My mind stirred with an unimaginable amount of thoughts, questions, now more obscured and difficult to understand than before as I was greatly reminded of my conversation just a few minutes ago with Vetustima Vivagrandus.

The remnant had gifted me a priceless artifact, an item which was one of its kind and a creation which could restore its damage.

But my mind currently tingled at what the titan had told me, it made me confused and left me exasperated over my own ignorance.

We exited the portal, it rippled and surged us out to the other side as the energy of the distortion in the space dissipated, as the fissures and cracks in the space restored, as I felt Mordian’s mind under some deep contemplation.

Just as I stepped out of the portal, my feet made contact with uneven soil, as it seem to bury the sole of my boot which was covered by a layer of sand as I took a firm hold over my footing.

I looked around me for confirmation, to understand where the conjured portal had brought us now, and as far as my eyes could stretch, all l laid eyes on was the desolate savannah which looked never-ending, for as far as the horizon stretched.

As I stood in my position, looking around for clues, the heat haze made the distant horizon appear wavy and distorted, creating an almost surreal, shimmering effect. A searing wind blew past us, making the sand to sting like needles on my skin.

The air was searing and dry, there was barely any to no water particles of mana available around us, as each breath caused dust and sand to enter my nose, causing discomfort and annoyance from the tingling in my nose. I stretched my senses wide to feel the fluctuations in the mana or for any life forms around us, with my now enhanced perception, I found the particles of earth and fire mana in abundance in our surroundings.

I looked above, my hand working like a veil as I saw the fiery rays of the bright sun shrouding everything around us through the narrow gaps of my fingers, as its hot shimmering rays threatened to cook us live, as I felt sweat accumulate over my forehead and trickle down my temples in just a few seconds.

But in spite of all that, feeling the hot and fiery rays of the sun after so long filled me with a deep sense of warmth and renewal. It was as if a weight had been lifted, and I was finally able to bask in the embrace of nature's light—alas, being more than enough to give me a good tan. The heat on my skin brought a profound sense of realisation, revitalizing my spirit and washing away the shadows of my time in the desolate and dark places I’d ventured into since leaving home.

I felt like it’d been years, or even longer since I’d seen a proper sun bask its light on land.

In this moment, I felt an overwhelming connection to the world around me, a reminder of the simple yet profound pleasures that sunlight brought, making me appreciate this long-awaited moment even more.

But the heat was one thing I couldn’t tolerate, or be any happy about. The longer I stood under the blazing sun, the more I felt myself sweat as I gazed at Mordian, who also clearly felt the heat over his skin as the dry air fluttered his long cream blonde hair, as the dragon surveyed his surroundings keenly.

“What are we supposed to do now?” Mordian asked, turning in my direction, hoping for an answer.

“Well...” I thought as I exchanged glances with him and then turned to look at a particular spot to my left as I activated Mind’s Eye, feeling a push from my mana, where the fluctuations were stronger and the mana was more ample.

“All we can do is first wait for the system’s alert over the details, then depending on the type of quest it gives me, that's how we can determine what we are supposed to do.” I said placidly as I withdrew a simple piece of cloth from the inventory and wrapped it over my head to protect myself from the searing heat befalling directly over my scalp.

I handed one to Mordian, but he refused to wear it, saving it looked ridiculous and unbecoming of an ash’ari—a dragon—, with a shrug, I stored it back without any argument.

“If the quest falls in the second category, then I might be able to feel the subtle fluctuations of the portal once we come into its range, but if not, then the determined quest could most probably be in the first of third category.” I said, observing the long stretching sand dunes around me, as Mordian found the terms foreign, as I felt awkward, because the dragon didn’t know about them, and I realized I hadn’t elaborated.

“So what I want to say is, it would be better for us to walk, then fly for the time being. It might be more inconvenient, but its the better option for now.”

Instead of displaying any discomfort or annoyance, Mordian looked back at me with his usual cold and nonchalant eyes, and simply nodded

Then we both started to move through the desolate and never-ending desert—in the direction where the fluctuations were stronger to find any clues—, to clarify myself for earlier, I told Mordian about the structure I’d made in order to determine the types of the quests I was given, to categorise them to better understand the overall situation I was placed in.

