At night, Aserkelo Amusement Park was immersed in a new wave of excited discussion.
Source Crystal Stones that emitted colorful light had been hung directly on the park's buildings, making its fairy-tale atmosphere even stronger than it was during the day.
Joshua had no mood to join the revelry. He found a room to rest in at the Hearthstone tavern, sat on the bed, and quietly gazed out the window.
"Should we go have a proper talk with those Ascendants?"
Ciri wrapped her arms around Joshua from behind and leaned her whole body against him.
"The word 'talk' should probably be in quotation marks here."
Joshua's attention was focused on the Magic Web Interface before him. All Ciri could see was a flood of complex runes flashing across it.
Of all those rune symbols, the only things Ciri could understand were a pixelated white bird and a white cat in the upper-right corner.
"I don't think they'll give us advance notice when they come knocking, so we can only take the initiative and find them ourselves," Ciri said.
"That Ascendant named Bai Yue came looking for her own kind. Their methods are indeed rather rough—there's basically no difference from kidnapping... I'll visit those Ascendants soon, but Ciri, you need to finish the rest of your lessons in Aserkelo first."
Joshua tapped his fingertips against the Magic Web Interface. The pixelated white cat in the upper-left corner yawned, then walked away and vanished from Joshua's interface.
Only the white bird remained, standing there like an owl. Whenever Joshua made an error in the rune language, the bird would immediately point it out for him.
"That's the only way, then..."
Ciri could only accept Joshua's suggestion.
Ciri's childhood experiences had given her a combative streak, but she now realized that she was