Bellenridge had grown quieter in recent weeks. Quieter for Rei, at least. Most adventurers were busy chasing coin or glory, running quests or recovering from them. But Rei? He was chasing knowledge.
In the back corner of the guildhall, under the guise of a common researcher, he flipped through a dusty volume borrowed from a traveling scholar's stash. He'd heard the name only once—spoken in a hushed tone by an elder barkeep on the road:
"Crimson Vault," the old man had whispered. "A place older than the gods. Older than the Archons. Sealed for a reason."
It hadn't left Rei's thoughts since.
Fragments and Echoes
The first clues were maddeningly vague. Mentions of a vault hidden beneath a collapsed kingdom—Sarynthil—a once-glorious land now swallowed by time and vegetation. There were tales of cursed guardians, sealed doors that bled light, and echoes of beings who walked like mortals but shattered armies.
One ancient scroll, written in broken Old Imperial, held the phrase:
"Where red light spills beneath iron roots, the breaker's oath still burns."
A breaker's oath.
Rei felt it stir in his blood.
Forbidden Knowledge
Even in Bellenridge's modest library, some tomes were locked behind metal mesh and enchanted chains. Fortunately, Myra knew a few tricks.
"What you're looking for is sealed tight," she whispered one night, sliding him a page she had "borrowed" from the vault's archives. "Don't ask how I got it. Just read."
It was a map fragment. Old. Smudged. But it bore a sigil Rei had seen only once before—in a dream he had after the Archons attacked him.
The same red circle with jagged lines radiating outward like a sun split in agony.
"This isn't just any ruin," Rei said. "This place… called to me."
A Dangerous Pursuit
Rei knew better than to go alone. The Vault was rumored to house relics of cataclysmic power—artifacts that predated even the current age of class systems. But more than that, he feared it was a trigger. A beacon.
Places like that could attract Archons. Or worse.
He gathered a small group: Myra, of course. Callis, for his insight into ancient magic. And a young rogue named Eno who claimed to have explored lost temples before.
"If it's real," Eno said with a sly grin, "it's either cursed or forgotten for a good reason."
"Maybe both," Rei replied.
But something deep inside urged him forward. The Vault was no longer just a mystery—it was a mirror. A place that might finally show him what he was.
Whispers of the Vault
The more Rei read, the more unease pounded in his chest.
The Vault, according to legends, was not merely a prison or a tomb—it was a sanctuary for rejected power. Places like this weren't destroyed. They were buried, because to erase them would risk releasing what they contained.
It was said a Worldbreaker once died at the gates of the Crimson Vault. Another was sealed inside—either willingly or as punishment. The name "Vel Kareth" appeared more than once.
"He was one of the first," Callis noted, running his finger over the glyphs. "If this is true… this vault might not just tell us about Worldbreakers."
"It might have made them," Rei whispered.
Tensions Beneath the Surface
Myra grew quiet the more they researched. Rei noticed the way she looked at him now—not with fear, but with a sort of silent calculation. She hadn't asked if he was a Worldbreaker. She didn't need to.
"You really want to go to this place?" she asked him late one night.
"I don't think I have a choice."
"You do. You always do. But if you go—be ready. You're not the only one this Vault might call to."
Toward the Unknown
By the end of the week, Rei had compiled everything: the map fragment, the sigils, the coordinates carved into old stone, and the whispers in forbidden pages.
The Vault was real. And it wanted to be found.
But he knew, deep down, that walking into it would be like crossing a line. Once he stepped into that crimson-lit hollow, he might never be able to walk the world unnoticed again.
"Will I walk it stronger," he asked himself.
"or will he then be known... Hunted..."