Chapter 7: The winding
Basil sat on a rock deep within the cave, shaping an earth spike into a jagged, makeshift dagger with threads of dark mana weaving through his fingers.
"You see,"
he began, speaking calmly,
"I once knew a demon who believed he had perfected the art of torture. He thought he was the best at it. Then one day, he got his hands on the perfect specimen—someone who couldn't die, no matter what he did. We'll call him Test Subject B… or TSB for short."
The tip of the dagger took form, uneven and sharp.
"So the demon got to work on TSB. If he couldn't kill him, he'd break his mind instead. Year after year, the demon tortured him. And at first, TSB screamed and cried out. That gave the demon motivation. He thought he was close. Then… TSB stopped making noise altogether. Just stared, even as pieces of his body were twisted and cut away."
Basil paused and looked the pinned abomination directly in the eye—eyes that had witnessed his own death firsthand countless times.
"A few years later, TSB began laughing. Hysterically. Right in the demon's face. That pissed the demon off. So he brainstormed all night. Came up with a new technique. He was so excited, he burst into TSB's cell with the biggest smile, thinking to himself: today is the day I break him."
Basil stood now, dagger in hand, his expression growing darker.
"But when he opened the door, what he saw wasn't despair… it was joy. TSB was chained, left with no hope of anyone coming to save him, mutilated for years—and still, he grinned from ear to ear. His eyes filled with a fire. Why? Because he'd realized something…"
Basil chuckled lowly, walking toward the abomination.
"That demon, who thought he was so great, had never experienced his craft himself. So there were flaws—tiny, but detrimental. TSB had watched, and he'd learned. Every flick of the wrist. Every twist of the blade. And now?"
He leaned in close to the monster's face, his smile wild and deranged.
"He couldn't wait to show the demon how to do it properly."
Fear. Real fear—entered the creature's mind for the first time in its existence. It began to squirm, struggling against the wall where Basil had pinned it, beaten and bruised from Basil's 'warm-up'. Its instincts screamed.
Basil's voice dropped to a whisper.
"He laughed at every flaw he found the demon making… and howled with excitement when he thought of a way to do it better."
He raised the jagged dagger to the abomination's eye.
"Now be still, my little lamb. I don't just want you to see what I'm going to do—I want you to feel it… with every nerve in your body."
He scraped the blade into the socket.
"This is only going to hurt—"
SCHLK
"A lot! HAHAHAHAHA!"
The cave shook with a chorus of screams—both beast and man. Basil's horrific laughter echoed through the tunnels mixed with the beasts screams of agony, calling to every nearby abomination. They were drawn to the sound.
"MUSIC TO MY EARS!" Basil roared. "TELL ME, LITTLE LAMB—HOW DOES IT FEEL? THIS PERFECTED CRAFT?! TRULY… SENSATIONAL, ISN'T IT?!"
Far down the left tunnel, the screams echoed beyond two massive wooden doors.
Something powerful stirred.
⸻
DING
## Kill Confirmed ##• Abomination (S+)
• 8,000 XP
DING
## Level Up! ##• Level 67
• XP: 0/14,000
"Finally…"
Basil huffed, pulling his sword free from the creature's shoulder.
"Thought I'd never figure out how to kill you bastards."
He examined the now-exposed ribcage, noting a shattered gem lodged between the bones.
"Huh… looks like you guys run off fake mana crystals. I wonder if they're all placed in the same spot?"
He poked at it, thoughtful.
"I don't suppose any of you would be kind enough to just tell me?"
He turned to face the horde of abominations that gathered from the screams.
They answered with a unified, deafening roar.
"Yeah… figured as much."
Basil cracked his neck, bounced on his toes, and gripped his sword.
"So—who's first?"
⸻
They rushed him as one. The first swung wide. Basil vanished with Phantom Step, reappearing to the left and slicing the beast's arm clean off. Another came from behind—Basil flipped backward, driving his heel into its ribs and shattering the mana crystal inside. The beast flew into the wall.
DING
## Skill Acquired ##- • Body Reinforcement (D)
DING
## Kill Confirmed ##- •Abomination (S+) – 8,000 XP
Another charged and slammed both fists down. Basil reinforced his body, catching the blow with his forearms. He sank an inch into the stone floor, grinning.
"Gonna have to try harder than tha—!"
CRACK
The one-armed abomination hurled its severed limb. It caught Basil in the side, slamming him into the wall.
Before the dust could settle, Basil launched from the crater, spinning mid-air, and drove his sword straight into the attacker's chest.
DING
## Kill Confirmed ##- • Abomination (S+) – 8,000 XP
DING
## Level Up! ##- • Level 68!
- • XP: 2,000/16,000
Before the next enemy could react, Basil kicked off the corpse, pulled his sword free, slid between another's legs, and stabbed upward through its back without looking.
DING
## Kill Confirmed ##- • Abomination (S+) – 8,000 XP
Tch. "These messages are getting annoying."
DING
## System notification ##Would you like to disable:
• Kill Messages? (Yes/No)
• Level Ups? (Yes/No)
• Skill Acquisition? (Yes/No)
• Status Effects? (Yes/No)
• Mana Low Alerts? (Yes/No)
"Huh. Forgot about this feature."
