Origin's Shadow

The golden ordained box felt lightweight in Travis' palm. Glancing towards Averoth and back to the box he incredulously opened it. A bright golden glow nearly blinded him and inside lay a miniature sundial. 

Picking it up he held it towards the sky and immediately noticed that the shadow didn't align with the sunlight. Even as he rotated the shadow remained pointed in the same direction unless covered by another shadow. 

He looked towards Averoth and asked, "How'd you know something like this was inside?"

"What lies inside is only random until observed. I took a tiny peek when you got it."

Does that mean the random loot box would roll the item when you obtained the box and not when you opened it? Or did Averoth just happen to roll the right item? Regardless Travis used [Truth: Revealing] on the sundial to find out what it was specifically.

[Origin's Shadow]

Rarity: Myth Making

A sundial that only allows Origin's Last Light to cast a shadow. At night the sundial will cast something different, one's of Origin's Shadow. Crafted by an unknown artificer.

-End-

Since it wasn't a piece of equipment or a weapon the description was only lore based. Yet within the lore a hint about the night was given. Travis frowned and thought about it for a moment. Considering it was casting the shadow of a light source he couldn't see, then he should be traveling in the opposite direction of the shadow right? If he approached the source of this mysterious light, it should lead him to this Origin thing. . .

He looked towards Averoth, "This will lead me to Origin's Stash?"

"No.", Averoth smiled.

". . ."

". . ."

". . ."

"Don't throw my piece please.", Averoth clasped his hands together before explaining, "The sources of both Origin's Shadow and Origin's Last Light should help you find the location of Origin's Stash. Whether that's a map, a compass, or otherwise a bit of scripture, I don't have the slightest clue."

Suddenly Averoth made a face, "I'm seriously starting to regret my promise with you. You're clearly taking advantage of it."

"Naturally.", Travis did not deny the claim.

"Can't you at least give me a tiny taste of why you mocked the term 'new generation'? Pretty please?", Averoth pinched his fingers together to emphasize 'tiny'.

"If I find something at the first spot I can."

"Aha! I'll hold you to that! No taking that back!! Now get moving, you can only make progress during either day or night!", Averoth shooed Travis towards the direction he needed to go.

When Travis looked away Averoth vanished. Now alone for a moment he crossed his arms and thought to himself. Was there any major occurrences in his past before Averoth's Vault? Considering his actions the Guilds stopped monopolizing various resources. A lot of the dungeons now were available to the general player base.

Try as he might he couldn't remember. It was around this point that Travis started to learn about previous events and theories regarding best account starts to help out his Guild. He was betrayed before he could apply these findings, Averoth's Vault became an earth shattering event after all.

In that case after acquiring Origin's Stash his next goal would be obtaining an Aboviol soul. Similarly to the Archangel Soul used to improve Lumen, he would improve Abe with an Aboviol soul. Travis hoped that the equipment found in Origin's Stash would make him strong enough to tackle such a boss by himself.

It wasn't like there was anybody he could ask for help anyway.

From his estimate as long as the two points regarding Origin's Shadow and Origin's Last Light provided a clear path to Origin's Stash, he should be able to obtain the Aboviol Soul before the date of the opening of Averoth's Vault. 

This was under the assumption that Averoth's Vault opened on the same day as his past experience however. 

No time to waste! Calling his mount Travis immediately used the sundial and headed towards the location of Origin's Last Light. He was unsure how far it was and he could only check his location during the day, so who knew how long this trip was going to take!

~ ~ ~

Yielya leaned against a wall and sighed. Eyeing her wrist she spotted the unsightly scar and scowled. Looking up the wall she examined the building. The church of the Horos Kingdom. Considering the Rot could be considered a curse she was testing her luck to see if they were capable of removing it. As a Priest and also a Blessed Human Yielya was confident they'd at least take a look at it.

Now whether or not it could be removed was another matter.

"Churches eh.", Yielya exhaled and steeled herself to walk through the doors.

One of the nuns of this church was startled upon seeing Yielya's ragged self. Yet upon seeing the high quality priest staff in Yielya's hands the Nun's expression went from pity to respect, "Esteemed Healer, it is good for you to visit our humble church."

Humble they say. Yielya looked upwards the high ceiling painted with murals. Mosaics decorating the windows. She kept her thoughts to herself and said, "I seek the High Priest, I have been afflicted with a horrid curse."

"You as well Esteemed Healer? There has been an outbreak. Does this curse have a scar?"

"It does indeed."

The Nun's face fell, "I am sorry then. Even our sacred holy water is incapable of removing such a curse. Our High Priest is currently searching for a cure."

"In that case I would be happy to assist."

"I am unsure if the High Priest is looking for anybody of assistance."

