In one of the taverns of a poor city, Spoffius Tavern, the old tavern owner sits reading the newspaper amid the smell of alcohol and the laughter of drunkards.
One of those present comes up to him and says, "Old man, it's that time of the year, isn't it?"
The old man replies indifferently, "Yes."
The man speaks again, "Do you think the meeting of the kings will take place this year?"
The old man replies, "I don't know, it's not important anyway."
The man waves his bottle of alcohol slowly and asks, "Your tavern is named Spoffius, yet you say everything is unimportant."
He inhaled the scent of the alcohol and took a sip. He turned to continue speaking,
"What if the meeting is held and a war breaks out?"
The old man sat on his chair, turning his back to the drunk man,
"If a war breaks out, it will be foolishness. Those five fight among themselves and the people are the victims. A woman waiting for her husband, a mother waiting for her son, children waiting for their fathers—yet they're all dead."
The other man, laughing and barely conscious due to the alcohol, asks,
"Isn't that what makes us the strongest?"
The old man looked at him from the corner of his eye, frowning, whispering,
"If this is strength, then the world is doomed to perish."
The man speaks again to say to the old man,
"Do you know how the meeting is held?"
The old man replies before turning the page of the newspaper,
"By majority vote."
After turning the page, he falls silent in shock.
The meeting had been held.
"Strange… the meeting hasn't been held in decades."
The other man's head falls onto the wooden table. In the last moments of his consciousness, and before falling asleep, he utters with a mocking smile and furrowed brows filled with sorrow,
"Will you die now, Ibra?"
---
Village of Linius
"The meeting was held?" Leo asked in wonder.
Sai added, "Since we were born, not a single meeting has been held."
Sina said, "Not for us either."
---
City of Heiji
Kani was reading the newspaper while Kano was washing dishes and listening to her.
"I wonder what happens in such meetings."
"Old folks' talk isn't interesting."
---
Kingdom of Green Road
Kyotai walks through the green kingdom's atmosphere between advanced technology and ancient plants.
"A meeting, huh?"
---
Karez Lavalik
"Do you really think what you're doing is right??! A child not having an ability isn't something he can control. Can't you understand how heinous your actions are, Akin?"
I said to my grandfather, who had his back to me in the middle of the palace's entrance.
The sunlight hit my eyes and reflected the fire blazing within them.
Garin stood beside me, loaded with conflicting emotions and endless questions.
He turned his head and looked at me with angry eyes.
"You call your grandfather by his name?"
I immediately replied,
"What will you do? Kick me and Garin out?"
Garin added,
"Not like kicking us out would affect us anyway."
Akin tried to speak, but I interrupted him.
"Generation after generation, you do the same thing. I'm surprised your lineage still exists, considering Shinta is so random it's unbelievable. I can't believe the lava ability kept appearing in your line without stopping in a single generation."
He turned and looked at us and spoke with a firm but slightly shaky voice,
"Karez, Garin, you don't know how Shinta works."
We don't know how Shinta works? What is he talking about now?
He continued,
"There's a 25% chance the child will have the same ability as the father or a similar one, and 25% for the mother as well. The remaining 50% is the probability that the child will have a completely different ability from both parents."
Now what?...
"Sometimes, Shinta acts strangely. One percentage dominates the others? That's what they most likely call an anomaly."
Garin asked immediately after hearing that,
"But that doesn't explain why you want only the lava ability."
Akin answered him then, in a firmer voice with absolute seriousness,
"I allowed you to live in the palace only because you saved Fatila. Don't think you'll change anything."
At that moment, I felt speechless. I knew there was nothing I could say that would change the mindset of someone like him.
I turned my back, and with it, an involuntary Shinta wave burst out and extinguished the nearby candles.
We walked into one of the palace's corridors. We were silent. Garin probably didn't know what to say in that moment.
At the end of the hallway, we met Kaiser. He asked,
"How did it go?"
Garin replied,
"Not very well."
Kaiser expected that.
Even though I felt deeply hopeless, Kaiser—being a user of the lava ability—was at least on our side and saw that what this family does is wrong.
---
Kingdom of Withrian
Beatrix Linlin
"Nothing new…" I said under the rain as I sat in one of the narrow alleys.
The day in Withrian Kingdom is different. rains for 20 hours and stays clear for 4. I've gotten used to it—it's my homeland.
Suddenly, the rain stopped above me.
No, someone held an umbrella over me.
I looked up. His face was unclear due to the darkness.
But after focusing, I saw his face.
It was Damian, a student from Class A.
---
10:00
Leo Vitalite
The weather is rainy. The smell of dampness spreads. Rain hits the wood of the house.
But the knock on the door was louder.
Sai stood up and opened it—what a surprise.
Kinto, in his soaked clothes, asking us to let him in.
The elder of the Shinga royal family kicked him out of the palace.
Of course he would—Kinto broke the family's first and most important law: that no member of the family becomes a warrior.
The next day, a piece of news spread.
Alvis who was captured after the tower incident was found to have a seal preventing him from saying certain words.
So the kingdom's strongest sealing magic user, Maria, was brought in to break the seal.
When she did, he finally spoke:
"Ma—"
Before he could finish the word, he exploded completely, leaving nothing behind.
---
A week later, a single news spread.
It shook the entire world.
It destroyed plans and predictions.
And rebuilt thoughts and papers.
At the meeting of the Five Great Kingdoms, an alliance was formed between Anastasia, Ogrulia, and Great Nest.
People in the streets whispered and debated.
No one was sure what the outcome of something like this would be.
Fear, hope, joy, worry, terror.
Multiple emotions were born from one piece of news.
In Leo's family's home, they didn't know how to react.
This was the first meeting in 90 years, and now when it finally happened, it resulted in an alliance.
Karez, on the other hand, saw hope in this alliance.
But Garin doubted the intentions of the kings.
What everyone was also wondering about was the stance of the kingdoms of Farsian and Ashansia.
They refused the meeting in the first place, but since the other three agreed, they were forced to attend.
Even during the meeting, they did not utter a single word.
In the palace of the royal family of Ryum, Neron was washing his face, as if cooling his thoughts.
He took a deep breath and looked at the mirror.
He uttered a single word:
"Ashansia..."