Zectas Volume III: Malediction of Veneficatl Valley (25 page)

Doctus only looked away with a sad face. Smoke looked at the other great masters, but all of them followed Doctus' lead.
"Castas, you're in charge of finding appropriate accommodation for our esteemed guest. I believe he could use some rest right about now." Indignus commanded with an unpleasant smile.
Yet Smoke could see right through Indignus. He knew that the Grandmaster only wanted him out of the way.
Helplessly, he could only watch as Saru was taken away. Smoke was forced to leave the shore and awkwardly dragged his feet along while following Castas, who held her head down and tried to avoid eye contact .
 

* * * * * * 

Smoke stared blankly at the plain wall of the room that Castas got him. The chimpanzee temple master brought him to a tavern called The Contrite.
He had just cleared a level A quest, but he did not feel triumphant at all. Painful memories flooded his head as he thought about the sacrifices Zectians had made for him.
Adder lost his left arm to save Smoke, though it fortunately grew back. However, Mitleid was not as lucky. The Manaetor King, who Smoke had loathed before, became a close friend. Yet this friendship only resulted in Mitleid's death. Rudel, the winged Centaur, next in line to be Pferde's chief, was cursed to be a Tikbalang after he met Smoke.
Now, an albino Simiavulg would be banished from the only place he had ever known just because he decided to help him.
TUK TUK TUK.
His regretful thoughts were interrupted when he heard three knocks on his door.
"Who is it?" Smoke asked.
"It's me." answered Doctus. "I've come to bring the authorization letter you requested."
Hurriedly, Smoke opened the door. "Thank you so much, Doctus."
Doctus handed the scroll which allowed Smoke entry to the dungeon where Saru was imprisoned.
Smoke was about to dash to the prison when Doctus' hand stopped him.
Doctus spoke with apologetic eyes. "Please tell Saru that I would have tried to save him if I could. But Indignus and the four representatives confirmed that Saru entered the lake, the designated testing grounds, before your fight against the kappas was over. He clearly broke the sacred rules and I am truly sorry it has come to this."
Smoke nodded and went straight to the prison house.
The faint moonlight made Saruras' prison house look even gloomier. In front of it stood Smoke, who was still on a call and busy whispering to his subordinates. "...Okay, Ledur, copy that."
He was about to enter the prison when a blue-staff wielder blocked his path. "Where do you think you're going?"
"I'm here to see Saru. Doctus has allowed me to visit him." Smoke showed the piece of paper with Doctus' seal.
"Alright, follow me." The blue-staff wielder led the way to Saru's prison cell.
Cold and poorly lit, Saruras' dungeon had the ability to suck out any optimistic thoughts you might have in your head.
Held prisoner in a windowless cell, Saru was sitting in the center of the room and meditating. Smoke walked over to the front of Saru's prison cell. He performed a Simiavulg bow and waited for the albino's response.
Saru stood up and walked over to him. The albino stretched out his hand between the iron bars and patted Smoke's hand. "Sorry about all of this, Saru. You didn't have to save me and get stuck in here."
"Don't worry about it. I did it for myself. I couldn't stand Indignus' way of thinking any longer," said Saru with a smile.
"What's the deal between you and Indignus anyway?" Smoke asked.
Saru made a dismissive gesture with his hand and said. "It's too long of a story to tell. It's late and you've had quite a day."
"A day that could have ended very differently if you hadn't rushed to my side. Please, I wish to know more about the Simiavulg who saved my life."
Smoke saw Saru's eyes glisten before he quickly turned his back. A few seconds passed before the Simiavulg faced him again.
"My father was Indignus' predecessor. I don't remember much about him myself, but I learned about who he was through his journal. His name was Indigatus. He made many contributions to  Saruras, the most famous one being the Sniping ability made available to the physical-type Manatl specialists."
"Even after he reached the state of red-staff enlightenment, he still wasn't satisfied. He wanted to gain more knowledge."
Smoke noticed Saru stroking his white fur before the Simiavulg spoke again.
"When my mother got pregnant with me, my father infused Mana with the properties of all three specialized Manatls into my developing fetus. Sadly, my mother died giving birth to me."
"Is that why you're pretty good with Manatl? But why do you still wield a white staff? I thought it was a mark of a beginner?"
"I read this from my father's journal. He wrote that white isn't a color; it is an occurrence when all colors meet. That's what he did with me. That's why I turned into an albino Simiavulg. I'm supposed to have the aptitude for all three specialized Manatls, which is why I have a weird appearance."
