They came during the night.

Despite the cover of darkness, there was no mistaking the sound of shambling bones and hoarse groans from rotting, debilitated vocal cords. Especially the stench- like carrion left under a midsummer heat- was more than enough to signify the coming of the legion of undead. Yet despite all these warnings, the small five-hundred sized settlement was surrounded on all sides due to its location at the bottom of a spring valley.

Airen had barricaded himself within one of the mines as the sounds of screams and tearing flesh created a chorus of hell. It wasn’t long before the sound of clawing, like nails on a chalkboard, could be heard on the mine door. His hands trembled in sync with the door’s shaking as he gripped the sword he was given- #21 in the Archive of Short Swords- the Tayo Blade.

When the wooden door could no longer take another hit, it fell inward. At the forefront was a zombie of what would have been an old man- with yellow teeth and hair that was falling out. At the same time, Airen thrusted forward with the unbreakable wooden blade, crushing its head into a pulp. Airen cursed at Fieluri for giving him such a dull weapon as he drew back from the other undead’s clutches. Even the one Airen struck tried to claw him while its half crushed head hanging off to the side like a sac of blood. Unlike in stories and tales, the undead are not so easily killed.

“Ald!” The wave of force momentarily pushed back the tide of dead streaming within the entrance, even causing the few in front to trip and fall, yet they still continued to crawl forward. Airen’s weapon, Dir Sayf was in its shield form, and he used it to bash the approaching dead. The Tayo Blade danced left and right, deflecting the skeletal hands reaching towards him, but ultimately failing to cut them off due to the blunt edge.

“For the love of-” Airen started to curse, but in the end, decided to shut his mouth and gritted his teeth as he was slowly pushed back by the endless horde. The mineshaft could be considered narrow, but it was still enough to push a minecart through and hence, wide enough for three zombies to move forward at once.

“Ald!” Another kinetic blast was used to trip one of the undead, granting Airen a brief moment of respite. A dim light started to emanate from the indestructible wooden blade as Airen entered the Flash Stance and sent a weak Flash of Divine Steel down the mineshaft. It pierced through several of the undead, splitting them from head to toe, yet like a humanoid slug, they continued to crawl towards him with their brains and organs trailing out behind them. The Reanimated that he fought in the past had to be reduced to ash in order to stop them, but Airen was not capable of such magic, and as a result, he could only retreat slowly as he was pushed back deeper in the barely illuminated mine. As the undead advanced, their bodies would run into the hanging lanterns, causing them to extinguish. It was a shame that the corpses were recently bathed in blood- for if they were brittle old and dry bones, they may have caught fire and given Airen a semblance of hope.

Another undead -this one appearing to be a recently decreased woman- lunged at Airen, forcing him to step to the side. The clumsy creature tripped over one of its beheaded comrades and fell to its knees. Yet even as it groveled on the ground, another zombie moved forward and took its place. Again, Airen was forced to take a step back, less he would be surrounded and pinned on multiple sides.

But it all came to an end as Airen sensed a presence behind him. It was too late for him as his attention was distracted by the dead in front of him. A white-hot pain seared through his body as Airen looked down at his chest where a black blade protruded, dripping with his blood. He painfully turned around to stare at a figure clad in obsidian-dark armor that appeared to be made from bone, and a pair of glowing red eyes peered back at him from beneath a helmet.

“...A Death Knight...” Airen coughed out blood as his strength slowly left him, and all went black.

“My, my. You failed miserably, Airen.” A feminine voice called out to Airen as he regained consciousness within the confines of the Archive. He sat up as phantom pain wracked his body, and he twitched erratically, one hand clenching his chest from where he had been impaled.

“Is…. this…. your idea of personal training?” Airen forced the words out as he finally got a hold of himself, glaring daggers at the girl in a dark purple dress seated in a chaise.

“Of course, I personally selected this scenario for you.” Fieluri shrugged her shoulders as she put down the book she was reading and stood up. As she walked over, she flicked a finger and Airen felt a wave of warmth and chill wash over him before it propelled him off to the side and into a cushioned armchair. A moment later, the ground where he was standing prior warped and twisted, and after the brief appearance of a magical symbol- a grimoire popped out of the training arena.

“Return.” Fieluri commanded, the book bobbed in the air for a moment before flying between the endless shelves that made up the Archive. Afterward she walked over to where Airen had been forcefully seated and sat on the armrest.

“Now, where did you go wrong, Airen?” Fieluri’s voice was cold and no longer playful.

“...Barricading myself in the mine.” Airen replied after giving it some thought. “I thought it would give me some advantage by limiting the numbers but I ended up walking into a dangerous foe.”

“No. The mine was indeed the right choice, but instead of quickly entering the depths you decided to stay near the entrance. You let yourself to be discovered and was attacked on both sides.”

“...It’s not like I could defeat the Death Knight at the end, not when I can’t even kill a mere Reanimated.” Airen grumbled.

“What are you talking about, you could simply hack it to pieces.”

“With a dull blade?!”

“In the hands of a master, a wooden sword could shatter mountains.” Fieluri shrugged. “Plus, you have the technique the Last Bellkeeper taught to you.”

“But what if it used magic? A Death Knight is proficient with darkness based spells- enough to rival a rank six mage. That’s what you said.”

“There’s no such thing as a ‘what if’ in combat.” Fieluri scowled. “It ‘will’ use it, and you must anticipate it. I grant you all this knowledge for a reason, and if you cannot even predict the most by-the-book scenarios and act accordingly, then I will be very, very disappointed.”

“Now. This time from the very top. Where did you go wrong, Airen?”

“...I should have alerted the town. At the very least, it would even the numbers a bit.”

“Not a bit. It would change things greatly. Not only would it have given them a fighting chance, and it would give you sufficient time to deal with the Death Knight.” Fieluri nodded. “But how would you convince the inhabitants as an outsider?”

“Arrive covered in superficial wounds and blood.” Airen replied hesitantly which earned him a nod from Fieluri. “I’ll pretend as I barely escaped and came to warn them all.”

“A good choice, if not the best. You’re learning to be quite the actor.”

Airen forced himself to not respond with ‘that’s because you made me’ and simply smiled. “Then I would deal set an ambush for the Death Knight. With their leader fallen, the magic in the dead bodies should weaken or dissipate.”

