The crackle of the evening fire and the sounds of the howling wind from outside the thick lumber walls added to the atmosphere that the two teenagers and one master swordsman felt.
It was a seclusion from the elements that one could only receive after traversing through an endless winter in a land without mercy, a place without rest, and a haven for monsters.
Masaru Kurogane, a man who conquered the vast Southern Continent with the very blade he held against his knee, now spoke with a relaxed, almost peaceful tone that reflected his innermost feelings.
"You fell under the Vortex of Despair's effects. Such a thing is not a laughing matter, and without my intervention, you would've certainly died, regardless of what monstrosities lurk beside you."
He held his hand out and pointed towards a location beside the hearth, a place in which an orange egg sat beneath a blanket.
Aaron hardly reacted, keeping his mouth shut and eyes forward as he listened to the lesson from the man before him.
"That storm has lasted as long as this continent has existed and won't dare fade until it has vanished. It will amplify one's emotions to a level where their despair will overwhelm all else, consuming them in anguish and resulting in their hope fading and desires crumbling."
Neither of the children could sense any anger or annoyance in the man's speech.
It was simply an act of instruction; Masaru was a teacher, and they were the students.
That dream I had… Was that the effects of the vortex fading away? I could sense something unusual, but for it to be that…
"Sir Kurogane…"
Eleanor raised her hand like she had been taught to by Godrick in case she ever wished to attend higher education in the Holy Capital.
"We are eternally grateful that you saved us from that frozen tundra; however, you have yet to inform us why, or how, you expected us to navigate to your cabin without succumbing to the storm. It is as if you were expecting us to fail."
The blond-haired boy's brow furrowed as he understood her meaning, clear as day.
Even while the swordsman might act kind and caring towards them in his own home, he had still knowingly allowed them to traverse that hellish land without even a sliver of aid.
He, though, only smiled weakly.
"Correct. I expected you to collapse into that snow and possibly perish from the cold."
Both children stiffened as they heard the first part of his reply.
"However, while I will not be as uncouth as to say that it was a test, I must admit that I was curious as to what impact the Vortex of Despair would have on Grimstall in particular. You, Ms. Lynn, were a happy accident, per se."
Finding the addition of the last line slightly comedic, he chuckled uncharacteristically, making the harsh tension that filled the chamber lighten to a degree.
Feeling such a thing take place, Aaron took an opportunity to pose a question that he had been pondering for quite some time.
"Disregarding what you may or may not know of me already, I'm unsure as to what part that strange, green-eyed monster played in Eleanor and my abduction."
At the mention of the monster, the priestess beside him perked up, looking around the room as if afraid it was hiding within.
Masaru nodded slowly as if contemplating the value of his query.
"That is my pet. He is named Rudiger, and he is a sea terror that has adapted to this continent's weather through harsh and rigorous training."
As he finished his sentence, he snapped his fingers together, allowing a sharp, almost undetectable screech to pass through the room.
Then, from the hallway that Aaron had come from, a tightly shut door burst open, with the odd-looking creature coming out in a hurry.
Once again, the boy gazed upon its hairy eight legs that resembled a spider and a green eye as bright as a light.
Yet now, in the light of the fire and the lamp hanging high above, he could make out its torso in far more detail.
It bore a humanoid chest with defined muscles and large black veins pulsating beneath the thick flesh.
Welts that he had first assumed to be pustules were located at an even distribution of one per centimeter, allowing a grid-like pattern to form.
Above the chest that was mostly identical to a human, the head appeared as more of an octopus than anything else.
With its singular large green eye and pitch-black pupil that stared through the boy like he was a statue, it was certainly a threatening and powerful beast.
As it entered the room slowly, it gazed over the two awestruck teens and then towards its master, who smiled warmly at it.
"Rudiger, could you please fetch them some lifal tea? I believe the garden has just entered a bloom, so they'll be perfect for dinner."
Without saying a word of its own, the monstrous-looking beast nodded and then departed as soon as it had come, leaving them back with only humans.
"Isn't he friendly?"
Practically beaming with joy, the man finally uncrossed his legs and relaxed his posture; his sword falling to the side where a sheath appeared from nothingness and covered its exterior.
"H-he's certainly something…"
Eleanor grumbled under her breath while looking at Aaron with concern.
"What species is he, and what is his magnitude? I've never seen such a creature before in any book or rumor."
Completely ignoring the girl's obvious discomfort at the beast, the blond-haired boy's curiosity got the best of him once more, and the question spilled out before he could stop himself.
"He is of the trispelous breed of sea terrors that are exclusive to the waters of the Sea of Polar Storms. They tend to reside near the coastline due to only being magnitude six so as to prevent the High-level and Apex-level terrors from devouring them whole."
