Arqus emerged from the cave and was greeted by the sight of a dense green forest. The trees were tall and majestic, and their leaves rustled in the gentle breeze. Arqus took a deep breath of the fresh air and smiled.
The forest was almost pitch black when trying to look inside, just as he was about to walk forward, He felt a ripple of energy above the mountain. As he looked back, he saw a person floating in the air. The top of the mountain disappeared as if it had never existed, and in its place was a floating hourglass-like object. He was astonished by what happened next. He saw the person stretch out their hand and runes condensed around the hourglass. "Seal!" a shout was heard. A grim look appeared on his face as the hourglass emitted a light and the runes vanished.
As Arqus watched, and he noticed the person's expression change and knew something was wrong. Arqus focused on the hourglass, which began to rotate in a circle, releasing energy that enveloped the area like a dome, trapping them inside.
In the next instant, Arqus felt as if the entire world had come to a standstill. Inside the dome, Arqus sensed someone watching him. When he turned to look, he saw the person's body slowly fading away or it could be said that his body was disintegrating. When their eyes met, they both had a look of astonishment.
Arqus was stunned by the sight of this. A person disappeared right before his eyes and something dropped right where he died. When he came over to take a look, he saw a ring that had a black pearl embedded in it.
As he picked up the ring, he saw the hourglass object in the corner of his eye glow again and flash.
Terrified, Arqus stretched out his left hand to block the light. Suddenly, it stopped in front of his hand and vanished. Arqus, shaken by the unexpected turn of events, gazed at the palm of his left hand. There, etched into his skin, was a small hourglass tattoo pattern. "What is this thing?" Arqus collected his mood, it didn't seem like he could remove it, and didn't know what it was. All the things that happened today were difficult to comprehend.
"Breath in, Breath out" Arqus calms himself down as he adjusted his breathing. "At least it doesn't harm me." He then picked up the ring "Nice ring, it is a shame to leave it here since he disappeared." He then put the ring on his finger and started to admire it on his hand
Arqus started walking towards the forest. Just as he was about to enter the forest, he noticed a metallic-looking vine with a small purple glow radiating from it. On the stalk, a purple flower was budding, something resembling a lotus seemed to be shining inside it. There was only one flower. Arqus didn't want to touch anything unknown to him right now, so he ventured further into the forest to look for a water source. If he couldn't find a water source, then his chances of survival were even lower.
After walking a few minutes Arqus felt he'd been walking in circles. "Hmmm weird, I've walked past this tree before." He picked up a stone near him and marked the tree and continued. A few minutes later he saw the tree again. All of a sudden Arqus started laughing, "I think I'm going crazy". He felt really a slightly depressed at this moment. Right that moment the ring on his glowed and a light orb flew out the pearl. Arqus was shocked and wanted to take the ring off however a voice interrupted him "How weren't you affected?"
In that moment an ethereal form took place which was exactly like the person Arqus saw before.
Arqus was shaken, he immediately took off the ring, threw it on the ground and he started sprinting away.
"Wait, don't go…"
Arqus fled running through the forest "The heck was that, next time I shouldn't pick up dead people things" He thought while running. A while later Arqus stopped running. He closed his eyes "Breath in, Breath out" when he opened his eyes he immediately started to sweat when he looked down towards the ground.
The ring was there and when he looked up, he saw a mark on a tree he previously made.
"oh, you came back." a light orb flew out the pearl.
Arqus fell down to the ground "Hahahahaha, I'm cursed. Running around in circles and seeing Ghost…"
"Running around in circles?" the voice interrupted Arqus.
Arqus looked up seeing the ghost, he composed himself. "The heck you looking at?" yelled Arqus.
"Hmmm. Now that I take a closer look you seem to be a natural formation" the voice said. "Natural Formation. What's that?" said Arqus as he rubbed his eye however as he did this movement. "What do you mean, what's that?" the voice said. He stared at Arqus for a moment, then shock could be seen in his eyes. "You… who are you!? " the voice shouted when he noticed the hourglass artifact embedded in Arqus' hand when he was rubbing his eyes
"Huh" Arqus was confused. "Who are you!? Shouted Arqus seemingly not afraid of this 'talking ghost' anymore. However, when he shouted the ghost figure swayed and his body dimmed a lot.
"Wait, calm down" the voice sounded shaken up and was shaken when Arqus shouted. "I'm Ozil Garson. This pearl contains a silver of my spirit essence, I'm no threat to you. I have a favor to ask… "Ozil quickly replied.
Arqus just nodded his head as he seemed to understand. However, he didn't understand a word of what this guy said, he didn't even know what spirit essence is or how he appeared out of thin air Arqus said calmly "Sorry I don't work for the dead" He turned around and walked away.
