An arrow whizzed past Lisenda's ear, forcing her to dive for cover. From the corner of her eye, she saw one of her knights stagger, crimson liquid trickling out of his breastplate.

"Fall back!" Lisenda shouted.

Her squad was ambushed as they were heading to support another unit. Although Lisenda and her men could take on several enemies at once due to their rather basic techniques, the number of enemies that ambushed them was too much. Feyt could hear them shouting war cries as they chased after them.

The knights' armor wasn't helping them outrun their pursuers. The metal boots they wore clearly weren't made for mud, so their running ability was severely hampered.

"Shit, did we wander too far?" one of the knights asked.

"Why are all the ranged units here?!" another asked.

"What do we do?!" Feyt joined in.

"Shut up and keep moving!"

As they were running from their pursuers, a muddy slope came into their view.

"Jump!" Lisenda shouted.

There was no time for hesitation. Feyt hurled himself down along with the others, tumbling and sliding into the tangle of trees below. Down on the even muddier grounds of the forest, Feyt was pulled up to his feet by Lisenda. With his ear, he could hear their pursuers jumping down the same slope.

"They're following us!" he told Lisenda.

She responded with a nod. "We'll find a place to hide here! If this is their main unit, they wouldn't spend much time looking for us! Spread out!"

"Yes, Ma'am!!"

All the knights scattered in different directions. Lisenda swiftly grabbed Feyt's hand and began running deeper into the forest.

"Okay, we should be safe here."

Lisenda had taken respite in what seemed to be an abandoned ruin, covered in vines and moss. Feyt leaned against the cold stone wall next to her.

"I don't know... how much longer... I can run..." Feyt said, out of breath.

"Stop complaining, at least we can rest here. But I don't know how long till they found us."

Feyt perked up his ear, listening to his surroundings. He couldn't hear a single step outside the ruins.

"I think we're safe, I don't hear anyone near us..."

"Really? And how would you know that?"

"I have [Enhanced Hearing], it's the only Talent I have..."

"[Enhanced Hearing]? I don't think that's... Nevermind." Lisenda slid back on the wall, collapsing down to a seat on the mossy floor. "I'll take watch, you rest."

"No, it's alright! I'll keep watch. My [Enhanced Hearing] can detect things easily!"

Lisenda eyed Feyt suspiciously, almost like asking 'Is this kid serious?'

"Well, if you won't rest, don't blame me if you fall behind later."

Lisenda began stretching her legs as she sat, Feyt could see how well-toned her thighs were. Feyt averted his eyes, face burning.

His gaze fell upon the far wall– a mural, vast and faded. A giant figure painted in faded-out paint loomed, a spear clutched in its grasp.  Dozens of figures kneeling before him. There were words snaked below, written in a strange and angular manner. It was easily recognizable to Feyt, Aetherian.

"What's this?"

Lisenda turned her head, looking at the mural.

"That's Thun'ra, The God of Sound. One of the Eight Gods Ortensia used to worship."

So it really is true, they worship Thun'ra, just like Prince Julient said.

Indeed, the text spelled the name of Thun'ra. But what followed after the name was not his title.

"Thun'ra and... the Spear of Piercing Sound?"

"Oh? You know of the spear? I've heard people from Setus don't care about religion."

"A-ah, well, I've... read a couple of books. Their history is a bit interesting, I guess, haha..."

"Really?" Lisenda cocked her head. "Hmph, if you were a citizen of Ortensia, our Princess would label you a model citizen."

"Is that so?" Feyt answered, but his focus was entirely on the mural before him. For some reason, all of it felt... nostalgic.

What was it with Thun'ra? Why could he understand Aetherian? He observed the mural in front of him as he pondered.

...

Feyt had spent a few minutes admiring the mural, trying his best to find what is it that made it so nostalgic, but it went with no avail. But, a sudden question pulled him out of his mind-diving.

"So, how old are you?" 

"H-huh?" Feyt answered, taken by surprise by Lisenda's sudden question. "I'm... thirteen, why?"

"Thirteen, huh?" Lisenda scoffed. "How I envy you."

"Envy?"

"..." Lisenda stayed silent.

...Is she envying my youth? No, I don't think she's the type to do that, is she?

"Hey, it's time to regroup," Lisenda said. She stood up and headed toward the exit.

"R-right!" Feyt quickly headed to the exit along with Lisenda, his sword, and armor all ready to go.

Focusing back on Carine's side of things, Prince Julient had been rambling on and on about his strategy to bolster the Kingdom in case of a coup from 'a certain someone' he kept referring to mysteriously.

Carine doesn't know how that would help her or Feyt, but he was so passionate that she couldn't find a way to interject.

"--And in case that certain someone had also breached the noble houses, we would have no choice but to reform the entirety of Setus. Truly, this is a hard time."

Carine could only offer a tired, "W-wow, such detail..."

"I have been thinking about this for the whole day, it's a bit stressful not having someone to share it with. So, I'm glad we met, Carine."

"I-it's a pleasure! Now, back to my issue--"

"Ah! I do have one more idea!"

I'll die before he finishes his rambling at this point.

Zinless

Heya! Author here. The story's been slow, huh? Truth is, I'm a bit conflicted with this story right now. I've learned so much about writing that I could see how much I have fucked up in writing this to the point that even trying to come up with a continuation is hard. My mind kept saying "I should fix this first," or "The story will be a mess if I don't make chapter X to Y consistent!"

I know there are many inconsistencies in the story's writing style right now, and ironing them out would take so long that it would be more efficient if I did a reboot. But I also know that a lot of you, especially everyone who got this far, really like this story and are always waiting for the next update. So, I got an idea.

I would continue writing the story here. But, at the same time, I would work on the reboot. It's kinda like when authors continue to update their Web Novel after publishing a Light Novel, though in this case, both of them are Web Novels. That way, I could take my mind off trying to fix all 40+ chapters before updating and just... write. Longtime fans like you guys can keep up with the story while new readers get the best possible introduction without all the jank.

The updates on this version won't be consistent, but hey, it won't be as bad as my "New chapter > 2 month hiatus > new chapter > 2 month hiatus" cycle... Hopefully.

As for the refined version, I will try to have a more consistent schedule. The refined version will (most possibly) have in-chapter illustrations, character sheets, world maps, and all that jazz. Either drawn by me, or a friend of mine if I could hire him (the same one who drew the cover art!)

What do you think of the idea? Should I go through with it? Any suggestions? Please, let me know down in the comments! I am also a bit more active in the forums and discord (user tag: zinless), so feel free to contact me in either of them!

Thank you for being patient and supportive while updates have been excruciatingly slow. I am truly grateful for all your support, likes, and comments! Hopefully, this will be a brand new start for more consistent writing!