Hundreds of people have gathered around Shoyca, all of them battling against monsters. Odd, no? Before, there are not many people who'd dare to land in Shoyca for any reason other than gathering materials and leveling up a bit. But now, there are people flooding the island with the same goal; clearing a dungeon.

 

One Awakener stood out, a red bandana wrapped around his forehead. There was a pile of bodies behind him, forged from his own hard efforts. He'd been put through a lot of trouble when the Kobold beasts behind him attacked him all at once. 

 

His eyes scanned through the status window in front of him. He thought that it was a joke when everyone said that the system was completely different. Much to his dismay, it was not. The status window completely changed, resulting in a disruption in the Awakener Association's systems. They fixed it pretty quickly; it was unnatural, but no one actually noticed it.

 

 

Zaiden, despite how clueless he is, felt suspicious about it though. "The developers of this thing must be monsters. I wonder how they even managed to make the system in the first place." He scratches his cheek, appearing to be deep in thought. If only he thought a bit harder...

 

"Who makes such a thing without giving blindness support?!" All expectations have been subverted.

 

Zaiden is a member of the Whitelight Guild's Vanquishers, a team that Roshia Qinlen was once a part of before her disappearance. While she is not aware of it, she has been completely forgotten by her allies. All except for two have forgotten her existence since she was erased by the [Red Mother]. Zaiden is one of the individuals who don't remember anything about Roshia.

 

The newest update applied to the Awakener Systems has been troubling—not only for him but for all Awakeners. The stats that were once numbered, the EXP function that displayed how close you were to growing stronger—they were all gone and replaced.

 

At the moment, the means of raising your level have been left completely unclear, but it's currently assumed that the system is the same as before. Only this time, levels are based on actual training. Whereas before, one could become stronger just by killing monsters, the actual limitations of the human body must be tested much like you'd do before becoming an Awakener.

 

Everyone's stats from before the update were fairly given a letter grade, one which seems to automatically increase the most you perform certain actions.

 

The greatest thing that Zaiden has noticed is that even without leveling up, your can increase your stats by training rigorously. It's why his endurance stat has reached [D-]. With the grueling training Alice has been forcing him to undergo, it's obvious that his constitution would increase.

 

He and Lulu are the only Vanquishers that were sent to Shoyca. Zaiden was sent to polish his swordsmanship properly and Lulu was sent to gain new skills by mapping out the island. "Lulu!" Zaiden calls out to his companion, looking around to see if he can find her. Much to his surprise, he finds Lulu standing in the sky over him. 

 

Zaiden tilts his head, watching Lulu walk down a staircase made of air. "You've really trained that ability of yours, haven't you...?" Zaiden won't admit it, but this child frightens him every passing day. He thought that her ability could only be used to guide them, but he'd never expected her skill to evolve to create a path. "If you keep this up, we won't be able to see you as our cute little Lulu anymore." He jokes with the girl, earning himself a slap from an invisible force.

 

Lulu chuckles as she reaches the ground. Zaiden rubs the back of his head, already used to the abuse from everyone. "You shouldn't worry about me right now, Zaiden! You'll never catch up with Tulod at this rate, all of your hard work will be useless!" Her words strike Zaiden and cause him more pain than any attack he's ever endured.

 

"Don't say something like that!" Zaiden's trained hard these last few months to catch up to his superiors. He's still [E-Rank], but he should definitely be higher once he gets himself reevaluated! 

 

"Fufu, sorry. I guess I took the joke too far."

 

"Indeed." Stern faced, for whatever reason, Zaiden crosses his arms and brings a sovereign gaze down on Lulu. She doesn't respond, just tilting her head curiously. His attempt at proving his superiority has failed.

 

"Sigh. Whatever, come on, we should go a little deeper. The monsters on the outer layers are strong, but they're not a challenge once you know their attack patterns." Shoyca's danger zones can be divided into layers. As everyone knows, the deeper you go into the island, the more dangerous things are.

 

Orange is the outer layer, proving to be dangerous to most Awakeners. Red is the medium layer, where the dungeon was cleared. In the unexplored parts, at the deepest depths of the island, is black.

 

"The red layer is too much for you, Zaiden. Even if we brought both you and Jade, you'd probably only defeat one monster." 

 

"Don't say such silly things, Lulu! I've got you here!" Zaiden is already past the nearby treeline, carelessly strolling toward the more dangerous parts of the island. This time, they'll need to get to one of the more desert-like territories.

 

---

 

Elsewhere, in the red zone, two women are sitting on top of a building of a ruined civilization. There was a city in the middle of a river, something that you wouldn't normally see outside of this abnormal continent. "I want to eat, Yoo." The two women were identical. They both shared the same properties; red eyes, identical red dresses, and natural red hair that reaches their collar bones. 

