Astolfo opened his eyes to a dark ceiling. Characters and words in languages of all kinds adorned the exquisite marble ceiling as the writings flowed down to the pillars and walls. Magical energy coalesced at the writings in all forms, giving rise to strange phenomena.

With each blink, the world would change. Sometimes flowers sprouted out of the walls and sometimes brilliant lights shined together. Sometimes stars covered the ceiling and sometimes birds appeared from nowhere.

Astolfo slowly lifted himself. Sitting not too far away was Morris with a book in his hand. Astolfo watched as the man sketched the location in his book down to the tiniest of details. The boy had to squint his eyes to make sure if the details in the sketch were even truly around or not.

Soon, Morris noticed him and turned to him with a terrifying smile.

“You’re awake.”

Astolfo couldn’t understand him and only nodded. Morris chuckled and got back to sketching. It was only when Astolfo rubbed his eyes did he realize that he had fallen asleep.

“Ahh!” The boy exclaimed as his face went red with embarrassment.

“Hm?” Morris turned and looked at the flustered Astolfo. He wore a kind and waved his hand. “Don’t worry. We still have to go on four more explorations before you get to it on your own. You can learn more later!”

Astolfo’s eyes widened.

‘D-did he just that if I don’t work hard enough he’ll kill dispose me in this place?’ The still aloof Astolfo’s imagination was running wild.

Morris turned back to his sketching and Astolfo looked around nervously. A meters away was a pile of monster corpses with black and brown fur and the face of a dog.

The boy narrowed his eyes at the sight of the Kobolds. He knew about them, but the books Morris had shown before did not mention these at all. He wondered if he was too quick in thinking the book was the data of monsters in the ruins.

As he looked closer, he could see that all the corpses had been killed rather violently. Astolfo gulped and straightened his back. More than afraid, the boy was confused. From how he got to this place to why that person was sketching things out.

-Tap. Tap. Tap.

“Hm?”

Just then, footsteps rang out in the distance. More Kobolds had come into sight. The dog-headed monsters with brown fur growled as their paw-like feet slammed against the ground. Morris turned to the Kobolds and lowered his book when Astolfo stood up in a hurry.

Sleeping while they were taking a break was very embarrassing and he wanted to make up for it. It was fine when he was alone in the cave, but being selfish didn’t bode well for anyone in a group.

Astolfo gestured at Morris to sit down and started recalling the words he had learned till now.

“Uh-hm, Morrees,” Astolfo said, his accent heavily reflecting in his speech. “Um, seat! Let’s go!”

Morris’ eyes shot open and bulged out, almost falling off their sockets and rolling on the floor like a pair of marbles. The man had his jaw next to the ground as he processed what had just happened.

“W-wait, what? You can speak? You can speak and hear?!”

“L-lets go!”

“Hah?!”

Astolfo smiled and turned towards the Kobolds. He shook his hands and hopped for a few seconds before charging towards the monsters. The boy shot past the floor and stopped right in front of one Kobold.

The startled monster reeled back and stepped away. The Kobold swung its metal club towards Astolfo as the boy calmly raised his hand in a gentle curve upwards.

An enormous stalagmite of ice rose from the ground below the Kobold. The monster lifted off the ground and smashed into the ceiling along with the stalagmite, getting crushed by the excessive force.

“Hey! Don’t damage the ruins!!” Morris shouted from behind, but Astolfo wasn’t listening. He raised his hand and grabbed the club dropped by the Kobold.

With his hand-pulled far back, the boy poured his mana into the club and thrust it into the rising stalagmite. The mana-filled attack flowed into the stalagmite, shattering it into a thousand pieces from within.

Like a veil of white, the hundreds and thousands of shards of ice floated down, forming a white curtain in front of the other Kobolds. In a breath, Astolfo lowered his stance as much as he could and escaped from the Kobolds’ sight.

The monsters could barely break out of their confusion when Astolfo had popped up right next to them. He violently swung the club with all his force and rammed it into the monsters’ heads. He hammered one's head in and jumped to the next. In mere minutes, the number of Kobolds was down to half and constantly went down.

