{Prologue} World of Pillars

Nibble.

"Hey, cut that out," Sitting near a fountain, Curtis knew he was being held still by her delicate soft hands circled around his neck.

The girl shook her head, her supple lips clasped at the tip of his right ear. Her chest squeezed against his back.

"What's that?" as quickly as she said that, her open lips closed against his ears yet again.

"A spell to prove the particle theory you mentioned."

Seemingly pleased with his reply, she started licking his ear.

"Seriously stop!" Throwing his notes aside, Curtis jumped forward in retreat. Both him and the girl fell to the ground at the same time.

Raising himself up on his two feet, he turned around to look at her.

Her mellow white skin shone like porcelain, ocher hair glowing in a distinct gold. Sprawled on the ground, she lifted her head to expose an ethereal pair of jade green eyes. Calm, pure, innocent; gaze deeper than the forest.

She chuckled.

"Pervert." Curtis jeered jovially.

"Oh?" She got in her feet unsteadily. Tossing herself forward right after to embrace him.

For a moment, Curtis could feel her warmth spread all around his body, growing hotter and hotter.

Something wasn't right.

Quickly returning to his senses, he backed away, to see her faint smile.

The world distorting, monochrome colours settled in his vision; her figure seemingly moving further and further.

Fire rose from below her feet. The only colour present in the checkerboard world.

"I miss you."

The colours suddenly returned, and he was no longer at the fountain where he once stood.

Crimson flames twisted into a small whirl. The ice around the space melted into water—no, it vaporized into gas, instantly.

The flames finally coiled around her figure.

Left now was nothing but ash; flaky white particles descending to the ground like gentle snowflakes. In this field of ice, the lingering cinders were the only thing that didn't fit this blue world.

When Curtis looked to that place, the girl now gone, "Who.."

'Who did I just kill?'

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A sky whale docked beside a newly found pillar of land. The single giga pillar in center of the other surrounding pillar clusters, occupying the vast empty world.

Huge.

It had to be at least half the size of the gargantuan pillar supporting Haital Kingdom. This pillar however, only had dense, thick woods surrounding the parameter, if not for the tiny bit of flat plain at the edge where the whale was hovering close to. Trees that varied in height, shape, shade, size and species interweave in harmony.

Violet clouds drifted across the darkening sky. The sun peeping from the horizon, half blocked by the abyss below. A gradation from a slight orange hue tapering into navy blue, before reaching an indescribable void at the very bottom. A hypothesized corrosive barrier made it impossible for any person to venture below. Anyone touching that realm would corrode into dust. At least, that was what legends say.

A camp fire was started with a few dry branches picked fresh from the woods, combined with highly combustible commercial charcoal. This blackish-brown charcoal was something commonly used by adventurer as they would camp out frequently in the wilderness. A very thin distorting barrier enveloped the fire, whenever smoke touched the surface, it would turn into another sticky substance. This renewed substance is combustible. It would then trickle back into the flame and burn up. To put it simply, smoke was recycled back into a form of chemical liquid that would in turn produce heat and light. A resource-efficient fire.

"Jeez..... this fire is really just not bright enough..", Ellis mumbled out loud.

"Is it really?"

Curtis sent her a look.

She held a think book in her hands, eyes squinting hard at the contents under the dim campfire light that flickered like a candle's flame. It was quite windy.

In between her hand was a novel, not the spell book that Curtis would carry all the time.

Ellis sent Curtis a pleading expression, to which Curtis understood the meaning to knowing Ellis too well.

"Ok, ok, I get it."

{Light orb}

His index finger was sent to the sky. At the tip of the finger coalesced a tiny ball of luminous light. A basic spell that created radiant light using a small amount of mana. The light orb was tossed, moving in a zig zag before stopping. It hovered above her shoulder, like a lamp, illuminating the pages of the novel.

A comely smile was shown to Curtis.

"Thank you Curtis."

"Sure."

They chuckled for a moment. Ellis was reading her novel with changing expressions for every page; Curtis studied the contents of his bulky spell book. Visualizing himself connecting notes and linking spells as he continued.

The dilatory size of the book wasn't much of a concern. Curtis could always just shrink the size, or, at the same time, manipulating it's weight to a certain extent. The notes lit up whenever Curtis focused on a clause.

The world was slowly slipping into darkness, night was befalling. Lucky, the campfire generated warm light. A fuzzing feeling of vitality could be felt emanating from within the flames.

"Whaley sure is tired huh?" Ellis' voice rang.

Curtis snuck a look to Ellis who was looking at the eyes of the whale, closed. The massive size of Whaley's body made it's eyes look like a peanut. A peanut that was as big as an adult's torso.

"Sure is," Curtis returned his gaze to his spell book. His stomach made a pleasant sound, which reminded him about Ellis' usual skill where she could turn rations into delicious meals.

Weird.

The sound of Ellis puffing her cheeks and exaggerated gasps would leak out of her mouth unpredictability. Just what was the novel about? Curtis couldn't help but wonder how mere words could turn Ellis into a weird sound making machine; not sexual in any sort of way.

Curtis snuck another look. What he found out, apparently, was that all those weird sounds she made, was not because of the novel. Instead, it was to attract his attention.

"You're always so hooked up on that spell book of yours...",Ellis smack shut her novel with a snap, eyes narrowed at Curtis.

Curtis didn't know how to react to that.

"I'm lonely."

All of a sudden Ellis circled round Curtis, hugging him form behind. She rubbed her face against his cheek much like a cat.

