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Chapter 7 - Gravewarden Title Unlocked

One of them took his arm.

The touch was cold. The other murmured a spell in a language he had never heard.

The sounds crashed into each other and turned into a single inner tremor. It was as if the ceiling split. 

A red beam descended from the sky. A momentary taste of metal drifted in the air. Time peeled away from around them.

He swallowed. 

When he opened his eyes again, the world had changed.

The place they stood was high.

Giant corridors woven with stone arches, rising black columns, and chains hanging between them.

The ceiling looked like the sky, but it was not.

 Above was a dark dome veined with faint inner crimson.

The air was charged with electricity, like just before rain. A tomb's silence and a cathedral's grandeur were felt at the same time.

"Welcome to Karn Dross," said one of the hunters.

This was the home of the Dark Council. It was magnificent.

It also had a stifling, dense darkness. In the distance, great doors made sounds as if slamming into each other. 

Shadows moved to the right and left.

Some shadows were hollow, some were whispering.

Lucian stepped forward. The stone floor was cold under his feet. A blend of curiosity and alertness drew a fine tension through his body.

He lifted his head and looked up at the dome. Something drifted there. 

A weak crimson that seeped from black specks sometimes took shape and then dispersed. A faint shiver stirred within him.

The hunters walked ahead. Lucian followed them in silence. Between the columns stood statues like remnants of the past. 

Some faces were blurred, some eyes closed. In the hand of one statue was the symbol of the three-headed serpent. Familiar.

That ominous mark that had appeared on the glass. Now it lived within the stone.

At the end of the corridor a door appeared. Metal plates on the door. The runes looked as if they had been nailed on. One of the hunters extended his hand.

The runes glowed for a brief moment, then the door opened with a heavy inward sigh.

 Inside was a broad hall. Dim light, hidden fires here and there, shadows touching and fleeing the walls. In the center of the hall was a large sign.

A circle, a triangle, interlocking lines. Lucian's eyes calculated automatically. An old ritual array. A high level calling or binding form.

The hunters turned back and gestured to him.

"Your training has begun now. Hand over your staff." Lucian took a step back and said, "You cannot take my staff, every mage's staff serves only its owner."

"You have completed your first training. Now wait for your instructors.

Go to your room and burn your belongings, you will start a life from zero." The hunter whispered his words.

He thought of Lumi from within. The eagle must have already arrived. The Karguls' footprints were probably crawling through the mist.

The quest had reached twenty three percent. He wished it would climb further within a few hours.

He closed his eyes. Not a short prayer. A short setting of a target.

Counting the steps ahead. He reasoned. He would learn. 

He would memorize. He would use it. He would return. He would trace the soul.

He would trust not in the light of the suns but in the silence behind the darkness. Because sometimes the answer appeared where sound ended.

Lucian's instructors had finally called out That cold, echoing voice rippled through the stone corridors, cutting through the morning silence.

"Gather. Main hall."

Lucian drew in a deep breath. The pale light that entered the room flickered across the runes etched into his chest before fading away.

They were protection wards, the last layer of security he had cast for himself.

 

He put on the black cloak they had given him. The fabric was heavy, its texture carrying the residue of ancient enchantments.

Taking his staff in hand, he paused by the door and lifted his gaze. The air smelled of dust, stone, and ash.

Then, with slow steps, he made his way to the main hall.

The hall was vast. Its walls were built of obsidian stone, and dark flames flickered within sigils suspended from the ceiling.

Five figures stood within a massive circle drawn in the center.

Lucian took his place at the end of the line. 

The other four were already standing in silence. Each of them came from a different race and a different past, yet they all shared the same purpose.

Their eyes burned with fury. They were students of the Dark Council.

Lucian stood among them quietly, his composure unbroken.

For a long moment, no one spoke. Only the crackling of the flames filled the air.

Then the instructor stepped forward, his footsteps echoing like heavy drums. He was tall, his face completely veiled in shadow.

When he spoke, his voice struck the stone walls and came back like a deep echo.

"Now tell me," he said. "Why are you here?"

The air grew dense. Each student lifted their head one by one, answering with the same conviction.

"For power!"

The word echoed across the chamber, overlapping with itself until it felt like the hall itself was speaking.

Power! The word that had drawn them all here, the word that gnawed at their souls.

When it was Lucian's turn, all eyes shifted to him. The silence deepened.

Lucian lifted his head, meeting the instructor's gaze.

His voice was calmer than the others, but it carried a weight, a quiet finality.

"To take life, and to give it."

The atmosphere shifted instantly. The instructor hesitated, then lowered his head slightly.

In his eyes, a faint spark appeared, as if he had been waiting for that answer all along.

Lucian remained still, his heart cold.

Those words were a mask, a truth wrapped in deceit. Yes, he would take lives, but not for the reasons they thought.

The instructor turned to the others without a word. Then, from the far end of the hall, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed.

An old man appeared, wrapped in a deep crimson cloak.

On his chest gleamed the serpent insignia of the Dark Council.

The moment he entered, the entire room fell silent. The students bowed their heads in respect.

The man stopped before Lucian. His eyes were deep as if born from darkness itself.

He studied Lucian for a moment, saying nothing.

Then, his voice came.

"You," he said, "will be my apprentice."

Lucian froze for a moment, unsure if he had heard correctly.

The faces of the other students twisted. The Archmage continued.

"You will learn from the best. You will become stronger than anyone else.

I have seen it in the visions of fate.

At the center of the Dark Council's destiny, you stand."

Lucian's heart beat once, hard, then steadied.

He did not let it show on his face. He bowed his head respectfully.

"Of course, Master."

But inside, his thoughts burned with quiet resolve.

Yes, he would stand in the center of that destiny but to rewrite it.

He would burn both the Dark and the Light Councils in the same fire.

The Archmage raised his hand.

With a flick of his wrist, several books lifted from a nearby table and floated toward Lucian.

Their leather covers shimmered faintly, vibrating with old magic.

"Read them," he said. "There is no turning back now."

Lucian accepted the books in silence.

They were warm to the touch, alive almost humming faintly beneath his fingers. The other students clenched their jaws, eyes fixed on him.

Jealousy and rage thickened the air.

Lucian raised his head and met their gazes.

There was no threat in his eyes. Only a cold, detached superiority.

He said nothing.

He simply pressed the books to his chest and walked toward the direction the instructor had indicated.

As he left the hall, whispers followed him like shadows.

"Who is he?"

"Why was he chosen?"

"Is he hiding something?"

Lucian didn't look back.

The flames of the torches painted fleeting light across his face as he walked. In his dark eyes, a glint of something dangerous flickered.

The game had begun.

The Dark Council would learn the name Lucian Blackvein, but not in the way they expected.

A flickering light appeared in one corner. Lucian turned his head. Letters that looked like a blue panel in the air flashed for a moment.

[HUD Update]

Title Unlocked: Gravewarden

Condition: Raising and Leading multiple dead

Unit Classification: Raised dead are assigned as Kargul

Message Dispatch: Eagle messenger delivered

Command: Four Kargul assigned to protect Lumi and finish the quest

Quest Status: Trace of the Soulstone / Progress 23% / Active

Info: Corruption 1.6%

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