The sound of waves.

On the beach, a young boy washed ashore. A bird pecked his hand and woke him from slumber.

He gasped as if waking up from a nightmare.

Where’s the monster? Where am I?

The last thing he remembered was fighting a black and white fish.

…What happened?

By the looks of it, he seemed to have fallen from the ship and was carried here by the current. The Skull Basher was nearby. How curious that the heavy hammer didn't sink to the depths.

He was on a beach, alone, a thick jungle in front of him.

“Masteeeeer!?” Boram shouted.

Suddenly, he heard his master’s voice inside his head.

“My apprentice. If you’re hearing this, it means I’m no longer in this world.”

Boram felt his heart drop.

“...Just kidding! Yohohoho!”

Boram stilled the urge to punch his master with a full power Rocky Smash.

“So there’s been changes in the plan of going to Merimer town. It’s just you though; this has been my plan from the start. While I'm taking care of my business own , you’ll undergo the next phase of your training. On this supermassive island, go have an adventure! Not my adventure, but your own. The wilderness is dangerous so keep your wits about you. And never stop improving yourself.”

…Adventure? My own?

“Where you go, what you do, decide yourself. I’m not gonna hold your hand. But depending on the circumstances, you might have to spend the whole winter in this place. Make preparations. I’ll direct you towards one objective. Hundreds of years ago, Giants or Gigantes, as they called themselves, lived on this land. Seek their traces. Gain an inheritance if possible. If not, there are plenty of minerals and gems for your Earthborn Amalgam. My recommendation is to explore every nook and cranny of the island if you somehow get bored.”

Boram felt strange. He was afraid and excited at the same time.

“Huhuhu, I'm looking forward to your growth. Keep the white card that I gave you close, always. I can contact you with that. Farewell, my boy. Don't die and have fun… Seriously, don't die.”

The message ended. Boram looked to the strange and new land in front of him.

He was feeling what all Tarnished felt when they first arrived in Limgrave.

***

A Devadom Orca was swimming north like a torpedo. Its purple eyes left trails of purple light behind like light trails in a slow shutter photography.

Even after the months passed, Viers didn't let down his vigilance about protecting his identity. First, he laid a false trail of Avel going south while in truth his real destination was Valkut city to the north. Then, Viers sank the company’s ship with his orca form. No lives were lost during this process.

It wasn't necessary.

Arsène who was posing as Avel was seen by eyewitnesses fighting the orca monster with Boram. And then, during the chaotic fight, Viers collaborated with Paina to knock Boram out. He merged with Arsène, pushed the drowning people to dry land, and brought the unconscious Boram to a faraway island.

He asked Izabella for places with traces of the Giant race and she found one in the southern part of Zamrud Archipelago. There were thousands of islands in the archipelago, some big and some small. This particular island was as big as Cuba.

The hardest part was carrying the unconscious boy as an orca. The Rank 3 water and space affinity monster couldn't put a living being in a pocket dimension yet but Viers made it work after extensive preparations. After dropping off Boram, Viers finally went to Valkut via water.

He didn't feel as bad for leaving his apprentice without prior notice on the island after Boram hammered his snout during the ship sinking attack.

It was a really hard hammer strike.

The reason he took a separate action was because Valkut was about Paina, a soul he bound to himself. Boram’s presence might complicate matters.

Like in the Book World, he might have to reveal his hidden side so he wouldn't be going to Valkut as Avel.

Viers was fully expecting trouble at Valkut, with the mentality of someone going to a battlefield. He didn't half-ass his preparations.

If the main quest turned out to be a simple event, then okay. But he doubted it very much.

Including rest, it should take about eight days. Valkut city, here I come! What are you gonna throw at me there, world? Surprise me!

Viers jumped out five meters above the water’s surface with a great splash.

***

“Hail Estelle, the origin of light. O lady most radiant, forgive us sinners. Illuminate our way through the dark, so we may return to your embrace.”

