It had happened again, as expected. Or at least the event had come to pass in a similar fashion, if only to have some- by this point expected- changes in the manner it had manifested. Vigo had been waiting for news about Valkia disappearing from the face of the earth, leaving nothing but empty space and unanswered questions behind. It was supposed to come up as a generic rumor at first though. A half tale of such odd proportions that most would dismiss it as the ramblings of some drunks, only to become accepted truth months later.

  This time however, it seemed that someone rather important had somehow managed to escape the place, creating a fuss of quite the proportions, spreading the news like wildfire, making them reach even the place Vigo and his group was holed up in. He would have learned of it sooner than most of course, having requested eyes in that region with the excuse of 'feeling something big about to happen there', but that did not change the truth of the matter at all. More and more changes were morphing the way the timeline developed, making his knowledge- one of his greatest advantages for this time- to become less and less potent of a weapon for him to use and ensure the constant growth and development of his party and force in general.

  "You okay Vigo? You seem troubled." Inetta asked as she scooped over, clear concern across her face. The girl was still as heavily crushing on him as before, at least when she thought he was not looking, though she was also putting in extra effort to become good friends with Leia as well, trying to do almost everything together with the other woman.

  "You do seem off your game a bit." Raxhu- the barbarian- groaned, once again rubbing his own, no doubt sore, neck.

  "I still put you through your paces, did I not? The practice was no worse than usual, or would you like to go for another round?" Vigo asked, his eyes and face not changing one bit as the most of his mind was still focused on the disappearance of an entire town.

  "Eh heh he he." Raxhu awkwardly laughed "No, I am fine man. Just concerned. Nothing that can eat up your attention like that is bound to be good for people. What's on your mind boss?"

  "Sigh" Vigo exhaled heavily as rubbed his temples with a hand. "Heard of a town called Valkia? One of the starter towns for fresh gifted like us."

  "Yea. One of the big five. What of it?" Raxhu nodded in confirmation.

  "Nothing. That's the problem." Vigo replied.

  "Nothing? What's the problem then?" the barbarian scratched his head in confusion.

  "That is quite a problem though. In the place where the town was supposed to be- now there is nothing." Vigo elaborated.

  "WHAT?" this time, Inetta, Raxhu and even Leia who had been sitting quietly and just listening exclaimed in a loud voice.

  "Yes. A town of several thousand of people just up and vanished one day like it had never been there. And no one knows why or how. The only hard facts we have, besides the knowledge that is it missing is that there are 'supposedly' actual people who managed to get out in time. That and the number of important figures sending their own people there to take stock of things." Vigo explained, finally reaching the really juicy and out of the ordinary part. "But, here is the kicker. There is precedent in regards to near destruction of similar gifted beginner cities that drew almost no attention whatsoever. Definitely not at the level it was doing so now."

  "Foul play?" Leia asked, her attention drawn.

  "Unlikely. But there is definitely more going down than meets the eye. We know for a fact that the biggest name overseeing the whole situation- in person even- is a legend of a man going by the name-Battlelust. From what we know, his younger brother- a rather well established and connected merchant in his own right- is among the few people who managed to get out. Unfortunately, no one can get their hands on him for more details. The risk of agitating a battle maniac of above level ninety is too great and not at all worth the risk."

  "But there is a statement provided by them, right?" Inetta asked, hanging off of every Vigo's word.

  "Yes, but it is as barebones as one would expect. The merchant says that he himself has no idea how he got so lucky, or why the town disappeared." Vigo explained, his knowledge regarding the subject not questioned even once. He had done a great job in making sure his team saw his numerous requests about all manner of information and the like, allowing him to slip in snippets of his foreknowledge as either smart deductions or assumptions that were more likely than not to be true.

  "There is more, is there not?" Leia knowingly asked, sensing something left unsaid.

  "Indeed. The dragonkin are also paying additional attention, with numerous scouting and mystics parties. As well as angels had been spotted around there, seemingly searching for something. Or someone."

  "A super rookie like us?" Raxhu spoke, a knowing glint flashing in his eyes.

  "That's what I suspect." Vigo nodded in agreement. "Battlelust is there for his brother, but the rest? They are fishing for sure."

  "Does not change what we have to do either way. There is no other new gifteds who could ever hope to compete with us. And we will prove it when the tournament on the new overlords begins. Speaking of which, when is it starting?" Raxhu grinned with both battle intent, as well as excitement, replaced shortly after by a sheepish laugh as he asked the question.

  "A year away you damn meathead. How many times do we have to repeat." Leia rolled her eyes.

  "He he he. Right. My bad." Raxhu awkwardly scratched his neck.

