The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

"Mister!" Abe shouted. "The Keeper knows you are playing the game. He'll be coming for you!"

This warning made Oscar's face twist in frustration. He almost yelled at Abe but held back, saying, "Why couldn't you tell me that before?"

"Hurry and jump to the next glowing thing!" Abe yelled.

Loud footsteps echoed through the halls.

The Keeper was on the move. Oscar did not know where the Keeper was coming from, but he had to move. Oscar leaped off the stool and landed on a nearby table, which began to send a ripple of light that coursed through the floor of darkness.

"KREEEEEEE!"

The shrieks of the Keeper were loud and agitated, unlike its feral screams before. It sensed the ripples of light and began stomping louder and faster.

"Mister! Hurry!" Abe dug his head into Oscar's shoulder, not wanting to look.

Oscar continued this trek, jumping from one object to the next; each time sent forth more ripples of light that further agitated the Keeper. Oscar managed to make it to a stair handle when the Keeper appeared.

Oscar managed to dodge by a hair and land on the other stair handle, the ripples of light coursed through the darkness, reaching the Keeper, who began scratching itself, flaying more flesh off of its bones.

The Keeper leaped and landed on the bottom of the stairs to block Oscar.

Oscar cursed the Keeper's incredible abilities and jumped forward to combat the Keeper. He raised his buckler high and slammed it down with all his strength on the Keeper's head.

But a similar scene occurred; Oscar was flung back up the stairs. He held and cradled Abe in his arms to prevent the boy from getting hurt by the collisions. The floor returned to normal, and the objects stopped growing the moment Oscar touched the floor.

"KUH!" Oscar felt immense pain in his arm. It was broken and bleeding badly. "What the hell is this thing?"

"We need to run, Mister! We failed the game, so we need to go." Abe got out of Oscar's arms and started to tug him toward a door.

The Keeper shrieked louder and ran up the stairs to catch them, but Abe was quick enough to lock the door.

"Hah hah. I'm sorry." Oscar bound his arm together to set the fractured bone. His face was grim as he apologized for failing the game. "Is there no other way to clear this game?"

"Nope." Abe spoke from within his huddled arms. His back was quivering crazily from the fear of the Keeper. "It's the only way. I'm sure of that."

Oscar groaned as his arm was finally bound by the bandages he had. The power of the Keeper was unreal. Somehow, someway, he was still alive, and he felt grateful for that.

"I need to move fast as possible." Oscar talked to Abe. "Is there anything I can do to stop the Keeper? Is there anything he doesn't like?"

Even something like this Keeper should have a weakness because even the mighty Exalts possessed their own weaknesses. It was against all common sense that something like the Keeper could exist.

"It doesn't like the light from the objects, but that only makes it angrier, not weaker." Abe recovered and stood up to help Oscar.

"No weaknesses…." Oscar got back up and carried Abe on his back because of his arm's condition. He still had one Heal Elixir but didn't want to use it on just a fracture. "I need to keep trying."

Oscar bit his lip to forget the fear. He resolved to do this for Emily and Frederick. To get them out and back home together. Abe grabbed tightly on Oscar's back with a nod.

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…….

"SHIT!" Oscar dodged the Keeper's furious attack and landed on an upside-down bucket. He restarted the game from the stool and made his way down the stairs before the Keeper caught up.

The next subsequent steps were made by barely dodging the Keeper's attacks. Its arms were incredibly fast and spewed pus and flesh everywhere. This made various surfaces slippery and more challenging to stay able on.

Oscar's Ein was mostly focused on his feet to move as quickly as possible. He cursed the fact this Keeper was somehow immune to the Prinstyct. This whole game could have been a cakewalk if he could see its future movements.

Once again, Oscar failed to land on the next object and fell to the floor. The feeling of the darkness on his skin was like dipping into a deep swamp before it vanished.

With this failure, Oscar and Abe quickly ran into one of the rooms and locked it before the Keeper could catch up.

"That was close. We won't get lucky like this forever." Oscar panted and drank some water to refresh himself.

Then he noticed the room he was in. It was a big room with many sculptures and portraits blanketing the walls. But sculptures and pictures had something in common; none had any faces.

