Kharon sighed as Zack sat back down. The pair looked at each other in silence before Zack said, "This place looks really... nice. It's quite dark and eerie, which should be expected of an organisation called the Null Order. You didn't do everything alone did you, boss?"
"I hired an expert arcana user. He helped with the things such as the grass and atmosphere. I learnt as much as I could from him and continued alone. It wasn't too hard considering my foundation in arcana and my use of ancient runes."
Zack's head slightly tilted as he repeated, "Ancient runes? What are those?"
"They are closer to the primordial or original runes which I believe are inscribed on the Arcane Obelisk. They have more power over the world, so their effects are a lot greater than the watered down runes used by others. But the risk of failure is a lot higher."
Slowly nodding his head, Zack asked, "Don't you die if you mess up a runeweave?"
"You don't necessarily die. The effects of your runeweave just backfire on you. The weaker runes used today tend to only affect a small radius. But the ancient runes I use could affect a whole city if I was to make a mistake. Luckily I am not terrible at using them... Let me take you on a tour."
Kharon stood up as he walked towards the door in silence. Zack whose eyes were busy scanning the room looked at Kharon's retreating figure before following him. They walked down the wide flight of stairs as Zack commented, "Why are the stairs so wide? We wouldn't have that many people in our organisation; will we?"
Kharon shook his head as he said, "We need a lot of space; not because of our numbers, but because of our status. We will change the world one day. So we need a meeting place that matches our ambitions."
"That makes sense boss. But wouldn't this space be found by the Association one day?"
"I have integrated one of my abilities into it. We wouldn't be getting caught for a long time. And even if this space was compromised, I already have countermeasures in place."
They reached the bottom of the stairs as the little candles began to light up one by one. As they reached the door, it slowly swung open to reveal the starry sky and its dark sun. Zack stared in awe as they walked onto the black grass which shifted to purple with their every step.
Zack ran around the place as he examined it meticulously. Once he was done, he returned to Kharon's side and said, "This place is bigger than a city... just how big did you make it?!"
Kharon looked at him strangely as he said, "This space is the size of a city. It isn't bigger than one."
Shaking him head with a disapproving look Zack answered back, "I beg to differ boss. I have been all around Lunaris Haven and this space is almost twice it's size. Maybe you miscalculated or underestimated the actual size of a city."
"It doesn't make much of a difference, does it?"
"No."
Kharon turned around slowly as he said, "Let's go back in. There are other things I need to show you."
They quickly went back in as Kharon snapped his fingers. All of a sudden the corridor leading to the stairs shifted. Walls moved as they blocked the stairway as dozens of doors began appearing on the walls. Some looked completely different from each other while others looked identical. Kharon looked at Zack and asked him, "Why do you think I created this function?"
"It seems to be a defence mechanism. Each door probably contained a trap of sorts. If this space was to be compromised, this would buy us more time and allow us to escape. But considering that I am a member, I should be able to see the true way with my ring."
Zack channeled aether into his ring as the second crescent moon shone with a faint white light. He stretched out his hands and tried making the room shift but failed.
Kharon chuckled as he said, "You were right about the doors being traps. But your ring doesn't allow you to change the room. Instead it makes you immune to the traps. Open one of the doors and see."
"Why don't you go boss? In case my ring isn't working correctly. I mean it shone and everything but nothing happened."
"It shone because of another function. However said function can't be executed when the traps are active."
Kharon walked up to one of the doors and turned it's handle. As he stepped inside, a large wave of flames engulfed his body. Zack quickly ran to him but was surprised to see that he was unscathed.
"I told you. As long as you have the ring, the traps wouldn't affect you."
"But.. how?!"
"It's quite boring and complicated. But to summarise, your aether signature is stored in the ring. Because of this, the traps don't harm you or anything with said signature. The actual workings of it are more complicated but you don't need to know that."
Kharon closed the door as he snapped his fingers. The corridor began to shift as the doors all vanished. The stairway became visible again as the candles sprung to life. Kharon walked forward with Zack as they passed the stairway and went into a seemingly empty room. As they did, Kharon's ring shone as a door appeared on the wall.
It slowly swung open as hundreds of parchments were revealed. There were different types of plants and dead essence beasts. At the corner of the room was a work desk with several parchments, ink and other tools. Despite all of this, the room smelled pleasant with the fragrant scent of flowers.
"This is our organisation's workshop. It will be open for us by anyone who knows what they are doing. As the Architect, I will probably be the one working here; unless we find someone more skilled than me at creating runic devices."
"That might be impossible boss. But I will try finding that person."
Before Zack could finish his sentence, Kharon had already begun walking. They left the room as the door closed shut behind them before vanishing. Kharon led Zack to the stairway again. However as they approached, the first steps vanished as an opening was revealed with steps going downwards.
Zack looked at Kharon as he asked, "Just how many hidden parts are there in this mansion?! Does the field have hidden functions as well?"
Kharon gave him a sly smile as he went down the stairs. Zack sighed as he soon followed suit. When they reached the bottom, all Zack saw was an empty cellar, but he quickly remembered all the hidden rooms and asked, "Where is the door?"
As he said this, a black door suddenly opened. Inside was a massive hall filled with training equipment and different arcane devices. The hall was pure white with tiles in every corner. Suddenly the room began to change as it turned into a sprawling jungle. A second later it had become a cold, arctic zone and then a burning desert.
Kharon turned to look at Zack who was speechless as he said, "This is our organisation's training room. As you can see it has different simulations to prepare you for whatever zone you end up in. As the Enforcer this can be considered your domain. You will be responsible for training anyone who needs combat experience or who wants to learn to use a weapon.
Zack nodded as he smiled brightly before running through the training room. Looking at the equipment with starry eyes.
"Can I stay here boss?"
"Of course. This is your domain so you can do as you like. Don't destroy it though. I have reinforced it with many different enhancement runewaves but I doubt it can withstand the full might of a tier 4 wielder."
"I will try my best. But boss how do I leave when I am done?"
"You channel your aether into your ring and think of teleporting. The rings work depending on your thoughts. My ring just has more functions than yours which is why yours seems useless. When your ring shone during the trap door demonstration, it was because you were thinking of a command that couldn't be executed."
"So do I have the authority to unlock this room when I want? And what about the workshop?"
Kharon sighed as he began to walk back up the stairs. As he did so, he said, "You have authority over most functions in the Eclipse Sanctum. I will grant you control of the traps when our organisation has at least five members. So you should be working on that.
"That was what I was doing before you summoned me here. My ring didn't show any outward changes but I felt compelled to accept your summon. It's quite genius but also unsettling. Anyways I have two candidates. The first candidate is called Freya Vale. She is a tier 4 wielder of order and works as an underground beast hunter. The second candidate is Philip Graystone. A tier 4 wielder of knowledge and a skilled runic technician."