This Cave...

Aiden put the boy down, not too far from the fire so that his body would stay warm. Although there weren't any visibly apparent wounds, leaving the boy to catch cold could be deadly. While he sat to the side ready in case there were any changes, good or bad. Afterall, even if the boy was a mortal, he could still be dangerous if Aiden let his guard down. Amidst the mouth watering scent filling the cave, the boy stirred out of unconsciousness.

White eyelashes slowly opened revealing deep emerald green eyes filled with an icy indifference. When Aiden's amber eyes met those cold green ones, he straightened his back in nervousness. Clearly the boy was a mortal, but his aura was so intimidating!.

" H-hello, my name is Aiden. I saved you after you fell off the cliff," Aiden stammered out trying to regain some confidence.

The boy raised on thin white eyebrow before replying, " Marcus Sommerset."

Aiden felt as if the whole room was swimming around him as his eyes widened in shock. Marcus Sommerset! He in fact did recognize the name, and it was not a very low status mortal. Marcus Sommerset was one of the children from the main branch of the Sommerset clan, rumor was he had been sick and weak since infancy and his body left him unable to cultivate. The Sommerset clan had searched for famous Alchemists far and wide to treat the young master, but all had shaken their heads and declared themselves not skilled enough. There was even a long standing bounty of 100,000 gold coins should anyone come up with a cure, and that was just the least of the rewards. Having a favor from one of the most powerful families in the kingdom was far more valuable than mere gold.

Young master Marcus Sommerset's fame did not come from this however. Despite being unable to cultivate physically, Marcus Sommerset was an unparalleled genius when it came to cultivation. He is said to have repaired an ancient attack technique that had been damaged and incomplete for many years. But that was only the beginning. There were rumors that all of the children in the Sommerset clan went to him for advice and guidance in their cultivation. Other rumors said that he trained the martial forces of the Sommerset clan, and that he had an army of dedicated and loyal warriors that heeded his every order. The rumors only got more exaggerated and ridiculous from there, everything from being the son of an immortal to being an ancient monster who took on the skin of a youth as a perverted hobby.

Aiden soon realized that it wasn't his vision that was swimming, but that the cave was actually moving. The rock walls seemed to bow inwards, warping and stretching strangely. With one final shake, Aiden and Marcus were no longer in the small cave. In the blink of an eye they were on the ground in front of an enormous ancient and slightly dilapidated palace. The whole area was barren with no plant life or really any life at all, but the two of them. Although the walls of the palace were intact and had no wear to them, the entire place seemed to emanate a stagnant feeling. It seemed to slow and dull the senses, leaving people depressed and dazed.

Aiden scooted over to the young master of the Sommerset clan, although he was physically stronger than the ill youth, he found security in the older and seemingly much calmer boy. Cold green eyes glanced over at him, Aiden tried to give him an endearing smile but stopped moving nonetheless. The air in front of them began to twist, and the both of them immediately tensed up.

A ghostly figure appeared, it was a man dressed in princely armor and a long saber at his side. Long black hair was tied behind his head, revealing handsome if somewhat gloomy features. A faint scar curved down from his left temple all the way to his jaw. The power he gave off was overwhelming and Aiden began to feel slightly desperate. Is this an ancient ghost that had climbed out of his grave to eat the tender flesh of children!? Aiden had numerous horror stories running through his mind as his small figure trembled under the aura of coercion the figure was giving off. If he hadn't stopped himself using what little dignity he possessed, he would have already grabbed the edge of Marcus' robes and moved to hide behind him.

Next to him, Marcus' green eyes sharpened into blades of ice as the figure came into existence, and his face hardened into a stern and indifferent look. The figure seemed to stabilize, and looked them both over before opening his mouth.

" My name is Gerard Ferrowvine, once the owner of this palace. That was many years ago and I have long since fallen and left behind this wisp of my soul looking for inheritors. I personally crafted this palace for my wife, a talented and beautiful Alchemist from the realm of Riverfall. She was my pride and joy, and this palace was built to be her Alchemy haven. Unfortunately, after coming out of closed door refinement what met me was the news that she had been murdered by a rival faction. I spent the remainder of my life hunting down her killers before settling here to join her in eternal sleep. I have left this palace for the use of a talented Alchemist as I know she would have wanted."

