TOWN OF CAJUN

Two days before the attack on Iolite

Ian's heart skipped a beat as he laid eyes on the mysterious figure. It was an elf unlike any he had ever seen before, with skin as red as fresh blood, black horns protruding from her forehead, and sharp fangs peeking out from between her lips. To make things even more unsettling, she was dressed in an Abyss black robe that seemed to swallow up all the light around her. In that moment, Ian couldn't help but wonder if he was staring at a devil rather than an elf.

“My name is Myriil, people usually call me the ‘Bloody sorceress’ but I want you to call me ‘Myra’.” She said, placing her index finger at his nose.

The touch was unsettling. Ian jumped back slightly, “Myra, are you an elf or a devil?”

Myriil only returned a devilish smirk, “I am whoever you want me to be.”

“Do you know anything about this power?” Ian asked.

“Oh yes. I know this power very, very well. But before anything…” Myriil said, snapping her fingers without any incantations. A small white-haired elf appeared out of thin air.

“Ouch, how did you know?” Sawl exclaimed, rubbing her back.

“Dearie, apologize or else,” Myriil said sternly.

Ian saw Sawl bending her head slightly, “I’m sorry for trying to take the Tree of Wisdom from you.”

“Will there be a next?”

“No, ma’am.”

Sawl didn’t look sorry at all. Her gaze fixated on his artifact. “Well, you can’t take it now, dearie. The moment it binds to him, it’s with him for the rest his life.”

“It won’t happen next time.”

Myriil sighed, “Foolish girl, how many times have I warned you that Creations can’t use the power from the Trees of Wisdom. By the time I get back, I want at least 150 ancient texts translated, my quarters clean, and my artifacts polished.”

“You have thousands of artifacts!”

“All of it. This is for stealing my cloak of alteration and losing my sword,” Myriil still wore the same smile on her face, but Ian could feel the ominous aura from her.

“That’s unreasonable! You didn’t even know you had the sword!”

With a wave of her hand, Sawl disappeared.

“She never learns,” Myriil said with a sigh. She turned over to Ian. “Now, let’s talk business. I usually charge a high price for information but as an apology for my idiotic apprentice, I’ll give you a freebie."

"The Wisdom of Stars represents hope. To use this power, you should place your utmost trust in it. Take the leap of faith that you will cross above and beyond."

"What do you mean by that?"

"This." Myriil said, snapping her fingers twice.

Ian found himself being warped on a cliff. He peered down, a drop down from this height would be proven deadly.

"What are we doing here? I need to catch up with the Princess."

"Then, complete the task faster. Take this orb and place it on the pedestal across to on the other side of the valley."

Ian looked at the opposite of the cliff they were on. A fog of mist covered their surroundings, limiting his vision. "I don't see the other side," he laughed nervously.

Myriil just smiled innocently, "It's there."

Ian squinted his eyes, "I really don't see the other side, Myra."

"It's there."

"The mist and this cliff are really just illusions, is it? I won’t be risking my life for this, right?”

"I will only save you one time. If you die, then that."

Ian flinched, he saw more of her demonic side now. The horns seemed bigger than before.

"Go on, don't you have to chase the Princess?" Myriil taunted.

"What a devil," Ian sighed, walking over to the edge of the cliff.

He felt a sudden presence on his back. Myriil whispered, "I told you to call me Myra."

Right after he heard that, he felt a hard push from his back. He thought about the constellations and their power, hoping for a miracle. But as he fell, the orb he held in his hand slipped and shattered into a million pieces. He let out a despairing cry as he hurtled towards the ground, with sharp spikes jutting out from the earth below, waiting to impale him.

"I’m sorry!"

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As Ian hurtled towards the ground, he closed his eyes and braced for impact. But before he could hit the spikes below, he heard a sharp clap, and everything went black.

When he opened his eyes, he was back on top of the cliff, gasping for breath. He looked down and saw the pieces of the orb reassembling themselves on the ground beside him.

Ian felt immense relief and gratitude for being back on solid ground. Humans were not meant to fly, after all.

“There, you used up your only chance,” Myriil said melodically.

“You pushed me!”

“I’ll see you on the other side then. But before I leave, I’ll give you some advice.” Myriil chirped. “Constellations are not Gods that give you immense strength simply by praying to them. Trust in yourself, and trust in the constellations as well. I wish you luck.”

Myriil disappeared in front of his eyes, leaving traces of blue sparks in the air.

Ian made a mental note that he shouldn’t be angering her again. Sweat trickled down his neck, gazing at the impossible challenge he was given. Ian placed his palms together and opened them, revealing the star-shaped artifact. With the available constellations, he needed to formulate a plan. Because blind trust equates pure foolishness.

Not sure where he was, but the southern constellations were brighter than before. Northern constellations, Taurus and Orion, seemed to become dimmer. Was it because he was nearer to south than before?

The southern constellations available for mobility were Lepus the Rabbit and Dorado the swordfish constellations. The other constellations more utility type constellations were Caelum the Chisel, Mensa the Table Mountain, and Pictor the Painter.

