Agnes continued standing in the hallway for some time, just staring absentmindedly at the staircase Frey disappeared at.
"Agnes..." Cykrus voice resounded from behind her.
He took slow steps as he approached her, unsure what was going through her mind.
Agnes didn't answer, nor did she turn to look at him.
Cykrus stopped next to her, then lightly placed his hand on her shoulder, "There is a strange sensation inside of my chest... I hate how it feels." Agnes told him.
He chuckled, then placed his hand over his own heart; it wasn't just her who felt that way.
"Agnes...! There you are. I have been looking for you all night..." the white-haired man called out from the other end of the hall.
She turned away from the staircase and faced the man, she had steeled her resolve, prepared mentally for this event.
Cykrus removed his hand from her shoulder, then took a step back.
He felt that it wasn't his place to interfere, no matter what outcome their conversation would have.
"...Jonas...I..." Agnes appeared more nervous than she wanted to let on.
"It really is you... My hopes hung by a thread, I heard rumours of your name and your feats... but even then, I had my doubts." the tall and pale man came closer, close enough to embrace his long-lost sister.
Agnes stood there like a statue of ice, she did not stop him, but neither did she embrace him back.
"What about father and-"
"I am sorry, but they didn't..." Jonas shook his head, he couldn't bring himself to utter the word 'survive'.
"But I am here! Your family is still alive!" Jonas stopped embracing her, but his hands still clasped her shoulders.
"Jonas I... killed them... how are you here?"
"You did not kill them! It was an accident. You could not control your magic. I became aware of this during my own mage initiation. That day, the boy, your fiancé, he rescued me. But don't worry! I am a rank two mage now; I have a ton of say in the Whitewood family! You won't have to go through with it anymore..."
"Come home with me Agnes. We siblings have been apart for too long. Not anymore! We can be together again!"
The terrible feeling inside of Cykrus' chest grew more intense.
A life without Agnes around... could he return to such a thing after all this time they spent together?
"I am not the Agnes you remember. That day changed me, took me down a path that shaped my entire life. When everything appeared bleak, and my end seemed to have come... I met Cykrus. He took me in, and I had once again found a purpose."
"It was thanks to his help, that I reached rank two myself... I am not in need of your protection Jonas. And I have no interest in abandoning Aventia, the place I have called my home for so many years now, just to join the Whitewoods."
Jonas' brows furrowed, obviously annoyed, "Aventia has no future! By the end of this competition it will be no more. One family or another is going to swallow your territory whole, and at that point in time, you either join them, or become a threat that needs to be eradicated!"
"Just you two are not enough to protect yourselves! I don't care about your 'master', he can go through with this insane plan all he wants, but you have an option, you are not tied down to that piece of land, within Aventia you have no chance of ever rising beyond rank two!"
"I mean! Just look at the Ironhoofs! They are practically salivating all over Aventia already, secretly spreading their influence, so they can take over with the snap of a finger. Agnes! You aren't so foolish as to stay on this sinking ship, are you?! The Whitewoods will welcome you with open arms; nay, as a rank two mage, they will provide you with anything you could ever want!"
Agnes scoffed by the end of her brother's rant, then pulled his hands off her shoulders, "This is ridiculous... Jonas, we haven't seen each other in ages, I thought you were dead... we are practically strangers at this point. There is nothing that will convince me to abandon my home, to abandon Cykrus. When the Ironhoofs come to take what they believe is theirs... then they will truly realise that Aventia isn't as helpless as they believe."
"Cykrus! We are leaving." Agnes' face was dark, anger oozed out of her; Jonas reached for her wrist, to stop her from leaving, to make her see sense, but he stopped abruptly as he felt a stinge of cold at his throat, an icicle.
Jonas breathed heavily, trying to reign in his own fury at his sister's unruliness, "Fine then! Have it your way! See where your decisions lead you!"
The two stormed off, Cykrus quickly went after Agnes, his visage displayed the graveness of the matter that had just been discussed, but deep down... deep down he felt elated.
... ...
Frey's vision changed abruptly, going from the twisting imagery hidden within the portal, to a nearly pitch-black open sky.
To him it felt like only a moment had passed, but his body felt off, disorderly.
He fell to his knees as he failed to adjust in time, his stomach churned, and he felt like throwing up.
"Breathe deeply boy. That's the fastest way for your body to adjust." Marquis Gomon's voice filled his ears.
Frey followed his advice, slow, steady, and deep breaths managed to stop him from showing such a disgusting sight.
He looked up from the stone-pathed ground below him, and glimpsed upon a large, but crude camp.
