A/N: New story in less than a week, that's a new one for me, part of me tells me I'm gonna regret that, but the other just wanted to do this for such a long time, might as well go for it.

Beta: Genatools

Chapter 1: From the Fold, He Came.

Eskar had been meditating for hours, studying his own moves time and time again thinking of what combinations of moves he could make, he had practiced, he had fought on the combat trials, he had gone around the tower of Adal fighting the lost prospects and the masked ones, he even sparred with Risryn again and yet all he felt was that he was still doing the same thing. Waiting.

He had heard tales of Absolvers performing their tour of duty in Newforest, or even the ones that return from Newforest would fight anyone out of sheer frustration, searching for any excuse to fight, they dreaded the calm and the inaction as the lack of it made their fighting skills decline. Eskar felt something similar as he had waited for the Guides to call, he had waited for even a single instruction or even just his tour duty, but he had received nothing. In his time waiting he had spoken with Risryn and had been called by Iktar to answer against Arcell's threat… and he had learned more of the Guides.

How they really took advantage of the Downfall to spread their influence and message, how in reality all prospects would either become slaves guarding the essence mines or a very few would become Absolvers, how their own masks worked. The masks of Moral granted them immortality, no matter what killed them they would unfold and come back, folded back into existence, many lost their minds in the process.

A deal with the Etherans, the terms of it a guarded secret, they infused the masks with essence and tied them to the altars, but not only that, it allowed the influence and control the perception of their wearers. They had gotten an army of immortal slaves and one of the immortal warriors, that really helped to spread their message of medicine and peace, to abandon the pursuit of wealth and power, behave peacefully and use essence only for medicine… and they spread that idea with fear and oppression. With the Absolvers their word became law, their power grew, and to the leaders of the Guides. Their brief and practices of Anlek became secondary to maintaining their power… and the rest… most of them were scholars or healers that didn't even realize how much oppression and violence it took for the Guides to maintain peace and essence under control. Either true practitioners of their arts, blind fools, or power-hungry hypocrites.

Either way, most guides were indeed healers and the Absolvers did maintain peace, there was respect, but there was fear as well. As long as he had the mask he would be bound to their will, Risryn had told him part of the story, but just her side, but it was Iktar, bless him for giving him an actual purpose, that told him the full picture. And knowing all of that Eskar became disillusioned, even so, he understood that not everything was hopeless if he got called to the outside world, out of Adal… he would maybe find a way to actually maintain some peace, to earn more, to contact more Etherans and make his own mind on the matter. But he got nothing.

He understood how Absolves grew frustrated with a lack of action, he didn't lack action training in Adal, but the lack of purpose affected him just the same. He wasn't the only Absolver that knew all of this, there were more like him in Adal and together they formed their own little community, away from the outside world and maybe even from the Guides, but they focused more in promoting their combat schools and climbing the ladders in the combat trials and the school challenge, he had done so as well, he had fought in the name of his own school, the one he created, the one he mentored himself.

Had won and lost against the best, he fell time and time again, more than he cared to admit, to people better than him and too dirty tricks, but he always got up. He never gave in against his opponent, he made them work for it and he had fought the best of the best, and even defeated some of them, granted the did wipe the floor with him more than ten times before that, but he was able to win… but even so, he would admit that he wasn't fully capable of climbing the ranks. He had fought hard but for every win, even against the ones in the top three of the combat trials, they had more, he never got his school known, he never got disciples… and with the task of maintaining the Fold stable. Admittedly he wasn't as committed as others to the combat trials.

Part of him was upset at that but then again he had proven to be a capable warrior, he even proved it to himself when he beat the best Absolver of three seasons of the School challenge, he proved that he could at least compete with the best… but with that said, what else was there to fight for? Even if he won one season, another would come and everything would be reset, it was fair… but besides his mask and name, he would never be really remembered. Once you sit among the best, and even if you are not known but you have proved to yourself and others that you are capable of beating some of the best, and learned every move you could have learned, how much room is there left to improve? He would maintain his skill and would be happy any day to be able to have a good fight, but the school challenge became… meaningless.

The only two jobs that he felt gave him purpose like no other was helping sane prospects, and guarding the Fold, helping them become greater made him feel pride in them, and he had more than one reason to save… existence itself from Arcell. And so here he sat, meditating at the top of the tower of Adal, watching the sunset in his combat attire.

He had his blue top of the Essence prospectors that had a black segment in one of his sides, a black Guide Witness scarf tied in a small knot, the black Elite Scout plates, and straps that covered his shoulders and went strapped around his torso while leaving his chest exposed… or this case his blue top. He also had black Armbands of Essence miners to cover his elbows and maintain the roed sleeves of his top even in a fight, black Shaman armband gloves covered with some white fabric at the wrists… the Shaman's called them armband but they were really just woolen black gloves and white cloth that covered his palms and his right forearm, a simple and small black belt of the Forest dwellers with golden treads and black Shaman pants, they were simple cloth trousers, but not extremely baggy and very flexible and comfortable.

The belt area had a white piece of fabric attached to it, it served both as a tool to wipe stains and other substances and as a half cape that covered his left thigh and ended above his knee. Finally, he had the black Towerpint leather boots, boots resistant and silent, and of course… the mask he was known for… A Mask-o-Lantern made of black burnt wood with a scary smiling face carved on it, the eyes and the teeth carved shined a dim blue light.

Say what you want about his choice of attire but compared to other Absovers his wasn't the most ostentatious, or traditional or simple or even the most intimidating save for maybe the mask depending on the opinion of others. It was average, to most he would seem like a traveling warrior that at the very least knew how to combine blue, black, and white and carried himself with confidence. And here was… waiting.

To his surprise however he wouldn't be in that exact same spot waiting for the rest of the day for long, Ikatar decided to pay him a visit.

"Absolver!" Iktar appeared out of thin air, his… its… whatever Etherans were… his white and fragmented form floating like always, but with a degree of urgency, he noticed.

"You… never have contacted any of us in such a way before. What's happening?" Eskar stepped up from his meditating position.

"I am afraid that Arcell has once again resurrected, but this time… this time he has bent the rules and sacrificed anything to rapture the dimensions, he's gathering his strength and preparing for a move that will shatter reality. And if we don't move quickly he'll do it in less than a day." Iktar explained.

"... Less than a day? How? He always needed Gleam and giant amounts of energy and had to be preparing for months. I have defeated him alone in the past many time's thanks to you, we fought him again two weeks ago and other Absolvers have done the same… what happened?" Eskar worried.

"He has found a way to bypass that step, soon he will pull all the realities into the Fold," Iktar said.

"Then to make sure we'll need more people, more Absolvers, and even warn the Guides and the other Etherans that are with them, Arcell is a threat to all, they must realize-"

"You are the only one available," Ikatar replied.