Dodging two swings while adjusting settings, Basil muttered,
"There. That should do it."
CRACK
He caught a fist, spun around the arm, and stabbed through the crystal.
"Ah… much better."
He smiled as a message box didn't pop up
While distracted, a beast grabbed him by the throat, slamming him into the ground and hammered down on him with brutal force.
SWOOSH
THUD-THUD-THUD
The beast stopped— now nailed to the ceiling of the cave by three earth spikes. Blue blood rained onto Basil.
"…Five,"
Basil muttered.
He stood, expression dark. dashing forward, kneeing another abomination in the jaw.
THUD
He slammed his blade into its chest.
"Six."
DING
## Skill Unlocked ##- • KNEEL! (F) – Level Requirement Met
A beast kicked at him—too slow.
Basil leapt, leaving his sword behind, and summoned three spikes mid-air.
SWOOSH
THUD-THUD-THUD
Three abominations were skewered instantly.
Landing on top of his previous kill, Basil ripped his sword free and flicked the blood aside.
"Seven. Eight. Nine. And ten."
The remaining beasts backed away, forming a half-circle.
One of them looked to his fallen comrade, impaled against the wall—flesh torn apart, horn severed, eye gouged out, toes split to the heel, ribcage dismantled and stabbed into his arms, intestines draped like a necklace around his neck.
His terror grew.
He looked at the one sided massacre that had just occurred blood splashed all over the walls, his comrade hanging from the ceiling, and body parts everywhere.
His eyes meet Basils, who walked toward him with a smile on his face.
In fear he turned and fled.
The others didn't hesitate. They followed.
Anywhere was better than here.
Basil giggled menacingly.
ZIP
"Boo."
He appeared in front of the closest runner using phantom step.
SLASH
"Eleven."
ZIP
"Twelve."
ZIP
"Thirteen."
The rest got too far to chase with Phantom Step, so Basil just walked—whistling.
He arrived at the crossroads.
Closed his eyes and used mana vision to feel which way the abominations went.
"One to the left. Ten straight ahead. Three to the right."
He took the middle tunnel, humming a tune, twirling his sword casually.
⸻
In the abominations' sleeping chamber, ten of them huddled in the far corner, eyes fixed on the pitch-black tunnel. The only way in and out of the chamber. Every muscle was tense.
Whistling
Step… step… step… stop.
Silence.
Then—two glowing purple eyes opened from right on the edge of the darkest part of the entrance.
"Found ya."
A blur.
THUD
"Fourteen."
Fists flew wildly, striking nothing. Basil leapt high into the air.
SWOOSH
THUD-THUD
"Fifteen. Sixteen."
By the time his bare feet hit the ground, three corpses had fallen.
One grabbed him from behind. Another pummeled his chest and face with punches.
Basil dropped his sword, kicked it into a third's chest, then swung a leg kicking his attacker through the exposed part of his sword cutting him in half.
He grabbed the one behind him, charged toward a fourth, and impaled its core using the first one's horn.
He rolled its body off, pulled his sword free, and turned just in time to deflect a horned lunge from the one he rolled of his back.
Redirecting the blow, he kneed the attacker and launched it into a nearby wall knocking over another.
"Seventeen, eighteen… nineteen."
Two more charged.
Basil sliced off one's head, grabbed the other by the back of the head, and drove his sword into its chest.
" 2 makes Twenty-one."
The last two stood up slowly.
SWOOSH
Basil threw his sword through one's chest, tackled the other to the ground, and pummeled its face to mush. He retrieved his blade and finished the job.
"Twenty-two and twenty-three."
He exhaled, wiping his brow.
"Whew. Think I broke a sweat."
He switched to the jagged dagger.
"Their Crystals are junk… but these horns might be useful."
Carefully avoiding the poison, he harvested the horns and stored them in his inventory.
"Great. Now to say hello to the three in the cave on the right."
⸻
Basil approached the side tunnel, gathering dark mana in his hand. The orb swirled, pulsing with power.
"They're crouched near the entrance. Waiting for a chance to ambush I guess…"
He shrugged. "Oh well."
Leaning back, he launched the orb into the chamber.
VOOOM
The cave lit with brilliant white and purple light. Basil's face was illuminated at the edge of the tunnel, eyes wide with awe.
Then, the rift opened.
It sucked everything in—abominations, chunks of stone, even part of the ceiling.
In seconds, the room was silent. The only evidence it had ever existed was a crater in the ground.
"Whoa… BEAUTIFUL! HAHAHA!"
DING
## New Skill Created ##- • (nameless) (A)
- • Would you like to name this skill?
"Nova Bomb,"
Basil said instantly.
DING
## Skill Confirmed ##- • Nova Bomb (A)
- • Created Through your Authority
"One left."
He turned, walking away. "Gorgeous, but too mana-consuming. I need to recharge."
⸻
Basil sat cross-legged, breathing slow and steady.
DING
## Skill Acquired ##- • Mana Regeneration (S+)
Eleven minutes passed.
"That's better. Back to max."
Basil opened his eyes—then froze.
