A technomancer's journey in an apocalyptic world

Chapter 132: The Whispering grotto (Part-3)

Ryan looked at his gauntlet covered hands as the broken sword turned to mist and was absorbed into his gauntlet, he stared at it for a minute only to grow as a familiar sound came to his ears making him groan.

*************

Quest completed successfully..

Reward:  1) 2nd circle mutated 

                    2) Familiar

*************

'My second circle has mutated and what is this familiar business? Do not tell me.'

A feeling of giddiness rushed through him at the thought of gaining a familiar as his mind wandered to all he knew about familiars from various games and novels.

'But before I do that let me check my status first and see if there is anything different.'

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HOST: RYAN VON RUINESCA

HEALTH: 11200/12800 (Regen: 0.05%/min) (Cursed Wound)

MANA: 16000/16000(Regen: 3.75%/min)

Race: Human(?)/Apostle (God Avtis)

LIFE-FORM TIER: 32 (0/39600)

VITALITY TIER: 32 (1007/26400)

STRENGTH TIER: 32 (1020/26400)

AGILITY TIER: 32 (1020/26400)

INTELLIGENCE TIER: 32 (1008/26400)

Holy Blood: 6% (Devotee) 

Core: Orange Tier(Orange fragments: 1/1000; Red fragments: 12/500; White fragments: 89/100)

Blood Points: 8065 

Soul: 1079

Perks:    1) Quantum Brain (Tier 1)(Rare)

                2) Eye of the blessed (Uncommon)

                3) Angeloid Lungs (Uncommon)

                4) Quantum Nerves Connectivity(Tier 1)(Rare)

                5) Blood Point Reduction (Tier 2)(Unique)

Circle:  1st Circle(Tier-2): Sacred Flame.

                2nd Circle(Tier-1): Reflective Shield(Mutated)

De-buff: 

                1) Cursed wound: Causes a deficit of 1600HP until it is healed, health regeneration reduced to 0.05%.

                2) Vision impairment: The cursed wound has is making it difficult to see through your left eye.

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'Hmm, so many changes had taken place since I had first received this power, some good some bad, now I have to gather fragments, fragments which can be then used to get a higher tier fragments and eventually a higher tier core, but the one I hate is the hidden buff synergy.'

At the thought of the buff Ryan balled his fist, the synergy buff forces him to level up every stat even if he wants to or not, if he even failed to level any stat to the next tier along with his life-form tier he would receive a harsh penalty that would lower the effectiveness of any skills of items that were dependant on that particular stat by 25% and would keep on increasing with each tier difference.

'I like to keep a balanced stat up to a certain level before specializing but this is ridiculous the amount of blood points that I had to spend is too much during the past few months a few updates of the system came and it caused many changes including the price of the perks, in order to buy the tier 2 'Blood Point Reduction' I had to spend around ten thousand souls, it is such an inefficient system, the next one I would need fifty thousand souls to get it, my fellow apostles do not seem to have such rigid restrictions I will have to have serious talk with Him.'

At the thought of speaking with his patron God, a tired sigh escaped his lips as he spoke out loud, "Like He will let me complain or speak, after all every conversation I had with Him until now is directed by Him."

Ryan let out a tired sigh as he focused on his Circles, after using it many times the 1st circle became more powerful and its name changed and now his 2nd circle mutated and he wanted to know how much it had changed.

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2nd Circle (Tier-1): Reflective Shield (Mutated)

                Reflect 5% damage dealt with the host

                1% chance of causing instant death to the attackers up to ten levels above host.

****************

Ryan's breath hitched upon seeing the new addition to his 2nd circle as he stared at it with disbelief.

"No way, I got a 1% instant death buff, this is amazing it might not work most of the times but it might become a game changer when I am in a pinch, but now I have to see what kind of familiar did I get, but wait a minute I had 3% Holy blood in me did the pain I felt earlier increased the number of tattoos on me as well as the amount of Holy Blood in me and what is this Devotee thing? I will have to ask others but now it is familiar time."

Without hesitation, he decided to check on his familiar as he invoked the spell to summon it, a spell that suddenly appeared in his head.

"From ashes to ashes, from dust to dust,

I give you words of the bond as you give me yours,

I give you a reason to exist, to tread along my side,

I summon  you to stand by my side, in times of good and times of bad,

Your fate in my hand and mine in yours,

I summon you, my familiars, I summon you and bind you by my side."

A giant magical circle appeared in front of him as Ryan suddenly felt a sharp drain in his mana reserves making him feel dizzy as such he quickly grabbed a few mana pills as he quickly swallowed them.

After emptying half the bottle of mana pills the drain in his mana finally came to a halt, making Ryan sigh in relief as he looked at the creature that was about to become a familiar, and as the creature appeared with a blinding light Ryan's jaw dropped at the sight in front of him.

