Oath [BL; Book 2]

11

The mask faded from his face and he opened his eyes seeing the mess of bodies that slowly whisked away in the wind. Blue ashes taken far away until they completely dissipated. There was no shortness of energy in him, he felt he was at the top of his game. Victory was absolute in these moments of confidence. Noticing some commotion he quickly went to investigate finding some tainted beings chasing civilians. Jumping into action he cut them down, right after more came from a ruin. The people looked like adventurers from the guild Aether was in, their attire made that clear so he did away with the enemies so none of them got hurt.

Once they were dealt with he heard the frantic adventurers discussing what happened. "Let's get out of here there no point in trying to get that treasure!" One thought wisely, but the other seemed fixed on their adventure.

"Come on, we should try again! Let's ask this guy! He's super strong!"

That suggestion alone was enough to make Xiao leave and he turned doing so, however their words after came as interesting knowledge. "Who cares if there's some ancient relic in there! I'm not putting my life on the line for that!"

"But it's from a legend long gone! Hey, if we can just prove the legend was real we can win it big!"

He was disgusted by their greed but the information they provided was helpful. Finding his way to the ruin entrance first he checked inside then seeing they weren't even close to making a decision. Looking into the ruin he saw nothing out of the ordinary and went in. This was a first, a job like this was better suited to Aether, but should the rumors of such a relic be true he was sure to take it to Zhongli first.

The dark place was riddled with spiders and small critters. Moss grew along the walls and the rubble laying about the ruins meant it was extremely old. How old? He couldn't tell, but that wasn't what bothered him. The silence in the air, the lightness of what he thought would be full of threats. It was an unbearable sort of silence he didn't trust.

His foot tapped something lightly and he looked down keeping himself calm in case of any traps or alarms he could set off. A small shiny fragment of a mask caught his attention. Picking it up he was quick to notice its pattern and the strange material it was made from. The woman must have been there, there was no mistaking this piece. He put his guard up high waiting for an ambush but there was none. He couldn't even hear much aside from the water dripping in a room nearby and the quiet squeaks of the mice and other rodents that called this home.

Cautious as he continued, Xiao held his spear at the ready and found himself going down. Farther, farther, until he began to question it. Very little light entered this part and the father down he went the darker it became, but he wanted to continue. There was nothing to use as light that is, until he saw a flicker down below.

With lightened steps he made his way down surprised to see some Fatui had found their way into the depth of the ruin. They too were making their way down. Lurking in their shadows he stayed hidden.

"She couldn't have gotten far." One said,

"Thanks to the ruin grader she was hurt really bad! There's no way she'll make it down here." The other laughed,

"It's really dark down here huh?"

"Let's just find her and get out, boss said we'll be rewarded for bringing her alive."

"Hah, who knows, she might've already croaked!"

Narrowing his eyes he watched as they then walked to some sort of chamber. Finally the stairs had ended and now a large chamber met them with a strange eerie atmosphere. The two Fatui looked around astounded by the detail on the walls. Carved patterns a strange language or simply designs. Xiao was confused as to how a ruin like this could be hidden for so long and he not know of it, yet there were many secrets the world held that he could not fathom.