Chyuuichi took an unsure step back, gulping.

"Ha." he sighed. "I understand, Lamon. I need you to do me a little favour," Eryk spoke.

"Mh!" Chyuuichi turned to him, activated.

"The book... you know which one. Can you get it for me?" he signalled with his fingers.

Chyuuichi nodded and stood up, slowly walking down the stairs. Meanwhile, Eryk sank his head into his hands, as if feeling a strange sorrow for the first time in his life. While leaving and heading left, he recalled the three districts and their three strategies for no apparent reason. "Toolmakers, fighters, builders," he mumbled under his breath as he walked through the empty halls.

He skipped down a few flights of stairs before encountering an ajar door, with some steel equipment sitting on the table. He looked left and right before he swung it open, stepping in. "Bingo," he muttered, shutting the door and taking off his armour as quickly as possible, throwing it to the side, with a large smile on his face.

He took three of the Elshuims, stuffing them beneath his clothes, specifically near his back. One would be completely hidden, the second one stuck out a bit and the third one was very visible. Although they weren't big tools, they were rather voluminous. Afterwards, he decided to look around for a bit, just to quench his curiosity.

There were glasses of different drinks, wine reserved only for the Nuil, packets of Tributal food, cheap swords and spears, shields, more helmets, and even more feathers for the helmets. Paintings were leaning against the walls, ones that reminded him of Eryk's words, since, no doubt, they weren't of the best quality.

Chyuuichi finally stumbled upon something that caught his attention and caused a little sparkle in his eyes. "My rope! My ropy rope!" he exclaimed before rushing to the five-tailed rope that hung from a small opening in the wall. He grabbed it as quickly as he could and reattached it to a small opening in his belt.

The Mirillian smiled, taking one final glance around the room, and then deciding to borrow some of the stuff lying around, concluding that it looked pretty cool. Something resembling potions, bandages, some normal-looking food, anything he could realistically stuff into his long pant pockets.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of the door opening, and a silhouette appeared, covered in darkness. With a sudden turn, the light cast onto blonde hair, and a grimace on someone's face. "Eh?" he tilted his head. "Who are you?" he muttered, without much emotion, pointing forward.

"L-Lamon?" Chyuuichi asked, pointing.

"Mhm." Lamon nodded. "I overslept. The Nuil's gonna get mad." he shook his head. "Whatever." he rubbed his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"Borrowing." Chyuuichi beamed.

"Okay." Lamon yawned, and Chyuuichi walked past him, patting his shoulder.

"The Nuil wants you to bring him a book."

"A book?"

"Yeah, like, whatever that is," Chyuuichi smirked. "He told me that you know which one he talked about. I'm off, then!"

"Oh. That book." Lamon looked up, stepping into the storage room. "Who was that guy?" he asked himself, scratching his lips.

***

Atomu peeked into a room, seeing a guard sleeping on the floor, loudly snoring. He sighed, taking a step back and closing the door.

"Mhmm mm?" Zuimu asked.

"Nothing," Atomu responded. "Every room is either occupied or empty. Where are the promised goods everyone keeps talking about?"

Zuimu moved in leaps, before opening another door, which revealed thousands, maybe even millions of jars full of jam. Atomu curiously looked inside, met with a sour... or perhaps sweet, disappointment.

"Jam?" Atomu raised his voice. "What does he need all that jam for?" he stepped in, taking one of the jars. "Oh, great. Lignorian Tree Sap Jam. Probably fake." he muttered. "Presumably." he took off the lid, opening the plate and revealing his lips, stuffing some of the jam into his mouth. "Huh." he put the jar back where it stood. "Like I said..."

Zuimu laughed again, before moving away and shutting the door, almost hitting Atomu's face. Atomu stepped to the side, trying to play with the hair stuffed inside the helmet. When they turned the corner, something hit him, and then moved back, trembling a bit.

"Chyuuichi?!" Atomu raised his voice. "You're out of your armour!" he pointed.

Chyuuichi stepped around a bit, closing his eyes, trying to balance his legs out. "Ooh."

"What are you doing?!" Atomu grabbed his hand, looking into his eyes. "Hide somewhere! In here, with the jam!" he pointed to the door.

Chyuuichi ground his teeth. "I got it! I got the elshuims! I borrowed them! For ya!" he threw the elshuim to Atomu. "...and ya!" he threw the other one to Zuimu. "Lot should be thankful that I didn't forget to do this! Not even a thank ya, Chyuuichi!" he folded his hands. "Too many words, too many people, too many stories, too many freaking questions!" he yelled out, eyeing the two.

Atomu glanced at Zuimu for a moment, then back at Chyuuichi. He took off his helmet, gulping and taking a glimpse at the staircase leading up to the upper walls, and with that, to one of the makeshift exits of the castle.

"Oh, yeah." Chyuuichi blinked twice, smiling lightly. "What are we waiting for?"

...and as quickly as the three snuck into the castle, they stormed out, jumping above the walls and through the gates surrounding the entire building.

Rowan observed the three, looking out from an open window from one of the castle's towers, and breathed out. "Idiots. Complete buffoons." they closed the window, stepping down the stairs. "But... I guess it must be true then. Fortune favours fools."

Through conversations and agreements, of which there weren't many, the three took off towards Lot Thúrum, stuffing their newly found tools in bags amongst plenty of food. They were quite surprised, seeing the sheer size of Chyuuichi's backpack. Atomu quickly wondered how much of these were stolen, but didn't say anything, knowing that Chyuuichi would deny any allegations. When the Mirillian wasn't looking, leaving his heavy load on the ground to look around Magna, trying to find the best possible way up and onto the mountain, Zuimu peeked in, stealing a 'borrowed' bottle of juice, managing to gulp it down fast enough before the two realised that something was wrong.

