While Maira and Arcanis were proceeding ahead, the thought and curiosity finally hit Maira.
"You know I was wondering, why did you get sealed in the first place." Maira Arcanis.
"You must have done something really bad for the gods to seal you away"
"Honestly I never did anything to deserve this, the gods were just afraid of me, of the power i possessed" Arcanis said calmly
"Whoa are you telling me that you're actually the strongest diety," Maira expressed her curiosity. "What's the story, I want to why you were sealed away."
"It's really not a fun and interesting story I'll bore you to death before the monsters do." Arcanis said sarcastically.
"Just tell me" she insisted.
"I was human once… just like you."
The dungeon tunnels were silent except for the distant dripping of water. Maira walked slowly beside the floating grimoire while faint blue crystals illuminated the darkness around them.
Arcanis' voice had changed. For the first time since meeting him…
He sounded nostalgic.
"I lived in a small village near the capital of Zyris," he continued quietly. "A peaceful place."
The grimoire glowed faintly.
And slowly…
Memories began forming around them like illusions. A younger boy appeared, fourteen years old.
Messy brown hair.
Black eyes.
Simple farm clothes.
A carefree smile.
"Arcanis! Help me out over here!" a woman shouted.
The boy turned immediately.
"Yes mom! I'm coming!"
Maira silently watched the memory unfold.
The younger Arcanis rushed across a field carrying baskets of harvested vegetables.
His mother wiped sweat from her forehead before handing him several cabbages.
"Take these to Mr. Shin, Ms. Merrybelle, and the chief," she said warmly. "And try selling the rest."
"And don't forget to pass my greetings!" his father shouted from the far side of the farm.
"Will do!" young Arcanis replied with a grin.
The memory shifted.
Villagers greeted him warmly as he delivered produce across the village. Some teased him affectionately. Others praised the quality of his family's crops.
It was simple.
Peaceful.
Normal.
Maira noticed something strange.
"You smiled a lot back then."
Arcanis was silent for a moment.
"…I did."
The memory shifted again. Young Arcanis approached a small house.
"Ms. Merrybelle! I brought the cabbages you ordered!"
An elderly woman opened the door happily.
"Oh wonderful! And they're perfect as always!"
Arcanis scratched the back of his head shyly.
"Glad you like them."
The memory moved once more.
A blacksmith shop. A stern-looking man accepted another delivery.
Then finally…
The road toward the village chief's house. but halfway there—
BAM.
Young Arcanis suddenly stumbled backward,
as if he had walked into an invisible wall.
"What the—?"
Laughter echoed nearby.
"If it isn't the boy with the useless gift."
Several older boys emerged. Mocking smiles spread across their faces.
"His Core Gift doesn't even work."
"It's literally sealed."
Young Arcanis lowered his head slightly.
"…Sorry."
Maira frowned, her expression darkened slightly. She understood that look.
That humiliation.
Then suddenly—
The pressure around the boys increased.
CRASH.
They were slammed face-first into the dirt. a nearby villager approached calmly.
"Are you alright, kid?"
Young Arcanis nodded while accepting his hand.
"Yeah… thanks."
The man smiled slightly.
"Be more careful."
The memory faded briefly, then Arcanis spoke again.
"Before magic existed," he explained, "people possessed something called Core Gifts."
"Abilities tied to their souls, Some were powerful, Some were useful."
"And some…"
His voice lowered slightly.
"…were considered worthless."
The illusion shifted again.
A glowing symbol appeared before young Arcanis.
VELKRIS PLUNDER Locked.
Sealed.
Unknown.
"I never understood it," Arcanis admitted. "No one did."
"So people feared it."
The memory continued.
Days passed peacefully. Arcanis worked on the farm with his parents.
Sold produce.
Laughed.
Lived.
Until one day…
The illusion darkened.
Young Arcanis walked along a road carrying empty baskets after successfully selling produce in a neighboring village.
Then—
Smoke.
His smile vanished. The sky ahead glowed orange, Maira's eyes widened slightly. The village was burning.
Young Arcanis dropped everything and ran.
Houses collapsed into flames, villagers screamed, soldiers marched through the streets, bodies littered the ground.
Maira slowly clenched her fists, the memory felt painfully familiar. Arcanis ran desperately toward his home but when he arrived—
Nothing remained.
