There was silence. There was wind. There was vastness. There was water—
Yeah, water. Nothing but water.
Drake opened his eyes. It was fully dark, just like his hair. There were five young boys with him. They weren't very muscular, but also not so lean. They sat in a semicircle, crouched positions, all with shining white hair and eyes. They had external wounds with blood. Drake felt an itchy sensation in his eyes—he couldn't see through his left one. Blood was flowing out of it.
Suddenly, a sound echoed in their ears:
"How long are you guys going to sit there, weeping over fighting a ravager? When are you going to grow up?"
That was Captain Waltz. He was a man in his late forties with shining white hair and eyes. He wore full closed light clothing—not fabric, but a material known to this world, perfect for a high-ranking officer in the Warcrier. A clumsy hat sat sideways on his head. He was in charge of this Cradle, where young men went to hunt whales to become Warcriers. These whales were monstrous creatures that populated these worlds, and the tribe that inhabited this world was called the Crier Tribe.
As Drake recalled his thoughts, the guy in the middle slowly woke up. His name was Evan. As he stood straight, the area widened—they were traveling on a big sea animal. It didn't have scales; it looked like a snake but had almost six limbs and fins to travel in water. It was a Ripple, a creature bonded to the Crier Tribe, carrying them.
This Cradle was their tradition: for young guys to experience real-life battles. The five young men had been shaken to their bones on their first hunt. With a troubled expression, Evan asked,
"Sir, why didn't he help us? If he's coming with us, does seeing young ones suffer make him happy?"
Waltz was silent for a moment, then asked,
"Why did you come here, kids? Just to cry and weep over fighting a ravager? Has the fear gotten to your heads so high that you complain about him not joining the battle? You even dare accuse him of enjoying your suffering?"
Evan replied, "Sir, now that we let go of the ravager, there's no meat—no food for us. We didn't perform well in the Cradle. If we went back like this, wouldn't the queen be angry with us?"
"Why do you think he didn't do anything? It's to test what you young ones are capable of. Just because today's hunt didn't go your way doesn't mean you failed. Not many perform well—only a handful shine here."
He stopped for a moment and looked at Drake, then continued:
"And about the food? You don't need to worry."
As his view widened a little more, there was almost a troop of Ripples—in formation: ten, five, three, two, one. They were pulling a great sea creature. Its size was easily larger than one or two kilometers, its lower jaw completely cut off. Its body had no fins or limbs—just a body. It seemed to have a hole near its tail, with standing scales where its heart must be.
There was a man in his thirties, sitting with a katana on his back. Its sheath was black with golden lining; the guard on the handle was gold, the handle fully black, and a small string of thick golden cloth wiggled in the air. He rested one foot forward, slightly leaning on it. Grey hair and eyes. A large scar ran from his face, cutting his left eye to the middle of his torso. He had no cloth on his upper body—just a black tunic with golden lines. He didn't seem like he'd used any effort to fight that thing. It was like he was a disaster befallen on the whale creature. Hot steam rose from his body, and he had a nonchalant look on his face.
"Wait—wait, sir! Is that a Cleaver? Can someone damage a Cleaver like that without getting hurt? And he doesn't have any blood on him. How did he do it, sir?"
There was a little giggling sound.
"At this point, I don't know what he's capable of. But you know he's a Creator, right? So he created some sound, waved his hand, and that enormous thing was like that the next second."
Then, a drop of blood spilled from his eye—it was Drake. He was thinking about the Commander sitting on the Cleaver.
He's one of the chosen ones, right?
He gritted his teeth. Why can't I perform well in battle? If I was a little more powerful—if I too was a chosen one—I'd be able to kill those wretched whales.
Drake's eyes started to heal. Then everyone sat at ease. Evan was lost in thought:
"How could he be this powerful?"
Then, the guy sitting next to him—with a calm look on his face, it was Phil—said,
"Come on, Evan. You know who it is, right? It's the God Killer—Levize."
"Yeah, I heard about him in the Trial of Body, but it can't be to this level, right?"
There was some silence. These kids were tired and bleeding in various places on their bodies.
Captain Waltz spoke, noticing the boys' faces:
"Don't frown too much, kids. And don't ever compare yourselves to him. You guys completed only the Trial of Body, right? You'll learn more about him in the Trial of Mind. He is a Creator—which only a handful of people can attain."
Phil asked,
"Right, we know he's a Creator. But the title God Killer... how could someone attain that?"
"You guys are a really motivated bunch, huh? Okay, it's time for a small lesson."
As Captain Waltz said those words, the five kids—who had been weeping and cowering—turned their full attention to the captain's words. Noting the change in their demeanor, a small smile appeared on his face. He thought to himself: Maybe at least a small number of kids take this peaceful world as a challenge. Because there's no way a lot of people are gonna complete the Trial of Truth—so they wouldn't know how cruel the peace we're living in now is.
He told everyone to look at Levize.
"You see his katana there? It's a God-Etched Weapon. Now, time for a question: How many of these God-Etched Weapons are known to our kind?"
Everyone had a confused expression. With a bit of hesitation, Drake said, "Six."
Hearing him say that, the other four were very surprised. Even the captain laughed in excitement.
"Kid, you're something! How did you know about it? Even if you finished the Trial of Body, there's no way you could know this."
Drake was silent for a moment, then said,
"I attempted to clear the Trial of Mind."
