"Tut tut, you really don't ever shut up, do you, Colin?" Black kitty ears fluttered in the wind as two figures;one small and childlike, the other tall and seemed to be closer to a teenager, rode on a boat made of black ice, through a desert of black sand. One of them, the one with the kitty ears—Nathaniel Corvick of Tennenborough—expressed his annoyance at the other boy, taller and seemingly older, Colin of the Eldritch Forests.

"But this really is stupidly dangerous! Riding on a boat of black ice in the Al'Nukhana desert, something only lunatics would even try! What if a horde of B-Class monsters rises up from the sands?" Asked the taller boy, who grabbed onto the boat for dear life. The Al'Nukhana desert was a well known danger zone in the east. No one ever goes through here unless they have a death-wish.

"Colin, my dear assistant, you sound like my mother. Always worrying and worrying. If we don't take this path then we lose out on the opportunity of the century! Dianians never let anyone into their nests. But I got us a first-class ticket to the Illusory Forest's chieftain's youngest child's Invocation Ceremony. We'll get to learn so much about the dianians… and not just any dianians, I got us invited to a nest ruled by Diancias! My curiosity is overflowing, what kind of secrets and knowledge do one of the Eight Phases possess? Just thinking about it makes my mouth water!" Nathaniel burst into an animated presentation.

The boat goes faster by the second, ten sleek spears made out of black ice following close nearby and killing anything that jumps out of the sand.

Nathaniel, the short and pudgy, bespectacled black-haired boy whose eyes shone with the color of the northern permafrost, focused on giving his apprentice Colin the pros of being able to attend this special occasion. Completely ignoring the fact that the desert was classified as a B-Class danger-zone and that they could die anytime. His ravenous hunger and thirst for knowledge has completely destroyed his common sense.

Or, at least, it would appear that way to people unfamilliar to Corvick.

A black spider the size of a large hill, and three others like it appeared a few kilometers away from the two. Colin shrieked in terror, "GIANT BLACKROCK SPIDERS!" his eyes the color of luscious forests were as wide as dinner plates as he stared at the four hill-sized monsters.

"Tut tut, you're such a wuss. They're barely High B-Class monsters." Nathaniel calmly said. "You're with the Great Nathaniel Corvick. The Blackfrost Cat. Have a little more faith in your master for God's sake." he hissed before assembling a separate boat and jumping on it, then making it go as fast as he can toward the spiders. The dark sky makes their figures look shadowy, foreboding, and intimidating, yet the little mage was not the slightest bit concerned.

"Magical Formation, Lupus!" He shouted out, drawing a sigil in the wind using ice-type mana. After doing so, ten wolves, who were oddly very adorable, made up of pure white snow, rose from the ground and started running as fast, almost faster than the boat. Nathaniel hitched a ride on one and dissolved his previous mode of transportation. He waited until he got close enough to the spider and ordered the wolf to fully stop, sending him flying toward one of the arachnids.

And with a single touch, and one word, the arachnid that he was flung towards was polymorphed. "Diwotom!" He shouted the moment he was able to touch the spider. The ring on his finger made out of a pitch-black mineral glowed a certain darkness, before a pulse of pure alchemical energy was sent through the spider and turned it into a small squirrel-like creature.

"Let mine curse flow!" He shouted, before stabbing through his hands. The crimson blood turned into a red liquid before it retreated back through the hole and healed the self-inflicted wound. Below Nathaniel, the once adorable, snow-white wolves, turned into ravenous ones made up of sharp black ice who mercilessly tore the poor squirrel apart.

The other three spiders proceeded to attack, but were immediately stopped by a black blizzard. They froze, not being able to move, they tried shrieking for help from their fellow arachnids but the ice had already blocked out their airways. Nathaniel, who became one with the ice and snow, entered the body of the spiders one by one and tore them apart from the inside out.

After killing all four spiders, the blizzard settled. From the leftover snow, Nathaniel materialized and dropped down onto the boat once more.

"Excuse me, Master Corvick, for my disrespectful words. But you're one massive show-off." Colin was still holding onto the boat like his life depended on it, fearing another onslaught of spider monsters.

"Dear disciple, you keep forgetting that I'm one of Ignis Leos' special party Vice-Captains. Traveling through places like this is part of my job, most monsters here I know the weaknesses of and how to defeat as efficiently as possible." Nathaniel couldn't count how many times he's had to explain this to Colin. He was the genius of Tennenborough and the youngest son of the Corvick Royal Family, he can't believe that Colin was still afraid of anything whilst he was with him. It insulted him a bit, he felt as if the boy was questioning his capabilities.