He listened with an observant and serious expression as he asked questions here and there to clear his curiosity over the system.

His brows knitted in surprise as I told him about the features provided by the system—the different sections, such as, shop and status window while I projected him the image through my mind for him to better visualise what I was talking about.

The prints of our boots left in our wake slowly disappeared as the dry wind billowed around us, scattering the sand as the dry atmosphere caused my throat to constrict and dry up.

But in my head, the several thoughts and questions continued, as I thought over each one with a pondering expression.

But the one thing which made me the most curious and intrigued, was about the history which the ash’ari shared with the individual named ‘Primordial’. But how did all of this link me to him? Just what obscured connection did I have with this almost deity-like figure—as Vetustima had described him to be, I could only think as such after hearing a vague description of his abilities, which oddly reminded me and matched the words of Uito, about a lofty man with estrange and mysterious abilities—, for him to create such a complex structure for me and to help me grow stronger?

But for what reason exactly?

Just what did this individual needed from me? What was his true motive behind all of this?

And if Mordain had been the one who was approached by Primordial first, then for just what purpose could he have approached the dragon—and then ash’ari for? What meticulously made ploy was he thinking about when he made them unite and then dragged them to war with the exciduim race?

It just doesn’t make sense the more I think about it.

If he’d wanted to destroy the ash’ari, or exact some revenge, if that was his true goal, he could’ve accomplished that in many other ways; such as to create misunderstandings and slowly demolish and tear their treaties from the inside-out, through manipulation and deceit. Or cause a war or struggle for power between themselves to make such a scene that they automatically self-destroyed on their own, without him having to go through the trouble to reveal himself.

But what left me more confused and frustrated was the fact that he made the ash’ari untie under the banner of one race and accept their differences, and then helped them create their own special type of techniques and knowledge, only accessible to them, while still being neutral, and not completely siding with one particular race.

Then just what did he wanted exactly by dragging the ash’ari to war with him against the exciduims?

What was his true purpose in doing such a thing, which almost caused the titans and phoenixes to experience the threat of extinction? Just what happened that day that made these circumstances to appear?

It didn’t make sense, but unfortunately even I barely knew anything about this mysterious figure or the ancient war, and pondering over the facts with barely any proper evidence, could only lead to more possible questions than answers.

I took a slow breath, trying to get used to the warm air, which was almost impossible, as I exhaled and waited to calm myself, licking my dry lips.

And out of all of them, I still remembered how Mordian had discovered—through Vetustima’s interference—that I'd witnessed a vague and unclear scene from the ancient war through some unexplainable interference, somehow witnessing his ancestor.

I looked at Mordian from the side, expectant, that he would ask me the question I was expecting him to any time. But for some reason, I was skeptical if I could perfectly explain what I'd seen in that vision.

I knew that Mordian also wanted to ask me several things, but perhaps he was also holding himself back for some reason, to try to be more understanding and considerate of our situation and unfamiliarity with one another.

I took a deep breath, feeling discomfort in my lungs as I breathed in the warm and dry air, as I withdrew water from the inventory and took a few sips. I turned to my bond, face determined as he looked back, his golden eyes deep in thought.

I brought my head back, with another breath and then with a sudden pause to collect my thoughts one last time, I spoke.

“What I witnessed—the thing that Vetustima mentioned before, how I’d seen a glimpse of the ancient war somehow. It happened while I was still in the thalassalithion’s world, and had just finished my quest and newly broken through to the enlightenment stage—the rank.”

I looked forward as we approached the high sand dune where the earth mana was strongly compacted and visible in the air, the wind in this spot was stronger, making an unharmed vortex as I witnessed the mana react in a subtle yet peculiar way, which caused the wind particles to converge and move in a predetermined path which made a loop like path for it to create a vortex.

