[PROLOGUE] ALREADY DEAD

"What do you mean captain won't be joining us?" Vyzen asked, searching for his other boot. The corners of the main hall were used as equipment stations.

"Solo mission," Alaric said, adjusting his breastplate. "Apparently another wyvern was spotted near Rogaro."

The other squad members were also getting ready for the assembly in the next few moments. This mission was special, indicated by Seekers from other guilds present in this stronghold. Goltara incidents couldn't be ignored anymore.

"But what if the suspected cause is real?" Vyzen asked. "What if there really is a Distortion Crack in Goltara Mountains?"

Alaric turned toward him, eyes unenthusiastic as ever.

Vyzen figured what his superior must be thinking. "I'm not questioning your leadership or anything, Alaric, but…"

"You are second-in-command of Mistress Valisha's squad, Vyzen," Alaric said. "And probably the strongest Seeker on today's squad. Be a little positive, will you? Everything will be fine."

"I'm not scared, Alaric," Vyzen said. "It's just that…"

"It won't happen," the newcomer said, handing Vyzen his missing shoe.

"Eljin?" Vyzen said, surprised. "I didn't know Kosmos was also involved in this mission."

"But now that you know it," Eljin said. "I'll personally make sure that all the squad returns in one piece, alright?"

Vyzen snorted quietly. "It would've been more reassuring if Master Dubius said it, you know."

"Too bad," Eljin said. "He went to the Osto region last week for a solo mission. Apparently people are going missing around the Taaskov forest."

"What the hell!" Alaric said. "That man ditches his own squad for a solo mission in an entirely different region? What's wrong with him?"

"Is that so? Where's Valisha by the way?" Eljin said, shutting Alaric down. "Yeah…thought so."

Alaric pointed toward the blue-haired summoner. "It's Mistress Valisha to you."

"Uh-huh?" Eljin said. "I didn't hear Master Dubius from your mouth."

"Going deaf at half my age," Alaric said. "You must feel bad."

"Look at you, old man," Eljin said. "Butting heads with a kid? Such shame."

Vyzen passed from between them. "Commander Safrax is calling."

The argument between the two men stopped immediately. They looked where Vyzen was headed. But Safrax was nowhere to be seen.

"You little…" Alaric said, charging toward him.

"I have my shoes on," Vyzen said. "You'll never catch me!"

A beam of fire appeared in the center of the stronghold, alerting every Seeker present. But none drew any weapons, or even tapped into their Alchos, for they knew it was the reverse summoning technique of the one they called "Pyrowave." The flames dispersed into thin air before an iron-clad man immerged from within them. Commander Safrax.

"Attention!" Safrax said in his heavy voice.

"Like he needs to say that," Eljin said. "After making that flashy entrance and all."

"You know he can hear us right?" Alaric said.

Vyzen poked Alaric. "He's looking at you."

Alaric stood upright, silent.

"Squad leaders," Safrax said. "Step forward."

"Your call," Vyzen said to Alaric.

Five men started and stood in front of Safrax, Alaric included. But unlike Alaric, these weren't all the first-in-commands of their respective guilds.

"Alright," Safrax said. "You, Alaric, tell me the aim of this mission."

Alaric, as the squad leader of Buster, slammed his fists together. "Sir! Finding what or who is behind the Goltara incidents, sir!"

Vyzen was impressed at the effort Alaric was putting.

"Correct," Safrax said. "You, to his right, tell me why we are not charging with an army."

The squad leader of the Raven guild pounded his chest. "Lack of information, sir!"

"Incorrect!" Safrax said, passing the question to another squad leader.

The squad leader of the Kosmos guild put his hands behind. "Efficiency, sir!"

Safrax smiled. "You," he said, gesturing to the fourth squad leader. "Explain it."

The squad leader of the Bloodguard guild bowed. "Why use a sword when the job can be finished with a knife?"

"Good," Safrax said. "Last one, tell me about the composition."

The squad leader of the Gentlestand guild joined his hands. "Why, of course, sire. Each squad has been prepared according to your orders, with five members, including the squad leader, in each team. Aside from that, we have a team of medics that will tag along for immediate ejection of the victims and injured from the battlefield."

"And in terms of quality?" Safrax asked.

"We have that covered as well, sire," the Gentlestand leader continued. "We have a total of nineteen Alchosers, including three Ignius, five Flomius, two Huricus, five Granius, two Voltus and two healers."

"What about summoners?" Safrax asked.

"Well, sire," the leader said. "To my knowledge, I don't think we have any summoners present among us, as of now. But, if you can give me so much as half an hour, I can arrange for two of the best summoners I know of."

"Let it be," Safrax said. "The mission is urgent."

"Why don't you say anything, Eljin?" Vyzen said.

"Come on, dude," Eljin said. "Look around, we've got some of the best Alchosers of our generation gathered here. You've seen my summoning skills. You should know."

"Being weak is fine, Eljin," Vyzen said. "But being ashamed of it is not."

"It's easy for you to say it," Eljin said. "What're they calling you nowadays? 'The Strongest Rookie' or some shit like that?"

"It's whatever. People just want to put a title on you so they can differentiate as 'special'. I'm not the strongest."

"Come on! If I were you, I'd be bragging till my throat hurt."

"I guess there are other ways to differentiate people, huh?"

"Huh? Were you throwing shade at me just now…" Eljin trailed off as a familier noise boomed in the background.

"Alright, Seekers," Safrax said. "You're rides are here. The mission has begun. I'll be returning to the headquarters, now. May you blind you're opponents by the light you hold. May we Seekers obtain what we seek. For glory!"

"For glory!" the great hall echoed with a unified chant before it glowed with the fire of Safrax. The Seekers dispersed into their respective squads.

