Ever since he survived Verno’s onslaught and returned to the academy, Feylord had stayed in his room, always on edge of being assassinated. Generally, it was particularly hard to kill someone inside the academy, but it wasn’t entirely impossible.

Feylord knew the resources at Verno’s disposal, so he remained cautious at all times. The only bit of relief he got was that Verno’s subordinates, at least the capable ones, were killed by Jan.

Unless the Brutal Prince Order were to send more spies, Verno would need some time to recover his bearings.

Like any other night, Feylord practiced his Pyromancy for a few hours but wasn’t met with any success. He had stagnated and his mediocre talent played a big part in that.

He was like any average student, good at casting magic but he wasn’t satisfied with mediocrity. To reach the apex and obtain ultimate power, he needed to be more than simple hard work. After all, there was so much meticulous training he could achieve, and even if he were to become a distinguished Mage, he would never be able to beat those prodigious people.

With a dorm room exclusively to himself, Feylord didn’t have to worry about annoying roommates. That allowed him to plan and do whatever he wanted, however, he always felt as if he was being watched, though that might be due to his incessant paranoia.

After stressing about his life and cursing his powerlessness, Feylord fell asleep.

In the land of dreams and nightmares, the blond-haired youth never saw the green mist that slipped from the window and enveloped his defenseless body.

Two hours later, when his eyes fluttered and opened, they weren’t welcomed by the familiar sight of his dorm room.

He found himself sitting on a chair, his legs and hands bound. For the first couple of seconds, he panicked and his breathing turned rapid as his eyes surveyed his gloomy surroundings.

Soon, when he grew accustomed to the darkness, he saw the cramped and cold cavern. It wasn’t anything special or distinguishable; It was one of many caverns found on the coasts of the island.

While trying his best to not appear too afraid, the young aristocrat kept turning his head in an attempt to peer through the dimly-lit cavern.

The sound of the nocturnal waves echoed within the cold place, making Feylord shiver and inwardly curse this chain of unfortunate events he was subjected to.

A minute or so later, footsteps came from the visible entrance, but the man dressed in casual clothes was wholly unrecognisable to the captive.

It was a middle-aged man with a receding hairline, an unkempt beard and totally unremarkable facial features. Even if he had seen him, Feylord wouldn’t remember.

The man, who was undoubtedly the kidnapper, looked no different than any commoner found on the streets.

Still, Feylord didn’t lash out in anger like Verno, instead, he took a deep breath and said,

“Sir, I think there has been a misunderstanding.”

The man dragged a chair from the darkness and sat a couple of paces in front of Feylord. However, he didn’t speak, his face deadpan and his cold eyes inscrutable.

“I don’t know why you’ve kidnapped me, but I have nothing to offer. Ehmm…”

At first, Verno suspected that it was Verno or his organization, but that wouldn’t make sense. After all, they wouldn’t bother torturing or kidnapping him. Back when he and the other spies were caught by the Witch of Izakan, Verno was present and saw how Feylord divulged the secret of Phoenix Feather to save his life. If he had anything else important to say, he would have said there and then.

‘Verno is a sadist, but he wouldn’t have dragged me all the way here. Furthermore, with the bracelet active, he wouldn’t be able to personally torture me, which is the only reason I might have been taken here. No… it’s not him. Could it be the Unholy Blasphemers? That’s also unlikely. They would have to sneak into the academy undetected. Maybe it was Nader Coach?’

He racked his brains trying to identify the perpetrator behind this incident, but no reasonable conclusion came to mind. Yes, he did collude with Verno, but that was all. He wasn’t a spy, nor was he in possession of anything special that might warrant such an outcome.

“I… I’d like to know why I’m here, please. There is no need for you to.. to kill me. I can keep my mouth shut or even disappear from the academy altogether.”

“...”

Still, there was no verbal response, only an eerie silence that added to the youth’s anxiousness.

“I have a decent amount of Gold. You can have it all, if you want. I also have some connections in the Militant Syndicate, which you can use however you want if you let me go.”

“...”

