“Psst…wake up…” Her voice whispered to me, “Jude, wake up...Let me show you my favourite spot in the hospital...”

“Ughhh…it’s like the middle of the night...can’t you show me later?” I asked, too tired and lazy to wake up.

“Don’t be like that, Jude...You don’t wanna miss the view tonight…” She was being her usual persistent self.

“Ughhh...fine! You know I’m blind, right? Showing me—” When I decided to reluctantly wake up, I realized I wasn’t where I thought I was, but actually in the open field where Odelia and I made camp for the night.

“Was I being too much of a bother, Lord Eyes?” Odelia timidly asked, thinking she did something wrong.

“Huh, no...I just thought I was somewhere—never mind.” Shaking my head to wake myself up. “Were you trying to wake me up?” I asked, fully sitting up.

“Kind of, my Lord.” As she pointed her finger up to the clear night sky, “I did not want you to miss out on such a rare sight.”

Unsure what she was referring to, I looked up to see a very visible shooting star quickly streaking across the night sky. “Woah, I haven’t seen a shooting star since I was child!” I exclaimed, pleasantly surprised by the sight.

“You make it sound like it is over, Lord Eyes.” Then suddenly an almost identical one came flying across the night sky in a different direction. “This has been occurring for the last few seconds.” Odelia explained, as another came flying right after.

“What the hell? Is this normal?” I questioned, in awe of the shooting stars lighting the night sky every few seconds.

“Not particularly, though this is not the first nor the last time this event will be witnessed.” Odelia informed me, “Tales tell us it is the Twin Goddesses playing a game with the stars, but those same tales tell us it is also their way of sharing a sign to the people of Novus.”

“A sign?” I repeated, not knowing.

“A warning of times to come.” Odelia answered, “Which all in turn has caused the people to name the occurrence, the Bouncing Stars of Warning.”

I chuckled at the childish name, and asked Odelia “You wouldn’t happen to know what those times to come would entail, would you?” Wanting to prepare myself for what’s to come.

“Sadly, I do not. Though I can tell you it may be related to the Five Great Heroes.” She mentioned.

“Oh? Why’s that?” I asked curiously.

“This year will mark the millennium since their disappearance, and one would think the Twin Goddesses’ favourite champions would receive some sort of memorial celebration, especially since they have shown us a sign this close to the date.” Odelia figured.

“So their warning isn’t necessarily a bad thing then?” Feeling slightly relieved.

“Not entirely, but if the Twin Goddesses are planning something, then it is more than safe to assume Gom is as well; and I am sure whatever it is, it will not be as pleasant as the Twin Goddesses.” Odelia said with concern in her voice.

“Gom? Didn’t Sister Maebel mention that name before? And it sounds like this ‘Gom’ person can oppose the Twin Goddesses, does that mean they’re also some type of God too?” I wondered to myself, noticing that the shooting stars had finally stopped appearing.

“Now that the Bouncing Stars of Warning have gone, you should return back to sleep, my Lord. We will be arriving at Leon in half a day's travel, and Ven’Thyl by day’s end. I would not want you to be too exhausted when you finally return to your rightful Kingdom for the first time in your young life.” Ultimately agreeing with Odelia’s sentiment, I tried to sleep soundly again, but my memories left me restless through the night.

Both preferring not to waste too many days on unnecessary travelling, Odelia and I agreed to travel non-stop for two and a half days straight, only taking short breaks for food and water, or resting for the night. All the while I slowly continued to level up my movement Skills when I had the Stamina and Mana to do so.

Sprint increased by 3 Levels. Archer’s Dash increased by 2 Levels.

During our travels, we mostly passed through heavily forested terrains, but there were a few grasslands, rolling hills, and rocky river creeks along the way. Though to my surprise and disappointment, we didn’t run into a single real monster, only occasionally seeing forest animals like deers and rabbits, and a few already eaten or rotting carcesses. I asked Odelia about it during one of our breaks, and she explained to me that the monsters have learned to steer clear of well traveled routes—like the one we were using—as they would most likely be hunted by adventurers if they were spotted.

We also passed many traveling merchants, a handful of horse caravans, and multiple adventuring Parties; though we always kept our interactions brief as we were in a rush, and because the people couldn’t exactly trust two elves suspiciously speeding through the roads. And I did take note that I didn’t see a single Player amongst the people we passed, and it made me wonder if Lavie and the others already made it Leon.

