Cody deflected a spell launched at him by his current instructor, a small girl with black hair and a petite build, she was sparing with him. Her name was Annabelle and her purple eyes always looked sleepy and uninterested even now. A decent bit of time had passed since his first near-death experience, the Trap Spider. I'd been lucky that Aldwin had come after me, he arrived shortly after my fainting. Speaking of Aldwin.

Cody blocked a sword strike, displacing the momentum by letting Aldwin's sword slide down his own at an angle before pushing back. Aldwin, he was a handsome man with short neat brown hair and brown eyes, a thin but muscular swordsman. He wasn't just an instructor but a friend, a muscled-head with a good heart.

Cody went for a counter now that the sword was out of his way, but sensed danger behind and turned around to block the knife coming silently for his back. Cody dodged, his sword was nowhere near close enough to attempt a block.

He back stepped and took a defensive stance as his most mysterious instructor, Julius, seemingly disappeared from his perception. Julius was a thin, pale man with black hair and black eyes. A thin and wiry assassin that looked almost like a corpse. He was the most disconnected from this man, he spoke very little and his presence was almost always nonexistent. It wasn't just that though, something always felt off about this instructor, just a bad feeling it was probably nothing.

Cody raised a mana shield, blocking the incoming fire arrow. He then transformed the shield into an arrow of light before firing it back. He was speaking the incantations under his breath, keeping them quiet as possible, Annabelle taught him this. She currently wore a mage robe decorated with cat like silhouettes, her large brimmed witch hat was crafted to look almost like a smiling Cheshire cat. Her clothes had a black and purple color scheme. Annabelle was an anomaly to the king and the other instructors, a genius mage at the age of fifteen. Annabelle had just appeared one day and challenged all the court mages to duels in order to win the opportunity to fight the previous magic instructor. The elder wizard, Baltazar, she defeated him with the same cool and tired look she currently had. Annabelle took her spot next to the other pinnacles of their crafts. Then she went quiet, like her aggressive almost boastful takeover of the seat was just an act she became a recluse in her tower. Well, that is until the hero was summoned. Like she had been waiting, the girl revealed herself once more just in time to greet the hero and grant him his element.

Cody swung his sword arm around to block Aldwin, however this time he couldn't deflect the force and was left holding a block. Locked in a battle of strength, Cody grunted under his breath as his feet began to slide. Aldwin was dressed in brown pants and a white shirt with a leather chest plate and a scabbard hanging from his belt, Like Annabelle he didn't seem to be taking this seriously. Cody's attention had to split, as spells fired his way, Cody was barely holding on as he summoned mana shields to block the attacks. They're slowly cornering me, I need to outmaneuver this. Cody took a chance as he suddenly released the pressure on his sword, letting Aldwin push him back. Cody leaned back as a fire arrow zipped past his face, he threw out his hand in response and launched and a few light arrows in Her direction. Using the backstepping momentum, Cody kicked the shin of Aldwin and grabbed his wrist with his free hand. Cody succeeded in letting himself fall and tossing Aldwin over his shoulder while Annabelle was dealing with the light arrows he shot at her. Though due to this being a three-on-one, Annabelle being a better mage than him, and Aldwin being a better swordsman, this fight was already decided.

Cody hit the ground and was immediately scrambling to dodge a fire arrow that singed the ground where he'd been moments before. Aldwin was already up and that was when Cody realized his sword was in Aldwin's hand. He shook his sore wrist but didn't move due to the cold feeling against his throat. Aldwin didn't step forward to declare the end of the match as Julius had appeared like the grim reaper, a pale man in a black cloak with a Knife to the Hero's neck.

"You've improved a ton Cody, but this is your loss." Julius withdrew the knife and helped Cody to his feet. Even his voice sounded like it's owner was dead. As Cody stood up, applause rang out from the knights watching, they were training in the courtyard of the military barracks. The knights had paused their training to clear the area for the spar between the masters and the hero, but couldn't hold back their collective curiosity and stayed to watch.

Cody waved and gave a modest bow, the other masters did the same. "Keep up your training and one day you may reach our heights." Aldwin called out, but none of the knights looked convinced, in fact most looked embarrassed or avoided eye contact. Aldwin seemed unaware that he was an unattainable goal for most as he was one of the most decorated swordsman in the empire. Annabelle on the other hand smiled softly before giving her own remark. "In their dreams."

"Cody, the King wants to speak to you." Julius spoke quietly so that only he could hear. Cody nodded and fell in with his master as his other two instructors broke into casual talk with the knights. Cody and Julius skillfully dismissed themselves.

Cody stepped into the throne room, falling to one knee he showed the proper respect to his king, an older man with blonde hair and a beard. He was thickly built with a muscular frame and sky blue eyes. The king was an honest and amiable man, he always seemed to want what was truly best for his country. Though that was often hard as Cody had seen first hand how the church would Weigh in on the kings decisions. The church had too much power in this country, Cody was trying to do his best to mediate the two sides but most the conflicts were political in nature and just simply out of his league of understanding.

