Lacrosa, Capital city of Nation of the Forsaken, the trading hub of mysticism, a city rumoured to have existed during the Second Era - the Era of Gods, over four thousand years ago. Despite it belonging to a semi-heretical society, it is under the direct protection of a divine entity.

  Since the Second Era to now, there are 11 divine entities known, some commonly referred to as gods.

  The Sacred Fme worshipped by the Temple of Fire.

  The Three Rings worshiped by the Church of the Three Rings and also the most prominent religion in the world.

  The God of Water worshipped by sailors.

  The Goddess of Madness worshipped by the Church of Sacrifice and prayed to by madmen in their darkest hours.

  The Blood God worshipped by the Church of the Blood God and militaries.

  The God of Knowledge worshipped by academics.

  The Light Seeker worshipped by vagrants, travellers, and adventurers.

  Those were the official and orthodox divine entities by the mundane world. But along with them are the entities deemed too dangerous to even know about.

  The Nation of the Forsaken is protected by the divine entity known as the Steam Bat. This entity in particur, nobody wants to mess with it, even the gods themselves. Being the sole reason why this secret society, originally sves from across the world, became a powerhouse in economy and trades.

  Anywhere Lea walks, she always sees a golden bat symbol hanging upside down. She was exploring this massive city with Andre walking behind her, letting her do her own thing.

  The massive spires grow bigger and taller the closer they come to the city center. And despite the massive number of people, with dozens walking on one side, it wasn't crowded at all.

  "Stop!!", a guard stopped her, wearing the copper and gold uniform of Lacrosa. He approached Lea with caution, "The area ahead is limited to citizens of Lacrosa only; you cannot go further."

  Being in awe of the sheer scale of the city, Lea looked around and noticed there was no people walking further than her, just standing to admire the city.

  "Ah! I'm sorry, the city is just so beautiful.", Lea shied away, making the fierce expression of the guard soften, "Um... I'll get going now."

  She turned around, walking away toward Andre.

  I should ask him... she thought.

  "Mister Fang, where can I buy custom weapons?", she asked him directly.

  Taken aback by the sudden, straightforward question, he took a second to compose himself, "I'll let you there."

  =0=0=

  Dawn was shuffling through the library, flipping through books about religions and history, trying to fulfill the request of Lady Keter.

  Due to her enhanced cognition, she can digest information more than normal people, and being a pure Erudite enhanced this power to a greater degree.

  It wasn't long until she found something interesting in a history book dating back to the Third Era.

  'Year 994 of the Third Era, a being bathed in white light walked into Sessora City, which was pgued by an unknown disease, curing every person and resurrecting the dead. Then vanished in a blinding fsh of light.'

  Sessora was a ruin in the Ryteline Kingdom, not far from the capital of Ryteline, Renar. She could make a trip there to investigate, and also come to the Royal University to make a request to collect the records of this mysterious being.

  This might be one of the beings Lady Keter is looking for... Dawn's intuition told her so.

  So she began to organize a proposal for an archeological expedition in her mind.

  =0=0=

  Eric woke up in a cold sweat, he found himself inside a forest, confused of where he ended up, so he stayed cautious.

  The beasts around him stare with wariness, as if he were a predator that could tear them apart. He looked down, finding himself naked, but not afraid.

  Rather, he felt immense power coursing through his body. He was no longer teetering on insanity anymore, close, but not as before.

  In his unconscious state... he had advanced to the Fourth Step. He had gained the power of Order.

  Immediately, he used Madness in combination with Order.

  All the beasts around him began to twitch uncontrolbly, as he had spread the madness and insanity to all of them. Then he activated Transfiguration with Order and Madness— the result shocked him greatly.

  In front of Eric, all the beasts began to chang, transformed into disfigured versions of themselves, becoming monsters simir to the Horrors.

  Then he tried the combination of Ash, Order, and Transfiguration, all tinged with Madness.

  "Reborn!!", he grabbed an abomination.

  The monster let out a cry, then its flesh and skin melded together, its organs and bones turned to ash. Wrestling control of the insanity in front of him, he pushed through with his willpower and turned the monster into a coat for him to use.

  Grabbing the brown beast cloak, he wore it wiith vigor and might. Smiling, his eyes burns a crimson red while his dirty blonde hair turn to a more faded color.

  Eric was now a Knightmare.

