?


    "How did thise to be here?" After carefully examining the peculiar machine, Ethan turned his inquiry to Link.


    And Still, he harbored little expectation for aprehensive answer.


    The device appeared intentionally crafted to resemble some kind of monster, adorned with numerous tiny tentacles and a vast maw, apt for devouring.


    Furthermore, the entire contraption was engraved with magic runes.


    These runes, intricate and bewildering, could induce dizziness with just a fleeting nce.


    Only an immensely powerful magus could possibly craft something of this caliber.


    Perhaps, Kadiven could achieve this as well...


    As Ethan pondered this, he caught Link''s reply: "It fell from the sky."


    "Fell from the sky?" Ethan''s brow furrowed, finding the exnation somewhat hard to believe.


    At that moment, another child chimed in, "Indeed, it fell from the sky. Here, every so often, vast holes appear in the sky, and various things tumble down. Mostmonly, they are the corpses of monsters."


    "Holes in the sky?" Ethan tilted his head upwards, scanning the luminous expanse above.


    The sky gleamed brilliantly, showing no sign of any anomaly.


    Lana Mokos too cast her gaze skyward, a glint of realization in her eyes, "Is this sky... an illusion?"


    "What do you mean by ''illusion''?" Ethan inquired.


    Although he sensed something amiss about the celestial dome, there was no discernible sun from his vantage on the ground.


    Moreover, the light that bathed themcked warmth.


    It bore an uncanny resemnce to the glow within greenhouses used for cultivating vegetables.


    A greenhouse...


    The thought struck him like lightning, sending a shiver down his spine.


    If this were truly the case, where might those skyward gaps that Link mentioned lead?


    At that moment, Lana Mokos called out to Ethan.


    Jolted back to reality, Ethan was drenched in a cold sweat.


    He found himself standing rmingly close to the bizarre machine, no more than ten centimeters away.


    The machine''s gaping maw aimed directly at him, exuding a nauseatingly fetid stench.


    "What just happened? How did I end up standing here?" Ethan murmured, bewildered.


    Lana Mokos cast a concerned nce at Ethan before exining, "As soon as I mentioned the sky being an illusion, you seemed to drift off. Then you walked mindlessly towards this peculiar machine."


    Hearing this, Ethan fixed a wary gaze on the peculiar apparatus.


    Then, he turned to Lana Mokos and asked, "What does this ce remind you of?"


    "A greenhouse," she replied forthrightly, echoing Ethan''s earlier sentiments.


    After confirming Lana Mokos'' observations, Ethan didn''t linger in that ce. Instead, he returned to their dwelling to seek out Ba Jogos—he was currently the only one who could possibly unravel the enigma that beset them.


    Fortunately, on this asion, Ba Jogos'' door remained open.


    Without hesitation, Ethan and Lana Mokos entered, directing their pressing question to Ba Jogos: "Can you exin where exactly we are?"


    "Where?" Ba Jogos seemed neither surprised nor perturbed by their sudden appearance. After a brief nce at the pair, he replied in a matter-of-fact tone, "Haven''t I already informed you? This ce is the Scrapyard. And what is the Scrapyard? It''s the remnants left behind from others'' experiments, the discarded, the unwanted. Those things are cast away into a specific ce, and that ce is named the Scrapyard."


    Ba Jogos elucidated with a rity that was almost unsettling.


    "So, you''ve always known that something was amiss with this ce?" Ethan probed further.


    Instead of responding immediately, Ba Jogos rose and retreated to his room. When he returned, he held several crumpled sheets of paper in his hand. They bore the signs of distress, having once been wadded up with force. And upon those papers, lines upon lines of writing covered every inch.


    It was a set of experimental records, coupled with personal diary entries.


    [Radiant Era, Year Five, June]


    [Entry One]


    [Under the radiant embrace of the holy light, nts can elerate their growth.]


    [When nts are in this elerated state, infusing them with a touch of demonic energy results in some intriguing mutations. Potentially, we might see capacities as intriguing as flowers bearing human faces.]


    [But that isn''t intriguing enough.]


    [To push the envelope further, I acquired at a high cost a "Power of Mutation" potion crafted by the venerable Dram. Typically, this potion is administered to those with a unique Bloodline, mutating and amplifying its potency. Using it on nts, however, is uncharted territory. I believe I''m the pioneer in this endeavor.]


