Seeing no reason to delay, Nova approached the gate with steady steps. His backpack and sword were clear indicators that he was going to hunt, but he still expected resistance.

And sure enough, as he approached the gate and expected it to open, nothing happened.

"Are you… heading out?" one of the guards closest to the gate asked, looking down at Nova with the same questioning eyes as everyone else he had spoken to lately.

"Yes, going to hunt some monsters. Is that fine?"

"... Well, are you sure? Even experienced hunters travel in groups, and I can't say I've seen you here before. And I think I would remember."

"I'm sure. It's not part of your job to worry about me, is it?"

"Not specifically, but ensuring the safety of citizens is part of our duty. But that's only within the city, so… Open the gate!" the guard yelled behind him.

The gate was split in two, slowly opening to the outside. It was much thicker than Nova expected, with nearly a meter of pure metal separating the inside from the outside. Each door easily weighed a hundred tons.

'Damn, that's making me a bit nervous about what I might encounter out there. I will need to gain power to increase my time limit with the fragment. Otherwise, I will be in trouble.'

The guard turned back to Nova, gesturing for him to walk on through. "Good luck out there."

"Much appreciated!" Nova replied, walking past the guards and out of the tiny opening in the massive gate.

His immediate impression of the outside was that it looked surprisingly normal—open plains and hills, with a few forested areas to the west. But strange mountains ruled the landscape in the far distance to the north.

'And that's where I'm going, the outlands… Well, no reason to dawdle. I really hope this spell works!'

He sat down on the ground and closed his eyes, manipulating his essence into a circle below him. They formed runes and circles that slowly formed together, and suddenly, Nova started lifting from the ground.

But then the runes dissipated, causing him to fall back down with a pride-shaking thud.

[You don't have the required aspects for skill: Sphere of Travel]

'God damn it! Not even a simple traveling spell…'

Nova sighed deeply, frustrated by his lack of mental control and power. Even after four years, he found it hard to adapt to this powerlessness after his life as the great archmage.

'I know all the theory, but I don't have the ability to use it! How many hundreds of thousands of Soul Power will I need to reach that height again?'

He got up from the ground and brushed off his new clothes, focusing on staying calm. With no available spells or techniques to make travel easier, he had no choice but to start walking.

And so he walked. One set of footsteps. And then he walked a bit further. Two sets of footsteps. And then he stopped.

To his side, someone strange had appeared. A man, not much taller than himself, with a scraggly grey beard and eyes with silvery white pupils. But the man's attention wasn't on Nova at all; he was standing with his nose in a thick notebook, writing away with methodical precision as he walked—or stood, now that Nova had stopped.

"... Can I help you?" Nova asked, adjusting the sword at his hip. He hadn't sensed the man approaching, which troubled him quite a bit.

The stranger raised a finger, telling Nova to wait a moment. Then he finished his line with careful precision, closed the book, and made it vanish into thin air. "I'm just here to observe you. You seem very interesting."

"Observe me… Why do you think I'll let you?"

"You won't?" The man's beard twitched with amusement.

"I didn't say that." Nova felt he was being looked down on. He was usually fine with that, but this stranger rubbed him the wrong way for some reason. "What makes me interesting?"

The man's silver eyes sparkled as he gestured at Nova's diminutive form. "Do you even need to ask? An old soul in a four-year-old body walking into the outlands with nothing but a sword and some provisions?"

'Oh… I didn't expect to be seen through this easily. This guy might be on another level entirely.'

Now taking the conversation a lot more seriously, Nova started maneuvering it carefully. "Do you always answer questions with more questions?"

"No, but curiosity is core to my being." The man stepped closer, studying Nova intently. "You're an immortal, right?"

Stolen story; please report.

Nova kept his expression carefully neutral. "What's an immortal?"

"You're not? That's even more interesting…" The man summoned his notebook again and started writing, taking glances at Nova like he had to get every detail right.

Nova watched the quill dance across the page. "If you intend to use me as a study subject, will you answer some questions in return?"

The man's writing slowed. "... Like a question for a question? We have rules that prevent us from sharing anything without adequate compensation, and our prices are very steep."

"What a coincidence," Nova replied with a slight smile, "we have the same rule! The price is even higher on our side, so you'll unfortunately have to pay me extra for each answered question."

The quill paused mid-stroke. "Very interesting. It seems you don't even know who we are…"

"Would I reveal it if I did? And do you think I would reveal if I am an immortal for free? Also, do you think this conversation has been anything but carefully maneuvered so far?"

The man lowered his notebook, a look of dawning respect crossing his weathered features. "... I see. Apologies, we tend to meet people who are very happy to reveal things through conversation, without being consciously aware of it."

'Yeah, I noticed…'

The man continued, straightening his robes with his free hand. "In case you don't know, we are Chroniclers. We serve the highest being of knowledge in this realm, traveling everywhere to learn and to record information for the future."

