From the moment I was chosen by the holy relic

A few days later, order gradually returned to the city. Laughter returned to the repaired streets, dried fruits and spices were once again displayed at the market stalls, and the church bells rang again. At dusk, Eileen found Eric and Leah sitting outside a newly paved wooden house facing the street, watching the children chasing and playing.

"You two." She approached, her cloak billowing like inky waves in the afterglow. "I have something to ask you."

Eric looked up and smiled, the kettle beside him still warm: "What is it? Have you finally decided to accept the position of city lord?"

Eileen rolled her eyes: "It's too late, the opportunity has already been given to someone else."

"That's a pity," Eric said lazily, but he couldn't hide the ease in his eyes.

"I wanted to ask, where are you planning to go next?" she asked, her tone gentle, but her eyes held a probing intensity.

Eric shrugged and looked up at the distant gray-blue sky: "Anywhere is fine. Looking like this, I can make a living anywhere."

He smiled as he spoke, his words light but his tone genuine. The gloom that had once weighed heavily on his heart, cast by the shadow of Calderoy's sword, had gradually dissipated in the afterglow of these past few days, like the sky after the fog had cleared—not yet a deep blue, but no longer heavy.

Leah picked up her wooden cup, took a sip of the light liquor, and then said, "I want to go home."

Eric and Eileen both looked at her.

Lia smiled slightly, a hint of her homeland in her expression, a deep-seated longing that was like the first snow of the North falling on rocks at midnight.

"I come from the north of Iser, to a place called Luzelo," she told Erin. "It's a land where plateaus and lakes meet, cold all year round, and the land is barren."

She paused, then added, "I've been away from home for many years. I haven't sent most of the money I've earned back home. It's time to go back and visit."

Eileen looked into her eyes and saw a hint of sorrow, a hint of resilience, and a hint of the same loneliness she had seen when she faced her opponent alone on the Thousand Faces Illusion Arena.

"Let me go with you," Eileen said softly.

"Hmm?" Leah looked up in surprise.

"I'm going to Elgarden, the capital of Iser," Erin said, her expression gentle yet resolute. "To see the king; I have something to discuss."

Lia nodded: "Then it's on our way. Luzelo is about 300 miles north of the capital, near the frozen lake."

Eric glanced at the two of them with a smile: "So you two had already planned the route, while I was just following behind, looking around aimlessly."

"You don't want to come along?" Eileen raised her eyebrows to look at him.

Eric shrugged and stretched his back. "I can go anywhere in my current state, but I'd rather travel with you than wander alone."

"Then let's set off tomorrow," Eileen said. "Before dawn, we'll go through the North Gate and head north along the old royal road. If all goes well, we should reach Yichuan within ten days."

"Tomorrow?" Leah nodded. "I need to repair my staff again tonight."

"I need to pack my things too." Eric stroked his sword hilt. "But don't worry, I won't be carrying any more useless maps."

"That's great." Leah deliberately put on a stern face, "so you won't crush the horse."

The three exchanged a smile, which, under the setting sun, transformed into a tranquil play of light and shadow, falling upon the bricks and embers.

At dawn, outside the north gate of Diarant, the morning mist had not yet dissipated, and a thin veil of fog enveloped the wilderness. In the distance, rolling hills stretched out, and oak trees cast long shadows.

Three horses slowly emerged from beneath the archway, their iron hooves echoing across the stone slabs in the stillness. They made no farewell ceremony, leaving only a brief letter with the city guard officer, Mota, to be delivered to the crowd after sunrise.

Eric rode at the front, one hand gripping the reins, the other tightening his cloak. He glanced back at the shattered yet resilient city and murmured softly, "Those who survive will move forward."

"What did you say?" Leah asked, turning her head to the side.

"It's nothing," he smiled. "It just really feels like we're characters who stepped out of an ancient legend."

"Don't think of yourself as a hero too soon," Leah rolled her eyes.

Eileen chuckled softly behind her, her dark blue robes draped over her horse, a staff and a scroll hanging side by side on the saddle. Her golden hair shimmered softly in the sunlight, making her seem to blend seamlessly with the dawn.

They traveled north along the old royal road. Once wide and straight, the road was now overgrown with vines and weeds in many places. The ruts were long gone; only some remaining stone pillars and inscriptions reminded them that this road had once led directly to the royal capital, Elgarden.

After traveling several miles, Eric finally couldn't contain himself any longer. He pulled the horse closer to Eileen's mount and whispered:

"By the way, Eileen. You said you're going to see the King, what is the reason for that?"

Eileen didn't answer immediately. Her expression turned somewhat serious, and she unconsciously took something out of the inner pocket of her robe.

She opened her palm.

It was a pendant, both familiar and unfamiliar.

Eric and Leah recognized him immediately.

The pendant was crystal clear, carved entirely from a rare silver-gray mineral, its surface shimmering with a faint glow, like flowing moonlight. A deep ruby ​​was set in its center, its interior faintly flickering with flames, appearing almost alive. Several concentric circles of ancient runes were engraved around the pendant's edge; the characters were neither human nor elven, their mere presence sending a chill down one's spine, as if concealing some ancient secret.

Eric stared blankly at the object and whispered, "This pendant... I remember you've been wearing it ever since you came out of the ruins."

Eileen nodded: "It's no ordinary item. I suspected it was related to some kind of ancient magic. Especially in battle, it seemed... to respond to me. It even enhanced my fire resonance."

