Arkarium

Arkarium

Title	Guardian of Time
Gender	Male
Race	Human
Emblem	Snake
Affiliations	Black Mage Rhinne (formerly)
Minions	Netherworld Monks (Dimensional Schism) Temple of Time monsters Leafre of Past and Dimensional Schism monsters Thralled Kritias/Morass soldiers
Enemies	Heroes Damien Alliance Rhinne The Demon Adversary
Status	Deceased (Lore) Fightable (Gameplay)
Name (Other Servers)
KoreaMS	아카이럼 (Akayrum)
JapanMS	アカイラム (Akayrum)
ChinaMS	阿卡伊勒 (Akayel)
TaiwanMS	阿卡伊農 (Akaynon)
MapleSEA	Arkarium
Voice Actors
KoreaMS	Museong Son^[1] Yong-woo Shin (Male)^[2]

“I suppose I should thank you for barging in here. If you hadn't gone to the trouble of destroying my life's work, I would feel a slight pang of guilt at making you suffer!”

― Arkarium, talking to the player right before his boss fight

Arkarium is one of the Commanders of the Black Mage and a former Guardian of Time.

Story

Guardian of Time

As a boy, Arkarium demonstrated great devotion to the Goddess of Time, Rhinne, after which he came to study at the Temple of Time, passing the entrance exam to become a Guardian of Time with flying colors. Despite this, Arkarium frequently looked down upon others, particularly when he could derive no use out of them. On his first day at the Temple of Time, Arkarium sneered at the other trainees, who quickly noticed his abhorrent personality. Hoping to find ways to harness the power of time, Arkarium decided to speak with the High Priests of the temple. His conversation with the High Priest of Memory proved to be fruitless to him after hearing the priest's explanation about the power of memory being capable of changing one's future, as well as to give strength through the comfort of happy reminiscing. Arkarium quickly realized that the kind of power that the High Priest was speaking about was nothing like what he was seeking, while the High Priest realized that Arkarium's ambitions made him dangerous. He then spoke with the High Priest of Regret, who had overheard his conversation with the High Priest of Memory. The High Priest told Arkarium that she believed it to be a waste of her time to speak with him, as it was clear that he was a close-minded individual. She warned Arkarium that his actions were irreversible, and that he could not escape his regrets once the consequences followed. However, Arkarium dismissed her beliefs and claimed that he could not feel regret, as he only ever made correct decisions.

Finally, Arkarium spoke with the High Priest of Oblivion, who noted that Arkarium was a troublemaker and warned him that he was nothing but a finite candle that would someday be extinguished like all mortals. However, Arkarium scoffed and claimed that he intended to burn brightly forever, dismissing the High Priest as a fool who had lost himself to oblivion. Believing all the High Priests to be useless, Arkarium hoped to depose them all and become the head of the temple as quickly as possible. The next day, Arkarium - after getting into an argument with the disgruntled trainees - was asked to go for a walk by the Head Priestess, Pietta, who noted that Arkarium's ambition to claim the power of time for himself made him a danger to the temple. She told Arkarium that his ambition was needed at the temple, as the Guardians of Time were stuck in their ways from spending so much time in the Gate of the Past - the only accessible parts of the temple. However, she noted that the power of time was dangerous, and that even Rhinne herself would wield that power with great caution. Though Arkarium apologized to Pietta and the other priests, he secretly sneered at how easily they believed his insincere apology, vowing that he would reach the pinnacle of power and get exactly what he deserved.

