Rising streams of water. Aslan accepted the saltwater all over his body while slipping between the currents, then briefly submerged before stroking his arms and swimming back up.
Meanwhile, the companions who had been plunged down simultaneously each tried to cope with the sea in their own ways, but only two of them failed entirely.
First, Angie.
The girl, who not only couldn’t swim but also hailed from a hometown without even a nearby river, flailed her arms wildly and began sinking.
“Angie! Are you okay?”
Aslan wrapped his arms around the girl’s waist and surfaced.
The girl, born and raised in Belus Alphen, didn’t know how to swim at all. Consequently, as soon as Aslan lifted her enough to stop sinking, she clung to his chest, panting heavily.
“Ugh… my mouth… I feel sick…”
Even someone as light and strong as Angie was in this state, so Aslan could imagine the fate that had befallen Tiamat.
“Sorry, kid…”
“Tiamat!”
It seemed like it was the end for him as he made a dramatic declaration before beginning to sink.
Tiamat’s heavy and overly bulky body was unsuitable for swimming. He sank quickly, and Aslan had no choice but to wrap an arm around Tiamat’s arm to keep him afloat.
With one arm holding Angie and the other hooked around Tiamat’s arm, Aslan barely managed to support both of them.
Carrying two people at once, Aslan floated on the surface, his face strained.
Aslan turned his head after shaking the groaning Tiamat awake and noticed Ereta approaching.
“Aslan, are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”
Ereta floated effortlessly, naturally swimming despite her shirt and white hair being soaked and clinging to her.
She knows how to swim. Aslan paused momentarily at the thought, which caused Ereta to look puzzled before widening her eyes.
“Phey…?”
Ereta’s gaze was directed behind Aslan. Turning his head, Aslan was startled by an unfamiliar sight.
There stood Phey, walking on the water as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Phey glanced at Angie cradled in Aslan’s arms with a frown before looking away.
“I’ll take Angie. Aslan, just worry about the lizard.”
At that moment, Aslan remembered something he hadn’t thought about in a long time: Phey was an elf, and elves received abundant blessings from nature.
That must be why Phey can walk on water. Aslan stared at Phey, momentarily speechless, and Phey, noticing Aslan’s gaze, smirked slightly.
“Yeah, Phey is a cute elf. That’s why Phey can walk on water.”
Would an uncute elf not be able to walk on water? Amid Aslan’s absurd thoughts, Ereta’s voice of disbelief slipped through.
“Huh…?”
Ereta didn’t understand how cuteness and the phenomenon of floating on water were related, and she blinked in confusion. Phey, seemingly having no intention or ability to explain, shrugged and pointed toward the harbor with Angie tucked under her arm.
“There’s a beach over there. We should be fine if we get there, right?”
Indeed, the harbor wasn’t very far away. Although Aslan didn’t know why they had suddenly fallen into the sea, he was relieved it wasn’t too far and nodded before starting to swim.
Tiamat groaned every time Aslan’s feet parted the water current, occasionally muttering delirious nonsense like “Kid, if this old man dies, put up a statue of me in Belus Alphen.”
Aslan gave a vague response to those words and continued swimming, eventually reaching the shore.
“Oof!”
Throwing Tiamat’s massive body roughly onto the sandy beach, Aslan spat out the water that had risen to his chin.
And it wasn’t just Aslan who was exhausted; as soon as Ereta reached land, she lay down sideways and whined, “Aaaslaaan.”
Then, after Phey gently placed Angie on the ground, the party finally reached dry land.
Angie groaned faintly as she lay on the ground, and Tiamat moaned while tossing and turning. Aslan, propping himself up on his hands on the sand, panted heavily before asking:
“Everyone, are you okay?”
Conscious except for Angie, the rest of the group responded in various ways.
“If Aslan holds me, I’ll be fine.”
“Phey too.”
“This old man doesn’t need to be held.”
Various answers. Aslan chuckled slightly at the absurdity of the responses and stood up.
Still breathing heavily and shivering from staying in the water too long, Aslan looked around the shallow coastline near the harbor.
Here and there, purple seaweed lay scattered across the sandy beach, some containing chunks of what looked like salt. There was not a single person in sight.
At least, not until now.
Aslan and Phey suddenly heard approaching footsteps and looked up to see a crowd approaching from the harbor.
“Aslan.”
“Understood.”
Some were dressed in robes or light shirts, but most wore unique breastplates made of belts and metal.
Aslan recognized who these approaching figures were and grimaced. Unlike Phey, who subtly gripped her sword hilt, Aslan did not move his hand to his waist.
They were wizards.
Skilled combat wizards proficient in manifestation magic.
It didn’t take long for the wizards to surround the group.
As the gathered wizards extended their palms or fingers toward Aslan’s party, a man standing at the center suddenly shouted.
“You have illegally entered the city of wizards! If you don’t want to taste the full power of our city, drop your weapons and surrender!”
Though the words were harsh, Aslan could see the tense expressions of the wizards pointing their fingers at him.
And Aslan felt a strange sense of familiarity with the tension, the wizards’ encirclement, and the grandiose speech.
It felt like something he’d seen before. Aslan searched his memory while observing, and every time his pupils moved, the wizards tensed further, extending their fingers straight toward him.
“Hmm, wait. This scene…?”
The tension grew palpable, as if someone would soon cast a spell, and Aslan finally recalled where he had seen this scene.
Though the location was different, it was unmistakable.
This was an event scene.
There were two ways to reach the city of wizards.
One was to officially board a ship and enter, and the other was to swim across the sea.
Since boarding a ship was too ordinary, let’s set that aside. Swimming across required someone who had maxed out their health stat to 20 points, making it easily achievable.
