"So what is your lead to finding them now?"
Northern gave Alystren a cold look. There was still so skepticism as to whether to trust the man.
But he wasn’t too worried about anything.
’Not like they can actually threaten .’
Alystren exhaled, sitting on the ground.
"The monster killed them... I don’t know where to go from here. But if the Peacemaker is here, he will certainly co for the Edrien core... I think it might be safe to return to South Drywall."
Northern looked at him and chuckled.
"So let get this straight." He said.
"You ca all the way here to find this Peacemaker person... you t his underlings, engaged them in a battle. They ran, they got caught and ate by a monster, now you have no lead forward so you want to return to South Drywall and wait for this Peacemaker person to co to you."
He laughed again.
"Either you two are the most stupid people I’ve ever seen or you just think I’m that easy to fool."
Alystren laughed lightly.
"Why woul—"
Before he could complete his words, Northern was standing in front of him.
He casually drove a punch into his gut while standing straight, but Alystren folded like a piece of paper and flew away at an amazing speed. The impact rippled through the air—a sharp crack of displaced wind. He crashed into the wall behind, breaking a bunch of stones. Dust billowed outward in a choking cloud.
Northern didn’t even watch him land.
"I think you sohow are underestimating because you think I can’t attack you."
His voice was flat.
"I’ll have you know that I’m not held down by familiarity, respect, and things like that. In the face of what truly matters to , I will do only what is necessary."
His tone dropped lower.
"Alystren... where is my mother?"
’I’m running out of patience for gas.’
The blonde-haired elf finally looked at Northern and spoke, coughing slightly as he pulled himself upright.
"The encounter with the monster was unexpected. The Peacemaker... he is very high on the nose. By now, he most likely knows about . If he does, he knows I failed and he will certainly be thinking of retrieving it for himself. Everything with that man is only a matter of ti... it’s only a matter of ti before you et him at your doorstep."
Northern released a wry smile.
"He’s welco to my doorstep. I couldn’t care less."
The elf frowned.
"You might be strong... but the Peacemaker, I don’t know how to explain him to you. He’s a walking, charming, kind and disastrous man able to pull people in a strange manner and make a resource out of them. He is strong... fiercely strong and he will make you question your definition of strength."
Northern gave the elf a disgusted look.
’Did I ask for a character profile?’
He turned to Alystren.
"No one is going anywhere until I find my mother..."
Before, it was all casual. It was not like he expected Shin or his mother to be in danger in a place that was supposed to be ho to his father. Northern did not suspect anything at all until he entered the Kageyama clan.
Now, he was beginning to get impatient.
He kept trying to calm himself, telling himself that he was going to find his mother. Find her alive.
"Stand up... we’re leaving here."
His command was sharp and final. It left no room for debate.
The elf looked at Alystren, who recovered from Northern’s blow with an intense groan. Blood painted his jaw red, dripping down to stain his collar. He nodded at the elf that it was okay, and the two of them followed Northern as he began to retrace his steps through the labyrinthine channels of the cave.
They spent a few minutes walking. Alystren would open his mouth in awe anyti he saw Northern break through the walls with so much ease—punching through them like he was punching through fragile wood. And the walls gave way easily too, like they had just been waiting for that punch. Their stone loosened and shattered on the ground far too easily.
Alystren was conflicted.
At so point, he had also tried to do it, but he scratched his knuckles and just managed to shake so small stones off. Northern had looked at him and shook his head.
’What was he even expecting?’
They continued for quite a while, then finally they saw light at the end of the tunnel and ca out.
It was night—the sky insinuated so. However, a great golden mist rose in front of them like a wall, casting a radiance that had deceived them into thinking it was day while they were inside the cave. The glow was soft but pervasive, saturating everything with warm, honeyed light.
The ground was green and lush. It was evidence of a healthy water system at the very least, so Northern suspected that there was going to be a really large river sowhere nearby.
That was when he noticed.
’My spatial awareness is cut short...?’
It was like all his senses—through their diversities—were bouncing off a wall and riding back at him. He frowned and looked up at the mist.
’Aoi...’
[Subject is unidentifiable...]
[I’m going to need more ti]
’Take all the ti you need.’
anwhile, Alystren and the elf looked up.
The elf spoke, awed by what he was seeing.
"I never knew this rogue world had such beauty..."
Alystren looked at him and scoffed.
"The Rising Fall is just one of the nine miracles we have in our world. You should check out the floating ruins."
Northern, hearing that at that mont, also realized. He had heard of the Rising Fall—one of the wonders of the world. A place that was ho to the most peaceful tribe in the world.
Northern, growing up, always thought that it was rely myth. People treated it as such and claid that there never could be peaceful people in this kind of world.
However, Northern was standing at the gateway into the tribe.
He exhaled.
’This can’t be good...’
’Nothing about peaceful people hiding behind impenetrable barriers screams "everything is fine."’
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