"Meet you at the battlefield," Eljin said, holding out his hand. "Rookie."

Vyzen smiled, clasping his hand. "Sure."

"Let's get going, Vyzen," Alaric commanded. "And stay away from weirdos."

Eljin stuck out his tongue. "I'll take your advice, weirdo!"

Vyzen laughed, waving at Eljin before grouping with his squad.

His squad exited the giant building, the Kyubu region's flying creature waiting outside to carry them to the battlefield.

"Every time I look at them," Vyzen said. "I'm amazed!"

"It's not every day you get to ride one of these," Alaric said.

"You're right," Vyzen said, gazing at the majestic soaring turtle which had a passenger carriage over its shell.

The turtle glanced back, as though it knew it was special.

A gust of wind made by the Pegasus' ascent, used by the Gentlestand guild of Yato, blew their hair.

"I still prefer the Pegasus though," Alaric said.

"Yeah," Vyzen said. "Me too."

The turtle looked like it was about to cry.

"Well," Alaric said. "What're we waiting for?"

Vyzen landed atop the turtle's shell with a single, swift jump. "Let's go!"

***

Alaric slapped Vyzen, waking him up.

"Umm…" Vyzen said, rubbing his eyes. Then the burning pain registered in his mind. "Hey! Why did you hit me?"

Alaric pointed out of the carriage window.

Vyzen leapt sideways, sticking his face to the window. "Whoa," he said, looking at the Goltara Mountains, which pierced the clouds. "They're bigger than I thought."

The Goltara Mountain range was a fascinating landmass. The peaks of these five giant mountains stood above clouds in a pentagonal formation.

"They've already landed," Vyzen said.

"Yeah," Alaric said. "We are the last."

The cries of the turtle were heard in the carriage.

"Aww," Vyzen said. "Don't be ashamed that you are slower, turtle."

It started descending.

"Whoa," Alaric said. "It's not slow, after all."

***

The soaring turtle was fed by a squad member, as Alaric and Vyzen headed to regroup with other squads.

As the icy formation cleared from their view, they saw…

Panic.

Vyzen immediately rushed. "What's going on?" Alaric followed.

They glanced to their either side. It was red on white. Hundreds of rock impaled corpses laid at the frigid floor. The most intriguing thing was that most of them weren't even humans. But…why were the squads just standing around?

"The hell is this?" Alaric said.

"Did the battle start already?" Vyzen asked, stopping where the most people had gathered.

"What's going on?" Alaric asked the Bloodguard leader. "Why are you standing around? Fight back!"

The leader glanced at him. "There's nothing to fight."

Vyzen was struck with confusion. "What do you mean by that, sir?"

"It seems we were too late," the leader said. "These corpses were not our doing. When we reached here, everything was like this."

"What?" Vyzen said. "Then what do we do?"

"We advance as we planned," the leader said. "Each squad will excavate a mountain. Find a cause for all this. Call the others if they find anything."

"Any survivors, then?" Alaric said. "Before we proceed with the plan, of course."

The leader simply pointed leftward with a shake of his head. Medics were wrapping bodies and piling them inside a storage unit. Kosmos Guild stood near them, commanding and assisting.

Vyzen rushed toward them. "I never thought things would be like this. I thought we would be fighting monsters, not cleaning their mess."

He slowed his pace, glancing at the frozen faces of the dead people.

A woman without her head. A man who looked like he was crushed to death. Another man but with his body sliced into two. Another man but with a gaping chest wound and the snow around him having what looked like crushed human insides. A young boy—

Vyzen covered his mouth upon seeing the face of the boy covered in blood, trying not to scream in agony. He immediately recognized the scrawny boy. His knees hit the snow.

"I NEED A HEALER!" Vyzen yelled.

The other squad members looked at him with confusion.

"You don't need to yell, you kno—" Eljin said approaching him, but stopped after noticing Vyzen's tears.

Two healers appeared shortly.

"What is it, sir Vyzen," one of them said.

Vyzen simply pointed toward the limp body on the ground.

"I'm sorry, but," the second healer said. "That boy is already dead."

Those words struck Vyzen like a thunderbolt. His hands fell onto his knees, right beside the bloodied body. Breathing heavily, he looked up, contorting a weak smile. "You're kidding, right?" he asked. "Tell me you're kidding… He can't die…"

Vyzen jolted onto his feet, placing a hand on either the healer's shoulders, shaking him violently. "Tell me you can heal him. Tell me!"

Eljin removed his hands from the healer's shoulders. "I'm sorry, Vyzen."

Alaric stood beside Eljin with a somber expression.

Vyzen opened his mouth, breathing heavily. "No… No! No! No! No! NO!" he yelled. "This can't be happening."

Alaric placed his hand on Vyzen's shoulder. "I'm sorry, kid."

Vyzen broke down, his eyes teared uncontrollably, his sobs amplified by the mountains.

"Why would you do it, you idiot," Vyzen thought. "WHY! Did you forget your promise? How the hell can you leave me alone?

"You knew you were weak! Then why would you rush to your own death like this?"

Eljin and Alaric dragged him away as he kept reaching for the dead boy's body.

"You promised you won't die, you idiot," Vyzen thought. "Why would you break a promise? I… I…

"No… It's all my fault," he thought, as the medics started to cover the boy's body. "If only I never dreamt…we could still be together. I was the one who left you first. Is this your revenge? Tell me, you bastard."

Maybe it was the tricks of the snow or maybe even the memories of his best friend, but Vyzen saw a smile on the dead boy's face. It was just as Vyzen always had remembered his friend.

Always smiling. It was his way of masking the pain.

"I just want to dream." His words echoed in Vyzen's mind.

His friend died before he could ever dream.

Medics zipped close his body bag.

A weird thought struck Vyzen.

"Dreaming is the true villain."