Prince of The Abyss

Aether slowed his steps as a small outpost appeared through the mist. Though what he had not been what he had expected when he first heard of this outpost. Looking up from a small cliff, he could see most of it.

A rough wooden palisade surrounded a handful of buildings and tents, the entire settlement looking no larger than some of the villages he had passed through in the past. But at the same time... this was made by bandits, how had they been able to cooperate so much that they did this, this was never meant to happen, yet it did. It was impressive, scary, and confusing at the same time.

All of this just for a shard that they didn’t know what it did, what could the reward from the Master of the fire Will be... he might try to get it himself.

He was joking, of course.

He looked at it, his brows slowly furrowed.

”...How?”

The place was packed. So many shouldn’t live in such a place, I mean, there were too many, why hadn’t they made the outpost bigger if they knew how many they were coming in? It made no sense why they wanted it... or did it, did they really go out of their way to make it to the point there was no crack in their defense.

’You have to be joking... these guys are crazy.

Bandits filled the outpost to an almost unbelievable degree.

People crowded every path between the buildings, forcing others to squeeze past them just to move around. Groups sat around campfires, drinking and gambling, while others argued loudly enough for half the settlement to hear them. Armed figures stood on the walls, occupied the watchtowers, and leaned against nearly every building in sight. It was a sight he had never seen before, so many bandits in one place. After all, they were groups that didn’t like working with many; after all, what would they even get if they had to share with a hundred people? So then the reward had to be so big to fulfill the hunger of so many badnits and actually make them work together without complaining.

’Seriously, what the heck?’

There were so many of them that Aether could barely see the ground in some places.

The outpost itself wasn’t large.

If anything, it was surprisingly small. Of course, still impressive for who had built it, they wouldn’t have made an outpost if it hadn’t been for the fact that they had to keep the shard safe.

Which only made the number of people inside it even more ridiculous.

Rows of tents had been crammed into every available corner. Wagons stood parked so close together that some looked trapped between structures. Crates, barrels, supplies, and piles of stolen goods occupied whatever little space remained.

And somehow, there were still more bandits.

Aether watched as several people emerged from a building that already looked full. Moments later, another group disappeared inside.

”There’s no way all of them fit in there.”

The building wasn’t even that big.

At this point, he was beginning to suspect that some of them were sleeping on top of each other.

”Seriously, people will really torment themselves for just a bit of extra security... does this even help in the long run? What are they going to do if they really have to fight?”

The noise coming from the outpost was almost as absurd as its population.

Laughter mixed with shouting. Arguments blended together with drunken singing, while somewhere in the distance, someone repeatedly struck metal with a hammer. Hundreds of voices merged into a constant roar that echoed throughout the settlement. It made him want to just drive Voidpiercer into his ears and put a stop to all the noise, since either way, he was going to lose his hearing soon. But he didn’t, he wasn’t a dumbass to actually stab his own ears, he still needed his hearing.

For a few moments, Aether simply stared.

Then he looked at the compass. Watching as it moved, each time he changed the angle he was looking at the hideout. It really was here; they had actually found it. How? He had no idea

Then back at the outpost.

”...Please don’t tell me I have to go in there.” He said, rhetorically. Since he knew he had,

Because if he did, he already had a feeling today was going to be annoying. Really annoying.

But how was he actually going to get inside, after all, sneaking around wasn’t that easy when he hardly had any room to move in, as hard as his powers made him to be seen, they wouldn’t be as much help. And brute forcing was also a no-go. Sure, he could fight these guys easily, but did you see just how many there were? He was never going to be able to take them all on. So then what the heck was he supposed to do?

At times like this, he really wished he still had his earring; it would have made things so much easier, like actually. But sadly, it was destroyed by a certain someone he wished not to say the name of. But it started with an L and ended in ilith.

But while he didn’t have that, he did... have everything else.

...

’It’s worth a try.’

...

...

...

The night was young... when suddenly, voices started to be heard from outside the forest, at first it was just one, but after it became two, then three, and now it was to the point that there was one on every side of the outpost.

They were being attacked.

People dashed out of the outpost, going deep into the mist... yet as they did, the screams of others could be heard... they really were being attacked, this was no a joke. People began to flood the gates, trying to protect the entrance, while others left to be able to help others... but they also didn’t come back. What was happening?

...

’When will my rock skill evolve...’ Aether thought, after all, he had been using it for a while, and just that didn’t mean a skill had to evolve; he was sure he had done enough for it to do so, and yet it hadn’t.

Also, he had truly not done anything really crazy to cause this chaos; it was more of the street the bandits were under that made them act like this, so mindless.

He had used his skill that made rock talk so he could get people out of the outpost, then he made traps, some with string, and some from hair, but this one, he wasn’t so sure they would work.

That was all. Some rocks and small traps had been the thing that had dimmed the people inside the village so much.

Aether sighed, climbing up one of the walls... or at least tried, as he could even get off the ground... of course, this didn’t mean he wasn’t going to do it. Aether summoned voidpiercer, throwing it over the wall, and watching the chain get caught, allowing him to climb up.

Even with his tricks, there were still some inside, true. Most had gone to the gate, which was dumb, but these were bandits, not the most intelligent beings, so there were a small number of people he was going to have to kill. But if he just went in with the blade, they were going to have time to signal for help.

...’ Meaning I’m going to have to use...’

Aether smiled, reaching for his bow and testing the string out. The bow was going to be his weapon of choice. The bandits, if like any other, were probably Reader Fragments, the weakest one can be and still be called an awakened by the Codex... they were weak, but when it came to people inside books this rank, they were even weaker.

You can kill them with normal weapons; they don’t have to be relics... so he should be fine to use his bow.

Aether watched the one nearest to him, waiting for the moment no one looked at him, before putting an arrow in and aiming for his head... but instead, he pierced his shoulder. ’Damn it.’ He said, quickly jumping in and finishing him, not long after taking the arrow and hiding behind a tent, also dragging the body with him.

This was going to be the only time he was going to be able to do this; next time, he was going to have to shoot their head every time.

That is, if he didn’t want to alert the whole outpost that he was here, and have to fight all of them, and probably lose. And really, he didn’t want to do that, but I doubt anyone would.

After all, he was this close to the shard; he wasn’t going to lose.

Not now, at least.

Aether sighed, putting the arrow back into the bow, and taking a deep breath before looking for his next target.

...

’This time... I won’t miss.’