Arthur stayed at the back of the group. He looked back at the entrance and then around him, alert for any trouble.
He had a vision about the near future not so long ago while looking at items in a shop with Gray.
He saw himself and the others in a huge hall lit by light stones surrounded by many enemies with glowing blue eyes.
Arthur was worried. His visions are becoming more frequent and accurate. Most of the visions occur before he or the people around him gets in some kind of trouble.
A vision that shows the future was unheard of. He wanted to speak of it to someone but he was worried that he'll get weird looks.
He looked at the back of Seventeen, pondering whether to tell his instructor. 'Sir would understand right?', he thought. Seventeen had helped him with his attribute problem and other things.
Arthur took out Ghost from his storage ring and strapped the sword to his belt. They passed many light stands, the same ones in his vision.
"This place is looking pretty nice for a 3000-year-old ruin.", Robin remarked as he looked around with the light from the fireball created by Seventeen.
"Magia was used to reinforce this palace. I can feel it in these stones.", Seventeen said as he touched a mural on the wall. It showed some elves sitting under a tree that looked like Yggdrasil.
Soon they reached a bigger corridor that stretched on both sides. The walls were lined with the same light stands but these had light stones on them.
Seventeen pointed to one of them, "You think we can activate this?"
"Maybe. Some light stones lose their illuminating ability with time.", Alvin said as he examined it.
Seventeen shrugged, "Well. It doesn't hurt to try."
Ruth frowned, "What if it's a trap."
"Who would booby trap a light stand?", Seventeen rolled his eyes and touched the light stone. After a minute, the stone started glowing and gradually increased in brightness.
Suddenly the other light stones started glowing and soon the entire corridor was lit up in soft yellow light.
"Whoa.", Robin said in amazement. He had reason to be.
The walls were designed with intricate branches and vines with leaves and the ceiling looked like the canopy of a forest.
Suits of armor and a few statues stood beside the wall at different intervals. They walked some more distance before reaching some stairs that led down.
"What if the entrance we just came from was part of an upper floor?", Ruth asked as she peered into the darkness beyond the stairs. The light stones stopped at the top stair.
Alvin nodded, "That is a possibility. If this place is 3000 years old, it could be enough time for the whole palace to be buried underground with some parts of it sticking out of the ground."
They walked downstairs, guided by Alvin's light stone and Seventeen's fireball. Arthur looked behind at the lit corridor with the armors and statues before he followed the others deeper into the forgotten palace.
They walked downstairs for a few minutes and finally reached a bigger corridor. Ancient chandeliers hung from the ceiling and old cracked paintings and murals still adorned the walls.
Arthur stopped in front of a statue of a strange humanoid being. He was extremely muscular and stood over 9 feet on the pedestal. He wore what looked like leather breeches and beaded necklaces over his huge chest.
He held a staff in one hand and a battleax in the other. A huge scar ran across the stone chest of the statue.
His long hair flowed off his shoulder in braids and his face was rough but handsome. The most striking feature was the two long teeth that protruded from his lower jaw like tusks.
"An orc.", he said. He had only heard tales and legends of the great orcs.
"Indeed.", Ruth said as she gazed at the statue. "They were a mighty race whose raw strength rivaled the great Vahari. They were also a race truly loved by magia."
Alvin nodded in agreement, "Their warlocks were the greatest in the history of Arken. They had a higher affinity to natural magia than us elves."
"So what really happened to them?", Seventeen asked.
"They disappeared 3000 years ago. Probably whatever removed a huge chunk of evidence of that time also caused the orcs and few other races to become extinct.", Ruth answered.
"Other races? You mean the orcs weren't the only ones?", Gray asked.
Alvin nodded, "Indeed. They weren't the only ones to disappear. There was the Fairy race. They were distant cousins of us elves but are small and have beautiful wings. Their affinity to natural magia was only second to magia spirits."
"Then there were the Monkey People, a close race to the humans. They originated from our neighboring continent of Arumia.", Ruth said.
Alvin looked at Ruth, impressed, "You know a lot instructor Ruth. As expected of the genius of the Aevas."
Ruth smiled, "I just know my history."
They continued walking in the hallway. Arthur glanced back at the way they came from. The feeling of unease still lingered.
'Stupid vision.', he thought.
"Is there something wrong?", Gray asked him. "Nothing. Just a bit alert. I've read enough adventure stories to see that this venture could be interesting."
