"Father"
A familiar voice echoed throughout the dojo. It was Levinia, even though she didn't shout, her voice was still resonating within the room.
"Father, I'd like to request a-"
"Sorry Levinia. I have something urgent to attend to."
There wasn't any sense of irritation or dissatisfaction in his voice, but he promptly uttered those words and exited the dojo less than a minute after his daughter had arrived. Levinia's hands slowly fell to her side, the once bright gaze her eyes held had vanished, as if a dull shadow had been cast over her pupils. Kanon couldn't shake the feeling of unease he felt rising from deep within his gut. Despite appearances Julius was an easy-going guy, but his demeanor changed to something more grave the moment Levinia appeared.
He didn't look at his daughter even once....
It felt like Julius was a completely different man from the one he had fought just minutes earlier. Levinia stood at the dojo's entrance with her head hung low, like a forsaken statue.
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The newly born empire of Cian had a peculiar alias that existed even before its brief years of dominance had begun, people had called it the "Fractured Continent".That name stemmed from the fact that all five states of Cian were once part of a single landmass in times past that was known as "Munus."
The dismemberment of Munus that resulted in the creation of the five prominent states of Cian known to the world today was rumored to be the result of a war that took place only 1600 years ago, when all the various races on the continent formed three different factions and waged a three-way war, later to be known as the "War of Penitence".The finer details of this war were slowly being lost in time, and a large majority nowadays only think of it as nothing more than a long-lived fantasy, because the story varied drastically depending on who you asked. But the only firm truth that seemed to spread throughout the ages was the fact that this war had caused the fracturing of Munus.
In its current fractured state, the continent was dismembered in such a way that Cian, the smallest of the five major states was in the center of all the Munus remnants. Aside from the four other major fractions such as Loraththere was also a plethora of smaller islands scattered about the southern end of the empire's formation.
Lorath the land of Snow.
A land that resided inside the territory now dominated by the Cian empire. It was at least three times bigger than Alanor and could be found on the southern end of the empire's formation, about 200 miles away from Cian. It was known for the namesake trait attached to the country's title; that being "The Land Of Snow." Despite the initial preconceptions however, the entire island wasn't actually covered in snow, it was instead in a state of fluctuating climate, similar to what occurs in the arctic regions with "Polar Night". Around half of the island would be covered in perpetual snow, while the remaining half would experience the ebb and flow of the usual seasons. Curiously, this phenomenon wasn't connected to the planet's axial tilt; rather, it was the result of two distinct yet interacting forces.
First was the unique disruption of mana caused by the continent's initial separation that generated an irregular pattern of mana distribution. Detached from a larger landmass, Lorath's mana is predisposed to circulate on a continental scale, though its actual size doesn't warrant such a pattern, the circulation of mana on the island would have corrected itself in time, if not for the presence of a certain irregularity.
The second contributing factor was a lingering phenomenon that enveloped a substantial portion of the island's western edge, extending towards the man-made border at the east. This latent phenomenon, whatever it was, seemed to be interacting with the unstable mana, and causing a manifestation reflective of its residual elemental attributes.
Imagine it as if one gradually supplies power to an appliance, then activates automatic mode upon achieving full charge. In this manner, the stored energy is harnessed until it depletes entirely, essentially making the imbalanced mana a power source for the residual phenomenon.
The difference between the opposite ends of the island couldn't be any more different from each other, and the two distinct names each part of the island bore emphasized that fact. On the western end of "Cryoheim", almost everything was assailed by a veil of snow all throughout the year, although some areas were more affected than others. There wasn't much to be seen here other than snowcapped mountains and a few small towns on the outskirts of the island's western areas, as the weather conditions only intensified the further inland one travelled.
Snowstorms were nothing unusual in these areas and the mana beasts here had miraculously managed to adapt to this frozen hellscape, becoming far more vicious in their pursuit for survival. Some of them had adapted to the blistering cold, while others had undergone something of a change in affinity that would allow them to survive on the other side of the island.
The eastern end of the island dubbed "Eden's Edge" was a flourishing paradise filled with greenery and all the luxuries one could ever want. Incidentally, this was where most of the elites in Lorath resided, including the monarchy as even though it was a little smaller in comparison to the rest of the frozen wilds, it was also the most comfortable and fortified part of the island.
The Leviathan MK II had once again anchored itself near this tropical oasis, gently floating amidst the seemingly tranquil sea. It appears that this ship had developed an uncanny affinity for tropical paradises, given its recent adventures. However, the distinction this time was that this was the very place where the vessel had been crafted—a place one might simply refer to as its home. Currently the vessel was docked at something of a port town called "Waves". It was easily the best one on the island given how lively it was here. There were people hoisting massive nets of fishes off their fishing boats, some carrying cargo boxes and even maintenace work being done on some other sea vessels.
A variety of food stalls also lined the path further into the city as this was something of a hotspot for tourists, who mainly came for the unique cuisine the island offered.
A young girl could even be seen serving up what appeared to be a squid to some customers at her stall. Even though she had been frying it for the past ten minutes in boiling oil, it was still squirming about all the way up to when it was served to the customers on a literal silver platter. This must have been normal however because the customers all seemed delighted to devour the squirming creature before them. Given how creatures on the western end of the island had adapted to the cold and harsh climate, their meat was something of a delicacy as it wasn't easily found elsewhere.