“After I'd broken through, I don’t exactly know what happened, but under the effects of Ruler’s Authority, I was out of control because of my lack of control previously,” I tried to project that harrowing moment to Mordian, but it was still harder for me to perfectly perform the transfer of my dominant memories consciously to him, as the memory turned rigid and fragmented as it was delivered to my bond.

“But I believe that after I broke through to the enlightenment stage, some interference, or limiter from over me had finally been removed, which allowed me to finally witness the fragmented memories of the previous owner of this body—the real Jiwoo.” Remembering about the several happy and sad moments of Jiwoo’s life left a bad taste in my mouth as I chewed the inside of my cheek.

“But once I'd reached at the end of those fragmented memories, I saw—I don’t know how...but I witnessed the war which took place who knows how long ago. I saw bodies amassed atop each other like a mountain, the stench of blood as vividly as if I was on that battlefield myself, the colour of the dark crimson dying the bloodied and alien land with the eerily crimson moon projecting its haunting light, as if conjuring a final spectacle.”

I poured in as much detail to my description as Mordian listened with a calm, yet frowning face. His brows knitted as the bridge of his nose wrinkled.

“And there I saw them. At fist I’d witnessed this vision earlier on when I’d just regressed back, but when I saw this vision back then there were only two individuals, and their features were obscured by some veil, but after witnessing this scene again, I still found those two individuals blurred, but at that time—when I’d witnessed it again—I saw your ancestor, Mordain, standing by the side of the individual with the profound and starry-eyes.”

I looked back at Mordian as I slowly made my descent down the mount of sand, he followed suit.

“And when I first saw your humanoid form, I was greatly reminded of Mordain. Because your features matched his quite a lot, with only the difference of your facial structure and your eyes—while Mordain’s were more mature and wisdomous.” I took a paused and drank more water to keep my mouth moist, as I looked at Mordian, and saw the subtle emotion of offense over his face which he tried to hide, which I found slightly comical as I felt my lips curve.

“But the two individuals I saw in that vision were obscured, but I can vaguely make the assessment now that the individual whom I saw standing beside Mordain in that vision could've most probably been Primordial, and the other being Agares.”

I let my words roll slowly, deliberately letting them fill and hang in the air as I looked at Mordian, to try to read his expression, but he was expressionless as usual.

But I could still vaguely feel his curiosity burrow into my mind.

“And as far as I remember, I heard Mordain say something in that vision to the star-speckled eyed individual.” I said, catching Mordian’s attention, his eyes sizing me up as his curiosity was palpable.

I quickly recited the exact same words I'd heard from Mordain quite a while back. “I have hope. A hope that is yet far and distant in the future; unformed, yet some day will definitely come true. I hope, my descendent does what I couldn’t. To achieve what I had long yearned for.”

“What did he mean by that?” Mordian asked, his eyes heavy with confusion, so his tone, as he tried to make out of those words.

“Honestly, I don’t have an idea.” I returned with a furrow of my brows.

“But it could mean that he’d seen something himself, which led him to believe that something was going to happen in the far future which could somehow indicate to why he said those words.” I pointed out, trying to make a reasonable argument. “Could he have meant you?”

I gazed at Mordian with curiosity and intrigue lacing my eyes. "He said those words—that my descendent would do what I couldn't—do you think he meant those words for you? It might be a stretch, but what if those words are pointing at you."

Mordian looked at me with confused and bewildered eyes, his hardened mask crumbling slightly as he thought over the possibility himself, which was much absurd as I thought about it. But what if...

"And that possibility could be based out by the fact that you are the last of your kind and also a direct descendent of Mordain’s, and I witnessed this vision again with more clarity then before, and for some unusual coincidence encountered you after I’d failed the trial to defeat Vetustima. Doesn't everything feels a little too convenient?”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

I said with a hesitant tone. My words growing more grave and hesitant as I felt my mind stir in thought. “Your connection with Mordain as his descendent, and for some reason my own unexplainable one with Primordi—and how Vetustima said that Primordial approached Mordian with some motive in mind. Doesn’t it all feel to convenient, that it feels like things are deviating and pointing toward a certain thing, but precisely what we don’t know about.”

