The white butterfly fluttered in front of me as I once again became engulfed in darkness.

I remember fighting against the huhe golem guarding the enemy's gate. Did I died afterwards or did I died in the process?

The darkness felt different from before.

Faint sparkles of light appeared from below which then formed into a platform. A sandy stone pavement to which I glided down.

"You have passed the test, Ethereal," the voice in my head spoke. The platform extended into a path to which the butterfly flew leading to a wider platform with a golden cup floating in the center.

Grass and flowers grew between the stones as I moved my feet across the path.

"The battle yielded some essence, a good start but you have a long way ahead of you."

[ Chalice 30 / 1,000,000 ]

The text appeared above the golden cup. The butterfly encircled around leaving specks of light above the cup and the numbers went up from thirty to two hundred.

"Consider this as a present from me," the voice said then the butterfly fluttered away to a distance.

It flashed and turned into a figure of a lady.

She has the looks of a divinity. Her wavy hair was silken white contrasting to the darker tone of her flawless skin.

She wore a silvery white dress embroidered and laced with gold with traces of red. In her forehead was a white crytal embedded as if it was already there when she was born.

"This space is a sanctuary only Ethereals can enter, no wonder your kind has started calling it... Etherium," the lady smiled. Her voice was not on my head anymore.

She waved her hand and specks of light appeared forming a tree in the edge of the platform. She gestured to the golden cup and it turned into a stone well.

"A place for meetings, for forming friends, for finding rivals, for further stirring the chaos," she continued walking a few steps.

"What are you?" I asked her.

"I am Ideia, I am the guide, how many times should I tell you that?" she replied sitting on the edge of the well. "I am not like you, nor whatever you think I am. But hey, the story is not about me, this is about you."

I shifted my gaze towards the well seeing my reflection not wearing the same equipment I had when I was in the battlefield.

"Your journey begins from here, Ethereal; follow your fate, fulfill your purpose."

The lady waved her hand and specks of light formed into a wooden door.

"This passage would lead you to the world of Mortals."

"Mortals?" I asked recognizing the word but felt there's something more behind its meaning.

"Mortals. Creatures that which greatly resembles your kind. But they are not the same as you for they have a different fate and purpose."

A leaf from the tree flew down into the well while she was talking. The image in the water shifted to show a group of people.

"Fancy, feeble creatures," the lady smiled and continued. "There's no harm in befriending them. But though you are free to interact with the Mortals, please be reminded that there are rules that bound your differences."

"What rules?" I asked.

The lady nodded and explained the rules which I took time to memorize.

Ethereals are not allowed to hold authority over Mortals and should not involve in their affairs regarding politics, economy, technology and their wars against themselves. Likewise, Mortals are not allowed to hold authority over Ethereals and they are not allowed to meddle with our battles.

Ethereals have longer lives and have better constitution as compared to Mortals but it is not impossible for us to die outside the battlefield. In this regard, Ethereals are not allowed to kill their kind for it defeats the purpose of their creation. Any essence collected by an Ethereal disappears and therefore wasted upon their death.

In the other hand, Mortals are allowed to harm and kill their own however, the society they have established holds its own rules over this matter.

Ethereals are also not allowed to kill Mortals in accordance to the first rule. The lady explained that to take someone's life incidentally or intentionally is to hold authority over the other. Likewise, Mortals are never allowed to kill Ethereals.

According to the lady, there was once a Mortal king who disrespected the rules declaring Ethereals inferior to their race and thus ordered his people to capture and enslave them.

Some Ethereals tried to stop him but then he instructed his men to kill them. Right in the middle of his speech, in front of a thousand people, the Mortal king's life was taken by an otherworldly being: Umbrie, the judge.

Umbrie is the same as Ideia as the lady explained and there are other similar entities aside from them.

Ideia's task as she have previously said, was to to guide the Ethereals in their task to collect essence. Umbrie's task in the other hand, is to ensure that the rules are followed and she would not hesitate to pass her judgment on anyone who would dare to break them.

The lady warned me about the rules as while they are precisely imposed they are never perfect. Several Mortals and Ethereals are exploiting loopholes, vague areas in the rules that enables them to evade the judgment of Umbrie while they gain advantage for their own.

