"Do you mean to say that the Guild Mistress was actually much younger than 43 when she got certified as a Grandmaster, but didn’t get the record because she hid her identity?"

Lorenzo nodded, explaining, "It is more common than you might think. To be eligible for the record, they need to make a thorough background check, and anything amiss would make you ineligible. And if you ever meet the Guild Mistress, which you probably will if you work with us on the Teleportation Array, then you will realize that she was a lost cause."

Felix nodded as they stopped before another door. Lorenzo knocked on it, and they waited for several seconds, but no one answered. Lorenzo did not look bothered though as he explained, "This moron never strays too far from his lil’ lab. We’ll just wait for it."

"Mind if I ask you a few things then?"

"Sure, got nothing better to do."

Looking around, Felix started, "I’ve not seen a single person in the building, except from you. I get that it’s night, but surely I would have seen someone. Isn’t the project supposed to be important?"

"Oh that’s an easy one. We don’t have many Runesmiths to start with, and they are spread out throughout the Kingdom. Less than fifty are in the capital. But even within the capital, we can’t just have everyone working on the Teleportation Gate, as they are the prime suspects for its destruction in the first place, since they were the ones with the easiest access."

Looking like he had eaten a lemon, Felix asked, "So you are trying to rebuild the Teleportation Gate urgently… but can’t use your Runesmiths? Is there even anyone presently working on it? And what were you doing in your office at this ungodly hour? And why do you even have an office here? Why would anyone have one?"

Lorenzo stared at Felix in the eyes for a moment, before uttering, "I shouldn’t have said yes. Fine. Currently, no one is directly working on it, because it would do more harm than good. As for me, I was in my office because being the Vice-Guild Master of the Runesmith Guild is only one of my jobs, I am also an adviser to her Majesty. As for why I got an office here, it is only something recent. The way this building used to work was that each room could be used to be teleported, through the power of the main Array. But since they got disabled, and we are spending most of our time here, some of us set down in these rooms. We good?"

"I think I have more questions than before, but I guess that is satisfactory. I do have to ask though, who are we even waiting for? Don’t you urgently need people to work on the Array? Surely I can’t be a suspect."

Lorenzo said, "You aren’t. But I can’t just bring in anyone on the project without saying anything, even if you are a Runefather. To convince that fossil to get you in would already be infringing upon several rules, so you should be content with your lot. But enough about me. I wonder, how did you become a Runefather?"

Felix still had more than a few questions, but he realized he had been a little rude, so he decided to show a little himself. A Runic Circle appeared next to them, facing Lorenzo.

‘First Circle: Cold Breeze’

Felix would have used ‘Gravity Well’ like with Vaena, but since it had affected the undamaged Dark Gate, Felix was afraid of damaging the already messed up Teleportation Array.

As for Lorenzo, he looked totally unaffected by the cold breeze, but he looked at the Runic Circle with curiosity.

"How did you do this? It should…"

Felix cut him off, "It shouldn’t be able to linger, I know. But I make it. All you need is Mana Manipulation, and Rune Knowledge. After that, its practice."

Lorenzo still looked surprised though as he said, "No, it’s not just that. I’ve read a few books about old Legends and Grandmasters who tried to use Arrays on air, but they never managed to do it. And I don’t mean to be brutal, but I doubt your Rune Knowledge and Mana Manipulation is better than theirs."

Felix shrugged and said, "Well, maybe you need a better mental capacity. And it takes time. It took me nearly a month to master Zeroth Circle Spells."

This time, it was Lorenzo who looked like he had eaten a lemon.

"And people call me arrogant."

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Felix smiled, although he still felt conflicted. The thing is, he wasn’t sure of what to think of his Innate Curse anymore.

Sure, it seemingly blocked him from having any kind of bright future past Level 50, but it was also giving him an almost unfair edge before that. Hell, he had managed to develop an SS Rank Passive Skill, as well as a completely new Sub-Path of Magic.

And the speed at which he was learning was astonishing, to say the least.

But despite all that, Felix couldn’t help but hate it, because it went beyond the game. For his whole childhood he had been tormented by his condition, unable to attend school for the major part of his childhood because sitting still and learning for even an hour would result in severe migraines, not to mention a whole day.

Felix liked to believe he was a rather smart person, or at least, he had good mental capacities. However, that was not inner, raw talent. Instead, he had been forced to develop them by his condition.

When others had days to learn something, he had hours, if not even less, and that wasn’t simply for school. If he wanted to read a book, play a game, or simply enjoy a stroll, he always was limited in time, before his condition struck.

So he had learned. Learned to do everything fast, to force himself beyond his condition so that he could at least enjoy life a little.