“I-Is this about the Phoenix Feather? I don’t have it. I don’t even know how to get into the Vault or its exact location. I just know it’s there. I… can try to get it for you, but it’ll be suicide to go in unprepared. I genuinely have nothing to give you, sir. If you could tell me why I’m here or what you want…”

Feylord bit his lower lips and closed his eyes for a couple of moments. He wanted to lash out and threaten the unknown man, but he knew it would only complicate things. For now, he needed to maintain his composure and try to get out of this mess in one piece.

Alas, the kidnapper was making things difficult and refused to utter a word. He just sat there and thoughtfully stared at the bound young man.

After a long bout of silence flowed between the two of them, Feylord Lernon spoke again,

“I can help you. Whatever it is you’re seeking, I’ll do my best to assist. I.. I can be like a slave. Please.”

More silence followed, after which the man stood up and walked up to Feylord, who started thrashing around trying to escape.

Unfortunately, his binds were tight and he was completely immobilized. The last thing he saw was the man’s large hand press against his head.

A great pain assaulted his mind then he blacked out, his head leaning forward as his muscles relaxed.

‘It would work better for me if he’s the one who retrieves what I want. He’s not good enough to avoid attention, but I can make it so he’s caught by the others rather than Sonia or Melissa. Anyway, with him here, I can get the rest of Verno’s money and begin working on Last Possession.’

Arthur’s magical bag wasn’t big enough to store a large host. He needed more money to buy a better bag.

The last thing worth pondering about was from where he would procure a good and strong host. The first option was Blue Blossom Forest, specifically the inner region.

‘If I remember correctly, there’s an infamous isle South of here. It could have good candidates, but the trip and the search would take days and I don’t know when exactly Jonathan’s heist will happen.’

Obscure mysteries, secrets, and wonders

Author: Unknown

Year 54,972 of the 2nd Era.

The Cosmos, also known as the Vast Expanse, has innumerable secrets that couldn’t be solved even by the Twelve Creations Gods. Although their birth was the catalyst for the formation of existence itself, there were still things either were born out of mystical things or presumed to have come from other realities.

In this first book, we will be talking about some of the most obscure and secretive entities, places, and artifacts spread across the cosmos.

The following is the list of the subjected that will be discussed:

-The unabated expansion of the cosmos

-The Frog of Destiny

-The happenstance of the formation of Time Laws

-The Anti-Lighthouse

-The Greatsword of Darkness, Anduril

-The Undead Jester

-The World Tree

-The Binary Dimension

-The Watcher

-The Eternal Abyss Manor

..

The Frog of Destiny: …

..

.

.

The Undead Jester: An obscure existence, which was, at first, said to be the gatekeeper of the Harrowing. However, it was later discovered that the Undead Jester’s function, so to speak, wasn’t just as a gatekeeper.

While it indeed guarded- and still guards- the official and unofficial gates leading to the Harrowing, the Undead Jester can also take anyone to any place. It is an existence unaffected by any of the Laws. It would be simpler to label it as ‘The Master of Doors’. There is no place it hasn't been, and no place it can’t go again. There was even a rumor that it could go beyond the Crimson Rift or to the fabled Binary Dimension.

The Undead Jester is an ageless, mysterious entity created by none, said to have existed before even the Twelve Creation Gods.

During the Era of Beginning, Thyddor was the first to learn of its existence, and as was his wont, the Creator of Titans challenged the creature. However, The Undead Jester’s existence was to open paths to any place or find any beings, no matter where they were, it wasn't to fight or cause chaos. Nevertheless, when Thyddor reappeared again, he had been heavily injured and it took him more than a millennium to recover.

The second instance in which the Undead Jester was forced to fight an almighty being was when the lunatic known as the Trickster, performed the summoning ritual for the sake of challenging this unknown entity.

Information about their fight, to this day, remains unverified and inconclusive.

The most basic summoning for the Undead Jester is to procure the following items;

A Manticore’s Heart

An Ancient Dwarven Core

50g of Nether Grass

Mixing those together in a magical rune with three intersecting triangles will summon the Undead Jester, who, in turn, will take the summoner to either the Harrowing, the Nightmare Tower, or the Realm of Divinity. Then again, acquiring the aforementioned items isn’t an easy task.

