“You want to go where?”

“You heard me. The Ahriman Isles is a small island chain that is only a short sail from here. It’s off-limits to the public, but I figure if I have you with me, and perhaps if you can call in a favor with your girl-”

“I heard you, but why?” I asked, my voice filled with exasperation. “It’s not exactly a tourist spot, for heaven’s sake. It’s off limits because it’s a highly dangerous location.”

“Yes, but it’s also a historical site few have ever gotten permission to visit.”

I frowned, staring at Veronika, who crossed her arms at me.

“Or did you not want any advice for being a teacher.”

Damnit.

My resolve faltered as Veronika brought out her ace in the hole.

“Fine, we were going to go out sailing anyway, so we may as well see how she feels about it. But I make no promises. It’s ultimately her decision.”

Veronika smiled at me, smug with her victory, but I kept my composure.

After all, what were the chances Scyla would give up on our… ‘date’ to visit a dangerous island?

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

“Sounds great. I’m in!”

I stared at Scyla in disbelief.

“Say that again?”

“You heard me. That sounds much more exciting than just going for a casual sail around the coastal waters. I know the island chain as well. We’ve got pretty good winds today, so we should be able to make it in only two or so hours of sailing.”

Gods, why have you forsaken me?

“Go fetch your mentor. I’ll have a cab take you back and bring you to the docks. Time’s a-wasting, so we can’t spend too much dallying. I’ll head to the docks ahead of you and have the boat readied by the time you two get there.”

“W-why?” I questioned again, reeling that she had found the idea not just acceptable, but outright enticing.

“My life is spent making small talk and pleasantries, backroom deals, and off-the-cuff information brokerage. I don’t live an adventurous life. For all my wealth, my connections, everything, I don’t do much of anything for that matter. You’re the one who has gotten to live a life of excitement.” She poked a finger hard into my chest as she spoke as if for further emphasis. “Plus, perhaps I want to get a chance to meet this mystery benefactor who was responsible for you becoming an adventurer in the first place.”

“I’m surprised you don’t already know anything there is to know about her.”

“Please, I’m only human; I only have so much time in my day. You think I’m going to waste my time and resources and those of my people investigating every single person under the sun?”

“Fair enough.”

“Good, then, if you understand, off with you.” Scyla waved me off, gesturing me out of her study. “Time’s a-ticking.”

And just like that, I was quickly escorted from the study by one of her aids, and before long, I found myself standing out on the street, staring up at the sky overhead.

“Damnit.”

Besides the generic information, I wasn’t sure what to expect of the Ahriman Isles. It was closed off from the public, dangerous enough that it was considered a class A location within the adventurers guild. It was a scale that ranged from C to EX. C-rank sites were locations with little to no immediate dangers. B was considered hostile but manageable by silver-rank adventurers. A-rank sites were admission only; only those with permission from the guild were allowed to enter the grounds. Entry, in this case, was only granted to those of gold rank on a case-by-case basis, with higher grades able to obtain admission by simply making an advance request.

Technically we shouldn’t have been able to get such admission to the island chain. Still, given Scyla’s connections, I had zero doubt she could have it readied by the time I reached the docks.

Finally, there were EX-grade sites. Or, commonly referred ‘Abyssal holes’ or just ‘holes’ in short. The nickname came from the fact that they were like information holes. Nearly all who tempted fate by trying their luck exploring them never returned. Haerasong was home to three such EX-grade sites. I had seen one such location but never actually traversed it myself, the inner Helena mountains. Even the outer ring of much shorter mountains that repelled most from ever getting too close was rated at a relatively high B grade.

While the Ahriman isles were no Abyss Hole, an A-grade site was still asking for trouble.

So why do they feel the need to go so badly? I’ll never understand.

Letting out a sigh, I noticed a small cab pulling up alongside the road, pulled by an ox-looking creature, a cattlopas. When I was young, the first time I’d seen one, it had scared me half to death but having spent years living in the larger cities now, they were a relatively common sight.

It must be for me.

I quickly made my way over, waving at the man directing the beast of burden. The man glanced from me to the grandiose house behind me before nodding to the back of the cab as I quickly embarked.

“The lodge, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Good, then we’re all set.” The man yawned before giving the reigns a quick snap, the beast of burden quickly taking off at a deceptively brisk trot.

Gods, I just wanted a peaceful afternoon.

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

“So, you must be the mentor Rook has talked about? He told me that it’s all because of you that he was able to become an adventurer as quickly as he did.”