Only fire.
Ashes.
And silence.
Then a voice echoed through the burning village.
Cold.
Emotionless.
"Sacrifice threshold reached, unlocking Core Gift: Velkris Plunder."
The illusion trembled violently young Arcanis slowly stood. Tears streamed down his face.
The soldiers noticed him immediately.
"Hey! There's another survivor!"
"Capture him!"
But something changed, the fire around the village began moving unnaturally.The flames twisted.
Bent.
Gathered around him.
Maira watched silently.
"The ability reacted to my emotions," Arcanis said quietly.
"Anger."
"Sorrow."
"Hatred."
The flames exploded, the memory became a storm of fire. Soldiers screamed as infernos consumed them. The burning village itself became Arcanis' weapon.
The fire wasn't normal anymore It obeyed him.
Every flame.
Every ember.
Every spark.
When the massacre ended young Arcanis collapsed unconscious in the ashes, silence followed.
Then the illusion shifted once more.
Knights wearing silver armor appeared.
"The Zyris Royal Order found me afterward," Arcanis explained. "They took me in."
"I became an orphan of war."
The memories accelerated rapidly now.
Arcanis growing older, training, studying,
experimenting. People staring at him in fear,
others in awe.
"The world called me many things."
"Monster."
"Wizard."
"Hero."
"Demon."
He paused.
"But eventually…"
"I discovered the true nature of my ability."
The illusion changed again.
Magic circles filled the air, elements twisted around Arcanis.
Wind.
Fire.
Lightning.
Water.
Shadow and so on.
"The ability evolved." He said calmly.
"It no longer copied only nature."
"It copied concepts themselves."
Maira's eyes widened slightly.
"…That's impossible."
Arcanis laughed softly.
"Yes." He said. "That's what frightened the gods."
The memories became grander now, Arcanis standing among armies, floating above kingdoms, magic reshaping the world itself.
"Magic did not exist before me."
He said with certainty.
"I created it."
The dungeon trembled faintly.
"Humanity grew stronger because of me."
"But the gods…"
His voice darkened.
"…became afraid."
The illusion shifted again.
Gigantic divine figures standing above the heavens watching Arcanis. Watching humanity evolve.
"They realized something terrifying."
"If a god possessed shadows, I could create Shadow Magic."
"If a god possessed storms, I could create Storm Magic."
"If a god possessed destruction, I could create Destruction Magic."
Maira slowly understood.
"You could replicate their authority in the name of magic."
"Exactly."
The illusion darkened completely.
"The gods attempted to kill me three times."
"I survived every attempt."
"So eventually…"
"They invited me among them."
The heavens appeared Arcanis seated among divine beings, a mortal standing beside gods.
"For over a thousand years," Arcanis said quietly, "I stood at the pinnacle of existence."
Then his tone became cold.
"But gods are prideful creatures."
"And fear…"
"…makes even gods cruel."
The final memory appeared.
An enormous ritual.
The gods caught him lacking, countless gods surrounding Arcanis After a huge struggle.
Chains of divine light binding his body.
"The gods of Sealing and Dungeons betrayed me."
His body shattered into fragments of light, his power ripped away. His screams echoed through the heavens.
"They sealed me inside this grimoire…"
The floating book beside Maira glowed faintly.
"…and threw me into the World-Class Dungeon."
The memories disappeared, darkness returned, only the faint dungeon crystals remained.
"For two thousand years…"
Silence.
"…I waited."
Maira looked at the grimoire quietly. Then finally asked:
"And now?"
Arcanis floated beside her. His voice became calm again.
"Now…"
A faint dark glow spread from the book.
"…the gods will learn what happens when they fail to kill something properly."
"We'll do it together" Maira added.
"I'm also wondering what could have brought you in this place" Arcanis asked.
Maira clenched her fists
"My mother suffered from a rare a disease, I used to take of her and it didn't bother me, she was my everything."
A pause.
"She was murdered and I was the one framed for killing her."
The the images resurfaced fueling her anger.
"No one listened, no one gave me a chance."
She took a breath. "They abandoned me and threw me into this dungeon to die but I'll survive, escape and take my revenge."
She said with rage burning in her veins, Arcanis floated beside her and said.
"We'll get stronger together and get out of this place, then take our revenge."