After all the quests are given, Utopia opens the next page, which unveils both the reward if completed and the penalty if failed. Solomon's eyes light up as he sees the reward. He immediately calls dibs on it. On the other hand, the aforementioned penalty confuses everyone.

  [Utopia: The reward for completing these quests is the location of the artifact “Scales of Aeon.” The penalty for not completing these quests is that “Cable” will be added to the world. You have one month to complete these quests. Good luck.] Utopia smiles as it closes and lies motionless on the table.

  [Solomon: I will be taking those scales after we complete the quests.] Solomon says with full confidence. No one is willing to challenge him over some scales, so the other aspects leave it.

  The aspects start to leave the cave. Charon summons a boat and rows out of the cave. Solomon and Raze both fly out of the top. Eugene is still squirming in his seat, so Zane teleports him away. Two shadow people walk into the room and pick Lord Archibald off of the ground, taking him away. Dolor sulks out of the room with Orion. Jake packs his things into a suitcase and gets into a luxury car he has parked outside of the cave.

  There are five people left in the room. Zane, Echo, Nyx, Ryomen, and Cawdore. Ryomen opens his mouth to speak.

  [Ryomen: I really wanted that kill quest. Damn, Sol, that thing is not normal.] Ryomen laments as he sighs. Zane interjects while chuckling to himself.

  [Zane: The guy with four arms is calling another not normal? Now that's hilarious!] Zane starts to laugh intensely. Ryomen responds with [Bastard!] and starts to walk over to Zane. Nyx takes a smoke of her pipe and lays on her side.

  [Nyx: Come on boys~ Don’t fight. You wouldn’t want to mess up your pretty faces.] Nyx winks at Ryomen, and he backs off. Zane looks over at Nyx.

  [Zane: You know, you are the only nice person here.] Zane starts to make gestures as Nyx laughs to herself. Ryomen begrudgingly sits back into his seat. Ryomen looks over at Zane.

  [Ryomen: It’s very weird that you are the only one who can understand that walking calamity.] Ryomen was obviously referencing Sol when he said that. Zane responds with a simple answer.

  [Zane: It’s nothing big. I just made myself understand him.] Zane says casually. Ryomen doesn’t understand this explanation too well, so he turns to Cawdore. During this entire conversation, Cawdore was reading various books at once. Cawdore looks up at Ryomen.

  [Ryomen: Give me the rundown about Sol. Don’t act like you don’t know.] Ryokan commands Cawdore. Cawdore meets Ryomans' gaze for a few seconds before relenting. Echo, who would have also left by this point, decided to stay to learn more about Sol.

  [Cawdore: I will admit, I did look into every Aspect's background. I know everything there is to know about you guys, and I suspect Jake does as well. That's beside the point. Looking into Sol's background yielded next to nothing. However, I do have one lead. It is a little shaky though, so take what I say with a grain of salt.]

  All of the remaining Aspects listen intently.

  [Cawdore: There is a legend that originated around five years ago. Our story takes place on a small, isolated island. This legend states that the old god of destruction, “Grogroth,” died on said island. After a while, a village formed on the island, and the dead god was found. Under the dead god was a pitch-black egg. The villagers worshiped this egg, and it would eventually become a cult. The egg would occasionally move and grow. Eventually, a small opening opened up on the top of the egg. The cult eventually started to sacrifice people by throwing them into the egg opening, basically feeding it. The cult got so powerful they were feeding special grades to the egg. Then the egg hatched. A being described as the void itself descended from the egg, with glowing white eyes and a white mouth. The being then murdered everyone and left the island.] Cawdore recounts the story. It was a popular urban legend. Zane and Echo are left speechless. Nyx speaks up.

  [Nyx: Are you trying to tell us that Sol is that monster in that urban legend?] Nyx asks quizzically. Cawdore nods his head. Ryomen steps in.

  [Ryomen: Are you trying to say Sol is a descendant of an old god?] Ryoman asks.

  [Cawdore: I know it’s hard to believe, but the physical descriptions match. Another thing. I managed to track down the island. Here is what I found.] A hologram appears in the middle of the table. It shows a giant hole in the middle of the ocean.

  [Echo: Hole…?] The hologram stuns everyone in the room. A whole island, destroyed without a trace.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  [Nyx: Wouldn’t that mean Sol absorbed multiple special grades?] Cawdore thinks about the answer; however, Zane interjects and says [Yes.] in an unusually serious voice.

  [Zane: You guys probably can’t tell, but Sol would be able to kill everyone in this room, except myself, easily.] Zane had already displayed his strength earlier when he teleported everyone in. No one doubted Zane's strength at this point. So, considering what Zane said, no one was willing to disagree. Ryomen shakes his head.

  [Ryomen: This is too much. I'm heading out.] Ryomen walks out of the cave. Cawdore starts packing up his hologram to leave as well. Zane starts to smile again. Zane looks over at Echo.

  [Zane: Now that things here are finished. Wanna grab something to eat?] Echo glares at Zane with a disgusted look.

  [Echo: Kill yourself.] Echo says sharply as she vanishes without a trace. Zane just looks on.

  *Zane: Who was I talking to just now?* Zane thinks to himself. Nyx looks over at Zane.

  [Nyx: I’ll go out with you. Any place you have in mind?] Nyx says in a seductive tone. Zane just stares at her.

