The Adventure of the Light-Bearer

CH. 29 - The Living Shadow II

Levin's body was still trembling, the place became silent for a while. The feeling of fear forced him to immediately run away from the place, but the feeling of fear also made him hard to move. He then decided to retreat slowly towards the forest behind him and observe the lake there.

Levin was sitting under one of the trees there. His eyes were not separated from the lake, his eyes were always glued in that direction. He felt uneasy towards his surroundings, he felt the presence of other creatures behind and on his edge, thus making him feel insecure and looked at the restless left right.

"A.. What did I just see? Is that real?" levin asked himself, his heart still pounding. His thoughts continued to force Levin to leave immediately.

Levin tried to control himself, he stood up and took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I have a strong armor and sword, I will not let my fear break it." Levin said inwardly, he then fell silent for a moment, and stepped forward toward the lake again slowly.

He approached and looked back at the lake. His hand held the handle of the sword preparing, his posture looked like a Samurai who was putting on horses.

A few minutes later, Levin was still in his horses. There was no sign of the creature's presence. In fact, Levin was very sure that the lake was not too deep so that it could hide a large monster there. He was confused, he waved his hand up, approached the lake closer and shouted there, but the creature had not yet appeared.

He remembered the dragon when he was at the Ico waterfall, he did the same thing there and the creature did not come out either. "Is it possible that this creature realized that I was the Sagmorat and tricked me into entering there like a dragon at that time? And is it also possible that the creature stored Calemiara crystals? But instead of the crystal being on the hood.." Levin's eyes grew wide as he remembered something, he brought the map quickly and stretched it out.

"Capital New Vamor is surrounded by water! The capital lies in a very large lake and flows into the sea and other small lakes. Don't-don't..." Levin was surprised to see the water in the lake splashed out and made him slam back and drop the map. The water splashed up and soaked the fallen Levin, his eyes looking forward where the creature leapt out of the lake and flew over it.

The creature was large and long stretched upward, it had a catfish-like body and a golden fish head, its body was very long like a snake and it sank down. His large head stared at Levin, his mouth rapidly opening as if he were breathing.

Levin quickly grabbed the map and put it in his pocket while standing. He carried his sword and held it up. The creature quickly swung its head towards Levin, causing him to slam far away and almost splash into the lake.

Levin rushed to stand up and grabbed his detached sword thrown to the ground. He took her and put her hunchback horses back on. The huge creature swung its head down and slammed to the ground, Levin jumped to the left avoiding it, he fell down and tried to stand back up.

The creature's head was still lying on the ground, its long neck trying to pull its large head. Levin quickly ran to keep his sword furrowed trying to stab the creature. He jumped forward and pointed the sword into the left eye of the large round creature, by reflex the creature pulled his head up and made Levin fly and slammed into the water in the lake, the sword is still in the eyes of the creature.

The creature went into the lake and wriggled there, making the water in the lake surging and floating Levin's body. Levin tried to swim back to the land, he paddled his hands with difficulty while the creature was circling under him.

Levin grasped the grass and pulled himself up with all his might. He crept away from the lake while coughing, his body limp and head dizzy. He turned his body into the lake to look at the creature, it had disappeared.

Levin's body felt very weak, he lost his precious sword that stuck in the left eye of the monstrous creature. Levin held onto his knees and tried to stand up trembling, he then turned his face back to the lake that was secluded.

At that time Levin's sense of spirit was stirring in his chest, the thick feeling of fear had now faded completely. "I can feel it! I don't know why I could feel that crystal inside that thing. For sure I had to kill him and take the crystal." Levin said inwardly, he tried to breathe slowly for his energy to recover quickly.

"I don't understand anything about the demon's tomb. But I don't care now. All I'm going to do is kill ruthless creatures like you and bring the crystal. Whatever the consequences" Levin said toward the lake. As it moved there, it began to reappear on the surface of the water.

The sword was still deeply embedded in the creature's eyes. The head of the creature that had been towering up now became shallower down, his eyes as usual were staring at Levin and his mouth was always opening shut. The creature then bowed its head, Levin could faintly see a glittering object on the creature's forehead. Levin then understood, the creature was trying to signal Levin.

Levin could then hear something in his head, first of all it was just a terrible whisper that the longer it became clearer. "I know that you are the Sagmorat" said the voice in Levin's head. "But I don't understand why you call me a cruel creature. I've never killed your people and other animals before, why do you call me the cruel Sagmorat?". Further.

"People in a village were hit by a plague when they came home from here. They say that this lake is the origin of the plague, and you're the only one dangerous here. You even attacked me before I attacked you first, it proved that you are a dangerous creature." Levin said in his heart as he looked back at the creature.

