That evening John was sitting in the living room deep in thought. He was wondering how he would inform his parents that he had to leave. Two years had passed so who knew what had happened. John was not an overly boastful person but he had been called to the painted world for a purpose. He had also become compatible with Vemuri's swords and he knew about the ancient battle that the old man had been in and that sinister ritual. Was he supposed to stop something similar from happening again. Was he the chosen one. He laughed a it at that thought.
"Don't let it go to your head." he said to himself.
"You should let it go to your head, and do everything you can to stop it from happening again." Noira said in his head.
"If it goes to my head I might become too complacent."
"As long as you are aware of your purpose, that's good. I allowed you to see the battle for a reason." she retorted.
"That was you?"
"Off course it was me. But that was a long time ago. Unfortunately we were unable to destroy that power."
"What do you mean you didn't destroy it, he sliced that old dudes head clean off."
"Such naivety. We interrupted the ritual as such he had not inherited that ancient power, otherwise he would have become something akin to a god."
John was dumbstruck, he was supposed to destroy a gods power. That level of strength was unfathomable to him. After having practiced magic for a few months he already felt powerful enough but godhood was another realm of reality. Noira rolled her eyes and started to give John the finer details.
Vemuri was a young man when he discovered the sword and as such Noira was aware of all his experiences from that time. He grew overly powerful developing his sage like power. He was already one of the most powerful people in the world but by the time he discovered the schemes that were going on in the shadows it was too late.
The scenes were playing out in Johns mind. However it was not like he was watching a movie. He had been taken back to the darkness where he had watched that battle. The scenes that played out were controlled by Noira. There was a young man walking along a plain with mountains in the distance. He had arrived in this world in a manner similar to John. He had not set out to be a hero but was curious by nature and after coming to this world he generally wanted to learn more about the world.
He joined groups of scholars to venture into ancient ruins and to discover ancient relics. One party he had joined was very different. It was a time of war and scholars had been tasked to find ways to subdue enemy forces. Rumours of a sealed location had been discovered and Vemuri was part of the team that ventured into it. A dozen or so scholars had been tried to undo the set of seals on the door. It was a big bronze door that looked to be from an ancient desolate era. Red fog was seeping from the tiny cracks on the walls as well as the tiny space between the doors but there seemed to be a thin barrier that prevented the fog from passing through. It aura made one shiver at first contact.
By the time vemuri got there they were just about to finish the final seal so they stood on the side waiting. However the moment the seal was undone the the red fog that was behind the barrier was like it had been uncompressed and the fifteen or so people who had been at the front started bleeding from their orifices and died instantly. The next scene that played out Vemuri and a group of others had just finished making a seal and were discussing the way forward.
"We should forget about this place and say we didn't find anything," one of them said.
"I agree, I felt like my life was being sucked away, what was that anyway. Its too dangerous."
"I'm sure if we learn how to use it, we would end the war," one of them said.
"You don't even know what this is, we barely got through the door." Vemuri said.
"Majority rules, all those who agree we should seal this place and forget about it."
"It's should never have been unsealed in the first place." one said.
"I'll take this secret to my grave," another agreed. Many agreed and made a seal and walked away.
Noira's voice transmitted to John's head. "Unbeknownst to us some wanted the glory that would come with making such a find for the kingdom, and claimed it in front of the king. It was deemed a secret project and as such very few scholars and the higher ups in the kings inner circle knew of what
was going on."
After that Vemuri had taken his time to find out all that he could about that power. He visited the elven archives since they were known for their meticulous details. He honed his magic from the elves and went through the records. What he learned though premature made him shudder. It was not certain but the thought that his discovery might be real meant that the threat had to be taken seriously. He then started to look for ways to destroy that power. He had found ancient maps that showed that what was located in that location was just one of the keys to the actual seal.
He knew that they had just made a verbal agreement to not disclose but humans were fickle beings and that it would not take long for it to come to light. He was not to worried since when they were making a seal, he added a layer of magic that no human could ever hope to crack. His official journeys started there. News of the human who could use magic started to spread and many acknowledged that a sage had descended.
He traveled all over the world and the more he learnt the more ominous the feeling. When he finally returned he went to see his former colleagues to ask whether thing were still under wraps and he sighed when he was told that all was well. However he few who had sided with him the first time had already turned sides. The next thing he did was to look for all the keys but when he didn't find the first one he felt that something was wrong. For Vemuri he was not even tempted to take the power for himself as long as the seals were still in place he was planning on keeping it that way. By being a sage he had already scratched the surface of immortality or a very long life.
All eight keys were missing. He knew he had been betrayed and went directly to the king. The next scene that showed was between the king and Vemuri.
"Welcome Young sage, your reputation preceeds you."
"Your majesty, thank you for seeing me on such short notice." he said bowing, "I will not waste his majesties time. Some in the kingdom have set their eyes on an ancient sealed power sir. So sinister that it would threaten all life in the world."
"I am aware." The moment the words were said he knew that the scheme ran quite deep., "but alas it seems we cannot get it even if we want to. We don't know the location, tell me young sage, do you know where it is."
Even in the darkness a glimmer of light can be seem. Vemuri thought. He knew the location but he was not wiling to share it. He tried his best to hide the glee on his face but that did not escape the kings eyes and the look of greed came over him.
"Thank you young sage, with you here we will become the most powerful kingdom the world has ever seen, now cough it up."
"Never. " Vemuri said flat out, the king, angered by this summoned his guards to restrain him, torture would work as well. But Vemuri was a sage and the knights of the royal guards were nothing in front of him and he quickly escaped. As long as they didn't have the location he would not be the one to tell them. But something happened that was out his calculations.