The Beginnings and The past [3]

Dungeons are pocket dimensions that are connected to other planets, some might be connected to a portion of a planet and some might be a gateway to another planet.

But one thing that's common in all dungeons is that no matter how big or small, the dungeons will never stay open forever, and the same goes for this dungeon as well.

12 years that's how long this dungeon will stay open from now, and after 12 years the protagonist will come clear the dungeon once and for all, afterall 'The Infinity Cavern' is an 'S' ranked dungeon.

Dungeons like everything else are divided into categories depending upon the amount of magicules it possesses and the rank of beasts they hold.

Beasts are mutated monsters who are corrupted by either magic energy or demonic energy, demonic energy is the magic equivalent for demons.

And the only saving grace for me is that this S ranked dungeon is a bit different from the others.

There are no monsters or traps in this dungeon, rather it's more like an infinitely long Labrinth, which has many exits and each exit holds a trial which the challenger has to go through and at the end of the trial there will be a reward for those who overcome the trial, and death awaits for those who fail.

This trial has been taken by members of the Blackthorn family everytime someone turns 15 two years before they have to enrol in the academy.

And this will be the first time an 8 year old will be taking this trial, "hehehe…", a chuckle escaped Lazarus's mouth as he looked at what's behind the huge door.

A huge black wormhole, its size comparable to a two story building, huge fluctuations of magic energy could be seen all over the portal, and an extremely oppressive pressure was coming out of the portal.

Magic negation, that was the effect of the artefact Lazarus was wearing, not just that, physical attack and magic attack negation below a certain degree as well as temperature control and stealth.

"This cloak is better than I thought, even the protagonist wouldn't have something like this, until he is able to fully utilise his system that is."

Sigh….

Yes, I mean what else did you expect, a fantasy protagonist without a system is it even necessary for me to say it out loud, cliche.

Slowly Lazarus walked into the portal, 'and yes did i forget to add, the path i will be choosing will be the same as the protagonist, because well even though I am in this world there is a slight problem, i am…..'

With a complicated expression and a wry smile he continued.

"....3 years younger than Noah Fairborn"

Swoosh….

***

Blackthorn Estate.

Maximus's private quarters.

Leaning back on his chair Maximus was thinking about the events that took place today.

"What? W-What did you just say?"

"Master Lazarus has ordered me to inform you about his wish to enter the Blackthorn family's trials"

"Is that brat out of his mind, he isn't even awakened right now, how in the hell is he going to clear a dungeon without mana, has his position as the heir got to his head, tell him—"

Stopping mid sentence Maximus thought about the current situation.

'wait wait wait! This! This is a good chance'

He smiled inwardly as he said in a serious tone.

"Well if he wishes to do so then I cannot stop him, do not tell anyone else about this matter, even my wife, make sure you keep your mouth shut, otherwise…." 

Maximus raised his hands and a crest of a black snake with a thorny body appeared on his hands coiling around his wrist and forearms.

"Aak.."

Looking at the crest the butler named Rasddison shrieked, his whole body froze in fear, he shakely said.

"I-I will make sure nobody hears of this ever."

Maximus nodded his head in agreement as the crest slowly faded away.

"Now go"

Maximus shooed him away, Rasddison eagerly bowed his head and left the room.

Thud!

The door closed and Maximus stared at his ceiling.

'Now what should I tell Lucia'

Ting!

Suddenly a beep came from the tablet which was placed on his table.

'Huh, what now', Maximus tilted his head in confusion as he took the tablet in hands and read the contents.

"Ha….haha, that brat" 

Suddenly the temperature inside the room dropped and Maximus's eyes became cold.

To Maximus

Father, I am hoping that Rasddison has already conveyed to you what I told him, and so regarding that.

I am hoping, as a responsible FATHER, you will surely provide me with the following materials.

Cloak of Negation- A ranked artefact

Twin swords of thorn- soul bound artefact

Lesser elixir of soul- S ranked artefact

And I assure you, I will stop being the eyesore I was, Liam, your son will take the place you had wished him to take and I, the unreal will go away…..

...Forev—-

Crack!

The screen cracked and a solemn look appeared on Maximus's face, he leaned back and closed his eyes.

"You knew everything huh~" 

"Just what in the world are you"

"Just send these items over to 'You know where' and rest I will take care of." 

That was the last line of the letter.

"Farewell.....Son"

***

Gwah…..grrr...

The sounds of someone emptying the contents of their stomach echoed inside a dimly lit Labrinth.

"Aah…"

Lazarus lifted up his head as he wiped his mouth with a cloth, black lines appeared on his face.

"Never, never again in my life"

He looked over his shoulder and glared at the portal from which he just appeared.

"Damn portal sickness!"

Pat!

Pat!

