The room was blinded with light. The surroundings are sparkling like beautiful scenery in a mountainous height. The pressuring energy suddenly and the nauseous video that the room was emitting not so long ago suddenly eased and slowly perished. There was a glowing light coming from Raj's chest that was handed onto the room itself. An ingot of a green glowing stone was floating above.
Everyone is satisfied as they are fixed on it.
The feeling of this wonderful sensation. I've almost forgotten it. But it was so weak. I can give you a better feeling. The feeling of a better power is better than that. I know you do not feel its power because you guys are still amateurs. But I see you have one with you who can sense it. He was referring to Socrates.
Raj came close to it and held it in his hands as it was slowly handed down to him like a falling feather from a bird that just flicked and made its way. The moment it touched him he transformed completely into a new being.
Staring daringly Axel was insecure of this feat. Do not be too eccentric with that feeling my child. Now if you wish to reveal myself you must release me swiftly from here.
"What do you mean to release you? Use the powers that you just had recently acquired from me. I know you could do it. Break the seal so I can keep this chest safer in the hands away from you people.
"Why should we listen to you."
"Stop that Raj. That might be the chest that they were talking about."
"Yes, never be fooled, and never listen to someone you do not know."
"I see you are one of those people."
All of you here are worthless. Do not get me wrong. But let me ask you this. What are you doing right now? Why are you doing what you are doing? You have already spent years and you guys have no direction toward where you planning to.
You. He was referring to Axel. A man so greedy with power, so greedy with the feeling of pleasure. But why? What purpose have you given your life?
Another man here. Socrates he was. Already met his prime leading youngsters to pass the time waiting for the day of his death. All of you. Everyone, of you do not have any clear goals and destination. Isn't your objective here is me?
"No. We are told to never open the box of Pandora."
Pandora? He is long gone, my child. I am merely a servant a soul who has not yet ceased to exist. I am merely an old mage who was trapped here alone when my co-mages and sorcerers were sealing the power. You need not worry now because through the years I am inside I have already double-sealed it.
"If what you are saying is true then why are you trapped inside?"
We need to put a guard inside this power to double its support. He was bluffing and lying.
Raj interrupted. "I doubt what you are saying is wrong. We do have a clear objective here which is to acquire you and keep you away from the hands of evil."
Oh? I see. You have misunderstood me, I guess. What I wanted to know is did you have an end goal? After this? What?
"There is still a lot. I have my friends and my mentors. Why do you think they exist? They are present to teach us and enlighten us to learn the easy way. Besides, who knows what life will bring you?"
"The important thing is that you have an aim in every chapter of your life and with the people around you, you can experiment till you can figure out what you want in life."
You may have plans in life, but you must know it will not always go smoothly and there are other decisions and choices you cannot make. Do you think I wished to forever guard this chest inside?
Have ever felt an intense pressure of power coming from the box?
Axel, Raj, and everyone in the room also noticed that there were no traces of Quanta energy that had been emitted from the chest.
You need not worry you must only need to open it swiftly if you do not trust me.
"We, do not trust you so why would we open it?"
I will give you anything you want. Any information you desire. Power, pleasure, all.
"Then you must be very powerful if you can provide all of those. The more we should keep you sealed. But don't worry we will keep you company."
Okay. But I have a request for you. Try to live fighting against my warriors.
A soldier of the undead has risen. And monsters were sticking out of the ceiling walls. The giants also emerged from the ground.
Raj was startled and suddenly dropped the stone. His transformation was long gone. Axel saw this and, in his mind, he wanted to have the stone.
The battle had begun and the room was chaotic. Axel's subordinates flung as the giant were swishing and swinging its sword. Raj picked up the stone and defended himself. He did not transform back. He thought there was something and he wanted to use the power to help.
Axel on the other hand is plotting something.
"Stop this nonsense. Whoever you are owner of the voice!"
"I will be the one to open you in exchange for something."
Chaos continues and they are still battling the monsters. Blood was also shedding. Socrates kills without hesitation. Raj and Thomas were eradicating some of the monsters on their way. Axel was doing the same while approaching the chest in the middle of the room with enemies approaching. Lee and Ken also survived and did their best to fight back.
You wanted something? You wanted it? Well, the offers had been changing. Try to open me with all these monsters around you. He suddenly became emphatic, every one of you, if you release me, I will free you all from these monsters. Even if you defeat all of them, I doubt that you can take down one giant. There are still others approaching here.
It was all his scheme. He had control over these monsters. Raj transformed again holding the stone in one of his hands. The thought on his mind is to borrow the power from the stone. It emerged once again. Sparkling dust of Quanta energy hovered over him. His aura emits pure Quanta energy. It shines as the first sun rises in the cold morning.
Raj fought the giants he was overconfident that he could do it. But Socrates was doing better even without unleashing his Quanta and was still using physical attacks.
"Mr. Socrates. Please try using this power."
He thought he would be back to normal once he passed the stone ingot the moment it lost contact with his hands. Surprisingly, he still managed to keep his transformation. Socrates caught it but did not use the stone.