“Oh, he’s talked about me now, has he?” Veronika glanced at me, raising an eyebrow as I gave her a simple shrug. “As for you, you’d be- ”

“Scyla.” Scyla offered Veronika her hand, her smile shining brightly and cheerfully as they shook hands.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Scyla,” Veronika said with a quick nod.

“Oh no, the pleasure is mine. Now, if you follow me, I’ll show you our esteemed vessel.”

Following behind Scyla, we made our way down the dock, trailing several steps behind, given the relative lack of space. As we walked, Veronika appeared to glance forward as if checking for something before leaning in close and whispering under her breath.

“She’s quite the looker, isn’t she?”

I stared at Veronika before glancing forward at Scyla, before turning to look back at Veronika, who was wagging her eyebrows at me.

“What?” I whispered harshly under my breath.

“You heard me, don’t play dumb,” Veronika whispered back.

“I, wait, uh, -”

“I can hear you two, you know that?” Scyla suddenly announced. I could almost hear the smirk in her words as she spoke them.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said, crossing my arms.

“Uh-huh.” Scyla laughed, and I saw Veronika rolling her eyes at me from the corner of my eye.

“Either way, we’re here.”

“Uh, Scyla?”

“Yes?” She asked.

“Didn’t you say your boat was, well, a boat?”

“Yes, and?”

“That’s an entire ship,” I said flatly, staring at the vessel before my eyes.

“A boat is a boat. Stop being pedantic.” Scyla rolled her shoulders for a moment.

“Where’s the crew?” Veronika finally spoke, staring at the ship with some concern.

Oh right. I don’t see anybody.

“About that.” Scyla turned around, beaming at us. “It’s unmanned.’

“What?” Veronika and I said in unison.

“Watch this.”

Raising her hand for us to see, she snapped her fingers. From one of her rings adorning her fingers, I felt a momentary swell of mana, like a spark igniting a greater bonfire.

Except in this case, the bonfire was the entire ship.

And no, I don’t mean it literally set on fire.

From throughout the ship, I felt bursts of mana resonating with the mana of her ring as suddenly the sails began to unfurl themselves, and many other tasks that usually required an entire crew began to sort themselves out. In the case of things that needed direct interference from a pair of hands, I saw what appeared to be constructs of terracotta and steel wire rise into vaguely humanoid shapes, handling the task before neatly folding in on themselves again in tight packages.

“What is that?” Veronika gasped as she watched the sight of the ship readying itself unfold before her very eyes.

“Why don’t you answer that, Professor?” Scyla said as she batted her eyes at me.

“You know, it’s not like I understand every single piece of magic that moment it happens in front of me,” I said, crossing my arms as I did. “But, if I had to warrant a guess, probably a rather ingeniously interplay of equative magic.”

“Equative magic?” Veronika raised an eyebrow at me. “Never heard of that one.”

“Actually, you have,” I said with a smile. “Do you remember the town of Enudtstrif?”

“Yeah, what about it?” Veronika answered.

“The Desiccation Dome. The thing that killed all those giant ants?” Just talking about it, it was as if I could perfectly recall the rancid smell of their corpses. “You were the one who told me back then it was a system of multi-layered spells all working together. That’s equative magic, taking a bunch of smaller spells, overlaying them in a way that they work together like an equation coming together to spit out a final number, or in this case, a ship that is self-running.”

I turned to look at Scyla, pointing at my own raised hand. “How many points do I get?”

“A perfect ten out of ten.” Scyla laughed. “It was my idea. It’s not exactly mass-producible, the ship requires several large data crystals imbued with mana to operate, and it’s not entirely efficient.”

“You’re telling me,” I said with a whistle, mentally tracking the mana flow around the ship. “That’s, what, four nizeium grade data crystals? Each one would take a team of gold-level adventurers two months to fill up.”

“Six crystals. Two are back up, so they’re dormant right now, probably why you didn’t sense them immediately.”

“How?” I raised an eyebrow at her. “That’s a, to be academic about it, a shit ton of mana.”

“Well, there happens to be a certain dungeon that can charge data crystals with mana simply by leaving them within its premise. Still takes crystals of this grade roughly a month to fill entirely. Still, it’s effectively free, aside from the cost of the initial crystal and the crew transporting and guarding them.”

“Well, nice to see the dungeon being useful,” I muttered before another thought hit me. “Wait, but if that’s the case, once it runs out of charge, isn’t your ship basically harbor locked?”

“Not at all, we have several crystals in storage, and we also have a rotation that, when drained, gets sent back.”

