As the night wore on, the early celebration party came to an end. Some adults and children lingered inside the longhouse, captivated by Alphonso's storytelling.
When they finally started leaving one by one, the last child accidentally bumped into Niveus, who had just returned after vanishing like the wind.
Hearing the child's excited scream at the sight of the knight everyone had been talking about, Eliana and Alphonso rushed to the front door, worried that something might have happened.
When they arrived, they saw Niveus handing something to the child and bidding him goodnight.
"You're so late to the party. Well, it works out for me, though," Alphonso remarked.
"Niveus, where have you been? We were worried," Eliana asked.
"Not 'we,' you," Alphonso corrected.
Eliana gave him a cold glance and shrugged.
"I had to report about the Frozen to the fortress," Niveus replied.
Alphonso shot him a skeptical look. "That must have been one long report."
Niveus met his gaze from behind his mask and nodded. "It was."
As Niveus's words hung in the air, the three of them fell into a brief silence. The wind outside picked up, whispering through the cracks of the old longhouse.
Eliana glanced at Alphonso, who simply shrugged, a silent agreement passing between them.
"I think we should get some rest," she finally said.
Niveus nodded.
As the door creaked shut behind him, the lingering cold outside vanished.
Turning around, Alphonso went to the room provided by the village head, saying he wanted to grab the best spot.
Only Eliana and Niveus remained in the lounge, neither saying a word.
As Niveus walked past Eliana and bid her goodnight, she called out to him.
Stopping, Niveus looked over his shoulder and said, "What is it?"
At first, Eliana was fiddling with her finger, gripped by nervousness. But then she steadied herself, taking a deep breath before meeting Niveus's gaze, his face concealed behind his mask.
"Back at the fortress," she began, her voice a mix of formality and sincerity, "I saw a name carved into a stone. 'Nix.' I couldn't help but wonder... was he important to you?"
After catching Eliana's question, Niveus was fully turned around.
"He was my brother."
"Your... brother?" Eliana asked, genuinely confused.
As far as the education she received about noble families under the Empire, the Duke of Albus from Chrysantheus had only two children, which she assumed were the commander of Glacend Knight, Starling Albus, and her younger brother Enigmatic Knight, Niveus Albus.
But after hearing Niveus had another sibling besides his older sister, Eliana questioned her memory and the education she took.
Did she perhaps remember wrongly? Or was she learning the wrong subject?
A thought popped up in her mind, 'Oh, maybe it's like a sworn brother I've read in a book?'
"By brother, you mean your sworn brother?"
Seeing Niveus not giving a response, Eliana tried to explain, "You see, sworn brothers are—"
"I know what that is, but no, it's not a sworn brother. He's my blood brother."
"Eh, but..."
"Starling—the commander raised and took me in as her family. In other words, I'm her adopted brother."
Observing Eliana's dumbfounded face, Niveus approached and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Don't think too much about it, you better rest soon because we will set out early in the morning."
Niveus then turned around and walked away, leaving Eliana alone.
===
In the next morning, the village head led Niveus and his companions toward the Monolith, which stood ominously a few hundred meters behind the village.
It was a massive, dark structure that jutted out of the ground like an ancient obelisk, covered in strange, glowing runes that pulsed with an eerie light.
The Monolith emanated a chilling aura, making the air around it feel colder than the already freezing temperature.
The village head, who stood at least a hundred meters away from the Monolith, shouted at the knights, "We bid you good luck!"
Behind him, the villagers followed by throwing some encouraging words and praying for their safety.
Eliana's gaze was uneasy as she stared at the Monolith, her hand instinctively moving to the hilt of her weapon, though she primarily relied on magic.
In contrast, Niveus and Alphonso remained calm.
Niveus knew what lay ahead, thanks to his sentient and reliable Beacon. Alphonso, on the other hand, was simply fearless, always confident in his abilities—though not reckless, as he understood his limitations and when to pull back.
Alphonso's calm demeanor was also due to the number "5" engraved on the Monolith's surface, clear of the glowing runes, and the fact that those runes glowed blue.
"Heh, turns out it's just a level 1 C-rank Monolith," Alphonso remarked.
"Blue glowing runes and a number five... indeed, it's a level 1 C-rank," Eliana sighed with relief.
A year after their emergence, the Global Alliance introduced a grading system for Monoliths. The grading itself was divided into two parts: quality and quantity.
The color of glowing runes decided the Monolith's quality, indicating the strength of the monsters within. The ranks ranged from white, the easiest, to black, the hardest.
The Alliance graded the quality colors as follows: White for E-rank, Green for D-rank, Blue for C-rank, Yellow for B-rank, Orange for A-rank, Red for S-rank, Purple for SS-rank, and Black for SSS-rank.
Meanwhile, the number on the Monolith determined the quantity—the size of the realm and how many Beaconers could enter simultaneously.
Any number below 10 was classified as level 1, allowing up to 10 Beaconers to enter. Level 2 was for numbers up to 50, level 3 up to 120, and the final level, level 4, up to 250.
Alphonso stepped forward, standing beside Niveus and glancing at him.
"So, it's going to be a clearance."
"I hope so."
Niveus glanced at Eliana, who stood behind him.
"Have you rested well, Eli?"
Eliana's nervous form suddenly straightened up once she heard Niveus's voice. One could tell that she was already a lost cause.
"Y-yes! Thank you for asking," Eliana said, looking at the ground as she avoided Niveus's gazes.
"Good, because we will need everything we have once inside."
Eliana nodded. "I understand."
Alphonso rolled his eyes at the newest member's demeanor and walked inside the Monolith's formation.
"Let's not waste time."
As they stepped into the 4-meter circle, the intricate lines beneath them shimmered, glowing with the same ethereal hue as the runes.
The air around them hummed with energy, crackling softly as if the very fabric of reality was being woven anew. A faint breeze stirred within the circle, lifting snow and flakes in a gentle swirl, while the light from the runes pulsed rhythmically, matching the beat of their hearts.
The atmosphere grew dense, almost intangible, as the magic of the Monolith responded to their presence. With each second they stood there, they could feel the mysterious power binding them to the otherwordly realm.
Finally, the world around them warped and twisted, the familiar snow-covered landscape giving way to a dark, foreboding cavern.