‘This club…’ Astolfo thought to himself while continuing his Kobold slaughter. ‘Isn’t this too sturdy and well built? It’s even taking my magic well…’

Feeling his mana drain faster, Astolfo kicked things up a notch and cleared his mind off his thoughts. Soon, the Kobolds had fallen to the ground. Astolfo heaved with his hands on his knees as he looked at the corpses littered like garbage.

‘Takes me back.’

Wiping the sweat off his forehead he turned back to Morris. The boy handed the startled scary man the club and scratched his head.

“Umm, ah. Magec. Magec. Mana Magec, Morees”

“This club? Magic?” Morris asked back as he inspected the club with a frown.

Astolfo nodded fervently when he heard a familiar word. Morris patted the mat again and asked him to sit down which he gladly did. He was almost out of mana and was feeling quite lethargic.

“It is a strange club, it looks very polished and… old.” Morris fiddled with the club a few more times before setting it down and turning back to the boy.

“You. You could speak and hear all along?” He asked.

“Hm?” Astolfo tilted his head.

“Haah, whatever. It’s fine. Let’s just wait here some more.” Morris said while looking at the pocket watch he had brought along. “The reports said you revert back to the place you came from. This connecting passage seems to have a temporal trigger.”

As he had said, soon, darkness filled Astolfo’s vision and the two explorers appeared back at the wide pasture-like area in the ruins. Morris and Astolfo tidied up and packed their things back.

“With this, a high-ranked explorer has officially confirmed the existence of the connecting passage,” Morris said. “Let’s go back now.”

Astolfo nodded along and followed Morris.

His first exploration had come to an end.

**

The evening had come around by the time the two came back to Vicino town. Their first stop was the explorers guild.

As soon as they entered the evening explorers guild filled with bright lights and scant visitors, they went up to the reception where the manager was seated as usual. Morris greeted the manner with a nod and the old man smiled warmly at him before turning to Astolfo.

“Well, Mr. Apprentice. How was your first exploration?” The old man muttered and giggled. “Did he understand you in the ruins?”

“Understand me…” Morris repeated the manager’s words. Then, as if a light bulb had turned on in his head, he slammed his fist against his palm. “This kid! He can listen and talk, but he doesn’t speak the same language!”

“Hm, what?” The manager asked.

“That must be the case…” The scary man nodded to himself. He then pulled out his book and handed it to the manager.

“Sir, I have confirmed the connecting passage’s existence successfully.”

“Great. Where does it lead to?” The manager took the book and flipped it open, reading the logs and drawings Morris had made.

“The place we ended up at was not documented anywhere. There were even Kobolds in the place, monsters that had never been located in the Bragi ruins. It seems to be an unidentified spot.”

The old manager placed the book down and sighed. “Well, the explorers that reported the place had never stepped inside… This is troublesome, boy.”

“It is, you will probably need to send it to the city,” Morris said and the manager nodded in agreement. After another sigh, the manager got up and waved his hand at Morris.

“Well, if that is all then get going. Your goons said they will be waiting at the Moons’ hideout.”

“Not goons, they are my friends.” Morris awkwardly scratched the back of his head. Though the action was awkward, Astolfo could only find it sinister. “I’ll go then. Thank you, manager.”

With a thank you from Morris and a bow from Astolfo, the two left the guild and to the Moons’ hideout.

The dark of the night covered the sky, yet the town of stone stayed bright with the lamps on the streets. Under the twinkling stars, the pleasant din of the townsfolk formed a harmonious melody, scratching at Astolfo’s ears. The laughing children and the excited youngsters, the chatting mothers and the busy workers.

Everything was different. He had never seen anything so lively in the quiet Frucht, nor anything so pleasant in the raucous Essen. Something tugged at the tips of the boy's mouth, pulling it ever-so-slightly upward.

Morris pushed the door of the Moons’ hideout open. Unlike all the times before, no one turned to look as they went inside. The loud cheers of the rowdy crowd, the harmonious songs of lutes and trumpets, and the strong stench of alcohol were what welcomed the new guests in the Moons’ hideout.

