Chapter 61

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The tension within the group had visibly risen after the debacle with the guardians and the missing earrings. Ethan had an inkling he may have hurt her pride by pointing out she was relying on a first-year student, as after that she always stayed at the front.

Fortunately, they did not find anything too dangerous, as it was mostly a series of traps. They also came across a few treasures, mostly in the form of gold and jewels. Interestingly, they did not come across any sort of coin.

Despite the somewhat soured mood, Snyde was still as enthusiastic about history as she taught them that currencies did not yet exist. They used barter, and gold was already seen as one of the most valuable materials.

However, as tempting as the heaps of gold might have been, none of them carried any expended bags, so the riches would only slow them down.

Two hours later, after circumventing many traps, the group finally arrived at a large door. Thanks to Bilaal, they knew that the other group had actually come across the same door some time before, and it supposedly led to the true funerary chamber.

It was a circular door made out of stone with a small hole in its center. A key hole.

The door was magical; of that, there were no doubts, yet it could also be opened with a simple key.

"Alohomora."

It was worth it to try, but of course, the lock-opening charm did not open the door. Although she looked embarrassed, probably because of what he had said to her, Snyde still let Ethan take a look at it, retreating to the side herself.

Ethan started by the outer rim of the door, expecting a powerful enchantment, but he found one of surprising simplicity. Simplicity does not equate to weakness, however.

It was not fused magic, as nearly all barriers had been until now. Instead, it was just a charm. But it was a charm of great power. One he unfortunately did not recognise, although that was not very surprising. Besides, his father surely would.

Before asking him, however, Ethan extended his magical sense to the key hole, just to make sure he was not missing anything.

There was nothing special inside, so Ethan was about to tell his father to take a look when something shifted.

The world lost all of its colour as time seemed to stop. No one was moving anymore, be it Miyuki, Tracey, Snyde, Bilaal, or even his father. They were all looking at him and the door.

But even that started disappearing as all forms blended together, turning the world around Ethan into a mess of black and white. The world remained confusing for some more time before a series of images passed by him.

Everything was blurry, so it was hard to make out any details, but some were more glaring than others. He saw a golden pyramid, then a young brown-haired girl holding a familiar pair of earrings.

Three flames, one white, one purple and the last red. Red and white were surrounded by a strong light, while purple was hiding a darkness. This darkness felt strangely welcoming.

Then, Ethan returned to the golden pyramid. This time, however, it was opening. Four people were having an intense duel, spells flying rapidly between them.

A figure emerged from within the pyramid, with someone kneeling in front of it. A woman. The moment he looked at her, she looked over, but Ethan only saw a blue glare blocking her face.

Then he saw himself floating a metre from the ground. A cloud of darkness was closing in on him, and for the faintest moment, he saw two purple orbs within, eyeing his body hungrily.

A blue mist was fighting against the darkness and held on for a while, but even that ended up being swallowed up as soon as all Ethan could see was darkness.

Still, Ethan managed to see one more image. He was floating in the air, his eyes two haunting purple orbs. The same woman as earlier was standing by his side, her face no longer shielded by the blue light. Unfortunately, he could still not see her features as the darkness was encroaching on him.

Although that was his body, Ethan could feel there was something amiss with it. Something that was not quite right.

Someone was also standing across the two, with fallen bodies behind. All Ethan could catch was her red hair before his vision was once again pulled into that darkness.

Then Ethan was pulled back with a gasp. He looked around with wide eyes, his body tense as he instinctively had his wand out. Miyuki, who had been standing there relaxed, had her claws out, although she was not targeting anyone.

"Ethan! Are you alright!?" Ethan felt a strong hand grasp his shoulder, and he tried to move away from it by instinct, but the grip was holding him tight. Only as he looked over his shoulder did he realise it was his father, who wore a worried expression.

But the only thing he could see when he looked at his father were the fallen bodies from earlier. He did not see their faces, yet somehow he knew who they were.

That only served to exacerbate the panic he was feeling. But then he felt something brush against his mental defences. He was pulled in and saw a large, sun-like ball of light approaching his mind. It was not an attack, however, but more of a soothing light.

More by instinct than anything else, Ethan steeled his mental defences, getting a reign on his mind as his panic started subsiding.

Ethan managed to get a hold of his emotions, but his thoughts inevitably returned to the images he had seen. Was that a vision? A premonition? Some sort of warning? But what could have possibly triggered it?

Catching his breath, Ethan made a long exhale and said quietly, still shaken inside, "I'm fine. The door has a powerful Charm on it."

An unsaid message was passed through his glance, solely to his father: be careful.

Ethan himself was not sure whether he was warning about the door or the strange vision he had.

Henry nodded imperceptibly, his worried face fading away as he went back to his easygoing expression, turning his attention to the door. Of course, Ethan could tell his father was still worried about what had just happened, but they both knew better than to show something important might have happened.

As Henry examined the door, Snyde quickly joined him, and Ethan retreated. Miyuki was still on edge, so he was stroking her back, his fingers going along her spine. Thanks to their bond, although Miyuki had not directly experienced the vision, nor did she know exactly what Ethan had seen, she still felt his emotions.

Miyuki also had above-average intelligence, so she could come to her own conclusions from the clues she had.

Tracey squatted next to Ethan, her hands on her knees as she whispered worriedly, "Are you okay?"

The boy avoided her gaze, and he remembered the girl who had the earrings in his vision. Although he hadn't seen her features clearly, who else but Tracey could it have been? Besides, it would explain why his father had told him to make up an excuse for the disappearance of the earrings earlier, if it had been Tracey who had taken them.

Now was not the best time to confront her about them; however, it was probably for the best if Snyde did not know about them.

Although if these images really had been a vision warning him of the imminent future, then Tracey's possession of the earrings had to have some meaning.

But then again, Ethan did not know if he could trust the vision he had. As far as he knew, he did not have any talent as a seer; he had never shown any signs of it before, so why would he now? Ramesses II was a master of mind magic, according to Snyde, so who was to say this was not just another of the traps?

Unfortunately, that was not something he could just solve by thinking hard about it, so he showed a smile at Tracey, doing his best to reassure her, "I'm fine."

He was not, and it showed in his shaky smile, something Tracey spotted. She tactfully did not say anything about it, however, her gaze turning to Miyuki as she joined in the petting silently.