A headless corpse stood before him, holding a horn. It moved in a blur.
SHUNK
"Shit!"
The horn drove into his leg.
"Where the hell did you come from?!"
He ripped the horn out and jammed it into the beast's chest, shattering its crystal.
"Ugh. Not again…"
He fell to his knees, dizzy.
"Ughhh"
Then fell on his face
DING
## You Have Been Poisoned ##• Paralyzing Blue Dragon Blood
• You will die in: 00:30
"Mmmpphh"
Basil focused his mana, directing it toward the poison.
DING
## Skill Acquired ##- • Poison Resistance (F)
"Yesh… jush wha I nee'ded…"
His vision went black. His life slipping away.
"ARRRGHHHHHHH!"
He screamed, forcing every drop of mana into the poisoned zone, suppressing and neutralizing the paralyzing effect.
Breathing heavily, he sat up, blood pooling beneath him.
"Good thing I topped off… or I'd be out for another 12."
He healed the wound with a weak green light. It stopped bleeding, but only barely.
"Ugh. My healing sucks. If only I had Illyria's… or Bella's… ability to heal"
He paused, recalling memorys of his past days, then sighed, reaching into his inventory.
Two HP potions.
He downed both. A green glow wrapped his leg, restoring it completely.
"Now then… one last time."
Basil meditated, absorbing ambient mana.
Once full, he stood and made his way down the left tunnel.
⸻
At the end stood a massive wooden door, sealing off whatever was beyond.
"That's a big-ass door. If the exit's not back there, I'm gonna lose it."
He placed his hand on the handle.
Took a deep breath.
And pushed the door open.
******
End of chapter notes:
Per the readers suggestions, and In order to make the story easier to digest, give it a better continuous flow, and to also give better detailed descriptions, from now on at the end of each chapter, I will be leaving a full break down of Skill information when ever Basil creates or acquires a new skill, Everytime he levels up I will provide a full stat break down, and what his inventory holds. This is for those who are interested and curious but can be completely skipped as it does not add to the story!
New skills:
Body reinforcement (D)
- • the user can supplement strength and Health/Defense for mana points at a 1/100 ratio
- • +1 VIT cost 100 MP per second
- • +1 STR cost 100 Mp per second
(most guardians rarely use this skill because of the high exchange ratio for mana, but Basil has a high mana capacity allowing him to stack this for as long as his mana can hold out)
Kneel (F)
- • The user can force one target to kneel before him if the users STR stat triples the targets.
- • Can Be Used Once Every 8 Hours
- • Target is only affected for 2 mins.
This was unlocked through the users job 'Eldritch knight'. As an Eldritch Knight you bow before no one.
(A skill Basil unlocked once he hit level 70)
Nova bomb (A)
- • the user gathers and condenses dark mana into a ball in his hand and when activated it'll cause a rift like blsckhole that'll destroy atoms. This lasts for five seconds.
- • Cost 16,000 Mp
- • 2 Min Cast Speed
- • 15 hour Cooldown Time
- • 900 Dmg Per Seocnd
(Basil created the blueprints for this skill while in the cube and because of its sheer power its (A) rank)
Mana regeneration (S+)
- • user gathers mana from his surroundings and replenishes his MP
- • user has to focus for skill to activate
- • +50 Mp Per Second
(Basil mastered this skill while in the cube using nothing but the crack to draw mana through increasing his understanding of mana regeneration)
Poison resistance (F)
- • User Is Restiant To Poison At The Expense of Either His HP Or MP
- • Uses 200 Mp Per Second Or 10 Hp Per Second To Dispeal Poison In The Body.
(Basil picked this skill up after the second time he was poisoned by the paralyzing blue dragons blood a lethal poison capable of killing adventures (C) rank and lower in less than 5 seconds.)
Stats Window:
- Name: Basileus Narciss
- Age: 22 (629)
- Level: 75
- Job: Eldritch knight
- Title: Goddess's Guardian
- HP: 200/200
- Mana: 32,000/32,000
- STR: 205
- VIT: 80
- INT: 170
- AGI: 112
- PER: 60
- XP to Next Level: 0/30,000
- stat points available: 62
- Skill Points Available: 10
Skills Window:
Basic:
- Innocence (F)
- The King (A)
- Swordsmanship (S)
- Mana Control (SSS)
- Charisma (F)
- Crafting (B)
- Longsword Mastery (S)
- Mana Manipulation (F)
- Rune Knowledge (B)
- Healing (C)
- Scholar (A)
- Mana Vision I Guess (C)
- phantom step (F)
- mana slash (D)
- Earth spike (B)
- body reinforcement (D)
- Kneel (F)
- nova bomb (A)
- Mana regeneration (S+)
- poison resistance (F)
Unique:
- Immortality (EX)
- Oversight View (EX)
- Haggle (SS)
- Misfortune (D)
Inventory
- HP Potions x1998
- MP Potions x2000
- Winter Clothes (C)
- Summer Clothes (C)
- bread x100
- jerky x100
- piece of Tess
- piece of Rob
- piece of Lark
- abomination horn x10 (S+)
- jagged dagger (?)
- mana sword (?)