Both Miri and Anne had a lot of questions, but that’d have to wait until Isaiah's head injury was properly healed up, which—with Anne’s healing ability—should only take about a couple of minutes or so. Then, after relocating themselves to an isolated spot, one where they were reasonably sure was far away from the chimeragon’s most frequented path, they all sat down together so that the boy could explain his story to Miri and Anne.

  “I’m sure you two must have been quite intrigued when you heard my family name,” Isaiah said, his voice mild and bashful. “Yes, you have indeed heard it correctly. My name is Isaiah Victorstein. Me and my father, Hugo Victorstein, are descendants of Archmage Frank Victorstein, the one who led the endeavor to perform the ritual in creating the chimeragon that is currently lurking within this keep. However, neither of us knew about the details of our heritage until about a month ago.

  “You see, before we came here, my father used to run a shipping business. However, due to some bad investments, his business went bankrupt and he was forced to sell off most of his possessions in order to pay off a portion of his debts. While sorting through our belongings, we found an heirloom treasure box containing various items belonging to our ancestor, Archmage Frank Victorstein—including a journal, some research notes, and a key rune that opens the door to the main ritual room.

  “In the journal, it detailed how Frank Victorstein was able to barely escape with his life from the chimeragon’s rampaging attack. However, because of the disaster, the Archmage was publicly disgraced and stripped of his title as a royal mage. This journal went into great detail about everything related to the creation of the chimeragon and the precious runes that were used to achieve it, which—along with other related items—were kept in a treasure box and passed down from generation to generation as an heirloom.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  “Once my father had discovered the journal and research notes, he figured that this could be a great opportunity for him to dive into the keep and take those precious runes for himself, hoping to sell them off so he can make some money to pay off the rest of his debts and maybe even get a little extra money left over. Later on, he learned that many others had attempted to raid the keep for those same exact runes over the years, but none of them had managed to succeed.

  “At first, we were reluctant in attempting this rune hunt, knowing the dangers that we might encounter. However, my father reassured me that the two of us might have a better chance in obtaining these runes due to the knowledge we have gained from that treasure box, which can potentially give us an advantage over the other adventurers who had attempted the same thing. With that in mind, we took some time to make our preparations before coming here, hoping to take these runes for ourselves once and for all.

  “At first, we thought we had the upperhand with all the information the journal and notes had given us. We had a detailed map of the entire keep, allowing us to navigate the most efficient path towards our destination. As we traversed the keep, we tried to be as quiet as possible to avoid alerting the chimeragon to our presence. And although we were able to make it further than most, it was still not enough. The chimeragon was still somehow able to find us.

  “We tried to fight back, but it was simply too strong for us to handle. Not only that, it isn't short on cleverness either. Even with all the knowledge we had on that beast, it still wasn’t enough. Eventually, it was able to chase us down and attack us. During the chaos of the attack, I was somehow separated from my father and ended up getting hit on the head by some falling debris, knocking me out cold. So, there you have it. That is how I ended up here.”