When he woke up, he noticed that he was under an unfamiliar ceiling. His body felt very light, light enough to be considered floating on clouds. The odd feeling was very unsettling like wading through a pool of water. Then suddenly, the memories of Yeriel grasping his throat replayed itself in his mind.

“Could it be… that I am her captive?” His throat felt hoarse, the point was further emphasized by his rough and deeper tone. He grasped at his throat with the intent of searching for a collar. “Yeah right, that only happens in those shitty wish-fulfillment novels.” He joked to himself, only to realize his limbs were not bounded.

Vincent sat up slowly, shaking off the groggy feeling of having slept for what seemed like a century. He lightly stretched his arms and legs, getting a feel for them before returning to examine the room he had woken up in. The room was simplistic; there was only a bed, drawer, table, and a few chairs.

“So where am I?” Vincent asked himself and looked out the single window in the room. Beyond the window was a forest of trees the size of skyscrapers. What is more, the world outside was dark, so maybe it was night time. A perfect time to escape if he really was captured.

Vincent’s first thought was to rub his ring, only to find it missing. Then, he checked the drawer to see if his gear was inside.

“Empty. I’ll worry about that later.” Vincent frowned. “I’ll have to make do with this.” He was dressed in just a pair of briefs and an undershirt.” He hurriedly made his way outside, only to be stunned by the sight that captured his view.

*WHOOSH!*

“Woah!” Vincent fell backward into the room. There was an empty void just outside the door. To be precise, there was a ladder that led down to the base of the tree to his left. In front of him, was a shortcut to the ground.

“I nearly ended my life just like that. Fuck!” Vincent thought to himself before picking himself up and climbing down the ladder. A few moments later, he hopped off the ladder and observed his surroundings. When he looked up at the room he had just woken up in, it could no longer be seen. If anyone were to walk by this place, they would never notice the room.

Vincent looked up, hoping to make sense of where he was. In the past, he was taught how to use the stars to navigate. When he looked up, there was nothing. There were no stars, no moon, and then he realized why.

“Could it be? The trees are covering up the sky?” He felt his heart drop to the pit of his stomach. “Wasn’t the inner region of Emerald Forest said to have no sky? A world in complete darkness under cover of the trees?” Right at that moment, a crooning noise came out from above.

“Kueeh~!”

Vincent looked up and smiled before calling out softly, “Emet!” His face lit up with joy, “I forgot about you. Where were you this whole time?” He laughed and reached out to her.

“Kurururu~” Emet landed on his outstretched arm and looked offended. She turned to the side and refused to look his way. “How dare he forget about me?!” Emet seemed to say.

“Sorry. Sorry. I won’t forget about you next time,” Vincent tried hard to appease his companion.

“…” Emet remained silent for a while longer before happily flapping her wings, “Kueee!”

“Ahaha!” Vincent chuckled cheerfully when Emet intimately pecked at his thumb, a habit that displayed when she wanted attention. While the two were bonding, a third party made her entrance.

“You’re awake.” The person observed.

“Who’s there?” Vincent warily asked and jumped back, he instinctively reached for his sword, only to find it missing.

“It’s me.” A small girl floated out from beyond the misty outskirts of the forest. Her figure was about as tall as his little sister, Isabel. However, what stuck out most to him were her eyes. They were twinkling like starlight in the night sky, deep and mysterious.

“P-Princess?!” Gasped Vincent exasperatedly. This was such a sudden change. The last time he had seen her, she had the eyes of a person that had given up on life, but now… “Is this a dream? Am I dead?” Vincent comically poked Emet, looking for an answer.

“Kuee!” Emet sharply glared back and flew over to the little elf girl.

“We aren’t dead.” Princess Arya stated once more and played with Emet. “We’re in the depths of the Emerald Forest. Do you not remember?” She cocked her head to the side as if studying a strange specimen. The youthful appearance did well to play off her innocent expression and made her look as harmless as a bunny.

“How did we end up here? The last thing I remembered was us being caught by Yeriel…” Vincent drooped his head down.

“…” Princess Arya paused and hesitated for a bit. The tension in the air could be felt by all three parties. “Actually, we have been captured by Yeriel and imprisoned by her. Right now, we are in her maze prison deep inside the Emerald Forest.”

“No way…” Vincent felt despair and his eyes wandered in search of a path out of the gloomy forest.

“Pfft!” A snicker escaped from just beyond Vincent’s vision.

“Who’s there?!” Vincent shouted. “Show yourself!”