  "Super rookie or not, does not matter." Vigo added, shaking his head "It's the disappearance of the town that worries me. We are now living in a fantasy world, filled with magic and monsters. Ask yourselves, what kind of monster could make a town suddenly disappear as though it never existed in the first place? Don't know about you, but I don't feel particularly safe with such a thought lingering in my mind." He was not nearly as scared as he made himself look to be, but it was a necessary step for him to take. An apparent enough fear he could use as an excuse to 'research' more records about all manner of monsters, allowing him to afterwards know things he should not normally.

  ------------------------------

  "My, oh my. What a gathering of important people we have here."a light chuckle escaped Anastielas mouth as she interrupted the rather heavy silence that had settled over the room. A freshly set up, rather spacious- some would even say luxurious- building of a single story stood on what was supposed to be the outskirts of Valkia.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  "Let's get to the point then, shall we?" huffed a rather pale looking and clearly annoyed man. His ash gray hair and slightly glowing blue eyes sending chills down the spine of ordinary people the moment his gaze slides past them. The man was clearly annoyed "What are you even doing here to begin with angel?"

  "Besides the fact that it was us who hosted this recent gifted summoning?" Anastiela replied calmly, as though the man was not even worthy of her annoyance.

  "Yes, besides that. Nobody cares after the summoning is over after all. Never have." the man added on.

  "I don't believe that is any business of yours though. You of all people have even less of an excuse to be here. I bet you ran over the second there was the slightest rumor of someone using spatial magic in all of this mess." Anastiela exposed the man immediately.

  "Heh, and so what if I did? What will you do about it?" the silver haired man smirked as he challenged the beautiful blonde angel.

  "Me? Nothing for now, though I doubt I will have to act any time soon." she replied in a calm, almost sweet voice "Raizer will no doubt act before I have to should you try and touch any of the kids under his protection now. Besides." her smile grew colder, making the silver haired man suddenly feel particularly uncomfortable "How about you reach level ninety before acting tough and all. I might just accidentally slip and annihilate you by mistake. You know how it is for women when they feel particularly incensed."

  Her last comment earned barely controlled chuckle from another side of the table, her dig at the silver haired man and his lack of manliness not skipping over the admittedly youngest person present. "Pfha ha hah hah ha. Thats a good one." the girl struggled to keep it in, shutting up only a moment later when a hand descended over her head in a swift and merciless motion.

  "Shush now. The adults are talking." Zekira spoke, disciplining Reisha and returning her attention towards the one person- and his brother- present who had the most info available. "There is nothing else that you can share?"

  "Unfortunately no." Ramia spoke up from the side. "You have seen the memory yourself. We assume he has a unique class that came with certain perks. Some manner of eldritch knowledge no doubt coming along with it, as is often the case."

  "Do we have any info on his current whereabouts? Or if he is even alive?" the silver haired man asked.

  "Nothing so far, though the signs so far don't give us much hope." Ramia replied.

  "Not that we would share with you were it otherwise." Anastiela chimed in, a seemingly innocent smile on her face "Nobody asked you here."

  "You do realize you will never find him without my expertise. Assuming that he is still alive of course." the silver haired man smirked, crossing his arms across his chest. "But do keep going like this. I might just have to start considering a fee for my services." If the silver haired man was good at one thing, it was his ability to track people down using his advanced knowledge- at least for these times- in spatial travel and world laws regarding the subject.

  "You services will not be necessary." A calm, borderline bored voice broke the ever mounting tension as Raizer spoke for the first time since this meeting had begun. "The group in question is under my wing and protection. That naturally includes their guild leader as well. They will be leaving with me and that is that. And should we uncover more about the whole thing, I might share. Is that clear?"

  "What if they want my assistance? As the number one expert on spatial laws and travel, I should be afforded as much courtesy, yes? I am offering my assistance out of goodwill and all." the gray haired man replied, his tone much calmer and even a bit subservient. No sane man wanted to piss off level ninety plus battle maniac.

  "Fine, ask away then. The result will not change." Raizer replied, waving his hand.

  Moments later, Izumi walked in. "You called for me senior?" she bowed politely towards Raizer as she asked.

  "Mhm." Raizer nodded slightly in return, his gaze then moving towards the gray haired guy. "Ask away."

  "Eh-hem." The man cleared his throat, gaining the attention of Izumi, then he spoke. "I am Emanuel Vitario, lord of the floating islands and the foremost expert on spatial travel and laws this world has. And, being the magnificent kind hearted scholar that I am, I have decided to offer my assistance in locating your missing friend. Lord Raizer has made a condition in that regard however, indicating that I and my expertise are not needed, thus here we are. Ask away and I will still offer my help." he explained, his hands gesturing with flair and theatrics.

  "Go on, don't be shy." he added a moment later, noticing that the girl was still staring at him weirdly.