  But his excitement didn't st long... he was still in the middle of nowhere, "Lady Mashhith" had dropped him somewhere he can't recognize. And without his emblems, he can't communicate...

  He was in quite a predicament.

  =0=0=

  Lea's eyes sparkled as she id eyes on the numerous weapons id on the shelves of the shop, swords and guns of different kinds, even some impractical weapons like farming equipment, such as a scythe.

  Instinctively, she picked up a knife, she imagined a variety of ways she could use it to— No!!

  She shook her head; she was about the indulge in the thoughts of murder.

  Andre leaned in, misunderstanding that she was shaking off her awe and was staving off her greed, he whispered, "The church will reimburse material cost."

  Looking at him, she looked down, "Uh... no... I..."

  She turned to the amused shop owner, "Um, do you have a hidden weapon? Something like a sword hidden in a parasol?"

  The burly shop owner rubbed his beard, "I had someone commissioned a simir thing in the past, but the commissioner didn't return on time, and after a year, didn't come either. They even paid the deposit, which was ninety percent of the cost."

  He took out a box from underneath the table, opening it to reveal a bck parasol with a blue glow underneath.

  Lea frowned, finding this all too suspicious. Why would there be such a weapon in this specific shop? Scanning his emotion, Lea could tell he was honest. But the mysterious commissioner was a dangerous variable...

  "Can you tell me what the function of this weapon is?", Andre stepped forward, also feeling suspicious about the item.

  The shop owner rubbed his head, "Besides hiding a rapier inside the shaft, the canopy is infused with Accord, meaning that it can store charms inside it, and the bde is infused with Severance, Rend, and Rift."

  Andre sank deep into his thoughts, but his murmurs were loud enough for Lea to hear, "A weapon infused with the Paths is no way cheap... did the owner die...?"

  "How much for this?", Lea asked the owner.

  "Three thousand Cee.", he stated.

  Both twitched at the price; it was way out of their budget... however, this was way cheaper than its intended price.

  Finding no way out of buying this right now, Lea decided to give up, "Can I have something like this but without the extraordinary stuff?"

  "Sure can, it will only be fifty Cee."

  Lea took out her money... which transformed right before her eyes into Cee banknotes, which bore the golden bat symbol on it.

  She has a hundred Cee in her hands.

  "Any currency entered Lacrosa would turn into Cee.", the shop owner chuckled, "Don't worry, they will turn back when you get out of the city."

  Lea nodded, understanding that this was just another uniqueness of the city. She made the transaction, buying a bck parasol with a hidden sword. She was quite happy with this purchase, thought she still felt pity about not buying the powerful parasol.

  After that, Lea left the shop with a few bck steel knives, non-extrordinary weapons that are quite durable and effective, and bck leather gloves to hide the marks of Corruption. Now she was following Andre to get some stuff with him.

  Inside the shop, the owner was wiping the table and doing some maintenance on the weapons. However, a guest entered. He turned and widened his eyes in horror as the lights flickered, seemingly distorted by something.

  A creature covered in bck smoke, its form shrouded in complete mystery, and it brings a feeling of wrongness, as if it wasn't supposed to exist.

  "Y-You.", he tensed up, praying to the Steam Bat in his heart for protection.

  The creature approached, and it pced twenty thousand Cee on the table along with a white card underneath the pile of banknotes.

  Without waiting for the shop owner to comprehend what was happening, the shadowy tendrils slipped down and took the case containing the parasol. Then it vanished with the weapon.

  After a moment of silence, the shop owner let out a sigh of relief. He carefully took the banknotes... underneath it was an introduction card.

  'Miss Mashhith from the book club'

  =0=0=

  "Oh, you finally got it?", Lady Keter looked at the creature covered in smoke. Behind her was a white construct not too different from the cars powered by steam used by the upper css in this world.

  However, its body is impossibly smooth, without rivets or visible ironwork, the paint reflecting mplight like bck gss. To the people of this world's eyes, it looks less like a carriage and more like some mysterious beetle from a distant jungle, polished to unnatural perfection. And on the front was a stylized "H" logo.

  "Miss Mashhith" hopped onto the hood, which made the car honk. But there was no driver inside.

  "Just give it to me and be on your way.", Lady Keter sighed, holding her hand out.

  "Miss Mashhith" pced down the case on the car's hood, then vanished from this bck and white world.