Marellen’s eyes widened with shock. “Really?”

Then Marellen hesitated. “No, wait, that can’t be-” He stopped talking as all the others started letting out muffled laughs and then he sat back down with a scowl. “Stop messing with me. Do you guys really not know who the Aurelian Commission Head is?”

“I searched for information about them to discover their name, and I can say with certainty that I have never met them,” Roa said calmly.

Marellen looked at her. “What was their name?”

“Pardon me, but I seem to have forgotten.”

Marellen stared at Roa, trying to make sure she wasn’t fooling him again, but nothing could be read from her expression. He sighed and his shoulders slumped.

“I just- whatever then.” He sighed again. “Let’s move on to what Efratel wants to discuss with you all.”

Efratel smirked but nodded. “Well then, let me begin by stating our reason for coming to this fine establishment today.” He spread his hands. “Several weeks ago, Marellen received a private invitation to explore the recently discovered Sundown Continent plane shard of the Greater Allbright Empire plane shard.”

Efratel raised four fingers. “Including him, this invitation allows four people to investigate the Sundown Continent plane shard and retrieve artifacts from the plane. I hope for the other invitees to be you three.” He pointed at the three opposite him. “Roa, Garthe and Larena.”

They listened intently as he continued explaining, “I have been permitted to use as much as I want from the Founder’s Vault to finance this trip.” He smirked and crossed his arms. “That, of course, means paying the hiring fee for two mercenaries and outfitting you with whatever items are needed for you to have the maximum performance during this expedition.”

Garthe eagerly raised a hand, his question making Larena roll her eyes. “Do we get to keep the items after this?”

Efratel smiled cheerfully. “You may continue to use the items for as long as you are employed by the Aurelian Commission Head.”

Garthe clicked his tongue and leaned back with his arms crossed. “Stingy.”

Efratel shook his head wryly, then took out a long, rolled-up piece of paper from his dimensional item. He spread it out and placed it in the middle of the table for them to see. The others leaned forward curiously as he gestured to it.

“This here is a rough map of the Sundown Continent plane shard,” he said. “From what the Grand-mage of Earth responsible for mapping the plane shard could determine, there are five main areas where artifacts could be centralised.”

He pointed to the south of the crescent-shaped continent. “Down here is the capital city of the vassal kingdom that ruled the continent. As the location where the continent’s military force used to be the strongest, all the most powerful combat artifacts will likely be here. The competition between noble parties will also be strongest here.”

He pointed to the circle of islands to the west of the continent, situated between the tips of the crescent. “Over here is where the naval force of the Allbright Empire was stationed for strategic purposes. As another location for the continent’s military, the competition will also be fierce here. I’ve heard rumours about a descendant of the Isærnelghen Duchy planning on going over there too.”

He pointed to the east, the middle of the crescent’s curve. “Here is where the highest quantity of artifacts can be found. It’s filled with wilderness, forests, the occasional city, and small towns, so while the artifacts won’t be powerful, they will be numerous, due to the many household items turned artifacts here.” Efratel shrugged. “If you guys were exploring this plane for purely monetary reasons, then this might’ve been an option.”

He pointed to the north, the very tip of the crescent. “But here’s where you’ll be heading. Just like the All-Aeon Athenaeum, the main magic faction of the Allbright Empire was a separate body from the Imperial power. They had their facilities up here, away from the rest of the continent. Here, they studied the environment of the continent and undertook secret research.” Efratel straightened up. “In this place, you’ll also have the least danger of confrontation with other expeditionaries.”

Larena held her chin, thinking deeply. “A research facility… but if this is the case, we might retain fewer artifacts in the end…”

Efratel nodded. “The All-Aeon Athenaeum has the most interest in the artifacts in this area. They have high research and historical value, and they also wish to obtain magical records within the facility, so it’s unlikely you’ll be able to keep as many artifacts compared to if we found them in the military areas.” Then he raised an eyebrow. “But the entire purpose for coming to this plane was to study the natural magical phenomena. The artifacts were only a bonus reward.”

Then he smirked. “But I wouldn’t want you all to be taken advantage of by the Artificers, so I’ve negotiated a fixed ratio of 70% of all artifacts with research value to go to the Athenaeum, and the rest is ours. And I got the artificer responsible for selecting artifacts to put it down in writing which artifacts the Artificers want exactly.”

