Emperor's Reckoning

The cave was crude and looked really old, but despite that, the stairs were definitely man-made. God knows when was the last time the cave saw the sunlight.

"The 'thing' that we are looking for is at the base of the stairs. It has slumbered for years since my time of youth," said the great elder mole as he took the first step in.

"Follow me, don't worry, no beasts are inside, they wouldn't dare," continued the great elder mole.

"Well, c'mon Lyon, what are you waiting for?" asked Karina as she immediately followed the old mole.

(Karina, you didn't even flinch at the menacing aura from within this cave?) Lyon smiled as he looked at this teacher of his.

With a tap from his small cane, the great elder mole lit up the torches that were etched on the wall. The torch burned one by one leading down and revealing the path to the base of the stairs.

(Damn, can that little cane do everything?) thought Lyon with a twitched mouth. He saw every time whenever the great elder mole tapped his little cane, something he wanted would happen. (That's a really neat tool).

Stepping down, the three of them reached the base without much hardship, for an old set of stairs it was quite sturdy.

"Great Elder Mole, why did you choose me?" asked Lyon as he followed the stairs.

"Because I sniffed a whiff of a true dragon aura surrounding you," said the great elder mole with a smile without stopping his tracks.

(I would prefer you to use another word beside sniffing) thought Lyon with blacklines over his head before he said, "Does it have anything to do with the 'thing' below?"

"No, not at all."

"Eh?"

"It has something to do with your character."

Lyon furrowed his eyebrows (My character?). He didn't understand what the old mole was saying.

"Your character, I know what a true dragon looks like, I know their personalities as well. Arrogant, powerful, loyal and selfish. Though they isolated themselves from the world and rarely showed up, they are indeed a lawful creature, at least, to their own kin."

Lyon could only smile wryly as he thought about his grandfather that was probably the opposite of those traits he spoke of. His grandfather was a pervert for all he knew, not so much of arrogance but definitely wanted to act cool.

"I won't dwell into how did you even meet a true dragon nor why did they lend you their powers. But the fact that you could even befriend a true dragon means that you are a lawful person."

Lyon's nose got longer as he heard the praise, "Yes, I am indeed a lawful person."

Karina massaged her forehead with her finger as she heard what the great elder mole said. (He is the very symbol of the opposite of lawful).

"Here we are," said the great elder mole as he stood in front of an old door

There was an engraving on the door that looked really complicated, almost like a magic brand but inactive.

"What is behind the door? What is this 'thing'" asked Karina. She knew that both of them deserved more explanation than just blindingly do what they were told.

"A ball entirely made out of mana that was visible to the naked eye, highly unstable matter that could rupture this world even further."

"Even further?" asked Lyon. From the great elder mole sentence, he was implicitly saying that the current world was already ruptured.

"Hmm? You mean you don't know? The history of how this world, Deo or so you humans called it, was made?" seeing the two of them confused, the great elder mole got his answer.

"It was a story from my great ancestor, I forgot about most things in my life, but his story really captivates me,"

"He said that there were no multiple worlds back when his ancestors live, only a single massive world. However, a huge explosion happened, it was so massive that the single massive world break into parts that one cannot count, scattering all over.

He didn't know the details of why, what or exactly how, but he heard rumors that there exists energy, mana that caused such an explosion, and the thing behind this door proved that he was right."

(This world was one?) thought Lyon.

His eyes opened wide as he suddenly felt a strain of pain running through his head. He couldn't help but crouched and pressed his head with his hands, "Aargh!"

"Hey, Lyon are you alright?!" asked Karina as she approached him.

*zzt

With his opened eyes, a blurred image was turning on and off in his mind. The veins on his head slowly turned visible under the skin as he held the pain. Gritting his teeth, he struggled to get the image inside his head.

(C'mon! Turned clearer!) thought Lyon as he held the immense pain. He knew that this was some sort of a key to his own mystery. This was his opportunity, he simply wouldn't let it slip by.

"Slow down young man," said the great elder mole as he poked his chest with his little cane.

Lyon immediately escaped the pain as he panted furiously.

"I don't know what's happening to you, but it was visible to me that you are getting the pain on purpose, whatever it is, don't force it, it would only be detrimental for yourself," said the great elder mole.

"C'mon Lyon, let's take a break here first," said Karina as she sat down beside him.

"Hah, hah, I'm sorry I worried you, teacher," said Lyon while panting.

"It's alright, just rest first," said Karina with a smile.

Lyon smiled his response before his thought wandered to the blurred image. He didn't see it clearly enough to make out of anything from it. All he knew that there was a connection with the origin of the world is a single massive place.

The great elder mole looked at the couple while wondering about something.