After the 27th hallway, Brandon finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel, metaphorically.
Clank-!
Shutting the door behind him, he turned his gaze and thoroughly scanned the next room.
As soon as he did that, what met his line of sight were two visible doors.
'So which one leads to the artifact vault?'
On the door to his right, he could see light shimmering from under the doorway.
While on the door to his left was nothing but pitch black.
He pondered for a while, trying to decide which door to enter first.
'The dark room should be the artifact vault, right?'
After all, the academy couldn't have made it too obvious that it was the room with visible light.
Brandon then headed towards the door with no light.
Creak-
As soon as he lightly opened the door, a shiver ran down his spine, as the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.
'What...'
Brandon couldn't shake off the feeling of something ominous.
As curious as he was, he decided to enter the room.
Clank-!
"Brrr..."
The room was cold.
Way too cold to be normal.
He realized the room looked like a jail.
Brandon wrapped his arms around himself as he relentlessly shivered.
As he continued to scan the room, there was a peculiar jail cell that piqued his curiosity.
Or rather–it felt like it was calling out to him.
He had to find out.
Step- Step- Step-
As he walked towards the jail cell, it was then when a voice called out to him.
"Come, let me out."
The voice was guttural, making Brandon run a shiver down his spine.
It was... haunting.
'It's like the voice is standing next to me, yet it wasn't at the same time.'
He couldn't properly describe it.
As he got closer, he could feel his instincts telling him to stop as the temperature continued to drop.
But his body said otherwise.
The closer he got to the cell, the more the temperature seemed to drop.
Step- Step- Step-
When he finally arrived at the cell, what met Brandon's line of sight sent a shiver down his spine.
'What...'
Brandon's eyes shot wide open.
Step-
He took a step back.
'Is that...'
He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
It was a human, with platinum-blonde hair, and eerily pale skin.
Only that...
It had horns protruding from its forehead.
'A Wraith?'
His alarm bells continued to ring.
He continued to shiver, as his teeth relentlessly chattered from the sheer cold.
No, it wasn't the cold.
It was because of...
Fear.
Brandon was feeling fearful the moment he laid his eyes on the Wraith.
He had never seen anything like a Wraith in his past life.
It was the first time he laid his eyes on a being that resembled a human, yet it wasn't human at all.
Scanning, he could see two chains that bounded the Wraith.
'Mana Suppressors?'
Chains designed to seal one's mana when bounded.
From what Brandon knew in the novel, it was used to bind the major antagonists, and... Wraiths.
'But a Wraith shouldn't appear this early on in the story...'
It was then when the Wraith's guttural voice reached Brandon.
"Break me free, and you shall be rewarded."
The Wraith spoke as if he wasn't chained down at all.
It exuded confidence, as if it was the one in control of the situation.
Brandon wasn't stupid enough to meet its demand.
But nonetheless, he had to find out.
"W-What reward..."
"Power."
"Power?"
It was known that making a pact with a Wraith would give a significant boost in power, turning them into a Wraithbound.
At least...
That's what Wraithbounds were made to believe.
In truth, they would slowly be corrupted until there were no more traces of their former selves.
The reason for it was because the Wraiths would slowly take over their body.
Possession.
They would become possessed.
Step-
Once again, Brandon took a step back.
He knew he had to leave, there was no point in staying.
But he couldn't.
He was afraid.
Afraid that the Wraith would do something, even if he knew it couldn't
"Break me free, and you shall be rewarded."
The Wraith continued to speak like a broken record.
Each word it uttered sent a shiver down Brandon's spine.
It was ominous.
Haunting.
Dreadful.
Like the incarnation of death itself.
When Brandon turned to scan the cell, his gaze landed on something peculiar on the floor.
It was a white mask with blue runic symbols etched onto it.
'Is that...'
The Mirage Mask.
But when he turned to look beside the mask he could see a skull.
No, a skeleton.
'...Could that have been the Wraithbound?'
Since the Mirage Mask was there, Brandon could only come up with that answer.
Step-
He took another step back, but there was no room left as he bumped on another jail cell from behind him.
It was then when the realization dawned upon Brandon.
If he wanted to get the Mirage mask, then he would have to...
Kill the Wraith.
It was possible.
The Wraith was chained and its mana was suppressed.
It didn't have the power it once had.
But...
'Could I do it?'
He's never killed anything or anyone before.
'It's not human...'
But the sheer act of killing made him conflicted.
'It's a being that would soon wreak havoc in this world...'
The very race that the main cast would soon struggle to fight against in the future.
There was no other answer.
Brandon straightened his posture and stepped forward, prepared for whatever happened next.
Tshhhh-
With [Elemental Manipulation], he conjured an ice shaped javelin in his hand.
Step-
Trying to enter the cell, he came to an abrupt pause as the entrance was sealed with a thick layer of mana.
[Mana Disruption]
Until it wasn't.
-Creak
He stepped inside the room. The Wraith locked eyes with him.
"So this is your answer?"
"..."
Brandon didn't respond, or rather he couldn't.
Wraiths were natural charmers, if Brandon continued to conversate with it, there was a chance he would be tempted to agree to a pact.
Holding the ice javelin, Brandon's hands shook.
He was afraid.
Despite the Wraith being chained down, unable to do anything, he was still afraid.
If he ignored the horns, then the Wraith could pass as a human.
'It's not human Brandon, pull it together.'
The only words he could tell himself.
With the ice javelin in his hand, Brandon braced himself.
Swoosh- Splurt-!
Thrusting it in where the heart would be located, the Wraith spat out blood.
However...
It grinned.
As if it didn't just get stabbed in the heart.
"Interesting... you're–"
"Gahhhhh!"
Brandon continued to thrust the javelin with a cry, not letting the Wraith speak any further.
"Die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die!"
Back and forth, Brandon relentlessly thrust his spear into the Wraith, puncturing grotesque holes all over its body as black blood splattered everywhere.
He didn't want to compromise, he had to make sure the Wraith was completely dead.
The Wraith's body had already gone limp, but Brandon continued to puncture it nonetheless.
He only stopped when a peculiar interface popped up.
[You have slain a Wraith!]
[+300 EXP]
[You have leveled up!]
[Stat Points: +3]
[Skill Weaver capacity has increased!]
[You have unlocked the Wind Affinity!]
"Haa.. Haa.. Haa.."
Brandon took deep breaths, giving himself time to recover.
His gaze then lingered on the Mirage Mask on the floor.
Walking towards it, he picked it up and donned it on his face.
The white mask covered his entire face as the blue runic marks gradually glowed brighter.
He then muttered to himself,
"System."
—---------------------------
[Name: Brandon Locke]
[Level: 3]
[EXP: 100/1,000]
[Class: Anomaly]
∟ You are an entity that does not belong to this world, an anomaly.
[Passive]
∟ Skill Weaver:
∟ Create any skill possible within the user's capabilities.
∟ Increase your capacity by +1 per level.
∟ Total Skills: 2/3
[Skill Tab]
[Stats]
[Stat Points Available: 3]
∟ STR: F [●○○○○]
∟ MP: F+ [●●○○○]
∟ DEF: F [●○○○○]
∟ AGI: F [●●○○○]
∟ INT: F+ [○○○○○]
∟ CHARM: F [●○○○○]
[System Shop]
[System Coins: 100]
[Quests Available: 0]
—---------------------------
With his stat points, he poured it all into the intelligence stat.
—---------------------------
∟ INT: F+ [●●●○○]
—---------------------------
After closing his system, he took a good look at the Wraith's dead body before deciding to leave.