‎" What's the matter, Lucian?" the figure chuckled.

‎A tall, dark-haired youth with striking brown eyes stared back at him.

‎ The youth calmly sheathed the two long, curved blades he wielded back into the scabbard on his back.

‎A dark mist-like energy emanated from the blades, flowing into him, wreathing him in a dark, oppressive aura.

‎The very air around him hummed with barely restrained power.

‎Small beads of sweat rolled down Lucian's forehead.

‎ His instincts screamed at him to back up.

‎Evwn Cassius unconsciously growled, his eyes glowing slightly.

‎Talia warily stared at the youth in front of her. Hr hands subconsciously moved towards her holstered guns, ready to wield them at a moment's notice.

‎The tendrils of mist receded into his body, disappearing from sight.

‎" You look like you've seen a ghost."

‎" Morgan, is that you? "

‎The tall youth grinned brightly.

‎" In the flesh."

‎Lucian turned to the other hooded figure.

‎" And this is?"

‎The cloaked figure unveiled the dark hood shrouding its face.

‎Dark hair spilled out from the hood, flowing down her shoulders.

‎Piercing green eyes stared back at Lucian.

‎" Emily?" a voice spoke, full of disbelief.

‎Samantha stared at the dark-haired girl in shock.

‎" Hey Sammie," Emily said with a smile.

‎Samantha stared at her with wide eyes.

‎" It's really you, Em?"

‎Emily nodded, offering her a smile.

‎Lucian slowly shook his head.

‎" Fancy running into you two here of all places?"

‎Walking up to Morgan, he smiled warmly, shaking his hand.

‎" Is this really him, but how could it be? I could barely keep up with his movements and yet I'm certain I'm an initiate now."

‎During the fight, Morgn activated his awakened ability while also tapping into the Drayghar's power within him.

‎For the previous months, he'd practiced, experimenting time and again with the Drayghar's power.

‎After several tries, he'd managed to tap into a portion of the Drayghar's power.

‎The Drayghar's energy allowed him to move with increased speed, enhanced strength, and was probably the reason he was able to kill the spectral wolves.

‎"Those creatures bore a striking resemblance to the shadow wraiths."

‎He'd also instinctively felt a surge of strength upon every kill.

‎"It would seem the Drayghar grows stronger from consuming creatures similar to it," he thought.

‎" That's certainly quite interesting to know."

‎Lucian wasn't the only one puzzled by the change.

‎Cassius and Talia stared at Morgan with disbelieving eyes, doubting what they'd seen.

‎" Is Morgan still an aspirant? Definitely not. It can't be. But then how would he have become an initiate?"

‎As the group walked through the cobbled walkways, Talia stared at the dark-haired youth in front of her, finding it hard to compare him to the aloof scion he'd been at the academy just a few weeks back.

‎" What has he gone through to grow so strong?" she wondered.

‎Samantha squealed loudly, wrapping Emily in a tight hug.

‎"Oh my God, Emily, I can't believe it's you. It really is you."

‎Samantha's eyes darted to Emily's hands, then to her eyes in shock.

‎ "What about the ice? How did you do that? You managed to activate your ability? "

‎Emily nonchalantly nodded, smiling wryly.

‎" Yeah, I did."

‎" Come on, guys, it's not exactly safe out here. We need to move, " Morgan said.

‎He turned to Emily, nodding slightly.

‎He began to walk, heading deeper into the city.

‎" So what is this place?" Lucian asked, matching his strides to keep up.

‎" Well, from what I can tell, it's a city. Emily and I arrived here after escaping a shadow wraith on the surface. "

‎Lucian froze, his whole body going rigid.

‎His eyes widened in disbelief, his mouth falling open in a comical expression of shock.

‎" You did what?! "

‎Morgan turned to him in seeming puzzlement.

‎" What's the matter? Is there something wrong with what I said?"

‎Talia strode up to him, staring at him in disbelief.

‎" You know, I get that you've somehow grown in these past few days, but you should have the decency not to tell such blatant lies. "

‎Morgan stared in surprise.

‎Then a low chuckle emanated from his lips, the sound rolling through the quiet buildings.

‎" No, but I'm serious. That's how we got here. We were escaping a creature known as a prowler. A gigantic leopard-like creature with two heads. I actually fought it for a while, but it was quite powerful. We'd barely put some distance between us when we ran into the shadow wraith."

‎Lucian's eyes widened comically.

