Western Region, Land of Death, Outskirts of Harnlum City.
The flat field was surrounded by bubbling swamplands and decaying foliage. Dying trees struggled to survive, while desperate beasts hunted for what could be their last meals.
Unlike the other four regions, the western region received the weakest influence from the environmental curse.
White snow fell, just to be tainted black upon landing.
Walking through the Dark Forest was a hooded figure.
A thick black robe draped his body and concealed his form, and his deep hood hung low, concealing his face. Only his two blood red eyes peered through the veil, looking forward.
As he walked, the surrounding swamp turned and bubbled, almost like the earth feared his steps.
The cloaked man arrived at an abandoned castle, hidden behind rot and decay. White bones formed a path, letting the cloaked man climb the mountain with ease.
When he arrived at the gate, the ancient stone split open.
He advanced.
The cloaked man passed through the abandoned halls and soon reached an unopened and undamaged door. This door was unlike the rest of the castle. The door shone with a silver light, with complicated elven runes engraved shallowly on its face, swimming with an ethereal and cold spirit.
The man stood there, waiting.
When he did not move, silence seemed to exist as the only noise.
A moment later, the door opened.
It split from the center, light flooding out from its depths.
The cloaked man entered, becoming the first guest after countless years.
The surrounding space changed, stone turned to wood, and the cloaked man found himself standing in a small study.
Reality bent and twisted with non-Euclidean geometry, making this room indistinguishable from a dream.
The mixture of 'illusion' and 'dream' reflected an unknown 'time'.
The cloaked man retracted his hood, revealing the face of a handsome young man.
His long black hair contrasted with his bright red eyes. His skin was pale, unlike that of a living being. His pointed ears extended further than a normal elf's, their thin tips twitching with each echo. On his forehead was a totem formed from skull and bone, shaped like a moon.
Ahead in the study, a woman raised her head from the desk.
"Has it started?"
The cloaked man nodded. "Tsaral has cast the 'Curse of Winter'. Within a month, he will awaken and wreak havoc on the land."
The human woman hummed. "He knows what he's doing. Since he has agreed, then you have to complete your role as well."
The cloaked man took a cube from the woman.
When the object passed from her hand to his, space, time, dream, and illusion all intertwined.
The cloaked man raised the cube and looked at it with dull eyes.
The woman continued. "Plant that in the center of the western region. It should weaken the natural curse and allow Tsaral's curse to sink in."
The cloaked man nodded.
He paused, and suddenly asked, "Will doing this really allow our people to escape 'that thing'?"
The woman shrugged. "If it wasn't for your Idiotic emperor touching something that he shouldn't have, then you wouldn't have to do this."
He frowned. "You know that's not what I mean. I want to know if the high elves can safely return to the world if we push the nine calamities forward."
The woman looked at this pale and sickly elf with some pity. "The reason your empire had to 'disappear' was because your emperor couldn't keep his hands to himself. Since 'that woman' said that the curse will end when the nine calamities end, then it's probably true. If you're asking me if the Dragon of Destruction will let you go, then it's probably not going to happen." She pursed her lips. "That's also your emperor's fault, huh? Are you sure you still don't want to change that guy after so long?"
The cloaked man ignored the woman. He reached into his cloak and pulled out a newspaper. "I can understand that the gods want to turn the Curse of Calamity into a huge chessboard, but can you explain this to me?"
He held up the image of the black-haired Petra.
When the woman saw it, she raised an eyebrow. "Wow, it really looks like her. I guess that answers the last question I had. The 'Curse of the World' banished the elves, the 'Curse of Calamity' unsealed the Dragon of Destruction, and the 'Curse of Fate' bore her daughter, no, it will probably also reunite them. Mmm, good for her."
The cloaked man narrowed his eyes. "This is 'her' daughter?"
The woman behind the desk suddenly thought of something and chuckled. "Are you sure you don't want to replace him? If that guy finds out about this little cutie, then who knows how much trouble he might cause. You might even risk your entire race if he makes a move on her. Hahaha!"
The cloaked man remained silent. Although slightly ridiculous, he knew she was telling the truth. "I'll worry about that later, just tell me where to bury the spell stone."
The woman smiled.
* * *
Central Region, Sky Tower, City of Imai, Peak of the World.
The central region of the Cross Continent was a massive stretch of mountains that covered the entire region. The largest mountain sat directly in the center of the continent, towering into the sky. At the peak of this mountain, clouds swayed like the sea and birds flew like flocks of fish. Stationed atop this peak was the legendary Sky Tower, constantly overlooking the world below.
The Sky Tower was a nine-story Mage Tower built when humans first came to the Cross Continent.
