Stygian Mage

Soren and the others walked through the gate and came upon a dark corridor. It was not long, as they could clearly see its other end not far from them. They walked to another side without any delay while still being careful about any traps that could be there. Though this Vestige was supposed to be left as an Inheritance, there was no guarantee that there would be no danger inside.

They walked through the corridor while being as careful as they could be, but, in the end, nothing happened as they arrived safely to an averagely sized cave-hall. This cave-hall was dimly lit but there was actually no light source to be seen around; it seemed to be just lit without any source. And even though Soren and the others traveled through the dark corridor, the light in the cave didn’t bother their eyes at all; there was no adjustment period.

As they entered the hall, the first thing they saw was a bunch of paths, each seemingly leading to another cave. Combining the information they already had before and what they found out after coming here, most of the split paths had to lead to the core of the Vestige, but some of them could also lead to the entrance that the Beast was using; while there was a chance that some path could just lead to a dead-end. They didn’t know the reason behind this layout as it didn’t make any sense to create something like this if one was going to leave an Inheritance. But it was not something that they would bother with, as it didn’t matter what that Rank 2 Initiator was thinking; they were here only for the things they could get from the Vestige.

…

While everyone’s attention was on the split paths, Soren was looking somewhere else. The moment he had entered, he had noticed the white mist in the air. It was quite sparse but was also dense enough to be visible to Soren’s eyes. Of course, Soren knew what it was; it was Mana. Because of his ‘Powered Vision’, he had the ability to see Mana more clearly than most other people. Although Mana could be visible to other people’s eyes too, the density needed for that was manyfold of the density that Soren required. He could even see the Mana released from any dead Beast which was impossible for normal people; of course, unless they had some special ability like Soren to see Mana.

What surprised Soren right now was that the Mana density inside the cave was much higher than the outside. It did make sense when he thought about it, though; it was, after all, the resting place of a Rank 2 Initiator.

But one thought kept lingering in his mind after seeing this effect—could it be possible to gather Mana from the surroundings using some kind of Spell Formation? And did this place have that kind of Spell Formation?

“Do we split up?” Hound asked as he looked around all the split paths. His voice brought Soren out from his fantasy as he focused on the problem that they were currently facing.

There were around 10 or so paths in the cave-hall so it was not possible to go through all of them one by one in the time span they had. And mostly, if they chose the wrong path and went out to where all the Rogue Initiators and the Affiliated Initiators were gathered, they wouldn’t even have the chance to run away.

There was truly a difference between the Initiators from the backwater area and the Initiators from a developed area, but it was mostly of equipment and items. When it came to pure stat development, there was almost no difference, given they cultivated with the technique of the same grade. As such; even though they also had two Rank 1 Initiators among them, they wouldn’t be able to run away when facing so many enemies at once.

“We should split up. It will depend on each person’s luck then, instead of everyone dying together by choosing the wrong path.” Soren said as he also checked out every opening. With what little knowledge he had about these things, he was trying to figure out which path did not lead to outside. If the path he chose did not lead to the core of the Vestige, at most, he would just not get any advantage. But if the path he chose somehow led to the outside with so many Initiators trying to get in…..

“Ok. Let’s split up.” Others also agreed as they soon started choosing their own path.

Soren decided to use the wind flow to choose his path. If one of the openings led to the outside, then there should be some wind flowing through that path. But he also knew that it might not work as it was not confirmed that the other entrance had opened yet. There was one other way of choosing paths in these cases—by throwing a rock in the path and checking the echoing sound, but Soren was not experienced enough in these situations to distinguish between the sounds; most of all, this plan also had the same flaw as the previous one, so he decided not to use it.

Soren checked the caves one by one while others were doing the same. It took him a little while to check them all because he had to carefully feel the wind moving, but, in the end, he failed to find any difference between them. This meant that either he couldn’t tell the difference at all or that the other gate was still closed. To make sure of it though, he also used some dust to confirm the wind flow but the result was the same—no wind flow in any of the paths.

Finally, he had no other choice now but to choose one path randomly. The others also had chosen their paths, though Soren didn’t know what method they used to confirm its safety. So, with everyone finished choosing, they all went in without any wait; Soren also took a deep breath and walked in.

……….

Soren kept walking in the dark cave with his heart pounding in his chest. He could see the path very clearly even in the dark because of his eyes but the thought that he might just go out of the Vestige in front of so many Initiators made him truly terrified. It didn’t matter how much stronger he had become recently or how strong his Bloodline was, once he was in that situation, there was no saving him.

He walked one step after another while thinking of a contingency plan in case he was really that unlucky. After walking for a few more meters, he saw a small light ahead. His heart almost stopped beating on the thought that he had really chosen that one unlucky path amongst so many. But he didn’t go back, as he hadn’t confirmed it yet and there was a chance that the light might not be from the outside. Bracing himself for the worst and hoping for the best, he moved towards the light source. It slowly got bigger and bigger in his eyes as he kept moving closer. Finally, he reached the end of the path; but he didn’t go through the opening yet, instead, he hid in the corner, wanting to confirm before moving in.

As he peeked in through the corner, he finally saw what was on the other side. He saw a huge cave-hall, very much similar to the one he came from. The sight of this cave-hall instead of the blue sky made him heave a big sigh of relief. His heart also slowly calmed down and he regained his calm demeanor.