"Is it a magical artifact?" Leah frowned slightly. "But I didn't sense any lingering malice."

"No, it's more complicated than a magical artifact." Eileen carefully put the pendant back and then pulled out an old book with a mottled cover from the scroll. The pages were yellowed and had many annotations in different colored ink.

"These are the books that Eric and I brought back from the ruins," she said softly. "It took us several months and the assistance of many codebreakers to barely decipher most of them."

Eric remained silent for a moment, his gaze still fixed on the spot where Eileen had just put away the pendant. His brows furrowed slightly, as if he were trying to unravel the series of ancient and mysterious clues before him, but he couldn't make sense of it at all.

Finally, he turned to the side, lowered his voice slightly, and spoke with a hint of hesitation: "So what do you plan to do? I mean, this pendant. Do you want to continue wearing it? Or do you want to send it to the capital and hand it over to the Bureau of Magical Examination? Or do you have other plans?"

Eileen did not answer immediately upon hearing this. She closed the ancient book, the pages making a dry, rustling sound between her fingers. Her gaze turned northward, to the end of the royal road swallowed by mist, where a faint wind seemed to blow, carrying distant dust and unresolved prophecies.

A moment later, she turned her head, looking at Eric with a deep gaze, her tone calm yet enigmatic: "That's exactly what I was going to ask you."

"Ask me?" Eric was taken aback, his eyes immediately filled with confusion. "Why ask me? I don't know anything about magic. I can't even understand a level one spell scroll. You know I have absolutely no idea—"

"—You know it doesn't have to be magic." Eileen interrupted him, her tone still gentle, but with an added weight that left no room for doubt.

She gazed at him silently, her eyes carrying a kind of compassionate insight, as if she were not seeing the slightly disheveled knight in leather armor before her, but something hidden deep within, yet to be awakened.

"Eric, you are different from me, from Leah." Her voice slowed, as if she wanted to carve each syllable into the wind. "You are a person burdened with a mission."

The air seemed to freeze for a moment, with only a short, low cry emanating from a night bird still awake in the distant woods.

Eric was stunned.

He involuntarily leaned back, as if the words had been too heavy, making him instinctively want to distance himself. His lips moved, but nothing came out. After a long while, he managed to squeeze out a sentence, tinged with self-mockery and defensiveness:

"Me? Bearing a mission? Did you flip through too many scrolls last night? I'm just an ordinary person, no bloodline, no noble surname. I'm incredibly lucky to be alive. What do you want me to carry? Fate? Oracle? Or the verses left by some half-mad prophet?"

His tone grew increasingly hurried, as if he were trying to dispel the absurdity of the phrase "bearing a mission." But the struggle in his eyes betrayed his inner unease.

Eileen gently shook her head, a movement as silent yet distinct as the wind blowing through the grass, changing the direction of the airflow.

She looked at Eric, her tone slow and firm, as if every word had been kissed by sunlight, gentle yet unavoidable:

"Do you remember that time in the ruins? That door was opened with your blood."

Eric was taken aback, his brows furrowing instinctively. He opened his mouth to retort, but Eileen, as if she had anticipated his reaction, continued, "Don't rush. That door isn't made of ordinary iron, nor can it be opened by any blood. Only your blood, the moment it touches the heart of the door, will begin to break the seal on the entire ruin. You know this better than anyone else."

Eric's lips pursed slightly, his fingers unconsciously gripping the reins. A feeling he was trying to ignore rose within him: a strange sense of being "chosen" by something.

"What does that prove?" he said in a low voice, his tone still resistant. "Maybe my ancestors got lucky and got involved with some ancient family? Or maybe that door was just broken to begin with?"

Eileen didn't laugh; instead, her expression became even more serious. She pulled the heavy ancient book out of the scroll and spread it out on her lap.

"And that sword." Her voice was low but strong. "It is recorded in the book that it was forged by light and preserved as gold, and is called 'Radiant Forge'."

Eric's pupils contracted slightly when she uttered the name.

The moment he grasped it, golden patterns emerged from the sword, revealing its sharpness, and it repelled Kadir, who was at the height of his power at the time.

"Have you ever wondered," Eileen continued, "why it regained its golden radiance in your hands? It's no ordinary weapon; it responded to you after a century of slumber."

Eric finally raised his head, his voice low and hoarse: "Then why did that sword fail before the King of Nosteria? Didn't you say it responded to me? Then why did it choose to remain silent?"

Eileen lowered her eyelashes, and after a long while, she softly sighed, "I don't know."

This time, she didn't make excuses or fabricate explanations. Instead, her tone carried a greater sense of awe and honesty.

"I don't know why that sword is silent. Perhaps its will doesn't belong to this era, or perhaps it's not always willing to respond. It has its own judgment, and it has its own 'moment' to wait for."

Eric gave a wry smile, a hint of mockery and weariness in his eyes: "How long do I have to wait for that moment? I might not even see that sword again?"

Irene ignored his sarcasm and continued, "This book is called 'The Last Fragments of the Dusk Towers.' It records the origin of the magic system, the five magic towers and the ancient war, and the last broken prophecy. If you'd like, I can tell you about it. After you hear it, you'll understand why you bear this mission."

Eric gazed into Eileen's eyes, as calm as a still lake at night, and sighed softly. He spread his hands wide, as if removing a suit of armor he had never truly understood: "I'm all ears."