Inside a school bus, Kris and Rose sit side by side—the boy looking a little sleepy, the girl wearing a sulky expression.
"Why do we have to wake up so early just to see some old book?" she asks, indignant about the schedule.
"The Enchiridion is a very ancient artifact," Kris replies, still a bit drowsy. "It must be an incredible book. Besides, other discoveries by Simon Petrikov will be exhibited today as well."
"I think it's just another old trinket. I don't know what you see that's so special about it," the girl shoots back, giving him a somewhat disbelieving look.
"In the same way I don't understand your obsession with manga," he retorts, glancing at her sideways.
"Fair enough."
Kris and Rose, now thirteen years old, were on a school field trip to an exhibition of ancient artifacts discovered by Simon Petrikov and Betty Grof—two archaeologists who married after uncovering several artifacts together.
"Oh! Speaking of manga, did you see that new one called Drag—"
"Huh? What did you say?" Kris interrupted, pretending ignorance.
"I said—" the girl was interrupted again, this time by the teacher. "We've arrived. Line up in single file."
Phew, saved by the bell, Kris thought with relief.
"Let's go," Kris called out to Rose quickly, standing up at once to avoid the conversation. The girl followed soon after, her expression even grumpier than before.
Outside the bus, they faced a large museum, and just ahead of the main entrance stood Simon Petrikov, patiently waiting for them.
"Hello, kids! I see you all arrived safely!" Simon tried to strike up a conversation.
The students, however, barely paid any attention, absorbed in their own friend groups. Kris and Rose simply looked at Simon in silence, before the girl muttered, "That guy is the so-called artifact hunter? He looks like a loser."
"Yes, and why do you think that?" Kris asked, with a slight hint of discomfort.
She merely pointed at their classmates, who were still completely ignoring Simon.
"Well… hehe…" Simon let out a slightly embarrassed laugh at the reception. "How about we take a look at some really cool artifacts!" he finished, trying to fit in.
Rose cringed slightly, while Kris and their classmates followed Simon under their teacher's supervision.
Inside the museum, they passed by several other historical pieces—art paintings, statues, models, and ancient items and tools.
After walking for a while longer, they arrived at the exhibition area. Simon, guiding them toward a vase etched with runes, began his explanation.
"This vase is thousands of years old!" he began enthusiastically. "With the help of my partner, Betty Grof, we discovered that these runes could help us find the Southeast Cove!" he finished, pointing at the runes carved into the vase.
"I have a question," a boy exclaimed from among the class.
"Ah, great! What's your question?" Simon replied, excited by the possibility of sparking the children's interest.
"Where's the bathroom?"
"Oh…" Simon let out dejectedly, his smile fading, before pointing toward a more distant door. "It's right over there."
The boy quickly ran off to the bathroom, clearly desperate.
Kris, farther back, simply rolled his eyes as he slipped between the students toward another section of the exhibition.
Rose, noticing his movement, slipped right after him.
Kris deeply respected Simon as the great archaeologist he was; however, he already knew all the artifacts that would be on display and was there for another reason.
The Enchiridion—it was not on the list of items that would be exhibited.
The girl following him asked in a murmur, "Where are we going? Didn't you want to see that book?"
"And that's exactly what we're going to do," he replied.
"Hm?"she hummed confusedly."I thought you said it was going to be exhibited. Can't we just wait?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, I lied," he confessed shamelessly.
"Wow, so we're kind of committing a crime?" she asked, her eyes slightly widened. "Haha, awesome!" she finished with an excited expression.
Moving deeper into the exhibition, the two passed through a double curtain. Inside the new area, Kris and Rose struggled to move through the room due to the low lighting.
Scattered across the room, several pieces hidden under cloths made things even harder, serving as obstacles for both of them.
As they moved, Kris quickly pulled Rose down beneath a table. The girl was about to protest before Kris covered her mouth and pointed toward an approaching light.
It was a guard on duty. He stopped briefly, aiming his flashlight toward where the kids had been moments earlier after hearing a sound.
"Hm?"the guard hummed squinting his eyes, before shrugging. "Must've been the wind."