He held three fingers up. “The priority in this order is dimensional artifacts, syntax translation artifacts, and spell construction artifacts. Anything that falls outside of those categories can be part of your 30%, and if you find more, then some in those categories may even go to you.” Efratel shrugged. “And of course, during the expedition, you can use any of those artifacts however you wish, as long as they won’t be consumed with their use.”

He leaned forward again to point at the location again. “The research facility, from what limited information the preliminary expeditionaries could find, was set up to analyse and predict the occurrence of natural mana phenomena on the island. The information and magical records in the facility are just as important to us as any artifacts.”

“Studying natural mana phenomena…” Marellen murmured. He glanced at Efratel. “What did they call their magical arts?”

“They called themselves Mystic Channelers,” Efratel explained. “They could be likened to druids of today, who take their power from the environments around them, but the Mystic Channelers had an understanding of runes and used them to alter their environments to strengthen themselves.”

He looked down at the map again. “They could even create primitive forms of summoning circles using geomancy to come in contact with undead, spirits and demons. They were quite powerful for an Old Era form of magic practitioners. From what we know they were well-versed in cross-realm communication too.”

“Wait, are there still natives there?” Garthe suddenly asked. “I don’t know if I’m too comfortable with fighting them if they’re still on their home plane.”

Efratel shook his head. “No, there’s no native sapient race on the plane.” He moved his finger across the map to point to a blackened section between the magic facility’s location and the central east area of the crescent. “The continent suffered a catastrophic event where a wight somehow crossed into the Mystical Realm.”

The others winced. “That’s the highest tier of evil spirit,” Garthe muttered.

“As you can no doubt guess, all the souls of the people on the continent were taken back through the portal and turned into enslaved ghosts,” Efratel said with a grimace. “If it was today, the Vigils wouldn’t have let that wight past its Sector let alone Tartarus’s realm borders, but this was possibly hundreds of thousands of years ago when inter-realm transportation was an extreme rarity compared to the vast size of Tartarus.” He sighed.

Efratel shook his head to get his thoughts in order. “Anyway, the arrival of the wight released a huge quantity of death mana into this section of the land, isolating the research facility from the rest of the continent,” he explained. “As is what occurs with the blight spell, the land took on the geography of Tartarus, so now it’s a death trap crawling with haunts and spectres.”

“Hmmm…” Larena raised an eyebrow curiously. “Wouldn’t that mean it would be filled with vestiges though?”

Efratel shrugged. “Possibly. The Black Order has several members of its necromancer department going there. But they’re all Rank-4s, so you guys would probably die if that’s the strength they think is needed for there.”

“Hang on, if we’re talking about stuff like vestiges,” Garthe spoke up, “then wouldn’t there be a chance of Heretic items forming there? A research facility is the best place for Dungeons to form.”

“That would be up to you to find out,” Efratel said with a grin. “I’m not going anywhere near that plane, after all.” Then he hesitated. “If you find Heretic items though… please tell me you won’t use them…”

Garthe shook his head. “Definitely not. I’m not that stupid.” He smirked. “But they fetch a pretty good price in the black market.”

Efratel let out a slight laugh. “Yes, well, the Athenaeum doesn’t want anything to do with Heretic items, so if you can manage to keep yourself uncontaminated by monster essence then I’m sure you’ll be fine to take the profits of selling the Heretic items.”

Marellen scratched his chin. “Heretic items? Hm… I wonder how monster essence interacts with the elements…”

Efratel stared at his cousin. “No! You are not going to collect Heretic items to study!”

“Excuse me.”

They all looked up from the map when they heard the voice. Lei Liqin had returned.

The girl bowed and gestured with one hand to the five servants carrying dishes beside her. “Your dishes have arrived.”

“Thank you,” Efratel replied.

The servants walked forward to deposit the dishes on the table and one of them who was carrying a large pot releasing steam stepped up to fill all their cups. After they had finished, they retreated to the side to cater to any of their needs, while Lei Liqin sat down on a large cushion near the pavilion’s edge and brought out an elegant lute. She began playing it while they ate their meal.

Well, they tried to. Three members of the table were having difficulty with their cutlery.

