Dwarf Village.
A dwarf, standing just over a meter tall, walked up numerous wooden stairs leading to the top of a giant tree. This tree was called the World Tree, Yggdrasil, to be precise—a tree that grew from the original Yggdrasil seed.The dwarf's name was Moss. Currently, he served as the village chief, overseeing the entire community.He wore a helmet with a single horn resembling a rhinoceros, a thick braided beard, and his eyes were round and black. Dressed in what appeared to be sturdy armor, he exuded an air of authority.Not long ago, Moss received a report that someone peculiar was attempting to enter the village. There were suspicions that this stranger might be a Dark Soul, disregarding their appearance identical to humans.Two other dwarves accompanied him—Flint and Hewn. At a glance, anyone would struggle to distinguish between the three dwarves, as if they were the same person. However, upon closer inspection, subtle diffeAlden was led by the dwarves to descend from the World Tree using manually crafted stairs. Interestingly, on the other side of Alden's confinement, there was a magical platform functioning like an elevator to transport people up and down the World Tree. However, for some reason, Moss preferred the manual descent via stairs.Unaware of his surroundings when brought up the World Tree, this was Alden's first direct view of the dwarven settlement. He observed many mounds of earth covered in grass, each with circular openings and glass windows—a unique housing style for dwarves, as they preferred dwelling in warm environments, digging into the ground for their homes.Attention easily fell on Alden as the dwarves regarded him with caution."Hmm, there are at least a hundred dwarves in this village," remarked Black Orb.After a while, Alden reached a larger mound, taller than the others, with a pipe extending upward, emitting occasional smoke."
"Mission?" Alden raised his eyebrows, curious."Yes, this is the proof you need to provide," Moss spoke plainly."Okay, sure." Alden agreed promptly.Moss then observed Alden becoming more cooperative; his wariness towards the young man decreased but didn't vanish entirely."I want you to go to the coastal village near Delburg city.""Hmm, okay. What am I supposed to do there?" Alden asked immediately."A Gate has appeared in the sea; it connects the second floor of the Dark Dimension and this world. The Dark Soul nesting there is called Bubble Plague. It seems that Bubble Plague is contaminating the sea's bounty, spreading a plague in the coastal village.""However, no Guardian is aware of this. No one reported any anomalies, as if everything is fine. There are no signs of a worrisome epidemic.""In fact, I have reported this to the Guardians, but none found anything amiss." Moss explained."You're ask
A few moments earlier.Two kilometers away from Heinburg, to the east.Erin took slow steps, holding a red crystal in her chest. Each step she took created frost that slowly spread around."Grandfather..." Her voice accompanied by teardrops.She had managed to escape from the pursuit of the Guardians. However, she didn't know her current location; all that surrounded her were forests, rocks, and a dark sky.A few moments later, she put on a ring with a blue gem on her index finger.She felt exhausted. Throughout the day, she had been running, only taking brief rests before running again. She was thirsty, hungry, and her body began to disobey her commands. Seeing a lush pine tree, she approached it and sat against it.She placed the red crystal on the accidental layer of ice she had created on the ground. At that moment, she realized the surroundings had turned into a frozen forest. Snow began to fall, a bad omen for her.
"I see snowflakes. Piling up. Am I going to die here? Buried in thick snow?""If only I hadn't left grandfather, at least I could be with him until the end.""From the beginning, if only I could control myself, all of this wouldn't have happened.""Since when did everything go wrong? Where?"The surroundings of Erin began to be covered in snow. While it wasn't heavily snowing where she crouched, with time passing like this, she might still end up buried. Waiting for death to approach, hunger, fatigue, and cold made her body unresponsive....One kilometer away from Heinburg.The sun began to peek through the horizon. It was morning.After dealing with the Arachne Nest Gate, Alden and Frodo continued their journey. They encountered various wild Dark Souls, such as Goblins, and Skeletons. However, it didn't deter them.Their journey now came to a halt.A curtain of snowstorm prevented them from g
A few minutes after Alphonse's group entered the snowstorm curtain."Ugh, even if there are victims here, I'm not sure they can survive. Most likely, they're buried in the snow." Someone from their group said with concern.One of them was a Mage. With the Cold Resistant spell, they could avoid the cold effects within the snowstorm. Meanwhile, Alphonse was tasked with illuminating the path using the fiery aura from his sword."How long have we been in here?" Alphonse asked, forcing to speak loudly due to the disrupting storm."About ten minutes,"Upon hearing the answer from one of their companions, Alphonse took out a pocket-sized object. Inside it, there were several vibrating direction pointers. It was a compass.Indeed, it was very challenging to find something within this snowstorm. But, from the beginning, they had one target – the person causing this storm.According to Alphonse's conclusion, Erin was the cause of
“What, do you know her?” Alphonse asked suspiciously.Alden scratched his cheek, smiling awkwardly, “Yeah, she's my sister.” He said hesitantly.Alphonse looked at him with increasing suspicion.At that moment, Derrick swung his sword, wrapped in green light, towards Alden. His action made the trees respond, dropping snow that covered them. The roots began to rapidly spread, trying to restrain Alden's movements.Alden noticed this and quickly dodged the first and second attacks simultaneously.“Derrick!?” Alphonse called Derrick with a hint of panic.“What?” Derrick looked at Alphonse with his usual cold gaze.“Why are you attacking?” Alphonse asked, trying to take control within the group.“Isn't it clear? If he's her family, then he's also our enemy,” Derrick answered without hesitation.“...” Alphonse didn't respond. Instead, he felt movement behind him.While they talked, Alden had quietly
Erin lifted her eyes upon hearing those words. Could it be that easy? Her mind spun, but she couldn't find a way to use mana.The workings of mana were still a mystery, but it could be realized through various ways, like Elemental magic. Using the help of spirits from the respective element, one could connect mana into a physically controllable form.There were different types of mana utilization, such as Dark Magic, Dark Dimension energy, Divine power, and Cosmos. Those were just various ways of controlling mana.In Erin's case, Alden had briefly considered using Dark Dimension energy, given that she harbored the power of Dorm The Savage. However, he hesitated, fearing the awakening of Dorm The Savage."Feel the mana around you, just think of the element that makes you comfortable," Alden continued casually.The Guardians didn't take any further action. They watched the peculiar conversation between the two individuals in front of them.
The sound of wind roaring accompanied by swirling snow. Silence instantly turned into confusion."..." Both Alphonse and Derrick, who had just launched an attack on Alden, had looks of confusion in their eyes.Meanwhile, Erin fell to her knees, running out of mana. "No... in this state, I could go back to sleep..." Erin mumbled before falling backward onto the snow....What would happen if Alden didn't come to this continent? What if Alden didn't meet someone suspected of having the power of Dorm The Savage? What would happen if Alden didn't interact with his surroundings?This is what is happening now.The storm has stopped, and Alphonse and Derrick have no idea why they are outside the city. However, in front of them are two strangers lying on the ground. One is a young woman with distinctive white hair, wearing slightly loose and somewhat dirty clothes.The other is a man in strange attire, a short cloak covering his