Gabriel was dressing, trying to be as silent as possible while leaving the girl to sleep.

He had not closed his eyes once during the night. And no, it wasn't about the sex, after they had done, and he had done quite a decent job of it, the exhausted girl fell asleep; yet as much as he wanted to as well, he didn't manage to.

His mind was filled with thoughts about finding his mother, if she was alright, what they were doing to her, what he could do about it if he could become strong enough to rescue her before things became unmanageable. And so had gone the whole night.

Arya was cuter with her even though shorter than he liked, hair falling freely on her shoulders. She snored a little, which made him chuckle.

Gabriel had to admit; he was really thankful for the girl. Whatever the problem she had with his' talent,' in the end, she put aside and helped him consolidate at least part of his battle experience. Having a working battle sense would, for sure, help him much. He just had to keep it trained; he felt he could lose it right away as it was. It was no Skill or Perk, after all, but a proper ability.

He could feel Liz waiting for him behind the door, but before leaving he, let his gaze wander on her room. Soon he found something of interest, pen and paper on her desk.

It would be mean to not thank her for having helped him in his training. After all, the girl was probably the first person who sincerely did not give a crap about him being a Herald and thought about him as a person.

It read…

Hey babe, I would have made you my special good morning pancakes. But they're so good that you would have grown too attached, wouldn't want to end up giving you another spanking just to detach you from me. Although, I think we might have entered a vicious cycle, wouldn't we?

Jokes aside, thank you for helping me train; this talented apprentice of yours will now go spank some asses that probably don't share our tastes.

 

Kisses and slaps.

Big-G.

Gabriel chuckled to himself as he slowly opened the door.

"Gabe," he heard.

Big-G turned around; the girl was half asleep, but she had sat up; her sleeping face and her bare, almost flat chest made her look cuter, sweeter than she really was.

"The Seer of Carnage is a bitch, the scum of The Cradle," she said, then she yawned and got back to sleep.

Gabriel arched his brows but said, "Thank you." Then not receiving an answer, he left.

Liz was there, waiting for him. She strolled with him to the kitchen hall; it was already half empty. So, I'm the last. Nice… everybody will know why then. He shrugged.

 

As he headed to the Leystone or Stele, he met only guards, they all pointed him there, where those who had to depart were already gathered. He would be there in less than five minutes.

"Oh, you're finally up," said Darte. "We've been waiting for you for an hour."

He was hiding behind a three roughly hundred yards before the Stele.

"Don't be a prick! It's six-fifteen A.M. you said to meet at six," Gabriel answered. He wanted to hide it, but he had been taken aback. He didn’t feel Darte's presence at all.

"Did you enjoy my favorite cousin?" continued the young man.

"You jelly? Wanna have a go with her too? Shouldn't you wait until you hit puberty first?"

Darte faked a laugh. "Nothing of the likes, I just wanted to warn you. She'll just use you as she does all her boys, then throw you away. Pretty standard among the Reevers family."

If that was actually a tip, it was more honest than he would ever have guessed. Gabriel wasn't expecting it from the kid.

"Unexpectedly honest from you. I was kind of guessed it being as much, though. I bet the warning covers you too, though," said Gabriel.

"Of course. The apple never falls far from the tree. Right?" Gabriel chuckled, then disappeared.

Shaking his head Gabriel made those few last steps toward the ley stone.

 

The boy, Olivia, and the butler apprentice, Wang Fang, if he recalled the name correctly, stood there in wait.

"There he is," said Darte, faking they had not met before, "let's go. It's already late."

"Gaia?"

"Ms. Gaia is already there," answered the butler. "So, I'll be the first to trespass; Mr. Darte should follow after me, as it's protocol. Would you mind following right after, Mr. Walker?"

"Mr. Walker? Let me stop you right there, Wang. Or is it Fang? What do you prefer? Anyway, if you don't, call me Gabriel. I'm not gonna answer you. I'm a damn waiter, primarily, and even if I wasn't, I don't accept this type of servilism. So, if you want to have a conversation with me, you better accept that."

Wang Fang looked at him straight in the eyes for a couple of long seconds. His gaze had something very peculiar. There was power under that. Power of will exactly.