 

"She's here though, Koo. The fledgling is wandering around with the error Mother noticed. For one reason or another, Mother cannot see her any longer. This is why we have to handle this before the Princess gets involved."

 

"Goodness, this is so annoying! We don't even know the name she goes by now, right? Since she ran away, Mother has barely been calling us, I want to kill her right away!" An internal struggle among [Red Witches] must be common, but for one to kill the other is something profound. "But, Mind might be lurking around too, we should finish the mission before she catches wind of our movements."

 

The twins share a moment of silence, their conversation being difficult for anyone but themselves to understand. They were both naturally fast talkers, if you didn't listen in well enough, you'd find bits and pieces of their conversation missing.

 

"To simplify things, we need to capture the error and kill the runaway, right?" Koo seeks confirmation. Yoo nods.

 

"It's going to be difficult, but not impossible. We are the best Assassins on the island, we can handle anything too troublesome." They were both confident in their abilities. Even if they face someone stronger than themselves, they are a duo who won't lose together.

 

Leaping from the building together, the twins decide to make their way deeper into the ruined city. It's odd to think that there was once a civilization on an island that suddenly came into creation.

 

---

 

Elsewhere on the island, a man sits on the ground, a sword plunged into the ground beside him. His legs are crossed, his eyes are closed, and he meditates.

 

There is a third eye on his forehead, closed so that none can see it. The attempt at hiding it seems useless though, given his lack of hair. If not for his ashen skin, you'd be able to tell there was a third eye on his forehead without a second thought.

 

The man was nude, for one reason or another. 

 

He was training his body to endure the cold. Snow sprinkles down from the sky, creating an endless blizzard and sending the snow piling up to make an arctic wasteland. The blizzard makes it nearly impossible to see more than blurred imagery ahead of oneself, truly proving to be a problem for anyone on the hunt.

 

Loud thumping and the ground shaking alert the meditating man about the approach of something. Although something huge is coming in his direction, he doesn't even bother to open his eyes. "Oh? You've come again, White Dragon?" The man turns in the thumping until it stops several feet away from him.

 

Even with his eyes closed, he can clearly see what's in front of him. 

 

White scales that not even a missile can hope to scrape, blue eyes that shine brighter than the ocean during the zenith of day. A size taller than the largest structure man can create by hand, with a head that cannot be seen past the thickness of the clouds. A mighty dragon stands in front of the man, with its wings spread out at such a size that they may even dwarf a mountain.

 

"Do you hope to lose another scale to me today?" The bald man tears the sword beside him free, revealing its white blade which matched the scales of the dragon. "I'd forged a weapon with the scale I tore from you, a hundred years ago! Finally, you have the chance to take it back!" 

 

A feud going back far before the Awakener System was established. As he rises to his feet, the air shakes, the grip on his weapon tightening in excitement. Opening all of his eyes, the bald man smiles, thrilled to continue the battle that he'd been having with this monster for a century.

 

You have become much weaker, Hairo the Valiant. A voice speaks through the mind of the bald man, the White Dragon is speaking to him telepathically. "You're one to talk, White Dragon! How long has it been since you unleashed a breath that wiped out the continent we'd fought on?! I don't think you can muster up that kind of power in this poor state you're in now!"

 

How vulgar, to imply that a noblewoman such as myself has lost her beauty!? The dragon scoffs, opening its mouth to draw in the surrounding air. The blizzard surrounding the two of them is pulled into the dragon's mouth, spiraling around until it starts to glow.

 

"You're nothing but a noble hag!" The man retorts, rearing his weapon behind himself in preparation for a mighty swing.

 

As both attacks are unleashed, an explosion erupts before their attacks can even physically strike one another, creating a white light that engulfed the area.

 

---

 

"What's the status of the black zone?" At one of the many encampments on the island, a professionally dressed man with glasses asks a woman typing away at a keyboard. "It's rumbling. We haven't been able to get drones or eyewitnesses to confirm what's happening, but we believe that another dungeon must've opened." The woman never takes her eyes off of the monitor, skillfully multitasking.

 

The man rubs his chin, thinking about the possibility of that happening. "I dunno, we've never felt something like that before have we? Shoyca is the size of a continent, the black zone takes up a good portion of it. For something massive enough to shake the continent to appear would be..."

 

"Deadly." The woman finishes for him, pausing her typing for a sip of steaming coffee.

 

He crosses his arms, tilting his head in contemplation. "We're going to have a lot of paperwork if we don't check this out. Some of the Awakeners on the island said that their friends passed out after it shook." 

 

"Isn't Miss Tachibana on the island? I heard that some of her kids were here for training and went missing for a while." The woman turns to face the man, crossing her legs and leaning back to relax herself. "If anything dangerous comes out of the black zone, I think she can handle it. She should be able to, in theory." There is a surprising amount of uncertainty behind her words.