"What?" Eskar backed away.

"All the other Absolvers are either training, focusing on sharpening their skills or fighting on the combat trials, the Guides are making strategic moves against the Tear and the other Etherans... they won't believe me, they can hardly believe what Arcell is trying to do. You are currently the only Absolver currently watch that has defeated Arcell single-handedly and without resurrecting." Ikatar said.

"Even so… if Arcell has found a way to bypass…" Eskar felt panic wash over him at how Arcell's threat had risen exponentially, and how endangered the world had become..

"Don't fret Absolver, you have shown your capabilities and together we can defeat him… and if we do, this time it will be last, we would end him once and for all." Iktar said.

"The last?" Eskar was perplexed. "What do you mean?"

"The reason the other Etherans don't, believe me, is that they can't fathom what Arcell is willing to do to end your world, in order to bypass the limits of his capabilities and of his influence on the Fold he would sacrifice every single bit of his energy and of his attachment to the Fold itself. He will throw and sacrifice everything in the last effort to achieve his goal, and that includes himself. In other words, Arcell is sacrificing his own immortality and existence to destroy Ilentia." Iktar explained.

"I thought you said Etherans could never really die," Eskar said to Iktar as he ran on the halls and caverns of the Adalian Mines, he would follow their path later on to the Cave Temples below them and finally into the Fold, the same thing he did many times already.

"I… thought the same, but after seeing the sudden change in the Fold and exploring a bit further I realized the opposite, we Etherans exist in a different manner than you, but I suppose even we can be cast upon the void… to think Arcell would do this…" Iktar lamented, in all matters Iktar had always been neutral and looked at things with a more objective outlook, to hear his voice so distressed and bewildered, it was an oddity.

"He's your brother, is he not? You should know him better than others, so what's your take?" Eskar asked him.

"Arcell always looked down upon the existence of humans and of your world, I tried to talk to him, convince him. But nothing worked, at best I delayed the inevitable as his disgust grew and finally he set upon his plans. After I failed at every turn, I called for the help of the Absolvers, time and time again we stopped him, you and I did as well. With his existence reduced as constant death and rebirth at our hands… Maybe the process and the Gleam were able to corrupt his mind after all… or maybe it was just his hate and spite that grew, maybe he has decided ending his own existence would be a small price to pay for the pulling of all dimensions into the Fold. His anger has grown and consumed him to that extent." Iktar guessed death was foreign to Etherans, and even if he knew he had to stop his brother, he never expected for him to reach this level.

"Then that will be his undoing," Eskar said.

"Yes… Yes, it will." Iktar said with a more sure tone, back to his usual self. Eskar for his part reached one of the first rooms he would have to clear on the mines, seven lost or corrupted prospects waiting for them. One by one they fell, Eskar rushed them with flying kicks and followed up with a knee to their livers, hard-hitting and fast. Or he would alternate between the mill punch followed by an under knee kick and a scissor flying kick, or his other combo from with a heel to knee, a hard punch to the guts, and a 360 tornado kick.

His style of fighting was straightforward but it had multiple purposes, to catch people that would try to dodge to the side, to alternate speed, and to also hit hard, he managed to find success in his style for a reason. Not only that but he also had some other tools in his combat deck.

His starter moves were simple, a classic, a jab into a lightning-fast mawashi roundhouse kick, effective and fast, it followed into a jumping illusion twist kick. He loved it, to jump in the air quickly and kick his opponent with a fancy pirouette, it was still effective, however. If he needed power he would use a spinning high kick, his strongest move, and continue into a low spinning heel kick, from there he would continue with other kicks and combine moves together to his guard breakers, the hammer kick, and plexus elbow. Useful to break the defenses of his opponent and continue with a hard-hitting hit or with a string of attacks.

He had his bases covered to keep his attacks going, to be quick and to hit like a Warhammer, but his defenses were also important, he could block well like any Absolver, but his ability to negate his opponent's attack and the counter was one of his most useful tools.

Just as he did against a couple of corrupted carpenters that were in his way, they away liked to kick with their left legs, benign predictable led them to be parried, he put his palm on the way of the attack to stop it completely and counter with a quick jab at the gut. He used the Faejin style, he hadn't mastered at it's finest with all the possible defensive abilities, but he was good enough to be a threat to almost everyone he ever faced.

No matter the attack, how strong or heavy, he could stop it and counter if it was high and came from either the left or the right, he dispatched the last few corrupted prospects with quick parries and Jabs followed by more jabs and kicks following up into another knee to the liver. Some prospects were harder or more annoying than others, but he had fought enough to notice all of their tactics, he ended fights quickly and even if they landed some hits on him, it wasn't enough to seriously injure him.

With a spinning high kick, he finished the last prospect and healed his wounds, thanks to the tension arts and the power of essence al Absolver and prospects were able to heal themselves after a fight with the essence of each their fallen foes, in the outside world and if he was really injured his body would heal completely from fighting and defeating two or three prospects, compared to him they could barely fight. In Arcel's domain, the effect was reduced, but he was still able to win fights with scratches at worst, and heal them immediately.

He proceeded to the next room and there he found a bell, to clear this room he would have to summon the waves of forest dancers it seemed, well he was ready for them. The forest dancers were also prospects, humans like him, their name mostly came from their attires which were used by the actual people of Newforest, they usually came in packs of three, but this time they were more, just four in total but it still that wasn't common.

He faced them and defeated them all the same, the one clothed in white always preferred to attack from the right and were fairly weak, a jab, a mawashi, and an illusion twist kick would usually hit them hard enough on the head to kill them or at least force them to fold themselves. Their slightly red-tinted counterparts were slightly tougher, either attacking from the left or the right with deceptively strong and et fast attacks, but he was able to time his parries accordingly and bring them down in quick strikes, then five more prospects came, and then four again after two waves of this the last one was made of another kind of forest dancer, ones clothed in grey.

Eskar didn't know what it was if it was certain people in Ilentia or Arcell doing some modifications but these people were easily seven to eight feet tall and had more muscle mass as well, they were also far better and tougher fighters. They could be problematic, but well time parries, ducking with a low spin heel kick, and strong gut punches followed by flying spinning kicks were enough to bring them down. He had gotten hit a couple of times, but once again he defeated his opponents fast enough to heal almost completely, he also felt Iktar's power.

To help them against Arcell and his minions, Iktar extended his power to the Absolvers he asked help from, his arms and legs had a somewhat faint red hue around them and it increased the damage he did against his enemies, he was already charging up, which was good. If Arcell was really going all out he would need it. The next room he saw was the entrance to the cave temples, disguised by the giant wooden mill the Adalian's had placed down as part of their mining operation. Except there weren't any prospects waiting for him and Iktar at Arcel's barrier, no… it was the Tearan Absolver. A Human beast possibly around ten or eleven feet tall that had been corrupted by Arcell and kept at his pocket as one of his strongest goons.

