Luke stood stunned, his breath shallow, terrified by what he was seeing. His limbs refused to move, but instinct took over. He gulped.
"Uhh... W-where am I? And who are you?" he asked, his voice trembling as he slowly backed away a few inches.
From the shadows, the towering figure stirred. Metal creaked. A presence like gravity itself weighed down on Luke. The being spoke in an intimidating voice, low and echoing like thunder trapped in a cavern.
"Scared? Hah! Pathetic."
Luke's fear turned to defiance, his voice rising despite the fear squeezing his chest.
"Well, at least I'm not chained in a dark place!"
The being chuckled, a sound that echoed through the darkness like something dead laughing from a grave.
"Hahaha. So I see. You don't back down, even when terrified. I'm surprised you even bark back."
With a mix of curiosity and fear etched across his face, Luke managed to ask,
"W-What are you?"
The being fell still, its silence pressing against Luke's mind like a hand on glass. It stared at him, judging-measuring. For a moment, time itself seemed to slow.
"You still don't deserve to know who or what I am."
Luke looked around, heart pounding in his chest. This place wasn't the chamber he remembered. No-it was worse. A prison of endless dark. No walls in sight, no ceiling above, only void. The only light came from a soft glow around his own body, barely illuminating a few steps ahead.
"Where am I? And how do I get out of here?!" he demanded, his voice cracking.
The being's voice returned, deeper now, as if the shadows themselves were speaking.
"Interesting. You don't know where you are?"
A chill ran down Luke's spine. The weight of the void pressed tighter. His panic flared.
"I really need to get out now! Please, just tell me how!"
The being leaned forward slightly, the golden chains creaking with tension. Its violet eyes flared beneath the helmet.
"How curious... You don't seem to possess the amount of mana needed to access the seal, and yet here you are."
Luke blinked. Confusion and memory collided. The chamber... the mana... Then he remembered what Eve had said-that the place was generating mana on its own. She had dismissed it. But now...
"I don't know if objects can produce mana, but... the chamber I was in was generating it," Luke said, his voice steadying slightly.
The being stirred-interested.
"In this chamber of yours... was there a statue of a winged soldier?"
Luke's eyes widened.
"Yes! H-how did you know?!" Luke's curiosity slowly rose.
Something shifted in the being's demeanor. Though bound by chains, its presence expanded. Something old was waking inside it.
The being, fascinated and curious, murmured in its thoughts, "This vessel is strange. He managed to convert a foreign mana into his own... so quickly. Intriguing."
"How did you manage to access your seal?" it asked.
Luke blinked again, lost.
"Huh? Seal? What seal? My seal? I don't know what you're talking about."
The being's gaze lingered. Its next words came with a cruel sense of amusement.
"Ah... I see. So you have no idea that you're a vessel of a tragic past."
Silence again.
Luke's glow flickered faintly in the gloom, but his courage was slowly returning. He clenched his fists.
"Well then," the being said, the chamber echoing with growing power, "I shall allow you to know who I am."
Luke hesitated, then asked,
"But... are you at least f-friendly though?"
The being laughed. Loud. Deep. Unholy. The shadows quivered. Chains rattled. The sound alone made Luke's bones feel colder.
"The past took my kindness away."
Luke stood taller. A spark lit in his eyes.
"Fine. Be as rude as you want. At least you're chained up. Everything should be fine."
And then the being rose-or rather, straightened with a terrifying presence. His voice thundered like a cathedral collapsing, its purple glowing eyes intensifying through the helmet, wings flaring slightly behind its back.
"Listen well!
I am the chained light that no darkness can extinguish.
Bound, yet absolute. Silent, yet eternal.
I... am Lazarel-The Deathless One!"
Luke's curiosity rose even more.
"Whoa." He questioned Lazarel. "Deathless?" He stepped forward a little. "What do you mean deathless?"
Lazarel simply said, "I don't die."
Luke raised an eyebrow. "How? And why?"
Lazarel, a bit annoyed by the repeated questions, replied, "It's my ability. It is embedded in me!"
Still unconvinced, Luke asked, "Are you telling the truth?"
Lazarel sighed and snapped, "Why do you think that I'm chained here!?... It's because they can't kill me, no matter what they do!.. The only way to silence me is by sealing me away!"