 

"Why do you sound like that? We should have faith in our [S-Ranks], shouldn't we?" Although they should know the details of the [War Dungeon] being cleared, somehow they didn't. There is something blocking their minds from even mentioning the details of the dungeon being cleared and who came out of it. Even the thought of turning suspicion toward Tachibana's group was impossible for their minds to process. 

 

Thanks to Tachibana's influence, anyone who was on the island at the time of the dungeon's clearing wouldn't even be able to think about her kids being responsible after they'd gone missing. A cover story was established with Giant Spiders keeping them tied in a nest.

 

There are still some people who weren't affected by the ability, such as those who were not in Tachibana's vicinity at the time of the activation, or anyone who was somehow stronger than her. 

 

"That aside, we have more pressing matters to tend to. I've lost contact with Station 13. That's in the red zone, by the way." The woman didn't bring this up before since she wanted to relax before all hell broke loose in their station.

 

And break loose, hell did. 

 

"You're kidding?! Whydidn'tyousaysomethingyoudumbass!" The man sped up his words, grabbing her collar and shaking her with the intent to harm. A trail of dust is left behind the man as he speeds off in the opposite direction, presumably to properly get an update on the situation.

 

Losing contact with a station, which is used for monitoring the activities of dungeons and monsters in the massive continent that is Shoyca, is no laughing matter.

 

There are two possible reasons that contact with a station can be lost. The first; monsters have stumbled upon the station and have destroyed it. This is still something uncommon, as each station is given proper security, adequate for their defenses based on what layer they're in. There are no operating stations in the black layer. The second reason; someone purposely destroyed a station. This is uncommon, most people wouldn't dare to ruin the progress of mapping out and understanding the mysterious continent.

 

The woman shrugs, turning her head back to the computer monitor. Enjoying one last sip of her coffee, she has no choice but to get back to work.

 

---

 

Beyond Shoyca, a man sits on a throne. A golden crown is adorned on his head. He has his head resting against his knuckle. His black body was featureless. He did not have eyes, he was a black humanoid figure, much like the spiritual bodies possessed by the late Roshia Qinlen.

 

Unlike Roshia, he was not in a spiritual realm. He existed inside an unknown plane, waiting for something. Only he and his neon white throne exist here, in a black space. If he steps off of this throne, he will be lost in the abyss surrounding him. No one could hope to see him once he moves from where he is.

 

Loneliness is something he is very familiar with, but he has accepted this. He embodies the concept of loneliness, and he has been sealed away to prevent his primordial loneliness from leaking out.

 

The woman who sealed him here has not been back in many years. He has become certain that generations have passed, and he lacks descendants, so there is nothing for him to look forward to when he is eventually freed. 

 

All that he can do is hum and sing, there is a song that he'd been singing for a long time, long before the song even existed.

 

Seas would rise when I gave the word... The song he sang was fitting for him, the king of loneliness. 

 

This man in particular has a tale for another time. The true spotlight shines on the being watching him from outside of his realm. A familiar woman with white hair, devilishly smiling from ear to ear as she watches over the sealed man. 'How amusing, K. It wasn't a mistake leaving you alive.'

 

The woman had no name, not one that has been spoken out loud. No one would dare say her name even if they knew it, because if they did, they would die and anyone who hears the name will forget it. Therefore she is always referred to as that woman. There is a story that has been erased from man, a story between her and the lonely king imprisoned in a box; destined to live in isolation for eternity.

 

It is... lamentable.

 

"All of my pieces are almost together. Next, I need to gather the dragon slayers." The woman speaks to herself again, a habit that she has yet to improve.

 

---

 

My eyes shoot open, and then so do I. I gasp for air, my body acting on the last functioning instinct before it'd shut down. 

 

"Haaa! Haaa! Haaaa!" My gasps turn into hefty wheezing. I grip my chest tightly, feeling such pain that my tail acts on its own and curls around my waist as if trying to squeeze a stress ball. The tightness around my waist snaps me out of my trance. 

 

I can finally regulate my breathing, brushing off the consequences of being crushed by Tachibana's ability.

 

I remember what happened faintly. After seeing the... thing inside the dungeon, I lost my sanity. Something took control of my body, it worked on its own and corrupted my mind. If it were not for my soul, I think I might've become a monster for good. 

 

When I calm down, I take a look at my surroundings. I'm inside a tent, propped up on a cot. There is a weight on my legs. Malison is in a chair beside my cot, laying her head down on my lap. How long has she been by my side? How long have I been out? She woke up before me, but things feel different around me.

 

That's right, Malison saved me when I was talking with Ascelin. I should thank her when I get the chance—on second thought, what's wrong with me? Why would I thank her? She'll just rub it in my face forever. But still... 

 

I don't even notice my hand rubbing the girl's head. Even if I did, I guess I wouldn't stop. I'm quite the hypocrite, aren't I?

