Solflare: The Painter's Secret

Golden curtains frayed at the walls as chilled air seeped into the top chamber of the Castle of Souls.

The room was lit, neat, and also well arranged. Leon sat at the center, slowly analyzing the scroll in his hands.

"How do I even open this?" he asked, brushing his fingers across the skin-like texture. He pulled his right arm back the moment a sharp pain seeped into his skin.

"Ooouch!"

At first no blood came, but as he focused on the cut, he saw blood coming out. Two of the drops fell from his index finger and landed on the scroll when he tried to wipe it clean.

In the twinkle of an eye, the tiny drop began to expand. It first turned into layers and began moving in every direction.

Leon became extremely poised and watched them move. After the moving blood stopped, the scroll was now a mixture of brown and red.

Leon hesitated, wondering what to do. But then, he felt a force pulling his arm to the scroll.

The locks on the scroll opened one after another. When it was left with the last one to open, it stopped.

At that same time, the door behind Leon got pushed open. An Lang and Wu Ze stepped inside without knocking.

"Guy, what is inside the scroll, share it with us." An Lang said in a low but cunning voice.

Leon turned, looked at him, then smiled.

Wu Ze didn’t say a word, she simply watched the scroll and marveled at its new nature. ’Did that just transform into that color, or did I simply not see it clearly?’

As soon as Leon shifted his gaze from them and focused on the scroll, the final lock clicked open.

At first nothing was inside, and that ignited An Lang’s mood. "So, you’re selfish over this empty thing? What a pity."

Like that, he left the room without waiting to see the wonders that were taking shape from the upper-right corner of the scroll.

Leon watched An Lang leave and slam the door hard. After two seconds passed, Liu Yan also entered.

For her, she didn’t behave in any manner, she simply came and sat beside Leon.

"Is that a map?" She asked, pointing toward the newly formed landscape that had become visible in a few seconds.

"No way!" Wu Ze’s face went pale as she blinked. "That fucking thing was empty just a minute ago."

Leon watched Wu Ze for a while, then shifted his gaze back to the scroll.

In it, were visible landscapes that had Tartarus written boldly on top. Different colors were right under the name, where the legend was.

Leon pointed at the legend one after another, mentioning the color and the description that had been attached to it.

He pointed at the blue wave line. "River. Okay so this shows where the rivers are." He shifted his gaze slightly to the landscape. There, countless wave lines began appearing on the scroll as if an invisible force was obeying Leon’s commands.

When Leon mentioned mountains, hill landscapes began forming in addition to the river sections that were already drawn.

After a few minutes, the scroll was now filled with roads, caves, mountains, borders, and areas that they knew were deadly to even watch.

After staring at the last two symbols on the legend, which one was a gem symbol, and the other was a star symbol, Leon swallowed hard.

The Starfire Opal’s image flooded his mind in an instant. There on the spot, the scroll picked it up without Leon even saying it out loud.

"Whoa!" Wu Ze screamed, stumbling two steps back. Immediately she caught herself from falling, she pointed at the scroll. "This is what we need. It can help us locate the Starfire Opal we were tasked to come for."

Liu Yan added. "Yes, and I think we can get more treasures that the world hasn’t even seen before."

Her eyes shimmered with joy as she focused on the secret path’s dotted lines.

...

An hour passed, and An Lang didn’t even bother to go back to the chamber the three squads were in. He simply sat around the large meat table, filling his stomach.

"Whatever that contains, I will get it for myself." He said in a low voice. But the table he sat beside vibrated, shaking some of the meats off.

Wu Ze entered the room An Lang was in with a smile on her face. "We can now continue our search for the Starfire Opal."

"Bluh. Bluh. Bluh." An Lang teased. He shifted all his attention to the door when Leon entered, still holding the scroll.

Leon stopped right after he closed the door behind him and neared An Lang. "Bro."

"Don’t bro me. You’re too selfish, and I don’t move with selfish people." An Lang said it without remorse or a second thought.

"I wanted to tell you what was inside, but since you still have those thoughts in your head, it’s better I make you see it for yourself."

Leon watched Liu Yan bow once. He handed the scroll to An Lang and then walked toward the window.

"What is this?"

An Lang screamed after opening the scroll and saw only an empty sheet. "Are you crazy? Why would you say all those things and later give me an empty scroll?"

"An Lang, check well, that’s not empty. We’ve seen it." Liu Yan responded, but stopped.

An Lang’s eyes glowed with deadly red lines when he tilted his gaze to Liu Yan.

When Leon blinked and stared back at An Lang, he froze. The panel shimmered to life right at Leon’s front.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

Presence Detected

Scanning...

Name: An Lang

Rank: C

Hostility: Unstable

Abilities Identified:

Predator’s Instinct, Feast Conversion, and Hunger Drive.

Warning: Do not provoke.

’C, how?’ Leon screamed in his head, shifting glances from the panel to An Lang’s furious face.

"An Lang, calm down," Wu Ze murmured, stepping forward.

"Don’t tell me to calm down. Who do you think you are to tell me what to do?"

Wu Ze stepped back, smiling and shaking her head.

A loud shattering sound erupted when An Lang slammed the scroll on the table.

"NO!" Liu Yan and Wu Ze screamed at the same time.

The table broke into two, the meat dropping and rolling on the ground.

"Look what you have caused, Leon!" An Lang screamed, pointing at Leon.

Before Leon could say a word or move forward, Aurelian entered. With one swift look at An Lang, the room’s tension died.

He watched the meats scattering the ground, watched the scroll, then stopped when he turned toward Leon.

"Leon, come with me."

"You’re lucky our master came in on time." An Lang whispered, brushing the back of his fist on his lips.

’Our master, what has come over him?’ Leon wondered as he moved to the scroll.

He crouched down, picked it up, and followed Aurelian outside.

Liu Yan remained extremely confused as An Lang’s words replayed in her head. ’Our Master? We just met this man, and him helping us complete our mission doesn’t mean he now owns us.’

Her brow lifted as she gave An Lang a silent look.

Outside the castle, Leon paused a few minutes behind Aurelian.

Aurelian looked at Leon once, shifted his gaze to the dead clouds, and sighed heavily. "I know you’re the only one who has been able to figure out who I truly am."

He closed his eyes, calmed his breath, and listened to the movement of the air, the howling sound from a distance away, and the frantic beats of Leon’s heart.

"There is a curse that follows the good, Leon. The more you give, the more they take. The more you love, the more they betray."

Memories of his early days in the celestial city of the ruling gods filled Aurelian’s mind as he looked into Leon’s eyes while the words kept on flowing.

"You may see me as evil," he shook his head. "No, that wasn’t what I was back then. But I fell because of a price I paid after doing good."