Luke stared at Lazarel with fascination.
"Why are you chained here in the first place anyway?"
"I was betrayed."
"Betrayed? How?"
Lazarel went quiet. "I'd rather not talk about it."
Luke felt a pang of sympathy. "I'm sorry, are you friendly?"
Lazarel chuckled. "I would never call my vessels an ally. All of you are just walking prisons."
Then he said to Luke, "Since you don't know where you are, I'm pretty sure you're gonna wake up any minute now."
Luke, finally sensing a way out, sighed in relief. "Finally, I can get out of here."
But Lazarel interrupted him. "But first, I need to clarify something in you."
Luke tilted his head. "Ok."
"Raise your right hand."
Luke raised his hand. "Ok, so what's next?"
"I want to measure your mana. Take a deep breath. As you inhale, imagine a flow of mana in your veins. Then exhale it all through your right hand."
Luke took a deep breath and pictured airflow. A freezing sensation spread over him.
"I feel freezing..."
As he exhaled, a surge of invisible energy moved through him. The chains trembled as if stirred by wind. Lazarel's gaze narrowed.
A burst of light and dark mana flooded the chamber before vanishing.
"What in the world was that?!" Luke gasped.
Lazarel laughed. "Very interesting. You have both light and dark mana in you. However, you lack the elemental mana. You cannot create fire, shoot a blast of water, move or crack the ground, or suffocate someone with air. How unfortunate."
Stunned, Luke asked, "Then what can light and dark do?!"
Lazarel replied coldly, "Find it yourself."
"C'mon, at least tell me what I can do with it!"
"I cannot share my knowledge with a weakling like you."
Luke snapped, "Then why did you introduce yourself to me and tell me what you are?!"
"Fair point. But it was worth it. I want you to remember my name. I was fascinated by how you unknowingly connected with your seal."
"Unknowingly?"
"Not all vessels can do what you did. All my past vessels struggled to access their seal. But you? You did it without even knowing."
"I really have no idea what I did."
Lazarel's eyes glowed brighter.
"You are still weak. What you did was pure luck. Your strength and mana are very weak... however, we can change that."
Luke grew cautious. "What kind of change?"
"I can grant you power." Lazarel said.
"What's the catch?" Luke replied.
"But are you interested?" Lazarel spoke.
"Answer me first!" Luke talk's back.
"There is no catch." Lazarel answered
Luke narrowed his eyes. "Well, that's bullshit. There's no such thing as free-especially from strangers like you."
Lazarel chuckled. "Hahaha. I like that suspicion of yours... Fine. I'll tell you the side effect-you will slowly lose your sanity the more you use it."
Luke hesitated, but before he could answer, he was suddenly engulfed in dark mana.
"What the!?" he shouted.
"You are waking up," Lazarel said.
Luke felt himself returning.
"Alright!" he said with joy.
As Luke faded away, Lazarel called after him,
"I shall await your response... the next time we meet."
Then everything went dark.
Luke woke up in the chamber.
Luke opened his eyes, blinking slowly as the familiar sight of the chamber's ceiling came into view. The silver statue of the winged soldier stood motionless nearby. Luke pushed himself up, eyes wide with relief and excitement.
"I'm finally back!" he shouted, his voice echoing joyfully through the chamber.
A loud creaking sound broke the moment. The heavy chamber door groaned as it slowly swung open-and there stood Maya.
Luke's face lit up as he rushed toward her.
"Aunt Maya!" he called out.
"Hey there, our little warrior!" Maya answered with a smile.
But before Luke could reach her, a blur of motion knocked him off his feet. Eve tackled him to the ground, wrapping him in a tight hug.
"Oh, Luke, our sweet baby boy, are you okay?" she cried, squeezing him like a stuffed animal.
"N-not really..." Luke gasped, struggling under the weight of her embrace.
"Ohhh? And why is that?" Eve asked, still clinging to him.
"Because I can't breathe while being aggressively hugged!" Luke wheezed.
At that moment, Zacky entered the room with Michie and Rhody. Blood stained Zacky's robe, and Luke's eyes lit up in awe.