“I am struggling to find a feasible method of wielding these unique tools for eating,” Roa said, holding a delicately engraved chopstick up to inspect.

Garthe shrugged and stabbed one straight down, skewering a piece of steamed fish on the end. “I dom’t shee the problem,” he said after shoving the meat into his mouth.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Larena shot her brother a flat look as he continued demonstrating the manners – or lack thereof – of an adventurer. She sighed and used the chopsticks normally to eat.

Efratel raised an eyebrow. “You know how to use them?”

She nodded. “I’ve tried some of the meals of a few of my fellow mercenaries who came from the Heavenly Realm. All of them had given up their spirit roots to wield mana instead, however, so I never learnt much about spiritual energy from them.”

“The uniqueness of the realm’s utensils is very interesting,” Marellen said, turning his ceramic soup spoon. “They design so many tools for different purposes I’ve never even thought of.” He put some soup in it and tilted it to try to watch the liquid trail down the channel of the handle before Efratel snatched it away with a scowl.

“Stop that and eat your food properly,” he scolded.

“The Mystical Realm’s cutlery is available on the table,” Lei Liqin called out with a smile.

Roa switched her chopsticks for a fork but both Efratel and Larena had to take away the chopsticks and soup spoons from Garthe and Marellen to force them to eat properly. Garthe clicked his tongue while Marellen attempted to claim the soup spoon back from his cousin.

The rest of their meal was relatively peaceful, and by the end of it, everyone had enjoyed their meal.

Efratel stood up. “So, while the fine details still need to be worked out…” He smiled at them all. “Does everyone wish to go to the Sundown Continent plane shard?”

The others traded eye contact, and then Garthe smirked. “Definitely. This sounds like the most fun I’ll ever have.”

“I won’t say no to good employment,” Larena added.

“This sounds like a highly interesting experience,” Roa said. “It would be remiss of me to pass over this opportunity.”

The rest of them looked at Marellen. Efratel raised an eyebrow at his cousin who had shrunk down to avoid the gazes. “Well then, Marellen. What do you say? Do you plan on disappointing everyone by rejecting the expedition to the Old Era plane?” Efratel smirked and crossed his arms. “This is your last chance to back out of the expedition.”

Marellen stayed silent, glancing between them all. Then he threw his hands in the air with exasperation and defeat. “Alright, fine! I’ll go! Let’s get this expedition over and done with!”

Everyone else grinned, and for the rest of the meeting, they discussed the equipment, supplies and arrangements that needed to be made.

…

-A few hours later-

A young woman appearing in her late teens calmly walked through the Mystical Paradise Lotus Teahouse, her long dress trailing behind her. In her arms was a decorated lute and her soft green qi freely floated around her. Several of the servants she passed by in the hallway stopped to bow to her but she paid them no notice.

The dark-haired girl with pink eyes began climbing a staircase and pulled out a fine key when she stopped in front of a door painted with blossom emblems. She unlocked it and walked inside, placing her lute on a stand in a little alcove. Then she turned to what appeared to be a wall with a painting hanging from it. Pressing her palms against it, the wall clicked and she slid it aside to reveal a hidden room. She stepped inside and closed the hidden door behind her.

She kneeled on the floor and withdrew a rectangular jade pendant carved with characters on the front. The young woman inserted her spiritual energy into the jade, letting the carvings glow with green light until the spiritual energy projected itself into the air.

Another woman appeared in the projection, but her face was hidden behind a white veil. Dark green eyes and lavender hair were the only identifying features about her.

“Liqin, why are you contacting me?”

Lei Liqin bowed her head respectfully. “Master. I have found several individuals connected to the person Sect Master Leng wished for us to discover more about.”

The woman in the projection fell silent, then nodded slowly. “Let me hear the details.”

“Just after noonday, three men and two women met in the East Azure Gate Pavilion of our Sect’s Mystical Paradise Lotus Teahouse,” Lei Liqin reported calmly. “The strongest individual among them, while seemed to have some level of spiritual attainment, was only Rank-3 and so I was easily able to listen to their conversations with my Rank-5 spiritual sense.”

Her master nodded. “What did you hear?”

“It seems four of the five plan to participate in the Sundown Continent plane shard’s expedition to study the phenomenon of the material realms’ ‘mana’. The fifth was responsible for organising the meeting and does not appear to have any notable combat capabilities.”

