"Ryujin?" Yama called out realizing the latter seemed somewhat entranced by the mysterious cube.
"Sorry, I don't know why, but I can feel a pull of some sort from this Cube. It's almost as if it's calling to me." Ryujin muttered absentmindedly, his focus still trained on the cube.
Yama's gaze widened in shock.
Despite spending millions of years studying the treasure, he had been unable to spur any form of reaction from it, but Ryujin was actually able to achieve exactly that.
He looked at the cube once again, but no matter how much he scrutinized it, there was no change in its appearance, and neither was it showing any form of movement or reaction.
Driven by curiosity, he approached Ryujin with the cube in hand.
"Be careful, Ryujin. This artifact is a treasure that even the oldest and wisest among us struggle to understand." Yama warned as he handed the treasure over to Ryujin.
Absentminded to Yama's warnings, Ryujin reached out to touch it.
However, the moment his fingers brushed against the cube's shimmering surface, a surge of otherworldly energy suddenly coursed into him with reckless abandon.
The Mystic Transformation Pupils came alive in full force as Ryujin's eyes began to transform, his eyes glowed and churned with the view of a thousand stars.
The room spun, as the air within the quiet study began to crackled with arcane power.
The otherworldly energy seeped into the core of Ryujin's soul, latching onto every treasure within him as some sort of synergetic reaction began to occurred between them.
Then all of a sudden, the cube began to devour every kind of energy it could find within Ryujin; but as if in some sort of trance, the latter could neither notice or feel it.
"Yama, I… I can see everything!" Ryujin stuttered in disbelief and awe.
Upon seeing and sensing the fatal changes happening to Ryujin's souls, Yama swiftly tried to retrieve the cube from the latter.
However the moment he touched the cube, a pulse of tyrannic otherworldly energy suddenly burst forth from the cube, slamming into the Realm King, and throwing him to the other side of the study.
Yama crashed into several rows of bookshelves before he was forcefully halted after obliterating the twentieth bookshelf.
"Ryujin stop! Loosen you grip!"
He yelled from afar, but it was already too late.
The otherworldly energy overwhelmed Ryujin, devouring his essence.
His soul body convulsed, and he let out an agonizing scream.
"Aarrghhh!"
A never before felt level of pain wracked Ryujin's soul, threatening to sunder his mind and devour him completely.
Fortunately, with a final gasp, he collapsed, the light in his eyes dimming totally as he fell unconscious.
"Damn it, Ryujin. I warned you of its dangers."
Yama rushed towards Ryujin side, cradling his limp soul body in his embrace, as he wrapped his hands in a yellow flame.
Then he grabbed the cube, and this time, the yellow flame seemed to be able to shield him from the cube's tyrannical energy.
Yanking the cube and throwing it away, Yama enveloped both of them both in a dome made of the same yellow flames.
Then he placed his index finger on the Ryujin's temples, channeling streaming surges of soul energy into him.
The cube on the other hand, laid there idly seemingly gaining some radiance to its glow, as it softly pulsed repeatedly for a moment, before dimming back to dormancy.
---
An unknown number of hours or days later, Ryujin's eyes fluttered open.
His once radiant mystical transformation pupils now dim with the shadow of his ordeal.
The study was silent, save for the soft crackling of the protective dome of yellow flames Yama had casted earlier.
Yama sat beside him, his eyes weary with concern.
"Yama… what happened? The last thing I remember was the Cube…"
"It seems like we went too far, totally unprepared, kid. The cube nearly consumed you, but you're safe now." Yama explained with a sigh of relief.
Ryujin tried to sit up, but a wave of dizziness forced him back down. He felt utterly drained of stamina, as if he had run a million miles without rest.
"I saw a lot, Yama… It was beautiful and terrifying. I felt like I was everywhere and nowhere." Ryujin revealed as he recalled what he had seen.
