Chapter 4

Daybreak arrives, everyone begins to prepare themselves for the upcoming expedition, this would be the true beginning of their journey in this world, if they ever wanted to find a way out then it was time to move.

Ryder stands at the edge of town leaning against a wall as he waits, it was almost certain he'd be heading off on his own but it was better to wait and see. His eyes focused on the mountain top once again, it'd probably take a couple of days to reach it but surely there had to be something up there. Even if it was just a lore page it could be useful in the long run.

Soon the sounds of marching feet came from his right, indicating the main group was getting ready to leave, casually he glanced over to look at who it was. There was a group of 50-75 players, who were being led by Aranea and Oto, though they were the only ones he recognized.

Oto, upon spotting Ryder, temporarily broke off, seeming to want to speak with him for a moment. "Hey, are you really heading up the mountain? From what I've heard it's more dangerous than the main paths."

"I figured it would be, it'll probably take me longer to get up there but someone's got to scout it out, right?" Ryder shrugs a little. "Besides that friend of yours, Demea, she said something about a mountain and a forest so it has me curious."

"I'm going to guess you had her look at that tome… but alright, just be safe then." Oto reaches into his pocket and holds out a potion. "Here take it, better to be over prepared than under prepared."

"Thanks, oh by the way where are the others? I figured Lily or Radogan would be with you." Ryder looks around while pocketing the potion.

"From what I know Demea and Radogan are staying behind to help the rest of the beginners in the area. As for Lily, I really couldn't tell you." Oto looks around. "From what I know she decided to opt against joining us, but I haven't seen her since."

"I see, well thank you for telling me. You really shouldn't fall too far behind though." Ryder crosses his arms and motions to the now slightly distant marching group. "Good luck out there, be sure to come back alive."

With a nod Oto quickly runs off, catching up to the rest of his group, leaving Ryder alone once more. "Well, guess there's no point in waiting any longer." He mutters to himself before pushing off the wall and looking towards the gate. With a slight carefree stride he starts walking through and into the plains.

"Hey! Wait up! Don't leave without us!"

Ryder turns around in surprise, spotting a trio strolling up to him.

Lily, Laurence and Eleanor. Not the trio he was expecting to see, as he was certain they'd all have better things to do at this point.

"You three tagging along? I'm a little surprised, especially considering we don't know what's ahead." Ryder says in a rather calm tone.

"Hey we can't let you go alone now can we?" Lily replies while strolling up to him. "Besides with a more varied team like this we can get a lot more done than if you went solo!"

"Really? So what can you all do that'll help us on this mission." Though not trying to drive them off Ryder was curious what they all could do.

"Well for starters I'm pretty nimble! So if we need to go up to a higher ledge I can climb up and throw a rope down!" Lily lightly bounces in place as if to show off her nimbleness in a light hearted manner. "Aaaand I've been practicing my archery so I don't have to rely on just a knife."

"Alright, fair enough, what about the other two though?" he inquires, looking at Eleanor and Laurence.

Laurence smiles a little. "Well, I figured not only could you use a lore master in case of new discoveries but a dark mage as well." He creates a tiny plume of purple light in his hand. "It's mainly debuffs but it helps in many situations."

Eleanor shyly raises her hand. "And though I may not be combat ready, I can cure your wounds and ailments… a-and I do know a decent amount about the land."

Ryder smiles a little. "Well, guess we've got ourselves a complete party then. I'll just have to be the tank." he turns and starts walking only to pause when he notices they're not following. "Well? Are you guys tagging along or not?"

Lily was the first one to quickly catch up and run ahead of him, followed by Eleanor and Laurence walking up to him on either side.

His mind wandered a little bit as he looked at them, despite being stuck here it was odd. This was the first time in many years he'd really felt happy around people.

Why was that? Is this what it felt like to be friends, real friends and not just acquaintances? Though he questioned his own feelings he couldn't help but feel happy around them. Or perhaps was it just this new world making him feel so happy? It truly felt liberating, being able to just walk freely without worrying about any prior obligations or worries.

"So I'm curious about something." Laurence spoke up as they walked down the trail. "You're a knight class, yet I don't see the starting shield on you like everyone else. Why don't you use it?" Laurence looked at Ryder. "It just seems like in these circumstances you'd want as much protection as possible."

Ryder keeps walking for a moment, being unsure of how to respond before opening his mouth. "Honestly? It's a habit I picked up from my older brother. He was a bit of a weapon nerd and always favored spears and two handing swords." Ryder lightly places a hand on the pommel of his longsword, his eyebrows furrowing a little. "So I got used to swapping between one handed and two handed like he used to when practicing."

