Ivan and Yue blocked their vision so as to not be blinded by the light pouring in from the doors. It wasn't until five seconds later that the light subsided and the scenery became visible.
"It's…It's another world." Yue muttered hesitantly
Hanging high above the ceiling was a giant conical structure with a dazzling bright orb hugging the cone's bottom side, a light so bright and warm Yue and Ivan had mistaken it for the actual sun at first glance.
The room they were presented to was about the size of a baseball stadium, with the wall in the far back completely covered by a waterfall. Water poured out of a small opening in the ceiling and fell into a river below that flowed further in, passing through a cavern on the far wall. The rush of falling water created a refreshing breeze that blew pleasantly across their faces. The only odd thing to Ivan was the living fish that swam in the river. It was possible the fish had followed the river's current and traveled there from the surface.
Ivan's eyes darted towards the miniature farm that rested across the river. And next to that farm's field was a cozy looking barn. This field combined with the fish, water, meat, and vegetables present made it possible for one to sustain themselves down here.
The entire room was covered in greenery as there were trees scattered about the area. And though Ivan had no complaints about the area, one question did come to mind.
"...Who the hell was the pervert that made this?" Located not too far from the entrance was a dirt path that led to some raised stone terrace that sat in the middle of the woods. But that wasn't the problem, the problem was the magnificent four poster bed furnished with pure white sheets that sat above the platform
"Perhaps the maverick was an exhibitionist?" Yue responded shamelessly. Ivan only twitched at her words, for a second he wanted to praise the maverick for creating a structure like this deep in this hell but all feelings of admiration were almost snuffed out at the possibility that their character seemed a bit dubious.
'Not that there's anything wrong with being a pervert.' Ivan said to himself. He felt a chill up his spine as he turned to face Yue, who looked away swiftly.
Yue and Ivan followed the path that continued from the wannabe Parthenon before coming across a building. It was more a structure carved directly out of the rock wall than a building.
They looked at each other before deciding to venture closer.
The rock that the house was carved out of appeared to be some kind of white limestone. It gave off a very clean look, and another one of those light spheres was hanging from the entrance's ceiling. The house was three stories tall and well ventilated throughout.
Ivan and Yue made their way inside as they inspected the first floor. What they found was a surprising amount of furniture and appliances. A kitchen, a living room with a fireplace, and even a bathroom.
Ivan's desire to just say screw the outside world and live here increased drastically.
However there was something quite odd about all this, that being that all of the appliances and furniture they found on the first floor seemed as clean as new. Never throughout the first floor did they spot a single speck of dust. To them it was quite odd seeing as how the house had obviously been lived in.
They decided to hold further judgment until they cleared all areas in the building, increasing their guard seeing as how things are becoming mysterious. Having cleared the first floor, Ivan and Yue went out what appeared to be a back door.
"...Isn't this just a bath?" Ivan said disinterestedly at the sight of some lion statue with its mouth half-open standing over an empty pool. Yue walked up to the magic circle imprinted on the ceramic beast as water came pouring out of its mouth.
Deciding to move on, the two entered the house again and this time made their way to the stairs. What they discovered there seemed to be a library and a workshop of some kind. Both things being something that greatly piqued Ivan's curiosity. The only stipulation being that both doors to the rooms seemed to be locked with some sort of magic.
Yue had to physically pry Ivan from both the rooms as he nearly contemplated blowing the building up just to get in. It wasn't until she told him that he might destroy the contents of the rooms should he do go through that he finally calmed down.
With those two rooms being the only things on the floor they decided to move on to the next level. Pushing the only door that didn't seem to lead to a bedroom on the 3rd floor Ivan found himself staring at an eight-meter-long magic circle inlaid on the floor that had some of the most complex and subtle inscriptions he had ever seen.
The circle's design and layout were so detailed that it wouldn't have been an exaggeration to call the whole thing a work of art.
Ivan was stunned by the knowledge contained by the magic circle as his desire to take it apart and examine it grew exponentially. Normally the magic of this world was something he quite looked down on as unless one had the appropriate affinities then the magic they cast would be at a significant disadvantage compared to those with the affinity.
Magic circles on the other hand was something he studied arduously. As the understanding of their composition and form could likely give him ideas and hints on where to improve his own alchemy.
He hypothesized that his success with Ars Magna would increase significantly if he were to implement a magic circle as the inscriptions one could write allowed a greater degree of control and using a circle as his base meant that he could continue adding onto it and improving it so long as he doesn't stray to far from its original purpose.
In a sense his alchemical circle for Ars Magna would become a crest that could be modified and added onto to generations if he chose so. That would at least guarantee if he were to fall before completing his work that someone he entrusted his dreams to would continue where he left off.
Ivan felt a tap on his shoulder before turning over to Yue, who awoke him from his stupor pointed deeper into the room's shadows.
Sitting in the ostentatious chair right next to the circle was a man, or what seems to be the remains of one. Said man was already dead, the corpse had decayed until nothing but bones were left, and it was clothed in a grand robe of black and gold. There was not the slightest hint of dust or grime anywhere on the robe.
The skeleton and the magic circle were the only objects in the room.
