As the sun had yet to show itself, two people stood under the moonlight.
"I know that place, so it should be fine for you to go alone, but don't let me worry. If you don't come by the end of the day, I will go to search for you. Understood?" said Vanessa with a serious yet concerned voice as she looked at her son, a pride of her life.
"Yes, mother. I'll try to be as quick as possible," he responded while placing a little backpack on his back.
He gave his mother one last look, he went towards the village entrance.
Vanessa calmly looked at his departure but inwardly was still worried.
'I hope everything will go smoothly.'
…
Several hours later.
Vincent shielded his eyes as he looked up at the sky.
'Hate summer. This constant heat is slowly killing me. Gladly, I should be almost there,' he thought and looked around.
Right now he stood on a small hill covered with flowers. Calm and warm wind was blowing past him, carrying the pleasant flowers scent with it.
'That way,' thought Vincent as he moved forward after a short break.
A few kilometres further, Vincent stopped.
Vincent looked up.
Currently, he was standing on a long road with greenery on both sides and beside him was a massive old tree that looked like it was a hundred meters tall, though he can be wrong.
He was still a little boy back then when he and his mother were briefly passing by this area in a carriage.
Several years had passed by then, yet this tree didn't change even a bit.
In some distance further should be a vast lake where Mister Jacob took him on fishing several times.
As the calm wind blew past his face, Vincent took out the old letter.
After reading the context again he nodded and continued walking.
'Almost there.'
…
Around half an hour later, Vincent stood at the shore of the vast lake. He can barely see the shore on the opposite side.
Vincent knew what he was searching for so he moved further ahead until he arrived at the other shore near the small hill covered with trees.
'Okay, it should be somewhere here if I understand the letter correctly. Gladly, the water is crystal clear so I should be able to find it before sunset.'
Vincent removed the backpack and started to undress until only pants were left on him.
He then gradually moved towards the water.
Feeling the warm water with his feet was refreshing under such hot weather.
When the water level was already at his shoulders he took a few deep breaths and dived in.
He was glad that he went on fishing with Mister Jacob back then where he managed to learn how to swim under his guidance.
Though he was still clumsy, it wasn't much of an issue.
After almost a minute, Vincent suddenly emerged from the water while taking a deep breath.
'I can only last a few dozen seconds without air,' he thought as he looked around, 'It will not be easy to find the exact spot mentioned in the letter even after all those clues.'
Vincent took a few deep breaths and dived again.
An hour later.
*Splash*
Vincent emerged again.
'I think it should be it,' he thought while gasping for air.
'I've almost missed it because of those overgrown roots.'
If he was forced to take a few more dives, he would've been fully exhausted and his determination to continue tomorrow would be greatly affected so Vincent was overjoyed after finally being able to find the small underwater cave mentioned in the letter.
But there was an issue.
Its entrance to it was almost completely covered with roots. Clearing the way will take a lot of time and energy as he can't stay underwater for too long or he might drown.
Wiping water from the face, he looked up.
The sun was already going down.
If we don't want to be forced to sleep here and make his mother worried, he needs to finish it as soon as he can and go back.
He hardened his resolve, took a deep breath and dived.
…
Some time later.
*Splash*
As water splattered, someone weakly crawled on the surface amidst complete darkness.
*Cough*
*Cough*
Vincent coughed and was so exhausted he could barely move.
Not long ago, when he was removing the roots, he almost died.
If he was a few seconds late, he would drown for sure.
Recalling that feeling of sudden panic while being submerged under water, threw fear into his heart.
'What an idiot. I almost killed myself by trying to clear those stubborn roots.'
"Haaa… haaa…" Vincent took a deep breath as that fear was still lingering inside of him.
He decided to take a short break on this cold ground and calm himself.
Laying, he looked around a bit.
An utter darkness and silence.
He tried to suppress the rising panic in his heart, but it wasn't easy.
This place was way outside of his usual environment.
'God bless the letter mentioned that I need to prepare some source of light before coming here. If it didn't, I would have to take a few more trips which would've taken several days of time for sure.'
After he felt that some strength came back, he tried to stand up.
"Auch!"
But he didn't manage to raise much before his head unexpectedly hit the ceiling which almost made him faint from sudden pain.
Vincent crouched even further as he rubbed his head with a grimaced expression.
After the pain went away, he then opened his mouth and took a small object that he was holding within.
When the object appeared, it began to glow, though weakly.
A luminescent stone.
Everyone knows about this stone, but not many people actually use it since its light isn't so bright compared to an ordinary lamp or candle.
But in situations like this, it was very useful.
The light was strong enough to lit-up only half a meter around the stone, but it was enough in such a tight place.
Vincent extended his hand in front of him and saw a narrow pathway covered in spiderwebs not far away.
Thinking about spiders, he shuddered.
Though he knew that spiders were almost harmless, just their sheer look was frightening to Vincent.
The first-time he saw a spider, he had nightmares for two days that he still can't forget.
Gulping, he slowly crawled into the pathway, hoping to not encounter any spiders on the way.
Around ten minutes later, Vincent finally saw the end of the narrow pathway and became overjoyed.
As he crawled out, his body trembled. Not only because his body was still wet and the temperature here was much lower compared to the surface, the damned spiderwebs were everywhere in the pathway which stuck to his wet body almost like glue.
He wants to leave this god damn place right now, but going back just because he is afraid of spiders will be truly idiotic.
He tried to calm himself, but it wasn't easy, especially when your body is covered in this horrendous thing.
Vincent's near-naked body trembled from feeling cold from time to time as he looked around and was shocked.
Surprisingly, this place was much more spacious than where he was before.
