Zayzal, Marcus, and Sera scanned the library with wide eyes as they realized the opportunity before them. Shelves towered overhead, filled with tomes that may have never seen the light of day.

“What kind of book should we look for?” Marcus asked, his voice echoing slightly in the vast hall.

“We need something that can help us understand and harness mana better,” Zayzal replied almost instantaneously. There was only so much he could do with his [Pathfinder] talent. He might be able to help people get stronger, but his theoretical knowledge was severely lacking.

Knowing more about mana and its limits would help not just him but humanity.

Sera, who had been browsing the shelves, called out. “Hey, I found something interesting here!”

They gathered around a thick, leather-bound tome titled "Arcanum of Ages: Bridging Mana and Mortals". The cover was embossed with symbols that seemed to glow with an inner light.

“This looks promising,” Zayzal said, flipping through the pages. The book was filled with illustrations of rituals, detailed descriptions of mana flow, and theories on its manipulation. What was even more peculiar was that they seemed to just instinctually understand the words on the page without even knowing what kind of language it was.

“It talks about the old ways people might have interacted with mana, even before the Mana Apocalypse,” Marcus noted, looking over Zayzal’s shoulder. “This could give us a serious edge.”

“Not just in the dungeon, but out there too,” Sera added, her usual brashness softened by the gravity of their discovery.

They decided to take the book. As soon as Zayzal lifted it from its resting place, the rest of the library faded away, leaving them standing in a simple, stone chamber with a single door leading out.

“This book... It’s more than just knowledge. It feels like it’s alive with mana,” Zayzal observed, feeling a subtle vibration from the tome.

***

With the book safely secured in their possession, the trio cautiously approached the door and stepped through, leaving the stone chamber behind. The air outside was damp and cool, a stark contrast to the dry stillness of the library. They found themselves at the entrance of a vast, open space dominated by towering ruins that bore the unmistakable mark of Gothic and Baroque architecture.

Towering Gothic arches and ribbed vaults loomed above, but their once-majestic forms were now weathered and falling apart. Amidst these, the flamboyance of Baroque architecture stood out with its curved lines and remnants of ornate decorations.

“What is this place?” Marcus whispered in awe, his eyes scanning the intricate stonework and towering spires. “It’s like a piece of time and space was copied and pasted into this dungeon.”

“Why do you think so?” Sera asked, oblivious to the different architectural designs throughout history.

“T-This looks like Hungary at least a hundred years ago, except it’s all destroyed. What could’ve happened? Why is it like this?” Marcus walked forward, enraptured by it all. There was something inside him getting all giddy at the thought of exploring this piece of diverted history–a place that had never been seen before.

As they ventured deeper, the ruins revealed their majestic beauty amidst decay. Vines crept over broken columns, and moonlight from what they could only believe was the real moon filtered through the shattered windows.

“This place is like a labyrinth,” Sera said, looking around. Although her control over mana wasn’t quite as good as Zayzal’s, she sensed something like a heartbeat around them. “And it feels... alive.”

Zayzal nodded, his eyes alert. “Keep an eye out for anything unusual. Who knows what sort of puzzle or enemies we’ll have to face this time.” They hadn’t heard that ghostly knight’s voice again, meaning that they were likely on their own this time.

Receiving nods from his companions, Zayzal and Fenrir led the way through the ruins.

Their path was not straightforward. Corridors ended abruptly, staircases led to nowhere, and rooms looped back on themselves. It was a puzzle, requiring them to decipher the architectural language of the ruins.

As they navigated the labyrinthine ruins, they encountered their first challenge - a series of intricate doorways, each leading to different sections of the ruins. The doorways were adorned with symbols and carvings that seemed to hold the key to their progression.

They all examined them, confused, until Marcus pointed out patterns in the architecture. “These symbols are not just decorative. They’re clues. We need to follow the Gothic patterns to move forward.”

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“...How does a mountain boy like you even know this stuff?” Sera grumbled, but Marcus sneered at her.

“I went to school and know how to use my brain.”

“...”

A vein throbbed in her forehead, but she took a deep breath to calm down and moved on. It wasn’t worth fighting with him over something stupid.

Relying on Marcus’s words, they began to make their way through the maze following the Gothic architectural clues. Each successful passage brought them deeper into the heart of the ruins.

But the ruins were not uninhabited. A series of floating rusty armors guarded the halls.

Sera immediately jumped out in front of Zayzal and Fenrir, holding her shield and axe out. Zayzal and Marcus also readied their weapons, finding the armors odd.