“Incorrect.” Fieluri smiled gleefully. “It would be obvious to assume that the Death Knight was the cause of the problems, but he is not. He was recently reanimated.”

“Wait… then who-”

“I merely give you the scenario, Airen. Did you think any scenario that I, the great History Eater, would be black and white? In any case, you are welcome to try this again whenever you wish.”

“...At the very least shouldn’t you teach me magic to deal with the dead?”

“It seems to me that you could deal with them just fine.” Fieluri shrugged.

“As if! I cut one of them in half and they just kept moving forward!” Airen scowled.

“Why of course, Reanimated are much different compared to actual zombies and skeletons. Their bodies are controlled by dark magic and fueled by the caster. In a way they’re just a flesh puppet with no will of its own. Even if you cut off an arm, both parts will still move.”

“...That’s messed up.”

“Not really, just think of the flesh and bone as a sort of golem. In that regard it’s much weaker than a stone golem, but the trade off is the ability to spread contagion and fear.” Of course I do not deny that the first age to come up with the idea had some mental issues.”

“Should I ask where did you learn this?”

“If you wish to witness one’s descent into madness and have your soul scarred, then by all means, ask.” Fieluri shrugged. “It is that sort of tale.”

“I… I will have to pass.”

“Then as recompense, how bout the story of how I acquired his memories?”

“I’m sure it’s just as brutal as the prior tale.”

“How rude. I simply gave him what was coming to him.” Fieluri scoffed. “The mark was committed by someone else, I merely fulfilled it. In exchange, I acquired both of their memories.”

Airen sighed. As usual, Fieluri operated at her own pace and he was to listen, whether or not he liked it. As she continued to tell him a story of aeons past, he simply nodded and accepted his fate. His sole salvation was the little message he received from Keri, slipped along the side of a painting, who has been out of touch for a few months. She was to come and visit him soon, the note had said, and Airen was more than happy to have a more ‘understanding’ mentor.

Of course, his brief moment of joy was shattered by Fieluri making an appointment for their next session.

“Please deliver the message back to Councilman Levint.” Cordelia handed a thin sheet of parchment to an aged man that Airen only saw the back of. “Our records failed to verify any of the dealings he mentioned before. As such, we will assume that these transactions were done privately by the prior head, and we will bear so such responsibility. If he still wishes to pursue the matter, we will be more than happy to open the case to the general public.”

“As you wish. I shall depart at once.” The servant nodded and turned around, giving Airen a respectful courtesy before leaving the two of them alone in the Head Office.

“...Forgive my hospitality, Airen, but things have been hectic lately.” Cordelia rose to greet Airen and gestured for him to have a seat.

“Succession issues?” Airen asked as he accepted the cup of tea he was offered, along with a plate of what appeared to be scones.

“I see you’ve already been informed. No wonder you did not seem surprised when you were led here.” Cordelia smiled forlornly. “Thanks to your teacher, everything went along with a hitch. But even I must say his methods were quite… ‘decisive’.”

Airen decided it was better to keep quiet at her words. It would be too cruel to let her know that the events that transpired were a result of Fieluri’s whims.

It was never a wise move to insult the History Eater.

“But the real issue is the nobility who had made under the table deals with the former Irona family head. It seems Hermann had offered various ‘perks’ to several of those on the Council, as well as various merchants. Needless to say, they were not please when we refused to honor them.”

“Sounds like trouble.”

“They’re just testing the waters after their investigation on what happened here turned up empty. It seems the thought of nearly three hundred people being kill without anyone knowing about it has them shivering. Some of the employees gossip and theorize, but only your teacher and I knew exactly what… methods were used.”

“I… I see.” Airen thought he counted a bit more than that, but perhaps some of them survived. As he sipped his tea, he didn’t realize that Cordelia was watching him for any facial movements or expressions.

“Politics aside, how may I help you today, Airen?”

“You didn’t have to go out of your way to help me.” Airen politely scooted away as Cordelia moved closer. “If you were busy, someone else could have handled the transaction.”

“That’s no way to treat someone that is related to my family’s savior.” Cordelia giggled with a hand over her mouth. “Plus, how else would I correspond with that ‘man’? Now I am even more interested in being able to share a dinner with him.”

“I’m afraid that would be… very difficult.” Airen grinned awkwardly. Since I would be the one actually doing the eating…

“Well, do pass on my message for me. Shall we move forward, then?”

“Ah yes. I was actually seeking to buy some more materials, the same high quality ones as before.” Airen quickly stated his reason for being at the auction house. The last ‘shipment’ had already been used up due to Fieluri’s meddling. More than half of the hardwood or stone were somehow carved into day to day furniture, and even a plumbing system using hollowed out granite was made. Clearly Airen’s dismal living standards were enough touch a nerve, and she wasn’t going to have any of it.

In the end, only two fully functional, fully furnished houses were made.

“….I see.” Cordelia nodded and quickly jotted a few notes down, her playful demeanor no longer existing. “By when do you want it?”

“I’m in no hurry, but it would be convenient if it is all prepared by the end of next week. Also, the type of material doesn’t matter this time, I will leave it up to you to judge between quality, price, and quantity.”

“May I inquire to what these materials would be used for?”

“...Training purposes.” Airen responded hesitantly. “At least, I hope they are used for training purposes this time around...” He didn’t get as much construction experience from building those two cottages, and his hours of work were all undone by Fieluri when ‘it wasn’t good enough’.

“Your mentor seems to have quite the vigorous training activities...” Airen felt like Cordelia was misunderstanding something but decided to simply nod along. A few moments later, Cordelia walked over towards the desk and rang a small bell. A servant came in, and she handed over the memo to her.

“With people working under you, at the very least, your workload has decreased?” Airen asked.

“...If only that was the case.” Cordelia laughed exasperatedly. “Hopefully, once things settled down, it will be as you say. Since it’s almost lunchtime, why don’t you join me since your master so adamantly refuses?”

“I…. If you would have me.” Airen decided not to reject her proposal. Although the main reason was to spite Fieluri, who sent him here to ‘check on things’ because she was too lazy to do it herself, he decided it wouldn’t hurt to get to know Cordellia better. She has been rather helpful with his requests, after all.

“Oh?” Cordelia had expected him to reject her offer, but nevertheless, hid it with a radiant smile. “Please follow me, and I’ll have the chef create something for us. It’s a good thing your mentor didn’t take out the chef.”

