[The year 1250, Imperial Calendar of Samar]

The Emperor pinched the bridge of his nose out of frustration, this is the sixth expedition to the ninth continent. Every kingdom and empire has been trying to reach the Golden Goose, the ninth continent.

The nobles invested a large amount just to get a piece of the ninth continent. And those sly hogs made him lead the expedition, placing the burden on the imperial family and removing them from any blame.

The Emperor, Cassius, clicked his tongue. Thankfully, the magic tower and the church are cooperating even if reluctantly.

The two had been at each other's throats for as long as he can remember. However, when the gods gave the oracle, every church stated interest in the ninth continent.

That view changed, and now every magic tower and church resembled each other. Cassius was sure it was because of the new ingredients they'd encounter on the new continent or probably to gain rights to every dungeon.

Whatever it is, the development was useful to him. Those mages had their forces to enchant the ships and create weapons against those vile monsters that roamed the sea.

Their enchantments also help with the weather of the seas surrounding the continent. During the last expedition they knew little, but they did know how dangerous the seas of the ninth continent were.

The expedition was an eye-opener, large sea monsters, abrupt weather, sea anomalies. A lot of those ships vanished, eaten by the sea.

“Now that has lessened… but…”

Cassius looked at a report with a furrowed brow, ‘a mysterious monster ate a ship whole’, it says. The newest ships are by no means normal ships; if Cassius turned those ships into warships, then he could've conquered every kingdom and Empire with shores.

But somehow, a monster ate that ship? The ninth continent is becoming more trouble than it is worth, that was his assessment.

He was so tempted to just stop this madness, but aside from the nobles, The Holy Nation also invested in those ships, pushing the responsibility upon him to lead them to the ninth continent.

“This better be worth it…”

Cassius soon stamped the paper with his seal. He had to make sure this went through; after all, he, as the Emperor and a father, had the duty to pave the way for the succession of his son.

Denying what the nobles, mages and the church wanted would quickly shake his position.

***

[Hadro]

Three years were all it took to finally know what I had done wrong and the ways I could fix it.

Imagine this. Why have geniuses been popping up more frequently back on Earth since the inception of Rome? The people who governed and provided many changes and discoveries that were still used till the common era?

Simple really, they had time in their hands and their philosophy. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle's schools of thought have been repeatedly mentioned without letting students comprehend.

At some point, the 21st century just became one giant quiz of enumeration of information. Not comprehension, I blame the Prussian form of education for this, and the rest of the world for following it.

That's why right now, I am going to push for the Academy that Kavo, Shaka and Mari wanted to push forward.

Education must be treated as a delicate process, not a business. With my innate mind, I could think and process information a thousand times faster than mortals.

At this point, my thought process and motivation is to make sure that the ninth continent, every inch of it, falls to my followers for the sole reason that I don't want anyone from the other continents to lay claim to it as nations of Earth did back to Antarctica.

And I could only notch that up to the advancement of technology, ideology and philosophy of my followers. Though I wanted to condemn the Drakins smoking marijuana I decided not to.

It is their culture, removing it from their social activities removes a part of their identity, the tribes and themselves.

My eyes soon were set on Armin, who was reading Odigosgraphy at a leisurely pace; this man is one of my very faithful followers.

Elves of the ninth continent had always thought of themselves as sinners before I arrived. They had always believed they came from the lineage of sinners who did atrocities that made the gods they used to worship abandon them.

Not that I blame them, learning from their records, their ancestors, whom I speculated lived from a hundred thousand years ago, did something very bad, ranging from slavery to sacrificial rituals of no purpose.

Anyways, Armin was done reading Odigosgraphy and laid down the book on a table. He stretched and grabbed the book again to lay it down on a nearby shelf before going to bed.

I wanted to have a chat with this man for a while. I had no plans of making a church for myself, but I did want to have the same essence of a church.

It may not look like it, but the state of Eldoria right now is melded with its religion. This stemmed from me; therefore, it should steer in the direction where fanaticism wouldn't root.

In a way, Theology is going to be a main subject. This is why I fully support the Academy the trio wanted.

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Once Armin fell asleep, I immediately pulled his soul to me. It was easy since he is my follower and he is spiritually connected to me.

“Hello, Armin.”

“H-Hadro?” My name rolled off Armin's tongue.

I could feel Armin was confused, befuddled and curious about his situation, but once he saw me, I saw how much veneration he held for me, and he started crying, feeling how much of an honour it is to meet with me.

“I-I, your loyal servant, is delighted to meet you like this!” Armin struggled to keep himself straight, he was shaking. He felt very happy to see his Patron God.

