The deeper Kaelen traveled into Kaelrith, the stranger the continent became.
The forests grew darker.
The mountains taller.
Even the air itself felt heavier somehow.
For nearly two weeks, Kaelen journeyed farther east from his homestead, crossing rivers and rocky hills while carefully marking paths along his map.
At night, he slept in trees or hidden shelters.
During the day, he hunted and explored.
The farther he moved from his territory…
the more signs of ancient civilization appeared.
Broken roads hidden beneath moss.
Collapsed stone pillars buried beneath dirt.
Strange carvings etched into cliffs.
At first, Kaelen believed they were merely ruins of forgotten villages.
But eventually— he realized the truth.
Something massive had once existed here.
A true civilization.
And not a primitive one either.
Even after centuries of decay, the remaining structures were far beyond anything most kingdoms in Westeros could build.
That realization both fascinated and terrified him.
“What exactly existed here…?” Kaelen muttered while climbing over shattered stone debris.
The forest around him was eerily silent.
No birds.
No insects.
Only cold wind moving through ancient ruins.
Kaelen tightened his grip on his sword instinctively.
Places like this felt dangerous.
As if something unseen watched from the darkness.
Then he saw it.
His eyes widened slightly.
Far beyond the trees stood enormous black stone structures rising above the forest floor.
Ruins.
Massive ruins.
Even from a distance, Kaelen could tell the buildings were gigantic.
Walls taller than castle towers.
Broken pillars thicker than tree trunks.
Half-collapsed stairways disappearing into darkness.
Nature had consumed much of the city, but enough remained to reveal its ancient grandeur.
Kaelen slowly approached.
Every step made him feel smaller.
The architecture was unlike anything he remembered from Westeros.
Smooth black stone.
Sharp geometric designs.
Towering arches.
And symbols.
Strange glowing symbols carved across walls and pillars.
Some resembled stars.
Others looked like flowing lines intertwined together.
Faint blue light still pulsed within certain carvings despite their age.
Kaelen frowned.
“…Magic?”
The possibility immediately came to mind.
This world contained dragons, White Walkers, shadow assassins, and ancient powers.
Magic existed here.
Still…
seeing its remnants directly felt surreal.
Kaelen carefully examined one of the glowing symbols.
The moment his fingers brushed the stone— a strange sensation spread through his body.
Warm.
Ancient.
Almost alive.
He immediately pulled his hand back.
“What the hell…”
The ruins suddenly felt far more dangerous.
Yet curiosity pushed him forward.
Kaelen spent hours exploring the outer structures carefully.
Most buildings had collapsed long ago.
Some rooms contained shattered furniture.
Others held rusted weapons reduced almost entirely to dust.
But the deeper he explored— the more intact the city became.
Eventually, Kaelen entered a large circular structure hidden beneath thick vines and broken stone.
The inside was dark and cold.
At the center stood a massive stone platform covered in glowing symbols.
And beside it— a staircase leading underground.
Kaelen narrowed his eyes.
An underground structure surviving this long meant one thing.
It had been protected intentionally.
Excitement rose inside him.
“Jackpot…”
He lit a fire lamp from his survival kit before descending carefully.
Darkness swallowed him almost immediately.
The deeper Kaelen traveled— the stronger the strange energy around him became.
Eventually, the staircase ended.
A long underground hallway stretched ahead.
Kaelen slowly raised the fire lamp.
Then his eyes widened.
Fire lamps.
Hundreds of them lined the walls.
Perfectly preserved despite ancient age.
“…Impossible.”
Carefully, Kaelen lit the nearest lamp.
FWOOOSH.
Blue fire instantly ignited.
Then another.
And another.
One by one, the hallway illuminated with pale blue flames.
The sight was breathtaking.
The underground passage looked untouched by time itself.
Black stone walls reflected soft blue light while mysterious symbols glowed faintly beneath the surface.
Kaelen walked slowly through the corridor.
Every sound echoed endlessly.
His footsteps.
