The air down there was much colder and damper than Arvin had imagined. The dark path stretching before him was not a neat man-made corridor, but a narrow earthen tunnel that seemed to have been dug in a hurry. The ceiling was so low that Arvin, with his tall, sturdy build, was forced to stoop awkwardly just to move forward.
Creak... Thud!
The sound of dirt crumbling from the tunnel roof made his heart skip a beat. Arvin looked up slightly, eyeing the fragile soil structure above his head. Tree roots pierced through the dirt walls, seeming to be the only thing holding the place together.
This place... is a natural death trap, Arvin thought. One wrong vibration, and I'll be buried alive here, becoming a fossil of a foolish noble who died of greed.
"If I hadn't used light magic, I would definitely have hit a wall or fallen into a hole by now," he muttered softly. The Lux ball of light floating beside his head was the only source of illumination, projecting strange dancing shadows on the earthen walls.
Breathing became difficult due to the thin oxygen. The smell of wet earth and the sharp scent of metal stung his nose.
I don't know why I'm willing to go this far! he cursed inwardly. Ah, right. For Allen. To survive. And for this damn curiosity.
Arvin stepped very carefully. Every foothold was calculated. He held his breath every time he heard a cracking sound from above. The short journey felt like hours of torture for his back and waist.
However, after fifty agonizing meters, the narrow tunnel finally widened. Arvin saw an open space ahead.
As soon as he exited the tunnel mouth, he straightened his body. His spine cracked loudly.
"Ouch! It feels like my waist is about to snap off from bending over too much. This young noble body turns out to be not that strong when it comes to back pain," he complained while massaging his lower back.
However, the pain vanished instantly, replaced by a shock that froze his blood.
In front of him lay a vast underground cave. And in the middle of the cave's darkness, a glimmer of light reflected blindingly. Gold. A mountain of gold. Coins, bars, gems, and raw magic crystals were scattered on the cave floor as if they were merely worthless pebbles. The amount was enough to buy a small country.
But it wasn't the treasure that caught Arvin's main attention. In front of the dazzling pile of wealth, two simple stone coffins lay side by side in eternal silence.
Arvin swallowed hard. Treasure guarded by corpses? Classic.
He approached the two coffins. No evil aura or magical traps were detected. Only a thick air of sadness. On top of one of the coffin lids lay an old leather-bound notebook that had begun to rot.
Arvin picked up the book, brushed off the thick dust covering it, and began reading the handwriting where the ink was starting to fade.
"My name is Rudolf. I am a sinful alchemist."
Arvin read line by line the tragic story written there.
"In this gloomy place hidden from the sun, I conducted forbidden research. My ambition was to create the 'Elixir of Immortality'. Not for power, not for wealth. I did it all just so I could live forever with my beloved wife, Elena."
The next page was full of tear stains that had dried hundreds of years ago.
"I succeeded. The sky is my witness, I managed to perfect the formula. However, fate played a cruel joke on me. My wife breathed her last due to a plague, exactly one day before the potion was finished. She left me alone in an empty life."
Arvin fell silent. This story... was not in the game's lore.There was no NPC named Rudolf in game BL: The Sign Of Destiny.
"I was frustrated. In my madness, I tried to defy the laws of nature. I tried to use alchemy to resurrect the dead. But, I failed. What returned was just an empty vessel without a soul. I realized I had gone too far."
"Finally, I decided to end it all. I will drink poison and die beside my wife's body here. Let us be united in death if we cannot be in life."
On the last page, Rudolf's writing looked shaky but firm.
"O stranger who finds this place. If you are looking for the immortality elixir, it is all inside the box right next to my wife's coffin. Take it! That potion, this gold, and all the magic crystals here are yours! I don't need them anymore."
"But I beg one thing. Please bury our bodies here properly. Close our coffins again, bury us in the mother earth. I want this place to be our final resting place forever. Thank you."
Arvin closed the book slowly. His heart felt heavy. Even in a game world, a love tragedy like this felt real.
