[24]

Hearing the proclamation, every single person within the room turned silent. Letting the words drift into the air for a moment, letting them linger amongst their heart for a while longer.

Angus withdrew his weapon from the base of the figure's neck and sat back down. Thomas released his hand from amidst the air, and watched in silence as the icicle that surrounded the figure crumble down into glistering azure crystals before fading the same as they came.

The room was still, no one spoke, each debating the words to their own right.

"Did anyone enter into her good books?" Abraham couldn't help but finally ask, his eyes glancing at the gathered people.

After all, that girl was known as the most powerful figure on this side. And as such, had always abstained from acting within the world. Even still, with her strength, she had not called for an order of full control of their armies, instead, she called for a coalition.

Those were two different scenarios; a full control would mean every army of the five kingdoms would be under her and work towards her goal, which was likely much the same as them, and a coalition was something else entirely.

Meaning, she was calling for teamwork. The most powerful person in the human realm was currently calling for teamwork. It was either that the threat of this upcoming war was truly too big that she would have to step in, or someone had entered into her good books at some point and she was just leaning towards helping the kingdom of Albion out of mere friendship.

No one wanted to believe that this war would become so chaotic as to have the person at the top of the world step in, that was why Abraham had asked that ridiculously stupid question. And it looked as if his strategy of a defensive-oriented front might have to undergo a slight change.

The black cloaked figure shook its head, "my master truly calls for a coalition."

The voice sounded dry, plainly so, but it was still clear to pick it up as that of a young girl's. Sounding not more than 19 years old, the figure took back the <Orb of Records> and stared at the king.

Abraham could finally see the eyes of the figure through the gap at her face. It was silver, almost white, almost blending amidst the eyes, but still--those silver irises shone through faintly. Even more so, with the rays of the sun upon that fraction of her face, it was inexplicably dreadful, in a mystifying presence.

The young king could see a few strands of blonde, almost golden, hair fall from the forehead of the figure and cross her hidden face.

"As much as I would like to use my <Shadow Jump> to move you with me, and traverse this land with the fastest speed possible, it is impossible for me to move anyone but myself." The figure gave a small bow, "I apologize."

He listened in silence.

"Finally, my master sent me to escort you to her location, Abraham Springfield." She stretched out her hand in a show of friendship.

"You may call me Homunculus Number 0."

Taking the hand, Abraham asked back, "do you have a real name."

"Yes, given to me by my master. However, only she may know, and only she may speak it." Number Zero replied plainly as she took back her hand.

"I'll just call you Zero then. Is that fine with you?" The king questioned back.

There was a slight pause, then a small nod of acknowledgment.

"Do as you wish." She simply stated.

Abraham nodded, "alright, Zero, when do we leave?"

"Right Now."

"May I bring anyone along?" His brows creased slightly.

She glanced around the room, staring at the gatherer of personals for a bit, silently judging them, before finally shifting her silver eyes back towards the king.

"One."

Abraham turned towards his oldest advisor.

"Nigel? Are you willing?"

The old advisor immediately bolted up as fast as his old body would allow.

His head full of white hair wavering as he bowed, "of course my king."

And so, it was time for a bit of adventuring for the young king. Slightly, slightly, there was a small smile on Abraham's face.

'Why is he smiling?' Number 0, no, Zero couldn't help but crook her head.

***

"You're all rather willing to brave into a dungeon." O'Brien tilted his head in slight surprise.

"May we get on with it already.." Ashe snorted, not even showing an ounce of taking into account the nature of the quest.

After having learned that the request was simply to enter a dungeon and check up on the man's daughter she was back to business. After all, she had delved into a dungeon countless times before. It was the same dungeon, but it was a dungeon nonetheless that she had traversed upon countless times to train herself and control her power.

"That's some confidence you've got there..." Arthur commented at the side.

However, he merely received the cold shoulder as silence provided her response.

He shrugged calmly and turned to the guild master, "how many floors do we have to climb to reach your daughter?"

"She usually trains on the third floor. However, if she is in a midst of a breakthrough as I think, she would most likely be within the fourth floor or in the midst of battling the third floor's gatekeeper."

"So, we have to travel to at least the third floor of the dungeon?" Ais asked.

