Quintessence of Arcana

The Ice Cavern

The two young men continued and entered the passage beside the stream. They realized that it led to another larger passage with many winding paths.

Erald led the way while Croen with a flickering flame on his hand, followed him. They walked for some time but there were still no end to it.

Croen's expression were solemn. “We should turn back now. This passage way is too big. We may easily get lost in this passage and never turn to the outside. And the cave is getting colder by the minute.”

Erald pondered for a while and said, “Let us go back then...”

Croen nodded at him and said, “Maybe we shouldn’t enter this passageway in the first place.”

In fact, they were walking too rapidly in the dim cavern that they didn't realized that they were lost. When Croen looked back and shone the flame in his hand at where they had come from, he furrowed his brows and sighed, “I think we are—”

But before he could finished his words, Erald called him, “Brother Croen, take a look at this first...”

Startled by his voice, Croen looked back panicky.

Erald was examining a section of the passage wall. Although it is very dark and the light of the flame in Croen's hand is dim, he can still see the inscriptions carved into it. The inscriptions were not too obvious but Erald was able to see every single inscription clearly.

Croen focused on it and was astonished, “This seemed to be a some sort of Runic Inscription. An ancient one at that..”

“Runic Inscription?” Erald was confused. “Can you understand it?”

Croen still focused on the inscriptions, said, “I cannot understand it. This inscriptions seemed to be very profound.”

“Is that so? But I think I can read some of it.” Erald said.

Croen was surprised and exclaimed, “Are you sure brother Erald,? How can you read it?”

“I'm not sure either. I think it had something to do with my memories... But I can only read some of it though.” Erald said before pointing his finger at a certain part of it.

He read, “The most powerful act is thought, the highest function is focus, and the most positive mind is the absolute will. The universe is beneath the subconscious, nothing is impossible, enable the motivation, inspire the spirits...”

As Croen heard it, he exclaimed in utter surprise. “Brother Erald, this is indeed a runic inscription. However, it didn't contain any actual magic, only descriptions. But it is still helpful in magic cultivation. To think that we would have accidentally found something like this.”

“So this is really valuable...”

“Of course.” Croen laughed. “I think You should also keep this in mind. This can help you in your path in cultivating magic in the future.”

Erald nodded. But as soon as he inspected the inscriptions, he noticed something odd. He furrowed his brows as he was looking at the inscriptions keenly.

Croen couldn't help but asked, “Brother Erald, is something wrong?”

Erald said coolly, “Don’t you find that it is weird that someone will carve such an epitome intricacy formula in such an isolated place? It is as though it should never meant to be discovered...”

Croen was confused. “What do you mean?”

“Over time, the carvings on this ice wall will fade or erode. If that person really wanted this intricate formula to be known by future generations, wouldn’t he at least try to preserve or hide it carefully first?”

Croen finally understand what Erald was trying to say as he responded, “So you are saying that this runic inscription is left by someone hastily?”

Erald said, “Very hastily in fact. It was as though the person was in his final moments and only wrote it on the walls here so that this skill won’t be forgotten by future generations.”

Erald looked at the surroundings of the cavern and said, “If that person had died here, then it's corpse will surely be around here...”

After a short moment of surveying around the area, Erald felt something. He looked up and said, “Brother Croen, there is an opening on the top of this cavern and it looks like a dry place. Let’s investigate this cave opening.”

Croen wanted to say something, but then he just shook his head and followed him.

It took them considerable efforts to find a path up the cavern; The two had lost much strength but they still able to scale the slippery walls until they managed to reached their destination.

The interior of the passage was much warmer than the passage below. But the chill Erald felt is getting colder and colder. They walked until they've reached the end of the passage. What greeted them though was a certain chamber which made them startled.

They saw a pale-looking man in a meditating posture while holding a black-colored book in his hand.

“So this the source of this strange feeling.” Erald thought. He looked at Croen and asked, “Is he alive?”

When Croen walk towards the man and examined him, he was shocked. It seemed that the man here used a certain skill that preserved his body. “He still has a vital breath in his body but he is as good as a dead person.”

Erald asked anxiously, “What do you mean?”

Croen sighed. “It seems that while he was alive, he had suffered grievous injuries as evidenced by his scarred body. At his most critical moment, he had slowed down his heartbeat and now he was in a suspended death animation.”

“Can we revive him?”

Croen shook his head, “Nothing short of a miracle can revive him now. Even if he could received a miracle medicine now, the odds are so low that it is not even worth trying.”

Erald nodded and saw his gray skin. Indeed, he had been dead for a very long time and the chances of reviving him are too low. But the thing that intrigued Erald the most is the strange book in his hand.

Erald examined it and saw three characters. He read it aloud, “Shades of Perpetual Darkness”.