Ciara entered the 'Whispering Grotto' along with Xuelong, the sudden gust of wind had dispersed the smoke allowing them to venture into the grotto very easily.

"I hope your plan works."

Ciara frowned as she replied to Xuelong, "Me too, I hope we can get away with technicality by pretending to just stumble upon this place.", their discussion came to a halt as they came face to face with Ryan who looked worse for wear.

"Yo, what are you all doing here?"

Ciara simply smiled back as she spoke, "We stumbled upon this place and I decided to check it out, you know wanting to learn more about the culture and history of the other world."

"Cool mom, though have you brought any healers with you."

Ciara seeing Ryan's poor condition wanted to simply run over to him and inspect him but the thought of causing Ryan to incur some form of penalty stopped her in her tracks, but the moment she heard him asking for healers she nearly gave in to the urge to dash towards him to check him up.

Xuelong looked back as she bellowed out loud, "Shakidra."

As Shakidra arrived quickly Ryan took a seat near the wall as he spoke, "Sorry mom, I had a chain quest going on which forced me hide many things from you, I am sorry for that."

"Is the quest over now?"

Ryan gave a nod as he spoke, "Yes, it is over.", he then looked towards Shakidra as he spoke, "I have a cursed wound that need healing so should we do so inside this grotto or somewhere outside."

Shakidra mulled for a moment before she spoke, "Outside would be better."

A few minutes later, Ryan sat outside of the Grotto as he quickly began to remove his mask, but as soon as he managed to remove it those that were present were soon assaulted by an incredibly rotten smell.

Ciara was horrified at the damage her son had received, the wound over the left side of his face was not only ghastly to look at but it looked to be festering and rotten to the spoil it smelt bad enough to make others vomit, but more importantly the left side of his face seemed to be melting off.

Shakidra quickly checked the wound as she spoke with a frown, "Your Holiness, how long since you received this wound and how did it happen?"

"Well it was a very recently that I received this wound from a mutated undead, I had managed to slay it but one of its attack managed to destroy my mask and harm my face, is it bad?"

"Yes Your Holiness it looks really bad, but do you feel anything?"

"No it has been sometime since I completely lost my feeling on my left face."

"I see, do not worry your highness I will try my best to heal you."

The sound of a car came to his ears which was soon followed by the opening and closing of doors as well as a familiar aged voice, "Oh my Holiness that is quite the wound you have."

A small appeared on Ryan's face as he spoke, "A granny Ame, you are here as well."

Amellantha smiled as she spoke, "Yes, I am here and if it is not to troublesome may I offer my help as well Your Holiness."

Ryan shrugged as he spoke, "As long as Shakidra is okay with it, after all I do not wish to challenge the knowledge of professional."

Shakidra looked at Amellantha as she spoke with a small bow, "I would great appreciate your help and wisdom Elder Amellantha."

Amellantha looked closely at Ryan's face as she spoke with a frown, "Your Holiness please lie down on your back, this is going to hurt a bit."

Ryan chuckled as he spoke, "Granny Ame I have lost all my feelings on the left side of my face."

"Well you will soon feel it again Your Holiness."

Amellantha then turned towards Shakidra as she spoke, "Shakidra you assist me, we would need some clean clothes, Holy Water among other things, I already have a good amount of Holy Water so you do not have to supply it to me but the sterilized clothes would be appreciated."

Amellantha looked towards Ryan as she spoke with a serious look on her face, "I am going to cover the uninfected parts of your face so you might not be able to see anything for the time being the pus could spread the infection."

Ryan gave a small nod as his face was soon covered by a cloth, with Amellantha tapping the part of the cloth covering the infected area twice, as with a green glow the part covering the infected part disappeared.

Amellantha then uncorked a flask as she began to drizzle the most sparkling and clear water that Ciara had ever seen on Ryan's wounds which soon let out a puff of black smoke as it began to sizzle, while Shakira began to cast a yellow-coloured spell on the part that has already been wetted by Amellantha, further speeding up the process.

A couple of minutes later Amellantha handed the almost empty flask to Shakidra as she spoke, "You know what to do.", Shakidra simply gave a nod as she left quickly while Amellantha gave Ryan her undivided attention as she spoke, "Your Holiness I believe your senses on the left side of your face have returned and you are now able to feel."

Ryan winced as he spoke, "Yes, and it has returned and just as you had said it has begun to hurt and itch a bit."

"I see well grit your teeth because this part will hurt a lot."

With that Amellantha viciously rubbing the former cursed wound of Ryan, working in tandem both of the healers had already dispelled the curse but now Amellantha was dealing with pus, the dead skins which she rubbed off of Ryan's face.

Ryan balled his fist hard as he gritted his teeth refusing to let out any painful cry while the duo cleared his face, while Ciara looked at the procedure with a worried look on her face, as it looked like Amellantha viciously trying to rub off Ryan's face clean.

By the time Amellantha was done, Ryan's face looked ghastly it looked as if someone had torn off his skin as well as flesh off of his face.

