The Tales of Draconic Warlock

With everything sorted, I entered the palace/fort that the mechanical notification called Nexus.

Naming it Nexus, it should be an important place. Everything that I need to learn about this secret realm, and I believe this place might give me the answers.

The outside mostly looked like a fort but a bit like a palace. I don't know how to exactly explain that.

The entrance doors are huge and I pushed them hard to be able to enter. If a weak person gets here by chance they may have no chance to enter.

The mechanical voice said that I could enter the Nexus but what it is and what for I have no idea.

I don't know what is on the other side of these doors, so as cautious as I am, I am in full guard mode. I can't die after achieving such great things as clearing those trials so quickly.

---

As I entered the Nexus, I could only say one thing, Exquisite.

It was so beautiful that I couldn't speak any words. The outside looked more like a fortress than a palace. The inside though, looked more like a palace.

As I was praising the interior, an old voice greeted me, "Hello my young friend. Welcome to Nexus".

I turned towards where the voice came from and saw an old man but something about him felt weird.

"Who are you?" I asked him calmly.

I am not nervous as I didn't feel any malicious feelings towards me.

"My name is Argus. I am the former owner of the Nexus", the old man introduced himself.

"Huh?" I tilted my head in confusion.

If he is the former owner, then there should be a current owner. So why was he greeting me?

"I died a long time ago. I don't know how long but it was a lot of centuries back. I saw youngsters like you who enter the realm every year but most stayed in the outer region. Only a few ventured in the Inner region but very few survived. I was here before they started to appear".

"Why are you here? How are you here if you are dead? Is this your soul?" I asked him.

As someone whose profession has something to do with the soul, I feel that what I see is a dead man's soul but something is different.

"Soul? You could say so, but not exactly", he said.

"What do you mean?" I asked for clarification.

"What you see was just a remnant will of myself. My true soul I believe was gone from this world a long ago", he said.

It looks like in those web novels, where some old geezer would leave something that can guide the newcomer.

"You said you were the former owner. If so, who is the current owner of this Nexus? Is he busy and sent you to greet me?" I asked him.

"Current owner, I should say that it is you", the old man chuckled.

"Say what?" I shouted out in surprise.

"To become the owner of this Nexus, one has to complete all those trials. Of course, there should be no owner to claim the Nexus or else the rewards you gained so far would have been the end of it", he calmly spoke.

"I don't understand", I told him.

In fact, I understand what he was saying but it was not properly registering it.

"As I said, I was the owner of this magnificence but that was a long time ago. What you see is a small remnant of my soul that would have to stay here until a new owner appears. After centuries, you were the first one to clear these trials".

"Now if you want you can claim this as yours or you can reject as you wish but remember claiming or rejecting would have consequences that you can't forsee", the old man said.

Both have consequences. What does he mean by that/

Oh, I believe means that every action one takes has consequences. It is pretty normal and most of the time, we don't see or experience those consequences until much later in life.

"Are there any benefits if I become the owner?"

"Indeed there are", the old man introduced them briefly, "If you want to know everything, then you can read the guidebook after you take over as the owner of this Nexus".

It looks like only after I become the owner would I have the privileges open to me. Until then, I won't have such privileges.

I can understand that. It was the same in the kingdom and around the world.

Giving unlimited access to everyone would only create chaos easily. It has perks but the problems that come with that are much more than the perks that come.

Though limited access may hinder some people, there is a way to gain access. Show the kingdom your talent and they will open everything to you. Nothing comes for free.

After thinking for a minute or two, "I accept".

The old man smiled, "Good, now drop your blood on the gem", he showed a bracelet that had a white gem embedded in it.

I did as he told me.

I heard about Blood Bound items. They would need the blood of a person and once bonded, unless the person dies, the item would be his forever.

No matter where the person is, the item will be returned to him.

Normally this was done to weapons, as many would throw their weapons at the enemies surprising them or lose their weapons fighting enemies.

This way, they don't need to worry about losing them. The weapons would always be with them.

The gem turned red and after that, the bracelet disappeared and appeared on my left hand.

"Now that's done. It's time for me to go", the old man said.

"Huh? You are leaving so soon. I thought that you would stay until I get a grip on the Nexus", I spoke.

The old man smiled, "I am dead boy, a long time ago. I only stayed to transfer the ownership and nothing more. Dead shouldn't be in the land of living. I believe that you of all people should understand that more than me", he said as he disappeared.

"Huh? What did you say?" I shouted but there was no answer.

What does he mean that I of all people?