As Xiu slipped out of the secret chamber, an alarm from the Purification Knights knifed through the air behind him.

He cut through back alleys like a fox through reeds, circling corner after corner.

At the exit, the rush of Holy Knights’ boots drummed closer like storm on stone.

He flattened into the alley’s ink-dark shadow, waited till the iron tide passed, then slipped out.

He fell back with cat-foot care, leaving no trace, like wind over sand.

He reached the river beyond the city walls.

After a quick sweep to make sure no one watched, he dove in with a clean splash.

He swam to a cave mouth veiled by weeds and slid inside.

The tunnel dead-ended like a sealed tomb.

Xiu pressed his palm to the cold stone and fed it mana.

A blaze of arcane light flowered, teleporting him to an underground chamber.

The chamber yawned wide, yet strange plants carpeted the earth like a drowned garden.

Insects scuttled along the edges like shy sparks.

From overhead, droplets ticked down like slow rain.

He appeared at the center of the Magic Array, and the first face he saw was his father, Alvis.

“Well? Did you find it?” Alvis hurried up, voice taut as a drawn bow.

“Found it.” Xiu lifted the notebook like a small trophy.

“Good. After all our scheming, we finally traced Olivya as our first ancestor.”

“From what we know, she should have known the Purification Deity’s aim.”

“People back then wrote things down to carry them forward, like knots on a cord.”

“After all, it was the only way to record anything.” Xiu brushed dust from his clothes and glanced back like a wary fox.

“Thank the Teleportation Array. Without it, shaking the hunters would’ve been rough, and this gives us a safe point.”

“Heh, credit your sister Lucimia.” Alvis waved a hand, a smile flickering like firelight. “This Magic Array was her research. I found it on our lands and learned a bit.”

“Enough of that. Open it.”

“Mm.” Xiu nodded, his heart settling like a stone in a stream.

Since leaving Anding Town, the two had chased the Purification Deity’s purpose like lanterns in fog.

They knew it was a Dark Deity, but not its goal.

Without the goal, you can’t block the strike.

And to stop a Dark Deity, you need a way to fight it, a blade to meet the night.

So they read what their line had left and hunted relics across the land, threads drawn from a tattered tapestry.

They confirmed the ancestor who once slew a Dark Deity—her name was Olivya.

On one path, they sought how that ancestor killed the Dark Deity, flint against steel.

On the other, Olivya lived in the same era as the Purification Deity; her words might be a well to draw from.

One riddle gnawed at them.

If the Purification Deity meant to descend, then from the First Era to now—the Second—the gathered power should be enough.

Its churches blanket the world like white moss.

Yet the Purification Deity still hadn’t descended. No one knew why.

They walked deeper into the cave, past humble tools and pots, like a burrow someone still used.

They lit the dark with a magic glow, sat at a rickety table and chair, and spread the book open.

The pages were parchment, the lines etched with mana like fine cuts in glass.

— Time: Year 201, February 7, overcast.

“201? What’s that?” Xiu asked.

“Year 201 of the First Era,” Alvis said, calm as still water. “One era is fifteen hundred years. Back then they didn’t always mark the era. Keep going.”

Xiu lowered his gaze and read on.

— Today, Anding Village was attacked by a Dark Deity. The village chief led us toward safety, like an old willow in the wind. But he was too old and slow, and the Dark Deity caught him. My parents covered my eyes, warm hands like blankets, not letting me look, but I still saw the chief’s limbs cut off. I was very afraid.

— At night, I lay in a haystack and couldn’t sleep, the dark pressing like a lid. I thought, if there were magic to let people fly like the birds in the sky, then when Dark Deities and Evil Entities came, wouldn’t we escape faster?

— Father and Mother said they would send me to the city to study magic at a school. I hope that day comes quickly. I heard there are powerful people in the city who can hold back Dark Deities.

“Flight Spell?” Xiu looked up at Alvis. “I’ve heard Olivya was the greatest mage of the First Era, and no one knows who created the Flight Spell.”

Alvis only pointed at the book. “Keep reading.”

— Time: Year 202, January 7, clear.

— Today Ithel Lot brought a sugar cake and said he’d share it. The wrapping looked fancy, like silk. I asked where it came from. He said he stole it from a passing merchant. His words scared me so much my heart shrank like a plum pit. I told him if the merchant found out, he’d kill us. He didn’t care. He cut the cake in half and gave me the bigger piece. He said, since it’s already stolen, not eating it would be a waste. In the end, I craved it too much. I couldn’t help it. We finished the stolen treat together. Afterward I told him not to steal food again. He said okay. Even if it was wrong, he seems kind? Whenever he gets something tasty, he always shares with me. I don’t understand how he gets so many treats. Huh? Are they all stolen?

— Time: Year 202, February 7, clear.

— I told Ithel I’m going to the magic academy. He froze, stared, and after a long time said “oh,” then ran. In the afternoon, he tucked a magic book into my hands. I asked where it came from; our village doesn’t have magic books. He said he stole it from a passing mage last month. I asked him if he hadn’t promised not to steal. He said he only promised not to steal food. I was so mad I felt like smoke was coming out of my ears. But I still took the book, and a bad feeling stuck to me like mud. The good thing was mine; the bad thing he did. So I told him we could learn magic together. Maybe we could both go to school. He said he wasn’t interested and had no talent, then ran off.

— Time: Year 202, June 7, clear.

— Because he was too naughty, Ithel got beaten by his parents from one end of the village to the other, sticks swishing like angry snakes. They want him to become a Swordmaster, or at least learn to hunt. He still isn’t interested. He even said, like throwing a stone in a well, that even if he learned, he couldn’t beat a Dark Deity, so better to eat and drink and play. He keeps making trouble and breaking things, dragging people into messes. Everyone says he’s lazy and unskilled. They think he’ll grow up to be either useless or bad. By contrast, everyone praised me. They said I taught myself the Fireball Spell and helped them a lot. Father and Mother were very happy when they heard. I didn’t know what to feel, like standing between sun and shadow.

— Time: Year 203, November 3, overcast.

— Several mages came to the village. The leader told us the Academy wants to recruit talented people to learn magic. Those chosen will have their families supported. But there’s one rule: after graduation, they must join teams that fight Dark Deities and Evil Entities. I heard the outside world keeps trying to resist the Dark Deities, and the death rate is very high. I was chosen. Because of Ithel’s magic book, I taught myself several spells. I’m the only one in the village who can use magic. The mages asked me and my parents, and I joined. There was also a girl. She can’t use magic, but the mages detected her mana was very strong, so they took her too. And so I left the little village I lived in for so long. Before I went, I saw Ithel sitting in a tree, staring off like a bird at the edge of sky. I don’t know what he was thinking.