Diary

The ghostly blue flames in the tomb chamber had gone out completely. Only the unsteady orange light of the torch in Xia Lin's hand and the ominous dark red glow from Sera's cursed stone remained, casting twisted shadows across the rune-covered walls.

The air was filled with the sharp, clean scent peculiar to holy water purifying evil.

"Finally, some peace and quiet." Xia Lin kicked aside the remains of a ghostly spear scattered on the ground. The thing dissolved into wisps of green smoke.

Holding up his torch, he cautiously approached the enormous black stone sarcophagus.

The torchlight illuminated the ground in front of it. A hapless set of Bones lay there in an extremely twisted position, with a large hole pierced through where its head should have been.

Clearly, some reckless predecessor of theirs had tried to lay hands on the sarcophagus and ended up leaving his life here forever.

"Tsk, tsk. That fellow sure died by the book." Looking at the Bones, Xia Lin muttered to himself, I don't even need [Item Appraisal]. Just looking at this scene tells me there's definitely something nasty under that lid.

Despite his quips, the pale blue [Item Appraisal] window appeared once more.

[??? Stone Sarcophagus (??? Seal)]

[Material: ???]

[Status: ???]

[Effect: ???]

[Evaluation: ??? Strongly advised: Until you figure out what the hell is inside, stay away from it. The farther, the better!]

The string of question marks, like a watchdog's furious barking, clearly conveyed one message: "Don't touch me."

"As they say, having no information is a kind of information." The torchlight flickered in Xia Lin's eyes. "Sera, those eyes of yours that can see through souls—any idea what we're dealing with?"

Sera walked over to the sarcophagus. She extended a gloved fingertip but didn't touch it, instead tracing the air an inch above the lid as she sensed the invisible fluctuations of energy. "The sarcophagus itself is a powerful Magic Artifact. The protective arrays and curses on it are more complicated than any temple guard's armor I've ever seen."

Her voice echoed through the empty chamber. "If we force it open, we'll probably get a 'welcome' a hundred times more enthusiastic than the one we got from those two gatekeeping little ghosts. Such ceremonies usually end with the intruders' souls torn to shreds or their bodies twisted into grotesque works of art."

"That doesn't sound very friendly." Xia Lin shrugged. "So what do we do? We can't leave this treasure trove empty-handed, can we? I'm still counting on finding a few grave goods in this old relic's coffin that'll pay for some drinks."

"Why the rush? Human greed is always written all over your face. You can't hide it for the life of you." Sera's tone returned to its usual mockery, and her purple tail flicked impatiently behind her. "Go see if there's anything else in this tomb chamber worth 'braving danger to recover.' I'll take a look over there."

Xia Lin found her suggestion perfectly reasonable. Holding up his torch, he began carefully searching the chamber, not overlooking a single corner that might be hiding a "surprise."

Sera looked toward one side of the chamber, where several dust-covered bookshelves stood beside a similarly dusty stone desk. It looked like a small study.

Clearly, the owner of this tomb had enjoyed reading in life.

Sera headed straight for the study.

Most of the books on the shelves had rotted away. The slightest touch would turn them to ash, releasing a heavy musty smell.

She brushed the dust from the spines with her fingertips, her gaze roaming over the titles, long since blurred beyond recognition.

Most were dry, tedious academic works: An Initial Study of Elemental Plane Tides, An Examination of Fragments from Astral Plane Travelogues, and several volumes of The Comprehensive Common Geography, thick enough to knock a Halfling dead.

Just as she was losing patience and preparing to end the futile search with a remark about how the books were duller than a Dwarf's foot odor, her gaze caught on an inconspicuous corner at the very bottom of the shelf.

There, among a pile of moldy, foul-smelling scrolls and broken book covers, lay a thick tome bound in leather with a dull sheen.

Unlike the other books, it was in remarkably good condition. The leather cover felt supple to the touch, and she could even catch a faint scent of ink.

Sera pulled out the tome. It felt heavy in her hands. There were no words or pictures on the cover, only a complicated, twisted symbol embroidered in silver thread at its center, like an open eye gazing into the endless void.

She opened the cover. On the title page, a line of small text had been written in an elegant, flowing Common hand: "The Private Diary of Agnos."

