A small cove, isolated from the world, lies peacefully in a hazy blue calm. Until the cove's long multicolored roof, housing many long stalactites has a tiny drop of crystal water winds down a stalactite, and a single tear falls gently onto the floor below, happening to fall directly in front of Astraoth, who, stuck in a reverie, did not notice the outside world. As the droplet scatters into specks of water, the sound of a single drop resounds throughout the cavern, awakening Astraoth from the depths of his memories.

  "What!...Who!?...How?" mumbles Astraoth as he resumes consciousness, looking around the room warily. Remembering where he is, Astraoth sighs,"I really need to stop doing that." He says, resuming preparation for his departure. Going around his base, Astraoth gathers small packets of food; with plants and fruits being exceedingly common, Astraoth had no problems finding sustenance in natural materials.

  Besides food rations, Astraoth grabbed a small pack made from vines and leaves scattered around the forest. Astraoth also collected "rope" made from vines, reinforced with some natural materials, Essence Energy, and a little ingenuity. After preparing all his equipment, Astraoth set out, crawling into the small hole he came out of, pulling himself into the water. Astraoth begins to swim as his body submerges below, into the deep blue. 

  Propelling himself forward, Astraoth utilizes his energy to launch himself up to the water's surface, noticing that land was only a scant few tens of meters away. As he swims front crawl rapidly toward land, Astraoth glances to the sides of the lake, noting that the furthest edges of the lake cannot be seen. Reaching land, Astraoth grabs onto a ledge and clambers up, his body soaking wet. Once firmly standing on earth, Astraoth gathers a bit of Essence Energy and filters it around his body and through his still-dripping silver hair, rendering his body-and hair-dry.

  Extending his gaze to the furthest ends of the lake, Astraoth runs a hand through his hair, combing it slightly to the side. Breathing out slowly, Astraoth begins the long trek around the lake, to the other side, thinking,"I finally am ready to find the Western Obelisk, the first of my conquests. After I find it, I will need to prepare to fight the guardian, which will likely be a water-based creature."

  Finishing assembling his thoughts, Astraoth stops smoothly, bends his knees, and crouches down slightly, spreading out his fingers on the floor. Closing his eyes, a swirl of energy starts spiraling around him, and Astraoth feels his body lighten and strength fill his limbs. Suddenly, Astraoth opens his eyes, and, stamping his foot on the floor, the swirl of energy disappears, completely absorbed into his body; lowering his body slightly, Astraoth bursts forward, leaving behind only a blurry afterimage. Racing through the forest, avoiding tree branches, leaping from the trees to stones to the ground and back, moving at over thirty meters a second all the while. A slight smile on his face, Astraoth was a blur as he advanced forward, circling around the edge of the lake, bounding forth with great speed, confidence radiating out in his style, his demeanor, as he races through the wilderness, wisps of multicolored energy trailing behind him.

  Eventually, Astraoth managed to sprint his way around the tens of kilometers of forest and woods neighboring the lake, finally arriving at the other side of the vast body of water. Speeding up, Astraoth reaches down, grabbing a small handful of rocks, then gathers some of the energy residing in his body, and concentrates it at the core of his legs and feet, using the energy to propel him upward via a powerful leap into the air, Essence Energy emanating off him as he travels higher. As he rockets skyward, Astraoth looks around, finding a nearby tree, and latches onto a nearby branch, then begins pulling himself to the top of the tree, starting to observe his surroundings.

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  Standing tall, the world opens up as Astraoth turns his head, the wind ruffling through his lustrous silver hair, and Astraoth becomes able to view the entire lake all at once. Focusing his vision on the leftmost outskirts of the lagoon, closest to himself, Astraoth's bright eyes narrow, crimson light emanating out from his intense gaze, and Astraoth begins peering into the great reservoir from above, scanning the surface of the water. Moving his eyes across the bay, Astraoth searches for many minutes occasionally throwing a rock into key areas of the lake, sweeping his stare over almost all the lake, eventually coming to a small section of the lake, forty meters out from the leftmost edge, and decides quickly, tossing a stone directly into the center of the spot, observing the ripples spread, listening closely with his acute senses. Suddenly, he speaks, "Ahh...That must be the deepest location in all the lake. Finally, it is found."

  Leaping off the tree, Astraoth dives into the water easily, starting the swim to the determined spot. Reaching it quickly, Astraoth takes a deep breath, calms his mind, and dives down into the azure blue beauty below. Once submerged below the water, Astraoth opens his eyes, helping guide him into the depths of the vast basin of water. Swimming quickly, Astraoth makes his way deeper and deeper into the lake.

  After reaching the thousand meter mark, the water pressure became nearly unbearable for Astraoth; his organs, his limbs, his skin, all of it was squeezed and compressed to their limits. Only managing to continue thanks to a formidable natural healing ability, Astraoth was in constant pain and felt all the parts of his body pushed to the peak of exhaustion. Astraoth even felt his mind nearly black out, and only could continue on through sheer force of will- a single thought dominated his mind; 'I Must Push Through- I Must Succeed.'

  This thought alone let him overcome his limits and make it to the very deepest part of the lake. At two thousand meters, Astraoth reached the bottom of the lake, but instead of a floor, he saw something much stranger; there was a floor of water, and, placing his hand on it, the water rippled, like it would if the surface of a body of water was disturbed. Desperate to escape the immense water pressure, Astraoth dived down past the floor and fled, falling into a large cavern, forty meters long and forty meters tall. Gathering all his energy, Astraoth released it in a stream of energy through his hands, pushing against gravity, slowing down his descent enough for him to land safely-albeit uncomfortably.

  Crashing down onto his side, Astraoth groans and pushes himself up, observing the cavern he has landed in. In the hollow, he notices a thick black chain resting on the floor of the cove, in the center. Beside the chain, however, is a gigantic beast, ten meters tall- it has pale blue skin, long purple ears draping backward, thick gray flippers attached to lengthy, equally gray arms, and four white legs, folded beneath it. Noticing the mighty creature silent and unmoving, Astraoth realizes,"It's asleep, luckily for me. I need the obelisk, and that black chain is very likely to be the way to unearth the ancient...pillar, I guess. But to do that, I will need to defeat- and kill- that...odd thing. I can't make it back up, so...I'll have to do it now, but first..."

  Astraoth sets his bag down, pulls out the vines, takes out a couple of rations, eats them quickly, and drinks the water collected in his bag during his swim. Finally, Astraoth searches around for two thick, weighty stones, and ties two of the vines onto them, whispering,"Finally, the fun is about to begin."