Chapter 50

“So, the story starts from the time I was a child. I come from a small village in the West of the Holy Ranan Empire. Those days weren't particularly good. The villages were low on grains and plagues practically ruled the land. The only way for people to even live was if anyone from their family awakens to a mage class since those days the Empire was—”

“I'm sorry, but where did Seven Seals come into your village and childhood?”

Seth cut him off and gave Noah a long look. His face looked a lot less pale now and the effects of the potions had already started taking place, but he was in no mood to listen to a whole life story.

“They didn't. It was a lot later that I crossed paths with them. I had a lot of chapters in my life and even though I don't like admitting it, I'm old,” Noah replied, shrugging his shoulders.

“Apologies, but I want to hear about the Seven Seals. Please come to the relevant part.”

Seth wondered for a second if Noah was just messing with him, but he couldn't dare say it out loud. The Archmage Knight gave off the feeling of a mischievous person who couldn't be controlled, but he had seen an example of his powers first hand.

“The story is important to me. My childhood has shaped my current self. I knew you won't get it,” he scoffed at him before shaking his head. “Fine. Let me move forward in time. Years later, when my paths crossed with the Seven Seals for the first time.”

Seth nodded and listened intently. The mischievous glimmer in Noah's eyes disappeared and he began to reiterate his experiences with the infamous cult. This time, seriously.

“I was working my way through the tough quests in the main branches of the Adventurer's Guild around the world when I first heard of them. It had been an urgent quest since a whole city with a population of over 10,000 hanged themselves in a single night.”

“What?” Seth stared at him in shock, but there was no hint of deceit in Noah's eyes. By his tone, he knew that there was no exaggeration. He was speaking from personal experience. It was no hoax of a story. It had really happened.

“It might seem like an exaggeration, but it's not. The Lord ruling over the city had been in cahoots with them and the Seven Seals had promised him strength in exchange of a small sacrifice, but it never stopped. He was a rotten piece of shit. That bastard,” he said, his eyes flashing with a sharp glint. “Some type of curse was unleashed on the city and all of them, including the children hanged themselves. It was truly a gruesome sight to witness,” he said, putting effort to spell out each word, like he was thinking back to that moment. His eyes darkened briefly. “That was the first time my paths crossed with them. A decade back.”

“That seems horrifying!”

“It was. A few of the adventurers with me left the job after that very quest and retired. Even people dealing with death and monsters have limits. The Seven Seals didn't care about anything like that. I chased them back and killed the ones that were responsible, but they were far too numerous for me to deal with alone. They also have hideouts literally everywhere, and it's hard to truly finish them all. It’s been over a decade since I had countless battles with them. Pretty sure they think of me as an arch nemesis now.”

He chuckled, but there was nothing light about his words.

As Noah told the story, soon darkness spread everywhere as night befell. Both of them still sat in the clearing where the Archmage Knight had killed the cultist. He continued the story as he looked at Seth.

“You know Seth, in this world, power is easy to gain. It's just numbers on your status screen. New skills, new abilities and you are displaying strength like the gods, but some people are never satisfied. They also don't want to go the traditional way to achieve power. Some others can't go past the walls the System creates. That's why, it's not common to see Rank 5 adventurers around.”

“What more ways are there to gain power?” Seth asked. He’d played around with the system a bit, but had never gone out of his way since he liked battling monsters and gaining levels.

The limits of each rank hadn't been a huge worry for him till now. Although, it might be in the future.

“There's a few ways. One of them is worshipping a being from other planes. Gods, Dragons, Abyssal Horrors… Becoming a servant for them, so they grant you strength. It's like giving away a part of your soul since you have gotten it the easy way. The leader of Seven Seals is charmed by what we know as The Abyssal One. You have heard of him, right?”

Noah smiled at him, but this time, his smile contained something Seth wasn't able to pinpoint. He simply nodded, feeling like he was getting closer to a secret he had tried ignoring before.

“The Abyssal One is a being that rules over parts of the Abyss and wants to take over our world, Valera.”