"Why… Why is he here? If we are going to the Fold then-" Eskar began but Iktar interrupted him.

"As I said, Arcell is sacrificing everything to end your word, and he's putting every piece in place to ensure that. You'll have to go through him and Scholar more than likely." Iktar said to him, that was how it was, Arcell really was throwing everything at them. Eskar took a deep breath, he was usually more prepared and had more power stored from defeating prospects when facing the Tearan Absolver… but he knew his moves and had defeated him before, he would have to just do it again.

With that final thought, Eskar dropped down into the arena where his opponent was waiting and beckoned him. Their fight started as he would have expected, the Tearan ran forward and used a special Tension art unique to him, he pulled him towards him with a strange force. Eskar was pulled but he blocked and held his posture to not be pulled completely, then the Tearan went to smash the ground with a double earthquake, another tension art unique to him. Eskar timed his movement and dodged just at the right time to avoid the ground pound completely and then went in with a mill punch.

The Tearan was both big and resistant, light attacks with low impact behind them wouldn't stagger him, thankfully for that Eskar had set of fast yet moderate and strong hitting attacks that would stagger him and stop him in his tracks. Even so, the Tearan was not an easy fight, a single mistake could cost Eskar deeply, as well as probably have his head caved in, as his opponent could withstand a lot of punishment and driver a great number of strikes with a decent wind-up… but with still fast enough to catch him, even more, break his guard. Eskar felt it as he went in with a flurry of blows ending on a guts punch, however, the Tearan powered through with a furious uppercut, and Eskar got knocked back.

It hit hard, but Eskar was tough as well, enough to take a beating of that magnitude and keep going, he saw the next attack coming, his guard breaking front kick, he parried the attack and countered with strong enough punch to stagger him and then continued with a spinning high kick, a spinning heel, a hammer kick, and a leg breaker kick. As strong as the Tearan was, he left himself wide open due to his size and maybe some arrogance in that he could just take the hits, he could but not forever, and Eskar was able to hit almost just as hard.

But it still wasn't simple, the Tearan could use the Unbreakable power, turning his skin and entire body to something akin to steel or iron for a short duration, he wouldn't get staggered no matter what hit him or how many times, Eskar had fought people using this many times, it didn't make them invulnerable but the unbreakable posture was difficult to deal with, he still attacked and landed the strongest hits that he could in order to end this fight quicker, he still got as the Tearan didn't care for his attacks and took the chance to punch him right in the face.

The fight continued with both of them taking hits, out of both of them the Teran was the most injured, even he landed hits Eskar still negated and parried more attacks and countered with even stronger and faster kicks, percussive punches and precise attacks just as the right moments, it was enough for the Tearan to use a Tension Shockwave and try to heal himself with Essence. Eskar did the same with his Shards.

Every combatant in Ilentia that was worth his salt could use the Shards of Tension, special crystals or gemstones with natural Essence streaks that could capture Tension, the raw energy generated by combat, they required a great deal of willpower to be used, and that same willpower in tune with your defensive abilities and countering the opponent, or even taking hits build up the energy of this Shards, allowing the user of them to use this natural streak of Essence, these enchanted gems were always ready to capture the energy of combat for it to be used in special incantations and powers.

Eskar had five Shards as most other Absolvers, five was the limit they all could achieve and his five Shards were full. A single Shard couldn't chant anything, but two were able, he used four to cast a healing art on himself, after all even if he had parried man hits, he had been caught by cleaving punches, a surprise back elbow and a hard punch to his liver. It healed him slightly and every time he hit someone his body would heal, even more, a medicine designed to be used in the middle of combat, granted he didn't get hit. The Tearan used it as well but Eskar was the first to hit his opponent, he stopped his healing and did move after move to hit him, a liver knee followed by spinning high kick, followed again by a powerful roundhouse kick into a plexus elbow followed by another knee, a couple of quick strikes that stopped the next attack of the Tearan on its tracks followed by an illusion twist kick.

The Tearan was taking punishment and he had used his Earthquake Tension art to make Eskar back away, he also turned his body Unbreakable again but Eskar didn't falter. He went in with mill punches and follow up kicks into a liver knee, the Tearan just took it and struck back, but eskar parried his moves one after the other before he noticed he was back to normal and was staggered by a flying kick. He attacked back again and was parried again and pushed back by another flurry of attacks, a powerful mawashi hit his face and a plexus elbow stopped his uppercut.

Backed into a corner he tried to dodge but Eskar caught with spinning heel kicks and spinning high kicks, he was known for using that, Stagger or Windfall style user that tried to dodge sideways detested it for how those moves caught them so well, but if they always kept dodging sideways… The Tearan was pushed back again and tried once again to land a cleaving punch, but Eskar had built enough energy to recover his Shards and use another Tension art, the Earthquake. Yeah, he could do it as well, not a massive ground pound that hit twice like the Tearan, but a single punch to the ground that made cracks of light appear and forced the opponent down, enough to stagger him and for Eskar to do a kick to the knee, a guts punch and finally a tornado kick to the Terans head, he felt he had to jump like to meters in the air and angle the kick to hit his head, but it was enough of a beatdown to finally kill him and make his body fold.

"Hah…" Eskar breathed heavily, he had taken down the corrupted giant Absolver, he wasn't at a hundred percent but he could feel his body heal and Iktar's power increase, it never was an easy fight, no person worth fighting was, those always managed to push back enough until you felt your bones crack and struggle Eskar always thought, with them being immortal and most spars being really a fight to the death, the hits were always devastating.

"We must continue," Iktar said as he approached the first barrier made by Arcell as Eskar recovered his breath, he made a circle of Gleam and in quick incantation it spun and completely fractured and dispelled Arcell's barrier, opening the path. "There will be more up ahead."

"... Right. I'm ready." Eskar said after quickly recovering and taking a deep breath, with that he ran past the broken barrier and into the Cave Temples.

Inside the first rooms of the Cave Temples, he had to face more waves of prospects, this time he had to protect Gleam statues for Iktar. Gleam was a substance that he could guess came from the Fold and had energy, it wasn't as useful as Essence for him and other humans, but in the hand Etherans... they could use it in many different ways and advanced incantations, he supposed humans could try and used it as well but most Gleams was infected by Arcell's influence. Iktar used the Gleam the Absolver's gathered to open the barriers Arcell placed and to disinfect equipment found in Arcell's territory or in the Fold, Eskar had gathered much in his previous incursions but if Arcell was really going to be throwing everything for this fight, might as well collect all the Gleam he could gather on the way.

