ANCIENT CITY OF ROLUS

Sounds of falling droplets echoed against the stone-cold walls. Deep beneath the surface of earth, in a small, squared room illuminated by a single, hanging torch, a man was seated on his knees, his two arms spread apart, chained entirely to the wall. He had countless wounds and scars atop his bare chest, and even half his left leg was missing, slashed in a flat, precise arc. His black hair was disheveled and strewn across his features, while his graying beard had nearly reached his collarbones.

This man was Lynne’s father, Median Von Hyorn. His eyes appeared vacant and his lips were trembling, dried up like a desert. Save for the faint sounds of breathing, there was no other indication that he was even alive.

Sounds of approaching footsteps suddenly jolted his vacant eyes awake as his face was contorted in fear. Just a short while later, a man adorned in beautiful, crimson robe was standing in front of him. He appeared middle-aged, with neatly-shaven beard and golden, sun-like hair flowing freely down his back. The air around him was of absolute domination, as if all of the world stood beneath the soles of his two feet. He had an indifferent smile on his face as he watched Median gaze at him with utter terror.

“Ah,” the man sighed, shaking his head lightly. “To think that, twenty years ago, you threatened you’d bury me and my family alive. How the wheels of fate turn, Median. Cruel isn’t it?” Median, though, remained silent. “You have dipped your feet into waters beyond your knowledge, Median. While your sister has kept you alive so far, how long do you think this will last? She also has a family of her own. She can’t give up everything for you.”

“I know you hate us,” the man continued, a rather solemn expression on his face. “But… you can’t blame us, Median. We’ve given you not one, not two, but countless chances to submit. Yet, you stubbornly banged your head against a wall. Why, Median? Ah, why did you have to go after Jade? Not only has your child grown up without a mother, now he’ll even know what it feels like to lose a father. You could have had a simple, perfect life… yet you abandoned it. Why?”

“I-if someone l-like you cou-uld understand that,” Median stuttered in a low voice. “W-we wouldn’t b-be here.”

“Ha ha,” the man laughed lowly, nodding. “Indeed, that is true. I neither have desire nor inspiration to seek mortal’s reasoning. Jade has already abandoned you, all your friends are just observing from the sidelines… and soon, your sister will falter as well. You’ll be left completely alone in this world, Median. That is the suffering my Master sentenced you to.”

“Ha ha,” Median suddenly laughed, choking halfway through and spitting out a mouthful of blood. “Suffering? You think anything you do to me will make me feel any worse?” Median’s voice suddenly turned grim, his eyes flashing with a cold glint. “My son is dead!!!” he bellowed out. “Why?!! Because that bastard has a character of a f*cking child! He couldn’t stand having another man actually win the heart of the woman he liked, so, for that alone, he decided to obliterate my bloodline! Screw you and screw him! You can’t touch my sister, so you come here to flaunt your higher-than-thou attitude? Piss off! I’d rather burn in Hellfire for the rest of eternity than listen to your stupidity for another day!!”

“Looks like we haven’t been cruel enough,” the man spoke in a deep, murderous voice. “That’s easy enough to fix.”

The man departed quickly, leaving behind Median who was still laughing maniacally. A man who used to have incomparable, noble aura has turned into a complete madman, void of sanity. He already knew he would die, and the only reason he even bothered pretending to be afraid was because he didn’t want to talk with anyone. But, it’s hard to stare at the face of a man who killed your own child and remain indifferent. Median hated him, hated his ‘master’, and hated their entire clan beyond belief. If there was one regret in his life, it was that he didn’t run away with Jade when she asked him to… alas, there was no medicine for regret in this world.

**

Lynne stood in daze, his eyes glued to the city walls before him; made from drab, sand-colored stone, the walls rose good one hundred meters into air, bloating out the sun itself. Gates were arched, built out of titanium steel and reinforced with countless arrays. The entire city was covered in the ancient, city-scaled formation that protected it from any and all outward attacks. Throughout the city, all of the buildings were built from the same stone; the architecture was rather strange, as more than half of the buildings were built in a sharp angle, some even curving up in a spiral.

