I swiftly moved after the light, using 'Shadowlord' to occasionally conceal my presence so that the Wicked that I was sensing around me wouldn't come after me. It had been a little bit of time now that I was chasing the light – and it had not slowed down at all. If anything, it had begun moving faster than it did at the beginning, leading me deeper and deeper into this graveyard.
Part of me knew it was a mistake heading this deep into this place on my own, especially while chasing something unknown just out of my curiosity, however another part of me was simply telling me: Well, you're already quite far. May as well see where the light goes.
It was a bit tricky to keep track of the golden light.
Its speed combined with its inconsistent, zig-zaggy movement pattern made it quite challenging to move after it. It felt a bit like I was trying to chase down a toddler that had somehow got their hands on a whole bag of drugs.
However, I kept up with it as much as I could, always ensuring that if nothing else, the light never got out of my view. So long as I could track it with my vision, I could follow it.
After a bit longer of the chase, the light suddenly slowed down, before stopping completely – right next to a tree that was quite a bit larger than the other trees of the graveyard. I quickly slowed my pace as well, before stopping a few meters away from the light. Then, I returned to my human form, reactivating 'Mimic'.
Standing up, I observed the light carefully, before beginning to slowly step towards it – it felt a bit like I was trying to sneak up on a wild animal that would flee the second it sensed even the tiniest of disturbances in the area around it. "Nice and slow…" I thought. As I closed the few meters between me and the light, I began to hear this strange… buzzing sound from it. Almost like there was a bee right in front of me. "Is it coming from the light..?"
Before I got the chance to confirm, the light suddenly sunk into the ground - the buzzing sound disappearing with it. I stopped, standing there for a few moments.
"...Did it just…?" I exhaled.
I had chased the thing this deep into the graveyard just for it to disappear into the depths of the earth? Great… Guess curiosity is a bit of a dangerous thing to have sometimes. Facepalming, I took in a deep breath and then exhaled it. "Well, at least I left Arvalor to look after the others… As long as he's there, they shouldn't be in any major danger." I thought, before turning around.
Guess I will simply make my way back…
…Or so I was planning to do.
A sudden low rumble came from behind me.
Throwing my gaze back over my right shoulder, I looked for whatever could have caused the sound. Nothing. Totally empty. "Am I… Losing my mind or something..?" I thought. However, the low rumble happened again the second I turned away. I quickly flipped around, quickly forming a spear from venom. There was no way I was imagining it.
...Right?
For a moment – it was silent. Like nothing had happened. Then, I noticed something on the ground where the light had sunken into earlier. Carefully, I approached the spot, kneeling down before tilting my head slightly to the side, to get a better look at it.
There was something written on the ground.
Slightly faded text in a language that… I actually recognised. The Primal Language, the same one that Arabor had gifted to me when I met him. From what I had researched about the language in Ordials records, the 'Primal Language' was one that was exclusive to the Primal Dragons and the Primordials. A language that no mere mortal should have access to.
And yet… It was undoubtedly right in front of me at this moment – carved into the ground.
Actually, 'carved' was the incorrect term to use… The text was quite literally part of the ground, as if the ground had formed with this text on its own. Brushing the text off a bit, it became slightly more readable, allowing me to decipher what was written there.
"...Only those who show no lack of wisdom can enter…?" As soon as I read out the text to myself, it started to faintly glow a golden colour, causing me to leap back a bit, spinning the spear in my hands and pointing it to the text. Did I accidentally awaken something? Maybe it wasn't such a smart idea to read some unknown text outloud – especially one located in a place like this.
For a bit, the text gently shimmered, before returning to a 'dormant' state.
…Silence.
Then, the text disappeared. Where it had once been, a square hole suddenly opened – as if the ground 'collapsed' in on itself, opening into what looked a bit like some sort of… Entrance?
Carefully, I approached the hole and peaked down it. Stairs.
A long flight of stairs that led deep underground – gently illuminated by small fires on torches. "Did I uncover some kind of tomb or something..?" I thought. While I probably should have simply left it be and turned around, returning to the others, my curiosity was at an all time high. So, I slowly and carefully began to descend the stairs.
As soon as I got down about fifteen stairs, the entrance closed back up – basically sealing me inside. I sighed. "I just hope this isn't some secret dungeon or something…" I thought, before continuing my descent.
The stairs were long — unnaturally so.
Descending down them, it felt a bit like I was once again back at Arabor's tomb, descending that insanely long flight of stairs. "I swear, if this turns out to be some sort of tomb similar to Arabors that houses some ancient god…" I swore in my mind, gritting my teeth a bit before exhaling. I had enough on my plate as is, I did not need anymore things to deal with.