And for that, he had to defend these statues made of it from Arcell's minions. It was a relief honestly, as the prospects attracted to this statues were mostly fodder that was pretty easy to deal with, they came in three waves of eight and with his accumulated power he was able to kill them in just a few hits, with them benign weak they really served more as a way for Eskar to heal his body after their defeat. They could be annoying if they surrounded you and attacked from all directions while also having to defend a somewhat fragile statue, but he managed to defeat all of them in a short amount of time, back at top condition and with his Shards fully charged.

"Hooo…" Eskar breathed a deep exhale as he defeated the last prospect with a powerful mawashi roundhouse kick to the side of the head, the impact making the prospect flip in the air before falling on the ground and folding. About twenty-four people had been defeated and the statue managed to just take superficial hits, he then proceeded to the next room.

"Be on your guard, the prospects are ready and waiting for you, and the path could be treacherous as well," Iktar warned him.

"I'll be ready," Eskar said as he crossed the door to the next room, it was one of the rooms that overlooked various edges into a dark ravine. The Cave temples were a relic of a long time ago, centuries-old or maybe even more, the Downfall… the cataclysm that destroyed the Adal empire with Earthquakes and Tsunamis had left these ruins buried and merged with the earth, some places or paths were unstable and ready to collapse at any moment, yet he would still have to go through them to reach the end. He had to clear this room of enemies in order to continue, what surprised him was the foes he faced.

There were the usual prospects that Arcell used to protect the Cave temples, but there were also three major enemies on his path, two Tear Tyrans, and a Corrupted Guide Witness… Tear Tyrans were much like the Tearan Absolver, giant men resistant to damage that could hit like behemoths, and the Guide Witness was much the same, resistant, powerful… not as tough but far more unpredictable in his moves. They were guarding different areas of the room so he could perfectly battle them separately, but it would still be one fight after the other where one or two mistakes could leave him far too weakened for the next fight and lead him to an early death, he would have to be careful.

He focused on one of the Tear Tyrans first and focused on the prospects next to him, they were far easier to deal with, but most importantly he focused on the red forest shaman, the forest shams always were fighters that preferred to use Tension arts from afar, the red ones used Gravity to do damage from a distance and leave him open to attacks, they were annoying and a big threat in group fights where others took the brunt of the damage in melee, so he focused on them with flying kicks and hard-hitting punches before they could cast their incantations.

He turned around and did some damage on the other prospects as well but then he had to be ready to face the Taer Tyran at the same time, he got blindsided by a powerful cleaving punch and got pushed back by a powerful kick, and was about to be tripped by spinning heel kick. But he stopped the kick with his own foot and countered with a combination of strong attacks, powerful roundhouse after spinning high kick, and hammer kick followed by a plexus elbow. The Tear Tyrans had a knack for attacking from his right side, and so he was able to predict the moves of this one and strike back with staggering punches at their gut and follow up strikes, but even if they were predictable and slow they were still fearsome opponents, he got knocked back as he mistimed his defenses and ate a powerful strike to his stomach and got knocked to the other prospects that surrounded him, he tried to strike back but the Tyran used the Earthquake to knock around with another powerful kick, they were about to team upon him… he was having none of it as he used his Earthquake to bring all of them down and with wide horizontal kicks he eliminated the prospects and hit the Tyran at the same time, he focused on him and after a carefully timed block and parry he brought the massive man down and killed him.

The fight had been long and he had taken more hits than he had hoped for, but he was still able to fight and he had survived, he went forward and faced the Guide Witness next, compared to the Tyrans the Witness was about their same size and also could hit very hard, but they were significantly more passive, trying to block or completely stop the attacks of the opponents, it left them open to be punished by far more aggressive fighters. Eskar fought him and another two prospects, getting rid of the prospects first and ducking under the attack of the Witness with a spinning heel, he kept wailing and kicking at his opponent with attacks strong enough to stagger him and carefully parried an ax kick to keep his momentum and finish him. With two down and one to go, he rushed the last one.

The last Tear Tyran was covered by a prospect with a sword, Eskar went and fought both of them, he parried the one with the sword and then immediately turned to the Tear Tyran and stopped a kick, he went back and forth between the two until he hit them both with a spinning high kick and a low spinning heel kick, killing the prospect and leaving him alone with the Tyran. He did far better this time as he parried and counter most of his opponent's attacks and completely demolished him, eskar was in complete control of the fight and the Tyran knew it, he tried to make headway by using the Earthquake, but he didn't get the chance. Most tension arts and incantations protected their user while the benign cast, but guard breakers… attacks designed to bypass even the defenses of the Khalt method were able to bypass most defenses and break even the most powerful of postures, including the ones granted by Tension arts. Eskar used his hammer kick to completely stop the Tyran from using the Earthquake and as he tried again Eskar followed up with a plexus elbow, another guard breaker, and one that left him open to a liver knee… the Tear Tyran didn't last long enough to even try to use it again.

That fight had gone way better, and with everyone else dead and defeated it was to the next room. In the next room he found another bell, he was still hurt but if he fought correctly this would be another chance for him to recover some vigor before going to the last room with the Rift to the Fold. The forest dancers came one after the other, trying their moves and failing, first, they were four, then five and then five again… but those five were four forest dancers and one Tear Tyran.

"Another one?" Eskar worried, it really was getting difficult, but all the other forest dancer were the weak ones, he dispatched them quickly, killing one in a single hard kick to the head and another with an elbow and another with a liver knee, then he used his spinning heel kick to duck under a kick and hit both the last forest dancer and the Tear Tyran, soon it was only him and the Tear Tyran… and he was fully healed from his injuries and powered up by Iktar's power. The Tear Tyran tried the same moves and tricks the other previous did and this Eskar didn't even get hit as he countered everything the Tyran had to offer and with a flurry of powerful blows, killed him.

Tear Tyrans were elite warlords from the south, raised in tribes where survival of the fittest was the rule, their size certainly helped with that. Still, even if these particular ones were under Arcell's influence, he still felt pride in being able to take them down, they were some of the fiercest warriors out there and he had single-handedly defeated three and more in the past. That was good even on Absolver standards, yet he knew they weren't the toughest challenge, no those were yet to come.

He moved to the next room, it was the shrine that depicted the Rift and the Downfall, at the top of the stairs it had it led to the Rift, and there it was the Corrupted Scholar, possibly a member of the Guides that studied the Gleam and the Fold, yet got corrupted by Arcell, his faced encased in Gleam as he now defends the entrance of the Fold for his master. He also had a unique fighting style, he clearly practiced the Windfall style yet he was always using an unorthodox posture, one with his hand stretched out to his opponent and the other behind his back.

