"What do we do now?" Ru asked as she looked at the injured people around her.

"No need to be so concerned about us. That guy helped us recover. We are not going to die." Draka briefly looked at Volus before she then turned to Vera. "I saw a small path back there when I was looking for a way to escape but I had no time to investigate it."

Vera pondered for a bit. She then looked at the trio of Cyziel, Volus and Ortix. It seemed that it was fine for them whatever she chose. "Alright. We can try to look at that path but others should stay here in case help comes. Moreover, you guys need to rest."

"What about that guy?" One of the two from the other class pointed at Gabo who was unconscious and encased in rock. He was carried by Ortix here near the entrance.

"No need to worry. He should not be able to wake up for at least a day. But in any case " Volus looked at Ortix. "Go give them the dagger from the other one." Ortix gave the dagger to the guy as Volus looked at him again. "Just kill him if he wakes up and he tries to break free."

Draka also gave the dagger she got to the other guy.

"Okay let's go now. We cannot waste more time." Vera said as she turned her back.

"Wait let me come with you!" Draka shouted. She wanted to at least help them after they helped her team survive. As also someone from Coryn, her natural recovery was better than most people. So after healing her and the couple of minutes of rest she had, she could fight again. "I might not be that strong but I can at least try to scout or frontline for you."

"Then I would like to come too." Lucia meekly uttered. She did not want leave Draka to other people by herself. In addition, her curiosity regarding Cyziel has not yet died down. She really does not think that it was just as simple as having darkness affinity. "I could heal too. I could be helpful."

It was now decided. The group of 8 would explore the hidden path inside the cave while Mary, Lily, Estelle and the two from the other class would stay behind.

The entrance to the path was quite narrow that the group needed to slowly force their way in. It was also wet and some insects were crawling in its walls so it might have scared regular people. Luckily, they could cover their body with aether energy for protection.

After passing through the narrow path, what they found was some kind of an ancient underground ruins. Its floor and walls were made of a substance called metastone or more commonly know as rock metal. It is a hard non malleable metal that can rarely be found.

There were even symbols in the walls that none of them could understand except for one. Cyziel was able to understand it perfectly. It was his people who actually made it but he was not familiar with this ruin. This means that it was something that might have been hidden from him because he was still too young. Unless, it was created after he went missing.

As they continued to walk through the ruins, they ran into a split path. There was a path in the right, middle and the left. Symbols were also written in the entry of these paths. Cyziel read each of this symbols and what was written were Quarters, Trials and Armory respectively.

"Cyziel! What are you looking at? Can you understand the symbols?" Ru asked inquisitively.

Cyziel pondered whether he should reveal the truth now but seeing that he still didn't trust everyone with him, he decided to withhold it. "No. They are just kind of exquisite! Though I think we should check the left path first."

"Alright we'll check it first." Vera agreed without even questioning it. She was not a stupid person but she has this instinct that Cyziel kind of knew something. Moreover, he has always trusted her decision so she was returning the favor.

The group's pace was faster than before due to the walkway that was still intact. It was all thanks to the durability of the metastone. They passed a few closed doors but Cyziel only looked at the symbols on the door for a few seconds before skipping them. On the end of the walkway was another door. It was a large bronze door and has the same symbol as he saw before. It was the armory. There was also a hand imprint in the middle.

"Let me check it first!" Draka said as she walked towards the door. She at least wanted to be helpful.

Cyziel stopped her and shook his head. "No. Let me do it. You'll have your time later." Cyziel didn't want to embarrass her or anything else. He just knew that he should be the one to open it. He extended his hand on the door and placed it on the imprint. The mark near his chest glowed momentarily. *Click, Click...Click*. Multiple clicking sounds were heard and the door seems to have been unlocked.

Cyziel opened the door a little then he took a little peek. He immediately closed it again, turned his back, closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"What was it?" Vera curiously asked, gripping Cyziel's lower left arm unconsciously. Everyone saw Cyziel's reaction and they knew that it was nothing simple.

