Clyde coughed, getting their attention "moving on, ya had questions ya needed ta ask didn't ya? Well ask away!"
Esmeralda and Vincent sat opposite Clyde, fresh snacks between them. Neither side had spoken a word..
"What're ya waiting for. I don't bite ya know... well I don't bite ma friends" they looked back and forth between themselves before Vincent spoke up first
"Well, you know we're not from your world. Which means you're aware of our mission?"
"That I am" he replied with a smile "ya have ta find the young lad who can beat the blasted Fotiá. Then ya gonna have ta take him ta the cultivation school ta get ta the nascent soul stage then take him ta the old geezer out in the Immortals realm"
Esmeralda gave him a questioning look. That wasn't what she'd been told at the start of the game "But we were told to help him ascend to an immortal" Clyde paused to take a quick bite of the assortment of treats before responding
"He was messing with ya, only an immortal can guide mortals in the ascension. You two are suppos'd ta help him cultivate ta the nascent soul stage then ya take him ta the gate ta the world of Immortals. The old man should meet you there but you're gonna have ta find the gate first"
Find?
"Is it lost?" Things just got even more complicated. The joy from not having to help him to the immortal stage extinguished by the recent discovery.
"Nah, just doesn't stay in one place for more than 10 minutes. It's always on the move."
This is hopeless, Esmeralda thought as she pondered how they were going to find a gate that constantly moves "It does only alternate between 5 islands though but they're all located near the borders ta the outlands, where Fotiá and her followers were banished ta" Clyde pointed out after he noticed the dejected look on Esmeralda's face
"Well at least we can narrow our search down to those five islands" Vincent remarked, attempting to lift her spirit "can't get any worse than that right?"
Esmeralda slapped a hand over his mouth "Don't jinx it you idiot!". She sighed and turned back to Clyde "hey, you keep referring to the guy we met at the start of the game as 'old geezer', do you know him personally?"
"Hmm? Ohh you mean old man Neró? Course I know him"
"Neró? Wasn't he one of the Immortals mentioned in the story" she asked Vincent, who nodded a yes "how do you know him? Are you an immortal too?"
"Ha! I wish. We the chiefs–one for each village–meet up with the 4 great immortals once every ten years, they oversee the happenings in the mortal realm. We're buddies too" Clyde explained
Vincent and Esmeralda sat for a few seconds, processing all the new information Clyde had given them.
"Do you happen to have a map of this place?" Vincent asked. They'd need a map if they were hoping to make any progress in finding their way around this new world, was the conclusion he had reached. Clyde nodded and stood up, walking over to a desk at the corner of the room, he began rummaging through the huge piles of papers stacked onto the desk, some falling off it in the process. Vincent and Esmeralda helped themselves to some snacks and admired the simple but cozy home, furnished with wooden structures, the walls adorned with stuffed animal heads and child like sketches that they'd been too preoccupied to notice before while Clyde searched.
"Aha, here it is!" Clyde proclaimed after minutes of seraching. He hated a large dusty tome onto the table in front of them and flipped open a page, pulling out a folded piece of paper. He handed it to Esmeralda "that's the map ya asked for"
"Thanks.." she unfolded it to see a blank sheet of paper "...for giving me a blank paper"
"You really shouldn't judge based on appearances" He rose his palm, a faint blue glow emanating from it and places it on the blank paper "In this world, nothing is as it seems on the outside", slowly the map began to fill out. Roads, forests, islands all became visible
Vincent whistled "that's officially the coolest thing I've ever seen. you have to show me how you did it!" Esmeralda snickered at his enthusiasm as Vincent gushed over the map
"There's really nothing special 'bout it. Just direct ya qi into it and it'll show ya where ya want to go"
Esmeralda perked up at the mention of qi "That's something else I've been meaning to ask you about, we're supposedly meant to help the mortal ascend to nascent soul stage but how do we do it. We're not from here, I don't think we can harness this qi the way you do"
"Hmmm....that doesn't seem right, everyone possess qi. It's that energy inside ya. But I guess we won't know till ya try!" Clyde said with a wide smile