"Woah... that’s clearly beyond the purpose of this expedition, Bartaz."
"We didn’t come on this expedition to wage war. We came to mine artium and return as quickly as possible."
Kalula pointed toward the artium, clearly visible from where they stood even though it now rested at the edge of the city.
Bartaz exhaled heavily. Steam escaped from his nostrils as the air mixed between warm and cold because of the crater that had turned into ice and the sunlight that was slowly melting it.
"That’s true. But that was before a human interfered."
Bartaz spread both of his thick black-furred arms.
"And he wasn’t an ordinary human... he has power. Everything that happened to us was because of him."
Bartaz pointed at Kalula while everyone else remained silent, watching the exchange between the two.
"If you had explained your dream more clearly... none of this would have happened. Why was only Bong standing guard? We could have protected the artium all night..."
Kalula covered her face and let out a sigh. A laugh almost escaped her lips.
"I’ve already told you over and over. My dream wasn’t clear. Do you know what it means to build a city together with that man? He might not even be human..."
Elena, who was still sitting on the rock, nodded several times while a few elf women stood behind her.
"I agree. I think he’s some kind of spirit."
Kalula shrugged.
She didn’t respond to Elena. She simply looked at Bartaz.
"And if all of us had been standing guard... he would never have come, and we never would have known that someone else desired the artium badly enough to destroy an already ruined city just to obtain it."
Kalula pointed toward Bong, who was still sitting cross-legged, looking at the two of them.
"He came because he thought Bong wasn’t Bong."
Bartaz fell silent.
Silence settled over everyone there. The only sound that could be heard was the slow cracking and melting of the ice.
Kalula let out another sigh and nodded a few times.
"I know we’re all exhausted... the artium still hasn’t been fully mined. We also went through a battle none of us expected..."
"If he’s human, he won’t abandon his own people. That’s why Ryu is watching the survivors’ camp... let’s wait."
Kalula rubbed her face and leaned against the giant rock behind her.
They didn’t talk much while waiting for Ryu, but neither did they scatter. Meanwhile, the thousands of other soldiers began rebuilding their camp near the artium, which had been moved to a different location.
The sun began shining at its hottest, melting the ice covering the crater around the giant tree.
The blazing sunlight started burning their skin.
Elena ordered the other elves to make a small tent just for her. She gently stroked her skin, as white as her hair and eyes, while grumbling.
"Ryu is taking forever!! I’m going to get roasted!!"
No one responded to Elena’s complaint.
Instead, the wind answered her together with a shadow descending from the sky.
It was the shadow of a brown-haired elf man wearing shoes with a pair of small wings. He landed with a bow slung across his back.
Everyone’s attention immediately returned.
Ryu looked toward Elena.
Elena clicked her tongue and pointed at Kalula.
"Report to her directly. You took too long."
Ryu nodded once before turning to Kalula. He nodded a few more times.
"He’s there..."
That single sentence from Ryu drew different reactions from everyone.
Bartaz immediately pulled his axe from the ground as if ready to fight at any moment. Dorn stroked his thick beard thoughtfully, while Elena shouted excitedly.
"Ryu!! So he really is human?!"
Ryu turned toward Elena and nodded once.
Elena stepped out from the shade and grabbed both of Ryu’s shoulders with a serious expression, even though she had to stand on her tiptoes.
"So... is he handsome?"
Ryu opened his mouth several times. His expression showed confusion and disbelief.
"Are you seriously asking that, Princess?"
Elena nodded enthusiastically.
Ryu was about to answer based on what he had seen, but Bartaz let out a loud snort that made everyone turn toward him.
"So it’s confirmed... he’s human, he’s with them. Let’s kill—"
Bartaz’s words were cut short as Kalula raised her index finger while looking at Ryu.
"What are they doing?"
Everyone looked at Ryu this time.
He scratched his forehead, his voice quieter than before.
"Hmm... they’re having a feast?"
Everyone seemed to lose their sense of hearing.
Even Bong frowned.
Dorn was the first to speak. He pointed his thumb toward Bong.