"The reason for having a white staff is, surprisingly, the same as yours. When the time came, I didn't pass the test of the jar of Sensus. At that time, no one had failed the test before and everyone was confused."
"I assume my father expected that I'd just become better at one specialized Manatl and slightly worse at the other two. In the end, of course, the sacred rules prohibited my acceptance into any of the specialized temples, but my father was confident that he would be able to teach me the ways of Manatl himself."
Saru composed himself and took a deep breath before proceeding.
"However, two years passed and my Manatl showed no signs of advancing to the next level. I had improved my control over it and extended its duration considerably, but I was still unable to create any form of a specialized Manatl."
Smoke nodded slowly as he listened.
"I can't imagine how my father must have felt during those two years. Whenever he wasn't dealing with issues around the village, he'd spend all of his free time with me. I remember him being restless and impatient. He had been committing so much time to teaching me, but to no avail. I probably looked like a burden to him in his quest for knowledge."
Saru sighed, shook his head and went on.
"Soon afterwards, he left the village. His last entry in the journal states that he was leaving in order to find a way to bring out my latent potential."
"So, there's a chance your father might still be alive?" Smoke asked eagerly.
Saru quickly dismissed the idea and said. "No, I don't think so."
Smoke picked up on the sensitive topic and avoided it as he listened to Saru continue.
"Anyway, before he left, my father resigned and left me in the care of Indignus' household. Out of respect for my father, Indignus raised me."
The albino Simiavulg bit his lip.
"He used to be like a second father to me. He was kinder back then and taught me a lot. In fact, I received my father's journal from him. But everything changed when he left Saruras village twenty-five years ago."
"Indignus left Saruras? Where did he go?" Smoke asked.
"No one knows. All I know is that after he returned, he never treated me like a son again. Only as a servant or some kind of freak. To this day, he keeps reminding me of how I am my father's worst mistake."
Smoke couldn't say anything. Although his parents died when he was young, he still wasn't alone and no one had called him a mistake.
"Most other villagers weren't very kind, either. As time went by, my peers all got promoted to staves of other colors, while I kept holding a white one by my side. Kids started calling me 'stupid' or 'crazy', while their parents considered me a failure. One day, someone must have said something along the lines of 'me being a disgrace to the mighty Simiavulg race and thus undeserving of being called by a proper Simiavulg name'. Hence, they began calling me Saru."
"What's wrong with Saru? I like the sound of your name." Smoke said as he tried to console him.
"You see, 'Saru' is what you'd call a Simiavulg kid whose name you don't know. It's the equivalent of being called 'Hey, you'. It's not a proper name."
"Oh, I didn't know that."
"Don't worry about it. I'm used to my new name. That's why I was really happy when you performed the Simiavulg bow in front of me. In fact, I feel closer to you than to any of the Simiavulgs here."
Smoke clenched his fists as he listened to Saru's story.
"Saru, why did you remain here, in the village? If everyone is just making fun of you, don't you think it would've been better to leave?"
"For a long time, I used to believe them. I used to think that I was some kind of failed experiment. But eventually...."
Saru opened his palms and created three small Manatl barriers that had the characteristics of all three specialized Manatls.
"So, your father's experiment
did
succeed?!"
"I know it did. Of course, the damage had already been done by that point. I've never displayed these skills to anyone else except you. Since I wasn't allowed to train in any of the temples, I used the information from my father's journal and taught myself. I've assessed that, at the moment, my level of proficiency is that of a brown-staff wielder in all three of the specialized temples."
"Wheet-whew!" Smoke whistled loudly.
Saru waved both his arms in disapproval. "I'm still far from my goal. Apparently, the brown and black levels of proficiency are worlds apart."
Smoke nodded in silence as he intently listened to Saru.
"Although, I did get a clue from my father's journal. In order for one to become a brown-staff wielder, he or she must obtain considerable amount of skill and strength through years of training."
Saru smiled as he recalled his father's journals.
"The tricky part is, for one to get to the level of a black-staff wielder, he or she would need to relinquish those hard earned abilities obtained while becoming a brown-staff wielder."
Smoke shook his head. "Sorry, I don't get it."
Saru's smile disappeared. "Hm, I can't really explain it clearly because I haven't done it myself. Hopefully, someday I'll reach that level of enlightenment."