“It’s just me~!” An odd-looking man hopped out from the darkness. He was dressed in tacky clothes that do not match. He was wearing belts all over his body with bits and baubles attached to it. On top of the mismatched clothes was a long and gray mottled cloak that could do with a bit of washing. He sported a face that made anyone want to slap it just to wipe off the dumb smile on it. If it weren’t for the peerless handsome face, anyone that saw this man would call for security.

“Did I do well, Great Ancestor?” Princess Arya walked over while petting Emet.

“That was perfect. I give it 100 out of 10! Magnificent!” The man held up his thumb and petted the little princess.

“…” Vincent frowned, he had been tricked.

“Did you like my prank, Vincent?” The man skipped forward until he was just a few steps away.

“That was a distasteful joke.” Vincent felt bitter, and it took all his willpower to restrain himself from slapping that dumb smile off his face. After taking a moment to calm himself, Vincent asked, “So? Who are you?”

“Oh~!” The man was shaken and staggered back a step, “How can you already forget about me? I’m your great-great-great-great-great-great-great—…“ The man looked like he was going to continue for a while longer, thankfully Princess Arya intervened.

“Please forgive my great ancestor, Vincent.” Princess Arya was smiling bitterly. “Although he may not seem like it, this person is Faerin, the first king of Ithvije.”

“Little Grand Heir, please have more respect for your Grand Ancestor!” Faerin harmlessly beckoned with his fist, eliciting a contemptuous smile from Princess Arya. “What’s so funny?!”

“Nothing, Ancestor.” Princess Arya wasn’t one bit convincing with her wry smile.

“Once your two-man stand-up routine is over, would you mind explaining everything to me from the beginning?” Vincent couldn’t help but interject, otherwise, they would spend all day going nowhere.

“Stand-up routine? What’s that?”

“Stand-up? Is that something that’s ‘hip’ these days?”

“…”

Once everyone got back on track, Vincent was finally keyed in on what happened after he blacked out. The party entered a similar-looking house built into the trunk of a tree where Vincent got dressed, and his gear was returned. Now, while sitting and examining the mask, Vincent was still finding the whole situation surreal.

“It’s still hard to believe. So this mask belonged to my grandfather?” asked Vincent. He examined the featureless white mask. The mask covered his entire face, there were no holes for eyes, nose, or mouth. There was only an engraving of a snowflake in the forehead. Inside the snowflake, a blue gem was embedded.

“So do you have any idea why your grandfather appeared back then?” Princess Arya wondered and asked out loud. “Will he show himself again?” She asked innocently.

“I’m not sure.” Vincent shook his head. He doesn’t remember anything, so he was taking their word for it. “However, I might be able to find out at some point.”

“Really?!” Princess Arya’s eyes lit up before she quickly restrained herself. “Is that so? Please tell me.”

“Why are you so interested in this?” Vincent asked, he felt there was something not quite right about the situation. Whatever happened to him, wasn’t her concern.

“Yea, Little Grand Heir, why are you so interested~?” Faerin who had been quiet the whole time finally spoke up.

“B-because, I just want to…” Princess Arya flushed and refused to answer anymore.

“I guess you feel indebted to my grandfather for saving you.” Vincent gave her a way out.

“Y-yea!” Princess Arya hastily concurred.

“Alright, I’ll help you a bit if I get the chance. However, even I have no idea how it happened back then.” Vincent lied with a straight face.

“Then I thank you, Vincent.” Princess Arya flushed red and nodded.

“Now then~!” Faerin clapped and brought everyone back to the topic. “What are your plans from here, Vincent?”

“Since I’ve been asleep for a week, a lot of things must’ve happened. I’d best return as soon as possible.” He wasn’t sure about the consequences of his actions at the world tree, but he decided to take it in stride and not worry too much.

“Are you sure that’s the best idea?” Faerin grinned as he asked, his tone contained a hidden meaning to them to which didn’t escape Vincent’s senses.

“What do you mean? Did something happen?” Vincent asked worriedly.

“Indeed, something has happened.” Princess Arya was the one to answer. “The destruction of the world tree unleashed a huge amount of dark mana. The hidden dungeons in the Emerald Forest absorbed this large portion and started producing many monsters. This, in turn, caused…”

“A monster outbreak!” Vincent concluded. His mind started working overtime. “This should be the end of November if that’s so then wouldn’t that mean monster outbreaks started half a month early? If that happened then, the harvest would’ve been delayed, and once the first snowfall arrives, it’ll be too late by then.” Vincent thought to himself.

“Why do you look so worried?” Princess Arya asked, but then realized something. “Could it be that you are a resident of the northern territories of Eidolon?”

“…” Vincent’s silence all it took to make it clear to everyone.