“Holy…” I felt my eyes bulging. “Just how many of these crystals do you have?”

“Well, to be exact, dedicated for this ship would be eighteen. Six on the ship, six in storage, and six within our compound in the dungeon.”

“Lords and Gods above.” I let out a low whistle as I let the statement settle. “Even a gold-grade data crystal can go for upward to two or three nizeium coins. For eighteen nizeium-grade data crystals….”

“You’re looking at perhaps the most expensive craft in the world.” Scyla beamed as I felt my heart flutter.

She’s insane!

“Don’t worry, though. It’s not just a personal leisure craft.” Scyla said as if sensing my thoughts. “It’s a proof of concept, a state-of-the-art sea vessel. It’s loaded with cutting-edge magical technology and physical technology. This bad boy has automatic cannon fire that can reduce an adolescent leviathan to sea foam before it ever lays a single scaly fin on us.”

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“Leviathans don’t have scales.” Veronika perked up as she pointed out the obvious.

“Oh, well, not the point,” Scyla said with a shake of her head.

“How would it fare against an adult leviathan?”

“About as well as using a bow against a mountain, but then, isn’t that how practically anything would fare against an adult leviathan?”

Scyla was scowling at me for raining on her parade, but I was too busy examining the ship some more. Squinting, I could faintly make out where the sides would pull back, hidden paneling that likely contained automatically firing cannons behind them.

Damn. It really is impressive now that I look more closely.

The wood had been treated with some sort of gloss, and walking up to the craft, I gave it a single knock with the back of my hand. The instant I did, a soft ringing chimed out like a rung bell.

“What is that?” I questioned, turning to face Scyla once more.

“It’s treated with a thin layer of mana-tempered silver, thin enough that it has the special property of self-healing damage it receives by using the mana stored within the crystals.”

“Mana-tempered silver can do that?”

“Oh, something the professor doesn’t know?”

“Magic professor, not metallurgy.” I countered.

“Well, to answer your question, it only works in small amounts, so it has to be no more than a paper-thin coating. Otherwise, it would be nothing more than an expensive layer of gloss paint.”

“Interesting,” Veronika spoke up, her fingers drifting across the boat’s hull. “So, this is one incredibly advanced warship you have masquerading as nothing more than a civilian craft. Why?”

“As I said, it was my idea.” Scyla jerked a thumb to point at the boat. “A proof of concept. Build it and outfit it ourselves; it gives us a bit of… leverage if you will.”

“You’re creating a paramilitary force,” I stated.

“Not quite.” Scyla shook her head. “I won’t deny we have… some forces under us, but this fulfills the role of further protecting our interests. Pirates are an issue, as well as opening a potential economic avenue as governments and kingdoms decide they like the proposed blueprints.”

“And why don’t they just… build them themselves?”

“Because one, the magic formula that went into creating the automatic operation spell that runs the ship is something only I know. Maybe a certain magic professor could crack it, given time, but it’s been a pet project of mine for some time now. Second, the required mana crystals aren’t readily available.”

“Because they’re rare?” Veronika questioned.

“That, and because we’ve largely cornered the market on such crystals.” Scyla grinned with predatory delight.

“Wasn’t your family only in the information business?”

“Times change. With the advent of my grandfather’s imminent passing, the head hopefuls have all been looking to set themselves apart, expand familial power in an effort to earn the head spot.”

“And this is your bid for it?”

“Well, it’s one part of my bid, yes.”

I could only stare at Scyla in a mix between amazement and concern. I often forgot that Scyla had a life that I was entirely detached from, that I knew next to nothing about, a wholly alien world to the likes of someone such as myself.

The fact that she could consider and maneuver through such a world amazed me just as much as it put me on edge, reminding me that Scyla, for all the good things about her, was still a wild force of unpredictability, looking for any chance to gain an edge in the pursuit of her goals.

The question is, how far would she be willing to go for those goals?

I shook my head, dismissing the thoughts as Scyla gestured us toward where a gangplank dropped down.

“Alright, if you want to keep discussing the ship, we can do so aboard it; otherwise, we’re wasting delight hours.”

I glanced at Veronika, who shrugged before happily crossing the gangplank and embarking on the ship.

Never a dull minute.

With a heavy sigh, my feet moved forward as I crossed the gangplank aboard the ship with a price tag that would probably give me a heart attack had I known it.

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

Here is the thing about boat rides.

They’re boring.

Sure, it’s novel at first, and witnessing the sea glide past you is impressive, but after an hour of nothing but water, it quickly turns dull.

