Breaking the Seal

Jialan stood inside the dim little cabin, where candlelight cast wavering shadows across the walls and the air was thick with the scent of old parchment and herbs.

Having just returned to the camp after completing his patrol, he had slipped into his cabin to study and decipher the relic scroll.

The moment his fingertips touched the scroll's surface, a faint magical pulse traveled up through them. The intricate runes gleamed strangely in the candlelight, as though elves who had slept for a thousand years were whispering to him.

Jialan held his breath and carefully dipped a quill into specially prepared revealing ink, beginning to record his findings in the notebook beside him.

"This rune means 'moonlight'... and this one is a variation of 'doorway'..." he muttered, occasionally consulting the heavy volume of Ancient Elvish Linguistics at hand.

As his interpretation deepened, the runes on the scroll gradually linked together into obscure sentences. Suddenly, a rune near the edge began to flicker with a faint blue light. Jialan narrowed his eyes slightly. It was a sign that the magical seal had been triggered.

He immediately set down the quill and formed hand seals at rapid speed. The incantation for Elemental Shield flowed from his lips, and a pale blue film of light appeared around him.

Almost at the same time, the runes on the scroll began to writhe like living creatures, crawling across the parchment's surface and rearranging themselves. Jialan closed his eyes and began chanting an ancient, obscure dispelling incantation.

As the chant continued, the light from the scroll grew brighter and brighter. The runes broke free from the parchment and spun through the air, outlining a three-dimensional magic circle.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Jialan's forehead. He could feel his own magic colliding fiercely with the ancient power within the scroll.

Suddenly, all the flying runes froze at once, forming a complete incantation in midair. Jialan's eyes snapped open, pale violet magical radiance reflected in his pupils.

"The Opening Incantation!" he cried softly, unable to conceal his excitement. This long-lost spell was the key to the core of the Ancient Elven Ruins.

But at that moment, the scroll suddenly let out a faint cracking sound, and the runes suspended in the air began to dim at a visible rate.

Jialan's heart tightened. He snatched up the quill and copied them down frantically. Under his gaze, the parchment gradually faded, the precious runes vanishing one after another like memories erased by time.

When the final rune dispersed, the scroll that had once brimmed with magic had become an ordinary sheet of old parchment.

"Its magic has been exhausted..." he sighed softly, carefully folding the copied incantation and putting it away.

By morning, the weather seemed even colder. The wind hung frozen in the air. Cracks in the tree trunks were filled with ice and snow, like wrinkles on an old man's face dusted with frost.

A jay fluttered over his head, its blue-gray feathers especially striking against the snow. It landed atop the tallest pine, tilting its head as it surveyed the silver-clad world.

Jialan pulled his black cloak tighter and slowly made his way back from the place where he often practiced magic. He could see his breath condensing into white mist. As a novice Ice Mage, such bitter cold should have felt comfortable, yet cold sweat was running down his back.

He deliberately slowed his pace, the crunch of his boots on the snow exceptionally clear. He could feel it—the assassin was nearby.

A few days earlier, he had discovered that the magical traps around his cabin had been touched. Since then, he had kept Mental Revelation active. The intermediate assassin's stealth skills were indeed superb; even on snow, he could move almost without a sound.

Suddenly, a blast of cold wind swept past, and Jialan's pupils contracted sharply. He rolled to the left almost on instinct. A cold flash skimmed past his shoulder, cutting a tear in his cloak. Frigid air rushed in at once, making him shudder.

"Not bad reflexes," a hoarse voice came from the darkness. "Too bad you're still too slow."

Jialan sprang to his feet. A thin Elemental Shield appeared around him. As he murmured a few words, an ice spike formed in his seal-bearing right hand. He could feel magic circulating through his body, but he deliberately kept it from fully erupting.

The second strike came even faster, this time from his right. Jialan barely dodged it.

"Is that all you can do?" the assassin taunted. "Looks like spellcasters aren't much after all."

Jialan did not answer. He mentally launched the ice spike at the assassin, then ran across the snow without looking back, stumbling toward the camp with ragged breaths.

He could feel the assassin toying with him like a cat with a mouse, but that was exactly what he wanted.

Another cold flash streaked through the air. This time, Jialan failed to evade it completely. The dagger sliced open his left arm, and blood immediately soaked his sleeve red. He cried out in pain and dropped to his knees in the snow.

"The game should be over," the assassin said as his figure finally emerged. He wore black leather armor and a silver mask that revealed only a pair of icy eyes.

Jialan raised his head, but a smile curled across his lips. "Not necessarily."

The instant the assassin raised his dagger, a silver gleam shot out from the woods. It was an arrow, its tip glowing with a ghostly blue light.

The assassin reacted swiftly, twisting aside to evade it, but the second and third arrows followed immediately after.

"An ambush?" the assassin sneered. "With just that archer?"

Jialan slowly rose to his feet and pressed a hand against his injured arm. "No. He's only here to make sure you don't escape."