Yue and Ivan stared at the suspicious skeleton before making eye contact with each other. No matter how you look at it, what they believed to be the maverick had died in his chair awaiting adventurers like them to come along.
Transmutation on the walls hadn't worked earlier so Ivan doubted there were any other ways out of the dungeon other than stepping into this room and seeing what this guy wants, or wanted.
"Yue, I'll be counting on you if anything happens."
"Alright… be careful."
Ivan took steps into the rooms and onto the magic circle. Nothing happened. So he moved even further into the room. It wasn't until he reached the center of the magic circle that a change had transpired.
BZZZZZZT!
The magic circle finally activated and filled the entire room with a bright yellow light.
Ivan clutched his head as flashbacks of the events that led to him making it to this level filled his brain.
Finally, the magic circle's power began to wane and the light dimmed somewhat. Ivan opened his eyes to the sight of a black-robed young man standing before him. The magic circle still glowed faintly as the room was filled with a mysterious light.
Ivan stuck his hand out to the figure that stood before him before noticing that it went completely through him, confirming his suspicions he turned to the figure sitting in the chair and nodded as he realized they were wearing the exact same thing.
The figure seems to not have noticed his actions as it began to speak.
"I congratulate you on overcoming my trial. My name is Oscar Orcus. I am the man who created this labyrinth. I suppose to the world I'm known as a maverick."
Ivan and Yue stared at the man, half surprised and half expecting it.
"By the way, please spare me the questions. This is nothing more than a recording I left behind, so I unfortunately cannot answer any queries you may have. I wanted to tell those who made it this far why it was that we, who learned the truth of the world, chose to fight against the gods… so I decided to leave a message. And this was the simplest form to convey that message in. I want you to know… that though we were mavericks, we were not truly rebels.
The story Oscar wove for them was completely different from what Ivan had learned from the Holy Church's records, or the stories Yue had been told about the mavericks.
His story was one of mad gods and their descendants that fought against them.
In the Age of the Gods, the races and countries were split up into numerous factions, each of which had their own god. And it was each tribe's god that incited its people to fight against those who worshiped others.
After some time, a group appeared that sought to put an end to the gods' games. They called themselves the Liberators. Each a direct descendant of the gods.
They searched long and arduous for the home of the gods, Asgard. It wasn't until they found it that they prepared to unleash a battle against the gods residing there.
However the battle had ended before it began as the gods manipulated every sentient being on the planet into believing the Liberators were trying to destroy the world. The very same people they fought to defend turned against them as they were cursed as traitors. From there on out the Liboraters lived a life on the run as they couldn't bring themselves to fight against the people they swore to protect.
With the rest having been killed off, only the seven strongest remained. With the entire world against them, they scrambled to the ends of the earth and built huge labyrinths to hide themselves.
Praying for heroes that would one day clear them so they could bequeath their powers onto them in hopes that these new warriors would carry out their dreams.
After his long history lesson, Oscar smiled peacefully.
"I have no idea who you are, or why you chose to fight your way down here. Nor do I have any intentions of forcing my own dreams of the gods' demise onto you. I simply wanted you to know what it was we fought, and died, for… As a reward for hearing me out, I shall grant you my strength. How you us it is entirely up to you. I can only pray you won't use it for evil. That's all I have to say. Thank you for listening to the end. May the 'blessings' of the gods never reach you." The transmission ended there as Oscar's apparition vanished into the air.
A sharp pain hit Ivan's mind as he stepped back. He assumed it was the 'reward' before allowing it to enter his mind.
The light of the magic circle finally dimmed out as Ivan was left standing. He waved of Yue's concern as he turned towards her.
"Yue, you heard the guy. Should we choose to believe him, that means this world is in great danger. I personally don't want to get involved with the matters of this world as I have my own priorities. But this is your home, so the decision is up to you. Though I can't deny the idea of visiting the legendary Asgard does intrigue me."
Yue shook her head at Ivan's proposal before continuing.
"My home is wherever you are… I don't care about anything else." She unabashedly walked up to Ivan and clenched his hand to her chest.
Ivan stared at her, stunned with her rather embarrassing proposal, before laughing out heartily. Calming himself down as he noticed the dissatisfaction on her face. But to him it was worth seeing her get embarrassed.
Taking his thoughts away from this conversation, Ivan analyzed the magic that had entered his mind. A creation spell that lets him add magical properties to minerals, and create new ore with special traits. In shorter terms he can now transmute artifacts, ones that wouldn't take over his soul.
Ivan ushered Yue to learn the magic from the magic circle, there's no harm in learning a magic spell from the Age of the Gods even if she weren't compatible with it. After the whole ceremony again she went up to him and explained that the whole making artifacts thing didn't make sense to her. Most likely it had to do with affinities again.
He moved over to the skeleton and removed the ring it adorned with the symbol of a circle with a cross splitting it into even sections engraved on it, the same symbol that marked the engravings on the locked doors from earlier.
And with glee in his heart, Ivan made hasty strides to the library. Towing the exasperated Yue alongside him.
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FINISHED! Thank god too, I managed to finish at a reasonable time. I do apologize with the expositions dump this chapter but I believe it is needed for Ivan to gain an understanding of the World and its hierarchy.
Anyways thanks for reading today as well, and may you have a great day/night! See you soon!
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