"Cody, my hero, you're progressing wonderfully. I've called you here to warn you. Calamity draws near as I'm sure you're aware, do you know of this world's Gods?" The King, Sirius Goldman, spoke as he rose to his feet and closed the distance between him and Cody. The King was old, but he had no queen and even worse, no heir. This was a major problem for him, but the church welcomed it as a way to take complete control in the future. The King was unable to find a bride due to the Church's constant meddling, anyone he attempted to court would be intervened by the church, they were trying to force him to die without a heir.

"Yes I know of the goddess of life, light, and truth: Gia, and of the God of Death, shadows, and deceit: Loki. Has something happened my king?" Cody questioned, he was given a sigh in return as a large piece of paper was placed on the ground near him.

"Raise your head, I wish to show you something." The King explained, Cody looked up to see him, dressed in a red cloak lined with white fur over top a gold trimmed black shirt and pants. The king had laid out a large, detailed map in front of him. There were marks on the different continents that looked like Xs on a treasure map.

"Um, excuse me if this is premature, but what are those Xs marked on every continent?" Cody asked, confused. This was the first time he'd been made aware of a possible threat spanning the entire globe.

"They are the locations of odd, ritualistic markings that have been slowly appearing, carved into the ground with unknown magic." The king explained, though it only gave Cody more questions. The king pulled out a piece of paper with a drawing on it, "This here is a marking in The Devil's Cauldron, An island right here." The king pointed to the right side of the map rather far from Kozak, to a volcanic island. The drawing he held up was an extremally intricate magic circle, by his knowledge of magic it would take someone years to just work out the theory behind such a complicated mess. It was reminiscent of ancient magic, something Annabelle had taught him a little about in one of her many dusty old books.

"How do you know about the markings in other countries?" He asked, intrigued with his mind lingering on the wars and relationships between governments in his own world.

"Actually it's quite simple, when a matter like this happens it's considered not a single nation's problem. As it goes above petty squabbles between nations, we share information among each other in order to hopefully conclude it sooner." The king explained, shocking Cody who was used to earth's hypocritical and self-destructive political systems

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"Interesting, so why do you want me to know?" Cody asked, the king nodded.

"It's actually due to future plans Cody, in a year's time I'm going to have you visit the site of Kozak's very own mysterious marking. I think they have something to do with your mission from the goddess." He explained, "I believed it to be courteous to explain beforehand if you want to do research on the markings. Our library's classified section will have plenty." The map was folded up as the king headed back to his throne, and sat down.

"You may leave now Cody." The king concluded their business and with a wave of his hand the doors to the room began to open.

"Thank you for having me your majesty." As he was dismissed he rose and gave a bow.

"But of course Cody, I only hope you manage to subvert the coming disaster."

As Cody left a servant approached the king and bowed, "Sir the new saint has come to greet the king as is customary for their initiation." The king nodded, and with a wave of his hand a group of Holy knights stepped into the room with a young girl in between them.

"You may leave me and his majesty, I will be safe in these walls." The saint spoke softly but her words were heard throughout the whole room. The king nodded and gestured for his own guards and servants to leave. Soon it was just the king and the saint.

"Dear, are you blind?" The king asked politely as he stood up from his throne, the saint wore a white blindfold. She nodded her head as she approached as well, they met in the middle.

"Sir, my name is Amelia and we have much to discuss away from the ears of the church and your advisors." The girl spoke with a smile as she lifted her blindfold for a brief moment. The king's face became serious at what he saw, then he nodded.

"Yes, let's discuss in my office."

As the throne room doors closed behind him, Cody looked ahead to see a familiar face. A young maid with silver hair and silver eyes. "Hello Cody, shall I lead you to the library?" She was well aware he knew where it was, but simply wanted to spend some time with the hero.

"Sure, lead the way Ghost." Cody replied, this was the maid he met on his first day here, the one who helped him with his shower. He didn't quite know how to use mana at the time so his shower which was operated using mana was a mystery to him. She had an unusual name, but it also matched her. She looked and felt like a ghost at times. He'd honestly asked her in the past if she was an assassin, but she'd laughed it off and told him with a finger to her lips. "Every lady has their secrets."

"I've been quite lonely since mister hero no longer needs me to turn on his shower, oh pitiful me." She spoke with a jovial tone as she poked fun at Cody, passing off her desire to spend more time with him as a casual joke.

"Maybe I'll ask for you in the future, my mana has been quite low recently with all the training." Cody replied, the library was quite close to the throne room, so they arrived rather quickly.

"Here we are, the Library." Ghost pushed open the door as they both headed inside, Cody moved ahead of her and led the way towards the restricted section. The low ambient noise of people reading faded as he slipped deeper into the massive library. He soon found what he was looking for, books on something known as 'The God-Beast's Markings.' Pulling it out he carried it to the table. He scanned the first few pages and determined that it was indeed the correct book as it mentioned dates and countries that markings appeared in. He settled down and began reading.

