Chapter 303: Surge of Memories

Gritting his teeth in frustration, Drake's body was shaking as he stood in place. Beads of perspiration glistened on the visible surface of his skin, he was clearly having great difficulties at this point just simply standing still in this thick, mysterious energy-rich air. 

His sword was slowly flailing in front of him, his hands were tightly clutched at the hilt. At the pommel the royal gemstone was glowing with a mere dim light only, long gone the powerful luster it showcased back at the entrance. 

Despite the difficulties, Drake was quite an obstinate young man. He refused to turn back and leave that stupid little boy on his own. Even though he was of royalty the cream of the crop while Aiden was as low of a commoner as one could get, Drake never looked at him in such a way. To him, who has suffered through the tragedy in his family, and spent all of his teenage years trying to find his siblings, he never cared about social standings.

To him, Aiden was a strange boy, that he owed a great deal. While he couldn't understand how he got 3 strange-looking goblins and a hulking giant-like orc as his followers, he was still the man that helped him rescue his dear sister and now himself as well. He owed too much to him to just ditch him and turn back at the first sign of difficulty.

No, he won't leave without his friend in tow!

Gritting his teeth, he forced his body to continue pacing forward, downwards on this eternal slope towards the darkness… He will find his friend, even if it's the very last thing he does in this life... He already owed it to that boy anyway…

---

"What are we going to do with all their bodies? They gonna turn stinky soon!" Finished with her assigned task, a blonde-haired girl with a mixture of both human and elven features walked in the wooden door and decisively walked towards the large dinner table where an elderly lady wrapped in tattered, raggedy red clothes and a slender, mature woman in a dark blue sleeveless outfit that looked vaguely similar to her combat attire but a bit more generous and comfier were already sitting on their usual seats awaiting for the late-comer and her trusty duo of canine companions.

"That took you way too much time, young lady. It seems we need to increase the difficulty in today's training…" The mature woman, Number 3 spoke with a lecturing tone causing the blonde teenager to freeze in her steps, her face turning pale in fright.

Before she could utter a word of complaint, the elderly woman broke in a hearty chortle. Waving with her right hand dismissively, she addressed the mature woman.

"Oh you, stop scaring that poor child! She did marvelously, no one saw her move through the shadows. You should be proud, it clearly shows she is your student. She isn't training for that long yet, she can already execute such techniques!"

Hearing the elders praising words, the mature lady harrumphed haughtily, refusing to comment on the subject any further. Still, the small, barely perceptible curvature on the edges of her lip betrayed her true feelings on the matter. 

Pointing towards one of the empty seats on the table, she turned towards the young girl again.

"Why are you still standing there Lily? Sit down already and let's eat. Granny made sure to make your favorite dessert again, so you would have all the energy to go through today's training. Don't forget, we have that assignment we will need to do soon!"

"Y-yes, Master. I know! I will work hard to make you all proud!" Awoken from her stupor, the blonde half-elf girl, Lily quickly scampered to her seat, the two large black war hounds, Sam and Biggy following behind.

As she took her seating, she looked at her plate that was already filled with her favorite morning course with the addition of a still-steaming piece of a sweet roll, she had a determined look on her face. She still had a lot of training to do, she was still far from being able to confidently take her brother's side. She vowed to never be a burden to him anymore. No, she will earn her place, and the upcoming job her Master had for her will be the perfect place to prove this fact…

With determination, she began to quickly gulp down the breakfast and get ready for yet another day of sweat and tears…

---

Stepping inside the hallowed, brightly glowing side chamber, Aiden was stunned when he saw the golden egg-shaped object laying on top of a crude, stone-made altar. The bright lighting of the room came from that singular object, that strange, large egg. 

The egg was the source of the light and the thick, energy-rich air at the same time. Continuously, as if it was on a beat, it rhythmically pulsed, releasing a perceptible cloud of energy-dust. 

As he continued to be dazed by the mere sight of this phenomenon, Aiden could feel a faint intent calling him, inviting him to step closer. He could faintly feel a presence coming from the object, urging him to embrace it, touch it.

The presence wasn't threatening, no, on the contrary, Aiden could feel a warmness, a tender care deeply etched into its call. 

As if understanding his worry, the gentle voice of Enya could be heard in his mind.

'[Don't be afraid Aiden. Take the egg, it was meant to be yours. Let it speak to you.]'

Knowing that Enya wouldn't advise anything that could prove to be harmful to him, Aiden finally nodded, accepting the mystical invitation, and took a careful step forward, slowly inching his way to the golden object atop the stone altar.

Every step he took he felt more and more perturbed. The rich energy in the air wrapped itself around him, gently embracing him just like a mother would his child… It was almost as if it had its own conscience, and recognized Aiden.

Arriving in front of the altar, Aiden was looking stunned at the sight of the visible excitement of the golden egg. It was shaking, its previous rhythmic pulsations increased in intensity, and became erratic, chaotic in terms of power.  The [Soul Power] was so rich around the egg by this point, that a visible cloud of fog started to shroud the sacred object. 

Steeling his will, reminding himself of Enya's last words, Aiden shook his head, clearing his head from all the ill thoughts that plagued it. Slowly, he reached out with both arms, approaching the sides of the golden egg that was made of some unknown, probably organic material.

Whatever it was, there was an incredible amount of power trapped inside it to be able to create such a thick fog around itself. His hands swaying, wavering in the air as it approached the object, inching ever-so-closer in the air. Careful, as if afraid of offending an unknown entity in its depths, the hands stopped a few inches above the glowing surface of the egg.

One would expect some heat radiating from the surface, accompanying such an intense light, however, Aiden could not feel anything of the sort. There was no heat, he couldn't feel the same hotness when he leaned closer to the campfire's flickering flames. The warmth he felt in the air wasn't a sensation, it was an emotion, a gentle, kind intent that was carried by the invite of the unknown presence. It wanted to make contact, it wanted to communicate with him, with Aiden, the nobody. The boy without a past, a simple present, and an uncertain future.

Taking one last gulp, Aiden's hands gently touched the shell, the surface of the egg. As soon as he did, he felt a surge of energy forcefully enter inside his body. In the next moment, the continuous ringing of the system's bell-like notifications rang inside his mind, slowly pushing every other source of noise away.

His vision faded to black, as incomprehensible endless images began to flash in front of his eyes at a pace way too fast for him to even have a chance to take a look at it.

The endless surge of scenes and memories continuously flashed, from which he could only make out the faint flashes of light as it zapped through his mind.

Gritting his teeth, Aiden could feel a slowly growing searing pain emerging from the back of his head, slowly sneaking towards the forefront of his brain, tormenting it. The pressure of the seemingly endless memories continued to flow into Aiden's mind, with no end in sight.

As the pain continued to grow, swiftly crossing to the point of barely being bearable, Aiden could hear Enya's concerned tone resounding in his mind, calming his nerves.

'[Bear with it Aiden. Let the process finish. Once it does, you will understand. You will learn of the past that was hidden from the world. The truth will be clearer to you.]'

As if she said the magic word, the pain suddenly subsided, and the endlessly flowing memories stopped. Soon, before he could respond or do anything, the first scene of a memory from a long-lost time began to play out in front of his eyes...