Morris chuckled at the familiar sight of his favorite establishment while Astolfo marveled at the night face of the pub that starkly differed from its morning counterpart. The man guided Astolfo through the pub and towards a table at the left end.

“Oh, Morris! You are here!”

“Hey, Big Bro is here. The kid too!”

“Have a seat, have a seat!”

Morris’ group tapped on the chairs and asked them to sit. Astolfo nervously looked around, his face flushed from excitement. He took a seat on the table filled with rounds of moonshine and mugs of beer.

Tigress, the armored lady he had followed before waved at Morris and Astolfo before chatting up the scary man alongside her crew.

A hand appeared on Astolfo’s shoulders. The boy turned around to see a fit young man with messy black hair and similarly messy clothes looking at him with gleaming eyes and a flashy smile.

“Heyy! Your fight was fucking awesome brooo!” Sean, the vice-captain of the city guard reached his hand out. Astolfo confusedly nodded and shook his hand as the man smiled and shouted something into the air. The young guard with flushed cheeks picked up another mug of beer and walked away.

Coming with a tray of booze and food in their hands were the flashy owner of the pub and a wizard with the whole set of robes and a staff. The two quietly acknowledged the boy with a nod and placed the trays on the table.

Then, a plate of meat skewers was pushed towards the boy. He turned to see the man he fought before handing him the skewers with a smile.

“I am sorry about before, kid. Let us apologize… You didn’t get to eat these last time, did you?” Derrick said.

Astolfo alternated his gaze between the unusually voluminous plate of skewers and Derrick. Behind him, Jimmy, Skipper, and the others he had fought were either smiling or joining their hands together in a playful apology. Derrick pumped the plate again, urging the boy to take the skewers.

The young child’s face grew increasingly hotter and his smile wider as the music and company grew louder and larger. Astolfo merrily chomped on the succulent skewers and the others followed along.

“Oh, Astolfo!” A voice called out. Julie saw Astolfo from a distance and waved her hand at him as she approached their table.

“How was your exploration!” The beautiful elf with flushed cheeks promptly ignored everyone else and chatted up the child.

“Julie!” Astolfo exclaimed with a smile.

“Ahem, miss.” Morris interrupted. “So you knew he could speak. Is Astolfo his name?”

Julie turned towards Morris and patted him on the shoulders. She swirled the beer in her hand and chugged a large sip down. With a loud ‘ahh’ she tore her lips away from the beer and spoke up.

“What do you mean knew? Of course, he could speak! Right, Astolfo?”

“Whatever!” Sean shouted. “You, let’s see who can down more!” He challenged Julie.

The elf smirked and picked another mug from the table. “That’s cute, little human.” The others clapped as Julie and Sean broke into a drink-off. After going five rounds in a short time, the young guard grabbed his stomach and keeled over to the ground while Julie laughed.

The merry night deepened and the merry calls of the people’s hearts surfaced up. Some broke into song while the others danced about. Some chatted their night away while others simply drank in silence. All kinds of people occupied the small place, just being themselves.

This feeling.

This sight.

Astolfo’s heart pounded against his chest, but this pounding was starkly different from everything he had felt in the past six months.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Morris screamed out. “We have a new explorer here today!!” Everyone in the pub stopped and turned towards the young boy he pointed at. Astolfo shook his head at the sudden attention from everyone.

Then, the pub-master that he had met the day before approached the boy with a giant mug in his hand. He handed the mug filled with red liquid to the boy and backed away while everyone else kept their eyes peeled on him.

Astolfo tilted his head at first but soon understood what was happening.

He looked straight into the mug and raised it to his mouth. The boy chugged the special wine down in one go as everyone oohed along with him.

The boy gulped everything and pushed the mug away. He squinted his eyes and shook his head around.

“Wooooahh!!” A sound erupted right from his heart as Astolfo gleefully shouted out loud—

““Woooooahhh!!!”“

—and everyone screamed right back.

The night was still long.