I Hate Being The Protagonist

Julie inspects a scarab made of gold, throwing it up and down. "You always downplay anything important. It seems like nothing interests you Adam."

Julie's comment was met with a simple "Meh". She's right for pointing that out, but I couldn't care less about the myths of this world. The only things that matter to me are the ones that can be proven.

As I survey my surroundings my eyes lay on a specific scroll, levitating in its glass containment. I approach the intricate artifact, trying to touch the glass container. As I put my other hand on it, the golden hinges holding the glass pop, releasing the half-circular structure. I open it, putting the glass aside.

I wanted to take the scroll and read it, but my hand never reached it. It seemed to have a magical barrier preventing me from touching the scroll.

"Having problems?" Julie asks, noticing my struggle.

"It seems like a spell outside of my capabilities," I shrug, giving up on the magic artifact.

"A magic that the prodigy child Adam can't dispell? Does such a mighty artifact exist?" Julie teases.

"Poke fun at me all you want, but these items are collected from all around the world, being crafted by godlike beings of great power."

"Now you give credit to what's due..." Julie winks and walks towards the scroll herself.

"What troubles you so much?"

She squints her eyes, after confirming herself that the old tube of paper can't be easily picked up.

"Siddhartha's pudding recipe... Truly a treasure that was made to escape your grasp," Julie jokes, poking fun at my sweet tooth.

I have always loved cakes, puddings, chocolates and such, but my mother kept me in check. If I didn't have an authoritative person like her or my teachers, I would've gotten fat already.

I continue to walk through the treasury, grabbing every weapon and artifact I could find. This was like a dream come true, since this was like a kid getting to play with any toy from the store.

My greedy little hands smacked the dust from every armour and piece of equipment, enjoying the colorful display that was locked away for centuries.

"What is this? The tale of the New World?"

Julie kept reading the titles of the books kept in here, which all had historical meanings. Some books which never made it to the library are kept here, far from prying eyes.

There was a vial containing a purple liquid here titled "philosopher's drink". There was a small R indicating that this was a replica. I wasn't about to gulp down a random liquid I found in a hidden treasury, but I grabbed it and shook it.

"Would you like your drink shaken or stirred?" I ask Julie, pretending to be a bartender.

"No way in Hell I'm drinking that."

I put the liquid neatly in its place, like I've done with everything till now.

I reach another glass container, in which a small flame burns.

"The flames of the Emperor," I read the small letters engraved beneath it.

I wonder what that is. I slowly open the glass lid, this time not reaching with my hand.

I take a replica of the "Indestructible Shield", scorching it inside the small flame. The shield melts away, and I pull it back wide-eyed.

"So much for not destroying anything here..." Julie comments.

I put it behind a weapon chest, whistling like I didn't just destroy an ancient replica that can cost up to an entire mansion. Whoever named the shield should be sued.

"Let's close that up," I say while putting the lid back on.

We decide to stop and sit down on a comfortable sofa. Julie pulls out a book she was interested in. "Kleopatra's diary."

"Where did you find that!?" I ask, taking the book forcibly.

Julie lets it go, startled by my grab. "Woah, I'm sorry. It was just lying around at the back of the treasury."

We pretty much looked at everything there is to see in this giant room, so we decided to sit and enjoy this book. Only if I knew what it contained...

"Let me first examine it. If I see it as safe, I'll share it..."

Julie nods, accepting the fact that there might be secrets in there that she can't know about. She could receive a death sentence just by invading the treasury, but if someone catches us, the fault will fall on me.

First page

'This is the collection of my life experiences written in a book. This isn't meant to be read, so if you're not me, I suggest you stay away.'

I could hear my mother's voice in this, but my curiosity got the better of me.

Second page

'Tales of my birth'

The next few pages were about her parents, my grandparents if you will. I never met them, since they died long before I was born.

My mother was born during the era before this one. When she was a child there were no 7 great kingdoms. Those kingdoms were formed centuries ago, and only recently merged into a singular giant kingdom.

