Jack turned the page, his heart pounding as the humming light above the skeleton seemed to pulse in rhythm with his breath. The words on the next page glowed faintly, as though infused with an energy of their own, the brownish-red ink—Jon's blood—etched into the leather with unsettling precision. Jack's eyes scanned the first line.
"I was searching for a legendary artifact when it all went wrong."
Jack's eyebrows furrowed. 'An artifact? What the hell kind of artifact could justify all… this?' He glanced at the skeleton, a chill crawling down his spine. 'And why did you use your blood to write this story?'
"The exact details of my quest aren't important," the diary continued. "What matters is that my search led me to a place I never could have imagined. I was deep within the Mistwind Mountains, far from any civilization, following a trail that had grown cold more times than I could count. Then, I found it—a tear in the fabric of space itself."
Jack's breath caught. 'A tear in space? Is he serious? This sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie.'
He leaned closer, his pulse quickening as he read on.
"I approached cautiously. Even weakened, I could sense something… powerful beyond comprehension on the other side. It was the artifact I had been seeking all along. I knew it. I felt it calling to me through the rip. The air around the tear was heavy, crackling with energy. I should have turned back, but I couldn't. The pull was too strong."
Jack swallowed hard, his throat dry. 'What kind of artifact could make someone ignore something like that?'
"I moved closer, trying to understand what I was seeing. The tear was not just a gateway; it was alive, pulsating like a wound in reality. As I reached out to examine it, the tear… reacted. Before I could step back, I was sucked through, dragged into the unknown."
Jack's eyes darted to the floating light. 'Is that… how you ended up here?' The hum seemed to intensify, vibrating through his bones, as if in answer.
"When I awoke, I was half-dead, barely clinging to life. The injuries I'd sustained during the journey were severe. The world around me was alien—different in every way from Primera. I found myself sprawled in the yard of a temple, unlike any structure I had ever seen."
Jack's mind conjured an image: Jon, battered and broken, lying on the cold stone of a mysterious temple. 'What kind of place could do that to someone? And how did you survive?'
"The temple was… bizarre. Ancient, yet untouched by time. Carvings lined its walls, depicting scenes of power and sacrifice, of beings wielding forces I could barely comprehend. And then I heard it—the humming. A low, constant vibration that seemed to resonate through the very stones. It was coming from deep within the temple."
Jack's heart raced. 'The humming… like the one in this hut.' He glanced up at the glowing light, the hum almost a part of the air itself now. 'It's the same artifact.'
Jon's words pressed on. "I forced myself to my feet, drawn by the sound. My body protested with every step, but I couldn't stop. The temple's corridors were a maze, but I followed the hum until I reached the inner sanctum."
Jack's grip on the diary tightened. 'What did you find?'
"In the center of the sanctum, floating above an altar, was the artifact—a crystalline light, suspended in a transparent box. It was beautiful, but there was a… presence to it. Ancient. Powerful. It was unlike anything I had ever seen, or felt. I knew, without a doubt, that this was what I had been searching for."
Jack's eyes widened. He glanced up at the glowing light hovering above the skeleton. 'That's it. It has to be.'
"But I was too weak. My body had not healed from the journey through the tear. Cultivators rely on their Qi to sustain them, to protect them, but mine was depleted. I reached for the artifact, hoping—desperately—that it would restore me."
Jack could almost see Jon, trembling, hand outstretched.
"As soon as I touched the box, everything changed. The artifact's power surged through me, overwhelming my weakened body. Before I could react, another tear opened. This one… was different. More violent. I was torn from the temple, ripped through space once again."
Jack's pulse thundered in his ears. 'And you ended up here.'
"When I awoke, I was lying on this island. My body… shattered. My Qi reserves… gone. The terrain around me was unlike anything I had seen before. Two mountains loomed in the distance—one so tall and narrow, it seemed to pierce the sky like a blade. The other, shorter but wide, sprawling like a guardian at the base of its taller counterpart. A dense tropical jungle spread around them, wild and untouched."
Jack's eyes widened as a chill swept over him. 'The mountains… That's this island. The same peaks I saw after the storm.' He glanced out the hut's doorway, though the mountains weren't visible from here. 'He didn't know where he was. But I do.'
"I tried to heal. I tried to use what little Qi I had left, but I was too broken. My connection to the artifact had drained me beyond recovery. I could not even attempt to draw upon its power again."
Jack's heart ached with a strange empathy. 'He's been here, all this time… stuck. Unable to heal. Unable to go back.'
Jon's words took on a somber tone. "Whoever finds this diary, know this: you may be the one who can make use of the artifact. I cannot. My time has run out. I have accepted that."
Jack's breath quickened. 'He… he knew someone would find it. But why me? Why now?'
The hum from the light grew louder, filling the hut with an almost palpable energy.
"I will now explain what the artifact truly is," the diary continued, "and why I could not use it. Listen carefully, for everything depends on your understanding."
Jack's eyes darted back to the skeleton, then to the glowing light. He tightened his grip on the diary, bracing himself. Whatever came next, he knew it would change everything.