Coming up to the edge of the cliff, I pantingly asked “That’s Leon?”

“It is, my Lord.” Odelia answered, resting on a boulder nearby. “What do you think? Is it what you expected?”

“More or less.” I said, catching my breath and walking right on the edge to get a better view.

From where I stood, I had a perfect view of a massive split field of farmlands ahead of us, currently being attended to by multiple farmers. Directly between the farmlands was a long and wide dirt road that led up to the massive gates and walls of the city—at least 30ft in height. Walls which were built in an enormous semicircle around the front of Leon, while the backside of the city was covered by a vast ocean or sea behind it, and that also had a familiar barrier—that was practically invisible—creating a border around the whole outside.

The city itself was pretty much exactly how I expected it to be, as it was clearly divided into 4 distinct semicircle layers, with the deeper ones being elevated higher than the others, and countless distinctive buildings spread throughout the city layers. The first layer was clearly the city’s slums, the second was the middle class where there seemed to be a lot of business, the third being much more high class and well structured, and the fourth was a beautifully built and isolated castle overlooking the entire city. And with my farseeing and keen eyes, I could barely spot 6 undistinguishable giant marble statues spread along the long road leading directly up to the castle; with one extra large statue standing tall right before the castle entrance.

Pointing to the castle, I said “I assume that’s where the Tyrant lives?”

“Indeed, as well as the other members of the Royal Family of Leon.” Odelia confirmed, strangely looking elsewhere.

“Wait, if there’s a Royal Family of Leon, does that mean there’s also a Royal Family of Sya?” I suddenly suspected.

Odelia gave me a puzzled look, and said “Truly Sire, your lack of knowledge never seems to end. Maybe I should be teaching you History instead of Archery.” She laughingly suggested.

“Why not both?” I replied, not minding the idea of learning more about the world. “But that’s a discussion for later, now what’s with having two Royal Families? And why isn’t the Royal Family of Sya in control of the Kingdom? They must be better than the Leons, right?”

Happily indulging my genuine interest, Odelia said “I am unfamiliar with exact details of Human History, but from what I recall, the two Families were actually once united as one when the Great Leon and Sya married—together creating a central capital city where the town of Asheton currently resides.”

“Huh? What happened then?” Wondering what did.

“After their disappearance and some years later, the two Heirs separately led the branches of the Leon and Sya Families to a devastating dispute over the rightful ruler of the Kingdom. A dispute that quickly turned into an all out civil war which resulted in the complete destruction of the capital city and central lands, only leaving ashes in their wake, and splitting apart the two Royal Families once again.”

“And somehow the Leons became the ruling Family of the Kingdom?” Trying to figure out how.

“They did.” Explaining, “The rule was overwhelmingly seized during the First Trinity War, when the Dwarven and Elven Kingdoms declared war on the Human Kingdom, believing they were greatly weakened after their recent taxing civil war. Though it was then where the Royal Family of Leon proved themselves as the stronger of the two Families, leading their armies to simultaneously protect both borders from the invading forces for an entire year, and through their great feat gained the immense support of the people at the time.”

“The First Trinity War? It must be one of the major wars Odelia mentioned a few days ago, but I better not ask her about the details, she already thinks I don’t know anything.” I thought to myself.

Odelia continued, “Since then the Royal Family of Sya has been relegated to being called the lesser of the Royal Families, as they could never really overcome the raw destructive power of the Royal Family of Leon, but that hasn’t stopped them from voicing their desires to challenge the Leons’ reign.” Then mentioning, “Though these last few years they have been strangely silent about their desires to rule, and rumour has it that the Tyrant has been forcefully suppressing them with something, but with what I am not sure about.”

“Interesting...that was very informative, thank you, Odelia.” Thinking, “Maybe I should visit Sya in the future, sounds like I might find a really important Quest there to help the Human Kingdom.”

“It is my pleasure to inform you, my Lord. Now shall we go?” Odelia asked, gesturing to a path leading down the cliffside.

“Lead the way.” I said, following her down the narrow cliffside path.

While we walked through the farmlands on the dirt road to the city, I said to Odelia “So...which part of the city is the teleportation circle in?” Not knowing from just the view earlier.

