He had turned around when he heard footsteps behind him. He remembered seeing something—and then shouting, "Luo, run! Don't come back, no matter what!"
But what happened afterward… or what he'd seen… was completely gone from his mind.
Yuel now sat in his home, on the edge of his bed, deep in thought.
What had happened…?
Maybe it was better not to ask questions.
Perhaps not thinking too hard was the better choice. After all, he was safe at home now—there was no need to dig deeper.
Why should he? He had simply forgotten. And thinking about it wouldn't make him remember. Details... wouldn't emerge just like that.
After a while, Yuel climbed down from his loft and glanced upward. There was a single window above, and normally light streamed through it during the day, along with smoke rising out of the chimney. It created beautiful shafts of light.
But now, there was no light coming from the window or chimney hole above.
So it wasn't midday. Since he'd just woken up, it must've been early morning.
He glanced around. His house was always messy, but…
"Have I… ever made a hammer before?"
...
"I guess I have, because it's right there in front of me..."
"And wait, these weapons too—"
"W-wait, what was I saying?"
"..."
"Damn it, I forgot again. Ugh, I really shouldn't think too hard about this."
"Thinking... never ends well, does it?"
As he did every morning to lift his spirits, Yuel made his way to the cliff.
After a ten-minute walk, he reached it. The view was just as dazzling as always.
"If I shout from here, I wonder which Titans would come to kill me?"
Normally, he'd ponder that. But today wasn't a thinking day. He was just following routine.
"If I don't want to think about which Titan would show up, maybe I should just shout and find out myself."
He smiled after saying that, letting himself be absorbed by the view. The day was unfolding like any other.
"Maybe I should make some tea?"
...
What was that? It was his own voice—he was sure of it—but he hadn't spoken aloud.
"Who are you?"
...
Maybe his mind really was starting to unravel... Still, what harm could tea do? In fact, making tea sounded nice. Today, he'd find a way to make himself some. Thinking too much about the voice... wasn't rational. It was probably just his own voice, something he forgot... or maybe he hit his head or something. No point in overthinking.
With that, Yuel headed home and waited for Luo. Eventually, Luo returned. Yuel hugged him and played with him for several minutes.
Luo was like an escape from everything. Holding onto him was far better than holding onto thoughts.
After a while, though, staying home didn't feel quite right. Normally, he loved it—but today, something about the house felt... uncomfortable. So he left early to go fishing.
He climbed onto Luo's back and off they went. Along the way, he saw many colorful flowers and plants. He'd seen them before, but seeing so many so frequently was unexpected. For the first time, fishing felt genuinely fun.
Eventually, they reached his favorite fishing spot. He spent minutes trying—and today, the pond was generous. With every cast, he pulled out a new fish. Normally, three was too many—but today he caught eight. Two of them were even quite large.
Bringing all of them back would be hard, so he gave Luo the three small ones and one big one right away. That's what he usually did when the catch was too big, but even Luo looked surprised this time. Still, he ate them.
Finally, Luo had started to heal. The area around his skull—his ears—were regaining skin.
So lots of fish was good for him... Yuel needed to improve his fishing skills.
Now it was time for his second meal of the day.
He grabbed his flask and filled it with ink, then headed off for the next location.
As they moved toward the fields, a loud sound echoed across the land, and the entirety of the Inksworn Depths lit up. The surrounding ink pools, the trees, the dull flowers, and countless bugs too weak to even be considered part of a stage—all became visible.
Yuel, still on Luo's back, was heading toward the giant meadow—his second meal. He could only eat the fruits there during sunrise. Otherwise, the guardian would appear and kill him.
He had never been caught by the guardian before…?
Why did he suddenly feel like something was wrong?
In any case, he had never been caught by the guardian before, and he wouldn't be today either.
He cast a gaze over the wide plains. In Undergarden, the scenery wasn't always this beautiful—but when it was, it truly was breathtaking.
The glow of dozens of crystals embedded in the ceiling made for a stunning spectacle—something he could watch for hours.
The only issue was, once the lights faded, the beauty would vanish. So he had to be quick.
Yuel rushed to a tree and plucked a fruit. It resembled a cluster of grapes fused into one, bulbous and purple.
He took a big bite, chewed, then emptied the rest of the fruit into his hand and slipped them into his pocket. He would toss them somewhere far away later. If he dropped them here, the guardian would surely notice.
