Chapter 11

Stars, that was the first thing the duo saw as they exited the portal.

Brilliant flickering lights amidst the dark blue night sky, shining so brightly for them.

It was a surreal sight after exiting the darkness, almost feeling like they'd stepped into another universe entirely.

Ryder gazes up, watching as each light begins to shine brighter than normal, glowing brilliantly and painting the night sky differing shades of blue and purple.

His mind wanders as he gets lost in their beauty, enraptured by the ever expanding universe before them.

Somehow it felt… safe… it felt like home, untainted by the situation they were in.

Without realizing it he slowly reaches a hand up, as if wishing to touch the stars, yet as he does so something new occurs.

A shooting star flies past them, leaving behind a trail of bluish white light behind it as it pierces the night sky.

Following its path Ryder runs forward into a clearing to get a better look of where it went, seeing the trail fly out of his view and towards what he could only assume would be the mainland.

"When the first truth is found and the path to freedom sought, only then shall my light pierce through the veil of dark…"

Ryder turned to the voice to see Yuria standing there, behind her being two familiar faces.

Laurence and Demea.

Both of them looked up in awe at what just occurred, trying to figure out what had happened.

"What are you guys doing here?" Lily asks confused as she steps closer to them, "and what were you talking about?" She looks to Yuria for some form of guidance.

"She's speaking of the apocryphal texts found in the forgotten's home." Laurence speaks up while looking at Ryder and Lily, slightly concerned. "There was one book we found, it was referenced by other texts and notes… but was hidden away in a place most wouldn't think to look."

"As for why we're here… well I figured you'd want a little welcoming back party." Yuria states with a bit of smugness, though she still held an air of mystery about her.

How did she know where they'd be and when they'd come out?

Ryder wanted to question her on it but didn't, as he knew now was not the best time for it.

Even if she was using them as a means to an end they were also getting something out of it, something that, at the moment, seems to be helping them.

"Alright, so then what does it mean? Something good or bad?" Ryder asks while focusing on Yuria.

"Well it means you're one step closer to your goal." She smiles and crosses her arms behind her back. "All you lot need to do now is go find the impact."

"Wait, so it really did crash?!" Demea asks in a hurry while walking in front of Yuria. "Do you know what this means?! It means the ancient magic that book was referring to is still active!"

Everyone looks at Demea and Yuria with curiosity and concern, what could she have meant?

What did she know?

Calmly Lily spoke up once again, trying to get things calmed down.

"Demea, what are you talking about? What ancient magic?"

"Yeah, I'm curious about that as well… I didn't know you'd deciphered more of that book." Laurence spoke up, now stepping forward as well.

For a moment Demea looked around at the group, clearly nervous and unsure of what to do.

Whatever knowledge she held must've weighed heavily if she didn't wish to talk about it.

Could it really have been that bad?

"Alright look… basically all of our modern magic, here at this point in time, is descended from the much more powerful ancient magic of people like The Forgotten or The Eternal Night Queen." Demea explains while turning to face both Lily and Ryder. "Now, we thought that there wasn't that big of a difference… or if there was it was that modern magic would be stronger, sort of like technology."

She pauses and reaches into a bag on her side, producing an old dusty green book with gold accents.

There's some kind of lettering on it but neither Ryder nor Lily can read the characters.

"This is the last remaining evidence that The Forgotten really existed and wasn't some fictitious messiah… and it goes into great detail about many, many things he couldn't have been alive to see, the beginning of the universe, future events like our arrival… but he also describes in great detail the power of ancient magic."

"Okay, so what's the difference between modern and ancient then?" Lily asks while crossing her arms. "I've seen the spellcasters around here, they seem really powerful."

"Oh more than you could ever hope to know!" Yuria gleefully chimes in. "Modern magic is nothing in comparison! It's like comparing a wooden sword to an elder beast!" She laughs a bit. "While the wooden sword can be strong it's nothing compared to the elements incarnate."

"She's not lying…" Demea worriedly replies before pointing to the trail in the sky "That there? That's a simple spell created by the forgotten, anyone able to harness the power of ancient magic could potentially re-create it."

