Chapter 13

Metal, clanking, scraping, whispering.

Those noises invaded Ryder's senses as he began to wake up.

His body screamed at him for more rest, to let the darkness keep him longer.

It was an odd feeling, sleeping without dreaming, while not uncommon for Ryder it felt closer to a final rest than before.

The darkness wrapped itself around him and was so comforting that he couldn't budge an inch, it felt… safe.

The voices got louder and louder as he began to awaken, causing Ryder to slowly force himself fully awake.

A mixture of colors and lights fill his tired eyes, slowly forming into shapes and people before seeing what was happening.

Crackling fire, people whispering as to not wake those resting, many looking over their tools.

It seems like they're still in the room where they fought Shade, but the ceiling is broken further apart to allow smoke to escape.

Eleanor and Yuria are patching up troops with some help from other clerics and others guarding the entrance.

"Ah, you're awake now, it's good to see you're recovering." Aranea's soft and kind voice spoke from his right, causing him to look over at her. "I was afraid you or the others wouldn't wake up."

"What… what happened?" Ryder asks, still processing what was going on, his throat was dry and voice horse.

"Easy there… don't push yourself." she slides a cup of what looks to be tea to him. "We cleared the fort and took it, but everyone was severely injured in the process… we've turned this into a med bay until everyone gets better."

Ryder slowly takes the tea and drinks it, feeling oddly refreshed. "So we actually won… that's good." he sighs a bit and looks around. "Any losses?"

"Surprisingly none… I think your speech really helped keep them focused on fighting and surviving." she lets out a soft giggle at this. "You really were the champion they needed."

"Sure, some champion I am…" Ryder groans and looks back down. "Couldn't even protect my friends or beat one enemy on my own."

"You may not have beaten him but whatever you did saved dozens of lives including your own." she leans back against the wall and lets out a sigh of relief. "And personally I think that's better than winning any battle."

"I guess so… just stings, being beaten so easily like that." Ryder closes his eyes again, replaying the fight in his mind over and over, hoping to find some different outcome but to no avail.

"Hey stop being so harsh on yourself, it's clear that whoever they were, they had several advantages." She looks at Feros and Oto who are still passed out. "They'd need to in order to beat them both at the same time."

"That's a Lord Hunter for you." Yuria's voice chimes in as she walks over and sits next to Ryder. "Annoying bastards only care about their own goals and use any dirty tricks in the book."

"You know about them?" Aranea leans forward, curious and a little concerned.

"Yes I unfortunately do… they're not a lot you want to run into." She pulls out a pitch black coin and flips it to Aranea. "That's their mark, shadows of a time long forgotten only seeking to restore this land to its former glory."

Aranea looks over the coin, finding two symbols engraved on it.

The front has a bird of unknown species spreading its wings wide, something about it seems rather imposing amidst the darkness.

On the back there's a moon set ablaze, the image almost seeming hypnotizing to her.

"So basically they're not with this current lord?" she asks, her concern only rising.

"Nope, most of them aren't." Yuria shrugs while beginning to heal Ryder more. "While they are a group it's still a free for all, they may be called hunters but they only wish to cull the hoards for the true lord."

"Is that why… they were attacking everyone here?" Ryder asks weakly.

"The one here was culling you outlanders, after all, people not of this realm trying to claim the title of lord? Can you imagine why people would be up in arms?" Yuria's voice softly speaks. "Even the priest only called you here as a last resort."

Those words pierced them deeply, it was true.

In the end they were still outsiders to this place, the only reason they were participating in the story was to escape.

But it still didn't sit right with either of them.

"Well… I'm here now, and apparently showed that we're actually worthy… considering that bastard ran off after i got one hit on him." Ryder weakly states while looking at Yuria. "Apparently… that's all it takes to impress them…"

Yuria responds by lightly flicking his forehead, seemingly slightly annoyed. "No it wasn't, smart one… you only survived because of what you had, not what you did."

"The pact…" Aranea speaks up, realizing it. "He had access to ancient magic, proving himself worthy!"