Valera— the name of the world. Seth hadn't seen any mention of it in the books, but he had heard about it from Rebecca. It was a name he quite liked.

“Crossing the planes, though, isn't easy for him and they need a vessel for him to be summoned in this world. A vessel that The Abyssal One can occupy,” Noah said, looking directly into his eyes. “Unfortunately for Seven Seals, no one in Valera can control The Abyssal One.”

“Why is that?” Seth looked curiously.

“This world is governed by the World System and its authority isn't something anyone can go against. It is integrated with everyone from a young age and you can't overrule it. You have heard of people awakening classes, right? The System is integrated well before that, but after that, you truly become a part of it. If Seven Seals try to use anyone in our world as a vessel, the System would simply reject it and send The Abyssal One back to the Abyss. That's why they needed you.”

Things started to fall into place. Seth had wondered about this since his meeting with Gideon. Why hadn't the Seven Seals used someone else? Why did they have to summon him from Earth?

It was all because he was the only one compatible enough.

“You are from a world where there's no trace of a System. I am curious about how it works in your world, but it's not important right now,” he muttered. “They stripped you off from your world by using a specific forbidden ritual. Empires, kingdoms and some crazy mages used it in the past for their own goals. Their plan was to summon The Abyssal One in your body before the System could integrate you. It was a good plan and if it had gone right, I'm sure you would have been locked in your own body as it was used by the Seven Seals to occupy the world, but I interrupted the ritual.”

“You were the reason I found myself in the Tunnels of Grithza.”

Noah shook his head and frowned.

“Yes and no,” he said, lowering his head. “I managed to interrupt the ritual, but it was already halfway through, so I wasn't able to block you from coming to Valera. Messing with the ritual made you wake up in the Tunnels instead of the Seven Seals compound. I wasn't aware of it and didn't know where to look for you. Dungeons are zones which block any type of detection magic from outside. Only after you emerged from the Tunnels did I pick up on your mana signature and came running here as fast as I could. I have been looking for a long time for you, Seth.”

He put a hand on his shoulders and squeezed it a bit. Apart from Rebecca, only Noah knew how much he had suffered in this world. Seth didn't know whether the Archmage Knight cared for him, but he knew he was on his side.

“Thank you,” he said. An evil void being taking over his body was the worst thing he could imagine. He was grateful for whatever Noah had done. Even though they had just met, he was inclined to believe his words.

Noah's explanation cleared a lot, yet there were a few things that clouded his mind.

“I don't understand one thing,” Seth said. “Why did the Seven Seals come looking for me again? The ritual failed and I'm already integrated into the system. What do they want from me?”

His words echoed in the forest. It would have been different if they had come for him when he had just woken up, but even then, he’d integrated into the system and chosen his class straightaway. Now, he was a step away from Rank 4 and it was too late for the Seven Seals to do anything.

Noah took more than a second to answer. “That is actually the main reason why I have sought you out.”

His eyes were a bit clouded as he spoke. He straightened his back as a weight seemed to settle on his shoulders. The atmosphere darkened, both from the lack of light and the anticipation of his next words.

“It hadn't gone as smoothly as I initially expected. Although I was able to disrupt the ritual, it was partial. It still went through. Why do you think you have the class of an Abyssal Assassin? A title like ‘Mark of the Abyssal Son?’ it's not really a coincidence.”

Seth swallowed, preparing himself for what was coming.

“What do you mean?” He asked.

“Seth, the System was able to integrate you, but it wasn't able to stop The Abyssal One from taking you as a vessel. It influenced you the moment  you’d come to this world, and although you have control over your body right now, you’d already become a vessel for The Abyssal One long ago. In you, a part of the Void creature resides.”

Noah's words hit him like a bolt of lightning. In the past week, he had pondered over his strange Title and Skill that he had gotten after dealing with Gideon. At first, he felt that it was a reward from the System, but just talking to others was enough for him to know that Titles were rare and Skills such as Abyssal Form were abilities that only high rankers were privy to.

If a part of The Abyssal One was really inside of him, everything made sense. Yet, he wasn't ready to believe it.