The surprised expressions on the others turned into incomprehensible shock for Evan and Phil. The other two seemed to be twins—their names were Jike and Pike. They were mostly identical. Those two might have passed out if not for the continued healing stimulation in their bodies.
Captain Waltz said,
"Well, well... guess you know your stuff, ah? Good. And coming to the question—he's right. There are six God-Etched Weapons available in eternity. In our world, there is only one, and that one is possessed by Levize."
He stopped for a moment and asked the kids,
"Now, another question: How does one come into possession of a God-Etched Weapon? There's only one way to obtain it. Any ideas?"
The other four turned their heads in perfect sync to see Drake, who sat at the corner of the group. Drake said with an unsatisfied expression on his face,
"What? I didn't clear the second trial or something. There are a lot of things I don't know."
The others turned to the captain with casual looks on their faces. Captain Waltz chuckled.
"Well, there's no way you can know all of that. You know, Being aware on the existence of such a thing is in and of itself an achievement. And don't ever disclose this information to anyone—knowing more than what you need to know is not good for marching forward in life. So you should learn the details by properly attending the trials. Even I have things to know by completing the third trial. Don't go around spilling this information easily. And it might not be easy for you to hear it—you could pass out even before hearing it, or you'll forget it once we get near the tribe."
Suddenly, everyone tensed and stiffened their bodies with determination.
Captain Waltz opened his mouth, and the surroundings became a little foggy and unclear. The twins passed out. Even Phil, who usually wore a composed face, seemed to be struggling to maintain composure. Only Evan and Drake could slightly hear what the captain was saying:
"The only way you could obtain a God-Etched Weapon is only by—ki—ll—in—g th—e an—ci—en—t on—e—"
Evan couldn't stand the words and coughed up some blood. Phil and the twins were already passed out, but Drake was aware of them:
An—ci—ent—o—ne... Ancient One? Wait... an Ancient One?
Everything was coming together now. Drake had a troubled grin on his face. Looking at Levize, he said,
"That crazy guy—God Killer—that man... he is the one who killed the god of this world. So his title isn't just because he's strong. He... he actually killed a god. The Ancient One of this world!"
And he too passed out like the other kids. Captain Waltz thought to himself:
I need to control my actions now. I need to explain this to the queen.
The thought of explaining himself to the queen made him tremble a little.
"Ahh, she's the queen after all."
Just while thinking of the queen, the captain suddenly felt a gaze—deep and unbearable—fall upon him. It came from the Cleaver. It didn't have any bloodlust, but a deep emotion of dissatisfaction from the person who unleashed it. Waltz knew clearly who it was:
He might have found out that I enclosed sensitive information to the kids and showed his intent. Well, that itself almost made me pass out. I am a Writer*. Even though he is only one class higher than me, he is so vast—to simply put in class and division.*
Looking back—slightly turning his head—the grey hair flowing in the air above him, almost to his shoulders.
"He never learns, does he? When will we arrive at the tribe?"
As they traveled, a small island appeared in the vast sea of this world—where there was no land to come across. It was only about twenty kilometers in diameter, circular in shape. The nearer they got to the island, the more luminous the sea became. Suddenly, the Ripples that had been moving above the surface dove in—but the captain and the others were fine after entering the water.
The kids were even in a passed-out state inside the water, and the blue luminous light began to take shape. It was like a tree, but underwater. The small island on the surface seemed to be the foundation of the tree.
The tree seemed so vast and colorful that it was almost endless. Nowhere could the top of the tree be seen. It was like the world was inverted: the endless sky seemed limited, and the bottom of the sea became truly infinite.
After reaching some distance, a number of guards—who were in charge of letting people in—processed Captain Waltz's face and a few procedures. They let them into the tribe's nest. After reaching this point, the tree was so beautiful: small treehouses here and there, large monumental buildings somewhere, and many shops, restaurants, and basic amenities for normal living people.
Evan, who opened his eyes, shrugged while keeping a hand on his head.
"Ahh, did we make it? Ain't we fighting something? Where are we?"
The others were already awake and looking at him with dumbfounded expressions. They didn't seem to remember what they'd heard from the captain. The tribe's people looked at the kids with proud reactions on their faces. The kids couldn't understand it—why would they look like that? They hadn't even killed anything.
"Why do they look so happy? We didn't do shit. It's embarrassing," Evan muttered.
Drake, looking calm, said,
"Even if we didn't kill it, we fought a Ravager. There's no hope of even fighting one without being a Reader. We're just Listeners who went to the Cradle and fought a grown Ravager. It's a feat that's never happened in the history of our tribe. Well, there are those chosen ones, but we're just normal kids, and our weapons are just Man-Etched. So it's quite a great achievement."
Suddenly, Evan blushed and puffed out his chest like a real kid, reacting just as one would in this situation. The village seemed to be at peace; they welcomed the kids and treated them nicely.
Phil asked Drake,
"You know a lot, aren't you? You're one of us—how did you know more? It's not like you're a Reader or someone who completed the second trial. So how do you know so much?"
Phil looked forward and continued,
"I don't clearly remember anything we discussed on the return, but I get glimpses of you talking about things we don't know. Like my memories become hazy where you spoke. How could you know this information? Your hair color is also quite rare—black. Not a lot of kids even know that color. So... who are you?"