"Apologies, it's just so hard to remember when you act like a stingy, arrogant, bastard most times. And please don't think I'm looking down on you, I was concerned for my own safety alone. I know how big of a monster you are."

"Dear disciple, I am not arrogant, I am right. I am simply better than most and that is the truth, it is not being arrogant to admit that I am the best alchemist that was, and ever will be."

Colin grumbles, cursing his master under his breath. He knew he was right, creating a new alchemical language and being the only one that can use alchemical incantations in active battle. Nathaniel was a natural-born prodigy, a genius, even the High-Alchemical Commission of The West were scared what kind of monster he'd become in a few thousand years. Divorakks were immortal after all, not to mention he's an unaging trahed too.

"How's our little Fumblefawn?" The teenage divorakk named Jan asked, his short brown hair was matted with sweat and his clothing were so dirty that it was harder to find a spot that was free of dirt. His eyes resembled the beauties of water;the shallows, corals, and the fish that hide in them. It created two beautiful eyeballs that mixed blue, green, and pink quite nicely. His semi-pale skin—inherited from his mother—had a sort of sheen from his sweat.

"Leave me alone, Kuya¹." Clailip mumbled as he scurried over to his spot at the dinner table, right between his mother and father. He's gotten so used to using 'Kuya' to refer to older brothers and 'Ate' for older sisters that he just started using it here. His parents and siblings didn't mind as they thought that it was just a cute word that Clailip came up with. Children making up words and languages wasn't uncommon after all

"Clay, are you still mad about yesterday? I swear I didn't mean to break your toy." Jan explained, yesterday, they were playing too rough and Jan accidentally snapped an Acorn Soldier in half. He laughed it off at first, not noticing the teary-eyed Clailip. This caused the boy to resent him for yesterday's events. Sure he was older than him in a past-life, but in this life, Clailip had a full reset. Just because he had memories of being a mature, taxpaying, adult, doesn't mean that it automatically makes him one.

"Ha! Now I'm Clay's favorite sibling! How does it feel, twin brother, to be inferior? Tell me, 'cause I don't have a clue." Marie gloated, her eyes deep and earthy gave Jan condescending glare, completely forgetting about the fact she broke one of Clailip's toys too, not just one, but seven. Her tan skin glowed as she used her light-type mana to accentuate her superiority, making her black hair—the same as her mother's—shine too.

Clailip just stayed silent, eating his meal. Mousedeer meat could be compared to earth's rabbit meat, it was tough and gamey, but had a hint of venison. Clailip did not like nor hate it, mousedeer wasn't something he had everyday so he didn't really mind eating it on the rare occasion that his parents served it up. They just had to serve it up as wasting food and killing for no reason is a massive no-no in dianian culture, and is said to offend their patron goddess Bu'Wan.

"Stop fighting, you two!" Kara scolded the two teens, who were starting to have flickering orbs of elemental energy around them. If Kara hadn't stopped either of them, they most likely would have started throwing elemental magic at each other.

"Ah, yes. I forgot to tell you, Kara, but an Ice Pixie came by earlier while I was cooking. The prince of Tennenborough and his assistant have passed the Al'nukhana dessert, he's only a day's worth of travelling away. I've already arranged the people who're supposed to grant them passage through the forest, so you don't have to worry about that." Antuan said just before taking a bite of his meal and going completely silent.

After having your first bite of food, it is completely forbidden to talk in any way, shape, or form. It is extremely disrespectful to the life reaped to give you your energy, to talk while eating.

Kara, who hadn't taken a bite yet, nodded and gave his husband an okay, and started eating.

It was completely quiet in the household for the few minutes they spent completely focusing on eating their food. Clailip, who started first and had a smaller portion due to his smaller body, finished first. He climbed up stairs that were specifically made for him to reach the countertop. Grabbing a wooden cup from a stone cup-carousel, he put it under a pipe-like protrusion on top of the sink, the pipe looked more or less like a faucet. He watched as the blue stone on top of it glowed as it dispensed clean water.

When he first got into this world, he was so confused when he saw these kinds of innovations already here. Especially when everything else seemed to be from ancient-times. There were just some extremely specific things that were modernized, stuff like sinks, bathrooms, and oddly enough makeup. He didn't know how to ask his mother where these things came from without looking suspicious. Fortunately for him, during the summer festival last year, they told stories of how a witch invented all these things hundreds of years ago.