"That explains why you were so good right off the bat!" Lily says now walking backwards so she can look at the group. "The more experience someone has before diving in the more those abilities will be able to transfer over after all."

"I guess, but I wasn't a master or anything, it was always just more of an exercise for me." Ryder shrugs a little. "Besides, my brother was the one winning competitions before leaving that life behind."

"Why did he leave it? You make it sound like he was a great warrior." Eleanor chimes in, looking at Ryder slightly confused.

"Long story, basically it wasn't what he wanted so he went to focus on other studies." Ryder looks up at the sky now as a bird flies overhead into the nearby woods. "He was a good warrior, sure, but he always had higher goals in mind."

"Sounds like your brother and my father have things in common then!" Lily chimes in once again. "Dad actually used to be an artist before becoming a big business ceo."

"He's a ceo? Really wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of his wrath for this then…" Ryder says just imagining the lawsuit that could happen.

"Yeah, he can get a bit carried away at times… I want to get back home soon though, cause I just know he's gotta be worried sick right now." Lily faces forward again, her eyes fixating on the slightly imposing forest ahead of them.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll all get out of here soon enough." Ryder says while walking up to her side. "We just have to make it to wherever that guy is."

"And to do that we'll have to gain more power." Laurence says, a tiny smile on his face as he walks up to the two.

"Right." Lily nods before looking at the forest again.

Now that they'd gotten to the front of it, it was clear why the forest was marked on the map.

The trees were surprisingly tall and dense, easily blocking out most light and making it hard to see further than thirtyish feet in.

It was bound to be a dark and confusing passage through, but they'd need to find a way if they wanted to start climbing the mountains. Yet something felt off about the forest, something indescribable.

Ryder draws his longsword and steps forward, leading the group into the woods, though the moment he did the feeling became more intense. It was as if the forest was flooded with magic in the air, everything felt more alive and unnatural than normal, yet everything looked perfectly fine. It was enough to put them all on guard as they looked around for anything, though there were no enemies as far as they could see.

"I don't like this, I've never felt anything like it before." Eleanor moves a bit closer to the group, unsure of what to think of the forest. "This doesn't feel like the work of any lord I know of, not even the blasphemous."

"Everyone should stick close then, we may not see any enemies but that doesn't mean something isn't lurking out there." Ryder replies, taking up his sword with both hands now.

Though most of the trees were blocking out the light a few beams broke through here and there, giving the forest this odd lighting that made it feel slightly like something otherworldly.

The grass also seemed taller and more lush than normal as they walked. It was strange, it felt like they'd just hopped from one fantasy setting to another in an instant.

As they kept walking though it felt like no matter how far they walked they couldn't find an exit. Nor any sign of the mountains being any closer than they were.

"What is this place?" Ryder asked, perplexed as he looked around. "I swear it feels like we've been moving in circles this entire time."

"Tell me about it." Lily groaned as she threw a knife at a tree. "I'm certain we've passed that tree ten times already."

"Well I suppose that throwing knife can be a marker to see if we pass it again then." Laurence said before looking around. "Though it is strange, I don't remember the forest being like this during the beta or QA days, this is a massive overhaul."

"Yeah, I don't think anyone would be expecting this." Ryder says as he walks forward and crouches down a bit, examining an odd item at his feet.

Lying there in the grass was what appeared to be a dark fragment of metal. It was coated in an odd golden dust that shined brightly when held under the light.

"What is that?" Eleanor asked, attempting to get a better look.

"I don't know, part of a sword or something maybe?" Ryder replies, holding it up higher for everyone to see.

Laurence examined it closer, though clearly confused at what it may be. "The dust has hints of magical origin but the material is just some ordinary metal."

"Guys! Don't move!" Lily called out as she crouched down next to them. "I just saw something!" her voice was a whisper but she was clearly a bit frightened.

As they waited they heard nothing at first, until a slight shrill noise was heard. It sounded like a flute playing its highest note as quietly as possible. Then a tiny orb of light floated into view, clearly fluttering a bit as if it was looking around for something before darting off. The orb left a quickly vanishing trail of gold behind it.

"Impossible… that's impossible." Eleanor whispered as her eyes went wide with disbelief at the sight. "That was a fairy, a real magical creature!" She looked surprisingly excited. "Don't you understand? All magical creatures were thought to have gone extinct after the war of atmos!"