"Elder Amellantha here I have brought the paste."

Amellantha nodded in acknowledgement as she spoke to Ryan, "The wound was because of a curse and with our current strength if we try to heal it, even after the procedure it would leave a ghastly scar, but we can use other healing methods that would not leave a scar but it would take some time, so what is your wish your highness."

"The procedure that would not leave a scar how it is done?"

"We will wrap the part of your face with a medicinal paste and bandages, and wait for it to heal."

"I see, and while it heals it would itch a lot and I will have to endure it."

Amellantha let out a chuckle as she spoke, "Yes it would."

"Well then do it."

The light blue coloured paste was applied over the previously infected area, and to Ryan, it felt so soothing that he had almost dozed off while the duo finished applying it and then tying up the bandages.

"Is there any other problems you are facing currently?"

"No nothing at the moment."

"I see."

As Amellantha spoke she suddenly wobbled slightly making Shakidra quickly grab her as she spoke with concern on her face, "Elder are you alright?"

Amellantha gave a weak chuckle as she spoke, "Sorry to worry you dear, I am old and this much excitement seems to be too much for me."

"Then why don't you take a seat and rest for a while granny Ame."

Amellantha gave a tired smile as she sat down on the chair that Ryan had quickly made and offered her to sit down on as she spoke, "Sorry Your Holiness for such an unsightly display."

Ryan waved off her apology as she spoke, "There is no need to apologize granny Ame you have helped me a lot and this is the least I could do for you."

"So Brother Ryan did you received anything from your quest?"

Ryan sighed as he recalled the 'reward' he had received after the completion of the quest, a quest that had his face disfigured.

Back to the time when Ryan had managed to summon his familiar, a familiar which had appeared after nearly sucking him dry.

Ryan blinked at his familiar owlishly, the familiar that looked ball of gas which was as big as a golf ball and it was floating in front of him.

"It took so much energy from me, maybe it is something awesome."

As such he quickly checked his familiar's stats and felt his jaw drop in sheer disbelief.

*************

Name: <Unnamed> [To be named by host][Soul bound to Ryan Von Ruinesca]

Class: ???

Race: ???

Tier: 0

Health: 1/1

Mana: 1/1

Skill: Intangibility <It cannot be touch by anything and nothing can touch it>

*************

But, before Ryan could think about his 'familiar' anymore, he received a new notification.

*************

The host has accepted the 'Gift' thereby agreeing to the proposal, from here on out unless and until the given orders violate any order from God Avtis, the host will be working for Goddess Brenlena enforcing her will, with the understanding that any orders of God Avtis be treated as a priority.

*************

'The hell what proposal and where was the fine print written on? But more importantly I never even heard of the proposal, it was forced on me.'

Back at the present, Ryan let out a tired sigh as he finished his narration as Ciara spoke, "You have been through a lot."

Ryan gained a look of embarrassment as he spoke, "Sorry about that mom, if it were not for the condition of the quest I would have told you."

Ciara simply waved off his apology as Ryan continued, "By the way how come you all are here."

"Well just like you Brother Ryan we got a similar quest from our patron deities we were instructed help granny Ame's group."

Ryan looked at the speaker as he spoke with a smile, "Ah Sister Ylerias when did you arrive?"

"A few minutes ago, and I was able to hear your explanation though please be careful about your surroundings."

Ryan gave a nervous chuckle as Xuelong spoke, "But to think you got to meet Her, the scariest of Goddess in existence."

Ryan frowned as he spoke, "Well I do not think she is scary in fact I think she is nice but the domains which she rules over makes other wary about her."

Amellantha gave a nod as she spoke, "So true but the fate of her apostle was very sad, to be betrayed by everyone."

Ryan sighed as he spoke, "But even then after all those betrayals he still stood on his path and even without allies or any help he protected everyone he truly is a hero."

Xuelong nodded as she spoke, "So true, but to think one of our predecessor had to suffer from something like that."

Ryan nodded before he spoke with a frown, "I hope no one has to face something like what our predecessor Apostle Fenrir faced."

Ryan's frown deepened as he spoke with distress, "No wait a minute, his name was not Fenrir, but Fredrick? No not Fredrick but Roderick, no no I cannot remember what his name is, what is this? I have a good memory but I already forgot his name."

Amellantha gave a sad sigh as she spoke, "Your Holiness you are healing and getting stressed would do you no good, and as for forgetting about him did you not say this is the aftereffect of him sacrificing his existence."

As Ryan nodded morosely Amallentha continued with a kind smile on her face, "Sometime some things are beyond our abilities and you should learn to accept that, we may not remember his name or anything about him but we can learn from history so that something similar do not repeat itself."

Ryan sighed as he spoke with a nod, "I agree."

Amellantha slowly stood up from her chair as she spoke, "Well then I believe it is time for all of us to return."