The strange bubbling sound rose from the small pond tucked into the edge of the cavern, soft at first, like air escaping through thick mud. Then it grew louder—wet, uneven, disturbingly alive. Ripples spread across the black surface, disturbing the faint reflections of crystal light overhead.
Ronan's expression changed instantly.
His body stiffened, exhaustion forgotten for a single sharp moment.
"Something's wrong," he said, forcing himself upright despite the ache still crawling through his limbs. His breathing tightened. "That sound… something's coming. And I'm in no condition to fight."
The air shifted.
Everyone reacted without needing orders. Steel scraped softly against leather sheaths. Hands tightened around weapons. Even the cavern itself seemed to hold its breath, the distant dripping water suddenly louder in the silence.
The pond churned. Water erupted upward.
Several figures stepped back instinctively, prepared for claws, fangs, or another nightmare dragged from the depths. But what emerged wasn't a beast.
It was Ronan. Or something painfully close to him. The figure staggered out of the water, half-collapsing against the rocky edge. "Boss!" the figure called weakly.
Ronan froze. "My clone…?"
He moved before his mind caught up, rushing toward the pond. Disbelief sharpened every line of his face. "How—?"
Kael stepped closer beside him, eyes narrowing. "That's your clone?"
The clone looked terrible. One arm was gone completely, severed cleanly at the shoulder. Deep fractures spread across his body like shattered ceramic, thin cracks glowing faintly beneath the surface. Pieces of him looked unstable, flickering at the edges as if his existence itself struggled to remain intact. Water dripped from his ruined form onto the stone floor. Each drop sounded strangely loud.
Lirith opened her mouth, then stopped. Her fingers curled against her arm. No words came.
The clone lifted his head toward Ronan. His expression held exhaustion—but also something calmer. Almost relieved.
"Not much time," he said, voice thin and breaking between breaths. "Listen carefully."
Ronan crouched beside him. His chest tightened.
The clone's condition was worse than he first realised. Tiny pieces of shimmering dust occasionally drifted away from the cracks in his skin.
"There's a hidden chamber beneath this pond," the clone continued. "I found a lizard-like beast roaming nearby. Took care of it… Maybe there are more." He coughed weakly. His remaining hand trembled as he pressed against the stone. "Look at their chest. There's a mark. Destroy that… and you can kill them." He slowly extended his hand. A Storage Ring rested in his palm.
Ronan stared at it.
The clone pushed it forward. "Check what I found inside," he said quietly. "You'll understand." His lips curved slightly. A tired smile. "It's been fun working with you, boss."
Ronan's fingers closed around the ring. Cold. For one suspended second, neither of them moved.
Then the cracks spread. Light slipped through them. The clone's body began to break apart—not violently, not painfully. Quietly. Fragments of shimmering dust drifted upward like pale embers. His smile never disappeared. And then he was gone. Silence settled heavily across the cavern.
"A Phantom Clone…" Mordek thought, his heavy gaze fixed on the space where the figure had vanished.
Ronan remained crouched. His hand tightened slowly around the Storage Ring. Something twisted quietly inside his chest. The moment his awareness entered its storage space, his eyes widened. The contents flashed before him—brief, overwhelming.
Then the ring dissolved into particles of light and vanished, absorbed directly into Ronan's own Storage Ring. His breathing slowed.
Whatever he had seen changed something in his expression. He stood. "Kael," he said, voice rough from disuse and strain, "let's go."
Kael looked at him for a moment, studying his face. Then he nodded.
Without hesitation, Kael uncorked a potion and drank deeply. The bitter medicinal scent spread faintly through the air. Ronan swallowed one as well, warmth spreading through bruised muscles and damaged pathways.
No more words were needed. Together, they stepped toward the pond. Then dove. Cold swallowed them instantly.
The water was darker beneath the surface than expected. Visibility shrank to shifting shadows and pale mineral light filtering through submerged rock formations. The chill wrapped around Ronan's body like heavy cloth, pressing against his skin.
Behind them, the others followed. Mordek. Gorvath. Vexara. Lirith.
Each cast water-breathing enchantments before descending. Thin currents of magic wrapped around their mouths and throats, shimmering briefly before fading from sight. The spell wouldn't last forever. They moved quickly. The descent felt endless. Time blurred beneath the water. Muscles strained.
Pressure built gradually in Ronan's ears as they swam deeper and deeper through the flooded cavern system. Ancient stone walls narrowed around them like the throat of some buried creature. Thirty minutes passed before the bottom finally emerged. At the base of the submerged cliffside stood a massive wall. Ancient.
Its surface was weathered smooth by time, yet unnaturally intact. At its centre yawned a large opening—dark and circular. Beyond it, through the murky water, faint shapes lingered. Buildings.
An entire drowned settlement is hidden beneath the cavern floor. Ronan drifted closer. His hand reached forward cautiously. He expected resistance. A barrier. Magic. Instead, his fingers passed straight through. His eyes narrowed. "No barrier?" he murmured. He pushed forward. The others followed. The transition felt strange. Like passing through cold silk.
Then suddenly— Dry air. Ronan stumbled forward slightly. He turned immediately. The water remained suspended behind them. Perfectly still. Held in place by an invisible force beyond the stone threshold. It should have flooded inward. But it didn't. The boundary stood absolute. The sight sent a quiet chill crawling across his skin. Inside, the air felt ancient. Heavy. Dust lingered unmoving. The scent of age and stone filled every breath.
Nearby lay the corpse of a massive Doomscale Lizard. Its body twisted unnaturally, limbs bent at impossible angles. Thick scales reflected dull light beneath layers of grime. Burned into its chest was a blackened handprint.
