Leon and Julien walked in silence.

As they stepped into the Plaza, over a dozen pairs of eyes immediately fixed on them, each gaze carrying a mix of curiosity, surprise, and something else that Leon couldnt quite determine.

Weve made it in time.

Leon sighed in relief. They had been dangerously close to running late. Thankfully, the two of them together were pretty fast and were able to surpass the others that were approaching.

Gatekeeping was also not allowed, and hence, they had no choice but to be very fast.

Hoo.

Leon found his gaze pausing in a certain direction, and he felt his shoulder lighten considerably.

Theres more than I anticipated.

He could count over a dozen people from their side. Eleven to be exact, and with the two of them combined, theyd be at thirteen.

This was a number that was way higher than originally anticipated.

With that being said, Leons expression turned serious shortly after. The numbers were nice, but what mattered was the overall ranking.

At least, that was as far as he was aware.

Lets go.

He nudged Julien with his head.

The entire time, Julien remained quiet and didnt say a word. With a mere nod, he followed along with Leons words and moved.

..

Leon stared at Juliens back with a complicated expression.

He had been like this for the past few days. Since leaving the tomb, he had changed. He started to speak less, and he always seemed to be in thought.

He looked like a shell of himself.

Leon tried to get something out of him. To get an idea of what he saw, but Julien refused to budge each time. He simply didnt want to talk about it. In the end, Leon let him be and didnt press further.

Everyone had their own secrets, and so did he.

In fact, he had quite a fair share of his own secrets that he couldnt divulge.

For that reason, he could understand where Julien was coming from.

With that being said, he was a little worried.

He had never seen this new Julien act like this before

Leon was also worried about the upcoming second phase. In his current state, Julien was set to lose within the first few rounds.

Hopefully he recovers soon.

Things would certainly be a little problematic if he wasnt in top condition for the second phase. Leon did after all believe that Julien had the necessary strength to reach the top in case he failed.

Nonetheless, while Leon was worried, he wasnt too worried.

While Julien didnt look to be in the right state of mind, that came more from the shock of whatever he learned than anything else.

At the end of the day, it was only just shock. He didnt seem to have given up on his life or appeared to have some sort of brain trauma.

Leon believed he just needed time to process the situation.

Whatever he saw, it needed time to sort through.

You guys have finally arrived.

Greeting the two of them was Aoife who distanced herself from the main group, alternating her gaze between the two of them.

.It seems like you guys met up with a lot of trouble.

She pointedly looked at their clothes which were a mess. Juliens in particular was quite bad. But thinking back at what they faced, Leon couldnt help but shrug.

We did, but we managed to get around.

That bad?

Pretty bad.

Alright.

Aoife took her eyes away from them and pointed at the group.

Everyone is already here. With you two we have thirteen people. Were doing considerably better than the previous years.

I saw.

Leon nodded quietly while joining the group and greeting the familiar-looking faces. He knew pretty much everyone present. Kiera, Josephine, Evelyn, Luxon, and the members from the other Academies.

Sharing a few pleasantries with them, he was just about to say more when a voice boomed throughout the plaza.

<The First Phase has officially ended. The gates will now close!>

Clank! Clank!

A loud rattling reverberated through the Plaza as the gates began to close, their heavy clang sealing off any further entry. The sound drew everyones attention, and beyond the bars of the gates, they could see the despair etched on the faces of several participants who had just arrived, only to realize they were too late.

Clank

Leon drew in a cold breath as the gates came to a close, marking the end of the First Phase.

Following this, the voice boomed again.

<The Second Phase will begin shortly. Please take the time that you have right now to rest.>

It disappeared shortly after that, leaving everyone confused.

Rest now? How much time do we have?

We just came back. Surely theyll give us a little bit more time to rest.

My shoulder is injured! Can I get something to heal it?

How long do we have to wait?

Confusion started to spread amongst the contestants. How could it not? Not only did they not know who had spoken, but they had also been told little to no information about the upcoming phase.

How was this fair?

What sort of situation was this!?

What should we do?

Leon turned to face Aoife who pinched her chin and fell into thought. She looked behind her for a brief moment, her gaze falling on Kiera who looked unusually quiet. She thought about talking to her but stopped herself before sitting down on the ground.

What else?

She pointed toward those from the members of the other Empires.

Since we dont know how much time we have, the only choice we have is to follow what the others are doing and just rest. Get into top condition before the second phase.

Aoife closed her eyes after saying her piece. She looked to be in a meditative state, trying her best to recover her energies while she had time.

Leon looked around for a brief moment, his eyes settling over to Julien who was still in his weird state. In the end, with a long and tired sigh, he went along with what Aoife said and sat down on the ground.

I guess shes right.

He closed his eyes and started to recuperate his strength.

***

How long should we give them?

They look quite worn out. Some even have slight injuries. It would be good if we gave them enough time

One hour.

A deep and cold voice echoed amidst the discussions that were happening.

Gael and Elysia turned to their left, where Lucian sat quietly. His face, as usual, remained impassive, his keen eyes fixed on the Plaza. Lucian wasnt one for many words, but when he did speak, his decisions were always final.

He was a stubborn man and all those present knew this.

Why do you say one hour?

