Without a clear destination, Gregory continued wandering around the otherworld. He climbed hills, crossed rivers, and walked through valleys with skeletons scattered on them. He also saw some strange, small creatures that could do no harm to him, until he bumped into an ogre. It was big and muscular; it noticed him, so it walked slowly and closely to him. It spoke an unknown language, seemingly asking him. Gregory remained silent, and then the ogre tried to reach him. Sir Van Luther quickly reacted and cut his hand in an instant. The ogre howled out of pain; it was so loud that the birds were disturbed and flew away from the scene. Other ogres heard the cry; they quickly gathered around him; they're much bigger than the first ogre. They were angry and ready to attack when a man yelled and said, "Wait, wait, wait! "The ogres halted. "He is a friend," he added as he came closer to Gregory. The man conversed with the ogres in their language, saying that Gregory was just lost and frightened by the small ogre. One ogre remains angry, and it says that the small ogre was just a kid; why would he cut off its hand? The man apologized and kept insisting that he didn't know anything about them, then told Gregory to bow. "Come on, dude, just bow down and let's get over with this." Sir Van Luther bowed his head with the man. The ogres calmed down a bit, but the kid ogre was in pain, so the man picked up the hand and tried to stitch it back. "This will do; you fellas regenerates fast, so you'll be just fine," he said while tightening the stitches. The kid ogre was relieved, so it hugged the man. "Hey, not so tight, my friend, hehe," the man uttered with laughter. When the ogres walked away, the man approached Gregory, and he asked, "How about you? Where do you come from? "Gregory just stared at him. "Let me guess, you are mute? Oh, come one, after a long time, I've been the only human in this place, and now you came, but you can't speak? "The man shouted with frustration. "I guess it's alright; after all, we humans must have each other's back. I'm not sure if you can hear me, but let me introduce myself. My name is Dumbo. I was a geologist back on earth; now I'm just an explorer on this vast, dark world of Igdris," the man said. "Igdris? "asked by Gregory. "Yes, home of many strange creatures that once existed on our world," Dumbo answered. "Wait, you can talk?! "He astonishingly shouted. He tried to grab Gregory's collar, and he never resists, knowing that he won't do any harm to him. "Now that it's your turn, who are you? "Dumbo asked. Gregory thought that he must not expose his real identity, so he made up a new name for him. "I am Craig, an ex-military in our world," the newly named Craig answered. "Ex-military, huh, so they also taught you how to wield a blade? "Dumbo asked, but Craig was just quietly observing the surroundings. "Arghh, you're ignoring me, huh? You don't want to answer? "Dumbo annoyingly uttered. Craig looked at him and asked, "Did you know anything about the witch queen? "Dumbo was shocked and looked around, then he whispered to Craig, "Please don't say those words out loud in public; if you want to know something about her, I can take you to someone else." The two decided to go to a place where someone might be able to help Craig with his quest.
They have entered a vast and dark forest and walked their way to the heart of it. As they approached their destination, Craig asked Dumbo, "I wonder, how have you survived this long here? "They kept on walking through high grass and narrow paths. "Long ago, I kept on searching for my way out of here. I have family; I miss them so much, but I fail every time. Until one day, I've given up and decided to adapt to this new life of mine. I've learned some of their languages, like those ogres you've met before. Now, I can interact with almost all of them, actually only here in this colony," Dumbo answered. "Colony? You mean there's colonies here that had leaders such as queens? "Craig said. "It's not like that; this colony was ruled by vampires, and those creatures who were inferior to them chose to follow them and live under their protection," Dumbo explained. "A vampire colony, huh? I wonder if they can help me out," Craig said to himself. "We are here," Dumbo said, and they've stopped by a cliff. From above, they saw a house with loud music and noise; it was a bar. They climbed down to reach the bottom and walked their way inside the bar. Craig saw some horrible and vicious creatures at the bar, such as orcs, ogres, goblins, trolls, and centaurs. He looked at Dumbo and asked again, "How did you survive here with them? "Dumbo looked Craig in the face and answered while smiling, "Let's just say I have these connections that protect me." Then a commotion built somewhere at the bar. "Where is Dumbo?! "Someone angrily shouted; it was a minotaur; everyone became quiet and pointed at Dumbo. "Oh, no! "Dumbo said nervously. The minotaur made a stance, bowed down a little, exposing its horn, and prepared to charge towards Dumbo. Everyone get out of the way; no one wants to be caught up in the minotaur's attack. "Craig, help me!" Dumbo exclaimed, but the charge has begun, and no one can stop it. Out of nowhere, someone blocked the minotaur's attack. It was a puppet, made of wood, but so durable that it could withstand the minotaurs violent charge. "I think you should stop this mess before you get hurt," someone uttered. It was a woman orc, a shaman. The minotaur startled and panicked; it ran outside the bar. "Are you hurt, baby Dumbo? "asked by the orc shaman. "No, I'm fine," Dumbo answered with teary eyes. "Who is your friend? "asked again by the shaman. "Oh, he is Craig; he wants to ask you something about something," Dumbo answered. The orc shaman knew that it was an urgent matter. "Let's go into my workroom," the orc shaman invited.
