Mysa snorted, before she began walking away, followed by Paldin and Haggarth. They appeared to be talking about something, and Haggarth was laughing. Rokkai and Kyrra bid their farewells, and now, only Reeve, Soren, Oldavin, and the unconscious Riza were left.
"What about me?" Soren asked.
"Someone will come to take you to another island. You can wait here with her", Oldavin walked away to one of the huts that wasn't destroyed. When he came out, he was holding a bracelet. He walked over to Rizaneth's unconscious body, which had been laid down, and put the bracelet on her right arm.
After about several minutes, nothing happened.
"What is that supposed to do?" asked Reeve.
"This relic will suppress the divine energy in her body, but it won't last long."
"Wait, you had that thing all along? Why didn't you take it out?"
"Like I said, it will not last long! This is not a permanent solution. The relic will break down, and the divine energy will rampage through her body, destroying it in the process. You have a few weeks to heal her. If you don't, the relic will dissolve, and she'll die!" Oldavin took Riza's body, and placed it in the hut he had taken the relic from.
Meanwhile, on another island, Ezrom appeared out of thin air, and then started humming a little tune. This island was unique, in that it was hidden away from the others. No matter how one looked for it, they wouldn't be able to find it.
On this island, there was a forest which led to some mountains. In the heart of the mountains, there was a temple, which was in ruins. There was a stone statue at the front of the temple. This statue depicted a young man holding a staff in one hand, and a wheel in another. He had a laurel wreath on his head.
The place where Ezrom appeared, there was a path which led to the temple. He began to walk slowly, while humming a tune. He seemed to be pleased with himself, judging by the way he was walking. Hands behind his back, humming a little tune … this was the epitome of complacency.
After what seemed like an hour, he arrived at the temple, and then bowed at the statue.
WAS THAT NECESSARY? came a voice, loud enough for everyone to hear, but containing majesty and power.
"Yes, it was. My friends have been too complacent, they have forgotten the real threat!" Ezrom replied.
YOU THINK THAT WILL HELP? THERE IS SOMETHING YOU ARE FORGETTING. IF YOU WANT TO DEFEAT THE TITAN KING, YOU WILL NEED TO WORK TOGETHER.
"I know … which is why I delayed all the plans I had before. However, there is something I do not understand --"
THE UNDEAD CREATURE? IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU. OBITUS HAS HIS OWN PLANS FOR IT.
"So, it is just here to watch the world get destroyed?"
LET IT BE, AND DO NOT THINK ABOUT IT ANY LONGER. WE HAVE OUR OWN WORK WHICH YOU MUST NOT FORGET.
"I understand", he bowed again, before leaving the temple. He put his hands behind his back, and began to hum the tune he was humming earlier.
A few minutes later, someone wearing black robes reminiscent of an Earth's Catholic priest came to pick up Soren, who was hesitant about this whole thing. As for how they came to know that he was on that part of the island, Reeve didn't know, and he didn't bother asking either.
Currently, there were only three people on the island, Reeve, Oldavin and the unconscious Riza. She was sleeping peacefully in the hut, completely oblivious to the fact that the world was ending soon. The weird thing was, the robe she was wearing when Malum had taken over her body was still covering her. Reeve thought it might be one of the causes of the divine energy problem, but he was hesitant to take it off to prove his theory.
"What do you know about magic?" asked Oldavin, as he walked to and fro, hands behind his back.
"Eh … Everyone has mana reserves which hold mana. They absorb mana from the surroundings, which replenishes the mana reserves when depleted. Umm … what else? Right, in order to cast a spell, a person has to envision the spell rune--"
"That's quite enough!" Oldavin held his hand. "I know you have been taught some things from the school you attended, but that's elementary nonsense! For example, how do you think the floating islands remain floating?"
Reeve's head spun. What the hell did this old man just say? Did he hear right? Elementary nonsense? Also, come to think of it, how do the floating islands remain floating? Rokkai said there were runes which absorbed mana … how is that even possible? Anyway, who put those runes there?
"I will teach you the basics of how magic really works, and once we're done, then I'll teach you a few spells. You will not leave until you have mastered those spells", Oldavin explained.
"So … let me see … you want me to master disaster grade spells in less than a week? Am I crazy or is the world coming to an end?"
"Don't worry, you have a year to master the basic spells", Oldavin began to walk towards one of the huts. Altogether, there were less than four of them.
"Do you mind explaining?" Reeve started following.
"All the islands are gateways to a parallel world which exists outside of this space-time", Oldavin casually explained.
"Wait, what? Who made these?"
"Aion made the parallel world, and Ezrom made the islands, as well as the gateways."
"I don't really know what to believe anymore", Reeve looked crestfallen. "So, this world also has a hyperbolic time chamber? Was this world made by the god of plagiarism or something?"
They arrived inside the hut, and opening the only other door, they arrived in a forest. Turning back, Reeve saw that they were coming from a cave, except that on the other side, there was a door.
The forest was pretty big, with its own fauna and flora, albeit all the flora were predators. Reeve almost got eaten once, and if Oldavin wasn't there, he'd have been flower food, which was ironic in that his element was earth.