I

  BON-BON

  Though we arrived at the guild hall, I was surprised to see Noctis known by the guild master. Reizha, also known as a former Captain of the military of Joyce. She held a posture similar to those of noble rank, her hands held together behind her back.

  Her ears, pointy but not long along being quite a beauty, I found myself shocked to see her hugging Noctis who saw her as if she just said something horrible. Noctis showed to just accept his fate, that is until she gave him a peck on the cheek. “Alright elf, you better calm down.” He said as he patted her back.

  Reizha let go of Noctis and looked at me. “You must be the Hero that arrived not too long ago in Cypher.” Her voice was sweet, almost calm and firm. “Yes. I’m Bon-Bon.” I said softly.

  Reizha came closer, then she stopped, her eyes more tense. “It seems you’re older than the Tokyo Faction.” My eye twitched. “E-excuse me?” I stuttered with a scoff almost leaving my throat.

  “Yes, that is strange. That only happens when…” her voice stopped. Coughing as if to clear her voice, she turned back to Noctis.

  “I see. So, this is the reason the Heroes of the new generation have been brought into a larger group as well.” I looked at Noctis.

  “It’s been half a century since you came.” Reizha sat near the single cushioned chair. The other elves stayed quite surprised and quiet as they didn’t know what was going on.

  The twins held my hands, their expressions the same as mine, confused. “My fellow elves, let me present to you an old friend, Noctis. Also known to be the Hero who guards a part of the Abyss.”

  They all turned to look at Noctis, his eyes not showing a hint of emotion. “Why has the Hero come all the way here?” One of the elves asked as she tried to shuffle the papers in her arms.

  “Because we have a Hero who is accompanying him.” She said with a smirk. Noctis took a step forward. “Well, you seem to already know why I came.” She giggled.

  “I can’t say I haven’t heard from the Masters that someone became a MIA and are wondering what happened to her.”

  Woah. So, she knows the Masters of Joyce? Noctis began to cross his arms. “Does the kingdom know?” She shook her head, then turned to her subordinates. “Do you know?” She asked with a playful smile. They all began to sweat buckets and shook their heads. “See? No one knows.”

  I saw how Noctis pinched between his eyes and began to breathe slowly. “So can you contact the Masters. We only came so far to be able to contact them so they can pick her up.” I looked at him.

  “Oh, unfortunately for you, old friend, they have begun the war.” I stayed silent, my jaw clenching as I heard what she said.

  That is what I hoped not to hear. “And how do they plan to do that?” Noctis asked deadpan. Shrugging, she smiled and patted the stack of papers on the arms of one of the elves.

  “We’re as clueless as you, yet I must begin preparations for any attacks and defense. The troops to aid us will take a few days as they prep the barriers and even plasma cannons. So, my apologies Noctis. I can’t call them.”

  Noctis nodded and turned to me. “I’m sorry. We will need to go through the rest of the kingdom to reach the main city.” He said as he took a few steps towards Reizha.

  “Can we use the teleportation gates?” Reizha sat silently for a few seconds. “I will need to make some arrangements, but we can’t use them as there has been confirmed that there are moles in the kingdoms.”

  Noctis stared intensely at her. “Moles? So, Great One has begun moving.” She nodded. “Yes. More details are unavailable as of now. I apologize if we can’t help you with anything.”

  “Then if that is the case, I wish for a place to stay while we can make arrangements.” I turned to him. “How long would it take?” Noctis scratched his head.

  “Reizha?” She lifted her head, humming as she stared at the ceiling. “I believe 3 days give or take. The communications are packed as all the kingdoms are beginning to mobilize.” Nodding he turned to me.

  “Is that okay?” He asked me. Biting my lip, I sighed and nodded. “Great!” She exclaimed as she clapped her hands.

  “I will personally take you to a place I think would be great for you four.” She said as she jumped to her feet. “But! Leader Reizha, the papers.” One elf said as she lifted the bulk of papers.