Experiments in Kritias

Over the years, Arkarium ascended to the rank of High Priest after the former High Priest resigned out of guilt for his part in the inhumane experiments in Kritias, Arkarium was appointed the new High Priest and was sent to continue leading the experiments in the former High Priest's place. Arkarium led the mages of Kritias through their experiments on Tana, whose immortality was coveted by King Hekaton. Though Arkarium made great strides in the experiment, Tana continued rejecting the transfer of her power to the test subjects, causing their bodies to disintegrate while their souls were left behind. Soon, however, Hekaton grew more impatient and told Arkarium that his Ascendency ritual would take place the next day and ordered him to ensure that it would succeed. That night, Arkarium watched in secret as Jean - a pickpocket whom Tana had once saved - read stories to her in her prison, causing him to realize that Jean and Tana were in love with each other. Because of this, he believed that Jean was the key to ensuring the success of the transfer ritual. The next night, Jean obtained an anti-magic necklace as a present for Tana, which was part of his plan to break her out. He then enlisted the help of his childhood friend, Shey, who had become a priest at the Temple of Time, after which he had been helping the mages of Kritias conduct the experiments.

With Shey's help, Jean broke into the dungeon where Tana was being held. Before he could free her, however, Arkarium used his magic to possess Shey, forcing him to call the guards. King Hekaton, whom Arkarium had asked to wait outside, then arrived and ordered his guards to kill Jean in front of Tana. Just as Arkarium had anticipated, the shock of Jean's death eradicated Tana's willpower in rejecting the power transfer, allowing Hekaton's Ascendency ritual to begin successfully. However, Tana crushed the anti-magic stone in the necklace that Jean had given her, causing the unstable magic to disrupt the Ascendency. Though Hekaton successfully gained the immortality that he sought, the disruption to the ritual caused him to be transfigured into a monster. Meanwhile, the disrupted ritual forced Tana into a state of endless pain as her sanity began to erode, trapped in a cycle of decomposition and rematerialization. From the future, the Black Mage - who had stolen the power of time from Rhinne - pulled Kritias forward through time into his present, where he sealed it in a pocket dimension.

Betraying Rhinne

Arkarium soon had a vision of the future, in which he saw the Black Mage reign victorious. Realizing that serving Rhinne was futile, Arkarium pledged his loyalty to the Black Mage and became one of his most loyal Commanders. During his time serving the Black Mage, however, Arkarium became rivals with the Demon - the Black Mage's right-hand - whom he sought to undermine at any cost. In the last days of the war, the Black Mage and his Commanders prepared to siege the Temple of Time. As the sole restriction on the Transcendent of Time was that they could alter the fate of anyone but themselves, Rhinne knew that she couldn't stop the Black Mage from taking her power. However, she attempted to create a new future by creating the Child of the Goddess through her teardrops, who she hoped would succeed her as the Transcendent of Time, which would prevent the Black Mage from taking the power of time. Knowing that the Temple of Time wasn't safe, Rhinne handpicked loyal priests to take the child to safety and watch over it. Before they could escape, however, the Black Mage arrived with his Commanders. Arkarium then blinded Rhinne, while the Demon stunned her in place, allowing the Black Mage to steal her Transcendent powers. He then used the power of time to seal both Rhinne and her child into a different dimension.

Arkarium, envious of the Demon for "stealing" his credit for the sealing of Rhinne

After the battle, the Black Mage praised the Demon for his role in the battle, while ignoring Arkarium's contributions. After the Demon went to rest, the Black Mage ordered the rest of his Commanders to destroy the rest of Ossyria, including southern Leafre, which he had promised the Demon that he would spare, as it was where the Demon's family lived. Seething with jealousy, Arkarium decided to take his revenge on the Demon and decided to kill his family. In southern Leafre, Arkarium attacked the Demon's home and killed his mother. This caused Damien's latent demon powers to awaken, resulting in the destruction of their home.

