"Oh yeah, it's safe in here," the guard said, leaning on her polearm. Her voice was calm and feminine, with a tone that reminded Nakate of his mother.
"You're welcome to stay with us as long as you need… at least until you decide to try escaping. That is, if you ever want to try," the other guard added. His voice was childlike but masculine but eerily similar to one of Nakate's little brothers.
"Well, thanks. Is there anyone else here too?" Nakate asked.
"Yes," the feminine-voiced guard replied. "Four other survivors like you. Just go on in—and don't worry, we have plenty of guards in the Light Castle."
'Oh… so that's what it's called. The Light Castle.'
Nakate walked across the bridge leading to the entrance of the small castle, his steps echoing softly against the stone. As he reached the gate, two more guards greeted him, one with a voice similar to Murd's, the other sounding just like Corie. The familiarity sent a chill down his spine. It was almost comforting… but too perfect to be real.
Nakate tried to ignore the strange familiarity, unsure if it was his trait/flaw, Manic, playing tricks on his mind.
Nakate stepped inside the castle and looked around. Despite being called the Light Castle, it was small and simple. The walls were made of the same smooth, gray-blue stone as the altar outside. The stone felt cool and had faint glowing lines running through it, like veins that pulsed softly. The hallways were narrow, barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side. Soft blue-green moss grew in cracks along the walls, giving off a gentle light that mixed with the warm glow of lanterns hanging here and there.
He remembered the guard telling him the others were upstairs, so he headed for the spiral stone staircase to his left. The stairs were old but steady, lit by crystals set into the walls that gave off a soft glow. When Nakate reached the top, he found a small common room warmed by a big iron stove. The fire gave off a cozy heat and flickering yellow light. The smell of soup cooking filled the air, mixing with the salty scent of the ocean around them.
***
Three adventurers sat near the stove, quietly eating soup.
The first was a tall woman with dark braided hair streaked with gray and sharp blue eyes. Her worn leather armor bore the marks of many battles, and her face had a wild look, lion or wolf-like fur along her cheeks and sharp fangs as her teeth.
Next to her was a young man with sandy blond hair and black feathers along his skin. He also wore a cloak built for stealth.
The last was an older man with a rough beard and scars across his face. He wore heavy, dented armor, and a large warhammer rested beside him. His skin was an unusual blue, marked with orange patterns that traced across his face like tribal tattoos.
"Oh, another one? Well, hi there! We're the other survivors of this place," the tall woman said with a warm smile as Nakate stepped into the room.
"Yeah... hi. Well... what am I supposed to do now?" Nakate asked, still standing just past the doorway.
"What do you mean?" the tall woman replied, raising an eyebrow.
"I want to escape this hell. Do you guys know how? Since you're also survivors."
She exchanged a glance with the others before answering. "Yeah, we know how. The last guy who tried didn't make it, though. He died at The City of the Drowned before even reaching the Trials."
"What? A Drowned City?" Nakate said, confused.
"Yeah. A whole capital, sunken and cursed. We were thinking about heading there, but… we're not sure we can do it with just the three of us. The guy who left—he's been gone a week now. Never came back."
Nakate looked around the room at the others. "Well, there's four of us now, right?"
"Yeah, that's true." She smiled faintly. "But first, you should eat. No good planning an escape on an empty stomach."
She gestured toward the pot on the stove. A warm, rich aroma drifted from it.
"Don't worry about the other two. They're just… Quiet. One of them, Klark, he's kinda not all there anymore. Talks to himself a lot. Been here too long, I think."
'Not gonna lie… this feels kinda awkward. How is she so casual about living here... In the Depths? She even talked about that old man going insane like it was normal, like it's just something that happens and she's already accepted it. Yeah… I don't think I can stay here for long. Not with them. I'll lose it too, just from being around them,' Nakate thought as he quietly poured soup into his curved plate.
While eating, the girl asked, "So, what's your name?"
"Nakate."
"Right. Mine's Lix. That pretty boy there is Cole, and the big guy blabbering to himself is Klark."
"Yeah, I was a pretty strong pilgrim," Cole, the blond-haired boy, said quietly. "So if you get scared, don't worry—I can save us... against most monsters at least."
"Oh, that's nice. Though I only just got my license before... drowning, so I'm the lowest rank," Nakate replied.
"That's fine, but from that I guess you come from the Owlisland?" Lix said, waving a hand.
"Klark and I are both B-rank by those terms, and Cole is like A-rank I guess, so we should be good handling monsters. You can just support us from the back. Wait, what's your attunement?"
"An attunement?"
"Yeah. The Song that calls to you. I'm a Galebreather. Klark's an Ironsinger. I don't know what Cole is."
"Um… I don't know. I didn't even know about attributes or the Song. I only know some basic magic—like a mana ball I tried to turn into a fire."
She shook her head. "You can't use Flamecharm unless you're a Flamecharmer. And that mana ball is just attunementless ether, it comes from your body, not real attunement."
"Oh… so I need to figure out what my attribute is?"
"Yeah, if you even have one."
Cole interrupted them. "I'm a Shadowcaster. I was born with it."
"You know that makes you an outlaw in every Luminant except the attunementless southern Luminant of the Great Central Luminant, right?"
"I know," Cole said calmly. "That's why I'll go to wherever the kid came from, the Owlisland of Central Luminant. They say people there don't know about the outside world because of a hivemind controlling everyone."
"Wait- what are Luminants?" Nakate asked.
"They're different regions of the world, Lumen," Lix explained. "The place you're from? It's a big island where people use what they call magic instead of the Song. But really, it's just the Song too, you're just using your own ether to draw power, instead of the world around you."
"Oh. So that's why I don't know anything about the Song?"
"Exactly. Also because the people there don't have any idea about the rest of the Lumen existing. Nobody knows why, people just like to make funny theories about it, though," Lix nodded. "The southern parts of the Central Luminant are the only place where the Depths are seen as just a myth. Everywhere else outside that southern island, there are people called Divers who actually explore the Depths. And then there's the Ignition Union, always trying to conquer it all."
She stirred her soup, then continued, "Most Luminants are ruled by kings, monarchs, or emperors. Most of them are scattered across island chains, archipelagos. While yours is just one big island, far from the nearest islands of the Central Luminant."
Nakate listened, eyes wide.
"Honestly, most of us from outside the island in the southern parts of Central Luminant have never even been there. And people who drown in your region? They're treated like demons. The Depths are just a fairy tale to them, because their Willpower is so low, many of them won't drown."
Cole interrupted her. "I believe those who don't get drowned are just illusions of the hivemind that controls them."
"Well, I'm done eating now," Nakate said as he set his bowl aside.
"Same here," Cole added, glancing over at Klark, who had finished his meal but now just sat staring at the wall in silence.
Lix scraped the last of her soup from the bowl and stood up. "Alright then, let's get going."
They started walking away from the gates, heading into the wilds of the Depths.
"Also, what's up with those guards?" Nakate asked, eyeing them curiously.
"They're mudskippers—low-tier monsters that act kinda like humans," Lix explained. "The only reason they're not attacking us is because of the lightcores in their chests. Makes them feel like they're constantly feeding on a corpse or something. The Authority made those things to use mudskippers in war, but it backfired. Turned them so peaceful they just wanted to help humans instead."
She waved a hand lazily. "So the Authority ditched the project and left a few hundred of them scattered around the first layer of the Depths, Scyphozia. Eventually, Divers started building bases around them, and… yeah, long story short, they're harmless. Don't worry."