  “Oh right. Oh well.” She said as she grabbed Noctis, the twins and me and ran at Mach speed. “Hey!?” They shouted as they found it hopeless to catch Reizha.

  “Hey! Where are we going?!” I stuttered as she shook us by her sprint. Halting suddenly, I saw Noctis grabbing onto a piece the doorknob that led to the stairway. “Reizha, you seem to be eager to avoid work as always.” He said deadpan. Turning to her, she smiled widely. “You have no idea how much coffee I have in my system. It needs to be released.” She said as she danced her fingers. For a second I thought she was doing sign language.

  “Yeah? Can’t argue there, however.” He said as he made a serious face. “How much do you really know of what’s going on.” Reizha let how a hiss, her pointy ears twitching.

  “Well. All I know is that the kingdoms are beginning the protocol of refuge dominions on each kingdom, the process to protect from Cosmic level disasters.”

  I coughed. “Cosmic level? What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Noctis pinched between his brows. “Heroes. Reizha meant Heroes.” I stayed quiet. “My, she really is green as grass.” She said as she patted my back softly.

  “I have never met a Hero just as you, young lady.” My eye twitched. “How so?” I asked calmly.

  “The fact is, you are still in your basic form, especially having no new formation of your Essence.”

  I was very confused. Noctis interrupted her as he turned to look around us. “Weren’t you going to take us to a place to stay? Or was it an excuse for you to leave work?” He asked with one brow raised.

  “Oh, please Noctis, I’m hurt. You know me. Of course I’ll take you to a place to stay. It’s on the house in fact.” She wrapped her arm with his and began to walk. Noctis looked at me and I nodded. Holding the twins by their heads, we began to follow Reizha.

  The long way towards the front doors of the guild hall was quite the anxiety attack as many followed us with their eyes. I could hear every word they spoke, something I wished my cursed demigod hearing.

  Noctis was walking with Reizha, their locked arms making everyone stare with giggles and others with silence.

  Heroes were known to be quite tall, which is the reason he was looked at as he was a head taller than her, in which as I walked behind, the eyes followed me. Noctis reached me to my brows, being even taller with the boots I wear.

  The chilly wind was blowing as men and women entered through the hall of the giant building. The smell of flowers blew as the gardens that were on the sides of the hall were shown to bloom.

  As we finished reaching the end of the hall, Reizha lifted a communicator, a device made of two pieces of metal, thin and as they separated, a holographic glass showed her calling someone.

  Technology in this world boomed after the 6th war of the Heroes. It was known that was the beginning of the advancement of technology and machinery. Since those days, Cypher grew rapidly. It’s only been since the last war that they managed to create devices that could use mana particles as to create links to devices.

  I was really impressed as I had been working in a café shop near the campus where I stayed to study. Already the 2040s, I was surprised on how quickly technology advanced on Earth, but in this world, it’s as if instead of taking steps, it was leaping at a rapid pace.

  Snapping back to reality, Noctis was speaking to me. “—be leaving in a transport to take us to her cousin’s inn.”

  I stared with my eyes narrowing. “You didn’t hear me, right?” I shook my head slowly. He exhaled and said, “We’ll be leaving in a carriage that’ll take us to an inn.”

  “I see. Okay.” I said as I wrapped my arms on the two twins. They huddled close to me as we waited for the transport. Turning to look at Noctis, I noticed he removed his cape to put it on Reizha.

  “Well, aren’t they very close.” I murmured.

  A few minutes passed as a complete matte dark green carriage arrived, the two inside dressed in elegant green uniforms opened the doors of the carriage.

  “Please. We shall arrive in ten minutes to your destination.” Reizha wiggled her brows and got on first. One of the elves sighed and shook his head. Taking a step inside, everything was cushioned, there were something I wouldn’t have thought to see here in this world.

  Between the seats, I saw cup holders. Yep! This is awesome. The twins sat next to me, the eight seats face to face four on the front and back.