Ancient City of Rolus – Lynne and others have finally arrived, five days before the opening of its underground layers. On his way here, Lynne had not a small deal of successes when it came to his strength: his understanding of Aqua Blade had reached an advanced level, his Starcarrier was stabilized completely at its basic level, and even his Fiery Sweeps had reached the advanced understanding, as he was able to use another type of flame: green. Green flame was the most akin to wind, and while it had little to no impact in an actual battle, it was the best type of quick fleeing, which Lynne lacked the most prior to it.

In addition, he had also managed to train quite a bit with his Soul Weapons, and he even devised his own style of battling in the month of travel. The style revolved around switching between close-combat of Aqua Blade, mid-ranged combat of Soul Chakrams and long-ranged combat of Elemental Blades, crossing distances using Fiery Sweeps. Even his Infinite Faces, the only Origin Spell he had at the moment, had slightly improved, as he was now able to change both his facial features as well as his bodily structure.

He knew, deep down, that this will be the most important ability once he enters the underground layers of the Ancient City. He had made one-too-many friends on his journey here, and just in the past month, he had successfully ‘traded’ with five other groups. Naturally, Thalia’s talents in trade of goods via undisputed, sharp tongue had helped. Although Lynne didn’t befriend her by a large margin, he still felt a dose of respect towards her. Not only was she many, many times stronger than he was, she didn’t even lose in the area Lynne was quite confident in.

As the group passed through the city gates, Lynne felt a strange sensation wash over his body; it was rather pleasant and seemed old beyond compare. It slowly washed his body inside out, causing rivers of sweat to pour out of him.

“Ah, you are truly ugly inside,” Thalia teased when she saw this; in contrast, Anna and Elynal weren’t much better off than Lynne, however Thalia didn’t even sweat one bit. “It is said that these gates have ability to reveal one’s true nature.”

“Is that so?” Lynne smiled indifferently; ever since he realized that Thalia was probing beyond the surface layer of who he was, he was much more careful when talking to her, and oftentimes even declined to engage in a banter. “I truly am an insidious beast. But look at the poor senior Brother and Sister; they aren’t much better off. Lord only knows what kind of filthy things the two of them did when we weren’t watching.” while Thalia chuckled lightly, Anna and Elynal stared daggers at him. However, he in turn ignored them.

Most people that passed the gates ended up in similar states. The energy probed through one’s entire body, washing out majority of impurities one gathered over the years. Lynne and others quickly found an inn, where all four took a bath before leaving for a stroll through the city.

The city was extremely spacious, perhaps even more so than Edgemaw as the whole was. It had countless buildings towering one over another, built at seemingly impossible angles. Lynne simply didn’t know how could they remain in the state they were, but he didn’t question it too much. The streets were already bustling with people and chatter, and, during their stroll, they had encountered countless stalls that were recently opened. The city itself had only dozen or so permanent residents, while majority of others would come during the time the underground layers opened.

More than a few strange glances were thrown at Lynne’s group; it was mainly due to Thalia and Anna, as both can be considered quite excellent beauties, but a fair share was also thrown at Lynne. It was mainly because of his two companions: the monkey and the bird. Lynne had to actually cover the bird in mud to hide its original body; otherwise, he wouldn’t have a day of peace in the town.

The bird mainly slept on Lynne’s shoulder, as that was its way of training, while the monkey was always silently processing pills and potions Lynne had gifted him. On their way here, the monkey actually explained to him in detail as to why he never told Lynne about the equipment: the only way for one to forge Rank 14 pills was through manual labor, without any external tools. And, from the monkey’s fuzzy memories, he even claimed that Rank 14 pills weren’t the true apex, and that there were even better ones, all of whom required manual labor to be concocted.

