AMIDST the busy capital city of Vatre, the Idhair Guild was celebrating their successful retrieval mission. Commander Semme let himself relax while drinking his favorite beer. “Commander, are you certain that the human child is the new holder of the creation orb?” Xeric asked. They were at one table while the others were drowning themselves in alcohol. Among everyone, the lieutenant appeared so wasted for drinking too much that his monocle was out of place. Semme chugged his beer. “My mana detection has never failed. Among those savages, that girl was emitting a very strong energy that can intimidate anybody if properly harnessed.” “Aren’t you wondering as to why the Luominen chose a little girl? She’s not even of royal status!” Xeric clicked his tongue and drank from his mug. “Sometimes the logic of this world is strange. Isn’t it?” Semme took a deep breath. “That’s also a mystery to me. But it doesn’t matter; at least we succeeded on Taftani’s given quest, although we took that l

TAFTANI gazed intensely at the crystal full of green luminous liquid as if it were a state of the art. He was proud of himself since they successfully retrieved the Creation Orb, and it would not be long for it to be in their possession. Once the new holder lost her will to live, the orb would be transferred to the empty round casket he made.Nyssa was inside the crystal; at a glance, one would think she was in peaceful slumber. But it was the complete opposite. For the young girl, every apparatus connected to her body that was meant to extract the power of the orb brought excruciating pain.The scream that wanted to come through Nyssa’s throat was muffled by a mask covering her mouth. She could not explain the searing torment that went through every vein in her body. She was stripped of her clothes as soon as she was brought into this chamber.Brother, I will wait for you... Tears cascaded down Nyssa’s cheek that couldn’t be seen because of the green liquid.I want to live… She had a

JIE voluntarily surrendered himself at night when he couldn’t mine an orb. He toughened himself despite seeing dead bodies around him; some were severely injured from the flogging while the others were being carried in the stretchers coming from the arena and going to the iron lift descending to the depths of Dreqin.“Ethros, please don’t do it.” Kafle persisted in persuading him, knowing his idea was suicide.Jie silently swallowed. His decision was firm. He’d rather take his chances to see what the fight was all about. Aside from his curiosity, it was his way of making penance because he couldn’t save Nyssa, no matter how hard he tried.“If I get killed, please tell my sister what happened here.”“Ethros…”“But I'll make sure to stay alive, so I'll be the one to tell her. That sounds better, isn’t it?” He stepped down the stairs and strolled towards the fighting chamber.Kafle could see that he was determined. The elf carried his daughter and scurried behind the young man.“Be caref

 KING Malik scrutinized the elf child and the human young boy, who looked terribly sick. He couldn’t care less, even if he died. He never felt even the slightest pity for them. They were just lowly peasants.“What sorcery did you use to defeat my favorite executioner?” the king asked Izora.The young elf gazed up and met the eyes of the king, yet she didn't say a word. As if completely unconcerned by the king's royal presence, Izora sneered.King Malik raised his hand, and it landed on Izora’s cheek. “Insolence!”The young elf lost her footing and immediately got up, but Thora grabbed Izora’s hair.“How dare you look straight into the eyes of the king! Bow down!” The concubine forced the Izora to kneel.The king turned to Ethros. “Who is this useless brat? If he can't mine, just throw him up to the wasteland for the azugaurs to feast on!”Captain Revie crep

IN THE prison, Jie and Kafle pretended that their injuries were still fatal. Although their wounds had already healed, their bodies were still soaking up blood that had dried up. They quickly formulated a plan before Commander Revie reached their cell. The two were still lying on the cold surface.“Izora, no matter what happens, just stay behind me.” Kafle reminded her daughter. “It seemed they’re going to feed us their favorite beasts just like they always do.”Izora nodded. “Father, let me remind you that if you get severely injured again, I don’t have anything to help you unless I am free from the curse.”Kafle smiled. “I promise, I won’t. All we need is to get out of here. Thanks to the Pearl of Hanum, it regained my vitality.”“There are thousands of guards in this mine!” Izora protested.“We don’t need to neutralize them. A proper strategy is all we need.”Meanwhile, Jie didn’t know what to say because guilt had gathered inside his chest. It was his fault that these elves sacrif