"He's waiting… I can hardly tell if anything of his old self remains but he seems eager." Iktar told Eskar.

"I wouldn't want to leave him waiting," Eskar said as he dropped down to the Rift, this was the place where the Downfall originated from, Gleam and light appearing out of cracks on the ground and rocks floating unnaturally around them, he was ready to fight the Scholar, he was empowered and his Shards were full. Not that he could use them just yet, the Scholar always started a fight by using the Silence Tension art, freezing his Shards for a time so he couldn't use them. That way he could overwhelm his victims with no immediate way for them to bounce back at him.

It didn't work on Eskar as he went in himself with a flurry of strikes and avoided a low kick with an illusion twist kick, he pushed forward until the Scholar used another Tension art, the Shadow Avoid… it made him vanish if he timed the incantation just about he was about to get hit and slowed Eskar down, the Scholar hit him with several kicks, but the moment Eskar returned to normal speed he parried the attack and countered with his own. He had learned most of the kicks the Scholar tried to use a long time ago, he could shut him down quickly… the only problem was that just like the Tearan Absolver, the Scholar had an unnatural vigor that allowed him to make far more mistakes than he ever could, and if Eskar made too many mistakes, it would cost him, he was reminded of that as he mistimed an attack and got quicked twice across the face.

Against this opponent he had to watch his breathing and make sure to not run out of stamina, he could get his guard broken or exhaust himself very easily if he wasn't careful, he went in and out with hard hits, various kicks, and strikes from him were perfectly avoided with quick dodges, almost like a master of Windfall, but yet he was able to catch him, the Scholar wasn't infallible and he could fool him to receive a kick with monstrous power, and oh it was worth it.

The Scholar used the Shockwave Tension art to push him away and reset the fight, silencing his Shards again and going in with a special move of his, it was a triple sidekick that made him move like a blur towards him, even from across the arena, however any fast attack could be considered a blur and all of them had their tells. Eskar positioned his feet ready to move and as soon as he saw the Scholar twitch to this kick, he used a Faejin dodge to sidestep the attack, he had missed and now the Scholar was open to a beatdown at the hands of Eskar.

He was hit by a liver knee, a fast jab, a roundhouse kick, and an Illusion twits kick followed b punches, another kick an elbow, another knee and a spinning high kick as he tried to dodge to the side, the Scholar was forced to separate the fight again, only this time… he summoned his sword to him, and Eskar did the same. All Absolvers and various users of tension could use their Shards to summon a weapon to them, whether they were war-gloves or a sword, they needed Shard to be summoned and they had maximum durability before breaking, but even if they broke they would repair themselves and always be ready to be summoned as long as the user had the Shards, Eskar's sword, Risryn's old sword needed four Shard to be unfolded and summoned, it was a shortsword of simple design, meant to be used with either one or two hands, durable, resilient and capable landing heavy blows with the right technique.

As both of them clashed blades the fight took a turn in Eskar's favor, the Scholar was a good swordsman, but Eskar was not only good but also vicious and ruthless with a blade, using precise and short swings that covered all his possible dodges and that parried perfectly the strikes and thrusts of the Scholar, he was way faster as well, not leaving the Scholar any time to react to his attacks. Eskar parried a low cut with his own foot, stopping the blade on its path without getting injured himself, he countered back with fast slashes, a Kitsuneo cut followed by a MeiaLua kick and into a reverse toe stab. The Scholar was forced to Shockwave again and tried to regain control of the fight but after getting his attack deflected and being hit by a Mill slash and spinning cut he was open to an attack at his feet and thrust at the middle of his stomach.

That had been enough to kill him, again Eskar had just come out of another difficult fight, even if he had had more control he was still hit and was still injured, he would need to recover and heal himself before facing Arcell, he spotted Ikatar at the corner of his eyes dispelling the second barrier and shattering it.

"The way to the Fold is open, when you are ready we'll go in and reach Arcell," Iktar said to Eskar as he took a deep breath and looked at a shallow cut he had gotten, he had had far worse, and he was fresh compared as to how he was after facing the Tearan Absolver… it hadn't been his best performance, but now it was time to go into the Fold.

"Let's go then." Eskar crossed the barrier and that gate to the Fold.

In the first areas of the Fold Eskar faced multiple enemies, however, the prospect there was peculiar in that… they seemed far more passive, even the Uring merchants look-alikes that were some of the strongest enemies on the Fold was a bit too passive, most of the prospects in the Fold tried to enter and retreat during a fight, it was a solid strategy, but only if they kept the pressure and always kept their opponent in their toes, benign to passive in this approach let the opponent rush back at you and exploit your lack of commitment, that's what Eskar did against the prospects on the Fold. In his opinion the toughest prospects were always on the Cave Temples, in the Fold Arcell's goon seemed more spread out, they were more numerous but not that difficult to take on…there were some dangerous opponents but the actual fear he had, was of falling off the ledge.

The Fold always intrigued him, but also perplexed him, it was another dimension entirely of just white and fragmented… void alongside with broken and torn about architecture, it seemed to not have any rhyme or reason as to why boats and pieces of wood became bridges, at how Gleam grew out of structures that appeared to have been roughly torn from whatever they were part off… not to even mention the ones that were completely turned upside down, or how earth and trees appeared to spread out on this nothingness and remained… floating. And below all, that was what seemed an endless void of the fractured white and Gleam.

He had yet to find anyone that enjoyed fighting near ledges, besides people with Shockwave Tension arts and Staggers that liked to push people off ledges when they were able, most could do it without much complaint, but the matter of instant death was still a huge factor to have present. Death really wasn't much of a concern for Absolvers that could endure the process of folding and unfolding, yet here… When Absovers die they resurrect at the last Altar they meditated at, or if not to a nearby area, but In Arcell's domain it would just banish them all the way back up to the Adalian mines, Iktar helped with that, however, when an Absolver went in alone he could revive them two times inside Arcell's domain before being banished… they had three attempts in short.

Eskar hadn't died yet in this incursion, but a sudden fall in a place broken and fragmented where wooden planks would constantly crumble underweight was a very real possibility and he had to be extra careful as a result, the Fold wasn't even like the Cave Temples or the Adalian Mines, it didn't feel like a maze, it felt more like a straight road with many obstacles and nasty falls, a death trap.

Even so, Eskar pushed forward through several areas until he reached the last area before having to face Arcell without serious adversity, he had to ring another bell and a defend a statue, there were times where he was about to be pushed off an edge but he used his Earthquake to ground himself and his opponents, but he managed to get here. He finished off one of the last prospects that tried to attack the statue he was defending with an illusion twist kick and moved on, this was it… he would face Arcell for the last time, he was practically fresh, he was empowered by Iktar and he had three Shards ready to be used.