"Knowing you, I'm sure you'll reach that goal someday." Smoke said encouragingly.
Both of them smiled. Smoke observed that Saru's posture seemed different. The Simiavulg sat straighter and prouder.
Smoked rubbed his chin as he wondered. "Just out of curiosity, what is your real name?"
"Ahh, it's been so long. I believe the name my father gave me was...Scelus."
Smoke offered his hand to the imprisoned Simiavulg.
"It's nice to meet you, Scelus."
Saru was taken aback at first, but quickly smiled as he reached out his hand.
"It's nice to meet you too, Smoke. Though I think it'd be best to just keep calling me Saru."
SHUFFLE SHUFFLE.
The two white-staff wielders heard footsteps heading their way. Two blue-staff wielders came down. When they came into view, one of the guards called out to Smoke.
"DarkElf, your time is up."
Smoke said his goodbye to Saru and went back to his room in The Contrite tavern. There, he logged off in order to get some much-needed sleep. Due to his test earlier, he had skipped his scheduled power nap.
 

* * * * * * 

On the edge of the shore, near the pile of rocks stood a busy Smoke. He quickly did an inventory check on the Simiavulg items he bought from the village's merchant shops.
He limited his shopping time because he wanted to join Saru when he walked out of Saruras. As he finished his inventory, he saw an albino gorilla Simiavulg walking with his white staff in hand towards him.
Smoke smiled at the four great masters accompanying Saru. "I guess Indignus was too busy to see you off, huh?" Smoke asked Saru.
"We've already said what we needed to say to each other." answered Saru with a straight face.
"Are you sure you don't want to stay in Saruras? Even if you can't train in the specialized temples, I'm sure there's plenty of other stuff you can do in the village." Castas asked Smoke.
"I'll come back. Besides, I think I already know how I could continue my Manatl training. I just have to do some other stuff outside of the village first." Smoke answered.
"Please do. You're more than welcome to come back any time. Just give us a call so we can have Doctus activate the bridge for you." Meras answered.
"Remember to practise your Manatl daily. The Manatl ability is hard to learn, but is even harder to maintain." Tenvis said to Smoke as they shook hands.
As Smoke finished his farewells with the great masters, he observed that all of them were facing Saru.
Castas cleared her throat and spoke. "I'd like this to be added into the annals of Simiavulg history. Today we bid farewell to Saru, a white-staff wielder who has done the most altruistic act I have ever witnessed in my life. For that, you shall be remembered as the one who fought off Calamar, the lake's colossal guardian."
The chimpanzee Simaivulg walked over to the albino gorilla. She kneeled down and raised her hand to Saru. She performed the Simiavulg bow before him.
Doctus, Tenvis and Meras followed suit. All of the four great masters kneeled down and gave Saru the Simiavulg bow.
Saru's eyes teared up, but he forced himself not to cry. One by one, he touched the hands of the Simiavulgs who were kneeling before him.
Doctus stood up and spoke to Saru.
"Good luck with your life in the outside world, Saru. We know that the great god Cuezaltzin will not forsake you." Doctus said as he offered his hand to Saru.
"Thank you, Doctus, and may the great Saruras village prosper and grow stronger."
Doctus shook Saru's hand. Afterwards, he walked over to the pile of rocks and plunged his black metallic staff into it. The algae-covered bridge submerged in the lake rose up.
Smoke and Saru went onto the risen algae-covered bridge. This time, there were no tentacles attacking the Manatl barrier as they traveled across.
He wanted to help prepare the Simiavulg for his life in the outside world. So, he told Saru various things about it and what he should expect to see on his travels. Smoke told him about the different cities and mentioned his power struggle against Coatl's mayor.
He also told him about the revived village of Verbrannt and the members of his private army. Saru listened intently as he learned about Smoke's life and the life outside of Saruras.
Yet, there was still plenty of things that Smoke couldn't touch upon in the short amount of time that it took them to cross the bridge. When they reached its end, the blue-staff guardians of the village showed themselves and watched the two of them from the trees.
Smoke waved to the village guards, while Saru paid no attention to them. The albino Simiavulg was focused on watching the different animal life forms inhabiting the forest of Mount Yunggo.
Fifteen minutes after they left the village's boundary, a charging lemurcat jumped out from between the gaps of the tall trees. With its two-meter striped body, it lunged at Smoke and Saru. The albino Simiavulg reflexively created a conical barrier to block the monster's path.
