the previous cave, but twice the size and there were suspicious holes scattered on the ground.