    [...]


    [The experiment failed.]


    [...]


    [Damn it, I encountered Aisya in theboratory! This golden-haired woman actually wielded spatial powers to obliterate the nts I''d painstakingly cultivated. I swear, she will pay for this!]


    [...]


    [My ns for vengeance were unearthed, and Aisya gave me a sound thrashing.]


    [Upon learning of the circumstances, the Academy too levied its judgment. They expelled me. But such banishment cannot quench my inherent talent. I am destined to be a master botanist, rivalling the likes of a Sage.]


    The subsequent writing grew increasingly erratic, making it exceptionally difficult to decipher.


    Furthermore, what unsettled Ethan was the realization that the inscriptions on the paper weren''t made at the same time.


    Even the ink''s color varied.


    For an experimental log, it was remarkably unprofessional.


    And notably, there was a mention of someone -- Dram.


    After ruminating for a while, Ethan finally recalled where he''d encountered that name before.


    It harked back to the expedition to the Red Jade Valley.


    Within the valley, adjacent to the remnants of the Gama Empire, stood an abandoned temple.


    It harbored a statue of a sandworm, and beside the statue was another experimental log.


    This one pertained to the sandworm, and the author was none other than Dram himself.


    "From this perspective, the author of this document I hold seems to have lived during the same era as Dram."


    "And then there''s Aisya..."


    Ethan murmured to himself.


    In this moment, it seemed as though the pieces of the puzzle were slowly aligning.


    Yet, it didn''t yield any actionable insight.


    The only revtion Ethan gleaned was that Dram, the author of the note, and Aisya hailed from the same epoch.


    They might have known each other and could even have been from the same ce -- the academy mentioned in the notes.


    But this was still of little significance.


    From this amalgamation of information, it was impossible to deduce the intent of the document''s author.


    "Do you have any other records?" Ethan directed his gaze at Ba Jogos.


    Ba Jogos shook his head immediately, swiftly reiming the document from Ethan''s grip.


    "Only this one. It''s the first record," he responded.


    "However," Ba Jogos paused for a moment before continuing, "I do have aplete training n book here."


    "A training n book?" "What use would that be?" Ethan queried.


    Lana Mokos, on the other hand, had a gleam in her eyes, her curiosity piqued. "Is it the same training n book that my grandfather once reviewed?"


    Ba Jogos gently shook his head, replying, "No, what he saw was a prior edition. This one here has been refined, with enhanced results. If you two n on venturing out, it would be best to start training ording to this n book. It might take half a year."


    "Would you like to give it a shot?" Ba Jogos asked with a yful smile.


    From their exchange, Ethan gathered that this so-called training n book was no ordinary tome.


    He held his tongue, allowing Lana Mokos to make the decision.


    Lana Mokos agreed, and as Ba Jogos retreated back to his room, Ethan seized the moment to ask Lana Mokos, "Are you familiar with this training n bopk?"


    "Somewhat," she responded. "Back when my grandfather was still around, he spoke of his experiences here. ording to him, the training n book wasprehensive, detailing a full suite of exercises along with corresponding potions."


    "However, Ba Jogos mentioned that this is a refined version of the training n book..." Lana Mokos mused, a hint of curiosity stirring within her.


    Shortly thereafter, Ba Jogos emerged from his room, handing a thin booklet of merely a few pages to Lana Mokos, remarking, "Here''s the training n book."


    Lana Mokos took it and immediately flipped it open.


    The first page disyed a line of scrawled writing, messy yet legible.


    [The previous training n book was absolute rubbish!]


    She then turned to the second page, which showcased a series of diagrams.


    It was evident that these depicted a sequence of exercises designed for physical conditioning.


    On the third page, more handwritten notes greeted her.


    [With my revisions, this training n book is simply wless.]


    [Just keep eating and you''ll be fine!]


    "So this is what you were talking about..." Ethan expressed, skepticism evident in his voice.


    Lana Mokos too seemed hesitant.


    After all, this so-called training n book appeared rather rudimentary.


    With no clear instructions, it seemed imusible that it could drastically enhance one''s physical prowess.


    Noticing their skepticism, Ba Jogos reassured with a smile, "Trust me, it really works."


    Hearing Ba Jogos''s assurance, Ethan still remained skeptical.