Chapter 38: Scripts (7/8)
Alister’s question opened the eyes of the crew to a possibility they hadn’t thought about yet.
"The hero is correct!"
"This could’ve been the handiwork of the cult to capture us. They are already aware of our arrival in the first place, we shouldn’t forget that."
Everyone began to give their personal opinion of the current situation, including the king himself, who shared the same perspective as the hero.
Osborne heard the cause of the commotion. The old wizard shook his head before calling the attention of everyone to provide a solution to their worries.
"Do not fret. I can check where the portal leads us to by sending an object imbued with my own mana into it. A quick sensory link would be formed, which would be useful for observation."
While speaking, he dipped his hand in his spatial pouch and brought out a weird-looking pebble with a single symbol engraved on it.
The old wizard wrapped his hand around the small pebble, shut his eyes, and chanted a spell for a brief second before tossing the pebble into the portal.
The pebble permeated the portal easily as it would in pure water.
Osborne remained standing with his eyes closed as his senses were being shared with that pebble at the moment.
Alister and the others simply stood and observed with curiosity.
GASP!
Osborne opened his eyes and drew a long breath at the same time.
"What did you see?"
Everyone asked with curiosity the moment his eyes opened. Some even rushed over to meet him.
"The portal is not a trap. It leads to the boundary of the skull mountain territory and the dark island." Osborne responded.
At the mention of the dark island, the tunnel fell into an abrupt hush as every soldier began repeating the name of the grimmest landmark in their mind.
Their mission for the past few weeks had been to reach this place. But now that they were closer to reaching it, a strong sense of dread drifted through every fibre of their being.
"This is good news!"
King Julian broke the silence with a faint smile, even though one could almost hear his fast beating heart.
"We are very close to ending the tormentors of our people. We should be extremely grateful, not only that, we should be prepared for the battle ahead!"
"Yesss!"
The soldiers grabbed their weapons, lifted them upwards, and thundered a resounding response to the king’s motivational speech. Theobald’s response was the most fierce, finally, he would get the opportunity to slaughter the people that made him lose hundreds of his soldiers, even having to kill a dozen by himself due to the everlasting crimson fog they had to pass through.
Seeing the motivated soldiers, King Julian smiled and turned his gaze to Alister, who calmly stood and watched the fast-spinning vortex with an expressionless gaze.
Alister’s perception of his surroundings had gotten stronger from his recent level ups, and he could easily feel the gaze of the others.
The hero calmly turned toward the king and asked a question that got even the old wizard interested.
"What is mana awakening and how long does it take?"
"Mana awakening? Hero, why do you ask?" Osborne became interested.
Ever since he saw Alister, he knew the kid would make an exceptional wizard should he dabble in the art of magic. Thus hearing him ask such a question easily spiked his interest.
But why did Alister really ask?
Well, that was because of the holographic window that kept popping up every thirty minutes since he reached level ten.
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You’ve reached level 10, your ability to use magic has been unlocked. Proceed with a mana awakening ritual as soon as possible. If you do not have needed resources available, the system can grant you all what you need for a million dollars.
-----
The realization that he could now use magic was a big mood improvement for Alister. But the cost of actually unlocking it was too expensive.
However, fortunately, this world happens to be one with magic.
If he could get Osborne to provide him with what he needed for the awakening ritual, everything would be finalized.
But how does he really pass this information to the others who are unaware of his system?
"During my brawl with the undead, I felt a strange energy drifting through my body as though nature was calling unto me, and then I heard nature whisper about the ritual."
Alister forged a supernatural yet believable lie that easily captured the interest of the old wizard, who immediately rushed towards him and grabbed his head with an interested expression on his face.
"Are you for real? Tell me everything!" Osborne requested, clearly infatuated with the story Alister had narrated.
Alister simply built on the story he had told earlier, adding that the reason he actually survived against so many undead was because of the supernatural boost of strength that felt like nature assisting him.
"I knew it! No wonder the hero managed to slaughter all those undead in such a short time. The hero is really blessed!"
"Nature is on the hero’s side, we’ll succeed for sure!"
Unlike the soldiers who were more amazed by how nature granted Alister supernatural strength to defeat the undead, Osborne was more concerned about how Alister felt during the intervention.
"This is great! I knew you were cut out to be a great wizard from our first meeting!"
Osborne reacted with so much interest, but then his mood soured.
"But unfortunately, I do not have the resources for a mana awakening ritual on me at the moment. But do not worry, after the mission is over, my colleagues at the headquarters of True Light Wizards would be very glad to help you!"
Alister nodded but his mood dampened a little bit. He was sad that his awakening would be delayed. Even more, he wasn’t even sure if the system would allow him to stay in this world for some time after completing his mission.
Alister concluded that it was better than nothing and took his mind off it, placing it on the current situation at hand.
Around him, chattering had begun as the soldiers readied themselves for the journey into the portal. Some jogged and stretched, others geared up, and a few performed standing meditation to prepare their mind.
Alister also decided to prepare himself.