Level Up Legacy

After Jonathan left, Koby remained to look for his teacher. Instead of waiting at the shore, he decided to dive down and use what his teacher had taught him. He was still looking when an arrow tore through the sea and slammed into a hidden barrier.

Water escaped into the hidden dungeon, pulling Koby with its raging currents. As he realized where his teacher had gone, he also realized someone else was trying to find him. Koby vowed to protect the dungeon. Thus, he became its guard.

Koby realized his weakness as each of her arrows rendered him utterly helpless. They could not be blocked, diverted, or dodged. They tore through the hidden dungeon despite his efforts, making the mage despair.

In his moments of utter despair, a blue dragon emerged from the underwater fissure. A majestic creature that seemed to encompass boundless wisdom and strength began fighting against the archer woman, protecting his teacher.

The mage heard the blue dragon's telepathic message deep within his soul. His eyes stared at its heroic battle, unable to avert them. However, the battle was too intense, each shockwave creating more fissures in the shaken dungeon.

Koby realized that he had to do something about this. Instead of standing around, he used his ether to stabilize the barrier. It was a crude process, but his ether only worked to isolate the barrier from the outside world, allowing it to regenerate.

Heavens and earth shook as the two supreme beings fought against each other, but Koby diligently stabilized the barrier. At first, the fissures began to mend. However, at a certain point, it stopped. The fissure would repair no more.

A heaven-shaking cry came from above, making Koby realize that the situation would worsen if he did not mend the barrier soon. As he racked his brain, he realized that the barrier had two sides, and he was only stabilizing one of them.

His teacher was a powerful man, stronger than any other he knew. Thus, his training must have strained the already weakened barrier. This made Koby resolve to use his ether to stretch the fissure in the barrier.

Once it was big enough for him to slip through, Koby dived straight into the darkness. His insides began moving as his entire body shook through the spatial teleportation, but after what felt like an eternity, Koby was spat to the other side.

[Welcome to the Hidden Dungeon of Azkahar]

On the other side was water as well, but the notification from the tower confirmed that his teacher was there. He turned around and used his ether to stabilize the fissure, letting the barrier regenerate. However, in the next second, he understood what had caused this internal fissure to begin with.

Sweat covered his back as a feeling of dread filled his heart. Koby felt like someone had a knife poking his heart from behind. A scream of agony echoed, reaching his ears even while underwater. It seemed to strike his soul, making it boil with wrath.

Although he tried to retain his calm, Koby began to feel hot. In the beginning, he thought it was his blood boiling. However, he soon realized that this scream, filled with rage, also made the water boil. Koby felt like he was being cooked alive and almost fainted, but the cry suddenly disappeared.

A crushing presence filled the dungeon as an aura pushed against his back, almost slamming him to the fissure. Koby protected himself using the ether as he turned back. Since he was underwater, Koby could only see a golden light shine from the sky above.

The golden light permeated the water, reaching his almost scorched skin. As the mage basked in the light, all of his wounds healed, and the fatigue disappeared. This golden light brought peace after the earlier chaos.

The light grew dim, and Koby snapped out of his daze. He hurried to stabilize the fissure, which used the golden light to heal. Then, the barrier was complete, and Koby could stop using his mana. Almost drained, he decided to use the last mana to leave the waters.

As his ether propelled him out of the water, Koby found himself floating above a raging ocean. He looked around with confusion before spotting a blue palace in the distance. Outside the palace was a shore, which Koby landed on. The cold sand slipped between his toes as he took each step toward the palace.

Another scream exploded from the palace, filled with wrath. It brought the mage to his knees, powerless, as his entire body seemed to resonate with the scream. As his hands dug through the cold sand, seeking to bury himself, the golden light appeared again.

Like before, the light healed his agonizing body. Koby tried to breathe before he rose from the ground, shaken. Then, he covered himself with ether, fearing the scream would arrive again.

True to his expectations, the process repeated itself. Koby now found it possible to leave the shore and climb the cliff's stairs. He reached the blue palace with waterfalls gushing down a trench around it.

As for the bridge crossing the trench, a strange energy seemed to leak from its black marble floor. Koby could tell it was the same energy that made his blood boil, so he could not cross it without thinking. Thus, he waited.

Golden light exploded again, and the strange energy disappeared from the trench. Koby raced across the bridge, basking in the protective light, and it disappeared moments before he reached the other side. He jumped in the air as countless screams echoed in his mind, almost breaking it.

"Ugh!" shouted the mage in pain as he rolled on the ground, wriggling to shake the voices away. As they faded from his mind, Koby used his single arm to raise his body, which seemed thinner and more fragile than before. "Where are you, teacher?"

The mage dragged his body into the blue palace, with its gates flung open. His legs felt heavy for some reason, but he knew this golden light had something to do with his teacher. Thus, he forced himself to walk through the pain.

As he dragged himself searching through the blue palace, Koby had to endure the increasing agony of the wrathful screams. However, they guided him toward the source, a giant hall with a pond.

Beside the pond, and with his back facing Koby, sat a topless man with his hair reaching his waist. Koby wanted to shout for his teacher but closed his mouth when he saw the strange energy leaking from him. Black lights rose from his body before they took a human form.

As this colorless creature stood opposite his teacher, it unleashed a blood-curdling scream toward him. Fear paralyzed the mage as he fell back, looking at the creature of wrath with shock. Then, his teacher muttered something.

"I hear the injustice that you have suffered, but how about we make a deal?" asked his teacher in a serene voice as he opened his eyes. "Let me carry your wrath and regrets, and I promise to resolve them during my lifetime."

His teacher reached out toward the wrathful creature as he gave his word. After hesitation, it touched his hand, letting golden lights explode in the hall. Koby covered his eyes as the light blinded him before it began to dim.

His eyes parted to look at the wrathful creature, only to find that it had turned golden. It then dissipated with a smile before the golden lights entered his teacher. Koby stood there rooted with shock.

His teacher seemed to notice his presence and turned to face him. His hair had grown long enough to reach his waist, while his face was covered with an untrimmed beard. Koby noticed that as the golden lights entered his teacher, the hair on his body grew a little.

"What brought you here, Koby?" asked his teacher with no surprise. "How long has it been since I left the army?"

"This is the sixth day, sir," said Koby as he tried to sit. "The war has begun already and is about to end in just a day. We tried to find you, but…"

"There is still time," replied his teacher as he turned away and closed his eyes. "Many voices still await someone to hear them. Until the end, I shall hear them… and promise them peace."

Koby did not understand what his teacher said, but it was too late. Wrath appeared again and took a human form before the human screamed. Then, telling this new creature the same thing as the last, his teacher calmed it down.

Instead of bothering his teacher again, Koby chose to trust him. He found a spot where he could heal himself and watch the same process repeat itself. Using this method, his teacher seemed to conquer wrath.

The blue dragon should be dead, but Koby noticed that a small one sat on his teacher's shoulder. This made him smile, because Azkahar was still alive, only in a different form.