“Ha. Ha. Ha.” Airen laughed nervously.

…

To Airen’s surprise, they headed towards the kitchen that provided food to the VIP lounge, slipping into a small narrow room off to the side for employees. Seats were propped up against a wall with an opening from which provided a clear view into the kitchen and its six-staffed team. Once Cordelia entered, everyone stood up to greet her.

“Be at ease. Think nothing of it.” Cordelia gestured for them to sit.

“But… Lady Irona-”

“That’s an order. And this is what, the sixth time already?” Cordelia sighed, and after seeing their hesitation, ignored them and simply pulled Airen into a seat next to her.

“Boss, give me one of everything.” Cordelia shouted into the kitchen.

“Righto. You hear that lads? The boss is calling me boss! Make everything extra special and use the freshest ingredients!” One of the large chubby men that Airen assumed was the head chef quickly answered back with a grin. “Little Delia’s gotten herself a boyfriend! He’s a bit young so we gotta make sure he grows up well!”

“Yes, chef!” The resounding cry was even louder than usual.

“Were you expecting something different?” Cordelia had noticed the befuddled expression on Airen’s face. During their time walking, he was desperately trying to recall his table manners from two years back.

“I confess. I was.” Airen admitted. “But this is definitely more preferable compared to a stiff formal meal.”

“You sound like you have experience.” Cordelia probed.

“I had the...” Airen did not know whether to use the word displeasure or pleasure, and thus settled on something different. “...fortune to be acquainted with the actions of the nobility for a time.”

“Is that the case? What did you think of them?”

“I’m not quite sure what you mean. They’re human like the rest of us.” Airen replied to the inquiry. “It just so happens the loud, obnoxious, and arrogant ones gave them a bad reputation.”

“For a fourteen year old boy, you’re quite mature, aren’t you?”

“One has to grow up sooner or later.” Airen shrugged.

“...You’ve had it rough too, I see.” Cordelia had an urge to reach out and rub his head as she would do to her younger siblings, but she refrained from doing so.

“I don’t consider myself unfortunate.” Airen reminisced. It was through great luck that he had managed to reach Tel’naraa and be apprenticed to Fieluri. Many in his situation would have likely turned out much worse. As he thought so, he wondered how his sister was doing, but he quickly pushed those thoughts away. There was no point pondering possibilities, at least, that was what Fieluri had told him.

“Hah, it would have been nice if one of my siblings would learn from you. That boy is already ten, and he’s still quite the crybaby.” As if sensing the mood, Cordelia quickly changed the conversation to something more lighthearted.

“How are the-“ Airen caught himself in time since it was his alter ego that knew about the kids. “I wasn’t aware you had siblings...”

“It’s tough being the eldest sister.” Cordelia sighed as she poured herself and Airen a drink. Airen picked it up and gave it a sniff and was met with the scent of honey and berries. “It is thanks to your teacher that I managed to get them out of our predicament.”

“I hate to burst your bubble, but every action was done on a whim. I wouldn’t put it past him to pack up one day and leave you to your own resources.” Airen confessed.

“That is fine. What was provided is a chance and I have all intentions of seizing it. I simply have to mention him a bit, and it will gain a lot of leverage with certain individuals from the Red Slate Republic.” Cordelia’s words caused the surrounding staff to shudder a bit. Even though those that remained were but the most loyal, they had all either heard or personally witnessed the wanton slaughter that had taken place. “Not to mention I still have that which I was given.”

Airen decided not to respond, taking the chance created by the arrival of food.

This was a bad idea after all.

“Ugh… would it kill you to be a bit more lenient!?” Airen grumbled as he rubbed his shoulders, trying to make the phantom pain vanish. Instead of practicing with the full might of her power, Fieluri had made him do dodging exercises. Two thousand floating purple orbs the size of marbles had been conjured, and stood motionlessly in the air. Whenever Airen touched one of these, it would be like he had been pierced by a hot iron.

At first, the task was easy- for the Two Thousand Arcane Orbs were motionless and he simply had to weave through them. It was no different from dodging a projectile with a predestined path as Airen walked through the field. But Fieluri had given him a sadist smile and casted yet another Two Thousand Arcane Orb Array, except this time they slowly converged on him if he were to get too close. The result was him twisting his body in the strangest shapes and positions as if he was chased relentlessly through a minefield. After the twentieth time of suffering the sensation of temporary soul death, he had started to complain to Fieluri.

“It seems to me that you’ve improved, which means it is working.” Fieluri shrugged, oblivious to his suffering. It is true that after each successive time, Airen would last longer, but this sort of hell-like training was still too much for him. He had already started to regret asking for training with a more ‘personalized’ touch.

“But this much should be enough for you to get a sense of it.”

“...A sense of what?”

“Forevision. Pathways of Fate. Moments of Clarity. Slowed Time. Seventh Sense. Deja vu. Your kind has many terms for it, but there are few that can actually comprehend it. You should be thanking me, for I am the one being that can actually manipulate it.”

“Gee. Thanks.” Airen rolled his eyes and replied sarcastically. “I’m sure being throw into a hurricane of death is certainly a way to train in it.”

“Is that sarcasm I hear?” Fieluri clapped her hands, and Airen found his body pressed into the ground by a gigantic book. However, just as quickly as it appeared, it lifted off and left him sprawled on the ground.

“Eh. I thought you would at least be able to dodge that.” Fieluri frowned.

“Don’t throw things at me thinking ‘he can just dodge that’!” Airen shouted as he picked himself up. At the very least, he wasn’t hurt physically. Before he could make another retort, a tingling sensation ran down his spine, and without knowing why, he quickly jumped back. Where he was standing a bit prior, another gigantic book had slammed into the ground.

“Well done.” Fieluri clapped her hands. “It seems you finally have the aptitude for it after fighting so many battles in the archive.” However before he could reply, Airen felt himself slammed to the ground by another giant book.

“...I suppose there’s still some work to be done, but once every so often is still acceptable. Follow me.” Without waiting for Airen’s acknowledgment, a magic circle formed under him and lifted him in the air to trail behind her, still in a sprawled out position.

“Acceptable for what?” Airen grumbled, rubbing his bruised forearms.

“Preconditions for serving the Witch of Altered Fate. Tell me, Airen, do you believe in fate?”

“...Is this some sort of trick question? You’ve clearly told me that something like that doesn’t exist.” Airen finally manage to reorient himself and the levitation spell plopped him back onto the floor.

