Zectas Volume IV: The Salubrious City of Centzo (20 page)

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On the way to one of the elemental chambers in the Labyrinth, they encountered numerous wolf spiders, crested newts and fire salamanders. Yet no matter how many of these monsters came, they stood no chance against Smoke and his party. They even met a few Krampus along the way, but these monsters ran away as soon as they saw the rare weapons that his Maneators were carrying.
It took them two days to reach the hidden chamber of Fire. He observed the lone pedestal in the center of the room and walked over to it. He then placed a Krampus embryo on top of it. The whole chamber shook as an opening appeared in the floor behind the pedestal. It revealed a staircase towards the Tenebris laboratory.
Together with Igniz and the Maneators, Smoke went downstairs. The hidden laboratory was double the size of the chamber of Fire. Several tables were placed against its walls.
However, its most prominent feature were five blood crystals attached to its ceiling. Directly below them was a gigantic casting circle with five pentagrams on its edges, designed to form a star.
After seeing the laboratory tables filled with papers, flasks, burners, tubes and other tools for the Tenebris' experiments, he remembered that he had acquired ability tomes here but wasn't able to use them at the time.
He quickly searched for them inside his backpack. He took a look at the tomes entitled “Wind Manipulation”,”Lightning Manipulation”, “Thunder Storm”, “Ice Wall”, “Mana Shield”, “Volcano”, “Soul Drain”, “Lightning Golem” and “Water Golem”.
Sadly, he still didn’t fulfill the requirements for learning any of them. The ones there was yet hope for were Wind Manipulation, Lightning Manipulation and Volcano.
Wind Manipulation and Lightning Manipulation required 50% Affinity to their respective elements, while Volcano was a melded ability of Fire and Earth, requiring 85% Affinity to both.
Smoke quickly opened his Affinity window.
 

'Just 12% more and I’ll be able to learn Lightning Manipulation,' thought an excited Smoke. He planned to use Aral's lightning rods to increase his Lightning Affinity.
Yet it was not the time to do that. It was time to make a new friend.
As it had been a while since he had last done it, he opened his Acquired Knowledged window and searched for 'Maneator Creation'.
 

After remembering the process, he quickly whipped up a big batch of the golden colored potion called Cervisiarius.
The last time they were here, Smoke and Espion gathered two Attribute discs, ten Maneator Essences and twenty Maneator DNA samples. He had already used three of the Essences to create Rasant, Stark and Weise. After taking out the remaining ingredients, he placed all of them on one of the tables.
He then took out the eighth Maneator Essence and a special Maneator DNA sample labeled “hybrid class”. He followed the instructions and placed those, along with other required ingredients, onto the pentagrams. Then, he was in a conundrum as to which Attribute disc to use. He inspected both discs to help him decide.
 

Smoke preferred Dominus Custos, which he had used on both Weise and Stark, giving them higher survivability. This preference originated from constantly seeing Rasant in near-death situations during his battles.
'If it's going to be anything like Mitleid, I should use Arma Dominus, but if I want the new Mitleid to live longer. I should use Dominus Custos,' he debated with himself on which disc to use.
In the end, he chose Dominus Custos, as he couldn't bear the thought of losing Mitleid for the second time. He knelt down in front of the pentagram and placed both his hands on the massive casting circle.
"Comminuet autem, et ponet eam coniungere vivere," he chanted loudly.
A bright red light enveloped Smoke, and 90,000 of his mana was consumed.
The same red light shone from the blood crystals on the ceiling. It quickly turned the golden liquid inside the casting circle dark red.
The consumable ingredients faded out of existence, and a slender body started to take shape in the center of the casting circle.
After two minutes, a Maneator whose skin had the color of gold stepped out of the casting circle. The Maneator was three meters tall, exactly the same height as König Mitleid. However, there was a major difference between the two: the golden Maneator was a female.
"Hello. My name is Smoke," he spoke in a calm manner. Secretly, he was excited about the unexpected development, but didn’t let it show. "Do you remember anything?" He wondered if she inherited any of König Mitleid's memories.
"No..." she spoke softly while shaking her head. Looking around the Tenebris laboratory, her eyes wandered to the three Maneators behind Smoke, and then to Igniz, who hovered above him. Finally, her gaze went back to Smoke. "Are you my father?" she asked with uncertainty.
"Yes, you could say that," he replied with a sincere smile. "Can I call you Königin Mitleid?"
The golden Maneator paused for a bit, then shook her head strongly. “No….” She tilted her head down, closed her eyes and put her hand on her heart. "I'd like to be called...Adelige Mitleid."
Smoke nodded in agreement. "Adelige Mitleid it is."
Then, a notification window popped up.
 