"But those are stories and this is reality.", Gray mused. Arthur chuckled, "Sometimes reality can be stranger."
They soon reached two huge doors to the right. They had similar designs to the previous corridor but they were gilded.
Alvin ran his hand on the designs and gazed at the huge doors, "This looks like the entrance to something major."
"Like a throne room?", Robin asked. "Perhaps. We can only know if we open them.", Ruth said.
Seventeen and Alvin stood in front of each door and pushed. The doors didn't budge. They pushed harder and with a grinding noise, the two doors swung inwards very slowly.
They finally stopped with a huge thud and a small breeze escaped from beyond. A shiver went up Arthur's spine.
They stepped into the darkness. Alvin increased the brightness of the light stone and it revealed a massive hall with many pillars supporting the ceiling above.
In the center of the ceiling was a cracked and faded painting of what looked like ten individuals around a table.
But the painting was high up and the light wasn't that bright so they couldn't distinguish the faces of the individuals.
Alvin touched an ancient light stand and soon the entire hall was illuminated.
At the end of the room was a raised podium on which stood a throne made up of branches and vines composed of silver and wood.
The new light allowed Arthur to distinguish the faces of the individuals in the painting high above them. He was able to see only five individuals since the others were faded and only their silhouettes remained.
He saw a dwarf, an elf, and an orc sitting together on one side of the table. He then saw a woman with fox ears sitting near the head of the table.
But the one at the end of the table, near the fox-eared woman, captivated his attention. It was a young man with long golden hair and bright red eyes.
The attention to detail for this individual was amazing. It was as if the artist wanted this young man to stand out.
Arthur pointed at the elf in the painting, "Is that Oserion?"
Alvin nodded, "I believe so. I mean, we are in his throne room.", he said and frowned, "I don't get it."
"What do you mean?", Seventeen asked. "If this was Oserion's throne room. Why emphasize the blonde guy? Shouldn't Oserion be the one to stand out in the painting since it was his palace and throne room?", Alvin asked.
"You are right.", Ruth nodded. She looked at the painting, "Maybe the blonde guy was really important. The tales did say that The Mad King had a really amazing friend. Perhaps it was this young man."
Robin sighed, "More mysteries. How about we take a look at the throne?"
They proceeded towards the throne. Arthur noticed that Seventeen was still looking at the painting, a look of faint recognition on his face.
"What is it sir?", he asked. Seventeen looked at him and smiled, "It's nothing Arthur. I thought I saw something but it was actually nothing."
Suddenly a huge thud echoed across the hall. It came from the corridor.
"What was that?", Robin turned around and took out his daggers. Loud footsteps echoed across the hall.
"Looks like we're not the only ones here.", Ruth narrowed her eyes and placed a hand over her storage ring.
Seventeen chuckled, "It was to be expected. This palace was well preserved, so it wouldn't be a surprise if its defense system still worked."
The footsteps grew louder. Arthur could hear the sound of armored feet marching on the floor and the sound of stone feet stamping.
Soon the first statue appeared in the doorway. It was the orc statue from before. Its lifeless eyes now glowed bright blue. Behind it were the suits of armor and statues they passed.
All of their eyes glowed bright blue, like in his vision.
"The palace's defense system?", Gray asked. Alvin nodded, "Yeah. These guys were made to prevent intruders from entering the palace back then. Seems like they still protect it."
"I'm starting to wonder if it was a good idea to activate those light stones", Ruth raised looked at Seventeen with raised eyebrows.
"It wouldn't have mattered. These guys were aware of us the moment we stepped into that entrance. That is some clever magia.", Seventeen said.
Arthur heard more footsteps coming from other parts. More were coming.
"What do we do?", he asked as he unsheathed Ghost. The blade glinted in the light and its purple tinge was more vivid.
Seventeen smiled, "Arthur, Gray, Robin. Why don't you three show us the fruits of your training?"
Arthur smiled back, "Alright sir."
Gray nodded and pulled out her polearm, Frostbite. It was the color of blue ice with a smooth silvery blade with a bluish hue at the end of the staff.
Arthur felt the temperature around the polearm drop as Gray activated her attribute.
"I hope Rhea isn't using her attribute right now.", Robin said and focused. Shadowy tendrils emerged from his hands and wrapped around his daggers. He smiled, "Let's rumble."
Arthur channeled magia into Ghost and the blade glowed blue.
'Oh how I hate those visions.', he thought and faced the enemies charging at them.