Neither Kenward nor Adam knew that at least two other powerful beings wanted to get to Adam.
One, in a black pulse like an unstoppable force of nature tearing down everything in his path, while the other was gathering people and plotting a plan to get rid of the potential threat that Adam represented.
Kenward and Adam hardly had to worry about that, though. Right now, they were both imrsed in conversation, the forr out of curiosity and the latter wanting to learn more secrets.
"I see... If you think about it that way, it all falls into place. I recently killed a Hollow Wave monster and fought in the black zone. Apparently, that’s not a very common occurrence, right?" Adam smiled nervously.
Kenward shrugged, sitting at the base of the tree.
"Who knows? I think you realize that most K3-Phantoms that get to the Dark Shore this way die too quickly for anyone to know about them. If you didn’t decide to disturb the dew tree, I wouldn’t have shown up, and you would be killed by the monsters around you. It would happen sooner or later."
With a stream of cold wind, Adam nodded slightly. He had a lot of questions and hoped Kenward would answer them.
But, as soon as his mouth was ajar, Kenward was at his side, lightly squeezing his shoulder.
"Co on. Let’s not waste any ti, young Phantom. You can ask your questions along the road and I’ll try to answer them, at least most of them." Kenward smirked.
Adam looked up, baffled. "What, the road? Where are we going?"
"Hah, isn’t that obvious?" Kenward chuckled, jumping on his horse and patting the seat behind him. "We will follow the dark route until we reach the shard of the First Star that awaits you - a young Phantom!"
Sothing in Kenward’s voice made Adam flinch. His voice was not just curious, but full of excitent, a feeling forgotten to him.
Realizing there was no other choice, Adam nodded and carefully climbed onto Kenward’s horse, afraid to anger this great beast.
Once Kenward made sure Adam had a firm grip on his shoulders, he leaned forward as his horse tore forward.
In a dark flash, they swept swiftly through the Sorrowful Dew Expanse, fearing no one. Not a single monster in the vicinity could even scratch Kenward.
From ti to ti, Adam would suggest where the dark route led, so that Kenward could change direction. He did so without any difficulty.
"Kenward... Why? Why are you not only not killing , but helping follow the dark route?" Adam asked his first question of many.
Kenward’s corners of his mouth went upward. "As I said earlier, you’re lucky it was you ran into. You see... At the Dark Shore, monsters like have two main worldviews. One of them is followed by monsters like . The one we follow is the so-called Free End."
"Hmm?" The Free End? Is that... So sort of organization or faction like humans have?"
"No. Not in the case of the Free End, exactly. The Free End doesn’t have a single leader or groups that rule any territories. Everyone decides whether to follow the Free End or not. However, about the second force at the Dark Shore, you guessed right."
Adam gave him a thoughtful face.
"The Befallen Crown. Now that’s a faction. The most powerful and influential of all at the Dark Shore. If you were on the lands they control, you’d be dead by now. That’s not my guess, it’s a fact that would have happened."
Adam gulped. He realized that Kenward was not joking.
Moreover, even though the Free End and the Befallen Crown were supposed to be different in their worldviews, there was no malice or hatred in Kenward’s tone towards the Befallen Crown.
This was not good news for Adam.
That ant that the Free End and the Befallen Crown were not enemies. They just might not agree on so issues.
’Well, to expect otherwise would be naive, right? After all, they’re all monsters and very powerful,’ Adam thought. ’Kenward said there are other factions, but they seem to be insignificant before these two.’
With the next surge, Kenward continued.
"The Free End followers, such as myself, feel it is essential to follow the will of the First Star. That is why I am going to lead you to the shard of the First Star, for it is waiting for you. However, the Befallen Crown mbers believe that all humans are enemies and must be destroyed, regardless of the will of the First Star."
Adam narrowed his eyes.
"What about ? Am I an enemy to you?"
The answer was expected.
"You are too weak to be my enemy, Adam, but yes. If you had co here of your own free will and not by the arrival of the First Star, I would surely kill you. My hand would not tremble, and my spear would not stop."
"So... If after all this, I survive, get out of the Dark Shore, and co back, are we enemies?"
Oddly enough, Kenward didn’t give a quick answer as it wasn’t an easy question.
"It’s not that simple, Adam. It depends on many factors... You know too little about the First Star and the Last Star. You should have only touched those mysteries at the K4-Level. That’s... Too much for a young and weak mind like you."
Adam frowned but didn’t reply.
In so ways, Kenward reminded him of Arnoth. Obviously, Kenward was much stronger, but at points, they said similar things.
"I see... So, when we get to the shard of the First Star, I can finally beco a K4-Phantom?"
Kenward nodded.
"Yes."
"But... You said that if it wasn’t for the black flash, I’d need the Midnight Crystal. How does that work? I got the Midnight Crystal once, it was at the K1-Level. Isn’t that too low-level a resource?"
"Hah, the Midnight Crystals co in many forms, but you don’t need to think about that, because you’ll need another crystal."
Adam looked up. He didn’t know that the Midnight Crystal had an alternative.
"The Twilight Crystal is your target."
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