—Perspective of Gloriana Mengral.
Asher disappeared, a light enveloped his entire body when suddenly he disappeared without a trace. Where did he go? Where did that teleportation spell take him?
"N-no, where did he take it?" I murmured.
I walked towards a round platform, stood right on top of it and looked at the ground. There was a mark on the ground in the shape of a hand, there were two marks. There was also a recorded text, but I didn't understand what it meant or what it said; It seemed to be some kind of ancient language.
My breathing was labored, I looked at Luna, but she wasn't even reacting. She kept thinking, but why the hell is he like this? What the hell is she thinking that he doesn't even move from her spot? She stood at the entrance of the dungeon as she looked at the ground. I walked and reached her, I looked at her as my hand went up.
"Plack"
I had to slap her, it hurt me to hit her, but she had to react. She wasn't thinking very well and she was very distracted and distant. She is the only one who can solve this problem right now. Asher disappeared and Luna was the only one who can think very well in these types of situations, but she was very distracted, so I had to hit her.
"Luna, wake up, we must look for Asher."
"..."
She didn't react, her face was pale as she looked at the ground. She was so completely immersed in her thoughts that she didn't even react properly.
"Damn it, wake up! You're not supposed to be like that... You never worry about anything but me, but this is not the time to be thinking unnecessary things," I yelled at him.
I looked up from her and looked into her eyes.
"Wake up..."
Suddenly her hand reached my shoulder, she looked at me when she spoke.
"It's okay... Don't worry, I'm fine," she said, but her voice was very low and soft.
"Sigh"
Luna finally reacted, I was relieved, but I remembered Asher again and at that moment I grabbed Luna by both shoulders and said.
"Luna, we must find Asher."
"Why do you say that? Where is he?" Luna asked.
"Follow me, he was taken away by a teleportation spell," I said as I took Luna's hands.
We both arrived at the round platform. I pointed to the two marks and the text written on the ground.
Luna looked at me, seemed to have some knowledge about the text, and said, "This is an ancient language. I don't remember well, but on my father's desk I saw a book that mentioned ancient civilizations, a civilization that existed before 'The Age of 'Dominance'."
"The Era of Dominance is the only known era on the entire continent. No one knows if there was an era before that. However, it was rumored that the head of the Hazard family found records of an era before the Era of Dominance. , a time when magicians were considered gods. The content of those records is unknown," I mentioned.
"Luna...Won't you be in trouble if your father finds out that you know about that book?" I asked for.
"The record of events just before the Age of Dominance is considered high-class information. Only the rulers and royal family know about those ancient records, but it is not known if they are real," I mused.
"Even though I'm from the royal family, I don't know anything about that, but Luna seems to have some ideas about the 'so-called records'," I thought to myself.
Luna looked at the text again, looked at it for a few seconds and then spoke, her look seemed to be somewhat confused.
"I think I know what he says, but I need mana," she said.
If mana is the answer to this, then neither of them could bring Asher back. Although there are many mana crystals, we don't know how to absorb it or how to control it so that it flows according to my will. It is necessary to be a first circle.
***
-Change of scene.
—Asher Frostblade's perspective.
What place is this? It was in the center of an iron platform; The walls emitted a mana very similar to mine, in fact, it was identical. There were also six entrances to different places.
I walked towards one of the entrances, when I felt something calling to me, something like manna. My own mana was calling to me, but in a way that was not mine. I turned my head and saw that the mana was coming from one of the entrances.
I walked and entered through one of the available entrances; the mana was calling to me, like something was trying to take me somewhere using mana, but it felt strange. It seemed like a voice calling me using the same mana, pushing me in a direction I was not aware of.
After walking for a few seconds, the atmosphere changed drastically. The mana increased exponentially and became very dense; I even felt like I was kneeling. I gritted my teeth and walked harder. Although the place was darker, he could see clearly.
A bright light hit my eyes, making me close them immediately.
"W-What the hell?"
I continued walking without stopping, and the light began to gradually decrease until I reached a room. It was decorated with things like armor that had incredible design, all emanating dark and purple mana similar to mine. Almost all the armor was black. Why did everything in this place resonate with my mana? Something very strange was happening here, but what could it be? Why had manna brought me here?
I didn't understand any of this. I looked around me; The room was not that big. Then, I looked at the ceiling and saw a pattern that looked like a spell rune. I looked down and found the same runes on the ground.
I filled my hand with mana and began to reconstruct the runes on the ground. Finally I finished.
"Deaf sound"
Suddenly, the floor began to rise and I approached the ceiling. When I looked up, the ground stopped rising. It was as if this mechanism was designed only to reconfigure the runes on the ceiling; Maybe those runes were important and he had to follow step by step.
I did the same and solved the runes easily. Each purple thread was connected in the correct order. Suddenly, the floor lowered and dark, box-shaped lines began to draw a door on the wall of the room in front of me. Everything happened very quickly.