Seriously.
After a while, I finally reached the end of the stairs – stopping in front of what looked like a regular wooden door. 'Regular' being a… loose term. There were strange symbols engraved on it, shaped into what looked a bit like a magic circle. Placing my hand against the door, I could feel magical energy flowing through it. A spell. The door was inlaid with some sort of spell. Maybe a defensive one meant to keep out potential invaders?
There was only one way to really find out.
Taking in a deep breath, I reached for the silverish handle of the door. I was a bit… nervous about trying to open the door, in case it really was trapped with some sort of spell and I was about to get annihilated, however once my hand touched the handle – I eased up a bit.
Nothing triggered…. Yet.
The handle felt strangely warm – which made me hesitate for just a second longer before finally trying to open the door, twisting the handle.
For the first few moments — nothing. No reaction, no trap set off…. The handle barely even budged. I was forced to exert a little bit more strength in twisting the handle before it finally moved, making a quick and light 'click' sound. Then, I carefully pushed the door open. I gripped the spear in my other hand a bit more tightly. "Gotta keep my guard up…"
Then, I stepped through the doorway.
On the other side, I found myself in a large room. And I mean, a large room. It was a circular room, immensely high. It felt almost dizzying just looking up at how tall it went. Across the walls, there were bookshelves – filled to the brim with all sorts of books – which also stretched immensely high alongside the walls. "...What did I just… Walk into?"
This felt like some sort of archive. On a quick examination, the books stored in the bookshelves were all of varying thickness and size. Some were small, some were large, some were as thick as dictionaries in my previous life, some were so thin it looked like they were made up of nothing more but the cover and a single page.
None of the books had any labels on them or an author even – which was rather… Strange. One would assume with a book 'collection' this enormous, you'd be able to find all sorts of topics and authors. Well, technically the topics in the books were findable, just not on the books themselves. Every shelf in the bookshelves had a small brass plaque next to them with a topic carved into it. Looking to the closest shelf to me, I saw the word 'Nature' carved. Throwing my gaze over to another shelf I saw the word 'Life' carved into the plaque.
Not too far from that one, was a plaque with the word 'Beyond' carved into it.
And so on, and so on.
Honestly, just naming all the topics listed on these plaques would take forever for me to do. One could only imagine how long it'd take for you to go through all of the books themselves. I carefully moved through the room, observing the bookshelves and the books in them. Some of the bookshelves had ladders that stretched on high pressed against them, others had desks that were covered in papers and what looked like book covers on them – kind of messily laying there.
"These covers and papers… Was someone… Did someone make all these books on the shelves..?" I threw my gaze around at the enormous bookshelves again.
"Well, Odale definitely would love to see this…" I thought, gently chuckling to myself.
My gaze wandered around, with my attention eventually falling onto the middle of the room. At the center was an area that was on a slightly lower elevation, with stairs in a full circle leading down to it. At the dead center of the room, was a single chair – or… Throne? Well, it was a lot fancier than the average chair, being decorated with gold and some red jewels, but I wasn't sure if it was fancy enough to be called a 'throne'. Certainly not 'ordinary' enough to be simply called a 'chair'.
Carefully, I moved down the stairs and towards the chair. In its seat was a small item – a totem… of sorts. On a quick examination from a distance, it looked to have been carved out of wood with some white and golden gems embedded into it. Most strangely of all, I could sense magical energy coming off of it – though, it was very, very faint and weak. "Some kind of magical relic or something maybe?"
I thought, slowly approaching the totem in the chair.
Getting a closer look – I examined it a bit more carefully with my gaze. The paint on the totem was very, very well preserved, showing absolutely zero signs of fading or anything. "I… Suppose that makes sense. This whole place looks to be in quite a pristine condition. I'm not surprised that the items here show no signs of age."
But then again — who could say just how long this place has been here for?
The text on the surface that granted me access to this place was quite faded and just barely readable enough for me to make it out.
Well, I guess the age of this place didn't really matter.
Looking back down at the totem, I shed a slight sweat before hesitantly lifting up my free hand and moving it towards the totem. I knew it was better to leave it – not touch it no matter what. That I should just ignore it, ignore this whole place and just – leave. However, there was some part of me that simply didn't wish… to leave. Some part of me that wanted to know what exactly this place I had found was and… What this small totem was.
Picking it up, I carefully lifted the totem up.
I examined it from all of its sides, before exhaling. "Just a… wooden totem with some gems in it. Nothing out of the ordinary really…" I thought, before moving my arm back down to place the totem back where I had taken it from. However, right as I was about to place it back, my grip around the totem tightened a little more – for just a split second.