"The birth of stars, the weave of time, the tapestry of cosmic dimensions!" He uttered causing Yama to frown.
"Such is the nature of Origin Grade Artifacts. They possess the ability to reveal infinite possibilities, but at a cost. You were lucky to escape with your mind intact." He added as he placed a cup of tea before Ryujin.
Ryujin took the teacup and took a sip whilst casting a side glance at the cube that was now dormant and unassuming.
A shiver ran down his spine as he remembered the overwhelming power he had witnessed.
The sheer amount of information, knowledge and power contained within the small unassuming abomination was simply too vast and profound for him to bear.
"I understand Yama. Some things are simply beyond us, and that's okay. I'm sorry for troubling you." Ryujin replied upon emptying his cup.
"It's fine. The important thing is that you've learned, and you're alive. Let this be a lesson in temper your humility and remind you to always control your curiosity."
Yama took the teacup from Ryujin, before sitting before his now scattered study desk in lethargy.
As Ryujin continued to rest on the reclining chair, Yama casted him a side glance, the lure of an insight into a forbidden knowledge poking deeply at his curiosity.
However, he shut his eyes, took a deep breath and released a heavy sigh as he brought his emotions under control.
The chamber remained still, with neither of them saying anything despite being their bubbling curiosity.
However, in the next moment, Ryujin broke the silence.
"Yama, I feel a connection to the cube that I cannot ignore. Please, can you entrust it to me?" He asked.
"Ryujin, the cube nearly claimed your life. It is not a trinket to be passed as a token of favor." Yama refused instantly.
Hearing this, Ryujin sat up, before looking straight at Yama who looked back at him calmly.
However, Ryujin's gaze did not waver, his resolve as clear as the crystal walls of Genbu's gut.
"I understand the risks Yama, but I also sense its potential. Under your supervision, I believe I can master it."
Yama frowned slightly, looking at Ryujin in contemplation; however, the pride and concern within his gaze was also evident.
Then after a stretched moment of contemplative silence, he stood to his feet and nodded in approval.
"Very well. We will try again, one last time. But we must proceed with caution, and you must tell me everything you see, sense and feel the moment they happen. Am I clear?" Yama asked in utter seriousness.
"Crystal!" Ryujin blurted excitedly as he shot another glance at the unassuming otherworldly cube.
Together, they approached the cube, its surfaces now dormant yet alive with a soft pulsing radiance.
Ryujin then extended his hand, but before he could touch it, Yama grabbed his hand, encased his own hand in an even thicker tongue of yellow flame, before releasing Ryujin's hand.
Then he nodded, as Ryujin, under his watchful eye, touched the cube.
However, this time, instead of the violent surge of energy that had once overwhelmed him, there was a gentle thrum of harmonious resonance that filled the quiet study.
The cube's glow slowly brightened, but not with a chaotic dance of colors as before; it was steady, warm and seemingly pulse with an excited hum of recognition of Ryujin's touch.
"Incredible… It appears the cube has indeed synergized with you. It recognizes your essence." Yama muttered in awe.
In that moment, the mystic transformation pupils made its appearance once again, albeit passively, as it scanned the cube in front of it.
Then in the next moment, the origin codex sent a tiny stream of its energy that flowed through Ryujin's soul and entered the cube.
Upon making contact with the energy from the Origin Codex, the cube suddenly darted out of Ryujin's grasp, fleeting around like an excited wisp.
It moved and stopped in a mysterious manner that left the duo unable to keep track.
Then it returned to Ryujin and hovered before him, spinning clockwise and sometimes abruptly changing the direction of its spin anticlockwise.
Then it landed on the latter's hands once again, pulsing with a slightly more radiant glow.
"I can feel it, Yama. It's like a part of me now." Ryujin muttered as the energy continued to stream out of him into the cube in steady, tiny surges.
