Dark Power

The smell of dampness choked Julius's breath as he stood before the empty frame of Sirius's painting.

The early morning rays crept through the broken windows, illuminating strange footprints on the ground prints that resembled the hooves of a radiant beast.

Lina knelt on the floor, touching a dried bloodstain with horror, while Cain stared at the wall as if trying to read what lay beyond the stone.

"This isn't an ordinary theft..." Lina whispered, her voice trembling like an autumn leaf.

"The blood... it's human blood, but it's saturated with dark magical energy."

Cain suddenly turned, his narrow eyes glinting beneath the hood of his coat.

"Don't worry about the blood... focus on the message. 'The beginning will be the end' this is a threat that our destruction will start from where we began."

"What beginning?" asked Julius, still clutching the broken pendant in his hand.

"The beginning of the Guild," Cain answered cryptically before disappearing into the shadows.

Lina decided to search the Guild's secret archives a room underground that no one had opened for a century.

After hours of digging through moldy papers, she found a map drawn on dragon hide.

"Look!" she exclaimed, spreading the map on the table.

The map showed the Guild building with strange markings at seven points, forming what looked like a star.

"This isn't an ordinary map... it's an energy map. It might point to hidden treasures!"

Julius approached, examining the markings. One was at the kitchen entrance, another beneath the stolen painting of Sirius.

"Could these treasures be connected to Sirius?"

"And the Eternal Council wants them," Cain suddenly said from behind them, making Lina jump in fear.

"That's why the painting was stolen... they're searching for the key."

In his modest room, Julius tried to understand the secret of the pendant.

He placed it on a wooden table and focused all his energy into it just as he had seen his father do years ago.

Suddenly, he felt a roar in his ears... and light exploded.

He found himself standing in an unfamiliar place, a grand throne hall, where Sirius sat on a golden chair, staring at a map similar to the one Lina had found.

"The seven treasures... the key to the heart of the world," Sirius said in a voice like thunder.

"Beware the Council... they are the spiders in this web."

The vision evaporated when Julius heard knocking at the door.

At the door stood an old woman wearing a faded blue robe, carrying a staff carved in the shape of a serpent.

"Greetings... I am Alisar, the chronicler of Sirius's memoirs," she said in a hoarse voice.

"Sirius's memoirs?!" Julius exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes... and I believe you need me." The old woman entered without waiting for an invitation, her sharp eyes examining the pendant in his hand.

"Time is short... those who stole the painting now know that you carry a fragment of his soul."

Everyone gathered around the cold fireplace as Alisar began her tale

"Five hundred years ago, Sirius tried to uncover the secret of the Heart of the World Stone the source of all magic. But the Eternal Council captured him and used forbidden magic to shatter his soul into seven fragments, hiding them in rare treasures."

Lina nearly fell off her chair.

"Is... this pendant one of the fragments?"

Alisar nodded.

"The pendant contains the Fragment of Time... but the Council is hunting the rest. If they gather them, they will become gods."

"Why us?" Julius asked fearfully.

"Because Sirius's fragment chose you... and you are the only bridge between the past and the present."

…

In the middle of the night, as Julius tried to process Alisar's words, they heard an explosion that shook the building.

They rushed outside to find a team from the Eternal Flame Guild, led by the burly man who had visited them earlier.

"We've found the map... and now we'll take the pendant!" the man roared, as his guild members surrounded the building with fiery magic.

Lina tried to create an air shield, but the fire consumed it in seconds.

Cain drew a black sword from his coat the Shadow Blade, but the enemies were too many.

At that moment, Julius felt the pendant burn against his chest... and saw the world slow down once more.

The flames moved like turtles in Julius's eyes. He grabbed Cain's black sword with a hand he didn't know was so strong and charged at the burly leader.

Every strike he made carried the force of time as if it struck both the past and the present.

"Impossible! This is Sirius's power!" the leader screamed before being struck in the shoulder and fleeing with his team.

When time returned to normal, everyone looked at Julius in stunned silence.

Even Cain whose face rarely betrayed emotion raised an eyebrow slightly.

"You... are not just a bearer of the fragment," Cain said.

"You are the complete vessel."

A few minutes passed slowly,

After the attack, they gathered in the basement with Alisar.

The map pointed to the first treasure, the Sword of Ambrosia hidden in the Temple of Mist, three days away.

"The journey is dangerous... but if we obtain the sword, we can protect the Guild," Lina said, trying to hide her fear.

Cain pulled out a Ring of Displacement from his pocket.

"There's a faster way... but it will cost you half your life, Julius."

Julius answered without hesitation

"I won't run away this time."

…

Excerpt from Sirius's Memoirs (Year 460 of the Magical Era)

"Sometimes, the soul must break to understand the meaning of power. I do not fear death... I fear that future generations will forget why we fought."

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