I collapsed to the ground, gasping for air. My lungs burned, and every muscle in my body ached from the relentless chase and the burns left by the wolf's flames.
"What… what was that?" I panted, staring at the faint distortion in the air where the wolf had stopped.
I remembered the feeling how space itself had seemed to collapse when I swung my sword.
"The distance between me and the bastard…" I muttered. "It shrank. Like I was pulling it closer."
The realization hit me.
"I used magic!"
It still felt unreal. I'd acted on instinct, but somehow, I'd tapped into my element Space-Time.
"Not bad," I said, letting out a shaky laugh. "Not great either."
The idea of using magic on command sparked something inside me.
"Next time," I whispered to myself, "I'll use it to move faster. I'll call it Flash Step."
As the thrill of discovery wore off, my attention shifted back to the shimmering barrier that had stopped the wolf.
"This barrier," I muttered, studying the faint ripples in the air. "It protected me. It must've been created by Magnus Arcanis."
But why had I been able to pass through it?
"Could it be… only humans can enter?"
I shook my head. "No way. A mage would've found this place by now if that were true."
My thoughts turned to my element.
"Maybe it's tied to Space-Time users? That would explain it."
I nodded to myself, the pieces fitting together. "That's why the wolf couldn't pass. And why no one's ever discovered this place."
Satisfied with my theory, I turned to face the structure looming ahead.
The building was massive, more like a fortress than a cathedral.
Towering spires clawed at the sky, their surfaces covered in intricate carvings that shimmered faintly with an otherworldly light.
The architecture felt alien twisting, defying logic, as though parts of it existed in dimensions I couldn't perceive.
"This is it," I whispered, awe and unease warring inside me. "The legacy of Magnus Arcanis."
I approached cautiously, my hand resting on my sword's hilt. The air felt heavy, charged with mana.
The enormous double doors loomed ahead, their surfaces etched with glowing purple runes. The patterns swirled and shifted, alive and incomprehensible.
"No turning back now," I said, steeling myself.
I pushed the doors open with both hands.
The doors groaned as they swung inward, revealing a vast, shadowy hall.
I stepped inside, shivering as the temperature plummeted.
Torches lined the walls, their flames flickering in an unnatural shade of purple. The eerie light barely illuminated the cathedral's interior, leaving most of it cloaked in darkness.
"Purple flames," I muttered. "Yeah, that's not unsettling at all."
The air was thick, almost suffocating, filled with the scent of dust and ancient mana.
My footsteps echoed as I moved deeper into the hall. The carvings on the walls were even more intricate than those outside voids swallowing stars, cloaked figures wielding impossible weapons.
A chill ran down my spine.
"I'm being watched," I said, my voice breaking the oppressive silence.
No one answered, but the feeling persisted.
As I ventured further, a faint voice brushed against my mind.
"Come… closer… Take what is yours."
I froze, every nerve in my body on edge.
"Okay, no," I muttered, shaking my head. "Hard pass."
But my body betrayed me. My feet moved forward, as though compelled by an unseen force.
"Take it… claim it…"
The voice grew louder, more insistent.
"Alright, this is officially the worst idea I've ever had," I said, my voice trembling.
I stumbled forward, my breath still ragged, every step feeling heavier than the last.
The room was massive, its towering walls covered in murals that defied reason.
Nine figures loomed across the stone, each more horrifying than the last.
The first was a writhing storm of mouths, their jagged teeth frozen mid-snarl.
The second was a void of infinite eyes, all of them fixed in an unending, soulless stare.
Another stretched across the mural, A spider like being its limbs contorting and splitting into impossible shapes, folding into itself endlessly.
Each figure was monstrous, their forms seared into the walls with an artistry so vivid it felt alive.
And yet, the nine horrors seemed to serve something.
My eyes tried to follow the flow of the mural lines of light and dark that radiated toward the center but there was nothing there.
The voice in my head returned, louder and more insistent.
"Take it. It belongs to you."
I clutched my head, the weight of the words pressing down on me like a physical force.
"What is it? What belongs to me?" I muttered, my voice trembling.
There was no answer, only the pull growing stronger, dragging me closer to the center of the room.
The murals seemed to shift as I moved, the horrors staring at me now, their forms pulsing with an eerie light.
Then the ground shook.
A deep, resonant sound echoed through the chamber, and the floor cracked in the middle.
Something began to rise.
It wasn't blank. It wasn't obscured.
It simply didn't exist.
A massive stone coffin emerged from the ground, its surface covered in jagged runes that pulsed faintly with a sickly, purple light.
I froze, every instinct screaming at me to turn and run.
But the voice grew stronger, drowning out my fear.
"Claim it. Take what is yours."
The coffin's runes flared, filling the room with blinding light. The sound of stone grinding against stone echoed in my ears as the lid began to slide open.
"No, no, no," I muttered, gripping my sword tightly. "This is a bad idea. This is a terrible idea."
The lid fell to the ground with a deafening crash.
Inside was a skeleton.
Its bones were blacker than the void, as though they absorbed all light, refusing to reflect even the faintest glimmer.
Yet for some reason it felt familiar.
But I was sure this wasn't magnus.
It wore a tattered cloak, the fabric frayed and decayed yet radiating an unmistakable power.
But what drew my attention, what froze me in place, was the thing resting on its skull.
The mask was like nothing I'd ever seen or imagined.
It wasn't just a piece of metal or cloth; it was alive.
The surface shifted constantly, a swirling void of shadows and faint crimson light. Spines jutted from its edges at jagged angles, their tips glowing faintly.
The eye slits weren't empty. They radiated chaotic energy
Before I could react, it shot forward with blinding speed.
"No! No, no, no!"
The mask slammed into my face, its jagged edges digging into my skin. A searing pain exploded in my skull, like molten metal pouring through my veins.
I clawed at it desperately, trying to pull it away, but it was useless.
The mask wasn't just on me it was becoming part of me.
Runes flared to life across its surface, glowing crimson and black as they twisted into patterns too complex to comprehend. My vision blurred, turning white, then black, as a flood of whispers roared in my mind.
And then, cutting through the chaos like a knife, a blue screen flickered into view.
[System Update: Artifact Detected]
Name: Mask of the Spectator
Rank: Divine
Abilities:
1. Spectator Indifference
The user loses all emotional attachment to the world and acts perfectly rationally indifferent to others like a spectator
2. Eyes of the Spectator
Allows the user to look from a higher point of view,
3. [Locked]