Shortly after, a stream of information appeared within Ryujin's mind;
-------
'Name: The Chrono-Cube of Myriad Realms
Description: An enigmatic Origin Grade Artifact composed of an unknown, shimmering material that reflects all possible realities of a dimension within its facets.
Powers:
Pocket Dimension: The Chrono-Cube holds a minor world with its own unique Divine Laws and Natural Cycles.
Dimensional Rifts: The Chrono-Cube can open portals to alternate dimensions, allowing the bearer to traverse countless realms.
Time Manipulation: It possess the ability to rewind, halt, and slow down the time flow within its minor world.
Chrono Manipulation: The Chrono-Cube can also bend the time flow of any reality within a certain radius; allowing its user to peruse the past, present, and future events of the said area simultaneously.
Reality Alteration: The Chrono-Cube can also alter reality within a certain radius, rewriting the Divine Laws and Natural Cycles of the targeted area.
Cosmic Compass: The cube holds the map of the cosmos, and thus possess the capability to navigate using star charts and the flow of cosmic energy.
Fossil Footprint: The Chrono-Cube only runs Chaos and Origin Qi, and thus, also provides its bearer with insights into the secrets of creation and destruction.
Ascension Trials: ????
???
???
-------
"???" Ryujin was left speechless at the information swirling within his mind.
His gaze landed on Yama, but the latter was busy scrutinizing the cube to notice his apprehensive expression.
'Should I tell him?'
Ryujin thought to himself as he struggled between keeping the information a secret and betraying Yama's trust and the echoing warnings of Long; the Azure Dragon.
'He wouldn't do that right? Or would he?' Ryujin's struggle intensified as he mulled over the situation.
"Ryujin? Ryujin!"
"Oh, sorry. I... I was deep in thought, I didn't notice you were calling." He managed to stutter.
"What were you thinking about? Did you learn anything? Did the Origin Codex provide any information?"
Yama fired several back to back questions at Ryujin, causing the latter's expression to contort into a slight frown.
"I'm sorry, my curiosity got the better of me.
It's just that I have been studying this cube for a very long time; in fact, you could say it was because of it that this palace became nothing but a massive library for research." Yama apologized as he returned to his seat.
Though his reaction had made Ryujin more skeptical about revealing the information he had, the latter could still understand the Realm King's plight.
Upon arriving at the Palace of First Order, he had indeed seen several souls hustling and bustling about with different sorts of scrolls and books that might probably be pertaining to his research.
Furthermore, there was also the towering rows of bookshelves and those souls that were seated with their attention glued to their tasks.
Then there is this study and the bookshelves surrounding it; in fact, Ryujin could tell that Yama was at the verge of adding the demons to his information gathering taskforce.
Perhaps, if not for the fact that he still had a duty to uphold, then he would probably not give a care about the souls arriving into the nether realm and simply pool his entire manpower into his research.
However, since it was almost guaranteed that he would be taking the artifact from the Realm King's hands, then he might as well not bother doing any further research into it.
Thus, with that in mind, Ryujin replied.
"No, the Origin Codex gave no information. It seems the cube had devoured all its energy." He said in half-truth.
"What a bummer..." Yama said, exasperatedly.
"But I guess that's to be expected, after all, the Origin Codex is barely a Quasi Origin Grade Treasure, whilst this cube is a fully fledged one.
It is already a miracle that it had enough energy to even prompt a reaction from the cube.
Who knows; perhaps, if we had gone too far, it would have rendered the codex itself, useless." Yama voiced out his opinion.
An 'Un' and a 'Yeah' was the only response Ryujin gave to the theory.
Since the latter had already cooked up and excuse for him, then he would definitely play along.
Yama watched as Ryujin waved his beckoned to the cube, and saw the latter dart towards him like a happy puppy before entering into his soul.
"Incredible!" He muttered as he dispersed the flames enveloping his hand as well as the protective dome.
"You should rest and recuperate for now. You will be setting out in a soon." Yama told Ryujin, as he shut his eyes for a nap.