“What did you say?” A muffled voice, one that was possibly as low as a baritone singer, echoed out in the walled chambers of the Association’s Dungeon.
“I think I’d just dreamed a memory of the ancient man,” the young woman whom the voice was speaking to answered with a bitter sigh. “When he touched my hands and read my memory, I think that a link had been established between us. Yesterday night, or was it this morning? Anyway, the last time I fell asleep, I had a peculiar dream, one that could only be described as bizarre.”
The Association President pressed his elbows on the wooden desk, supporting his tired head up. Day after day, a new problem would arise, forcing the already fatigued man to pile up in wrinkles. And today, it was Aria’s turn to add a line to the elderly man’s forehead.
“Tell me,” the President pressed.
“The last time I fell asleep, I was in another’s body. A body that I would presume to be the ancient man’s. He was lying still by a lake and staring right at the stars. I’d never studied astronomy so I couldn’t tell you reverse-engineer the star map to tell what age he was in like other astrophysicists could, but I’m fairly certain it was a very long time ago.”
“On what basis?”
“That...” Aria shifted her eyes to both sides, falling deep into thought. “Instinct, I guess?”
“Instinct?”
“That’s right… Everything that was around me seemed too… pretty.” Aria added as she recalled the memory of the ancient man. “The lake was far too clean. The trees were towering and of a different hue than the normal ones we have. The grass was filled to the brim with mana, completely unlike modern ones… Everything seemed so ethereal and untouched… It was as if I was on a whole other planet.”
“Ah, that makes sense...” The President nodded. “After the planet shook, primordial magical energies that had been sealed up started to infest the world. No, if I were to be more accurate, it was more like they’ve returned to their rightful place.”
“What do you mean?” Aria asked.
The elderly man turned to his secretary and gave a simple nod. Getting the message, the bespectacled woman moved to the nearby shelf and took down a folder from the upper-left corner. In one movement, the secretary landed the documents right before the Archmagus’ desk.
Sensing Aria’s confusion, the President began to explain: “Over the past week, all of the world’s leading scientists had been gathered to investigate the cause of the current peak in montgen levels. Before, the average montgen reading would be between one and two. But now, the montgen readings could easily reach ten to twenty in undeveloped regions. Mana-rich environments had even been recorded to reach the thousands. As for the Dungeons…”
“... These numbers… are they real?” Aria flipped through the folder and was stunned at what she saw. “A million montgen… Are you certain that the mosimeters aren’t broken?”
“I would love to tell you otherwise,” the Association President let out a sombre sigh. “However, that is the truth, and the world’s leading researchers had been working overtime to find out the link between the S-Class Dungeon we conquered and the outburst of mana the planet is facing.”
“Had been… So have they found a solution?” As perceptive as ever, Aria pinpointed the President’s choice of words.
“Yes, they did...” The President urged Aria to flip the file, stopping her only when she’d reached the last page. “What they concluded was… The world that we once lived in, the world before we conquered the S-Class Dungeon. Was in a sealed state.”
“Sealed state?! You mean...”
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“Right, we’ve been living in a weaker version of what the world was meant to be like,” the President sighed, his voice was still holding a slightest bit of disbelief. “Everything that we thought we knew about the planet has to be fundamentally changed. Instead of saying that the montgen levels had risen, it’s more accurate to say that it had returned to its original state. Blessings, the new field in all of our status plates… It should have been there all along. The animals that we are so accustomed to… They were devolved from magic beasts due to the lack of mana concentration in the air.”
“T-That’s… absurd...” Being the researcher that she was, Aria was fully aware of what ramifications these findings would bring. It was akin to the discovery of gravity and the leap to quantum mechanics. Like the President had so eloquently put it… Everyone’s understanding of the world must be fundamentally changed.
“I know… That’s why your dream of a more mana abundant world isn’t that far-fetched.” The President continued, his attention affixed on Aria’s prior experience. “The ancient man is most certainly linked to the seal that was placed on the world. If your dream was really the ancient man’s memory… We might be able to unravel some gaps in knowledge.” He then turned to Aria with expectant eyes, hoping to pry more information from the Archmagus.
“About that… My dream of that memory lasted for less than an hour… Furthermore, I wasn’t able to control my body like I would in reality. All I could do was watch as the ancient woman interacted with him as if I were watching a video.” Aria shook her head.