When the eighty-eighth repetition of the prayer was spoken, the girl’s body shone with light. The brothers and sisters of faith in the sanctum witnessed the miracle brought forth by the ceremony.

In front of the girl, a big candle as tall as a person was lit not by match but by light.

Not simply of light affinity but holy light.

The girl’s forehead was glistening with sweat. It wasn't simply a physical thing. As she repeated the ceremony from town to town, city to city, she felt it clearer every time. During the prayer, she felt her spirit was being enveloped by something infinitely greater than herself.

It nourished her, made her stronger.

And just now, she had broken the wall of Level 2 and stepped inside the domain of Level 3s.

No wonder Master Mita said this is training.

“Blessed Lady Rose, we thank you for bringing the light of the Goddess to our humble abbey,” the aged abbess said.

“Not at all. Everyone deserves the light of the Radiant Lady,” the girl, with a rose-flower hairpin adorning her jet black hair, replied humbly.

She was approached by the brothers and sisters of the faith, wanting her to grace them with a word, with a blessing. They thought by touching the hem of her clothes they might become closer to the divine.

It troubled her, because Rose herself felt she was no such thing. She was not some saintess or holy being. She was simply a human.

Yet she was a Blessed. A person that had been chosen by an angel. They said there were less than ten Blessed on the entire continent.

Why would an angel choose her? An angel that she had never seen or conversed with before. Did it make her better than her fellow compatriots? Apparently so, if the eyes of the Church’s believers were any indication.

Still, she must not become big-headed or prideful. The blessing was a gift, a gift that she would share with as many people as she could.

Rose excused herself without being impolite and made her way to her temporarily assigned room in the abbey. Walking alone on the cloister made her thoughts wander to things of the past.

After she finished her training, like the Blessed that came before her, she embarked on a Kindling pilgrimage. It was a sacred tradition that began with the first Blessed eight thousand years ago, if the history was correct.

Conn and June, the friends she made during her training days, accompanied her on this pilgrimage of candle kindling. Her master, Vestal Mita, acted as their guardian and teacher.

As an orphan that was raised in a church, she never thought she would be able to visit so many towns and cities. And since this was a pilgrimage, they didn't use the Church's teleportation network and made the journey the traditional way.

So many sights to see, so many new people to meet.

While the objective was to get to the next settlement, there were always people that needed help so they often made detours.

The days were fun and fulfilling. It was like being an adventurer in the stories.

A dream that a dear friend was unable to fulfill because he had fallen early on the way.

Rose chased away the dark memories of Luxore before knocking and entering the room. She saw teacher Mita was meditating, Conn was polishing his armor, and June was trying on new scarfs in the mirror.

“Conn, which fits me more? The red one or the blue one?” June asked.

The teen gave June a second glance before going back to polishing his armor. “Both are fine.”

June strangled Conn with the red scarf.

“Pay! Attention!”

Seeing this made Rose smile. They were always fighting but it was their way of getting along. Rose was a bit envious of that closeness.

“Ah, you’ve become a Level 3. Congratulations,” Vestal Mita opened her eyes.

Rose’s teacher was a short woman, only 155 centimeters. Currently, at seventeen years of age, Rose had grown slightly taller than her master. She looked to be in her late twenties with dark hair. The Level 4’s voice was always nice to hear.

“Tomorrow, we will go to our next destination. It is a long journey. We’ll leave at first light so sleep early, people,” Mita said.

“Where to next?” Conn questioned with a raspy voice. “Will there be a lot of strong monsters there?”

“Oh, most definitely. Our next destination is Valkut city.”

***

A woman placed her hand on a tree to prevent herself from falling. There was now a bloody handprint on the trunk. The woman was coughing terribly, spitting out specks of blood.

Her Silver Legion armor was in tatters, she was injured all over, and her blonde hair was a mess.

“Damned assassins…”

Ciel took this moment of respite to drink the last of her energy potion. It wouldn't help against the poison but it would give her the energy to make a run to the city.