On the top floor of the Sky Tower was a room called the Heavenly Hall.
During normal times, this room seated the 'Council of Twelve Stars'.
Today, only two men stood face to face.
One man wore a Tower Robe (Mage Robe) woven from white and gold thread. He had a young face, with a reassuring and trustworthy temperament.
The other man, a slightly older man, wore similar white and gold robes, only slightly more complex in its design. He was covered with complicated silver ornaments and had two long banners hanging from his back. His golden hair was tied back into a bun, and his endless black eyes seemed to be carrying starlight.
The older man spoke. "Do you understand?"
The young man shook his head. "Master Atom, I don't understand. Why is the northern region so important? Shouldn't we be going south to fight the source of the calamity?"
Atom sighed. "The northern region has always been the most mysterious place on the Cross Continent. We know very little about the mysteries hidden within its depths. This year's green tide will coincide with the winter curse. This is an opportunity to explore the areas that are usually under the supervision of the three guardians. They will be too preoccupied fighting back the curse, so we can finally peek into some of those mysteries."
The young man nodded.
Atom continued, "The reason I will send you personally is to complete a secret mission. I want you to look for the missing Heavens Chosen in the north."
"You mean Elena's little sister?"
The older man shook his head. "Although many people believe her to be the missing hero, there are other possibilities as well. I want you to find these people and check them for Divine Blessings."
The young man nodded.
The older man continued, "It's clear that Elena's sister was either taken in by the Green Abyss or found a good place to hide. Regardless, it will be hard to find her. Your job is to investigate the other people. Try to gather the northern experts and use this expedition as an excuse."
"I understand, master!"
The young man left, his spirits high.
A moment later, the hall returned to silence.
The older man looked towards one of the unoccupied seats.
A sudden voice came from the void, appearing from the empty seat. "Atom, do you truly believe that the little girl is not the northern regions' heaven's chosen?"
The older man, Atom, shook his head. "I don't believe it!"
In the empty seat materialized a fair skinned woman with elven features. A head of golden hair hung down to the floor, spilling out like a golden waterfall on the white stone. A crown of silver wrapped her temples. Her black eyes seemed to swim with stars. Her ethereal temperament was like a transcendent, either unaware or uncaring about the world around her. At least, on the surface. If one understood this woman for a long time, they would start to feel something else, something different, something dangerous...
This was Celeste, the second seat of the Council of Twelve Stars.
Unlike Atom, the fifth seat of the Council of Nine Stars, Celeste had a much higher influence in the Sky Tower.
She pursed her lips. "Why do you doubt it?"
Atom looked at her, his deep starry eyes swimming with a complicated light. "Have you seen the records of the Elfefalein Empire? Specifically, the information about the unnamed Emperor, the man the entire race was willing to die for?"
The woman nodded, a bit confused.
This was something most people would learn right after joining the Sky Tower.
The space mage Atom waved his hand and tore a hole through space.
He pulled out a stream of books, then selected the largest one, the book containing records of the ancient Elfefalein Empire's Royal Family. Without touching it, the book hovered in the room, split open, and flipped to a page near the back. The unused books floated behind, almost like stars in the background.
Atom began his explanation.
"We don't know what caused the ancient high elves to disappear, but we do have a clue. The fact that they spent so much effort to create the Book of Calamity tells us that not only did they know a great calamity was coming, but they also knew that their time was coming to an end. They created the Book of Calamity to pass on the torch and give the future owners of the continent, no, the future inhabitants of the world a chance to survive. Although we still don't understand why, that's not important."
The woman nodded.
He continued, "The high elves disappeared shortly after their war with the Dragon of Destruction. This was the end of the Golden Age. We know that the Book of Calamity was written in the period between the defeat of the Dragon of Destruction and an unknown event..."
The woman nodded again.
He continued, "I was unsure before, but now I believe that the reason for the disappearance of the high elves is unrelated to the Dragon of Destruction."
The woman paused, confused.
The most popular theory was that the Dragon of Destruction did 'something' that caused the fall of the Elfefalein Empire. After his defeat, the high elves had to abandon their home and leave.
"I already had suspicions, but I never found anything to link them together."
The man named Atom turned and pointed at a certain picture.
The woman looked at the portrait surrounded by the Unknown Emperor's personal handwriting.
Her eyes widened.
This was a nude drawing of a black-haired woman standing under a black sun. The woman had a mature and voluptuous body, giving off the feeling of innocence and purity. Her snow-white skin was strongly contrasted by the black landscape, making her glow with an inhuman light. A waterfall of black hair hung to her feet and extended outwards like an endless sea of darkness. The linework was crude and unskilled, but the emotion injected into the drawing seemed to speak, 'A mortal's light eclipsed the stars'. Even Celeste was taken aback for a moment.
