A loud cracking sound woke Elise up. She tried to get up as fast as possible, but the strong gravity held her back. A strong earthquake started to shake the ground right after, and that did not help her attempt to get up. She quickly checked around while standing on her knee and saw the Traveler sitting on a rock and carelessly looking toward the source of the sound.

"What is happening?" She shouted over the continuous sound of cracking.

"The ground is unstable. It's been changing rapidly since we arrived, but this one was closer than the others. Don't worry, it shouldn't bother us that much."

"It shouldn't? Are you not sure?"

"I told you before, this place is incomplete. We can only guess what will happen. You look quite awake to me, shall we start?" The earthquake faded away as he spoke. He dropped down and approached her.

Elise nodded and got up. Her legs were still sore, but it was not as painful as before. The Traveler stood in front of her and inspected her for a while. Normally she would be disturbed if someone was looking at her like that, but the Traveler's gaze was not carrying any ill intentions. She stood straight and waited for him to finish.

"Don’t take your armor off. You should eat some before we start. I have things to explain to you while we eat." He moved towards a middle-sized rock. He took a breath in front of it and punched the rock. Elise watched him with curiosity, it was a gentle punch and looked like it did nothing to the rock.

He put his hand on it and pushed gently. The rock crumbled into dust, but three shapes had formed from it. They looked like two chairs and one table. Elise looked at the three-piece set with an open mouth.

"Just... How?"

"Oh, come on. You saw me doing weirder things. Come and sit, I should have some nice food around here." He searched inside his layers of clothing and brought out different kinds of food from there. "Eat first, then we'll talk."

The food was delicious, but the Traveler only ate little pieces from each one of them. Some of the food was familiar to Elise, but they had different flavors mixed with them. She recognized the rice and chicken, but the others were completely new tastes to her. The strange noodle soup was especially delicious. That got her curious.

"Where are these coming from? They are so delicious,” she asked with a full mouth.

"I'm collecting them as I travel. They are unique flavors that you can't find in any other realm. It is one of my hobbies."

"So that's why you protected Mama Millio's tavern, for the pumpkin pie. Why don't you eat them though." The food was fresh and hot like he made them on the spot. He must be quite a cook, Elise thought.

"I don't really need food; I just like to taste it. I am quite a foody you know. I just wish I knew how to cook." That statement shocked Elise. He has been traveling since God knows when, but he can't cook. That did not make any sense to her.

He saw her expression and chuckled. "Is it that shocking? Whenever I try to cook something, it goes wrong. I am just not talented enough for it, I guess." He was staring at the horizon with pensive eyes while talking. Elise never thought he was a small-talk type of person. Even the best of us had something they lacked, she thought.

She ate the rest of the food in silence. It was a tasty and filling meal, maybe the best she had had since she left home. The containers of the food had different kinds of designs. Some were metal, some were paper, and some were the same material as the water bottle, he had given her before. The Traveler swung his hand on top of them, and they disappeared without a trace.

"Okay then, tell me. What do you know about your realm's 'magic' system?"

It was an unexpected question. "I read some of my father's books for basics, but it was not my thing, I guess," Elise answered. "I can levitate small objects and start a small fire in my palm. Just some basic incantations."

"Good. It will be easier to teach that way." He pointed one of his fingers up, and a dark veil formed on top of them, severing their connection from outside. A point of light appeared from that absolute darkness, and it started to shape as the Traveler spoke.

"Magic is a form of use of 'mana', as they call it in your realm. More commonly known as 'Energy'." The fluent shape of light started to diffuse all over the place. "Everything is a product of this Energy. No one knows where it came from, it was here before the 'Gods', and it will be till the end."

"Wait! Aren't the Gods who created everything, including that mana, I mean 'Energy'?" That was what the Church of Lynia in her home country told the people since their existence.

"People usually want to believe that. That their almighty creator created everything alongside them. They are partly right though, almost all materials are created by 'Gods'. But the 'Gods' themself are quite the opposite." The diffused light started to get more condensed in certain places and formed brighter clusters. "Energy that was aimlessly roaming before formed its own consciousness."

"The Gods?" This new knowledge was a bit hard to believe for Elise. It was not like the teachings of the Church in her region. Since her childhood, she thought the Gods were almighty beings that existed since the beginning of time. Everything was under the control of the six supreme Gods and Goddesses. They created and looked over everything so, everyone should be grateful to them.