At her time as an adventurer, she had never entered a dungeon. And by the time she gained enough strength to enter into the first floor alone, she had been taken in by Crow's Nest. That was to say, she had no knowledge of what was truly inside of Albion's Great Dungeon--save for chatter amidst the streets.

"Indeed," O'Brien nodded.

"How much strength is needed for the third floor?"

"The A rank."

"Just the A rank?" Arthur raised his brows.

He had long heard tales of the dungeons being overly difficult to the point where death stalks you. Especially Albion's Dungeon, which was prized with the name Asto's Great Labyrinth.

"Yes, however, don't take it lightly. A dungeon monster is different from their everyday world counterpart. That is to say, a demonic beast within a dungeon is at least ten times stronger than their outside counterpart."

"Ten times?" Maria muttered.

She found that somewhat odd. Why would they be stronger? Wasn't it simply a matter of location difference? Could that bring about so much change?

"Indeed, ten times. After all, the great dungeons were made using the mana of the dragons themselves. Specifically, using the mana of the five dragons of Gaea. The dragon's personally created to serve the goddess and oversee the world in her place."

"Yet they created only five dungeons?" Rain asked.

It seemed quite a small number to him. If you had the power to create dungeons, why would you only create five? He wasn't someone with genius level intellect, but even a normal person could figure out that if someone had the power to do something, they would undoubtedly do it in the end--more so than limiting themselves.

"Long ago, there used to be dungeons spanning the entire continent of Estia. However, only five Remains." The guild master answered.

O'Brien briefly stopped, glanced at her figure, and gave a nod, "Indeed, five on each side. Although we don't fully know what happened, it is said that the five dragons had made a pact to leave five dungeons on each side of the terrain. Five at the human realm, and Five at the demonic realm."

"Chaos, the desolate black dragon of disorder and death. Whis, the shining white dragon of order and life. Asto, the crimson blood dragon of strength and battle. Shin, the azure sky dragon of bravery and hope. Long, the jaded emerald dragon of wisdom and tranquility. Each dragon holding two aspects came to agree to the arrangement."

"Those five Godly Dragon's, the creations of Gaea. At that time, they were the ones who balanced the world with their might and the divine blessing gifted to them by the goddess. Once worshipped as the ruler's of the world by both men and beasts alike. However, no one really knows what changed it all."

"With how overpowering dragon's are, is there a reason they would even need to make dungeons in the first place?" Arthur couldn't help but ask.

To him, this seemed like nothing more than unneeded work. Sure, currently, the dungeons were very helpful-economically and training wise. However, back then, why would dragons even need to create them in the first place? They had no need for the materials within, and they certainly were too strong to use a dungeon as a training ground; after all, they were once lorded as the strongest beings in the world. So, in the end, why did the dragons create the dungeons?

Ashe looked at the boy at her left and scoffed, "did you not learn any history of this world?"

"Why would I do that?" Arthur scoffed back as he rested his head on his hand.

He glanced at her in laziness, "A genius such as myself should focus all his time on training his magic arts. History Lessons? No thanks."

"A genius? You?" The crimson eyes narrowed.

And the young prince nodded calmly. Why would he deny her?

"In fairness, history is quite boring," Maria commented.

Ashe could hardly believe her ears and turned to look at Rain, "What about you?"

The boy delivered a feigned cough, and gave an awkward smile, "time spent training."

To which he received a nod of approval from Arthur, "indeed, this is what time should be spent on."

"Whatever," Ashe commented, collapsed onto her seat, folded her arms, closed her eyelids, and gave up.

She somehow had an inkling feeling that these people might just drag her downwards, not because of their strength, but simply due to their limited knowledge about dungeons. Although she would never admit that she had only learned about the world from Gray's words. Though, how he knew was a mystery to her.

She decided to use this time and focus on that backlash of her's. And that could be done by getting the rest she deserved.

Finally, a feigned cough brought the attention of the rest back to the guild master.

"Well, I would be obliged to help you with a bit of history lesson." He nodded with a kind smile.

"Anyway, long ago, at the dawn of our world, there were certain things known as the 'Soulless'. They had no mind and they held no thought. They were simply a mass of killing machine, born not from the mana of the world, but the desires of men mixed with the darkness of creation. They fed on the soul of living beings to grow increasingly stronger, and just like that, they did."

"Some claimed it was a test set by the goddess, some claimed it was the work of a darkened god named 'Abyss'. And others claimed it was the destruction brought by 'Chaos', the blackened dragon."