"You're stuck here, and you don't seem to know formations. I can help you if you accept a request of mine," said Ozil. Arqus thought, "It's not going to do me any good being stuck in this forest." Then he asked, "Alright what can I do for you?"
Ozil took out a scroll, it looked old and worn out. "I'm going to dissipate soon. Give this to my sister Nina Garson, you can find her at Durselan academy, let me crack this formation." After handing the scroll over, Ozil then was going to use what was left of his power to try and crack the formation however after a few probing attempts a frown could be seen on his face.
This was the most bizarre situation Arqus ever came across and this guy just closed his eyes like he was doing something. Arqus did not understand what he was doing so this was expected. Ozil could only smile warily as he, too, was conflicted at this moment. "With my knowledge this shouldn't be a problem however my power as a spirit isn't enough." With that being said Ozil spirit shrank into a small dot emitting a white light that even a naked human eye couldn't see, but Arqus could see this light after all he couldn't be considered normal when he left the cave.
The white light beamed forward into Arqus' head, and then all sorts of knowledge flooded his mind. With a blank face, Arqus was stunned by the information he had just received. Yes, it was just information to Arqus; he wasn't Ozil, so even if he understood the knowledge he received, he couldn't apply them as Ozil could, at least not yet.
Ozil was over 400 years old and grew up on the continent of Gwen where all the people there were called cultivators. Ozil family was a duchy until a neighboring ruler invaded their land and took over the kingdom. Ozil at the time was exploring a secrete underground ruins and when he received the information that his homeland was being invaded it was already to late for him to help and defend.
He and four other people were on an expedition when he received the message that his homeland was being invaded. Just as he read that message, another one came stating that the war was almost over. The date between those two messages was ten days, but he received both at the same time. It gave him the conclusion that the place they were excavating was not normal at all.
He didn't share this information with the others because they probably had a way to find out, and besides, none of them trusted each other; they were only in it for the benefits. Even though they had come across different treasures before, they never fought over them; instead, they would distribute the spoils based on each member's contribution to acquiring the treasure. However, everything changed when they stumbled upon the hourglass artifact. They all recognized its extraordinary nature, and soon, a fight erupted among them.
The fight reached a stalemate, with neither side gaining the upper hand, when suddenly, a monster appeared out of nowhere. They had never seen such a monster in their lives, nor had they heard of anything like it in the world.
It appeared humanoid at first glance, but its true nature became apparent upon noticing the long, white tail ending in a snake's head with red eyes. Without this distinctive feature, one might not have deemed it a monster.
When the monster emerged, they silently reached a mutual agreement to address this anomaly immediately. However, in an instant, the snake's eyes glowed, it lashed out like a whip and it swiftly severed one person's head with its fangs, consuming it whole. Even as the head disappeared down its throat, the person's body remained upright momentarily, but that didn't last as the snake proceeded to devour it. One could see the gradual digestion of the body by the snake.
What had transpired thus far instilled fear among the three, leaving them paralyzed with shock. They didn't even have time to react when it happened. They had one thought: "escape". Everyone took out their survival measures, but within that moment of movement, the monster lifted up its hand, and a red beam appeared, blasting another person to nothingness. The power of the red beam didn't stop there; it continued forward, blasting a hole straight through the ruins, shining brightly in the sky.
It is good to say a second has passed, it was enough for the Ozil and the other to use their measures but before that could happen a spatial tear appeared right above the monster. As the spatial tear emerged, it instantly expanded into a vortex, sucking up the monster. Ozil thought the danger was gone and reacted quickly to try and grab the artifact. However, as he moved, he sensed danger, as the other party had also reacted and slashed out with a sword. The sword emitted an eerie gray light. "Ozil, do you think you can last against me?" Moss asked.
Ozil took out a spear and, without a word, began attacking. While they fought, a grim expression appeared on both of their faces as the vortex expanded again, but this time five times larger than before, swallowing them both without giving them time to react. When Ozil exited the vortex he felt a strong suppression as he stood above a mountain wanting to seal the artifact, right at that moment when he tried to seal it he knew he was going to fail and before it happened he sent a wisp of his soul into his ring hoping someone can deliver a message for him. This is how he encountered Arqus right before his demise.
With all the information he received from Ozil, Arqus wasn't interested in how Ozil lived during his life or in cultivation. He was now terrified, thinking that if that monster came with Ozil into this forest, there is that possibility even if spatial tears could send people to different places.
Even with that worry he could only move forward. Arqus wandered through the forest for quite a while. Just when he thought he might not get a change of scenery if he continued at this pace, he saw light ahead. He sped up, hoping that this would be an exit out of the forest.
As he stepped into the light, he felt a bit disheartened by what lay before his eyes: a simple house. However, what truly brought him down was the realization that beyond the house, there was nothing but the forest again. In fact, it was situated in the center of a circle surrounded by trees. The sky was clearly visible because there were no trees blocking the light.