Aldrich woke up in the base which felt so much safer after getting rid of all the hidden dangers. It felt like it took so long. And it did.
Alas, the preparations for going down to the Unseen Hand's underground prison laboratory were almost complete. He was moving carefully but not being lazy.
He was halfway done with the journal, for the past week he was spending all of his time in the nightmare realm reading, studying and practicing control over Aurora and Ether.
At this point in time he learned many things from the journal and came to understand what the Lost Ones were, to some extent. To be honest in the past Aldrich had unintentionally underestimated them.
The Lost Ones were not just some rabble that were thrown here in this city alone. They were sent everywhere within the Divine Domain, ruled by the Divine Land.
To understand just how massive the Divine Domain think of the three worlds in the Clairvoyant region. Each world had tens of continents and other realms within each world.
However these three worlds were only the territory of one of the weakest Lords appointed by the Divine Land.
The term 'lord' was not used lightly here, it wasn't used to refer to nobles like it was in the real world. The term was used to describe powerful beings worthy of ruling over worlds.
After something happened to the Divine Land, various beings appeared in different settlements spread out across worlds and regions.
They were called the Lost Ones. They did not know where they came from or what they were here to do. But they were blessed like none before them, they were immortal.
Technically.
After their first death they would always awaken in the Pure chapel. However in each settlement there was a different chapel and the old Lost Ones didn't know there were others like them out there.
They had access to some information that helped them come to terms with what they had to do due to the obsidian slab on the platform at the center of the chapel.
While the Pure chapels existed independently of one another they were all identical. They always had everything in the same place and the objects were all the same too.
The Cauldron, the seal of Tindalor and the obsidian slab were all that way too. The Lost Ones could use the essence they collected by slaying monsters to upgrade their basic attributes and skills through the obsidian slab.
Unlike Aldrich who had the ability to do it himself they had to come back to the obsidian slab every time.
However, that was not the only function of the obsidian slab. The first time it was used it projected a vision into the mind and those who see it will get access to 'basic information'.
Aldrich didn't use nor touch the obsidian slab because he didn't get a good feeling out of it. But it seems like an interesting experience now that he got this powerful.
One day, a genius appeared among the Lost Ones, due to a special ability he had he was able to establish a connection with the others even in different settlements through the Pure chapel.
That way they were able to communicate and share information, as time went on more outstanding Lost Ones emerged. One of them was a woman that made it possible to send and receive items between different settlements.
Another one was an Argorian who was able to summon spirits to aid the Lost Ones, guiding them to important items and warning them of danger.
They knew what they had to do. They had to get out of whichever settlements they were trapped in and go to the Divine Land, to the shattered Divine city and get the crown.
Apparently they could get whatever they wanted so long as they did that, everything was possible. Even a unrealistic wish was not an issue. Answers to any questions they had.
The Lost Ones did not have the option to refuse, as far as Aldrich could deduce he felt like they had a sense of confusion and needed a purpose.
The fact that they all came here without any of their memories was very convenient for that too. In that state hanging on to the most vivid and grand thing was almost too natural.
It was an exaggeration to say that they were all deceived, some of them might've wanted to look for a way back and others might've had their own goals.
However one day, a champion emerged among them. For the first time a settlement opened the path to the Divine Land!
He was known as the first champion, leading the Lost Ones in all settlements to see hope in their endeavor. And soon enough more and more of the most influential Lost Ones did the same.
And they converged together in the Divine Land to form a collective front. But that was not the end. Reaching the Divine Land was only the halfway point.
When they got there they had difficulty in communicating with those who still remained in the outer realms. They could do it but in a limited manner and short time spans.
What they told of their time there was mostly bad news. The Divine Land was no better than the outer worlds, no it was decidedly much worse.
The enemies were much stronger and they wielded strange and terrifying powers, eventually this lead to a great many deaths. Permanent death.
Getting to the shattered Divine city was not their only problem. They discovered that the crown they sought was fragmented and the fragments held by the Ancient Lords.
However the Lost Ones were not going down easily either, they were bathed in blood, forged in fire and each one of them was a master of combat used to fighting and triumphing over stronger opponents.
And so they waged war to reassemble the fragmented crown.
Unfortunately after a few hundred years all news from the ascendants in the Divine Land was cut off.
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