An intense musky stench wafted into Kai's nose from the inside, indicating how long this place had been sealed. All around, everything was grey, a large amount of dust having settled down over the years.
The study itself was rather plain, there was a table at the centre, with a wooden chair. Behind it there was a painting of a man; who Kai could only assume was his father. He had most of the same features as Kai other than his hair colour and eyes, which were brown in contrast to Kai's crimson eyes and white hair.
On either side of the table were bookshelves with a lot of books, most of which were records; financial records, documentation, and others, with barely any books on general knowledge.
Therefore, Kai ignored those and went straight towards the table, and using all his strength, slowly pushed it aside.
As the wooden table skidded across the floor, it left marks on the dusk settled on the wooden floor.
After using a piece of paper, he found on the table as a scoop and removing the dust, Kai noticed a trap door and carefully pulled it open. There was a flight of stairs heading straight into darkness, which was sort of eerie, but Kai just wanted to know what was there, so he went straight down, the trapdoor closing behind him due to gravity.
Thankfully, he could still feel around, and using only the sense of touch from his feet, Kai climbed all the way down and kept walking along a narrow passage which within just 10 steps opened up to a large room just like what the system had described.
All of a sudden, blue lights began flashing in front of him, the phenomenon spreading all around the room within just a second, and in the next second all the lights congealed into a figure draped in a blue cloak.
The slender hands of the figure lifted the hood of the cloak to reveal the face of a lady. This lady was almost completely unknown to Kai, except for the distinct features of having the same crimson eyes as him and the white hair as him.
Immediately, Kai understood that this was either his mother or someone from her family.
"Child… If you are seeing this message, then it means that the Dread Castle is in immediate peril. Or that useless father of yours has already given up waiting for me and snuck in here."
"Either way, I will impart you an Art. I hope it will be of some use to you in your time of peril. It is not an External Art like what your father uses, neither is it the spells which Magi utilise. It is an Internal Art, which is considered a special and unique ability even among Internal Arts."
"In fact, it is so special that only those of my bloodline can use this Internal Art."
"Anyways, there will be a blob of writhing flesh and bones in a container at the end of the room. All you need to do is drop a single drop of your blood into it, and go to sleep next to it. It will take half your soul so that you will be connected to it always. This comes with the disadvantage of not being able to become a mage, however, once you survive, your soul will slowly recover. It should not take more than a few years. And if need be, you can always merge with it once more to recover your soul and embark on the path of a mage."
"This Internal Art allows you to create a perfect clone of yourself, and although both you and the soul will have two separate souls since the base for both the souls is the same, the two of you will be separate, yet the same being. You will be connected to it forever, sharing the same thoughts and experiences, yet living separate lives."
"The Internal Art is called the Thousand Bloodline Clone, and up until now, no being other than the great ancestor of my clan has been able to successfully cultivate this technique. Of course, that was too long ago to recall and he has long passed away. But you must remember, never be in the same place as your clone for too long, since a member of my clan will understand what exactly is going on immediately. Also, there is a mask and some weapons in the chest next to the container for you and the clone. Since both of you are the true Kai, you can decide who will wear the mask and stay hidden forever, never showing his face."
"Alright. Go on then little Kai."
With that, the projection of the lady who claimed to be Kai's mother vanished, leaving Kai with a slightly empty feeling. However, that feeling was quickly replaced with confusion.
If Kai chose to learn this Internal Art called the Thousand Bloodline Clone, he would not be able to learn the way of the mysterious Magi for a few years… But his current situation was indeed that bad. And if both his bodies successfully did escape and meet up, he could also fuse once more and gain the ability to become a mage once more.
From the information the lady gave him, Kai learned that the path of the Mage was indeed related to the soul in some way, tied together with Mana somehow.
But that was something he could worry about in the future. For now, Kai went to the container and just stood there for a good few minutes.
'How do I extract a drop of blood?' Kai thought to himself. He could not do something as stupid as bite his finger and hope blood comes out since there are pain sensors all over his hands, especially his fingers, and trying that would not be successful unless something else made him close his mouth.
'Ah! The crate!' Kai exclaimed as he turned his attention to the wooden crate next to the metallic container and opened it.
Inside, was a white mask with no observable features on it. It did not even have holes for eyes.
'There must be something special about this mask' Kai thought as he put the mask to the side and rummages through the various weapons including bows, arrows, daggers, swords, shields, and even a spear!
Taking the dagger, Kai approached the metallic container and opened it, revealing a mass of squirming flesh, blood, and bones, exactly how the lady had described it.
*Blarg*
Immediately, Kai had to rush back a few steps and empty out the little bread he had consumed, which came out as multicoloured goo. Seeing this made Kai even sicker as he continued vomiting even all the water and acid within his stomach until he was just gagging, with nothing left to remove.