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"The 'First' Gods. Their consciousness was not the same as ours, of course, it was more primordial. But they changed as they interacted with more Energy and of course each other. Some fought, and some cooperated. Some even fused with others or divided themselves." The light clusters moved as he described, creating a colorful dance of chaos. "And eventually, something happened that changed their whole dynamics."

He stopped his sentence with a dramatic tone like he was telling a bonfire story. He looked at Elise like he was expecting something from her. She was captivated by the story and the light show she couldn't answer at first.

"Did they find balance?" She said the first reasonable thing that came to her mind. And got the reaction she least expected. The Traveler burst out laughing. But he got himself together quickly.

"Sorry for that." He said while wiping his joyful tears with his fingers.

"Was my answer that funny?" For Elise, her reaction was maybe not well thought but a reasonable one.

"You'll understand when we encounter some of them."

"We will what now?"

"Don't bother yourself with that." He dodged the question with a hand gesture. "They did definitely not get balanced." He said while trying to hold his laugh in. "They got bored. Some of them stopped their meaningless dance and got themselves a new subject to play with." Some of the light clusters separated from the others and started to change their form. "They used their energy to create things."

This new knowledge filled her head with more questions. "So, you are saying that everything is created from the Energy, and we can control it to do Magic." The endless possibilities of this thought were enough for her to get excited.

"Exactly, but to sense or control the Energy you need to be either created that way or adapt to it. There is no one way to use it, I saw some similar methods here and there, but they are mostly different." The lights changed into different colored orbs and started to turn around them. "Some named it Aura, Ki, Curse... etcetera. Energy can manifest in different forms and can be used with different techniques."

"So, are you going to teach me those?" She didn't have any interest in these kinds of things but the way the Traveler explained them triggered her hunger for learning.

"Of course not. Those techniques are lacking in a lot of areas. They have some good points here and there, but it is not worth learning the whole thing for them." The orbs flew towards the middle of them and got smaller as they came together. "I am not saying they are useless, don't get me wrong. You can fuse them in your own technique by learning them, and I am gonna teach you the technique I created."

Even the thought of learning something that amazing from a real master ramped up her excitement even more. But an important question popped into her head. "So, what will the test be about? Are you going to test me after you teach me that technique?"

He made a little gesture with his hand like he was trying to get rid of something in the air. "Glad you asked that. I'll not gonna test you after, I'm gonna test how well you can learn my teachings." The dark veil and the light orb disappeared. "Shall we start?"

He stood up and Elise followed him after with a sparkling pair of eyes. Her excitement almost made her forget the gravity difference in this place, but as she stood up the weight of her armor fell on her again. It was not as bad as before, but it still limited her movements.

"I see you are getting used to the gravity here. Good. Keep the armor on but give me your sword and bags."

Elise gave him the bags she carried and kept close since the start of her journey. The bags had everything she needed for a comfortable trip. They were expendable. But her sword was a different story. It was her father's gift and her only companion since her childhood. She always kept it close even if she took it out of her belt. It even had a name. Steel Freedom, she was calling it. She looked at the demanding hand of the Traveler, he had already put her bags into his back. She hesitated.

"You'll not need it as you train here with me. I'll give it to you when we start training with a sword. Don't worry, I'll keep it close." His caring tone softened her a bit. She knew she needed to follow his words to achieve greater heights and eventually, she halfheartedly gave her sword in its scabbard to him. What could have happened, right?

"Now, do you see that tall mountain over there?" He pointed out the pointy volcano seen on the horizon. It was filled with cracks and those cracks were glowing with an ominous light. Its peak was smoking continuously. "We will go there."

"What are we going to do there?" That place seemed a little too unpleasant for her tastes.

"It is the highest peak here. We will have a quick look around." He put Elise's sword on his shoulder and started to walk a bit faster than normal. "Try to keep up with me."

"Weren't you going to teach me about Energy? Why are we moving again?"

"That mountain has a high Energy output. It will be easier to sense but harder for you to control the Energy there. Perfect for learning." He looked back and smiled as he walked. "And we need to work on that skinny body of yours on the way. Higher Energy circulation inside the body demands a stronger vessel. Now stop whining and keep moving your body."

Elise didn't say a word after that, and the road to hell started for her.