"We should be on the move again, otherwise we might be late.”

  “Oops, sorry. What you have told me just now is … a lot to take in.” Zalanir scratched his head.

  “It’s a normal reaction.” Dakrua nodded and trod ahead.

  Looks like winter has started to pass by. Zalanir turned his palm up and let the snowflakes fall upon. With no fixed teaching schedule, and no rent to pay at the end of each month, he had lost track of the time. How long had he been here? Hard to say. The time he spent inside the bat cave wouldn’t help either. He got in when the sky was still crystal clear and escaped to the hug of the melancholy, fluffy white veil. A whole season had passed when he was trapped there.

  Though now snow barely stayed on the road, only on the roofs and tree crowns that their presence was more noticeable. Or perhaps they were the same, but the bustling activity of humans here dwarfed their existence. Three kids were showing off their cool magic in a corner, and a conjuring flame just melted any snowflakes landed nearby. To his right, a waitress cast a wind spell, flurrying all the snow and crystalline objects into a concrete box, cleaning the front door of the tavern in one go.

  “When will winter leave us?” He turned to the chef. It was a dumb question, but he just felt like asking. Not any day did he have a local residence willing to explain these obvious things.

  “Probably in two to three weeks.”

  “I will miss them.”

  “Some do, but I look forward to spring more. Easier to find cooking ingredients.” The chef smiled.

  Zalanir remained silent and just followed alongside the chef until they got to the foot of the hill, where the road now wore a layer of uneven cobbles on its surface instead of the bare dirt path in the downtown. Fewer houses and buildings in this area, but larger and more expressive in their outlook. One mansion even elevated itself up to two meters from the ground, with its entrance the open mouth of a bluefish and porcelain-white windows in the place of the fish’s scales.

  “Uhm, say, how do one get into the Second Ring? If each Ring comprises several planets, then I doubt we can just walk from one to the other?”

  “You are a lot more patient than I thought.” The man nodded with a gentle grin while keeping his steady pace. “Indeed, moving between the two Rings is an extremely difficult task, and if we are to consider one individual, almost impossible for those below A-grade.”

  “You don’t outright deny it, so there are some ways?”

  “The easiest way is to tag along with those above A-grade. Most of them will ascend after evolution, and there is a high chance they will bring along some. If you find someone coming down here from the Second Ring? Even better, but how to persuade them to do that is a whole different matter.”

  “Okay, so A-grade then. Two more evolutions, and I will get there.” Zalanir curled his fingers into a fist and punched forward, crushing a fragile snowflake floating about.

  “Ambitious and daring, huh? I like it.” Dakrua laughed out loud, which drew some eyes from the passing travelers. “Though there is another method that you could consider, and I suggest you do this for a faster timing. As clueless as you are, I assume you know nothing about the call to arms commandment?”

  “I’m sorry …” Zalanir retracted his fist and fidgeted awkwardly.

  “Instead of going up as an individual, one can also ascend with their race. In this case, it would be us humans in Bigovie. Zerkshi and Vendona have made an official call that they would attempt a Grand Ascension, and they are recruiting for this historic occasion. This would be your best chance,” Dakrua explained.

  “When will this Grand Ascension happen?”

  “Within the next twenty years, per their announcement. I think it’s a bit long, but can’t fault them for being extremely careful in light of the opportunity. The Grand Ascension is such a rare feat that hardly any race has succeeded. And for us humans, we even handicap ourselves by not having the Clotserinn in the mix. I can’t even imagine what will happen if they fail. Can the Clotserinn alone with a wounded country defend ourselves from the hostile forces?”

  “Oh, wait, so you are saying the strongest power in the big three won’t participate in this journey to the Second Ring?” Zalanir stopped on the spot, which also prompted Dakrua to do the same.

  “Yes, baffling, isn’t it? Everyone is surprised at this decision, but old man Gedras himself said that they have nothing to do with this attempt and will remain here in Bigovie.”

  “Erm, you have mentioned Bigovie several times already, is it the name of this region around Yebin or something?”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  A random question that Zalanir followed instinctively based on the context, which to him was a normal, harmless topic, but somehow, it earned him a weird look from Dakrua. The scrutiny lasted for just short of one minute, but Zalanir felt like he had just come out of a hard-fought battle, and barely, he survived.

  “You know that I’m an enforcer, right? I like you young lad, but with my duty, I have to report everything to the higher-ups. The safety of the city has to take precedence over everything else, and the fact that you don’t even know the name of the country just screams at me that you are more than the eye test.”

  No longer the calm demeanor, Dakrua was examining him like a lion setting its eyes onto a prey. Even a twist of his fingers would invite inspection from the chef right away.

  A single question had just transformed the atmosphere into one full of doubt and caution, which he addressed in an instance to avoid causing more trouble than necessary.