Yielya's smile stiffened. Of course there wouldn't be requests for help. Thousands of players of the top Guilds were afflicted with this effect. It was already likely the High Priest had given several personal quests to the various players who sought out the Church's help.

To think she wouldn't even be seen! Did she have to research this herself? That's so troubling! 

Having been turned away Yielya left the Church. It was likely the Guilds already sought out a solution from all available Kingdom Churches, and even the more secluded ones. There was the healers located in The Gated Arena. Yet Yielya felt the Guilds would already search there too. Meaning just about every Priest of a certain level was going to be pestered about this curse. 

Great, just great. 

Massaging the bridge of her nose Yielya fell into thought. A place where the Guilds weren't likely to access and could handle such curses. That could be. . . the Holy Realm? Although her own control of Holy Energy wasn't enough to rid of the curse, there was a possibility that the extremely pure and bountiful Holy Energy could remove it. Although her initial entrance to the Holy Realm was hand-guided by a high ranking Angel, it wasn't like she couldn't return. 

Granted it might be a bit difficult to find the entrance. There was a non zero chance she could use Holy Energy as a sort of guide, that or manage to summon an Angel. It was at this point another sigh escaped her lips.

"I should've become Third Stage before doing the raid. Maybe I wouldn't have to deal with all of this."

Shaking these thoughts away Yielya decided to stop thinking on the what ifs. Instead she began her search for the Holy Realm. To start she popped a message to their connection with Eternal Candle. Best to see if they had any information before she started searching on whim. Information networks were best used for situations like this!

Considering Tilia was currently doing some research on Third Stage equipment Yielya decided to cheap out on some replacement Second Stage equipment. The mass produced sets would be enough for now. 

It wasn't like she was lacking money to afford higher quality equipment. The funds of Six Lights was certainly far larger than your average player after all. Setting aside their pooled funds for their home nobody in Six Lights prioritized getting the latest and best equipment available. Instead they often opted for self improvement, so the drops and items they usually obtained were sold. 

She simply believed that it was only a matter of time before the Second Stage equipment was going to be replaced with Third Stage equipment. Wasting money on high quality equipment that was going to be replaced soon was pointless. So she purchased a set of mass produced Priest equipment. She rapidly equipped the simple Priest-wear and prepped for her eventual journey to the Holy Realm. She'd need a few items to ensure her survival out alone. As a Priest her attacking power was basically nonexistent thus her protection faced trouble. 

She purchased some essentials: potions, teleport scrolls, feed for her mount, etc. For a moment Yielya toyed with the idea of hiring a mercenary squad to escort her. Yet considering she had no idea where her end goal was this might be too expensive long term. She'll make do with her current abilities.

It was shame every other member of Six Lights was busy with their own goals, else she'd ask at least one person to assist. This thought of her busy party members made Yielya pinch her chin and think about Wrock. He hadn't even been in contact since he left for seclusion. Their powerhouse Pugilist. . . she hoped he was doing fine.

For now she'd return home and grab the remaining supplies. Using a teleport scroll to save time she entered the home and immediately felt something was amiss. A chill began to crawl down her spine with every step she took. Her instinct was making it clear that something horrifying was upstairs. Cautiously she climbed the stairs one step at a time. 

Had someone or something broken in their home? 

The feeling only grew heavier the closer she got to the upstairs hallway. As her foot cleared the stairs and entered the hallway she checked her left and right. What immediately caught her eye was the strange liquid pooling out of Jarvis' door. As she approached this liquid with steady yet quiet steps the door suddenly opened.

Jarvis exited his room, a hollow look within his eyes. He slowly looked at Yielya and spoke with a grave tone, "Hi. . . Yielya."

The unidentifiable liquid covered Jarvis, like it was splattered onto him. It dripped onto the floor in a sickening sticky fashion joining the pool on the floor. With the liquid bits of wriggling flesh dropped and flopped about on the floor. Yielya was unsure how to take this sight when she heard an inhuman clicking sound.

Something--this was the best word she could use at that moment to explain what she saw--stepped past Jarvis and walked into the hall.

It held several bug-like limbs, and the body similar to that of a mantis, yet it stood on two limbs like a bipedal. Additionally its body was made of flesh despite the bug appearance. It walked unevenly like a newborn learning its first steps. Even stumbling it crashed into the opposite wall and cried, "Scree-!"

It slipped about before regaining its footing. The spine shivering clicking sound escaped its mandibles for a mouth. Two large bulbous bug eyes rotated as if on its own axis. Looking at Jarvis a word croaked from its mouth, "Fa. . . ther?"

Yielya found herself stepping back subconsciously, an action of instinct. This feeling. . . this was Heresy! With her gaze shifting towards Jarvis she could barely speak without her voice slightly wavering.

"Jarvis. . . ? What did you do?"