While Lynne was slightly angry, he could only sigh in lament; after all, by now, he was practically equal to other Alchemists who used tools in terms of efficiency, perhaps even slightly better. There was almost no point in him using the equipment now, except for saving some time during concocting.

The group soon arrived at a massive plaza, reaching almost two kilometers in circumference. There were over hundred stalls spread at the corners of plaza, while at the center there was a battle unfolding. The edges of the plaza were warded off by powerful arrays, making it so that regardless of how destructive the battle is within the plaza, it wouldn’t impact anything outside of it. Lynne and others decided to join the spectators, when he suddenly felt a cold gaze, filled to brim with killing intent, lock onto him. As Lynne shifted his head slightly, he saw a black-clad youth staring at him with the eyes colder than ice itself. It was actually the youth that had followed them outside the Magus Tomb, and one which bought Lynne’s Rank 1 pill for ten million gold coins.

Upon seeing the youth, Lynne smiled widely, his face filled with love. When the youth saw this, veins began popping on his forehead while his hands clenched into a fist, causing his nails to dig into his skin till it bled. Next to the youth were several others, similarly clad in black, alongside three elderly figures. When they saw the youth’s angered expression, they immediately followed his gaze as they locked onto Lynne’s group; by now, though, Lynne’s group consisted of only Thalia and himself. Anna and Elynal – as well as the monkey and the bird – had already distanced themselves. As Lynne saw the youth beginning to walk over – with the rest of his group – he could only helplessly sigh. Luckily, fighting was forbidden inside the ancient city, otherwise he’d probably die on the spot.

“You!!!” the youth immediately barked as he reached Lynne. “I will kill you!!!”

“Ah, benefactor!” Lynne simply smiled innocently in response. “I was hoping I’d be able to see you again; I never expressed my gratitude, after all.”

“Oh, you know this shortie Lynne?” Thalia suddenly interjected; indeed, the youth before him, despite his age nearing thirties, was actually even shorter than Thalia by a full head. He didn’t pass one hundred and sixty centimeters in height.

“Ah, this brother here is my good benefactor. He actually bought an ancient pill from me for ten million gold coins.

“Ancient pill?!!” the youth bellowed as he actually, literally, spat out a mouthful of blood due to anger. “It was a shitty Rank 1 pill of utterly disgusting quality, yet you still claim it was an ancient pill?!! If I don’t kill you, I’ll never be able to sleep in peace!”

“Wait, you actually swindled him for ten million gold coins in turn for a Rank 1 pill?” Thalia asked with shocked expression; actually, the two of them did things much, much worse to the five groups they swindled together, but she simply felt like adding fuel to the burning flames, and Lynne understood that. “Ha ha!!” she burst out in laughter as she pointed a finger at the youth shivering in anger. “You actually bought a Rank 1 pill for ten million gold coins?!” she yelled out atop of her voice, causing practically the entirety of spectators to turn towards them. “Is your brain made out of stone? Ha ha ha!! How could someone be so stupid as to be unable to tell a difference between an ancient, priceless pill and a Rank 1 horseshit?! Ha ha…”

Even the spectators had quickly joined in on the fun, laughing. Judging from the youth’s expression, it was clear that every word Thalia said was absolutely true. The youth was absolutely red in face; he had never been so humiliated before in his life. While he didn’t dare say anything to a woman – as he felt she was even more powerful than the elders with him – he focused the entirety of his hatred at Lynne.

“Y-you!!!” the youth screamed at him. “Do you dare fight me in the arena?!! Do you dare?”

“Dare? Why would I dare?” Lynne replied without a hint of shame. “You’re a thirty year old grandpa, and I’m not even twenty yet. You’re ten times stronger than me. What the hell would I fight for? To die? Bleh, if I wanted to die, I’d have this cutie over here drown me in ecstasy,” Lynne pointed at Thalia, dragging her back into the conversation. She simply smiled coyly, displaying a rather affectionate gaze towards Lynne, causing other men in vicinity to burn with jealousy. “Why would I wanna die under some old dude’s hands? Heh, sorry, not interested.”