Getting up and patting the dust off his clothes laz looked ahead, his eyes narrowed and he took out a small stone from a pouch hanging on his waist.

The stone was glimmering like a jewel, a spectrum of different colours were shining inside the stone.

A magicule infused stone, mana stone for short.

A mana stone much like a battery can be used as a power source for a variety of things, but another one of its uses is, it lets someone who doesn't have any mana use mana.

For a while that is.

Crack!

Suddenly laz clenched his hands around the mana stone.

Shatter!

The mana stone shattered and a wave of blue and violet escaped the stone, most of it dissipating in the air, and a bit entering Laz's body.

[From now on I will be using the name "Laz" instead of "Lazarus" his name will remain the same but his thoughts will be with the name Laz, if you have any suggestions feel free to comment them]

"Tch"

Laz clicked his tongue in frustration.

"As expected not having mana will make absorbing the mana from the mana stone a lot inefficient, not that I have any other methods" 

'Cloak'

He spoke in his mind, suddenly his presence disappeared and the Labyrinth became eerily quiet.

This was the function of the A grade arthefact, The cloak of Negation.

'This dungeon has 13 pathways, each leading to a trial, until now 7 members of the Blackthorn family have entered the Labyrinth, and 6 have come back alive.

The one who died was Quin Blackthorn, late brother of Maximus Blackthorn, 5 years ago he entered the Labyrinth and after not coming back even after 2 months, he was declared dead.

Although he was a member of the Blackthorn family, he wasn't treated as one.

Why?

He was what's called a….. bastard son.

The son was born because of an accident.

No person with a high social standing is allowed to take in concubines, this is a rule made by the Magic Union, the one supreme powerhouse which rules over the whole of human domain, whether it be Arathia or Nocturia, none of the countries can disobey their orders completely.

Of course this doesn't mean that the people with a higher standing have to be faithful to their significant other's, and they just have to make sure that an accident doesn't happen.

And what do you know, one such ACCIDENT did happen, and Quinn was the product of that accident.

Many speculated that Quinn had been killed intentionally but the reality was known by none, of course none other than me.

The reality was that Quinn wasn't given any support from the Blackthorn family, he was told to prove his worth and in order to do that he had to overcome the 7th trial, and well he failed to overcome the 7th trial resulting in his death.

And it wasn't his incompetence that made him fall, it was just his luck, Because as fate might have it, the 7th trail was in one way or another a reserved seat for our protagonist, but that was until i came.

Laz stepped inside a huge dome shaped room, and in front of him were 13 pathways leading to different trials. Without batting an eye, he walked straight ahead towards the 7 pathway…..

…..to the Cursed Shrine.

***

Entering the pathway, all laz could see was darkness, even the light coming from the entrance disappeared.

Walking in such a place made one's senses go into a frenzy, chills started going down Laz's spine as his blood ran cold, there was no sound or light, soon even he felt his body melting away, he lost all his senses.

It felt dreadful, and strangely demonic.

Time became undesirable and the boundary between dream and reality became ambiguous.

Soon he felt his consciousness drifting, but once again gaining back his focus he calmed his nerves.

Time passed, soon Laz felt as though he was alone in this world, his memories of his past life and of this life started to play back in his mind.

The time he spent in his old life was hazy and all he remembered was a man with blonde hair and azure eyes, all his memories were with that man, ever since his childhood he was with that blonde haired boy, and it all ended with a double suicide.

The time he spent as Lazarus Blackthorn in this World was a good one, his father loved him, his siblings were playful and loving, and his mother cherished him and pampered him.

"Lazarus my baby come to Momma~"

"Big brothr laz~"

"Ey! It's Laz~"

"Haha, Lazarus how was your first day of kindergarten, you dad is here to pick you up~"

The voices of his family started to play in his mind, but…..

…at the same time the lines from the novel came back to haunt him.

"Lazarus is not our son, he isn't even h₹#&@?"

"Lazarus that man i am ashamed to call that scum my brother, I Liam Blackthorn as the head of Blackthorn family vow to never again let such scum step foot in our Kingdom" 

"Dear, kill him he's the one that tarnished our families name" 

"Yeah, he doesn't deserve to live" 

Slah!

Thud!

The man with blonde hair and azure eyes decapitated Lazarus Blackthorn, ending his life, on that day a dangerous and vile villain was slain, and...

…..on that day, the new hero on the rise…..

…..Noah Fairborn made his name etched into the heroes ranking.

"Noah Fairborn"

A cold, bone chilling voice resounded in the dark space.....

Soon the world regained kgs colour and the senses started to come back to laz, but laz was currently drowning in malice as one name went through his mind again and again.

Noah Fairborn.

He was so immersed in his thoughts that he was unable to take notice of the figure standing before him with a baffled expression.

"H-How?"