Theron seemed amused by the suggestion as he propped his chin up to get a better look at Lucian who despite sitting like him, towered over everyone.

..Theres two reasons, really.

Lucian spoke, his voice sounding extremely deep.

Firstly, Ive already waited too long. This has been dragging too much.

Ho-oh?

Gael covered his mouth to hide his laughter.

He was the only one who found it funny as Therons and Elysias expressions were stoic, hiding any trace of what they truly felt.

Secondly, I dont see anyone with major injuries. If its nothing major, I dont see how we cant start this. If they cant handle a little pain, they dont deserve to be here.

..

Theron remained quiet, his head slowly turning and fixing on Caius.

There were a few others gathered around him, and it was true. While they did sustain some injuries, it was nothing major. The same was true for everyone else that was present.

Youre right.

Upon realizing this, he no longer argued and ended up nodding his head.

We can do it like that.

Lucian turned to look at Elysia who gently sighed and leaned back.

My side is okay with it too.

Then, all eyes fell on Gael. He was in a bit of a stump. From his side, everyone looked to be fine. Everyone but one person.

Julien Dacre Evenus.

He seemed out of it of some sort.

While his body didnt seem to have any injuries, his mind wasnt there, and it was quite obvious with how he was the only one that was still standing.

What should I do?

Since Julien was from his Empire, Gael had an understanding of him. Ranked around the thirties, he was a promising talent that only lagged behind Aoife and Leon. At least that was how it seemed on the surface. He had received some news regarding a certain performance he had with the Vice-Chancellor of the Bremmer Central Academy.

His strength was not as it was shown on paper.

Having him not fight properly would be detrimental to their chances of victory. But at the same time, he wasnt sure his refusal would get him anywhere.

Turning his head and seeing everyone else looking at him, he chewed over his words.

What should I do?

Closing his eyes, he shifted his attention towards Julien. He pondered for a brief moment, and just as he was about to come out with his decision, his expression shifted.

What the

***

Ever since I learned about the tomb, my thoughts have been a mess.

I was in utter confusion, and questions popped up one after another in my mind. It got to the point where my head started to hurt and I could hardly concentrate.

For that reason, I chose to seal most of my emotions.

Fear, Anger, Sadness, Joy

I sealed everything that I could so that I could logically sort through my thoughts.

It was only then that I was able to cooly process all the information that I had managed to grasp.

From that point, I came to an understanding.

Im missing a good chunk of my memories.

No matter how much I sorted through my memories, there was no hint of anything with regard to the word Oracleus or anything related to the Unrecorded or events on the murals. There was something critical within my memories that I was missing.

.But why?

Why were some of my memories missing?

Who could be responsible for all of this? My brother?

My mind shook, rattling the chains that were keeping my emotions locked. The thought of my brother being responsible for all of this and being in this world shook whatever I was trying to keep close.

For the first time since appearing in this world, I had finally found a clue about him.

Mortum.

It wasnt in the way that I thought Id hear. In some way, he found himself in this world as well. He gained immortal powers, allowing his blood to heal anything that got in touch with it.

Its quite sad if you think about it. Mortum. Hes immortal, and he has the power to revive everyone in the entire world except His own family.

The words that Leon had previously said to me were still engraved in my mind, and they continued to linger there, continuously haunting my mind every second of the day.

The possibility of his words being true ate at my consciousness. What sort of curse was this?

I needed to find him.

But how could I do that? How could I find Mortum?

..

My head yet again throbbed, and the chains rattled further.

There was so much to think about and my thoughts were starting to mix with each other. I didnt know where to start, and the thought was eating away at my sanity.

I was growing impatient, and I wanted answers.

I needed an

Tok!

.?

Out of nowhere, something struck the top of my head, causing me to instinctively duck.

Tak!

Shortly after, a familiar-looking bar fell on the floor. It was a bar that could only be found in the Haven shop and Lens, the city near Haven.

..

I stood in silence for a brief moment before picking up the bar.

This is?

I turned my head to look behind me, in search of a certain someone. However, looking around, I couldnt find the person I was looking for.

Strange.

Did it slip her hand?

No, if it slipped then shed have teleported here and taken it back.

Crazy to think about, but she would definitely do that.

The lock rattled.

Since it wasnt an accident maybe shes giving it to me?

The lock rattled again.

No way, right?

Delilah was someone who would rather die than share her chocolate. The thought of sharing her chocolate was worse than dying to her.

And yet

Maybe, its not hers?

I flipped the bar back and saw a few words written in red.

[Eat it]

Its her

Nobody besides her had such bad handwriting.

.I dont really like sweets to be honest.

I couldnt handle sweet stuff. And yet, despite knowing this, I still ended up opening the bar. For some reason, I just felt like eating it.

.

Or at least, this was how I felt at first.

The bar

It was actually already open.

Peeling the wrapper to get a better look at what was inside, I found myself at a loss for words as the lock rattled even more fiercely.

It was on the verge of breaking.

..

The bar

There was only one cube left. What remained was the small tray that kept the wrapper in shape.

Staring at the single cube that remained, I felt my expression twitch.

This

Cra Crack!

Suddenly, the lock shattered, and I hunched over as a torrent of emotions surged through my mind. Anger, sadness but one emotion overwhelmed them all.

Pftt.

I burst out laughing.