"Enemies." Cyziel seriously said as his body shook a little. It was the first time he felt true danger since arriving back in Venturia. What he saw were animated corpses of beasts and even a few people. The appearance of the creatures was hideous. They might have been dead for hundreds of years. Some of their body parts was missing. There also seems to be some black spot found on each one of them. Originating from this black spot, were black tendrils like veins that extended throughout their body.

Shit. Are those related to the creatures of the wild? But those look quite different! Still, we are probably already in the inner part of the forest. Cyziel thought.

"Are they strong?" Volus inquired. He already could surmise that the enemies inside are not that simple based on Cyziel's reaction but he wanted to know to what extent. "Even stronger than us?"

That's right! What am I getting scared for. I am not the same as the kid back then! Cyziel took another breath and his face lightened up. He was far stronger than the time before he left. It was not even comparable but due to his experience from before, he still felt some fear. "They are strong but we can take them on. I will tell you all the plan before we go in."

Cyziel gave each of them commands and everyone listened. The trio of Cyziel, Volus and Ortix would handle the humanoid enemies. If Cyziel was right, it was actually his people. He do hope though that they were not rare or unique marks when they were alive. Vera and Lucia must use light or fire attacks on the beast creatures. Ru would observe the battlefield and assist whoever in need. Jorak and Draka would prevent the enemies to get close from the others.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Alright! I am going in first followed by Volus and Ortix. Stay near the door so you could escape if needed."

Cyziel opened the door fully and all the creatures inside simultaneously looked at them. The others finally understood why Cyziel got afraid. There was a creepy aura on each of the creatures and their hideous looks would already cause their hair to stand up. Ironically, Cyziel was relieved because there are no creatures of the wild inside. There were only reanimated corpses. After the corpses saw them, the corpses immediately attacked. Some of the creatures who already had missing limbs were slow but the others were nimble enough compared to humans.

But Cyziel didn't let them get near. He had already prepared a spell before he opened the door. "Conflagration!" A burst of deadly flames rushed out in a fan shape before it covered the whole room. When the fire died down, it killed more than half of the creatures inside. Some were actually burned to ashes in a few minutes. "Now! Attack!"

The others rushed in. There were 5 humanoid creatures inside and not any of them died but all of them were greatly injured. The creatures are still constantly burning as Ortix and Volus attacked them. It would seem that it would be an easy fight but they suddenly casted spells. One of them wet himself that put out the fire on himself and attacked Ortix with blasts of water. Ortix though used shadow step then decapitated it but it still continued to attack even without the head.

Volus attacked one of them and killed it with a heavenly phoenix strike. It was a technique from the phoenix sect in his planet where they strike with a piercing hand. If successful, the enemy would burn from the inside until they die unless they have the ability to put it out. In this world, it would be an elemental combat art that would only be taught to someone who has a high level of achievements to both magic and combat arts. Volus tried to do it again on another enemy but the enemy suddenly encased itself with rock armor and his hand was not able to pierce through its body.

Meanwhile, the rest were fighting with the deformed beasts. There are wolf like enemies that are comparable to the size of lions that are able to coat their claws with fire. This means that they have fire affinity which made it possible for them to survive the initial onslaught of Cyziel. There are also giant spider like creatures with double the number of legs.

"Vera! Hit the black spots with light magic!" Lucia shouted. She noticed that hitting the black spots made the creatures shriek in pain even though they are already dead. This means that whatever is inside that black spot is what was powering this creatures. They were targeting the spiders that had lost a lot of their legs due to the flames.

Jorak was fighting three wolves with his rapier but he was almost overwhelmed. Fortunately, Ru cast wind magic that enabled Jorak to float and the enemies were not able to reach him. He then continuously cast water pierce with his rapier to whittle the enemies down.

Draka was fighting a ferocious panther like enemy with a metallic tail and claws. It would have been a harder fight for her if not for one missing limb on the panther. Additionally, it was also injured by the flames.

In addition to his first attack, Cyziel killed one reanimated human then he went to help kill the beasts because he has trust that Volus and Ortix would be able to kill the others and he was right since they were able to kill two of each.