"And all without need to massacre the residents of the island." Yuria cheerfully responds. "Without that it'd be impossible to show your worth to stubborn blades like them."

"Then how do we get more?" Aranea leans back now, getting more invested in this. "If we manage to find more of those entities or ancient magic we can protect ourselves from them, right?"

With a sigh the green cloaked mage looks at Aranea. "Technically you are correct but there's no definite way to find them… these tears in reality aren't exactly normal."

"False Zones…" Ryder chimes in. "That's what we'll call them, after all they're areas that shouldn't exist here, therefore they could be considered false."

Aranea sits back once more, pondering for a moment. "So… if we want to learn more about the mysteries of this situation, and keep others safe… we're going to have to find these False Zones."

"Only one problem, once again, we have no way to really find them!" Yuria repeats while sighing. "There's no map or magic I know of-"

"That you know of… but there's someone who might have, we'll just have to follow his trail." Ryder smiles a bit as Aranea starts to catch on.

"The Forgotten!" Aranea's face lightens up. "The first portal was found by his castle, it's surrounded by a magic forest, there's ancient texts there… if anyone knows about that kind of magic it'd be him."

"Not to mention… we're sitting right above another area of his…" Ryder says, looking over to the door.

"Well isn't that convenient…" Aranea smiles. "Alright, we know our next course of action then!"

With a bit of effort Ryder forces himself to stand up, stretching a bit but groaning at the lingering soreness. "Well, what are we waiting for then?"

"You're still recovering!" Yuria says, trying to get him to sit back down. "Please just wait a moment."

"Nope, no time, who knows when we'll run into another Lord Hunter after all." Ryder smiles at her. "Besides, I'm already good enough thanks to your healing, now I just need to do my part."

Quietly he grabs his sword which had been resting by him and marches over to the door, Yuria and Aranea quickly following behind him curious as to what may await behind it.

Upon approaching now it's clear this door isn't natural, it's wooden yet unlike the rest of the fort has no signs of aging or damage.

Ryder gently runs his hand across it, examining the door for any signs of tampering or replacement but instead, the darkness reacts to it.

It feels like a low rumble deep within but this door… It has some kind of strong magic affecting it.

He tries to turn the handle only to find it won't budge, there's no key hole either.

It's as if the door is frozen in place, unaffected by time or space.

"Hey, where's my dagger?" Ryder asks, looking around.

"Right here." Aranea says, grabbing it from her belt. "I kept it safe while you were passed out."

"Thank you." he cautiously takes the dagger and looks at the door once more. Unsure of if he'd need to stab through or not he cautiously held the tip of the blade up to the door.

The dagger glows for a moment upon touching the wood, an odd mirage like effect starts warping the door but it remains in place.

Cautiously he pulls the dagger back before forcing it as deep into the door as possible.

With a groan suddenly the door vanishes into tiny blue particles, floating away on the wind, leaving behind only the opening that it was guarding.

"An illusion?" Aranea asks while moving forward.

"No, Stasis, that door was frozen in time, now that it's been undone it returned to the state it should have." Yuria clarifies while sighing a bit. "That means this whole area likely has been coated in stasis magic."

"So we're going to be diving into an area frozen in time?" Ryder asks while leaning forward, examining the pit in the room.

The only way down being a set of spiral stairs made of stone.

"Yes, yes we are… meaning whatever traps are down there are likely to either be frozen or active." she grumbles a bit. "Honestly I hate this kind of stuff…"

"You don't know for sure if they're active?" Aranea asks, clearly worried about it now.

"No, I don't. With magic like this it can be so fine tuned that even traps can still activate in stasis areas." Yuria bluntly responds before walking down the stairs. "Well come on then, we won't find answers just standing here!"

Unlike the room they were just in the stairwell alone feels otherworldly, almost like the False Zone in a way.

Aranea could tell that the materials were from this world… but something about it just didn't sit right with her.

The mana in the air was heavier than anything she'd ever felt before, not only that but their steps echoed back loudly, creating this ambient feedback that made a shiver run down her spine.

