Owen waited anxiously in the palace's magical training hall as the portal created by Ixius reopened before him. The wizard stepped out with a smile stretching across his face, his robes fluttering slightly.
"Why are you coming out alone, Old Man? Where are the kids?" Owen demanded, his gaze scrutinizing the portal's depths.
Without a word, Ixius waved his staff, and Ren and I tumbled out, half-conscious and draped in sand, grime, and sweat from the grueling session we'd just endured.
"Oh my… You've already drained all their mana on the first day?" Owen raised an eyebrow.
"Hah! As if you've never done the same. Didn't I hear that you once made the princess faint during her first day of sword training?" Ixius countered with a grin.
"Heh. Touché." Owen shook his head but reached down, scooping me up effortlessly in one arm and pulling Ren up with the other, as we both sagged from the effort of standing.
"Tell them to meet me here next week, same day and time," Ixius said, twirling his staff thoughtfully. "Until then, ensure you train their physical endurance well, especially that boy. Farewell!" With that, he vanished in a whiff of glimmering sparks.
"Hah… That old man," Owen muttered, adjusting his grip on us. "Are you two alright?"
"So… hungry…" Ren and I moaned in unison.
Owen laughed. "Alright! Let's get you fed before you collapse completely."
Ugh! I hadn't anticipated Ixius' training to be that intense. It felt much more exhausting compared to my physical training with Owen. Well, their teaching methods are kinda similar tho. Maybe because these two are coming from the same family, I guess.
The journey back through the palace halls was a blur of exhaustion, and by the time we reached the dining room, the scent of food had us ravenous. We attacked our plates with such zeal that Anna, my ever-attentive nanny, practically gasped.
"Goodness, slow down, Princess! There's plenty for everyone," she chided gently, though her eyes softened at my obvious hunger. "You too, Master William!"
Ren and I held out our empty plates with pleading eyes. "More, please!"
After we'd devoured our fill, feeling somewhat renewed, Ren and I wandered out to the castle's grand balcony. The midday sun glinted off the mountain peaks in the distance, the air rich with the mingled scents of pine and fresh greenery.
"Darn it! I was only able to take out three golems!" Ren shook his head in frustration.
"Hehe! Looks like I've got more stamina than you!" I teasingly reveled in my small triumph as I got to destroy five of Ixius's sand golems. Taking down those creatures had taken everything I had, but I wouldn't let him know that.
Ren shot me a glare but then shrugged, his frustration shifting to curiosity. "By the way, what do you think Master Ixius's EMBLEM power is?"
I crossed my arms, furrowing my brow as I considered it. "No idea… He could fly, control the air enough to knock down Owen, and summon those sand golems. If I had to guess, maybe SKY or LAND… or maybe both?"
"But he can also create portals and teleport. Couldn't that mean FORCE too?" Ren added.
"Then… SKY, LAND, and FORCE EMBLEM? That's three elements! Is it even possible for someone to master that many?" I wondered aloud.
"It might be… That's probably why he's the Royal Wizard, right? He must be ridiculously powerful."
Ren's words left me in silent thought.
Just how many secrets does the old mage hold? In the few days I'd known him, Ixius had displayed an uncanny mastery over magic that defied what I understood about EMBLEM power limitations.
"Hey, since you read Twilight's Chronicle in your previous life, was Master Ixius in it?" Ren asked, snapping me from my contemplations.
I shook my head. "No. His name never came up in the novel…"
"So, he's just some kind of an unimportant NPC?"
I nodded. "In Twilight's Chronicle, the story focused more on Chrisola and William's adventure and romance…"
Ren scoffed. "Sounds boring!"
"Boring? And you think Adventoria is so much more exciting?" I snapped back, annoyed.
"Of course it is! It's an MMORPG with tons of quests. Hunting monsters, dungeon raids, world bosses, treasure hunts, you name it!"
"Isn't that just the same as a regular MMORPG?" I chuckled.
"No way! What made Adventoria special is the unique race system, elements, and complex character progression. It's different than another MMORPG!"
"Wait… aside from humans, you're saying there are other races in this world?" I asked, suddenly intrigued.
Ren nodded excitedly. "Yep! Magaia has five main races: Human, Shura, Freya, Anima, and Alfer."
"Eh? "I had no idea." I scowled as the realization hit me.
Until recently, I assumed Magaia was solely inhabited by humans. I had heard nothing at all about these other races in Emeraldine.
"Imagine what could lie beyond the kingdom's borders." Ren turned to gaze over the castle balcony. "What if those other races live with advanced civilizations and powers we can't even dream of?"
For a moment, his words stirred a sense of awe within me, a feeling I had rarely allowed myself since my rebirth. The world of Magaia was far more complex and vast than I'd considered. Thoughts of revenge and survival had consumed my life. But maybe, just maybe, there was a world worth exploring beyond that.
"Hey, Ren. We don't have training tomorrow, right? How about going to the royal library with me?" I asked, a new determination hardening within me.
Ren grinned. "Bet! I'm always up for more learning!"
The next day, we slipped into the palace library. Shelves towering from floor to ceiling surrounded us, filled with thick, ancient tomes and dusty scrolls. The atmosphere was heavy, as if the very air was laden with secrets and old magic. We scoured the shelves for any clue about the world beyond Emeraldine or the hidden races of Magaia.
Hours passed with little success, and I was beginning to lose hope when Ren let out a triumphant shout.
"Luna, look at this!" He held up a worn book with a faded title, The History of the Emerysoul Empire.
The Emerysoul Empire?
My eyes narrowed as I scanned the pages. According to the book, 500 years ago, an empire known as Emerysoul once ruled this entire land on the continent of Feyland. But after a catastrophic event known as the Grand War, the empire splintered into factions. Three great clans; the Emeralia, Argenti, and Lazarro, retreated to the east, forming the Kingdom of Emeraldine under the leadership of King Saius D'Emeralia.
I frowned. "Retreated… from what?"
Ren shrugged, flipping through the pages. "Doesn't say exactly, but it implies they lost the Grand War. Maybe something or someone forced them to abandon their lands?"
A gnawing sense of curiosity filled me. "Then we need to learn more about the Grand War."
We searched through every shelf for more details on the Grand War, but the library held no further clues, almost as if the kingdom's history had been deliberately concealed. My frustration grew until, wandering idly, I found myself in a secluded corner where I'd once experienced an accidental teleportation, right before I met Ren.
"Hey, Ren! Check this out!" I called, holding an ancient book titled A Study on Space and Time Magic.
Ren peered over my shoulder. "What's up with it?"
"A few days ago, I was reading this book when I got teleported to you. Maybe that incident wasn't just a summoning mistake."
"Huh? You think it had something to do with this book?" he asked, surprised.
"I think so. I felt like it was more than a coincidence," I murmured, flipping to the section on summoning rituals. "I can't shake the feeling that some magic or destiny led me to you."
My heart raced as I found the passage where I'd left off, my fingers trembling with a mix of excitement and dread. But what we read there left us both stunned.
"W-Wait…! T-This is…!"