Zarvian blinked "…A boat?"
He had heard the word before, maybe once or twice, but never seen one.
He didn't know what it meant.
The man nodded. "Yes. Enough to carry me across the sea. Small, but it will do."
Zarvian thought for a moment, and before he could ask another question, the man added
"But… it's not ready."
The man gave a faint shrug.
"A few more days, and it will be. That is all I need."
Zarvian continued to gaze at the map, studying everything the man had marked.
The strange man suddenly spoke again,
"Now, may I ask…"
Zarvian looked at him, the man was still smiling.
"How did you wander so far, alone?"
That question was the first attack.
Zarvian couldn't answer that question.
He opened his mouth, thought better of it, and let silence answer instead.
The man's smile didn't disappear.
"Ah… I see"
he chuckled, as if reading answers from Zarvian's hesitation.
"You are… remarkable."
He stared at Zarvian for a moment, about to ask another question, but before he could, Zarvian spoke.
"What's your name?"
Paused by a sudden question, the man answered lightly.
"My name's Victor. May I know yours?"
Zarvian didn't want to give his real name, and he replied
"…Zephyr."
Victor nodded slightly.
"Zephyr… it suits your endurance."
Zephyr said nothing, only let his gaze return to the map
"You've been wandering far, friend."
Victor continued slowly,
"What's your reason for coming here?"
'…Reason?' Zephyr couldn't answer that question either.
So, he chose silence once again.
Victor chuckled faintly, not unkindly.
"I see. You speak only when necessary. Very well.
…
Victor moved quietly around the room, cleaning the walls, straightening the map, tending to the lantern.
Zephyr was currently diving through his thoughts.
He was certain that Victor wasn't human, but he wasn't hostile or dire.
Instead, he felt much like a human.
The new lands on the map nearly rewrote Zephyr's entire mind, he could barely believe it.
He suspected the map might be Victor's trick to lure him.
But based on the danger sense earlier, Victor could shred him into tears, did he even have to lure him if he could simply kill Zephyr now?
'…Does he think I'm strong?'
There wasn't any other reason.
To be fair, Zephyr had survived in the ruins for years, traveled across the nation, and reached here without a single scar despite being human. Anyone would guess he was extremely strong.
Still, it didn't guarantee Victor wouldn't sneak up on him.
Nevertheless, Zephyr had to make a decision.
If he should take this risk and opportunity, or not.
He was sure that if he left right now, Victor wouldn't try anything.
The geo beast had likely left by now as well.
Soon after, he finally spoke.
"I could go with you."
Victor's lips curved into a faint smile
"Very well," he added.
"If you wish so."
He paused for a moment, then continued,
"But you must complete a simple task for me."
Zephyr's eyes narrowed slightly,
'A simple task?'
"There's another church in the east, parallel to us,"
Victor continued
"The church is currently sealed by challenge."
Zephyr's eyes narrowed noticeably, clenching his fists.
'Ah… Of course he wants me in that damned challenge!'
Victor's eyes gleamed faintly,
"A special item lies there, it is a shade. A cloth that hides mana, whoever wears it becomes nearly undetectable. It will help us cross the sea."
Zephyr's gaze flicked up.
"What about the threats?"
Victor nodded,
"There's no threat, almost. A sword must be thrusted into the ground, a dead knight should be holding it with both hands. Whatever you do, do not touch or get close to it. The cloth… is elsewhere, worn by a skeleton. If you find it, then the challenge will be completed."
Zephyr studied Victor carefully.
"I'll get it."
He said finally, voice thin.
The man looked at him, and smiled once again. "Good. Remember… the sword, you must be careful."
Victor thought for a moment then added
"…Be cautious, Zephyr."
Zephyr nodded lightly, and picked up the lantern.
…
By the time he ascended, it was already midnight.
The storm was over, and the sun had turned black.
He looked around and explored the church he had rolled into.
Everything was intact: the altar, the lectern, and the pews.
In ruins, night was not as dangerous as open ground.
Zephyr lowered his lantern and rushed toward the southeastern church.
He was glad that he had found Victor.
