[The Ancient Hero party consisted of six members.The main hero was charming and amiable, while his twin brother was the exact opposite— cold and distant, yet quite liked by the other party members.Their journey began with the encounter of a water Elementalist who eventually became the group's healer.There was also a dwarf warrior who bravely departed from his village to join the Heroes in their noble mission.An archer hailed from the Forest Elven tribe, accompanied by a Tamer, reportedly not older than 10 years old when they joined.Lastly, a runaway teenager emerged as one of the Mages who had left her academy in search of better field experience…]However, that mage, a couple of years later, after the last infamous journey of the said Hero party, became the first Queen of Amaranth Kingdom.“The first Queen, your Ancestor, was one of three people who ever returned to their homeland and lived in prosperity."As she tried to recall the backstory of the said Hero Party, Serein kept
Unmistakably, the magenta-eyed princess was suspicious of her, very likely thinking that Serein was making things up.Which, ironically, that wasn't entirely wrong.However, appearing confident as if she were telling the truth, Serein crossed her arms and leaned against the wall adorned with glowing pink crystals.“You still don’t trust me,” she stated bluntly, an observation that was pretty evident. The princess shot back, “There’s no evidence to support anything you just said. I fail to see the correlation between this story and your supposed knowledge of this place.”From her perspective, that logic made sense.It's been centuries since the Academy of Magic had any significant scandals, let alone anything that needs to be resolved by blaming someone and sweeping it under the rug.'And supposedly, it’s been around thirty-ish centuries since this skeleton got tossed into the deepest part of the cupboard.'A total of 3,400 years since the Academy had hidden a literal genocide with onl
The princess felt torn.She was already forcing herself to trust this stranger who became their knight in shining armor at the most convenient time.'It’s almost as if she had been waiting for us.'It was already suspicious enough, but given the situation, it’s either believing this random guide’s guidance or soberly choosing death—the answer, of course, was too obvious to be questioned.Wary as she might be, the young mage had no choice but to depend on their ever so mysterious guide to achieve her goal and get out of this dangerous place alive and whole.Surviving after obtaining the herb she was seeking. That was the goal.Who would have thought that she’d end up hearing something so big as this?‘...I did not need to know any of this…’With her being appointed to be the next in line to the crown, Cerise felt like she had enough burden on her shoulders without this random knowledge already. Oh, how she wished that she could go back to 15 minutes ago and strangle her past self for g
“With… me?”Nodding after pointing that out, Serein then had three of her fingers stretched out.“First things first. The song. Although, as you can tell, I know the lyrics, I don’t exactly know the tune. You, on the other hand, have been sung to that lullaby throughout your childhood. So, maybe there’s another clue on it that I missed? Either way, it’s worth looking into.”With one finger down, the cold adventurer continued.“Secondly, the Elixir. That thing has been around since the era of the great sage, another thing that has been passed down through generations.”Another finger got curled, and by now, Cherry looked calmer and rather curious for the last point since she couldn’t think up anything in her possession that lasted from 1000 years ago.Well, there’s actually one last thing. Which is—-“Your blood,” Serein stated as her eyes locked with the princess’ magenta orbs.“The last point was your own blood.”Shaken from the news, the mage’s eyes shook as she froze up a bit.“My
— kugugugu!Loud rumbles echoed through the chamber as it continued to shake wildly. The air was thick with tension and fear. Soon enough, the three of them were greeted with more deafening noises.— BAM!!!A thunderous explosion shook the very core of the chamber, its force reverberating through the air. Serein instinctively covered her ears, trying to shield herself from the overwhelming sound. Pam, in distress, let out a desperate shriek, curling around to protect his sensitive ears from the booming impact.“Kyak!”“GAH!”The cacophony and chaos intensified, disorienting them further. The chamber seemed to tremble under the weight of the explosion, adding to the already precarious situation they found themselves in.Meanwhile, Cherry groaned in pain, flung away by the force of the opening door. She was thrown so far that she nearly teetered into the pit where the current gushed like a waterfall. The darkness below seemed endless as her widened eyes held a sense of dread, desperatel
— BANG!!!As soon as they crossed the threshold, the heavy wooden door slammed shut with the stone soldiers banging against it, trying to force their way through for a few seconds.— BAM BAM BAM BABAM!Afterward, only their ragged breathing filled the air...Suddenly, everything turned silent and peaceful once more. But the tranquility was interrupted by a giggle coming from their youngest member.“Hehe~ I did it again~”Despite the encroaching darkness, the greenish-blue wyrm wagged his tail happily.“You saved our lives, Pam-min~ Thank you!”Serein praised the young wyrm whose eyes were the only visible feature in the pitch-black environment.“Though, if you don’t mind sharing, how did you know that this place is the safest one out of three?” she inquired with curiosity, eager to gather any useful information for the future, even if it were just a few words.Well, who would have figured that she was quite on the money about that?“Ceva-chi always said that I bring good luck!” Lookin
“The Great Sage’s place… we seem to have found it.”Upon hearing that confirmation from the descendant of this sacred grave, Serein didn’t need to convince herself further that this place was indeed the one she had been seeking.Memorizing the pictures that she was seeing, Serein then quickly moved on as she beckoned to the pink-haired mage to look down the hallways.“Well, our backdoor is locked shut, so either way, our only choice is to move forward. There might still be traps all around. So, do NOT touch anything and stay on the path until later if we see a split corridor, or perhaps something else entirely.”Patting Pam’s little head, that warning was aimed more towards the hatchling. The green-eyed wyrm smiled sheepishly back at her as if he was caught red-handed for thinking that way.“Okay, okay, little human, I won’t wander around and will stay here!”“Hmm.”Nodding in content, her eyes locked with Cherry’s, who nodded at her in agreement as well.From this point on, her knowl
“If you cut the vein on your arm deep enough, we should be able to fill the basin to the brim in no time with blood, right?” At first, she was thinking of making a cut on the neck because as far as she knew, anywhere located on the neck and above bleeds more than other body parts. “Don’t worry, you won’t die. That badass liquor you own should be able to save you afterward.” Serein casually brought up her idea, not really paying attention to how gory it might have sounded since she’s more used to such street talk than being polite. However, Cherry actually responded with a deadpan rather than simply blanching further at how laid-back her guide was. “Serein-shi, I’ll be dead by then. Why don’t I just cut off my arm instead?” “Oh? You’re willing?” While Serein looked pleasantly surprised by the princess’s bravery, Cherry stared at her unimpressed, as she later sighed. “Serein-shi.” Once again she called with exasperation. “Although it’s true that the elixir can do some miracles–