"Slow down, I don't know what that is." Ryder says, looking at her. "All I know is that it sounds important."

"More important than you might realize." Laurence chimes in. "It was the final era of great magic, a war between entities broke out and upon its ending all creatures of magic origin seemed to vanish."

"They must've gone into hiding! Living right under our noses! Our world wasn't abandoned by the creator after all!" Eleanor seems overjoyed. "Come on, we must follow it before it gets too far away!"

"Why? It doesn't seem to be a danger, and it's probably hiding for good reason." Ryder looks around, seeing if there are any actual threats.

"Fairies of old were known to be guides through magic infested spaces that'd alter reality." Laurence chimes in. "And if what we've been feeling is magic warping then our best bet is to follow it without hurting it."

"That's our lore master for you!" Lily smiles before standing up. "Well let's follow that fairy then!"

With a sigh Ryder stood up, still holding onto the odd metal shard as he began following the now vanishing trail of gold.

The fairy flies slowly through the forest, floating around as if it's looking for something, its gold dust slowly revealing more and more fragments of metal.

"Just what happened here to leave all these behind?" Lily asks as she looks at them, her eyes picking up on more and more details.

"I don't know but they look old." Eleanor adds in. "Possibly from weapons of an older age."

"I don't know but be quiet!" Laurence hushes them and points to the fairy who's now looking around, as if it heard them.

Quickly the fairy turns around and starts flying off, clearly afraid of being chased by something.

Wasting no time the group quietly chases after it, trying not to lose it by following the golden trail. However they can't keep up with the surprisingly quick creature and lose it at a clearing.

"Great, we lost it…" Laurence sighs as he stops. "That was our only potential lead."

"Not our only lead… take a look at this." Ryder says as he walks further into the clearing.

As the group turns around they get a glimpse at what Ryder was looking at, towards the back of the clearing closer to the mountain was a graveyard of weapons.

Dozens of weapons stretched out as far as the eye can see, all of them aged beyond use, covered in rust and vegetation. It seems the fairy must've visited a couple of times as there's plenty of gold dust around the graves.

"Just what happened here?" Ryder asked aloud as he examined the weapons. He lightly traces his hand along the guard of a longsword, a feeling of sorrow and despair filling him upon touching the metal.

Everything seems to drift away for a moment as he fixes on the feeling. It felt visceral, real, as if he'd just lived through something but couldn't remember it.

What was this place? Why did it make him feel this way?

"Well I believe it's a good thing we made it here at least." Laurence said before pointing behind the graves. "It seems like the path of the mountain starts back there."

"Really? How can you tell?" Eleanor asks, trying to see through the trees.

"The grass, it cuts off and it looks like it gets darker that way. So either it's a lighting error or that could be a cave entrance." Laurence replies before walking forward past the graves and into the darkness.

"Hey, wait up! Let's not get separated now!" Lily proclaims before chasing after him.

Eleanor looks a bit nervous and looks to Ryder, who seems to still be focused on the graves before sighing. "Come on, let's not get left behind" he says before following them alongside Eleanor into the darkness.

Just as Laurence claimed it was indeed a cave entrance, the ground under their feet turning from grass to stone and the sounds of their footsteps echo off deeper into the dark.

"So, this is the path through the mountain?" Lily asks as she looks around, not seeing anything amidst the darkness.

Laurence lights up a lantern and looks around, the stone path stretches out indefinitely into the darkness, no sign of any life to be seen. "Honestly I have no clue, it could be… or it could be a new dungeon." he replies before looking at the group. "So, do we want to head down this way or keep looking around for a different path?"

"And potentially get lost in the forest again? Yeah, no thanks." Ryder replies before stepping forward. "We'll head through here, hopefully find a way out or useful information, then go to meet up with the others."

"I'm with Ryder on this! We're already here so we might as well move forward for now." Lily smiles as she moves to Eleanor's side.

"Let's be off then, this cave won't explore itself after all." Laurence says before walking forward with everyone.

The lantern light barely illuminates 10 feet in front of them but it was better than nothing. Even if there was nothing to be seen it was oddly comforting walking through the tunnel, as if the place was a safe zone. The further they walked the more apparent it became that this tunnel was man made, it was too straight to be a natural formation. Too cleanly shaped.

Why had it been made? Why next to those graves in that weird forest. It was just one mystery after another.

Ryder sighed a bit as he tried to wrap his head around everything. It'd been a couple days in this world but nothing made an ounce of sense to him.

