The tower's basement

It was a hallway leading to the other end of the building. On both sides, there were two-two doors.

They opened up the first to the left. It was a small office room with a desk, a chair, and a cabinet. The small torch on the wall gave a pleasant light to the room.

They searched through the cabinet, the drawers on the desk but found nothing. It looked like someone already went through this place.

The other door on that side and the door across from this were the same. They were small offices for people, who were not around anymore.

"Last room I guess."

After the comment, Joseph opened the last door. It was the same as the other rooms before, except for the case of the desk. It had several more documents, that were like the one they've found downstairs. After taking all of them out from the drawers and found more of them.

They opened the last one hoping, that there was something more, but it was empty. Joseph shut it angrily.

"What?"

A quiet clinking sound was coming from it as it closed.

He opened it again, but it was empty. He touched the bottom and pressed it down.

"I see it now!"

"What?"

"There is a secret part of the drawer."

He pulled out the fake bottom part and there was a small ring box in it. When they opened it up, there was a small key in it.

"Seems like we've found the key."

"Yes. Though it is very suspicious. Why is everything missing, except for these things in this room."

"Beats me!"

"Huh."

They walked back into the elevator and then Joseph put the key in and turned it. The button for the basement clicked.

As soon as Joseph pressed it, the doors closed and they started going down.

After around 10 seconds they stopped and the door opened up once again. They walked out into the darkness and the torches lit up in the room.

It was a big circular room with even more tables and chairs, a big magical circle on the ground, and a double wing door on the other side.

Joseph was standing there confused, while Catherine walked forward looking around.

"This feels familiar to the ground floor."

"I was just about to say that."

She finally looked at the circle.

"Except for this one."

"Do you know what kind of magic is this?"

"I don't know exactly, but it has a part that goes below the door on the other side."

"Really?"

He looked at the door and saw two lines going from the middle of the room towards it and vanishing below.

"I see. So should we just go through the door?"

"I think so."

They walked up to the door and opened it. Mold and chemical scent filled the air in an instant. They started coughing while looking in.

The last room was smaller than the one they just left. It had several big machines with glass cubes on the top of them, filled with some kind of blue liquid, and in the middle, there was a dried bodied man sitting on a throne-like chair.

He looked like a zombie sat on the char. He had several tubes connected to him and they had the same liquid in them as the machines. Some seemed like infusions and there was one going into his nose, which had a different, red color.

Catherine had a look of disgust on her face, but Joseph was indifferent about it.

'Why do I feel like it's normal?'

Just as his thought was finished, the man moved. Both of them jumped back from the surprise, but the door behind them closed. The man started speaking loudly, but very slowly.

"Wel.... come... here new... comers."

Both of them had the same strange look, which showed that they have no idea what was going on.

"Do... not... be... afraid."

He stopped for a moment, then took a deep breath. After that, he started coughing.

Joseph leaned closer to Cathrine and whispered to her.

"What is this guy?"

"I don't know. But he looks just like a zombie."

The guy seemed a little better after coughing. He started to speak at a more decent speed.

"Zombie? I'm still alive!"

Then he stopped for a moment to think.

"I think..."

"You think?"

"I was asleep for a very long time. What year is it?"

Catherine tilted her head before answering.

"It depends on what calculation do you use. It is the 1002nd year of Esnar's appearance. I don't know other calendars though."

"Esnar? What about that guy? He came back from death or something?"

"No. He is the only god of this world."

The guy started laughing and then coughing. He swiped his mouth and looked at his hands. There was blood on it.

"It is annoying. Well. That guy is not a god. He made an experiment with a large amount of manna and exploded out of existence. You say he came back here or something?"

"I don't think we are speaking about the same person."

"That might be true. I still don't know how long was I asleep."

He looked around.

"Still I have to thank you for the mana you sent down here through the door. It awakened me once again. After you got in I was watching the two of you and I moved away everything from your way, so you can get here faster."

Joseph clapped his hands together.

"Was that the reason why the tower was completely empty?"

"Yes. Everything has been placed in my pocket dimension. Though I'm almost out of mana. I'm very sorry about this, but can I ask you for a few favors? In exchange, I'll give you something that will make your help worth it. Also, you might think I closed you in, but..."

The door opened behind them.

"you are free to leave at any time."

They looked at each other.

"It depends on what do you need help with?"

"Fair."

He pointed at one of the machines.