Aaron's eyes shot open at the passing comment the man had slipped in.
"Magnitude of six is devoured easily!? And you've truly tamed such a thing!?"
His astonishment at what the man before him had done continued onward as he stared at him without another word.
Only after an awkward few moments of silence did the Swordsman of the South speak up again.
"Do you have any other questions? If not, I shall await Stormbreak."
Mentioning the time at which their training would begin, Masaru leaned backwards in his chair, clearly tired of something that neither child could tell.
"Sir—"
Eleanor was abruptly cut off.
"Please, simply call me Masaru. I don't deserve such a title anymore without my status."
Holding her breath as if afraid to be interrupted again, the girl collected herself and then resumed.
"Why is it that our mana has been weakened to this extent? Even my partial divinity is being smothered by this land."
The black-haired man's lips curled downward, and his gaze took on a new look of seriousness; his demeanor completely changed.
"That is quite the question…"
He paused, thinking carefully of his response.
"You've heard rumors of this continent being formed in the wake of a battle of heroes, correct?"
Both teenagers nodded, the story that Eleanor had told not too long ago still fresh in their minds.
"Well, these 'rumors' are not too far from the truth. Only, they're missing any specific details as to how this place came to be or what it truly is."
On the floor, his sheathed blade released the aura of something utterly displeasing, causing the fire to wane and the light above to flicker.
"Long ago, the Sea of Polar Storms was void of anything except a few rock formations that jutted up in the shallowest of regions. Of course, there were exceptions to that, such as the Divine Hotspring, which was later renamed to Deity's Descent; however, overall, it was a desolate and hellish sea without anything of value."
Behind Masaru's eyes, Aaron could've sworn to have seen a flicker of a beast rising from the snow, yet it faded faster than he could think.
"After an event that historians called 'The Great Reawakening' that occurred during the latter half of the first millennium, our world was separated from all others, and beasts of endless destruction were sealed in with us. While each of them was powerful enough to destroy entire islands with ease, one stood above the others."
Nothing in the room had changed because of his words, that being, with the sole exception of the orange egg beside the fire, that mystery slipped further beneath the cotton covering placed above it.
"A monster so powerful that if placed on the MSM, it would shatter it into pieces. That beast would come to occupy the Sea of Polar Storms and wreak havoc on the race known as the Architects. For centuries, humanity served that horrific half-deity as if he were one of the envoys of heaven themselves. Such a thing only dared change when three of the ancient heroes stepped forward."
The pace at which he was speaking began to increase, and the howling of the wind outside the house only pounded louder against the windows.
"In their time, they were known as the Ghost Sovereigns, yet today, they would've gone by another name, one that we are all familiar with: Sea Kings. Furthermore, while those who stand at the pinnacle of modern society are superhuman in every regard, it is told that these three men were unopposed by even the heavens themselves and that they were chosen by the primordial sludge that governs fate itself."
As the story continued, Aaron could only grind his teeth against each other in anticipation.
He could see what was coming in the tale, yet each passing line made it harder and harder to see where it would end and what would happen to these three heroes.
"They stepped forward against this polar threat and fought for eleven days and eleven nights to slay the beast that terrorized the world. In the end, two sacrificed both their lives and their Ghostships to kill the half-deity, while the third survived, yet lost his vessel. It is said that the two fallen heroes dissolved into the sea foam and became the Bearers of Wave."
Eleanor gasped aloud, stopping the story near its end.
The reason that she did not say was the mention of the Bearers of Wave, beings from the mythos of the Church of the Depths that were the devoted warriors of the Lord.
It was yet another connection between her faith and her present, one that could not be as easily overlooked as the other anomalies.
Masaru looked her over calmly and then continued his story, tilting his head downward as he did so.
"The beast's body plunged into the sea, causing the waters to swell and leap into the sky, where they fell in droves of snow and frost, covering the body within days. Entering a perpetual permafrost, the decomposition would never take effect, and over the remaining centuries, the Southern Continent would take shape."
Finishing his story, he closed his eyes and shook his head slowly, allowing his mind to rest from the tale he had completed.
Aaron, who had been listening attentively, thought for a moment before practically whispering a murmur from beneath his breath.
"But why is it that the corpse of a being like that would halt our mana? A dead terror loses its sway over reality, does it not?"
Masaru Kurogane's frown gradually reshaped itself into that of a grin, his eyes never opening, but his mouth did.
"A dead terror could still affect the world in one specific scenario."
He paused, holding his left hand towards the right side of his chest.
"That is, if its core remained intact."