“A Named…well, to be fair, you’d have to be quite strong to get here normally,” Schwarz muttered quietly. “We should grab the freebies here and then retreat.”

Dia thought for a moment, and then remembered that there were a few mana-users who were particularly famous for doing one thing or another. While the chances of being honoured with a special title rose with one’s strength, what was most important was doing something especially noteworthy.

Most people paid attention to Named folders, since they represented people who had a lot of strength and was willing to use it for one reason or another. In short, they were people who were seen as active in the political scene of Grandis.

“A Named?” Nero asked. “What’s that?”

“Right, you came from the Senate. It’s something Grandis-specific, really,” Schwarz replied. “Basically people who did something and got famous for it. Most of them are strong mana-folders to boot…anyway, these mercenaries looking at the map over there are led by the Mountain Splitter. No guesses for why she got such a Name.”

Dia looked at the woman that Schwarz had pointed out. It was a bit startling to learn that she was someone who had split a mountain in twain, but if she and the others pushed themselves a tiny bit, splitting mountains wasn’t impossible for them either. Of course, the Seekers of Life were a low-profile group — Claud and Lily would smack their heads otherwise — so they would do no such thing.

“So…what’s the point?”

“Well, if you have a Name, it means that you’re someone who has strength and is willing to use it. You’ll therefore be more famous, more scrutinised and more welcomed by local lords, since you have proven your ability,” Schwarz explained. “That’s the reward for being active.”

“Judging by how you only recognised the Mountain Splitter, it seems that Grandis has a lot of hidden mana-users.”

“Probably.” Schwarz made a face. “Risti never did say much about the Folders’ Association, after all. It has branches in dukedom capitals, but as for the degree of centralisation and how it operates, even I don’t know that much. Ordinary people, who usually serve as my ears and eyes, don’t like to go near mana-users.”

He had a somewhat lonely look on his face for a moment, before it turned into a smile. “After all, we are humanoid weapons of mass destruction. Any of us can shatter a mountain, as we are now…”

Schwarz shook his head. “Let’s go grab some artefacts.”

Dia and Nero nodded. The other mercenaries ignored the three of them as they bustled around the room and took some Second Shadows. Unfortunately, there really weren’t any other artefacts lying around the top floor; the Mountain Splitter and her posse were more interested in taking visual records of all the topography and whatever.

Was there a point, though?

Dia shook her head. The five grand skies had marked this place as one to get rid of. To her, the Folders’ Association was probably throwing money away or something. Maybe they wanted to learn more about Celestia’s destruction. Or they wanted to learn about the place itself. Or there was a particular map they wanted. There was the possibility that—

Superfluous thoughts continued to flood her mind, and Dia shivered. Deep down, she understood that her consciousness was attempting to soften the blow of what she had seen just now. All her words, all her thoughts…these things were just meant to help her soften the implications of that vision.

The Omen had killed his counterpart and destroyed Celestia. Would the same fate befall her? The Omen that had torn Celestia apart boasted of an overwhelming strength; if her counterpart here had even a fraction of that horrifying might…

Steeling herself, Dia forced the horrifying thoughts into somewhere deep beneath her conscious mind. This was no place to be thinking too much about her eventual death.

“That’s it, I suppose…Dia, something wrong?” Schwarz tilted his head. “You look like a mess.”

“Who wouldn’t be a mess after seeing that?” Dia replied. “We’re all just putting up a front here. I suggest we just make like a ball and bounce.”

Nero looked at her. “Yeah. That sounds like a good idea, actually. I’ve depleted a lot of mental strength just by looking at that vision, and—”

Two more screams came from outside, and the heavy footfalls rushing away from them fell silent a heartbeat later. It was clear that another bunch of mercenaries had fallen to this final, deadly trap, and Dia shook her head sadly. It was a waste of potential and one’s lifespan — every person that turned to ash at the door was a huge waste of lifestones.

It was unfortunate, to say the least.

“…Shall we go?” Dia asked. “My job is done here anyway, and we got what we came for. Maybe we should leave earlier. I suddenly have a very strong urge to burn all my lifespan at once and become an incredible mana-user, see?”

“You’re not alone in that regard,” Schwarz muttered. “Hmm. Maybe we should get Farah to see this for herself.”

“There’s a risk of her stepping back, though,” Nero pointed out. “I think we should minimise this pointless risk. Farah will get the hint when the three of us start locking ourselves in a room to burn more mana circuits, even if she can’t quite accept our words later.”

“Mhm.”

The trio exchanged glances once, and then left the office in a single, unified movement. The mercenaries crowded outside looked at them in a fearful silence, their eyes on the floor as the three of them made their way to the staircase.

“Farah will be surprised to see that we came out this quickly,” Dia noted.

“And even more surprised when we tell her that we should just go back and focus on our mana circuits,” Nero replied. “I wonder if a mana-user with ten mana circuits can do something like that.”

“It’s hard to tell, but…I have a feeling that even the Moons and the Dark would lose to that thing, that destroyer,” Schwarz replied. “We’ve all felt the Moons’ presence before, but that was nothing compared to the one that we experienced at the door…and we were already viewing it as a memory.”

“A super-ancient memory at that,” Nero muttered. “Definitely stronger than my Lord.”

“And you don’t feel any problem with that?” Dia asked. “You’re the Black God’s Holy Son.”

“The Coloured Gods, the Moons, the Dark, the five grand skies…none of them are truly invincible and omnipotent,” Nero replied. “These concepts are fallacious to begin with, after all. I am not a fanatic. I recognise the limitations of the divinities, and do not pin too many labels on them.”

The three of them went down the staircase slowly as Nero continued to explain. “And besides, my current position came from circumstances in which I have no control over. I admire and respect my Lord, not because He is currently one of the strongest existences in the world, but due to his kindness and teachings. That is all.”

“I see.” Schwarz took out the Sea-Queller and a bunch of other artefacts. “Maybe I should read some of His teachings one day, then.”

Nero laughed. “I’ll be happy to guide you.”

On their way down, Dia and the others came across a few other mercenaries that were heading up. By the time they arrived at the first floor, she had counted over ten other teams; even more people had arrived at the ruins in the time Dia and the others went to the Secretary-General’s office.

“There’s a lot of people,” Nero muttered, his eyes tracking the latest batch of mercenaries to climb the stairs. “Looks like everyone is trying to gain whatever meagre powers left here…”

“I wonder how many people will fall at that final illusion at the very top.” Schwarz looked at the mercenary teams that were preparing at the plaza outside. In the past few hours, the plaza had turned into a veritable market fair, with the number of people in the area slightly more than a hundred now.

“So many mana-users here. But how many have completed the Second Tutorial?” Dia asked.

“Not more than a handful, at best,” Schwarz replied. “Come on, let’s hurry over to Farah. It’ll be good if we can start making our way out of this place as soon as possible. This is not the time to be worrying about artefacts now.”

As the three of them headed out, Dia silently reflected on the memory that they all seen. Farah would definitely be very surprised at how they had been thoroughly convinced about the importance of improving their personal strength, without using weapons and other artefacts.

What did Lily and Claud think when they saw the personal might that the Omen had wielded against Celestia? Did they also see the need to increase their strength?

It was an intriguing question, since Lily believed that the duo would also think the same. However, now that she thought about it…

Both of them hadn’t said much about their own mana circuits, had they? Was it possible that the two of them had grown substantially in strength, spurred on by what they saw?

Dia toyed around with that possibility as they returned to their base.