11th page

'Tales of the Mighty 7'

I could see that there were no government secrets in here that my mother would hide, so Julie could look. I told her she could peek at the diary, to which her face grew a smile from ear to ear. Her small frame leaned on my shoulder, looking at the book happily.

I smiled, knowing she would enjoy this. The next tales were about the Mighty 7, the former kings and queens of the great kingdoms. It was from the perspective of my mother, which was interesting to see.

She never talked about things she liked, so I couldn't read her emotions all that well. In these stories, she described everything with soothing emotions. It was a pleasant experience, seeing my mother write like this. She seemed to adore the Mighty 7, writing in excruciating detail about them.

Having a crush on their Captain, she described him like a knight on a white horse. I skipped those parts, as I was disgusted by the idea of my mother having a crush.

She was also good friends with Arael, now known as the Dragon Queen that leads a third kingdom. She talked about the Dragon queen as a bratty child that also had a crush on one of the Mighty 7. The Dragon Queen had a brother, which was also a part of their friend group. She mentioned many names here which I didn't recognize, but I could connect the dots.

Once I was fed up with the Mighty 7, I skipped a few pages, arriving on the part where she talks about making her own kingdom. The tales of forming a society, making deals with the Heavens and getting help from her Royal friends.

"This part is interesting..." I comment, seeing the steps she took to rise as a capable queen.

"This is a bit too much for me..." Julie comments, getting lost in the complexity of Kleopatra's writing.

After I read through the whole thing, I decided to put the book back where it was. Julie agreed, walking me towards the back of the treasury.

I noticed something on the floor. It was a box, about four inches wide, with small swords embedded inside. It looked like a puzzle, which piqued my interest.

This was the last item I would examine before getting out of the treasury and making my mentor promise not to tell my mother. Siski was a man with reason, so I could definitely convince him to keep his mouth shut.

Soon, I would regret ever touching this box.

I sat on the sofa, pulling the swords in different angles to dislodge them. Julie was patiently observing by my side, not wanting to bother me with solving this.

"I think your mother is done with the meeting," Julie notices, looking into a clock not too far away.

"I'm almost done!" I exclaim, my tongue sticking out as I fiddle with the puzzle.

The last sword comes out and falls to the floor, echoing the sound of metal hitting the ground.

"I did it!!"

Julie applauds and we wait for a moment. The dark box expands, opening itself in a weird manner.

Suddenly, the air thickens, the brightly illuminated treasury is plunged into darkness, and only 4 small lights appear in the darkness. I couldn't feel anything from it, but it didn't discourage me. There were many items in this treasury that didn't exhibit mana, so this wasn't a weird phenomenon. I tried seeing what the only remaining light in the treasury was, squinting my eyes.

The four small white lights were eyes, ones that gleamed an otherworldly luminescence. They sat across the room, about 60 feet from us. I couldn't feel or see what it was, so I grabbed the nearest weapon, a red crystal dagger. I coursed mana through the dagger, pointing towards the entity.

"Let there be light," I commanded, shining a beam of light towards the entity.

The light fell short, not reaching the unmoving being.

"What are you!?" I ask loudly, a bit afraid now, seeing that my spell was ineffective.

I still can't identify what it is, so I can only call out in a menacing tone, which any predator could sense had a tinge of fear inside.

It just kept on looking, staring right into my soul. It moved through the treasury, not making a single noise. It was like the thing wasn't even there. This sent shivers down my spine as dread took over my body.

If I sprint at the door of the treasury, I could get there in less than 2 seconds. However, this being gave me the feeling that it could do it in less than a second...

The 2 sets of eyes curved a bit, like the thing was smiling. As it moved, I could just barely guess its shape. It was huge, that's for sure. It was about 2 and a half meters in height, and with multiple limbs. I couldn't see the limbs, but I could see its snappy movements, indicating joints that moved.

"Silly child... Why bring me here?" it asked, with a raspy and soft, yet undeniably evil voice. The calmness and fake warmth sent chills down my legs, which gave in-sending me tumbling to the floor.