And as soon as it did…
I felt a sudden sharp sensation. I let go of the totem immediately, the totem dropping to the ground before quickly gripping my spear and looking all around me. I felt something — a presence. It was for a mere moment, but something had appeared in the room with me. Something… Unusual. Then, I heard a gentle 'swoosh' sound from behind me. Looking back and then down, I shed a slight sweat. The gems embedded in the wooden totem turned to dust, flowing towards me and seeping into my body. "What on earth…?"
I thought.
Did I unknowingly just absorb some sort of power?
Was the… Was the totem cursed? Did I just get cursed or something?
Before I could think of any other possibilities, a window appeared before me. Then another. Then another. And another, and another, and another — within a second or two, I lost count of how many windows appeared before me, all with the same message.
[ WARNING ]
An Unknown force has been detected within the Vessel.
It is recommended that the Vessel finds a way to neutralise the unknown force as fast as possible.
[ WARNING ]
"...I might genuinely have just gotten cursed." I thought, before looking down at my right hand. For a moment I was lost in my thoughts. Then, I felt the same momentary presence as before behind me – causing me to bolt around, swinging my spear at the presence, only to slash through nothing but air. "Am I going insane..? There is no way this is just paranoia, right?"
It felt real.
Too real to be just a figment of my imagination.
Something was up. And I had no way of knowing if it was good or bad. The warning windows kept appearing before me more and more, until they suddenly stopped. Then, in an instant all of them disappeared. I was beyond confused at this point. What was even happening right now? Seriously, was I imagining things?
Don't worry, you are not going insane.
A sudden voice spoke.
I freaked out, gripping my spear tightly and looking all over the place, searching for whoever could have said that. The room appeared to be empty – but I didn't trust that. "Who's there?... Where are you?"
I am not your enemy. You can lower the spear. I heard a rather snarky exhale. It isn't like you'd actually be able to use it against me anyway.
"What do you mean?" I sharpened my gaze, gripping the spear a bit more tightly before activating 'Overworld Detection' on maximum power to try and find whoever was in the room with me at the moment. However, nothing. I picked up no one but myself and Regaria in my shadow. Other than us both, there was no one else in the room.
Which couldn't be possible.
That voice had to come from someone.
Maybe whoever the voice belonged to, was using some sort of special magic or skill to conceal their presence?
A very plausible theory. Unfortunately, it is not the answer in this case. The voice spoke again, before exhaling lightly. You are unable to detect my presence, because I am technically not in the room with you.
That's literally impossible.
I was hearing this voice, crystal clear in the room with me. There was no way it wasn't in the room with me at this moment. "I have no idea what you're talking about, but I will find you. So it's better to just show yourself—"
I heard a loud, almost disappointed sounding exhale.
Right. I heard a clap, as if someone had just clapped their hands together. This just won't do. Then, I heard a snap – In an instant, my spear vanished from my hands, which surprised me. I immediately tried to create a new one, however nothing. No reaction. A window appeared in front of me.
[ WARNING ]
An Unknown interference with the Vessel's abilities has been detected.
Initiating—
[ WARNING ]
The window glitched, before disappearing. Apologies Avatar, however I'll have to cut your connection for a moment to explain this situation. Then, the room suddenly turned into pitch black darkness. I frantically looked all around me, slightly panicking. "God damnit Faofa…! You just had to go and touch things you didn't understand or that looked suspicious!"
While I admit it was rather foolish to interact with my small container so carelessly, it was hardly suspicious. I heard a voice behind me. I immediately flipped around, only to be met with a strange, golden silhouette. It was of a human figure, about the same height as me. The silhouette was 'dressed' in thick robes, with its arms behind its back and messy hair, which was clipped together into two long 'tails' at the back, that gently flowed in the air, as if it was under water.
The silhouette had no face on its head, and yet I could tell it was staring at me. I remained silent for a bit – shedding a slight sweat as I stared back at the silhouette. After a little while of silence, the silhouette tilted its head to the side while still staring at me. Is something the matter?
I remained silent for a moment.
Then, I opened my mouth for a moment – before closing it, thinking about my words carefully.
"...Who are you?"
The silhouette moved its head back up. My name is unimportant. In fact, by now it has probably been forgotten. However, for the sake of ease, you may refer to me as…
The silhouette went silent for a moment, before a pair of golden chains appeared from the darkness around us, quickly wrapping around the silhouettes arms as it lifted them into the air. Once the chains were wrapped around his arms, it lowered them back down to his sides. The Ancient One.