Mordek crouched near the corpse. "That handprint…" His eyes narrowed. "It's the same mark from the creature Kael and Ronan fought." The group pressed onward. The ruins stretched farther than expected. Collapsed buildings lined worn pathways. Broken columns leaned against cracked stone walls. Dust blanketed everything in thick layers untouched for centuries.
They entered one of the structures. Furniture had decayed into skeletal outlines. Wood crumbled at the slightest disturbance. Time had eaten everything.
Gorvath kicked aside a pile of broken debris. Dust exploded upward. "So this is it?" he muttered. "Dust and bones. I can't believe we followed you here."
Ronan ignored the comment. He closed his eyes briefly. Aether moved quietly through him. His senses sharpened. The world shifted. Subtle traces emerged.
Tiny fractures hidden in stone. Ancient sigils were worn nearly invisibly. Lingering residue of Aether clinging faintly to walls and floor like fading fingerprints. His Keen Eyes and Perception skills layered over reality. Fragments of forgotten purpose revealed themselves.
"Ronan!" Kael's voice echoed from another room.
Ronan opened his eyes immediately and moved toward him.
Kael stood near a collapsed shelf, holding a crystalline object coated in dust. "I found a Memory Crystal."
Curiosity flickered through Ronan's exhaustion. "Does it still work?"
Kael turned it over carefully. "Only one way to find out."
He pushed a thin stream of Aether into the crystal. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the crystal glowed. Light gathered above it. A hazy projection formed.
A man appeared. His face looked hollow with fear. Eyes wide. Breathing uneven. "Hello…" the projection said, voice distorted slightly by age. "If you're seeing this… it means I'm dead." The room fell silent.
Even Gorvath stopped moving.
"This place was a research centre," the man continued. "Maybe from your perspective… unethical. Immoral, even." His gaze shifted downward. "But that doesn't matter now." His hands trembled. "If you find any Doomscale Lizard cores… destroy them. Or give them to the demon clans. No human should ever use those cores."
Kael exchanged a glance with Ronan.
The man swallowed. Fear deepened in his expression. "We tried to enhance the power of demons and humans alike." His voice cracked. "But something went wrong." He paused. "In the last chamber… There are two doors. Please free the two locked in the right chamber."
He lowered his head. "I am powerless to break the chains." The crystal dimmed briefly. "There is only one way out." His voice softened. "The teleportation array in the last room." The projection distorted. Then vanished. Darkness reclaimed the crystal.
Silence returned. No one moved immediately. The words lingered heavily in the stale air. They continued searching. Each building told the same story. Failure frozen in stone.
Eventually, Ronan turned toward Kael. "Why hasn't this place been explored properly before?" he asked. "Didn't the Viridion family send people?"
Kael nodded slowly. "They did." He brushed dust from his sleeve. "But only a handful of Grandmaster Tier mages exist. Most sent here were Master Tier. Tier Three to Tier Six." His voice lowered. "Few came back."
Ronan looked over. "Returned?" he asked. "How?"
Kael shifted sideways dramatically as he spoke, mimicking a storyteller's posture despite the exhaustion still visible beneath his movements. "According to Sir Alaric, survivors used teleportation markers." He gestured outward. "Artefacts tied to preset locations."
Ronan blinked. His jaw dropped slightly. "Wait… what?" He stared. "Why didn't we bring those?"
Kael exhaled. A tired sound. "Because we can't afford them." He rubbed the back of his neck. "They're absurdly expensive, Ronan. We barely scraped together enough funding for healing potions."
Ronan's shoulders lowered. "Oh." The disappointment sat visibly across his face.
Mordek looked toward Kael. "How did you kill that Doomscale Lizard?"
Kael answered immediately. "Like Ronan's clone said." He crouched near the dead creature. "There's a mark on their chest. It supplies them with endless Aether." His fingers hovered over the burned handprint. "As long as that remains intact, they won't die."
Ronan summoned a small flame into his palm. The fire danced softly. He shaped it carefully. A sigil formed within the flame. Something close to the mark they had seen. "It looked like this."
The light reflected across Mordek's eyes as he studied it. After a long pause, he shook his head. "Never seen that before." They moved deeper. Another room. Another layer of forgotten history.
Bones lay scattered beneath collapsed beams. Human remains. Several metal identity tokens rested nearby, tarnished with age.
Kael crouched and picked one up. His expression shifted faintly. "These are Viridion tokens." He pulled his own from his belt pouch for comparison. "Those men were sent here." He gestured toward the remains. "They never left."
Mordek revealed a similar token. "We have them too," he said. "Acts as permission granted by the Viridion clan."
Ronan nodded slowly. Understanding settled into place. "Oh."
His gaze lingered on the bones longer than necessary. A silent grave. Forgotten explorers. People who entered with a purpose and never returned. Eventually, they reached a massive door. Its size dwarfed them. Ancient runes traced its edges. The moment they stepped inside, Light awakened. Soft illumination spread through the chamber. The room revealed itself slowly. White marble walls gleamed beneath layers of dust. Ancient runes covered every surface.
On the right side stood shattered glass tubes, cracked and broken, their interiors long emptied. On the left, towering bookshelves leaned dangerously against the walls. Books lay scattered across the floor, pages yellowed and brittle. At the centre rested a teleportation circle. Perfectly intact.
Ronan walked slowly across the polished marble. His footsteps echoed. The chamber felt different from the ruins outside. Not abandoned. Preserved. Like time itself had hesitated here.
"This place…" Mordek said quietly. His voice carried differently in the room. "It's not just a ruin." His eyes traced the shattered tubes. "The work here meant something to someone." He looked toward the teleportation circle. "Their ambition." A pause. "Maybe their dream." His expression darkened. "Maybe their nightmare."
Kael nodded. His hand rested near his weapon. "We need to be ready." The room seemed to listen. The silence felt watchful.