  [Zane: I think I will pass.] Nyx says a quick [Aw~] Zane starts to peek again. [I was just saying that to tease… someone? Nyx, who was sitting next to you?] Nyx looks over at the empty seat next to her in confusion, trying to think about who is sitting next to her, and Cawdore speaks up.

  [Cawdore: The person sitting next to Nyx is supposed to be Echo. I don’t remember her at all, but considering Utopia opened, she had to have been here. Maybe this effect has something to do with her aspect 『Solitude』] Cawdore tells everyone in the room. Zane thinks for a moment.

  [Zane: Ugh, why does everyone's aspect power have to be so confusing?!? Anyway, I have a quest to do! See you!] Zane teleports himself out of the room.

  [Nyx: He is not going to do any work until the last minute.] Nyx says while chuckling to herself. Cawdore just starts packing his things to leave.

  ____________________________________________________________________________

  Back at the royal palace. The vassals get up from their seats. Peak looks over at Aric and asks him what the Ascended Crucible is.

  [Aric: The Ascended Crucible is a one vs one style match between 12 individuals, six on each team. Two teams are involved: the “attackers” and the “defenders.” The rules are as follows. If your team is picked as “defense,” they must survive against three teams of attackers without a break. If your team is “attackers,” you must defeat all six defenders in order to win.] Blake raises his hand, and he is called on.

  [Blake: So basically, it is one-on-one fights, correct? That would mean if our team is defending, we would have to fight 18 people in order to win, three people for each of our fighters in a one-on-one combat. If we are attacking in order to fulfill the goal of defeating all the defenders, we would all have to win, correct?] Aric answers.

  [Aric: Correct! If you are defending, you would have to win against three different teams of six attackers. If you are attacking, the only possible way to win is for all six of the attackers to win.] Pax raises his hand.

  [Pax: Wouldn’t it be better to be a defender? No offense, but attackers seem like a horrible team. You have to rely on the fact that everyone will win.] Aric responds.

  [Aric: You would be correct. Usually, the only teams that win the Ascended Crucible are usually defender teams. The one caveat is that the teams are randomly picked. So you won’t know if you are defending or attacking until it is drawn.] Azarath raises his hand.

  [Azarath: So what's the reward for winning this tournament?] Aric answers.

  [Aric: The reward is to meet with the Old God of Knowledge, Truth. Truth will then provide you with what you “need.”] Selene raises her hand.

  [Selene: What do we need? Not want?] Aric responds.

  [Aric: Yep. Truth will look into your future and give you what you “need,” as he states. It’s usually worth it.] Peak raises his hand.

  [Peak: So how strong are our enemies going to be?] Peak is basically jumping out of his seat and waiting for an answer.

  [Aric: Well, special grades usually don’t like to rely on others. Don’t expect any of them to enter. On average, Semi-Grade 1 - High-Grade 1s enter. Over the next week I will be training you all to at least the rank of Semi-Grade 1. Now that everything is explained, I need to get something ready.] Aric leaves the room.

  Everyone is thinking about the information. Pax looks up at Harpstein. Harpstein looks back at Pax.

  [Harpstein: Yes?] Pax looks to the side for a second and looks back.

  [Pax: Listen, not that I think you are weak. However, I'm going to need to know what your ability is. Just so I can rest easily that you won't be a burden.] Harpstein smiles. He was waiting until someone asked him this question.

  [Harpstein: I am an esper with the inherited ability of the Valerian family.]

  『Golden Hour』

  When they hear this, Azarath and Blake almost immediately jump out of their seats. They cannot believe what they are hearing.

  [Azarath: Imagine how dumb you have to be to ask someone with Golden Hour if they are strong!]

  [Blake: No way!]

  They both are in complete disbelief. Pax, Peak, and Selene are confused.

  [Selene: What’s Golden Hour supposed to mean?] Harpstein opens his mouth to explain, but Blake silences him.

  [Blake: It is the power King Valerian used to bring this country's military to his knees; it is considered one of the strongest esper abilities in existence. It grants the user complete dominion over time itself. Truly a terrifying ability.] Blake states while Azarath continues to try to suck up to Harpstein. Pax, Peak, and Selene just stare at Harpstein with a wide gaze.

  Harpstein, sensing the confusion, starts to explain his ability on his own terms.

  [Harpstein: My ability is not the be-all and end-all. Currently, I can only stop and reverse time for 5 seconds each use. The ability also has a very heavy stamina drain, which means I can only use a limited amount of stops or reverses before needing to recharge. I would need to train with it way more to reach my father's level.] Harpstein admits with humbleness in his voice, not realizing that being able to stop and reverse time is still extremely powerful. Before anyone can say anything, Aric walks back into the room.

  [Aric: It’s ready!] Aric shouts enthusiastically as he leads the vassals into a room full of weapons.

  [Aric: Pick up a weapon. It is way better than using your bare fist!]

  They all start to walk around. After a while, they all come back with their weapons of choice. Blake picked an axe connected to a mace with a chain. Harpstein picked a spear. Selene picked a bow. Azarath picked a nice pair of golden gauntlets. Pax, on the other hand, picked a pair of brass knuckles. Peak went with a good old sword, a type of katana. Aric is happy with their choices.

  [Aric: We will start the trek to the Ascended Crucible in around one week from today. In the meantime, you guys are going to be training with me!] Aric has a devious smile.