'Why didn't my Cunning of the Dire Fox warn me of this monster?'
The DarkElf was taken aback by the lemurcat's sudden attack. These monsters never dared to attack him when he was with Doctus and the other temple masters.
SCHILD SCHILD.
The lemurcat utilized its strong hind legs and leapt over Saru's Manatl barrier. It arched its back in a strange manner and lowered its gaze towards Saru's exposed back.
Thanks to Smoke's battle experience, he anticipated the monster's attack and pushed Saru out of the way. By doing so, Smoke got damaged by the monster's claws for 40,000 points. His life bar displayed (136,250/176,250 HP).
Smoke wanted to practise using his newly-learned Manatl ability, but he still felt more comfortable with his conventional weapons.
Equipped with his weighted chain and sickle, he pushed the two-meter lemurcat backwards as he hit its head with the heavy iron ball.
Aided by his passive ability Beast Monarch, Smoke tripled his damage to the monster and bludgeoned it for 9,999 points.
GRRROOOWWWWL!
The lemurcat growled at the DarkElf as it winced in pain. The lemurcat's life bar displayed (240,001/250,000 HP). Smoke readied himself for another attack, but the beast did not jump.
Instead, it wagged its tail and created a rattling sound. 'Strange. I've never heard that when I first encountered them.'
Ten seconds later, three pairs of yellow eyes appeared in between the trees in the distance. He worried that they belonged to a three-headed monitor lizard, that hunted in a pack, which could prove to be troublesome.
He stared into the unknown monsters' eyes and thought that they looked familiar. Quickly, he faced the lemurcat in front of him and found the same set of eyes.
'I thought lemurcats didn't travel in packs!'
Soon enough, the four lemurcats were circling around them. Igniz tried to break out so he could create a ring of fire or a firewall that would defend Smoke against the agile beasts.
However, Smoke stopped his symbiote. Among the things he mentioned to Saru, he had not talked about Igniz.
He worried that Saru would take it the wrong way if he found out that Smoke was hiding Igniz the whole time. He thought he would tell him only after Saru became a member of his private army.
But what good would it do, if Saru was killed here by these four monstrous beasts?
'I have to secure my Manatl teacher.'
"Saru, I'll distract them while you make a run for it." Smoke spoke with conviction.
"I can't just leave you behind. " Saru quickly replied as he raised his white metallic staff and created a white spherical Manatl that enveloped both the Simiavulg and the DarkElf.
The four lemurcats attacked from all directions.
SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD
Saru kept his Manatl barrier up for fifteen minutes. Smoke wanted to attack one of the lemurcats, but couldn't find an opportunity which wouldn't result in having the other three pounce him.
Due to the lemurcats' non-stop attacks, Saru's Manatl started to show signs degradation.
"Normally, I could keep this sphere up for an hour, but these lemurcats are too fast and too strong." Saru told Smoke as they watched the monsters claw, bite and gnash at the white Manatl barrier.
"Can you open up the barrier below us? I could dig a hole and you could escape through it. I'll hold them off while you escape. I could glide away too."
"Sorry, but I'm not comfortable running away. If this is my destiny, then I must face it head on." Saru said firmly.
'I didn't know Saru was this stubborn.' Smoke thought while letting out a sigh.
"Don't worry, Smoke. Before my Manatl runs out, I'm sure that I can kill one of the lemurcats. I think you could handle one as well, right?"
"Yeah, I think so. But that still leaves us with two lemurcats." Smoke worriedly said as he wracked his brain for a battle plan.
Saru nodded his head and said. "On my count, then. One... Two.. Three!"
The albino Simiavulg deactivated his white Manatl barrier and charged his white metallic staff with the gathered energy.
CRRRAAAACK!
Saru delivered a decisive blow to a lemurcat's skull and struck it down to the ground. The monster shook erratically as its life bar was being fully drained.
Smoke wrapped his weighted chain and sickle around one of the lemurcats and disabled its limbs. He proceeded to gouge out its right eye.
The lemurcat desperately struggled, but could not overpower Smoke's binding. The two lemurcats who were left unattended leapt up from behind Smoke and Saru and were about to sink their jaws into their exposed necks.
With his back towards them, Smoke swiftly wrapped his chain around one of the trees and kept the immobilized monster at bay. With both his hands raised, he created an earth wall with his Earth Manipulation ability. He immediately created a hole in front of the wall to capture the two lemurcats.
