8 Who Is Foel?

Layers of dust from 450 years ago tell a story, together with pride, laying on the cold ground.

Foel Mirage lived with two of her parents deep inside a ruin from those civilizations long lost after the fall. Her dad always brought her numerous books and newspapers, which were her only gate to the outside world at that time.

The 17 years old tanomobi rose near the ceiling with a chair, preaching her lonely speech of her childish incense.

"After tuning to my favorite enlightenment material of perusing the news publication," said the vibrant Foel, with three play dolls in front of her. "I saw the state of Citadels and villages where Calamity and evil stride through in galore! Not only by the xeno monstrosity, but even our own! Corporation! Inflation! Invasion! The precarious humbleness of non-existent zest from those so called defiant of fate, are too intangible to trust! I only have you three, o' warrior of justice, to follow my trail to bring peace upon this land!"

The three inanimate musketeers only replied with stares as Foel dramatically waited the winded up silent.

"Yes, yes, Sir Muffinton! You're absolutely right! We need to leave this humble abode for us to truly sharpen our minds and weapons to carry this indescribable justice upon our shoulders!" The tiny leader of uprightness left her chair-o-podium and began to flag her self-made wood stick and stride forward to the menacing—casual door.

"Remember to go home before night or else the Calamity will get you!" said her mother playfully, as she knits a sweater for her energetic daughter for the upcoming and unkind winter.

"My justice is strong enough to fend them off, mother!"

She was small and young, dreaming big despite her body size. An ideal Usurper of the new generation to come, if only lady luck is kind enough to smear the path that wasn't laid in front of her.

With her father's fund of working as an excavator, the family supported her decision to embark to her Citadel of dream.

The Kratos Citadel, strong as a continent, where many can find the grandeur through education and many valorant associations mingle and twine to create a strong civilization for thousands of years to come.

She took 6 years in Chapter One education where most of the elementary knowledge is taught, then 3 years for Second Chapter, another 3 years for Third Chapter class. Within those schools, she was known as the prodigy, many were waiting for her to raise a breakthrough on her cultivation as her money was untouched by the school fee due to her contagious scholarship.

After those 12 years, she applied for many packages on college, Calamity Arc, Magic Arc, Cultivation Arc, and all kinds of needed education for her to be ennobled as a high mage.

"There are too many corrupt Usurpers out there in need of guidance to preach what those titles truly are!"

"Miss Mirage, their matters and the association don't mingle with each other."

"Does this world truly need to be dark and white?"

"The world isn't colored, for where it shouldn't because the painter isn't us."

The scholar Foel slammed the door on her way out after talking with one of the professors in relationships with the Mendur Association, one of the groups who strive for good upon the world they aren't supposed to.

With her stern mind and stuttering heart, she goes back to the library, a place where she feels she belongs. "People only see one's titles, they don't know the severe consequences of letting those fakers run amok on the street, defiling the future generation's way of thinking, planting the seeds of hate and grudge upon those who are pure with high potential of justice."

She didn't want the title of high mage, no, she needed it to pursue her goal of influencing the masses and others, but being a high mage takes toll on her resources, as she found out her defective mana sea with numerous ripples of blackholes residing inside. She might be a prodigy in her education, but not in cultivation. It takes her 130 years alone to reach the Golden Orb stage after the Hollow Orb and Mana Condensation.

It wasn't actually a defect but more of a rare phenomenon where only 1 out of millions people have it. This type of mana sea crippled her energy gathering tremendously, requiring her to work hard ten times the effort of those who had normal mana sea.

"I've run out of mana crystal for this week, I wonder if I can make it with my current cultivation law."

Huntsmen Of Darkness Law, one of the methods for enhancing one's self by preying the dark. Because of the blackholes within her depository realm, there were numerous dense shadows where she can use it to entrap the converted mana and consume it within a capsule-like storage of darkness, ensuring the safety of her energy so it wouldn't be absorbed by the blackhole. This method took tools on its wearer longevity due to the abnormal way to condense mana, but a Tanomobi is ageless so they can use this dangerous Law casually.

