Fallen Fate Online

Chapter 121 The Road To The Ruins

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The distance between Red Feather City and Landow Village was quite long. It was impossible for an ordinary person to cross it in less than ten hours without the use of a horse or carriage. However, after some events, Zayne was no longer an ordinary man.

He could run without stopping for hours at his previously normal speed, but Zayne could also become even faster to accelerate to the limit of his abilities. He ran through the woods like a shadow, quickly approaching his goal.

'Fine... I've already forgotten that feeling. There was no way I could keep up with Roland last time, he was just too fast, but now I could match him, though my legs were starting to hurt...' Zayne muttered inwardly, stopping abruptly at the ledge of the hill.

It wasn't much further to Landow Village, but Zayne decided to bypass it. He headed for the cemetery, the place where he had met Gael and where he had a view of the ancient ruins that still remained a mystery to him behind many seals.

Step. Step. Step.

Deep in the night, Zayne paced among the tombstones, wandering through the foggy cemetery. He wore a hood over his head, hiding everything but his blue eyes, which glowed like cold stars.

'Agh... This is where I completed my first quest and got the only one I haven't done yet...' Zayne inwardly muttered, looking at the tombstone by which the candle still stood. It was the grave of Jafa's wife.

Zayne shook the dust off the tombstone and took a deep breath with a sad look, 'If a person dies, it's forever... No matter how strong we are, nothing can help against death, am I right?'

Step.

Zayne walked forward until he heard a strange sound from outside. He turned around, narrowed his eyes, and frowned.

"Hurry up!" Someone said tiredly, picking up a shovel and tossing aside a massive lump of earth.

"I'm trying, but it's too damn hard." His partner complained, "These graves have sprouted roots! We needed better shovels for a job like this!"

"Never mind, it's definitely worth it." The young man smirked, plunging his shovel deeper into the ground, "This is the easiest way to start playing as a Necromancer!"

"Agh...? Damn, what are we going to do with these skeletons? We haven't got Class yet anyway!" The guy with the green hair waved his hand, "I already have blisters from these shovels!"

"Don't worry, if we bring those skeletons to that wizard, he'll teach us everything! My friend told me about it, it will definitely work, but there's no telling how much longer this wizard will be active, so we must hurry!" The young man pulled out a shovel, revealing part of the coffin hidden beneath several feet of earth.

"Agh... Fine, there's still a bit left..." The guy with the green hair breathed a sigh of relief.

Tap.

"Hey... You two... What the hell are you doing here?" A cold voice rang out behind him as someone's hand fell on his shoulder.

The young man turned sharply, and his eyes went wide as he flinched.

"What the hell! Who the fuck are you?" He exclaimed with a startled expression before jumping aside.

Zayne exhaled cold steam, "You don't know who I am, and I don't know who you are, so I think that's pretty fair, anyway, I'm not interested in you at all." Zayne glanced at the unearthed grave, "However... I can't get past that. You'll have to answer for what you've done."

The young man smirked slyly as he placed the shovel on his shoulder. He wasn't worried at all and as if he was sure it wasn't a problem for them.

"Hey, I have no idea what you're doing here, but you better leave, or else, we'll beat you up and take your stuff!"

"Hmm... How are you going to get my stuff...?" Zayne tilted his head in confusion.

The young man's face changed to become wily with a golden glint in his eyes, "Hahaha, you sure are a newbie, how can you not know about this? Well, I'll tell you."

Zayne listened in silence. Oddly enough, it was useful information to him, even though he didn't understand why he should know about it. 

"It's impossible to take things out of your inventory, but it's not necessary, because if you promise someone that you won't kill them in exchange for items, many people will agree to it. Nobody wants to die and lose time as well as precious EXP, do they?" The young man smirked as he took a step forward.

"I see... Well, I thought you were going to tell me about some secret way, but this is just nasty extortion." Zayne said coldly as his ring shone brightly, "You're in luck though, I'm not going to take your stuff and be like you, I don't have time for that."

"What...?" The young man was puzzled when Zayne's silhouette blurred, and scarlet wings appeared behind him.

Whooooooooooooooooooooosh.

In a heartbeat, with a flap of wings, two heads flew aside. It all happened quickly and smoothly, without any delay.

Zayne shook the blood off his sword and looked at the grave. He hesitated for a while, but eventually picked up the shovel and began to bury the grave. Zayne didn't have to do it, but he felt it wouldn't be right otherwise.

'If I had just walked by, I would have killed them for no reason, just of my own desire, but was that it?' Zayne muttered inwardly with a complicated expression, then he put the shovel aside.

???d?---n??a| ?om He wiped the sweat from his forehead, paused briefly, and looked into the distance. This grave was at the farthest part of the cemetery, and from this point, he could see the ruins.

"How strange... I didn't notice it before, but I definitely see it." Zayne muttered, staring at the peaks of the ruins, gleaming faintly under the moonlight.

For some unknown reason, it seemed that all the moonlight was directed exclusively at these ruins, or rather at their entrance, behind which most of ruins were hidden. There was an unusual aura, something similar Zayne could feel only from Gael.

'Well, I shouldn't put it off any longer. However, something still confuses me. Obviously, the skill Gael gave me the first time wouldn't have been enough, I feel that these ruins will be my greatest test of all.' Zayne pondered as a slight smile appeared on his face.

Finally, he touched the gravestone and headed forward, walking to the entrance of the ancient ruins.

Zayne had expected a lot from his only remaining quest. For him, it was both mildly nostalgic as well as something new since he could now fully immerse himself in his travels. The massive chains that had been resting on his shoulders all along began to slowly fall away and would be completely broken when Mia recovered.

He gradually emerged from the forest grove, but as soon as he took a few steps the smile disappeared from his face, replaced by a slight frown.

Step. Step. Step.

Many footsteps were coming from outside, and Zayne saw in the distance the light from the torches and several silhouettes running hurriedly forward. They were all Players, and they seemed to be trying to get to the ruins as quickly as possible.