He jumped on top of his earth wall to search for the lemurcats, but found that his trap failed to capture them. The two lemurcats readied themselves on Smoke's sides.
Saru tried to create another full spherical Manatl, but could only form a conical barrier. Smoke then heard a rustling from the trees.
When Smoke saw what was moving above him, he calmly stood still. He grinned as ten horse-faced monsters leapt down from the trees.
Both lemurcats looked up and saw that each of them had five Tikbalangs coming down on them. The Tikbalangs smashed their hooves into the lemurcats' spines and broke them in several places.
GRRRROOOWWWWWLLLL!  GRRROOOOWWWWWLLLL!
The lemurcats cried out in pain, but the Tikbalangs mercilessly continued their onslaught. The lemurcats scratched and bit any of the Tikbalangs within reach.
However, ten more Tikbalangs leapt down and took the places of their injured brothers. As the injured Tikbalangs patched their wounds with medicinal leaves, the newly-arrived Tikbalangs finished the job and slaughtered the lemurcats with their hooves.
Immediately afterwards, the Tikbalangs went after the lemurcat that Smoke had caught with his weighted chain and sickle.
After making short work of the disabled beast, the Tikbalangs stood in front of Smoke and Saru.
The monsters' red eyes glared and their nostrils flared with steam. Then, a winged Tikbalang approached from one of the forest clearings.
Smoke saw Saru tense up as the Simiavulg prepared himself for battle. "Settle down, Saru. These guys are members of my private army."
The winged Tikbalang walked towards Smoke and shook his hand. "It's been too long, Smoke."
The DarkElf shook Ledur's hoof and pulled him in for a brotherly hug.
"It has. I see that you've trained your Tikbalang brethren well."
"Yes, some of them have regained their Centaur minds, which is why I'd like to give this back."
Ledur took off the Horse Ring of Domination and gave it to Smoke.
"Thank you, Ledur. I knew that your leadership skills would help them remember who they really are." Smoke patted the winged Tikbalang's shoulder.
Smoke then looked at Saru and signaled the Simiavulg to step forward.
"Now, I'd like you to meet Saru. He is a good friend of mine from Saruras village. He is a great Manatl practitioner and he even saved me from a colossal squid." Smoke said proudly.
Saru gave a courteous bow as Smoke kept smiling. This time, he introduced Ledur.
"Saru, this is Ledur. He is the captain of these Tikbalangs. He is actually a Volataur, a winged Centaur. Unfortunately, he and his brethren are currently under a curse."
Ledur offered his hoof to Saru. The Simiavulg shook it without hesitation.
"A pleasure to meet you, Saru."
"Likewise, Ledur."
"Good. Now that I've introduced you two, it's time to hear the updates on the missions I gave you." Smoke said to Ledur cheerfully.
Having a personal army not only enabled him to face stronger monsters and complete harder quests, but it also allowed him to multitask side-quests.
He previously gave orders to Ledur to take Espion with him and find out the whereabouts of the remaining two Witches of Wysteria, as well as to find the temples of Vigilantez.
Ledur immediately answered. "Right. Espion and I haven't found any signs of Horrabelle, but we did stumble upon some of Crucibelle's handiwork. Her last known activity was near the mountains of Vor Eindrigen, so we searched around that area. Espion is currently following faint tracks she left after she decimated the village of Opferntl."
"She wiped out an entire village? Did you see any strange monsters in the area?" Smoke asked, as he wondered if Crucibelle had the same plans as her dead sister, Terrabelle.
"No, Espion and I didn't see any. All I can tell you is that only ashes were left of Opferntl village."
"Alright, I hope that Espion remains safe. I'll give him a call later. What about your second mission?"
Ledur nodded slightly before continuing with his report. "Together with the help of my Tikbalang brethren, we secured the entrances to two of Vigilantez's temples."
"You didn't enter the temples, right?"
Ledur strongly shook his head. "No, you told us not to."
"Good. I don't know if there are any traps in there and I don't want any of you to get needlessly injured."
Ledur and the other Tikbalangs nodded their heads in unison as they appreciated Smoke's consideration of their well-being.
"What's our next step, Smoke?"
"Before discussing my own plans, I'd like to ask about Saru's." Smoke turned to face the albino Simiavulg. "What do you plan to do now? You know you're more than welcome to join me and help spread Cuezaltzin's justice throughout Zectas."