“Enough of that Armin, I'm here to speak with you. I don't want you to be a boot licker every time you're here with me.”

Whilst I wanted Armin to look at me on equal grounds, that would just be impossible and a bad example. I'm not the only god up here and certainly, most gods are egotistical.

And truthfully, I'm no different.

“Armin, I have a great goal. You could already see that. So won't you listen to what I say?”

“Of course! Anything for our Patron God!” Armin spoke with fiery eyes, I could tell it was fanaticism.

At that moment, I slapped Armin, his head tilted with force and he stared blankly with wide eyes and in confusion. He looked back at me, his words coming out slurring with befuddlement.

“Armin, as someone who valued their history, you know fanaticism isn't good,” I spoke solemnly.

“I a-apologize, I-I didn't mean to appear that way to you,” Armin spoke with shame.

“Don't worry, let's push that aside. I'm glad that you are eager to meet me and my tasks, but please don't lose yourself over it.”

Armin nodded, composing himself better. “What would you assign to me? My lord.”

Hadro raised a brow but didn't comment on it. Instead, he decided to get to the point.

“In every society, there's a law. Armin, you know where this conversation is going to go aren't you?”

Armin nodded; the mention of the law meant that he would have to assist in its make-up, while there were no written rules in Eldoria aside from unwritten rules and Hadro’s tenets.

“No man is perfect, therefore no man could judge the other. This will be the use of Law, the basis to judge a mortal fairly.”

“I see, is it upon my role to take the laws you made?”

“No, you will have to create it. I have already made my own, which is those six tenets. What I will do, however, is to guide you to laws to institute.”

“May I ask? May I ask why laws, exactly?” I lifted a brow, and Armin clarified, “You can just give us laws, and we’ll follow them; why is there a need for us to write our own.”

“Armin, a mortal's law is for mortals, my law is those tenets. I no longer have any more laws to bestow upon my followers, your people. I have already given the laws they shall follow in my name, these laws that I ask of you are the laws they follow in the name of Eldoria.”

Armin supported his chin with his finger, his eyes remained thoughtful as he digested my words. Finally, he looked at me.

“How do I start?”

***

[Rei]

Rei was soon called to service, he had to defend a supply anchor near the lake, where Arkum took down a large serpent. He rode a carriage pulled by Ikkins; once they moved out of the woods, Rei was in awe and disbelief.

Right where they were, he could already see the enormous serpent. Its enormous visage demanded awe from those who could not imagine defeating such a creature but it also invoked respect and worship to whoever defeated it.

“Gramps… defeated that?”

It was unbelievable how far Arkum had become. Could he even reach that far? Rei involuntarily clenched his fist, despite him and Arkum being worlds apart, he couldn't help but feel competitive.

Rei believed himself only quite young, he knew he could do more if he pushed himself, for his people, to prove himself to his parents, to make them proud.

The supply carriage soon halted and Rei held the reins of the Ikkin he rides. They had arrived at their destination; Rei noted that multiple initiates were creating walls with the wood from nearby trees and making tents within.

Rei identified the nearby commander's tent, and he went in to announce his arrival. Even though announcing one’s arrival is usually the Captain or Officer’s job.

Rei is a special case, as the son of Lazarus, their God's son. He has become of special importance, despite being an initiate, he had the influence of an Officer.

“Initiate Rei, reporting for duty.”

“Ah, Initiate Rei. We've been waiting for you.” Who greeted Rei was Officer Khalid who was smiling as he received Rei. “Alvon Arkum has a job for you.”

Rei blinked in a daze. “For me?”

“Yes, Alvon Arkum had been unable to go forward; the northern parts of the continent seem to be filled with extreme weather and intense exposure to the sun. The monsters there had tough exteriors, and he needs you to clear a way for us.”

“I see.” Rei nodded. “Though, is it only me?”

“Quite, out of all he teaches, you are the only one who could rival the power of his spear.”

Rei clenched his fist; he knew that Khalid was only reciting his assessment from the Alvons. But truthfully that made him swell with pride.

“The other one who’s going with you would be me.”

“I understand, when do we embark?”

“Tomorrow, for now. Rest and Ask for objectives around the Anchor.” Khalid waved dismissively.

“Understood, Officer!” Rei saluted before walking out.

***

[Lazarus]

After his assignment over the [Scorn] Dungeon, he steeled his nerves. Undoubtedly, he could die if he made a mistake inside; the big problem, too, is that he had to lead a team.

