The Ancients World

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~~~(POV: Cera Adamo)~~~

~~~(Location: Desert, The Continent of Alforza)~~~

~~~(Time: 1:12 PM)~~~

We've been flying in the same direction since we left Modest. The heat has risen considerably, and I'm glad I have the armor made for this type of environment. Sally is in her regular spot and sleeping for a change.

It's rare for her to sleep when we're flying.

My eyes focus on something in the distance.

The image is familiar. I knew the instinct in the back of my head wasn't wrong. The town known as Modest isn't what it appears to be.

"Wake up."

Sally raises her head at my voice, and she's about to speak from the breath she takes. But it's stopped by what I assume is her looking at what I'm seeing.

"Did you go in a circle?"

That's a stupid question. But I won't say that.

"No, I've only gone forward."

I descend with great speed and level out over the desert, coming to a stop. Modest is about 500 feet away. It doesn't look that much different. I notice some very subtle changes. I've never heard of something like this happening before.

"What should we do?"

That's the million-dollar question... What are we going to do... I have a feeling that no matter what direction we go, I'll end up bringing us back here.

"My instincts are telling me that there is something really special about this place. Be it magical or otherwise. My best guess is a curse."

Curses aren't rare, but powerful ones like this are. That's assuming it is a curse.

"My hair is standing up."

She's not the only one. It's your body's way of telling you a dangerous foe is nearby. One that can hurt you. Possibly already hunting you.

"The only thing left to do is move forward."

Instead of flying into town like last time, We walk the 500 feet between Modest and us. Once we make it, people don't notice us. We're outsiders, and it'd make sense. I see a kid running toward me, and Sally stops me from moving out of the way.

But instead of colliding with me, the kid passes right through me. Like I'm a ghost or something.

"Whoa."

That's one way to put it. I couldn't have said it better myself, actually.

"I've never seen anything like this. It's like we're in a place showing a story or something. We're the viewers walking around in it, and everyone else is just... An echo."

I give my thoughts about what I think it is. It's like a spiritual recording. But it wasn't like this when we were here earlier. People could see us. Hear us. We even talked to them. Now we're ghosts that can't be heard or seen.

"What do you think's the cause of this?"

My mind is still on a curse, but I couldn't be sure.

"I think it's some sort of curse. Maybe an enchantment left by some great wizard. Those are the top picks. But I honestly have no clue. I've never experienced something like this before. Not in all my life."

That's really saying something considering what I know about The Ancients World. But I've never been here before. On the Alforza Continent. I've only heard and read stories on the old forum posts from my life before this.

My limited knowledge about this place won't help. My general knowledge of The Ancients World doesn't help at all, either.

"If it's a curse, that means it can be broken, right?"

Any curse can be broken. That's the cliches about curses. No matter how powerful or how complex, they can all be undone. It's how I freed The Dryads. Their curse was one of the strongest ever seen or known. But this is unique.

"All curses can be broken, but we don't even know if this is a curse. All we know is we're in some sort of play. Watching as it goes along."

Eventually, we reach the center of the town, and there seems to be a great meeting. The crowd silences, and we're off to the side watching. Listening. Trying to find out anything.

"We don't have much time left! How are we going to solve this without the help of another Kingdom or powerful Class holder!?"

A man yells from the crowd toward another man on the makeshift stage. I'm assuming it's the mayor of the town that's being yelled too.

"Everyone needs to calm down. We can't afford the help of some great Kingdom. The Empire of Yelized won't be helping us despite being a part of their territory. The best thing we can do is migrate to another location."

That causes shouts of anger and disagreement to come from everyone. Sally looks just as interested in what's happening as I am.

"How old do you think this is?"

Her question has been in the back of my mind since I heard of The Empire of Yelized. All I know from the old forum posts is it's an ancient civilization that predates any others. The Cezlites weren't known at the time of the post.

So that could've changed.

How many Empires existed before the Great War...