I sighed, pushing myself away from the railing around the ship’s deck, tired of staring out at the horizon. Looking to track down Scyla, who last I’d seen her was deep in discussion with Veronika about… well, something, I made it a point to not eavesdrop; I quickly set out, eyes searching.

“Scyla? Veronika?” I shouted, walking about the deck and making my way toward the captain’s cabin. “Are you guys still-”

Midsentence, the door burst open as Scyla appeared. That itself wasn’t altogether strange, but what was, was the fact that she was frantically waving her arms about.

“What?” I called out, my voice noticeably causing her to flinch.

“Shut up, you idiot!” Scyla finally called back before slamming a hand over her mouth as if she hadn’t meant to shout.

Well, that’s not strange.

Jogging over to where she stood and up several stairs, Scyla waited until I was next to her to lean close, whispering as if trying not to be overheard.

“Follow me.”

Grabbing my wrist, she began to drag me down the stairs, pulling me toward the other side of the boat from where I’d been staring out at the horizon.

“What is it?” I whispered back.

“Look.” She whispered before jabbing her finger down toward the sea.

Curious, I leaned over, the crystal-clear coastal waters revealing what swam in the depths.

“What the fuck?” I felt my eyes widen as I took in the sight beneath me.

Not one, not two, but fifteen shapes of overwhelming size swam through the depths beneath us. They had six sets of dolphin-like fins running the length of their torso, with long draconic-looking necks and a head like a cross between a horse and a shark head. Eight segmented plates formed protruding dorsals from their backs. They were trailed by seven tail-like appendages, reminiscent of a tentacle except without the alien suckers of an octopus.

And each one was at least as big as our ship.

“Are those leviathans?” I whispered hoarsely at Scyla, who gave me a nod.

“Adolescents, but they’re not the real problem.”

“They’re not?”

“Look underneath them.”

Confused, I glanced back down into the water. I wasn’t sure what it was she was so nervous about. Beneath them had been nothing but the dark ocean bed where-

“Holy shit.” My throat tightened as my eyes adjusted, and my brain processed what I was looking at.

What had looked like nothing more than darkness beneath them was, in fact, another leviathan.

Except this one was much, much, bigger.

“I think I understand the stories of mirage islands now,” I said quietly as Scyla shot me a weak smile.

A leviathan that size surfacing at night or far in the distance could easily be mistaken for an island, after all.

“It’s a maturation pilgrimage,” Scyla said, awe in her voice. “Adolescents, when ready to make a life on their own, are guided far out into the ocean by their mother, guiding them to unclaimed territory where they can finish maturing in peace.”

Staring into the depths of the sea, I suddenly felt very small.

“Except, they only have clutches every five hundred years. The last reported sighting had to have been at least two centuries ago.”

Standing there in silent awe, we continued to watch the passing leviathans, the water slowly growing choppier as we hit a patch of rougher sea.

Or so we thought, until from the cabin, Veronika suddenly appeared, a frantic look in her eyes as she ran toward us.

“Problem.” She said, nearly out of breath after awkwardly limping her way down the stairs with her cane.

“What?” Scyla questioned, not quite whispering but still quiet.

“You know that thing you showed me, the device that measures the water currents beneath the ship?”

“What’s that for?” I questioned, curious.

“It tracks the water displacement beneath us; it’s how we can tell if there is a leviathan nearby if we’re traveling through darker or choppy waters. It’s how we picked up on these guys.”

“Oh, clever.”

“Yeah, well-” Veronika glanced at the sea and its ever-growing waves. “-something large is surfacing and fast.”

Scyla and I glanced at each other, worry written across our faces until I finally asked the question everyone was likely thinking.

“Should we fire up the cannons?”

“No.” Scyla instantly shook her head in dismissal. “Against a single rampaging adolescent leviathan, sure, but there is an entire pod beneath us. If we get them hot and bothered, the fall out of them trashing about, not even directly attacking us, could crush us.”

“Right, so cannons are a bad idea. Then what?”

Veronika glanced at Scyla, given it was her ship, before Scyla finally sighed, shrugging.

“Nothing. We simply brace ourselves and hope for the best unless you think you can do something about it?” She questioned, looking at me.

“I’m afraid not. Maybe if we were on land, it would maybe be possible, given that they’re sea monsters and not magical beasts, but even on land, with how large they are and how many of them there are… I still wouldn’t want to push my chances. Given we’re on a boat in the middle of the ocean… well, as you said, agitating them would be a mistake.”

