Avant-garde Caster Statue Class
"Please, if they come back they will torture me again." The girl pleaded.
Aiden stopped and thought for a second. " Torture? Why did they keep you lock up in here then?"
"The being called Playman kept me lock up for their lust and-"
Suddenly, Aiden walked away after hearing that. Playman was a term created by the human NPCs some time ago to differentiate between the two.
"Wait, do not go. If you leave now and they come back, they will-"
"Enough… I know you're lying" Aiden looked back at her and spoke casually with a gleam of coldness in his eyes. "Perhaps you did not know, but Playman does not have genitals to reproduce. So I doubt they can do such a thing to you." It was one of the designs to prevent any illegal activity such as trafficking NPCs or even real players. When it first came out, many people did not like it and flamed developers to change it. Since the game was only for 18+, they believed it was a right to have that feature.
In the end, the developers did not cave in, and people forgot about it eventually over time and played the game like it was intended.
"So what is the real reason you are locked up? If you do not tell me the truth now, I will leave you here regardless." Aiden said.
She gritted her teeth before speaking. 'Even though he looks like a thirteen-year-old boy, he is not dumb like one. He gives off an air of maturity around him.'
"Fine, I am going to die anyway. I might as well tell someone." Her attitude changed. She did not sound afraid like before, but aloof with a sarcastic tone. "Ever heard of a fruit called the Lantern Apple?"
"No. What does that have anything to do with why you're locked up?"
"Lantern Apple, a rare fruit that can only be found after killing a Lantern Snake."
"So, you stole the fruit of labor from someone else..."
"I did not!" She roared. "I killed it myself, and some aristocrat faggot demanded the fruit from me saying that it is for the sake of the Well Cloud Kingdom. So instead of paying for it like normal, they demanded it with nothing to offer."
"So why did you not give it up for your freedom, then?
"Can't. I ate it in front of his face, and he hired Playmans to capture me alive. Besides, I had a deadly illness which only the fruit can cure, so I was planning to eat it anyway."
Aiden understood her situation, but he did not know why she lied in the first place. Perhaps she was not entirely honest about her situation. Nonetheless, he sympathized with her. She was just doing for the sake of survival.
"Alright, I get you out of here, but I don't know where the key is located."
"Don't know either. You will have to find it yourself."
Aiden sighed when he heard her response. Now he had to find the statue class as well as a key.
"Thanks." The girl softly said.
Aiden walked away without a response. He could not promise to set her free since he might abandon her if he can't find the key quickly.
"She is the only prisoner here. It must be quite lonely."
He thought of that time where he entered that dark place where he got the map. There were times he wanted to quit, but he felt hope every time he got closer to the end.
However, this place felt that any hope could not be reach here — a dark and lonely place to be.
Without looking back, he made it to the upper floor. He carefully opened the door to take a peek around. The floor was covered in a red carpet with gold linen and the wall decorated with expensive-looking art.
Seeing no one was around, he stepped into the main hallway. Aiden wiped his wet feet against the expensive carpet to prevent any further tracks.
"Let's hurry this up. If I recall, people said that the statue class should be in a garden." Since the Avant-garde Caster Statue Class was not a secret, there was quite a few information regarding it.
Every day he read posts about anything related to Verse-Way whenever he had free time for two years. So he had an immense knowledge about the game up until a certain point.
He silently walked to a hallway, but he felt something was amiss.
"Where is everyone?" It was unusual not to see one person in a guild house. "I guess this is my lucky break." He picked up his pace while being cautious.
After 5 minutes, he found a hallway leading to a garden. In the middle of the garden stood a bronze statue. The bronze statue depicted a skinny young man taking a scholarly pose. Although, he was half-naked with tattoos all over him which made him look weird.
"That's the Avant-garde Caster Statue Caster." He exclaimed.
He went up close to it, and the statue was no bigger than his brother, Hendrick.
He touched it, and the statue lit up with white light. The light then traveled into Aiden's hand, signaling to what seemed like a cutscene one would find playing a video game.
He felt like his surroundings had slow down before everything around him suddenly changed. The once lushes garden bathing in the golden sunlight disappeared.
His surrounding was now a small room lit by a single candle. The room had red and black ink scattered all over the walls and the floor covered with research papers.
"Why did my illness starts to get worst all of a sudden?" A young man spoke weakly.
Aiden could only watch and not interact with anything.
He knew what was happening, although he never experienced it himself.
It was a Statue Class Memory, which showed the lore of the person depicted on the statue.
The young man was skinny and looked very ill. He had hair covering his tired eyes, and pale lip. "After seeing my effort come into fruition, my body seems to be giving up. But there is something I still need to do before I die."
The young man forced himself to get up. With a knife, he craved a magic circle, which he invented, onto his chest. It looked like the tattoo similar to what Aiden seen on the statue.
After all that pain, the man felt a rush of energy flowing through him. However, he knew that it only delayed his death for a moment. "I have to give it to her before I die. It is the least I can do."
Then the scene changed from a dim-lit room to a forest without a moon in the night sky.
Two people stood next to a pillar thick as an elephant and tall as a tree. They both carried a small lantern to light up the night.
One of the people was the sick man, and the other was a middle-aged man with a goatee.
"Where is she, Mr. Dancan? Where is Mariah?" The young man yelled.
"My daughter would not be coming out tonight, Hedd. I drugged her so she will sleep through the night," Dancan spoke calmly.
"Why did you do it-?" Hedd said. He coughed up blood, but he still looked furious.
"It is because I could not allow her to see you die. It will ruin the future that I built for her. You understand that, right? If she finds out her lover died, she will fail to be a functional person in society, just like your mom."
Hedd lowered his head to the ground and gritted his teeth. He carefully thought about what to do next. He wanted her to live a good life. That was why he threw away his future and created a way for her to use magic. He wanted to live happily with her, but one day he was inflicted with an incurable disease.
"I am guessing that you came this way to get my research for her."
The man simply nodded.
Hedd took out a thick book. "Take it and give it to her," Hedd relaxed his body, and he collapsed on the floor. His body could not handle the burden of his new form of magic along with his disease.
"I promise you, Hedd, for my daughter and you. I will repay you somehow."
Hedd died before hearing what the man said, but he felt no regret about his choice.
===
Statue Class Found!
Avant-garde Caster
★☆☆☆☆☆☆ - Common
Blessed by the Star of Wisdom.
Requirement:
- 1x tongue from a forest toad,
- 1x blood from a red-eyes rabbit,
- 1x twin-moonflower,
- 1x branch from yellowwood tree
Inquisition Experience:
- Gain 1x experience whenever an Avant-garde Caster skill is used
- Gain 1.5x experience whenever an Avant-garde Caster skill kills a monster
===
Although it was for a few seconds, Aiden felt many minutes had passed.
"I'm sorry that in the end, you could not see her, Hedd" Although the memory he was shown was not real, he felt Hedd's emotion and feel bad for him. He clasped his hand and silently prayed.
After ten seconds, he opened his eyes and focused on his goals.