Descent

Somewhere in the vast expanse of the world, a mountain that seemed to stand tall enough to face the sun can be seen towering over the cities around. Its base was filled with trees and thick vegetation, but at some point in its long slope, everything became snow. However, curiously enough, its peak was warm and filled with crystals of different colors and sizes; and at the edge of it, a 20-year-old man was gazing at the sun. The gentle wind was blowing his long black hair and black suit as he observed the clouds with his deep black eyes.

"Masters...," he said with a long sigh. He still vividly remembered a month ago when his masters passed away. All six of their smiles were deeply engraved on his heart as well as all of their teachings. As he was reminiscing, he remembered the final words of one of his masters, 'Go to The Celestial Academy, Z. There, you will see the world.'

"Is it truly as beautiful as they described? A place where people of all races and creeds gather to pursue power. A place where the fate of the world is decided. I would certainly enjoy that place," Z said with a cryptic and excited smile. He then looked at the clouds once more with a bright expression and said, "Masters, thank you for the past 20 years. I owe everything to all of you."

Without further hesitation, he jumped from the edge of the mountain with an excited look on his face, "Umbra, come!" He said after pulling a black feather from his suit and stabbing it into the air. Z's energy flooded through the single point of the feather which opened a gate from which a giant black raven came out. It opened its wings which were large enough to shame a plane, then it caught Z who was falling mid-air.

"Caw!" the raven sounded, greeting Z. In turn, the latter rubbed the head of Umbra before pulling a violet token engraved with intricate Runes. Z waved the token around, observing what will happen, "Teacher Tzan was right, its energy becomes stronger the closer I get to the academy. Oh," Z was stopped when he saw a countdown flash from the token. There, it writ 4 days, 16 hours, and 22 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a sea somewhere across the world, several boats large enough to contain 300,000 people were sailing together. An astounding amount of 18-25-year-olds populated the ships as they sailed across the ocean. They came from different races from different continents across the vast world. All they shared was that they were all holding a token similar to the one Z had but of different colors.

On one of those boats, five individuals were gathered on the deck, sitting around a coffee table. All of them were wearing lavish clothes and were sitting like flawless people, but there was a noticeable tension between them.

"It is a great honor of mine to finally meet the hidden flower of the West Elven Empire. I hope that you are doing well now, knowing that you were too sick to attend my 20th last month," a man with long green hair and eyes said with a mischievous smile.

"There was a rumor that the crown prince of the Megrez Empire is a brilliant person. I seemed to have underestimated just how brilliant you are since I cannot comprehend just how much wisdom it would take for the prince to interpret the letter our empire sent that way," the lady with long gold hair and green eyes said while sipping her tea.

The other three at the table could not help but chuckle at her mocking the other party. However, the man remained calm as he drank his beverage as well. "It seems like you have something to talk about with your secretary, Lady Shevel," he said before standing up and leaning against the rails of the deck.

"The business of our empire is none of yours, Sir Morey," Shevel said without looking at him.

"I am just giving a suggestion since your empire seems to need help managing its own affairs."

"Ho? It seems like the crown prince is committed to involving himself in our affairs. Is that the position of the Megrez Empire as well?" Shevel said while emitting great momentum and looking at Morey with a stern expression. In turn, Morey emitted a battle intent, but he did not answer Shevel's question.

Amidst the brewing storm, a man with long white hair and blue eyes spoke while nudging his eyeglasses, "We are all aware of how tense our continent is right now, so why don't we calm down? After all, we are the representatives of our respective forces."

As per his suggestion, the two parties went back to their seats and calmed themselves. They were fully aware that their actions could lead to a war sparking not just between their nations, but their entire continent as well. Just as they were about to continue talking, their attention was caught since everyone on the deck was looking at the sky.

"What is happening?" a girl with brown hair and eyes, sitting alongside Shevel. She suddenly shut her mouth after seeing a giant shadow cover the group of ships.

"Who the hell is brazen enough to fly over the Global Naval Association's ships?" the last member of their table spoke, a red-haired man with a muscular physique. Just then, the voice of the captain echoed throughout the ship.

"Bring down the bird!" the captain ordered.

Meanwhile, Z was carefreely sailing by the wind. He was just calmly sitting on top of Umbra when he felt strong fluctuations of energy below him. "Why is there suddenly a herd of Stelle Beasts below? Oh, there are ships. Are they attacking me?" He concluded after seeing the events below.

"Sir Lagiel was right, the world outside the mountain is dangerous, indeed. I should be careful in the future. Umbra, annihilate them," he nonchalantly ordered.