Eastern Plains

Odovish suddenly thought of something. "You're the disciple of the black mage McVey."

"Yes. So you were right before—I was indeed taught by an Undead." Eugene said.

"The reason I went to attend the Circle Gathering was because my teacher was discovered. The Holy See sent three archbishops to besiege him. They used the same Black Crystals, driving my teacher into a berserk state. To ensure that I could escape, my teacher shattered his own Soul Core. The curse on me was cast by one of those bishops."

"Do you know who those three were?" Odovish asked.

Eugene shook his head again. "They were all wrapped in white robes. I only saw the Saint Insignias on the hems of their garments."

"It was the Judgement Tribunal of the Inquisition," Odovish said. "An iris-shaped Saint Insignia means they belong to the upper ranks of the Holy See, perhaps answering directly to the Pope."

"So we're setting out with someone being hunted? That sounds exciting." Elufiel looked at Odovish, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

Odovish had Eugene put away the Rose Ring. "Do you need to say goodbye to your little lover? I think we'll have to leave ahead of schedule."

Eugene thought for a while before finally shaking his head with difficulty. "Better... not. I was an accident in her life, and accidents usually don't need to know how they end."

"What a heartless man." Elufiel shook her head and headed up the stairs first. "Od, will you wake me tomorrow morning? I need to say goodbye to Goliath first."

"Go on." Odovish watched the elf vanish around the bend in the staircase.

"Since you won't be saying goodbye to your lover, rest here for the time being. I'll have the butler prepare a bed for you." Odovish went down to the basement, and Gabriel cleared out the storeroom for Eugene, barely turning it into a guest room. The silent Arcane mage sat alone on the bed boards, tightly gripping the amulet Gwendolyn had pressed into his hand before leaving.

If the Arcane mage could return to the days of living beneath the sunlight, he would surely scatter romantic rose petals for the girl he loved, just as Lord Darren had done, then offer her a ring that represented all his feelings.

He hoped to grant his girl happiness forever.

Odovish pushed open the door to Goliath's room. Elufiel was saying goodbye to the little girl. Wearing similar dresses, the two embraced as the elf smiled and whispered something into Goliath's ear before kissing her forehead.

Odovish walked over and stroked Goliath's hair without saying any words of farewell. The little girl already understood the reason behind her uncle's every hurried visit, and obediently bid him goodbye.

Tomorrow morning, she would be alone again, though Sharon and Gabriel would be with her. And now, her uncle had someone by his side as well.

Eastern Plains

The Eastern Plains were the broadest and flattest stretch of land in the entire east, fertile and prosperous. The Halor Kingdom lay in the southwestern part of the Eastern Plains, near the Green Forest. Farther east stretched endless woodland. From spring through autumn, forests upon forests deepened from tender emerald green, then shifted from rich green into the reds and yellows that heralded harvest season. In winter, aside from evergreen species, the plants gradually withered, sealed and frozen beneath wind and snow, waiting to bloom back to life when spring came again.

Yet now, she saw the familiar "door," and also understood why Odovish's little tricks had never included this. Unlike the mages of Azeroth, who only needed to prepare some materials and recite a spell to open a door, the mages of Kanado required a far more complicated process.

First, they needed to draw a complex magic array on the ground. These arrays were made from special alchemical materials—usually a tiny spatial magical beast called a Voidling. During the golden age of Arcane, this had been an alchemical material available in any general store on the streets. Voidlings were easy to catch. They lived in the cold north, feeding on plant roots and scattered Arcane energy. Weak but fast-breeding, they moved by leaping, instantly shifting from one point to another like great flurries of snow drifting through frigid winds. Usually, mages could freeze two or three with a single frost spell.

But now, they too had become rare materials. Divine casters did not use them, and Arcane mages had no chance to use them. After Alchemy City fell, these spatial magical beasts gradually disappeared from people's sight.

"Voidlings are rarely seen in the north now. It seems they fell asleep in Lake Es along with Pandor." As he drew the magic array, Odovish explained this sort of "continental common knowledge," now known only to Arcane mages, to Elufiel.

Eugene silently helped from the side. He now knew that the divine caster named Elufiel was an elf. Though the other two revealed nothing more, Eugene still deduced the elf's origin—one lost from another world. It explained both the elf's incomplete knowledge of the continent and her affinity for Arcane.

The magic array on the ground gradually took shape. It could probably hold three people standing at once. Against the withered yellow grass, the white material clung firmly to the ground like paint. Elufiel watched as Odovish and Eugene began chanting obscure spells together. A distorted shadow appeared above the array. The pale gray shadow slowly expanded until it spread into the size of a door. Its outline was square and straight, very different from the oval-shaped ones Elufiel knew.