There was a tale that even a peasant was privileged to hear.
It was told across all nations, clans, and classes of people.
It was a history that divided the world into the five distinct continents as we know them today.
It was a story of destruction and chaos—the story of the first major rift shattering.
Humans, at that point, were just getting used to the changes and anomalies brought by rifts. They were adjusting.
Then, a rift far stronger than any they had conquered so far appeared.
Historians claim it may have been a tier VI rift, while some ancient scribes insist it was a tier V or IV.
However, there was no way to truly know what tier of rift it was, as humans at that time had not yet discovered the trick to discerning the tiers of rifts.
The world was united back then and fought as one.
But the disaster was so great that it cut the world’s population in half.
Humans and several other races perished while trying to conquer it.
When it was eventually conquered, people gained an enormous boost in strength, becoming far stronger than they had ever been.
There were surplus resources, but some wanted to monopolize them, while others wanted to share them equally.
Eventually, none could reach a common understanding, and all parted ways with different rewards and resources harvested from the rift. This marked the start of territory distribution.
The Central Plains was, in fact, the last continent to be formed.
However, due to the influence of the first drifters’ training institute—the academy, its influence spread quickly.
The point was…
Over time, Gehenna had become a phrase to describe how gruesome a thing is.
Mothers used it to tell their kids scary stories at night—the horrors of monsters encountered, the helpless deaths… so much so that it instilled a sense of dread in people worldwide when they heard the word ‘Gehenna.’
So when Northern said the word, he created a perfect picture of dread in their heads.
Folding his arms, Arlem shattered the silence, his cocky voice ringing through.
“Do you even know what you’re saying? Gehenna? I’m pretty sure that rift you were in was tier III at some point, isn’t that right, Eric?” He inquired, turning to the scrawny boy with round glasses opposite him.
Eric, caught by surprise, swallowed his spit.
Before he could speak, however, Northern’s hoarse and straightforward voice resounded.
“It was a war… a war between monsters.” Northern started, his tone cold and dreadful.
Even as he continued, they could feel the weight of each word that proceeded from his mouth.
“For a walker who had never been into a rift, who knows nothing about monsters and rifts… can you give a better explanation of Gehenna than seeing a land that stretched far and wide, joining the horizon… filled with corpses and blood?”
His facial expression contorted into a frown as he regarded them all.
Murmurs traveled across the table.
At this point, their tough and scrutinizing expressions slowly began to shatter.
Northern opened his mouth, his words carrying even more dread.
“It was a dayless realm. There was no way to tell time apart; the night sky was constant. There was no moon or star… everywhere was shrouded in darkness.”
The atmosphere became heavy. “A couple of hours after I entered the rift, I was attacked by a hellion-rank monster… Night Terror.”
He could see the surprise creep up on their faces; some looked at him with skeptical frowns.
It was quite understandable that people would think he was lying.
He didn’t expect anyone to believe him.
In fact, it would work to his advantage if they didn’t believe him, since they would also not believe or ever think that he truly is as strong as he is now.
But since they would be holding up their end of the bargain, he owed them the truth.
“Young lad, are you sure… a hellion-rank monster? And you were a walker?”
“I think he’s lying about being a walker!” Arlem interrupted fiercely, his brows furrowed into a frown.
Everyone started to murmur. Some were indifferent.
“Arlem, it’s really wrong to be interrupting the Headmaster during his sentence.”
Arlem shrank back as the voice from the right of the Headmaster rang out. freewebnσvel.cѳm
He looked away with a bead of sweat upon his face. “I’m sorry, Headmaster.”
Gilbert ignored him and turned to Terence. “What do you think?”
She nodded her head with a stern stare back at him.
Observing them, Northern chuckled internally.
‘So, that’s her…’
He had figured that Gilbert would most likely bring someone with the ability to sense lies or tell when someone was telling the truth.
Just as he didn’t expect anyone to believe him, he didn’t expect the Headmaster to, either.
He was sure there would be someone who could perceive lies.
Northern had been deeply thinking about what abilities to copy since he was dealing with humans going forward.
He wanted to be careful and have abilities that would shield him from betrayal or falling into traps.
He had decided which abilities to have his eyes on first.
He cast one last careful look at Terence before averting his gaze as he continued addressing them.
“You were there, Headmaster Gilbert; my talent evaluation was right before your eyes. So yes, I was a walker. And I survived because it decided not to kill me… instead, it took me to a prison mine.”
Gilbert frowned. “Monsters have a mine?”
Northern allowed a small smile. “They have a kingdom, in fact.”
Gilbert raised a skeptical brow and turned to Terence, who responded with a nod.
Northern’s eyes lingered keenly on her for that brief moment, trying to discern what she had done.
But there was nothing—no message from his system that he had copied a new talent.
‘Maybe I should pay attention early enough, so I won’t miss whatever time she uses the ability.’
Since he suspected it was a mental ability, he didn’t expect to see a physical sign that she had used it.
He would focus on her alone for now.
“So you were taken to a monster kingdom? Most likely where we found you?”
Northern nodded, with a serious look, sparing it to Gilbert for a second before returning his eyes to Terence.
Gilbert’s voice crawled out again: “And what were they mining?”
Northern brought his eyes to Gilbert, then dipped his hand behind the breastplate of the Eternal Twilight and brought out a red crystal, then placed it on the table.
“This…”