It was obvious that everyone was nervous about this as even Ryder and Yuria remained scarily quiet, as if waiting for something to happen.

Yet nothing did as they descended further down.

Deeper down, the light being smothered out as with each step it became darker until it was impossible to see even an inch in front of themselves.

A sea of impossible darkness blocking their view, seeming to even swallow all noise as the echoes from before died off.

Ryder tried to call out to both of them, but his voice went nowhere, he couldn't even hear the words he desperately called out.

Getting panicked now he reached into his pouch and produced a flare stone, getting ready to try and disperse the darkness when he feels a hand grab his wrist.

Yuria stands close to him now, her shining blue eyes clearly visible now and filled to the brim with fear.

She shakes her head no, a warning to not use the stone here.

Aranea soon enough bumps into the two of them, her eyes filled with pure terror as she latches onto Ryder, not wanting to lose him or Yuria again.

Whatever this darkness was, it was definitely some kind of safety measure against invaders… that much was for certain.

Trusting Yuria's instinct Ryder puts the flarestone away and holds onto both her and Aranea before continuing their slow walk down the stairs.

Though as the steps became more and more uneven he looked down to see what the problem was… that was when he understood why Aranea and Yuria were so terrified.

There, at his feet were countless pieces of equipment scattered about.

Swords, Shields, Bows, Daggers, Armor… all undamaged, just missing their owners.

Now Ryder's blood ran cold as he tries to figure out what happened here, dozens of possibilities running through his head but none adding up.

Slowly but surely they walk through the darkness, the possibility of death looming over their head with every step.

How they would perish being a mystery as well.

Deeper down they went for seemingly hours as the equipment just kept piling up, the feeling of looming dread building.

Paranoia slowly setting in.

The trio now swore something was watching them, observing them wading through the sea of darkness.

Slowly the air became heavier as well, thicker with mana and making each step increasingly unbearable until finally they reached the bottom.

Another door awaited them, one they gladly used to escape from the darkness into a new area.

Ryder collapses to the floor with a long and exhausted sigh of relief after taking a deep breath, it was easy to breathe again and he could actually hear it as well.

"What was that?!" Aranea practically yells, clearly still disturbed by what they walked through just then.

"Frankly, I have no clue… nor do I think I ever want to fully know…" Yuria replies, still shaken up as well as she tries to calm herself.

"Whatever it was, thankfully we're out of it… and into somewhere a lot more calm feeling." Ryder replies to them while looking around at their surroundings.

The area had taken on a more open cave like appearance, interestingly enough though there were light sources… patches of glowing blue moss stuck on certain things.

Stalagmites were absolutely covered in them though, making these inverted glowing spikes hanging from the dark ceiling.

"Where are we?" His voice is a bit more hushed now as he looks around, curiously and with a bit of awe.

"I would assume this is the area leading up to the healing chamber… or I would hope so anyways." Yuria calms herself before pointing at the moss. "That is a mutation caused by excess mana being released into the air… between all the spells used it would cause this massive scale we're seeing."

Aranea walks up to the wall and rests her hand on it, feeling her energy slowly being restored. "It's like pockets of restorative energy…"

"Yup, as to be expected from an area housing a healing ritual." Yuria speaks with a forced smile. "Definitely had one terrifying guard though… not looking forward to seeing that thing again."

"Well, maybe if we're lucky we won't have to." Ryder replies without looking away from the stalagmites. "We should be cautious still, I doubt that was the only trap around here."

"I have to agree… as effective as whatever that was may be, we still made it through unharmed." Aranea quietly replies while lightly scraping some of the moss into a jar.

"Exactly, if anyone made it past that while he was healing then it'd be game over…" he draws his sword and begins slowly walking forward. "Come on, let's keep moving."

The trio begins to move through the cave on high alert, looking for any signs of traps or ambushes.

Cautiously they check every single nook and cranny but find nothing.

No arrow traps.

No cages.

No spikes.

Nothing.

It's peaceful and serene here, soothing them right to the core.

Honestly one might even refer to it as divine ground with how it feels.

