Jien forced down the shock in his chest and studied the skeleton and the carvings on the stone slab once more.
"Reverse Blood… Return to the Source."
The four characters radiated an ominous aura. Return to what source? The origin of power… or the end of all things?
His eyes shifted to the countless strange symbols covering the stone walls. In the flickering firelight, they seemed almost alive, twisting ever so slightly.
Jien blinked, thinking his eyes were playing tricks. He leaned closer, focusing intently.
This time he saw it clearly. The symbols weren't static—they were moving. Ever so slowly, like veins of black blood crawling across the stone surface.
A wave of nausea and dread seized him. He stumbled back a step, nearly dropping his torch.
This place is cursed…
He avoided the walls, forcing his gaze back to the skeleton. Its hands were frozen in a strange mudra, fingers curled in an eerie gesture.
Beneath the skeleton's right index finger, the stone floor bore a marking unlike the rest—a small, intricate sigil that seemed oddly familiar.
Heart pounding, Jien drew his dagger and carefully nudged the finger bone aside.
The full pattern was revealed: a circular array of three rings, each etched with dense, mysterious symbols.
Lightning struck his mind. Jien fumbled at his chest and pulled out the ancient bronze disk he had once taken from the coffin in the ruined temple.
Holding it up to the firelight, he compared the two.
A perfect match.
The markings on the disk and the design beneath the bone—identical down to the tiniest detail.
This disk… it was tied to this cave. To this corpse. To the "Reverse Blood."
What in the heavens is it?
As Jien's mind reeled, all his focus locked on the two patterns—
A sudden tremor shook the bronze disk in his hand.
Without warning, the three rings of symbols began to rotate, shifting out of alignment on their own.
A surge of burning energy erupted from the disk, racing up his arm and exploding into his body.
"Ah!" Jien cried out, as the searing force crashed through his meridians—hot yet deathly cold, violent yet suffocating. It collided with his meager spiritual energy, tearing through his body.
Pain drowned him. His vision went black. Blood sprayed from his lips as he fell backward, limp.
The torch clattered to the ground and went out.
The cavern plunged into utter darkness.
Only the bronze disk remained, spinning of its own accord. Its surface glimmered faintly with a sinister, dark-red glow—casting eerie light over Jien's unconscious face, and the silent skeleton beside him.