"Plundered Item #221: The Cylindrical Maze"
Origin: A caravan from the Emerald Cross.
Acquisition: The temple sent us to raid a caravan that carried no banners, signifying either suicidal recklessness or immense strength. Their defenses proved formidable, costing us three Silverfire Knights. But under the captain's lead, we eradicated the caravan.
During the search, I found a delicate cylinder within a tent, only to realize a child was hiding and staring intently at the object. The child claimed it was a family heirloom that contained the secret to triggering vortexes.
Before the captain arrived, I "purified" the child, sending his soul to eternal peace.
Upon investigation, the cylinder turned out to be a labyrinth artifact imbued with the aura of a four-winged soulbound miracle. Without the correct method to open it, its mechanisms would destroy the contents.
Unable to solve the labyrinth, I entrusted it to the most brilliant woman in the temple after pledging an unbreakable oath of loyalty. A month later, she uncovered its secret.
This secret skyrocketed our soul force. She unlocked two vortexes, achieving her Silver Wings, while I, less capable, triggered just one.
Eventually, temple knights captured me. She, standing behind them with a stern expression, had betrayed me. Having reached Two Wings, she no longer needed the labyrinth or me. She needed favor from the temple—and relief from the poison of the vortex.
Bound by our oath, I could not reveal the secret despite her treachery. My punishment: execution by drowning in filth, forever severed from the flames of purification.
Ironically, I could have used the Burning Husk miracle to suppress all anomalies temporarily, breaking the oath to expose her.
Yet, looking at her, I didn't.
Perhaps the Sacred Fire clouded my mind.
Sonia crossed her arms. "This 'Sacred Fire Temple'… never heard of them."
Ash raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be commenting on the tragic love story?"
"Do you really want to hear my thoughts? Remember, I can't lie."
"…Never mind."
"So, what's the secret to triggering vortexes? You skipped it just now."
"I'm deciding whether I should tell you."
Sonia froze, struggling to stay silent. Her expression twisted, causing Ash to nearly burst into laughter.
Seeing him laugh, she finally snapped. "You actually doubt me? Think I'd hoard the secret for myself? Am I worth less to you than a vortex's secret?"
Ash was taken aback. "Wait, are you upset I don't trust you, or upset that you don't rank as highly in my mind as you thought?"
Sonia's eyes burned with fury. "I—"
"Sorry, don't answer that. My bad." Ash raised his hands in surrender. "It's not about trust. This secret is… poisonous. Just knowing it will infect you. Since we can share vortexes anyway, I figured you didn't need the risk."
"'Poisonous knowledge'? I don't believe it." Sonia squinted. "You're bluffing, liar."
"Honestly, you're surprisingly easy to deal with when you can only tell the truth," Ash retorted. "Fine, I'll tell you. But don't blame me later."
"How could I? If it harms me, I'll just blame you for not convincing me otherwise. If it doesn't, I'll assume you were lying for attention." Sonia shrugged. "Either way, it's never my fault."
"…You're impossible," Ash sighed. "But since the poison isn't too severe yet… Misery loves company."
"The method to trigger a vortex," he began, "is to find a fish-dragon knowledge creature. Gravely wound it and let it escape. Follow it without killing it, allowing it to die naturally from exhaustion. Its corpse will create a vortex because…"
Together, they spoke in unison, "The Sea of Knowledge embraces its sleeping children."
Sonia stared at Ash, stunned. The words had escaped her mouth involuntarily, as if the knowledge itself had rooted in her mind, blooming and spreading.
A strange sensation washed over her. Though the world appeared unchanged, something felt fundamentally different.
She glanced toward the sea outside. As she stared, nausea churned in her stomach.
"This poison makes us abhor water," Ash explained.
Opening Aurora's Sorcerer Manual, he checked their status. Both "Endseer" and "Berserker Swordmaiden" now had a new condition:
"Vortex Poison"
Infected Count: 131
Poison Strength: 131%
Current Effect: Aversion to water (300% strengthens effects; 100% eases symptoms; 50% turns poison into a boon).
It wasn't a bodily affliction but a distortion of the soul. Most disturbing, the poison grew stronger as more people learned the secret—each infected person amplified the others' suffering.
After Ash explained this to Sonia, she scowled. "Why didn't you just refuse me harder, you loudmouthed fool?"
True to her word, she immediately blamed him, her honesty now a double-edged sword.
"Wait," Sonia said suddenly, her eyes narrowing. "You mentioned the poison weakens if fewer than 50 people are infected. What if we just…"
She made a throat-slitting gesture.
Ash recoiled. "You're turning into that guy's treacherous wife!"
"Not unless you betray me first," Sonia replied with a smirk.
"…That's not reassuring at all."
Their discussion made it clear why the secret was hidden within the labyrinth and why the axe sorcerer was betrayed. The poison created a brutal zero-sum game: every infected individual was a threat, incentivizing survivors to eliminate each other.
Even if everyone vowed secrecy, the Void Realm's knowledge-keeping mechanisms meant secrets inevitably spread. Death was no barrier to revelation.
For Ash, knowing the secret was like ingesting slow-acting poison. If he did nothing, a sudden surge in infected numbers could strengthen the poison beyond survivable limits.
But he felt no fear.
The Void Realm's challenges always had one solution: power.
To endure, sorcerers had only one choice—advance.
"We need to find a fish-dragon knowledge creature," Ash said. "The stronger we grow, the better chance we have to mitigate, even erase, this poison—perhaps by forgetting the secret altogether. For now, we must leverage this knowledge to its fullest, converting risk into strength."
"Isn't that what sorcerers always do?" Sonia leaned against their small boat. "Greed is our nature, after all."