Adam rushed out of his room as if he were pursued by an invisible, relentless fire. He burst into his Master’s quarters, the sudden intrusion shattering the heavy, almost suffocating morning stillness and startling the old man from his slumber.

  "Adam, what are you doing? Give an old man some more sleep. We will start our..." Berto’s voice trailed off as he took in the absolute, raw terror etched into the boy’s features. The annoyance in his eyes died instantly, replaced by a sharp, professional concern. He sat up in his bed, the old springs creaking like a warning, and patted a spot right next to him, silently signaling for Adam to sit. Adam obeyed, though his body continued to tremble with a violent, uncontrollable intensity.

  "Master, I had a dream, if it could even be called that." Adam whispered, his voice sounding thin and brittle like aged parchment. He tried to calm his racing heart and gather his thoughts, but the task felt impossible with the vision still lingering in his mind as if someone had permanently stitched the images into his very consciousness.

  "In this dream, I was surely not on land or even in the air. All that surrounded me was an incomprehensible darkness, dimly lit by what I think were stars. The whispers I told you about during my meditation were there as well. They were loud. Louder than they had ever been before." He stopped once more to catch his breath, his hands shaking so much that he had to grip his knees to stay still.

  "They began to get louder with every passing moment. The language was completely unknown to me, and it sounded as if humans were never made to comprehend its cadence. I was in pain. I felt as if I was dying. Then it simply stopped and I woke up. I rushed here as soon as my eyes opened to tell you this. Master, what is happening to me?"

  BERTO’S POV:

  Berto’s mind surged into full wakefulness the moment he saw the depth of Adam’s distress. The boy was shaking and drenched in a cold, heavy sweat, his eyes bloodshot as if he had been deprived of sleep for the past four days. The boy’s description sent a chill of terror through Berto as well. Stars. Incomprehensible darkness. And those whispers of unknown origin, carrying that mysterious, alien language. Berto wondered what the hell this child had witnessed in the depths of his sleep. Was it truly a dream, or was it some dark, malevolent omen? Perhaps it was the work of a Dark Mage, though Berto knew he would have felt the ripple of mana if an intruder had managed to breach the house. He realized he had not the slightest idea what this meant, and that lack of knowledge terrified him to his core.

  He thought of the boy’s talent. Adam had turned the Magic Stone into a shade of pure, absolute white as if it were a simple walk in the park, showing no signs of the mana overloading his small body. Then there was the meditation. It had taken ten minutes. From everything Berto had heard, even the most gifted geniuses with Tier 3 potential required hours to reach that state. This boy was a walking mystery, and his talent was a shadow that felt increasingly dangerous. Berto wondered how he was supposed to protect and guide him when he himself was blind to what was happening. The silence between them stretched, heavy and suffocating, until Berto finally decided to break it.

  "Adam, I... I do not know. I truly do not. I feel as if I have failed you by saying this, but I have not the slightest idea. My only premonition is that this is somehow tied to your extreme talent, an anomaly even among Tier 3 geniuses. But that is all I have. I will search the history books and the records of ages bygone to find anything that can guide us. I am honestly not sure if the answers even exist in the archives."

  ADAM’S POV:

  Adam could see the terror reflected in his Master’s eyes, noting how Berto's hand trembled as he gripped the fabric of his robe. The old man knew nothing beyond a vague premonition tied to Adam’s talent. Was he truly that outstanding? Was it truly the source of this nightmare? Neither of them had the answer. Adam felt as if he were drowning in a vast, dark ocean, his only tiny hope being the realization that his Master, despite his fear, was determined to help him. Adam could see it in Berto's gaze; no matter the cost, the man would not abandon him. Behind the terror, a fire of absolute resolution was beginning to burn in the mentor's eyes.

  "First thing, Adam, you are prohibited from meditating until we find out what is wrong. We will spend our morning learning theory, and in the afternoon, I will go to the Grand Library in the inner district to search for anything remotely useful. Our first lesson starts right now, as we do not know if there is any timer to this mystery." His Master's voice was now resolute. His hand had stopped shaking; instead, he was gripping the wooden frame of the bed so hard that his knuckles turned a ghostly white. Adam nodded at his Mentor, feeling as if a tiny ray of light had reached him beneath the dark water. Maybe it would be enough to keep him from sinking.

  "We will start with history and politics. Tell me, do you know why the Rosterrian Calendar is named as such and what it symbolizes?"

  Adam replied, trying to focus on the facts. "I know that it comes from the current royal family of our Kingdom. I know every other Kingdom uses it as well. I think I heard it had something to do with a war." Focusing on something else was a welcome distraction from the lingering dread of the dream. Master probably thought so as well.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  "Correct. It comes from Jonathan Rosterrian, the father of our current King. He was born over a thousand years ago. He succeeded in uniting all the Kingdoms that existed back then against an extremely large army of Orcs. They were united under the banner of a Peak Tier 3 Leader, with powerful vassals of the same tier beneath him. It was a bloody war that claimed many lives. Our last King was a hero, and it is a tragedy that his son has become so corrupted."

