As all these events unfolded, ti slowly passed.
Seconds blurred into minutes... hours... and before long, a few days had slipped by.
Where Ulric lay in the crater, an entirely different scene had ford. The area within a thousand ters had beco restricted, with several Greyson elders standing guard, waiting for him to erge.
Even then, figures ca occasionally to check on him.
This day, Amber approached. She crouched at the edge of the crater, staring down at the figure lying within. Her fingers clenched tightly as the events of the past few days played repeatedly through her mind.
All those who had survived the war were now working to rebuild House Greyson, pushing it to far greater heights than before. Thanks to the continuous stream of resources flowing in from all the clans now under their banner.
The remaining clans whose leaders had been killed had co forward to swear allegiance to House Greyson. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say Tempest City was now under his rule. All that remained was for him to awaken.
As the thoughts clashed together, her fingers tightened. This was taking far longer than she had anticipated. Despite the vow she had made, she couldn’t help but feel a strong sense of longing.
Inhaling sharply, she pushed through the feelings and opened her mouth.
"I’m leaving." She had tried to put it off as long as possible, but it was inevitable. "Lyra is coming with to clear the F-rank Spider Dungeon."
It was necessary. She sighed. To grow stronger and fulfill her promise, she had to clear a few dungeons.
"We won’t be able to see you for a few days." Her breath grew heavy. Hopefully, when they returned, he would be awake.
Turning to stare at him one last ti, she walked away slowly, eyes puffy, before scampering off into the distance.
Monts later, the corner of Ulric’s lips curved slightly. Wisps of dark energy slowly oozed out, covering the pit in waves of inky darkness. Almost as if he was on the brink of a breakthrough.
The phenonon drew faint smiles from the elders guarding the crater. They didn’t know exactly what it ant, but it had to be a good sign. It wouldn’t be long now before their lord erged and claid his throne as overlord of Tempest.
Still, ti continued to pass. With every passing day, the dark energy oozing from the crater spread further into the surroundings.
Each day, the range increased by another ter while the darkness thickened considerably, almost enough that the elders felt they could touch it.
A few more days passed this way until another figure approached.
A young girl draped in a blue robe that pressed faintly against her curves. Icy blue eyes bordering on purple. Silvery-white hair fluttering in the day’s breeze, trailing all the way down her back. Lyra.
When the guardian elders saw her, their eyes couldn’t help but widen slightly.
Compared to the last ti, she had changed considerably. Her deanor seed more composed, her temperant even steadier.
But all that shattered the mont her mouth opened, a gasp tearing from her lips.
"Huh?" Lyra breathed, watching the thick film of darkness oozing from the pit.
She snorted in disappointnt, only for it to fizzle out seconds later as she chattered excitedly. She bubbled on about the events of the past couple of days, explaining everything in great detail before losing herself in her rave.
She didn’t know if he could hear her, but it brought her a sense of comfort.
Still, her focus kept circling back to one figure.
"You should have seen her... she was amazing. She can now summon massive stone golems that fight for her. It doesn’t even seem to strain her anymore. Was that green thingy really that amazing?"
Lyra paused, her face scrunching slightly at the recent events. She hadn’t needed to do much. Looking back, she was certain Amber could have cleared the dungeon alone. That was why she hadn’t stopped her when she went out to clear others by herself.
As the thought ford, her eyes suddenly lit up as if rembering sothing.
"Did I tell you that with every kill her stone golems make, all the experience is channeled back to her?" She paused, turning to look at the film of darkness covering the crater. Her brows furrowed slightly.
Did the undead he brought back farm experience points for him? She gasped at the thought. If that was the case, couldn’t he just unleash them and grow stronger passively?
The more she delved into her thoughts, the more her eyes widened in shock. For a split second, she caught a glimpse of Amber’s potential and it was terrifying.
Wielding the potential to move from the weakest of them to perhaps the strongest... beside Ulric.
The thought made her brows furrow. Before she hurriedly rushed into the distance. She couldn’t allow Amber to surpass her, at least not so easily.
As her retreating figure faded, her voice trailed behind her.