"To combat this, the dragon's set up dungeons, training the world in each their own way. Chaos made men fear death and that, sometimes, disorder could strengthen a race. Whis made them despair life and fight for order. Asto made them stronger than last, made them battle till blood was shed. Shin brought along hope amidst despair and made them face their toughest fear to hone their courage. Finally, Long made them use their mind, made them answer to their wisdom in order to progress in life. In the end, the dragon's made men survive."

"And like that, men drove away the Soulless."

"When it all came to an end, the dungeons were set free. However, the dragon's didn't simply destroy them. Instead, they released the demonic beasts within into the world. Though, growing weaker as they lost the mana of the dragon that they fed on and turned to feeding on the world's mana."

"Amidst that, for an unknown reason. Five dungeons still remained on both sides. Five of the human realm, and Five of the demonic realm. This five became known as 'The Great Dungeons'."

"This world is a bit more deptful than I realized." Maria couldn't help but comment.

"Yes, "O'Brien nodded.

It was quite obvious, she thought, he had definitely failed to understand what she meant in full. Her thoughts were along the line of how he could possibly know all this? Although Maria hadn't fully studied the history of this world. She had briefly glanced at the books within the Royal Library, and even still, they were not this 'clear', most sounding vague. Some simply statin there were 'monsters' and the dungeons 'helped'.

"However, many mysteries still surround our world." The voice trailed her back from her thoughts.

"And one of the greater mysteries: Although we still have the church of Gaea, where did the goddess that used to watch over this world go?"

"So the goddess stopped watching over this world?" Arthur asked.

At this time, Ashe awoke and glanced over, "don't tell me you actually believe in gods and goddesses?"

"You don't believe in them?" Arthur lazily turned to her and gave a small chuckle, "well, it does fit you."

"What do you mean it fits me?" Ashe bared her fangs, "Why would I believe in divine beings that watch over the world? If they truly existed..."

"If they truly existed, would I...?" She abruptly stopped.

There was a bit of silence.

"Hmm." The guild master glanced at her.

"Although you might not believe it, gods and goddess exist. And just the same, many worlds apart from ours exists. Much more so, how do you believe we got here in the first place? Finally, do you really know what a god is or what a goddess is? Although the church might say otherwise, a god is nothing more than another power rank within our world; a god is nothing more than the rank of GodHood after obtaining a divine will."

Maria was beginning to question how this man knew all of this information that should well be hidden. Her curiosity piqued, and she couldn't help but take a glance at his Sacred Text as her eyes faintly colored gold.

[Name: O'Brien Lockhart

Strength: A

Speed: A

Mana: F-

Skills: Unbreakable Skin (S), Magic Immunity (U)

Overall: A+]

[Unbreakable Skin: Your skin is unbreakable and immune to injuries below or on the S rank strength level. Highly resistance to injuries of the S+ rank. Mildly resistance to injuries of the SS- rank. Susceptible to injuries of the SS rank and above.]

[Magic Immunity: You can utterly disregard magic and mana. Whether it be a magic barrier or a magic attack, they will have no effect on you. However, that also accounts for beneficial magic spells.]

He was strong. Maria could tell with a glance. Those two skills,<Unbreakable Skin>, and <Magic Immunity> seemed to complement each other well. The only demerit would be the second aspect of <Magic Immunity>. Yet, even with that, he was strong. Maybe, even strong enough to battle someone on a major rank above him.

Maria highly regarded him as he was. However, the information he spoke of didn't seem like something someone of his strength should know. After all, he talked about Gods as if they were merely another rank in the ranking system of this world. The only other explanation Maria could come up with for why he knew as he did would be the information network of the adventure guild. She came to believe Rain to be right; the adventure guild knew more secrets about the world than anyone else.

"Since the creation of our world, there has been a total of two people who ascended to godhood. One of them was Freya and the other Abyss. One a goddess of battle and the other a god of destruction."

"Yet, in this world, the church of Gaea reigns supreme. Why do you think so?" He finally asked.

Maria answered, "The two gods are hidden from records?"

"Indeed." O'Brien nodded brightly.

"Then why are you telling us this if it's meant to be hidden?" Rain asked, staring puzzledly at him.

"Why not? After all, if I have the knowledge, why not educate a few kids?"