His breathing.
The crackling flames.
The atmosphere felt sacred.
Ancient.
Almost unreal.
Then finally— he reached a door.
A small black door stood at the end of the hallway.
It wasn’t large.
Only enough for one person to enter at a time.
Yet despite its size—
Kaelen instantly sensed something extraordinary about it.
The symbols carved across its surface glowed brighter than anything else in the ruins.
He approached cautiously.
Then pushed.
Nothing happened.
Kaelen frowned.
He pushed harder.
Still nothing.
“…Locked?”
He examined the edges carefully but found no handle.
No keyhole.
Nothing.
Only glowing symbols.
Kaelen sighed before stepping backward.
“Fine.”
He planted his feet firmly.
Then used force.
Muscles tightened across his body as he shoved the stone door with all his strength.
Nothing.
Not even a slight movement.
Kaelen’s expression darkened.
His current strength was enough to overpower bears.
Yet this tiny door refused to move even slightly.
He drew his sword.
CLANG!
The blade struck the black stone.
Sparks flew.
But the door remained completely unharmed.
No scratches.
No damage.
Kaelen clicked his tongue in frustration.
Even his spear failed completely.
After nearly twenty minutes of trying different methods, he finally leaned against the wall and sighed heavily.
“This is ridiculous…”
Silence filled the corridor.
Then Kaelen suddenly remembered something.
“System,” he muttered.
“Do you know how to open this door?”
A blue screen appeared immediately.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Answer:
Yes, Host.
This door is sealed using magical energy.
Pour mana into the door to activate it.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Kaelen blinked.
“…Wait.”
He stared at the screen blankly.
“Mana?”
Another notification appeared.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Peak Talent applies to all paths of growth.
Including magic.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Kaelen froze completely.
Magic.
Real magic.
Not tricks.
Not stories.
Actual magic.
“You’re telling me I can use magic?” he asked slowly.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Correct.
Calm your mind.
Feel the energy within your body.
Guide it toward the seal.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Kaelen stared silently for several moments.
Then slowly sat cross-legged before the door.
The underground corridor became quiet once more.
He closed his eyes.
At first— nothing happened.
Only darkness.
Cold air.
The sound of distant flames.
Kaelen focused deeper.
Minutes passed slowly.
Then— he felt it.
Something warm flowing deep within him.
A strange current moving beneath his skin.
It felt natural.
Like breathing.
Like blood flowing through veins.
Mana.
Kaelen’s eyes widened slightly.
“So this is…”
Carefully, he guided the energy toward his hands.
The process felt awkward at first.
Slow.
Unstable.
But eventually, faint blue light appeared around his fingers.
Kaelen placed his hand against the door.
Then poured the energy forward.
The symbols immediately reacted.
Blue light spread across the entire surface of the door.
The underground hallway trembled slightly.
Then—
CLICK.
Kaelen opened his eyes instantly.
The seal had unlocked.
Slowly, he pushed the door.
This time— it moved.
The heavy black door creaked open inward.
Cold air rushed outward from the hidden chamber beyond.
Kaelen grabbed his sword tightly and stepped inside cautiously.
Then stopped completely.
“…Holy shit.”
The room beyond was enormous.
Far larger than the corridor outside.
Rows of ancient books filled towering shelves stretching toward the ceiling.
Weapons lined black stone walls.
Mostly swords.
Hundreds of them.
Some glowed faintly with strange energy.
Others looked impossibly sharp despite their age.
Gold coins overflowed from broken chests scattered across the chamber.
Diamonds.
Jewels.
Ancient treasures.
The entire room radiated power.
Magic.
History.
Knowledge.
Kaelen slowly stepped forward in awe.
This wasn’t merely a hidden room.
This was a preserved vault.
A fragment of Kaelrith’s lost civilization.
And standing alone beneath glowing blue flames—
Kaelen realized something important.
The continent held far more than monsters and wilderness.
It held secrets powerful enough to change the world itself.
Author’s note: