Enigma of Sin

Kayn glanced down at the beautiful obsidian black ring he was holding. Two dragons were intricately engraved, intertwining around each other with their tails converging to complete the full ring shape. There was no gem or anything of the sort in the ring, but it did give off a certain magical feeling to the touch.

He then tried connecting with it using mana, which rather than giving him access like he was hoping, it gave him a certain feeling of familiarity. This familiar feeling was the void element. He couldn't figure out how or why, but perhaps the ring was crafted from something void attuned.

As just connecting to the ring with his mana didn't give him access, he tried the next idea that popped into his head and placed a drop of blood on the ring. Unfortunately, this didn't work either, causing him to become dispirited.

If his mana and his blood didn't work, what was he supposed to do? He didn't know any forceful methods to break the seal, and he was positive that they had all been tried anyway. Kinzie took the ring from Kayn in order to examine it and see if she could spot anything that he might have missed, two pairs of eyes were always better than one after all.

Nothing looked out of the ordinary, but then she noticed a small, almost minuscule notch in the ring, near where the dragons' mouths were open and facing each other. Unless one was looking closely, this would just appear as part of the design.

"Maybe you have to place your blood directly into their mouths in this small indent here?" Kinzie spoke as she handed him back the ring and pointed out the spot she was talking about.

"It's worth a try." Kayn answered as he placed the ring on one of his fingers, then using his other hand dripped a small amount of blood into the dragons' mouths.

Unlike the last time where his blood just sat there on the surface of the ring, this time his blood was visibly absorbed, being taken in by both dragons. Shortly after, the mouths of the dragons closed and their heads moved together.

Kayn could almost instantly feel a connection with the ring. From using Charlotte's dimensional ring for a short time, he understood that if he wanted to see what was all inside of the ring, he only had to think about the connection and close his eyes. If one wanted to pull something out of it, they only had to will it and it would come out, much like he had done with the money back at the auction.

Kinzie noticed the nervousness and anticipation filling Kayn's face as he suddenly closed his eyes. She was still marveling about the fact that the dragons on the ring moved, but she remained quiet while Kayn was surely examining what was inside the dimensional space.

"Incredible." Kayn spoke aloud as he saw what was inside. His parents had definitely lied to him when he was a child as the amount of space inside of this ring was massive. There was so much inside of the ring that it was going to take Kayn a while to go through it all, even if it was already sorted out.

The first item he examined was an envelope. It was sitting in the forefront of the ring on a desk being the first thing one would see when they accessed the ring. Kayn willed it, and the envelope then appeared in his hand. He opened his eyes and tore the envelope open, revealing a few neatly folded pieces of paper.

Kayn gulped as he pulled the papers out and opened them up, his eyes instantly beginning to read what was written.

Dear whoever has accessed my ring,

First of all, fuck you! Second, have fun dying a very painful death!

Toodles,

Your favorite handsome demon,

-Ezekiel

Just as Kayn was cursing his father and about to throw the ring away, he noticed something else scribbled at the bottom of the page. Only this time, it was not written in the common language of Talgonoth, it was in English!

P.S. Lightning

Kayn was confused and startled. He should be the only person who knew or used English here, so how did his father know it? Also, what did he mean by "lightning"?

Kayn glanced at the rest of the papers and noticed that they were all blank, there was nothing written on them. Pondering for a short amount of time, he took a gamble and sent a jolt of electricity through his fingers that were holding onto the first page.

Like a current of electricity weaving its way through wood, letters were slowly appearing on the previously blank areas of the page. Kayn quickly did the same with the other two pages he had in his hands, watching as the same process repeat itself.

Once the black burned letters stopped appearing, Kayn marveled at what was in front of him. Hidden on the papers behind some kind of lightning mana security, were several paragraphs written in English. Kayn's eyes could only widen as he started reading the letter once again.

Son,

I'm dead. You know it, I know it, that's why you have this ring. I'm leaving this in the ring just in case it somehow makes it back to your hands, even if I'm doubtful.

Moving on, surprised I know your encoded language that you use in your grimoires? Hehe, this father of yours spent a looooot of time listening to your mumbles and secretly studying your notes when you weren't looking. This language is actually a lot more complicated than I expected, or should I say as expected of my son?

As I'm about to pick up Clem, if I die, I suppose she will as well. This whole situation is fucked up, and I'm sorry that I got us into it. Hopefully you made it out with your mother and sister, but if you're all alone now, keep yourself safe and stay strong. If not for yourself, do it for us and carry on our legacies.

If you're worried about the ring exploding on you or something, don't be. It was designed to self-destruct once accessed only if the seal I placed on it was forcefully broken. The only way to truly access the dimensional space is to have our family's blood.

Inside this ring you will find a collection of items that have been gathered not only throughout your mother's and I's lives, but several generations of Obsidian Void Dragons before us. Zerana was truthful when she said that the only legacy items from her family which she was able to grab were this ring, the box, and the recorded history of the void element, but that doesn't include all of the miscellaneous items they had.

This ring originally was supposed to only be in the possession of the current emperor of the clan, however, he passed it to your mother for safe keeping in the case he died before he headed off to battle. They always told everyone that they had multiple powerful dimensional rings, but that was a lie, they only ever two. The clan's wealth was split between them, but the majority was kept at the finger of the emperor.

This was created from the mana core of the very first Obsidian Void Dragon Emperor. Rather than using a separate dimensional space like a typical ring of this sort, it utilizes the void element. I was never able to understand much of the inner workings of the ring as space and void aren't my strong suit. However, according to your mother, if the one who accesses the ring had an aptitude to the void, they should be able to access the deepest parts of the ring that I'm not able to.

Your mother had tried, but she was never great with the void element in the first place and once she lost the ability to utilize mana properly, it became a pipe dream to gain access to the resources hidden within this thing. Just keep in mind as you go through it all that stuff isn't everything, nor is money. If your mother and sister are alive, I expect you to do whatever it takes to keep them safe.

If anything in this ring can do that, use it without hesitation. Do I Make Myself Clear? Also don't focus solely on vengeance and that silly stuff. Live a good and fulfilling life. Settle down, get a wife, have a few kids, trust me it's much better than being on the run and fearing for your life every second of the day.

Anyway, just know I'm proud of you kiddo. I always have been. The other two pages document my notes and the information I've gathered about Lydia and the project they are having her work on. From what I was able to gather, she's probably dead, but who knows as I wasn't able to confirm her death with my own eyes.

Also, I don't blame you for any of this. So, don't beat yourself up, you were just trying to make the world a better place with Lydia, and someone wanted to warp your wonderful creation into something obscene. Now, while I am providing you with the information about it, I expect you to heed my earlier words. Don't pursue vengeance…at least not until you're the most powerful person to stand on the continent, then go crazy.

I love you, Kayn. Stay strong and lead a good fulfilling life.

The best and most awesome father ever,

Ezekiel