"Bong is a little surprised... a feast? What kind of feast? Is there food? There should be a lot of food, right?"
Bong’s eyes lit up slightly after Dorn voiced his question for him, while Ryu scratched his head, which had become itchy under the blazing sunlight.
"A lot... a whole lot. I don’t know what they’re cooking... but there’s definitely a huge amount of it, and..."
Ryu swallowed once.
He hissed softly as if saliva was about to drip from his mouth.
"It smells really good... it made me hungry. So I came back earlier."
Everyone fell silent, trying to process what Ryu had just said.
Each of them imagined the feast in their own way.
Elena finally patted Ryu on the shoulder.
"So... is he handsome or not?"
Ryu held his chin and frowned as he recalled the feast he had just witnessed.
"He’s handsome... and attractive. I mean, he’s the type that’s easy to like and naturally popular."
Elena frowned and shook her head.
"That sounds like the answer of someone who’s in love. You do remember that you fell out of the sky because of him, right?"
Ryu chuckled and shrugged.
"What do you mean, Princess? I’m a man. There’s no way I’d fall for another man. I simply like good people regardless of their gender—"
Ryu’s words were interrupted by repeated clapping.
The cheetah clicked his tongue.
He had been silent until now, but finally spoke. His voice was still shrill.
"We’ve strayed too far from the topic. If we think about it again... could he also be the one who took the artium from the sea nearby?"
A loud boom echoed as Bong slammed his fist into the ground.
The tremor spread beneath everyone’s feet.
Dorn sighed and pointed at Bong, who was clenching his fists.
"He’s still upset whenever that incident is brought up... he ended up having to fight an enraged giant octopus in the sea. Hahaha."
Kalula scratched her head and laughed like a madwoman.
"Why is everything becoming so complicated..."
Bartaz exhaled, steam pouring from his nostrils.
He stood tall beneath the blazing sun, now at its highest point in the sky.
"It’s not that complicated. We just need to kill him and every human around the artium."
Kalula looked at Bartaz with a cold gaze before walking toward him.
The two stood face to face, forcing Bartaz to lower his head to meet Kalula’s eyes.
Kalula grabbed Bartaz’s battle armor tightly, enough to make his much larger body jolt.
She gritted her teeth.
"I know you’re tired. We’re all tired, and we’re running out of time."
Elena ordered the other elves to move the cloth canopy over to where she was standing so she wouldn’t have to stand under the blazing sun while watching Kalula and Bartaz’s heated argument.
Kalula pointed at the ground beneath them.
"I’ll say this one more time. We didn’t come here to wage war. And there are far more important things to solve than swinging an axe to split someone’s head open."
Kalula pushed Bartaz slightly before looking at everyone one by one.
"Are we all on the same page? Or does anyone disagree? Speak now before we continue."
Dorn shrugged.
"I’m not a fighter... I’ll follow whatever decision is made."
Dorn glanced at Bong. The two looked at each other before Dorn spoke again.
"Bong doesn’t want to kill humans. He’s more interested in cooperating with them for food supplies."
Kalula nodded once before turning toward Elena and Ryu.
"I don’t have any intention of hurting humans either. I’m just curious about that golden-haired man. Well... if he’s really handsome, I’ll forgive him. But if he’s not, I’ll kill him for soaking me last night."
Ryu shrugged.
"I agree with Princess Elena. But if I had to choose, I’d prefer the option with less fighting."
Kalula nodded once before looking at the cheetah standing behind Bartaz.
"Hmm... if the one we’re killing is him, then I’m in. But ordinary humans without any power? I’m not interested..."
Kalula stared at Bartaz, who remained standing tall, before letting out a sigh.
They continued the discussion without formally announcing the result of their vote.
"Let’s review everything again... We were sent here as an expedition to mine artium because the Lord said artium would help us fight the Black Sea and its monsters."
Everyone remained silent as Kalula continued.
"And we’ve already proven it."
"It works."
Kalula raised her index finger.
"But there’s one thing that doesn’t match."
