In Pursuit of the Universe

A flicker of unease crept up his spine. His pulse quickened and muscles tensed as his anxiety rose steadily. A caged animal – that's what he was right now. The realization sent a cold shiver down his back.

He exhaled slowly, forcing his heart rate to steady. Panicking would solve nothing. Fear would not free him. Elias closed his eyes for a moment, grounding himself. He inhaled deeply, holding the breath in his chest before slowly releasing it. He clenched his fists before letting his mind settle down and turned his attention to the space around him.

He retraced his steps, gliding his fingers over the stone-cold walls trying to search for any inconsistencies. The entire room was made of stone except for the wooden roof. Yet, something felt off. He picked up a loose shard of metal from the floor and flung it towards the entrance. Instead of clattering into the stairway beyond, the shard stuck an unseen force mid-air and tumbled to the ground. The barrier was invisible but impenetrable.

Elias narrowed his eyes. He knelt, running his hand along the floor. No distortion, no seams. He took a step back and tested a different approach, trying to apply force. He struck the air with his sword – nothing. He tried pressing against it with his shoulder, gritting his teeth against the resistance – still nothing.

He then turned to the walls, scanning for anything unusual. He scanned the walls, searching for any irregularities – gaps, seams, anything that could hint at an exit. Yet, the longer the observed, the more it seemed like an inescapable prison.

He let out a sharp breath. No matter what he tried, brute force wouldn't work. There had to be another way.

Elias clenched his fists in frustration. "There has to be a way out", he muttered.

[ Passages open when their purpose is fulfilled. This one remains closed. ]

"What purpose? This place is just an old, abandoned armory."

But was it? He cast another glance at the relics strewn about. Paying closer attention to the weapons, he noticed that they were surprisingly well-preserved. Though the exterior of the castle made it seem as though centuries or even millennia had passed since its abandonment, the weapons remained in good condition. This made Elias curious and he asked the System, "How are these weapons still in good condition?"

[ It is because of the nature of the Protected Space which does not allow time's grasp to reach them. ]

"So… essentially, time stands still inside a Protected Space?"

[ That is applicable for only this space. As mentioned before, everything inside a Protected Space is dependent on its caster's will. ]

Elias frowned. The will of its caster? His grip tightened around the hilt of his sword. This meant that the one who had created this place had absolute control over its laws – even time itself. The preservation of weapons – was it to prepare for something? Or to ensure that only a specific person would wield them?

A chill ran down his spine. If the space had been designed with such intent, then what else lay hidden within these enormous castle walls?

Elias continued his investigation, methodically running his fingers along the cold stone, testing different sections of the wall. He pressed against one area – solid. Another – unyielding. Frustration simmered beneath his focused exterior as he moved systematically, refusing to leave any inch unchecked. Then, after what felt like an eternity, his hand brushed against something different. The stone here felt thinner, almost hollow beneath his palm. He narrowed his eyes, applying gradual pressure. A faint tremor rippled through the wall, confirming his suspicion – he had found a weak spot.

Gripping his sword tightly, he took a step back and exhaled. With one decisive motion, he channeled his entire energy into the blade. He swung, the strike colliding with the wall in a burst of sparks and impact. Cracks webbed outward before a section of stone gave way, revealing something hidden behind it.

An unbroken hilt protruded from the shadows. Elias reached out, hesitation flickering his mind for just a moment. The instant he made contact, a surge of energy coursed through his arm, and the barrier encasing the space erupted into a brilliant glow. Then, as swiftly as it had appeared, the light dissipated into thin air, leaving only silence in its wake.

[ The space has been opened. You may now leave. ]

Relieved, Elias quickly made his way up the wooden stairway and stepped out of the armoury. The air was thick, carrying the scent of aged wood and something acrider – burnt paper. The dim corridors stretched before him, lined with cracked stone and tattered banners. Somewhere in the distance, he heard a dripping sound. Water? Blood? He wasn't sure.

His footsteps echoed as he moved forward with cautious steps. The castle was silent, but not the kind of silence that brought peace. It was the silence of an abandoned battlefield – of something that had once been alive, now left to rot.

He turned a corner and came upon a massive wooden door. The carvings once etched into it had been clawed away, leaving jagged scars in the wood. It had been sealed – but something, had forced its way through. Elias pushed it open and stepped inside, into the library.

Shelves that should have stood tall now lay collapsed. Scattered books littered the floor, some burned, others torn apart, their pages fluttering at the slightest breath of air. The scent of charred parchment lingered, mingling with something fouler – the unmistakable staleness of death.

A massive desk at the centre bore deep gashes, as though something had been dragged across it in desperation. A chair lay overturned, its leg splintered. Ink had been spilled across the stone floor, long dried into dark streaks.

Elias knelt, sifting through the scattered documents. Most were useless – texts that had been deliberately defaced, their words smudged, lettered carved away as if to hide something sinister. One, however, remained untouched. A single, half-burned letter lay at the base of a fallen bookshelf. He picked it up, brushing away soot. The words were faded, barely legible.

[ The veil has thinned ... the cost remains unknown.

The King believes the divine will…

But to abandon out work now would mean surrender. We are too close. The judgement will… ]

The rest was lost to fire. Beside this was another burnt page whose words were once again, barely legible.

[ The conduit reacts but the … fractures.

… cannot be bound by mortal hands and … resists form, yet the King insists.

We lack … to stabilize the breach. But if that is true… then who are the ones standing against us? ]

Elias' eyes narrowed as he held the parchment in his hands. The words lingered in his mind. Who were they fighting? The way it was phrased, it wasn't hard to guess. The divine.

That explained everything. They had sought to access something they shouldn't have – and were punished for it.

"System," he called out. "Explain."

…Silence

His jaw tightened. No response. No fragmented messages, no cryptic guidance – just empty silence. However, the silence felt deliberate. Perhaps, the System knew. And it was choosing not to tell him.

Elias let the parchment slip from his fingers, his gaze lingering on the scattered records. He didn't need the System to confirm it. The truth was clear:

The divine had struck this place down.

And if that was the case, then he needed to understand what had they uncovered to warrant such absolute ruin – to not only be punished, but erased from existence itself? Elias glanced around the decayed remnants of their ambition, a quiet resolve settling within him.

He needed to find out.