“So you do listen occasionally.” Fieluri smirked. A few moments later they arrived in front of a tall glass panel, the Mirror of Self.

“Do you remember the story I told you of my glorious defeat?”

“I wouldn’t exactly call a loss being glorious.”

Fieluri ignored his comment and continued. “Another one of the reasons this mirror was built was to try and mimic that girl’s power. But as you saw for yourself, the only functionality it has is to show the branches of the near future, an ability to see a long term possibility.”

“As the Witch of Altered Fate, I declared that it is impossible to predict the far future. But one or two seconds is not impossible, especially when history repeats itself” Fieluri placed a hand on the large mirror, and for the first few minutes nothing seemed to happen. Then, ever so slowly, like molten lava, the surface of the glass seemed to drip and melt, until all of what was left was a bit of liquid floating above her hand. A strange goblet seemed to appear out of thin air in her empty hand and she seemed to coax the clear liquid into the goblet.

“Drink.” Fieluri thrusted the goblet into Airen’s hands.

Airen carefully scanned the strange cup. It seemed to be made out of a clear translucent white crystal, and studded with seven rainbow-colored jewels that resembled a dragon’s eyes. There seemed to be movement through the glass, and Airen quickly realized that the insides resembled that of an hourglass. He glanced at Fieluri, who had a nonchalant expression on her face, then at the liquid in the goblet. It was colorless, and he would have thought it was water if not for the prismatic colors it gave off at the edge of the liquid as it caught the dim Archive’s artificial lights.

“Must I babysit you in everything?” Airen was shocked as his body moved against his will. Or rather, the goblet seemed to move by itself as it flew towards his mouth that was pried open by an unnatural force. A scorching sensation poured down his throat, quickly followed by a gritty sensation as if he had swallowed a mouthful of sand. As he coughed and sputtered, the magical force controlling the goblet seemed to have vanished and it shattered against the ground. With a wave of her hand, Fieluri gathered the remains and offered him a glass of what appeared to be water. However when Airen downed it, he found it to be Seafoam. As the chilly mint-like sensation moved down his scorched throat, sending him another wave of pain, he glared furiously at Fieluri through his tears.

“What I have granted you is a glimpse of the power befitting the title Witch of Altered Fate.” Fieluri continued while ignoring his pain. “This ability…why don’t we call it Future Visions? It will allow you to condense your experiences and show you the best path to take. Of course, there is a prerequisite. You must have personally taken on the attack once before head on, and survived it.”

“Stupid disciple. Are you still rolling in pain? Get up.” Fieluri kicked Airen who was still on the ground trying his best not to vomit. “Are you listening to me?”

“Ugh….” Airen tried to speak, only to find the cool air mixing with the minty Seafoam, causing him to cough and shut his mouth as he was assaulted by a chilling sensation.

“...Well I suppose you’ll experience it sooner or later in battle, so why don’t I send you back?”

Airen wanted to object but as he opened his mouth, his throat was again ransacked by the Seafoam. Thinking this was his confirmation, Fieluri nodded in satisfaction and created a rift under him to send him back.

Airen awoke, the sensation of falling from a great height from his back assaulting him. No matter how many times he suffered it, he could not grow used to it. He let out a loud groan and then decided to just lay in bed for a while and stare at the ceiling.

….Airen can’t help but feel like he’s done this before.

“...Airen, is it?” The old warrior, Ittai, greeted Airen as he entered his cubicle.

“It is I.” Airen replied in confirmation. He was slightly surprised to see the old test proctor in Zuan’s old cubicle, but it occurred to him that Zuan was likely dead. Still, he should play his role properly and at least feign ignorance. “Did something happen to Zuan?”

“...Seems like he got into a bit of trouble with one of the council members. We haven’t heard from him and nobody found anything when someone was sent to his home. The Adventurer’s Guild has put out a request if you’re interested in searching for him.”

“I’m afraid I’m not good at detective work.” Airen shrugged.

“Well, I figured as much. Still, I have to do the ol’ sales pitch.” Ittai laughed and gestured for Airen to sit. “What can I do for you, my boy?”

“I’m actually looking for some information on the Petrified Dragon’s Crypt.”

“That cursed place? What do you want to know? I’m afraid information can be quite costly since the expedition is still underway...But between you and me, I can let you know that they’ve been stuck on the fifty-fourth floor. Something about an undefeated guardian.”

“...Are you sure you should be telling me about this?”

“Of course.” Ittai grumbled as he clapped his knee with an old wrinkled hand. “I’m stuck here in office duty while Ginna has been rubbing it in my face every goddamn time she visits. I wish that old bat would drop dead. People like you or me that can’t enter can only gossip and lament our unfortunate fates.”

“Right. Of course.” Airen laughed awkwardly, and his body language did not escape Ittai’s notice.

“Boy… If you’re thinking about doing something like ‘I’m going to test myself.’ Then I suggest you to give it up. That place is too dangerous at someone of your level. Quite frankly, even if you join a party, you may end up being a burden and abandoned when the situation gets grim.” Ittai’s language was blunt but his intentions toward Airen away were good. He had a clear grasp exactly how dangerous the place is as a Rank 6 duelist and a Rank 5 geomancer.

“I do plan to go.” Airen replied. After all he had an appointment to keep with Keri.

“Ah… Youth.” Ittai grinned bitterly, recalling a time when he also ran off to test his mettle. “I suppose nothing that I say will convince you, but I can give you the information for a price.”

“How much?” Airen asked hesitantly. After his visit with Cordelia, he did not have too much on hand, only eleven gold coins to his name. Furthermore, the ‘paintings’ were no longer being sold, but kept by Fieluri after the last incident where one had been sabotaged. Airen could still hear the screams and skittering of bugs as the culprit had been eaten alive by a swarm of scarabs conjured by Fieluri. However, he didn’t hold it against her, as the means of production was never his. The few times he brought a painting to the Irona Auction house, he would be wracked with feelings of guilt.

“It’s not a matter of price, young man.” Ittai rolled his shoulders and stood up. “But a matter of strength. You’ll have to show a substantial amount of power and combat experience. Every year, there’s younglings like you that want to enter that place. We can’t stop them, but at the very least, we can deter them by withholding information. You can say it’s a test of sorts.” Ittai gestured for Airen to follow him, and they moved towards the back of the building towards the stairs that descended into the underground rooms. In his mind, he had already decided on throwing a few strong blows and scare off Airen for his own good.