They’re really trying to kill me. A legionnaire and a daughter of a duke. The bounty must be very high for the Assassin’s Guild to accept. Who put out the contract? Was it my uncle? Did everyone from my team survive?

Ciel sensed her pursuers closing in.

Damn it, they’re fast. I have to take refuge. I need healing or the poison will kill me… If I remember correctly, Valkut city is half a day away across the river. If I can get into the church, I’ll be safe.

Ciel forcefully moved her aching and tired body.

Aaarrghh… Whoever is behind this will pay!

A few minutes later, a group of cloaked men stood before the tree with a bloody handprint. They checked the trail and followed after their target.

***

A hooded man checked the landmarks with the map in his hands multiple times.

According to this map, the Ebony Fire is beyond that mountain range.

He asked a passerby that came near.

“Excuse me, what’s there across the mountain range?”

“Ah, a traveler? I wouldn't recommend going in that direction. There are lots of ruins and strong monsters. If you insist though, the road is dangerous but if you follow it, you’ll reach Valkut city.”

“Appreciate it.”

The hooded man nodded and kept going. Seeing the hooded man disregard his warning, the passerby sighed and shook his head. Since there was nobody else, the hooded man pulled down his hood, showing his red hair.

The other half of the Fire Sage Barakal’s inheritance, Ebony Fire. If I have both Ivory Fire and Ebony Fire, my strength will rise sharply. To never lose anyone dear to me again, to enact my revenge, I need strength! Absolute strength!!

Max, inheritor of the Ivory Fire, walked towards Valkut city with a burning ambition of getting stronger.

***

Far to the northwest of the Free People Coalition lay the Herkelan Empire.

A harsh land of ice and snow. Famine was a frequent visitor.

In a luxurious mansion, while the cold wind rattled the window, a man who looked to be in his fifties was reading reports of his demesne in his study. The man’s hair was originally black but most had grayed. His square jaw was graced by a tidy trimmed beard. His countenance was regal and dignified. He wore a leader’s aura like a second skin.

“...Georgi.”

A black flame lit up in the middle of the room, blackening all with its dark glow. The male voice that came from the fire was nothing else but divine.

It had been a hundred years since the man heard God's voice.

With fervor and religious worship, the man kneeled before God's form.

“King of Mind and Soul, Your Most Excellency, how may this humble one serve?”

“I require the Order to recover a toy that slipped through my fingers in the past.”

The weight of the voice was overwhelming to the Level 5. The exhale of God’s breath was enough to snuff his existence like a candle.

“Your will shall be done. Where is this toy, My Lord?”

“The land that was once the Coriz Empire. Valkut city.”

“My son will handle this task personally,” Georgi said.

“Little Yuri is an outstanding kid, but I’m afraid he’s not enough.”

A Level 4 peak was not enough? Indeed. Surely only a supreme entity was worthy of being God’s toy. Was the target Estelle’s direct descendant?

“Then this humble servant will go. Who or what is my target, Your Most Excellency?”

A male figure could be seen from the black flame.

“The kid should have aged a couple of years. A Level 2 or 3 Pathseeker cub. But underestimate him, Georgi, and he might even give you the slip. If he catches a whiff of you, this clever little fox will not come out from his hiding hole.”

“I will take utmost prudence in my task.”

There was no slight in the man’s eyes, only reverence.

“He is now veiled to me but Valkut is his destination. There’s already a sweet little chaos brewing in the city itself. Now a Convergence of Fates is also occurring. He’ll be in the thick of this explosive situation. Nothing except that legendary scroll is able to foresee the result. How intriguing… Georgi, you are the most fitting man for this task. Should you fail to catch him, that is fine too, he he he…”

The black fire faded from reality. Nothing in the room was disturbed as if that was just a figment of one’s imagination.

However…

Georgi Zhirkov, the Swirling Chaos, leader of the Cult of Dumuzin, one of the strongest humans on the continent, had been given a holy mission by the very God he worshiped.

He would uproot the city itself from the ground if that was what it took.

***

The scattered fates of Luxore were converging, brought together by the law of causality.