After finishing the fruit, Yuel descended the meadow—by rolling down. The grass was rough, but rolling was fun. The day was going great, and Yuel was happy—no regrets, no dark thoughts.
It felt like he wasn't even in the wilds of Undergarden anymore—but back home, in safety.
Once they left the meadow, Yuel petted Luo and climbed onto his back. They headed home together.
On the way, they came across the corpse of a Dhune—an enormous, many-legged insect. It had a long tail...
Wouldn't that make a great spear?
Yes. He would make a spear out of it. Beautiful, sleek—bone-crafted.
With his masterfully crafted dagger, made from a third-stage Dhune, he cut the creature's tail. With it, he planned to forge a long spear—equivalent in power to a second-stage Dhune.
He took the tail and continued his journey. When he finally arrived home, he placed the bone aside and took a deep breath.
Just in time—because as he rested, the lights began to fade, and once again, the lower regions were consumed by daily darkness.
This time, he hadn't planted seeds. He was going to make tea.
Whatever strange thing had happened that morning—he didn't know, and it didn't matter. The only way to make tea here was with seeds. There were no other ingredients—just seeds... and ink. Not water. There was no water here.
He took his flask, filled with ink from earlier, and placed it atop the large rock in his home. He opened the cap.
Then, he dropped the seeds in.
Now he had to heat it. That's how tea worked, right? He had never made it before. He had only heard about it—and today, it popped into his mind.
Why not?
According to what he'd heard, tea was supposed to be a calming, refreshing drink.
Luo was still at home, resting in his corner. Yuel didn't want to disturb him, but he couldn't make fire on his own.
A few minutes later, he managed to prepare the tea. He grabbed the flask and took a sip—
"It's insanely hot!"
"Ahh! My tongue!"
"Who even likes tea?! It's awful! What part of this is relaxing?!"
He didn't like it. He walked outside, dumped the tea, and came back in. His tongue was burning—and drinking ink now actually sounded good. If he could find a cold spring, even better.
So he left Luo at home and went to the lake by himself. While he was there, he figured he might as well bathe.
That damn hot tea had ruined his tongue, and he didn't want the burn to spread to his body. Unlike tea, a bath would actually relax him—even if it was a lake of ink that maybe housed Leviathans. As long as he stayed near the shore and stayed alert, he could manage.
And, well... the water was cold. But he was used to that. He always bathed in cold water.
When he finally reached the lake, he broke into a run and jumped in.
"A cold lake... definitely more relaxing than tea."
Yuel felt refreshed and sat there, enjoying the calm air...
A few minutes later, he realized his mistake—he had forgotten to take off his clothes.
Good thing he was alone. If someone had seen, he'd have died of embarrassment. But there was no one here—and this secret, he could take to the grave.
Just as he was about to take off his cloak, he noticed something. On his left collarbone, extending toward his left ear... was that a tattoo?
Yuel quickly stripped off his outer clothes, leaving only the simple black leather undergarment.
A long line and a mass of spirals stretched from his collarbone to his ear. The spirals coiled around his ear, forming distinct, meaningful shapes. And right above the collarbone, etched into the lines and spirals, were four runic letters:
"whi-is-pe-er" — Whisper.
Runic languages were taught to all children in school. Yuel had lived a fairly normal life until the age of eight. Well... maybe not completely normal—but he had learned to read runes.
In Runic, that word had many meanings and uses. Sometimes, it referred to the paralyzing, terrifying whispers born from one's own mind—a sign of creeping madness. Other times, it meant divine whispers—guiding one toward salvation.
He didn't know which one it would be for him...
But if he had a tattoo now, it meant he had experienced an emotional surge strong enough to awaken a Bloodline Inheritance.
And such surges were usually triggered by collapse... by trauma that would haunt someone for life—like the loss of a family member.
But... had he ever gone through something like that?
He couldn't recall anything. But as far as he remembered, he hadn't had this yesterday—so it must've happened today, or last night... or...
Maybe he shouldn't think about it...
Couldn't he just live a simple, safe life in this simple little home?
Then again... maybe he should try to activate his power.
He reached his right hand to his back and touched the mark. The texture was... different.
And as soon as he felt it—something rippled inside him.
...
Suddenly, he was elsewhere.
Alone, in infinite blackness. A void without end.
And standing before him—
Was another person.
Another Yuel.