Chapter 1531: The Pool

The source of the strange energy Erend had been sensing since he entered the factory now lay directly before him.

There was no doubt in his mind that this liquid was connected to the artificial Magic the people of Valthoria had attempted to create.

They had tried to reproduce a power they did not understand and in the end their ambition had brought about a disaster beyond anything they could have imagined.

Erend swallowed and frowned as he stared into the glowing liquid. He hated the sensation it gave him. It has qualities that feel like Magic, but something about it was wrong.

It was not Magic. At least, not the kind of Magic Erend understood.

The energy inside the liquid felt distorted and unnatural as though it had been forced into existence through strange methods. It existed outside the normal principles of Magic and seemed to possess a strange quality that Erend could not fully comprehend.

"What exactly are you?" Erend wondered.

He continued staring at the pool and could not understand why the liquid remained dormant after everything it had apparently caused thousands of years ago. If this substance had truly been responsible for the Apocalypse, why had it remained here?

"Could this just be what remains of the original source?"

Perhaps the true energy that had caused the disaster had already been consumed or dispersed. What remained inside this facility might only be a remnant that had been sealed away.

As long as nobody disturbed it, the substance might still remain dormant indefinitely.

If that was the case, Erend hoped nobody would ever gain access to it again. Another disaster was the last thing this world needed.

Erend slowly extended his hand toward the pool. His fingers entered the glowing liquid and immediately a strange sensation crawled across his skin. The energy seemed to tingle against his body before spreading farther along his hand.

Erend’s expression tightened. It felt repulsive. There was nothing painful about it but his instincts immediately rejected the substance.

Erend eventually scooped some of the liquid out of the container and held it in his palm.

The substance simply rested there. It looked almost like ordinary water with a greenish-blue glow. Nothing happened. There was no visible reaction or surge of power.

"How is this supposed to be used?" Erend wondered.

The moment the thought crossed his mind, the liquid suddenly reacted.

It began hissing and small bubbles formed on its surface before rapidly growing larger. Within seconds, the substance looked as though it had begun boiling in his hand. A thin mist emerged from the liquid and immediately began spreading into the surrounding air.

Erend’s expression changed. He reacted instantly. Magic energy surged from his body and formed a small dome around his hand. The barrier sealed the mist inside before it could escape into the room.

The strange mist recoiled from the barrier. It swirled violently inside the dome as though it were searching for a way out. Every time it touched Erend’s true Magic, it withdrew again.

Erend watched it carefully. "Interesting."

The substance seemed to possess a strange instinctive reaction to Magic and it appeared to be trying to escape.

The realization made Erend’s expression harden. He did not know what would happen if the mist spread throughout the world again. He did not know whether it could affect living creatures, react with the atmosphere, or trigger another disaster.

He was not willing to find out.

Erend immediately surrounded the liquid in his palm with Fire Magic. Intense flames engulfed the substance and burned it away. Within seconds, the glowing liquid disappeared completely.

Erend shook his hand once and then looked back toward the enormous pool. "This thing needs to stay sealed."

However, he could not simply leave yet.

If this substance had been connected to the Apocalypse and a Dragonborn had once come here to warn the researchers about it, then there might be something within the liquid that could help him find the Dragonborn.

Erend needed clues.

He lowered himself beside the container and slowly placed his entire right hand into the pool.

The moment his hand entered the liquid, the surface reacted violently. Bubbles erupted around his arm. The liquid began boiling again, the strange energy reacted to his presence.

Erend immediately released his own Magic energy. At the same time, he allowed a portion of his Dragonborn aura to emerge.

The reaction was immediate. The violent bubbling stopped and the surface of the liquid became completely still again.

It was almost like the substance had recognized something far more powerful than itself and instinctively retreated.

Erend narrowed his eyes. He closed them and focused his mind.

Instead of just sensing the energy on the surface, he pushed his awareness deeper into the substance. He probed through the strange energy and tried to understand what remained within it.

At first, there was nothing. He just feels an overwhelming sensation of something unnatural.

But Erend eventually felt a distant presence.

His mind suddenly caught an impression that did not feel like a normal memory. It was more like a faint connection hidden inside the energy itself. A direction, a location.

Erend followed it with his mind.

The sensation carried him deeper until an image began forming inside his mind.

He saw another pool. It was far away from this facility.

The surroundings were difficult to perceive, almost as though the connection had been damaged by thousands of years of isolation, but Erend could still sense the presence of the same strange energy there.

But there was something else. Something was guarding it.

Erend’s expression immediately became serious. The presence surrounding the distant pool carried a signature he recognized.

It was a Dragonborn.

It was faint and ancient, but there was no mistaking it.

For several moments, Erend was completely still as he memorized the direction and location revealed through the strange energy. The image gradually faded, but the information was already set firmly inside his mind.

He finally pulled his hand out of the pool.

He had finally found the trail he had been searching for, Erend smiled to himself.

He turned toward the exit. There was no reason to remain here any longer.

Whatever waited at that distant pool was almost certainly the Dragonborn they had been looking for.

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