"But it cannot be left out that he could have meant some other descendent, my predecessors, who might’ve come before me, not just specifically me, who has lived and met his or her end already. But the possibility is still there.” Mordian acknowledged with a furrow of his brows as we exchanged a few more thoughts and theories in our head.

"That is to say, but if...and it is by a far stretch, but what if..." I gulped hard, trying to remain calm and keep my thoughts collected, as I shared Mordian’s skepticism. "What if all of these coincidences were caused—seeing the glimpse of the ancient war, witnessing your ancestor, my intricate connection with Primordial, the dragons extinction and you getting imprisoned in that cavern, and also later after several centuries, me meeting you coincidentally after I'd failed my trial—by someone intentionally, working in the shadows. What if Primordial had been behind all of this from the beginning, and made all of these things happen since I'd regressed, but making them appear in the form of subtle coincidences. What if all of these incidents, these tragedies were his plan all along?"

But then, for what purpose? What kind of sick person would like to perform genocide several times?

And if my thoughts were truly real—which I now think probably were—, then it did explain a few things that happened to me since I'd found myself in this new body. But if Primordial had been the real culprit behind my regression, then why didn’t he approach me in my past life?

Was there some reason or condition which needed to be fulfilled?

But could he have such an ability to bend the laws of time and allow my spirit to cross through the binds of time due to his interference? But the way Vetustima had described him to be, I was starting to think that it could be possible.

I clenched my hand as I felt my face grow grim as I looked at Mordian with a slightly pale face.

That meant that I was at the mercy of some evil entity. It wasn’t a good feeling to acknowledge such thoughts.

“Then, the real culprit behind the scenes was always Primordial.” I declared, as I saw Mordian wear a frown.

The harsh and searing wind momentarily blinded me as I took a moment to rub my eyes and clear the dust roaming the surroundings.

But in that moment, I took a stance, my mana burst as wind began to converge and take form in my palm and generate a typhoon like howl to be released at any moment, shaking and distorting the predetermined path of the harsh wind, as the sand dunes around in a two hundred meter radius stirred.

Mordian became alert watching me as his body instinctively took a stance as we both felt a strange tremor around us, a wiggling vibration shook the sand from beneath us as the tremor intensified and the fluctuations died down more and more and the wind particles of mana dispersed in a frenzy.

Through Mind’s Eye, I observed around me the strange changes which were occurring suddenly, the strong fluctuations in the area were suddenly dying down, as if some natural disaster was coming our way, as my hair stood on end.

Then it happened rapidly, so much so, that by the time I was able to react and do anything, the footing of the loose sand from below me had vanished entirely and all I saw were rows upon rows of jagged teeth, as a gap grew above me, like I’d fallen into a well, through which the azure sky was visible.

A gut-wrenching smell similar to bile and toxins entered through my nose as I felt my face wear a frown, as my brows twisted in confusion.

The green bile like substance had a sticky and gooey propriety which was all around me, stuck between the rows of dragger like teeth and the mucus dripping down insides. In the cage of jagged teeth, the bile like substance dripped over my arm as I tried to position my body in the inside of some mana beast which had tried to swallow me whole.

I winced in pain as I saw the liquid envelope my forearm and almost immediately seethed a curse as the unbearable sensation of my skin and muscles burning and melting started to make my face twist, as the bile like mucus reached for my bone. My eyes fluttered open from the pain which coursed through my body, as I felt the acid like substance enter my blood stream, but quickly my passive skills took effect as the toxins were nullified and the wounds began to patch themselves.

In my act of desperation, I hastily conjured the relic armour as the onyx scales became corporeal and draped over my skin like another layer of clothes, as my speed of converging the mana whilst manipulating mana rotation increased several folds as my recovery finished almost instantly due to the armour's exponential capabilities which left me in awe.

