Chapter 33

Elliot stood frozen, his heartbeat thundering in his ears. The hallway was empty again, but the weight of the figure's words still lingered.

"You are not ready."

Ready for what?

His fingers clenched into fists. He needed answers.

Ignoring the creeping chill in his bones, he moved toward the old staircase. The restricted archives were off-limits to most students, but something was pulling him there. He had to know.

Step by step, he descended. The air grew colder, the torches flickering weakly as if resisting his presence. Dust swirled around his feet, undisturbed for who knows how long.

At the bottom of the stairs, a heavy iron door stood before him. It was ancient, covered in deep engravings that pulsed faintly with magic. He hesitated, then placed his palm against the surface.

A sharp jolt ran up his arm.

The engravings flared to life, and the door groaned open.

Elliot stepped inside.

The restricted archives were vast—towering bookshelves stretched endlessly, filled with ancient tomes, scrolls, and relics of forgotten knowledge. The air smelled of old parchment and something faintly metallic.

He moved deeper, his eyes scanning the shelves. Some books were locked behind chains, others bound in materials he couldn't recognize. Symbols glowed softly in the dim light, shifting as if alive.

Then, out of the corner of his eye—

Movement.

Elliot whipped around.

Nothing.

He swallowed hard, his breath unsteady. He wasn't alone here.

Carefully, he reached for a book that seemed different from the rest. Its cover was black, embossed with silver runes that shimmered under his touch.

The Legacy of the Veil.

The moment his fingers closed around it—

A whisper.

Soft, echoing.

Then—

The room plunged into darkness.

A force slammed into his chest, sending him sprawling backward. He hit the ground hard, the book tumbling from his grip. Shadows coiled around him, thick and suffocating.

And then, a voice—low, ancient, filled with quiet menace.

"You should not have come here."

Elliot's pulse spiked.

His body screamed at him to run. But something deeper, something instinctual, told him—

This was exactly where he needed to be.

Elliot struggled to breathe as the darkness wrapped around him like living tendrils. His fingers clawed at the cold stone floor, searching for anything to anchor himself.

"You should not have come here."

The voice resonated through the archive, neither loud nor soft, but absolute. It sent a shiver down his spine, like ice sinking into his bones.

Elliot gritted his teeth. He wasn't the same scared boy he was months ago. His journey had been filled with trials, battles, and revelations. He had come too far to back down now.

Pushing against the unseen force, he reached for the fallen book. His fingertips barely brushed its cover when—

SLAM!

A dark figure materialized before him, its form shifting like smoke, its eyes burning with an eerie silver glow.

"Knowledge has a price."

Elliot gasped as the shadows tightened around his body, lifting him off the ground. His heart pounded, his limbs trembling as if drained of strength.

Then, from deep within him—

A pulse.

Warm. Fierce.

Magic surged through his veins, breaking the suffocating grip of darkness. The figure flinched, as if startled.

Elliot didn't hesitate. He lunged forward, grabbing The Legacy of the Veil and pulling it close to his chest. The moment he did, the room trembled. Shelves rattled, dust swirled into the air, and the darkness recoiled.

The book's cover burned hot against his skin, the runes pulsing in a rhythm that matched his heartbeat.

The figure hissed.

"Foolish child. You do not know what you hold."

Elliot tightened his grip. His breath came in ragged gasps, but his resolve was steel.

"Then maybe it's time I learn."

The shadows lunged—

And the world exploded in light.

A surge of brilliant light erupted from The Legacy of the Veil, swallowing the darkness in an instant. The oppressive shadows screeched as they recoiled, twisting violently before vanishing into the void.

Elliot crashed to the floor, the book clutched tightly in his arms. His breath came in ragged gulps, sweat dripping down his face. The library was silent now, save for the faint hum of lingering magic.

He forced himself to his feet, his legs trembling. The book in his hands was no longer cold. Instead, it pulsed with warmth, as if acknowledging him.

Carefully, he traced his fingers over the silver runes. They glowed brighter at his touch, shifting and rearranging until—

A single word appeared on the cover.

"Elliot."

His stomach dropped.

This book… it knew him.

Before he could react, the pages flipped open on their own, stopping at a section marked with an ornate symbol. Words scrawled across the parchment in an ancient language, yet he could understand them.

"To walk the path unseen, one must first open their eyes."

A pulse of energy shot through his fingertips.

Then—

Pain.

A sharp, searing sensation burned through his vision. He staggered, clutching his head as a flood of images poured into his mind—blurred figures, hidden doorways, forgotten names.

And then, a voice.

Soft, yet powerful.

"Find me."

Elliot gasped as his vision cleared. He was back in the library, but something was different. The air crackled with unseen energy. The shelves no longer appeared as they once were.

He could see them now.

Hidden symbols. Invisible pathways. Shadows lurking just beyond the ordinary eye.

He stumbled backward, his pulse racing. This was no ordinary book.

It was a key.

And it had just unlocked something deep within him.

Elliot stood frozen, his breathing shallow. The world around him hadn't changed—yet it had.

The once ordinary shelves now pulsed with faint symbols, shimmering like reflections on water. The walls held patterns that had never been there before, etched in magic only he could see.

The book in his hands felt heavier, as if it had just bound itself to him.

"Find me."

That voice still echoed in his mind. It was neither male nor female, neither young nor old. It carried weight—power.

Elliot swallowed hard. There was only one thing to do.

He reached out.

The air before him rippled like the surface of a pond. His fingers pressed against something solid—but nothing was there. A door, unseen to all except him.

He inhaled sharply.

"To walk the path unseen, one must first open their eyes."

The book had changed him. It had awakened something inside him.

Slowly, he placed his palm flat against the invisible barrier.

It yielded.

With a soft click, the hidden door swung open.

Beyond it lay darkness. Not the suffocating void from before, but something deeper. Something ancient.

Elliot hesitated for only a second before stepping through.

—

The moment he crossed the threshold, a sensation rushed over him—like plunging into cold water. His breath hitched, his body tensed.

Then, silence.

He wasn't in the library anymore.

A vast hall stretched before him, lined with towering pillars that twisted like gnarled roots. Strange, glowing glyphs floated in the air, shifting and rearranging in endless patterns.

At the center of the room stood a pedestal. And atop it—

A mask.

Jet black, smooth, and polished like obsidian. No eye holes, no mouth, just a blank, featureless face.

Elliot's heart pounded. He knew this mask.

It had appeared in every old legend, every forbidden tale whispered among scholars.

"The Mask of the Veil."

No one had ever found it. No one even knew if it truly existed.

And yet—

It was right in front of him.

Elliot took a step closer.

Then another.

The air around the mask shifted, as if something unseen had just noticed him.

A whisper brushed against his ear, soft as a breath.

"Who are you?"