Adam stood at the edge of the chasm, facing downward. Although he appeared calm on the surface, his heart was, in fact, pounding in nervousness.
He inhaled deeply, then asked the hermit standing beside him, "Sect Leader, what do you see?"
Even the Sect Leader of the Shadow Sect, a Mana Core Magus who had lived close to a thousand years, couldn’t help but feel his heart gripped by dread as he stood by the edge.
It was a fear more primal than anything he’d ever felt before.
The oldest and most dreadful fear known to man...
The fear of the unknown.
And as he gazed into the tenebrous valley beneath him, that fear only deepened. It served as a silent warning that whatever awaited him inside would change him forever.
He turned to the blindfolded youth and intently looked at him. The hermit could tell that the youth was deeply afraid, yet still he chose to proceed forward.
"I will ask you one last ti, young magus," said the hermit. "Are you certain that you wish to enter the Dark Valley?"
"I don’t want to," said the raven-haired youth, his lips curling into a nervous grin. "But I know I must."
He raised his head, his lips curling even wider. Then, he scread, "Isn’t that right... Tron!!"
Seeing Adam react like that, the hermit thought that he truly must have been very nervous. But what happened next astounded him to his core.
THUNDER!
A sudden flash lit up the sky above the Dark Valley, turning the clouds stark white for a brief mont. Thunder rolled a second later, echoing through the ravine. More streaks of lightning flickered inside the storm-heavy clouds, outlining the fractured sky before darkness returned.
The hermit watched everything unfold in utter shock. He couldn’t help but think to himself:
What are the chances? Could this just be... a coincidence?
Wait a minute!
A coincidence?!
He turned to Adam and saw that the youth had raised his head to the sky. He laughed and laughed and laughed.
For a brief mont, the hermit had this strange feeling that the whole world was supporting Adam Constantine.
The hermit’s heart churned with tumultuous waves. In his long life, he had never witnessed such a phenonon. And when he recalled the words of Lao Ren, the first Sect Leader of the Shadow Sect, he beca more and more certain that Adam was the one ntioned in the prophecy.
"...Ghost of Hoshigane," he couldn’t help but murmur.
Adam turned to him and smiled. "That na is slightly misleading, don’t you think, Sect Leader?"
The hermit snapped back to his senses. "How so?"
"Well, for one, I’m not from Hoshigane." Adam offered a faint, sorrowful smile.
"I am soone cast out from my holand and left to wander the earth alone. An outcast despised by the very people who once looked up to , who once loved . I am a ghost..."
He paused, his tone carrying a cold resolve, a promise to right the wrongs that were done to him and avenge those he had lost.
"I am the Ghost of Ravenfell."
The hermit deeply looked at the youth. At the mont, Adam appeared far bigger than he was. Like a mountain that could not be climbed.
Even the Sect Leader, a being far stronger than Adam, appeared tiny in front of him.
The hermit sighed, "You really are soone destined to do great things, young Magus."
Adam simply smiled in return. He then unfastened the leather backpack and gently patted it. "Sect Leader, can you take care of this little guy for ?"
"Gege?"
The hermit arched an eyebrow. But eventually, he nodded. "I will."
"I’ll see you soon, Gege." Adam smiled fondly.
"Gege! Gege!"
The mimic was reluctant to part with the madman, but it also didn’t want to go within the tenebrous valley. It had been shuddering in fear for a while now since they had arrived at the edge.
So in the end, the mimic parted ways with Adam. It looked visibly upset as the hermit held onto it.
Noticing this, Adam gently smiled. "Don’t worry. It won’t be long before we et again."
"Gege..." the mimic replied, its voice downcast.
"Anything else you’d like to entrust with?" The hermit gently asked.
Adam thought for a mont, then shook his head. "No, that will be all, Sect Leader."
The hermit nodded. He thought for a mont, then added, "What about the Great War? Are you planning to participate in it again? And... what of your friend, the Heavenly Demon?"
"Who can tell?" Adam shrugged. "Maybe by the ti I return, the war will have already ended. As for the Heavenly Demon..."
He paused for a mont, then continued, "You can rest assured he won’t do anything too drastic. Uh... at least, I hope he won’t. But regardless, he sees the Tsuitsui Clan, the Baihua Sect, and the Shadow Sect as allies. So do what you will with that information."
"I see." The hermit nodded, his thoughts a little complicated.
He looked at Adam and then gently patted his shoulder. "May fortune be with you, young Magus."
As he said that, his hand glowed with a faint golden glow, which was imdiately absorbed by the raven-haired youth.
Adam was slightly taken aback. "Did you just... impart with luck?"
The hermit simply smiled in return.
"...Thank you, Sect Leader." Adam was grateful.
He didn’t know if the imparted luck would help him in his venture, but every little bit helped.
Adam inhaled deeply, then summoned the Staff of Calamity.
"Thank you for guiding here," Adam murmured as he took a step forward. "And please take care of Gege. He has been a good companion to during my lowest monts."
With that, he leaped off the edge and plumted into the depths of the Dark Valley.
The wind tore past him as he descended, and the darkness swallowed his figure whole. The walls of the valley rushed upward like the sharp and jagged teeth of an ancient creature waiting to devour him.
For several heart-pounding seconds, Adam felt nothing but the sensation of falling into an endless, tenebrous void.
Adam’s breathing turned ragged as the darkness consud him.
This sensation... he had felt it before.
Darkness, eyes, tendrils, gates, and a river that flowed backward.
He had dreamt of it before!
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