The fleeting colors of dusk began to fade away, as the orange tinted titan dipped below the horizon. With it, the world became quiet and heavy. Blood, like a downpour poured from the skies tainting everything in cursed crimson. In that chaos, a woman -- alone and tired, knelt upon a mountain of corpses. Leaning on her golden sword, recolored in the blood of her enemies, she gazed at the skies, into the nowhere.
Clad in a knight's armor, her gray hair fluttered in the solemn silence that settled after her victory. Her golden wings shimmered like stars in that darkness, so much so even the blood purified when it touched them, turning into nothing but aether.
Soon, even the twilight escaped her side, and unknown darkness swallowed the world. Her cries of pain and loss followed. In that darkness, like a single golden spot, the resplendent beauty marked the beginning of a new age: the era of the apocalypse.
~ The witch of clairvoyance.
Duskhollow, the Year 1633
White world...
A white blanket enveloped all that was visible. Gasping and heartbeats thundered in my ears. A woman racing against the freezing winter storm, her breath turning white made that sight of nothingness and nonsense, despairing. With each step, the snow turned red, yet the sound of her bare feet against the merciless snow continued. Her purple-tinged lip opened and closed, yet no words reached me.
Gradually, the White world turned hazy, and empty darkness covered the scene.
─── ୨୧ ─── •
A sudden cold breeze woke me up from the nightmare.
"Ah-oo-gah"
" The ship Golden Yak has reached the port - Himmelreich. All the Passengers boarding the ship are asked to follow the protocol until the exit doors open. I repeat, all the passengers..."
...
"Rousseau, did you not have a better ship for the travel".
"Apologies sir, due to some complications with the military guild. We had to settle with this one".
...
"Jamie, I love ya!"
"I love you too, Antionette".
...
"Ma! I'm hungry".
...
"Seoul, are you sure we will get a job here"?
THUD!
" Umm! Watch where you're walking, little one. Oh my — are you a fan?" the man asked with a wild grin.
"Sorry," I muttered, slowly backing away, searching for some corner.
We were on the innermost deck of the ship. The Golden yak had finally arrived at the port of Elis. A quick glance around showed people from every stratum of society packed into the space. Coincidentally, today we all waited for one thing. For the deck doors to open.
And when they finally did, everyone surged towards the light. I had no other option, I followed, slowly.
The sudden intense light dazed my vision, and the burst of heat thawed my cold and stiff body. Little by little my eyes adjusted. Yet when the world came into focus, the sight before me stole my breath.
An ever-changing cloudless, vibrant sky stretched endlessly above, and a blazing ball of light — the sun, I think it was called — hung overhead.
The moment I stepped out, the sound hit me like a crashing tide. Voices layered upon voices. Chatters, laughter, greetings, bargains, arguments -- rang in the air. I struggled to separate one voice from the next, as if the world itself was speaking all at once.
It was bright, it was sunny and there was warmth. It was just as the rumors said, this was Himmelreich.
I felt an emotion. I couldn't explain in words even if I tried. It was as if the light that danced everywhere vanished as it touched me. The warmth that I felt before now had vanished, and old cold numbness returned.
I tightened my mantle around me and began to walk again. A few words escaped my lips, lost in the overwhelming noise around me: "I don't have the right...I meant to drink the sadness of the world."
...
Himmelreich, a vast and foreign city.
According to the map, it was divided into three major districts separated by a long and wide corridor-like strip at the center, which served as the city's trade center. To the east was the Hafenkrone District and that was where I stood now.
The air here tasted of salt, and iron, thick with cries of seagulls circling overhead. It was a port quarter, where ships crowded the horizon, great and small alike. Everywhere one looked there were masts, ropes, sails as if everything tied to sea, salt and ocean life seemed to gather here.
The second district, Aurengrarde ward, lay north of the trade center and housed the city's official intuitions: the magic academy, the guild, the military barracks, the court and other institutions. It was the smallest of the three.
Lastly, to the west was Brechtfeld Quarter, the residential district where the common folk lived.
My destination was Aurengarde. But first, I needed to stop by the trade center to collect something. So, with a map still pressed between my fingers and sea smell clinging to my clothes, I started walking.
