Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Stages were the humanoid species' way of mastering control over the large amount of power that came with the progression of cores.

With each advancement from one stage to another, significant boosts would be attained, making humans and others of similar nature stronger than beasts, at least in terms of same coloured cores and basics.

The first stage was the Foundation, where one laid down a solid blueprint for their progression. Next was the Advancement, where some were likely to develop advanced classes but the probability relatively small.

During this stage, individuals would awaken a Full Body Aura. A concentration of their Foundation that gave them boosts to their already existing attributes and skills.

Benzard, Denille, Irlen and Reon were at this stage. All four had awakened their Full Body Auras, but as Benzard had said, they had barely grown out of their Foundations, unlike Eobald who had been halfway through the Advancement Stage.

Benzard was at LV13, Reon at LV12, while Irlen and Denille were at LV11.

Eobald had been on LV15.

Reon and Benzard stood at a fork in the road that they had trekked after defeating the axe wielder. Three paths were laid before them, each exuding a rather powerful yet unsettling energy that made them both nervous.

All they could think about was the possibility of meeting a foe stronger than the monster they had fought right off the bat and it made them extremely cautious.

The two looked at each other. It wasn't at all outlandish to find such instances in legacy-bearing areas but this rubbed them the wrong way.

"The fight probably won't get easier from here. I still have a lot of mana to spare. I'm sure you can back me up even in your state?" Benzard.

"Sure," said Reon.

Waiting would have been an option for them if they had all the time in the world or rather, if they felt at home in this creepy place but they didn't have a semblance of either.

Thus, the two nodded towards each other and walked over to the first path.

As the two reached the path, Benzard who had been walking ahead passed through but Reon bounced off the demarcation to the path.

He withdrew vigilantly with a surprised expression while Benzard turned to see what had happened before he could fully enter the space ahead.

"It seems like only one of us can enter per path. Will you enter the other one?" asked Benzard.

Reon mulled it over before breathing out a light breath and sitting down.

"Not yet. I was confident that we'd be fine together but now, I can't imagine myself surviving for long in this place after depleting quite a bit of my mana and using up my Full Body Aura," Reon replied. "You go on ahead. I doubt the Labyrinth will allow us a collaboration anytime soon."

The Full Body Aura was such a strenuous technique. It usually left those who hadn't mastered it for long unable to use it for a full day or more depending on their endurance and mana capacity, which is why Reon decided to wait and recover for a bit before making any rash decisions.

Benzard thought for a while before nodding. Since they couldn't collude anyway, there was no reason for him to stay.

He walked into the path where nothing but darkness could be seen and penetrated it.

In the strange black that seemed to devour all light, Benzard felt a deep sense of foreboding. It was different from when his natural senses told him about an incoming attack.

No.

It was a feeling of being surrounded by a repulsive energy. Evil. A dark power that used darkness as a cover. As a facade.

Suddenly, wisps of this darkness invaded his body seamlessly and ran through his being without any regard for his opinion!

Benzard was shocked, commanding his mana to go on the offensive in response but it did him no good. The darkness did as it pleased within his body until...

It vanished.

After the energy was expelled from his body, Benzard strangely felt lingering effects of it within his body. Something had been left behind. Something like a lump of darkness that stuck to his core like a mole.

'What is this? Have I been infected with something?' he thought. He felt his body stabilise again and turned this way and that to see if he was truly alone.

Seeing nothing to be found around him, Benzard moved forward, taking slow steps until he found the darkness to suddenly vanish, making way for a radiant golden white light that rinsed off any blemish in the world and almost blinded him!

Benzard covered his eyes. In the next moment, he felt a burst of energy that didn't feel nearly as invasive as the darkness, penetrate him and shower him with a continuous ripple of light as if evaluating him.

It didn't take long before the white light vanished, Benzard feeling that this time, there were residues left of the light as with the darkness.

Little did he know that Just Light had not seen itself fit to exist in a man who had no explicit evil within him.

However, Evil Darkness had seen him worthy, as when his righteousness was challenged, this man was found to have his own version of it that stood tall.

Benzard's eyes saw a new scene appear before his eyes.

Two paths lay before him. One exuding a powerful presence with the creature within emitting no hostility while the other emitted a repulsive irritation backed by a weaker presence.

***

A verdant energy died down from Denille's body. She panted as she lowered her bow, her hands feeling like jelly after her attack whose results were before her.

A broken odachi-like sword with a red hot colour on the jagged edges where Denille had struck with her full power laid in the hands of a short, aged humanoid.

The surrounding walls held large craters that released streams of smoke and residual mana while chips fell off now and yet, the body of the target merely held scratches.

Naught by scratches.

Denille had an exasperated expression as she watched this. Her full strength had done nothing but provide superficial wounds for her opponent and worse yet, the bastard still stood tall, waiting for her to attack.

Was this just a deliberate move by Fulgardt to break the wills of many challengers?

Denille couldn't imagine there were many individuals who had survived the counters of this creature when it was in its prime.

'I can't do this...! I didn't want to do this! Why just I be here in this ridiculous situation?!' she frustratedly bellowed in her own mind.

There was clearly no way she would be able to defeat this thing on her own. She had to move.

It was her only option.

With that thought, Denille sprinted, using her mana to enhance her speed as she raced towards the direction she assumed to hold a way forward for her!

Denille didn't take that many steps before she felt her hair rise, an speeding slash with the massive sword, coming to decapitate her in an unsettling fashion!

Denille ungracefully dropped to the floor in a desperate attempt to dodge the attack and luckily, only half of her hair was cut while her head remained intact!

She rolled on the ground and stood to look at the creature that refused to let her run with shaking eyes.

Once again, the creature placed its weapon on its shoulder and waited for Denille to make her next move.

There was no escape. One had to die.

***

"Bleeeeeurghh!" Irlen vomited blood. His eyes lost focus as the surge of pain was too much for him to bear. His sturdy shield had failed to stop the lightning fast attack of the creature with a covered face.

As someone who generally had low offense and mobility, Irlen had been done in by the quick counter dished out by this creature when he had tried to attack with a shield bash.

All Irlen had felt was the shudder of his body as the spear penetrated and now, he knew he was done for.

In all his life, he had known. He was inferior without a helper, a teammate. He had hoped that the day when he could fight for himself would come but perhaps joining the Ideal Ark and learning that his strong defence even without an outstanding offense was valuable had made him complacent.

Feeling the encouraging pats of friends on his shoulder when he was the sole reason for their survival from sneak attacks, ambushes and the likes, was a joyous experience for him.

It had been.

Irlen dropped to his knees, the creature he had faced removing its spear as blood went on to gush out from him.

The muscular man slumped to the ground.

In his mind, under the regrets and flashing of his life was a sincere hope that his friends would survive and rebuild the legacy of the Ideal Ark.