  Noctis and Reizha sat in front of us, along the two elves getting in the seats up front. “The trip will be a few minutes long, please. Relax and do enjoy the view.”

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  Noctis nodded to me, the tenseness in my body leaving almost instantly. The smell of perfume and the softness of the cushioned seat made me feel at ease. My eyes felt heavy, then a sudden blurred vision made its way with sleepiness.

  I began to understand now how much sleep deprived I have been. “I’m gonna take a nap.” I said softly. My eyes closed, and the hum of the carriage faded as I went to sleep.

  II

  NOCTIS

  Bon-Bon’s lavender eyes shut, all I heard was her soft breath inhaling and exhaling. I then knew she fell asleep.

  “My, she really is tired. That’s something new in Heroes.” Reizha said as she snugged on my cape.

  “She’s been through a lot.” I said as I stared at the blue haired girl. “It’s been hard then, from where you had to travel to bring her all the way back to the village. You should have been more careful with the Japanese to not catch your trace.”

  I sighed. “Yeah, well it was quite easy.” I lifted my hand, lifting my index finger. “It’s one less Tokyo Hero to worry about.”

  Reizha nodded. “I see. So that explains why they began to move their pieces.” She said as she began to look outside. “Things are going to get noisy in a few days.”

  I stared at the streets, children playing with a floating ball that would fall down time to time. It was a popular game in the elven culture. Ul’Kich, which meant float and catch.

  “Master Grey and the others won’t be able to help her, right?” Reizha stayed quiet, her eyes directed at the twins who looked at their windows.

  “No, they have begun to move. I can help you get a teleportation gate open or even reach the high-speed transportation that is by the next kingdom.” I nodded once. “But even if opening a gate or the transportation, Diaz is a two-week trip by foot. I’m going to have to meet an old friend.”

  Reizha just chuckled. “You haven’t changed. Your teacher was very much like you when I first met him. Plus,” she rested her arm on her knee, her head resting on her hand, “you got cuter.” I didn’t smile or laugh, just smirked.

  “Alright, you’re going to the underground kingdom then?” She asked not changing her position. “Yeah, I hope he still resides there after 70 years.”

  She laughed softly. “We elves never leave a place in just a short time. He hasn’t been anywhere but the underground city.” I lifted the end of my mouth into a soft smirk, knowing well that guy hasn’t changed either.

  “Alrighty then, if that’s the case, I’ll stay with the girls. They seem to be attached to you even if you barely met.”

  Looking back at the three girls, I just shrugged. “I’m only helping them reach Joyce.” She chuckled at my answer.

  “That’s not what I was trying to say.” She said as she straightened her posture.

  “You hid for a century; don’t you think you should start taking the next step to stop the Tokyo Faction?” Looking once more at the outside, I could see elders holding hands and singing, the pointy ears already hanging from the sides of their heads, some even still youthful though they have been alive for many centuries now.

  “What can I do to make the people have hope? The new generation has arrived, including a Divine blessed Hero.” She rolled her eyes. “You and I both know how this war will go down; we need every one of you Heroes to prevent the disaster that is coming.”

  I turned to look at Reizha, her goofy presence gone, replaced with a stoic face and eyes that made me feel her intention. “What if this new Divine blessed Hero is the chosen child to stop the said disaster?”

  She turned, her head tilting back as she stared at the ceiling of the carriage. “If he is, then we probably might make it to see the end.” The carriage stopped, which made Bon-Bon wake up from her ten-minute nap.

  “Huh?” She looked around and saw Reizha giggle. Touching her chin, she felt the drool and blushed beet red. “We arrived at the inn.” I said as Reizha got out first. Grabbing the twins' hands as they stepped out of the carriage. Bon-Bon came out and lifted her hand with a smirk.

  Staring at it, I ignored her and turned to see the inn. “Hey!” She shouted as she pouted. The inn, a four floored building stretching to the sides with vines extending all the way to the roof that lined up on top with flowers of all types and colors. The windows, also known as magi-glass are the windows that can adjust their transparency.

