Chương 62: Chapter 59: Headmaster Of The Owls

You may ask, why must an Angel descend? Didn't they walk among us? Indeed, they once walked our earth without care. They have exiled themselves to the divine realms for reasons we do not know. That knowledge is held only by those trusted with the words of the divine. There are many realms beyond our own, each with their own rules and lands. We know that the hells are not one place, but a multitude of realms held by the demons.

Each of these hells brings a different kind of danger, a different kind of demon to our lands. The Infernal, by High Priest Storm, Chapter 2 Page 3 I make my way to where the party is resting in a loose circle. No one is stepping on the clearly magical teleportation gate, instead chatting quietly as Libby looks over people's injuries. The conversations quiet as I get closer, but I motion for them to continue. We're not moving through the next door yet. Instead, I make my way over to our resident mage.

Eyla has her pack open, a familiar notebook in her hands, the translated Arcana For Children I'd given her. She's still having trouble forming spells without system assistance, but she's getting better. She glances up at me as I approach.

"Can I borrow you for a moment?" She tilts her head, then nods. The book is put in her pack as she closes it and throws it over her shoulder. She follows me away from the group and towards the owl statue. Libby glances up as the two of us walk away, raises an eyebrow, then continues speaking with the Dralk Commander beside her. As we walk, I pull out my notebook, then flip to the page where I've traced the symbol I've found on many of the doors and on the back of the owl.

"Do you recognize this symbol?" She frowns as she studies the notebook, then looks up at me, "An eye?"

"I think so. But the pupil isn't quite right. I think it's a swirl?" I pull out a pen, then write the smaller details that I'd noticed on the version I'd seen on the back of the owl with my spell.

"It's familiar… but eyes were pretty common symbology for ancient arcanists." I pause, my steps slowing. She's right, the Archmage hadn't used the symbolism, but I have seen eyes on plenty of the books in his library.

"Do you know why?"

"Not really." She blinks, and looks past me as she thinks, "High Mage Luther," She gives me a small smile, "he's one of the De'Vereth," She looks down at her hands in thought, a cute frown on her face, "I think he said that it has something to do with looking into the unknown." She shakes her head, "Master Lorn taught me more about hunting and leveling than history."

"That's fine." I continue walking and lead her over behind the owl statue and over to its tail feathers. The eye isn't there now, but I suspect a drop of blood will fix that. I take a deep breath "The door onward opens with a drop of blood, but mine won't work. I think yours will." She gives me a sharp look, "How do you know that?"

"It needs an Owl's blood. You're my best guess, since you had the map." She crosses her arms at me. I raise my hands, "I know. Everyone knows better than to mix blood with strange magical items. You don't have to, especially because I'm not sure exactly what it does aside from opening the door. I saw that eye here, that's why I was asking you." She bites her lip as she studies the owl, then steps forward to look closer. The owl lights up, glowing symbols appearing across its back.

Eyla jumps back, and I catch her in surprise as we both stumble. Ever so faintly, the symbol of the eye glows, the pupil a never ending spiral. She looks up at me with wide eyes, then looks back at the glowing symbols.

"Did it do that for you too?" I shake my head, "No." Shouts echo from across the hall, and soon enough the whole delve team arrives, led by Grildor with his shield out, and the Dralk Commander with his sword drawn.

"We're fine!" I yell at them as they slow down with us in sight. Libby snorts, and Grildor lets out a full belly laugh. Eyla quickly takes steps away from me to leave my arms. She looks down to brush off her clothes, her hair covering her face.

"What is happening to the statue?" Commander Vakar asks, looking between us and the glowing owl. Now that I'm paying closer attention, I can see how where the symbols cut off with the wings. Is that old mana circuitry? You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. I step closer, studying the broken edges of the wings. The circuits are complicated and I don't recognize them. They're also completely inert. If it once was a golem, it isn't alive anymore.

I wonder what bringing it back would do? With the mana circuitry completely inactive, would I be basically creating an entirely new golem?

"Leo?" I blink, and look away from the broken owl to Libby. She tilts her head towards the commander, who is staring at me with an unreadable expression under his mask. Right, he asked a question.

"I'm not sure what it's doing, but I think it reacted to our mage. It might have something to do with the mage class." That's a lie, but I don't know how rare Owl blood is, or how important it is. Eyla touches my arm, "Where do you need it?" I look at her and hesitate. I wasn't kidding when I said I don't know what else the statue could do if given her blood.

"It's the way forward, right?" She steps forward, and the symbols brighten ever so slightly, their mana focusing on the eye.

"And you would have told me if you thought it would hurt me."

"I would have." I purse my lips, then turn to the delve group.

"Everyone, get ready, I don't know exactly what this is going to do, or where it leads." The group quickly catches on, everyone readying their weapons. I look around until I spot Shar. The cat golem watches from the shadow. I motion for her to come closer. She transforms into a crow and flies onto my pack.

