He walked out of the room that he was in back to the white space. He immediately noticed that there was a splash of color in the plain white room.
The white door of the Room of Records was glowing in a bright gold color. He walked toward it, mesmerized by the color. His hands hovered over the door's handle as he thought about what could be inside the room.
The last time he had felt his tattoo glow was when he encountered the Elderwood seed. And that seed was his greatest treasure that got him to the level he was at now. He didn't expect something of physical value beyond the door, but he hoped to encounter something that was as useful to him as his tree.
He opened the door and walked inside. The minute he stepped into the room, he noticed that the room wasn't white as it was previously. Instead, its walls and ceiling were plastered in a golden glow that was almost blinding.
The minute the doors behind him closed, the room flashed with a bright light. He instinctively closed his eyes to shield them from the light. For some reason, he couldn't even see anything with his perception. When he opened his eyes again, he realized that he was in a completely different location.
He found himself on top of a mountain, high up in the air. Below him were the clouds that the mountain towered over. The sun was illuminating the peak of the mountain. He thought he was alone based on what he could see with his perception. When he looked up, though, he realized that he was wrong.
A mile away from the mountain, a single person stood with his back toward Leo. The person was facing three others.
The three were wearing luxurious robes and had magic staffs, so Leo could guess that they were mages. One of them looked incredibly old and was dressed in a white and gold robe, while the other two were young females. They were both in green robes with gold accents.
"So, you have come to face me, Arcane Emperor," the old man said.
Leo's expression turned into surprise and then realization. He understood why the room he entered was called the room of records. It was the room that held the records of the Arcane Emperor.
He observed closely to see exactly what his predecessor looked like. From the back, Leo could only see his black hair.
"Are you surprised that I am facing you?" The Arcane Emperor said. "You are a person that I have to fight. It was inevitable."
The old man shook his head. "I disagree. The offer for you to join me is still open. But if you disagree now, I am afraid I have to fight you with all my strength."
Leo waited for the Arcane Emperor to say something with anticipation. Based on his voice, Leo could guess that he was not nearly as old as the other mage.
"I am afraid I cannot do that. We will always defer in our fundamental beliefs," he said.
"You have too much righteousness. I don't know if you inherited the quality from your blood or grew it, but it will be your downfall. You need to know when to take a step back." The old man said.
"Who are the people behind you?"
The old man looked behind at the two young women behind him. They both looked very young - about 25 ad 27 respectively - and similar to each other. Both of them seemed to be confused about what was happening there. Just like Leo, they had no idea about what was going on.
"These girls? They are my new disciples. They were going to be your reward if you chose to join me. They are sisters and are considered very attractive in their entire empire. But since you aren't planning on accepting my offer, they can only be sacrifices for my newest spell," the old man said.
When he said that the expression of the women changed. They both tried to leave the area, but the old man moved before them. He closed his right fist and the women froze in their place, unable to move. Meanwhile, the Arcane Emperor didn't show any change in his demeanor.
"You haven't changed your ways at all. You deserve the nickname that your victims give you. You are a Scheming Ghost," the Arcane Emperor said.
The old man frowned. "You can call me all you want. I will tolerate it. But that nickname is something that degrades me. And I am surprised that you are able to maintain your composure. I heard from my previous disciple that you were a lot more hot-tempered when he met you," he said.
"That was over ten years ago. A lot has changed since then. But I do request you not to implicate the girls. This is a fight between the two of us." The Arcane Emperor said.
"Aries, can I call you that? Why do we need to fight? We can both go our own ways and not interfere with what each other does," the Scheming Ghost said.
Aries, the Arcane Emperor, shook his head. "You are trying to establish an empire that enslaves every human that you think is unworthy of magic. I can never let that happen. Prepare for the fight, Jared," Aries said.
Jared pointed his staff toward Aries and calmly said, "I was never afraid of you."
Aries pulled out staff from his own dimensional ring. "Should we begin?"
Leo looked expectantly at the fight. He was hoping that the fight would be as magnificent as the backstory that was leading to it. He didn't expect that the Arcane Emperor would be facing someone who was trying to establish a more authoritative regime than the current state of Solaria.
He could also see that the two girls who couldn't move were shaking with fear. To them, the fight decided their fate. The fight between the two finally started at this moment.
"I will start. Blood Wave," Jared waved his hand, forming a huge wave of blood like magic. The magic itself seemed to be red in color while having a viscous feeling that only came with blood.
It was a sea of red that formed above the clouds. Even though there wasn't even any object to be a reference for comparison, Leo could understand exactly how big the effects of the spell were.
With another wave of his hand, the entire wave of blood came crashing onto Aries. He reacted quickly to the incoming attack.
"Eternal Sanctuary," he said.
A huge pair of wings formed behind him and covered him by closing around his body. The crashing waves hit the translucent feathers before dissipating. Once the attack was over, Aries released his sanctuary.
When the attack was blocked by the sanctuary, Jared felt the least bit worried. When the sanctuary was released, he prepared his next attack to throw Aries' way.
"Blood Spear," Jared said.
A massive spear made out of blood formed behind him. The spear pointed itself at Aries and waited for his signal. When Jared waved his hands, the spear launched itself at him, aiming for his head.