The sculptures were carved to the finest detail on everything, the clothes, hair, fingers, and shoes, except for the face, which was smooth and incomplete. The paintings were the same; the faces were the skin's base color without any features.

Simple compared to the rest of the body.

"Abe, what is this room?" Oscar asked the boy.

Abe looked around with gaping eyes at the paintings and sculptures. It was like he remembered something. His eyes flashed with a semblance of clarity. "This is the gallery. Grandfather hired many great artists to paint and sculpt images of our family."

"Your grandfather?" Oscar looked at one of the paintings, tracing his finger on the absent faces. There was one elderly-looking man with two young boys. Abe must be one of them. "Abe, who is the other boy here? Is it your brother?"

"That is…." Abe thought as long as he could, but he soon became possessed and started to scratch his head again.

"No need to push yourself. We can think about your family later." Oscar stopped him.

"No! I remember. We played the floor is lava all the time together. Just like you and me, Mister! The winner was the one who got to the back entrance from the front." Abe was jittery from the memories that were returning. "But something happened. I don't know, but my heart feels cold."

"Cold?"

"Grandpa would tell us to stop and not to fool ourselves with these de-de-delusions?" Abe struggled to say the next word.

"Sounds like a rough grandfather." Oscar held Abe once more. "Forget about them for now. Let's get you out of here."

He exited the room and sneakily returned to the stool to restart the game.

…….

"You're doing it!" Abe yelled with his hair whipping behind from the intensity of Oscar's speed.

Oscar memorized his general course and was faster in getting across those obstacles. He made significant progress before the Keeper made its way to him.

"Hello, you monstrosity. I'll come back here for the chance to destroy you when I'm stronger." Oscar goaded the monster, not sure if it could understand. But the Keeper shrieked and continued its assault.

Oscar noticed that, no matter how fierce the attack, the house, and objects remained unmoving and undamaged. This manor was far too strange. The only reason that made sense was if these objects were high-grade armaments, but he felt no hint of Ein from them.

Oscar was quick on his feet and managed to make it to a long wide hallway with few objects on the floor. But across it was a large door that had the sign written 'Exit' over it. The back entrance!

"We're almost there, Abe!" Oscar told the boy, who was getting excited.

"Oscar…."

Oscar heard this voice and turned to the side with shock. There was Frederick, bleeding profusely from his stomach, with a large hole through his gut.

"Help me…."

"Fred!" Oscar stared at his friend, who was dying on the floor, with great fear. His body moved out of pure instinct. He had to save him!

"Don't!" Abe screamed out his lungs, but Oscar had already thrown himself onto the floor to save Frederick.

However, the moment he did, Fred vanished into thin air as the darkness cleared. Oscar could not process what had happened when the crushing blow of the Keeper slammed into his stomach, crushing the bones.

"Mister!" Abe screamed by clinging onto Oscar, who was thrown straight to the back entrance. The backdoor was unmoving to Abe's efforts to open it, and there were no side doors to escape to.

The Keeper began a slow trek toward Oscar and Abe, who grew pale at the incoming monstrosity.

"Illusion?" Oscar struggled to keep his eyes open. "That was an illusion? Abe, did you see anyone?"

"No, I didn't. You just jumped off on your own!" Abe was angry and screamed at Oscar with tears in his eyes.

"Oh….I'm sorry." Oscar apologized through his throat, full of blood.

"Mister…."

Oscar looked down at his wound but was bewildered. The Keeper's power was so great that he was flung back despite using 'Shattered Wave'. By all means, this blow to his defenseless gut should have killed him instantly.

Thinking back, the entire thing was strange. Why did the objects and house react weirdly when the game started? What caused the floor to turn into darkness? How was this Keeper alive?

"Abe. Brother. Game. Grandfather. Delusion. Is it?!" Oscar processed all the key points in his mind and came to one conclusion. He stood up despite the tear in his gut and told Abe to stand back.

"Play a game. Loser on the floor. Stop with the delusions." Oscar walked slowly to the Keeper, who was about to strike down.

But Oscar closed his eyes and calmed his heart. "This isn't real."

The Keeper struck down, but instead of Oscar, it slammed on the floor. It shrieked with its horrible half-face, but Oscar was undisturbed.

"This is all an illusion."

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