"What happened, my lord?"
"Huh? Oh! Nothing."
John gets confused from this message.
(Why would Ethan be suspicious of his former leader?)
John's eyes begin to close, his eyelids getting heavy.
His eyes open in a blue yet black, bottomless ocean. His body feels too light, yet it was sinking.
(Why am I here? More importantly… where am I?)
A familiar yet uncomfortable voice interrupts his thoughts.
"GIVE YOUR THOUGHTS A GRIP, CHILD."
"Oh! It's you… the Pillar of Calamity."
"I SEE YOU ARE NOT SHOCKED TO SEE ME."
John tries to read the surroundings.
"LOOK AT ME WHEN I SPEAK TO A LOWLY CREATURE LIKE YOURSELF."
"What do you want?"
The pillar observes him for a while.
"YOU HAVEN'T CHANGED A BIT."
"Neither have you."
"LISTEN, CHILD. YOU NEED TO LEVEL UP AND GET STRONGER, OR YOU MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO FULFILL THE 'PROMISES' YOU MADE WITH PEOPLE."
(Promises?)
John's vision goes black.
He opens his eyes.
(The visions… they just keep coming.)
He looks around. Still on the boat.
Everyone is asleep.
A soldier is guarding the back of the boat.
(What promises was he talking about? My promises?)
Flashbacks rush into his mind — his promise of protecting Syd, Daniel, Angela's brother, and never leaving Angela.
(Those promises? Do they even matter?)
John realizes his legs are heavy.
He looks below.
He sees blonde locks on his lap.
His face turns red as he realizes those blonde locks are none other than Angela's.
"Oh my God! Daniel will kill me if he sees this."
"This really is heaven."
John feels a cold breeze and observes his surroundings.
Fog was covering the entire boat.
"Uh… soldier? When will we reach your village?"
"Soon, my liege."
(Soon seems pretty far with his tone.)
The sparkling water gives John a sense of comfort.
(Even though both Rimora and its bloodied version are dangerous, yet the beauty is undefined.)
John looks at his dagger.
[Feeling alone?]
"…."
(And why do you care?)
(Just a tip. While you are sitting idle, why not use your COPY?)
(Huh?)
[Try it.]
(Huh, who??)
…
(Reply to me!)
John looks around.
Most goblins have no skills.
Only two goblins have skills.
One is Ethan.
(He is already in my army, plus I can use pyromancy.)
The other one is the soldier.
[Skill: Mana Absorption]
(Wow! I do want to copy it but…)
[To copy this skill, you need to defeat the owner of this skill in a duel.]
(Dude… he is on par with the Sixth Commander himself!)
"Is there any problem, my liege?"
"No, it's just… I want a duel with you."
"With me?"
"I just want to stretch my body a bit, so…"
"It will be my honour, my lord."
After a while, the boat stops.
An unknown land without any habitat appears before them — just a plain brown land.
"We can rest here for the night."
They all line up the tents.
"Angela, hope you can sleep in this tent. I will be here soon."
She nods.
John leaves the tent.
Dead silence surrounds him.
He walks on the land of no life.
Towards the soldier.
"Are you ready, soldier?"
John summons his dagger.
"Yes, my liege."
He grips his magic wand tightly.
(He is the strongest here. If i can defeat him, with this tactic. I can get his skill. It's one of the best out there!)
With a strong wind charge, they both rush towards each other.
Without saying a word they both attack each other.
(I will defeat him! I need that skill of yours!!!)
The pillar of calamity observing the situation from high above chuckles)
"IT IS WORKING. WE JUST NEED TO WAIT FOR HIM TO GAIN POWERS, THEN WE CAN GET TO THE NEXT STAGE OF OUR PLAN."
A mysterious black figure nods at him as it sits just infront him on a chair.
Holding a scythe he looks at John.
"He is our best asset in all these years. We can't let him go to waste."