For the first time in a long while, he could communicate with someone else… or something else.
As he approached the church, he slowed and glanced at the night sky.
The dark sun was far kinder than the scorching one. Stars glimmered across the sky.
Zephyr felt almost at peace.
He took a deep breath and placed his palm on the door.
His mana started to flow through his hand.
Finally, the familiar sound rang in his ear once more.
[Do you wish to start the challenge?]
He thought for a moment, and decided to trust his first ever ally in a long time, Victor.
[Accept the challenge]
[Decline the challenge]
Zephyr lifted his hand and accepted the challenge without much hesitation.
Suddenly, his vision blurred, and moments later, he blacked out.
…
Zephyr pried his eyes open.
Struggling to rise, he pushed himself upright against the nearest pew.
He was inside the church, but this church seemed much more ruined.
Just like the previous one, this church had a staircase to the ground right in the center.
Zephyr lifted his lantern and peered down the steps.
This stair was cyclopean, quite surprising since the other one was straight.
The walls were covered in carved letters.
Zephyr could make out a few, but most were unintelligible.
From what he could read, the inscriptions seemed like some kind of tale.
Some lines caught his attention the most:
"Black Horizon must reap the gods, and its lightning will perish in heaven and hell."
"The — must pay for the destruction"
He didn't understand the names, nor did he know what they truly meant.
But… They sounded powerful.
As he descended deeper, the letters became much more unreadable.
He wasn't sure if they were letters or monsters scratching the wall.
Eventually, he reached the end.
A door awaited, it wasn't as polished as Victor's door.
Instead, it was cracked open.
Zephyr squeezed through the gap and realized how thick the door was, there was no way he could open it like Victor.
He lifted his lantern and began searching for the cloth.
The room was twice as large as Victor's.
It was an underground church, complete with pews and a broken altar.
Skeletons sat slumped on the benches.
The knight and his dangerous sword could be seen behind the altar, he was knelt down.
His sword thrust firmly into the ground and held with both hands.
He appeared almost as if in prayer.
He didn't want to get close, not out of fear, but because his [Survival Instinct] was warning him.
'…This sword is indeed dangerous. Or is it the knight?'
He shrugged mentally and continued searching for the cloth.
After examining every corpse, he still failed to find the shade.
It was nowhere to be seen.
There was only one skeleton left, the one Zephyr was told to not get close.
'Did that bastard trick me?'
The darkness made it difficult to see clearly.
Zephyr had no choice but to take a closer look around the knight's armor.
Slowly circling the sword, he approached the knight from behind.
'Sorry for interrupting your prayers… but I don't want to be trapped here forever.'
Zephyr slowly pulled the knight from the back, but the knight's hands were intact with the sword.
So, he was left with no choice but to manually separate it.
[Survival Instinct] signal wasn't enough to stop him.
He moved carefully, letting his hands brush against the knights as he began disentangling them from the sword.
Shortly after, he finished separating the knight's hands from the sword.
Zephyr slowly removed the knight's hands from the weapon.
Just as he left the sword untouched, it fell. Right on his own hand.
Zephyr froze, his heart skipped a few beats.
But he was fine for a moment.
Until he blacked out immediately.
…
He stirred, eyes fluttering open to the dim light of his lantern.
Gazing around the room, he noticed that the sword had disappeared
'The sword hadn't fallen far before, where could it have gone?'
He turned around to the knight, then to the pews and altar.
Nothing had changed… except the sword was gone.
A chill went down his spine, but [Survival Instinct] had gone silent.
It's as if they switched. He wasn't scared before, but he was now.
Driven by fear, Zephyr moved quickly, searching for the cloth inside the knight armor.
Fortunately, the knight still had a cloth tucked inside his armor.
Zephyr's fingers trembled slightly as he pulled it free, the fabric surprisingly light and cool against his skin.
Then, without warning, the cloth disappeared into fragments of light.
Zephyr flinched at the strange, unearthly sound.
[You have received an item: Honored Petals]
[You have completed the challenge.]
[Rewards: Honored Petals]
For a brief moment, a flicker of happiness passed through him. Then the world went black, and he fainted once more.