Loopshard

Travelling from the hamlet to the fishing village was not as easy as Adam had thought, because the eastern side of the Blue River was firmly within the reach of the Forlorn Castle and its long-ranged ballista artillery. They fired shadowy bolts several kilometres through the air and attempted to predict their journey across the rolling hills. The strikes landed within only a few metres of Chien and Natalia’s horses twice before Adam made the executive decision to lift both of them up into the air alongside Seo-Yoon. The pair didn’t protest this time, because neither wanted to be target practice for the forlorn army that guarded the castle.

Even after they passed beyond the reach of the ballistae, Adam didn’t put them back down and just continued flying towards their destination.

Since he didn’t have to keep pace with anyone, Adam was free to go as fast as possible, so they reached the old church quickly, continuing beyond it to find the place where a tributary of the Blue Vein crawled east and then south to wrap around a small fishing village nestled against the main part of the river further down.

He landed them in the centre of the village, which, like Silt, was raised on wooden stilts and lifted above the porous and unstable soil, its many legs anchored deep into the ground. Almost all of the village’s western edge hung over the rapidly-flowing blue water, and the only way in or out of the settlement was along a lifted bridge in the south-eastern corner that led safely away from the treacherous silt to more solid ground.

Adam was certain that they would’ve received a settlement notification for discovering the place if they had arrived here before it’s destruction, but unfortunately, they were far too late. Many of the buildings were smoking wrecks, and bodies were strewn across the place.

Despite its destruction, there was a strange heat rising from the village, and no sooner had Adam set down the others than he had to lift up into the air to escape its painful sting. He recognised the sensation as proximity to holy magic, so he switched to the aspirant’s cowl and was met with a golden haze on everything in sight.

A second later, Adam realised that it was strange for all of the corpses to have been left behind, and then Seo-Yoon said, “Everyone here is like Alisé. They’re glowing with the light of the true flame.”

Adam looked around and spotted a part of the village where the glow was densest. It was a simple blacksmith’s workshop and it had been left intact, despite almost all of the other houses being burnt to a crisp.

That must be where we were supposed to bring the broken blade.