  The building was made of a strange thin brick that extended every meter or so, a beautiful maroon color. Above the entrance, runes were glowing by lights shaped as fireflies.

  Lu’No Ama Inn. The runes were read as Light and Rest Inn but could be read as the Moons Light Inn as well, for anyone who knew what that meant, well it’s for couples who have spare time or don’t feel drowsy.

  Staring intensely at Reizha, she lifted placating hands. “Is this a joke or are you that dumb?” I asked. She scoffed and lifted a hand to her chest, offended as she looked shocked. “Hey, this is my cousin’s inn, she has been in business for 82 years and is a ten stars inn.”

  I stared at her even with a face that told her I wasn’t buying her crap. “This is a love hotel.” Bon-Bon turned her head to face the street, but her ears were clearly turning red and was shuffling, worrying me as to what she was thinking.

  “Yes! And no! It’s known for the best commodity and even delicious food shops that surround it. My cousin Nola knows how to to serve and bring the best luxury for a cheap price.” Sighing I scratched my head. “Fine. Lead the way.” Reizha huffed and nodded.

  Taking us inside, we were introduced to a scent that reminded me of sandalwood. The bright lights were shown to be coming from crystals that were the size of a human body.

  The hall was quite large, along the end a room that had a counter and an elf reading a hologram. The sides of the hallway were decorated by paintings of some of the Prynia kingdom and some of strange mana beasts.

  Then one image came that surprised even me. One that was decorated with a few lights. The image showed a young lady that was wearing robes of a white silk, her back facing the painter, and being cheered by elves of which looked like the Prynia from 100 years ago. Her staff was small and held with one hand.

  As we reached the room, a song was playing on speakers, along two set of doors on each side of the room. The receptionist lifted her eyes, her glasses reflecting the light.

  “My, my, my. Look who came to visit. After three months, you come here and act like we just saw each other this morning.” Reizha scoffed, her arms resting on the counter. “C’mon Nola, you know I work all day even nights at time. These are tough times.” She waved her words away. Just as she was going to say something she was surprised to see us.

  “Oh, what do we have here?” She asked as she adjusted her glasses. Her hair was wrapped in an onion on top of her head, her eyes that same color as her glasses frame, yellow lemon.

  Her uniform was rather simple, robes tied with a thick belt that held keys, card keys and even a small blade. It was quite normal to carry a weapon especially now that a war hast started. It’s normal as it can be used to show elegance in a way.

  The robes were black, along having the yellow color that was similar to the lights of the sign of her inn.

  “Black hair, blue eyes, all black clothes. Yep, a Hero.” I chuckled. “Obviously, anyone can tell he’s a Hero.”

  Nola glared at Reizha. “Why did you bring a hunk to my Inn, are you trying to ask for a favor?” She asked with a glare.

  “No, they are traveling to reach Joyce but need a place to stay.”

  “Oh.” Nola said with a sigh. “Okay, please, how may I help you?” Smiling politely, I stepped forward. “A room. One with three beds.” She nodded and reached for a book. The book was rather thin, having a long shape and a pen.

  She slid her finger as she stopped on a letter and number. “We have one available, on the fourth floor and is of the private rooms as well. Would you like to take it?” I nodded.

  “Alright. Please do sign this and put the names of the ones staying at the room. This is to prevent any problems or misinformation from causing issues for you.” I nodded and wrote all four of our names.

  “With the final detail, how long do you wish to stay?” She asked me as she signed the paper. “A week.” I said as opened a small device. “Alright. With that, it will be 300 silver Ena. We do credits, Ena coins, PV bills and HC.”

  It was impressive she could accept that many different pays, along it being a very tasking process. Getting out three coins, the size of my palm and thick as two centimeters, I placed them on the counter. She reached and placed them on the machine next to her desk holographic pc. As the machine processed it, she nodded.