"Whoa... Uncle Zacky, you're covered in blood... Cool," Luke said with innocent fascination.
Eve immediately snapped, "Hey! Being stained in blood is not a good thing!"
Maya shrugged and smirked. "Hey, being covered in blood and still standing means you're victorious."
Zacky sighed and stepped in between them. "Okay, you two, that's enough."
Meanwhile, Michie and Rhody wandered deeper into the chamber, their eyes cat hing the statue of the ↓ silver-winged soldier.
"Hey, Michie," Rhody said, pointing.
"Yeah?" Michie replied, eyes narrowing with curiosity.
"Umm... isn't that the statue that produces a strange amount of mana?" Rhody asked, eyeing it cautiously.
Michie stepped closer, examining the figure.
"Yeah, that's definitely the one... Silver, has a pair of wings, armored like a knight, sword pointed downward, hands resting on the hilt. Yup-this is it," he confirmed.
Rhody turned and shouted, "Hey! Zacky, you've got to see this!"
Zacky hurried over, his eyes widening the moment he saw it.
"What in the God's name is this doing here?" he said, stunned.
Zacky approached, and the moment he laid eyes on the statue, his expression shifted.
"What in God's name is this doing here?" he said, visibly shocked.
Maya, a little nervous, responded,
"Oh... um... So, when I was cleaning the basement, I found this thing. I thought it might be important because it's a silver statue and kind of fragile, so I moved it to a safe place-the chamber."
Zacky raised a brow.
"Fair point... but you should've told us. That statue is very dangerous."
Eve leaned in.
"Uh... how dangerous exactly?"
Michie answered bluntly,
"Oh-very dangerous. Like, a big no-no."
Both Eve and Maya exchanged a guilty look, suddenly realizing the implications of what they'd done. They quickly turned to inspect Luke.
Eve knelt beside him, eyes wide.
"Luke! Are you sure you're okay?!"
Luke gave a thumbs-up.
"Yeah, I am."
But Maya wasn't convinced. She grabbed both of his shoulders.
"Tell us the truth, Luke! Are you okay?!"
Luke reassured her with a nervous smile.
"Yes! I'm very okay and fine-nothing bad happened to me!"
Maya sighed in relief.
"Thank God... we really shouldn't have left you in that chamber."
Zacky suddenly spun around, eyes wide.
"Wait-WHAT?! You left Luke in the chamber?! Next to the statue?!"
Michie and Rhody froze, shocked.
Maya and Eve both winced and looked away, clearly guilty.
Eve tried to explain calmly.
"We just wanted to hide Luke somewhere safe. The chamber seemed like the best option."
Zacky's voice grew sharper.
"You're a dryad-you should've sensed the strange mana when you opened the chamber!"
"I know... I know..." Eve murmured, guilt weighing on her. "It won't happen again. I'm really sorry, Luuuuke!"
She suddenly lunged and tackled Luke in a tight hug, knocking them both to the floor again.
Luke squirmed beneath her.
"No, it's okay! I'm really okay, nothing to worry about, Aunt Eve."
"Ohhh, my baby boy," Eve sobbed, holding him tighter.
Zacky stepped forward, kneeling next to them.
"Luke, are you sure nothing happened in the chamber?"
Luke nodded quickly.
"Yes! Nothing really happened in there."
Zacky raised an eyebrow.
"Alright... just making sure. You're telling the truth, right?"
Luke hesitated.
"Y-yeah. I'm good."
Zacky narrowed his eyes.
"Did you just stutter?"
Luke sighed and finally gave in.
"Fine. I'll tell you the truth. I touched the statue... and it knocked me unconscious."
Maya and Eve gasped, eyes widening in horror.
"WHAT?!" they both shouted in unison.
Zacky raised a hand.
"Okay, okay, that's enough. Luke's still fine."
But deep inside, Zacky's suspicion was growing.
Cut to: 7:00 AM the next morning
The sun had barely risen, and the birds had only just begun to chirp. Despite it being Saturday-no classes-Luke was already being shaken awake.
"Wake up, Luke," Zacky said firmly. "We're starting your real training-magic training. And I'll be your mentor."
Still half-asleep, Luke blinked and then grinned.
"Cooooool."