Yuria smiles and practically dances to Ryder's side as she loosely wraps an arm around his shoulders. "Good thing you now have someone who has that potential"

Ryder looks over at her, slightly confused for a moment until it clicks "wait… the guardian?"

"Exactly, you entered into a contract with a being that predates even the earliest civilizations of this world. So naturally now you have some chance to learn that ancient power." Yuria claims with a smile on her face while walking away.

"Seriously?" Ryder asks, looking down at his hands. "I mean I know I made a portal but I didn't think I'd have the chance to learn something that strong."

"Hey, Yuria, how long were we gone for?" Lily asks, making the green clad figure stop and turn around.

"Oh, right, I suppose you would be curious about that… well good news is not that long, only a week this time!" the wild mage states nonchalantly as she moves back over to Demea.

"A week?!" Lily exclaims, clearly concerned about the time difference not adding up. "But how-"

Ryder puts a hand on her shoulder and shakes his head "I wouldn't worry about it too much, it's not something we'll be able to control… and I doubt we'll be able to understand it well."

"If I may interject." Laurence chimes in, a peculiar look on his face. "From what I've read, it might actually be possible, we'd just need to find an object The Forgotten hid for safe keeping… and I believe it might actually be closer than we think."

"Really? Where is it?" Lily shouts, her excitement rising.

"A dungeon below Fort Haysh." Laurence pulls out a dusty old map. "The fort was built on top of an old abandoned ritual site, apparently so dangerous that The Forgotten deemed it safe enough to hide a precious artifact."

"Hold up, a ritual site?! What kind of rituals were being dished out down there?" Ryder's face is now much more pale, as if he's seen a ghost.

"Nothing bad, I assure you." Laurence replies trying to calm him down a bit "you see these rituals weren't of the insidious kind, no as far as we know these were simple ones… to heal the soul and body."

"Wait wait, so if it's just a healing ritual then why the security?" Ryder asks. "Seriously, I really am lost here…"

"Well for starters let's start walking back to the village, Demea can explain the intricacies along the way." Laurence states while turning and leaving now.

"Why me?!" Demea calls after him while running to catch up with him.

Not wanting to be left behind, Lily and Ryder quickly catch up with Demea, their path being ever so slightly illuminated by the trail overhead.

"So what's up with the dungeon?" Ryder asks, coming up on Demea's left.

"If you're asking about the security it's because that's when The Forgotten would've been most vulnerable." Demea states while sighing a bit. "Essentially he'd be placed in a medically induced coma at which point the healing process could begin."

"So during the ritual he was out cold… meaning if anyone actually snuck in he'd be an easy target!" Lily replies, her smile seeming a little brighter having figured it out. "But wait, why would anyone attack him? Was he that important?"

"It's hard to say for certain, he's called The Forgotten for a reason…" Demea responds meekly and tiredly as she lets out a small yawn. "There's so much about this world that's unknown even to us developers and beta testers that it's crazy…"

"A world full of unknowns and new beginnings…" Ryder muses to himself as a smile creeps up onto his face. His eyes soften as the memory of a dear friend comes to mind.

It would've been like a dream come true for him.

The rest of the walk back to the village was relatively quiet for the most part, everyone being too tired to talk or just thinking about the mysteries presented to them.

For Ryder though the only mystery on his mind was that dream from before with the tree and the child. Just who was that? And what was with that tree? It seemed like something that'd be in this world but with how tall it was there was no possible way to miss it, even all the way out on this island.

Could it possibly have some relation to this Forgotten person? It was a possibility he considered as he'd only started experiencing all these oddities after arriving in that mountain top manor and meeting Yuria.

Perhaps it was another out of bounds area and the child was some sort of guardian manifestation, after all, there was no way to be certain all of them would appear as ominous as Omen.

But that just didn't sit right, that child seemed too human to be some sort of deity or elemental being, and furthermore they seemed terrified of Ryder for just showing up. Why would a higher power need to fear a human like that?

It all made no sense to him and left bigger questions as well, so with a sigh he figured it'd be best to just wait for now.

He did wish to ask Yuria if she knew anything but considering her personality it may be more vague remarks than full on answers… that or another vanishing act.