"Looks like I've found something interesting." Sera murmured, then began to read.

As the title page suggested, the first half of the diary recorded the early life of a mage named Agnos.

The handwriting was neat, the prose elegant, and the pages brimmed with the youthful vigor and hope for the future typical of a young person.

"...Today, I finally completed my initial interpretation of the ancient runes of 'Stormcliff.' The primordial magic contained within them is enough to make one tremble. I firmly believe that true magic is not simply a matter of manipulating the energy of the Magic Net. It requires understanding the deepest laws of this world..."

"...I traveled to the 'Scorching Desert' in the south and spoke through the night with the sages of the Sandfolk tribes. Their understanding of the stars unexpectedly coincides with some of the 'otherworldly knowledge' I glimpsed in ancient texts. Could it be that the starry sky we see is truly only..."

"...Orlando, this burgeoning city, is full of life and opportunity. I have submitted my initial proposal for building a Mage Tower to the Magic Emperor. I dream of building a lighthouse of knowledge here, one that will draw in every soul eager to explore Arcana and let the radiance of magic illuminate this land..."

At this, Sera paused. A proposal to establish the Orlando Mage Tower? Could this Agnos be one of the legendary founders of the Mage Tower? She continued reading.

The ink grew darker as the diary went on, and the handwriting began to grow sloppy. The elegant, flowing strokes gradually gave way to hurried, slightly frenzied scrawls.

"...'It' is whispering again. Those voices, like tides from beyond the stars, are battering at my sanity. They promise power, promise a 'truth' beyond the mortal world..."

"...No! This is not our world! That azure sky, those brilliant stars—they are all just a false curtain!"

"...The ritual succeeded! I felt it... That endless wisdom, that cold truth! The gods? A bunch of thieves dressed in finery! A pack of despicable usurpers! With the most vicious schemes and the most shameful betrayal, they drove out the true master! They banished Him beyond the cold, forgotten stars!

"They stole the master's authority and divided His creations among themselves. You foolish mortals! You rejoice and pray devoutly, never knowing you've already become livestock, wagging your tails and begging at the feet of false gods! They sing the praises of order, never knowing that this so-called order is nothing but a more sophisticated form of enslavement!"

The diary grew increasingly chaotic and deranged. Strange symbols, twisted like insects and entirely unfamiliar to Sera, began to appear among the Common words.

The writing became a frenzied mess, as though the writer were struggling between extreme exhilaration and terror.

"Master... Master will return at last! His footsteps already echo beyond the Astral Plane! He will return from beyond the stars, from the end of time, and descend upon this place to reclaim all that was His! He will bestow 'truth' upon every soul that opens its eyes!"

Sera's breathing grew a little unsteady. The light in her dark red eyes flickered.

The dark red glow from the stone cast Sera's twisted shadow on the wall. It swelled and shrank as though some entity were lurking within it, watching the diary alongside her.

She turned to the last few pages.

The handwriting there had become completely frenzied, ink splattered everywhere, as if the writer had screamed onto the page with every ounce of strength they had.

Most of the content was impossible to decipher, either because it was too hastily scrawled or because it was mixed with unknown symbols. But one passage about a certain "Great Revival Ritual" stood out, clearly outlined in an almost deranged hand.

"...Use eternal bone as the foundation, vengeful spirits' blood as the catalyst, and seven forbidden materials that reverse life and death... At the threshold between annihilation and revival, call forth the sleeping will..."

The ritual's central steps had been obscured by large swaths of ink or encoded in even more abstruse symbols, making them impossible to interpret.

But the final condition for activating the ritual was marked in bright red ink on the last page, as striking as a curse.

"...When the 'Soul Devouring Flower,' having drunk its fill of deathly energy, blooms once more... If a living hand awakens it from the slumbering soil... Then the great will shall return to this place, and even the rotting Bones shall be reborn..."

"The Soul Devouring Flower... uprooted by a living person..." Sera's pupils contracted sharply. She finally understood that the tomb robbers' corpses she had seen at the passage entrance had probably not died from ordinary traps.

Sera abruptly closed the diary. It felt especially heavy in her hands.