Apocalypse Healer - Path of Death-Chapter 36B2 - Picking up Artifacts I

Far from Ashville…

William stared at the figure materializing before him with wide eyes. He had hoped Zephir would stay away and forget about him, but it seemed his wish wouldn’t be fulfilled.

A venomous green mist formed around William. It spread rapidly, corrupting the surrounding land within seconds. The shrubs beside him wilted instantly, and mist began oozing from the dead—corrupted.

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"You failed," a familiar voice rang through his head, forcing William to his knees. He suppressed the urge to run away. There was nowhere to run. His Master would find him anywhere. Escaping was not an option. Not anymore.

I should never have accepted the deal, William thought, gritting his teeth. But deep down, he knew he would do it again if given the chance. His Master had granted him everything he had desired. Power. Control. William was not the same man he used to be. He was strong—unparalleled even. Not even the Swordsman wielding the Sword Law had been strong enough to rival him. William had been faster, stronger. Better.

But what about now? Weeks had passed since the incident, but his Master hadn’t come to punish him. William had been relieved Zephir didn’t kill him after his failure. But as days turned into weeks, his relief faded. Zephir didn’t strike him as a forgiving master. Quite the contrary—William had seen him do terrible things to those who failed him. How could he forget the horrors? His Master… He had etched the memories of those he had killed for failing him into William’s mind.

And William had failed him, just like the other disciples before him. The attack hadn’t succeeded. They had failed to claim any of the Pantheon’s Divine Essence—not even a trace. Instead, they had lost a lot. William had. His creatures had perished, succumbing to the forces that had remained powerful even as the Sanctuary was destroyed.

He feared losing the power Zephir had granted him, but seeing the silhouette of his Master forming in the venomous green mist made him reconsider everything. Losing his Master’s power was still better than death.

"I failed you," William bowed before the silhouette, his forehead touching corroded soil. "But I will not fail you again. The enemies in the Sanctuary were—"

He couldn’t speak another word. His throat tightened as dozens of serpents appeared before him. Some were smaller, like the serpent coiled around his neck, choking him, but others were longer—thicker. One, its body wider than his waist, slithered toward him. It hissed at William, whose hair stood on end.

"You saw what happened to those who failed me before," Zephir’s voice thundered in his head again. "I won’t accept another failure!"

The serpent coiled around his neck released him. William gasped for air but didn’t move, even as screams of shock and terror resounded.

Did he just…? William shuddered, sensing the deaths of several Cohorte members through the Link. But not all of them died. He glanced to the left, where he saw the bloated face of his most recent lover. She stared at him in horror right before her head exploded.

Several explosions followed, resonating with the number of dead Cohorte members, yet the screams didn’t cease. At last, William sat upright, watching a grotesque scene unfold before him. The men and women screaming in pain and terror weren’t crying. They… transformed. Their eyes glowed yellow while their skin turned a greenish-yellow taint, as if venom coursed through their veins instead of blood.

William clenched his fists, anger rushing through his body. However, he did not jump to his feet, nor did he shout or curse at Zephir. He remained silent as his Master’s power swept through his Cohorte, killing dozens and transforming the rest.

"Do you understand?" His Master’s venom-laced voice rang through his head.

"I understand, Master!" William said through gritted teeth, bowing.

"I want the fool and his cumbersome friend dead!"

William’s lips parted and closed. Cumbersome friend? Wasn’t it just the Swordsman—the fool—before? He tried to gather his thoughts, but his attention drifted back to the grotesque creatures rising from Zephir’s mist. His trusted Cohorte was no more. It had been replaced by creatures of the venomous lands.

Zephir hissed in his head again, his voice laced with anger. "The healer. He has to die!"

William was still unsure who his Master was referring to, but an image formed before his eyes. Zephir planted it in his mind—the image of a young man with a black metallic arm, crimson eyes, and…

William took a sharp breath.

"What, you vermin? Are you going to disobey my command!?"

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He shook his head, trying—and probably failing—to suppress his shock.

"Of course not, Master," William added in a hurry. "I follow your command!"

But his mind was in turmoil. How could it not be? He was too familiar with the person in the image. Though… a lot had changed since they last met.

Fuck, William cursed. What the hell are you doing there, David?!

***

"Ah… shit!" David cursed. "The Blood Storage!"

