After a brief debate, they finally decided to study this world first, leaving Kaeren’s origins for later when clearer clues appeared. Raven still grumbled. “We must find out who possesses the mythological power that brought Kaeren here. If it’s evil, at least we can prepare for the worst,” Raven chirped. Fortunately, his voice did not carry, for the room had been designed to remain silent. Still, even now, though they focused on Kaeren’s world, Xiara’s power could only sense Kaeren’s feelings, not reveal clear information.

“How is it? Can you read?” Xiara asked Noen. “Yes, a little. I learned to read in the village of Thanaven, the first place I arrived when I came to this world.” “Ah, that explains why you introduced yourself with that village when we first spoke.”

The writing system of this world was unusual, a mixture of alphabet and abugida. In a typical abugida, every consonant is read as ‘a’ unless marked with a special sign called sandhangan, which changes it to ‘i’ or another vowel. But here, consonants are not read as ‘a’ by default; they require a sandhangan to be read as ‘a’. (Examples of abugida: Jawi script, Devanagari.)

“You also brought a children’s book, didn’t you?” Xiara asked, pointing at the mathematics book Noen carried. “Children’s book?” Noen asked, surprised. “Yes. That book is everyday material for children in this kingdom, at least level two. Though the quality here is different—it’s written to be very easy to understand,” Xiara explained, pointing at the number two in this world’s script. The numbers looked different, though fortunately they were written in the same order as Latin numerals from Noen’s world.

“Wow, I didn’t know that. In my world, this is high school level—around age eighteen,” Noen said. “You waste so much time on knowledge. Something this simple takes you more than ten years to learn,” Xiara replied.

Kaeren’s eyes lit up when he heard the words high school. “Hey, it seems Kaeren feels something familiar from that conversation,” Raven said.

Noen and Xiara turned toward Kaeren as Xiara removed her sealing ring. “He feels familiar with the level of knowledge you mentioned, Noen,” Xiara said. “Does this mean he’s from my world too?” Noen asked. “Not necessarily,” Raven answered. “You’re right,” Noen and Xiara replied together.

Then they began discussing this world. Raven explained that the planet’s diameter was about six percent larger than Noen’s Earth. Xiara added that the planet had three satellites, which Noen had already seen, named Saka, Mulakara, and Palaga.

The planet was still called Earth. The planet humanity had left behind also bore the same name. Perhaps they did not want to forget the service of the previous Earth—or perhaps it was guilt. No one knew.

This Earth had nine continents, but only three were habitable for humans due to safety. The other continents were too dangerous, and it was said that no one had ever returned from expeditions there, even those who possessed fable-tier story powers.

Xiara named the three safe continents: Kigilzhem, Aethermoor, and Tefria. Each continent had three kingdoms, except Tefria, which had only two because it was smaller than the others. The Kingdom of Kharanax was located in Aethermoor, the largest continent on the planet.

“There is actually a story about someone who once returned from a forbidden continent,” Xiara suddenly said in the middle of her explanation. “But for some reason, no human remembers it, even though I often heard it as a child.”

Noen and Kaeren listened intently, while Raven looked bored.

Moments after the long discussion of history, there was suddenly a knock at their door.

The king suddenly entered politely, without guards, and closed the door behind him.

Xiara immediately bowed, forgetting to signal Noen and Kaeren. “Hey, bow quickly,” she whispered. “There’s no need. I understand they don’t know the culture of this world,” the king replied gently.

The three of them were shocked when the king said that. “Hahaha, you’re surprised, aren’t you? This is because of my story power,” the king said calmly.

The king’s name was Sidhimantra, and he possessed a legend-tier story power that summoned a bell into his hand. But this was no ordinary bell—it was the Genta Swara, a bell that could summon the dragon Besukih, a creature capable of granting prosperity to the kingdom or visions to its wielder. It was no wonder the king seemed to know everything. A power perfectly suited for a ruler.

“In truth, I wanted to meet the victor. But it seems unique things always attract other unique things,” the king said, turning his gaze toward Noen and Raven. “Well, it’s not something we can hide anymore,” Raven replied cynically. “Don’t be so harsh, haha. You’re not just Raven, are you? You’re an entity higher than mortal beings. But you can’t be the owner of mythological power—because if such a being arrived on a planet, that planet would be destroyed in less than a second,” the king probed. “Yes, I am the Ankh of the god Thoth,” Raven answered. “Even more interesting. An Ankh. You can even bring two humans here at once?” “No. I only brought Noen. Kaeren—I don’t know who brought him here.”

Noen, Kaeren, and Xiara could only watch as the two continued their conversation.

The king’s face shifted slightly, no longer calm, after hearing Raven’s words.