Kill The Old Ones!

--

There is a wall within the domed area where the abducted appeared. It’s in the middle of the area and has some writing in it.

The language written in it was not human language; therefore, the youth taken here wouldn’t be able to understand it. However, getting close enough to the wall itself will trigger a mechanism or the magic in the wall that translated the words into something the reader recognizes.

If they were curious enough to trigger this, they will see what they have to know about this place.

**

Greetings, visitor from beyond...

If my prediction is right, and the doomed future of my home has indeed happened, by the time you are reading this, I am long dead.

I apologize for scaring you. I did not mean to wrest you away from home so barbarically and abruptly, but I don’t have much time left; I am desperate and wanted to get this done before my inevitable end arrives. I can’t spare time to refine the mechanics of this inheritance, but I can at least guarantee that whether you’re the person I’m looking for or not, you will leave this place, in time, alive.

Suppose introductions are necessary; my name is Vordt. I came from Far Bane Spire, born and raised in the Desolate Continent and of the Sky Archon race.

I am one of the Grand Archons. If you’re confused by that, think of the most important person in your world; now think of the right-hand man of that person, and you’d basically understand my position.

In our world, the most important person is the godly Sky Archon. We met during my youth, and we grew up together. Since I was a child, my destiny has been clear: to help him reach his destiny, clear the path forward for him, or keep the world safe while he engages the dangers that are coming to get us.

We’ve had so much time together. I’ve been serving him for thousands of years. He knows me better than anyone else, just as I knew him.

I thought that we could stay like that forever...

I thought that we would stay like that forever...

Unfortunately, I was wrong. We...and I mean all of us, not just him—we’re on borrowed time. Peace can’t last forever. It’s an illusion we deluded ourselves in all along since we’ve been yearning for it ever since we were children. Once we attained some semblance of it, we stopped and stagnated.

The world didn’t like that.

I can’t tell speak of the exact events that led to our demise. Not because I’m afraid that you’ll just ignore it since it’s none of your business anyway, nor because I simply don’t want to.

I can’t tell you because I’m not allowed to. Even as I write this, knowing full well that I will die soon, I am still not free. None of us are.

The only way I could warn you is if you were of the same kind as I am. But you’re not. I know that because if you were, you’d be reading an entirely different message from me.

That said, this concerns you, too. Because what happened to us might very well happen to you as well. That conversation won’t come from me, though. If you want to know the real truth about the world, you’ll have to become much, much stronger than you are right now.

And that’s why you’re here...

I made this realm to serve as a trial ground to find an inheritor. Not for me, but for my lord - the Godly Sky Archon.

My lord never married and never had children. He didn’t adopt, nor did he take students or disciples. He told me long ago that even if he does have someone to pass his inheritance to, they wouldn’t understand it anyway.

But how can I be fine with that?

As I write this, my lord is currently sacrificing his own life to give us a way out. We all know that we can’t stop what’s coming, but we still wish to leave seeds behind.

He gave us this grace, but what about him? Who will give him that chance? If he leaves nothing that could be used to remember him, then wouldn’t my lord have existed for nothing?

I am unreconciled. I don’t want him to be forgotten. I want him to be remembered. I want his honor, his glory, and his legacy to spread through what’s beyond.

That way, even after we’re long gone, the prestige and glory of my lord will continue to shine. He will leave a mark of his existence throughout this vast universe.

And if doing that means that I have to give way for his legacy first before mine, so be it; that’s what I’ve always done anyway. I’m used to it.

To me, there is no greater reward than being able to be of service to my good lord.

...

But while that’s my wish, I also know how difficult it will be. I know how profound my lord’s inheritance was. Even though he had explained it to us hundreds of times in clear detail, none of us were able to grasp it the way he does.

For us, that was normal. He was born to be different from all of us, after all. But now, it’s for the same reason I am afraid that searching for an inheritor of my lord might not be so easy.

I could just show you the legacy now. I could make it so that anybody who appears in this place will be able to see it and have a chance to study it.

But doing so feels like I’m making my lord’s inheritance cheap.

That’s why instead of searching for ways to save myself from certain doom, I created these trial grounds instead.

...

I’ve rambled long enough in this message already. Let me tell you what you need to do if you want to get your hands on the inheritance of my lord.

First and foremost, don’t just casually leave this starting area you appeared in. The dome around you covers 500 meters of solid ground. Regardless of what happened outside, so long as you stay in there, you’ll be safe.

Like I said, I am essentially forcing you to participate in this trial. You won’t be leaving this trial ground for an equivalent of a full year in your world at minimum. No more than two at max.

Your first trial will start once you see the world outside turning crimson. You will be forced out of the dome to fight for your lives.

The monsters of my own making will appear, and they will do their best to kill you. They will start weak and few but will eventually grow stronger in strength and number the longer you fight.

Your task is simple.

Kill your way out and find five pieces of the Sky Archon’s Shard that will randomly appear on the battlefield.

Here, your vision is impeded; you will need to navigate the world surrounded by the crimson fog with monsters assaulting you from all sides.

Some pieces are unguarded. Some are located on high ground; some might appear buried underground. Some might even start to slowly fly away, needing you to catch up to it. And sometimes, they will be fused to a monster, which means that you need to kill it first before you get that piece.

Your instincts will tell you once you’re close to a piece. The closer you are, the clearer its location becomes to you.

Remember, you need to collect five pieces to essentially ’clear’ a round. You’d return to your dome once you’re done, and you can rest until the next round.

You’d wake up within your dome if you were killed outside, too. I don’t plan on killing anybody here. I’m just trying to find an inheritor for my lord.

The five pieces will fuse into a single shard. You need to collect enough shards to form a fragment, and you need enough fragments to complete sections. With enough sections, you will combine them into the complete Godly Sky Archon’s inheritance.

...I told you you’d be here for a while.

You should kill as many monsters too while you’re at it.

Killing monsters will give you points you can use to buy clean water, edible food, clothes, tents, etc.

I know that you’ve been wrested from the comfort of your own home completely unprepared. But while I don’t have time to solve the particular problem, I can at least leave this mechanic and give permission to the world system to give you some assistance.

That’s about it. It might be hard on you for a while, but I’m sure that at least one of you will make it somehow.

It’s sad that I probably won’t be alive to personally see someone inheriting my lord’s power, but I am also comforted that at least, in some way, his legacy lives on.

Stranger, listen to me.

Become strong. Whether you are the person I’m looking for or not, don’t let it bother you. Get to the bottom of the spire...

...and Kill the Old Ones.