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Chapter 94: The Undead
Phantasia: The Princess Knight
Hearing Blake's explanation really sent a shiver down Alicia's spine. To think that demon spawn which could remain invisible were actually able to gather intel. "If that is the case we will need to come up with countermeasures as quickly as possible." Alicia had a few ideas running around in her head on how to deal with such a thing but she did not have the resources to test her theories.
They had soon reached the door to the second floor. Alicia tested the door and found that it was not locked. "This door is not locked." Alicia said as she pushed down on the handle.
They walked through the door and Alicia only took two steps before stopping. "Do you hear that?"
"Hmm?" Blake stopped and stood in place quietly listening to his surroundings.
The sounds of shuffling could be heard off in the distance. Those sounds seemed to originate from another part of the floor. Alicia did not hesitate to turn around and close the door to the stairwell behind her. With a flick of her finger a small blue and white flame appeared hovering above her fingertip. This time she was not cutting through the door but sealing it!
"Alicia, why are you sealing the exit?" Blake asked. He was very confused as to why she was doing such a thing.
"Loeri and Starla are downstairs. The first floor is safe for them. But… As soon as we entered the second floor we heard shuffling sounds. This is a just in case measure. I do not want them being sneak attacked by something that came from the second floor." Alicia did not want Loeri or Starla to get hurt because of her negligence. "Plus with the two of us here I do not think we will have an issue. One of us is a freakishly strong little girl while the other is a god." Alicia said jokingly.
Blake let out a laugh he had to admit what Alicia said was true. If they really did get attacked by something it was not like they could fend for themselves. But if Starla and Loeri who were busy investigating a room suddenly got attacked they might not be able to deal with the situation.
"Blake, look! Movement on the left side of the building!" Alicia said and quickly displayed a map of the second floor. On it, there were five heat sources that were moving around.
"Let's go check it out but be careful. This is definitely not a demonic beast. Unless a few fell from the cave's ceiling and entered the building from the top floor. But such a drop would kill anything if they fell from that height." Blake and Alicia both drew their swords and started to walk down the hallway.
Step by step they made their way towards the shuffling sounds. They stepped lightly in order to hide their presence. When they finally got down to the end of the hall leading to the hall that stretched across the whole left side of the building. Alicia stuck her head ever so slightly out past the edge of the wall to see what was causing the shuffling sound. But what she saw caused her eyes to go wide. She quickly pulled her head back and rubbed her eyes as she really thought she was seeing things. But when she stuck her head back out to take a look again she was now sure she was not seeing anything.
"Blake, it seems that we might be in a bit of trouble." Alicia's heart was beating rapidly. Blake Looked at Alicia confused but seeing her face go pale. He pulled her close and then took a peek around the corner himself. When he saw what was down the hallway he quickly pulled his head back and now knew why Alicia went pale.
"To be honest I am not surprised to see undead here." Blake said in a low voice as he slowly pulled Alicia back to a room that was a little way down the hall and carefully opened it, entered the room, and then closed the door behind them.
"Undead? But why are there so many of them? I could detect five heat sources." Alicia complained. That hall was filled with at least a hundred skeletons walking around!
"The heat sources are probably from the ones who have something on them that gathers heat. You see how they are all gathering in this one hallway?" Blake asked.
Alicia nodded her head and replied with a question of her own: "Yeah. Why is that?"
"Undead well the skeletons, in this case, will always search out for a source of warmth. Their bones are always cold so it is not unusual to see them all gathered around a heat source. These skeletons are lower class undead. If this was Dead Lands these skeletons would be used for labor since they do not have any kind of intelligence." Blake answered.
"Wait. You mean there is a race of undead out there?" Alicia was surprised. This was her first time learning of the Undead race.
"Yeah, there are undead who have been around for tens of thousands of years. By slowly accumulating Magicules in their body they were able to finally gain a form of intelligence. The Dead Lands are to the far south near the Dragonic Volcano. It's past the Beasts Kingdom." Blake explained. Alicia couldn't help but think of how much she had still yet to learn about this world. Her first few years here were nothing but training. But now that she was out in the real world she was seeing and hearing many new things about this world.