He had been waiting for the Blood Storage for weeks, thinking about how he would use them, only to forget them in the end. He grumbled, cursing his stupidity as he emerged from the guest room. His stomach lurched and grumbled as if he hadn’t filled it for weeks—which, in fact, was true.

But learning more about his newest Intent had been more important than eating. How was he supposed to know his tests would take this long? David shrugged and walked to the kitchen on the first floor. He had no regrets about his actions and retrieved several thick slabs of monster meat along with etherium heat stones.

He placed the flat, ordinary-looking stone on the table and channeled natural Aether into it. His hand hovered a few centimeters above the etherium heat stone as its temperature increased.

"That should be hot enough," he muttered after a moment, placing the meat slabs on the heat stone. They started sizzling right away, and it took only a few seconds before the smell of juicy meat filled the air.

A commotion—rumbling footsteps descending the stairs from the second floor—resounded, and Maja appeared in the kitchen.

"You hungry?" David glanced at Maja, her mouth agape.

Seeing her nod, he retrieved more slabs of meat.

"Where?" Maja blurted out, followed by a string of unintelligible mutters.

"I bartered corpses for prepared monster meat and currency slates, and I bought the etherium heat stone a while ago—Torb did it, to be honest—for one Bronze Slate, if I remember correctly," he replied casually, retrieving some spices, plates, and cutlery from his necklace.

Even though it had some defects, the spatial storage worked perfectly for his needs. David didn’t regret picking it once.

The meat was done, and they ate in silence. Maja ate two slices, then simply watched as he devoured the remaining slabs. However, his stomach continued rumbling, so he prepared more meat.

He helped himself to some loaves of bread that had been preserved in his necklace for weeks and handed some to Maja, who quietly nibbled on a small piece.

David took his time filling his stomach. He cast [Purify] on the heat stone, the plates, and the utensils once he was done, cleansing them thoroughly before storing everything again.

"Do you have time later?" he asked while checking the notifications he had received since leaving the Dwarven Sanctuary.

The proficiency of [Meditation] and [Mind Palace] had increased again, but David was more interested in another message.

[Origin Attribute has been triggered. Deep meditation has been attained. Unfortunately, the secondary effect of Origin Attribute has not been triggered. No Attribute Point has been rewarded!]

He had already learned that the Origin Attribute helped him enter deep meditation, which made it easier to focus fully on [Mind Palace] and accelerate its progress. Even [Meditation] seemed to work faster with the Intent active, making it easier to absorb and annex Aether.

Regardless, the secondary effect was news to him—pleasant news, if he ever managed to trigger it.

"I’ve done that already, but Lukas told me to expand the range," Maja muttered. "Apparently, people are getting anxious because I’ve been returning without any survivors for a while. But… I can make some time for you."

"Good. I need to get back to the Dwarven Sanctuary. It won’t take long either."

He hadn’t been in Ashville for 24 hours yet but was already going back to the Sanctuary. He was certain the dwarves would love to see him again so soon.

They didn’t waste much time. Maja gathered her things and created a portal.

She gestured to him with a thin smile. "After you, sir."

David stepped through the portal and emerged a few dozen meters in front of the Dwarven Sanctuary. The teleportation was as smooth as always, yet he sensed something different about it.

"Did you use fewer Mana units for this portal?"

"How did you know?" Maja asked, closing the portal behind him.

"You look perfectly fine. Your heartbeat is normal, and so is your life signal," he responded. Maja wasn’t sweating either.

"Teleporting to known places is easier. Your friend’s office is tricky because I can’t easily breach the Sanctuary’s defenses to sense what’s on the other side. But the land around the Sanctuary? There’s not much—just grass, ferns, and a few shrubs."

David tilted his head, realizing he had never fully considered what Maja was truly capable of. If he remembered correctly, she had a Unique Class, yet all he saw her doing was teleporting him and others through space.

"Can you only create portals with your Secondary Class?" he asked, hesitating only for a moment before adding, "If we are to work together, which I hope for, we will be forced into fights. Are there problems I should be aware of, or can you smoothly conjure portals mid-combat as well?"

He felt Maja’s eyes on him, and space around him began to twist. His hair stood on end, and a strange sensation flooded him. It was similar to the sensation inflicted by the Void Fragment, albeit weaker. Regardless, David didn’t like it and tried resisting. Something within him stirred, but he was certain it arrived too late. Yet, just as he expected something to happen, he was pulled back to his senses by a pained groan.

His head flicked to Maja, who stood there, bent over, blood dripping to the ground.