Just then as they were approaching the village Ryder noticed something slowly drift down in front of him, carefully he held his hand out and scooped it up.

His eyes were surprised to find an oddly light weight crystal no bigger than a marble resting in the palm of his hand, it shone the same color of the trail overhead.

"Hey guys, what is this?" Ryder asks, holding up the crystal, causing everyone to turn and look back at him.

"Ah, I was wondering when it was going to start!" Yuria says happily while looking up. "Stardust! Fragments of the spell broken off in the atmosphere." Yuria holds her arms outstretched to the sky with a joyous look on her face. "This is a very rare opportunity, enjoy it while you can."

Cautiously everyone looks up to see the more and more fragments slowly drifting down from the sky, looking like tiny stars descending from the night sky to greet them.

Each fragment shone brightly with the energy from the spell cast, easily brightening up the surrounding area even more.

"Stardust?" Demea questions as she grabs one of the fragments and begins to examine it. "This… this is pure crystalized energy! Granted it's not a lot in its current state but this would be enough to restore basically any lost mp!"

Lily stares at the falling crystals, entranced by the sight around her as she slowly grabs a fragment and brings it in close to examine.

A few tears formed in her eyes as she watched it glow beautifully in her hands, her hands trembling ever so slightly as she observes it.

Yuria moves to her side, quietly placing a hand on her shoulder and speaks barely above a whisper. "Beautiful isn't it?"

All Lily could muster up was just a little nod, her mind lost in memories she'd thought were long forgotten at this point.

Visions of a time long passed flood her mind, memories of fireflies flying around her fill her mind.

It has been years since she even thought of this moment so why… why did it come back now?

"Lily? Are you alright?" Ryder asks, looking at her with concern clear in his eyes.

Snapping back to reality she quickly wiped away the tears that hung on her face and forced a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine… just remembered something from another lifetime… maybe I'll tell you about it someday."

Before Ryder could even respond she began walking off to the village, clearly a bit shaken by whatever she had experienced.

The fragments still fall all around them like snow, with one last look up at the sky Ryder shakes his head a bit and marches onward towards the village entrance, hoping to find Aranea or Radogan to report his progress and get ready for the big fight.

Unsurprisingly almost everyone stood outside, gazing up at the trail as well as all the fragments falling from it.

Some were catching them and crushing them to test its effects while others merely pocketed them… rarer yet were those who just watched the event unfolding before them.

"Looks like you made it back in one piece." Aranea's voice calls out as she walks over to Ryder, her eyes looking unusually caring. "I take it things went well then?"

Ryder pauses, unsure of how to answer that, he rubs the back of his neck while trying to decide on an answer before finally responding. "I guess for the most part it did, though it caused this unique event to happen."

"I see, I was afraid it was caused by your actions…" Aranea crosses her arms and thinks for a moment. "So we've got unique story events that weren't present in leaks or beta tests… this is getting interesting, we might need to actually explore that area you found more thoroughly then."

"Yeah, especially if Yuria and Demea are correct about ancient magic being as strong as it is." Ryder tosses one of the fragments to her. "This is only a tiny broken off piece of an ancient magic, imagine if we had access to stronger stuff."

Aranea examines the crystal for a minute, her eyes focusing on the glowing gem before she sighs a bit. "While that would be nice, I doubt we'd get that lucky, ancient magic was only available on the mainland in all the beta tests."

"That's true but you never know, this world just keeps throwing more and more surprises at us after all." Ryder looks up at the falling fragments once again, his eyes relaxing a bit. "Just look at this, ancient magic achieved through what one would normally consider a glitch or scrapped content."

With a moment's hesitation Aranea sighs, trying to figure out what to do.

Was it truly worth the risk to send people to that location? Sure it could be a power boost but there's no telling how long they'd be gone for or if they'd even be able to make it back.

"Relax, you don't have to send anyone in" Ryder replies, surprising her as he was able to read her like a book. "There's probably no spells left in there anyway, our main priority should be focusing on getting everyone to the mainland."

"Yeah… you're right, we can always worry about that kind of stuff later, for now we just need to focus." Aranea takes a deep breath to calm herself before looking at Ryder again. "You should probably rest up before the big siege in the morning, I'll be counting on you to make this work."

