Sevensen City, Inn.
Elena lay comfortably on the simple straw bed, thinking about the upcoming expedition into the depths of the Green Wind Forest. She had one leg crossed over the other, lying on her back, facing the ceiling. In her hand was a folder containing the information provided by the Adventurers Guild about the upcoming mission.
The Sky Tower had organized an expedition around three forbidden areas of the Green Wind Forest.
There were 200 people from the Sky Towers team. When they arrived in Sevensen, they posted an open mission at the local Adventurers Guild to recruit experts to assist in their mission.
As for Elena, she was personally invited.
Because of the massive reward, Elena felt like the people from the Sky Tower were looking for something more than just simple helpers. She felt like they were trying to attract all the top talent in the northern region for something.
Elena had agreed to the mission.
The mission was a two-month expedition into the Green Wind Forest during the height of the Green Tide. The first week was about reaching the forest depths as quickly as possible, entering into the 'Deep Green'. The following month was exploring and investigating three locations during the tide, and the last three weeks were about returning with the information, and investigating the elven ruins that were sealed off a year ago.
As for why Elena had chosen to join in on this perilous journey…
Besides having a chance to investigate the mysteries of the Green Wind Forest, Elena felt like this was a good opportunity to visit her fellow townsmen.
Most of them had been moved to Sevensen City, so she had spent the last few days meeting old friends.
Now, it was almost time to depart.
Elena jumped up and waved her hand. The belongings sitting on the desk disappeared into the inconspicuous black ring on her finger.
Indeed, Elena had a space ring.
She left the Inn and moved to the large campsite outside the city.
The campsite was a series of large white tents, each containing a compressed space inside. This was an advanced technology often used by the Four Towers to create more room when traveling outside. The space inside the tents was four times the space outside the tents, and the environment inside the tents was controlled with incredible precision, making sure the temperature, humidity, and sound were all balanced.
The surrounding camp was very lively.
People walked around, talking, trading, and preparing. There were a variety of people, some from the tower, others were adventurers from the guild, but most of them were free individuals who had come to participate after hearing about the large reward.
At this point, we should explain how the average person trained when they didn't cultivate one of the main profession systems...
Spiritual Energy was not unique to any single path. This meant that as a mortal, if one had a little bit of talent, they could manifest supernatural phenomena with a certain level of skill. Although this came in the form of many weaklings performing a chaotic range of unique abilities, this still created the lowest level and most common group of combatants.
For example, a man could learn to use Spiritual Energy to make his sword faster. He then called himself the 'Fast Swordsmen'. He would train to continuously make his sword faster, unknowingly imposing his 'Will' on the sword in his hand.
The downside of this was that the ceiling for self study was usually very low.
Looking around, Elena realised that her guess was right, the Sky Tower was indeed looking for 'something'.
Moving through the tents, Elena approached the largest tent in the back.
She was recognized by the guards, so they simply greeted her and let her pass.
Over the last few months, Elena had been very busy.
She had gone around the continent making connections, looting ruins, finding treasures, preparing countermeasures for certain calamities, and just getting stronger overall. She had met Dorothy, Kilemin, and Arthur. She had gone to visit the Royal family of the Hellion Empire, visited the Sky Tower and the Black Tower, and even sent a very important letter off the continent in preparation for the fourth calamity, when the nine calamities would first reach outside the cross continent.
Aside from the 'large powers', Elena had also met a number of big names and future geniuses. Because she knew the future, it was easy for Elena to push a few fated masters onto their paths early.
Elena had also made a trip to the Royal Academy of Magic in the Hellion Empire. This was a place where many of the mages outside the disciples who joined the four towers would study. She had spent a month teaching, and even passed on a specialized system to improve the speed of magic casting.
Finally, Elena had made a trip to the 'Red Hand'. Although they were technically a member of the Mercenary Alliance, Elena knew that these unethical scientists were a far more powerful force that would appear later during the final calamities.
The first three calamities would affect the cross continent, the next three calamities would affect the surrounding continents, and the final three calamities would affect the whole world. The fallout left behind by each calamity was worse than the calamities themselves. Take the first calamity, for example, if they didn't destroy the ice castle as quickly as possible (after it awoke) and stop the Curse of Winter, then the number of livestock on the continent could be reduced to only one percent of what it was originally. Combine that with mass flooding and remnant demons, and the continent would find it extremely hard to recover before the next calamity.
