Chapter 4 – Laniagaea Vol. I

THREE DAYS AFTER THE INCIDENT, Daisuke and Cobalt were discharged from the infirmary. Both told the elven healers that they had no recollection of what happened after they lost consciousness.

Squidface and his team of juveniles were already taken away by a group of Seekers led by Orchilles. They were handed over to the United Alliance stationed at Port Royale in Aria Continent mainland.

Cobalt was invited by the council for questioning by Durant, Mahogry, and Ananais, together with two senior elves, Cedra, vice leader of the Seekers, and Tamato, vice leader of the Elven Corps. But since Cobalt was just an eleven years old kid, Ananais reminded everyone to be as lenient as possible.

“So Cobalt, can you tell us more about the division you belong to?” Tamato started the questioning.

Cobalt doesn’t seem to be nervous about the interrogation and answered as calmly as he could. “I'm a part of the small team that specializes in sneaking around to avoid confrontation when trying to steal treasures. It's a pretty common tactic nowadays in large treasure hunter groups, or so I was told.”

“And how long have you been part of the crew?” Cedra followed up.

“About three months, give or take. They caught me back at the Pit Valley. Luckily, my friends got away. I’m the only one they have caught back there.”

Cobalt also revealed that he was an orphan. He never knew who his real parents were or when was his birthday. He used to live in the Pit Valley with his friends, surviving the harsh desert-like valley, subsisting on anything edible, from small lizards to unusual plants, and stealing from nearby towns. While looking for something to eat, Shiruce’s men raided their camp and he was caught.

“Do you really not remember what happened three days ago?!” Durant impatiently asked.

“I, uhh…”

“Durant, there is no need to push the kid,” Mahogry reminded. “With that surge of mana, a kid like him was lucky enough to survive. I wouldn’t be surprised that he lost consciousness the moment he got hit by that surge alone.”

“Still, he must have noticed where it came from,” Durant stubbornly insisted.

“S-Sorry, but I have no idea about the surge you are talking about. To tell you the truth, I lost consciousness the moment I got kicked by Calix…he’s the second-in-command of our small division. I tried to help this kid called Daisuke. He was beaten pretty badly by Calix. But what’s weird was that his face was already healed, as if nothing happened.” For some reason, something made Cobalt feel that it was better to lie than to tell them what really happened.

The council and senior elves looked at each other. Everyone knew that most elves had long lost their high-regenerative ability and were now just like humans who needed time to heal.

In the end, the council decided not to punish Cobalt. Instead, in exchange for the information he gave to the elves regarding the treasure hunters, he was promised that he will be escorted back to the Pit Valley after the restoration of the village and was allowed to stay in the Council House temporarily

As soon as the meeting with Cobalt was done, the veteran and younger elves that were waiting outside the meeting hall were eager to know what happened at the Shrine of Maria during the attempted raid of the Fishbone Hunters.

* * * * *

Daisuke and Cobalt would then spend most of their time together at the Shrine of Maria which was fixed two days after it was destroyed. Luckily, the last remaining treasure, the Spear of Krishmala, was not taken.

Inside, Daisuke and Cobalt were teaching each other about the things they know. Daisuke would teach Cobalt about elven culture and history, while Cobalt showed Daisuke a unique book about the world of Laniagaea.

“This is called a runestone,” Cobalt showed a small rock engraved with a unique symbol.

“Woah, cool…what's a runestone?”

Cobalt chuckled. “It is usually a small stone, any kind of stone, imbued with a Runic Symbol or two and magic. Here, look.”

Cobalt demonstrated how to use the runestone. He concentrated his mana on his hands which made the runestone react. The runestone’s symbol glowed purple and slowly turned into an old-looking book, about six hundred pages thick. As the light subsided, the runestone was now part of the book’s cover right in the middle.

“Wow! That’s amazing!” Daisuke said in awe.

Cobalt handed over the book to Daisuke. Luckily, Daisuke already learned how to read human scripts and easily understood the writings in the book.

“Oh, I see. ’Laniagaea Vol. 1’. Hmmm. Is that the title of this book?” Daisuke asked.

“Yes. Fun fact: that’s also the name of this world. I mean, without the ‘volume one’.”

According to the book, it was unknown where the name of the world, Laniagaea, came from, who gave the world that name, or what it even meant. They only knew that old texts from certain dungeons and ruins described what the world was called.

“This book looks really old,” Daisuke said as he continued to investigate the book. “Leif Runesson…is he the author?”

“Yep. Some say that that book is actually his journal and it was a few hundred years old. Some information is already outdated though, but there’s still some information that is correct up to this day.”

The book also contained information about the twelve continents of the world, but only six were fully detailed. The detailed ones were the continents of Aria, Montagna, Dragonheim, Islas, Eaucove, and Arkociel. The other continents that were mentioned but weren't detailed were Gardenia, Maldream, Evergreen, Cocoboro, Novachea, and Junoeia.

“So this is where we are?” Daisuke pointed at the Aria continent on the map in the book.