"Deaf sound"
"Clack"
A door appeared. I walked and entered through it. On the other side was a dark hallway. I walked and suddenly something resonated; It seemed like something had been activated, but my instincts alerted me to lower my head.
"Swhoss"
A dark arrow passed over my head just as I lowered it. Again, the same sound echoed and my instincts warned me to dodge.
"Swhoss"
Another dark arrow passed near me.
"This place is full of magical traps," I thought.
I continued walking, concentrating on not triggering any traps. The light appeared again and I arrived at another room, much larger and empty. There was only rubble and mana crystals on the walls. The floor was made of a strange glass that also emanated the same dark mana.
"Deaf sound"
I looked up and saw in front of me a different door, this one was made of stone and also had mana in it. I walked carefully and slowly opened the door. I didn't know what had caused that noise, but as I opened it slowly, I saw something that surprised me deeply. I breathed faster than normal and my face contorted.
"W-What the hell is that? Is it a monster?" I thought.
There was a figure that looked like a person, but at the same time a monster. It had large wings and no face, which was covered by a white mask. He was at least four meters tall and sat with a spear in one hand and something resembling a scroll in the other. Was this what caused the noise? Is he dead, or is it just my imagination?
This place was much bigger and suddenly a light coming from the ceiling caused snow to fall. It was like a snowfall of light falling from the ceiling, but upon closer inspection, there seemed to be no ceiling visible; It seemed to be heaven.
There were many big things in this room, besides the humanoid monster. There were mana crystals and some weapons like swords and spears. The light reached every corner of the room.
"What place is this really? Monsters, traps, and that thing that teleported me here. Where the hell am I?" I thought.
I looked at the monster, who wasn't even moving. I didn't know if he was dead or alive, but I decided to enter the room. The monster didn't react, so I assumed he was dead. I walked and stopped right in the center, looking up at the sky as the snow fell and the sunlight streamed in. This place felt very peaceful; If it weren't for that monster, I might even stay here to live for a while.
"What is that? A book?" I looked at a book, it was what the monster was holding.
Carefully and diligently, I reached out and took the book.
[The Age of Darkness]
The title of the book blew me away. I opened the book and it explained something about a wizard so powerful that he could destroy the world, one capable of easily defeating hundreds of ninth circle wizards.
"Incredible, before there were much more powerful wizards. But why is it called the Age of Darkness?"
I looked at the title, it was the most intriguing thing about all of this. Why was it called that? And since when is this era? How old is this era? The current era is the Era of Dominance, but then, since when has this era existed and when did it end?
I looked at the monster and a thought came to my mind.
"That monster could be from the Age of Darkness. If there were such strong wizards in that era, then the monsters might have even had the same strength as in that era."
Everything was starting to make sense; The Age of Darkness must have been the supposed era just before the Age of Dominance. It's also possible that that era is even older, perhaps the era where wizards ruled the world.
"This is too complicated."
"This book shouldn't be found by anyone, so I'll keep it," I muttered to myself.
This book could trigger great conflicts in the world, it has information about an unknown era where magicians were like gods.
"How powerful must they have been?" I thought.
"They were the strongest of all. Those wizards must have a very complicated history."
I looked at the book again and leafed through it, but when I turned the page there was no more. There were only five pages in the book, which means someone tore them out. But who could it be?
"I sighed."
I sighed and tried to calm down. The book was incomplete, but what could I do? I barely knew this world; I didn't know anything about him. If any of this were to be revealed, it would be a big problem, not only on this continent but also on others. I put the book away for now. I would keep it until I was sure. I couldn't leave this book here.
"HUMAN!"
Suddenly, I heard a voice that left me completely shocked. I couldn't move and I couldn't feel my body either. The monster that I thought was dead was behind me, and I couldn't see if it was him who spoke just now.
"You... are the successor."
The voice spoke. It was serious and very strong, each word resonated as if it would break my entire body. I tried to look back.
"W-What...?" I couldn't finish my sentence when I saw the monster from before, standing.
He is tall and has a large muscular body, with two golden wings and a face that looks like a white mask. I was scared; It was the first time I felt a fear even greater than death itself. I couldn't move, and that monster in front of me didn't allow a single muscle to move.
I swallowed hard and tried to get some words out when the monster spoke first.
"Answer, human. Are you the successor?"
The monster repeated the question. I swallowed and my lips parted as I answered.
"I-I don't know...what you mean."
The monster remained silent, but then spoke again.
"You don't know if you are the successor... you don't know, so why do you have that mana?"
I responded quickly, when the monster mentioned my mana.
"Nor... I don't know." I couldn't speak clearly; The imposing figure of this monster prevented me from doing so.
I didn't know what he meant, but this mana is not normal as I thought. What the hell is this mana I have and what is its origin? I thought quickly and remembered the book "Age of Darkness". Perhaps there was the answer to this dark mana.
"Then there is only one answer. You must do the test," the monster said, and suddenly my body felt normal again but something changed...