Impressed by his power, Arkarium convinced Damien to join him by claiming that it was Damien's awakening that had resulted in his mother's fatal wounds. He presented an illusion of Damien's mother preserved in time and explained that only a Transcendent had the power to revive the dead. However, he also said that the Black Mage would have full control over the new Transcendent of Time after Rhinne and suggested that they could turn back time to revive his mother, but only if Damien swore his loyalty to the Black Mage. Soon after, Arkarium joined the Demon, Orchid, and Von Leon at a meeting, in which he pointedly told the Demon about the Black Mage's orders to destroy Ossyria. After the Demon rushed to Leafre and found his family home in ruins, he vowed revenge on the Black Mage and ordered Mastema to deliver a letter to the Heroes outlining his betrayal. At the entrance to the Black Mage's throne room, the Demon confronted Arkarium, who refused to allow the Demon entry. Just then, the door to the throne room opened to the Demon, after which Arkarium decided to track down the Heroes. In Leafre, Arkarium found Mastema delivering the letter to the Heroes. He immediately attacked both her and Heroes before retreating. Soon after, the Heroes sealed the Black Mage away, in accordance to the Black Mage's plan. Arkarium and the other Commanders then went underground for centuries as they waited for their master to return.

Lania's Home

Centuries later, the Heroes slowly began awakening as the seal on the Black Mage began weakening. After Luminous awoke, he met a girl named Lania and decided to live with her. After many years, the darkness that Luminous had inadvertently absorbed from the Black Mage awakened within him, causing him to lose control of his power and hurt Lania. After Luminous stabilized his inner darkness, he returned to find Arkarium's Netherworld Monks scouting the area near Lania's home, prompting him to find a way to protect her from the Black Mage's forces.

Dark Alchemy

As part of his plan to free the Black Mage, Arkarium ordered his forces to steal the Forbidden Book of Alchemy from the Zenumists and Alcadnos of Magatia. The book, which had been written by the White Mage, contained knowledge of Dark Alchemy - used for creating and destroying magical substances. Arkarium hoped to use the knowledge to destroy the Seal Stones, though his plans were foiled by the Demon.

The Silent Crusade (Post-Remaster)

Note: The Silent Crusade storyline was remastered under the KMS story team's new continuity in the KMS Spring 2023 Update.

After the Black Mage's unsealing, Arkarium - hoping to get revenge on the Heroes and the Demon for their role in sealing his master away - began creating cracks in time to go back into the past. This drew the attention of the Silent Crusade, which began investigating a crack in Perion that led to Sharenian of the past, which contained the corrupted monsters of the present, due to Arkarium's imperfect time magic. Together with an Alliance member, the Silent Crusade followed Arkarium into the past from centuries ago, where Arkarium hoped to eliminate the Heroes and the Demon after they were weakened from their battle against the Black Mage. However, as he was unable to find the Demon anywhere, Arkarium - unable to go back any further due to a Barrier of Time created by Freud at the moment the Black Mage was sealed - hoped to steal the power of the Transcendent of Time from Rhinne, who was sealed in the Temple of Time, before Rhinne would be handed over to Will in the present day. To stop the Silent Crusade, Arkarium used his powers to possess Bastille, the leader of the Silent Crusade, and forced him to attack the Alliance member who was aiding the Crusaders. After the Alliance member helped Bastille regain control of his senses, they entered the Temple of Time of the past, where they defeated a clone of Arkarium attempting to break the seal. After defeating the clone, the Alliance member returned to the present and entered the Dimensional Schism, where they fought and defeated the real Arkarium.

The Silent Crusade (Pre-Remaster)

Still hoping to free the Black Mage from his seal, Arkarium created Mystic Gates across Maple World, which began draining the energy around them, strengthening the monsters inside. With the energy, Arkarium created a Crack in Time, allowing him to travel back to the past. As Freud had created a Barrier of Time that prevented anyone from traveling back further than when the Black Mage had been sealed, Arkarium chose to travel back to a point shortly after the Black Mage had been sealed, as there would be no one to stop him from freeing his master. However, the Silent Crusade learned of his plans and sent their forces to stop him. To stop them, Arkarium used his powers to possess Bastille, the leader of the Silent Crusade, and forced him to attack one of the Crusaders. After the Crusader helped Bastille regain control of his senses, they entered through the Crack in Time and traveled to the Temple of Time, where they defeated a clone of Arkarium attempting to break the seal. After defeating the clone, the Crusader returned to the present and entered the Dimensional Schism, where they fought and defeated the real Arkarium. Though Arkarium was stopped from completely destroying the seal, his actions in the past nevertheless caused the seal to begin degrading over the span of centuries, which would ultimately result in the Black Mage becoming unsealed.

