Ascension Of The Failed Mage

Noir kept taking slow, paced steps. The darkness of the narrow path seemed suffocating, and the musty smell of moss and rotting rocks filled everywhere.

Unlike the beginning of his journey within the entire underground expanse, the exit path was entirely devoid of light.

No magic crystals for lighting, or even glowing minerals.

It was pure darkness.

There was also no sign of life, the entire area seemed deserted—perfect for espionage.

After leaving the center of the catacomb, Noir walked for the next five minutes. He knew it would take a bit longer to reach the exit so he had to decide on what to do after he got within the inner grounds.

Due to to the traps and runes he encountered previously, he had used a great deal of his Mana.

He had roughly over half left.

'I could probably manage a Magic Territory as a last resort, but I would rather not...'

Magic Territory took over half of his Mana. The more he remained within it, and the more he used the abilities within it, the more Mana it consumed.

Even if he managed to activate a Magic Territory, he wouldn't be able to maintain it for 10 seconds.

Also, there was the fact that the perpetrator, most likely Trevor Netherlore, was at least a Tier 8 Mage.

It wouldn't be easy to take him down while holding back. Noir began to consider retreating for the moment... but...

"I've already come this far... I should see this through." He said to himself.

After a while, he could see the exit from afar off. Since he had enhanced vision, he had no problem seeing in the dark.

Since he wanted to conserve his Mana, Noir decided not to use any Code for lighting. He relied purely on his physical capabilities.

Though he couldn't see as clearly as he usually would, his sight was as good as a normal human's would be in a normal environment.

Noir quickened his pace, steadily, until he was at the exit in no time.

"Finally..."

The exit door had no handle or any known form of opening it. The only way one could open it was by the Rune inscribed on it to recognize whoever sought to enter or exit.

A similar Rune was placed at the entrance of the underground space, but Noir had easily overridden that.

This Rune, however, seemed more complicated and complex than that. Noir would require more mana than he did at the entrance.

But it wasn't something impossible.

Noir overrode the Rune with Code, and before long, the door opened. He exited the passage, however, he was surprised at what he saw in front of him.

"That is—!" He exclaimed.

Instead of him seeing stairs that led to the surface, what he saw in front of him was an arena.

The stairs which led to the top of the tunnel seemed to be behind the door opposite him in the arena.

But that wasn't what surprised Noir the most. It was the who, or rather, what was guarding the door which led to the surface.

"Welcome, Sir Noir. I've been expecting you." The being before him said.

What stood opposite him in the arena was a man. Clearly in his twenties, wearing battle attire, obviously enchanted. He had an expressionless demeanor, slightly built and his entire figure was perfectly symmetrical. No defect, no expression, and most importantly... no soul.

"That's a nice piece you got there. Did you make it?" Noir asked.

The 'person' before him paused a bit, then responded.

"Impressive. You figured it out, didn't you? After I went through so much trouble to make it look human. I even made it using only human parts, down to its fluids and yet you could tell. How?" The 'person' replied.

"No matter how perfectly identical you make a Doll to resemble a human, it still doesn't possess a soul. It's just a lump of flesh and blood. I assume the person I'm speaking with is the mastermind behind all this?" Noir calmly asked.

"Guilty as charged." The voice, which was coming through the Doll's moving lips replied.

"Are you Trevor Netherlore?"

"Hmmn, Who knows? Maybe I am, maybe I'm not." The Doll shrugged.

Noir kept silent.

He knew what was going on at the moment. The perpetrator, whoever he was, was most likely controlling the Doll before him from a safe distance.

The difference between a Puppet and a Doll was the fact that a Puppet requires certain proximity to the puppeteer to function.

However, a Doll could be controlled remotely, as long as a medium existed which could transmit information from the Host and the Doll.

'Most likely, the real perpetrator isn't in the Inner grounds. Even if he was, he's beyond reach.' Noir thought to himself.

"Exactly." The Doll answered quickly. "I'm currently somewhere you can't reach."

Noir's face lit up in surprise.

"Surprised? Don't be. Your thoughts can easily be decoded from your expressions." The Doll responded.

"What do you want?" Noir asked.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that? You snuck in here, and you're asking 'me' what 'I' want?" The Doll lightly chuckled.

While the Doll's face remained emotionless, it seemed the owner was quite amused, as he chuckled a bit.

"Then I guess I'm done here," Noir said, attempting to leave.

"Oh no, you don't!" The Doll said, dashing toward Noir.

Noir evaded and hit the Doll that was about to land on him, jumping away from his location. This separated him from the exit door. Now, he was in between both doors, and so was the Doll.

'This is a little troublesome...' He thought to himself.

"Your Doll is quite fast," Noir remarked.

"Thank you. It's one of a kind. I call it... Morbius, the 3rd. The voice responded.

"What happened to numbers one and two?" Noir asked.

"They died. This one killed them!"

Currently at a stalemate, Noir considered what to do next.

'Should I get a little more serious now?'

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[A/N]

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Thanks, everyone!

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