"Thank you boy. I will keep this from now on I will just return this to you when you need it. But for now, you can't use this kind of power.". Socrates acts as if the transformation is nothing new and is just normal. Unlike the other people in the room, he was the only one whose face did not seem surprised.
The battle emerged and they were already weary. After a long time, Raj's transformation slowly fades.
"Your unknown creature if you wanted to get out of there! You better stop pissing me off." Axel was already heated. He was already tired and beaten.
Then what do you want? Do you want me to clear the path for you? Then that just proves that you are unworthy of the wish you want to have.
"Axel what are you doing?!" Lee screams in the distance.
"That is not part of the plan! We only came here to retrieve it and hand it…"
"Stop demanding me, Lee! You don't have any control over my life, and I can do as I please!"
"But…"
"Enough of it!
Did you not realize that there is no other option for escaping this place?"
That is a good hypothesis for you. The voice in the room replied.
"Don't you realize that you are like a puppet following these people here," he points to Raj.
"So, your wish is to help us to get out of here?"
Axel's idea was to consume and absorb negative Quanta energy from the chest he knows that even if it was not emitting anything he can still try to see if there was nothing.
The chaotic battle continues.
Axel finally had the first touch for the chest.
"Now! Tell me! What do you do with you!"
He tried to absorb it but there was only a little aura that he had consumed.
Nice try my child. You just need to pour some energy towards the lock to break off the seal. But I am afraid that your life force will not be enough. That is why I proposed it to the young man who had a fragment of my pure self. I am afraid that you need to return and capture that stone first.
Axel was already provoked, and his anger erupted.
"WHAT THE HELL!". He propelled himself to Socrates crushing and destroying all the monsters that passed his way.
"Let me borrow that stone old man.". Socrates dodged as he reached. The battle of the men begins. Raj was watching from a distance.
"If you hand it to me. I will promise to return it after I break the seal.". It was originally his plan to acquire that stone first. Now that the settings have changed, he plans to have both.
After a long battle of aftershocks and air blows breaking through the sound barrier Socrates flinched and the ingot slipped in his pocket unconsciously. Axel eyed it, and within a split second his eyes were already fixated. He tried to push Socrates away, then draw him back distancing himself from the fallen ingot.
When he finally made it. Thomas saw it happening. "Socrates! The stone!"
Socrates was startled but it was already late. He used the energy to transform himself in an instant. A light covered his body then he broke it when he accelerated approaching the chest. He charges an energy creating a focused attack towards it. As if wiping out the chest itself. After the attack, the chest was moved but it was not broken. The seal came off and it opened itself.
It was the evil descendant of the sorcerer supreme. Rakshasas Killoran. He was the evil summoner who used the power of the stones.
Hysterical laughs cover all over the place.
"What is your name again my child?"
"I shall grant your wish and exterminate you after. At least you would have a taste of it."
The green ingot of Raj floats. "Now tell me…which one do you like?"
"I want you to give me unlimited power!!!"
From the chest came out a dark ingot stone, somehow like the ones that are from Raj's chest. But it was dark, and it was emitting negative Quanta energy. The same pressure came back for a second after the chest had been opened. But the place remained neutral because of the clashing sources of power.
"I shall grant you with this one." He chose the dark stone.
He showered Axel with some of the negative energy.
Axel feels great and an enormous amount of Quanta energy flows within him.
"YESSS!!!" THIS ONE!!!!"
"Are you happy now? Then I shall eliminate you. A thread-like beam reflected towards Axel. It did not penetrate.
"Oh my! As reflected in my creation. It seems like it was a wrong choice to grant you that wish. It has been thousands of years. It was still worth the try."
"I shall keep this here." He returned the dark stone to the chest where it came from. Now the chest suddenly shrinks to its original size.
"As promised. I will keep it. And it will only be swift."
Raj hopped and grabbed his stone. He also chased with him the chest where it came from.
"What do you think you are doing? Do you think you can easily get away with this?"
The evil sorcerer was casting a spell towards the shrunken box to vanish it. Before he could complete it, Axel appeared in an instant grabbing the box and canceling his chant.
"I am not yet fully re-awakened. I do not wish to battle. I shall retrieve that -the chest- when the time comes. Now, it will be your problem to escape from here. The rune that you have is of no use already. But I congratulate you for arriving here safely in the last room. They should have sent a guardian from the line. That rune is not mainly a rune-for-passage but since it works well you can use it that way."
He was standing at the shoulders of his stone giants. "I shall re-create my army in the future. The stone proved useful but has been of no use to me from now. I was traumatized by that thing. They handled me one is to ten."
He made himself scarce vanishing with no traces. The giants suddenly crumbled and were of no life. The last room is about to collapse and there was no portal or any barrier to exit from.
If you survive here, then see you in the future. The voice filled the air. It was coming from the sorcerer who vanished.
They were caught in the carnage of the room. All of them were covered with debris as there was no exit they could find. If they managed to shield themselves, they could have survived.