Secrets

Aizen slowly opened his eyes, his vision a little blurry, His body was sore.

"Ahh! My head hurts!" It was the second time he had gone through this, this time the feeling was worse than before.

'It feels like a repeat.'

Aizen looked at the bed he was on and saw Elizabeth sleeping next to him. She was sitting on a chair while her head was under his body.

'That…' He was a little confused by this situation.

Elizabeth slowly opened her eyes as she felt a movement in the bed. When she saw that Aizen had woken up, her eyes filled with tears.

"Baka…" Tears were streaming down her face. Her voice was low enough to hear her sadness. She ran her hand over her face, trying to wipe away the tears that wouldn't stop falling.

Aizen just looked at Elizabeth, apparently confused by the whole situation. He actually understood what was happening, but this feeling was something new for him. Was someone crying for him? Was anyone worried about him? The only time he felt anything similar to this was when he met Moris, who he regarded as his grandfather.

Aizen reached his hand towards Elizabeth's face, wiping her tears. Without realizing it, a tear also fell from his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I worried you, didn't I?" He said, with a weak smile.

"...You said you'd be back fine- you..." Elizabeth hugged Aizen as grumbled. She was shaken to see Aizen's bloodied body on his bedroom floor. She did her best to heal her wounds and called in many doctors. Even the Duke came to Kiron City upon receiving the news that something had happened to Aizen.

"I-" Aizen fell silent when he saw that Elizabeth had slept in his arms.

*door opening*

"She's tired, hasn't slept in 3 days." The Duke said, after entering the room. "We can talk?"

"All right." Aizen placed Elizabeth on the bed and stood up. Even though her body was sore, he was able to walk normally.

-

Aizen told the Duke what had happened.

"Erased castle…" The Duke muttered.

"Erased castle?" Aizen showed a confused expression.

"That's the name of the castle. There is a legend about a castle that mysteriously appears in the desert of Abrah, some people claimed they saw this castle, but the next moment it mysteriously disappears. This castle became a legend, and many tried to find it."

'So that's why that guy was there.' Aizen thought. "About the matrix..."

"Unbelievable…" The Duke muttered, with a serious expression. "That matrix was probably absorbing energy from Kiron City and elsewhere to generate treasure."

The Duke had also thought that this city was under a curse, but that was not what was happening. Kiron City was actually under a peculiar condition.

"After entering this city, I also had the feeling that mana was leaving my body, but the amount was so small that it was difficult to notice." The Duke said.

Aizen agreed, after all, he had also felt something similar. The absorption of energy even affected plants, which made farming difficult.

"What are Cultivators?" Aizen asked. He was curious about these people.

*Sigh!*

The Duke sighed at the thought of the Cultivators.

"They are a group of people who practice martial arts and mystical arts. They are also great alchemists and spend most of their time looking for treasures to increase their powers." The Duke gave a brief explanation about the Cultivators.

"Do you know Shun White or the White Dragon Sect?" Aizen was curious about that young man.

"Shun White? He is the son of the leader of the White Dragon Sect, one of the most powerful sects in the Salia Kingdom. Many people consider him one of the most talented young men of this generation, at just 23 years old he is already considered one of the most strengths of the White Dragon Sect."

"I see…" Aizen knew this young man was special the moment he first saw him. Shun had something that caught Aizen's attention, his soul. Shun's soul gave off a glow that Aizen had only seen in Elizabeth's soul.

The Lich had said that Elizabeth's soul was special, Aizen confirmed this when he acquired the ring. Elizabeth's soul glowed yellow and blue, while normal people have colorless souls.. Aizen didn't know why Elizabeth had a different soul than normal people.

He only met 3 people who had "special" souls, Elizabeth, Alura, and Shun.

Alura had a soul similar to Elizabeth's, but with a fainter glow. Shun's soul glowed as bright as Elizabeth's, but his color was white and red.

'What will be the reason for this?' Aizen couldn't see his soul, so this situation made him a little curious.

"The sects are not under the Realm's jurisdiction, so they are independent powers. If you want to know more about the Cultivators, I can deliver some books to you." The Duke said.

"I thank."

-

When Elizabeth woke up, she immediately went to talk to Aizen. When she entered his room, she saw him reading some papers.

"H-Hey…" Elizabeth called after him with an embarrassed expression.

"Glad you woke up." Aizen said.

"Forgive me… I showed a shameful view of myself to you." Elizabeth didn't want him to think she was a fragile girl or something.

"Alright, don't worry about it. Come here, I have something to show you."

"Huh…" Elizabeth approached with a curious expression. "What is it?"

"These are papers I found in the erased castle."

"Erased castle?"

Aizen explained everything that happened to Elizabeth.

-

"...Unbelievable... and to think this was all happening."

"These papers are probably in Elfic language, let's try to decipher." Aizen was curious about what was written on those papers.

"Well, Humans have little contact with elves, so it's hard to find textbooks on the elven language." Elizabeth said, with a thoughtful expression.

"Wait here." Elizabeth left the room in search of something that could help them.

-

"Here it is!" Elizabeth entered the room with a thick book in her hands. "This book contains some translated Elfic words, we can use it as a reference."

"Well, let's try."

-

Aizen and Elizabeth spent hours trying to translate the papers, it was difficult as the book didn't have all the elven words translated, so they had to guess some words and form a sentence that made sense. In the end, the result was this:

Paper 1: 200 ax. Aegnor Elkalyn. I hope my descendants can read this.

"Aegnor Elkalyn… that's probably his name." Aizen said.

Paper 1: Our race has been stained by human blood. Why are they so greedy?! Why do they always want something that isn't theirs?! I hate them all!

"This man… seems to have a lot of hate for humans." Elizabeth commented.

"This probably written during or after the war." Aizen said. In Arcane Universe, in world 1, the current date is 250 ax. That paper was written 50 years ago.

Paper 2: 201 ax. The Queen stopped us from continuing the war, at the request of the Apostles of Light. Who do they think they are? We have served the Goddess of Light for millennia, are Humans more important than us?!

Paper 3: I tried to challenge the Queen's decision, but my views were not heard. The Apostles said that a great calamity will befall this world if the human race disappears.

"Calamity?" Aizen was confused.

"I don't know anything about it either."

Paper 4: 203 ax. I have decided to leave the Kingdom, I will delve into my own research.

Paper 5: Abrah Desert, a good place to continue my research. I will use the human cities as a guinea pig.

"So this guy was responsible for all of this." Elizabeth said, with a grave expression.

"Well, let's move on."

Paper 6: 204 ax. The research was working, but why did this have to happen?! I-I feel like there's something inside the castle, something I don't know about. That feeling… frightens me.

"What the hell is happening?" Elizabeth was confused as she read the sentences.

Paper 7: I can't see it, I can't touch it, but I can feel it. I feel like I'm not welcome here-

…

Aizen and Elizabeth were confused by the ending. The papers end up with a sentence without context, leaving them confused.

"He seems to have gone mad." Aizen said.

"Even so, we got some information." Now, Elizabeth knew who was the big troublemaker, who created the erased castle and why humanity was spared in war.

'Great calamity?'

"Well, can we- what is it?" Aizen was confused to see Elizabeth's expression.

"Aizen… your hand." Elizabeth watched the crimson crystal that suddenly appeared in Aizen's hand.

"Wha- Ahhh!" Aizen felt a sharp pain run through his entire body. The sudden pain made him fall out of his chair.

"Aizen!!!"