  “Payment received, and with that,” she said as she took out two card keys. The card keys being thin but made of metal and with a letter and number glowing on the side, A-4-R, “I welcome you to Lu’No Ama Inn. It’s a pleasure to have you rest here, as for further business with you Hero Noctis.” Bowing to us, I did the same. The three girls did the same. “Well, head on first, I need to catch up with my cousin.” Nola looked at Reizha with a face that showed disappointment and irritation. I never knew an elf could have so many wrinkles on her face for being very young.

  “Oi.” Nola said deeply. As we turned, I saw a rune on each side above the set of doors. A and B. Seeing the cards, I went to the A, where the doors opened automatically, along it being an elevator.

  Bon-Bon whistled. “Welcome.” A robotic voice sounded inside. As we stepped inside, the doors closed and heard the voice once more. “Floor number, or please, introduce your card to the scanner.” Lifting the card, I put it in front of the scanner, which was a device that looked like a simple blue line. There, it scanned the number and a ring was heard.

  The elevator moved calmly and arrived at the fourth floor. “Fourth floor, your room is the sixth to the left side.” It even told us which room was ours.

  As we reached the black door of the room, there was a letter above the door. R.

  Placing the card key in front of the panel above the doorknob, it clicked and opened. As the door opened, we saw the interior painted a light yellow. At the entrance of the room, was a small closet which could fit two of us inside, plus having a slide underneath to place the shoes. Opening the slide, I removed Mi and Ama’s shoes.

  They grabbed my hands, and I brought them in. “Hey, wait for me.” Bon-Bon shouted as she took her boots off. The floor was made of a beautiful maroon word, and the ceiling had crystals lined up on the edge.

  The light illuminated the path, to which I saw two doors on opposite sides and one that was right in front of us. I opened it, where I found a bathroom, one that had two toilets and one bathtub that was hidden by a glass sliding door.

  Checking the right-side door, I found the kitchen, where a round table that fitted for four people was placed next to the window. The stove and fridge were on the corner which had a small canal as a chimney to release the smoke or whatever may be burning.

  Bon-Bon check the other room that had a small space with a desk and seat. It as well had a small device that when she touched, displayed a screen which showed a channel of two girls cooking.

  “Woah. This is too much for what you just paid.” I tilted my head. “What do you mean?” I asked. She stared at me with surprise. “You mean this is the most expensive room to have?” I shook my head. “The economy here isn’t perfect, but it as well does keep balance as to be fair. The best room in Joyce is 20 gold Ena for a week, which I could say is enough for a B-Class adventurer to stay.”

  She opened wide her mouth in awe. “20 gold Ena? Is that a lot?” Trying to see it from Earth’s economy, I couldn’t really compare it as this world never inflates its value as each hundred or so years it aids in war and even breaks down the value for people to help in restoring the economy. Plus, the connections and relationships of the two Unions never disrupted and had been in business ever since Joyce was created.

  “There is poverty in this world, the only thing is that the nations aid them in such as giving jobs and even provide food and clean water. They may not own houses but are put in mega-complexes or are free to choose to create a village where they can stay and build a community.”

  She scared me as her jaw was lowering even more. Getting close to her, I slowly closed her mouth, in which I felt how soft and squishy her cheeks were.

  “This world is the opposite of ours.” I nodded. “Well, classes the don’t divide them in anyway, even though they don’t have the exact same rate to survive the wars, they never throw one another in peaceful times.”

  She sat on the bed near her, in which I placed the twins on a bed. “If you really wish to know more about this world, theirs a library a few minutes from this inn.” She turned to me and grabbed my face. “How is it that you know so much even to the smallest detail?” Her lavender eyes were glowing with curiosity.

  “Because I read.” Then they lost their glow. “Wow.”

  Letting go of my face, she moved to check the bathroom. “I don’t understand why there will be a bathroom for us, don’t Heroes only release the energy as energy and not into the toilet?”

  “Well Mi and Ama will still need it.” I said as the two blushed.

