As I keep going through the Stone Hall I can't stop myself from noticing the salty yet dry smell of my surroundings.

" Well that much is expected. Considering how much I had to climb down through those cracks, I wouldn't be surprised if I'm at sea level right now. Maybe even lower. "

I comment to no one but myself.

It is an old habit of mine to think out loud when exploring ruins such as this one.

Maybe it's to prevent myself from losing part of my sanity, as it's not unusual for me to stay hours at end or even days within the confinements of these old and well, not particularly friendly walls.

I approach the wall as I place my recently activated lantern on the ground and brush my hand on the wall.

"It's old... really old".

A smile instantly appears on my face as I recognize the inscriptions on the wall. "These are the same inscriptions you can find in the four Great Temples." I quickly take out my personal journal from my backpack and check. Although I personally have never seen them myself, considering the only ones allowed in the most important and ancient parts of the Temples are a very few important individuals. Nonetheless, I check the drawings of some fellow archeologists whom were lucky enough to do study those ancient parts themselves.

"YES!"

I shout from the top of my lungs as the drawings do in fact match with the inscriptions on these very walls.

I gaze at the ceiling looking at the small opening which I dropped out of. "Finally I might have found something worthwhile. I can barely believe there was something this amazing on this island."

"Central Island" or "The Island" as most people call it is a fairly large island right in the center of the four continents. It's a pretty plain island without any special characteristics that mostly survives on agriculture and fishing, sometimes working as a resupply point for large ship vessels when travelling to opposite continents.

Still, ignoring a certain "Event" which happens once a year The Island has no special characteristics or worthwhile activities. Or so I thought.

Since the ship I was travelling needed to resupply I on a whim decided to explore the island, mostly to clear my head since it was not the first time I had been here. But since its me we are dealing with I had to venture myself in a cave close to the middle of the island.

At first there was not much. I activated my lantern, a fairly small device maybe the size of a cage for grasshoppers that uses a small fire gem as a source of light, but except for a couple wolfs that were resting it was a rather uneventful cave.

After I threw some dry meat at the rascals that started glaring intently at me I proceeded to go deeper into the cave. The wolfs on the island were mostly left alone and would do the same if not disturbed, it was idiotic if not outright evil to kill such creatures when I was the one who was bothering them.

A couple more meters ahead I noticed a couple cracks on the cave. That alone wouldn't be anything special but I somehow noticed the rock work in the deeper cracks along the cave floor it was barely visible but after I checked closer, it was unmistakably man made. I kept walking eyes open for any large openings or holes. Eventually I found a decently hidden, barely visible opening.

It was barely my size. But that didn't stop me. After I took out my backpack, so I could actually fit and prepared a rope to more easily climb out, I went head first, figuratively, down the opening and 30 minutes later reached the Hall.

"From what I can tell the entrance collapsed. Must have been at least some thousand years since then. I couldn't see anything that resembles an entrance at the surface. Either way I can't wait to see what is up head."

I stored my journal on my backpack and picked up my lantern. As I made my way alongside the hall I kept a close eye on the walls, however there was not much to keep an eye on since... "All these inscriptions on the walls are decorative... well at least that's the conclusion they came up with." The archeologists who studied the temples did manage to translate a very raw alphabet, if it's actually correct I wouldn't know since they could only work with a very limited number of locations and symbols. I wouldn't be able to do better, so I can't really judge them.

As I move forward my sight lands on the different cracks and debris alongside the walls. "Doesn't seem like the walls will give out in fact... the damage seem to be getting less and less severe."

After a while I arrive at the end of the hall I found myself in a circular room, immediately I notice a contrast to the path I was previously walking on. The stone is almost impeccable I couldn't see any significant damage.

"The stone is being hardened and preserved by elemental energy. I can feel a faint amount being moved trough it. But... that doesn't make sense. The Island doesn't have any natural Elemental Energy sources. Heck that is why it's the least likely place to have any Elementalists born. Then why?"

I couldn't give it much thought considering there was a more important aspect to the room I had just walked upon.

"A circle of inscriptions."

The room itself didn't have much but there was a circle made with inscriptions and inside it was relatively smooth floor. I wouldn't say It had the sacrificial ritual vibe but it definitely seemed like it had a purpose.

Instinctively I take out my journal and carefully approach the circle. I then start translating to the best of my abilities. A couple minutes later I had a rough meaning of what was carved.

"He who seeks power, pay your blood to challenge the... warrior? I think. Maybe is King, knight, deity. I don't know I'm working only with context here. The symbol is not something which I have the translation of. Well I guess I should copy it then."

I quickly copy the symbols to my journal as I speak to myself.

"Power..." I say on a heavy tone. " I don't need power. Since I have no use for it, but then again maybe it means something else, maybe it's not power as in strength, maybe its something else entirely."

"Maybe it's what I'm looking for..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Ha screw it" I say as I store my journal and toss my backpack to a wall before taking out my dagger.

"I mean its not like anything is gonna happen... probably."

"And if it does, the energy flowing is too little for anything substantial to happen."

"Worst case scenario an elemental beast is formed or something. Even that is as likely as me beating a Higher Elementalist by myself."

I unsheathe my dagger as I surround the blade with Energy and proceed to stab the tip of my finger.

I approach the middle of room and let a drop of blood fall right in the center. I heightened my senses and increased the flow of energy through my body. I hold my dagger steady and stand on my ground.

"..."

All that could be heard were a couple more drops of blood which fell for a few more seconds.

"..."

"..."

"Guess I was right." As I check the energy flow of the area which remained unchanged, I lower my dagger and start moving towards my backpack.

"Well, I guess I can check some other things before I..." As I was finishing the sentence one more drop of blood dripped down my dagger. It then landed on the floor just as I'm about to leave the circle. Suddenly the air changed.

The flow change of energy was too fast for me to acknowledge, as the only thing I felt was the air and dust being sucked alongside me trough some sort of portal. The edges were made of some sort of black flames as they were the last thing I saw before crossing to the other side.

As I laid on the ground I could only notice the thing in front of me.

"..."

"A Knight?"