Croen gasped aloud softly, “This Grimoire seemed to be very profound. Based from it's appearance, maybe it contained a very unique type of magic... Perhaps forbidden...”

“Grimoire?”

“Yes. Grimoire is also known as 'book of spells.' It is a manual that contains information about magic techniques and their corresponding magical spells.” Croen massaged his temples. “Grimoires that are created out of the Arcana's essence chose their own masters. It cannot be passed on unless permitted by the owner. It seemed to be the same as this one... A unique one at that.”

“Arcana?” Erald was somehow familiar with this word as he heard it.

“Yes. Arcana. It is said to be the manifested will of magic. Though no one had seen it's existence in the current world, certain historical records proved that is real.”

“Arcana....? Why is it so familiar?”

No matter how Erald thought about it, he couldn't remember it. But somehow, he felt as though his self is connected it. He broke out from his trance moments later when he noticed Croen trying to pull the black Grimoire out from the dead man's grasp.

“What are you doing?”

Croen grinned “Although we cannot own or use this, it is still a valuable treasure. I planned to bring this to grandpa to let him inspect this...”

Erald couldn't agree more. It is indeed a valuable treasure. But then, he noticed Croen was sweating profusely. He couldn't help but ask, “What's the matter?”

Croen scratched his head, embarrassed. “Well, I exerted all of my strength but I still cannot pull the grimoire out from the man's grasp.”

“What? Is it that strong?”

Erald took over Croen's place and reached out his hands to grab the black Grimoire. He felt that it was drawing him in. But soon as he touched it, a faint black light covered his hands and an ethereal voice resounded into his mind.

“You are finally here....”

“Y-you were waiting for me?” Holding on the black grimoire, Erald with closed eyes asked in his subconscious.

“Yes...” It was a female's voice. It gave off a gentle and serene feeling.

“Who are you?”

“I don't have a name... But I am the residing spirit of this grimoire. I've chosen you as it's new owner and my master.”

“Owner?” Erald was startled. He wiped off the cold sweat on his forehead. “Why have you chosen me?”

“I don’t know... I slept for a long time when I woke up suddenly... because I could feel that my master is came to me. So I felt a strong attachment to you...” The voice said, somehow cheerily.

Erald thought of asking more questions, but then he decided to leave it for the meantime. “If that's the case, then from now on, you will follow me...”

“As you wish, my master....”

Erald opened his eyes sometime later only to hear Croen calling out to him. “Are you okay brother Erald? At first, I thought you fainted but that wasn't the case.”

“Well, The thing is... I felt that this Grimoire chose me as it's new master...”

“What do you mean?” Croen furrowed his brows, seemingly confused.

Erald just slightly smiled and didn't reply. Instead, he pulled out the Grimoire from the dead man's grasp in one tug. Croen was astonished.

“How did you do that?”

But just as the Grimoire was pulled out, the entire ground suddenly began to fiercely shake. Erald and Croen was both startled.

“What the hell is happening?”

Soon after, the ice interior of the cavern began to crack. Successive loud broken sounds were heard after.

“Brother Erald, let's get out of here!” Croen shouted.

“Okay!” Erald responded as he kept the Grimoire in his hand.

Ice shards from the ceiling of the cave continuously fell on the two young men, making them feel very uncomfortable while getting out of the cavern. As they run through each of the passages, they didn't noticed that the magic inscriptions engraved in the ice walls started to glow.

After a moment of constant running, Erald and Croen finally got out of the cave. It was then that the ground stopped shaking. Feeling exhausted, they sat on the ground and gasped loudly.

“What the hell happened? Why did the ground suddenly shook?” Croen wiped off the sweat on his forehead and asked.

“I think it happened when I pulled out this Grimoire from the man's grasp.” Erald said, breathing heavily as he clutched the grimoire with his two hands.

“Well, the most important thing is that we managed to come out safely.” Croen grinned.

But before they could both breathe a sigh of relief, a sudden powerful suction force pulled Erald back into the cavern. Croen tried to follow and drag him out, but a strange force followed up and pushed him back.

A short moment later, in the blink of an eye, the cavern's entrance seemingly vanished, like it never existed in the first place. Seeing this sight, Croen's face paled due to shock.

Meanwhile, back at the village...

Before the two young men exited the ice cavern, the 'Sealed Place' which no one knew how many years it has been isolated just fiercely shook as though it was hit by a severe earthquake. All the people and profound beasts inside was startled and panicked.

At that time in front of the bamboo shack, Grandpa Gin who was conserving his energy, quickly opened his eyes due to the disturbance.

“What happened?”

He quickly strode outside as he looked up the sky. He was so shocked that he couldn't believe what he had just saw.

“The barrier... has broken!”