  A knock came to the door, to which I heard a click and a door closing. Sighing, I turned to see Reizha with a bottle of blue wine.

  “Hey, I’m back.” She said as she whistled. “My cousin doesn’t disappoint, doesn’t she.” She lifted the bottle. It was the same size as her forearm and had a scripture in the elven rune language.

  “Is that the blue wine that even Heroes get drunk to?” Bon-Bon said as she kneeled before Reizha. Reizha wiggled her brows and bit her lip. “Yeah baby.”

  Rolling my eyes I turned. “Well, you two have fun. If you’re going to drink, please do bathe the twins, and put them to sleep. You better drink in the kitchen and not in the bedroom. Because if you don’t, I’ll hang anyone by the legs out on the roof.”

  They both chuckled awkwardly and sweated heavily. “I’ll be back in one day.” Bon-Bon looked at me with concern. “Where are you going?” She asked me as she went to stand near me. “I’m going to visit an old friend. Please don’t worry, I’ll be back.”

  She only nodded and pressed my hand with hers. I didn’t know what to do, instead I turned and left the key cards on the door which were magnetic.

  As I stepped out of the elevator, Nola was on her desk, tipsy to the point she fell asleep. On top of the counter, there was a red wine bottle, and her hand held a glass.

  “Damn it Reizha.” I said as I lifted the small hologram that said Closed. Placing a coat on top of her, I left and saw that the sun was already descending. “It’s already evening.”

  I began to walk towards the central streets. As I did, I summoned a blue cape that had a hoodie. Lifting the hoodie, I covered my black hair and began to head towards the lower levels of the city.

  As I began to take further steps into the lower levels, I began to see that the people were less elegant and more suspicious. Some held coats that were torn, others had their merchandise in a cart.

  As I said before, poverty still exists in this world, but not all those people do clean or normal jobs. Under Prynia’s beautiful kingdom, resides what it hid as an underworld to this world.

  As I entered through the tunnel of the hidden passage, I found a few soldiers sitting and grumpy.

  “Hmm. Passage entry?” I lifted the black dagger. The two soldiers widened their eyes. “Go.” They said as I passed inside.

  From here, it would take an hour walking to reach the city.

  As I walked, I could see a group of mercenaries up ahead, two girls and two men. They were young, each wearing armor that suited their abilities.

  Some were returning from the city and heading back to the surface.

  “Hey, you heard what the coms said.”

  “Yeah. They started moving.”

  “Yeah, damn bastards.”

  The three left speaking about the war, my eyes glowing in the darkness. “It seems everyone is beginning to realize that the war is inevitable.”

  Walking ahead of the small group of youngsters, I followed the path that was dark and the only thing that made me capable of seeing in said darkness was my Demi-god vision.

  Taking a few more minutes, a couple of merchant carts were near the path, and they began to appear more. It came to the point it was a maze of merchant carts and shops.

  Many brought jewelry, some had magic weapons and others sold materials like volcano stones and some pearls size of the human head.

  I saw one sell mana beasts and some meats were being cooked. The stench of raw meat ran through the maze of merchant carts.

  Many shouted for customers.

  “—half off for the chick beasts!”

  “—get nine and have three free of the magic books. All for just for…”

  “—news of the kingdom. Seoul Heroes are prepping to fight back!”

  “—what you mean one gold?! It’s five! Take it or leave it!”

  I turned every corner and path as to reach the main city. The merchants only covered the path to it and were here to take your money before you reach the good stuff.

  That was how they trick those new to enter the hidden kingdom. Rena Kingdom. Rena was only a word that meant nowhere. It was simple wording.

  But here in Rena, is where I felt closer to what it felt being back on Earth. Where people get corrupted by the desire of money, the desire for control and greed fueling the emptiness that never fills.

  As I finally managed to dodge the merchants, I entered the gate that had been made to show those that this was the true entrance to Rena.

  Welcome back to Rena.