Many tents littered the surroundings, some vibrant in colours, some as dark as the sky, some big and others small.
There was no sun in sight, the only source of light being the same lampposts that adorned the royal capital.
Frey gulped down the last bit of nausea that had assaulted him, only to lay eyes upon the other competitors that had arrived before him, the majority of which failed to keep their stomach's contents on the inside.
With wobbly legs he rose up from his knees, he was in a much better condition than most others, but once they had enough time to adjust, his advantage would continue to shrink, until the odds were once again stacked against him.
"Where is the… swamp?" the boy turned to Marquis Gomon, he noted the abundance of earth and nature particles around them, as well as the humidity and many blue particles in the air, but no trees, no green water, nothing of the sort he was expecting.
"Further out. Much space has been cleared in the camp's vicinity, just to ensure that the locals have no way to hide, or to ambush this main outpost of ours." Marquis Gomon answered, the fire in his eyes was burning a lot dimmer, instead a face of mockery was directed at those who made an unsightly mess of themselves and their image, as well as their assigned observer's.
The portal they came through stood at the centre of the camp; the sight of twisting space looked completely out of place, entirely in the open, protected by just a few warriors that wore the church's garbs.
At this point he remembered the object that Agnes had put into his hand; upon inspection, he realised that it was the same red coin-shaped object the strange man in the market wanted to sell him.
Did Agnes go buy it for him?
Was that the reason she appeared at the last moment?
She didn't even tell him what its use was!
Frey sighed but smiled; Agnes rarely displayed any sort of emotions, especially affection, but seeing as she went out of her way to acquire this for him… it just proved to him that Agnes was a good person… in her own way.
He stored the coin alongside the dagger and turned his attention back to the crowd of competitors, "Argh! Bunch of fledglings come and dirty the streets, I already hate 'em!" someone spoke from within the group of church members that approached them.
"Welcome to the Sunless Mire youngsters! The place where your dreams of profit and exciting adventures come to die of boredom." the seeming leader of their group proclaimed while extending both of his arms outwards.
He was clad in metallic armour, the same golden-red and white colour scheme as the others, however his shined even without needing the sun.
The armour itself, the mace and the shield on his back, as well as the open face helmet on his head all gave off a rank three aura, while the man himself had none.
"My name is Kassan Horun, I am the current leader of this expedition into our lovely swamp plane, appointed by His Majesty himself. We went ahead and prepared tents for all of you, though you are free to decide not to use them; I won't judge."
"While you are staying within our camp, I expect you to abide by our rules… otherwise don't blame me and my warriors for our actions. Rule number one: my word is law. I am not a tyrant, but if people start acting up, I will make sure they understand their place."
"Rule two: don't make unnecessary noise, trouble, or… that…" Kassan gestured at the fresh puke.
"Rule three, which only applies because of you newcomers: we will punish you if your actions end up costing progress on our expedition and expansion-efforts."
"And one last thing, that I wish I didn't need to mention… if you destroy the portal, accidental or otherwise, we will be putting your head on a stake."
The competitors listened silently, some still ashamed from their unsightliness, others excited at the prospect of exploring uncharted lands, and some more just for the thrill of killing.
"Now that we have the unpleasant stuff out of the way, let me give you all some information as a show of goodwill." Kassan continued after a short pause.
He held out his hand and one of his warriors placed a fresh, and juicy fruit into the palm of his gauntlet.
The fruit was glowing in a dim orange light, and it looked rather appetizing, "We have lost many men and women so far while trying to figure out edible and inedible stuff around here…" he raised his palm into the air, so all could get a better look at the fruit.
"This thing is both one of the only sources of light you'll encounter beyond the camp, as well as the most common edible food source, we call it 'Delightful Death'."
"Because, eating it as it is, will grant you a slow and painful death. The liquid within will appear sweet and tasty at first, but once in contact with your insides long enough, you will start to feel its acidic properties."
"With no way to safely extract it anymore, you will begin to dissolve, inside out."
"Understood? Perfect. Here is how you eat it properly…" another warrior placed a short knife into his other hand, which he moved to below the fruit.
"You simply cut open the bottom of the fruit and allow the liquid to drain out for a few minutes. Once that is done, you are free to eat it."
"Does that sound too time-consuming, or dangerous? Well! You are free to find a solution! Not only will you make a friend out of everyone in camp that way, but from what I have heard, your ranking or whatever in the competition will improve through achievements like this."