Savage though they may be, they had a variety of uses, and clothing was another prominent one of them. The fur from these creatures that had adapted to the frozen wilds made for exquisite material when it came to crafting winter wear, and they were even made out to be something of a fashion statement because the more dangerous the beast, the more expensive the clothing crafted from it would be, and the more comfort it would offer...or so the saying went anyway. In reality it was mostly just the delusions of the ultra-rich.
A small puff of smoke could be seen escaping the Leviathan's deck, its origin being the cigar currently fixed in the corner of a young man's mouth as if it was stuck there. He looked no older than twenty-five, but the look of dread his eyes carried had erased all traces of his youthful splendor. He was currently hunched over the edge of the deck, looking ready to embrace the beckoning blue vortex below him at any moment until-
"Leno how long are you going to keep staring at the sea like that?"
The voice came from a girl seemingly younger than him. She had dark hair that was neatly parted in two with something of a silver clip on accessory on one side, and she seemed to be carrying a case of some sorts. It wasn't shaped like a guitar, but it was also smaller and heavier than a piano. Given her current attitude however, the weight of the object didn't seem to matter that much to her. Beside her was a blue haired man well over a meter tall. He wore something of a sleeveless blue muscle shirt that emphasized his well-defined build with matching gauntlets on each arm, and a pair of black well-fitted pants.
"Until Renard comes back.....I guess?" The man answered with no luster in his voice whatsoever.
"Tch! Everybody on this ship is acting like it's the end of the world or something. Nobody could really give us any new info about what happened on the island."
"Marion, you can't really blame them, they must still be in shock and besides, even Renard said those things were strong." The man beside her gave a logical breakdown of the current situation, but she easily dismissed it.
"Hmph! as if you would know Kreig, only two members of Linchpin actually went after all. And that reminds me Leno, if you and Renard were there why didn't any of you do anything? Were you afraid of those so called Asura?"
"It was an order from Renard. Apparently, he just wanted to see how things would play out this time and honestly, I didn't want to get involved either way. You're a fairly new member of the group so you wouldn't know but we actually fought them a few years ago."
"Oh? So were they really as strong as he said?" Marion's irritation was now slowly being swept up by her innate curiosity.
Whiff
Leno let out a thick puff of smoke before speaking. It was a slight gesture but after being asked that question Leno's grip on the edge of the deck tightened for a single instant. In that moment, a powerful emotion had temporarily usurped his usual lethargy.
"Stronger than you could ever imagine. Don't underestimate them or you'll regret it." He conveyed a strange sense of vigor even with his lackluster tone.
"Heh" The girl flashed him a cheeky smile as she tightened her grip on the strap of the metal case she was carrying.
"I guess we'll just have to see about that, won't we Kreig?"
"Yea.....that's right." The man replied with even more confidence than the girl before him.
The sound of the door to the lower deck being opened could be heard, as well as the slight creaking of the ship's wooden floor. A tall woman slowly made her way onto the deck, bangs covering one eye. She was wearing something similar to a white long sleeve shirt that wasn't buttoned up all the way, with a rather cheaply made necklace around her neck, and a pair of black pants made of some elastic material that further emphasized her curves. Elena made her way towards the peculiar group with her usual deadpan expression.
"Is Renard not back yet?" She asked in a professional tone.
"No, apparently, he decided to follow your little friends to the audience the audience they had with the king." Marion replied in turn with a slightly irritated tone.
"I see, then this may take a while given the current situation."
With that statement, she drew the attention of the three members of Linchpin currently present.
"Is there something else you know?"
"No...Leno, Renard and I were both at the meeting where Cecilia filled everyone in on what happened between her and that boy. I don't have any new information other than what she told us."
"Hmm, so you didn't fight them either?"
"No, unfortunately not. I was ordered to establish a post a few meters away from the ship and use it as a medical station in case anything unforeseen happened. The worst-case scenario ended up coming to pass though." Her eyes held a pained expression as she spoke, her gaze slowly dropped towards the floor.
"Hmph! I'm coming on the next deployment to that island, just to put those things in their rightful place."
Kreig held his confident smile as he watched his companion gloat.
"Are there really plans to deploy another unit to that island?" Elena asked, a certain kind of conviction could be heard in her voice
"Yea I'm sure of it.....while the original objective was to subjugate the people there, I'm certain the top brass will switch their objective to complete annihilation instead. At this point them getting solid confirmation about the abundant resources of the island would have caught their interest more than anything else, I mean it's only natural given the perpetual state that Lorathis currently in."
Leno offered his slow paced but otherwise spot on deduction.
"Hmm, that does make sense, although I don't really care either way as long as we're set to go back there. But what about you? Are you going to seek revenge after all?"
Marion asked, turning to the woman behind her.
Leno also did the same, out of everyone here he was the one currently anticipating her response the most.
"I......I'll think about that after I get there. Tell Renard I was looking for him."
With those words, she swiftly made her leave.
"She definitely wants revenge....Well, who wouldn't in her situation, right Leno?"
"............."
The man was once again captivated by the blue vortex beneath where he stood.