Somewhere on the northern end of the 2nd martial continent, the sound of a bird's cry echoed through an ancient valley, carrying a certain sleeping young man with a rather peculiar blade on his back.
*Snoring*
*Bird Cry*
*Snoring*
*Snoring*
The sleeping figure was none other than Kenji, who, shortly after being worked to the bone and handed his new weapon, was sent, or rather, kidnapped to go retrieve some treasure by his master. However, being exhausted from training, Kenji had wrapped himself in a blanket of fire to deal with the cold of this fridged altitude and nodded off while being carried through the sky by the giant black bird Nox had tamed.
*Bird cry*
"Mmm. Five more minutes."
Unfortunately for Kenji, the fowl magical beast was not patient enough to gently wait for the sleeping cultivator to finish his nap upon arrival, and proceeded to drop him from a hundred meters in the air.
*THUD*
"Ugh! What the hell happened!" Kenji muttered as he crawled out of the hole his sleeping body had made in the ground upon impact.
Looking up, he found himself in a dark ravine with countless cavities lining the walls, each one with large, glistening bird nests. These were the Giant Bandit Murder Crows nesting grounds which Nox had tasked Kenji with looting. Giant bandit murder crows are attracted to shiny objects which they use to build their nests. Gemstones, metal weapons, enchanted objects, etc. anything glistening and reflective the murder crows could get their grubby talons on had been utilized in the construction of their nests, making their nesting ground a veritable treasure-trove for any who dare enter.
*Distant murmuring*
Of course, normally, this treasure-trove would be guarded by a flock of oversized crows capable of creating tornados, but due to the sudden and inexplicable death of the majority of the residence after a failed attempt to rob a certain masked magician. This cavern of stolen treasures has been left mostly unguarded, allowing anyone to enter at little risk.
"I told you guys! It's totally safe!" Said the orange-haired man.
"Did those things really leave all this behind?" Said the bulky purple-haired man.
"Probably migrated or something!" Said the man wearing glasses.
"Who cares! All that matters is that we're the first ones here! Which means all this now belongs to us?" The orange-haired man said as he turned the corner and spotted Kenji.
"…!"
"…!"
"Hello! Nice to meet you?" Kenji said nervously.
In response to his greeting, the group of strangers responded with violence.
*BOOM*
"GOD DAMN IT! ALL I DID WAS SAY HELLO! WHY IS EVERYONE ON THIS CONTINENT SO VIOLENT!" Kenji shouted as he jumped out from the smoke of the explosion.
As the sounds of battle were raging down below, a giant black bird sat perched atop the ravine, watching Kenji fight for his life as a blue glint shone in its eyes.
...
Sitting on a rock in a fogy field, Nox was tinkering with a white ring in the shape of a dragon eating it's own tail in front of her biological father Xing.
"I'm … sorry!"
"Sorry for what?" Nox asked as she glued the ring to a stick.
"What you said earlier! You're right! I-!"
"Don't be a dumbass! You've got nothing to apologize to me for!" Nox said as pulled out a bottle of soap water.
"But it's my fault! If only I-!"
"*Sigh* You really can't see the game for what it is, can you? There was never anything you could have done! Get that through your thick skull and move on!" Nox said before using the scaly ring on a stick to blow soap bubbles.
"But-!"
"But nothing! What happened, happened! Not because of you, or your clan, but because of the choices made by other people! The only thing you did was hump my mom one too many times! I don't see why you should feel bad!" Nox said while blowing more bubbles
"…!"
"Anything else?" Nox asked while continuing her bubble blowing.
"Okay, I know you don't really care about traditions, but for the love of god, can you stop disrespecting your heritage!"
"Let me think about that!"
Nox then proceeded to blow more bubbles before responding.
"Nope! And if that's all, then get going already! You're late enough as it is!" Nox said, blowing more bubbles as she created a spatial distortion.
As Xing stepped up to the portal with a dejected look on his face, a specter of Chrystalla emerged from his body, embracing Nox from behind.
'I'm sorry, and thank you!'
"Whatever."