“So a combat experience test?” Airen did not know whether to laugh or to admire his luck. However, with Ittai’s back turned to him, nobody could see the bemused expression on his face.

“Right. Right. Over here.” Ittai opened one of the doors in the corridor and they entered a small underground chamber. It contained a field similar to the training arenas used for advancement tests but without the usual props. Next to the door were an assortment of blunted weapons.

“I think five minutes should do.” Airen glanced over to Ittai, who stood in front of a towering hourglass. He watched as the aged warrior pressed a hand against it and the grains of sand floated from the bottom and moved towards the top. At the same time, a cross spear shot over from the weapon rack and into his other hand. “If you last five minutes, the information is free of charge. If you want to yield, you can simply toss away your weapon.”

While Ittai was speaking, Airen had selected a rapier with a reach comparable to a longsword, and a heavy main-gauche dagger in favor of the large and bulky shields that were provided. After he gave them a few practice swings to test their weight and balance, he took his stance to show that he was ready. His right hand wielding the rapier was pointed at Ittai while his left hand wielding the parrying dagger was held in a fist facing forward, like one would hold a shield.

“...You have an interesting stance and choice of weapons, boy. Nobody ever picks up the main gauche or sword breakers.” Ittai commented, taking Airen a bit more seriously now. A main gauche was a weapon meant to defend against thrusting weapons. In one way or another, Ittai had a better view of the boy in front of him since he seemed to be well acquainted with weapons. “Are you ready?”

Airen nodded without turning his eyes away from the spear point.

The first strike was a forward thrust after the distance was closed. It was Ittai’s move to test if Airen was truly proficient with the heavy parrying dagger, thus it was an off centered blow that was not aimed at Airen’s vitals but his shoulder.

However, it was for this same reason that Airen easily dodged the attack by bending his knees slightly and counter attacking with the long rapier. Ittai ended up being the one surprised as he used his left hand to form a small plate of solid rock to block the attack. Before Ittai could commend the dexterous counterattack, Airen had already taken a step forward and lashed out with the dagger. At this point Ittai slammed the ground with the shaft of his weapon, sending a series of earth spikes from his feet and forcing some distance between them.

“Ald!” Airen held up a palm and sent the wave of force crashing against the earth spikes. The clash of forces ended up in the kinetic blast’s favor. As the storm of rocks was scattered back towards Ittai, Airen’s opponent was again surprised as his old wrinkled face hardened. With a swing of his spear, the resulting wind blasted away all of the shards.

“Boy. You’re better than I thought. Were you holding back when I tested you and your friends?”

“I’d like them to think that they could beat me just a bit longer.” Airen shrugged as he replied.

“...Most kids your age would be strutting about if they were just a bit stronger than their peers.” Ittai laughed as they exchanged blows, this time the old warrior no longer held back his strength.

“But I’m not stronger than my peers.” Airen deftly caught the shafted of the spear with the parrying with the dagger’s hilt and pushed it aside, lashing out at Ittai’s hands.

“You’re the first fourteen year old to be able to spar so easily with me.” Ittai snorted as he slapped away the blunt weapon by reinforcing his hand in stone. Afterward, he swung his hand like a mace, forcing Airen to release the trapped spear shaft and retreat backwards.

“Oh? But you haven’t used any of your offensive techniques. If you throw one of those at me, I’d be troubled you know?”

“You rascal.” With a particularly strong twisting thrust, Airen was forced to retreat despite the fact that he managed to parry the strike. Ittai’s strikes have been growing in strength, and he could no longer simply block them without suffering a numbing sensation. He quickly made a decision and tossed the dagger at Ittai, forcing him to block the projectile with the shaft of his spear. This bought him enough time to enter the Flash Stance, and from then on, he started to meet force with force, redirecting Ittai’s attacks off to the side.

After a minute of this ducking and weaving and misdirection, the tip of his weapon started to glow faintly. With a heavy swing, he released the Flash of Divine Steal, a thin wave of light that surged forward with extreme sharpness.

Ittai had recognized something as amiss when Airen’s weapon had started to glow and shimmer. The training weapons in here were neither enchanted nor did they displayed the deadly sharpness that left cuts in the shaft of his spear. When Airen had drawn back his weapon, he had already prepared a defensive spell- Golem Effigy.

A massive combination of stone, sand, and metal stood in front of him, holding a metal shield. The towering stone golem spell was an altered version of an Earth Wall, it certainly did not cover as wide of an area, but it was strong enough to block Airen’s wave of blade light. One’s abilities grows along with one’s strength after all, and combat experience could only make up for so much in a frontal fight.

“Enough.” Ittai’s words caused Airen to pause as he was preparing to follow up with a Blooming attack. He pointed to the large hourglass to show that it was empty.

“Are you really fourteen?” Ittai grumbled as he stared that the four-inch deep gouge in his defensive effigy. “Are you one of Lord Dumeis’s apprentices? I thought the Sword Emperor already took in a male student at that age...”

“...” Airen kept quiet, for he doubt anyone could recognize his current style was copied from those he fought within the archive, and that his ‘true’ style that was taught to him by Fieluri involved using every weapon possible. Now that Airen thought about it, he has never actually seen Fieluri wield the aforementioned style, only lectured him on how his movements were slow and did not adapt properly.

“Either way, let's head back upstairs, and I’ll pull up some information for you.” Ittai took the blunted weapons to the weapon rack, and they started to leave together. “Boy, how about you take the advancement exams? I’m sure you’d make a name for yourself if you advanced at such an age. Just putting yourself out there would have all sorts of factions and guilds gifting you things to try and rope you in. As long as you politely decline them, you can easily reap the rewards without having to actually join them.”

“I prefer to remain low key and not get wrapped up in another’s problems.” Airen rejected the seasoned warrior’s suggestion. Thinking that he was being a bit rude, he offered an excuse. “I doubt anyone can offer me what my current teacher offers.”

“....” Ittai decided not to say anymore after Airen’s steadfast rejection, and they ascended the stairs silently. After he escorted Airen back to the cubicle, he excused himself. “I’ll go grab the related materials to the dungeon, so please wait here for a few minutes.”