Curtis closed his spell book too—prudently. Putting it aside, he told Ellis to sit on his lap. Ellis jocularly accepted.

Her soft bottom plodded down atop his legs. Naturally, Curtis made her lean against him, one hand coupled around her waist while the other fidgeted with her hands. Her soft, delicate hands.

Well, at least to Curtis, it felt that way. Nevertheless, she was swordsman, because of this fact, hands were practically full of calluses, especially where the boney part meets the handle of the sword.

"So what do you want to talk about?"

"Erm, well," she pondered a bit, which looked somewhat cute in Curtis' eye, before continuing, "If one day, I were to become a part of the Jesters, you wouldn't hesitate kill me would you?" Curtis was caught surprised at the sudden remark.

She didn't turn around, her eyes afixed to her hand that Curtis was playing with.

"If one day you became a part of the Jesters huh..." Curtis thought about it.

Jesters, a group that appeared out of nowhere. It was said that they had the capability to execute team fights with excellent coordination. Utilizing an array of unusual fighting styles to seduce the opponent, simply put it, unpredictable. Their origins, well, unknown.

Based on the sudden explosion in rumors surrounding their existence, they were told to be a cult-like existence that comprised of many small cliques of 5 to 6 people. It was unsure whether or not they had an operating base, but it was a possible speculation.

'What if Ellis became brainwashed? What if I became brainwashed?'

Was brainwashing really possible? As the mage he was, Curtis didn't know.

Curtis couldn't reply. He was engaged with his thoughts, flipping around for information from the mental bookshelves shoved in the archive of his brain. Would they one day encounter one of these so called Jesters? Who knew?

"Haha... I think I'm just thinking too much. This head of mine. When reading a novel, all sorts of weird things or delusions enter my brain.."

Curtis restrained her fidgeting hands, his fingers interlocked with hers.

There was a small spark but Ellis didn't notice.

"Let's just hope that won't ever happen alright?" Ellis tilted her head slightly. From that angle, Curtis could see the hint of worry emanating from the slit of her round sky-blue eyes.

"Yeah, pretty sure it wouldn't happen."

The legend regarding the Jesters became all the craze when a rumor appeared saying that one person had severed his links with the other Jesters. It was said that the person's identity and what he knew about himself were present. He was no longer controlled by the other Jesters, independent. He called himself beings from another world and that they had arrived at the heavenly realm.

The campfire still burning, Curtis manipulated the barrier around it to dim the light output. A nice warm atmosphere, perfect for sleeping.

"Curtis, could we like.. erm.. take turns patrolling.."

New pillar, wild landscape, total darkness, nearest town at least an hours away..

"Did you read a horror novel?" Curtis asked, Ellis shook her head, it was out of sincere concern. "I got it. So should I go first or..."

"Together."

Curtis made a difficult expression. Did this mean that they wouldn't get a good night's sleep tonight?

"Perhaps. Let's just not sleep using our sleeping bags. This is a newly discovered piece of land so it would be easier to ready ourselves if a threat were to appear right?"

"Something like that..."

Curtis turned his body and took out a large blanket from one of the baggage that hung on Whaley using wind magic.

Something like a levitation spell, though it wasn't manipulation of gravity.

Using another spell, he turned the stiff log they sat on before soft, like a pillow without making it feel mushy at all.

"Would this do?" Curtis held a smug. He was proud of his abilities as a mage.

"Thank you." Ellis was smiling effusively. With this, they won't be sleeping in separate, but together under one blanket. Secretively, this was part of the reason why she requested that. What a smart move.

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Sha~ Sha~ Sha~

Ellis slowly lifted her heavy eyelids. A groggy moan was let out as she sat up. Her hand rubbed her tired eyes. She hadn't slept, but was barely awake.

Sha~

Ellis stuttered still. She knew something was off. The sound came from the darkness not too far away.

Curtis still lay quietly beside her.

Narrowing her eyes and twitching her ears, she tried to discern the last know location of the rustling.

The dim campfire suddenly became brighter and luminous, as if knowing Ellis needed more light.

"Yeah, I heard that too." Curtis sat up. The campfire had now erupted into a bleach-white egg bulb. The concentrated light and heat was carefully controlled in the magic barrier enveloping it.

"What now?" Ellis asked. To normal people, this unpredictable event would have aroused much anxiety. Ellis was however, a swordsman—swordswoman. Something like this shouldn't scare her.

"I think we prepare ourselves. There are more than one targets, I think,"

Both of them stood up and readied their stance, a light orb coalesced and drifted into the pitch dark. The tree barks became visible where the light touched. Moving deeper into the woods, Curtis commanded the orb to split into tiny, more diffused light seeds and scattered them in an arc with him at the centre.

What come to light were many different silhouettes. Silhouette of trees; silhouette of leaves, the blurry shadow of fluttering grass and a figure. No. Multiple figures hanging by their necks; their heads bent in a weird way.

The shape of the silhouettes were so obvious, anyone could have guessed what it was it in one look.

'Just how many were there?'

Ellis' face went pale as snow. Her lips quivered slightly.

Tyrant-class creatures were fine but this?

"What is that... are they actually what I think they are?" Curtis looked on in disbelief. He had thought it might be some kind of crustacean beast. Craning his head towards Ellis' direction, he could see her shivering. Holding her sword, a cold bead of sweat dripping down her cheek.

Right, swordswoman wasn't as brave as initially thought.