Cyziel thought that it would probably have been easier if he continued to just bombard the whole room. All his fears were actually already wiped out. The amount of enemies he killed with one spell boosted his confidence. Maybe he was underestimating himself or he was overestimating the enemy. It was easier than he actually thought. It was still fine though because the others got an experience fighting those creatures.

They finally dispatched each one of the enemies. No one was hurt other than some scratches which made everyone's mood in an all time high.

"Woooh! That was scary! Finally its finished." Jorak shouted as he sat down on the ground. "Anyway, what are those creatures?"

"They seemed to be reanimated corpses. What kind of evil magic was used here?" Vera answered as she looked at the corpses of their enemies.

"It seems to be some kind of dark nether magic." Volus added.

Lucia looked at the corpses then looked at Cyziel. *His darkness is still darker.* She whispered.

"Did you say something Lucia?" Draka asked.

"Nothing." Lucia shook her head.

Looking at the room, there were actually some stands where weapons and armors are placed but a lot of them were also damaged by time. Some were also destroyed when Cyziel used his magic. Cyziel then looked around the room. He knew that there should be some kind of hidden compartment or room here like the castle where his family lived. He was touching the walls one by one and the people around finally noticed what he is doing.

"What are you doing Cy?" Ru asked as she followed behind Cyziel.

"I feel that there should be some secrets here." Cyziel replied, continuing what he was doing. He finally felt something different in the back wall and injected some aether energy and a back room revealed itself to everyone. There were some bones in the ground which might also be his people who tried to hide inside but what was even more apparent was the number of high quality weapons and armors there.

"Wait! Is that Magical weapons?!!" Jorak shouted in awe.

Ortix immediately rushed inside and took two daggers that he found appealing on his eyes. "I got dibs on this!" The two daggers seemed normal but he knew that they are special. He injected aether energy on it and it became pitch black. He then tried to inject nether energy and the blades became almost invisible. "Woah! I knew this was good!"

"I don't recognize any of the materials used here." Ru was inspecting some of the weapons and materials in the side shelves.

"Same for me. Even the most expensive clothes that my family have does not seem to compare to this." Vera was not familiar with the materials but she could see that the quality of the items were really top notch.

Cyziel went to the end of the armory and he took a medium length metallic staff with an orb in the end. When he injected aether energy and water essence, an ice blade formed on the opposite edge of the staff. He then changed the essence to fire and the blade became a red colored crystal that was radiating heat. It was actually a sword staff.

He also took a bluish silver colored light armor for battlemages with a cowl. He was not sure what material was used to craft this but it seems to be far more superior to his clothes back then. Where they able to find these materials after he disappeared? From which creatures or plants did they get these fabrics or from which mountains did they mine these metals?

The rest of the group followed. They each took a weapon and armor of their choice. Cyziel made a dark barrier so the females could change separately with the men. They first tried to wash the armors and robes with water magic then dry it with fire magic which are actually just basic spells.

Volus took a black robe like the one he wore but it was obvious that it was made from a different material. He also got some kind of black gloves. Draka chose a reddish metallic heavy armor and an axe made from the same red metal. Jorak got a light armor made from scales of some creatures and a new sword also made from the unknown red metal. Vera got a black and red robe and some kind of orb. It was encased on some kind of metal like a lamp which she was able to strap on the belt of her robe. Ru got a bluish green robe and two gold rings. Lucia got a white robe and some golden bracelet.

"Are we just going to leave the other items here?" Ru asked. She felt that it was a waste to leave those things behind.

Cyziel nodded. "We can always go back and get them in the future."

Cyziel closed and locked both the hidden door and the door to the armory before proceeding to go back to the intersection of the split paths. This time they are now planning to go to the middle path. The trial path. Cyziel knew that this one might be more dangerous than the other paths that is why he wanted to go to the armory first. But with their win against the previous battle and the new armors that they got, he was full of confidence this time.

Unfortunately, he does not know what they would encounter this time.