For the deeper they march, the stronger the feeling becomes, the more the moss blooms in brighter and more vivid shades of blue.

On occasion there were signs of a struggle, blade marks scarring the moss, arrows fallen to the ground.

But it seems whoever used to stand guard here was gone now.

All that remained was this place, forever frozen in this moment.

"There, the healing would probably be right through that door." Yuria pipes up, pointing at an old wooden door at the end of their path.

The door didn't seem special, not particularly, in fact it seemed outdated if anything.

Yet it was apparent that it'd been through a lot, left to bear the battle scars for all eternity.

"Just how long has this place existed?" Ryder asks aloud to no one in particular while slowly and gently pushing the door open.

Thankfully it slowly creaked open, revealing the inside room bathed in a teal glow.

Inside was surprisingly… modern looking compared to the outside.

Stark white walls and floors gave an almost hospital-like feel to the place, there were shelves lined and filled to the brim with various items and objects.

Some appeared to be medical records, penned in the ancient language.

There are also bottles of various liquids and some dry ingredients lined separately from the books.

It was so out of place in comparison to everything else thus far, sure it was technically a "healing chamber" but it looked more like a doctor's office.

There were even recipe cards for remedies lying on a counter, though only clear from the pictures on it.

On the far end of the room was a cot with a teal magic circle pulsating underneath it.

Just being within this proximity of it made Ryder feel more eased and as if any previous aches just melted away.

This must be the spot where The Forgotten spent most of his time healing.

"There's lots of interesting things in here, not just remedies." Yuria loosely comments while reading through a book with seemingly no problems. "Talks of curses, other worlds, alternate timelines, the whole crazy package… I'm surprised people didn't think he was insane."

"They didn't?" Aranea asks, her curiosity piqued as she strolls over to Yuria. "With all the stuff I've heard I pictured him as a crazy cultist…"

A small laugh comes from Yuria as she shakes her head a bit. "Oh no, not a cultist… he was the first true Lord that united these warring lands, even today many still revere him for what he did… though alas due to some cruel twist of fate none can truly remember him."

"That's why he's The Forgotten… not because they wanted to forget him but because something forced them…" Ryder fits the pieces together while looking around. "Yuria, you can read the old script, right?"

"Yup, you're in luck as I understand most languages, don't really understand how but I can." Yuria shrugs but her carefree smile is back on her face.

"I see… well could you please look for something on the False Zones or some way to read star archives." Ryder asks while sitting down on the cot to think for a moment.

"Sure thing, though I hope you won't just be sitting there the entire time." she jokingly replies while she begins flipping through the books one by one.

Ryder's mind begins to drift a bit as he tries to understand just what this place truly was, why it was so different.

What was it about The Forgotten that made this island seem to revolve around him? Would it be the same for the mainland?

Would any of this eventually make sense? Some part of him doubted it… and yet he still wanted to know more, to understand this place better than anyone else.

It was like a gnawing hunger, eating away at him, taunting him.

He was unlikely to last long currently though, his skill set was subpar at best. If he really wanted to survive he'd need to be more capable at defending himself and others.

Training would be in order after they get out of here, he couldn't risk charging into another fight unprepared again… he wouldn't get so lucky a second time.

"Ah, I think I found the key to translating the archives!" Yuria proudly proclaims with a big smile on her face. "It's a little hard to decipher but I'm sure the church girl will understand."

"Are you sure about that?" Aranea asks while looking over the page. "I don't even think she can read that old script…"

"If not then the two of us can just bunk up while I help her learn the deciphering method." the mischievous mage grins ear to ear.

"I don't like that implication…" Aranea warily replies while backing away from Yuria. "Oh yeah, how are we going to get out of here?" She holds up the teleportation crystal. "It looks like this is disabled in here… probably something to do with the magic."

"Well, I don't see a ladder anywhere… but, there might be a secret exit somewhere." Ryder replies while looking around. "After all, if someone started invading here, this would essentially be a tomb."

"One way in… one way out…" she replies before thinking for a moment. "But he was magic… so maybe a spell?"