Elena didn't know where the Red Hand really came from, but she knew that they were one of the top powers in the whole world.
Overall, Elena's face was quite popular around the continent.
Elena walked into the largest tent.
She was greeted by a young man in a white and gold tower robe. This man was Aron, the only student of the Sky Towers Fifth Pillar, Atom.
Aron was the leader of this expedition.
"Elena! It's nice to finally meet you. I didn't have a chance the last time you came to the Sky Tower!"
The young man greeted.
Elena nodded her head.
She knew this young man very well. If it weren't for a certain incident, then he might have become the next Tower Keeper. The 'Tower Keeper' was basically the 'Young Master' or the next in line for the position of the 'Tower Master'. But that was a matter for the future…
The two began to talk.
To the side, the shy girl with bell-shaped blond hair was standing with Rachel, looking very awkward. She pushed up her glasses, wanting to go hide in a corner.
Rachel pointed at Elena, and with a slightly off tone, she asked. "Do you see her? That girl is the central region's heaven's chosen! Or at least, she's supposed to be!" Rachel shook her head, somewhat annoyed at Elena's free-roaming behavior. "She only visited the Sky Tower once, once! Does she even know what the Central Regions Heavens Chosen means! She's not giving us any face."
Bell spoke up in a quiet voice, shrinking her shoulders. "You're mad because she doesn't bend her head to the tower lord?"
"Hump! I said that, right? That's how it should be!"
Bell pursed her lips, not quite agreeing.
Owen walked over, patting Bell's little shoulder hard. "It's fine if you don't agree. The other Heavens' Chosen have all gone to their respective towers. It's just ours that's different. Although it looks like we can't control our heavens chosen to the outside world, it's not that bad."
Bell lowered her head.
Her body shook slightly, sinking from Owen's heavy palm.
Rachel continued grumbling. "Isn't she just using our name to protect herself? As the 'central regions chosen hero' who would dare to find trouble with her? How is that not using us as a shield!"
Owen nodded, completely agreeing.
Bell spoke with a soft voice, while trying to push Owen's hand off her shoulder. "Isn't that too unreasonable? She's not a slave, she has her own life, her own freedom. I-It's not like she asked to be a Heaven's Chosen..."
Rachel clicked her tongue. "She was chosen by the gods, its her duty to save the continent."
Owen added, "At least she's not like that Petra brat, hiding and refusing her duty! To receive a divine blessing and still do nothing, there's no greater crime!"
Rachel clicked her tongue. "These two sisters are alike, huh?"
Bell remained quiet.
-
Back to Elena.
Elena asked Aron about the upcoming mission.
They would be exploring three forbidden areas in the Green Wind Forest. Elena received the mission plan and left the tent. She looked through the information on the 'High Elven Prison', the 'Broken Space Gate', and the 'Astral Lighthouse'. These three places existed only as records, never having received any real visitors. This expedition was meant to find, record, and rate these three places for their level of danger.
Elena walked around the tented area, looking through the many new faces that had taken up the request from the Adventurers Guild.
Adventurers were split into five categories.
Bronze Adventurers: New adventurers that had just joined the Adventurers Guild and had little experience.
Silver Adventurers: Experienced adventurers who made a living from working with the guild.
Gold Adventurers: Experienced adventurers who had worked as adventurers for a long time and understood the ins and outs of the profession.
Diamond Adventurers: The gold level adventurers who had gone above and beyond, consolidating themselves into an outstanding figurehead that new adventurers could either ask for help or request advice from, like the experienced old grandpas in books.
Legendary Adventurers: The top-level diamond adventurers who have obtained a level of power that far exceeded the others. There are only a handful of legends in the adventurers' guild, but each one of them is truly a legend, the kind that is written about in stories.
The difference between 'Adventurers' and 'Mercenaries' was the difference between family and work. Adventurers worked with the Adventurers Guild, while Mercenaries worked for themselves and were hired by the Mercenary Alliance.
Elena saw that the majority of the newcomers were bronze and silver level adventurers, with a few gold level adventurers appearing in the crowd from time to time.
Looking at the gold level adventurers…
There was a silver haired elf with a big sword.
There was a pale skinned human woman with long white hair and a cold and indifferent temperament.
There was a young alchemist who didn't quite look like he knew what he was doing.
And there was a lion headed Beastmen who hailed from the east. His two massive gauntlets looked like they could crush a head with a light squeeze.