At this point the man's eyes focused on Aiden. " I have been observing you these past few days, and your talent in Alchemy could be said to be remarkable. However, Alchemists are inherently weaker than other cultivators and leaving such a treasure in your hands would be a death sentence. My goal is to nurture talents, not destroy them. In order for you to reach your potential you will need a guardian warrior who will escort you through your budding years. I waited until I sensed a talented soul by your side to grant you this inheritance, so that the two of you may support each other as you grow into powerful cultivators. In addition, I will also award you with a technique that my wife and I created during our lives, The Life and Death Pact. It is a stronger and more detailed version of the protector contract that Alchemists and warriors usually sign. With this contract, the two would be unable to render any harm to the other and under the right circumstances even aid the other. In this way you can have a powerful backing in your early stages of cultivation while you are too weak to protect yourself."

Aiden felt cold sweat pouring down his back. Please Mr. Spirit, stop talking! First off, which of your eyes see that Marcus Sommerset is a warrior? Clearly he is a mortal who is unable to cultivate! Secondly, maybe he can't hurt me, but that doesn't mean no one else can. The Sommerset clan would off me in a heartbeat so that their beloved genius wouldn't be bound to anyone and they would get a super powerful treasure to boot.

Aiden began to suspect that the reason why this powerful warrior and his wife got into trouble was because they couldn't read the mood and were hopelessly naive. Out of the corner of his eye Aiden could see that Marcus' eyes had hardened and a cold aura seemed to emanate from him. But this Gerard guy was still prattling on about the benefits of this Life and Death contract. Aiden was so nervous that he couldn't concentrate on what the spirit was saying. Soon, Gerard turned to Marcus with a look of disdain.

" Well? Do you accept these terms? If not, I will kill you and find another to take your place."

In that moment Aiden witnessed a magnificent scene of face changing, as when Gerard turned around to face Marcus, Marcus' whole aura seemed to weaken and turn into a gentle and sick scholar.

" I don't seem to have much of a choice do I?" his voice sounded weakly with a hint of resentment.

Gerard gave him a look of approval before waving his hands, in the air above them a large Yin-Yang symbol appeared slowly turning. " Each of you cast a drop of blood into the symbol and willingly accept the contract," Gerard stated.

Aiden's heart was filled with tears, he couldn't see himself ending well at this point, and he used his dagger to cut his finger. At the same time, Marcus also cut his finger and they both dropped their blood onto the symbol. The large symbol began to revolve faster, and faster. Soon, it split into two pieces, the white one impacting Marcus and the black one slamming into Aiden. Aiden felt a brief sense of suffocation deep in his soul before it subsided leaving only a faint feeling of connection to the boy next to him. The figure of Gerard flickered, becoming much fainter.

" I will now hand over ownership of the palace to the two of you, good luck." He tossed over two beams of light that entered their heads, binding them to the palace.

Then Gerard's figure faded away into nothingness. Aiden's whole body shivered fiercely, the person beside him was giving off a terrible and icy aura.

" I-I can cure you!" Aiden shouted out in a panic.

Those indifferent green eyes stared at him emotionlessly. Aiden bit his lip, he was going to have to take a major gamble. At this point he was dead either way so he might as well try his best to get a powerful ally.

"I have a mysterious Alchemy Inheritance that has information of hundreds of maladies and illnesses. There is most likely a cure in there. There are also pill recipes and elixirs and tonics, I can craft all manner of rare concoctions for you! I guarantee that I would be a strong asset for you," Aiden tried his best to keep his tone calm and even despite his fear.

Marcus stared at him indifferently for a long moment before coldly spitting out, " Then prove it."

Marcus began slowly moving towards the palace entrance. Aiden's eyes filled with confusion, then with a flash of light he realized. In the palace was a huge library that had the function of transferring thoughts and records directly from the mind into text. He rushed to catch up, worried that the cold boy would sentence him to death if he was too slow.

The palace was crafted from what appeared to be white marble, huge and intricate columns stretched up to support arched ceilings. Their footsteps echoed loudly as they moved through the hallways. The vast palace was extremely empty, despite the luxury it had been designed for.

Eventually, they reached the library. Large ornate shelves stood tall reaching from floor to ceiling with carvings decorating the scented wood. Aiden couldn't place the scent but it was calming and refreshing. If someone were to study here they would probably accomplish twice as much with half the effort. The scent seemed to be able to bring about a mysterious atmosphere of tranquility.

The library was currently empty much like the rest of the palace, Gerard hadn't had time to fill the palace with anything before he found out about his wife's death and then there was no point.

Under the cold gaze coming from Marcus, Aiden walked over to the translation apparatus. He took a deep breath hoping against hope before placing his hand on it. Using his mental strength he ran through all of the inheritance he had unlocked transcribing it one by one. At first Aiden had wanted to only transcribe a few of them, but he thought better of it. Marcus Sommerset was a well known genius, these types of small tricks would probably just annoy him, and Aiden didn't want to jeopardize his small chance of survival by doing that. Soon there was a pile of books in front of him and Aiden's body was extremely tense.