Our faces were grim as we braced for the worst. We could do nothing but wait as the sea turned rougher and rougher as something of immense size rose from the depths, until far ahead of us, a thing of such massive scale it was hard for my mind to process, gradually rose from the depths, rising higher and higher out of the water, rising so far I thought it would scrape the clouds, before it slowly began to twist around, lowering until a mass the size of our ship was directly next to us.

No, not a mass.

“A head,” I whispered, staring in awe.

Our ship halted, responding to Scyla’s will, as the head of the adult leviathan hung in the air close enough that I could touch its great head if I so chose to. So massive was it that it would be able to swallow us whole in a single bite if it decided we were food, and there was almost nothing we could do to stop it.

It was humbling, in a way I’d only ever experienced once before, when I found myself staring into the great rift at the bottom of the Sage of Wisdom’s dungeon, a rift splitting even time and space.

Even if we wanted to speak, our vocal chords were failing us, and the sight of the vast head before us quelled any superfluous thoughts.

Wow.

It was majestic in a way that was hard to describe, like seeing a vast canyon or the northern lights for the very first time. Eventually, the great head turned, facing us sideways as a single massive eye slowly traced over the deck as if looking for something.

That was until it seemed to lock onto me, the weight of some vast attention landing squarely upon me, the air sucked out of my lungs.

Captivated, I found my feet moving before my mind, taking me across the deck until I stood arm’s length from the great beast.

“Rook. Rook!” I heard Veronika hissing from across the desk, just loud enough to reach me, but I ignored it, enraptured.

In hindsight, what I did next was beyond stupid, but at that moment, there was no logic to my actions, simply a captivation that had ensnared my mind. Reaching out slowly, my hand hovered over its hide that would have deflected cannonballs as easily as rain droplets. Sucking in a single slow breath, I gently let my hand rest atop the magnificent creature.

One moment I was touching the massive leviathan’s head, the next, it was as if I suddenly remembered a memory from long ago, as easily as recalling what I’d eaten for breakfast.

“Master, surely you don’t mean that?”

“It’s nature. Things live and die. Only we are unbound by the natural laws.”

“Master, don’t you think you’re being callous?”

“I’m being truthful.”

“No, you’re being pompous.” I crossed my arms, rolling my eyes at my master, who finally sighed, blowing a loose lock of hair away from her face.

“Fine, do what you want.”

Smiling, I jogged over to where the creature lay beached, low, mournful sounds escaping from its massive frame.

Massive compared to a human, at least. Given how large such creatures could grow, it was nothing more than a newborn, probably less than a year old.

“What happened to you, girl?” I quietly spoke to the creature, gently rubbing its head.

The creature let out a series of crackles and thrumming echoes as if answering my question.

“Poor thing.” I sighed, noticing what looked to be a series of gashes on its body, wounds that looked like-

“You were attacked by another leviathan, weren’t you?” I said, already confident in my answer. “The only shark large enough to attack even a young leviathan would be a Tyrant Shark, and those aren’t the bite marks of one of those.”

The baby leviathan let out another series of sounds, to which I patted its head once more.

“Don’t worry. I’ll help you.”

Closing my eyes, I mentally reached out to the depths of my mana core, stirring the power within as I drew it forward, calling out a single word as I felt a gentle pulsating warmth from the ring wrapped around my left arm.

“Mend,” I whispered, and the mana instantly rushed out from my core, taking form through my sage ring, mellowing out into what could only be described as an aura of comfort that surged from me before sinking into the baby leviathan. The wounds instantly began to close, hundreds, thousands of times faster than any natural healing could ever match.

“You know-” I spoke to the leviathan as I watched my magic go to work, making sure nothing went wrong. “-my master says I have a bit of a soft heart. I tell her she’s just seen too much bitterness and been removed from the rest of the world, too unphased by everything for too long. In truth, all she really cares about is furthering her studies and the other sages, but even that’s a stretch. She has a single friend, another Great Sage. He’s called the Sage of Wisdom. I met him a few times, and it’s no wonder he’s friends with my master. They’re both a little… eccentric. Honestly, I’m not sure how she ended up as my master. I’m just an apprentice from a backwater village, but one thing led to another. I guess I’m trying to say that I can understand a bit of feeling alone. But don’t worry, you’ll find your family again. And, just to help you out, I’ll leave you a bit of a gift while we’re at it.”

Reaching into the depths of my core, I drew even more mana forward, nearly depleting myself with how much mana I drew upon until I released it with a single word, another ring, this one wrapped around the forearm of my left arm, growing warm.

