Con-man instructions on how to live as a Noble

"We won’t gain anything here at all." Silas muttered softly but that soft voice was loud enough to echo in the room.

"What do you guys think this place is?"

"Am underground church." Luna said first.

"I don’t think it is a church, young human." Eli chimed in with a soft laugh. "Seeing how the Gods are depicted, I think more of a blasphemy place."

"But the painting didn’t paint them in a bad light like most Blasphemous acts. In fact, I would say, they were treated well here." Roland said, pointing at the painting where Gob faced the dark beings.

Silas nodded, agreeing with the knight.

There were too many mysteries surrounding this place. Too many. He didn’t know about this from the game.

But looking deeper into the painting, an unknown sensation arose from him. Dread. Fear. Rebuke.

Complicated feelings came almost naturally within him. Due to his circumstances, Silas usually kept his emotions and thoughts under check.

Like a robot, he processed such emotions and now, the strange feeling scared him. It was like an inevitable feeling, everything he did led to this.

But the painting was certainly about the past. So, why did it scream like a prophecy to him?

But staying here didn’t give them any answer. They needed to move forward to the exit. If this place has one. Looking around the room, Silas didn’t find the exit.

Then, he searched for the light source and found nothing as well. It was a natural light but the source was lost.

’So this is a wrong path.’ he thought inwardly and sighed.

Then, the painting broke. More specifically, the wall broke into pieces, crumbling down like a broken bee hive.

In his panic, he grabbed the nearby person which turned out to be Luna.

"Ah."

"Relax." He tried to appear calm but his voice gave away.

Who won’t be scared of the sudden change? Changes were the most scary things in life. Every human, every living thing is scared of change.

That was why they remained the same, no matter what, they adored the same.

Behind the crumbing, behind the painting, there was none. No outside. Not even the rocky dark wall. He would be glad to see that. But what greeted him behind the wall was nothing.

Vast terrible space, opened, touched by the primordial darkness and tainted by it. He was scared seeing the incomprehensible thing.

Dread coiled and fear tried to soothe his mind to give up to the darkness.

But he powered through with his will, facing the fear head on.

It lasted for a brief moment but the damage was done.

The darkness consumed everything it contacted and enveloped them, almost like a mother hugging at her children. They were embraced by it and warmed by it.

Silas lost himself and found at the same time.

The darkness was gone and they stood on the ground. Looking down, he saw his shadow.

"Ah." He jumped in fright as he saw the dark thing. After that, he calmed down and sighed in relief, staring at the sky. The sun was hanging low, about to drop off from the world.

It touched the horizon, painting the mountain around them in shades of orange and red.

He paused and observed the situation. Roland was on his knees, grabbing his sword tightly. His eyes were closed.

Silas nodded at his safety and looked down, feeling the trembling. In his arms was sacred Luna, closing her eyes as well, she was waiting.

Silas patted her head and said gently.

"It is fine. You can open your eyes. If you don’t want to, sense mana."

Luna nodded.

Silas placed her on the ground and casted a warmth spell around her. The air was getting cold, he didn’t want to risk her a cold.

Getting a cold here would mean.... Silas didn’t want that.

Roland and Luna were surprisingly getting well. It seemed like they didn’t stare into the darkness like him. It was a very good thing to do.

Eli was on the ground dazed, looking at the sky. Spirits around him formed in a group and circled and hugged him.

As Silas got closer, the spirit blasted him away from Eli using their strength. Silas laughed and nodded, deciding to leave the elf alone.

Silas sat down and sighed.

[What happened?] Thamior said inside his head. [I feel trapped.]

"Well, nothing. We just got sent to the forbidden world." Silas said.

Seeing that he didn’t want to answer, Thamior didn’t press further. After all, his life depended on Silas’s mood.

He was spared because of his mood and he could die from that.

***

Silas created a barrier on the ground and dragged his people inside. Eli was still hugged by the spirits.

He made the fire in the center and let it warmth the place. He also covered themselves from the prying eyes. After all, he knew for sure that Flux and Aanacia would keep an eye on them.

The first to interact with him was Roland, who woke up abruptly and stood up. His energy surged and he appeared to be on guard but seeing Silas, he calmed down and sat.

"This place is too bright." Roland said, covering his eyes.

"Sorry about that but you have to put up with this for a while." Silas said with a smile.

Due to the encounter with darkness, he developed illogical fear of darkness. He called it illogical because he knew there was nothing to scare about the darkness.

His working mind knew but his heart didn’t follow the logic. It was rejected.

He sighed. Sometimes, emotions really trumped all logic.

As a con-man, he knew that but didn’t believe in it. He used the emotional connection to create a scam and left the victims.

"Did you look into the thing?" Roland asked.

"Yeah. I didn’t follow my instinct and had to pay the price." Silas mocked himself and sighed again. Another happiness escaped him.

"What did you see? I got a terrible feeling."

"Nothing. It is just regular darkness but deeper." Silas said. "Rest well, we got big things in the morning."