"Fine with me, Gabriel." Wang Fang's answer did not waver, "and Fang suits me rather fine," he added with a smug smile.

I think I might like this guy. "Good," Gabe answered, getting closer to the Stele.

Liz jumped inside of him, and he said, "Then I'll be first," surprising everyone by putting his hand on the Stele first, Gabriel disappeared.

 

***

 

He could barely open his eyes for a few seconds while the feeling of being burned alive subsided.

One after the other, the people appeared. Gabriel did not want to show that weaker side of him to these people he could not trust.

Olivia's faking had been the thing that had probably hurt him most since he joined Alter. And he had gone through the torture in the training stage before The Memory. He could not just let it slide. There was simply no turning back for them.

"So, should we follow the big serpent to reach Yggdrasil, or is there some simpler way? Because I see at least another viper, but she's probably not the one crawling on the Tree of Life," he said.

"Wow, Gabe. You are never going to let this go, are you?" Olivia answered.

"Nope!"

Darte chuckled. At the same time, Wang Fang observed their weird alchemy, quite taken aback.

"Yeah, I know what you're thinking about, Fang, and you're probably right. You are by far the most normal person among us. That's why I decided that I like you. Simple is always better! Simple is true!" Saying so, Liz got out of him. Following her did the other Spirits.

Brill, Death, and… "Gabriel, Ms. Olivia, Liz, Brill… meet Driger," said Fang.

The spirit was a tiger, a wonderful, still, regular-sized tiger. But before wondering about if it was a cat-sized tiger before reaching that height or simply a cub. Gabriel arched his brows in delight.

"Oh… I see what you did there!" Gabriel gave Fang a pat on the back."

"No, wait! That's not what you think. My little brother named her!"

"Yeah, yeah. Useless excuses, what problem could there be on being a fan? I liked those spinning tops too!"

Probably seeing the futility of his argument, Wang Fang let his arms drop and stopped fighting back.

From there, it was an hour-long trip at their maximum speed before they reached a semblance of civilization. But before that, with Enhanced Senses from Gabriel and that and most probably other Perks from Wang Fang, they drew the group away from monster's too close for comfort.

There would be time to exp, the Seer of Carnage waited, and no matter how Gabriel faked his protests, he was not in the mood to waste much more time. If this Seer was what its name implied, she must have a way to tell him of his mother's location.

The plains' borders directly cut the territory separating the portion of the land in which lay the Stele, and the connection with the other planets, to what was Yggdrasil's influence, started being felt.

Without him not even knowing, Gabriel left the sky showing planets at his back and immediately found himself facing an immense tree in the distance.

"What the hell?" he said out loud.

Olivia chuckled, "I had that same reaction the first time."

He turned around to see if something had changed, but apart from the sky not showing the planets anymore, Gabriel found the plains he had left behind.

His gaze wandered toward Liz; the lizard was going back and forward a few dozen yards to check for the trick. When confused, she sat on the ground, whipping her tongue in the air; she understood that there wasn't any.

Wang Fang giggled, "Your lizard is funny."

"Yeah, she's a joker. But really, what did just happen?"

"We've passed the Overleying," Darte said.

"Meaning?"

"The Overleying is the phenomenon in which a portion of the land saturated with ley lines energy, we could call it the Spirit of the land, overlaps with regular lands," Olivia explained the basic concept to him.

Gabriel thought about it a bit, "So, basically… I should have been able to see the tree, but since I was in there, I couldn't? Like sheet layers?"

"That's basic, but exactly it."

"Thank you for the basic, basic," he answered her.

She gave him the finger and the tongue.

I missed that sort of answer… Gabriel found himself thinking.

"However, Yggdrasil looks, really really far from here. Do we really need to work all the way there?"

"Oh, no. See those?" Darte answered, pointing toward the first construction they saw since the Stele. "That's a regiment from The Cradle. There are always portalists there; they'll get us home. For a fee, obviously. It's kind of costly as well, even for my standards," said Darte.

"So, you're gonna offer?"

