Battle in the Depths

The guards advanced, their swords gleaming in the dim light of the torches. Aleric readied himself, his heart pounding. With a flick of his wrist, he summoned his electric magic, blue sparks crackling around his hands.

The first guard lunged at him, but Aleric sidestepped and sent a bolt of electricity surging through the man's body, causing him to convulse and collapse. Another guard swung his sword, but Aleric ducked, electricity arcing from his fingertips to the guard's chest, sending him sprawling.

With a swift, fluid motion, Aleric grabbed the sword from a fallen guard and wielded it with ease. His electric magic combined with the blade made quick work of the remaining guards. They fell one by one, incapacitated by the surges of electricity coursing through their bodies.

Finally, Aleric was left facing a single guard. This one radiated a strange aura, different from the others. As the guard began to chant, a thick mist enveloped the room, distorting Aleric's vision. He felt himself slipping into a hallucinatory state.

Suddenly, Aleric found himself witnessing events from a third-person perspective. He saw a grand castle, and within it, a young boy being raised with care and attention. The boy was clearly of noble birth, surrounded by luxury and opulence. Scenes of the boy's early years played out before Aleric, filled with laughter, learning, and a sense of destiny.

Though Aleric didn't recognize these memories, a deep feeling inside him told him that this illusion was a glimpse of his own past. He saw himself as a young prince, living a life far removed from his current reality. The sensation was overwhelming, the truth of the vision resonating within him.

The vision shifted, and Aleric saw himself in a lavish carriage, decorated for a grand celebration. It was his birthday. The carriage rolled through the countryside, the joyous atmosphere abruptly shattered by an ambush. Bandits attacked, their faces recognizable. They were the very people Aleric had grown up with. He heard them call each other by name, names that had become all too familiar.

In the chaos, he saw his father, a regal figure fighting valiantly to protect him. But the vision twisted, showing his father falling, his life extinguished on the hands of Damien. The scene was too much to bear, a mix of past and present, reality and illusion.

"No! This can't be real!" Aleric shouted, his voice echoing in the chamber. His rage and confusion fueled his magic, electric energy crackling around him. With a forceful burst, he snapped out of the hallucination, the electric surge striking the guard responsible for the spell.

The guard's chant was cut short as he was thrown back, his body convulsing from the electric shock. The mist began to clear, revealing the fallen caster and the silent chamber.

Breathing heavily, Aleric stood victorious. He knew the battle was only the beginning; the true challenge lay ahead, beyond the door where the leader had disappeared. He steeled himself, ready for whatever came next in his quest to retrieve Evelina's necklace and uncover the dark secrets hidden within Desiería's depths.