"The first thing is that I need you two to charge these machines with mana. They keep me alive, but they need to be charged from time to time, and because there is only mana in living things, I don't think there is any other way for it to be charged. Though as I can see, you girl have enough mana to charge them."

They looked at him questioningly. Then Joseph started speaking.

"I don't fully understand what you are talking about. There is mana everywhere in the air. Even here. Can't you absorb it?"

The guy was surprised, but Catherine answered him first.

"There are only a few that can do it. It is amazing, that you are capable of it at this age. But I already spoke about it. Did you forget it already?!"

Joseph was chuckling and scratching his head nervously.

She seemed annoyed, but the next one speaking was the one sitting in the middle of the room.

"There is mana in the air... This world changed quite a lot in the time, that went by."

Catherine looked at him confused.

"As far as I know it is well known. After all, it has been normal for the last five thousand years or so..."

Then she stopped as she realized.

"Are you even older than that?"

The guy was breathing heavier and heavier.

"Please. I can't speak for long."

Catherine walked up to one of the machines.

"I won't charge them fully, but at least I'll give you time. I want to hear who you are."

"It is fine. You just need to place your hand on the place that has a handmark on it."

The machine's interface was filled with buttons and levers, but there was a place that looked like a handprint reader. She placed her hand on it.

Joseph felt the mana go out of Catherine's body. She walked to all of the machines one by one and did the same thing.

"Thank you for your help."

"It was nothing. Now speak."

The guy looked a little bit distressed at first but he sighed and started speaking.

"My second favor was connected to this anyway. My name is Tobald and I'm, or at least I was, the leader of the Ozir Empire. I don't know if you know about the empire or not. It might have been lost in history."

Catherine and Joseph were both shocked because they knew about it. Joseph recently read about it, so the memory was fresh. The first to speak up was Catherine.

"The Ozir Empire? So you are one of the five great mages of the old age?"

"Hoh? So you know about me?"

"Everyone knows about you and the other four. Though it was said that all of you died by the hands of the king of the Herian Empire!"

He laughed.

"That fool? No. Please! Three of us killed each other. But two are very alive. Or at least we were last time I checked. Just a second."

He closed his eyes for a minute.

"This is interesting. That guy is still alive. Also, the three others are still around but their spirits are damaged beyond help. Though I thought they died. This is strange."

He sighed.

"So now my request. Can you tell me what happened after the Herion Empire rose up?"

Catherine nodded slowly.

"I can only summarize by the bigger events because it has been around ten thousand years."

The guy seemed shocked.

"Te... Ten thousand? What happened? Why did Draco not come back to help me?"

From the name, a chill went down Joseph's spine.

'He must be talking about someone different.'

Catherine shrugged.

"I don't know who are you talking about but it has been around that many years."

He seemed very sad by the statement.

"Please say the summarized version then."

"Alright. After the rise of the Herion empire peace was around the continent. There were small conflicts between countries, but nothing big happened. Then around five thousand years ago the war of the spirits happened. Spirits of old ages rose up from their grave and started controlling people everywhere. It was a chaotic world, where people killed each other for the spirits, who they worshiped as gods. Until something stronger than the spirits came around. The god Esnar woke up Draco Nigrum, who got angry at the spirits, who attacked him. He destroyed every single one of them."

Both Joseph and Tobald were surprised, by different things.

"Three spirits survived though and they made a secluded place on the south of the continent."

"Draco Nigrum? My son? What are you talking about?"

The two of them looked at him at the same time. He was too excited and started coughing up blood.

"I don't know if it is your son but the Draco Nigrum we are speaking about is a giant black dragon, that destroys everything it hates."

The guy sighed wiping the blood off of his face.

"My son got the blessing of Esnar. The god said that to him, that he needs to be careful with it, or he could lose himself to it. I think he must have overdone it."

"And he turned into that thing?"

"Most likely. But please continue."

Catherine nodded again.

"After the spirit wars, there were a lot of countries arising and falling. After the spirits died, their magical power soaked into everything, making the world change in a lot of ways. Monsters and abominations started to show up everywhere. There was a new thing coming up, which we called demons. The people around the world started to act together to fight them. Around a thousand years ago an army of demons came from the eastern ocean. With the help of the prophets of Esnar, they were repelled. Then recently Draco Nigrum woke up and destroyed that secluded place in the south. This is the best summary I can give to you for now."

Tobald nodded sadly.

"I see. The world changed a lot in these years. Please give me a few minutes"

The two of them walked out of the room.