Chapter 298: The Tomb of Oracleus [1]
Cra Crack-!
A cracking sound echoed through the air as I sat motionless with my eyes closed. My muscles shifted, and my bones ground against each other.
"Hoo... Hoo..."
I kept my thoughts steady as my chest heaved up and down repeatedly. I could feel changes occur to my body as I remained composed and let the cool energy within my mana core run around my entire body.
While there were differences between each Tier, the real changes occurred once someone entered Tier 4. That's when a true gap would appear. For each subsequent Tier after that, a new change would occur with the creation of a Domain in Tier 5 being the biggest example. In the case of Tier 4, one would undergo Body Reformation.
It was a process in which the body adjusted to the sudden increase in mana intake by fortifying the bones and muscles.
The process was decently painful, but that was about it.
It took me no more than five minutes for the process to end. It ended with a long exhale, as turbid air escaped my lips.
"Hooo."
When I opened my eyes again, I shifted my attention toward the right where Leon appeared. He was staring at the severed hands in front of him with a look of deep apprehension.
"Don't tell me that you've still not consumed them."
"........"
Leon looked at me in silence.
He then opened his mouth.
"So you have."
His mouth... It was entirely black.
The fact that he wasn't speaking was because he couldn't. I could more or less understand how he felt as my face twitched upon recalling the taste of the blood.
"Has your strength increased?"
Nod.
"Urkh!"
Leon hastily covered his mouth, letting out a subtle gagging sound in the process. I sympathized with him briefly until I heard the muffled sound of something smashing near the entrance.
Bang, bang!
We both looked at each other before standing up.
With a frown, Leon squinted his face and picked up the remaining hands on the floor before handing them to me.
"Huu... Take them. I thought we'd have a little bit more time."
"....I thought so too."
The Wraiths were powerful enough to break through the rocks at the entrance easily but were cautious of the inner structure of their nest. Too much force and there was a risk of the entire place collapsing.
It was for that reason that we didn't rush back up onto the well.
I was also afraid that if we did rush up, we'd be met with a bunch of Wraiths. The safest spot was where we had been for the past five minutes, but it was now time to go.
"I go first."
Arriving at the base of the well, I barely had a chance to speak before Leon sprang into action. He leaped up, gripping the sides with his arms and legs, and began scaling it at an alarming speed.
"Hey, wait up!"
Without sparing me a glance, he continued his ascent, leaving me utterly baffled.
I didn't spare a single second to follow him.
"What's the rush-Uh?"
Getting up was supposed to be harder than getting down, but it was to my shock and pleasant surprise to see myself reaching the top effortlessly. It almost felt as though I was made out of air with how easy it was for me to get up.
"Wow."
Reaching the top and seeing the familiar surroundings, I looked at my hands.
"This is a bigger difference than I thought.'
I was now excited to see what other changes my body had undergone after undergoing body reformation.
It was unfortunate that I didn't have anyone to test it with.
Lifting my head, I was a little surprised to see no Wraiths around. The place was unnervingly quiet, enveloped in a heavy, oppressive silence that felt almost suffocating.
Scattered throughout, the candles emitted a faint, ghostly blue glow, their light barely cutting through the darkness that surrounded the two of us.
In that silence, I raised my head to once again stare at the murals above. My focus zeroed in on the seven figures that dominated the entire scene. The figures were depicted standing in a unified stance, their gazes fixed on the sky where something appeared to be approaching. Whatever was above, it seemed to cast a shadow over the figures, their expressions unreadable as their backs were faced against the mural.
Though there were many other murals, this one was the largest and most striking of them all as it took up most of the space of the dome above.
It felt as though this was the mural that depicted the start of it all.
"They're the seven unrecorded."
Leon quietly said as he looked at the same mural that I was looking at.
Seven unrecorded...?
I tilted my head to face Leon. This was the first time I had heard of the term 'unrecorded' and was naturally curious. What did that mean exactly?
"They're called unrecorded because there's not much that we know about them. Some say that they're the ones who created the Mirror Dimension, and others worship them as gods."
Leon paused, his jaw visibly clenching.
"They are no gods. Gods don't exist."
||
I stood quietly, listening to what he was saying. About his opinions on gods, I'd have believed him in the past, but now I wasn't so sure. Especially not after everything that I had undergone.
"But they're strong. Strong enough to make one believe they are gods."
Leon paused, tearing his gaze away from the murals.
"Mortum, Oracleus, Veltrus, Panthea, Sithrus, Ivanth, Clora."
