A Door Part I

Arias’ back was still bleeding and entirely covered in blood. The wound left there by the flamed-feet wolf’s claws was almost bone-deep. Black scorch marks were still clearly visible on his clothes and around the wound. The pain made Arias grit his teeth. There were times when he felt like he was about to lose consciousness. It was probably because his body was still frail and his magical power was not strong that made him this weak.

“I used to look down on demon-level beasts as if they were ants and look at adept mages as if they were toddlers. I used to be able to erase them from this world with only one of my hands. Never have I thought that one day, I’d be hunted down by them like this. And look at me now. Huh, how pathetic!”

Arias raised a scornful smile at his current self. He used to be at the top above other mages. He used to have so little regard for everything around him. Beasts were terrified of confronting him and mages bowed their heads in respect when they saw him. Even rulers of kingdoms had to lower their heads out of respect at the mention of his name.

“One day, I will put my name at the top of the magic world once again.”

Arias shook his head and cleared those thoughts out of his mind. His gaze became determined and stern. The more he dwelled on the life he once had as a grandmaster mage, the more the arrogance and pride of his past self came back to him. There was no use yearning for his former power and glory. What he needed to do now was train so he could surpass his previous self. Since the heavens had been merciful enough to give him another chance, he would not let that chance go to waste. He had no idea how long it would take him to reach the master level, but he was going to become a powerful mage one day no matter what it took.

ROARR!

The flamed-feet wolf was still roaring in front of the cave’s entrance; the sound it made was full of anger. The most that it could do was shove one of its paws inside the cave, a foolish act that was unlikely to repeat since that was how its paw got stabbed by a dagger. Arias could still remember the sound of its howling and the pained look on its face. At least he had taken revenge on the beast for looking down on him.

“How long is it going to keep waiting?”

Arias watched the flamed-feet wolf who was on a rampage in front of the cave’s entrance. Its aggressive outburst had left almost all of the trees in that area broken and red flame burning on the trunks and branches of the now-fallen trees. The wind carried the stench of the beast together with the smell of burnt trees into the cave that Arias was in, making it more difficult to breathe.

More than three hours passed and Arias could still see the flamed-feet wolf waiting by the entrance; it was not leaving. The wolf’s anger had calmed a lot but the bloodlust in its eyes remained unchanged. Arias decided to stop paying attention to it and focused instead on healing his injuries with healing spells and Moon-Bathed Elixir. When used repeatedly within one day, elixirs became ineffective at healing; the more they were taken, the less effective they became. This was why Arias had to simultaneously cast healing spells.

AWOOOO!

The howl of the flamed-feet wolf pack that came from a faraway distance grabbed Arias’ attention and made him turn to look at the entrance of the cave. No more than ten minutes after that, Arias saw the flamed-feet wolf pack respectfully approaching the pack leader in a circle. Though he was not watching the situation outside very closely, he could see that one of the flamed-feet wolves was holding a lifeless body of a man in its mouth. The body was covered in so many wounds that it became hard to tell who it was; that body was drenched in blood. While Arias could not see the face of that lifeless body, he knew very well who it belonged to.

“Tsk! So he’s dead. A shame that I wasn’t the one who killed him.”

Arias took a quick glance at the body before turning his gaze away. He was rather disappointed that he did not get to kill the man himself. Arias slowly pushed himself up until he was standing before walking deeper into the cave. He was not really into watching a pack of beasts feast on a human body, though he knew that it was a common occurrence in this magic world. Humans hunt beasts. Beasts also hunt humans. It was probably one of this world’s balances.

ROARR!

As soon as Arias got up, he heard the flamed-feet wolf’s threatening growl coming from behind. The wolf watched in anger as its weak prey walked deeper into the cave; an easy prey that should have been under its claws now vanished right in front of its eyes. Arias, however, did not pay attention to the lowly creature. He slowly brought his wounded self deep into the cave before finally deciding to take a break beside a huge rock situated on the floor of the cave. It was a rectangular rock and looked like it was made by humans. Arias examined the rock in astonishment, staring at it with wonder. There were some strange letters inscribed on that rock, letters that even Arias could not understand.

“What language is this?”

Arias narrowed his eyes and looked at the letters with wonder. It seemed like some parts had been worn down with time. Judging by their appearance, these letters must have been carved at least a thousand years ago.

Seeming to be unable to understand these letters no matter how much he tried, Arias decided to stop bothering with them. He looked deeper into the cave warily. He had no idea what kind of strange things could be hidden inside of this cave. It was possible that the cave was a lair of some kind of beast. If that was the case, it would be a nightmare for Arias.

Finally, darkness started to blanket the entire forest. The sun had started to disappear behind the horizon, signaling the arrival of nighttime. The inside of the cave that Arias was using as a shelter was darker than any other place. The only area with some source of light was the spot where Arias had built a campfire. The light from the campfire drove away the darkness from the area and also kept Arias somewhat warm.