‎" How is that even possible? If he's telling the truth, he's in a league of his own.

‎Talia scoffed, rolling her eyes.

‎" There's no way, a mere aspirant and a latent ability Talented could escape from a creature as powerful as that. Not without help. "

‎" He's telling the truth, " Emily muttered under her breath.

‎Talia shook her head, then dismissively flicked her hand through the air.

‎" Fine, keep lying. "

‎Morgan smirked, continuing his narration.

‎" Of course, we discovered, the same mechanism you recently acquainted yourself with after falling through the gigantic hole in the side of the mountain."

‎The group was now approaching the courtyard leading to the giant temple.

‎" The winged creatures we fought earlier, the Bretnar. We encountered them here.

‎It was a surprise attack, but somehow we managed to hold our own and escape into that temple over there," Morgan said, pointing in the direction of the ancient temple.

‎" Mind you, that's where we've been staying for a while. It's also where we got these outfits. Pretty cool, right?"

‎

‎Lucian grinned, playfully jabbing Morgan's shoulder.

‎" Hope you left some for us."

‎Morgan chuckled, shaking his head slightly.

‎"Anyway, we discovered a bestiary of sorts within the temple.

‎A room documenting most of the Tenebrian creatures that we've encountered so far. "

‎Lucian stopped staring at him with renewed interest.

‎" Are you sure about that?"

‎Morgan nodded.

‎Emily quietly noted that he hadn't mentioned anything about the Shadow wraith in the temple.

‎"There's no point drawing any more attention to myself," Morgan inwardly thought, throwing a furtive glance at Talia.

‎"There's no use revealing all my cards at this point. I still can't be sure if I can trust everyone."

‎" By the way, how were you able to kill the creatures from earlier? Those dark ghostly wolves."

‎Morgan shrugged, offering a careless smile.

‎"I don't know. I just sliced through them with my blade. Why?"

‎Lucian stared at him in curiosity.

‎" The thing is, when we tried to kill them before, we couldn't even inflict lasting damage on them.

‎You see, their bodies kept reforming even after we slew them."

‎A slight frown appeared on Morgan's face.

‎" That's certainly interesting. How is that even possible?"

‎Lucian shook his head, shrugging nonchalantly.

‎" I'm not quite sure. But I'm certainly intrigued by how you managed to do it."

‎Morgan unsheathed the Blood Reaper blades, staring at them with a pensive expression on his face.

‎" It's probably the blood reaper blades.

‎They must be special in that way, probably some mystical property imbued into them by Professor Rundrik."

‎" How did you grow so strong in such a short period of time?"

‎Cassius chipped in, asking the question that was on all of their minds

‎The aspirants and even the Talented had spent roughly the same time here in Tenebris, and yet the air around Morgan was vastly different from what it used to be.

‎Morgan knitted his brows in thought, raising a hand to his chin.

‎" Well, if I had to guess, I fought a lot, so it improved my skills and battle sense significantly."

‎Lucian smiled at him, nodding politely.

‎"I see...tell me, Morgan, you're an initiate now, right?"

‎Talia's attention turned to Morgan as well, waiting for his answer.

‎Morgan nodded slightly, a subtle smile appearing on his face.

The group ascended the temple's magnificent steps and entered the imposing sanctuary beyond.

‎Several gasps rippled through the air.

‎" What is this place?" Talia asked, slowly taking in the majestic view of the temple.

‎The temple had a hallowed air to it that demanded worship and attention.

Several massive statues were spaced throughout the hall.

The statues depicted hooded figures wielding different weapons standing upon equally gargantuan pedestals.

Lucian stared at the lifelike sculptures in awe.

" What kind of people lived in this place? "

Beneath the statues, dark plaques had been engraved into the pedestals with different descriptions.

The interior of the hall was similarly illuminated with the same dark pillars and luminescent crystals that were altered throughout the city.

There was an ethereal beauty to the place that continued to draw the eye, impossible to ignore.

‎Even Amanda, who seemed mostly out of it, curiously stared at the place.

‎Morgan confidently strode forward, standing at the altar in the middle of the hall.

‎" From what we've been able to learn so far, this is a temple from a lost civilization, one that existed long before the Age of Monarchs. It seems in those days people used to dedicate sanctuaries to beings that had surpassed human limits of strength, transcending into something more..."

‎Morgan turned, smiling mysteriously.

‎"Welcome to the temple of Alsterius, the First Lord."

‎

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