"You're probably right, plus it wouldn't hurt to look over my skills to see what I unlocked." Ryder says and waves at her as he walks off "I'll see you in the morning."

Without a second thought Ryder walked past the crowds and to the inn where he returned to his room, only giving the counter a passing glance… Feros was nowhere to be seen though.

Ryder's room was dark and quiet, only being illuminated by the trail and moon outside, it was an oddly serene sight.

One that reminded him of the real world and his quiet desolate life back there.

Bittersweet memories of isolation rushed to his mind, a familiar feeling of loneliness wrapping around him.

That's right, part of the reason this place was so good was because it was a fresh start. Not like anyone back in the real world would miss him that much.

He sat down on the bed, leaning his back against the wall and pulled out his journal. If anything might take his mind off of this then it'd probably be looking over his stats and skills. After all, what better to focus on than something monotonous?

Most of his stats remained unchanged with only a slight boost to the magic related stats being intelligence and faith, even then not by much… only 2-3 points each.

Curiously it didn't increase his level or the requirements to level up though.

With a shrug he flipped to the skills and spells section to see if there was anything new, surely there was as he hadn't had anything before.

Sure enough the skills and spells page had tons of stuff on it now, but most of it was blacked out. Likely locked and required certain levels or actions to unlock.

There were only three things unlocked, all of them spells.

[Black Flame, a primordial fire that devours everything in its path.]

[The purest form of the end of all things; as its only known darkness and isolation its entire existence the flame hungers for everything around, having an insatiable appetite.]

[This ancient form of magic scales not just with intelligence or faith but also the caster's emotions, the stronger the feeling the more powerful the flame.]

"A black flame huh? Talk about cliche…" Ryder remarks while reading the book, though he couldn't help but feel the flame was oddly fitting for him. "Guess some things are just meant to be…"

Looking to the next one he read it off.

[Void Door, a passage made from the void allowing one to travel between destinations safely.]

[A creation of The Forgotten, in his pursuit for knowledge and peace he created this passageway to allow those being hunted by the Grand Order to slip out of their grasp undetected.]

[Can only open a void door once per day, must be a location one has visited before.]

There it was again, The Forgotten, seriously he's all over this island it's ridiculous.

Though that does make Ryder curious, who was he really? Why was he running from this so-called 'Grand Order'.

What was his stake in all this and why did he reside just outside the mainland?

Ryder pondered for a moment and looked to the last spell to see if there was any further mention of him.

[Black Flame Coating, a simple application of the flames to a weapon.]

[A technique implemented by The Forgotten to increase offensive capabilities against strong foes.]

[By carefully applying a coating of black flames to the weapon they will not devour it, instead devouring anything it comes into contact with.]

[This was used to break through an archmage's barrier.]

So… a fireball, a teleport and a buff? They all seem useful to an extent but it worries Ryder how it says it devours anything.

Did something that strong truly exist? If so, who thought it was an okay thing to implement into the game? That's just asking for a meta build to be made around it.

Just then out of the corner of his eye he notices that there was significantly more light than there was a minute ago, had he really taken that long looking over stats and skills?

No, for when he looks away from the journal his eyes are greeted with a surprising sight, one that he'd only seen once before just last night.

Those grassy plains and blue sky stretching out endlessly before him, this time though he was sitting under the shade of the tree, its trunk being surprisingly comforting.

Standing just a few feet away from him was that kid again, they stood there happily smiling and watching a glowing blue butterfly fly off into the sky.

Whatever this place was, it felt calming and soothed his tired mind, it made him barely want to move from his spot. Yet something compelled him to stand up, his armor making noise and startling the child.

What was it that made him feel the need to act so out of character? Maybe it was that memory…

The child still seems noticeably scared of Ryder, but not as badly as before. They still cautiously cling to their book and back up a bit.

With a sigh Ryder crouches down to their level and offers a kind smile, as if to show he meant them no harm. "Hey there, sorry for intruding on your home again."

They look a bit confused at this, tilting their head in response to Ryder's statement.

"What is this not your home?" he questions honestly, now even more confused as to where they could be.

Slowly they shake their head no, showing that this wasn't in fact their home.