“Protect.”

For a moment, the baby leviathan glowed a faint gold before it faded a moment later.

“I’m sure if it was my master or another Great Sage, they could have offered you something better, but I’m only a seventh ring myself, so this is the best I can do. My spell will draw trace amounts of mana into you, and your body will be able to use that mana to recover from wounds long after my initial healing spell has faded. Technically it should fade after a week or so. Still, I’ve never used it on something like you before, so it may last a little less or even a little longer. Hard to say for sure.”

The leviathan raised its head, staring directly at me. Even as a newborn, it was large enough that it could have swallowed me whole, but I wasn’t worried. Perhaps I wasn’t as callous as my master, but as a seventh-ring sage, I felt, at the very least, I could defend myself from a newborn leviathan if worst came to worst.

Except it never did. I’d been speaking to the creature as an outlet for my own frustration toward my master’s attitude, never meant to actually convey any message to the leviathan. Still, as it turned to stare directly into my eyes, I sensed a level of intelligence I hadn’t anticipated from the sea monster.

“Oh right, let me help you get back into the water.”

Looking away from the baby leviathan, I pointed toward the sea, calling out as I drew mana forth again, this time a much simpler spell than either my mend or protect spell forms.

“Aulous.”

Instantly the water rose, reaching out and sweeping around the leviathan. As it did, I swore I saw something akin to surprise in its large eyes.

“Alright then, well, off with you. Take care, will you?”

And then, just as quickly as the sea rose, it began to recede, the baby leviathan slipping beneath the waves.

“Are you done now?”

I turned around, looking back to see my master perched atop a large boulder, idly pushing sand around her toes.

“Yes, I’m done,” I said with a sigh.

“Good because we have places to be.”

“Like?”

“My research tower, there is something I want to test.”

“But isn’t that in the midst of where the crusade is occurring?”

“Yes, but what are the chances they come for me of all people?”

I raised an eyebrow at my master, something about her tone of voice alarming me. After a single elongated moment, I finally relented with a sigh.

I mean, my master had never been wrong before.

“If you say so,” I said with a shrug as I brushed the sand off my hands.

At the very least, I’d fit in one nice thing for the week.

“Woah.” My eyes snapped open as I found myself staring into the single massive eye of the leviathan, my hand still pressed against its head.

“Are you….?” I raised the question, speaking to the leviathan.

Stupid. Not like it’s going to answer back.

Or so I thought. A sound so loud I felt it vibrate through my bones echoed out from its massive head, a single bellowing click. Awestruck, I could only watch as the leviathan slowly pulled away from my hand before it slowly began to sink beneath the sea, gently enough that it barely disturbed a single wave.

Minutes later, all but out of sight, just before it vanished entirely, I saw for one final moment as it blinked once in my direction, almost like-

Did it just wink?

And then it was gone, the sea again returning to gentle waves.

“Rook? Rook!”

Turning around in a stupor, like I was drunk on what had just happened, I was suddenly shaken by Scyla as Veronika paced around me, with concern on her face as well.

“What was that? Are you okay? What just happened?”

“I-” I paused, trying to sort through the events that had just happened. “-I’m not sure.”

What was that memory?

It had felt so real. No, I was sure it was real. It had felt like my memory.

Except.

Except, as much as it was hard to believe, it wasn’t my memory. In fact, I was confident I knew whose memory it was, belonging to none other than the former apprentice of the Sage Above All, the same apprentice who was meant to reincarnate through my body.

Except, it had never happened.

I expected someone more like her.

If the memory was anything to go by, the apprentice had been nearly the polar opposite of the Sage, or at least what I knew about her.

And, then, there is the leviathan from the memory.

There was no doubt about it. It was the leviathan I’d just encountered, now thousands of years old.

“Rook? Hello, try not to zone out, will you?”

“Sorry.” I apologized.

“Seriously, Rook. I know amazing things tend to happen around you, but… what was that?”

“Honestly?” I shrugged, staring up at the blue sky overhead. “Whatever it was, it was something I don’t think I’ll ever forget.”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Scyla sighed. “But, while I don’t want to change the subject, I should probably inform you that we’re here.”

“Huh?” I frowned at her, unsure what she meant, my mind still caught up in the events that had just transpired.

“Look.” She said, pointing out with her finger toward the horizon.

Following her finger, I could barely make out what looked to be a bump on the horizon, a mass of land that would grow more detailed as we drew closer.

“The Ahriman isles await.”