I then took the time and the opportunity to ask her the rest of the questions in my head. Things that I missed in the test and things that I am to find beyond the wooden door.

"There are other topics I have yet to tell you, but you can always find me in this room,"

I nodded and went towards the door.

My mind felt tired from the conversation but in my chest I felt a little excitement. I wondered what the world beyond would look like.

"Take care, Ethereal. I trust you would accomplish the task," the lady's words as I turned the metal knob and pushed the door.

Trees, shrubs and a lot of vegetation. The wind was briskly cold and there were bugs that kept pinching on my skin.

The world of Mortals; well, not so different from the battlefield, I guess... except, it feels peaceful here.

I stopped to admire the orange painted sky and the purple shaded clouds. The sun has started to set down as if the calming air is inviting it to rest.

I looked around from where I stood, a cliff that gave me a better view of the land that stretched endless into the horizon. Mountains, forests, rivers and lake; there were no walls or edges that bound them.

There were no soldiers and I hear no clashes of steel or battlecries nor I could see anything that resembles a golem.

Peace yields nothing for it has nothing. I remembered the lady's words.

You call this nothing?

"This is so much better than the battlefield," I told myself then walked towards the direction where I spotted a settlement.

[Location: Village Griflet ]

The noise, the smell, the view of the crowd; I wandered around the village indulging the scenery. People talked and laughed with each other and there were few who tinkered on things while others busily moved around carrying trivial objects.

I walked into the streets and found my way to a stall grilling what I recognize to be meat. They did not appealed to be appetizing to me but I felt hungry by the thought.

"Pay if you want to eat," the bald man over the stall said.

"What form of money do you accept?" I asked wondering if I have anything in my pocket but doubted as I remembered what the lady has told me. I was supposed to be responsible of my own living expenses.

I then remembered about points: I was able to purchase items using points when I was in the battlefield.

I motioned my hand to summon the interface.

The panels that appeared had a different set of options and none was labeled points or something of the sort. I tapped and checked each of them looking for a way to buy the meat.

"Freak! Get away of my stall," the man suddenly pushed me off. I fell on the ground confused and as I looked up, the people who were standing around fixed their eyes at me wearing weird expressions on their faces.

"Freak! He's a freak!" the bald man said pointing his finger at me. I was confused on what he was saying.

People started crowding around and they were whispering something with theirselves.

"You wouldn't do that if I were you," a guy then came and helped me stand.

He has a blonde hair and wore a black leather coat over a red shirt.

"Dont stick your nose in here," someone nearby told him.

"Uh... Seriously?" He replied.

"I heard the duke is paying plenty to anyone who would bring him a freak," someone else muttered.

"Pitying him won't lead you anywhere kid, the freak is ours," a strong looking man spoke.

"Or is he planning to take all the reward? He must be full of hisself," the person behind him said.

"Well, before we proceed to anymore conclusion, let me be clear first: I am an Ethereal." The blonde guy casually walked a few steps towards the men and made a wicked smile on his face.

"Guh, an Ethereal?!" The strong looking man looked shocked. Several others made the same expression.

"You heard that right but wait, there's more..." he turned around to walk back then patted my shoulder before saying, "this one here is also an Ethereal,"

"What?"

"Not a freak but worse."

"Scram. I'm not interested in Ethereals."

The people muttered things as if they were afraid of us and then walked away leaving me and the blonde guy from where we stood.

"I didn't know the word Ethereal could scare anyone," I said.

"Ofcourse mate, they are afraid of breaking the rules. That's pretty common, are you a rookie?" The blonde guy asked inspecting me.

"What do you mean rookie?" I asked.

"Aye, you're a rookie if you don't know what a rookie is."

"That's..." I tried to defend myself but he was right. I still have a lot of things I don't know. I just got here and I just finished the test. I did not understand what the people was planning and I didn't expect that they would be afraid of my kind.

"Baseless conclusion? Well, if you don't want to be called rookie, then come," the guy called as he started walking.

"I'll tell you how not to be one," he said.