Even though the luminescent stone was not bright enough to allow him to see the ceiling, there was another source of light that was much brighter.
He found himself at the entrance of the spacious underground cave filled with stalactites that were glowing with gentle light all over the cave.
The cave was around 30-40 meters wide and around 3-4 meters in height. In the middle of the cave was a small pond as droplets of water were falling onto it from the ceiling.
Even though finding such a place gave him a pleasant surprise, this wasn't the reason he was shocked.
The reason was at the opposite side of the cave.
Vincent's heartbeat increased as he looked at a figure covered in a hood sitting in a meditating position, completely unmoving.
Vincent gulped and observed the figure in silence.
After some time, he managed to calm down a bit.
After a brief hesitation, he walked ahead.
When he was about to pass near the pond, she suddenly stopped.
*Splash*
He bent down and splashed the water onto himself, wanting to get rid of the annoying and itching spiderwebs.
The water was quite cold.
He didn't manage to remove everything, but almost all spiderwebs were gone which made inwardly rejoice.
"Acho!" he suddenly sneezed.
Trembling, he arrived near the sitting hooded figure.
"..."
After observing it a bit, he slowly removed the dusty hood.
Even though he already expected it, he still shuddered upon actually seeing it.
Vincent looked at the white skull for sometime before deciding to touch it.
But when his finger barely touched it, the skull suddenly separated from the spine and fell down with *thud* that slightly echoed through the cave.
Upon impact, the skull cracked and fell apart on many pieces.
At this moment, Vincent suddenly shuddered and took a step back in shock. But it didn't last long.
Vincent gulped as he looked at the remains with slight confusion about what just happened, but he can't point a finger on what exactly.
Taking a deep breath, he somewhat suppressed the trembling within him.
Whatever was the reason he was brought here, after he finished it, Vincent decided to bury those remains and properly send him on his way as his distant descendant and quickly leave this place.
"Acho!" shivers run through his body from the cold.
Vincent gulped and moved his gaze to the stuff nearby the hooded skeleton.
There was a small bag covered in a thick layer of dust as well as a stick near it.
Vincent already expected to see the bag as it was mentioned in the letter, but not the stick so he carefully picked it up first.
It was around a meter and a half long wooden stick. A bit heavy, yet surprisingly very hard.
There weren't any markings on it at all.
It was just an ordinary looking solid wooden stick.
Sadly, Vincent can't properly hold it due to the small size of his hands.
But this issue will be resolved after he grows up so he wasn't too discouraged.
With this in mind, he leaned the stick to the rocky wall.
But there was something strange.
When the stick left his hand, he felt somewhat… dejected as if not wanting to part away with it.
He can't help but give another glance at the stick.
'Weird.'
Then he picked the dusty bag.
*Cough* Vincent coughed a few times as he removed the dust from the bag.
The bag itself wasn't heavy. He definitely felt at least 2 objects within.
After removing the rope, he slowly inserted his hand in and took out an object.
It was a big book that was in pretty decent shape despite the passage of time.
Vincent removed the dust from its cover and saw several words in familiar language.
The Threefold Origin
Vincent was intrigued. Well, very intrigued to say the least.
But it wasn't the right time to indulge himself in the book's context.
From the information in the letter, everything he finds in this cave will belong to him, so was not in a rush.
After he put the book aside, he inserted his hand into the bag again and took out something that felt a bit familiar upon the touch.
'Another crystal?' Vincent wondered if it was the same one that his mother gave him.
But upon closer look, there were some differences.
It wasn't as nearly as transparent and was several times heavier.
Vincent had no idea what it was, but it must have some use.
After placing the crystal aside, he took another object from the bag.
It was the same exact looking crystal, but in slightly different shape.
Vincent nodded to himself and afterwards took several more exact crystals from the bag.
After taking out the last crystal, the bag became completely empty.
Vincent felt a bit dejected, hoping to find some more stuff, but it was what it was.
He doesn't know what those crystals were, but he believed that the book would definitely answer all of his questions.
After standing up, Vincent walked around the hooded skeleton and saw nothing else.
'I guess this is all.'
"Acho!"
Vincent rubbed his arms in an attempt to warm himself a bit as he looked at the hooded skeleton.
After a prolonged look, he walked to the nearby wall and picked the wooden stick.
With a *stabbing* sound, Vincent began to dig a hole. But after a few hits, he had barely any strength left as the ground was quite sturdy.
After contemplating for some time, he made a decision.
'I don't have enough strength to dig a deep enough hole to bury the remains nor the time to spend on it. Mother will be worried if I don't come back soon. Moreover, I'm very hungry and probably got sick already. If I keep staying here in this cold, the situation will definitely become even worse. It's time to leave,' thought Vincent as he looked at the remains before picking up the bag and placing it back inside the crystals.
Afterwards, he removed the hood from the remains, exposing the full skeleton, and covered the book in the fabric.
He found it quite useful that this old fabric was able to resist water when he saw how droplets of water from the ceiling were not absorbed by the fabric, but were casually sliding down till it fell either on the bones or onto the ground.
This should be perfect protection for the book when he goes back.
After covering the book, he looked at the mysterious wooden stick and shook his head after some thought.
'The stick I'll take later on when I come back again. It will not go anywhere. This place is very well hidden so chances that someone finds it is incredibly low.'
With this in mind, Vincent went to a place where he put the luminescent stone and then moved towards the narrow path leading towards the cave exit in high spirits, though very exhausted and somewhat sick.
Suddenly, he felt shivers run through his body.
The moment the skull was detached from the rest of skeletal remains, something invisible passed through him, like a wave, straight towards the entrance…