"Wonderful, with that done there is just one more thing I have for you. The locals, or as we call them, 'Treemen', are mostly of rank one, they roam the swamp alone, and sometimes in groups. The rarest of them can also be of rank two, but either way they usually aren't a threat, which is why our expansion has been going smoothly. There is also another species worth noting, 'Flyers' we call 'em."
"Like their name suggest, they can fly. An annoying bunch, their shrill screams will draw in Treemen or other Flyers in the surroundings. It's best to kill them before that, unless you like getting ganged up on."
"Since we are already on the topic of locals… Unlike some other planes, where they can be quite the delicacy, I don't recommend eating any of them." Kassan shook his head with a pained smile.
"The guy who tried had some roots and leaves growing out of him within days. Poor guy had to be put out of his misery."
One of the competitors raised his hand into the air, everyone's attention drawn to him, "Why don't we get any rations sent through the portal?"
His question caused a massive wave of laughter from the group of church members, like this had been some incredible joke.
The man lowered his head in shame, but within him grew a fury from their ridicule.
Back in the kingdom he was the son of a Baron, a young rank two mage, with prestige, looks, power, and riches, lacking for virtually nothing.
But in here he was practically a dirt-stain, or at least that's how he appeared in the eyes of the members of the expedition.
His status should make these people treat him with respect!
But in here they were the ones with power, and judging from the rules Kassan mentioned to them, it did not matter what kind of rank you held outside of this place.
"Allow me to explain that part too…" Kassan was the first to stop laughing, quickly returning to his graceful demeanour.
"You see, portals are very much beyond any living human's scope. It is magic that is largely untouched, some are remnants of older times, and some, like this one here, are a lucky coincidence by the pioneers of both the church and the kingdom, that came together to create the opportunities of expansion for humanity."
"Take a look at the portal, now, in comparison to before you entered, it has lost much of its lustre. One of the ways to tell that it has nearly reached its limits of transporting."
"As you can see, unlike previous times where we actually got rations delivered… this time you guys were delivered, and we only ever dare approach the limit of the portal during emergencies… as such, there won't be a delivery of rations for some time now. Usually a month." Kassan finished explaining.
Many of the competitors sighed, it just dawned on them, that their life that was filled with tasty food, entertainment from pretty men and women, as well as the availability of a nice refreshing bath at any moment's notice, had vanished.
"That is all from me. I ask the observers to keep their respective assignee in line while in camp, and to the rest I wish good luck and happy hunting." Kassan concluded with a light bow, then left with his entourage.
With the introductions done, several groups began to form; while some left to go inspect their tents, others audibly complained about how they are forced to fight their families' battles in their stead.
"Ah, there you are. Mhm, you don't look as bad as some of the others, especially those at the upper end of rank two. They seem to adjust the slowest to this place." Marv Beckett, Frey's ally, approached from the sidelines.
"How long have you been waiting?" Frey asked in return, he stepped closer to the only person he could trust for now.
"Waiting? Oh, you mean because you arrived last? No need to worry, apparently time here passes as quickly as back home." Marv explained.
"You seem to know a lot boy." Marquis Gomon chimed in, then glanced at Marv's observer.
His observer was a short girl with brown hair, somewhere in her forties, but Marquis Gomon couldn't recognise her.
"Who are you lass?" Marquis Gomon spoke to her, once again showing off his haughty nature.
"Lass?" the woman raised her eyebrow in annoyance, "You can call me Winny, geezer."
Marquis Gomon's eyes opened wide, like they were about to drop out, he was left speechless, no one dared to be this rude to him in decades, and if it weren't for the competition, he would most certainly lash out at this woman!
"You are right, the passage of time is the same as home. At least, as long as the portal remains as it is." Winny revealed in Marquis Gomon's stead.
"If the portal is that important, and so hard to create, then why is the protection this… lacking?" Marv inquired.
"Tch! Because to destroy the portal you need to be just as powerful as to create it." Marquis Gomon crossed his arms in front of his chest while glaring at Winny.
"I see. I understand. This explains the lack of protection, but also why this Kassan guy called this plane 'boring'. If the locals are at most rank two, then someone with rank three equipped rune-sets like himself will probably never get to go all out." Marv nodded.
Frey's gaze alternated between the three, but in the end stopped on Marquis Gomon, "Have you been here before? You seem to know a lot…"
Marquis Gomon raised his head and nose with confidence, "Not this plane, but I indeed have served some time fighting on the frontlines for the advancement of humanity. I can certainly spare some of my valuable time to tell you about them."
Frey's eyes lit up, "Yes, please!"
"You ready to head out? To secure ourselves an early advantage?" Marv nudged Frey.
The young boy turned serious, he looked towards Marv with a clear mind, "I am ready."