'Lilianna was her name, right? Most likely she was reincarnated like me. Apparently she's in the deepest part of the forest sleeping… God damn it, dinedemonyo ako ng utak ko.²" Clailip shook off the extremely dangerous and horrible ideas that formed in his head. He was very tempted by the prospect of adventuring through the forest and seeing what Lilianna looked like, apparently she was so beautiful that even the goddess Bu'Wan was enchanted by her.

He wanted to see what all the hype was about.

"I'm going to my room now." Clailip quietly said, walking towards the stairs at a brisk pace.

Kara, who had just finished eating. Immediately downed a glass of water and stopped the boy. "Hold on, Clay, I need to talk to you about something. It's very important." Kara got up from the table and put away her dishes.

"Is this about the treetop thing?" Clailip nervously asked.

"Treetop thing? No, I don't know what you're talking about Clay. But, it is something about your magic. You're having your Invocation ceremony soon. So I think it's time to teach you how to pull out your Sandata³." Kara smiled, and the little boy's eyes were suddenly blown wide. A massive smile creeped up onto Clailip's face as he started running around the dining room giddily.

"My Sandata? You'll finally teach me? Thank you so, so, so, so much Mama! I'm so happy! Aaah, I wish my Sandata is as cool as Papa's!" Clailip said in an excited tone, his eyes sparkled and his movements were erratic as they climbed up to the treetop. His mother wondered for a few seconds why exactly the entrance was sealed off, but shrugged it off, thinking that Antuan probably got tired of the birds somehow being able to open up the trapdoor and getting in. Breaking the seal, they both climbed up and sat on the terrace-like structure of the treetop.

"So, let's start. Shall we? Calm yourself down first. Once you learn how to do it the first time, you'll be able to pull it out of you anytime you want. Now, take a deep breath." Kara instructed the boy and watched as he relaxed. "Now, hold out both of your hands and reach out deep inside you. Imagine that your soul is a bowl of water then reach deep inside it."

"Okay, what next?" Asked Clailip, focusing on the task at hand and not noticing the orb of blue light forming on top of his hands.

"You're doing great, Fumblefawn. Now, just cup your hands and try to get as much of the 'water' out of the bowl as possible with a single scoop." Kara said, watching the blue orb slowly forming something cubic, and materializing. "Open your eyes, Clay." Whispered Kara.

Clailip fluttered his eyes open, excited to see what his Sandata would be. "IT'S A… bag? No, a sewing kit?" Clailip was confused, a sewing kit for a Sandata? Isn't that a bit unwieldy?

"Don't judge your Sandata yet, Clay. Try opening it and see what's inside. Reach in and try to pull something out." Kara calmly suggested. Inside she was ecstatic, a sewing kit for his little boy. That could mean many things, but knowing his tiny Fumblefawn then most likely his Sandata is a reflection of his will to create. Not many people had Sandatas that could be used to create, and those that do are regarded as highly valuable people in any civilized society.

Clailip did as he was told. He opened up the floating sewing kit and reached deep inside it. It was the size of a small rolly bag. It was cubic in shape and had a handle at the top for easy carrying, it was durable, made clear by its amazingly strong outer shell. It also wasn't just the size of a rolly bag, it also had the form of one too, it had an elongating handle at the back and wheels at the bottom. The only reason Clailip was able to figure out that it was a sewing kit was the fact that his soul was practically screaming at him that it was one.

So he opened up the top of it, looked into it and saw a never-ending void, and reached his hand in, and pulled it out. He could only scream in excitement as a pair of scissors as big as him and six needles proportional to the scissor's size, came flying out. The scissors were incredibly light and were easy to wield, it could also float on its own. The needles had the same properties too. Clailip didn't know why he was so excited or why he was so happy when just moments before he was honestly a bit disappointed. He suspected that it was because he didn't think of the possibility of the coolest pair of scissors flying out.

He spent that night cuddling the scissors, hugging it close as he slept.

Footnotes

1. Filipino for 'Older brother'

2. A term Filipinos use to say something along the lines of "My brain's trying to get me to do something bad again."

Literal translation would be something like = "My brain's being the devil again."

3. In Filipino it's most often used to describe a weapon, but in this book it means equipment or tool.