The President dropped his shoulders. “No matter, if you’re linked to the ancient man through some mental ability, perhaps you would have more dreams in the future. It wouldn’t be too late to share your experiences then...”
“Y-yeah...” Aria gulped, not all that thrilled that she was going to be an experimental subject. Therefore, the Archmagus found a way to abruptly change the topic. “So, what about the ancient man? Has he done anything as of late?”
“No, nothing...” The elderly man sighed. “After you left, he returned to his unresponsive state. We solicited the help of psychology professors and master negotiators, but nothing worked. Only when we mention your name, would we get some sort of response.”
“That again?” Aria felt herself getting a throbbing headache. “If only I didn’t open that fucking door...”
“There’s no use crying over spilt milk,” the President sighed as he tapped on Aria’s shoulder. “I know that you don’t like meeting or talking to the ancient man, but we do need your assistance. We’ve been hiding his existence from the World Congress for a few weeks now, and we believe that we can hide him for a month more. However, it’s only a matter of time until the rest of the countries catch on. By that time, we will lose all control over the ancient man and thus, any chance of improving Yudonia’s influence.”
The President’s eyes turned hollow as his face seemingly aged a hundred years. Yudonia was just a small human country in the myriad of nations of the planet. Yes, Yudonia has close ties to the Elven superpower at their borders and their racial attributes placed them as allies to all human countries. However, they were nothing against the combined might of the other races from the Greater Humanoid Species.
The Dwarves of Gondor alone were capable of forcing Yudonia to give up custody of the ancient man and if the Empire of Giants got involved… The Alliance President didn’t even want to fathom that scenario. Fortunately, it seems like the ancient man has taken a liking to Aria, albeit in a miscreant manner. Yudonia had just lost all of its spoils from the S-Class Dungeon to the World Congress. All of the Dragon corpses were scraped clean. The ownership of the land had been relegated to the combined governments of Elfheim and Gondor. Almost nothing was left for Yudonia to profit from, even after they’d lost half of all their rankers.
Therefore, there was no way that the government would simply hand the ancient man over without gaining some sort of advantage.
“I know that...” Aria heaved in a deep breath. Due to her thirty-hour hibernation, the maiden wasn’t as ticked off as she was before. Her haggard complexion was slowly becoming tighter and more vibrant, and her poor posture was showing signs of recovery. Aria wasn’t going into the subsequent meeting with an incensed mindset. Instead, she had put on her researcher hat on and was ready to examine the specimen that laid before her.
“Lead the way,” Aria said resolutely.
“Thank you, Aria...” Already prepared for the move, the President brought the Archmagus through the many familiar doors. The corridor was as glum as it was on the first day, with barely any wind passing through. The air was filtered regularly, but Aria could still feel the staleness in the atmosphere. This gloomy place wasn’t one for humans to live in, that’s for sure. And well, since the ancient man wasn’t technically a human… It seemed quite fitting.
Clank… Crrreaaakk… Clannkk…
The locks on the doors were unravelling slowly as Aria finally made her way into the final chambers in this over-glorified cell. Just like before, the room was padded to the brim with various cushions, preventing any sound from entering or escaping. Though Aria wasn’t an architect or engineer of any kind, she could feel the weight of the reinforced walls just from entering the room. There was an invisible pressure, one that couldn’t be countered with just pure brute force or an abundance of magical energy. If it were Aria that was sealed inside of this room, there was no feasible way that she could possibly escape.
And the same went for the sole inmate that was awaiting her arrival.
The first thing that Aria saw when she entered the chambers were the resplendent pupils, akin to that of two stars sparkling in divine luminosity. At that moment, the Archmagus felt like she was instantly transported back into her dream, and was gazing into the eyes of the ethereal woman by the lake.
‘Their eyes… They’re so similar...’ Aria observed. ‘They must be the same race...’
Not much was known about the ancient man’s race. He shared no DNA with the Greater Humanoid Species and yet, he looked as human as the next guy. So did the woman in Aria’s dreams. Although she was breathtakingly gorgeous, calling her inhuman would be a stretch. And now that Aria was able to observe the ancient man with a clear mind, she was able to connect the dots between the two. However, there was still information to be pried out from the ancient man.
The man’s lifeless state blossomed into a knowing smile. His golden eyes turned warm, and his teeth were glistening like fresh pearls from the sea. With the happiest face he could put on, the man said: “Welcome back, Aria!!!”
“Aurum...”