Of course, this isn't the best Law there is, but beggars can't be choosers as she found this law first or else she needs to restart her Golden Core back to its empty state and redo all of those time consuming cultivation processes.

Things seemed steady as she got the support from one of the high mages who endorsed her after meeting face to face to see the kindle of resolution within the Tanomobi.

Until a peculiar man that got the recommendation from Mendur Association, joined the qualifications as the next future high mage. At first, Foel thought that this man could be her ally of justice until her round rodent ears catched the monologue of that man.

"So I need 1,027 experience left to open a feature where I can enhance my Golden Orb to Supreme Conqueror Law."

It was at night in the lobby where the man had already placed a soundproof formation, but because of Foel's Golden Orb's nature, the formation was nulled in her ears. 'Experience? Who is he talking to? Supreme Conqueror Law is one of the hardest Law there is, needing one's body to grasp the 'Beginning Of Creation' with matching attributes to a minimum of ten elements, not mentioning the amount of mana needed to nurture the realm to grow a Yggdrasil for the Hollow Orb.'

"So 5 Usurpers left to go."

The sudden declaration had struck Foel with goosebumps. 'What does he mean!? Experience, five left to go, why do I feel like he is not from this world?'

Foel didn't want to let her curiosity be the end of her. So she left the scene unnoticed. After some intense competition to usurp as a high mage, the result was announced.

From the 20 candidates with a high degree in education, only one was chosen to be the high mage. Donning the armored robe, the man with white hair and striking glare was being enshrined with praises and applause.

The tanomobi only sighed. "Guess I need to wait for another 300 years for the next trial."

That man had the same voice from the one she snooped. Curious, she tried to appraise and prematurely infiltrate his Athenaeum aka mana sea, due to her law of cultivation, she was able to open a gap and sneak into this the next prodigy's miniature realm for mana cultivation without being detected.

Usually, a Usurper need to be in Peak Alcazar Foundation stage to be able to infiltrate others' miniature realm, but the energy that Foel cultivated allowed her to do it in lower phase despite not being able to affect anything or interact to any of the metaphysical matters inside.

The inside of his mana sea as rich and full of soil and life, there are even mystical beasts running around, and at the center of it all, surrounded by the liquid mana was the tall tree, cradling the massive spiraling orb that exudes elemental essence non stop like a gushing waterfall.

'He has made the Yggdrasil…'

Looking at his mana sea, he was only 30 years old.

'How? Does fate always choose the limitations and achievements that a person can do? Why does my destiny seem to be forsaken by those who caress the seam? All effort and no answer, just why?'

Jealousy and self-loathing permeate her very core. She craved to be the declarator of justice, she always wanted to, just like what she dreamed from since she was a child, she worked really, really, hard for it.

Maybe infiltrating the man's mana sea was a mistake for her after all. To somber her disappointment, she drank until the morning came. After writing a letter to her parents, she decided to step off from Kratos Citadel and venture as an Excavator, following her father's path despite not working in the same branch.

By exploring the world, she saw mother nature and her creation's truest color. Everywhere she goes, she always finds someone who is better than her. Still not giving up, she decided to use all means to collect as many mana crystals needed for her abnormal mana sea, gathering resources, materials, possible life-changing artifacts—slowly and surely, her justice faded away, only the hunger for strength was left behind. It was worse due to the fact that she hid all of this from her family.

This regardless, doesn't sate her craving either. The more she forced her broken cultivation, the more she fell into the abyss of depression from non-existent progress despite numerous efforts she gave.

That is, however, before she was chased by a feline, and proposed in a messed up way. Now she was that former-feline's wife, holding the bag of tokens her 'husband' made after winning 20 times in Gaia Citadel's infamous casino.

"You sir, are an absolute buffoon for raising with that hand. Bam! That's an ace and a ten! Now where are my dimes?"