The dawn pierced through the pitch-black night, dispelling the darkness and allowing the sun's radiance to spill over the land, gradually illuminating the city-state that sat like a towering behemoth.
It was a city surrounded by massive, sturdy walls. The outer perimeter featured many tall buildings, but the structures grew shorter as they approached the center. At the absolute heart of the city stood a chalk-white giant tower that soared into the clouds.
The city followed a circular layout, radiating outward in eight directions from the central white tower. Eight neat main streets divided it into eight sectors, a design clearly planned with strict order.
At the northernmost tip of this metropolis, situated along a road somewhat distant from the main thoroughfare, sat a mansion far taller and larger than any of the surrounding buildings.
The main body of the mansion consisted of several high towers that overlapped like a forest of spears, each complementing the other's gaps to the point where the roofline formed a jagged mountain of blades. Though the height of this cluster of towers could not match the white tower at the city's center, looking up at them was enough to make one's neck ache. The tallest among them was the Central Tower located in the middle. Its blackened spire was currently catching the colors of the dawn, appearing as if carved from flame. Atop it flew a jester flag; the way it fluttered in the wind seemed to be mocking the world, filled with irony.
However, when the people passing by this area looked at this oddly designed mansion, their eyes were filled with either reverence or longing.
Anyone living in this city—or rather, anyone living in this world—knew exactly what that jester flag signified. It was the flag of one of the most powerful factions in the world, one of the two "Kings" of Orario—the adventurer group known as the Loki Familia.
And this place was the Loki Familia's headquarters in the Labyrinth City of Orario: Twilight Manor.
True to its nickname, the "Mansion of Long Spires," Twilight Manor was a structure made up of many high-rise towers. Aside from the thickest and largest Central Tower in the middle, it was surrounded by seven other spires. The lower sections of these spires, varying in height and shape, were interconnected. Only the Central Tower stood grand and independent, encircled by a ring-shaped courtyard. Its upper sections featured stone sky-bridges extending to the other towers, allowing passage between them.
Within Twilight Manor, three of these seven towers were designated for the male members of the Loki Familia, while the remaining four were for the female members. Public facilities like the library and the grand dining hall were not concentrated in one spot but scattered across the various towers, making it quite a disorganized layout.
As the night receded and the morning light struck the tops of these spires, a young man slowly woke up in an extremely simply furnished room within one of the towers used by the male members.
He was a youth with black hair and black eyes, handsome features, and deep, profound eyes. He wore black trousers and a black shirt that fit his slender frame perfectly. He possessed a bright, sunny temperament, though his face still carried a hint of youthful innocence.
The youth appeared to be around fifteen or sixteen years old, yet his slowly opening eyes held a depth that didn't match his age, lending a sense of unshakeable calm to his youthful appearance.
"—Is it morning already?"
The youth glanced out the window. Though the sky had brightened, the sunlight had not yet reached the position of his room. This meant it was still early; many parts of Orario were likely still dark, and most households hadn't opened their doors yet. It was the perfect time for a few more hours of sleep.
Unfortunately, the youth had forgotten how long it had been since he last slept in.
"Time to get up."
After muttering this to himself, he patted his face to wake himself up and rolled out of bed. He grabbed his toiletries and left the room immediately.
Outside lay long corridors and sky-bridges stretching toward other towers. It was a complex maze; one wrong turn could easily lead someone to the wrong place—like the female dormitories.
In the past, the youth had indeed made a wrong turn. The commotion caused back then was still occasionally brought up even now, causing him no end of social embarrassment. As the saying goes, "A fall in the pit, a gain in your wit." Since then, he had taken great care to memorize every route in Twilight Manor, observing his surroundings with extreme caution to avoid repeating the mistake.
"Yo, Leon! Morning."
"Morning, kid Leon."
"Already up? You're quite the early bird!"
"Good morning!"
Along the way, male members emerging from their rooms greeted him familiarly. Some were humans like Leon, while others had beast ears and tails; some dressed provocatively, some were as small as children, and some even had pointed ears and long hair. Though they were all essentially humanoid, they clearly belonged to different races.
"Morning to you all, too."
Leon greeted them back, having long since grown accustomed to a sight that would have once amazed him.
Upon reaching the washrooms, Leon chatted with the male members of the Familia while efficiently cleaning himself up. Those nearby noticed that Leon's pace was different from usual; he seemed to be in quite a hurry.
"Are you planning on heading out for something?"
A young man who had approached Leon at some point asked curiously. Like Leon, this young man was a human with an unremarkable face and no particularly striking presence—the type of background character you could find anywhere and who wouldn't be noticed on a busy street.
However, this plain-looking man was one of the core members of the Loki Familia, just below the leadership and executives. He was highly valued by the Captain and was being groomed as a future leader of the next generation—a Level 4 Second-Tier Adventurer.
"Mr. Raul."
Leon addressed him as such for the time being.
"Haven't I told you to just call me Raul?" The young man scratched his head and said helplessly, "I'm not some big shot; there's no need for honorifics."
Hearing this, Leon didn't quite agree with Raul's assessment.
"You are five years older than me, a senior member of the Familia, and the future successor the Captain values. It's only right that I call you 'Mr.,'" Leon shrugged. "Not to mention, you are a Second-Tier Adventurer, Level 4. That's a much higher status than a trainee like me who hasn't even officially joined or received a Falna yet."
"Don't say that. Our Familia doesn't do the whole rigid hierarchy thing; don't go picking up those habits from other groups," Raul patted Leon on the shoulder with a harmless, somewhat goofy smile. "If you didn't mention it, I'd almost forgotten you haven't officially joined yet. After all, it's already been a year since you arrived."