She looked around at the city, now far more destroyed than when they had first arrived.
"It turns out there’s a human with power in this era. And he’s incredibly strong, with all kinds of abilities whose principles we don’t even understand."
Elena narrowed her white eyes at Kalula.
"Are you doubting the Lord?"
Kalula almost laughed at the question and shrugged.
"As if I’d ever doubt the Lord."
She tapped her own temple.
"What I doubt is my dream. I couldn’t clearly see what would happen after he appeared in it for the first time."
Kalula took a deep breath before letting it out.
"Let’s go back to when Bong went to retrieve the artium from the bottom of the sea... We all knew it required extra effort, so Bong was the one who went."
Everyone, including Bartaz, nodded in agreement.
Kalula clicked her tongue.
"But what happened? The artium disappeared..."
She laughed while pointing toward the mountain-sized artium that now rested far at the edge of the city instead of its original location in the center.
"Something that big disappeared? Impossible. Even if all of us attacked it together, that damned material would still be incredibly difficult to destroy. That’s why mining it has always been so slow."
Kalula pointed at the crater created by the impact of the artium, then traced her finger toward its current location at the city’s edge.
"But look now. Just a few hours ago, that golden-haired man managed to move an artium the size of a hill."
Kalula shook her head, searching for the right words.
"But we still don’t know how he did it."
Dorn nodded several times while stroking his beard.
"Then it’s almost certain that he was also the one who took the artium from the sea... judging by how determined he was last night."
Kalula folded her arms and looked at everyone.
"He has a power that could make our work much easier."
She glanced at Ryu.
"And the survivors’ camp is having a feast right now... which I assume is also because of him."
Kalula scratched her forehead.
"He’s clearly an anomaly because he possesses power at a time when that shouldn’t be possible. He has an ability that lets him move artium around as if it were a toy."
One of Kalula’s eyebrows rose as everyone watched her.
"And we don’t know why he’s collecting artium."
Kalula bit her lower lip while the others silently considered the same question.
They remained quiet for a while until Dorn finally spoke.
"That’s true. This world still has blue seas... so what exactly is he trying to do? There isn’t any cursed black liquid for him to fight..."
Elena cleared her throat and looked around at everyone.
"Isn’t it possible... that he just thinks artium is pretty?"
Everyone sighed.
Ryu leaned closer to Elena and whispered,
"Your Highness... you’re the only person who would describe something that large, hard, and troublesome as pretty."
Bartaz looked at Kalula before resting his axe on his shoulder once again.
"So you’re saying... we need him too?"
Kalula nodded several times with a faint smile.
"Yes..."
She sighed before cracking her knuckles, her smile growing even wider.
"But of course it won’t be that easy, right? You all know we don’t even speak the same language. I mean... who would listen to a dragon, a beautiful pointy-eared woman, a short muscular old man, a silent elephant, an angry bull, and a shrill cheetah? We can’t even understand each other."
Kalula let out a relieved sigh.
"How could we possibly understand one another when humans are already terrified just by looking at us... and honestly, we do look a little frightening and we’re a bit rough."
Kalula scratched the back of her neck.
"So... I have an idea."
She looked around at everyone with a smile.
"You’re all still angry at that golden-haired man, aren’t you? I am too... that bastard interrupted my sleep."
Everyone chuckled at Kalula’s words as she continued.
She looked at Bartaz.
"But we still won’t kill any humans."
"Our target is that man alone... We also need to know what kind of person he really is, not just the masked thief who came to steal at three in the morning."
Kalula began explaining her simple plan.
Everyone listened carefully, occasionally exchanging opinions.
In the end, they all agreed with Kalula’s proposal.
Kalula finally laughed freely beneath the blazing sunlight.
A wide smile spread across her face.
"We’ll do it tomorrow."
"At exactly the same time he came to steal the artium."
"Prepare yourselves... We don’t know what kind of man he truly is."
"But we do know each other, don’t we?"
Everyone looked at Kalula with serious expressions.
They struck their chests three times while speaking in unison.
Everyone except Bong.
"Everything for Pangea."