The lavender-haired woman let out a quiet hum. “The Sundown Continent plane shard… do you have any more details?”

Lei Liqin nodded. “They intend on visiting the plane’s north buildings and ruins. It seems obtaining magical artifacts is not their main goal.”

“Do you have their identities?”

“Marellen Vadel, one of two sponsored mages of the Aurelian Commission Head. He was the one who received the expedition invitation and is part of the All-Aeon Athenaeum. Roa Winteridge is the second sponsored mage, a snow-elf belonging to the Mystical Ream’s Adventurer’s Guild,” Lei Liqin reported. “Larena and Garthe Barbosas, two siblings. Larena Barbosas is a capable member of the Black Hand Mercenary Guild’s Shadow Blade Division. Garthe Barbosas has a reputation for causing trouble but so far has not shown any particularly important characteristics.”

Her master nodded. “And who is the fifth?”

“Efratel Vadel. The manager of Marellen Vadel and Roa Winteridge, who acts on behalf of the Aurelian Commission Head to relay her messages. He has no intention of going to the Old Era plane, and so once they leave to go on the expedition, contact between the Aurelian Commission Head and the party will be infrequent.”

“So if Elder Luo wishes to act, that would be the best potential time for her…” the veiled woman murmured.

Lei Liqin only lowered her head. Neither of them spoke for a while as the sounds of tapping fingers came through her master’s side. Finally, the lavender-haired woman nodded and gave Lei Liqin a dismissive wave.

“I will consider this matter before reporting to Elder Luo,” the woman said. “If that is all, you may return to your duties. Thank you for informing me of this, Liqin.”

Lei Liqin bowed her head and the projection shut off. Her jade pendant dimmed and she placed it within her sleeve. Then Lei Liqin calmly left the hidden room and returned to her duties as a host for customers of the Mystical Paradise Lotus Pavilion.

----------------------------------------

A colossal iron ship crested the waves of the Distorted Depths, unbarred by any obstacles. In the ship’s library, a strange sight could be seen.

Hands behind her head and her legs crossed, a woman with indigo-blue streaked wild black hair had her eyes closed, resting during her limited break time. In ordinary circumstances, this wouldn’t be a strange sight, however…

… she was resting on top of a bookshelf. Clearly, the luxury of a soft bed was too much for her. Still, it didn’t seem to faze her as she continued to lie there with her eyes closed, seeming for all the world completely at peace.

That was until the sound of footsteps echoed through the silent library, making her open her ice-blue eyes. She sighed and sat up to look down at the ground.

Below was the figure of a sea-green-haired young man, frowning as he looked around with his hands on his hips. She contemplated what to do before slowly standing up and walking along the top of the bookshelves with her arms spread out to help her balance.

Caspian Wharifin scratched his head. “Where is she now? For the last three times, anytime Ross asks me to get her she’s been nowhere to be found,” he said with confusion.

Adrianna kept moving slowly, trying to prevent her heavy boots from making much sound. Her attempts at remaining unseen were foiled when the boat suddenly tilted in the storm and she fell onto her face. Barely managing to stop herself from cursing, she awkwardly tried to stand back up on top of the bookshelf.

Caspian heard the sound and turned around to see her. He stared. “… Adrianna, why are you up there?”

She glanced at him for a few seconds, then ignored him as she continued walking across the top of the bookshelves.

Caspian followed her, still looking up with confusion on his face. “Of all the weird places I could find you, why are you now on top of the bookshelves? Were you doing that thing where you pretend you’re asleep again? Because you could just use your bed if that’s the case.”

She rolled her eyes and didn’t reply as she made it to the end of the shelves. She hopped down and marched off, Caspian quickening his pace to walk beside her. “Whatever your problem is, I have a message from Ross for you. He wants you-”

She turned around to stare at him, making him stop in his tracks. Then she scowled and Caspian blinked as she summoned her indigo illusion mana. Her form disappeared and he was left gazing at what appeared to be nothing.

Caspian’s eyes widened. “Did you just use your invisibility spell to run away?! Hey!”

He looked around but could see no sign of the woman. Then he heard the sound of a door open on the opposite side of the library and he turned to see Adrianna shut the door after her. He stared incredulously at the door.