"I believe you've got your ManaCard now? Haven't you eaten enough at our expenses?" Darte said.

"Fair enough. Just warn me if the price is too high. I have no idea how the currency works," said Gabriel.

Darte shrugged, but Fang intermitted, "I believe we have a discount. Though Master Darte those have a subscription. So, 1250 units should be the price." At that, Olive paled.

Gabriel noticed, "Is that like, a lot?"

"Well… My silver ManaCard stores up to 10k units of Mana, so, yeah… It is expensive, nonetheless."

"Alright, but how much is a layman stipend around here?"

"For a non adventurer? 2k units, give or take," she answered.

Gabriel gulped, "So, we're going to pay a one thousand dollars ticket? We aren't even heading to Japan, for god's sake… The damn tree is right over there. I can see it!"

"But it's choke-full of monsters to get there. So, it's about commodity, after all."

"Alright… damned end-stage capitalism."

The portal post looked like a military encampment with a barn and farm by the side; structures were raised all around the little speck of land. With Mana Sight, he noticed sparks of condensed Mana releasing from what looked like generators choke-full of runes around the post's perimeters. They might have been used to project a barrier, Gabriel guessed.

He soon had his confirmation when Fang explained to him.

Six guards were stationed, a party of The Cradle's finest Darte said. They all had insects as Bond Spirit. Gabriel recalled the Basic Skill they got. It was handy for fighting in groups. He guessed that even evolving that Skill could become very useful for a group of people of arms always traveling together, especially under the same banner.

The portalists were instead an old man and a much younger one.

"Mr. Darte! It's been a while since last I've seen you. I believe since that Kanceldom's trip!" Said the old man; he was a bespectacled, bellied Latin American. His apprentice, an African-American young man, was bespectacled too.

"Old Manny, it's always a pleasure to meet you. Hey Dox," Darte replied.

"I believe I don't know your company, apart from Wang Fang, of course. Who are these people with you?"

Dox ignored Darte but saluted Fang with a sincere smile.

Before answering, Darte whispered to Gabriel, "I like the apprentice; he's a true genius. " Then his attention switched to Manny.

"Just people. I'm sorry, Manny, we're kind of in a hurry," Darte leaned closer, "We've got urgent talk with the Seer."

That mention seemed to satisfy the old busybody, and it gave him the push he needed to hurry up.

What Gabriel later witnessed was something far, far more complex than any Magic Circle he had ever seen.

They led the theme inside of a room, as it seemed, enclosed space was needed to perform the Magic. Magic Circles were inscribed on the six walls, choke-full with runes and forms. And after paying the modicum figure of 1250 Mana units each, which in the end, were offered by Darte. Gabriel and the other witnessed the process. However, only Gabriel was ignorant of it.

The walls, the ceiling, and the pavement lit up with Mana, burning a proper version of the Magic Circles in existence. It created a box around them, then using probably some Skill or abilities of Magic they had developed, the two sent them away. Gabriel felt himself compress and reappear inside of a much more well-kept room.

They had arrived in the span of moments. They were now by the Rapids of Mana. Gabriel recognized the place right away.

The Rapids of Mana were precisely that, rapids. They came from the west side of The Den and ended up all the way under Yggdrasil's feet. He had no idea what was to the west of the Den, but he would find out, eventually.

The water of the rapids was of an intense blue. It was clear at first sight that it wasn't water. However, the Mana shown in that state, pure yet maintaining a liquid form, had to come out from somewhere. But where?

Basically, it shared the same physical properties as any other liquid. It was denser-looking than simple water and moved a little bit like oil would if there existed rapids of oil. In the far distance, at the center of the river, bisecting it, a tall rock spike shot through the earth and toward the sky.

That must be the Rock of Old, he realized.

Liz, who had momentarily entered his body for the portaling, shot out of him and started moving around excitedly about the rivers made of pure Mana.

"Don't try and lick it! You would…" Gabriel ordered, then stopped to turn toward Darte, "Wha-what would happen?"

"Undiluted Mana does hurt, but only if you are entirely Mana filled. If you are not, it goes directly to your core, just more slowly."

"You heard that! Don't drink it!"

