Cayn woke up early, like always. He snuck out of the room and went to his uncle.

  “Good morning boy.”

  “Good morning, Uncle. What are you doing?”

  “Just cleaning the church to pass time, you should go get breakfast. You still remember the bakery, right?”

  “I do,” Cayn answered, retracing the path in his head. “I will be right back, do you want something?”

  “I’m fine, go ahead.” His uncle had red eyes and dark circles underneath; he hadn't slept did he?

  The city was like he remembered, which wasn’t a long time ago. The bakery nearby was still the same, rustic, humble decorations and held by the same sweet person.

  “Morning Cayn! It has been a while.”

  “It truly has, how have you been?”

  “Oh, you know, old age is getting to me.”

  “Aren’t you in your thirties?”

  “Yes… You’ll get it when you’re there. What brings you here? Aren’t you supposed to be on a Journey at your age?”

  “I am currently on mine, indeed.”

  The [Baker] started talking about their own Journey, on how truly unique it was and how lucky Cayn was to be doing it right now. He couldn’t help himself but think about whether or not they said he was lucky because he was alive and his brother was not. It is an unhealthy way of thinking, he knew that much but he couldn’t control himself. Will he ever be able to?

  Buying what could possibly satisfy both Astor’s and Bel’s taste, he went back.

  His friends were still asleep, and his uncle was discussing with Dietrich. Cayn was curious, however, he respected their privacy. He wasn’t entitled to know about their whereabouts. If he hears something, it will be directly from them. He sat somewhere and ate by himself, staring at the vaults.

  Bel surprised him from behind, “Boo!”

  “We say good morning, you boor.”

  “Right, right, mornin’.”

  “Here, take this.” Cayn handed a salty cake with candies on top.

  “Oh, my favorite. You know me so well.”

  “Astor is still asleep I guess?”

  “Yeah.” Bel took a bite and glanced at Uncle and Dietrich. “What are they talking about?”

  “It is none of our matter, mind yourself.”

  “I’ll go see.” Bel went to them. No sense of shame at all.

  “Wait—” Cayn resigned. “Whatever.” He was used to it at this point.

  Bel had joined the conversation like it was normal. Cayn felt the need to go too but tempered, he had principles and won’t give away. As the conversation went on and became louder, he felt the urge to distract himself. So he started cleaning. The ceiling was unbearably dirty anyways.

  “[Switch: Mage].” He imagined a gentle breeze and activated a skill, “[Element]”. Wind magic came out of his hands. He controlled the flow and sweeped the dirt away, segment by segment. It felt great to see the cleaning progress, cathartic even. And without noticing it, he bumped into someone, “Sorry.”

  “Need help?” Astor said, unbothered by being bumped in.

  “You do not have to, only if you wish so.”

  Astor got to work as well, and he was much more efficient. Too efficient. In a matter of minutes, the ceiling was polished, cleaned up, anew. Cayn thought that he should practice more with [Element], as the show of both wind and water magic Astor did was impressive.

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  Bel called them, “Hey, come here we have news!”

  They came up to them.

  “What is it?” Cayn asked.

  Bel jumped the gun, “We’re gonna beat the Third World Boss.” No transition, no small talk, no nothing like that. She just went to the point.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Put on some forms,” his uncle said. “What she said is the plan, but only if you three agree.”

  Confusion went on but Cayn didn’t know how to tackle it.

  “It’s not urgent either, so take your time,” Dietrich said.

  Is anyone going to explain anything?

  Astor to the rescue. “What Third World Boss?”

  “The Great Coral covering the archipelago is a World Boss,” Uncle said.

  What? That didn’t make sense. World Bosses were new, so saying that one of them is the Great Coral was nonsensical; it had existed for long before World Bosses were even a thing, let alone dungeons.

  “Didn’t World Bosses start to appear recently?” Cayn asked.

  His uncle answered, “An [Appraiser] has accidentally used [Identify] on it some days ago. The System has reclassified it, I suppose.”

  What even was the purpose of their quest? Why did the System ask them to vanquish the World Bosses? So many questions yet not a hint of an answer.

  “Yeah, anyways, we are doing it,” Bel said, “only people under a certain level can damage it anyways, and order of the System too.”

