At the only, not particularly busy dock in the New City of Silver on Partis Island, "The Sun" Derrick Berg watched three oceangoing sailing ships depart, rocking as they headed east.
It was an expedition led by Council of Seven member "Trinity Templar" Lovia Tiffany, but Derrick preferred to call it a "homecoming party."
They intended to retrace their original route to the Forsaken Land of the Gods, back to the old City of Silver.
May the great Mr. Fool bless them with a safe journey. I think the one Elder Lovia believes in will bless them too... Derrick offered a silent prayer and turned around, surprised to discover that Chief Colin Iliad and the city's other Silver Knight, Waite Chirmont, had also come.
They must have come to see the expedition off, but now they were wasting no time discussing something. Listening closely, Derrick immediately understood the focus of their dispute.
It concerned which of the two Silver Knights would advance first.
Ever since they had handed the Gift of the Land over to Viève, an Archangel of the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, in exchange for a Lightseeker beyonder characteristic, the Crown of Glory, also a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact, had lost its greatest purpose—suppressing the Gift of the Land's negative effects. It could now be shattered into a Sequence 2 Glory characteristic of the Twilight Giant Pathway and used for advancement.
But the New City of Silver had two Silver Knights and only one advancement potion.
Chief Colin had been the first to advance to Sequence 3. He was already over a hundred years old and had the most experience in both combat and dealing with people. If he advanced first and transformed his very form of life, he could continue leading the city through the