And while that had partly worked, as he not only managed to increase his resistance to his fatigue, but also go all the way through University, it also had consequences.

His social life was pretty much null, as conversations were pretty much a waste of his resources. Moreover, Felix always had a short fuse, getting overwhelmed by his emotions easily. He wasn’t sure whether that one came from his condition or was innate, but it destroyed any chances he really ever had at any kind of relationship.

This had caused him to get estranged from his family, although that situation was a little more complicated. Nonetheless, for now, the only person Felix really talked to was Yasue, and that was because they lived together.

So everytime Felix thinks of his Innate Curse, the condition that had been plaguing him for the past 24 years of his life would always spring up.

That brings another mystery however, and that was how Felix had somehow started getting better since he started playing the game. Of course, within the game, his condition seemed to have completely disappeared, but he was already used to that.

However, although Felix spent less time in the real world, he still felt the effects of his condition had lessened since he started playing. It still was annoying, and he was still subject to sudden mood swings, but everything had become easier to handle, and living was a lot less agonizing than it used to be.

This gave Felix both hope and frustration, as it felt like he was getting closer to somehow curing himself from his condition, but also like his Curse would ruin everything.

That’s why, Felix felt conflicted.

Turning his way towards Lorenzo, Felix decided to change subjects, "Anyway, do you mind if I ask where you are from?"

Lorenzo smiled teasingly as he asked, "I wonder what could have brought this question. Don’t I look like a local?"

Felix smiled, but said nothing, so Lorenzo revealed, "I am from the south of Vestan. The great Kingdom of Luxtamare. I guess you’ve never heard of it."

Raising an eyebrow, Felix said, "Actually, I have. I heard they are the best mariners on the continent."

This seemed to please Lorenzo as he grinned, "That we are! If it is at sea, then even the Empire’s Fleet is inferior to us. If you ever fancy traveling to Esu, then I strongly suggest you to go to Luxtamare."

Epoch was made of three continents, or at least three were discovered: Vestan, Esu and Barbarus.

Of these three, players could only spawn on the first two, Barbarus still being unknown territory. All Felix knew about it was that it was somewhere South, and he heard rumors it was inhabited by beast-kin.

As for Vestan, it was where players from the North American, South American and Western Europe Servers spawned. As for Esu, it had the players from Eastern Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia.

With Asia having more than half of the world’s population and Africa coming in second, Esu was obviously much more populated than Vestan, in terms of players at least, and as a result was much larger than Vestan.

Felix also heard it wasn’t dominated by humans, but other races instead. For example, Ilin, the power which Vaena stemmed from, was in Esu.

Vestan was mainly inhabited by humans, although quite a few beings from other races had migrated over the years. There were no such things as a Dwarven Kingdom or an Orcish Kingdom in Vestan however. Instead, they had either formed small settlements which were tightly regulated, or integrated into human kingdoms.

At least, that’s what Felix had learned from Chris, but since the later had never even mentioned the Queen of his own Kingdom to Felix, despite her being such an important figure, Felix took it with a punch of salt.

From the same source, as well as some good old Internet, Esu was much more diverse. There was a large human population, but they were far from dominating the continent. All sorts of sentient races lived over there, and the power dynamics were very different.

Vestan only had so few powers, mainly because of the overwhelming Empire. There was the North, a whole region considered as one power, although the situation there was rather unique. Then there was Margarita and Brightsky in the West, Luxtamare in the South, and the Empire in the middle, for a total of 5 powers.

In comparison, Esu had dozens, if not hundreds of Kingdoms. And they were not necessarily smaller or weaker than the ones in Vestan, except maybe for the Empire. One such example would be Ilin.

Ilin was the Ancestral Land of the Light Elves. That did not mean it was the only power under their control, but rather that every Kingdom headed by Light Elves more or less deferred to them, with exceptions.

Actually, every race had an Ancestral Land. For humans, it simply was Vestan, although some would argue that it was only the North.

As for Barbarus, it was slightly more complicated. It was inhabited by Beast-kin, who were sentient and had their own society, but their continent had only been discovered some years back, in the Third Era. The current era, that is.

From what Felix heard, the discovery had caused quite some conflicts, but once again, he found his knowledge to be faulty.

Anyway, going back to Lorenzo’s statement, one might wonder why one would use a boat to move across continents when there existed Teleportation Arrays.

There, of course, was a reason. And that was that not every Teleportation Array was the same. They all differed in power, and only the strongest ones would be capable of carrying one all the way to another continent.

But these were mainly in the Empire, and reserved for the influential and wealthy. So for most people, they would have to tread across the dangerous Harrstórmannligr.

Yes. Harrstórmannligr.