After an hour and half of walking, I arrived at the city's center. A long, bustling strip stretched ahead of me. Shops, inns and taverns lined both sides, stacked shoulder to shoulder, competing for attention from passersby. A little further, I reached a roundabout. At its heart stood a towering temple, slender, almost spire-like, with wooden roof and ancient inscriptions carved along its crown.
The trade center was packed. Bodies brushed against me from every direction. I even spotted some familiar faces from the ships. Pulling out a small strip of paper, written in the language of northern lands and bearing a single word: Delbrine. I glanced around the place for the shop.
And soon enough, I found it. Tucked beside a weaponsmith's. The place was old, built entirely from dark wood. A small window displayed a few weapons — swords, spearhead, halberd, axes and so many others. I approached and knocked, since I didn't see anyone inside.
No answer. I knocked again, louder this time.
Then, footsteps shuffled from within and elderly woman emerged. She peered at me, then put on her glasses before speaking.
"How can I help you, young man?" she asked in the gentle, practiced tone only old shopkeepers seem to have.
"Enchantment." I said, placing an envelope on the counter beside my blade.
She opened the envelope, read the letter inside, then studied me for a moment before smiling. Without a word, she picked up the blade, turned away and started toward the back of the shop.
"Sit there and wait for me. I will be back shortly" she said, disappearing behind the curtain.
So, I did.
As I waited, two men stopped in front of the weaponsmith next door. Their voices drifted over, words I wasn't supposed to hear. I shut my eyes, pretending disinterest but sound is a stubborn thing. After all, who could command wandering words?
...
"Old man!"
"Bacus! Long time no see. O-ho, you look lively today."
"Hehe, of course, I'm lively. My days of poverty end today. I found the absolute treasure, you see."
"My goodness, marvelous. Sit, sit. Let me pour tea for you and your friend. Talk and tea go hand in hand, don't they?... Tell me, how was the journey? I heard you went as far as the third dark forest of Abu."
"Hmm, yeah. Long journey. I'm just glad to be back."
[pouring tea]
"I see. Then, you've come to the right place. My tea may be all you need. They don't call me the tea master around here for nothing."
"He-he, If it's your tea. It'll go well with anything. Huh? Whoa! Iron swords? How come? Did the iron war finally end?"
[Placing the caps]
"As if it ever will. You know it, Bacus — Lincolnshire would never allow that. They feed on war and chaos. No one profits more than those savages. These swords aren't iron anyway. Haven't heard of 'Arcana'? This was made from it.
"Arcana…so it exists. Looks refined, but the weight...isn't it too light?"
[Sipping tea]
"Ah-hm... gulp. It's a rare material. Costs nearly a hundred arcana to forge even one. Not much of it in every blade, can't be helped. In wartime, a country without weapons becomes a carrion. So, they settle for cheap ones.
[Steel swishes]
"Hm-hah!" [swinging the sword]
"Oh my! It seems Elis's grandness has overwhelmed your friend. Look, curling up in the corner of his seat. His name was....Rediof?
"Ah! Right — Rediof, forgive me. I completely forgot about you. Introduce yourself."
"Ba - Bacuus… Ah-- I… I am Rediof. B-class hunter. Contractor class and… and—"
"He met me in the Isle of White clouds," Bacus cut in. "Running from sage wolves." laughs You won't believe it, but he was running away from sage wolves. [laughs]
"Funny, right? Lucky I was there. One swoosh of my blade and gone. Then we stuck together. He's a wimp but I have a big heart, you know."
"Hahaha! Sounds fun. Anyway, Bacus...did you find that?"
"That? Oh, this?"
" No matter how you look at it. This thing looks like a damaged gem. It took me thirty men and four months to find this. If you hadn't requested it, I wouldn't have bothered."
(Handing the stone)
"You have my gratitude. I have your payment read btw. Let me go and brink it. Btw, Bacus have you heard of news of Chaos hole? The world is changing. The last thing you want is a blood rain today."
[ The shopkeeper goes inside the room.]
"Blood rain in Elis? Hah. That's a thing of the past now."
─── ୨୧ ─── •