"I’ll be back!" she yelled, a glint of determination flashing across her eyes. She was just a little bit away from crossing the peak of F-rank.
Once she ascended, she could finally reach E-rank. Sa as Ulric. As she rushed toward another F-rank dungeon, the thought only fueled her determination.
***
Day shifted into nightfall, the cycle repeating as a few more days passed. Before another figure walked up.
Clad in a simple dark robe, Tara moved forward. Her sharp dark eyes took in the streams of moonlight as she slowly approached.
A sigh parted from her lips. It had already been a full week since Ulric began his enlightennt. Each day, the film of darkness slowly thickened with no sign of easing to welco back his presence.
She had lingered on the edge for a few days, watching Amber and Lyra co and go, before finally deciding to step closer.
Her presence lded with the darkness, easily evading the elders’ attention. She walked up to the edge of the crater.
Staring at the darkness stretching for tens of ters in every direction, a faint sigh escaped her. Her expression softened slightly, a small smile forming on her face.
She didn’t know if it was because darkness was almost a part of him, but standing within it felt almost as if she could sense his presence.
It stirred old mories. Ever since she could first rember, all she had known was the essence of death. How she had been refined into a tool for killing. She rembered choosing the twin daggers as her weapon, guided on how to refine her craft by Alia.
For a while, it had seed strange... robbing a person of the essence that defined them. But as she continued and grew up, all those feelings faded. She grew attached. Maybe too attached.
Everything around her beca centered around death. What would have once repelled her now attracted her instead.
Any guilt she might have once held vanished, together with perhaps all the feelings that shaped a normal human.
For a mont, she had been a soulless killing machine. Until the night she first tasted defeat. In a single night, she had experienced multiple emotions she hadn’t known were possible, perhaps even rekindling the spark of humanity.
Whatever it was, it didn’t matter. All that did was the warmth in her heart. The feeling of ease at simply standing by his side. She longed for that feeling, wanted to explore so much more with him. And for that, she was willing to wait.
As the thoughts ford, she smiled faintly. Before her figure sank into the darkness, vanishing just as easily as she had appeared. A single thought playing at the back of her head.
The more she stayed by his side, the more he was uncovering a side of her she didn’t even know existed. And she couldn’t wait to uncover more. Together.
The nightly breeze flowed gently, almost as if moving to erase any trace of her lingering presence.
The days that followed flowed smoothly. Week after week passed, until almost a month had gone by.
And with it, a new presence. Strapped in golden armor that accentuated her voluptuous fra, Aelira clenched her massive hamr tightly as she stared at the inky darkness that had spread for hundreds of ters from the crater.
Walking through it, she almost had the illusion she would have been lost inside if not for the link she felt between them, guiding her to him.
Approaching the crater, she circled it slowly, rubbing her nose in thought. Before exhaling sharply. What was taking so long? If it weren’t for the last thread of restraint holding her back, she would have smashed through the darkness and woken him already. Maybe she should have that day.
Still, that wasn’t why she was here. Crouching slightly, she finally snapped.
"What did you give to them!" In rely a month’s ti, Lyra and Amber’s growth had taken an explosive leap, shaking the whole of Tempest.
From two little girls at rely F-rank to approaching peak E-rank.
If it was before, she wouldn’t have paid much attention. But their combat power was just as shocking, able to challenge powerhouses a rank above them.
And now Amber had challenged her to a duel. Her combat power was the most terrifying. If she won, she would rise to be the strongest.
But Aelira wasn’t ready to relinquish that title yet. Clenching the hamr, her eyes lit up.
"You’ll give it to too when you wake up, right?"
Barely a mont after the words left her lips, a mischievous chuckle slipped from her.
"I knew you wouldn’t say no!"
As silence descended once more, her hand dropped to run across her mound slightly. Every passing day without him was growing unbearable, but it also made her await his awakening with even more anticipation.
With that thought, she chuckled faintly before rushing into the distance.
Barely a few seconds after her figure vanished, the darkness around the crater rippled slightly. Even more so within the pit.
The figure hovering inside suddenly stirred. His eyes fluttered slightly.
Before they snapped open. A devious crimson sheen tearing outward.
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