"Not everyone can see me, Sagmorat. Only the chosen ones can see me with the naked eye. A mysterious cloaked human always comes to this lake and sprinkles something dangerous into the water making it poisonous. He couldn't see me before, I tried to protect this lake and then showed myself to that person and drove him out of here. But that guy still showed up and I had to drive him back because it endangered the fish here and the ranchers. The first time I saw you I thought that you were that person and I attacked you, but after you spoke of the crystal and accused me of being a cruel creature, I realized that you were the predicted Sagmorat, and you wanted Calemiara's crystal from me, the guardian of Llemas' tomb." said the creature inside Levin's head.

"Llemas, I've heard a legend about the creature. You are a terrible creature that haunts all the waters of New Vamor and scares the citizens, but legend has it you never caused a single victim. If your reason is to protect this lake and scare the people who give something to the water in the lake, then why are you in legend as a terrible dangerous creature that likes to scare the people?" ask Levin.

"I don't scare people. I just show myself to people who have evil intentions and try to stop them. I was tormented by someone's evil intentions, and I was delighted to see someone else with good intentions on the way, so I always scared the bad guys. I sensed someone with good intentions come up to this, I then went upstairs to look at it and I found you. At that time I did not understand why you could see me, but at that moment your intentions changed and I attacked you because I thought that you were that mysterious person who tried to kill me with your sword, he said, because no one can see me but that person. But it turns out that you are not him, you are the bearer of light bestowed by the gods to see the seven devils and their guardians, and I am one of the many guardian tombs of demons that you can see" said the giant. Levin gave a small nod, then realized that he was wet and he remembered that he swallowed a little water there when it splashed.

"Tu.. Hold still.. If this water is dangerous water, am I also affected because I was there? Will I get his disease too?" levin asked in panic, the voice in his head then turned into horrible whispering sounds again, the voice became indistinct due to strong feelings.

Levin calmed himself down by doing his calm demeanor, taking a breath and exhaling it slowly. Little by little the voice became clear again.

"The mysterious person sprinkled a kind of dangerous powder with a dose that was not too much, so that the substance was only spread into the lake water with a little. It causes the substance to be weak and has an effect for a rather long time. I'm not sure when the disease will bring you down, which is clear you must immediately find an antidote and heal yourself." said the fish-like creature as it swam to Levin and drew its sword. Levin then pulled it out slowly, the creature moved slightly in pain.

"Is antidote? Can I get it?" levin asked with a hopeful face.

"The thing that was sown here is an object that contains magic. It was harmless, just an intermediary that would dissolve the magic all over the water in the lake, maybe just some sort of clay or sand powder. Luckily it was weak magic, although the dangerous intensity of magic in it was not very strong. I think you already know, that to fight magic you have to use magic again. Therefore seek a witch or sorcerer, I am sure that only by giving a small suggestion will the magic disappear before the magic strengthens in your brain."

"Sus.. Suggestions? You know Llemas, I'm a witch. I've never treated myself with my magic, but can I try it?" ask Levin

"I don't know, why don't you try it? Magic is just a suggestion stimulated by physical pain. The more you think that you have a disease, the clearer it becomes and the more it spreads. You just have to convince yourself that you don't have any disease, and ignore the pain as if it never existed. That's what the great witches of the past did to treat magic and their mental pain, they distorted their feelings and turned them into other feelings" the creature said. Levin's panic faded away completely, saying that it was an easy thing to do, he just needed to distract himself and convince himself that he did not have any disease.

"Then, does it also affect the other villagers who were exposed to this magic?"

"I don't know, if they lost their consciousness because of the magic that was strengthening in his brain. It would be difficult to give suggestions and weaken the magic. That magic gets stronger if your belief in its existence gets stronger, that's how all magic works. If you were a witch, then you would be able to do something to treat their illness with your magic." the creature stopped talking for a moment, he then continued.

"If you want to treat the people in that village, I'll thank you. That's why it's your ritual to free me from this world and give you the Calemiara crystal I brought. I'm a damned man, Levin. I was cursed by the god Calemia for my past crimes, he made me this terrible creature and commissioned me to guard the crystal that is the tomb of the devil as well as the pieces of this sword in my body. The god Calemia predestined that someone would come and claim this crystal. The god Calemia said that I would be free from this torment when he succeeded in performing a ritual that would change people in all corners of the violent New Vamor kingdom and always had evil intentions. I'm sure this is the ritual that Lord Calemia means, you have to save the villagers and stop the mysterious person who started it all. Do it Sagmorat, set me free and take this crystal with you." said Llemas telepathically inside Levin's head.

end of Chapter :)