The relic armour created a protective layer of impenetrable defence around me as I conjured a fire spell and as the flame doused and turned inward as I channelled more mana, the beautiful orange hue of the flames burning over the onyx scales turned a calming blue as I twisted my body, adjusted my footing as I placed my heel over a protruding teeth, as I launched the fiery spell into the beast’s gut, as I felt a repulsion force almost immediately, like an explosion.

The bile inside the beast was highly spontaneous as it caught the flames and allowed them to combust with more robustness.

I took that moment as I felt the heat reach near my skin as the ends of my long hair were slightly burned as I took flight and exited from the beast’s mouth and quickly found where Mordian was.

He was several feet above the air, standing almost twenty meters away, beside him the projectiles of pure mana conjured and hovering and shimmering, as I focused and saw some had pierced the beast as my bond projected his thoughts to me.

I returned with affirmation as I positioned myself in the beast’s direction and took a look.

The mana beast was massive, almost the size of a high-rise building, its mouth fifteen meters wide, with its appearance similar to a worm like beast but looking as hideous and nauseating, but having jagged claws protruding from the inside of it body in several sections throughout its long body, which now withered and shuddered as smoke rose from the inside of its mouth.

The beast wiggled and veiled, an ear-piercing shriek made its way through the sand storm around us, and soon enough the beast laid unmoving as the scorched smell of bile and meat rose in the searing wind around us.

“You okay?” Mordian asked from the side, his voice sounding as cold as ever, as I made the relic armour to disappear as I turned to look at him with a knowing look, but indicating exasperation, as I somewhat gave off the same smell as the green bile like liquid inside the sand-worm’s body.

“Honestly, do I look okay to you?” I asked, eyes heavy with exasperation, brows knitted. I pointed toward the dead beast and said with my tone annoyed. “I almost became the lunch of some random mana beast.” But I wasn’t truly mad over the fact the beast had almost eaten me.

We had easily taken care of it, but the one thing which annoyed me to no end was the gut-wrenching smell, which was attached to my clothes.

I looked down at my forearm which had now healed itself, but there was still a vague reddish rash over my skin as my shirt had melted from that area.

“Anyway, why did that mana beast attack us all of a sudden? Weren’t we both concealing our mana from the start, and the fluctuations around us must have also made a good disguise for us to mask our presence?”

I pointed out, as Mordian and I both landed over sand once again, examining the burned and grotesques body of the sand-worm.

“Perhaps they are keen to the perception of mana, despite the harsh environment.” He replied as he covered his chin with his hand and studied the beast’s remains. “That could mean, these beasts have a keen sense for locating live signatures.”

I nodded back, my thoughts same. And one of the reason why I couldn’t sense or see the beast earlier, and quicker was because of the strong and sudden fluctuations of mana around us due to the harsh environment, as the sand stung over my skin, plus the beast’s ability to move underground, which perfectly masked its presence with the earth mana working as a veil until it decide to reveal itself.

From now on we needed to be more careful of these mana beasts.

But just as I thought, I felt the sand around me vibrate and shake as tremors ran through the dunes. I looked at Mordian, as we both lunged into the air, and soon afterward, two more sand-worms hurtled themselves in the air as a cloud of sand rose in the air.

My brows knitted as my mana surged and I moulded it into several sword shaped projectiles using wind mana and hurled them in the beasts direction.

But I looked with surprise and confusion over my face as Mordian twisted his body mid-air, evading the first sand-worm's lash, whilst sequentially launching several conjured projectiles at the other, but the strange thing was that, both of them were just attacking him.

After a few seconds of thoroughly witnessing the battle, I understood what was going on as I checked and confirmed again through the mana around me.

I quickly helped Mordian finish up both of the sand-worms, as I conjured several spells—scythes of wind, spears of earth and lances of fire.

It took us a total of fifteen minutes to kill both of the beasts as they laid over the sand, unmoving, their bile like blood spewing all over the land.

After I made sure that the perimeter was clear did I dare to land.

“I may have an idea why those sand-worms attacked us despite us hiding our presence.” I said to Mordian as he landed beside me. “Didn’t you find it odd that only you were attacked this time?”