  "Thank you for the consideration, but we will not be needing assistance beyond what we have already received. I wish you safe journey back home and appreciate the gesture." with that said, Izumi bowed towards Emanuel, then towards the rest of the leaders present, ending her bows with another one directed towards Raizer before leaving.

  "PFaaa haahahahha." a heavy laughter exploded as soon as Izumi had left, Reisha just barely managing to hold back as long as she did.

  "Someone must feel rather silly right now!" she wheezed, only to shut up after her older sister delivered another head chop.

  "Foolish girls, both you and that kid. It is their loss then." Emanuel huffed, irritation clear in his face, though he did nothing more than scoff. Raizer's protection was one hell of a deterrent. "Well then, it seems my presence is not appreciated as it should, thus I will take my leave. Don't come crying to me later though."

  Emanuel then strolled away, clearly annoyed, leaving Raizer and Ramia, alongside Reisha and Zekira and finally Anastiela sitting at the table, a pleasant moment of silence settling over. It did not last long though, as Zekira spoke up, offering several different joint operations to start their search for Jack.

  "You seem quite interested in finding our friend." Anastiela spoke once the offers were laid out in the open, the same peaceful and friendly smile still on her face.

  "Reisha in her hotheadedness and haste ran into him and his party as they arrived in Valkia and inconvenienced his group. As a result, I expressed our apologies and compensated him for the trouble." Zekira calmly explained, adding "And I cannot but help be intrigued regarding the weapons he seems capable of creating. Your new team seems to be praising the weapons to high heaven and back. Do keep me informed, would you?" she smiled as she too slowly got to her feet, dragging Reisha along with her. "It was a pleasure seeing you, lord Raizer. May your hunts be bountiful and drops plenty."

  "You too dragonling. You too." Raizer replied, his gaze following the departing figure of the red headed dragonkin woman.

  "Speak of the devil." Ramia smiled as he fished out his own magical phone, answering the call.

  "Been busy lately? I feel quite neglected you know." he spoke, moments later receiving an answer from a certain 'Virtuoso'.

  "Local fauna was a bit too eager to welcome me." Jack's voice carried across the room.

  "Care to elaborate?" Ramia asked.

  "A lot of horse sized ants. Lots and lots of them. Had no real time to spend on strategy meetings and what not."

  "I assume you have the time now?" Ramia smiled as he asked.

  "Kinda. Still looking for traces of civilization, but assumed you would need some kind of progress report, what with the extended period of my silence."

  Jack then proceeded to explain what he had gathered so far, waiting for any reaction from the remaining people in the room. Once he was done explaining, he waited for any sort of response, only to be met with dead silence, broken by Raizer himself eventually.

  "Does not sound like any ants I am familiar with. You might either be pushed off towards one of the islands that litter the ocean around our continent, or worse still- you might be on another continent all together. Of course, you could still be in one of the more isolated and savage lands on the far end of our own continent, but it seems less and less likely."

  "I assume you will explain why that is such a problem?" Jack then asked.

  "Naturally." Ramia nodded, explaining the issue at hand. As it turned out, the ever growing monster power and the lack of both top end crafters as well as battle maniacs like Raizer meant that the territories held and managed by civilised humanoid people were shrinking with every passing year, with more and more of the world becoming like some untamed jungle- ruled by savagery and pure, primalistic might.

  It also meant that more and more of the world descended into tribal, warlord led smaller communities, living and moving along withe the greater beings taking over certain regions.

  "So, what you mean to say is that slavery, cannibalism and all the other 'good stuff' is damn near guaranteed to be a part of my daily life if I happen to be on one of those savage continents?" Jack groaned, less than excited about the prospect.

  "Unfortunately yes." Ramia explained.

  "Well.... Fuck that!" Jack groaned massaging his temple. "Saviour complex activate I suppose. Perhaps." he murmured as he ended the call, his attention returning back to his current situation.

  Jack Raja(?)

  Age- 27

  Species- human(?)

  Level- 27

  Class- Awakened twin aspect of Creation and Destruction(Ex)

  Stats unassigned: +4

  Attributes:

  Strength- 24 (14+7+3)

  Vitality- 23 (12+8+3)

  Dexterity- 21 (15+6)

  Intelligence-15

  Spirit- Spirit- 30 (20+10)

  Skills- Wisdom of Creation and destruction(EX), Choice of the creator(EX), Eyes of procurer(EX), Matter storage(EX), Arukain language(C), Spark of inspiration(EX), Origin of matter(EX), Unbound by laws of the lessers(EX), The end made manifest(EX).

  Spells- none.

  Titles(unlocked): The real Monster, Big Game Hunter, The brilliant rookie, The insane Solo. Monster debugger.The actor. Executioner. Survivor. Pioneer, Record breaker.The new champion supreme.

  Gear: amulet +2 vit: weapon- Gundao+3 str. Rings- spatial storage,