Alden sat against the cold stone wall of the cave, clutching his shoulder tightly. The pain he felt was sharp, and every small movement sent a jolt of pain through him.
He quickly tore a sleeve of his cloth and wrapped it tightly around his shoulder to avoid losing any more blood. His vision a bit shaky and blurry due to blood loss.
He had barely made it inside in time. The moment he had entered the ancient-looking tree, everything had shifted. The dark forest had disappeared, replaced by this narrow, stone cave.
The cave extended endlessly inside, and the orb was floating there peacefully as if it was waiting for him to follow it.
The orb wasn't just light—it was alive. It was a spirit. Spirits are beings of mana created by nature.
Unlike Ellara, who was a ancient spirit, this spirit still seemed to be in infancy as it did not have any proper form. The spirit could gain human form only after breaking through Master Rank.
'This spirit... it must have recognised something in me,' Alden thought as he summoned his status screen.
He quickly scanned the details of the Spirit Eyes.
============================
[Description: Spirit Eyes are the eyes that can see the true essence of the world. Most of the effects are locked due to low user rank.
[Effects]
[1. Weakness Detection (Active)
- Detect physical or magical vital points of entities at the same level as the user.
- Mana cost: 100 Mana]
[2.Aura Detection(Active)
- Can detect faint aura.
-Mana cost: 20 Mana per second.]
[3. Enhanced Perception (Passive)
- The user's perception is enhanced and they can see spirits.]
========================
"It looks like more abilities will unlock as I grow stronger," he muttered in a quiet voice as he scanned the details of the screen quickly.
Taking a shaky breath, he pushed himself to his feet. He felt an intense pain through his shoulder, sharp enough to make him grit his teeth.
"Damn it... just move," he hissed in pain, forcing his legs to follow the orb of light as it went deeper into the cave. Hoping to heal his injury somehow.
His footsteps echoed faintly in the oppressive silence of the cave.
Just as Alden was following the spirit, his vision began to blur, darkness creeping in at the edges.
Just before his vision was darkened completely, he saw the narrow passage opening into vast glowing space. As his body fell down, going unconscious.
______________
In a vast clearing inside a stone cave, strange plants glowed with a mystical light, and small orbs of various colours floated peacefully over a clear Lake. The orbs were shining with different colours.
A huge golden-coloured door situated in the centre of space that illuminated the dark cavern. No orb of light dared to wander anywhere near that door.
When suddenly a boy entered the opening with shaky steps, following a blue-coloured orb of light.
As soon as the boy stepped inside, the door shimmered in a beautiful colour as ripples started forming on its surface, which were calmed soon after. The boy didn't notice the changes as he went unconscious as soon as he entered.
_________________
"What the..." Alden woke up with a jerk as he touched his shoulder, expecting a sharp pain to follow, but the pain didn't come.
He stared at his shoulder, running his fingers over the now-pristine skin where the wound had been just moments ago.
"Did they heal me?" Alden whispered, his voice filled with disbelief.
He looked around as he saw many orbs of light flocking all around him, each shining with different colours. They were all spirits, and among them was the blue spirit who had guided him there.
"They think I am one of them," Alden mused, watching the spirits as they floated around him. Their gentle light radiated an innocence and kindness.
He thanked the spirits, seeing their colour brighten as if they were happy.
He soon started looking around him. Only to see a vast clearing.
"It seems I had entered this clearing before going unconscious," he muttered as he looked around him.
"But what is this place?"Alden spoke as he scanned the vast space. His voice trembled with both wonder and unease.
As he was looking around, he saw a huge shining door just in the centre of the space. The door shone with mysterious golden light that illuminated it's surrounding.
The door had many intricate runes carved on it. There was something else too... something written on it that he couldn't see clearly.
He soon went closer to the door to read what was written. The spirits that were following him didn't even dare to come near the door.
"Are they afraid of something?" He said as he looked back to see spirits avoiding the door like the plague.
He soon came in front of the door. Standing there he started inspecting it as the door was even more gigantic from up close.
The runes on the door shining in mystical light as he saw what was written on it, or at least tried, but he couldn't understand them as the language was foreign to him.
"Perfect. Ancient scribbles on a door glowing with ominous light. What could possibly go wrong?" Alden muttered sarcastically, as he looked at the symbols. It wasn't any of the three known tongues of Eryndor.
Just as he was analysing the symbols on the door a strange pull drew Alden closer. His hand moving as if guided by an unseen force.
The moment his fingers touched the cold surface of the door. It started pulsing with energy.
As a blue screen popped with a ding sound
As soon as he heard the sound he snapped out of his daze as his eyes widened in surprise looking at the hidden quest.
Finding hidden quest were rare let alone completing it most people didn't even know existence of hidden quests. But if someone were to complete it in their awakening trial one could increase their chances of awakening a soul ability.
Alden's breathing quickened as the notification appeared.
'A hidden quest? Here?' His hands trembled with a mix of fear and excitement.
"This is my chance" he murmured. "My chance to grow stronger....to survive."