“Oh my, my Lord. I am really starting to question who has educated you until now.” Odelia said, shaking her head in disappointment; then saying “Remember I said the public TC is outside of Leon—as all of them are—so we are actually heading over there.” Directing my attention to a stone building far northward of us.

“Wait, why is it so far away?” Surprised by the great distance from the city.

“It is a precaution to avoid certain individuals running into the city to hide, as well as to prevent any invading armies from appearing at the city's doorsteps.” Odelia explained.

“There has to be teleportation circles inside the city, right? Couldn’t people just teleport to one of those?” I figured.

“They could, but they would first need to know the runes of the circle they are teleporting to, otherwise they would not be able to.” Odelia then explained to me that the teleportation circles inside the major cities were all privately owned, heavily guarded and monitored, and that even the right to own one was only reserved for the highest and most trusted ranks in the cities.

Most of her words were lost to me though when I heard that you need to know the runes to teleport, making me think “If knowing the runes is basically essential to be able to teleport, there must be records or writings of them somewhere then.” Remembering how the runes on the teleportation circle in Castle Creedmor were way too complex to only go by memory. “And if that’s the case, I wonder if you can buy them, and if not maybe I can borrow them.” Slightly amused by the thought.

Spending about another half an hour on the north road, we finally arrived at a large stone brick building, and I noticed it was very simple in design. Almost like a large barn made of stone, the building had a completely wide and open entrance, with a few dozen people entering and exiting it every few minutes. Unfortunately for us, there was a long line up for the people entering, and we had to stand behind a merchant with a cart selling different types of food—about 20th in line.

Seeing the merchants exiting the building holding papers, I curiously asked “I don’t need some type of identification, do I?”

“No, we should be fine.” Noticing why I was asking, “Those papers are only meant for people who are travelling with a lot of cargo to ensure there is no smuggling of illegal goods, otherwise we should only be stopped if you are wanted in the Kingdom. You are not wanted are you?” Odelia asked, making sure before we entered.

“No, are you?” I asked back, moving up in line.

She chuckled at my reply, ignoring it and saying “Good, now we only need to pay 5 Gold each and tell them our destination, then we are golden.”

“5 Gold?! That’s a steal!” I reacted enthusiastically, “I can’t believe the Adventurer’s Guild was asking for 100 Gold to use their teleportation circle.”

“That is expensive, but it does allow one to enter the city directly if needed to, and without needing to be seen and checked at the gates.” Odelia pointed out, “Depending on the person, those reasons could be worth the cost.”

“I never thought about it as a direct line into the city—Wait, did you just say checked at the gates? Do I need to worry about that when we get to Ven’Thyl?” Moving in line again.

“Not really, as I will be the one vouching for you, and the guards at Ven’Thyl are only really suspicious of other Races, or really shifty looking folk.” Staying beside me in line.

“Well that sounds racist.” I said in disappointment of the Elven Kingdom.

“Sadly it is, but the other Kingdoms' guards will also do the same.” Odelia said sadly.

“That’s even more disappointing to hear.” Now about 9th in line.

She then came closer and whispered, “If you were King, I more than believe you could change how our Kingdom would perceive the others, and that would be a welcomed start.” staring at me hopefully.

“Hmmm…no, thank you.” Odelia looked extremely disappointed to hear my answer, but trying to cheer her up I said “Don’t worry so much about the Kingdom, I think I know of a way to make it better in the future.”

She suddenly perked up, looking utterly intrigued by my words. “Ooh? What did you have in mind, my Lo—” Catching herself from saying Lord with people around.

“I’m not entirely sure about the details yet,” I answered truthfully, “but what I can say is that I have to find something really important to the Kingdom.”

“Something important to the Kingdom? What are you trying to find, maybe I can help you?” Offering her services.

“No offense, but I doubt it. What I’m searching for is something that has been missing for a long, long, long time.” My words seemed to cause Odelia to greatly wonder to herself.

I then heard someone shout, “Next!” as I finally noticed that we were now inside the building.

The inside was a huge open space, built out of stone brick floors and walls, and in the center was a long divided counter with one person for each of the six sections—having multiple people and merchants lined up in them. There were also two heavily armoured guards standing at each end of the counter, and I could see that they had different names but both being Lv.35. Then on the left side of the space, guarded by four heavily armoured guards—all Lv.27-30–was a sign that hung above a dark chamber that said ‘Arrivals’, and every now and then the chamber lit up and a few people and merchants came through it. On the right side of the space was also a dark chamber guarded by another four heavily armoured guards, but this time they were Lv.29-30, and the sign above said ‘Departures’. I then let out a little laugh when I realized what this place reminded me of, and saw the people heading to the right showing the guards a small slip of paper before heading inside the occasionally lit up chamber.