"Libby, we'll need your skills in just a second." I pull a dagger from my waist, then motion for Eyla to join me next to the symbol. She holds out her hand without fear. I lean closer, and say quietly, "It only took a drop from what I saw." She nods. I prick one of her fingers with my knife, then hold her hand over the center of the eye. The drop falls. The eye brightens, nearly blinding in its radiance as it turns icy blue. Then it swirls, shifting and disappearing.

The owl statue shifts, turning it place until it faces us, then it lowers its head in a bow, its mouth opening wide and revealing a staircase. Blue light travels down the stairs, illuminating the way as symbols of all kinds come to life along its walls.

"Well that's a first." Eyla says with a nervous laugh.

"I'll go in first," I say to the group, "I don't think there'll be traps inside, but better safe than sorry. Grildor, keep an eye on our mage." He nods to me, then I activate Hide Presence. Shar lowers herself into my backpack as I step into the mouth of the bird. Nothing happens, and I continue down. Eventually I arrive at a crystal door, turned white with Eyla's mana.

Once again my mana-detector is useless with the amount of mana surrounding me, so I'm forced to rely on my Danger Sense and knowledge of more mundane traps as I study the door. Nothing stands out to me, so I open it. A sense of some kinds moves over me, and I freeze as it looks into my being, examining me in some way I don't understand. Then it goes away, and with a click the door fully opens to reveal a room. Cursed and terrifying items sit behind crystal cases along the walls, the very air around them darkening.

At the back of the room, there's a bookcase, the books that sit on it a mix of menacing and mundane. In front of the bookcase is a desk with two chairs on either side. Several items are ornately displayed around the desk. In contrast to the items behind glass cases, these items give off magical and divine energy, easily reached. But what bothers me most, is the man who stands in the middle of the room, his hands clasped behind his back, and a cloak hiding his features.

He turns to me, and his cloak moves through a nearby case, dissolving and reforming on the other side.

"Ah. You've made it. Good." The man pulls back his hood, revealing a short-cut gray beard and sharp blue eyes. He smiles, a tired but genuine motion, "I was worried when I felt Masia leave." I reach for the sword at my waist with one hand and my wand with the other.

"Ah, no need for that. There's no point in us fighting. After all, I'm long gone from this world." The man walks over to the desk in the back, and sits in the chair with a tired sigh. I loosen my grip on my sword, but still pull the wand from my pocket as covertly as I can, "Who are you?"

"My name is long forgotten," The man says, looking up into the sky, "but I am the last Headmaster Of The Owls. Call me Era." I hesitate, then walk further into the room, "What do you mean you're long gone from this world?" He smiles, then leans back in the chair as he puts his boots on the desk, "A portion of my spirit has been sacrificed, enchanted into this very room so that I may defend this place should the Owls ever find themselves destroyed." My guard rises, "So you're a ghost?"

That's an extremely rare undead, and they tend to be quite hard to kill.

"In a manner of speaking, but you need not fear me. I don't suffer the afflictions of the undead." He lowers his chin, studying me. I do the same back. He doesn't hold any weapons, and he seems to be uncaring. Still, there's a danger about him that I can't quite pinpoint. After a second of consideration, I sit down at the desk opposite him.

"If you are a former headmaster, I have a lot of questions for you." He laughs, "I imagine you do. Unfortunately, it takes quite a lot of energy to maintain this form. So you'll have to live with many of your questions." He takes his feet off of the desk, and leans forward as the energy of the room suddenly shifts.

"Paladin of Sehara, I need your help protecting these items. As you can see, they are dangerous, and they cannot be allowed to fall into the hands of the crows. Rebuild the Owls, see our home defended." My mouth opens, then closes. I let out a small laugh, "I think you're overestimating me."

"Then find the Orders Of Oathsworn Levis and Reaper Yon. Their followers still walk the earth. Bring them my teachings, help them find this home so that they can defend our realm once more." He holds my gaze for a long moment, then leans back.

"In the pitch black of night, the crows fly free. The Owls must be there to hunt them." He stands up fully, and looks at a sword displayed to the side.

"They work their dark plots, bringing our world ever closer to the void. You are the one here. You are the finder of the path, guided by the light of the Guides. You may underestimate yourself, but there is no one else." I run my hand through my hair, then let out a breath.

"I'll try to help, but I can't promise you anything. I'm only one person, and I already have too many enemies." He turns towards me, his blue eyes piercing into me. Those eyes are so familiar now that I look at them, all too similar to Eyla's.

"There is no such thing as a hero destined for greatness, only men who choose to do great things when the world tests them. Take one item from this room, and nothing more. Bring me the Owls, and I will ensure they have the strength they need." He lifts his head, "When they stalk the night once more, you will be rewarded." The man fades in front of me, leaving me alone in the room. Muffled laughter comes from my pack, then Shar crawls her way out, leaping to the floor as a cat.

"He's just as world-endingly ostentatious as when I last saw him." She stretches, her tail high in the air, "Too bad you're missing out on all you're stolen stuff." I shake my head at her, "It's not stolen if they've been dead for five hundred years." She looks over at one of the particularly scary daggers hidden behind glass. Black mist coalesces around it, pushing against a barrier.

"Mhm." I let out a sigh, then start identifying the artifacts around me. Choosing just one is going to be torture.