As Oliver followed Goldie deeper into the cave, he continued noticing more and more paintings covering the walls.

Most of them made little sense to him, but he still occasionally slowed down to examine them, but every time he thought he understood something, another bizarre image would immediately destroy whatever theory he had come up with.

Then he saw one painting that made him stop completely.

The painting covered an entire section of the wall. On one side were dozens of humanoid creatures. Why he wasn’t calling them humans? Well cause they weren’t. Their skin had been painted a deep red and they also had black horns on their head with circular designs on them.

Some were carrying weapons while others appeared wounded. Black stuff which he figured was their blood covered much of the scene.

And in the middle of them stood a single figure.

Unlike the red-skinned creatures, who were wearing normal clothes, this one was dressed in what looked like a bright-yellow colored formal suit. Golden horns rose from the figure’s head, making him stand out immediately from everyone else around him.

At first Oliver thought the figure was simply holding one of the red-skinned creatures, but then as he looked closer, he figured that he wasn’t holding it, but actually, he was eating it.

The painting clearly showed the suited man tearing flesh from one of the horned beings while the others surrounded him. Some appeared to be fighting him, while others looked as though they were trying to flee.

"Ohhh... fuck."

A chill immediately ran down Oliver’s spine because he recognized those red-skinned creatures.

Not personally and not from the Spirit Realm, but from television, as around four years ago, one of those things had appeared on Earth.

Just one.

Oliver still remembered the footage as every single news channel on the planet had shown it, videos of a red-skinned black-horned creature walking through cities while armies of both regular humans and ghouls desperately tried to stop it.

But unfortunately they couldn’t do anything against it.

The creature had first appeared in Australia and after that, Australia didn’t exist anymore.

"Haaah... haaah."

Oliver subconsciously took a few steps back from the painting, his eyes never leaving the figure in the red suit.

"What does this mean?" he muttered. "Was that guy also here once?"

A cold feeling spread through his chest as the possibility of him being around made him remember stuff.

"Wait....Is he here now?"

He shook his head.

"No, no, no... please no. Hell no."

The official death count by that creature’s hand had surpassed twenty-five million and that was only the confirmed number.

Only a few million Australians had managed to evacuate before everything was lost. The footage had been leaked everywhere—news channels, documentaries, interviews and even telegram channels, all were full of discussion about them.

Even years later, people still talked about him, confused as to who that creature was, if he was an aether beast? And where and why he had disappeared after the destruction of Australia?

And what terrified Oliver the most wasn’t even the number of dead, but in fact, the rumors. Rumors that refused to disappear no matter how much authorities denied them.

People said that those eaten by the horned creature didn’t simply die, but their souls were destroyed as well. They got no afterlife, no spirit realm. Nothing, they were just gone.

Oliver looked back at the painted figure. The ancient image was faded and worn by time, yet for some reason it felt as though those golden horns were staring right back at him.

He looked back at Goldie, who was staring at him as if waiting for him to get his sightseeing over with so they could continue deeper into the cave.

"Goldie, you little rat." Oliver muttered as he followed behind. "Do you want to kill me of a heart attack?"

Goldie only glanced at him before turning away and for some reason, Oliver felt as though the squirrel’s face clearly said one thing, ’Coward’.

"Don’t look at me like that."

The squirrel ignored him completely and continued heading deeper into the cave, forcing Oliver to begrudgingly follow behind, and after walking for a few more minutes, the tunnel finally opened up into a small chamber.

Oliver took one look at what was inside and froze.

In the middle of the chamber sat a treasure chest?

For several seconds he simply stood there staring, and then he blinked.

"A treasure?"

"A real treasure?!"

Instantly, every thought regarding ancient paintings, mysterious civilizations, horned monsters, missing moons, and soul destruction disappeared from his mind.

Oliver immediately rushed over, picked up Goldie, and began rubbing the squirrel’s head.

"I knew it, man."

His earlier suspicion disappeared completely as love blossomed for the little creature.

"I always knew you could never want to hurt me."

Goldie looked extremely pleased with itself as well. Its tail swished from side to side proudly, and it puffed out its chest as if expecting more praise for leading Oliver here.

Just as Oliver was about to continue showering the squirrel with compliments, the cool voice of the System echoed inside his head.

[You have gained insight into your spiritual contract]

[Ratatoskr’s Heir]

[Rank: Feral]

[Attributes:]

[Eyes of the Hoarder]

When Ratatoskr ran up and down the ???, carrying messages between the one who watched from above and the one who waited below, it often returned with more than words.

As his heir, hidden treasures, divine relics, and traces of power are easier for you to notice.

[???]

[???]

---

For several seconds, Oliver simply stared at the little beast and then a huge grin spread across his face.

"Goldie. I take back every bad thing I’ve ever said about you."

The squirrel tilted its head.

At this moment, Oliver felt that taming Goldie perhaps the smartest decision he had made since arriving in this strange place. Goldie was a literal treasure detector.

Then, as he slowly moved toward the treasure chest, Oliver paid closer attention to the chamber too.

Earlier, he had been too excited to notice, but unlike the rest of the cave, which had been covered in paintings, symbols, and strange stories carved into the walls, this chamber had none of that. It was almost empty.

In fact, it was a bit too empty with just a treasure chest sitting quietly in the middle.

The more Oliver looked at it, the more suspicious it felt.

"Wait... there isn’t a trap here, right?"

The chest naturally didn’t answer, Goldie, meanwhile, looked at him as if wondering why he was asking such an obvious question.

Oliver stared at the chest for a few more moments before taking a deep breath.

’Only the courageous are rewarded and if my courage isn’t enough then my greed should definitely be more than enough.’

With that thought, he stepped forward and opened the chest.

The moment the lid lifted, a brilliant light burst out from inside. Before Oliver could react, the light completely enveloped him, forcing him to shield his eyes.

At the same time, the familiar cool voice of the System echoed inside his head.

Yet for some reason, it sounded slightly different this time, it was more solemn.

[Inheritance Acquired: Key of Forgotten Doors]

[Rank: Zenith]

"An inheritance?"

Oliver blinked several times.

His first reaction wasn’t excitement, but confusion.

From everything humanity knew, inheritances came from slain beasts. Whether weak or strong, they all originated from creatures after death.

But this?

He had opened a box and that was it.

Then his eyes drifted back toward the rank and he froze.

[Rank: Zenith]

’Zenith?’, Oliver was both amazed and excited.

"What rank is that?"

He had never heard of such a thing before. Not from school, not from documentaries, not from online forums, and certainly not from any of the Spirit Realm research he and his sister occasionally watched.

For a few moments he simply stood there staring at the word.

Then he slowly turned toward Goldie who looked back proudly. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Oliver looked at the rank again and then at Goldie again.

"What exactly did you drag me into?"

The squirrel merely swished its tail as if saying, ’it must be good’.

Deciding that Goldie was unlikely to provide any useful answers, Oliver focused on the inheritance and summoned more information.

A new description appeared before him, this time the system’s voice was back to it’s ordinary cool tone.

[Description:]

[The One Who Vanished left many questions behind.

This was not one of the answers,

but merely a tool for those willing to seek them.

Most of its authority remains sealed.]

Oliver read the words once and his gaze lingered on a single phrase, ’The One Who Vanished.’

"Hmm..."

A thoughtful expression appeared on his face as he spoke out loud,

"’The One Who Vanished’?"