  Berto’s response made Adam think deeply. "Master, if you hate the current King so much, why do you still serve him?"

  Berto laughed at that, a dark and hollow sound. "I do not serve him, Adam. On the battlefield, I only appeared when I was summoned, or I would have been marked as a deserter. They would have put my head on a spike to make an example of me. I could run, but every Kingdom is corrupted to some degree. The elves have closed their gates to everyone except merchants, and the dwarves live deep under the earth. But the real reason I stay is your family."

  Berto’s expression grew grim as he spoke of the nobility and the King's long memory regarding Amon. "They would wipe your family out if I tried to escape with you. They still send mages to check your family's potential, curious if another anomaly will be born. As I said earlier, you would be killed or worse. They would make your family slaves to breed and produce living weapons." Berto sounded disgusted and angry as he spoke, and Adam felt that even with these reasons, Berto was not telling the complete truth. He had stayed for them, sacrificing his own freedom. Master, you are truly something else, Adam thought. What shocked him more was his own state of mind; he did not feel fear at Berto’s words. After the dream of the void, the threats of men seemed distant. Instead, he felt an extreme, sharpening anger toward the King and the nobility. Just you wait. I will have my revenge one day for my family.

  "Going back to our lesson, can you name all seven Kingdoms?"

  "There is our Rosterrian Kingdom, the Aegis Kingdom, the Everlasting Elven Kingdom, the Stoneheart Dwarf Kingdom, the Daeroth Kingdom, the Solis Kingdom, and the Mercuria Kingdom. Of course, there are also the tribes of Orcs and Goblins. That brings up another question, Master. How did the Orcs gather so many Tier 3 mages back then?"

  "Do you know that Goblins are slaves for the Orcs? Connect that with what I told you about Dark Mages and rituals, and you will have your answer." Berto replied darkly. Adam’s eyes widened as the realization hit him.

  "Do you mean..."

  "Yes, Adam. Their Leader, Vasto, was a monster of his own making. By uniting the tribes, he began to breed Goblins on a massive scale just to sacrifice them for the empowerment of his loyal vassals. Unlike other Orcs, he was not guided by emotion; he was cruel and cunning like no other."

  Berto leaned forward, his eyes narrowing as he spoke of the past. "History recorded twenty Peak Tier 3 mages under Vasto’s command. They also successfully created many more mages of lower tiers. When you add their resilient physique and natural regeneration, you can see why they were nearly unstoppable. If Jonathan had not discovered the truth and united the kingdoms, we would all have been wiped out." Adam had never seen an orc, but he had seen drawings of them in books. Imagining an army of that scale and strength made his hair stand on end. Rituals could truly create such a force. He knew they required sacrifices, but there had to be more to it. Otherwise, his own King would have surely used them. He decided to ask his Mentor about it.

  "Master, there must be some drawbacks to it, right? Otherwise, I do not understand why our own Kingdom would not use it, after all the bad things you said."

  Berto looked at his own hands before replying. "Yes, there are drawbacks. First, it is highly unstable and places an extreme load on one's being. You cannot make a mortal become Tier 2 or 3. Even people with a potential of Tier 2 could die while trying to break past it. Second, it burns not only the life force of the sacrifices, but your own lifespan as well. Jumping tiers like that would not increase your life expectancy. You might gain power, but you would not live to enjoy it. Many also go completely mad. The third reason is that it is impossible to hide on a large scale. If other nations found out, they would unite to destroy us without hesitation."

  Adam sat in silence, contemplating the risk. It made sense now why the Kingdoms avoided such a path. Orcs were different from humans, and that was why they had succeeded where others feared to tread. He wondered just how much life had been extinguished before the war even began. The numbers were likely astronomical.

  "Okay, so you know now about the Calendar, the war, the rituals, and the kingdoms. Tell me, do you know what each Kingdom is known for?"

  "Our Kingdom has the largest land. The Dwarves are known for smithing, architecture, and ores. They are the masters of their craft. The Elves are known for their art, culinary skills, music, and exquisite clothing. But their greatest treasure is the largest library in the world, containing the most knowledge. And Mercuria is the Kingdom of Trade." Adam replied.

  Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door and his mother entered. "Here you are guys. I was wondering why Adam still wasn’t sleeping. What are you up to so early? Learning even before you eat breakfast is not a good habit. Come down and let us eat." Caitlyn said, her smile radiant and warm, cutting through the heavy atmosphere of the room like a lantern in a fog. Seeing that smile, Adam felt an instinctive urge to obey immediately, as if he would be smacked with a pan if he delayed even a second.

  "Yes mother, we will be down in a moment." he replied. His mother nodded radiantly and left the room.

  "Hoho, it seems we must stop there, Adam, with today’s lesson. Sadly, I will not join you for breakfast as I am going straight to the Grand Library." His smile vanished as he spoke those last words, his thoughts already drifting toward the ink-stained silence of forgotten archives. "Remember Adam, no meditating. Try to ask your father for more information on the rest of the Kingdoms." Master Berto stood up and left the room together with him, his mind already lost in the search for ancient answers.