"Why the cemetery? That is indeed on the edge of the city. If the Zight was more powerful near the center of town..." began Ulric.

"If the Zight was more powerful near the center of town, then it stands to reason that the center of the ruin lies underneath that point," interrupted Alex. "You're looking for a powerful Magickal artifact, right? Well, what the hell else could give off such a powerful aura of Zight?"

"Only a few things can do something like that, and if this thing has rested there for this long, then its power would have long been exhausted," said Melodi. "Back then, it would have seemed like the ideal place to train one's Orrium, and naturally, people would have flocked to it. However, with the immense danger that surrounded the opening to the ruin, people would have likely seen the area of effect as a dark and evil place.

"In order to cleanse the area and prevent the undead from spawning, they would have blessed the ground and consecrated the land in order to protect themselves. After that, they would have naturally placed a cemetery upon that hallowed ground in order to make sure their dead never turned into undead creatures! It's almost too perfect of a place for the entrance to be!"

"It definitely outshines the other three locations, that's for sure..." mumbled Ulric.

"We even looked at current blueprints of the city, followed the waypoints that indicated the other three locations, and saw that each of them followed in the path of least resistance for a Zightstream. Just where we suspected the entrance to the ruin to be, we discovered that a large chapel had been built a few decades after the completion of Ardua. But what did we find right next to that structure?" asked Melodi.

"Let me guess, a Cemetery?" asked Ulric and the two Conductors smiled widely at him.

"If we're correct, then the entrance to your ruin would likely be under the cemetery. We even drafted a plan that would let us sneak in without detection from the Order!" Alex exclaimed happily, raising the scroll in which they had detailed the infiltration plan.

Ulric nodded and then closed his eyes, "Good work, you two! I'm quite impressed that you were able to figure out this much with the same information I had access to. I'll make sure that the headmaster knows about your contribution to the cause," he said.

Then before either of them could do anything to stop him, he dashed over and rammed the pommel of his claymore into Alex's gut. Alex went wide-eyed and fell to his knees with a gasp. Ulric then struck the back of his head with his hand, and Alex fell to the ground, unconscious.

"What the Hell?!?" exclaimed Melodi with a shocked expression. She pulled out her bow and readied an arrow with blistering speed. However, once more, before she could respond, Ulric turned his gaze to meet hers and released his battle pressure. Melodi's eyes rolled back, and she too passed out, falling to the ground.

Her arrow fired and shot toward Ulric's head, but he leaned to the side and caught it before it could hit him. He let it clatter to the ground and returned his own weapon to his dimensional pocket.

Ulric grabbed the scroll containing their plan, putting it away as he stood up, and let out a heavy sigh. "Forgive me. I know you two worked hard to figure out the secret of this ruin, but this is something I can't have you getting involved in. You'll be safer here, and I promise I'll make it up to you somehow..."

With that, Ulric turned and left. The two of them would be safe here. After he had left to scout the area, he had placed a special ward around the abandoned house to hide it from detection. Now all he had to do was head to the ruin and locate the artifact before the Order noticed him. He headed out and left before any more time was wasted.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

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A dark-cloaked man stood facing the window of the town hall of Ardua. A single knock rang out, and soon after, another robed acolyte came in and knelt before the back of the man facing the window. "I take it that you still haven't found the two we're looking for. You disappoint me. Still, they are allies of that man. We cannot take them lightly," said the dark-robed figure at the window.

The kneeling acolyte lowered his head and apologized before speaking, "We are scouring the town looking for them as we speak, but so far, nothing has turned up. We have sentries at the inn they were staying at in case they return. However, we have more pressing matters. It seems as though the two targets had another ally. We don't know what he's after, but he raised quite a ruckus at the cemetery, and the two acolytes at the scene have likely already failed to stop him."

The man at the window turned and sighed, "So it appears that a third rat has fallen into the cage... interesting. Focus your efforts on finding the other two. I will handle this third hindrance on my own."

"Do you think that's wise, Lieutenant? He has proven to be much more powerful than even the top Rank-Two Acolytes we brought along. He has to be at the peak of the second rank at the very least!" warned the kneeling man.

"Do not seek to lecture me on the dangers of facing powerful opponents when you yourself couldn't even handle this operation on your own. I might be new to the organization, but I have much more ability than you ants. Go! Do as you're told and leave the rest to me," replied the lieutenant.

The acolyte nodded and hurried out the door, never rising to his full height as he scurried backward. The lieutenant stroked his chin and smiled under his hood before grabbing his weapon and heading out towards the cemetery. "And so the plot thickens..." he said to himself, a laugh upon his dry lips...

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Alex was the first to stir, and he let out a groan as he crawled to his knees, rubbing his aching head. He looked around and saw Melodi face down, her bow a few inches from her grip, and he rushed over to her. "Mels! Mels, wake up!" he cried as he shook her shoulder softly.

Melodi groaned as she opened her eyes and clutched her throbbing head. "What happened...?," she asked, but her eyes shot open as she remembered. "Alex! We have to stop him! Ulric is up to something I just know it! We can't let him get to the artifact first!"

"Yeah, I'm aware. That bastard may not have meant to kill us, but he used us, and I'm going to make sure he pays for what he did. First though, we need to head over to the cemetery. Are you alright?" asked Alex.

"I think so. He only hit me with a dose of his battle pressure. It was so powerful... My Athenaeum took a little damage, but it wasn’t much, I should be fine to fight. Don't worry about me," she answered, though Alex was too angry to pressure her. All he could think about right now was getting back at Ulric.

"I don't know how long we were out, but he already has a huge headstart on us. We should get moving!"

Melodi nodded and grabbed her bow before the two stood up and headed toward the door. They made their way down the alleyways, keeping low as they hurried along. They could see a few cloaked men weaving through the sparse crowds in the distance, and they worked to avoid alerting those people.

They soon neared the cemetery, and when they arrived, they found the corpses of a few Order members strewn across the ground. However, in the middle, under the remains of a destroyed statue, they saw the black pit that must lead down into the ruin.

"There it is, just where we thought it would be. Though, I'm surprised that nobody thought to check this area sooner," said Alex in a whisper.

"Most of the citizens here wouldn't have even imagined that something like this was beneath the city, let alone where the entrance might be. Even those who must have lived back then would have wanted to avoid even talking about something so sinister in their minds. Let's just be thankful that we discovered it first!" replied Melodi.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Alex?" asked Melodi. "I know I was the one who said we couldn't let him get the artifact, but he's so much stronger than us. What can we even do?"

Alex shook his head, "I don't know, but we have to try something. He could have killed us, but he didn't. Maybe he isn't all bad, but the bastard didn't have to resort to knocking us out like that! I'll have him answer for what he did, and then I'll find out why the hell he did it!"

Melodi could only nod. She felt the same way, but her caution warned her that this might not be the best idea. Still, if nothing else, she wanted to know why Ulric had done what he did.