The benefits of each constellation were written using the smallest handwritting possible. Ian magnified into each constellation, trying to read the benefits. The one that gave him the highest chance was the constellation Lepus, which allowed him to jump twice as far.

Ian stood on both feet and made the longest jump he could go. He estimated a disappointing length of about two meters. Twice as far of a jumping distance would go as far as four meters. Ian looked across the cliff across, a sense of slight fear set into him. What if it was more than four meters? No, Myriil wouldn’t give an impossible task.

Trust in the constellations, Ian repeated to himself and drew in a breath. To achieve the longest jump possible, he needed to reach the top speed his body could achieve and take off right at the edge of the cliff.

With his focus only on the edge of the cliff, Ian narrowed his focus. He took three long strides, followed by a fast-paced run reaching the maximum speed he could achieve. With his dominant right leg, he looked only front.

A small whisper chanted beside his ear, “What a nice, beautiful form. Let me help you go further.”

In that one leap, he felt his body becoming lighter, as if soaring through the skies. A small rabbit shape with a constellation of Lepus on its body hopping beside him. “Always look forward,” it advised, then it dissipated into clouds.

Ian cut through the fog, but the destination was further upwards. “Please, give me a place to stand, Mensa.”

He felt his foot land on an invisible barrier. Upon contact, the constellation of Mensa lit up beneath his feet. Ian’s eyes shined bright with excitement. Like crossing a long bridge, Ian sprinted across the sky, with stars lighting up each of his steps.

As he reached the other end of the cliff, he walked over to the pedestal, where Myriil was waiting, wearing a smirk on her face.

“How was it?”

Ian tried to calm his racing heart, but it was futile. He wanted to do it again. Nothing beats the feeling of running through the air. “It’s really exciting,” he said, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

“Go on, place it on the pedestal.”

Ian neatly fit the orb on the holder of the pedestal. The fog around him sucked into the orb. The skies turned blue and bright once more.

"The next Tree of Wisdom you would want is deep down in the Gorges of Iolite.”

Ian gave a short gulp. “Deep down. Underwater?”

“That’s the Wisdom of the Jester, Isimud. If you do find the Bookwyrm as you did in the library, it will bring you all the way down to the chaos dungeons. If you can’t, I guess you have to get a little wet.”

"I will have to dive into the water?"

"About 10 meters down, but it was centuries, I might be wrong." Myriil said.

"I can’t breathe underwater. What does the power of the Jester do? Make jokes?"

Myriil chuckled, "More than that. It is one of the reasons why the boy gets to take over Iolite. The King and Queen never sought to seek what treasures they own."

"Who is trying to take over Iolite?"

Myriil looked surprised. "Wasn't that why the Princess took off? At this rate, Iolite will fall into Krystol's hands."

Ian mumbled, "When Iolite falls, the demons would conquer a continent. Then the world would be taken over by demons." But something didn't add up. "Then why was her sister involved?"

Myriil smirked, letting out a short "Hm". "Your freebie limit is almost up, you get to ask only one last question. Is this really what you wanted to know?"

Ian blinked a few times, he barely asked any questions did he?

"Information is power, after all. Choose your next words wisely."

Ian thought for a while, and drew his breath in. "What are Krystol’s plans to take over Iolite?"

"Selfless, what a sense of chivalry. I don't hate people like you." Myriil said, looking up to the sky. “Don’t you want to know more about the ancient powers of your ancestors? The tree of wisdom? And most importantly…”

“The truth behind your memory loss.”

“All of that can come in later, right? If Krystol took over Iolite using the power of Abyss, then nothing else matters.”

Myriil sighed, “That’s a pricy information, but a deal is a deal. Centuries ago, Krystol came to me asking about a certain magical artifact. The Sculptor of Dawn."

Ian knew the Sculptor of Dawn very well. It was cited across thousands of literatures, texts and scribes about its prowess. Legend told a tale of a genius dwarf that forged the Sculptor of Dawn, a sword that resembled the hue of the skies. At the end of the Divine War, the devils of the Abyss released a terrible miasma as a last resort, but the legendary sword was able to absorb it. The sword plunged deep into the soil of Iolite, splitting the continent into two. Once the remaining miasma was absorbed, the sword disintegrated, falling into the trenches of Iolite.

“For an exceptionally high price, I collected the remnants of the sword from the Gorge of Iolite and sold it to him. According to my sources, he managed to craft the sword and planned to murder the entire royal family except for Gloria, Lucia’s sister. Then launch a full-scale attack with his demons and some thief guild across the continent.”

“But that plan will fall short. The royal guards will still be around to defend the people.” Ian argued, placing his finger beneath his chin.

“I’m not sure what he had from there on, but this is the information I have gathered.” Myriil said.

“Got it,” Ian muttered, nodding his head.

“I’ll contact you if I have any work to be done. Bye!” With a blink of an eye, she vanished before his eyes.

A fuzz of green light zapped past the sky when Ian looked up. He immediately recognized the Princess. At her speed of flight, he highly doubted he could ever catch up.