Chapter 195: Chapter 195
Eru and Long continued their way down the stairs, venturing deeper and deeper into the bunker in the middle of the forest. “How long are these stairs?” Eru groaned as he and Long were descending the stairs for a hot minute. “Shall we just jump down, brother Eru?” Long suggested. “Nah”, Eru sighed, “After all, we never knew what might greet us downstairs. Besides, we do need the rest. We have been into too many fights recently.” Long stretched his whole body, “I can still go”, Long flexed his muscle. “Says the man who was trembling a minute earlier”, Eru scoffed. While Eru and Long were bantering, they unknowingly reached the fourth underground floor of the bunker in the middle of the forest.
“This is the fourth floor?” Eru exclaimed as he furrowed his eyebrows. Long’s eyes flashed with curiosity, “Interesting. This is different from the other three.” Eru observed his surroundings, “How can this be? How the hell did they make this place?” Eru squinted his eyes while seeing the marvellous sight in front of him. A small castle was presented before Eru and Long’s eyes. The ceiling was filled with glow moss while the way to the small castle was lit up by oil lamps that were lined up neatly as the fires flickered here and there. The road to the small castle was narrow, and there was only one single road towards the small castle. In between Eru, Long, and the small castle was a large stone bridge, with dark lava underneath it.
“Do you want to rest for a while, brother Eru?” Long asked while furrowing his eyebrows. Eru stared at Long with a hint of surprise in his eyes, “That’s not like you. Normally, you just charge straight ahead towards the castle.” Long took a deep breath, “You don’t sense it, brother Eru?” Eru nodded, “Yeah, I did”, he said sombrely. Long squinted his eyes, “That small castle gives me a bad feeling, even when we are still far away from it.” Eru sat down on a nearby rock, “Unfortunately, there is nothing for us to eat”, Eru said while cocking up his water bottle that he took out earlier from his pouch. Long flashed a smile, “Don’t worry about that, brother Eru.”
Then, Long took out two ready-made rations from his pouch, “I have two cooked food inside my pouch.” Eru chuckled, “You know, for someone so reckless, you’re well prepared.” Long puffed up his chest, “Of course. Even though dragons like us did not need to eat, food and water are important for our well being.” Eru shook his head, ‘Speak for yourself,’ he thought in his head. Long sat on a nearby rock before Eru, “Here you go”, he handed over one of the rations to Eru. “Thanks”, Eru smiled as he recuperated his energy by eating and drinking. After Eru and Long finished their eating, Eru sat crosslegged before beginning to meditate to gather back his lost aura. Watching Eru meditate, Long followed suit. However, instead of meditating, Long leaned back on a rock after casting a protective barrier before closing his eyes.
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A few minutes had passed, and Eru suddenly opened his eyes. Golden-coloured energy surrounded him as Eru observed his entire body, “So this is Fate Power. Felt quite powerful”, Eru whispered to himself. Right after Eru said that a familiar sound resounded inside of his head.
*DING*
Congratulation for triggering a hidden quest.
Quest Available: Master the use of Fate Power
Quest Reward: ???
Quest Penalty: ???
*DING*
Eru shook his head, “I thought I get rid of this” he scratched his head. “Correction, us Fate Master helper will always accompany you, Fate Master. What you have given up instead are the privileges that the Fate Master get from the world. The purpose of Fate Helper like me is to mould that privileges to better suit each individual Fate Master. For your case, master, it was the card game you loved in your memories”, the familiar robotic voice resounded inside of Eru’s head. “System?” Eru squinted his eyes. “You named me as such, master”, the robotic voice answered.
“Can you explain to me what is happening, please, System?” Eru asked silently inside his head. “Like what I said before, us, the Fate Helper, is designed to mould Fate Energy for those chosen by Fate to become Fate Master, as, without our help, Fate Energy could be overwhelming”, the System explained. “What about these quests I’m still getting?” Eru inquired. “As I said before, the one that you discarded in exchange for total control of your own Fate Energy is the privilege. The responsibilities of being a Fate Master still remained, however, and Fate will keep giving you tasks to do in order to prevent disasters from affecting the world”, the System informed.