  She was right, they weren’t going to let a quest unfulfilled. Cayn looked at Astor, and soon did everyone else too. They expected an answer.

  “Sure,” he said. One word, efficient.

  Uncle and Dietrich had other business to attend, so they let Bel fill in for explanations. It didn’t amount to much except “let’s ask the [Appraiser].”

  Near the edges of the archipelago-wide barrier maintained by his uncle, was a shop. It had the longest queue Cayn had ever seen in his life.

  “I came prepared,” Bel said, bringing out toys and games.

  They were planning on waiting for the shop to close, but given the queue, it might take longer than planned.

  “Should we go inspect the Great Coral first?” Cayn suggested. “Bel, you can stay here… You seem to be having fun.”

  She was toying around. “Sure, I will bring him to you guys once he’s done. Just don’t go too far, alright?”

  Both Astor and Cayn went to the very edge of the archipelago, atop of a cliff. The barrier was a tiny bit further, descending well into the sea. Beyond that, the Great Coral was looming above them. Rumors were said that the Great Coral was about to die, due to its pearly-white color, and that was the reason why the barrier was maintained at all times. Just insurance, in case everything fell down. Cayn glanced at Astor; he was using wind magic.

  “What are you planning to do?” Cayn asked.

  “I’m gonna fly to get a better look. I might fall too, catch me if that happens.”

  “Pardon?”

  Astor propulsed himself, launching straight into the air. Cayn panicked a bit before realizing that it was a pretty normal behavior coming from Astor. He had done so many wonders before, what is one more?

  Cayn kept an eye on Astor, as his priority was his well-being and not the supposed World Boss. Soon, Bel arrived with their esteemed guest.

  “Heyah, what’s Astor doing again?”

  “Flying.”

  “Oh yeah, he can do that, I forgot,” she said. “Anyways, here’s the [Appraiser].”

  “Nice to meet you, I am Hyakinth, [Appraiser] of the Third Land.”

  Cayn bowed, “It is a pleasure.”

  Presentation done, they admired the spectacle that Astor was showing. A bit of flying. Some stepping in the air with barriers. Add to it the various light shows he made and it was quite pleasant for the eyes.

  “Has your friend mastered all those skills? I haven’t heard any skill activation whatsoever.”

  “Probably, he’s pretty good at thinking out of the box,” Bel said.

  It is true, to master a skill is to think out of the box, and therefore have an acute understanding of the skill itself. Cayn only had one and it was by pure luck.

  “In any case, my time is precious, so let's get near the Great Coral, shall we?” Hyakinth said.

  After calling Astor back, they hurried to the port to get a better look. It was the evening and boats were coming back home. Noises went around as embargos docked into the port and workers were complaining about what happened in the Second Land. Most complaints were about logistics, nothing depressing, thankfully.

  The [Appraiser] started. Aiming at the Great Coral he said, “[Appraise], [Inspect], [Identify].” All three skills of the class at once.

  The first showed nothing, as it wasn’t an item. The second took effect but was tame:

  Composition: Calcium carbonate.

  The poor coral had nothing but bare bones, Cayn knew that much. Then came the last screen.

  World Boss.

  Hyakinth spoke, “My job here is done, the screens will stay for ten minutes, do what you want with the information.” He then left the trio.

  Cayn hoped it was a mistake, for the Great Coral was a passion of his, but had to resign and accept his duty.

  “We’re supposed to beat that big coral?” Bel said. “Also, corals are alive? I thought they were big rocks, whoops.”

  Cayn stared at her with contempt then looked at Astor, inquiring any sort of theory.

  “The Great Coral has a lot of tiny things on it,” Astor said, “I’ve tried to see what it was but can't really tell, do any of you know?”

  Cayn squinted, “You mean the polyps?”

  “Smaller.”

  “How small are we talking?” Bel asked.

  “Microscopic.”

  Bel used [Protection] to form a magnifying glass. “Can’t I get some light?” she asked and received. “Oh yeah, I can see. Isn’t that just some microbes?”

  “They all look very similar,” Astor replied.

  Cayn took a closer look as well; he was right, what were those?