It isn’t accurate to describe the Undead Jester as solely a living being… an existing entity. It is also an object. A manifestation of will and mind. A dreamless nightmare. An insidious creature that feasts on one’s Soul.

One more important thing to note; the Undead Jester and the summoning are separate, meaning that the summoner must sacrifice Soul Energy to make what is known as a Death Covenant. Only then will the Undead Jester listen and obey.

-

The Despot Collective, Eldest King City

North-West Sector, the Gold District

A young woman with long raven-black hair, a pair of coal-like eyes, and slightly bony jaw structure, closed the book in her hand and sighed.

She wore a black regal dress, one which added more to her unique and cold demeanor. In terms of beauty, she wasn’t particularly stunning, but she wasn’t ugly either.

Her naturally narrowed eyes and furrowed brows made her look indifferent and difficult to approach.

After re-reading the same paragraph about the Undead Jester for the 3rd time, she took out a seemingly withered flower from her pocket and absentmindedly gazed at it.

Ever since she separated from her ‘Master’, the Sky Bloom hadn’t glowed even once. It wasn’t like she disliked returning to her old work, after all, she was exceptionally good at it. It was as if she was born to be an assassin. A cold-blooded killer.

However, seeing her repeat the same thing over and over again, Evelyn thought back to her conversation with Arthur, when he asked about her ambitions and she adamantly rejected the notion of having any.

Now that she had unwillingly left that ‘bubble’ and returned to the South, she genuinely felt that void, born out of boredom and monotony. There was no excitement in killing people, no fun in repeating the same meetings with overly-arrogant assassins.

It contrasted her brief adventurers with the parasite, who yearned for the unknown and, more often than not, recklessly delved into unknown regions to uncover mysteries and secrets alike.

Admittedly, in here, she was treated with respect and made a lot of money by killing politicians, military advisors, wealthy merchants, and businessmen, however, that was coupled with the need to remain hidden from the public eye. All agents of the organisation known as Faceless Death had limited freedom and were prohibited from befriending anyone besides their own.

It was for that reason Evelyn had quit years ago, though ‘quitting’ was just her leaving without informing anyone. Surprisingly, she wasn’t punished and was just told to continue her work as usual.

“Again with this book, Ev?”

Agent Number 24, Jack, barged into the quiet and small room and approached Evelyn. He first glanced at the thick black book in her hand before grunting.

“Be polite! We either use codenames or our numbers!”

The tall and muscular Rebecca smacked Jack’s head before apologetically nodding toward the expressionless Evelyn.

“Apologies, Number 7.”

“Oh yes! She’s joined the first generation. Shit! How did you get so strong? And what’s with the ugly flower you keep staring at all day long?”

Jack paused for a bit, seemingly coming to a sudden realization.

“Is it about that man? Your previous Master, who was actually a damned parasite?”

“You better watch your mouth, Jack.”

Evelyn glared at him as she spat those words, though there was no murderous intent in her eyes. She had been friends with Jack and Rebecca for a long time, and the fact they were in the same ‘group’ when young attributed to that fact.

“It’s time you moved on, Ev. I’ve snooped around, but after that big explosion, there have been no traces of him. Moreover, an impact of such a scale garnered the attention of many people, thus making it difficult to conduct a thorough investigation. I’d like to think he’s dead but..”

He clicked his tongue and added, “Let’s be real. He’s a parasite. It would take more than that to kill their kind. I’m thinking it was a tactic to throw any and all his pursuers off the trail. It definitely worked since no one knows what the hell happened or where he might’ve gone.”

Rebecca, who was kept in the dark, leaned closer to Jack and tapped his shoulder.

“You met him, right? How was it? Did he continuously transform? Was he strong?”

“What do you think, dumbass? He was like any other human. Ask Ev if you want to know, though I doubt she’ll say anything. Not even our Boss was able to make her talk.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.” Remarked Evelyn as she put the book back on the shelf and the Sky Bloom in her pocket.

She caressed her long black dress then said,

“Suffice it to say, I will not be working for the organization indefinitely. When the time comes, I’ll leave and I suggest you do the same.”