“Is she avoiding me?”

…

Before a mirror, a curly-haired woman with icy eyes gazed wearily at her reflection. She rubbed her eyes tiredly and walked out of the bathroom.

She wanted coffee.

Normally her consciousnesses were merged in the mornings, so the effects of coffee on her mind impacted her Alter-Ego’s consciousness too, but due to a series of… difficult events during the End-Of-Year Banquet, she was trying to keep her soul as stable as possible. That meant she had completely separated her Alter-Ego’s consciousness from her main body’s, and had to deal with a reduced lack of clarity in her mind this last month, as the Distorted Depths Navy didn’t stock caffeinated goods among their supplies.

However, the clarity could also be due to the lack of mental constructs in her soul. Which was an issue she’d have to work on soon.

She went back to the women’s quarters and took down her Elite Officer uniform from its hook on the wall. She pulled it on over her tank top and then put on her boots. After that, she walked past the few other Officers still asleep in the room and walked out into one of the hallways of the warship.

The lack of any caffeine wasn’t the real reason why Adrianna was so tired though. That had something to do with the one in charge of all the Officers on the ship.

Still, her mood these last few days hadn’t been great, so she decided that avoiding Caspian and Ross – Specifically Ross and his complaining – was the best thing to do to keep her sanity intact.

She walked upstairs to exit onto the main deck, ignoring the light shower of rain falling from overhead. She walked up to a man with brown hair in his early thirties using a spyglass to watch the ocean horizon.

“Good morning, Officer Mawelsteff.”

The man briefly put his spyglass down to glance at her and return her greeting with a nod, then went back to watching the choppy sea. “Mornin’ Riftmire. Beautiful weather today!”

She looked up at the grey clouds. “In a normal region, I’d be saying that this weather is terrible, but looking at what we typically get in the Distorted Depths I’d have to agree with you.”

He chuckled. “Normal region? Do you mean a region with sunshine and blue sky and stuff? Those are just a myth.” He put down his spyglass to look at her. “Ross has been going on about how he needs you for something though.”

Mawelsteff raised an eyebrow when he noticed how her expression cooled slightly. “What, have you really been avoiding him?”

“Between the Commander’s night lessons for my job as Squad Leader and the verbal tirade of my Senior Officer, I haven’t been feeling up to much conversation with the man,” she replied dryly.

He smirked. “That’ll do it. Well, go tell Caspian you don’t have anything personal against him because the boy’s been thinking his future superior now hates him.”

“I doubt he believes that.”

Mawelsteff clicked his tongue. “You get my point.”

He returned to watching the horizon and she left, walking across the main deck to climb up stairs that led to the forecastle of the ship. She breathed in the sea air and watched the view for a while, looking for any signs of monsters. She spent a few minutes there before turning around and heading back down the stairs to go below deck again.

While there might be no need for combat yet, she still had her duties to perform.

Adrianna walked through two large open doors to enter the training hall, a massive room that echoed with shouts and the sounds of combat. She ignored the sparring and training Officers to head over to the side of the hall with targets and open areas for her to practice her magic.

Searching her Origin Skill, she sifted through the layers of information to find the models and blueprints for constructs. She selected a small one and condensed her spiritual energy to form a small orb of spiritual information, containing all the details, characteristics, skills, and forms of her monster. She released it into the air in front of her.

The information core was invisible and intangible for nearly everyone. Only those capable of perceiving the spiritual realm would be able to detect the sphere of spiritual energy. She released her illusion mana to swallow the orb where it sucked it up and the body of the creature snapped into place.

Adrianna held out her palm and the black swallow monster landed on it. It flew off again and she watched it circle her.

She had copied all her completed constructs and her construct designing methodology over to her second consciousness to store in her Origin Skill. It was to ensure none of the knowledge would be lost when the two consciousnesses were disconnected. However, it meant that when it came to creating new constructs, she didn’t have the processing ability of her main consciousness’s mental constructs. She needed to be careful to ensure her magical ability wasn’t impacted by the disconnected consciousnesses.

She inwardly groaned when she detected two men approaching her through her perception field. Adrianna turned around to face an annoyed-looking Ross and a weary-looking Caspian.