"Arcell is waiting for us," Ikatar said.

"Us in particular?" Eskar asked.

"He knows we are here, and he seems ready to end this conflict once and for all," Iktar answered.

"I must admit, I feel I'll be able to rest easy knowing he won't ever be a threat anymore, even more so if he never tries something like this again," Eskar said to Iktar, maybe it wasn't fair for him to say that about Arcell, he and Iktar were brothers and Iktar must still feel hurt at knowing his brother will die, but yet he couldn't help the emotion, he had said this gave hi purpose, but he would rather prefer the world wasn't at risk.

"Perhaps I could the same as well… rest easy, maybe there's a chance Arcell will find some peace too." Iktar said.

"Maybe… definitely better than to keep destroying himself and the rest of us in anger." Eskar said.

"Perhaps," Ikatar said As Ekar reached the door to the net area of the Fold, they acted more as gates between dimensions more than actual doors, again they didn't have any rhyme or reason.

"It's not your fault," Eskar said to Iktar.

"I know, in truth, there was possibly nothing I could have done, nothing I said or could stop him, not even in the beginning. This… grief, is this what it really feels to lose someone completely?" Iktar asked Eskar.

"I… wouldn't know, I don't remember my own family, I lost them when I became a prospect and went to Towerpoint, but know this… you couldn't stop him then, but certainly, you can end this now, for you, us and as you said even for him." Eskar said to him.

"You are correct, then let's not give him more time to destabilize the Fold," Iktar said and Eskar went to the next area, thereafter going up a couple of steps he found the arena where Arcell was waiting. It looked like the entrance of something similar to the tower of Adal, yet it wasn't… possibly another tower, from a different time. Arcell turned to look at him, he was extending his hands, they glowed with Gleam as if he was preparing a massive incantation, but he stopped the moment he saw him. There were no words, just a deep stare… Iktar couldn't show himself yet lest he is countered by Arcell's presence, no instead Iktar's power surrounded Eskar and he became his conduit in the area, he had to weaken and defeat Arcel in order for Iktar to finish him.

Arcell was also an Etheran, body fragmented into pieces, he had white tunic that covered his waist and pieces of Gleam surrounding him, the floating pieces on his back made a triangle, that triangle morphed and snapped together into a sword. The fight had started.

Arcell was far tougher and more resilient than even his two strongest servants, his sword was also considered almost unbreakable unlike other folded weapons and disarming him was nearly impossible, Eskar had no choice other than to fight someone with a sword while he wasn't able to call his own, the first few bouts were standard, as Eskar rushed him with a flying kick and continued with jabs and kicks. Arcell got hit on the initial moments but blocked the following attacks and answered with his own, Eskar got hit as well as Arcell's attacks were never something he was able to fully predict or react, he was versatile and he hit hard, and when Eskar hit his punches and kicks would barely injure him, but for that reason he had to hit him more and make those hits count, after several parried moves and exchanges of sword strikes and punches Eskar forced Arcell back with a powerful mawashi to the head followed by a plexus elbow, Arcell banished from sight right in from of him and moved back, incantation lines appeared around the arena, Arcell had teleported back at the center and not only that, he had duplicated himself.

This was what made fighting against Arcell difficult, it was an endurance fight where he was constantly attacking, he was unpredictable, switched styles at a moment's notice, and when he cloned himself, he had an extra venue on how to attack and defend himself. The clone itself wasn't that durable, but it was difficult to deal with the real Arcell always at your back. Eskar focus himself on attacking the real Arcell with a combination of mill punches and kicks to drive him back, the moment the clone appeared from the side to interrupt him he turned around and stop his attack and countered with a punch to the gut and high spinning kick, he alternated the best he could between them, he got hit and struck by a sword all the same, however. He used his spinning heel kick to avoid tow attacks and hit them both at the same time and then killed the clone and focused on Arcell, he used everything he knew, he alternated sides and used his bounced between his stronger and lighter attacks, he also alternated stances using Faejin moves such as the forward punch and the parry strikes on the sides, he used them to change positions and momentum and catch Arcell off guard.

Arcell was about land a sword slice until Eskar unfolded his own sword, blades clashed and Eskar turned more aggressive, after exchanging hits back and forward Eskar did a sudden Mill slash to duck another sword strike and hit Arcell just the same after a flurry of sashes Arcell was forced to vanish to the middle of the arena once again… and now there were three of him. Eskar went back and forward, using wide sword swing and spinning back and forward to hit at Arcell and immediately focus on his clones, if he let them gang up on him he would die more than likely, he parried an attack from the left and sliced the cone that was to his right. He did a strike, a kick and a slash to Arce's feet and kept up with a flurry of slashes until he got decked on the side be one of the clones, then a hammer ick from the other,, then heavy blade downwards strike from Arcell himself, into another punch… he was getting mangled, however, his Shards were full again.

He had to use four Shards to summon his weapon, but after they were used the Shards could refill even with the weapon out, so now he had his sword and five Shards ready to use. He used his Earthquake to absorb the attacks coming for him and ground Arcell and his clones, he pushed Arcell far away with a kick and focused on both his clones, he parried left and right and gave it his all to hit them with Faejin strikes, strong slashes and kicks, he hit them with a MeiaLua kick and trusted his sword into one of the clones feet, he then turned around and parried a hammer kick, countered and with a couple of sashes and kicks, he managed to kill one of the clones.

Arcel surprised him as he was about to kill the other clone by running in with a flying kick, making fall back, Eskar used once again the Earthquake to ground both his opponents and with a flurry of strikes and a powerful roundhouse he killed the second clone. Now it was him and Arcell, both heavy injured and both parrying and countering back and forth, each parry accompanied by a quick punch to the gut, they exchanged blade strikes and blocked each other's attacks and stepped out quickly from the trajectory or out of the range of certain moves, it continued until Eskar broke Arcell's guard and managed to hit him with a powerful spinning out and was about follow up with another one… but Arcell blocked, and Eskar's sword shattered.

Folded weapons weren't that durable, and when they reached their breaking point they shattered into dust, but he would have to just wait twenty seconds and he would be able to summon the sword again just as if it were new. Not that he was defenseless without it, he kept attacking and managed to land several hits on Arcell hoping to kill him once and for all. Sweeping kick into hammer kick, into a leg breaker, into several jabs and punches, into a high spinning kick, he hit him hard until he ran out of breath… but it wasn't enough, Arcell was close to dying but not quite there, he hit back with a potent thrust that broke Eskar's guard, his arms full of cuts and then landed a heavy strike with his blade, and then another, and then another final one.

