Zane Black stretched his lean body on the old itchy bed. It had taken a long time for him to wake up from his sleep, unlike back in his previous years.
"I'm indeed getting older."
He let out a long sigh and sat up. Zane Black felt like he was an old man. He was just 50 plus, the age where most of his age mates were in their prime.
However, his eyes seemed to contain that wisdom gotten with the passage of time together with a weary look that all elderly tend to have.
Right in front of him was a sight that only he could see; a pair of cold lifeless grey eyes stared back at him with a look similar to that of a dead fish, with no hint of emotion, desire or a soul. Aside from the eyes was a panel, one that had been visible to him for over forty years.
{Name: Zane Black Valois
Race: Human
Bloodline: Sphinx
Class: Level 28 Ice Mage
Subclass: Level 49 Alchemist }
Zane didn't scan his other attributes or skills, his eyes going straight to the blinking red light in his message panel. Opening it with a thought, he was greeted by 15 messages from Alda, Phoenix's right-hand woman.
"Ha." Zane sighed. He knew that black-bellied royal already had people watching him. He ignored this since he owed it to him anyway.
Befriending Phoenix Alder, a direct descendant of the Empire's royal family and a rare genius of the leader class with the title of Primus of Berkeley, used up all the luck he had in his life.
He would always deny it but Phoenix was the person that kept him sane in his darkest times. The boy had abandoned multiple chances to make a good impression of the Emperor to accompany him for fear that he might commit suicide.
Zane didn't tell him that he wouldn't dare commit suicide anyway, the cost of his life had been so expensive so tossing it away so recklessly was pointless.
After his short reverie, Zane left the bed to prepare for the day. Washing up, he quickly tucked in the unlimited scroll, carried his bag and went downstairs. The inn was thankfully less noisy than the night before and for a weary man such as Zane, tranquillity was what he desired.
He sat down at the counter and said to the young girl in the maid costume, "The usual."
Zane briefly scanned her and thought about her level. It wouldn't be so high though, since her service was not comparable to the high levelled maids at home.
As he ate, Zane glanced around at those in the inn. Watching people had once been a favourite hobby of his. People dressed in all sorts of styles walked to and fro the inn. Some wore simple modern clothes; a shirt, a pair of trousers and average boots.
'Probably the mages, healers.' Zain thought.
The others were either donning armours with all kinds of weapons or wore some other kind of specialized clothing. One such was a young man in Daoist robes sitting by a table sipping tea.
'He's probably a martial artist from a good sect that came out for experience. With the way three middle-aged men at that corner are keeping an eye on him, he's probably from a notable family.'
Zane's eyes wandered to another gruff looking man in animal skin clothing. A cruel gash adorned his face from his eye to his neck making him look like a boorish warrior. Zane would bet all his money that he was a Barbarian and from the way other warriors in the inn were giving him a wide berth, he must be a 'good' one.
The ruins of Phrygia were a place where all kinds of people gathered. Even as the war continued to rage on, the Temple of Reflections was a ruin whose treasure boxes were never lacking.
A Druid had found a Legacy skill book in the temple and thousands had flocked in later but that was three years ago. However, groups of people still circled the area hoping to get the golden goose. As such, most of the inns close by never lacked any patrons.
Zane could understand the thought process of these people, after all he had chased what many people would call a dream for twenty years, half of which he had spent in these ancient ruins.
Zane left the inn amidst the stares of the people. The mumbles were less than when he came ten years ago. It was quite amazing how his face was burned into the mind of many Alliance Citizens that they could easily recognise him on sight.
It won't end, he knew. The more popular and outstanding his younger brother became, the more he would be placed as a foil, a tool to mirror against him. Zane sighed once more. Yet another person he owed so much to but it would all be over today.
Zane followed a path to the ruins and headed underground through a familiar cavern he had discovered sometime back. At the end of the path was a huge stone door which he now stood in front of.
Runes and scribbles were marked all over the door's surface giving it a surreal and mysterious feeling. Beside the door was a rectangular box that had different faces carved on it making it look like a keypad with faces. Zane sat down close to the door, patiently waiting for the opportune moment.
Two hours later, the Sun was reaching its peak as the day was about to shift to noon. Zane brought a blood-red crystal from his bag and aimed it at the bright rays of light that had managed to sneak in the underground from a few crevices in the ceiling.
With precise control and wrist movement, Zane calmly directed the light towards six of the faces on the rectangular box, in turns of succession, after the Six kings of Phrygia.
The stone door creaked open and its huge interior revealed itself. A gloomy darkness reminiscent of the underworld was revealed to the open. One look and one would feel a creepy feeling on their body, due to this extreme darkness.
The eerie darkness might have sent shivers down the spine of many but Zane was familiar, and you could even say, comfortable in this darkness. His outstanding memory helped him bypass the traps in the darkness moving deeper into the hall.
The monsters in Midas castle were not nocturnal. They awoke with the light and Zane was not in the mood to fight any as he was in a race against time. He walked in the darkness till he reached the worship room that was quite far away from the entrance. Even so, he still didn't relax his guard.
This was the twelfth hour of the twelfth day in the twelfth month of the twelfth lunar year. Zane knew that if he didn't succeed today, he might not get another chance like this.