As Ittai disappeared out of his sight, Airen took the time to look over what was once Zuan’s room. Apparently Ittai had only recently moved in, and Zuan’s stuff was mostly untouched. There were all sorts of paper stuck in the cubicle wall, with the names of various adventurers and the things they were looking for. On the desk were a few framed drawings, the four stick figures and bizarre combination of colors hinting that they were drawn by children. Airen picked up one of these paintings and had conflicting thoughts as he beheld the family of four on the wrinkled and yellowing paper.

“Hopefully, Zuan’s only stuck in a dungeon or cell somewhere. Otherwise, he would leave behind a poor widow.” Ittai’s voice interrupted Airen’s thoughts as he re-entered, carrying a stack of scrolls. “She comes by everyday, you see. It’s hard to see her tearful face. So I don’t have the heart to clear out Zuan’s old things, so I just leave them there in case he makes it back.”

“Do workers here go missing often?” Airen asked, hiding his guilt behind an iron heart.

“Not at all.” Ittai plopped the pile of scrolls on the desk and moved towards the chair behind it. “The pay and benefits are good. The only danger are those in the more practical field such as surveying and acting as guides in dungeons. However, there was no sign that he applied for either of those.”

“Isn’t there some sort of tracking spell?”

“...Normally, the guild keeps the spell embedded in our worker cards.” Ittai took out a silver card with the league’s crest - a shield with an inner symbol representing the branch, in this case, it was a triplet of three red dots connected by a triangle - and showed Airen. “However, Zuan didn’t have the pass on him, and the tracking spell found it dropped near Rasshavel, the red light district if you are unaware.”

“So he went out with a bang?” Airen coughed, causing Ittai tyoo put on a grim smile.

“Unlikely. Zuan was a diligent family man. Boy, I thought you weren’t interested in the guild’s search request?”

“Just a passing curiosity.” Airen replied as he scooted closer to the scrolls displayed all over the desk. “That’s quite a lot...”

“Hmph, the Petrified Dragon’s Crypt is a fifty-plus floor dungeon. A majority of the first thirty-ninth floors have been fully detailed, documented, and maps drawn for them, but every floor beneath those still has some undiscovered areas.”

“So there are somethings that even the League of Adventurer’s can’t do?”

“Only a fully prepared adventurer party can usually proceed past the thirtieth floor safely, and at that point, most parties turn back due to supply issues or getting tired of eating monsters’ meat. It was only through a sanctioned event from the guild that we discovered the ‘end’ of the dungeon by creating a chain of supply lines every fifth floor. Although I suppose, with the recent discovery, it won’t be long until a new ‘end’ is discovered.” Ittai snorted defensively. “If I wasn’t put on damn desk duty, I would hop into the adventuring party myself.”

“But moving on, here are the maps.” Ittai handed Airen five separate scrolls. He opened the first three to see a detailed layout of each layer of ten floors each scroll. There were even places marked where traps, potential monster nests, hidden passages, and relatively ‘safe’ areas to set up camp were marked. The scroll for the thirtieth and fortieth floors were less detailed, only showing the direct path to the next floor. Various question marks and skull were marked over the map signified undiscovered territory and dangerous monster encounters.

“The first thirty floors are the ruins of an ancient civilization group, the guild decided to call them the Azeti. Based on the drawings and murals found, they were a group of dragon worshipers. There’s several abandoned breeding grounds on the first ten floors, and a majority of magical creatures like mole rats, bats, and warm blooded creatures had made it their home. Unless you go looking for trouble however, I doubt you’d encounter anything dangerous in the first ten floors.”

“On the next ten floors lives a colony of kobolds, They’re cowardly little creatures but cunning, as long as you keep a vigilant watch, they shouldn’t pose a problem. You can rout even large groups as long as you mercilessly kill a few, unless they have a shaman in their group, so you’d want to take him or her out first. We would have wiped them out a long time ago if they weren’t so tenacious in running away. Watch out for the traps marked on the map, there’s a lot of them for some reason.”

“The next ten floors consist of undeads, and it’s the reason we call the place the Petrified Dragon’s Crypt. Compared to the small rooms and hallways on the first twenty floors, these floors are large and often straightforward. On the thirtieth floor, you’ll find yourself in a large room in front of a giant skeletal dragon. Rest assured, it hasn’t been reanimated, I doubt the energy in the place has the ability to do so. Since you’ve already ran into undeads already, I’m sure you understand how to handle them.”

“From here on forth, the ruins end and you’ll enter a cave system. Normally here is where I would advise inexperienced adventurers to turn back.”

“The thirtieth to fortieth floors contain all matter of dangerous beasts including large arachnoids, carapaced creatures, and magical abominations. On the bright side, they are all relative solitary and as long as you’re in a large party, you should be able to deal with them if you get manage to seize the initiative.. There’s several unexplored places, however, due to webbing and skin shedding that was found in the area, I highly advise you to avoid entering that place. The last thing you would want to do is to enter a spider’s lair and have several monsters drop on top of you. Several groups were lost that way in the first expedition.”

“The last ten floors contains a horde of lizardmen. We believe their lair is somewhere on the forty-fourth or forty-fifth floor, but I doubt you’d get that far. They’re dangerous foes with scales that deflect weapon strikes and the ability to cast rudimentary spells based on the color of their scales. Furthermore, they tend to travel in groups of five to seven which makes it an even more dangerous encounter. Even if you cut an arm off or land an attack on their vitals, they can still move. You didn’t hear this from me, but the discovery to the 50th floor is marked here.”

“Let’s see… what else.” Ittai ruffled through the scrolls and pulled out another to hand to Airen. “There’s a variety of edibles that grow on the wall in case of emergencies. Firefly Moss is rather common, but I would advise against eating too much of it. Gnome Shrooms are scarce, but rather popular and can be crushed to make a simple healing poultice to put on wounds. Gray Hay can also be found but only eat it after boiling it. As for water, there’s a couple of places where water accumulates that is marked on the map. Of course most of the monsters are edible too, save the undeads and some of the poisonous bugs.”

“Due to the current expedition and the surge of adventurers, the league has set up supply lines every ten floors. If you’re low on rations, you can restock for a hefty price. But at the very least, it’s a sort of ‘safe’ zone where everyone can sleep while the league keeps watch. They should be marked on the map, along with some other walled off places where it is relatively safe to make camp.”

