The statues, tall and humongous in size, stood like guardians protecting ancient treasures and knowledge.

  Asher's heart pounded inside his chest when he reached closer to the gates.

  'Will there be people behind it?'

  Ba... thump!

  He was about to find out soon.

  Though Asher didn't expect anything. Really. From the marble tower, he has already learned his lesson. The watchtower was made to look at the forest of shadows, but the watchers were nowhere to be seen.

  An ancient civilization... stronger and more advanced than their era could ever be had perished for reasons unknown. Maybe Asher was the only one who has stumbled upon their remains. Or at least was about to.

  This was a big discovery; sadly, he didn't believe any historian will ever be able to reach this place.

  Asher looked at the stone gate, large and imposing as if it were a fortress in and of itself.

  'How will I open it?'

  He was at a loss.

  "Hey, do you know any way to go inside? I don't think I can open this gate or even climb it."

  From inside his hood something came out.

  A small bud of darkness, shivering as it bathed in sunlight and dark mist, left its body.

  The spirit of shadow didn't answer; its inky dark body flew a little higher as two translucent wings appeared on its surface.

  "Wait."

  The spirit shot off, disappearing from view in a blink. Asher lifted a hand to stop it, but he was already too late. All he could do was exhale, steadying himself, and turn his eyes back to the looming gate.

  Asher sat on the statue's foot. Its shadows reached far and wide as he settled peacefully in the shades.

  He stayed silent, lost in thoughts of how the last few weeks have passed. His thoughts ran one after the other, some thinking about who could have won between the cloud and the worm, while the others were about what lay behind these walls.

  Both are tough to answer until he sees them with his own eyes.

  Asher sighed and leaned back, silently cursing his luck.

  "What am I supposed to do here? That thing brought me here, calling this some stupid destiny."

  He muttered with bitterness.

  He doesn't have much to choose from anyways. He was keenly aware of that. Other directions were dreadful enough, and without knowing what danger lay on the road he walked, Asher couldn't dare to take a step forward anymore.

  He already managed to escape calamities and avengers!

  No one had ever seen an awakened achieve such feats.

  However, it was not by his own will and powers but due to his luck, as if something always kept him alive.

  Asher couldn't dwell any longer as a dark spot appeared in the field of his vision after some time passed.

  "Look who is here..."

  Asher muttered with a straight gaze.

  "M-e?"

  The spirit answered, equally tired. Though Asher was sure it just didn't catch on to the sarcastic nature behind his words.

  "Yes... But, anyways, did you find what we were looking for?"

  "Hmm."

  Seeing the spirit nod up and down, Asher stood up on his two feet and gave the small bud an appreciative nod in return.

  "Take me to it then."

  He followed the spirit with a silent gaze as he scanned the surroundings. The walls, tall and unbroken, had few fissures. Cracks that spread like spiderwebs the longer one walked.

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  'Time either heals... or destroy.'

  Asher felt how much damage even the tall walls had taken, maybe from a monster assault or simply just time reducing it to dust.

  "H-ere."

  When Asher stopped, he suppressed the urge to smack his lips together. Ahead, as some of the cracks widen, a small part of the wall has crumbled.

  Asher needs to crawl through it to get inside.

  He stared at the spirit and the spirit stared back at him till it couldn't and ran inside.

  Asher sighed; he really couldn't hide his disappointment over something he had no control over. Suddenly the gates and wall didn't look as grand as before as he crawled inside.

  When he finally stood, the sight around him stole the rest of his breath. The buildings towered higher than anything he had ever witnessed—some gleaming like they were carved from pure glass, others made of materials he couldn’t name, their surfaces faint and blurred by age. The roads stretched wide before him, not cobblestone, not anything familiar, yet still unbroken despite the ages that had passed. And scattered across them were massive objects—strange shapes frozen in place, remnants of a world he didn’t understand.

  "What is all of this?"

  Asher let out a wistful murmur.

  “Don’t—know.”

  Asher didn’t reply to the spirit nor did the absence of people bother him.

  He stared at the barren and abandoned place for long before speaking.

  “Some exploration is needed.”

  Maybe more than just that. But the dread was already creeping up his face.

  ****

  A stone pillar shattered.

  It fell with a thunderous sound. Dust rose in the air, and a loud roar followed.

  Sparks flew as a man with obsidian black hair and silver eyes swung his sword downward.

  The target of his sword, meanwhile, just flicked its tail like a whip with a snapping sound.

  Asher clicked his tongue, shifting his weight to jump back.

  It was an extremely dark chamber, blinding him.

  “Where are you?!”

  Asher yelled.

  The one he was looking for didn’t answer, making his lips twitch.

  “Oh, I hate dark places.” He muttered, almost lowering his head before another snapping sound, as if wind being cut down came his way, pushing him back.

  Xiue!

  “Ugh!”

  Asher let out a groan as he stepped back and looked up.

  The beast slithered across the floor, tracing the sounds he left behind. Like a lizard, it latched onto the ceiling.

  Asher heard the scrape of scales above his head. He rolled sideways just as a serrated tail speared down, cracking the stone where he'd knelt. The impact jarred his bones. As he tasted a mouthful of metallic taste on his tongue.

  His silver eyes strained against the oppressive gloom, catching only fragments: obsidian claws embedding into pillars, the wet gleam of fangs near his neck. He heard its rasping breaths—like sandpaper on stone—and smelled the sour tang of its hide.

  "Shit!"

  Asher cursed as the beast reappeared—far too close even—almost as if it had torn through the air and stepped out of its wound. One moment it was distant, the next its claws were almost on his neck as if space itself bent to bring him closer to death.

  Cling!

  Though he could still follow the reptile beast's movements when it came closer, almost in his field of vision. But it strained his mind as his focus thinned.

  Thump!

  Thump!

  The heavy sound of the stone floor being shattered by the creature's assault. Asher felt the oppressive strikes as he deflected them one after another.

  This thing… It's too energetic! Asher strained a smile, almost amused by the creature crawling on the floor. Though it was heavy to fight in such a cramped place where Asher could not profit from his speed.

  ‘This place is also empty.’

  Asher thought of sending another strike as the creature came closer.

  This city—no, perhaps a stronghold—was impossibly vast. Far too large for anyone to wander through alone. The buildings speared into the sky, some shattered, others crumbled as though struck by stones hurled straight from the heavens. And despite its size, the place was dead. Silent. No movement, no breath of life, nothing at all no matter how long he searched.

  It would be a lie to say he wasn’t disappointed.

  But then—

  Cling!

  The monster froze, its body covered in a dark curtain, darker than the darkness hovering inside the room.

  Asher smiled as he sensed the spirit presence binding the beast, dazing it momentarily.

  That was more than enough for him.

  He blitzes closer to the beast, then slows it down before lunging his sword forward.

  A wet sound pressed on his ears.

  The sword carved deeper into the beast’s flesh, tearing through it like worn cloth before the blood finally spilled.

  The screams dragged on for one final second as the creature thrashed, and then the curtain of shadow tore apart. Asher stared into its eyes—close enough now to take in every twisted detail of its hideous face—and watched the last trace of life fade from them.

  “Huff”

  Asher stood up as the creature died, relief flickering through his face. The room, destroyed from within after the battle, has gone even darker as dust filled the room like thick smoke.

  He smiled and turned to face the spirit before a sharp tip rushed to his face.