As he spoke, he pointed his finger at each one of the figures that stood in the mural. "These are the names of the Seven Unrecorded. You should memorize them well since I believe they might be tied with the reasoning for why you've entered Julien's body."
I pursed my lips at his words. Though I shared the same thought, hearing him articulate it so bluntly made me uneasy, leaving me uncertain about how to react.
It had been almost a year since I had transmigrated into this world, and I had yet to find a true clue to the reason behind why I had found myself here, and who had made me come here. It wasn't as though I hadn't been trying to find answers, but it was hard.
The world felt shrouded in a thin veil with an endless amount of layers. Each layer I peeled only revealed more layers beneath, making all progress I made stand at a null.
It was frustrating, and yet, I had no choice but to continue peeling down the layers that were presented before me.
In the end, so long as I kept peeling, I was bound to find the answer.
"Hoo."
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Taking a deep breath, I finally relaxed and shifted my attention toward the other murals. They weren't as grand as the first one, but they depicted all sorts of different scenes. A burly man with a red beard and hair standing before a large fire with a hammer in hand. A tall woman and slender woman holding up the hand of a small child as a soft white glow enveloped the child's
hand, and so on...
It was a lot of similar scenes like that, but in particular, one stood out.
... It was the image of a hand, thrust forward in a closed fist, with small droplets of blood
seeping from it. Beneath, a swarm of faces stared upward, their mouths open as they stuck
their tongue out.
The fanatical, almost deranged look on their faces twisted into hollow, inhuman expressions
that seemed more like masks than expressions.
"Mortum."
The name unconsciously slipped out of my mouth.
By the time I realized it, Leon was already looking at me as his gaze shifted toward the same
scene I was looking at.
"You're right."
His expression appeared hard to read.
"That's Mortum, the Immortal. He's probably the most famous of the Seven Unrecorded."
".... Is it because of his blood?"
"Yes."
Leon quietly nodded.
"With the magical property of bringing the dead back to life, the blood of Mortum is
considered an elixir of immortality. Not only can it bring the dead back to life, but it can also extend the life of a person indefinitely. For so long as they consume the blood of Mortum,
they'll live forever."
I took a cold breath upon hearing his words.
Having experienced it for myself, I already knew about its magical properties. The fact that it could extend one's life answered one of the questions that I had.
'Atlas... is this how he's been able to live for so long? Because of the Blood of Mortum?'
I started to recall the vision with Atlas, and how the Empire of Nothingness had been
destroyed because they were in possession of the Blood of Mortum.
"For such a precious resource, it's no wonder that even the unrecorded have no choice but to
act. It'll completely ruin the balan-"
"It's got nothing to do with that."
Leon cut me off suddenly, turning his head in my direction.
Surprised, I looked back at him.
It's got nothing to do with that...? Then what? Why would they eradicate an entire Empire for
the blood?
"Do you remember how I said the unrecorded are not gods?"
Leon suddenly said again, his eyes turning dark.
I felt my expression change upon seeing his expression, and an idea suddenly formed in my
mind.
Don't tell me...
"That's because they are all mortals. The only reason they were able to live beyond their
natural age is because of Mortum's blood. With the exception of Oracleus who died very early,
and Mortum none of them should've lived past their mortal life."
Leon stated slowly, setting my mind ablaze with the sudden piece of information.
'Wait, so...'
I held onto my head, feeling a massive headache. Thanks to the sudden piece of information, I
was able to get the answers to some questions that lingered at the back of my mind, but
now.... I now had even more questions.
Of them, I was in particular curious about something that he said.
"Oracleus... Did you say he died early?"
Looking up at the murals, he only appeared once. In the first image. Everywhere else, he
wasn't there. There was not a single image of him besides the floating eye that seemed to leave a mark on almost every mural.
I had been curious as to whether that had been his real form, but now I understood it wasn't.
"....Yes, he did."
Leon turned back to point at the entrance.
"Ah."
That was when I recalled the words that were written right at the entrance.
"Of all the seven gods, he's the most mysterious and enigmatic. Because of his death, there's
been almost no information about him, and yet his influence is no less than that of the other gods. I've tried looking for clues about him, but have failed..."
Leon stopped, once again staring at everything that was surrounding us.
"That is until now."
||
I quietly pursed my lips and similarly looked around us.
Of the seven 'gods' he was the one that intrigued me the most.
Ba... Thump! Ba... Thump!
Feeling the beat of my heart, I thought back to the words written at the entrance.
'The Seer'
I then thought about my first ability.
'Foresight.'
Correlating the two, I felt my heart speed up.
'It's him isn't it..?"
The one who brought me into this world.