The first marking had appeared in the Dark Elven continent, at least that's what was originally believed, it was discovered that the first had actually appeared in The Devil's Cauldron, a volcanic island towards the west of the Kozak Empire. This wasn't discovered till adventurers stumbled upon it and realized it was further along than the one in the Dark Elven continent.

The markings were indecipherable for the longest time, till about a year ago the first marking revealed the name: Pisces. An extremely powerful water dragon known as a Godbeast lives in the waters surrounding that island, it shares the name Pisces.

It was originally thought a coincidence till the Elven nation reported a similar occurrence in their continent. It was then proposed that each marking were working towards the names of their respective Beasts. It's still unknown what these markings will eventually do, however they are incredibly near their completion preparations are being made to deal with all possible outcomes.

Cody closed the book, lost in thought, This probably either is the thing the goddess wanted me here for or. . . it's simply the stage for the true reason, her. . . His mind conjured the image he'd seen in Annabelle's magic chamber during his first training session. I can sense that my journey will start soon, I guess I'll see you soon my little mystery.

Annabelle stood in front of a door and placed her hand against it, suddenly circles with symbols and hieroglyphs appeared creating some odd language spiraling over the surface of the door. Click, the door opened and steam leaked around it as it swung open. Inside was a room that was shaped like a pentagon, a carved line in the floor stretched from each corner to meet in the middle separating the room into five sections. When they stepped through the door they were standing in the center, and when Cody turned around he saw the door frame standing free, when he walked around it both sides peered into Annabelle's tower.

"Ho-"

"Space and time magic, a powerful hero from long ago built the tower that I now reside in." She explained before he could ask, snapping her finger the door slammed shut and disappeared. "Now, stand in the middle and close your eyes."

Cody walked to the very center and closed his eyes, he felt a hand on his back and then a sensation of something warm and cold spreading throughout his body. In the distance he saw a green orb shimmering into view, do I have an earth attribute? He wondered, when suddenly the feeling retracted from his body and the green orb vanished.

"That was my mana circulating, you should remember that feeling and pull your own mana up." She told him as her hand pushed down on his shoulder. He was soon sitting in the lotus position, focusing inwardly as he searched for a hint of that feeling.

Time passed without him aware, he felt like he was swimming, and in the distance he could see a shimmering light. Cody reached towards it only to watch it dart away, he leaped forward, swimming faster. It suddenly rushed past as he barely caught a glimpse, a girl? He was confused when suddenly a pain in his chest forced him upwards. Cody broke through the water's surface and gazed up at a ship, he had the feeling he needed to board it. The taste of salt was strong on his tongue, he was wearing rough street clothes. A chill piercing him from the cold sea.

Odd, don't really remember how I got here, he thought as he climbed up the side, there was a girl beside him. It felt right and natural as he held out his hand and helped her climb. She was young, like really young and her dead eyes seemed to stare into him. Cody fell through the window and clambered to his feet. Ahead of him was the door out of the captain's quarter's he now found himself in.

Suddenly the door began to open as Cody headed towards it, He leaped through it and almost imediatly felt sick as gravity seemed to change and he was falling sideways. Wait, not falling, I'm getting thrown!? He hit the wall hard, pain bloomed in the core of his back as he coughed up blood.

"Cody!!" A voice screamed, a girl, who is that, how do you know me? "Shit, get yourself together, we gotta think this through! He can't be invincible!?" There was a shape, a shimmering figure screaming at him from the side while gesturing to something that was coming.

Cody stood up and gripped his sword turning to see a massive creature, his mind reeled as he tried to figure out what it was. A creature shadowed it's image blurry and shimmering.

"Cody move!!" The girl screamed she was a mix of black and red shimmering smoke as she leaped into the air, swinging her sword at it. He suddenly felt something grip him and yank him back, the beast slammed into a wall and dust exploded out blinding him for a moment.

The dust cleared as Cody realized he was standing over someone, holding them down, a sword was stabbed into the ground some ways away. His muscles strained as he desperately tried to control the blurry figure beneath him.

"It's over, you can't beat me." He said, feeling unsure if those were the correct words they felt about right. The person below him clicked their tongue, suddenly they forced upwards and Cody was flung back. He landed and looked up just in time to see a shadowy figure pierce him with an equally shadowy sword, but he felt no pain.

"You can't save her." It whispered as his vision faded, when he opened his eyes he was on his knees in the light area with tears dripping on the ground. Floating around him were orbs of white light, faint sounds of concerned voices echoed around him but he couldn't find them or make out what they said. But a voice drifted into his ears, your future is outlined in a scarlet hue. He recognized the voice as he got to his feet, the spirits floating around him scattered as he realized he was now standing in the tower once again.

"Light magic huh, I can teach that, geez why are you crying?" She asked him.

"I. . . Don't know." He replied, wiping the tears quickly. What the hell was that? He wondered, the visions? Do I need to find that person?

Cody sighed as the memory faded, Ghost was setting a new book down in front of him. He sat up on his chair and flipped it open as he buried himself in more studying. As a student from his original world, not much had changed apparently.