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Leo stumbled backward as he couldn't understand why this voice sounded familiar. The boy who was in front of him had a devilish appearance with long black hair and a purple streak on the side giving him a unique charm. His eyes seemed to contain the galaxy within them as they burned with ambition. Then a crazy thought struck Leo.
"Wait... De... DEVLIN!?"
"..."
He was alarmed to find out that this boy who had to be only 15 was actually his best friend.
"How could this be possible! Devlin, what happened to you?"
"What do you mean, I should say the same thing to you. If I didn't see you with my own eyes then I would've thought this was insane."
Devlin responded as he slowly recovered from the astonishment. He knew that he couldn't have been reincarnated into another person's body since there were no past memories of another person. But then how was it possible for him to grow his right arm back and gain eyesight in his right eye with no scar left behind. All of a sudden, he went back into shock as he remembered the whole reason behind why they got here.
'Was the fountain of youth not just a conspiracy used to lure in those old fogies'
The next sentence reassured his disposition as Calvin also claimed "It seems the fountain of youth is for real bro! Hahahaha and it's even better then the rumors suggested."
Calvin's spirited expression came back, seeing that Devlin's body no longer had the horrifying crippled appearance that he always had on Earth.
Suddenly, Leo quickly checked his pants, heaving a sigh of relief momentarily after. Devlin cast a curious glance at him, "What in tarnation was that for?"
"Ayy mate, I'm just worried my fellow dragon down under shrunk along with me. Luckily everything's A-Ok," Leo explained with a thumbs up.
Devlin eyes held disgust as he thought to himself, 'Why did I have to grab this buffoon out of all three brothers!?"
"Oh yeah, what were you looking at Leo?"
They were in the middle of a hallway draped with a long red tattered carpet. There were cracked crystals on the side which looked similar to the ones they saw back at the chasm but much smaller and colorless now.
At the end of the hall was a section in the middle leading upwards to the second floor leading to an inner sanctum. While the other two sections split up around the middle section going down into an underground basement it seemed. Leo was nearby and decided to take a look and maybe find Devlin if possible until he came upon these different paths which made him pause in deep thought.
"I was hoping to find you and maybe even find a secret hidden within these ruins so that I could kill two bird with one stone"
Leo cheekily smiled as he glanced towards the stairs leading up to the inner sanctum.
"Bro, I'm gonna check the top so you should check the underground then we'll meet back in this same spot.
Devlin nodded and they both separated from each other. As the two outer paths intersected he could see steps leading down into a dungeon.
Devlin carefully went down the stairs and entered into a dark room. Once his foot stepped into the room, it was if the torches on the side were motion-censored and they lit up on the side of the room with a dark purple flame.
It seemed to have a huge coffin in the center and a huge banner at the end of the room. On the banner, it had a symbol of a bloody crown. The top of the coffin also had a few hieroglyphics engraved on the side that seemed to have lost their use.
Devlin approached the coffin and had a sudden sense of familiarity with the room, however, it couldn't be possible since this was obviously his first time ever being here.
He looked around the room a couple of times before this, but he couldn't seem to find anything so he came to the conclusion that everything valuable is locked in the coffin. He slid his hand to the side of the stone slab and something strange happened next.
The hieroglyphics that seemed to lackluster instantly began to shine and the stone slab disappeared into thin air revealing a shiny black skeleton wearing a glamorous Aristocrat Robe.
Devlin felt he had definitely hit the jackpot this time as he took the outfit off and quickly put it on himself with an excited expression. It was a little bit big on him and showed his chest and unformed abs but it was better then nothing. Once he put it on he felt his body get 10x lighter and the silver shoulder plates didn't feel heavy at all. Then he thoroughly searched the skeleton to see if there was something on him that could be worth a fortune. He noticed a pearl black ring with a gold line.
He grabbed the ring and slipped it on his finger thinking it could be a good sale later. A thin needle popped out without any warning from the inside of the ring and punctured Devlin's finger, startling him.
"Welcome to the Codex, please identify your name new user"
This stunned Devlin as he couldn't believe his eyes. 'Did the ring just talk to me?' He inwardly thought.
'Yes owner, you may call me Codex'
Devlin realized that this was a precious treasure that the whole world back on earth would go crazy over. Luckily, Leo couldn't hear the conversation that was going on or he would've thought Devlin was crazy for talking to a ring.
"I'm Devlin"
"Welcome Devlin"
"Codex, do you have any idea where we are at?"
"You are currently in a place called the Lost Sahara. It's known for the mysterious relics that come from out of nowhere as well as the cold and desolate climate. It's also within the Universe, known as the Interstellar Planar."
Devlin was shocked to find out he was in a whole different world.
He returned back to the center of the ruins with an outlook of the place they were at. He glanced around and noticed many shipwrecks scattered about on the ruins surrounding the cold desert. There was even a plane crash in the distance that looked like it happened several years ago. With a look of bewilderment, he knew all of these relics came from the earth. This essentially meant there was a connection between the two worlds.
"Can you tell me what connections does this place have with Earth"
"I do not have access to that information. My systems are currently limited to a select amount of information due to the user not having enough power to cross the next threshold."
This made Devlin's impression sink as he was hoping he could gain a better concept of what this place was like. His mood still was delightful as he knew this ring held countless information regarding how to possibly get out of here.
His curiosity piqued whenever the Codex mentioned something about his power having to cross a threshold. He had no idea what the system meant by that but he couldn't care less as he would eventually figure it out by roaming this new world.
Eventually, he got tired of waiting and decided to sit down beside a column nearby and think about there next plan of action.