Alden's POV
In a vast library filled with many shelves and books, a boy was sitting on a table lost in his reading.
But he wasn't reading anything more like he was just skimming through books as if searching for something.
"Damn it, it's not this one either," the boy, none other than Alden, cursed.
Alden had been cooped up in the library for the past few hours searching for the Eclipse Codex, but it seems he didn't have any luck today either.
But he was sure that he would find the Eclipse Codex in a few days, as now he had completed checking most of the books in the library.
After scanning all the books on the table, he got up to return those books to the shelves and take out some new books to check.
Just as he was just arranging the books on the shelf, his foot stumbled, and he fell toward the shelf, and all the books on the shelf fell on him.
'F**k' He cursed, groaning in pain, as he got up from the pile of books that buried him when a book caught his eye.
The book... it was just a plain, ordinary book. There was nothing special about it: no fancy cover, no title. But for some reason, the book was all he could focus on.
He just stared at it in a daze.
Then suddenly, with a jolt, he snapped back to reality.
"What the hell was that?" he muttered as he looked at the book again. But this time he didn't feel anything.
'Could it be The Eclipse Codex?' Alden thought his mind could only think of one book with such a magical effect.
He quickly walked towards the book, eager to check if it truly was what he thought it was. But the moment his fingers touched the book cover, a flash of light shot out.
The light was so intense and fast that he barely had any time to react before the world started warping around him.
The world folded visibly before he vanished from his spot without a sound.
One second he was there, and the next he was gone.
---
The silence returned to the library as soon as Alden vanished.
In the now-silent library, a figure appeared out of the shadows.
She looked at the spot where Alden had vanished as a smile formed on her face.
"So... the succession has started." The figure none other than Ellara spoke with a soft smile.
"I hope you pass the trial, Alden..." She spoke again, but this time her smile had another emotion: longing.
She just stood at the spot as if waiting for him to return..
---
Alden's vision went dark for what felt like forever before it cleared up as he looked around him in a frenzy.
"What was that?" He couldn't comprehend what had just happened.
"I just touched the book...and," he muttered, trying to piece things together.
Alden soon pieced things together, thinking this space was something related to the inheritance of the Eclipse Codex.
He frowned as he tried recalling any information about this place mentioned in the novel, but there was none.
"Okay, this... wasn't mentioned in that damn novel." He cursed, his voice filled with frustration.
He quickly started analysing the space he had found himself in, trying to make sense of his surroundings.
The world around him just seemed... wrong. The vast plain stretched out in all directions, the sky above him filled with shadows and streaks of light, an odd but beautiful contradiction.
As the shock was wearing off, a new emotion was bubbling inside him. He was feeling excited; he didn't know why, but his heart was thumping with excitement.
'Why the hell am I excited ?' The thought struck him like a bolt of lightning, and for a second, he didn't move, frowning slightly.
It wasn't his usual nervousness or any other emotion; it was just raw excitement.
Almost as if his soul was resonating with this weird place. 'But why?'
Before he could figure it out, the world around him started shaking violently.
The entire plane felt like it was collapsing. He looked around, trying to find the source, but there was nothing. Just vast emptiness.
And then, as tremors started settling, something emerged from the ground. Now there was something in the centre of the plane. He couldn't see it clearly, but it felt like some reflective surfaces.
"Is that... a mirror?" He blinked his eyes in surprise. There was no reason for it to be here. But there it was, clear as day, standing out.
"Well, it's not like something is going to change by standing here," Alden grumbled, shaking his head. "Might as well check it out."
He started walking toward the mirror, his steps filled with uncertainty.
The air around him was getting thicker with each step as the clouds of darkness started surrounding him as if whispering something.
It was getting harder to move with every step. But he kept going...
—
Unbeknownst to Alden, there was someone or something watching him, watching his every step from the moment he had entered this space.
The figure was made up of pure flickering shadows. The shadows started changing their form, forming an almost human-like outline.
"Finally…someone's here, huh." A distorted voice came from the figure, seemingly amused.
___
As Alden was walking, he suddenly felt a cold shiver run down his spine.
"What the actual…" he muttered as he turned around "I thought someone was watching me."
"Maybe I'm just imagining things." He soon started walking again, seeing nobody there.
Alden kept walking, or at least, he thought he was. Every step was feeling heavier than before, but the distance was still the same.
"Why is the distance still the same?" Alden whispered in a quiet voice. "Is the mirror just screwing with me or what?"
He couldn't comprehend why the distance between him and the mirror was still the same. It was as if he hadn't even walked a single step from the moment he first came here.
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