An Utterly Unremarkable Siren (12)

Gray-black clouds, as though stained with lead, hung over the waters stretching from Nauman's distant seas to the edge of the Eternal Silence Ocean, shrouding them in an indescribable silence.

This was the calm before the downpour, and the prelude to summer.

True to its name, due to the colossal psychic field enveloping the entire Eternal Silence Ocean, aside from storms that might arise along the coast, this sea produced none of the typhoons or tempests common to other waters. There was only a steady sea breeze, and silent heavy rain that fell as though veiling the entire world.

In contrast, the Eternal Silence Ocean itself contained an incomparably intricate current system.

The immense latent power of the planet's heat cycle was wrapped within the ocean's waters, accumulated and transformed into nourishment for life. Thus, the entire Eternal Silence Ocean was a paradise for marine life, while its deep waters had become a vast, labyrinthine super-maze. Countless Magic Beasts dwelled within, guarding the heart of the deep sea.

Labyrinths. Labyrinths existed in every region of Terra.

Any area whose core was difficult to explore, whose operating principles could not be understood, and which contained immense treasures within would be called a Labyrinth.

After the Calamity of Falling Skies, the seeds of Labyrinths had spread across the world, nearly everywhere. They became channels through which humanity studied Pre-Epoch Civilization technology, mines that yielded key materials, pastures that bred high-quality Demonic Beasts, and plantations that produced vital spirit medicines.

Adventurers depended on them to survive. Countless wild Ascenders rose to prominence or met their ruin because of Labyrinths. Even the rise and fall of a nation might be tied to one—Ridgehold of the northern frontier, one of Terra's great powers, obtained a legendary Apocalypse Armament from a Labyrinth. That was how it