Ryder thinks for a moment, trying to figure out where they were before responding. "So, if this isn't your home then do you know where we are?"

Quietly the child thinks for a moment, tilting their head a bit more as they think deeply before nodding a yes in response.

It was odd, they were responding by not talking… was the kid shy or something? That's when Ryder got an idea, while they did seem shy it seemed like there might be a little more to it. "Hey, I hope you don't mind me asking… are you mute, or do you not like talking?"

Once again the kid seemed to stare at him confused, what was he thinking? Not every kid is going to know what the word mute means.

Much to Ryder's surprise though the child nodded, a bit bashfully but still confirmed it.

A mute… they weren't exactly a rarity in this day and age anymore, Ryder's eyes softened a bit and a bittersweet smile formed on his face as he recalled some things. "Do you know sign language?"

In an instant the child's eyes seemed to light up, surprised this stranger brought it up.

Enthusiastically they nod yes, almost dropping their book in excitement.

"Woah, easy there, wouldn't want you losing your book… I imagine it's pretty important to you." Ryder says before sitting all the way down now. Quietly he raises his hand and starts signing [I can do this if it'd be more comfortable for you.]

Slowly the child lowers one hand from the book and begins to sign back, they move slowly and methodically but do respond. [How do you know sign language?]

Ryder pauses for a moment, trying to assess how to respond before sighing a bit and nervously rubbing the back of his neck. [Well I was part of the nomad generation growing up.]

The kid now sits down as well, looking like they're listening to a rather interesting story and waits for Ryder to continue.

[Do you know what that is?]

They shake their head no, looking slightly ashamed that they didn't know what it was.

[It's alright, not everyone knows about it.] Ryder smiles a bit brighter to attempt to cheer the kid up. [Basically we grew up when the internet and virtual reality were at its peak, as a result many of us only learned from the net. We were incredibly smart and could integrate into any group but lacked certain social and life skills.]

Suddenly the kid's eyes brighten once more as they make their own comparison. [like learning from books all day!]

A light chuckle escapes from Ryder as he nods. [Yeah, I guess so, you don't really learn how to properly interact with people or how to properly move through the world when you spend all day wandering around a sea of information by yourself.]

Once again the child nods happily. [Yeah, but there's so many worlds and things to learn! It's how I found this place!

Now it was Ryder's turn to be confused as he didn't understand what the child meant entirely. [Worlds? Where are we exactly?]

They try to respond but freeze up, trying to figure out the correct wording to say. [It's a vision? Of another world, one that feels like home.]

[You can see other worlds?]

They nod in confirmation again but look a bit sad this time. [I can but only when I'm asleep, I haven't been able to wake up for awhile now.]

[How long have you been stuck here?] Ryder's concern grows a bit, his eyes getting a bit more serious.

[I don't know, it feels like a lot longer than normal though.] Their eyes quickly get more and more upset [I hope papa and mama aren't upset with me.]

[Hey I'm sure they're not upset at all.] Ryder replies, trying to calm them down. [Can you tell me your name?]

[Why?] The kid looks scared once again, though not as badly as before.

[Well I need to know who I'm looking for if I'm going to help you get home.] Ryder smiles a bit brighter, trying to ease the child's worry.

They sit there for a minute, debating on what to do for certain. [Promise?]

[I promise, and a Dergise never breaks their promises.] Ryder replies while chuckling a little. [That's what my older brother used to say when making a promise.]

For a moment there's only silence before the child holds up the book for Ryder to see, the name on the cover being revealed now.

"Vincent… So that's your name?" he asks in a kind tone to the child.

The child slowly nods, now reverting back to their shy nature, almost hiding behind the book.

"It's a nice name…" Ryder now stands up and strikes a fun knightly pose to try and cheer them up and break through the shell just a bit more. "By my honor as a knight I promise I'll find you and set you free!"

They slowly lower the book and look at Ryder once more, unsure of what to think for certain.

Though as the dream began to fade once more Ryder could see a smile form on their face, though they held that familiar look of defeat in their eyes.

A look that said they'd already given up on trying to get home.

Before Ryder awoke he saw Vincent sign one last message.

[Thank You.]