Eskar died on the final strike and folded, his body unfolding back at the entrance of the arena, Arcelll knew that Eskar still had another life to be folded back into action…

"Not this time," Arcell said as he finished a major incantation he had been doing, soon he would break the barrier of the Fold and pull all dimensions into it, he just needed more time, he had to run. He began to fly and float back toward the tower, the folded tower itself started crumbling and made a path for him into a landscape of Gleam.

"Absolver, we have to move, he's going to attempt to break the barrier!" Iktar urged Eskar as he got up after unfolding, dying wasn't a pleasant experience on the Fold, he got up and looked at what Arcel was doing, he realized that Arcell was committed to making sure he would succeed, he was running, and he would have to chase him.

"Damn it all." Eskar began to sprint as he followed Acrell into the landscape of Gleam, once Arcell noticed him he started to throw boulders of Gleam at him, he stopped to the sides and dodged out of the way to avoid being hit. Eventually, Arcell threw a boulder just in front of him that knocked him back with the shockwave of the impact, Arcell summoned more of his minions as well to delay Eskar, but he just ran by them, and the ones he couldn't he killed them quickly with powerful wide kicks.

Arcell placed himself atop a pillar of Gleam and tried to finish his incantation quickly, he was almost there and he saw as finally, the Fold began to expand into other dimensions. He was hoping to get finally swallow Illentia into the Fold, but he turned back and saw the Absolver that was giving him trouble, he threw another boulder of Gleam in desperation, and Eskar dodged it again, Eskar noticed another Tear Tyran waiting for him at the bottom of the pillar, and Arcel about to throw a boulder of Gleam at him, and so he thought of a risky maneuver. He rushed the Tyran and with a tiny slope he jumped on its head and into the boulder of Gleam, from there he used the boulder itself to jump right into Arcell with a flying kick.

Eskar landed next to Arcell on the pillar as they squared off against one another, Arcell attacked first in a rage with a wide hook and follow up kicks, Eskar blocked most of the hits until he found an opening to parry his next attack, he already had died once and if he died again… he would reappear but possibly too far away to chase Arcell again, he had already taken hits as well when avoiding the boulder and fighting the minions, he had to finish this here and now. Once he found his opening he landed a solid punch to his stomach and proceeded to land more, he followed with kicks to his legs, his sides, his knee, and a powerful punch to his gut that made Arcell recoil and finished him with a flying tornado kick.

Arcell got knocked down and hit his head on the floor, even so, he stretched his hand out to the Fold to try and finish his goal, this was it, Eskar couldn't finish Arcel, Iktar was the one capable and Arcell's defenses were now down, he grabbed him and grappled with him to stop his incantation.

"Iktar!" Eskar called for him, Iktar hurried and appeared in front of Arcell as Eskar held his arms.

"You can't do this to me! Time and time again you always defend these creatures, their existence, their endless hypocrisy! They deserve an existence filled with nothingness!" Arcell struggled.

"I'm sorry brother, but no… I don't agree with you, may you rest now." Arcell said as he simply touched Arcell's forehead… and Arcell began to crumble and twitch in dust… however, killing him and destroying him while he was doing his incantation seemed to have side effects as his body exploded into light. The holes in different realities and the containment of the Fold began to disappear, but they became aggressive as they began to suck things out of the Fold, and into those dimensions, Eskar held on to his mask as he felt it react to Arcell's death. Aircell's minions began to vanish, others died, others began to be swallowed by these other dimensions.

Eskar held on to the pillar the best he could, but his grip slipped, Iktar tried to help him but he was busy trying to repair the damage caused by his brother.

"Absolver, hold on just a moment, I'm almost done repairing the containment!" Iktar told him, however one particular hole to another dimension appeared close, the furious winds pulled Eskar and soon he lost both his grip and his footing, he began to fly into this dimension.

"Absolver!" Iktar panicked as he quickly closed the holes in reality, but by the time he repaired the damage he realized… it had been too late, Eskar had been thrown across time and space to another dimension.

Eskar waked up forcefully as he looked around himself, it was dark and the air felt mossy, his mask was somewhat useful as he looked around and was able to see something until his eyes adjusted, he was in a cave and in the middle of that cave there was a… weird sword, there were cinders and bones at the place the sword thrusts itself into the ground, this coild sword looked odd, nothing like he had ever seen before, he tried to pull it out of the ground but it didn't work, no matter how hard he tried… Once that was done he spotted the direction for the exit of the cave, he didn't fancy going deeper at the moment.

Once he looked outside he could definitely see… that he wasn't in Adal anymore, he tried calling for Iktar, but he didn't answer, it was night and he seemed to be in some sort of forest, this forest was illuminated by glowing flowers, he wondered if these were Essence, but a closer look didn't seem to suggest that, however, his steps alerted something, he looked to the side just in time to see a black halberd swinging for him, he ducked and moved out of the way to see what had attacked, him… it was a black knight, as tall as a Tear Tyran and fully decked in armor, he also had a shield as well. The Absolver tried to signal for the Knight to calm down, but it didn't work, the knight didn't care, it just wanted to kill him.

Eskar backed away from the thrust of the halberd in a quick backstep, the terrain wasn't favorable for him and so he ran up the cliff, and the knight followed. Once he reached the top of the cliff he spotted more solid ground, it would do, he held his ground and waited for the knight, sure enough, the knight came in with a thrust and Eskar parried the attack by gently hitting the halberd aside and went in with a solid punch to the gut and kept going with abs, kick and a liver knee, another attack came and Eskar ducked under the attack with a low spinning heel and kept going with a hammer kick, that kick managed to stagger the knight and so he kept going with a leg breaker kick. The knight dropped to one knee and Eskar saw his chance to land more hits, but then he saw as a tendril of vegetation attacked him, he looked to his sides and saw as creatures made of bushes attacked him and the knight… he back away and dodged the whip off of the creatures, and tried to regain his composure, he didn't even know what he was fighting, another one came behind him and he waited no time to kick its knee, punched it in the gut, and do a tornado kick that stunned and sent it back.

He rushed it with another flying kick and went forward with mill punches and a quick kicks, a spinning high kick was enough to bring the monster down, the pummeling he delivered enough to kill it, the beast didn't unfold, and from its body, a blur of white appeared and went and attached itself to him… and vanished. He didn't know what it had been, but the knight was kind enough to remind him they were fighting as he felt the thrust of a halberd on his side, he went flying and rolling on the ground as he got hit, he shaky got up and notice the knight had killed all the other monsters and now was aiming for him. Eskar assumed his stance and got ready, the knight was big, he had armor and a weapon with reach, but he was slow. For every attack, the knight made, he could make four and be ready to counter the next one. He was also used to hitting hard solid armor, even with his bare hands.

