'Mylantris... so that's the name of this city.' She mused. 'Destroyed by the Empire, who ordered them to do something. What is this 'dark secret' anyway?
'No matter, that's not something I should focus on. At least I found something useful for the prince.' She then stored the book in a small leather pouch. She walked out of the room to look for others.
Kellen, Vena, and their group were walking down the circling staircase. Kellen's and Vena's staves were lit with white light to illuminate their path down. A few minutes of non-stop walking went by, and they found themselves in front of an archway.
Kellen took the first step into the archway and then gestured for the group to follow. They found themselves in complete darkness. The light could not penetrate the thick gloom. They were standing in a huge underground cavern. Kellen then imbued his staff with more mana, and the light grew brighter. Despite that, their vision was still restricted, a testament to how massive the cavern was.
"What is this place?" Kellen asked.
"Well, we can only explore to find out," Vena replied. "I feel something ominous. Let's not separate." Vena suggested with concern.
"Agreed."
They advanced slowly, as they could not see past twenty meters despite the bright light from the staves. Suddenly, on the ground, they saw piles of skeletons scattered all over. They walked slowly to the strange findings and examined them.
"Hmmm... they should be mages. It can be seen from the robes that they wore," Vena said.
"These must be the inhabitants of this city," Kellen said. "How did they die, though?"
"I guess we can only explore more to find out," Vena replied. It could be seen on her face that she looked concerned and tense.
They kept on walking slowly to explore the dark cavern without a clear destination, as their vision was very limited. A few minutes went by, and they noticed a building in front of them. The building was almost completely destroyed. It looked like a fortress from the outside, although most sides of the wall had crumbled and deep cracks were carved into the walls that were still standing. The front gate of the fortress was fortified with black steel, but there was a huge hole on the left side of the eight-meter-tall and half-a-meter-thick door.
"Should we go inside?" Vena asked. Kellen could see from her expression that she did not want to step inside. "I have a very bad feeling about this," Vena continued.
"Don't worry. You guys have me," Kellen tried to console her. "Not to mention, we have His Highness as well. If something bad happens, we can just send a signal to call them," Kellen said.
"Alright then." Vena nodded weakly.
Inside the fortress compound, they could see the ransacked ground. It showed that a massive battle had taken place inside the fortress. They could see more piles of bones wearing the same crimson robes they had seen on the outside. This time, the remains were even more frequent, and some of the skeletons were still clutching their staves.
They entered a large structure and found themselves at the top of the main fortress tower, which was supposed to overlook the entire cavern, although they could see nothing in the dark. At the center of the tower stood a stone pedestal with a purplish, ball-sized orb resting on it. Kellen walked closer and placed his hand on the orb.
"This should be the core of the fortress," Kellen said after a pause. He then channeled his mana into the orb. The orb glowed brighter as it absorbed the mana. Suddenly, in the distance, white lights started to glow. Each light was located on top of a watchtower along the broken wall. Some of the watchtowers were still standing while others had fallen, casting light across the stone floor. From the illumination, they could see that the fortress was built in the shape of a hexagon.
Suddenly, the top of the highest watchtower, where they were currently standing, shone with a bright white light. It burst upward, shooting a straight beam to the ceiling. The light then dispersed across the entire cavern ceiling, bathing the space in a dim glow. Although it was still dark, they could finally see their surroundings.
From the top of the watchtower, they could see that the entire dark cavern was large enough to hold multiple fortresses of this size.
From the top of the highest part of the fortress, they could see a huge structure standing in the middle of the compound. It still stood tall, despite the deep cracks etched into the walls of the building.
"Let's go there; we should be able to find a clue about this place." Kellen pointed with his staff to the ground below.
They walked down and exited the watchtower. Slowly, they proceeded toward the building in the middle of the fortress. The rusty iron door was closed. Slowly, they approached the entrance of the structure, which looked like a laboratory.
"Despite the cracked walls, the building is still intact," Kellen said. "I wonder what's inside."
Without her realizing it, Vena's grip on her staff grew tighter, as if her subconscious were warning her of the danger inside the building. One of the guards in the group then opened the door slowly while holding his shield in front of him.
The door swung open slowly, and the group stepped inside. The interior was spacious, with bones scattered across the floor forming a circle. At the center lay a skeleton cloaked in a crimson robe, clutching a redwood staff with a red crystal set on top of it.
"Who is this guy?" Kellen asked. "Search for any information about this place!" he commanded the group.
The soldiers scattered throughout the building. The structure was not that large, so it was easy for their group to scour the entire area.
"I found something!" one of the soldiers shouted.
The rest rushed to the soldier, while Kellen, as the leader, took the small book and began to read it out loud.
"Not much of the content is readable. It looks like a diary of some sort," he said as he scanned the pages.
Elyndel Era, Year 2453, first month of the year. This thing is not something that can be controlled by anyone. The nature of their power itself is corruption. Anything that is fused, touched, or combined with them will be corrupted. From the very beginning, this experiment is doomed to fail.
"It looks like they were experimenting on something sinister," Vena said.
"Yeah..." Kellen replied.
Elyndel Era, Year 2453, second month of the year. They left us to die after helping them with their dark secret. This Eldritch golem is not something Mylantris can handle. Mylantris is doomed. Even then, we cannot let this corrupted being roam freely outside. Even I as a Supreme Mage cannot handle this. We have to seal this thing and weaken it slowly so that it will die as time goes by.
"The Eldritch beings!" Vena exclaimed. "Who would experiment on them? Isn't it forbidden to experiment on Eldritch beings!?"
"Yes, it is. Article 3.2; The extraction, research, or practical application of Eldritch energy, including the creation of animated constructs, biological synthesis, or essence refinement, is unconditionally forbidden. Unauthorized possession of Eldritch artifacts, corpses, or research records shall constitute an act of war against all signatory nations of the Great Accord," Kellen replied. "Who was audacious enough to break this established rule?" he continued.
Suddenly, from the skeleton that was encircled by the pile of bones, a dark purplish hue began to emanate. The atmosphere suddenly grew eerie and tense.
"Khahahahaha..." an eerie, piercing laughter echoed across the building.
"What was that sound?" Kellen asked. "Everyone, stay close to me and form a formation!" he commanded. Then, he reached into his pocket and drew out a transparent crystal. He imbued it with his mana, causing it to glow with a white hue, and then shattered it.