The lizard turning toward him with a raised paw, whipped her tongue at him but didn't do what she was actually about to do.

"General," Darte saluted the midnight dressed guard.

"Major, have you seen the Guardian?"

The Major was a rather fit man; he seemed to be in his thirties, but who was to say since almost everybody looked extremely fit thanks to their Attributes. He had blonde eyes and a Roman nose, his eyes were of a bright blue, and he could have been at least 6-3 Gabriel judged.

Apotheosis of military personnel right there.

"I was sent to get you to the Seer, General. She's waiting there for you."

"Not even time for a little sightseeing?" Gabriel asked.

"You'll have all the sightseeing you want once we're done with this shit," Darte asked, "Besides, there's quite a lot to see even here. We'll be passing through the Veins."

"The what?"

"The Veins," clarified Wang Fang, "tunnels which lead to the middle-level of Yggdrasil, it's practically another city on top of The Cradle, quite a bit on top. Higher up still, there's only the Crown with the Yggdrasilians."

"Oh… so people live in it?"

"More like, work in it, but you'll find quite a few dwarves taking permanent accommodation in it, they like their environment claustrophobic, it remembers them about life back in the mountains of The Core. It's probably in their DNA." Olivia, "Com always told me he hated the place."

"Com…" said Gabriel, "Somehow I'd like to see that dwarf, and Garena… damn she's hot… Anyway, I wonder if they don't hate us for what we've done to their place. What do you think?"

"Oh, I heard they already recovered and are going stronger than ever, especially with a little help they had, from the Witch," Olivia confided to him, smiling.

All around the Rapids of Mana stood enormous mounted walls. They seemed to extend all the way to the origin of the water path. They spawned so far that his sight could not see the end.

The walls could have been sixty yards high, and from where Gabriel stood, he could gauge that they were manned; thus, they must have been pretty wide too.

From where he stood, the walls reached all the way to the mouth of the tree, different from the one by the main entrance of The Cradle. It looked like a secondary entrance, probably carved for military use.

"These walls are something else... where do they lead?"

"All the way to the Glade, Sir; after that, the Elves have set up an impenetrable field of Mana Shield to protect it. Nobody can teach the Rapids, not even the Priest and their disgusting spawns. Sir." It was the major.

Gabriel looked at Fang and rolled his eyes; Fang smirked in response.

"You'll find our Herald as a person rather, detached from ranks and stations. He is very… down to earth," Fang explained.

The major opened his mouth to reply but then shut it again.

Discipline is heavy around here.

"So, Gaia is the Guardian of all the Rapids? Even those that reach this phantasmatic Elven territory?"

"Well, yes and no, Si- Herald. Our Guardian is not unique. There are four other Waterfronts among the Elves, one for each of their forests. And each Guardian commands the portion of the Rapids which interests their Mother Tree. It could be said that the territory depends on the Mother Tree's influence," the major clarified.

"You are a very collaborative major. Anyway, my name is Gabriel. I ask you to call me as such, and your name, what is it?"

"Cain, Her- Gabriel, Sir," the major shifted, "I'm sorry, He- Gabriel!"

Gabriel chuckled. I can sincerely say that something like this has never happened to me!

By the time they reached the entrance's mouth, a whole other side of the city displayed before him; a military city. This portion of The Cradle, he had never even seen from high up, which was weird.

"This place, it's not the same as the civilian alveolus, is it?"

"Exactly," said Darte, "It would be too dangerous to keep them connected."

"In the lower-tree, you'll find The Cradle and the Wallcity, Gabriel. In the middle-tree, you'll find the veins, which is its industrial district; the higher-tree is where the Yggs-dog and many other flying species of monsters which live and die by Yggdrasil have their houses. The Temple of Life can be found there too, and finally, the Crown is where the Yggsdrasilians, the blessed people, reside. They never leave the place, so it's absolutely rare to meet one outside of the Crown and the higher-tree."

It's one big-ass tree. It has its own macro ecosystem, it seems. I wonder how big it actually is. What do you say, Liz? Once we're done here, would you mind going exploring?

Liz yapped. She had probably already planned it.