Perhaps he'd have to sit down and learn the history of the land himself. Who knows, it might even help him be ready for whatever else happens.

That feeling of magic in the air never decreased as they walked, in fact it felt heavier than in the woods. This entire place felt different than the town they started in.

It felt safe yet like they shouldn't have been there. As if they'd stumbled upon a dev room or something of the sort.

"How far back does this tunnel go?" Lily asked as she looked around. "Seriously there's been no side paths, no torch mounts, nothing!" her voice exudes an overabundance of boredom as she just starts strutting for the fun of it.

"It must have some purpose, surely it would." Eleanor comments as she traces her hand along the smooth stone wall. "It may be old but I can tell this was crafted for protection. The magic here is stronger than out in the woods."

"Is that why the air feels a bit heavier? I thought it was just my imagination." Ryder loosely comments while glancing over at Eleanor.

"Yes, the natural magic in the air can make it feel lighter or heavier depending on how attuned you are! For those more naturally magically inclined such as myself and Laurence we can tell the potency of magic in the air." Eleanor smiles as she replies. "Though regular people can feel it too, just not as well as us."

"I see, then got any idea what we're dealing with here? Any at all?" Ryder inquires while looking forward once more.

"Not really… it's strong magic, and far older than anything I've ever felt…" Eleanor says while pausing and closing her eyes. "It's like a once great flame that's flickered out, and all that's left is an ember among the ashes."

"So we're only feeling a fraction of what it once was then? Great… I really don't want to know what we're getting ourselves into then." he mumbles a bit.

Though just as he says this the darkness widens a bit, they see what seems to be the end of the tunnel as it leads into a more open space. Quickly walking into it they find another surprise.

Tables with old knives and empty baskets sitting on them towards the corners of the room. In the center is a creaky old wooden lift, there's no telling how old it is but it seems to be usable. The lift seemingly reaches high above them, possibly to the peak of the mountain itself.

"An entrance?" Laurence asks himself as he investigates the lift, trying to figure out how it'd work.

"Probably an emergency exit more than likely." Ryder replies while looking at him. "This place was still pretty hidden after all, had it not been for the fairy we probably wouldn't have found it."

"What is it an exit for then? And who'd need an exit into the woods of all places?" Lily asks before casually walking onto the lift to test it, it creaks but doesn't break.

"You must remember, those woods have been guarded by magic for who knows how long" Eleanor meekly chimes in. " No one has been to them or the mountain in many, many years!"

"So we're really diving into the unknown here, well I guess that's what we've been doing anyways." Ryder replies before motioning at what looks to be a half broken lever to one side of the lift. "That's probably how we get up to the top."

"You think it still works?" Lily asks while lightly poking at the half broken lever.

"Only one way to find out." Ryder pulls Laurence onto the lift before flipping the lever as far up as he can.

As the lever reaches the upright position the sound of mechanisms creaking to life echoes throughout the shaft.

With one mighty groan the old wooden lift begins to move, the chains on either side rattling as they get lifted higher and higher into the air. It may be ancient but it seems to be working reliably at least.

Though a bit shaky the lift slowly gets them up to the top after what felt like roughly ten to twenty minutes. The room before them is just more smooth stone with a single stone door in front of them.

Not wishing to waste any more time Ryder quickly walks up to the stone door and begins pushing it open, revealing a set of stairs that lead into a new room. The stairs seemed to be a secret passage of sorts as they exit from what looks like a great marble pillar into a large open room.

Though the air is still heavy with magic it's surprisingly pure here. There's no smell of dust, animal hair… or anything really. It just smells like clean air.

The room before them now is a large open space, one that'd easily be fit for a boss arena as towards the northernmost side of the room is a throne with a large stained glass window behind it. An image of a dark moon lit up with a vivid blue flame was what the panes of stained glass made. Despite being abandoned, this room looked pristine, as if someone had been keeping it clean all this time.

There were no scratches on the floor, no signs of a battle… nothing.

They couldn't even tell if this place had ever been used.

Without a word Ryder walked to the southernmost part of the room and began pushing the doors open, there the name of the place popped up for him as he saw the astonishing entryway bathed in the sunlight.

The floor was pitchblack, as if made from obsidian.

Rounding staircases were to the left and right of the door that likely led up to a second or even third floor.

The walls were composed of some dark silver material that they couldn't place.

Above them hung a blue banner, a simple red flower was the only symbol on it.

"Castle of the Forgotten"