"Aahh!"

Kaiden woke up after dreaming about the incident that happened more than 10 years ago.

"Kai… Are you alright?"

A sleepy voice asked after being woken up by his noise.

"Ahh… Sorry, Arial… Did I wake you up?"

Kaiden apologized as he knows that everyone was lacking some sleep. They were currently camping in the middle of a forest as they were on an extremely important mission.

They were a group of eight people who had mastered the Second Tier Ability of their Superpowers and perhaps, they are the last hope of humanity against the evil invaders.

However, they still have to live in hiding due to these powerful foreigners who called themselves Players. They were everywhere on the continent and they have to be careful in every move they make.

"That's fine… Are you sure you're alright? I can hug you if you want?" Arial teased him a bit.

Kaiden's nightmares were always haunting him and the group was already used to it.

"Haa~ What time is it? Who's scheduled in guarding duty?" Kaiden just ignored his teasing and asked in a low voice.

"It's still early… It should be Rainart and Mile's turn."

"I see…"

"Mhmm… You're no longer sleepy?"

"Yeah…" Kaiden replied.

His heart was still beating fast after having that nightmare. He's no longer in a mood to sleep.

He looked outside and saw that the moonlight shines brightly that's it's giving some light to their tent.

'It looks peaceful…' Kaiden thought after seeing the serene night.

He glanced at Arial and realized that he was similarly not planning to continue his sleep.

"Do you think we'll see the Priestess later?" Kaiden suddenly asked but he wasn't looking for an answer.

The Priestess has disappeared more than 8 years ago after the capital of Oberi Kingdom has fallen. Perhaps, no one is expecting her to still be alive except for their group that was still hoping for her return.

"It would be amazing if she's still alive at this point."

Arial replied as he clenched his fist. No one knows what he's thinking.

"I want to believe that she's the one who's giving us a hint to come here… She's the only one I can think of…" Kaiden voiced out his thoughts.

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"Well… All the clues that we got were pointing at her. But the person that we'll probably meet was her apprentice or something."

"It's fine… As long as they have the Priestess' words with them… Then, there might be hope for us."

Their group had received secret communications about a possible way to defeat the Players. However, due to the importance of this discovery, the person hid and tried to get in contact with trustworthy citizens of this land.

As Kaiden's group was probably the strongest "rebels", it was normal that they would be contacted with this kind of information.

They also did their best to confirm that this is not a trap set up by Players before they decided to meet them.

"She's the one who predicted our Awakening to contend against the Players, so she must've seen something to defeat them as well."

Arial voiced his thoughts as he agrees that the Priestess might be the one who could give them some hope in this despairing situation.

The Awakening that he was referring to was the voice that everyone would hear after reaching a certain level in Mana Cultivation.

When the invaders were still accumulating strength in the southern region of the continent, the Priestess has already warned all the neighboring countries about their imminent danger but none of them heed her advice.

She wanted them to be eliminated as quickly as possible but it didn't happen until the Invaders reach the peak of their abilities…

"We wouldn't be in this situation if they listened to the priestess and killed all the Players when they are all still weak."

"Haha… It would be great if we could turn back the time." Kaiden chuckled as he could only hope for the impossible.

Nevertheless, they were still not being abandoned by the deities.

A couple of years after the priestess disappeared, she spread a piece of information or perhaps predicted, that they would be blessed and gifted by the gods as long as they cultivate the Mana in their bodies.

No one can confirm the truth about it since she no longer appeared in the public. However, a lot of people still held with this hope including Kaiden and his group.

Mana Cultivation was unlike the Wizards who were manipulating Mana for their external convenience. It was harder but it was beneficial to their bodies.

Kaiden clearly remembers that after several months from her announcement, the voice of the deities was indeed heard by several people who attained enlightenment.

It was the Awakening…

The people of the land gained extraordinary power in this process. However, the invaders were already very strong and it was already difficult to contend against them.

"Urgh… Guys! If you will just be chatting there… Why don't you guard here instead and let me take a nap?"

Mile, the oldest man in the group, said as he opened their tent widely. He's wearing his black hooded cloak with his sword strapped on his back.

He could easily hide in the dark with his outfit. It was the perfect guise for his guarding duty.

Kaiden and Arial smiled wryly as they let the old man sleep.

Although they're calling him old man, he was only 42 years old… It's just that the other seven members of the group were 19 to 25 years old. His unkempt appearance also added to this…

They took the guarding duty and continued on their way after the sun rises.

Time has passed and the eight people arrived at the location that the person indicated for them to meet up.

They were in an extremely secluded place in the northern region of the continent… They didn't wait for long when several figures appeared in front of them...

Finally, they met the person who would bring them hope!

"It was really you…"

Kaiden smiled after seeing the unaging lady in front of their group.

The person who was secretly contacting them was indeed the Priestess.

Everyone was surprised as they greeted the beautiful lady.

Kaiden's group didn't realize that this meeting would ignite the start of their counterattack against the invaders…

This is where they managed to rekindle their hope and fight not just for their kingdom, but the rest of the world.

At last, they received the answers about the mysteries of these Players and their Awakening…

It was now time for them to correct their mistakes.