“That’s the gist of it. Git on out of here and keep yourself safe. I think the branch leader’s glaring at me through the walls.” Ittai grumbled as he pushed everything into Airen’s hands. “All sorts of adventurers been asking about that place, and you just got the last couple of scrolls today. Consider yourself lucky.”

As Airen thanked him and made to leave, he was left with a parting remark.

“Also, let me know if you ‘actually’ want to take the advancement exam. It’ll do us both good.”

“Eh. Eh?”

The scene of a boy tiptoeing around a girl asleep surrounded by cushions gave the feel of illicit activities. However, Airen was more surprised than infatuated, for this was the first time he has ‘ever’ found Fieluri, the mighty History Eater, asleep in the Archive. She was the one who would scornfully declare that ‘sleep was for the weak’ and immerse herself in the book she was holding.

Not knowing what to do, he had prowled around her and occasionally shot glances her way. The reason being that her ‘slumber’ was too similar to death. Her chest did not heave up and down along with the sound of breathing. Rather, her entire body was as still as a corpse without a pulse.

“Is she just playing a game on me?” Airen shook his head to perish the thought. After all, this was a being that had proclaimed that she was older than the sand in the Tel’dora desert. Faking her death would be too dark and ironic, even for the cryptic and sadistic being. The only reason Airen was unnerved was how motionless her body was, for it reminded him that despite her human appearance, she was anything but human. At one point in time, she had playfully allowed him to attempt a guess to her true nature, but with a once-per-year limit. Perhaps he should say that she was a ghost the next time around?

“If it isn’t, Airen.” As he was lost in his thoughts, the girl sat up and stretched. “That was a nice nap.”

“...You actually sleep?” Airen himself could not recall the sensation of sleeping, for every time to returned to bed for the night, his soul would move here, to the Archive like clockwork.

“I did sleep for centuries until you came along.” Fieluri shrugged and tossed away the book that was lying on her lap. It flew into the air for a second before it paused completely, a bookmark slipping between the pages, and then it flew off to its place in the endless shelves of the Archive.

“I feel honored.” Airen rolled his eyes. The negative experiences that he suffered due to her barely managed to balance out the positives.

“Are you being sarcastic with me, Airen? I’m pretty sure you know that ends with you being flatten out by an invisible book by now.” Fieluri raised a hand but stopped when Airen held up both palms in surrender.

“So… about training.” Airen decided to gather his courage and started to ask.

“Mm? I’m in a good mood right now, so how bout one hundred push-ups, sit-ups, squats and a ten kilometer run?” Fieluri waved him off. Afterwards, you can go consult the Garden of Words on a word.”

“...” Airen was starting to feel terrified. Fieluri? In a good mood? What was she plotting?

“What’s with that look?” Fieluri yawned and sprawled her body over the cushions once more.

“I was actually about to ask you about the nameless and formless combat style you taught me.”

“Hm?”

“A demonstration would be nice.” Airen said hopefully.

“No can do. I don’t want to move nor do I feel like it.” Fieluri instantly shot him down.

“Then, at the very least, can you explain why you’ve limited me to three weapons from the different Codex’s? For a style that utilizes multiple weapons, I don’t think it’s proper that I’m limited to one at a time… much less change between them.”

“Are you an idiot, Airen? You still haven’t realized it yet?” Fieluri’s words broke Airen’s confidence once more, and she let out a sigh as she sat up.

“I thought I gave you a decent hint when I made Force for you. You were smart enough to obtain some throwing stars, but it seems you’re still as slow as ever. Despite the fact that you have a large vault, all you use it for is storage, and an alternate realm toy plaything.”

“I...” It suddenly dawned on Airen that he had been expected to obtain his own armory. Every battle he had grown used to using a fabled weapon from the Archive, and thus, had grown lax.

“It seems the little bird had finally realized the error of his ways when it comes to borrowed power.” Fieluri clapped while laughing. “Now you are without a good sword, your money has been spent on useless building materials, and above all, you don’t even have a single weapon to your name. But I do like that look on your face! Haha!”

After holding his head in his arms while Fieluri crackled, a smudge of a plan started to form in Airen’s mind. He glanced up to meet Fieluri’s eyes and bemused smirk.

“Hey, Fiel.” He said lightly.

“Yes, what is it? My dear foolish disciple?” Fieluri’s eyes were sparkling.

“The training from before. Is it still on?”

“Of course. I don’t want to bother showing you the error of your ways. Rather, seeing you react and laughing at you is a great pleasure of mine.” Fieluri’s sadism showed along with two of her canines as she grinned.

After doing the simple body training, Airen returned to Fieluri who had immersed herself in another book.

“I’m done.” Airen declared proudly.

“Do you want a medal?” Fieluri rolled her eyes. “Go away and think on what you’ve done. I’m reading.”

“Then the Garden of Words.” Airen decided to get to the point. If this damned whimsical being found it enjoyable to watch him squirm, then he should only do it when he wanted to get on her good side.

“Right. I did promise you something.” With an annoyed sigh, Fieluri shut her book and stood up. As they move towards the entrance to the garden of paper flowers, she twisted her head back and asked him with a sparkle in her eyes.

“May I ask what you are looking for?”

“ ‘Smithing’ ”

“A step in the appropriate direction. I see.”

“No thanks to a certain someone.” Airen snorted.

“You’re back. Supplies for a new adventure?” The lone lady with the hunched back greeted Airen the instant he stepped into the murky and dusty shop. Contrary to visuals, the inside of the shop was much larger than one would expect due to that more than half of it had sunken into the ground.

“You can say that.” Airen nodded in response. Although he could likely get a better price with Cordelia’s help, this old woman was the first to assist him in preparing for a dungeoneering experience. She had even pointed out things that he would likely need based on where he was going. He had asked around the guild, but nobody knew who she was either, making her appear all the more mysterious to him.

“...To think that I would get two customers in the same day.” The woman cackled and her disheveled gray hair shook. “May I ask where you are going?”

“The Petrified Dragon’s Crypt.” Airen replied, which caused the old granny to instantly stop laughing and stare at him. “Can we skip the entire ‘That’s too much for you to handle.’ lecture?”

“I have no intentions of caring about where you are going.” The old woman snorted. “But you are the first boy below sixteen that can waltz in here as you please. I was just curious about who you really are.”

“A customer.” Airen shot back.

