Within the seemingly normal dark grey castle rested an obscure room. Behind a dull pair of double doors, a wide expanse of green laid.
"Where is this?" Kai asked, casting dubious looks all around. Before him laid a forest that stretched on far beyond his line of sight. Birds chirped in the distance and he could hear the sounds of random animals gong about their lives.
But all that wasn't what caught his attention. It was the giant lantern that stood in the middle of the forest and the fact that it reached the 'ceiling' of the space.
"This... Is our convergence zone." Liothaire smiled. "And that is The Sorcerer Supreme's Life Lantern." He puffed his chest proudly and pointed at the massive lantern in the distance.
"Sorcerer Supreme? Life Lantern?" Gears turned in Kai's head as those words ran through his head. He wasn't completely unaware of who the Sorcerer Supreme was, but no one referred to Kasuyi as that during this age. Everyone knew his a s the Dark Lord, an evil mage who was bent on causing destruction before the current Heads of the Imperial Army put him down; at least, that was what was made known to the public. As for the Life Lantern, he had absolutely no idea what it was.
"You will learn in due time. For now, just follow me; keep up." With that, Liothaire exploded into a high speed run, raising dust and leaving Kai behind. It all happened in a split second, not giving Kai enough time to react. After his mind adjusted, Kai acted in tandem, casting a speed augmenting spell and a body strengthening spell to help his body cope with the speed he would be moving at.
'Divine Mage, track Liothaire.' Kai thought before taking off in the direction Liothaire went off in. He shot into the trees, leaping from branch to branch in rapid succession. The branches snapped and broke off as he used them to propel himself forward.
With the help of the Divine Mage System, Kai was able to sense the ripples of Dark Magic that Liothaire used as he moved, letting him keep up with the trail easily before it could fade.
'So Liothaire is a Dark Magic user. That's something I wasn't expecting. Maybe he could give me a few pointers.' Ever since he had gotten access to the Dark Magic branch of magic, he hadn't been able to unlock any spells to support the branch. His grimoire was just kept as a decoration, not containing any high difficulty spells.
The scenes passed by in slow motion as he flashed through the forest. Any form of wildlife below the Sky class only barely caught sight of a ark shadow flitting through the trees, unable to make out more than that while the reactions of the Sky class beasts were to pause and scan for any danger, only to realize that he was long gone. To Kai, the scenes passed by in slow motion. With his heightened senses, he was able to perceive everything, making out the various forms of life and avoiding anything that was in the upper tier of Sky class and above.
Soon enough, after several minutes of straight travelling, Kai appeared at the edge of the forest. Leaves rustled and branches shook as he ash past them, landing in the open space that held the Life Lantern.
Finally, he was able to see the grand monument in its full glory. Made entirely out of an unknown mineral, it shone an glittered with an irresistible luster under the artificial light source. The monument was fashioned to resemble a gigantic hourglass, almost reaching the size of a castle. Kai had to crane his head high to see the top, almost falling back because of how much he had to raise his head.
"Be careful not to fall on your backside, Kid." Liothaire's voice called out to his right. The said man was leaning against a small stone door that was carved into the base of the Life Lantern. The Dark Magic user motioned with his head, urging Kai to come forward.
Kai walked over to him, wondering the reason why Liothaire had left him behind so abruptly.
"Any reason for ditching me like that back there?" He quirked a brow at the Lord class mage.
"I was just testing you. Come on, let's head inside." Liothaire replied casually. He pressed a palm against the door. Bright lines branched out from the point of contact, forming a twisting pattern that pulsed with an otherworldly glow. The earthen door shook, raising a swirl of dust in the air before slowly sliding into the ground.
Liothaire stepped through, which prompted Kai to do the same, although much more warily. As soon as he stepped past the door, it rose up, closing off the outside world and submerging him in the darkness. Torches lit up on either side of him, illuminating a long and narrow hallway that was only wide enough to allow two people of Kai's size to walk shoulder to shoulder at a time.
Liothaire took the lead, as usual, going straight down the corridor. Kai wasn't sure whether it was a trick of the mind, but he wasn't able to make out the end of the corridor, something he attributed to magic. At a certain point, even with the light from the torches, he wasn't able to see further into the dark, as though the light was wholly swallowed by the darkness.
They walked for a few minutes before the illusion of an endless corridor finally ended. With his sensitivity toward mana, Kai was able to notice faint waves of magic radiating off Liothaire. He guessed it was a way to negate the power of the illusion. If someone who wasn't affiliated with Liothaire's organization were to enter here on their own, there was every possibility of being stuck in an endless loop, eventually succumbing to the crooked grip of insanity!
At the end of the corridor, a single double-door was firmly fixed into the stone walls. It stood at a staggering ten meters tall, looming over everything that stood before its imposing figure. If Kai had to guess, then there were most likely Giants in this organization.
Even without any actions from them, the door groaned as it opened up to let them in. To Kai, it resembled the gaping maw of a hungry beast, opening up to swallow them whole.
"Let me warn you now. The moment you step through these doors, you forfeit your former life. The life where you get to live completely unaware of what truly goes on around you." Liothaire came to a stop before the door and spoke up. "Are you ready to give it all up? Your innocence, your peaceful life, your naivety."
A few thoughts flashed through Kai's mind when he heard those words. He remembered coming to an agreement with another entity, a powerful one at that, inside him. He remembered how a mysterious force ha fought against High General Rudolf back when they were still in the first leg of their journey to Fazzad city. He had given up a peaceful life long ago. He gave it up the moment he had been chosen as the vessel to host Kasuyi's soul.
'What do you think, Divine Mage?'
[Lord Kasuyi's students mean well. They will serve as proper teachers to guide you down the path of Magic.] The System stoically replied.
Instead of replying to Liothaire, Kai instead took a step forward, placing himself in front of him.
"What are you waiting for? Adventure awaits."