He moved inside the hall and checked it out properly. It was not that big—around 10 square meters in area. The ceiling of the cave hall was also quite low which further strengthened his hypothesis about that Rank 2 Initiator being a ‘Dwarf’. The Mana inside this cave-hall was slightly denser than the one on the outside, which Soren noticed and then quickly moved the thought to the back of his mind; this was not important right now. There was a strange Spell Formation drawn on the floor right in the center, and also a door on the other side of the hall. Soren didn’t check the formation first but went to check the walls and the door on the opposite side. He checked the walls for any traces of traps and then checked out the door which seemed like it was shut tightly. He checked out every part of it but, in the end, couldn’t find anything that might open it.

Finally, he moved on to the last thing—the Spell Formation in the center. Soren had little to no knowledge about Spell Formations so there was no use even if he wanted to check it out. He had no way to confirm if it was dangerous or not, or how to even use it. He had an inkling that the Spell Formation was somehow related to the closed door in the hall. He first checked out the outer rims of the Formation and then slowly moved to the center.

There was a circle-shaped clearing in the center of the formation which seemed like it was made for someone to stand in. After checking everything out and making Isaac record it, he decided to stand inside that clearing; not knowing if it was a good idea or not but having no other option, he did it anyway.

A clicking sound occurred as he walked to the center and stood in the clearing. He didn’t know if it was some trap that he had activated or something else but the sound really made him anxious. He didn’t make any sudden rash decision though and calmly stood in that clearing; waiting for any change in the situation.

Slowly, his vision became blurry and everything he looked at started having a green tint. He suddenly realized something and looked up at the ceiling. There was a green light pillar falling from the ceiling which was currently encasing him inside. The green tint was because of the color of the light pillar and the blurry image was because of the refraction from light. The light also had no effect on his skin as he couldn’t tell if there was any light pillar or not if he just closed his eyes.

Isaac, can you check what this light is?

“Can’t confirm the existence of any light; I am unable to sense it, Master.”

Soren was a little surprised to hear that; it was one thing if Isaac couldn’t figure out the details of the light pillar but he couldn’t even sense that it existed when Soren could clearly see it in front of his eyes.

Was it because of the difference in the cultivation level?

The only conclusion Soren could come to was that it was because of the cultivation level difference. He was only a Rank 0 Initiator right now and this green light pillar’s existence was due to the actions of an Initiator with a much higher cultivation level.

It’s fine if you can’t sense it. Just pay attention to any changes in my body.

Soren decided to just wait and see; it was most probably nothing harmful, which he could conclude from the information he had about this Vestige. Also, as he stood inside that light pillar for some time, he could confirm that it was not something that would harm him.

Time passed by….

5 minutes.

…

10 minutes.

…

15 minutes.

Soren stood inside that green pillar of light for about 15 minutes. Now, he was starting to get worried. He was not sure if the whole mechanism was working properly; it had been quite a long time since this place was made after all. In the end, he decided to wait for a little more and then walk away if nothing happened.

A few more minutes passed by and then the light pillar slowly faded away. Soren’s vision turned clear once again and there was no green tint anymore. He didn’t move from his position though as he was not sure if the process was finished or not; he didn’t want to screw anything up by being hasty.

Suddenly, another clicking sound occurred as the closed gate in front of Soren slowly opened up. The accumulated dust on the door dispersed in the air making it hard for Soren to see the other side. So, he waited a while for the dust to settle down and then walked through the gate.

There was another hall on the other side of the gate which was very similar to the last one. One difference was that the Spell Formation in this cave-hall was on an elevated platform on the other end of the hall; the platform seemed like something someone would use to sit on. One more difference was that this hall did not have any other closed gate; the only exit was the one that Soren had used to enter. The final thing that Soren noticed was that the Mana density in this room was much higher than anything he had ever witnessed before. The white mist filled the cave-hall from one end to another. The dense Mana made Soren feel refreshed and energetic. He could tell that cultivating in this hall would bring his cultivation speed to a whole new level.

But, it was not the right time for thoughts like that. He had to first do what he came here to do. He could not afford to spend too much time here; that could be deadly for him.

…

Soren removed those thoughts from his mind for now and slowly walked forward while checking out the hall. Moving forward, he came close to the platform and then focused on the Spell Formation drawn on it. Although he had no knowledge about the Spell Formations, he could tell that this Formation was not the one causing the high density of Mana in the hall; based on just one simple reason—Mana density around the Spell Formation was not the highest.

Removing that possibility, Soren decided to focus on the whole platform rather than just the Spell Formation.

He could tell that the platform with the Spell Formation was made to sit on, so he decided to do just that. He had already confirmed that the Vestige was not dangerous in any way. So, he decided to first try what came to his mind and then he could think of another solution if it didn’t work.

Soren gave the whole platform another glance and then sat in the middle of the Spell Formation; facing the door that he came in through. There was no clicking sound this time which made him think that he might be wrong. But suddenly, unknown to Soren, the whole Spell Formation lit up with a dim white light; he couldn’t see the light as he was sitting right on top of it.

Unable to detect the light and seeing that nothing was happening, Soren decided to check the Spell Formation thoroughly, and then move out if nothing worked. He slightly adjusted his sitting position so that the Spell Formation was visible and then started to check it out. But as he looked down towards the Spell Formation, he suddenly saw a small face made of white light coming out of his chest.

A high pitched scream resounded through the hall as Soren screamed loudly and sprung back up on his feet while jumping away a few meters; which had become slightly easier for him these days because of his increased physical stats.

Soren landed stably on his feet and then quickly looked back towards the Spell Formation with shocked eyes and his heart beating fast. But what he saw there made him dumbfounded. There was a small man standing on top of the Spell Formation. The man was around 1 meter tall and looked intangible; completely made of white light. Soren could tell that he was a human as he could not see any distinctive feature of a dwarf on him. What made Soren freak out, even more, was that this small man was not wearing any clothes; he was butt naked.