"I'm not a kid, I'm already 15. The correct age of adulthood." Arthur protested.

To which he received a nod of approval from Ais. Although she didn't say it, she was not adamant with being called a child. Although her expressions might have staled, she was still someone that had once wanted to prove herself to a certain person.

"I am 16." Ashe joined.

Everyone, save for Maria, looked at her figure. Glanced at her for a bit.

"Please." Arthur glanced back at the guild master, not having believed her words in the slightest, and lightly sneered.

How would a person such as him believe that this girl had more seniority over him?

"With how short you are, how could you be older than me?" He said exaggeratedly.

Ashe looked at him from head to toe, turned back to close her eyes and muttered out, "we are about the same height."

What could be truly said is, based on the standards of this world, Maria and Rain were the only true children here. Both were nothing more than 13 years of age.

"Anyway, may we get back to the topic at hand?" O'Brien forcefully kept track.

"After all, aren't you guys supposed to be preparing to enter a dungeon? One of the most dangerous places in this world?" He asked.

"After all, you could all possibly die at any time." His voice turned low.

Ashe didn't bother with his so-called 'scare' tactic and chose a different direction. She had been within a dungeon countless times, and indeed, she had almost died countless times; however, she didn't need the man to tell her that.

"Just tell us what your daughter looks like and her name." She simply stated.

She was evidently already quite tired of simply sitting here and doing nothing.

"Right...." O'Brien entered into a deep thought.

"Let's see here. Brunette hair tied into a short ponytail, eyes that glimmer a hazel amber light, a full attire of light tight cotton clothing, and a great sword hanging at her back. Tall and well fit." He said in an almost trance-like state.

"Erza Lockhart, that is my daughter." He made a content smile.

.....

Maria stepped out of the wide doors and into the presence of the high sun. She lightly squinted her pinkish eyes, shook her head slightly of the light that entered her vision, and took a step forwards.

The carriage was already steadied at the frontal area, moved from wherever it had been last entitled, and surrounded by the royal knights. It struck out like a sore thumb within the half-circular enclosure before the doors of the grand mansion, and was already sprung in the direction of the paved road under the trees that led towards the blackened gates and into the bustle of the city. The four horses were steadily sound, and the royal coachman sat calmly in hold of the reins.

"Well, this would be a new experience of traveling in a carriage." A voice drifted into her ears.

Maria swerved her head to her side, looked at the brother of her's to her right, and inquired with a tilted head "you've never ridden in a carriage?"

He shook his head, "although I'm a prince, until I truly become king, I don't have much to do. Going to noble parties? Not my style. Going to bars and picking girls? No Thanks, I'll settle for romance when it hits. In all, aside from small short walks amidst the kingdom, when Layfon was still around, I haven't traveled much."

"Thus, I haven't ridden a carriage."

'Layfon Allen.' Maria couldn't help but remember that spitting image of a shining knight.

"Then how did you even get here in the first place? You couldn't have suddenly grown the ability to sprout wings from your back could you?" Rain jumped into the conversation.

Although he was quite adamant about the abilities of this person, he wasn't quite ready to believe just yet that the boy could sprout wings.

The prince delivered a mysterious smile, walked briskly to the front of the group, spun around, and spoke: "Well, I haven't attained the magic <Flame Wings> yet. So, sadly, I can't fly."

"Get on with it already." A snide voice came over, using the tone that could only be fitting of Ashe.

"However," he shot her a look, "I have this!"

The ring on his hand flashed as an item appeared in front of him. The red woven, intrinsically so, mat simply stood atop the cobblestoned ground in ordinariness.

"A carpet," Ashe muttered through gritted teeth, "do you never fail to stop and joke?"

And much the same, Rain nodded with folded arms. First was the flame 'suns' within the guild master's office. Then, now, it was a carpet. This guy, wasn't he a bit too much of a jokester? Was he really older than him by two years?

Amidst this, only Maria and Ais simply stared at the boy, as if they were expecting something. Although not by much, Maria still knew her brother's nature. Though he liked to joke around, he wasn't truly fitting for the title of 'prankster'. And Ais, well, she was being Ais like always.

To all this, Arthur's smile grew by a bit.

"This is a <Flying Carpet>!" He pointed towards the mat with great gusto.

Only the sound of the wind that rustled the tree leaves amidst this spring afternoon accompanied his voice.

