After Zivko left Adelard and his men that marched south, he went by himself to the Forsaken Land, expecting his death to arrive.
He was standing by himself, observing the area. The sky bled crimson, casting sickly light over the withered land.
Zivko managed to survive, despite his arm being broken. He hunted animals and slept in the middle of the wilderness during a dangerous war.
There was not even a single soul here. No person has dared stepping up to this point.
Zivko didn't care. He walked forward, his eyes full of guilt and pain. He was just using this as a last resort.
As he walked over the mysterious dirty yellow colored grass, he saw a large gate that was dug into a hill.
Going up to it, he noticed the dust that was on the door. Slowly, he wiped it off.
He put both hands on the metal gate that was meters higher than him. His hand trembled as he tried to force open the door.
His left arm which was smashed sent shockwaves of pain, making Zivko grit his teeth painfully through the pain.
Rubble fell from atop, proving the gate was not touched by anyone in a long time.
Unfortunately for him, the door didn't even budge. He took his hands off it, then gazed at it.
"Ugh!" He angrily grunted, punching it with his fist.
He was… too weak.
Eventually, he turned around and continued to walk forward, a slight feeling of hope to find one he could open.
If he does, he could at least die the way he wished he did.
He kept walking down a path that was carved in between the yellow grass. His thoughts were all over the place.
It was practically suicide what he was doing.
The crimson sky and the yellow grass both weirded him out despite everything, and the weird atmosphere this place had.
The mana waves radiating, the loud silence and the absence of a single soul. For these reasons, he thought it would be the perfect place for his life to end.
Minutes passed by as he walked by himself along the long carved road that seemed to never end.
He came across another thing that could be described as nothing more than creepy. A graveyard, but there were no bodies buried in any hole. It looked like somebody had dug them out.
A stone tablet was placed at the front of the graveyard. It read something Zivko couldn't understand, despite being the same alphabet.
"Die Welt ist tot, ich liebe die Welt."
'Cirolean… What is it doing here?' he thought.
Zivko raised a brow, confused, but he chose to continue. Ignoring the vibe of the graveyard with dug out burials that had no bodies or even bones inside, he walked back on the carved path.
There was another building seen between the trees and away from the pathway, Zivko looked at it, a bit curious.
It seemed like a church, ones he would always see back in Elanor.
They were all reduced to ashes, however. The cruel soldiers had no mercy whether it was with the people or the buildings of Elanor.
As soon as Zivko recalled the painful memory of his hometown burning, the dead corpses of his siblings and mother, his eyes widened showing a clear emotion of frustration.
He panicked. His breath grew heavy, "I'm sorry mom… I'm sorry."
Zivko fell down on his knees, his palms over his face.
***
After regaining his composure, realizing panicking at this moment would not help, Zivko found another entrance dug inside a different hill, it was hidden but not that hard to spot.
It was wide open, no gate sealing it. Eyes full of guilt, he marched forward into the dungeon.
He headed down the stairs then ended up in a square room, made out of stone. Using a Spell, he visualized a small ball of fire to light up the room.
In front of his eyes sat down another stone tablet that read something similar to the other one.
"Die Welt lebt, ich hasse die Welt."
A cold wind suddenly bit at Zivko, who was reading the stone tablet. He turned backwards, checking the entrance only to notice it was nowhere to be seen.
He was now by himself in the dungeon, closed off from the world.
There were no doors that led anywhere, he was stuck inside of here with no means of continuing or returning.
However, there was a weird feeling. He felt as if the room itself was levitating in a large space.
It was a weird feeling, but Zivko accepted this. He sat down next to the wall, then patiently started waiting for his body to give out, deprived from eating and later, the air was gonna run out, which meant he was going to pass in no time.
His eyes half shut, suddenly, an ethereal voice whispered into Zivko's ears. Not from around him, but within him.
"You believe this is the end. It is not."
Zivko's eyes widened. He tried to move, but his body didn't respond.
Another voice followed, a second layer to the first, deeper and colder, echoing inside Zivko's head.
"You have wandered into a place forsaken by mortals… by every soul. Not by me."
Zivko's eyes burned for a moment, forcing him to shut them while the rest of his body was still unable to move.
He opened them, agonizingly slow. In the middle of the room which had nothing but emptiness before, a tall figure stood.
A man with dark-green hair, emotionless jet black eyes that radiated eeriness and robes that seemed woven from shadow and logic itself. He simply looked at Zivko, unblinking.
"I offer you something more than life. A purpose."
Zivko trembled by the weight of his words, "... Who are you?"
The man smiled, a smile that bounded time.
"I am he who bestows knowledge. I am one that asks the questions to destroy you… to rebuild the truth."
The words the man uttered sent shockwaves inside Zivko's entire body.