Meeting the New Transcendents

After Alpha and Beta defeated Will and escaped from Mirror World, they were surprised to find that they had emerged in Grandis, not Maple World. They were then led by Cassius to a space between dimensions, where they were shocked to find the Commanders of the Black Mage - Arkarium, Damien, Hilla, and Von Leon - as well as Gelimer and Lotus. The Commanders offered an alliance with the new Transcendents, claiming that they could help Alpha and Beta become the Transcendents of Time of both Maple World and Grandis. Arkarium explained that Maple World and Grandis were slowly merging, which was all according to the Black Mage's plan. He told them that only a Transcendent of Life, a Transcendent of Time, and a Transcendent of Light could exist in a given world, with a new Transcendent being created as a replacement should one disappear, though Hilla added that the circumstances could be less than ideal, such as how Alpha and Beta had been split in two. However, should a world lose all its Transcendents, it would become unstable and would fuse with another world in order to regain its stability. Because the Black Mage, Rhinne, and Alicia had all been sealed away, Maple World had attempted to restore its balance by seeking to merge with Grandis. Hilla explained that the world merge would have stopped if the Transcendents were to have returned early on, but after centuries, Maple World was moving on pure inertia, meaning that even the return of the Transcendents wouldn't stop it. She also added that as Maple World was much larger than Grandis, their imminent collision would be interesting to watch.

She then explained that the Black Mage planned to become the Transcendent of Light of both Maple World and Grandis and asked if they would agree to join him. Alpha asked who the new Transcendent of Life would be if he and Beta were the new Transcendents of Time. Hilla told them that she didn't want to spoil the fun, but added that the Transcendent of Life had already been chosen. Hilla then told them that they only needed to oust Chronica, Grandis' Transcendent of Time, in order to gain full power over that world. She also reminded them of Rhinne's fate when she had refused to obey the Black Mage. In order to buy time, Alpha told them that they needed time to think on the Commanders' offer, as they had only just become the new Transcendents, and so they wanted to learn more about Maple World and Grandis before they could make a decision. Hilla accepted their proposal, claiming that it wasn't a pressing matter. Damien grew furious and called them arrogant fools, as Arkarium had promised him that the Black Mage would have the new Transcendents of Time bring his mother back. However, Arkarium assuaged him by joking that Alpha and Beta were merely living up their role as the Transcendents of Time by asking for more time. The Commanders then disappeared, leaving Alpha and Beta to think on their offer.

Black Heaven

Shortly before Gelimer launched Black Heaven, he met with Arkarium and Hilla to finalize preparations. With the completion of his airship, Gelimer also petitioned to gain the coveted position of Commander upon the success of his mission. After Gelimer left, Hilla confided to Arkarium that though Gelimer had called Black Heaven a tiny airship, there was nothing tiny about it and she wondered what Gelimer, whom she called a madman, had in mind. After the Alliance defeated Black Heaven, Arkarium reported Gelimer's defeat to the Black Mage, though he added that Gelimer's death had been assured when he had approached them with deceit. However, the Black Mage ignored his words and instead told him that the shape of destiny had been twisted, and that a new Adversary had appeared with the power of the Seal Stone. Arkarium offered to handle them personally, but the Black Mage forbade him from intervening, instead tasking Damien and his demon army to carry out their next move.