“Right. Right. A customer, it is.” The old lady snorted. “But it seems like you didn’t bring much gold today. What do you want? Supplies?”

“No need. I’ve already stocked up on plenty of supplies.” Airen had went to the Irona Auction house to question the whereabouts of his sword Force and Cordelia said they would look into it. Coincidentally, he had expressed an interest in certain dishes he had eaten there last time with her, and they had gone to the kitchen. The chef seemed to have taken a liking to Airen after he managed to identify a few of the ingredients and gave him several sets of his own to try making the dish himself. Furthermore, the map of the dungeon clearly specified a few areas where food could be obtained.

“There’s no such thing as plenty of supplies.” The woman scoffed.

“...That is true, but my gold pouch begs to differ.”

“Eleven gold coins. You seem to be poorer than the last time we met. Speaking of which, didn’t we agree on you selling me some spoils if you found any? Even monster meat, I don’t mind buying.” The woman played catch with Airen’s coin purse, which she had nipped.

“My companions sold it all before I could get to them.” Airen shrugged. “Hopefully this time all of the spoils will be mine.”

“Greed is good for the both of us.” The old crone cackled at his words. “You’re the poorest customer that’s ever entered this place, but the fact that I can’t see through you makes me quite interested. Do you have anything to barter?”

“Nothing that I don’t need.”

“Then how about this, show or tell me who you really are, and I will gladly give you a hundred gold coins in store credit. I’ve got a few good enchanted weapons collecting dust in the back.”

Airen shook his head. The old woman’s tone made him uneasy, and the fact that he actually had a grandiose background was not to his advantage when he was likely wanted.

“Let’s get down to business instead. I’m looking for second handed weapons”

“Boy, you’re better off browsing a shop in the main square or one of the government military shops.” The woman grumbled.

“You just said that you would buy any spoils, and I’m guessing that these include spoils of bandits and highwaymen. Plus, many adventurers carry backup weapons in case their main ones break.”

“Doesn’t mean I’m reselling them. It is true that I do have some old weapons lying about, but once I toss an enchantment or two on them and bathe them in dragon fire, their price will skyrocket. But out of curiosity, what are you looking for?”

“A sword, a greatsword, some daggers and a bow.” Airen had realized with his meager funds, he would not be able to make anything. He both lacked the tools and proper equipment, and not to mention that the word ‘smithing’ was vague and did not actually give him proper knowledge of weapon crafting techniques such as welding or heat treatment. Instead he had obtained various basic forging skills such as drawing, bending, upsetting, punching, and shrinking the metal. Fieluri’s face as this dawned on him was quite the site to behold. Airen could still hear her shrieking laughter.

“And you want to buy all this. For eleven gold coins?” The old crone was baffled at his audacity. “Boy, don’t you know that there are some things worth splurging on, lest you come to regret it? Plus, if you’re looking for second hand weapons, you’re better off going to a weapons shop and buying a common steel weapon. An apprentice weaponsmith sells those for about a gold apiece, while a skilled weapons smith sells them for about four gold apiece.”

“But I want your weapons. There’s something special about them.” Airen pulled out the Wakki Stars, and showed them to the old crone. “Normally these sort of weapons would chip after a few uses, but these are still relatively well. Furthermore, there are throwing weapons that aren’t sold here so you must have either obtained them elsewhere or made them yourself.”

“Ho? You actually realize the greatness of these things?” It seems that Airen’s bluff and flattering worked as the old crone nodded her head in approval.

“...You can say that I have a good amount of experience when it comes to the make of weapons.” Airen said a half-truth. “You buy materials and old gear off adventurers because you craft the things yourself don’t you?”

“That’s half right. The materials I pass along to someone else.” The crone snorted and rubbed a hand against her neck. “For the amount of gold you have, I cannot give you a single dragonstaal weapon. I can however, offer you something else.”

“I’ll take whatever you have.” Airen thought as much so he readily agreed. Worst comes to worst, he would just use a weapon from the Archive during his adventure, but he wanted to wipe the smug look on Fieluri’s face off. The crone shrugged and vanished in the darkness.

A few minutes later, the old woman returned, carrying a large coffin. The sight of her tiny figure being dwarfed by the large box would have been shocking if not for the fact that she held it in the air with one hand.

“Here we are.” The woman dropped the coffin to the ground with a slam and gestured for Airen to come closer. She undid the clasp and move the lid aside, revealing a bunch of pale yellow tools. Upon closer look, Airen realized they were weapons made from bones.

“They’re brittle things that can’t take too many powerful hits, but their sharpness is guaranteed.” The crone pointed out as Airen picked up a sword made from from what appeared to be several bones forged together. However, it would be more appropriate to call it a very long knife.

“Nobody is interested in the damn things so they’ve been taking up space. It’d be nice to finally get rid of them.” The crone chuckled as Airen tested the bow. The bowstring was rather stiff and pulling it made Airen afraid that the bone bow would shatter, but to his surprise, it merely creaked a bit.

“Of course, one of the reason they never sold was because they were made from human bones.” Her words gave Airen momentary pause, and she continued. “Not that you mind though, do you?”

“...Not at all.” Airen replied, picking up the spear that seemed to be made from a spinal cord. There was a skull at the top and a protruding tip going through the skull. It was certainly unnerving, but terror was also a factor in the battlefield.

The set of three weapons was lacking in style, but it opened up all sorts of possibilities for Airen in combat.

“Also, since I showed you some goodwill again. The next time you come here, I expect a present.” The crone added on after she noticed Airen was happy with the weapons and tossed back his empty coin purse. “You can keep the coffin as well, it’s not wise to walk around with weapons like those.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Airen clasped the coffin shut, but not before he had opened a rift within to transport the new weapons to the vault. Of course, with the lid facing the old crone, she had not seen anything.

“Is that so?” The crone did not question Airen any further. “Then our business is concluded. Come back after you’ve fatten up a bit.”

After Airen left, the old woman finally let out a sigh and stood up straight. She blinked once and her eyes shed over, revealing reptilian pupils. Various shapes pressed against the cloak on her back for a bit before settling as she eyed the coffin that Airen had left behind. When she opened the clasp, it came to no surprise that the weapons were not there.

“A Planar Magician? Or an artifact enchanted with spacial magic?” The voice was not that of an old crones but a deep rumbling baritone. “Plus, that boy has a strange scent around his body. It’s faint but it smells like that of a corpse...”