Afterwards, they settled onto travelling through Kyrkogarde and using the stairs they were informed of by a passerby, who used to live in Lot Thúrum, in one of the few houses splattered around the tops. From Homieo, they travelled to the Suspio Bridge, which hung above the water and was the oldest viaduct of Magna, made out of mossy stones and decorated with bricks which supported it from below, extending above the water. When stepping on, the first thing they noticed was the different roads, which extended all through Kyrkogarde, made out of square stones, and strangely unpleasant to tread on.

After making it through, they finally reached the first streets of the district, marked by big, grey buildings, with sloped, dark red roofs, square windows, and staircases leading up to their wooden front and back doors. There were many stones, nature grew around the structures, and a river flew through the main street before extending towards the other currents, making Kyrkogarde the district with the least natural flowing water, as opposed to Homieo.

One could've questioned why most houses weren't built on such solid ground, but in fact, such were mostly used for a graveyard, which stretched from the mountain marking the Tukman Woods to the main river under Darius' statue, and then to the bridge connecting Handulia and Kyrkogarde.

About a fourth of the district was made out of solid houses, older than the ones seen elsewhere, and strangely untouched by the goblins. Kashmir Zenon believed that the aura surrounding one's death was enough to deter the creatures away.

Some other huts were in a different style and belonged to either a few Tributals, guards or other more prominent figures. They appeared in clusters, one near Suspio and the other on the tilt, right and left to the statue of Darius. The other part of the district was made out of graves, surrounded by fences with soft roads leading to unevenly placed tombstones. If one were to try and reach the now headless statue, at one point they'd have to step through the graveyard, whether they'd like it or not. No horses were allowed to step through Kyrkogarde.

Atomu, Chyuuichi and Zuimu decided to take the straight path, leading towards the stairs near the statue, cutting it through the graves and spending most of the time there. At first, they passed Elton's hut, and Atomu knocked, only to be met with no answer. The sun started setting, and they continued, in an odd silence. There were many names written on the memorials. Ones that caught Atomu's attention were those of people described in Paladian stories he heard when younger.

"Blasmona Catherine. 125 A.F.W. to 187 A.F.W." Atomu read. "So... she actually did exist."

"Stupid name," Chyuuichi commented.

"Hey." Atomu furrowed his eyebrows. "Blasmona Catherine was a hero to our people. She was the first one that thought of utilizing nature and turning it into food, ending the Paladian hunger."

"Wait." Chyuuichi put a hand on his chin. "So you're saying that no one ever thought of turning to the trees, bushes and fruits beforehand?"

"Well, she was the first one to try what everyone thought to be poisonous. The tree sap." he smiled lightly. "I thought those were just myths!"

"I know I'm not the one to speak, but-"

"Then don't say it," Atomu uttered before the three went back to marching.

There were a few more notable people buried below the soil. Lyslia Stargard, 106-146 A.F.W., a Mirillian who invented steel pickaxes, the most common and easily accessible tools for mining. To this day, all pickaxes created below the ground are signed with a replica of her signature.

Shun Pito, 379-451 A.F.W., a Morian who had gotten on the royalties' nerves and managed to survive three Tributal arrows to the heart, yet died at the hands of a demon in the Bore Forest. His story led to Tributals inventing sharper and more effective quivers.

Kliaska Gierun, 351-407 A.F.W., was a Tributal warrior and the most honourable of the Gierun family. They were the pioneers of forts, leading to the Great Defense of Apharel in 398 when an army of demons tried to overtake its people. From that day on, in their honour, the city was renamed Fort Apharel.

Many of the people who died during the attack of Magna still weren't buried, however, leaving empty, cold spots.

After making it through, the three took the last road which went up a tilt, surrounded by a few houses with people curiously watching over the travellers, right as the rains seemed to have faded into nothing.

At the top of the hill, stood stairs, leading straight and up, before quickly bending and going up the side of the extremely steep, dark grey mountain, with stalagmites which served as fences. At times, they grew wider or tighter, and some were very big, or very small. The stairway wasn't man-made, but a naturally formed way up the mountain changed into something resembling steps from all the people walking up and down, with even one small bifurcation and a boulder which would allow the passing to climb further along the effigy in the middle.

Nearing the top, Zuimu and Atomu stopped, peering at the headless statue of Darius, while Chyuuichi continued marching. Atomu glanced down at Darius' head, and a part of his shoulder, lying in the water, as the rivers changed their courses for a split second to avoid the obstacle.

He breathed out. "A sign of hope for Magna was destroyed that night," he muttered, and Zuimu turned to him. "I don't suppose they'll find a way to stick that head back to where it once was. What once was broken can not be mended. At least, it won't be the same." he frowned. "You know what I'm talking about."

He turned to Magna, seeing it clearly from above, still eyeing thousands of ruined houses, changed landscapes, debris in the water and fewer people on the streets.

Suddenly, Zuimu lightly elbowed his chest, before staring into his eyes. Atomu didn't say anything, as if he understood her message.

"Come on, ya two!" Chyuuichi yelled out from the top, putting his hands on the edge. "It's gonna get too dark to travel!"

"It's already way past that point!" Atomu yelled back, looking up. "W-We need to find a place to sleep in for the night."

"Out in Shimori?" Chyuuichi looked around. "Dude, ya should've said so! We could have still slept in Magna or something!"

Atomu walked up the stairs, putting his hand on the stalagmites. "We're not stopping near the statue, Chyuuichi. We'll go as far as the night lights still shine."

"Pf." Chyuuichi scratched his neck, sitting down on the snow. "Okay."