Somewhere in the Galestine Ocean.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, painting the twilight skies in deep shades of red and violet, the mysterious island Adam had found himself on… began to shift before his very 'eyes'.

First, the island trembled subtly. Then, the tremors grew stronger, and the island beneath Adam shuddered to life. From the eastern side, something vast breached the surface of the sea.

It kept climbing higher and higher, shedding curtains of foam and water, until finally revealing itself to be a massive head! It was scaled and weathered, crowned with barnacles and streaks of moss. Its ancient eyes glowed like twin blue suns, piercing the dusk.

What Adam had thought to be a large island finally revealed its truth… it was no island at all, but the shell of a colossal turtle, so immense that coral forests, hills, valleys, and rivers sprawled across it like decoration.

With a low, thunderous groan, the titanic creature shifted, and waves surged as two enormous flippers rose from the ocean, splashing waves of water high into the air.

In that moment, the illusion of land instantly shattered. This was a living titan, older than empires and kingdoms, carrying the weight of ages upon its massive shell.

As Adam witnessed the true identity of this island, he was completely and utterly bewildered!

Standing at the easternmost edge of the so-called "island" and gazing at the colossal head that had emerged from the ocean in front of him, the youth's legs gave in, and he gracelessly fell to the ground.

"Ha… haha… hahaha, I'm… I'm actually going crazy," he murmured in a shaky voice. "Oh, goodness arcana! I have finally lost it!"

Adam kept rocking back and forth, looking around his surroundings as if he were in a dream. No, dreams were never this horrifying. This was a damned nightmare!

"W-what is real? What is illusion? I… I can't tell…" He murmured like a maniac, speaking incoherent words that only he could understand.

He wanted to cry, but he found his lips curling upwards instead.

His mental state was already so fragile to begin with, and now, to witness the island that he had been calling home for the last three months reveal itself as nothing but the shell of a titanic turtle… he truly did not know what to believe.

Reality seemed to crumble before his eyes. Everything felt like an illusion. Everything felt fake.

The ancient turtle witnessed Adam break down and fall into the pits of despair. At first, the great being had intended to reprimand the little human for the commotion he had stirred upon his shell.

But now… seeing him so fragile, so utterly lost, the colossus could not help but feel a flicker of pity. And so, he parted his giant maw again and gently spoke.

Though the words were meant to be gentle, they rolled like thunder across the sea and sky, crashing into Adam's ears with a weight that made him tremble.

"Little human, what is your name?"

Adam flinched, turning to 'look' at the titanic head of the turtle before him. Through his Sphere of Resonance, he could only feel… vastness. Additionally, he could also feel immeasurable strength.

In that moment, he knew that this being was a mighty Mana Core Magus!

"Ha… haha… but so what? This… this is my imagination," Adam muttered under his breath, his hands trembling. "I… I'm really going crazy!"

It would have been so much better if he hadn't been made aware of the existence of the giant turtle. Better still if he had gone on living in ignorance, never questioning the ground beneath his feet. He should have just stayed hidden away in his cave instead of venturing out and toppling hills.

For now, faced with the truth, he found himself utterly incapable of comprehending the scale of the world unraveling before him.

The giant turtle studied Adam intently, his blue eyes now flashing with a hint of concern. Then, he heaved a deep and heavy sigh, the force of his breath whipping the sea into motion and sending great waves rolling outward.

Then, he spoke in a deep, yet subdued voice:

"A few months ago, when I first found you, you were in a wretched shape. Even as you sank in the depths of the ocean, the black flames surrounding you refused to fade."

"Black flames?" Adam murmured as a deep frown appeared on his scarred face. He looked at the turtle's giant head in front of him with a contemplative look on his face.

"Black flames…" he repeated those words, feeling an instinctive fear in his heart. Just thinking about those flames caused deep trauma to emerge from within. Yet, he held on to that feeling.

He had often wondered how he had been saved from his inevitable demise. By all logic, that fall from such a height should have shattered his body, and if not the fall, then surely the black flames consuming him should have finished the job.

Yet somehow, he had lived. He had woken up on this 'island' without a memory of how he got here. As he thought back to the moment before he plummeted from the heavens, he remembered… he had taken a gamble.

"Yes, those black flames," said the giant turtle. "They were unlike anything I had ever beheld. Never have I seen a fire burn with such ferocity, refusing to be quenched even in the crushing depths. It was the blaze which drew me to you, little human… a beacon of darkness in the endless ocean."

Adam remained silent for a few moments, gathering his thoughts.

The giant turtle continued, his voice as heavy as the tides, "My magic healed your broken body, but it could never quite heal your broken mind…"

Adam was stunned. "You… healed me?!"

"How else do you think you still draw breath, little human?"

Adam's lips curled into a wide grin as he thought to himself, I see… so that's what happened.

No wonder those black flames were gone when I woke up.

Then, that means… my gamble actually paid off!

He threw his head back and let out a laugh.

He laughed and laughed and laughed.

And then, he stopped.

He glanced at the giant turtle head and asked with a hint of skepticism, "You're real, aren't you? I'm not just going crazy, right?"

The turtle scoffed. "Oh, I am very real, little human. But you… you are indeed mad!"

Adam burst into another round of raucous laughter. A long time later, he finally stopped, then introduced himself with a weary, yet genuine smile:

"I'm Adam, by the way."

The giant turtle opened his maw again, his voice rolling like thunder across the waves:

"And I… am called Tebu."

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