Janus, Veryn, and Amiya remained at the morial. They knelt between graves, hands pressed against earth, voices murmuring words ant for the dead rather than living. Their postures suggested they would stay until sothing within them settled.
"We’ll go on ahead," Reinhard said softly. "Take the ti you need."
All three nodded without looking up.
Permission granted, understanding conveyed through simple gestures. They would find their own way back when ready.
...
The group continued eastward, reduced now to four. Reinhard, Marie, Joseph, and Brunhilde moved through the restored forest with Signal Master leading. Joseph held the device carefully, watching the needle track direction with single-minded focus.
The landscape shifted gradually as the trees grew denser, streams grew wider, and the ground grew softer.
Then they erged into a clearing.
A lake stretched before them, which wasn’t massive, maybe two hundred feet across. The water shimred with a blue tint, and the surface was perfectly still, creating a mirror that reflected the sky without distortion.
Blue flowers surrounded the shore.
They grew in dense clusters, petals colored in shade matching water deep azure, suggesting twilight rather than midday.
The blooms swayed despite a lack of wind, movent suggesting a magical nature rather than natural growth.
Joseph stopped walking abruptly, his boots pausing mid-step, and his entire body going rigid. His bright green eyes swept across the scene with expression cycling between confusion and recognition.
"Joseph?" Marie’s voice carried concern at the sudden halt. "Are you okay?"
Joseph muttered a response, voice distant as if speaking from mory rather than the present. "This place looked so familiar."
His head turned slowly, tracking across the clearing’s periter, and his gaze lingered on specific features. The rock formation at water’s edge, particular trees with distinctive branching patterns, and the way sunlight filtered through the canopy.
His eyes widened suddenly as he gasped in realization.
"This place reminds of the area I appeared in when I took my Trial to reach Second Class Beast Master." Words tumbled out rapidly, excitent mixing with confusion. "The only big difference is the grass, which was pink-blue, with different colored flowers, and the sky was different."
Reinhard’s brows furrowed. His gaze shifted to Brunhilde, seeking expertise she possessed through decades of experience. "Do so places in the Beast Trial relate to physical locations in the world?"
Brunhilde nodded. "The Beast Spirit Trials are all made by our Beast Spirit, so everything about them is based on the Beast Spirit’s preference." She gestured toward the lake. "More than likely, Joseph’s Beast Spirit walked around this place before or has a fond mory connection here."
Marie’s eyes lit with enthusiasm. "That’s amazing! I wonder if the cloudy area I took my trial can also be found in Paradise?" Her smile widened. "I would love to show you guys it!"
Joseph blinked in surprise. His expression shifted as implications registered, connecting pieces that had seed abstract. "Then could that woman also have been real or here before?"
The question hung unanswered, the others raised a brow, but Joseph seed too lost to realize he said that outloud.
Reinhard sighed before returning focus to the reason they ca here. "Let’s continue following the signal."
Joseph nodded quickly before his hands raised the Signal Master, checking the needle’s direction. The compass pointed directly at the lake, near the shore, and fortunately not in the water.
They moved forward, with the blue flowers growing thicker, requiring careful navigation to avoid crushing blooms.
Marie stopped suddenly as her boot had encountered sothing solid hidden among the flowers. She knelt, hands parting azure petals carefully to reveal objects beneath.
A grimoire.
The book lay partially obscured by vegetation, as if placed deliberately or dropped accidentally and forgotten.
Marie’s fingers wrapped around it gently, lifting from the ground with care, suggesting instinctive respect for the aged to.
She stood, turning to display discovery, and the grimoire’s cover was distinctive.
It was white leather or material resembling it, decorated with golden patterns suggesting script rather than simple ornantation. Crystal-like flowers were embedded in the center, facets catching light in a way suggesting gem rather than organic growth. Within the crystal, twelve blue swords were visible, and they were in a circle formation, all of them pointing to an empty point.
Marie’s eyes shined with curiosity barely restrained. Her hands moved the book closer to the Signal Master still held by Joseph.
The device reacted imdiately.
Blinking intensified, the light pulsing rapidly. A beeping sound erged, growing more frequent as the distance decreased. The signal was unmistakable, this grimoire carried Vivian’s magical signature.
Joseph’s brows furrowed deeply. "Does this an the book is my sister’s?"
Marie humd thoughtfully. "Maybe. Let’s see what’s inside."
Her hands opened the grimoire carefully, and the cover lifted to reveal pages filled with script. Her expression shifted imdiately, from curiosity to confusion. She tilted her head, examining text from different angles as if perspective might clarify aning.
"Huh... This is..."
Joseph leaned closer, scanning visible text, and his frown deepened. "I don’t know this language... Could this be the ancient one my sister was studying before?"
Reinhard turned toward Brunhilde. "Do you recognize this?"
Brunhilde nodded slowly. Her expression showed recognition, mixing familiarity with sothing approaching caution. "I learned all kinds of languages when looking for Hel..." She paused. "So I know this language is the one used by the Ancient Calot Kingdom."
Marie’s eyes lit with renewed excitent. She nodded enthusiastically. "No wonder they looked familiar!"
She closed the grimoire, returning attention to the crystal embedded in the cover. Her finger traced around its edge without touching directly. "Yes... This does look familiar. It’s the symbol of Calot!"
Joseph snapped his fingers, a gesture suggesting pieces falling into place. "Right. That was the Kingdom my sister was researching the most. It was a task given to her by rlin..." His expression shifted to confusion. "But why that Kingdom? Especially when it got devoured by the Eternal King."
Reinhard’s brow raised. "So the Kingdom fell?"
Marie shook her head. "Not exactly. It was absorbed, as they joined under the reign and command of the Eternal King of Valhalla."
Reinhard blinked in surprise. "Was there a massive threat or sothing?"
Marie shrugged. "I don’t know, but I can see why you’d say that. That’s actually one of the most debated topics surrounding Calot!" Her enthusiasm returned fully. "Why did they bend to Valhalla? What happened to them after? There are many speculations surrounding it, but no definite answer has been placed yet or agreed upon by everyone."
Joseph took the grimoire from Marie’s hands. His fingers flipped through pages carefully, examining text he couldn’t read but searching for sothing recognizable.
Marie continued talking, explaining various theories about Calot’s absorption, debates among historians, and mysteries remaining unsolved.
Joseph stopped flipping abruptly. His eyes fixed on a specific page, expression shifting as a pattern erged. "I don’t think this is research... I think it might be a diary of events for her."
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