NOVEL NEXT B2 | Prologue
Somewhere on the continent of Ardene
Year 820 | Month 4 | Day 17
Zachary was just a low-born noble. Someone who was perfectly safe in his own home under his parent’s protection, but had no actual power for himself unless he inherited the city his father ruled over. Which wasn’t likely.
But then the System came, and along with it, a floating eyeball appeared through some sort of rip in reality. Where reality itself just kind of connected somewhere else somehow.
Zachary wasn’t bothered by it though. He felt like nothing could hurt him in his father’s own city.
Nothing.
Then the eyeball shot straight into his head, making his current eyeball pop like a bubble, spurting out blood everywhere as he shouted in pain. So much pain that he barely noticed the people wearing strange equipment passing through the rip in reality before grabbing him and bringing him through.
That was all he could see though, since everything went dark after that. And the next thing he saw, he was lying naked on the grass in the middle of Liathtria with a pile of what the System called under armor lying on top of him.
It wasn’t long after that that he realized he was in The Dark Sea.
Zachary shakes his head at the dark memories from the sea as he walks through the Seat of the Duchy of Night, a hood over his head to cover his inhuman features – specifically a pair of blackish-purple horns on his head and two glowing purple eyes, one of which has a ring of gold in it. The organ that had turned him into an Embodiment of Pride.
He’d managed to make it out of The Dark Sea alive somehow after just barely reaching Tier 3 about a week prior, and by then, the entire Duchy of Night had already been rid of any invaders, leaving the only invaders left in the continent being in the Duchy of Viette. And ever since the first time he saw a human, he has avoided letting anyone see his inhuman features.
Zachary doesn’t feel upset about their reaction though. In fact, he feels proud of his new appearance for some reason unknown to him. But he knows that he can’t just go around showing himself off, since that would likely lead to his death.
The Ardene noble continues walking through the city for a bit before coming to a sudden stop when he overhears a conversation.
“Did you hear? Apparently there’s news that the princess will be returning soon, and from Aulta of all places.”
Princess? Oh, right. I remember hearing that the princess suddenly went missing at the initialization of the System.
“Yeah, and I’ve heard that she’s already at the Tier Breach Mission for Tier 4! Can you believe that?!”
Zachary, who had been about to start walking again, freezes at that before going around the corner of the building he was near and getting closer to the conversation, finding it to be originating from a few people eating at an outdoor diner. So he stays around the corner to eavesdrop on their conversation.
“How did you hear this anyways? If she hasn’t returned yet,” a fat man asks before taking a bite of whatever food he’s eating.
The one gossiping – a younger looking man, possible the fat one’s younger relative or something – leans back while answering, “Did you forget? The Sacred Beasts allow a certain amount of communication through their telepathy between the three continent’s groups participating in the Conjunction before they head out.”
“Ah, right,” the older one says, sounding like he’s remembering it now. “Guess my old age really is creeping up on me.”
“Anyways, none of that is the real important part of the rumor though,” the young man says while leaning into the table as if telling some sort of secret and whispering, “I also heard she’s changed. Like, no longer human anymore.”
And that’s all Zachary needs to hear before he stumbles away, leaving the conversation behind.
Vanished the moment the Initialization occurred… was lost for a while and found on another continent… at the border between Tier 3 and Tier 4… no longer human. They all tie up. She must be a Sin like me.
Zachary continues walking until he reaches the Adventurer’s Assembly where he then grabs a job that will lead him in the direction of the capital of Liathtria, where the groups will be setting off and eventually arriving back from the Conjunction.
If she’s like me, then maybe we can compare our changes. Learn more about it all. And more importantly, maybe she will be able to help me with that.
The man grimaces as he thinks of it before shaking his head and leaving the Assembly, then the city entirely to head north-east. In the direction of the capital.
I’m a little surprised she’s a princess though. I wonder what Sin she is?
He continues walking straight out of the city, avoiding large crowds while doing so just to make sure no one sees under his hood.
If I had to guess, then I’d say Wrath, since Wrath was the only one who was apparently freed at the same time as me, with Greed, Sloth, and Gluttony escaping later on through the invader’s inability to brainwash them on account of them not even having humanoid brains anymore. And besides, I already met Gluttony.
This conclusion has Zachary frowning.
What could possibly make a princess of all people Wrathful enough to deserve being turned into the Sin of Wrath? It just doesn’t make sense.
From everything the man had heard about the princess from the people, she was a rather laidback and nice person in general, if a little bit standoffish sometimes. Not really much of a people person, but certainly not the absolute embodiment of wrath.
I’d worry for the kingdom if their princess really was that wrathful, to be honest…
Eventually the man just shakes his head and continues walking, deciding that he’ll figure it all out when he meets the princess.