Tremur Forest.
A middle aged man was gasping for breath as he held a sword with a blade akin to a mirror. It had cracks over its face, which was branded with numerous runes that flashed with a light glow as he pushed what remained of his mana within it.
The man had sunflower blonde hair and hazel eyes that reflected the images of his opponents.
Blood oozed from all over his body, scrapes and deep wounds noticeable on his flesh through the mix of tattered robes and dented armour that he wore.
His opponents were people he knew quite well, some of them holding high quality staves, swords, shields and bows as they remained vigilant towards any move that he would make, on their faces traces of disappointment, pain and struggle.
One of them, a woman with red hair, looked a bit more sympathetic and conflicted than the rest, but she subdued her emotions as best as she could.
At the forefront of the group, was a vivacious-looking man with havana brown hair that was combed back, a glossy sheen sparkling over it. He had determined sugar grey eyes which he narrowed meaningfully as he looked at the blondie.
He too exposed a deep sense of hesitation.
He tightened his grip on the sword which he held.
"Eobald..." he said with a rough voice.
"Don't you dare say my name after you've done this to me. All of you! To think what I thought was a genuine motivation for something greater... was nothing more than a lust for power...You are blind! Blind, the lot of you!" the man with the blonde hair barked words that, for the most part, the people standing against him couldn't be bothered to think over.
His name was Eobald, a great adventurer, rather, mercenary, who had travelled the world and faced many mythical beasts, absorbing knowledge from different cultures and races.
He had attained great fame for his work.
"You mean ambition. You taught us that. You mentored us about it. Yet... Things have only reached this point because of your deceit. You wanted power, used us to get to it and trusted us with that knowledge. That was your biggest mistake. Give us the Key," the man with the brown hair hissed.
Eobald was infuriated.
"I told only you...And you dare say all this after you slaughtered my trusted men? Ha! You're no more than a fool! A hypocrite! What you believe... what I believed... We are both fools, perhaps! But... it's too late to regret our choices. No. We can't go back. But, I will not fall this way. Not with everything I've worked for!" he shouted.
"You stand here alive because I will it! Because I called you a brother and I still have much respect for you! Despite everything! Now, give me the Key and you can keep your life!" the man with the brown hair growled as irritation and impatience burned within him.
His grey eyes lit up with a bluish white glow that shook the surroundings.
Eobald hung his head and took in deep gusts of air.
"A Key is bound to the person who found it. Don't you intend to kill me to relinquish my ownership of it?" he said with a stern gaze and sheathed his cracked sword.
The woman with red hair sighed in relief, but the rest were shocked that the man with the brown hair was considering letting Eobald live.
"Not if you follow me and help me find the legacy. At least then... if you have a heart at all..." the man with brown hair said, straining.
"I had no issue with I intended to do. I had no choice. I still don't. In fact..." said Eobald as he pulled out a silver, circular object with a rings of indecipherable text on its surface.
The people around him grew vigilant, with the man who stood at the forefront frowning as he saw what he desired in the hands of his so-called brother.
However, the previous words Eobald had said hinted at the fact that he wasn't going to hand it over.
"...I visited the Saint's Chamber before I came here," Eobald continued, the saddest grin appearing on his face.
The man with brown hair frowned, not particularly pleased with where this was going.
The Saint's Chamber?
Before he could voice out his thoughts, Eobald spoke.
"Of course, you wouldn't know them, would you? They helped me with placing a seal on this Key that prohibits anyone other than me from owning it. If you kill me, the Key will be destroyed and you'll need to find other means to get that legacy. Of course, I could choose another person to be the owner of the Key, and the same rules would apply to them as well," he said with a light scoff.
"I was sure you would kill me. And I'm sure you still planned to."
The man with the brown hair grit his teeth as a deep bloodlust bloomed within him.
Was Eobald telling the truth?
Was he bluffing?
Should he try his luck and hope for the best?
No.
Keys were tools used to open the resting places of great heroes and legends. At least the prettiest of descriptions limited their descriptions to that.
Some of these heroes and legends created artefacts that would select people worthy of their legacies - inheritances that were usually magical in nature. Many sought these.
Universal Keys were used to open these places which were usually sealed with powerful magic.
They were normally forged by the rarest of individuals, but other objects capable of equally powerful magic were lumped into the word 'Key' as well, their known sources being strange, outlandish dimensions that bloomed all over the world.
While Keys were hard to find, legacies were even moreso, which made both tasks incredibly arduous for the average adventurer.
When one acquired a traditional Key, it would be bound to them and only they could use it. This feature of Keys had brought about a lot of pain and betrayal between many partners and friends.
"So that's how it will be?"
"That's how it shall be, brother," said Eobald as in the next moment, he pulled out an odd scroll out of nowhere!
Everyone around was alarmed, one of the people surrounding Eobald, the girl with long, red hair, nocking a white arrow on her dark bow before loosening it towards Eobald with a pained face!
The blonde-haired man saw the incoming arrow and barely managed to dodge it. It streaked past him like lightning.
Eobald opened the scroll in his hands, and pumped it with the remnants of his mana which churned from his core that released a bright blue hue!
On the white, sleek parchment was inscribed the text, 'Arcane Teleportation, Scorch.'
The scroll suddenly released a burst of light and energy that temporary blinded everyone and illuminated everything in the dark night, then...
BOOOM!
A ferocious explosion razed the ground and everything within the surroundings with a mash of yellow, orange and red, a scorching heat disintegrating the surrounding trees and life in a 300 meters radius!
The heated air remained while the ground which was left molten by the sheer amount of heat sizzled.
The man with brown hair was panting as he looked at the aftermath of this explosion. A thick film of bright blue mana was surrounding him, yet the silver armour he wore had signs of heating up with a portion of it missing.
He had managed to protect himself from the majority of the damage, but the same couldn't be said for eight of his comrades whose remains couldn't even be seen.
The only living figures he saw where those of the girl with the bow, who had used an artefact to protect herself, a bulky man who had a large tower shield and a young man who was also covered by a film of mana.
"TRAITOR!" the man with brown hair roared in anguish.
He didn't think to mourn his losses as he turned to the survivors.
"Let's find him! With the mana he had left there's no way he has gotten far!"
He pulled out his key which was also circular like Eobald's but with a golden colour and extended the hand that held it.
He would find Eobald soon enough and when he did, he wouldn't show mercy!