"Right, the teleportation…" our hero sighs, annoyed with himself for forgetting such a thing.

"Teleportation?" Aranea asks, now trying to hide her growing anger. "Did you have that the entire time?!"

"I did! But I can't teleport anywhere I haven't been before!" Ryder holds up his hands in defense as he tries to explain himself. "And I can only use it once per day!"

The paladin screams into her hands, her annoyance boiling over at this revelation.

She takes a long, deep breath before recomposing herself and continuing. "Alright, it's fine… that's fine.. Just get us out of here after we get everything."

Aranea takes a seat next to Ryder as Yuria keeps looking through the books, making a stack of important ones while putting the rest back.

The quiet ambience of the room gives everyone a moment of respite to relax and think.

"Hey, Aranea… if you don't mind me asking… why are you so interested in finding more guardians?" Ryder's voice was a small bit colder and more inquisitive, though not entirely on purpose. A thought had come to his mind, they were still only in the prologue area, not even having cleared the first true boss of the game.

Finding more power ups so early would help… but it's also a tad bit concerning. He and a lot of other players don't even know what lies on the mainland, could it really be that worrying?

Her eyes slowly look at him before looking down, hesitance clear in her slight shaking hands and nervous foot tapping. "I want to be prepared… for anything really." her voice trembled slightly, giving away her fear even more.

"You're scared, why is that?" his voice returns to its more calm and soft tone. "I just want to be able to properly help, but I can't do that… not unless I know what's got you shaken up."

Ryder looks over to her, now surprised to see her usually fearless eyes filled with dread, her hands clasped together as she tries to minimize that shaking.

"I'm terrified of what lies beyond the sea… especially with the current state of this world." her eyes focus solely on the floor in front of her, seeming to avoid any eye contact. "The beta was already this tough as nails game… but it was just that, a game… something I didn't have to take too seriously." She takes a short and shallow breath, unable to calm herself as her mind runs rampant. "Did anyone ever tell you what us beta testers found beyond this island? What the mainland was like?"

"No… I can't say they have…" Ryder quietly replies, his curiosity getting the best of him now. "How bad was it?"

"...when we first arrived the only thing we saw was a port town overrun with undead and monsters, it took us two entire days to push through that." there's a brief silence as she thinks for a moment, debating whether or not to continue. "After we did secure it, there was only death awaiting us around every corner… very few real signs of life to be found, and if we did find someone they usually attacked on sight."

"So it does get worse on the mainland… that's a scary thought-" Ryder tries to reply, only to be cut off by Aranea.

"Not just scary, horrifying! Think about how many people we already lost here! There's no way we're going to be able to handle the creatures that wait for us, not without proper equipment, strategies and power boosts…" she lets out one small sigh before shaking her head. "There's even some big creatures waiting for us… ogres, dragons, serpents, the works… no one here is ready for that kind of stuff."

"She's right, you know." Yuria closes the book she'd been reading and looks to Ryder. "The mainland is nothing more than shattered time and lords from both past and present trying to lay claim to the throne… yet their struggle has only caused dozens of factions to pop up, along with plenty of monster nests to form under their very feet."

"Well, while that all does sound very terrifying we can't just sit around can we? There's also no guarantee that we'll find another guardian… so in that case what do we do?" Ryder responds while looking at both of them, the two seeming lost and awaiting an answer. "We train everyone up."

"You can't be serious! Do you know how long that'll take?!" Aranea snaps at him. "We'd be trapped longer than needed!"

"That could be true but I'm not suggesting we make everyone god tier fighters, all we need to do is take time to get cooperation and skills honed." he calmly states, crossing his arms and looking at her. "Get Feros, Oto and Radogan to start the training and then once we're ready we move to the mainland."

"And what about the people not with you?" Yuria asks, tilting her head a bit. "You won't be able to get everyone to join you in this."

"I can't stop them, if they want to go on ahead to the mainland then we let them." he shrugs a bit. "Like you said we can't get everyone to join, but even then we shouldn't worry too much as solos do have their own advantages."