Without such an extreme setup, it would be nearly impossible to experience this event. It was something one wouldn’t normally encounter, but Aslan was a seasoned player who had gone through many settings multiple times.
Thus, it was only natural that this scene felt familiar to Aslan, even though he realized it late.
If Aslan’s prediction was correct, the next line was obvious.
“How did you possibly swim across that sea?! Are you a priest?!”
“How did you manage to swim across that sea?! Are you a priest, you bastard?!”
Slightly different, Aslan thought, but the similarity in context confirmed that this was part of the event.
In that case, there was only one thing to do.
“Ugh, I feel terrible… My head is ringing… Damn…”
Before Aslan could move, someone else groaned. The source of the groan was Tiamat. Clutching his head and groaning, Tiamat reached for his ankle.
Tiamat, pulling out the small axe tied to his ankle, clearly intended to defend himself in this surrounded state.
Through his half-open eyes, a flash of vertical pupils flickered with killing intent, prompting Aslan to quickly shout.
“Tiamat, put the weapon down!”
Startled, Tiamat glared at Aslan, who promptly dropped the sabers and storm swords strapped to his back and waist.
The sound of the weapons hitting the ground made Tiamat scowl as he quickly scanned the wizards before throwing his axe to the ground.
Although his expression remained sour, it was clear he was unhappy about handing himself over completely to others.
Phey glanced at Aslan and Tiamat before dropping her sword sheath to the ground, and the wizards, surprised by this sudden surrender, merely stared at them silently for a moment.
Eventually, someone had to break the silence.
“We surrender! I, Aslan Flame Tongue and four others, surrender to you! We will fully comply with your treatment, so please escort us peacefully to the jail!”
The loud and confident declaration of surrender. As Tiamat furrowed his brow and Phey made a soft grunt, the wizards looked shocked.
As the wizards hesitated to approach, Aslan smiled inwardly.
This was an opportunity.
With the sound of handcuffs clicking shut, Aslan’s party was led to the prison.
*
The main quest taking place in the city of wizards, when viewed purely in terms of content, was simple.
Interpreting the vision Angie had dreamed, given by the ancient deities.
By interpreting this vision, they needed to determine the exact location of the throne of Kehil and uncover the plans of the ancient deities.
For this, they had to entrust the interpretation of the dream to a highly skilled wizard.
Thus, the pace of this main quest varied greatly depending on the circumstances.
The level of the wizard, the amount of payment offered, and the reputation accumulated within the city—all these factors played a role, sometimes stretching the quest to last over a month in-game time.
While progressing through side quests to build reputation, hiring wizards, and paying the necessary fees, it was inevitable that it would take that long.
So, the fastest way would be to secure a very skilled wizard, gain a solid reputation, and have them work for free.
For instance, the greatest wizard in the city.
Though it wasn’t intentional that they fell into the sea,
Nor did they expect that their swimming across would be judged as such,
Aslan didn’t miss the opportunity. He didn’t want to kick away the chance that had rolled his way.
Therefore, Aslan was currently in jail. His companions, separated into different cells, were all asleep.
Angie, unconscious since the start, and Ereta, who fell into a deep sleep due to exhaustion while occasionally mumbling Aslan’s name in her sleep, along with Phey, who enjoyed sleeping even though she didn’t need it, and Tiamat, who slept with his tongue sticking out against the wall.
When everyone in Aslan’s party was asleep and the quiet of dawn arrived, footsteps approached.
The guard gave a stiff greeting, and light footfalls echoed as they drew near.
Finally, when the footsteps were almost close, Aslan saw the owner of the sound.
Long auburn hair streaked with strands of white here and there. The woman with elongated ears and green eyes let her long hair flow down over her shoulders and back.
Her vivid green eyes emitted a soft glow, and a thick mana flowed from them. Despite the mana flowing towards him, Aslan leaned against the wall and calmly looked at the woman.
The woman stopped in front of Aslan’s cell and stared at him silently. After staring wordlessly for quite a while, when Aslan slightly adjusted his posture and sat up, the woman spoke.
“I’ve heard that you swam across. Is that true?”
No introductions, no greetings—just jumping straight into the matter. What might seem rude and inappropriate at first glance didn’t bother Aslan much.
“Yes, I swam across.”
Despite answering the abrupt question calmly, the woman showed no reaction and continued to stare at Aslan. Though her gaze lacked emotion, Aslan could feel it.
The deep interest the woman felt.
After all, the same happened in the game, so there wasn’t much difference.
“Are you a priest, then?”
At the expected question, Aslan smiled faintly.
“Do I look like a priest to you?”
“I’m not sure. Just looking, I can’t tell, but if you crossed that frozen sea, you must be a priest.”
Cold tone. Suppressed curiosity and interest. Aslan tilted his head as if seeing through the woman’s inner thoughts and looked at her.
“Will you really stick to that story?”
At Aslan’s confident question, the woman made a soft sound and smiled faintly.
Crossing that supposedly unswimmable sea. For someone in her position, it was only natural to be curious.
Even if she weren’t curious, she would still have to investigate.
Because she was the mayor of this city.
Swimming across and getting imprisoned was, in a way, the fastest route.
It was also a route that speedrunners of Eternal Dominion inevitably took.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t appear.
The second-generation master of magic and the mayor of the city of wizards,
Also known as the manipulator of magic, a hybrid of Green and human.
An exceptionally talented magician with great achievements across all disciplines.
Anna Helmenius.
She must already suspect that one of Aslan’s party has knowledge of the ancient deities’ language.
There is no one better than her in the northern continent searching for knowledge of the ancient deities’ language.