"Ahh, a worthy cause." Nova relaxed his stance slightly, though his eyes remained sharp. "Thank you. Now I can stop answering with questions."

The chronicler tapped his quill against the page thoughtfully. "... May I ask a question now?"

"Go ahead. But I hope you don't mind if we walk while we talk. It's a long way to go." Nova started walking, already displeased about the waste of time.

"Not at all!" The chronicler replied, keeping up with his pace. "Now, who were you five years ago?"

A distant look crossed Nova's face as memories of another life surfaced. "A good question. I was Archmage Nova, the foremost authority on magic and wisdom in the land of Sonnenreich. I trained kings, led wars, and ultimately defeated humanity's cruel nature, at least for a while."

The chronicler's pen moved rapidly down the page of his book, continuing for way longer than it should take to write what Nova said. "... You swear on this information?"

"It is what I believe to be true, yes." Nova watched the writing continue to spread across the pages. "But five years is hard to judge accurately."

"Of course, if you were reborn, it would be hard to tell the time that passed." The chronicler's eyes narrowed. "But Sonnenreich... I'm sure I would have heard of it, no matter how far in the past we need to travel."

Nova remained silent, giving nothing for free. He had intentionally left out that it had happened in another world, choosing only to say the name of the kingdom.

"And now my turn," Nova said, adjusting his pack as they walked along the dusty road. "What are the basic and most vital steps of growing stronger that someone like me, who is new to the system, might not know?"

The chronicler's silvery eyes gleamed. "Ahh, new to the system, you say?"

"I'm giving you that piece of info as a treat."

"Hah, appreciated!" The man's quill appeared in his hand once more. "Well, the system itself will share certain information in the beginning, but after that..."

He paused, considering his words carefully. "Trait-hunting is quite popular, where people search for souls with valuable traits and absorb them in an attempt to gain them for themselves. One thing not everyone knows is that equipping a soul often raises the compatibility, which in turn raises the chances of gaining a trait."

"Okay, the second part is useful, but the first is kind of obvious. Anything else?"

The chronicler stroked his scraggly beard thoughtfully. "Hmm... I could tell you about a skill that can be very useful for hunting trips. Would that be acceptable?"

"I'm not sure; I already know a ton of skills. What about telling me the effect first?"

"Mmh, sure," the chronicler nodded, his robes rustling as he walked. "Although the knowledge that it's useful is valuable in itself. It's a skill that lets you remove all scents from yourself."

"I already know three skills that work the same way."

"Oh…" The man's brow furrowed. "How about one that gives you a temporary shelter underground?"

"That sounds useful! But also complicated. Is it an invocation? A formation?"

The chronicler reached into his notebook and extracted a sheet of parchment that seemed to unfold impossibly from between the pages, stretching far larger than the book itself. Arcane symbols shimmered faintly along its edges. "This here is the formation for it. I'm sure you'll be able to learn it, Archmage."

Nova accepted the diagram with both hands, carefully spreading it out to examine the intricate patterns. The morning breeze threatened to tear it from his grasp as he studied each line and rune. "Ah, I've never seen a formation like this before… It's really something."

'Something awful, more like! What kind of desperate individual would use a formation like this? Making a ditch in the ground and covering it with dirt, not even making an air hole? And all the wasted essence! Why rip the dirt straight up instead of separating it from the ground first? Why apply the energy at the bottom?'

He traced a finger along one of the formation lines, keeping his expression carefully neutral even as his assessment of this world's magical knowledge plummeted. He figured the chronicler might have given it to him to test his skills, in which case he had no intention of revealing anything.

The chronicler beamed at Nova's apparent interest. "I'm glad you like it! It's not very comfortable, but with your low aspects, I don't think you'll be able to make anything better."

"... Why do you think I'm out here? I need power."

"Oh, is it my turn to ask again?" The chronicler's silver eyes lit up with curiosity again.

"Yeah, go ahead." Nova tucked the useless formation into his pack, more out of politeness than any intention to use it.

"This one will be worth less to me, but I am curious about you." The chronicler's quill hovered over a fresh page. "What is your goal? Both long-term and short-term."

"... Short term, to save the kids who are being harvested for their souls. First, the ones in Collport, then everyone in the nation. And long term, grow strong enough to punish everyone who deserves it."

"... Those are noble goals. Some might call you naive and self-righteous."

Nova expected a follow-up after that, but the man stopped talking. "I'm used to that, don't worry. I decided long ago to follow this path, until I breathe my last breath. And for some reason, I never do."

"Hmm… Perhaps a god has taken a fancy to you?"

"Hah!" Nova's laugh held no warmth. "The only gods I've encountered were either cruel or entirely antithetical to living beings."

The chronicler stopped in his tracks, staring at Nova with wide eyes. "What do you mean 'gods you've encountered'? People down here never encounter gods! You're an immortal after all, aren't you?"

Nova continued walking along the road, not even turning to look at the chronicler. "Sorry, it's my turn to ask."

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