To ensure the truth, Arvin walked toward the coffin on the left. There, as instructed, he found a small, beautifully carved wooden box.
Click.
The box opened. Arvin's eyes widened. On a worn red velvet cushion sat seven small bottles containing golden liquid that swirled as if alive.
Elixir of Immortality. Not just a mana booster like the one he found upstairs, but a genuine potion of immortality.
He really managed to make it! This Rudolf was a mad genius. Arvin stared at the seven bottles. Why is such an important NPC not in the storyline of 'The Sign of Destiny'? Is this 'Cut Content' discarded by developers? Or the true history of this world that was never revealed?
Arvin stored the box carefully into his dimensional storage. He then looked at the two stone coffins.
"Alright, Mr. Rudolf. Transaction accepted." Arvin said respectfully.
He stood straight, closed his eyes for a moment, and offered a short prayer for their souls' peace. Even though he was now playing the villain, Arvin still had a code of ethics. Respecting the dead was an obligation.
Arvin stomped his foot on the ground. Earth element mana flowed from his body, spreading into the cave floor.
Rumble...
The ground beneath the two coffins slowly softened, then opened like a gentle mouth. The coffins descended slowly into the newly created grave. With a smooth hand movement, Arvin closed the hole again with soil, compacting it neatly.
Not stopping there, Arvin manipulated the surrounding rocks to form two simple but sturdy tombstones on top of the mound. With his fingertips flowing with magic, he carved names there.
RUDOLF / RUDOLF'S WIFE
"Sorry, Mr. Rudolf. You wrote your wife's name 'Elena' in the diary, but I doubt the spelling was right because the ink was smudged. So, let me write her as your wife so you remain bound," Arvin muttered, feeling slightly guilty.
After that sacred duty was finished, Arvin switched to looter mode. In the blink of an eye, he swept all the gold, gems, and magic crystals into his dimensional storage space. The cave that was glittering before was now back to being a dark and silent earthen cave.
Arvin turned around, walking toward the narrow tunnel where he entered. However, right at the mouth of the tunnel, he stopped. He looked back once more, gazing at the two stone tombstones standing silently in the darkness.
"As a thank you for this treasure and potions, I will ensure no other greedy people disturb your sleep." Arvin promised.
He started stepping into the narrow tunnel. "Rest well, and goodbye."
Arvin raised one hand behind his back.
Crack! Rumble! Crack!
The sound of moving earth sounded terrifying. Behind his footsteps, the tunnel began to collapse in a controlled manner. Soil from the bottom rose up, and soil from the ceiling came down, merging and closing the path forever.
Every meter he advanced, one meter behind him was totally sealed. Arvin continued doing this throughout the crawl out, ensuring Rudolf and his wife's grave was perfectly sealed from the outside world.
Once he reached the end and exited back into the secret room under the library, Arvin leveled the soil from the hole with the wooden floor, reconnecting it with wood element magic until no trace remained.
Finally done! Arvin let out a long sigh, wiping sweat from his temple. I have to get out of here before anyone realizes I'm missing.
Arvin climbed the stone stairs with quick steps, returning behind the library bookshelf. Once upstairs, he pushed the secret mechanism. The large mahogany bookshelf slid back to its original position with a soft click, hiding all the mysteries behind it.
"Phew..." Arvin dusted off his academy uniform, which was now dirty with soil dust and cobwebs. His appearance was a mess, far from the image of a neat noble.
However, that relief was only momentary. As he walked toward the main library door, he realized something.
Click! Click!
The giant double doors wouldn't open. Locked tight from the outside.
"Ah... damn it!" Arvin cursed. He forgot that the library had been closed for hours. "Why did they lock the door? Don't they check if there are still people inside?"
Exhaustion, hunger, and irritation mixed together. Arvin had no patience to pick the lock or look for a way out through the window.
"Move!" he hissed at the door.
He raised his right hand. Wind swirled violently in his palm, compressing into a high-pressure air ball.
CRASH!!!
The ten-centimeter-thick oak door shattered into pieces, hit by the wind magic explosion. Wood splinters flew into the academy's front yard.