The first of Guinness’ many allies wasn’t somebody that he actively sought out, but one that he greatly treasured nonetheless.

On one lazy day, when the newly crowned king was still mulling over the cryptic vision shrouded upon him, a young man with dark complexion appeared in front of his white stone palace. The youth introduced himself as Namiir, the sixth and last in line to inherit Tailiah, the Shimmering Empire.

Guinness knew this “Tailiah'' as if it was his homeland. The famous trading hub was an ancient empire built upon a gigantic oasis in the middle of the Great Southern Desert, renowned for its bountiful supplies of gemstones and skillful craftsmen that fashioned them. But, as much as the king had heard about the land, he had never seen a Tailian noble before. Despite their ludicrous amount of riches, the upper crust of Tailiah preferred to spend their fortune within the empire’s walls, sending out merchants across all corners of Loktharma to retrieve all that the world had to offer. What business did a desert prince have that led him all the way here?

After introducing himself, Namiir began explaining his situation. It turned out that Tailiah was tethering on the brink of ruins. A mysterious affliction had plagued the Sultan, causing his skin to crack and fall off in feather-like pieces. With him temporarily removed from the throne, his older half-siblings had started plotting against each other to claim it for their own.

It wouldn’t be long until a full-on war broke out.

Namiir, however, knew of a way to stop it. And he was seeking backing.

In the years after the Stone’s first appearance, many dimensional rifts started to open up all over Loktharma. While nothing had ever forced their way out of the rifts, adventurers who were foolish enough to venture into them would find themselves attacked by strange beasts with extraordinary powers. However, if anybody managed to bring one down, they would be granted those same powers that the beasts once possessed. They were dubbed Soul Monsters, and many scholars of Loktharma theorized that with enough of them slain, humanity might ascend.

Within a network of caverns named the Spring of Rebirth existed one of those rifts, and inside it was a Soul Monster called [Phoenix], a creature capable of curing any ailment known to mankind. If the prince could somehow secure this power for himself, he would be able to rid his father of his sickness, therefore returning the throne to its rightful owner and ending the conflict. The problem was that the spring was right beneath Valheiros, and without the king's permission, nobody could enter it.

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While most of Guinness’ advisers whispered that he should kick the young prince out and wait for Tailiah to fall, the king had another perspective. He reasoned that it would take years for Tailiah to fully collapse and the world would have already suffered before that happened. Secondly, if he were to take Tailiah for himself, he would be repeating the same history that the Solodian had once inflicted upon his own people. To the delight of the young prince, the king decided to help his fellow out by accompanying him on his quest for the power of the Phoenix, because who else could navigate the caverns better than the one molded by it?

Together, they descended to the ruins of the underground colosseums, where Guinness used to wage battles for his freedom. After days of treading through an almost endless stretch of darkness and fighting what was left of the Solodian’s chimeras, the two nobles finally reached their destination. Laying splendid before their eyes was a spring of crystal clear water, so clear that they couldn’t cast their reflection on it. To summon the Phoenix, prince Namiir took out his knife and slid it across the palm of his right hand, then dipping it into the water. A rift materialized before the two.

But, before Guinness could enter it, Namiir stopped him, saying that it was his destiny alone to claim the power of the Soul Monster. Before any other word could be spoken, he jumped into the rift. The king lost track of how long his companion was inside, but when he finally returned, Guinness could sense something had changed about him. There was an aura of bright flame surrounding the prince, and his cut wound from before had been completely sealed up.

That night, Namiir revealed what had happened.

Inside of the rift was a mesmerizing world of kaleidoscopic colors, flickering in and out existence at a nauseating rate. However, much against his anticipation, he didn’t find any monsters there, but instead, only a gorgeous woman with flowing locks of golden flame for hair. Nonetheless, Namiir had a distinct belief that the woman was the Phoenix of legend.

After announcing himself and his situation, prince Namiir tried to approach the woman, but his advancement was met with a wall of raging fire. The prince did not waver, however. He knew that wall was a test. If his heart was truly pure and he seeked her out to cure his father, the flames would part as he walked past. But, if he showed even the slightest of malice, it would consume him whole.

Having presented such a predicament, Phoenix looked at him with amusement, saying that since he had effectively diluted her precious spring, turning back wasn’t an option.

Without any hesitation, the prince charged through the flames. To him, the wall of fire was nothing but a warm reconfirmation about his destiny. Unscathed, he asked the Phoenix once again to lend him her power, which she now accepted with a smile.

The rest of the legend went as expected, the prince returned to his kingdom and cured his father from the poison. Later, a vial of that same poison was found in his eldest brother’s bedroom, which promptly led to his exile to the desert. A coronation was held and the throne to Tailiah was passed down to its rightful son, who ruled it with wisdom and compassion.

As for Guinness, he gained a loyal and powerful friend, one that would be pivotal in his march against the Stone of Heaven. The bond that they forged during their time in the underground proved unbreakable, even after the two of them had passed.