“Coward! Have you no pride?” one of the elderly from the youth’s group exclaimed, thinking Lynne was simply another hotheaded youth, and that he’d agree after he provoked him for a bit.

“Of course I’m a coward. How the hell do you think I survived up until now?” Lynne rebuked without even a hint of shame. “How about I propose this lovely woman of mine fight your entire group, all on her own, huh? Do you dare? Huh? Do you dare, bunch of sagged, old cowards?!”

“Y-you!!”

“Is that the only word you forgetful idiots know?” Lynne burst out in torrent of curses, holding nothing back. “Why am I to be blamed for your disciple’s stupidity? Huh? Even a freaking monkey can discern between a shitty and priceless pill, yet this old geezer’s telling me it’s my fault he’s blind? Look at you, you’re at least two hundred years old, and you’re threatening an eighteen year old kid! Bleh, I spit on your supposed pride and dignity. Go die. Go buckle up in your stall and eat horseshit for days. You spat out so much talking to me I’m afraid you need to eat ten tons of it to replenish your energy.” He’ s absolutely shameless! Although the curious spectators thought that, nobody said anything; after all, it was a rare spectacle to see someone so young spit into the faces of those much stronger than him over and over again.

“Ah, junior brother,” Thalia suddenly joined in, shaking her head as the group across from them was still trying to process Lynne’s words. “Why are you so lenient towards cripples like them? Look at their faces. You may as well replace placid stones with them, and what difference would there be? There isn’t a single woman in the group. I’m so happy that my own gender is smart enough to avoid parasites like them by a mile. Look at their faces. Even if you wanted to sculpture the ugliest sculpture in the history of mankind, you still couldn’t make it as ugly as they are. Ah, they shame human race with their absolute, apex ugliness. Alas, at least they can brag they reached apex in something; ugliness and stupidity. Leave them, it’s better you don’t filthy your mouth talking to puddles of diarrhea like them.” Who the hell are these two?!! the audience was completely flabbergasted by Thalia’s outpouring. You can’t even tell which one is worse!! Absolutely shameless!!

“Y-y-you bastards!!” the youth finally exploded. “Fine, screw your ancestors, you said the twelve of us can all fight your bitch?! Fine, we’ll fight! I’ll rip your freaking face off!!” Thalia suddenly smirked, giving a secret thumbs up to Lynne.

“Eh, it’s no fun that way. We gotta bet, bet.” she said calmly. “Why’d I fight pieces of shit for free? My hands and being are angelic, you know? Just talking to you had already caused me to feel so much filth I’ll need at least three thousand showers to recover. So let’s bet. I’ll bet my lovely one’s life, and you bet all the treasures you posses, huh?” Screw you!!! Lynne screamed inwardly, but his smile of confidence still remained.

“You think this bastard’s life---”

“Fine!!!” the youth had gone absolutely insane, interrupting his elder with a shout that bloated the sky. “I’ll kill both of you!! I’ll destroy you until there’s not even a speck of you remaining!!”

Alas, this is how quickly friendships fall apart; Lynne sighed solemnly. Although he was relatively certain Thalia wouldn’t lose on purpose just to screw with him, he still immediately began planning the escape route in case she turns out to be a complete, sadistic madman. Thalia, naturally, noticed this as her lips curled up in a smile; by now, the two who were fighting in the plaza stopped, after which the youth – alongside eleven others from his group – immediately leapt onto the plaza, standing at one of the edges.

“COME OUT HERE NOW!!!” the youth bellowed.

“Eh, time for me to go,” Thalia said, casting a quick glance at Lynne. “Wait for me, love.”

“Stay safe, beautiful.”