Conqueror Of The Dark Soul

Chapter 8 - Past

Two months after Alden started practicing using Dark Dimension spells, there was no actual training that he underwent. Black Orb only gave him instructions to keep fighting Dark Souls instead of fleeing like his usual group does.

In their journey, the remaining fifteen members of his group would prefer to avoid battles. Their usual strategy was as follows: when a Gate opened, Luth, Vellen, Lovock would provide time for the remaining members of their group to escape. These three were fighters.

If the opponent was like Goblin or Slime, they could defeat them. However, if it was something else, they chose to hold back and not attempt to fight. Hold back and choose the opportunity to escape. After all, only Luth was an experienced fighter. The other two started becoming fighters when the village was attacked.

Now, things were changing. Alden began following Luth's team into the east. Previously, he would escape with others, but upon Black Orb's advice, Alden decided to join the battles directly.

Black Orb's advice was, "Defeat as many Dark Souls as possible; slowly, you'll start getting used to the energy of the Dark Dimension. When you can clearly sense it, then you will qualify to use Dark Dimension spells."

Alden clearly followed that advice.

Though his journey was filled with satisfying drama. For instance, every time Alden left the group for a while, upon returning, people wouldn't recognize him. Everything would start with introductions. This also applied in the morning when new people woke up. Alden would return as a new member of the group.

Now, their position was on the outskirts of Virshire. The city still looked normal, and it might be considered fortunate for the group to reach this city. Virshire was a large city, and the influence of the church couldn't be ignored. There were many Guardians in this place, better than wandering around, so being in this city was a much better choice.

"We'll enter the city center in the morning. For now, we need to rest," Luth announced to the group. He was the leader of this group, and other members also seemed to respect every decision from Luth.

The night was very dark, the moon seemed to hide.

It was the outskirts, so it wasn't inhabited. Perhaps the chaos was what caused the inhabitants of the village on the outskirts of Virshire to decide to come to the city center.

The middle-aged woman with clear green eyes was busy preparing food for tonight. Alden, under a tree not far from their shelter, silently observed this scene.

"When can I use the spell you mentioned?" After a while, Alden asked.

"Do you want to try it now?" Black Orb replied with a question.

Continuing, "A Gate will open not far from here. Come there, and I will start teaching you a spell."

Alden nodded, looking towards the group who now had smiles on their faces, relieved to reach this city. He then stood up and dusted off his clothes. Slowly following the direction indicated by Black Orb.

"Good, when I return, I have to introduce myself and try to convince Uncle Luth to let me join them," Alden complained.

"..." Black Orb remained silent, seemingly aware that it was his mistake.

About a hundred meters from where their group camped, a Gate finally appeared, with a swirling blue-black smoke.

From it, several Dark Souls emerged. They were short creatures with green skin, Goblins. There were about fifteen of them.

"Now what?" Alden asked.

"Just fight as usual." Advice from Black Orb.

Following that advice, Alden began drawing his sword. He picked up the sword along the way; he never had his own sword. In his training with Luth, he used a wooden sword.

This was the first time he faced Dark Souls alone. Usually, Luth and the others were by his side to assist, or vice versa.

He did have experience now, but it didn't make him confident enough to deal with Dark Souls alone.

After defeating half of the Goblins, Alden began to feel tired. "I knew it; you don't have a talent for swordsmanship. Your stamina is too low..." Black Orb said straightforwardly.

"Okay... now I want you to feel the energy from the Dark Souls you've killed."

"Isn't this the same as before?" Alden protested instantly. Even before, Black Orb gave the same advice, which made several months of his training meaningless.

"Just do it."

Alden snorted, then took a deep breath. His focus became stronger; the Goblin's attacks were light, but they would still be dangerous if hit because of that. So, he had to keep avoiding attacks while focusing on feeling the energy around him.

At the beginning of his action, everything seemed normal. Nothing was different; he could vaguely feel the Dark Soul's energy, but it wasn't constant.

"The spell I'm going to teach you is a light-strengthening spell. First, you need to create a light source." Black Orb gave orders again.

Initially, Alden didn't quite understand what he meant, but he quickly understood.

He stepped back further to create distance between him and the Goblins. Next, he raised his palm, "Fire Ball."

A flame appeared, but it was smaller than it should be. That was normal considering that the fire element was the element he least mastered. Moreover, that element was the opposite of his expertise, water.

Feeling a bit nervous that it didn't go as he wished, he soon heard Black Orb say, "That's enough."

"Next, you need to recite the spell."

"Repeat what I say, OLIONUS TRANSCADUS."

Alden then repeated the words, "Olionus Transcadus." It was a language he didn't recognize. The Dark Dimension language.

The fireball, which was initially very small, now emitted a light that was almost blinding. He reflexively covered his eyes. Next, he didn't know what would happen.

The light was so bright that it could obstruct the view. However, he wasn't sure if it applied to the Goblins. If it didn't affect them, then this might be the end. But Black Orb wouldn't advise something that would harm him.

Apart from what Black Orb did to his destiny toward the world, the rest of his actions did help Alden to develop.

A few seconds passed.

There was silence. He opened his eyes first. In front of him, about seven Goblins writhed, covering their eyes. Red liquid dripped from the small gaps they attached to their faces.

"Now finish them." Black Orb gave orders.

Alden didn't want to take risks. Next, he used Water Ball paired with Froze to finish off those Goblins.

"Is that it?" Alden was a bit confused.

How Black Orb described Dark Dimension Spells always contained something like "lethal" and so on. This didn't match what he expected.

But then his body became heavy. Now he felt something very sharply. It was pain, anger, madness, envy, and many bad feelings that piled up.

"That is the energy of the Dark Dimension. The spell you used is a basic spell there. If you struggle to use that spell, then your chances of using other spells are zero."

Alden fell to his knees. That strange feeling, or more precisely called the energy of the Dark Dimension, gnawed at his mind. It triggered the emergence of unpleasant memories.

"Although I say that the spell is basic, it's very dangerous for Dark Souls of the evil spirit type," Black Orb continued.

However, at this moment, Alden was too overwhelmed to follow Black Orb's words.

A few moments later, the unsettling feeling disappeared.

"Huff, huff." Breathing heavily, Alden dropped to the ground and faced the dark sky.

"But I think that was a good start." Different from usual, Black Orb's voice sounded somewhat relieved.

...