A dungeon is unpredictable solely because Hadro could not explore it. Which gives them a big disadvantage in scouting. Not that Lazarus will make Hadro scout; he knew his father would do it, but that would be undignified of his stature.

Lazarus looked behind him for a headcount. Three Spearmen, two mages two physicians, and two physicians are there to inspect possible materials to use for medicinal purposes.

After he confirmed the party, he called them all, “Time to embark! Make sure not to stray!”

Actions of affirmation were given and Lazarus turned around to enter the confirmed entrance of the dungeon. It looked like a giant rabbit hole that they needed to enter.

Once they went down the steep entryway, one of the mages provided light with a source of fire. Lazarus could see just fine in the dark but not the others.

“This place seems so tame, I wish I saw how the time of Strife looked like.” One of their spearmen, Khalil spoke.

“Don't, I heard there were giant bugs then.” one of the mages, Safir, responded in disgust.

“Focus,” Lazarus said sternly.

The two chatting looked forward, seemingly ashamed to be caught talking. Lazarus looked forward, holding his spear with keen attention.

Once they got deep enough, they were surprised by fork after fork on the road and most of the time, the monsters they caught were rodents such as [Scorn mole], [Scorn Rat], or [Scorn Snake], which is the first they have encountered.

However, there was a clear difference when they killed monsters on the surface against those inside a dungeon.

“This one had mana stone too.” one of the physicians announced as she opened up one of the monsters.

“How many does that make, Kirian?” one of the physicians spoke.

“7th, which is all of them.” A reply came from Kirian.

Lazarus couldn't help but think of it as amazing. One thing Lazarus learned from the magicology of the elves is that mana stones are a 'battery’ that contains mana.

The best part about them is that they sometimes contained attuned mana, fire mana or water mana. Which mages usually use to fuel spells or enchantments.

Other than that, Lazarus knew nothing. However, by the giddy looks of the mages he has in his party, it is a good thing. After all, ever since the mages were introduced in the village, the village did whatever it could to provide for their research.

Since then, once in a while, when they found a groundbreaking discovery in magical terms, they would share it with the village, naming it the “Hadro's Honor”, which isn't denied by his father.

“Collect samples so we could leave. Mage Safir, I hope our location is recorded.”

“Always,” Safir answered confidently.

“Alright, we have more time to explore. Let's get going.”

Once the decision was made Lazarus and his party continued forward. Soon, however, they were shocked by the scene they saw.

Large dense forest with trees that twist unnaturally, a forest with leaves so unique it felt like it was someone's drawing, flowers with unique petals and colours. It was an underground ecosystem.

Lazarus couldn't help but look with awe; there were gems attached to the ceiling, which were filled with vines, glowing bright enough for them to see the whole underground without a need for light.

“W-what? This is a dungeon?” The physician, Figor, muttered.

Lazarus couldn't help but agree with the way Figor was befuddled. How could an underground ecosystem exist with its unique fauna?

“The amount we could research! T-The amount!” Yuma, the mage, strained to speak.

“Don't be too focused on the surroundings! There are still monsters here!” Lazarus admonished them, breaking them off from their stupor.

The party soon regained sense but Lazarus could still see some of their eyes wandering off to admire a plant or a tree. They have yet to encounter a monster that could be a threat to them and Lazarus is not eager to find out what.

“Okay, let's secure the entry to the dungeon. I guess it's best if we secure this tunnel for future incursions. Start marking the trees.”

The spearmen get to their job, marking trees and mages, adding their signature mana upon the mark to make them stand out; upon finishing their task, the party went forward, two spearmen at the front and two at the rear.

“Oh, I can't wait to study this.” Safir couldn't help but mutter with a grin.

“Same,” quipped Yuma. “They're so different from the surface,” Yuma spoke with a squeal.

Lazarus didn't admonish them; they were near the exit of the dungeon, where they entered that the only ones who needed to focus the most were him and his fellow spearmen.

Once they reached the exit, they went to the encampment nearby. Lazarus wrote his report before giving it to the nearby Officer.

“How's the Dungeon dive?” The officer asked in excitement.

“Want to hear my opinion?”

“Sure.”

“If my guess is right, we can make a settlement within the dungeon.”

“What would that mean for us?” The Officer asked curiously.

“It means we could get magical supplies consistently, and it would mean we could defend an overload much better.”

The Officer contemplated the depth of Lazarus’s opinion and found it fascinating. “I will relay today's report immediately.”

Lazarus nodded, saluted then left.

***

A/N: Sorry for the late chapter, I honestly forgot which direction I'm going to take because I didn't write it down xd