Fei'er Li did not find that strange. In more than ten years of traveling, she had seen many things never mentioned in books, and many details that did not match the original story. Once a novel world became real, many things adjusted themselves, and small changes were normal.
Part of her reason for coming was curiosity about Otherworld. Another part was to smooth the road a little for the future Chosen Hero, since the disasters ten years later were not things she could deal with. Back then, shocking events would appear one after another, like the Dragonkin turning into a mad dragon disaster, the extinction of the Elves and the reversal of the world tree, the collapse of two faces of the Holy Light church's God of Light, a massive abyss Rift spanning a third of the continent, and a Chosen Hero whose Holy Sword broke at the very start.
Compared to those, many other major threats felt almost ordinary. The more she knew, the more she felt that the original Chosen Hero had taken on a job no normal person could handle.
Just then, a shout came from outside.
"Something's wrong, instructor. The ground collapsed, and someone's buried under it."
"What?" Fei'er Li paused, then sighed. "Fine. Icelis, stay here and keep things under control. I'll be back."
She hurried out, leaving the little girl sitting on a chair, swinging her legs and staring at the man on the bed. Even unconscious, he was gripping the broken sword tightly. In truth, Icelis had another reason for bringing him back, as there was a familiar aura on him that she could not quite place.
"Hey, you're awake, right? No need to pretend," she said.
The man on the bed moved slightly, then slowly sat up. Lyles Edward had actually woken after hearing vague voices nearby. With his Gold Rank level and the power of dragon blood, his recovery was strong, but he never expected to survive after losing consciousness like that.
He could only guess that he had gone berserk from excessive dragon blood. As he regained control, he noticed that the whispers and dragon roars that used to echo in his head were gone. The curse that had followed him since he took on his father's burden felt as if it had vanished.
In his hand was the familiar grip of his sword, though the weight and feel told him only the hilt remained. "Was I saved?" he asked softly. "Where is this place?"
He sat up with an apologetic smile when he heard Icelis. "Sorry, I only just woke up too. Thank you for saving me. My name is Edward."
That name sounded familiar. Icelis vaguely recalled Fei'er Li mentioning some Chosen Hero team with someone of that surname, but she could not remember clearly. She decided it was not important and focused on the aura that bothered her.
"The thing in your right hand," she said. "Can I see it? There's a scent on it that I know."
Only then did Lyles Edward realize he had been clutching something the whole time. It was a piece of black biological horn or scale, dark like charcoal, and it stirred a faint sense of fear in him. Before he could react, Icelis let out a sharp scream and jumped straight up, hitting the top of the tent and grabbing the support with both hands.
She looked like a small animal that had met a top predator. Lyles Edward felt that if his own fear fully surfaced, he would not be much better. "What is that?" she shouted. "Where did you get it? Tell me now."
Lyles Edward did not have a clear memory either. He guessed it was a scale from that dragon, and from the calm of his blood, it seemed his curse had been suppressed. If that was true, then perhaps his family's fate had a way out. The dragon blood still existed in him, but without the maddening hunger, and when he held the scale, the blood around it seemed to go still.
But if his curse was gone, would it still pass to the next generation? What about his daughter?
"I'm sorry," he said after a deep breath. "I can't explain, and I can't give this to you. It's very important to me. You saved me, and I'll repay you however I can, as long as it's within my ability."
Icelis stared at the scale for a long moment, then calmed down. "Fine, do what you want," she said. She could already guess what it was, so there was no point pushing.
But that meant one thing. "That monster," she muttered. "Is it still alive?"
Even as a master of Ice Element among the Elves, she felt cold. Even a weakened Evil God could turn all of the Northlands into a cursed land, and no one alive could stop it. Long ago, even at her peak, she had needed to split herself to seal such a thing.
Suddenly, Lyles Edward spoke with a serious expression. "Miss, you have very strong ice-related power, don't you? Could you help me freeze this scale while it's still active?"
—
"Let's stabilize the terrain first. Luckily no one is badly hurt," Fei'er Li said.
She waved her Magic Staff, and the surrounding rocks compressed and solidified as if folded away, forming solid ground. She was glad the group were at least professionals, as they only suffered minor scrapes. At her current level, controlling rock like this was easy, though most mages of the same rank would struggle.
After clearing the danger, she glanced around and was about to leave when she noticed something pinned under a rock. It looked like a book. She dug it out and brushed off the dust, immediately recognizing it as the notebook given to new students at the academy.
It was cheap and sturdy, with no special features, which was likely why it survived. The style was old, and it did not match current versions, so it was not something a student had dropped recently. Curious, she opened the first page and froze.
"Feltz?" she said. "Why would her notebook be here?"
This was her mentor's notebook. How it ended up here was a mystery, unless she had once dug underground herself for surveys. Then Fei'er Li sensed space behind the rock wall and placed her hand on it, causing the stone to part and reveal a vast underground chamber.
The walls were covered in chaotic claw marks, but to her eyes they were universal spell structures, broken down to their most basic forms. Fragments like ruined paper lay scattered on the floor. These structures were the foundations of Magic, requiring Mental Power and understanding to use.
Most mages never broke things down this far, and many only knew how to cast Magic without understanding the Magic Array behind it. What surprised her was that most of these structures appeared in the notebook she had found.
"Did someone use this notebook to learn Magic here?" she wondered.
The idea felt ridiculous. Without Mental Power, insight, and a teacher, even a perfectly drawn structure meant nothing. For someone to learn Magic from an apprentice's notes alone would be like inventing an entire system of math from a single shape.
Yet as she went deeper, the structures grew more complex, even forming complete spell frameworks unlike the standard the Lord system. They were wild and dangerous, the kind that could easily kill the user. While studying them, the book in her arms reacted, signaling new learnable entries.
She opened it and frowned as her head tingled.
"Civil aviation technique?" "Combat skill: Thundercloud Incarnation?" "Photoshop tutorial Magic edition?"
And then the most baffling ones.
"Revolver technique, semi-auto technique, RPG technique, fin-stabilized armor-piercing round technique," she said. "What are these supposed to be?"
"Where did he go?" "He left, of course."
The bed was already empty, and before leaving, Lyles Edward had even folded the blanket neatly. Hearing Icelis say this, Fei'er Li let out a small sigh of relief. "I see. Then that's fine."
For most people, Gold Rank carried real weight, and anyone at that level with even decent strength could fight a city alone. Even if one day in the future Evil God might be everywhere and their followers worthless, at least for now this was still top-tier power. "Oh right, that guy said his name was Lyles Edward.Edward or something, and he gave me a token. He said if I ever needed help, I could go find him."
Fei'er Li poured herself a glass of water and took a sip. "Oh, Lyles Edward.Edward…?"
"…?!"
"Pfft!" "Say that again. What was his name?!"
The name shocked her so badly that she crushed the glass in her hand, then hurriedly took the token Icelis passed over. It was the Dragon Head and Crossed Sword Emblem. This was something Lyles Edward had shaped himself before leaving, and in a world like this, power was the best proof. It could not be faked.
"R… really?!"
The Edward Family were famous nobles within the Faris Empire. Their family heads had inherited the honorary title of Dragon-Hunting Duke for generations, and their fame came from one simple thing: hunting Great Dragon. About a thousand years ago, maddened and mindless Great Dragon began to appear, attacking cities. What started as rare cases slowly spread.