Watching the guard move away, Kris released Rose, who let out a sigh of relief.
"Phew! Thanks, you saved my skin…" she said gratefully, before trying to stand up and hitting her head on the table they had been hiding under. "Ow!" she cried out in pain, covering the spot she'd hit.
"Are you okay?" the boy asked with slight concern.
"Yeah…" the girl replied, a tear threatening to spill from her eye.
As they stood up, Kris noticed a statue that had been revealed because of the impact. The statue was small—its body shaped like that of a baby, its head square with a pyramid on top.
The statue had only two fingers on each hand, while its feet resembled hooves. At the tips of the fingers and hooves were what looked like two large nails.
Beside the statue, there was a small plaque bearing the name GOLB.
Upon seeing the statue, Kris stared at it blankly, unable to take his eyes off it.
"Kris…" he heard faintly. "Kris…"
"Kris!" Rose's shout snapped him back to reality. "Are you okay? I called you several times, but you didn't seem to hear me," she asked, worried.
"Oh, sorry…" he replied, still a bit dazed. "It's fine, let's keep going."
"Alright…" she agreed, unconvinced.
As they walked away, Kris looked back at the statue one last time, sensing there was something more to the relic.
After walking for a while longer, they finally found what they had been searching for. The Enchiridion, conveniently resting on a cushion atop a small pedestal, softly illuminated by a light.
"Uh, that was strangely easy," the girl said, stunned.
As they approached the book, the two could make out its details more clearly. The book had iron embellishments along its corners and edges—except for the lower right corner, which was worn down.
At the center of the cover, a circle divided into seven segments was decorated with six different jewels.
Inside the circle, there was a skull, a bird perched atop the skull, grapes, and a sword resting in the center. Just below the circle were two heraldic shield emblems.
"Wow… I have to admit, it really is incredible," Rose said, surprised by the book's appearance. "But what does it do?"
"According to some of Simon's articles, the Enchiridion is the Book of Heroes," he began, as he opened the first few pages. "A guide where all knowledge about magic is supposedly gathered."
Suddenly, he stopped abruptly. Rose, reading the title, tried to hold back her laughter—unsuccessfully.
"Pffft," she let out while covering her mouth. "So that's what you were looking for, huh?"
"Of course not!" he exclaimed in a whisper, blushing slightly.
On the page, Chapter 5 was sketched out with the title: "How to Kiss a Princess."
After calming down, Kris continued flipping through the pages, noticing that many chapters were teachings told through real-life situations.
When he reached the middle pages, he stopped. These were the only two pages he was unable to read, written in a completely unfamiliar language.
On the first page, a circle was sketched with four curved lines. Inside those lines were drawings resembling stars. Below them was the symbol of infinity, with lines beneath it.
On the second page, a large triangle covered the page. On the left tip, a drawing of waves could be seen.
On the right, a moon was drawn. And at the top, a star.
The triangle was divided into four differently colored sections, each bearing a symbol at its center.
"Huh, what is this?" Rose asked, confused.
"I don't know. I don't understand these glyphs," Kris replied, equally puzzled.
"Well, I think it's time we head back," the girl began. "We've been here for quite a while already."
"Yeah. If we take too long, they'll notice we disappeared."
And then, after closing the book, the two quickly retraced their steps, rejoining the rest of the class while making every effort not to be noticed.
"Well, children…" Simon Petrikov said in a melancholic tone, "unfortunately our field trip has come to an end."
Some of the kids then cheered, leaving Simon with a grumpy expression.
That night…
After closing his eyes, Kris found himself in an empty space. Feeling no gravity, he floated there. Looking around, he noticed several blocks resembling Tetris-like shapes.
However, when he decided to look behind him, he came face to face with a gigantic reddish being—its appearance identical to the statue he had found.
The creature, upon noticing Kris's presence, turned its eyes toward him. Then it opened its mouth, revealing a split tongue as it released a green gas.
In that moment, Kris opened his eyes. Sweat ran down his entire body, his breathing heavy and frantic.
In his mind, there was only one thought: "Was that a dream?"