Aur slowly made his way to a huge door that was coated in iron with no lock or key.
"It's truly a huge door…" he muttered as he had to raise his neck just to see the end of it.
"Can I just pull it?" his eyes narrowed. "Should I do it or not?"
"This place seems like it was made for a protagonist instead."
However, Aur didn't leave as he had a contemplative expression on his face.
A chuckle escaped from his lips. "When did I start to become so indecisive?"
He walked up to the door and pushed with his full strength.
Crack!
The door was pushed open with the full strength of Aur, finally revealing a bright light that blinded Aur's eyes.
He hurriedly closed his eyes, feeling the blinding light.
Time passed as the bright light never stopped emitting, causing Aur's eyes to be closed all the time.
Slowly, he narrowed his eyes as he gradually adapted to the bright blinding light.
"What's this?"
There was a book suspended in the air, emitting a bright light.
"Huh…"
Aur's eyes narrowed even more as he carefully looked at the book cover.
HOLY MAGIC!
As he saw those words, Aur's eyes suddenly lost colour, and his red pupils violently went backward revealing only his sclera in his eyes.
He slowly walked towards the book, with his arms flailing around as if he were a zombie.
Aur reached the book, drooling, as he was about to touch it.
Boom!
A violent shockwave launched him into the air, sending him hurtling.
However, this could be seen as a blessing in disguise, as Aur's eyes finally gained clarity while he violently coughed blood.
His red pupils went back to their rightful place.
"This…" Aur was shocked to the core as he looked up.
"You are not worthy."
A cold metallic voice rang in his ears.
"Who are you?"
Aur said as he narrowed his eyes.
"You are not worthy."
Again, the voice resounded in his head as if someone were directly whispering in his ears.
"I am not worthy, huh…" a small smile graced Aur's face. "Well then, I better be unworthy."
His eyes narrowed to a slit as he left the room.
"This is definitely the protagonist's place to fulfil his destiny… how idiotic…" Aur muttered to himself as he was about to leave. However, leaving empty-handed still frustrated Aur. Suddenly, he saw a small book lying in the corner of the room.
The book was rather dusty and in a roughed-up state; there was no name in the book as well.
"Can I take this book?" Aur looked back at the bright book and asked in a simple tone.
"Yes, you can take it." The cold voice suddenly seemed to be filled with mockery as it rang directly in his head.
"What's wrong with this book?" his eyes narrowed.
The voice seemed to pause as if it were contemplating something before it finally rang in his ear after two minutes or so.
"Although you are not worthy, since you were able to find the room, I will tell you what this book is. It is a collection of variant spells, which is absolutely useless to a mage. So, as a senior, I wouldn't recommend this book, especially for your vital spells."
"How did it get here then?"
"That cannot be explained." The cold voice rang in Aur's ears again.
"Thank you, senior. I will keep that in mind. However, I still want to see it, just for the sake of it." A grateful smile appeared on his face as he happily took the book before leaving the room and closing the door.
As the door closed, a resigned sigh echoed in the room.
"How much longer do we have to wait?"
"Do you want a middle-grade talent as your master?"
"..."
"We shall wait for another decade as well unless we at least get a high-grade talent as your master."
"Yes, big sister." The book's light seemed to dim as it flickered before it emitted that terrifying blinding light again.
…
Aur sneered as he walked outside.
"Young master, what did you find inside the room?" the squirrel asked curiously, however, he didn't get a reply as Aur was completely silent, lost in thought.
"Young master, young master…."
"What is it?" After being pestered by the squirrel every moment, Aur finally replied with a frown on his face.
"You-"
"If it is not important, you are getting cooked alive, rat." Aur said with a cold tone.
"Umm… this…"
"Tell me already."
"What did you get in the room?" the squirrel said, its fur soaked in cold sweat.
"I am not worthy." Aur replied as he increased his pace, quickly leaving the room with the ragged book in his hand.
"Eh, what does that mean?" The squirrel rubbed its fur with its hind legs, however, upon seeing the flying figure of Aur as he walked further and further away, it felt lonely in the darkness.
"Young master, wait for me." It said as it also increased its pace before directly jumping onto Aur's shoulder and resting comfortably.
Aur just shrugged as he finally saw the outside world again. The dim light from just one quartz lit the mining area.
"They should have awakened by now…" he muttered as he went towards the twins.
As Aur left, the door rumbled before slowly closing.
"Huh," Aur looked back, seeing the door closing with a shrug. He had nothing to do with that place anymore, as it reeked of a protagonist, and protagonists meant trouble.
Aur even felt like the entire village raid that happened to his village was because of the Williams trouble, nothing more than some obstacle to power the man up.
He was very familiar with these situations; wherever the protagonist went, trouble followed like a stream of water. They seemed like trouble magnets, leaving countless misfortunes for people near them, while the they themselves would somehow survive against all odds and turn misfortune into fortune.
It was as if the entire world revolved around these people, constantly providing experiences for them to grow.