 

As if detecting that I'm awake, a furious black-haired woman comes marching into the tent. I identify her as none other than Madam Tachibana herself, irritation plastered all over her beautiful face. "Good, you're awake. A few more weeks and I'd have considered putting you down." The irritation is blown out by a sigh of relief. 

 

Tachibana and I are by no means close. She bought me as a slave, potentially saving me from a rough life being owned by somebody else. Even then, we've barely shared words with one another. I feel that she bought me not because I was a child, but because I was granted a new unique class. Malison was probably taken in for the same reason, she is a Red Witch, and it'd be useful to have her under your care.

 

Nonetheless, although we haven't spoken much, I get the feeling that Tachibana truly does care for us. I don't have any evidence to back this theory. It's just... a feeling.

 

It takes a bit, but I gather the strength to speak. "Where are we?" My senses are all over the place. Beyond this tent, I can't hear anything. Not the sound of the wind, nor the grass rustling for Tachibana's approach. "Also, why is it so quiet?" I need some confirmation on that too or else I won't have peace of mind.

 

Miss Tachibana stares at me, her hand on her chin. "That last time I saw you, you were a rabid child." That doesn't even answer one of my questions! Seeing my face brighten up, Tachibana chuckles in amusement. "You're still so adorable." I didn't even notice her approach me, but she's now standing at my side, her hand gently playing with my beastly ears.

 

After forcing me to endure the ticklish sensation of my ears being toyed with, Miss Tachibana finally gets to answering my question. "Right now, we're in the orange layer. After you and Malison came out of the dungeon, all hell broke loose. You've been unconscious for a few weeks now, so I'll give you the full details once you can walk."

 

This is bad. "A few weeks" usually means a month or more. In other words, I've been unconscious for a whole month! I don't know when Malison woke up, but I can assume she woke up a long time ago given the difference in our attire. I'm wearing a white hospital gown, she's wearing her usual attire. "The reason you can't hear anything is that I've blocked off the sound inside of this tent so that you can rest. Unlike Malison, I couldn't wake you up with my ability."

 

Tachibana's ability couldn't wake me up? If it woke up Malison, there shouldn't be a reason why it can't wake up me, who is weaker than her.

 

"Why did you come here personally, though? You've never gotten involved with anything we've done before. Even when that woman attacked Eryland, it wasn't you who showed up to help." Tachibana seems like the kind of person who doesn't like getting involved with bothersome affairs. When the lives of many were being lost in Eryland, it was one of her wives who showed up and disposed of the threat.

 

"I have many people who can do my dirty work for me, but you two are certainly too important for me to lose. There aren't many people strong enough to move through Shoyca without an issue, so I came to ensure that you were found without a hitch." Her explanation seems to make sense.

 

From what I understand, even Tabitha and Forrest would have some trouble in the deeper parts of Shoyca. If not even [S-Rank] Awakeners feel the need to take on this stressful task, [A-Rank] Awakeners would obviously be deterred from doing the same.

 

"Nonetheless, Tabitha and Forrest will continue monitoring you two, but since I've been here for so long, I've decided to personally monitor your growth as well. I'm not sure how you did it, but clearing a [War Dungeon] is not an easy task." Tachibana's smile is heartwarming, but my beastkin instincts tell me that there is something sinister hiding behind that motherly grin.

 

"We're going to stir up trouble. Since you cleared the dungeon, the Awakener System has been updated and drastically changed. Your accomplishments have changed the way the world works. My damage control on the situation has been limited to Shoyca, but there are definitely people out there who will turn their attention toward you like the Frosthood Guild."

 

I can't say that I considered this, actually. I like to view myself as a competent person, but I hadn't even considered the chances of anyone targeting us for our accomplishment in the dungeon, should the information ever get out. "From this point on, I, Tsukiko Tachibana, will personally raise your power. I'll make [B-Ranks] out of you runts."

 

Personal training from an [S-Rank]? I can't help but get excited hearing these words! The entire reason I started this journey is that I wanted to enjoy this new life and get stronger! My goals haven't changed at all, but my motivation has been slightly altered.

 

---

 

In Tachibana's mind, however, there is one particular reason why she cannot let these kids stay alone any longer. The night before she took a plane to Shoyca, a woman appeared in her dream—a woman with white hair. It did not look like that woman, with who Tachibana has had a horrible experience in the past. She was older and more mature than her.

 

That child, do not let her die. Make sure that she becomes stronger, or I will ensure that you die yourself—Tachibana. Tachibana instinctively knew who the child this mysterious woman was referring to was. 

 

The words of the person held more weight than Tachibana's own. Her words can command someone to be crushed by the weight of nothing, that can blow a hole through a person with an untimely sigh—the white-haired woman's words were more powerful than her own.

 

It was as if she embodied authority.