Hearing Raul say this, Leon felt a sense of daze.
"Yeah, it's already been a year."
Leon felt a slight wave of emotion.
A year ago, he had inexplicably transmigrated into this world. Not only had his physical age regressed to fifteen, but he had also performed a high-altitude drop, crashing into a pool of water and nearly drowning himself.
That wouldn't have been so bad, but the problem was that there was someone else in the pool he fell into. If that person hadn't pulled him from the water and saved him, he probably would have drowned right there, never seeing the sun again.
It was only afterward that Leon learned the pool he fell into wasn't on the surface, but underground. It was in a corner of the 18th Floor of the Dungeon, a safe zone known as the "Under Resort."
Yes, Leon had transmigrated directly into the Dungeon, and into the 18th Floor of the Middle Levels at that.
For an inhabitant of another world who had never received a God's Blessing, had no Status to speak of, and had never even been in a fight, appearing in a place like the 18th Floor with a regressed body age of fifteen... well, even if it was a safe floor where monsters didn't spawn, it felt like an "apocalypse start" to Leon at the time.
To put it bluntly, Leon had almost given up on life back then.
Fortunately, he hadn't encountered a life-ending monster, but rather the angel who saved his second life—
"—Do you have nowhere to go?"
That voice—lacking inflection, devoid of emotion, doll-like yet more beautiful than any celestial music—remained as clear in Leon's ears today as if it were still echoing.
"Then... do you want to come back with me?"
It was those words that saved the Leon of that time and gave him a second life in this world. Having no other options, Leon had gripped the hand extended to him without hesitation and followed her out of the Dungeon to Twilight Manor.
Since then, Leon had lived in Twilight Manor, the headquarters of the Loki Familia, serving as a trainee member for an entire year.
As a strange man brought back by the woman universally recognized within the Familia as a "Goddess," an "Idol," and the "Object of Admiration"—and whose origin was completely unknown—Leon's presence had, unsurprisingly, caused a massive stir, even leading to minor riots. Ultimately, under the suggestion of the Familia's patron goddess and the executives, he was allowed to stay temporarily to handle logistics. Only after his identity was confirmed to be harmless could he be accepted as a formal member.
Leon found this slightly regrettable but wasn't disappointed. He understood perfectly well that a person of unknown origin suddenly claiming they wanted to join one of Orario's strongest Familias was problematic on many levels. Even if his identity wasn't suspicious, the Loki Familia wasn't a group one could just walk into.
The protagonist of the original story, upon arriving in Orario, had been frequently rejected even by ordinary Familias, let alone the Loki Familia. The reason was always the same: he was too plain, a human with no special traits.
Compared to that protagonist, Leon's situation was no better. Aside from being decent-looking, he showed no obvious special talents. If such a person knocked on the door on any normal day, the Loki Familia would absolutely turn them away. How could they let him join so easily?
The fact that he was allowed to stay at Twilight Manor as a trainee was entirely due to the prestige of the person who brought him back. Therefore, Leon felt no resentment. He honestly performed his duties as a trainee, handling logistics and remaining stationed at Twilight Manor.
Now, a year had passed. Although Leon was still technically a trainee, the members of the Familia had gradually accepted him.
And furthermore—
"After today, you won't be a trainee anymore, will you?"
Raul smiled happily, as if he were genuinely glad for Leon.
"Yeah," Leon smiled back, unable to hide his anticipation. "Yesterday, the Captain sent someone to tell me that my observation period is over."
"Today, I can go to the God's Room and find our Patron to have my Falna engraved."
That was the reason Leon seemed so hurried today. He could finally formally join the Loki Familia, receive a God's Blessing, and become an adventurer.
"Then get going quickly."
Raul finally realized that Leon wasn't in a hurry to go out, but in a hurry to get his Falna. He urged Leon on, saying, "If you go too late, our Goddess might wander off somewhere to drink."
This was also what Leon was worried about. He knew all too well how unreliable and eccentric the patron goddess of the Loki Familia was. If she had been binge-drinking last night, she was likely still fast asleep. If she hadn't been drinking last night, she was probably already thinking about where to go for a massive feast today; the life or death of a trainee like him wouldn't even be on her mind.
"I'm off then!"
At that thought, Leon stopped chatting with Raul. He scooped up his toiletries and ran back to his room. After stashing his things, he dashed down the stairs of the tower and into the courtyard.
The Patron's God's Room was at the very top of the Central Tower. Since the Central Tower was the only spire not connected to the others, one had to cross the ring-shaped garden to enter it.
However, when Leon reached the courtyard, his figure came to a sudden halt.
Because there was someone there.
"Swish!"
The sound of a blade cutting through the air echoed clearly in the morning, as crisp as rolling beads of glass.
Under the shade of the deserted trees, a girl held a shimmering silver rapier, swinging it with intense focus. Like a conductor wielding a baton, or as if slaying an invisible foe, the girl performed a solo dance of silver flashes. She let the rapier turn into streaks of silver light, continuously piercing the air and slicing through the cold wind with absolute concentration.
Vertical slashes, horizontal cuts, diagonal parries, upward sweeps, forward thrusts—simple yet practical moves bloomed in her hands.
Leon stood silently in place, as if forgetting his previous urgency. He gazed at the girl's sword-swinging silhouette, motionless for a long time.
After a while, the girl stopped. As if sensing Leon's gaze, she turned around and looked toward him.
In an instant, their eyes met. Time seemed to stand still, frozen in that very moment.
-----------------------------------------------
I handpick only the finest and most captivating novels for you. Don't forget to check out my other novels!
p@treon HongMengZi