Elena greeted them one by one.
After walking around for an hour, Elena found herself standing behind the tented area, in front of a large beast. This was a Silver Haired Bison that stood five meters tall. It had six thick legs and a very fluffy body. Instead of the muscular body of a normal bison, this one was quite fat. It was used to carry the majority of the expedition team's supplies.
When Elena looked at it, she frowned. This didn't seem like the kind of beast that could work for a long period of time in the snow.
Elena looked at the back of the quiet young girl sitting on a crude wooden stool, diligently feeding the beast. She recognized this girl as one of the young Tower Mages who came with Aron. The Blond bell-shaped hair bounced up and down with her movements, looking quite serene.
Elena walked over.
"Are you sure that this big guy can handle the journey?"
The sudden voice caused Bell to jump.
She turned around, face flushed, and shuddered at Elena. "I-I-I, I don't know, b-but, but it's what Aron arranged, I-it should be good!"
Elena had heard three different voice cracks in that one sentence.
She tilted her head.
How did this silly and cute girl become a disciple of the Sky Tower?
Elena nodded. As long as they made the proper preparations, then she would just follow along.
Before Elena had any more time to talk to Bell, Rachel's voice came from behind.
"Bell, there you are! We were waiting for you to start the meeting!"
The black haired Rachel jogged over, grabbed Bell's hand, and pulled her away.
"B-but you said to--"
"No excuses! We're leaving in a few hours!"
Elena watched Zoey drag Bell away.
For some reason, Elena felt like something was wrong.
She stared at the back of the departing girl, then turned her head back to the Silver Haired Bison.
"Why do I feel like something's off...?"
-
Rachel quickly dragged Bell out of Elena's sight.
When Elena could no longer see them, her face dropped. "Little Bell, remember, don't get too close to that woman. Although she's a Heavens Chosen, she's not one of us. Remember that!"
Bell pursed her lips.
Rachel continued. "Don't forget that if we have the chance, we need to make her submit!"
"But, I don't think she's very uncooperative..." Bell said quietly.
"Nonsense! This is not something that we can decide!"
Rachel reminded Bell of their mission.
If Aron was secretly tasked with searching for the true northern regions' Heavens Chosen, then Bell and Rachel were tasked with understanding and controlling Elena. Rachel felt like Bell was a liability, so she wanted to do it all by herself.
Rachel's face was twisted. "Don't mess this up! You can't imagine the consequences of failing this mission! When we get back ill--"
Just as she was talking, the sudden sound of footsteps came from behind.
"When we get back, I'll treat you to some cream puffs! Hahaha!"
Aron came around the corner.
Rachel's face was bright, with a friendly smile, as she hung her arm around Bell's neck.
Aron looked at the two girls getting along and nodded.
"Get ready to leave. We've decided to start early."
Rachel gave him a sunny smile. "You've got it, boss! We're ready when you are!"
Bell reluctantly nodded.
Aron nodded, walking towards the beast pens in the back.
Rachel let go of Bell's shoulder and gave her a strong glare.
"Don't mess this up!"
-
On the other side, Owen was talking to a man in black.
Beneath this cloaked man's robe were two stars embroidered on his chest.
"Do you understand your mission? You must find that girl named Petra at all costs...!"
Owen nodded indifferently. "Even if that means sacrificing the entire exploration team." His usual tough and friendly big-brother-like personality was momentarily replaced with a lazy and dandy expression.
The man in black passed over a map. "These are the places that we've determined are the most likely to be hiding her. Again, you must find her."
Owen took the map and looked over it.
The black clothed man passed over a whistle and continued. "We have gathered many adventurers. When you reach the second point, use this whistle. It will summon the behemoth and wreak havoc. Use this opportunity to break the spatial stone and scatter the surrounding people across the forest."
Owen nodded.
Unlike Aron, Bell, and Rachel, he worked directly for the Tower Master. Although he was only a little Tower Mage on the outside, Owen was actually the next Tower Seeker (Young Tower Master). Unlike Aron, Bell, and Rachel, he was already a Great Mage (The level of a Tower Teacher).
"Do I need to worry about Aron's life?"
The man in black nodded. "Only he cannot die. The others don't matter."
Owen clenched the whistle. He secretly had feelings for Rachel. Unfortunately, his mission came first. A resolute light ignited in his eyes.