However something he definitely didn't want to try was to block the halberd, in a quick flick he summoned his sword and parried the next attack, a flurry of slashes later and he managed to damage the knight. The knight raised his shield and Eskar used his guard breaker plexus elbow to force the knight to move, it attacked back and Eskar ducked the attack with Mill slash, the knight attacked and Eskar used his Earthquake, he thrust his sword into the feet of the knight and with one final thrust, he impaled it in the neck. The knight promptly died with a scream and banished into a mirage of white, these specks again attaching to him. The knight disappeared and only left a rare stone that he had never seen before… it took some time for it to fold but he managed to make it fold and keep it.

He had never had fought something like that, he was still injured but mostly healed thanks to his Tension arts, all the monster were dead and so was the heavily armored knight, this place… didn't seem like anywhere in Ilentia, he walked around and tried to call for Iktar again, but to no avail.

He did spot a strange glowing door, locked by some magic or contraption, he tried to figure out a way to open it but to no avail, and so he kept exploring. He walked into a grove with more trees and more vegetation, he also did spot more vines that looked like those shrub monsters, his suspicions were confirmed when he accidentally stepped on one and he was forced to cut it down with his sword before it attacked him, he had to duck under a whip but he managed. After that, he thought it best to not try and provoke more of those monsters.

Thankfully his boots were silent, he didn't know if the people of Towerpoint or the Guides ever made these boots for this kind of purpose but he wouldn't complain, he spotted several stone knights lying on the ground, a strange lizard hanging on a tree and also a sort of ruin. He got close to investigate, but just as he got close two of the stone knights began to stir. They looked at Eskar and they slowly started walking towards him, they were as tall as the Tearan Absolver and wielded shields on their right hand and giant swords on the left.

They had the clear intention of crushing him, and so Eskar went in with his sword and slice at one of the knight's legs, he continued with kicks and more heavy slashes in other to try and bring one of them down, they seemed unfocused on him as they both pointed their swords into the air, eskar suddenly saw circles of light appear and suddenly, he felt heavy, as if he could barely move… it felt like benign affected by the Gravity Tension art, but worse, he tried to dodge and his feet were simply to grounded for him to do so, but he quickly ducked to avoid their massive swords, even if he couldn't run he couldn't let himself be killed and so he kept attacking them.

He did several slices at their ankles and knees, the heaviest he could muster to try and bring these giants down, he managed to duck under two sword swings with a spinning heel kick and then avoided a low swing by jumping over it with a tornado kick. He kept wailing on them and slashing at them, he cut and thrust into one's leg while trying to avoid the other, he steadily backed away to the ruins as fast as he could, the gravity really affecting him.

He couldn't really stop these guys attacks, the stone swords were too massive for him to do so effectively, what he could do was actively block them to deflect the attack and slip past it without damaging his sword, breaking his arms or… his body. He did so against the next attack and completely avoided it, but then got caught by a massive swing at his back, he got pushed back into the ruins and managed to get up tossed another hit from both coming, he used his Earthquake to ground both of them and did give some breathing room, enough to do a MeiaLua kick that broke the knee of the giant that he had attacked more and rammed his sword into the other leg, with to fluid cut he also attacked cut at its torso one last time and managed to kill the giant. The victory was short-lived as the other swung his sword, EEskar didn't have time to dodge or parry, he could only block, and so he did.

The impact sent him playing to the wall next to the stairs inside the ruined building and right into a bush, his sword crumbled to dust, he quickly got up to avoid another swing of the sword, unaware of the glowing sign on the ground he had accidentally touched. He saw another swing coming and had to dodge to the side to avoid it, he didn't know how much more he could take, he recovered his vigor after killing one of the giants, but one more mistake and he would be killed.

He was backed into a corner after dodging and ducking under another swing with a spinning heel kick, but he was still in the corner, another swing was about to come down and he was getting tired, he didn't know the best way to react… but he didn't have to, as he saw a ray of blew impact into the giant and kill him, almost falling on top of Eskar. Eskar for his part was with his back against a wall and dropped to a sitting position to catch his breath, and in turn to see where the blue projectile had come from.

"You seemed to be in danger. Are you…" Beatrice the Witch was understandably surprised when she saw her summoner wasn't the usual kind of warrior, even more so when he seemed to have a dark mask with eyes and teeth glowing blue, for a bit she was worried she was summoned by a Darkwraith, but that changed when she noticed that indeed he didn't have any of traits that identified a Darkwraith, behind the mask she could spot white skin and hair… an interesting style of hair, sides shaved with a couple of strands tied to the rest of his hair, which was swept back into what she could spot was a short ponytail.

"You are… different." Beatrice said as she looked him over, attire seemed light, and he had some strange gems floating behind his back. "Who are you?" She asked him.

As for Eskar, he was perplexed at this woman… she was glowing white and she appeared to be some sort of… mystic? No… he didn't know, but he could perfectly guess she was the one that created the ray of blue, was she human? But what surprised him more was the language… the lack of echo, the words… they sounded so… alien and foreign, and yet he understood them.

She asked him who he was, he carefully stepped up without getting much closer and spoke.

"Eskar vagyok sum... ki óu ubi sumus?" (I am Eskar... where are we?) Beatrice heard this… gibberish, in this weird tongue and with a sort of spectral echo.

"Wh- what?" Eskar could tell from the tone, and face, that she couldn't understand him.

A/N: So there you have it, the first Absolver crossover… ever I think, I'm first! Now considering that this means that you almost definitely didn't come here for Absolver, no you came from the Dark Souls side, so let me explain.

If you didn't know about Absolver, think of it as a love child between Dark Souls and For Honor, it focuses on martial arts and has over two hundred moves combining the unarmed and sword moves that can be combined in many different ways, making the style of each player almost unique. Since it was so unique and had so many little strategies and cool moves I fell in love with it and managed to get good enough on it to beat the best player on Xbox... once or twice … 10-1 and me being the 1 will be an accurate win-loss rating but still something I'm proud of.

And so here we are, as I also did another playthrough of Dark Souls with a friend just for research and ideas for this story that I wanted to do for a while, now I don't know if I should tell things from the get-go, but I will say some things.

1) Eskar by definition isn't Undead, so he doesn't have the curse or the Darksign, even if thanks to his mask he is still immortal. Oh and yeah we are starting in Darkroot Basin.

2) And… well, in Absolver they made an entirely made-up language for when characters talked that almost sounds like gibberish, it seems to be a combination of different things and so I made a combination of some of the similar-sounding and assumed candidates, which are Esperanto, French, Latin, and Hungarian… It's the least I could do to stay true to the game and its developers. Now He's going to understand English for simplicity's sake… but we still have a language barrier. Fun Stuff, then again is not like the Chosen Undead ever talked. More on the world of Absolver will be explained as the story progresses.

Review if you like, but regardless thank you for reading this first chapter al the way to the end. Assuming you did of course.