He delivered a cough.

"Well, it's a carpet imbued with the wind element magic <Flight>. Much like the badges you saw before, it follows the same concept. Simply sit down on the carpet, imbue your mana, control it well, and you can fly to anyplace you wish."

"A gift from that master of mine." He held his nose up high in great grandeur.

"Uncle? What about my gift?" Maria asked, she somewhat felt a bit wronged here. Where was her gift?

Couldn't that uncle of her's also be somewhat considered a master to her as well? Although not as officially as Arthur's case, he did after all teach her the ways of magic for a month.

"Silly sister of mine," Arthur shook his head as he waved his finger in front of the group.

"Only the true masters of magic, the true elites like me can own such a magic item," He puffed his chest out with pride.

"After all, do you even know how hard it is to control such a beast?" He pointed at the flying carpet.

"Can we move along yet, great Mage?" Ashe struck into the moment as she directly bypassed him and headed towards the carriage.

And just the same, everyone walked briskly past the stunned boy and entered the carriage. It took a moment for Arthur to realize no one really cared much, a moment for him to limp over to the carpet and collect it back, and a moment to enter into the carriage while grumbling.

Seeing that everyone was here, Maria relaxed into the comfort of the carriage as she closed her eyes. If she said she wasn't tired, she would be lying.

Ais lightly tapped on the wooden show of the carriage, producing a rhythmic message.

A lash of a whip quickly followed after. The neigh of horses and the pound of hooves. Finally, the crisp crunch of the carriage wheels against the cobblestoned ground.

***

Tryll [Threl] was one of the princesses royal guards.

Riding on his horse, clasping his gauntlet around the reins, he steadily advanced through the forest's path, that led to the kingdom's capital, Alcoa, and followed by the carriage's side. He had long steeled his resolve long ago when he took the job as a royal guard. After all, not only was it one of the most respected jobs a person could have within the kingdom of Albion, it was also one of the most beneficial.

The pay of 5 gold coins a month was one of the highest within the kingdom. With such a salary, he could live his life contently once he chose to retire. Not only so, as a royal guard, he would be entitled to be exempted from many things most commoners would get into trouble for. And even more so, he was allowed to wear the highly qualified royal guard armor of ashen white and blue and to carry the shining silver blade at his hips; along with the kingdom's crest upon his chest that he carried with pride.

Currently 21 years of age, Tyrll was quite content with his current situation and carried himself quite steadily.

His short brunette hair blew amidst the wind as his hazel eyes narrowed slightly.

'Fog?' He thought as he forcefully stopped the advancement of his horse.

Much the same, the carriage and his companions had also come to a full stop. The knights hurriedly looked around the area, swerving their head as they took in the scene before them.

A white mist had descended into the forest and vision was beginning to limit. He could see no more than a feet or so from himself. He could feel the temperature beginning to chill and his blood turning cold.

"Ah, the beauty of souls."

"Young ones, old ones. Strong ones..." The sound of a low speech trickled against the guard's ears as his brows wrinkled.

"Weak ones!"

With that final note, he heard the sound of a metallic object clicking onto the ground. He needn't be a genius to recognize that as the sound of a fallen companion.

"Why did we stop?" As Tyrll descended from his horse and drew his blade, an emotionless voice traveled out of the carriage.

"I don't know, miss William," he replied.

The hierarchy was important within the royal guards, and a personal guard of one of the royal family members was a league above his.

"But we might have an enemy." His hand grasped steadily on his blade as his eyes wandered over the area in preparation.

"Quite a steady mind we have here..." A voice trickled his earlobes.

Tyrll swerved his body as his weapon created an arc amidst the air.

The blade passed through, hitting nothing, but stirring the mist a bit.

He was in time to catch a glimpse of a blackly clothed figure as Tyrll quickly jumped back.

Narrowingly, he saw the gleam of a blackened blade pass his helmet-less face.

Just as he was about to counter, the shadow disappeared as a voice reached his ears.

"Never leave your shadow alone."

The guard felt something slowing down within himself, his breathing growing rough. He knew instinctively, this was the effect of the fog as his vision grew blurrier.

"Or you might just fall." The voice now sounded behind him.

Tyrll felt a hand grasp his jaw, forcefully suppressing his mouth.

Next, he felt the coldness of metal against his neck.

"Another soul reaped."