“Then this is a problem,” concluded Princess Arya. She nervously tapped her knee and looked over at her ancestor.

“Is something the matter, Little Grand Heir?” Faerin asked dumbly.

“Muu~!” Princess Arya pouted and refused to look at Faerin.

“Oh~! Vincent! My Little Grand Heir is refusing to speak to me. What do I do?!” Faerin started wailing like a 9-year old. “Little Grand Heir, speak to your great ancestor. I promise I will help, Vincent. Is that what you want?”

“… Okay.” Princess Arya stopped puffing her cheeks and shortly answered afterward.

“Oh~! Little Grand Heir is the best!” Faerin shot up his thumb and looked back to Vincent. His tone sounded like a proud grandparent. From behind Faerin, Princess Arya was holding a triumphant peace sign, leaving Vincent speechless.

“Then, I thank you, King Faerin.” Vincent bowed.

“Please! Call me Great Ancestor.” Faerin embarrassedly waved away the title.

“Ancestor, Vincent isn’t your descendant.” Princess Arya reminded.

“Oh~! You’re right!” Faerin seemed to just realize but then said, “Well, he’s going to be a step-descendent soon anyways.”

“What do you mean by that?” Princess Arya’s cheeks flushed while she was glaring at her ancestor.

“Please stay focused.” Vincent massaged his temples. “Since King Faerin has some relations with my grandfather, I won’t be formal and call you Godfather. Is that alright?”

“Oh~! Perfect! Why didn’t I think of that?” Faerin approved much, stuck out two thumbs up and beamed with excitement. After he calmed down, Faerin then began, “Anyways, after your grandfather disappeared, he told me to protect his family. Naturally, being the bestest friend your grandfather has, I will do what he says!”

“Then I won’t stand on ceremony and thank you ahead of time.” Vincent bowed once more. “I’ll also have to trouble Godfather for another matter.”

“Hm?” Faerin cocked his head to the side.

“Please guide me out of the forest.”

“What’s the need to hurry?” Princess Arya was the first to speak.

“The kingdom has been unstable for a while now. Now, with the monster outbreak, I fear that something might happen. I have to be there to react faster to any new developments.” Vincent didn’t feel any need to hide anything from the two faes in the room. If they wanted, they could easily destroy a large portion of the cities of Eidolon.

“I don’t think anything you do will have much impact on the overall picture.” Faerin finally said something with substance.

“…” Vincent clenched his fists, “But still. I have people I want to protect. Therefore, I will fight.”

“If it’s just people, I guess it’s possible.” Faerin chuckled and stood up. “But not with your current power. Follow me.” He beckoned.

“Where are we going?” Vincent wondered and followed Faerin outside. They both climbed down to the ground. Once on the ground floor outside, Faerin stepped forward and threw out a punch.

“Block this.”

*Boom!*

Vincent immediately reacted and grabbed the fist coming his way. However, he incorrectly predicted the force behind it and was thrown back nearly ten meters. He swiftly jumped back up, prepared for a follow-up attack.

“What are you doing, Godfather?” He questioned. Although it looked like he took a lot of damage, surprisingly, he was unscathed.

“Can’t you tell? Are you hurting anywhere?” Faerin grinned and asked.

“…” Vincent realized something and examined his body. “Strange…”

“What stage are you at right now? Why don’t you take a guess?”

“Stage?” Vincent asked, confused about the direction the conversation was heading.

“The gate… How do you youngsters refer to it these days? Hm… Oh right! Rank! What rank are you, do you suppose?”

“Rank?” Vincent quickly inspected his stats.

[Status]

===

Status

[Strength] (30)

[Endurance] (31)

[Agility] (32.5)

[Perception] (50)

[Magic] (77)

Talents

[Flexible Body] (null)

[Origin Magic] (Beginner – Rank 9)(EXP 89%)

Titles

[Inheritor of the Aion Ring]

[Vessel for the Past]

===

“No way? I’m already B-rank?” Vincent was exasperated. Not too long ago, he had already reached the limits of his growth. Somehow, before he even realized, he already broke through his boundaries. What’s even more surprising was the drastic increase in his perception and magic stat.

“You’ve broken through the first gate, Vincent.” Faerin grinned. “From now on, many more paths lay ahead of you. I hope you make the best of this opportunity and to help you along the way. Let me give you some advice.” Faerin smiled benevolently and lifted up his knotted wooden staff.

Balls of flames lit up the dark forest floor like fox fires. They float back and forth like pendulums, threatening to draw the viewers into an eternal sleep.

“Let’s begin your first lesson, Vincent.”