The three of them walked inside the shaman's room, which was filled with weird stuff such as the minotaur's skull, eyes soaked in water, and a broken hand that was still moving. "If you want to curse someone, you can never be wrong with me. Hahaha, so tell me, who was it? "The shaman asked. "The witch queen," Craig answered. "Oh, come one, that's too easy; you want to attack the witch," the shaman boastfully said, then stopped herself, realizing Craig's insanity. "Are you out of your mind?! "The shaman furiosly shouted to Craig. "Get out of here! ", she added. "Mother, it's just a misunderstanding. He didn't want to curse or attack her; he just wanted some information, that's all," Dumbo explained. "Yes, that's all I need—information on how to kill her," Craig said. Dumbo and the shaman slap their foreheads; they can't believe how simple-minded Craig is. "This is the first time I've heard of someone who wants to kill her, and the crazy part is, it was a mortal," the shaman said. "Why would you not want to call out her name? "Craig asked. "You foolish human, you didn't know the saying that these walls have ears. We gotta be careful with every word we are going to say," the shaman answered. "Mother, can you help him with what he needs? "Dumbo asked the shaman with a worried expression. "It depends on what kind of information he needs," the shaman answered. "I just need her location," Craig said. "Fine, her castle was in the northern part of this region; we are in the south, so just head north and you'll be fine," the orc shaman said. "Thanks, I'm going to kill some witches," Craig uttered as he tried to head out of the room. "That's it? You're going to charge straight to your enemy with no plan? "The shaman annoyingly asked. "Yeah, I don't want to waste any more time," Craig answered simply. Dumbo and the shaman shook their heads and said, "Your foolishness is out of this world. Let me tell you how cruel and powerful the nameless is." The shaman picked up his staff and cast a spell, and the whole thing started to change into the events of the past.
"Long ago, before this world was created, two unstoppable forces fought with each other: the Creator and the Witch Queen. They equally tormented each other in their every battle, so neither of them became victorious at first. The witch queen had a beautiful name; she was known almost everywhere in the country, but she was tired of their endless battle; she wanted to win, so she sold her name to the devil. In exchange for tremendous power, she was known as nameless; she just carried the title witch queen, and whoever wanted to replace her, she'd kill her ruthlessly. On the other hand, the creator's power became much stronger as time went by; he never stopped training until he passed his limit. Until he discovered the secrets to infinite mana, he recorded all his knowledge and secrets in one single book, known as the grimoire of infinity. By using that book, the creator cast a powerful spell that created this world, the Igdris; he brought almost all the supernatural creatures from the human world here in the Igdris. He successfully accomplished his goal, but it came with a great toll; his power was consuming his life force drastically. Unfortunately, the witch queen was left in the human world, so the creator must face her one last time. Out of desperation, the creator cast a spell that brought them together to Igdris. The witch queen was infuriated, so she tried to destroy Igdris itself, but the creator stopped her by casting multiple spells; that became the law of Igdris. By the law itself, even the witch queen can't do any harm to Igdris; she can be as powerful as she wants, but in the end, she must also follow the law. Once again, that spell brought a great recoil to the creator's body, but he doesn't want to die here in Igdris; he wants to see his family one last time. For the last time, he cast the spell, making his way home. That was the last time Igdris and its people saw the creator. Now that the creator was gone, the witch queen spread terror in Igdris. She killed her fellow witch to gain more power. Maybe she realized that she couldn't do it alone, so she formed her own magic guild, which consists of the strongest spellcasters here in Igdris. Until today, everyone has been cautious in mentioning her title because everybody believes that if you call out for her, you are calling for hell."
The shaman's spell stopped, and the room returned to normal. "Mother, that was the first time I've heard that history," Dumbo said. "Like I said, everybody doesn't want to do anything with that nameless person," the shaman replied. "So what's your plan? You can tell by my story that you wouldn't stand a chance against her," the shaman asked Craig. "No, I'm still going," Craig composedly answered. "Hmp, what a hard-headed mortal! If you're going to slay her, at least form a plan," the shaman said. "I don't have time to plan; with each wasted moment, she might be able to use that book," Craig said. "What book? "The shaman asked. "The book that the creator left behind," answered Craig. "What?! This is a disaster; how did she get it? "The shaman asked once again. "It's a long story; I think I must go," uttered Craig. "Wait, you can't defeat her alone; you need an ally," the shaman said, then she handed a necklace to Craig. "From here, head east and look for a vampire camp near the Skulls Valley. Look for Aurdim Vorkhel and show him this necklace. Tell him that you were referred by me, Hurakzia Zilk. Dumbo, you can go with him, and make sure he won't do more stupid things," the shaman ordered Craig and Dumbo. The two of them just nodded and quickly headed out of the bar, starting their new quest.