“I have spent way too much of my time sending Caspian to look for you only for you to be nowhere to be found,” Ross said.

She gazed wordlessly at him, then went back to manipulating the sparrow. He scowled.

“My question is why has she been avoiding us this entire time?” Caspian asked, watching her with his arms crossed.

She sighed and turned around after disintegrating her construct. “What do you want with me?”

Ross rolled his eyes. “It’s not me that wants you. It’s the Commander.”

She marginally raised an eyebrow. “The Commander? If he wanted me then why didn’t he call for me using the message item?”

Ross shrugged. “I have no clue. But he did say it wasn’t urgent and could happen any day, which is the only reason I haven’t been trying too hard to find you.” He turned around and waved for her to follow him. “Anyway, now that you’re finally responding, come with me to his office.”

She walked behind as he suddenly pointed to Caspian, who had turned to walk away. “You too, Wharifin. The Commander wanted you both.”

Caspian turned back and raised an eyebrow. “Me too?”

“Yes. Both of you. Now follow me.”

…

Ross opened the door of Commander Arkenast’s office and held it open for them. Adrianna and Caspian went inside as Ross left and shut the door, where the battle-scarred dirty-blonde-haired man behind a desk looked up and waved to them with a toothy grin.

“Well, if it isn’t my two future Dawnlight sailors! And Stanhope told me you had been missing in action these last few days, Riftmire.” He smirked. “Any particular reason why you decided today would be the day to show up?”

“I gave up trying to make up for the lack of rest I’ve had at night, Sir,” she replied dryly.

He grinned and stood up behind his desk. “Is that so? But Riftmire, there’s an important reason why I’ve been pushing you so hard recently. It’s also related to what I wanted to call you both here today.”

He pulled out a drawer of the desk and grabbed two small metal objects, one gold and one silver. Then he placed them on the desk with a clack. “Come closer, both of you.”

Adrianna and Caspian walked forward. Caspian looked at the two plaques on the desk curiously. “Captain… and… Vice-Captain…” His eyes widened. “Wait…”

“That’s right.” Commander Arkenast crossed his arms with a smirk. “Riftmire, you have shown exemplary performance this last month. When the Dawnlight sets sail in February, you’ll be instated as its Captain instead of Squad Leader.” He looked at Caspian. “And Caspian, you have shown your worth many times before today. You’ll be placed as her Vice-Captain straight away.”

The Commander placed the two nameplates into the hands of Adrianna and Caspian before walking over to a cupboard in his office. He pulled out two coats, one trimmed with gold and the other with silver, before throwing them over to them. Then the Commander took out a gold-trimmed navy blue hat and walked over to place it on Adrianna’s head.

“Congratulations, Captain Adrianna Riftmire and Vice-Captain Caspian Wharifin, on your promotions,” he said cheerily. He walked back over to his desk to sit down. “I don’t believe in wasting time when it comes to promoting people. If you’ve shown your ability, you get the spot. No delays.”

Commander Arkenast pulled out a small box from his coat pocket. “But there’s something I like to offer every one of my new Captains. A rite of passage, if you will.”

He smirked and held out the box of cigars. “Would you like to try one, Riftmire? They're a luxury brand made exclusively for the military. It’s hard to get your hands on them outside of here.” He grinned and offered the box to Caspian. “And you can have one too, if you like, Wharifin. Although, last time I offered, you told me they made you gag.”

Caspian quickly shook his head. “No thank you, sir,” he stated firmly. He looked at Adrianna. “And Adrianna, I suggest you don’t bother because those cigars are really strong.”

She gazed silently at the box for a moment, then took one. A flicker of fire mana appeared at the end of her finger and she lit the end of it. She took a draught of the cigar.

“I don’t mind it,” she said after a moment. She studied the smoking cigar. “I think… I might need these during the next few years.”

Caspian stared at her while Commander Arkenast tilted his head with a strange smile. “Riftmire, that’s not a good thing.”

She didn’t answer and he just shook his head wryly. “Well, if you do plan on making them a regular expense, be prepared to spend a lot on them. A year’s worth of these cigars is about 10% of a Captain’s annual wage.”

She had stopped using the cigars when they brought back too many memories of her time in the Navy, but…

… if all those painful times were going to play out differently, then maybe it would be fine to try them again.