It was surprisingly easy for Kain to be granted entry into the relic.
He had thought that they would intentionally infect him with something in order to see if he truly was resistant to whatever was in the relic. However, there were no tests or even any verification about what his contract was.
In fact, as soon as he signed up his name, after some back and forth with someone through the phone, Kain was approved and even given an ancient looking bracelet that supposedly would help prevent infection. A lower grade version of Serena’s enchanted necklace.
Kain suspected that certain members of the faculty had an idea about what he’d contracted. After all, when he was taking up the Black Mission, he had to kill that test mouse using Bea.
From that moment on, Bea was probably on their radar.
Kain followed the others through the wilderness towards the relic. It was located over an hour walk from the campus. As they got closer and closer, Kain could see the gradual decline in vegetation.
About 40 minutes out from the relic, the leaves of plants were mottled with yellow and brown spots. 30 minutes from the relic and most of the vegetation appeared like brown dried husks. 20 minutes from the relic it was a complete wasteland that more closely resembled the desert.
However, with no plants or trees to block the way, Kain was able to see an outline of the relic even from far away.
Although Kain had seen images of the relic online, as he got closer and closer he was struck by its size.
Also he was better able to see many of the details of the relic that weren’t able to be captured by the photos.
The large black box’s surface was a smooth obsidian-like stone and radiated an otherworldly sheen that seemed to shift subtly with the light. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
Hundreds of thousands, or possibly even millions, of intricate sigils were meticulously carved into every side. The sigils glowed faintly, pulsating with a soft, golden light that varied in intensity, creating an almost hypnotic effect.
The air around the box feels charged with energy, and a subtle hum resonates, as though the relic is alive with magic and ancient power.
Kain didn’t see anything resembling a door into the relic so turned to Serena in confusion. However, rather than address him directly, she simply placed both of her hands on the wall of the relic along with the other members of their party.
In the blink of an eye Kain was left alone outside of the relic and quickly stretched his hands out as well so as not to be left behind.
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Kain was transferred to a clearing of a forest that looked like nothing that would be only found on an alien planet.
Towering trees stretched high into the sky, their trunks were a glistening luminescent turquoise, that resembled two thick ropes twisting around eachother as they reached towards the sky. The leaves of many of the trees were deep purples and electric blues, and emitted a gentle glow, creating a celestial atmosphere that bathed the forest floor in an otherworldly light.
Vines hung down from the branches, and were adorned with bioluminescent flowers that pulse softly, like the heartbeat of the forest. The flowers emitted a sweet, intoxicating scent, reminiscent of exotic fruits, mingling with the earthy aroma of damp moss and fertile soil coming from the rest of the forest.
The ground was a collection of vibrant red, green and gold ferns and moss that also emitted a dim glow, softly illuminating the forest floor. Despite their being no source of light like a sun above in the relic, the amount of light being emitted from the vegetation completely negated any need for Kain and the other students to use a flashlight or torch to light the way.
From what Kain could see there weren’t many animals within the forest. However, a nearby body of water had continuous streaks of light flitting beneath its surface, likely due to some glowing fish.
However, rather than the otherworldly appearance of the forest within the relic, Kain was struck by something else—the pull from his affinity.
More specifically, multiple pulls from his affinity all around him. Unlike when outside of the relic where most microorganisms were ordinary creatures with no spiritual power, Kain could sense that pretty much everything within this relic was either composed of or the host of some kind of microorganism, whether that be bacteria, archaea, fungi, viruses or more.
‘Is this where most of the microorganisms with spiritual power are being kept? But why?’
“So where do we go?” Kain said turning to Serena. They came in here to find the core of the relic so that it could be controlled by the college. But as this was Kain’s first time within the relic he was relying on her to lead the way.
“We did not travel very far before some of the students started to fall sick, however we were assuming that the core of the relic was most likely within the center of this forest, as that was the direction that we’d headed.
We are currently on the outskirts of the forest where there isn’t much danger, as we move towards the center the amount of threats drastically increases, so stay on guard.” Serena said, before taking the lead in one direction. Kain followed closely behind her.
Since the priority of this expedition was to find the core as quickly as possible, despite the evident danger present, it was agreed upon before entering the relic that the students would be travelling in smaller groups to scour the forest.
Which is why only a small group of elite students chosen by the faculty was allowed to re-enter equipped with the limited amount of enchanted items that could prevent infection that the school had.
Kain and Serena chose to form a group with only themselves. They of course did want to find the core of the relic, but they had the added task of trying to find the original body of whatever was infecting Bridge and destroying or controlling it.
The whole journey Kain couldn’t help but revel in the intoxicating feeling of so many contractable spiritual creatures. In contrast to his barren options outside of the relic, Kain was confident that he should be able to find a suitable third contract.
While the relic was dangerous to others, but he felt incredibly at home here.
However, as they got closer to the center of the relic, Kain began to understand precisely why these creatures had been locked away and their existence seemingly intentionally scrubbed off the face of the earth.