“...Why are they floating?” Sera questioned, but nobody answered.

Suddenly, a clank rang throughout the area, followed by another, and another, and another before the hall was filled with the sound of metal banging against metal.

The clanking grew louder as the floating armors advanced, their movements eerily synchronized. Sera braced herself as Zayzal gripped his spear tightly and positioned himself beside her while Marcus stood behind them.

"They're fast, but their movements are predictable," Zayzal observed, dodging a swing from one of the armors. "We just need to find a way to hit them effectively."

Sera swung her axe at the nearest armor, but it rebounded off of it, not even leaving a scratch or chink in it. "What the— How are we supposed to fight these things?"

Marcus tried to stab another, but his dagger had no effect either. "Physical attacks aren't working. There must be another way."

A literal army of floating armors were coming toward them, but there was nothing they could do to protect themselves.

The trio backed into a defensive circle, the animated armors closing in. Fenrir growled, his teeth bared, but even he seemed unsure of how to engage these spectral foes.

"Think, Zayzal, think! How should we take these things down?!" Marcus urged, narrowly avoiding a swipe from an armor.

Zayzal's mind raced. Closing his eyes for a moment, he focused on channeling mana into his eyes. When he opened them again, the world was different – he could see lines of mana connecting the armors to something beneath the dungeon floor.

"Guys, I can see it! There are lines of mana attached to them. Try cutting those lines!" Zayzal shouted over the din of clashing metal.

"How are you going to cut mana?" Sera asked, skepticism in her voice as she parried another blow.

"Just cover me!" Zayzal replied, concentrating mana into his spear.

He lunged forward as the tip of his spear glowed. With a precise strike, he sliced through one of the mana strings. The armor connected to it shuddered and then collapsed into dust.

"It worked!" Marcus exclaimed. Unfortunately, he couldn’t see where those lines were, nor did he know how to cut them. “How’d you do that?!”

“Just coat your weapon with mana!” Zayzal replied back while striking another armor, causing it to collapse into dust, but his suggestion meant nothing to Marcus. He barely knew what his talents did, much less how to control mana.

He kept trying to send some sort of ‘energy’ into his dagger, but that didn’t work, so he just continued to dodge the incoming attacks.

Sera didn’t ask any questions, and even though she was unable to see the mana lines, she followed Zayzal's lead, protecting him as he targeted the armors.

One by one, the animated armors fell, turning to dust as their mana lines were severed. The hall gradually quieted, the clanking of metal ceasing as the last of the armors crumbled.

Breathing heavily, Sera leaned on her axe. "That was intense. Good thinking with the mana lines, Zayzal."

He was about to respond, but something caught his eye. Out of the corner of his vision, he caught a glint within the ash. Turning, he walked over to it and pulled it out. He gasped, seeing its appearance. A bright, meter-long silver shield, intricately designed and radiating an aura that couldn’t be found on ordinary items.

He smiled and tossed it over to Sera. She also gasped seeing and hurriedly caught it, feeling a surge of energy flow into her as she held it. “This shield... it can reflect spells.”

“This will come in handy,” Zayzal said, a hint of excitement in his voice. “Especially if we encounter more magical traps or enemies.”

Putting her old shield on her back, Sera smiled as she held her new equipment.

As they delved further, the challenges became more complex. They had to solve architectural puzzles that required manipulating the ruins themselves - moving stone blocks to create new pathways, aligning statues to reveal hidden doors, and even using the shield to reflect light onto specific points to unlock mechanisms.

Finally, they arrived at the grand hall. The hall was vast, its ceiling high above, adorned with a mural depicting the Treaty of Trianon. The mural was elaborate, but parts of it were obscured by shadows.

“This is it,” Marcus said, examining the mural. “Looks like we need to illuminate it correctly.”

“Take out those runic stones we collected outside the dungeon,” Zayzal commanded, noticing that the hall was rather dark. Although he doubted this was the true purpose of the rocks, what did that matter?

Using the magical shield combined with the runic stones, they worked together to reflect light onto the mural. As the light touched the obscured parts, the mural came alive, its colors vibrant under the illumination.

It was a depiction of the Treaty of Trianon, which was a significant historical moment as it formally concluded World War I between most of the Allies and the Kingdom of Hungary.

As they completed the illumination, a deep rumbling sound echoed through the hall, and the far wall began to shift, revealing a passage. On the other side was a pristine lake, looking so tranquil that not even a gust of wind dared to sweep through the area.