We heard another worker shout again, and Odelia said “It is our turn L—Eyes.” Catching herself again as she led me to an unoccupied counter.

Seeing us approach, a middle aged woman wearing a maroon coloured uniform said to us, “Two tickets?”

Odelia noddingly replied, “To Ven’Thyl please.” then counted the Gold for the worker who held her hand out for the payment.

“It’s on me, Odelia.” I said, quickly taking out the 10 Gold needed from my Inventory and handing it over to the worker.

“That was not necessary, my—” Stopping herself from talking.

“It’s okay, I’ve got a lot of Gold.” I assured her.

After counting up the coins, the worker began to search for something behind the counter, and said “Here it is, two tickets to Ven’Thyl.” Sliding to us two slips of identical paper and then gesturing the right, “You may make your way to Departures now.”

Following Odelia to the right, I took a look at the paper she handed me, and saw that it was a simple piece of paper that said ‘Ven’Thyl’ in the middle, with a complex runic circle surrounding the word. Looking at Odelia’s ticket, it also had an identical runic circle, and I thought "Isn't this what you need to know to teleport?" We then showed the tickets to the guards and they let us pass into the dark chamber.

Spread evenly around the edges of the chamber was a semicircle of six huge alcoves, each having large teleportation circles within them, and that were a good distance apart to allow any merchant carts or carriages to have space to move. There were also a few hooded individuals attending to and activating the circles, all Lv.50-52, with the one exception being a Lv.65 person.

“Is being Lv.50 what it takes to get the Teleport Skill? And what’s with the so much higher Lv.65?” I wondered, as Odelia seemed to be waiting for a specific person to call us, seeing how she ignored the others calling.

Waiting for about 2 minutes, a hooded person with a dark blonde greying beard finally called us over, and Odelia grabbed the ticket from my hand and handed it to him. Reading the runes on the paper, the man spoke to us with a deep and raspy voice, asking “How’s Drune doing? And who’s the kid?”

“You know you live a lot closer than I do, Gryph. Why don’t you just go visit and ask him yourself instead of asking me the same question every time I come here?”

Realizing Odelia knew him, I took note of his name—Lv.65 Gryphon Helvi'Ett—and thought “Seems to be an old friend of Odelia and Drune’s.”

“Unlike you and Drune, I actually age, you know? My body isn’t what it used to be.” Gryphon said, massaging his shoulder.

Odelia rolled her eyes at him, “You are making excuses again, we both know you could go there anytime you wanted, and your body is completely fine.” patting him hard on his shoulder.

Gryphon huffed at her words, then changed his attention onto me. “Does Drune know you’re bringing a young elf to Ven’Thyl with you?” Smirking, “Maybe I should go visit him, then I can tell him all about this.”

“Go right ahead.” Odelia said, smirking back. “Drune will tell you all about the greatness of this young elf, about what he has done for the both of us, and what he will do for our K—” I covered Odelia's mouth knowing what she was about to say.

Taken back by our interaction, Gryphon looked me over intently, questioning “Greatness? He just looks like an ordinary young elf to me, what greatness could he have?”

Slightly irritated from his condescending tone, I smiled and said “My name's Eyes, but no need to introduce yourself, I already know who you are.”

“You know who I am?” Gryphon’s right eyebrow raised, “There’s no way Odelia or Drune would ever reveal who I am, right?”

“Never, and as far as I can recall, Drune and I have never even spoken about you to Eyes.” Odelia confirmed to him, giving me a curious look.

“Ouch, not even a mention about one of your oldest friends, huh?” Odelia shrugged at his words, as he said “So tell me then young elf, who is it you think am I?”

I smirked at him, and said “From what I can see right now, you’re Gryphon Helvi’Ett, correct? Currently Lv.65?”

Gryphon's smug expression quickly diminished, turning very sour and serious; then with a sudden surprising burst of speed, he pressed his forearm against my neck, pinning me against the back of the alcove, asking “Who are you!?”