"That's fair… but how long would it take?" Aranea cautiously replies, still concerned about it.

"Honestly? Could be weeks, could be months… I'm not saying we stop our advance though." Ryder motions to Yuria. "She has the info we need to read the star archives, that'll keep Demea and Eleanor busy, and while they're doing that we can train and slowly march towards the Lord of this island." he looks back to her now. "After all there are still dungeons and villages for us to clear, right?"

"I guess so." she sighs once more, mulling over the situation before looking at him. "Fine, we'll do it your way for now, but I hope you won't pull another vanishing act on us."

A slightly nervous laugh comes from Ryder as he looks at her. "Don't worry I don't plan on doing that again any time soon, I'm too interested in finding out more about this world." with a smile he stands up and stretches a bit. "Now then, are we all ready to go?"

"I believe so, I got all the info I need right here!" Yuria proclaims as she has two messenger bags filled with supplies hanging from her, and in her hands is a rather ridiculously tall stack of books.

"Do you really need all that stuff?" Aranea asks, a rather amused look on her face as she stands up.

"If you all wish to get stronger and explore this world? Then yes, yes I do." Yuria states matter of factly while looking at Ryder. "Now open the portal! I can feel my grip slipping already…"

"Right, right, working on it." Ryder says, holding his hand out, letting a dark sigil form before he snaps, causing the familiar dark doorway to form in front of them. "There, that should take us back to everyone… hopefully they aren't freaking out about the portal."

"Well then the looks on their faces shall be amusing to witness!" she responds before hurrying through the doorway where, surprisingly enough, a couple of muffled screams could be heard much to the remaining duo's amusement.

"Sounds like they freaked out…" Aranea laughs a bit before looking at Ryder. "Well, let's get going, champion, shouldn't wait too long to implement your plan."

"Fair enough, I look forward to our future sparring sessions, oh brave leader of ours." Ryder jokingly says, trying to return the jab as they walk towards the portal together.

Though as he approached he felt the darkness tugging at him once more, the feeling of an item being missed invading his mind.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl again as he looked around, unsure what he was even looking for, then something caught his eye.

A little wooden box, hidden just behind some bottles on the shelf.

Carefully he reached out and grabbed it, feeling an unnatural resonance coming from the box that made him cautious, yet all the more curious as well.

Slowly the champion opened it, his eyes being met with what he could only assume was the artifact that Laurence had mentioned before.

It was a crystal clear orb with what appeared to be a dull lifeless crystal inside, something about it seemed… otherworldly… unnatural.

Carefully he pocketed it and looked back to see Aranea and Yuria already gone, quickly he ran through the portal as well, hoping to not be far behind.

As he walked through the darkness Ryder could tell that the coming adventure would be grueling.

Aranea and everyone else had high hopes of him, hopes he could not let fall into despair, he had to keep them going no matter what.

Then there was the matter of the False Zones and what mysteries remained there, as well as how they tied to the orb he found.

Many secrets remained… and many dark days were likely to be found ahead.

So steeling himself once more the champion marched through the darkness, seeking it's strength to propel himself forward.

Amidst the darkness for a moment he swore he could see someone watching him, a figure wearing a long dark green hooded robe, a bittersweet smile on their face.

A smile so hollow that it was clearly hiding an untold amount of pain.

Quietly they raise a hand and sign to Ryder.

[Stay strong.]

As quickly as they appeared they vanished into the darkness once more, leaving Ryder with a confused feeling swirling in his chest.

It was an amalgamation of things he couldn't understand in the moment.

Hope, fear, sorrow, nostalgia, it all weighed his heart down and made his eyes water in the moment.

Yet though the unknown storm swelled within his heart and froze him temporarily, he also felt a surge of determination stronger than any he'd ever felt.

Those simple words played in his mind on repeat.

He looks back to the path where Aranea was now awaiting him with confusion and concern on her face, likely from how long he took and seeing him suddenly teary eyed.

Quickly wiping away the tears he starts walking to catch up with her, a more proud smile on his face as walks deeper into the dark.

Ready to face whatever may come.