  “Yeah, it’s suspicious, isn’t it? Understandable coming from your perspective. But I can’t help it. Being born and raised in a secluded village deep in the forest, there wasn’t much for me to draw knowledge upon. Before coming here, I had thought that Bodylovo was the biggest settlement, and that the fighting pit was the normal daily entertainment activity. The concept of a country? What is that? I only know how to train, fight, and kill. To give absolute glee to the paying crowd. I was just a dumb frog living in a well, and the circular mouth where the blue sky met the bricks was my goal. So, yeah, thank you for enlightening me with everything. I truly appreciate it.” Zalanir gripped his hands and bowed.

  There were many lies there, but what he just said wasn’t solely to get him out of the situation, it was his sentiment all along. In this spur of the moment, he just felt like speaking it out to Dakrua was the right thing to do. The man had taken time explaining to him all the basics, and even rescued him from the cultist cave. Except for the fact that he was isekaied here, which now he knew that he had to keep as a secret, not sharing his thoughts would be such a disservice to the kindness he had received.

  “We are all the same …” The chef shook his head, turned around, and moved his legs again. “Let’s go. We have stopped long enough.”

  Zalanir didn’t know what was going on in Dakrua’s mind, but he could feel a hint of empathy and sincerity from that broad, pulling low shoulders. Maybe not only him, but everyone here was also a small hopping amphibian, just with different dresses and living shackles. After all, wasn’t there a Second Ring staying above? There would always be another mountain taller, or a hill greener somewhere.

  Standing on top of the hill, at the end of the cobblestone road, was a pure white building that Zalanir trusted to be the main hall. One floor, rectangular shape, with its most prevalent feature being a giant, pearlescent exterior staircase, each step having two guards standing on both ends. Their uniformity in blue armor and stone-faced manner radiated such an aura that even a fool would know not to fuck around in the area.

  From afar, Zalanir already knew that was the destination for the day’s meeting: the main hall. Though he didn’t feel pressed for a single moment, even after standing at the bottom of the massive staircase and angling his head up toward the also-in-white bonnet roof. An imposing aura indeed, but only a child compared to the pressure from the invading soul lion and especially the haunting note of the massive lantern inside his head.

  “You look calm. Good. Being able to smile like that standing here for the first time is not a feat everyone can claim. At least not for me.”

  “The attribute of an idiot?” Zalanir grinned.

  “I’m sure you mean confident.” Dakrua shook his head and turned toward one of the enforcers standing at the bottom.

  “Dakrua Banak, a member of Unit Four. I’m here with this man, Zalanir, to answer the call of the council.” His voice loud and clear, with no sight of age to be found.

  All eyes turned on them now, with the majority lingered on his face, but Zalanir stood with his back straight, ignoring some obvious taunt and hatred flying his way. It was within his expectation coming here, as he wasn’t just a survivor, but a murderer as well. Even though it wasn’t his “hands” that delivered the killing blow to all the enforcers in the lair, how could he explain it? As if a word from him could solve the problem.

  “Go!” The tension broke when a sonorous voice came from an enforcer thudding a spear four steps up into the stair on Zalanir’s right.

  It was like a walk of spite advancing toward the rectangular white building perched at the top of the staircase. It was like attending a post-match press conference after he defeated the opponent on their home turf, where the media threw only bitterness and criticism at him, with barely any congratulation in the mix. Though perhaps thanks to those experiences that he was able to maintain a stable pace and poker face now.

  Soon, the entrance to the main hall, a huge carved azure door made of some kind of glowing wood, came into his view. Except for another bunch of guards, there was a group of three people standing in a circle right next to the entrance. The only girl there nodded at Dakrua when the old man came toward one of the guards before glazing daggers at him. Zalanir sighed. Another trouble.

  “Enjoy your last moment, you piece of crap. What would it be? Being pummeled into a pulp by the general? Or a flaying show starting with your face? I’m down with that.” She didn’t look too bad with that long, smooth purple hair and a dimple on the left. Cute even. But what came out of that mouth just flagged her as a witch who deserved none of that loveliness.

  He chose to ignore her, as talking to a hater would do nothing good for his mental state. Though it appeared that she was a girl of annoyance.

  “Scared? Haha, you better be. Now, perhaps an instant death would be too convenient. I’m sure they will let you live for another day or two if you admit your sin and plead for forgiveness. In that case, come to me. I will take care of you and make sure you are treated with satisfaction,” she said with a straight face as if she was doing him a favor. The two other men in her group no doubt also advocated for her behavior, standing there with arms crossed in front and glaring at him.

  “Thank you for the advice. I will keep that in mind.” Zalanir nodded and shifted his gaze toward Dakrua, who was whispering with the guards in front of the entrance.

  The girl kept on blabbering nonsense, which annoyed Zalanir to his core, but alas, he didn’t have to suffer for too long before the old enforcer called him to come inside.

  Good or bad? He had no idea. But at least he would be free from these chitterings.

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