Whispers of A Dead Empire

Chapter 66

I stood in the abandoned mine, ready and eager to test out my new skills. The adventurers were still concentrated around the safe zone, so I wasn't worried about getting discovered. However, I still brought along a few of my praetorians just in case something happened, which knowing my luck, was almost a guarantee.

I made Alessia stand a little ways behind me since I didn't want her to get hurt in the process of me learning how to use this skill. I cleared my throat and stared at a pile of discarded rocks that looked to be far too heavy for me to move on my own. Now, how was I going to do this? I shifted uncomfortably on my feet as I tried to steady myself. I called on the skill mentally, and I could see faint wisps of whitish-blue energy as they coalesced around my mouth and folded themselves into the shape of a needle.

For a few tense moments, the energy kept forming from the air. The power behind it threatened to slip from my control, but I held on for dear life. More and more energy materialized from the air as it rushed towards me, and as soon as it felt like I was about to lose control, I directed the power outwards.

A strange roar escaped from my lips as the power rushed out in a blinding white cone in an incredible surge of energy and smashed into the pile of rocks, pushing them to the side as if they weighed no more than a piece of paper. For a split second, I was happy with the skill, at least until my world began to spin. I closed my eyes, fully expecting to smash into the ground below.

But I never felt it. Instead, I felt a pair of cool arms wrap around my waist, keeping me from falling. "Worry not, my lady." Alessia's voice echoed in my ear as she helped me steady myself. Though the touch was a bit unexpected, and my heart jumped a bit, though I was more apt to pass it off due to using the skill. At least, that's what I'm going to tell myself.

"Thank you, Alessia," I murmured as another wave of weakness struck my body. Using that skill cost many of my overall resources and left me feeling empty.

It was an exhaustion that seemed to eat at me at a far deeper level than anything I had ever experienced before in my life. Not even the long hours that I used to pull at work could compare. I took a ragged breath as Alessia, and I walked over to a boulder, helping me sit down.

My eyelids grew heavy, but I fought back the exhaustion that seemed to corrode me from the inside. I needed to stay awake. I had to do things, but I was just so tired. Instead of sleeping, I sat there and watched my soul bar tick up, and with each tick, it chased away the exhaustion. I focused on the bar, ebbing between being fully aware and partially comatose. Time felt like it ticked by slowly, as I was lost in my mind.

Slowly but surely, I felt the strength return to me, and I could finally move again. I sat up and stared at the barren stone ground. My mind still felt a little hazy, and it was hard to focus on anything of use. A part of me just wanted to curl up and sleep, but I had stuff that I needed to do. I stood up, fully aware that I was operating on autopilot, and motioned for Alessia to join me as I prepared to teleport back to my office with a quick gesture. I still needed to select my new skills, but those could wait until I finished what I needed to do and get some rest. I didn't want to make choices on a tired mind.

As soon as my world settled down, I walked over to my desk and sat down. Usually, I would put a lot of thought into what I wanted to make, but I didn't care at this point. I just wanted to make enough product to give to that damned adventurer to start having a flow of resources coming in. If I had a massive surplus, I wouldn't care about doing something like this, but my hands were tied on the matter. There was also the matter of essence, which I needed to progress. Considering this trade deal I made, I should avoid spending more essence than I needed to. Ugh, I hated them all. Why did this happen to me?

I quickly dissembled my pen and consumed each separate part. Once I was finished, I decided to recreate fifty-one of them for now and take one from the stack for myself. While that was going, I created a small crate to store them all in. While the familiar moats of blue light rained from the ceiling and slowly formed the items, I decided it was time to finally sleep. "Alessia, in a little while, would you mind storing the pens in that crate and delivering them to those adventurers, please?" I asked as I stumbled over to my bed.