With that, they left—now five Unlocked, back to chasing the river. Orm stayed at the village. He had too many obligations there. As the only doctor, leaving with them would've condemned everyone to die.
The cave stretched vast and unending, showing no sign of narrowing. Kellta hadn't explored it all—there was still at least a three-day walk before they'd reach uncharted territories. Until then, they could follow the safer path she had mapped out.
"I'm glad you decided to help us," Elion said, walking beside Lumos.
"It's the least I could do," he replied politely.
"If I may ask, what were you doing here, in this uncharted branch?" the young cook asked.
The sorcerer looked at him, trying to decide how much to reveal.
"I was in search of a higher sorcery," he said. "At some point, I got lost and ended up here."
He got lost. Right…
"I was quite lucky to survive, actually. The well was incredibly deep—I should've died from the fall—but I managed to consume my runes to slow myself down. And there was that foreign voice that kept throwing me carcasses, so I never went too long without food."
His face twisted, reliving bad memories.
"The taste was horrible, though—really horrible. You don't know what it does to a man, eating raw meat for ten years. If I hadn't been Unlocked, I'd have died of food poisoning long ago."
Seen that way… yeah, he had it rough.
"How did you get water though?" Elion asked. There was no rain in the cavern, and he doubted the sorcerer survived on just the blood from the carcasses.
"Easy." He extended his hand forward, and an intricate pattern of runes began to glow in a deep blue across his wrist.
A sphere of water formed above his palm, stabilized by another circle of runes etched into his hand.
"This is an enchantment I devised myself. I'm quite proud of it—even though it's one of my earlier works."
Elion looked at it, amazed. He wasn't well-versed in enchantments, but he recognized remarkable design when he saw it.
"It works by pulling moisture from the air and condensing it into a single point," Lumos continued. "It's light enough that I can power it with my own soul, so no need to recharge it."
"Are such enchantments common at the First River?" Elion asked, now intrigued.
The sorcerer sighed.
"No… they say my sorcery is, quote, 'unethical and dangerous.'" He snickered. "They just don't know how to recognize a genius."
"That's also why I descended here. I was gifted a vision by the Overseer, telling me I'd find what I needed in the Depths."
The Overseer…
This was the heart of the First River, where lost knowledge was hidden. Around the sacred pagoda, the Og family built the Flowing City. They inherited affinities with Memory and Time. Still, to have met the Overseer… Lumos must have been someone incredibly important.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" Elion asked.
Lumos shrugged.
"I'm not sure… I made some discoveries, though they weren't as significant as I hoped." He glanced at Kellta, who walked ahead of the group, leading them through the forest.
She had returned Elion's jacket, though she still wore the scorched mask for some unknown reason.
"I have a feeling she'll help me reach a higher sorcery."
Higher sorcery was a hypothetical concept among sorcerers—an ideal, something each practitioner strove toward. Elion had only read fragments about it in old history books. One figure was particularly associated with the term: Rock Og, a powerful sorcerer of the First River, had lived near the beginning of the current Fourth Age.
He was credited with inventing the enchantments now commonly used in high-end weapons and armor for the Unlocked.
"She might. The Pale Witch's work still holds many secrets, but at least now we have a lead."
Lumos chuckled.
"Yeah, I still can't believe all she managed to gather during her explorations."
Elion had shared what Kellta had told him with the sorcerer. Truth be told, he enjoyed his company. It was nice to have someone to nerd out with over every little ruin. Though he kept his own secrets close, giving vague answers to more important questions.
After a day's walk, they arrived near the skull. The fire-wielding imp had warned them of the dangers in the ivory caverns—they were to stay far away if they wanted to survive.
Still, it was an awe-inspiring sight. The enormous skull of a terrifying beast had two towering canines and three eye sockets. A forest had taken root on its crown, running all the way down its snout. Thin black roots stretched downward, and dark leaves covered its surface.
The creature that left these remains behind was truly unfathomable. By the Voice of God's standards, it would rank around Class VII—perhaps even Class VIII.
Its very presence was an enigma. The cavern was vast, yes, but not enough to house something this large. Space could act strangely under the influence of Entropy—but to bring such a massive skeleton here, it had to be the work of a god. Most likely the Earth God.
Now, the group was seated around a campfire, between the river and the skull.
"How do your translation runes work exactly?" Lumos asked Kellta, as Elion grilled some food over the fire.
His standard-issue sword now served primarily for cooking.
"I don't… there isn't much information about it…" She opened the book of runes, tracing lines of symbols with her finger.
"This line says something about capturing a thought. This next one is a kind of transfer…" She shook her head. "The rest is still unknown to me."
The sorcerer stroked his chin. He had shaved recently with the edge of a stolen sword. His black hair was often tied back. He was actually quite handsome now that he no longer looked like a homeless man living in the toxic dumps of Goreth.
"But it still uses the voice…" he murmured.
He turned to Farha. The mute girl raised an eyebrow, wary of his intense focus. She probably trusted him the least. She had known Eshrod and Elion since S33. Kellta had saved her life. But Lumos?
He was new, and frankly a bit odd and secretive.
Though she couldn't exactly judge—she was likely hiding more than any of them.
The sorcerer raised his hand. Black ink dripped from his index finger as he copied the rune onto a piece of bark using his ability.
Even without being told, Elion could guess how his power worked.
It was as if he turned his soul into ink, binding whatever he wrote more deeply to the fabric of the world. Ordinary writing was too mundane, too disconnected. But enchantment runes and ancient script—those held power.
When he fought the King's Envoy, he hadn't been trying to corrode him with ink—he had been trying to write offensive runes onto Jack's armor to break it down. But the armor seemed to possess protection against such effects, so the attempt failed.
When he finished drawing the golden rune on the bark, carefully perfecting each detail, it began to glow—not gold, but a bluish hue.
"Truly magnificent!" he exclaimed. "These runes—their structure, they're so much purer. The cost to the soul is far lower."
"How does your sorcery work?" Kellta asked, tilting her head.
"Well, they're basically transmitters—communicating a will to the world. If the recipient pays the price, usually a portion of their soul, they get what they asked for." He paused, staring at the glowing bark.
"But your sorcery… it seems to speak in a much simpler yet more effective language. What it loses in raw power, it gains in ease and efficiency."
Elion pulled the food from the flames. It was ready.
This time, he mourned the lack of spices—his bag had been lost—but it was still better than ration bars.
Afterward, Kellta agreed to teach Elion how to read the language runes used by the Dwellers of the Depths. He had lost the book he found in the ruined temple, but that didn't matter anymore. Now he had a teacher, and that would speed up the process considerably.
Lumos listened too—more interested in the enchantment runes—but it was valuable information all the same.
Eshrod was talking to Farha, the mute girl half-listening while poking at the fire with a stick. They clearly weren't as interested in the nerdy discussion happening nearby.
And so, the three days of walking through known territory passed. They fought a Class II beast along the way. Elion dried the meat over a fire for preservation, while Lumos worked on a small amulet.
He had fashioned it from a piece of wood and strung it with a leather cord. He was testing different rune combinations—a blend of the Pale Witch's work and his own. He never told anyone what it was… not that anyone asked.