Chapter 95: Celestial Race
Phantasia: The Princess Knight
"So what should we do with these undead?" Alicia asked. She did not know if these things were dangerous or not.
"For now, we can only fall back. Undead are somewhat problematic. Although these skeletons do not have any kind of intelligence to them. Once they feel something warm they will rush to that warmth. Luckily we moved before they detected us. Now, this might not seem to be such a big deal but when they detect something warm they try to get as close as they can to it. Unfortunately, if the object is not hard they will try to dig in as much as they can. Meaning if they detect us they will try to rip us to shreds to get inside our bodies. The worst part about the undead is their resilience. They are not easy to take down. This goes especially for skeletons. Unless you smash their cores they will just reform their bodies. But those cores are harder than many metals" Alicia couldn't help but shiver at Blakes words. After listening to what he had to say she never wanted to have to fight with the undead. Even if she could fight with them it would seem to be a daunting task to survive while fighting multiples at a time.
"So what should we do from here?" Alicia did not know if Blake wanted to continue or not.
"Well with everything I said and with how many undead are here it is likely we will run into more. So I will show you how to use holy magic. It is the only thing that is useful in destroying undead with ease." Blake had been meaning to show Alicia how to use holy magic since they had fought the Devil since holy magic was useful against devils as well. "This magic is not only useful for warding off and killing Undead but it can also be used to fight devils. Watch closely."
Alicia nodded as she watched Blake wave his hand and a golden ball of light appeared. He then tossed it in the air and waved his hand again. The ball of light expanded and covered the two of them in a golden dome shaped shield. "So pretty..." Alicia said with a smile on her face. She could feel a warmth to this magic.
The corner of Blake's lips curved upwards seeing the happy expression on Alicia's face. "This magic can only be used by the Gods race." Blake suddenly dropped a bomb that caused Alicia's face to sink. She opened her mouth and was about to ask why he was showing her this but was cut off by Blake who continued, saying: "The reason why I am showing this magic to you is because, I have faith that you will be able to use it."
Alicia pursed her lips, not sure if she would be able to use it not. "What makes you say that I will be able to use it?" Alicia asked.
"Hmm… Let's just say its a feeling." Blake did not want to explain too much. If he did he feared it would divert Alicia off the path she had chosen for herself.
"Well if you think I can do it then tell me what I should feel and image." Alicia still was a bit skeptic but she knew it would never hurt to try. If she could actually cast holy magic then it would be a good thing.
"Alright with holy magic it's best to try to imagine a warmth something that could cause one to feel a sense of relaxation and purity. As if your whole body is being purified after being wrapped in a light of warmth." Blake did his best to explain.
Alicia closed her eyes and tried her best to imagine such a thing. The only thing that came to mind was the gods from Earth's religions. Mainly god from Christianity. She remembered that in all the anime and manga she had read that when dealing with holy magic that religion was the most used. After a while, Alicia had cupped her hands together and knelt on to the floor trying to give herself a bit more of an image that she would see in a church when a nun prayed to Jesus on the cross that hung up on the wall of the church.
Blake stood to the side and waited to see if there would be any kind of reaction. His wait was not long when the air in the room seemed to begin to swirl around Alicia. His eyes opened wide when Alicia's body began to glow with a golden light. As if in a trance, Alicia stood up with her eyes closed. Her mouth was moving at an incredible speed. The words coming from her mouth caused Blake to be shocked! "Ancient Gods language… No... Celestial race language!"
The two languages were similar since the Gods language was derived from the Celestial race. No one else knew about the Celestial race except the Gods race. It was a history that was passed down from generation to generation of the Gods race. The actual origin of the Celestial race was still unknown to the Gods race. They only knew that the Celestial race was much stronger than any other race. for example, one Celestial could fight a hundred Gods.
Blake watched as Alicia's eyes suddenly opened. Her normally blue eyes and became like an image of a stary night sky. fully black with many stars twinkling within. Her body exuded a mass of pressure that even Blake was having a hard to resisting. His eyes kept getting wider and wider as he watched the scene in front of him. The words she was saying suddenly stopped. She raised her hand into the air and parted her lips once more. "Sanctuary! "