Heroes of Maple

As Damien began fighting the Alliance, Arkarium began growing suspicious of Damien's motives and confronted him at the Temple of Time, claiming that the Black Mage Black Mage was interested in his progress. However, Damien called his bluff and told him that the Black Mage had more important things to do than to follow up with him. Declaring that he didn't have the time to be plotting anything, Damien told Arkarium that he would continue with his task of handling the World Tree and ordered Arkarium to stay out of his way. Annoyed at Damien's insolence, Arkarium conjured Damien's mother, frozen in time, and reminded Damien that he was the only thing keeping her from oblivion. Damien then furiously threatened Arkarium to keep her preserved if he valued his life, to which Arkarium seethed at being threatened by Damien. However, Damien merely laughed and replied that he was more in the Black Mage's favor than Arkarium was, as he was the one in possession the World Tree, which meant that Arkarium was the one who would be killed if the Black Mage's plan failed. After Damien walked away, Arkarium fumed at Damien turning on him, realizing that despite having taken Damien in for his own uses, it seemed as though Damien was now a liability, for which he planned to eliminate him once the matter with the World Tree was settled. He then smiled sadistically as he imagined revealing the truth to Damien about his mother.

After Damien stole the Abyss Crystal from the Heroes, Arkarium and his minions arrived to confront Damien, with Arkarium revealing that he had already been aware that Damien had planned to betray the Black Mage and absorb Alicia. As he began berating Damien for his treachery, Damien cut him off and told him to get to the point. Arkarium then ordered Damien to hand over the Sword of Destruction and the power of the World Tree absorbed within it. Damien immediately began laughing, claiming that Arkarium had really come to take the World Tree's power for himself. Furious at Damien's insolence, Arkarium used his powers to freeze Damien in time, explaining that it was a failsafe that he had set up when he had taken Damien in. He then mocked Damien by declaring that no matter how much power he had absorbed, he was still mortal in the end, and that he would never be like the Black Mage. He also revealed that Damien's mother's body was an illusion created to blackmail Damien, claiming that he would never have used his power to preserve a mere human. He also explained that he himself had killed her, rather than her death resulting from Damien's awakening. As Damien seethed in rage, Arkarium told him that he had only taken Damien in as a tool to break his brother. Though he conceded that Damien had been useful over the past centuries, Arkarium had realized that Damien had outlived his usefulness, and so he had decided to end him, but not before forcing him to surrender the Sword of Destruction. To his surprise, however, Damien began laughing and revealed that the sword was meaningless to him now, as he had already absorbed Alicia's powers within himself and become the new Transcendent of Life. With his new powers, Damien effortlessly broke free from Arkarium's binding spell and utterly destroyed him, severing his head completely.

Before his physical body was destroyed, however, Arkarium managed to transfer his life force into his snake body, after which he slithered back to headquarters. There, Hilla laughed at his predicament and told him that things were going smoothly without him. Arkarium demanded to know if there was a plan that he was not aware of being put into motion, though Hilla merely asked if Arkarium had really thought that the Black Mage hadn't been aware of what he had been planning. Hilla told him to consider his snake form a punishment for his jealousy before reporting to the Black Mage that his plan was continuing smoothly, and with the Transcendent of Time imperfectly split and the Transcendent of Life scattered across the world, they were ready for his next orders. The Black Mage then told them to allow the Alliance to enter the Gate of the Present, where he awaited them on the other side. Soon after, Arkarium slithered up the stairs to the Black Mage's throne, fuming at Hilla's declaration that he was being punished, rather than the Black Mage merely allowing him to rest. Gathering his power, he transformed back to his human form and appeared before the Black Mage, who ordered Arkarium to bring Tana to him. Arkarium protested that Tana couldn't even control her own powers, but the Black Mage told him not to presume to judge what he couldn't understand. As he turned to leave, Arkarium seethed that he would not allow that ‘stupid girl' to go anywhere near the Black Mage, vowing to finish things for good.