“The reason might be because of the curse placed over you.” I added immediately.

Mordian looked back at, confusion palpable over his face. Even he found it odd that despite his absolute control over mana, it was still leaking out of his body.

“Because like you said, those beast most probably are keen to the perception of mana of a living organism, so, what I think is, even if you are actively manipulating mana rotation and cycling your mana to keep it under control to hide your presence, due to the curse, the mana which is inside you becomes somewhat unstable without your knowledge and it does not return to strengthen your physique as it should.” I said, as I observed the mana leaving Mordian’s body through Mind’s Eye.

“So for that channelled and filtered mana with nowhere to go due to the curse’s influence, its just naturally expelled out of your body and then dissipates into the atmosphere revealing your presence despite you trying to hide it to the best of your ability.”

Mordian's face darkened, has if even he wasn’t aware of this fact.

I think he told me that when he’d woken up in that cavern he’d found himself chained up, so I don’t think he had the option to test this out back then.

“It does sums up why both of them just attacked me. And I think the first one intended to attack me as well, but accidentally attacked you because you were walking close to me.” Mordian summed up my hypothesis and I didn’t even had to explain everything to him.

“So then what do you suggest?” he asked. “Because of the curse I can’t perfectly hide my mana, and we have to travel of foot for the time being.”

My mind went to work as I thought, and just after a few seconds I remembered I might have something that could help in this situation.

“I might have something that can help.” I said with enthusiasm as I summoned the system interface.

“Don’t tell me you have some extraordinary artifact in that system of yours that can help us in our current predicament?” Mordian said with a playful raise of his brows, as I saw a hint of a wry smile on his cold features.

I gave him a knowing look as I looked through the inventory section and after a quick check finally found what I was looking for.

I withdrew the item which I’d long obtained as a reward after clearing the basilisk dungeon.

And I'd almost forgotten about this item. And I think it was about time it was used.

A long shadow ran over the sand below us, as I saw a black star-speckled long cape appear in my hand from thin air. It had a soft surface and looked just like any normal cape except for the beautiful and mystifying star-speckled presentation on the outward side of the cape and several intricate runes which ran on the inside, giving it a subtle charm.

____

Artifact:

Rank:

Description: Once equipped, this artifact grants the host the ability to blend seamlessly into their surroundings, rendering them nearly invisible. The user can move undetected, perfectly concealed from view. Detection is only possible if they are directly seen by others or make their presence known themselves.

Note: The longer the artifact is equipped the more of the host's mana it will drain.

____

Mordian curiously looked at the artifact as I handed it to him. I projected the information through our connection as he wore it and pulled the hood over his head as I saw through Mind’s Eye, the cape forcing the mana to stay in a specific spot and using it to empower itself, working like a veil and hiding Mordian’s mana entirely.

I couldn’t even feel the slightest pulse of his mana, without fully focusing. But I had Mind’s Eye.

This was a pretty useful time. Now I regret not being able to use it. If I'd remembered sooner it might have saved me a lot of hassle of going through several desolate places without being detected.

Well, it is what it is. I shrugged.

“So, what do you think?” I asked with a smirk. “Aren’t I amazing?” My tone grew arrogant as I crossed my arms and my mirk widened to a grin.

Mordian’s face remained passive. “I guess so.”

“Hey, can’t you be a bit more honest and thank me sincerely? Why do you have to be stingy all the time?” I said playfully to lighten the mood.

“I think its better if he start to move. And you can feel it to, right?” Mordian suddenly said, his eyes pointing sideways, as I nodded, acknowledging his words.

Without trying to look suspicious, we both continued on with our journey on foot, keeping an eye out and showing great resilience for any sudden attacks.

***

After walking for more than an hour in the never-ending savannah, while enduring the searing heat which made my head spin and the sand which stung like needles, as I felt sweat trickle down my face uncontrollably, I saw the heat haze, causing light to bend and the air to appear wavy and distorted.

And I'd finally gotten the system notification. This trial fell within the second category: The sub-trial, where I needed to perform a certain task, or show resistance or stay in a specific location for a predetermined period of time.