Her eyes widened in amazement before quietly darkening with an intense envy.
"The Ancient Unnamed Emperor was said to have fallen in love with many women, but this woman was the last woman to ever be recorded. She was said to be a mysterious mortal that the emperor had met by chance."
Atom waved his hand, and the page changed.
"The last records of this woman were recorded shortly before the battle with the Dragon of Destruction. After that, she seemed to have disappeared. After the High Elves defeated the Dragon of Destruction, she was never seen or written about again."
"The high elves began their decline, and many of the things that happened during this period of time were either lost or unclear. We only know that 'something' caused the high elves to go into hiding."
Atom concluded, "I believe that this woman wasn't a mortal. I suspect she is something different, something dangerous."
The woman nodded.
If Atom were to look back at her, he would find that her eyes were spinning with a storm of emotions.
She was still processing the face of the woman she had just seen. If she had not seen it, she wouldn't have known. Even that page in the ancient records seemed to have been overlooked by her the first time she read the book. Celeste suspected that there was a type of bewitchment cast on that page, causing one to overlook it unless specifically sought out. Now that she saw it, she couldn't help but ask.
"You suspect that she and Petra...?"
Atom shook his head.
"I don't know. Although the face is almost identical, it's possible that... Hmm, I just don't know."
Atom scratched his head.
"But we looked into her background. Petra just appeared one day. No parents, no background. She was taken in by the town and given a small place to stay at the edge of the slums, but she was slowly forgotten and left alone."
"Elena told us something similar. But I just…"
The woman looked at him. "What is it?"
He shook his head. "I don't know, but... for the first time in a long time, my Intuition suddenly went berserk, telling me to stay away from her at all costs..."
The woman was silent.
She didn't believe in such 'coincidences'...
* * *
Another place in the tower.
A small group of youths was discussing the details of the upcoming mission.
The young man who Atom had sent away, Aron, was packing his things while talking to his teammates. These were the friends that would accompany him to the northern region.
He looked over to a young girl. "I'm surprised that you were allowed to come with us, Bell. This is your first time leaving the tower since you became a proper Tower Mage, right?"
The young girl nodded. She had short blond hair that resembled a bell, and dark green eyes that hid behind a pair of big circular glasses. Like all the disciples of the Sky Tower, she wore white and gold robes.
The lower levels of Tower Personnel were…
Tower Entrant, Tower Resident, Tower Apprentice, Tower Mage, and Tower Teacher.
The Tower Entrant, Tower Resident, and Tower Apprentice were just the lowest levels of positions you could get in the tower. The only difference was the time you could stay in the tower. 'Tower Entrant' was a position for guests that were interested in joining the tower, they had one week to show that they were worth keeping. The 'Tower Resident' was usually a person who wanted to stay in the tower for a short visit, or a simple rest, and they could stay for up to a month. Finally, the 'Tower Apprentice' was an aspiring mage who wanted to join the tower. These people had five years to advance to a Tower Mage, or they would be kicked out.
Only after becoming a Tower Mage could you live in the tower permanently.
Beside her, another girl piped up. "You're not much better, Aron! You spend all day studying under lord Atom. You almost never go down the mountain anymore!" This girl was slightly smaller than Bell, with a fiery and snappy temperament. She had short black hair and dark blue eyes. "I managed to get a treasure map of the Green Wind Forest! This mission should be easy!" The girl, Rachel, grinned.
A chuckle came from behind.
Rachel pouted.
The man who chuckled, Owen, had short dark blond hair with golden eyes. "You two are too excited. The Green Wind Forest is about to experience the green tide. It's our luck to even find a place to sleep. Let's not talk about finding any real treasures, our main goal is to investigate and record the situations in some of the blind spots."
Aron nodded. "Owen's right. This trip is going to be difficult. We still don't fully know what kind of impact the cursed winter will have on the green tide. It's best to not play around.
Rachel stuck out her tongue. She threw her arm around Bells shoulder and pulled the shy girl over.
"Don't worry Bell! If any of these big men attack you, I'll be there! Hahaha!"
Bell's little face reddened.
Aron shook his head. "The trip to the Green Wind Forest will take about a week. After we get there, we'll have a few days before the green tide sweeps in."
Bell, Rachel, and Owen all nodded their head.
This group of four friends were all experienced Tower Mages.
On the surface, they all got along well.
Unfortunately, if one looked closer, they would feel a strange tension.