"Welcome to the family, Adelige," declared Smoke and called the other three Maneators over to welcome her as well. He introduced each of them to her.
Afterwards, he took an item out of his backpack and presented it to her..
“Adelige, as a welcoming gift, I give you Oxen Edge. This double-edged axe has the ‘Minus Force’ ability, which passively adds the difference between yours and your opponent’s Defense to your Attack.”
The golden Maneator accepted the weapon and bowed down to him.
Enlivened by the results of his latest Maneator creation, he readied himself to have another go at it. He had enough materials to make four more Maneators, but his mana could only suffice to make one more at the time.
Again, Smoke prepared the ingredients and placed them onto their respective pentagrams. He put his hands on the casting circle and chanted the same words as before.
However, the red light that was supposed to envelop him didn’t appear. The ingredients were all still there, as well.
"What happened?" Smoke asked out loud.
His Maneators did not reply, as they were also confused.
Smoke took a look at his mana bar and saw that 90,000 points weren’t consumed.
Then, Weise spoke out. "Look, the crystals on the ceiling."
He looked up to see that the blood crystals had lost their crimson color and became transparent.
‘Did they run out of power or something?’ he thought to himself.
“Does this mean you can’t create any more of us?” asked Rasant with a concerned look on his face.
After taking a moment to think about it, Smoke responded, “They’re blood crystals, right? So, maybe they just need more blood to power them. Let me give it a try.”
He equipped his climbing gear and started scaling the walls using Claws of Chiropterra. He moved closer to the crystals and secured his harness. Once safely hanging from the ceiling, he unequipped his gloves and cut his palm on the sharp, pointed end of one of the crystals. He then smeared his blood over it in hopes that the crystal would absorb it, but nothing happened.
"It didn't work," he said out loud, disappointed.
"Maybe we can find a clue to how to revive the crystals somewhere in the laboratory," suggested Weise and started going through the stacks of papers on the tables.
"Good idea," said Smoke.
Together, Smoke and the Maneators searched the entire laboratory, but had no luck at finding anything related to the blood crystals.
"Well, it
has
been a long time since the Tenebris stopped creating Maneators," he shared his thought. However, his companions looked gloomy.
"Don't worry. I'm sure there's a way to get the crystals working again," Smoke hurriedly added. "I'll ask Darius when we get out of the Labyrinth."
Smoke spent the next couple of minutes lightening the mood but had little effect. He decided it’d be best for them to get out of the laboratory and start moving towards the Maneator Emergence Chamber. But before that, he needed to log out and take his scheduled nap.

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Checking the map, he discovered that the special chamber Guro talked about was on the opposite side of the labyrinth. Although concerned about the amount of time it would take them to get to it, he welcomed the idea of bonding with his Maneators. It took them three days to reach the chamber.
Smoke was puzzled, as he was standing in front of a plain wall. He double-checked the map, and it indicated that the chamber was right behind the wall. He searched for any clues or writings on the wall, but there were none.
He had the Maneators try to break down the wall, but it was impervious to their attacks. He also tried using Earth Manipulation, even though he already knew that he couldn't manipulate the earth inside the Labyrinth.
They had spent more than ten minutes searching for a way inside the wall before it hit him: 'If it's not on the wall, maybe it's somewhere else.' He ordered Igniz and the Maneators to search in the ceiling and the floor.
A few minutes later, Adelige found a keyhole on the far end of the floor. "King Smoke, over here," she called out. In view of the fact that Weise kept calling him “King”, Adelige picked it up as well.
Smoke ardently took out the Labyrinth key that he got from König Mitleid and slid it into the keyhole. The plain wall opened up, revealing a doorway. He took a step forward and tried to enter it but was stopped by an invisible forcefield.
A hooded apparition wearing a gray robe appeared before them.
"Only the Maneators sanctioned by the Tenebris or the Maneator King may enter," said the hooded figure.
"I am the Maneator King," boldly claimed Smoke.
"Indeed, you have the aura of one. You shall now be tested to see if you should be granted access to the chamber," stated the apparition flatly.
"No problem," answered Smoke.
"Listen closely," spoke the apparition. "A group of five explorers enter a cave near the sea. A cave-in occurs and massive rocks block their way out. They are trapped inside the cave."
Smoke nodded as he intently listened to the apparition.
"The five explorers search for a way out. One of them, Taba, finds a hole barely big enough to fit through. He acts hastily and gets stuck in the hole with his head sticking out." The apparition’s voice showed no emotion. "Taba calls for help. The other explorers try to free him but fail. Seawater comes rushing in due to high tide. Noticing the watermarks reaching the ceiling, the four explorers realize that the cave will be submerged. They will surely drown, except for Taba, whose head is sticking out of the cave."
After a slight pause, it continued, "One of the explorers takes out a small explosive from his backpack. It is not enough to remove the rubble blocking the cave entrance. However, it is enough to expand the hole Taba is in and free the other four explorers, but surely kill Taba in the process."
The apparition stopped talking and faced Smoke. "What would you do? Would you kill Taba and save yourself and three more people? Or would you let Taba live? These are your only options."
Smoke covered his face with his hand while thinking of an answer.
'If I was in such a situation, I would not stop until I found another solution. But this apparition says I only have two choices. Is it testing what kind of person I am?' he wondered to himself.
A few minutes passed and Smoke made his choice.
"I would use the explosive. A single life is important, but the lives of four people outweigh it," he replied somberly, as he didn't like the apparition's question.
"You are a logical and wise King. You and your Maneators may enter," explained the apparition torpidly before fading away.
Smoke wondered what would have happened if he had chosen the other answer. He quickly dismissed the thought and told Igniz to wait for them outside. He asked the Maneators to follow him into the hidden chamber.
Once inside, they discovered a white marble room with a small pool at its center. Smoke estimated that only two Maneators could fit inside it. Then, he noticed a note was written on the wall.