“Yes. But Maria Island is riiiiight over here, northwest of the mainland Aria.”

“This is amazing!”

Daisuke told Cobalt more about the history of the Yora elves. From the feud between elves and humans to the laws of Maria Island. Most of the younger elves do not know that there was so much outside Maria Island, according to Daisuke, until they started going to Yora Academy and collectively dreamed of becoming a Seeker.

“So that’s why you cannot leave the island, huh?”

“I was even told that only a few candidates clear the Seeker Trials.”

“I guess the law is law wherever you are.”

Daisuke couldn’t help but be amazed at how much the world has to offer. He wished to see the grassy plains, forests, and mountains of mainland Aria, and the vast desert, canyons, and oasis of Montagna. He was curious about the icy domain of Dragonheim and its nine realms and wished to see the rumored "original" dragons. He wanted to visit the tropical paradise of Islas where the race known as the Pashavi lives in harmony, travel the crystal clear rivers and lakes of Eaucove and see its wandering islands, and explore the dungeons, ruins, and the well-renowned Arcobaleno Kingdom in Arkociel. More reasons for Daisuke to dream of becoming a Seeker.

“Do you have the second volume?”

Cobalt shook his head. “Sorry. I wish I had that one, though.”

But the book was not all about the continents of Laniagaea. When Daisuke turned to a random page he saw information about the other races, flora and fauna, Karma, magic, combat, weapons, and technology.

“Oh. That is a dwarf.” Cobalt pointed out. “I received this book from a dwarf adventurer.”

“There are dwarves in Aria?” asked the bewildered Daisuke.

“Well, there are many adventurers, explorers, and treasure hunters all around the world.” Cobalt explained. “It is not unusual to see all kinds of races in Aria.”

“Are they really small? The dwarves, I mean.”

“I would not call them 'small'. Short, maybe...and bulkier.”

“And this one?” Daisuke pointed to an illustration of another humanoid creature that had armor made of bones, reddish skin, tattoos, and scars.

“That’s an orc. They are savage creatures.”

As Daisuke flipped the page, a picture of a familiar face can be seen. It was a picture of a female elf, an illustration of Maria. And beside her was an illustration of a white-haired human.

“Now I remember!” Cobalt exclaimed. “The elf and human, together with the dwarf and orc on the previous page, are said to be the heroes of Ishvaranomachy that united the Four Greatest Civilizations: Groshven Greybeard of the Dwarves, Azok Ishmala of the Orcs, Maria Ashenwood of the Elves, and Yamato Miyazaki of the Humans. It is said that the Great Creator went down from the heavens and gave part of his remaining power to the four greatest civilizations at that time. The alliance ultimately won, but—”

“—the war among them for that power begun afterward.” Daisuke continued.

Daisuke closed the book and handed it back to Cobalt, who reverted it to a runestone and kept it in his pocket. They went outside the shrine to the observation deck. There they can have a panoramic view of the southern part of Yora Village, the South Harbor, and the calm sea. They can see the elves using their power to produce woods that they used to rebuild houses that were destroyed during Shiruce’s attempt to steal treasures.

“I have seen many Seekers on Aria,” Cobalt said. “There was this one time when I met them at the Pit Valley. Even though we are humans, they helped us by using their Karma to grow trees, providing us shade and seasonal fruits.”

“Elves hated humans because of the past, but it seems we are slowly healing, moving on from the past,” Daisuke commented.

“Yeah. It's great to know that despite our differences, we could still have that chance to coexist, just like how other races used to do,” Cobalt smilingly replied.

* * * * *

For the rest of the days that Cobalt stayed in the village, Daisuke introduced him to everything that Yoran elves have to offer.

Daisuke started with elven cuisine (thanks to his mother Pinelia). He and Cobalt went to the North River for a swim (which was dangerous because of the rocky riverbed), climbed the Sacred Tree (which was not allowed as per the island’s law), and caught Yoran dragonflies (not allowed as well since dragonflies are considered sacred by the Yoran elves), went to the Western Forest and Cliff to see different species of plants and animals (they were almost eaten by tons of carnivorous plants and animals), and took a stroll at the village proper (where they got shunned by most elves; a freak and a human, elves would have thought).

Regardless, Cobalt and Daisuke had the most fun they've ever had. Seriously, they were just a kid, and, already, life was a nightmare for them.

For the first time in Daisuke’s life, he got to enjoy hanging out with someone he could call a friend. For the first time, he enjoyed being a kid.

When the time has come for Cobalt to leave the island, Cedra was tasked to lead a group of Seekers to escort Cobalt back to mainland Aria. Cobalt loved the life in Yora village: simple and bountiful. But he knew that his other friends were waiting for him back at the Pit Valley.

“Here, Daisuke. I want you to have this.” Cobalt took out the runestone from his pocket and handed it over to his elven friend. “Promise me that one day, we will meet again outside.”

Daisuke gladly accepted the gift from Cobalt. “Of course! We'll see each other again!”