"I don't know, Sally... All I know is this place is older than anything we've been to. Maybe even the Dungeon where we learned about the Cezlites."

It's almost like a Dungeon or Raid set in some sort of open area. Different Dungeons have different functions. They don't all act alike. This could be one of the rare ones that just go off the normal variants you can find.

"C'mon! You know that migrating isn't possible!! Not with the Great Sandworms out there!! We need to stay where we have water!! Which is here!!"

A feminine voice breaks from the crowd that's bringing new light to what Sally and I know about this place. Great Sandworms. I've never heard of them before. Maybe they're an extinct species that once existed in the great deserts of Alforza's Continent.

"It's either we move, or we die. I'm taking my family across the desert. Anyone who wishes to come is welcome. Anyone who wants to stay is welcome. But this place has become a failure. The Settlement of Kelizei has come to an end."

Kelizei... That's different than Modest... This place isn't the same as the town known as Modest. Or perhaps it is, and it's going by another name at this time.

Soon, the crowds start roaring at the mayor or leader that just spoke. All screaming about how he failed them, or he's a terrible man and leader. After some time, people start pulling out their weapons and attacking each other.

The bloodshed is brutal.

"What the fuck..."

That's how I'd put it too. One moment, they're all arguing and shouting. Now they're all killing one another. The corpses are littering the streets of the town.

The images speed up and slow down again. Showing the town set ablaze. Men in armor are running around. Armor that I don't know of. Wearing sigils that are unfamiliar to me.

"Cera... What's going on here..."

I don't know. I just don't know.

"It's like the location's history is playing itself to us. First, the settlement was known as Kelizei, a part of the Empire of Yelized. Now, I don't know. We don't know how much time has passed since the last recording."

That's the best way to describe what we're watching.

A recording.

"I'm not asking any more questions. Neither of us has any answers."

That's a good stance to take. We should just watch and try to learn as much as we can.

After a couple of minutes, there is a tremendous roar from the sky. A dragon bigger than any I've seen or heard about on the old forums comes rushing down from the sky above. Drenching the town in fire. The screams of great creatures are heard.

We look toward the direction a loud crashing sound is coming from.

Out from the sand in the distance is a Great Sandworm.

Looking to take a piece of the massive dragon coming back for another attack on the town.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Below this line, I'll be keeping Cera's player information. That way, I won't have to place it into the story above anymore. It takes about 180 words up.

[Slayer (Zern) Lvl.237][Tier-4]

[Exp: 72/100%]

[Title: The Son of Arch-Angel Michael (Hidden)]

[Stats] [Strength - 7095][Endurance - 7045][Dexterity - 7215][Speed - 8240][Focus - 19,660]

[Mana aura control: 6/100%]

[Health: 76,560,000,000/76,560,000,000] [Mana: 216,600,000,000/216,600,000,000]

[Stat Points: 440] [Armor rating: 500]

[Inventory] [Dice of Wayland (Divine)] [The Witness (Legendary Sword)] [Fenrir's Whistle (Divine)] [Camping gear] [Fishing poles 2x] [Festival Garbs 2x] [4x EXP Boosts] [Princess Saliandra's Panties (Black Lace)] [Desert Warrior Nomad Set (Rare)]

[Passive Perks]

[Inheritor of the Sword] [Son of Heaven] [Slayer of Evil] [Holy Willow Trees Savior] [Finder of Legends] [The Divine who has Legend] [Destined for Greatness] [Dungeon Diver] [An Overachiever]

[Active Skills]

[Heavens light Lvl.74 325/7400] [Protected by Heaven Lvl.74 225/7400] [Slash Lvl.92 4600/21000] [Parry Lvl.68 85/6800] [Double Strike N/A] [Kingslayer N/A] [Raging Machine N/A] [Winged Glory] [Angelic Flight] [Divine Pressure Exertion] [Divinity Pulse] [Controlled Fun] [Aspect of Transportation (Legendary)]