And this time it was the latter option of the sub-trial with the way the quest was going.

Well, until the time finishes, I do hope I can still make it out alive, because this heat is unbearable.

System please take us somewhere cool after this trials is over. I inwardly pleaded as I took a survey of the area through Mind’s Eye, but only the blinding rays of the sun which could cook us alive were visible.

I handed the water canteen to Mordian as he took big sips to moisten his mouth as he’d started to feel the heat as well, as he cleared the sweat starting to roll down his face.

In the last hour, we had killed a few more of those giant sand-worms—we had quite skilfully concealed our presence, but those sand-worms were just some which were visible over the land and looking for prey, so we had to fend them off.

The fluctuations and the sand storm around us was getting worse as we moved forward.

I turned toward Mordian, my thoughts projected to him, but suddenly he raised his hand, his face looking calm, but his brows were knitted together as a wary expression took a hold of his features.

And I was perfectly aware of why he had made such an expression so suddenly.

“That guy is seriously persistent.” I said as we continued walking, without looking behind to not make the individual suspicious, following us from behind.

There was some good distance between us, and due to the low visibility because of the sand storm, we could only barely sense that person's presence and slightly distorted figure.

That individual was cautious and wary of us both. It maintained a good distance despite some stops we made and didn’t once try to approach us on its own.

“So what do you wanna do now?” I asked. “Should we go and greet our guest?” I stopped and fully turned backwards.

Mordian took off his hood and looked behind. “We might be able to find some clues, after our unfulfilling journey so far.”

Mordian trailed off, his golden eyes piercing through the sand storm and looking at the distorted image of the individual.

“And judging from the mana I can feel even through this storm, that individual doesn’t look to me very strong. At best their mana indicates that they are at the second layer of the intermediate stage—or as you humans like to call it the rank.”

Mordian fixed his gaze over me and added. “But be careful. There is a chance that, that individual is hiding their mana to deceive us.”

“Alright. I call dibs.” I said as I vanished into the paths and followed the intervened highway of wormholes and with a flash of lightning which tore through the very space around me, I appeared right in front of the individual from before.

The individual's face was covered by a tattered and dirty cloth which only revealed its dark red pupils which looked lifeless and weary and wearing clothes which looked like rags, ripped from several places as I saw difficulty in movement.

The individual jumped on the spot as it stumbled back in surprise and sank into the sand.

Mordian appeared from behind us as he landed from his flight and stood several meters beside me, observing the stranger as his golden eyes coldly looked down.

“Who are you and why have you been following us?” I asked coldly as I looked down at the individual following us for the past hour.

My mana was working secretly, ready for any unwanted action taken by the stranger.

“S—...” The stranger said, its voice came out stuck and dry. I observed through Mind’s Eye and my eyes bugled vividly as I remembered seeing this mana a long time ago. But the thing which left me astound was the familiarity which this stranger’s mana signature brought me. And for some reason I felt like I saw a thin veil like illusion enveloping the stranger’s body, as if like a barrier.

It can’t be? I thought as Mordian waited for a reply, but having read my expression furtively changing, my bond asked something hastily, but I couldn't focus on his words.

The individual stirred and tried to stand, but its movements were slow and rusty as if each movement projected a lack of concentration and extreme weariness, as I saw the dim colour of the stranger’s mana, their was barely any left and I was surprised to see an artifact hanging near its neck and resting over the stranger’s bosom.

The same type of artifact I’d seen on someone. Much less a friend.

It can’t be him? That’s impossible!

Unless...

The individual tried to stand but failed again as it brought its hands forward and slowly removed the cloth covering its face.

And soon enough a very familiar face came into my field of vision, as my mouth was agape from shock and deceit.

What are you doing here? I looked at him with a flummoxed expression, unable to tell what kind of expression I currently had on my face.

Why are you here?

“S-Shun.”

“Neil.” I said in utter shock, my eyes dark as I looked at my once old acquaintance and companion whom I’d fought alongside back in my world.