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Chapter 1: Awakened

"Your highness, what is this?" One of the royal guards of a faraway country called San, questioned curiously. They have spent years searching for an ancient spell and instead, they found this…

At the center, lay a large sphere with multiple sealing wrapped around it tightly. It was clearly old from how wrinkle the paper was, and how discolored the edges were. The way it fluttered when wind blew its way was also another indicator.

The second prince of San, Yi Jin, paced around it as people, behind him, remained still on one knee, hand on their heart, head bowed, waiting for his orders.

"This? It's our trump card to rule the world." Jin hummed in satisfaction. "Where is my scholar? Come and unseal this."

A middle aged man came forward, fidgety as he eyed the seal carefully. A little sound of amazement broke out as he got closer to see it. Whoever sealed this had impressive knowledge of runes to fill every detail and precision without a single mistake. Some of the phrases were in different languages that showcased vast knowledge that only a master knew. From the unique brush strokes, they were either from Bada or Jangmi... He fixed his glasses position. He was one of the five best scholar mages in the world, earning the title of Elite Master so he is able to recognise the mastery.

"Well?" Jin questioned. "Can you do it Kangmin?"

"I can," he replied confidently. "Fortunately, this seal is a thousand year old and some of the writings started to fade, making it weaker. Usually, the best of the best seals don't even last four hundred years." 

Which meant the user who sealed this used some of their lifespan to make it last this long. The question was, what for? What had to be locked away from people? 

He sat down, pulling out a scissor and brush from inside his hanbok to write. With great concentration, he took his time to write on it and once he was done, he placed it on the seal and his hands came forth to disable it. The sealing wrapper fell off, revealing a red, translucent sphere with a figure of a man frozen inside it. The scholar stood up in a hurry, another seal? Although this one is accompanied by another high mage technique, who used ice elemental power. He looked at the Prince of their royal family and as if he knew what he wanted to know, he spoke.

"Many many years ago, a man processed power like no other. He was revered but also greatly feared because no one can defeat him single handly." Jin placed a hand on the ice, rubbing it.

"So why was he sealed? It sounds like he would be a great asset to his kingdom?" The scholar asked curiously. 

"The king feared him. When you have power to destory a kingdom, it becomes treasonous. A human mind can be so fickle. I've also heard from my master that he did something nobody else can do... he can use the power of demons. They had no choice but to take him down so ten different kingdoms made a pact to 'save' the world from him…" Jin smirked amusedly at the thought. 

"A-And... you want him on your side?" The scholar was confused. "What if he doesn't want to work with you?"

"Oh he will. With my help, we can get his revenge and I can take over the world." A dark menacing, small chuckled escaped him. Fire emitted out of his hand. "Now, let me get you out."

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"This is an impressive seal." Kangmin and the army of warriors sat on the corner, sipping tea as their prince brought out all his greatest techniques. 

"Why... why doesn't it burn?" Jin, may not be the best of the best from his country but he had lot of magical power as a member of the royal family. "I thought we got rid of the seal, it should burn by now!"

"Hmmm good question." As if something clicked, Kangmin stood up from his position and got so close to see his own reflection on the ice. "There might be an invisible seal on that ice, it's probably why it never melted."

That would be a smart distraction tactic, to throw people off this. At the moment, he took off his glasses and with a thinner brush, he lightly wrote another set of runes then placed it back on. As he predicted, writings started to show up, filling the sphere again although this time, he had difficulty reading. 

"Have you figured out a different way?" Jin fanned himself with peacock-shaped gongjakseon, exhausted from exerting himself and a bit offended that he never told him from the beginning. He wasted most of his magical capacity doing nothing. 

"Just a moment." Kangmin frantically looked all over. What was this writing? Who wrote this? From the brush stroke in some of the areas, it was the same as the wrapper scholar but why can't he read this one? He was one of the best in the world yet in comparison, he felt like an apprentice. 

Suddenly, one popped up. "Evil shall/will not prevail." 

He quickly got a brush, one he believed was the exact same size of the hair length and width of the sealing and with care, he wrote, "Good shall prevail." 

And the rune disappeared, the ice cracked.

"So? Did you finish?" 

"I'm sorry your highness… I can't unseal this. I-I can't read anything," Kangmin stuttered. He just made a small crack. He needs to at least counter half of it to break it. "If you give me time, I might find out which region learns these runes and which master taught this. I need to research it it all!"

"How long will this take? No way I'm leaving this here." Jin let out a scoff in disbelief. 

"Maybe months?" Kangmin almost rolled his eyes but resisted because he didn't want to be beheaded. Did he think he was just gonna magically know everything? It was like studying a new language. He needs time to research and find out how to unlock this. "If you give me time, I'll figure it out in a year!"

"Do it in six months." Even though Jin wanted to be very unreasonable and demand he get it done immediately, he held himself back. A good plan always takes time to come to fruition.

"Six months! Your high-"

Jin completely ignored him, turning around to his army. "We are taking this back home." 

Kangmin's eyes almost popped out of their socket. "What? This? It catches attention!"

"I didn't bring this army for nothing. We will cover and take it home with us so nobody can rob us. I can't afford losing this to anyone else." With a single hand gesture, Jin rudely dismissed Kangmin's worry, who in return stayed quiet. He didn't know if this would be good or bad for their small country. He just felt unsure but that was not a reason to refuse his future king. He can never dare say no.

Kangmin watched as the army dragged the ice using their unique abilities with the help of medieval siege weapons. It took five hours to have it set on a man made wagon they created not that long ago to carry the heavy weight of the sphere. As multiple horses and people pushed it, the wagon shook and jumped.

The lurker inside also started to move. Yellow eyes flew open, its pupils reached the corner as he listened to the voices that yelled, grunted and struggled. The moment the crack happened, he woke up from his slumber, catching what they said after. Someone wants me out? Hahaha! The irony.

He knew this day was going to come but he wasn't going to wait six months, that was too long. He acclimated his soul through his finger tips, finding weak spots to get through inbetween the ice little by little. It will take a week or so to get out of that crack but he will reach it eventually. 

"Let's see who will get me out faster, you or me."