The Arcane River

Arkarium standing before the Black Mage of the past

After the Black Mage freed Kritias from its pocket dimension, Arkarium freed Tana, who had been trapped inside the dungeons, and began escorting her to the Black Mage through the Arcane River. Tana's unstable mental state resulted in her losing control of her powers, causing the Erda creatures in the Arcane River to grow corrupted, such as Arma and the spirits of Arcana. As Arkarium and Tana reached the Morass, the Adversary and the Flying Fish caught up with them, where they found Tana standing with Arkarium. Tana's hair began oscillating between dark and light, and Arkarium noted that her mental state was deteriorating. In extreme pain, Tana asked who she was and why she was hurting. Arkarium explained that her name was Tana, and that the Black Mage was waiting for her, offering to stop her pain in exchange for sharing her power with him. Tana was able to recall that the Black Mage was the one who had sealed her away, though Arkarium told her that it had been for her own safety, as freezing her in time had stopped her from feeling unbearable pain and eventual madness. He then told Tana that they had gone over the same information many times and added that they didn't have time to go over it again. The Flying Fish urged the Adversary to get Tana away from Arkarium, promising to explain later. As the Adversary confronted Arkarium, Tana lost control of her powers, causing the river current to grow stronger. Just as Arkarium shielded himself, Tana's powers resulted in a widespread explosion, which the Adversary and the Flying Fish barely managed to escape. In the distance, the castle of Trueffet from Kritias manifested, causing Tana to grow shocked at seeing her old prison. As she wondered how it could have appeared, Arkarium told Tana that her powers had allowed it to manifest.

Suddenly, Tana's memories of Kritias overtook everyone, causing them to be trapped inside the bodies of people from Tana's memories, playing out the events that had led to Kritias' doom. Arkarium, who inhabited the form of his younger self, was able to retain his senses through his power of time. Despite having the power to break the memory loop, Arkarium chose to let it play out, as he was curious to know why the Ascendency ritual had failed centuries ago. On the day of the failed Ascendency ritual, Arkarium confronted the Adversary, who was inhabiting the body of Shey, and revealed that he had been lucid the whole time. As the Adversary wouldn't fall for his possession like the real Shey had in the past, Arkarium instead trapped them inside a magical prison and then called the guards himself. After seeing how Tana had used the anti-magic stone to disrupt the ritual, Arkarium trapped the Adversary inside a pocket dimension before kidnapping Tana. The Adversary followed Arkarium to a tower, where Arkarium revealed that though his past self had thought that Tana's powers were eternal youth and immortality, the Black Mage had taught him that her true power was the ability to manipulate the Erdas. Claiming that Tana's shell of her former self wasn't worthy of the Black Mage, Arkarium planned to steal her powers for himself. The Adversary fought Arkarium and his minions, but they were unable to defeat him fully. Suddenly, the Flying Fish - whose was inhabiting the form of Jean - appeared and hugged Tana, helping her control her powers. Though Arkarium scoffed at her abilities, he soon found himself a victim of his own hubris as Tana effortlessly vaporized Arkarium and all of his forces. Once again, Arkarium transferred his life force into his snake body before Tana had destroyed his real one. Badly damaged, Arkarium awaited the Black Mage of the past, believing that Rhinne's power would allow him to enter Kritias of the past and restore his powers. Just then, the Black Mage of the past appeared and told him that the real Black Mage had commanded him to say, “You have done well. Rest,” before killing Arkarium.

Story (FriendStory)

Arkarium's counterpart on Earth is the biology teacher at Shinsoo International School.

Hilla and Magnus Sittin' in a Tree

A traveler who switched roles with a student from Earth began working with the other students to pair together Hilla and Magnus, the nurse and PE teacher, during which they had the two meet at a park. Soon after they kissed, however, Arkarium confronted the pair and asked if the rumors about them dating were true. Hilla and Magnus immediately began to insult each other while denying it before storming off. Arkarium then began wallowing in his misery about being single, inadvertently summoning a Born Single Troublemaker, born from eternal loneliness. The traveler quickly defeated the Troublemaker and brought Arkarium back to his senses.