Ruby stood at the edge of the pit, where the relic lay undisturbed.
It had only been unearthed two days ago—yet in that short span, it had already driven four people to the brink of madness.
She'd been invited by the Tower to inspect the object, and as someone who took great pride in her craft as a Runesmith, she had accepted without hesitation.
Her gaze was fixed on the cube—set atop a slightly raised stone platform in the center of the crater.
It pulsed with energy. Potent and vivid.
There was no mistaking it.
Artifacts could certainly exude a strong presence if finely tuned or crafted from rare materials—but this one was different.
What unsettled her most was its age.
According to the archaeology team, this relic was over seven hundred years old.
And that didn't make sense.
Only two explanations came to mind—neither of them feasible.
First: the artifact somehow absorbed mana from its surroundings over time.