Eru scratched the back of his head, “So I gave up my privilege for nothing then?” Eru sighed. “Not necessarily, Master”, the System interjected, “Like you thought previously, relying on a borrowed power is a fool errand. Many Fate Master perished because they only relied on what we, Fate Helper, moulded for them. And if that was to be taken away, most Fate Master could not do anything against it. That is one of the reasons why the Fate Masters were annihilated”, it explained. Eru furrowed his eyebrows, “They were annihilated?” he exclaimed. “Yes”, the System spoke with a sombre tone, “In fact, they were the Fate Masters were annihilated long before you were born. And I am the last Fate Helper that survived the annihilation.”
“I’m sorry”, Eru lowered his head. “Don’t be. They deserved it for being arrogant and drunk in their own powers”, the System replied with a nonchalant tone. “If I may ask, who destroyed the Fate Masters?” Eru asked. Just as the System was about to answer, Eru’s entire body shook with pain. “W-what the—” Eru gritted his teeth. “I’m sorry, Master. It seems that you are not strong enough to know the information”, the System said. “I’m not strong enough?” Eru squinted his eyes. “Yes. Please raise your mastery of Fate Energy and gather more of it. And once you got stronger, you will know in time your innate enemy”, the System informed.
Eru sighed, “I did not ask for this. Why am I getting dragged through all of this?” Eru complained. “I don’t know. But, the moment Master accepted Fate’s plea, Master was bound to Fate from then on”, the System said with a fading voice. “It seems my time is up. Farewell and please don’t die, Master”, the System reminded before disappearing. Eru shook his head and sighed in exasperation, “Many questions answered, but a lot more pop up from it”, Eru mumbled softly.
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After that exchange between Eru and the System, Eru waited for a hot minute before Long opened his eyes. Sensing movements near him, Eru looked at Long with a cheeky smile, “Have you had enough sleep, sleeping beauty?” he teased. “Oh, shut up, brother Eru”, Long stood up before stretching his whole body. “So, ready to go, brother Eru?” Long picked up his pouch and put it on the inside of his robe. “Sure, let’s go”, Eru got up from the rock he was sitting on as the two of them left towards the small castle. On the bridge towards the small castle, Eru and Long suddenly frowned.
They jumped backwards in unison before something huge fell down from the sky. With a boom, a giant crab-like monstrous creature landed before it roared as it obstructed Eru and Long’s path towards the small castle. “Who dares trespass?” the giant crab-like monstrous creature shouted with a hoarse but high-pitched voice. Eru nearly choked on his saliva while Long laughed out loud. “Why are you laughing?” the giant crab-like monstrous creature visibly got annoyed as Eru and Long could see a visible red tint on its face. Long pointed at the giant crab-like monstrous creature, “It’s because of you. You are funny. Thanks for making me laugh.”
The giant crab-like monstrous creature got angry at Long’s words, “I am not funny, I am the scarry butcher that will cut you all to pieces!” it shouted with a really high-pitched voice. Eru could not hold his laughter anymore while Long laughed even harder. The giant crab-like monstrous creature’s face twitched before it brandished its two giant claws towards Eru and Long. Eru and Long dodged the giant crab-like monstrous creature easily. “Do you want me to take care of him?” Eru looked at the grinning Long. “No, no, let me. I never face such an amusing opponent”, Long said while taking out his red staff before twirling it on his hand.
“Hey, giant crab”, Long pointed his staff towards the giant crab-like monstrous creature, “I’ll be facing you now. Since you amused me and managed to make me laugh, I will give you a chance to surrender now.” The giant crab-like monstrous creature let out a roar, “There is no way I, the dignified crab butcher, will surrender to the likes of you.” Long sighed, “Suit yourself. As thanks for earlier, I will make sure to just beat you up. Prepare your shell!”
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