Perhaps because of the daylight, Northern's journey back to the castle gate was serene – at one point, it almost felt too peaceful.

There were no signs of life, no monsters, not even a crawling ant. The city felt deserted, in fact.

He stopped at Master Annette's place to check on her, but she was not around. Then he proceeded to the castle gate.

Having to pass through the crowd of shelters scattered here and there left a bitter taste in Northern's mouth.

For some reason, he was reminded of homeless folks who had been victims of horrible natural disasters like earthquakes or tsunamis.

'There was quite a lot of that where I'm from,' he dwelled momentarily on the thought of how ruinous and pitiful the people looked.

But he strangled that thought a couple of seconds later. There was nothing he could do about it. The disaster had caused so much damage that no one could ever contain or prevent it.

Northern could only imagine how horrendous it must have been in the beginning – a rift suddenly appearing and breeding monsters without warning.

He was sure the kingdom must have put up a lot of fight. They must have held on for years before this.

'But still... isn't twenty years too much?'

Even if the monsters were enormous in quantity, these were humans...

Northern scoffed at the thought of it.

Humans possessed a variability that could transform anything, that could turn even the most cruel situations to their favor.

They had a spirit that never lost, even though they were contained by fear, even though they cowered.

There always rose among them...stupid and reckless heroes who, somehow, always managed to turn things around.

And so it didn't sit well that these civilizations gave in to the catastrophe heralded by monsters – that they were beaten and destroyed.

'Perhaps they gave up before they could win?'

Just as Koll had addressed, humans were small-minded and weak. All it could take for them to lose resolve was an overwhelming sense of dread or loss.

He had to fairly consider both possibilities happening.

But still...

'Something is up here...'

And the more he reasoned it, the more his mind drifted to Koll – which he honestly hoped was not the case...was not involved in this situation at all.

Northern didn't plan to follow Gilbert's tail-chasing dream of closing down the rift, but that did not mean he would stand down should the need to hunt those monsters arise.

He just didn't want to give them the notion that he was a part of them...seeing how reckless they currently were.

'They are not the kind of people I'd want to associate—'

Woof!

His mind came to an abrupt halt when he heard the shout of his companion.

Northern looked ahead with a hearty smile and spread his arms.

"Mr. Fluffy!"

Immediately he called, the massive wolf galloped towards him and tackled him in an embrace, both of them tumbling away.

Mr. Fluffy's size had grown impressively from the last time Northern could vividly visualize.

Of course, he had noticed it when he fought the beast, but its massive form hauling him down and slimy tongues delightfully licking his face made it even more apparent now.

Northern giggled for a few seconds.

The people around stared with pale faces, some expressions blanked by surprise.

The monstrous entity that wouldn't let anyone touch it was happily licking the face of this strange guy.

It didn't take long for them to evaluate that this must be the survior who made it out of the rift.

Rumors about Northern had traveled quite far among the refugees, the stories twisting into different forms.

Strangely though, all of these forms ended as if Northern had barely survived.

Instead of respecting him, they scored him with pitiful gazes – which was, first of all, annoying when he finally got up and glanced at them.

He didn't have much time to dwell on how they looked at him, though.

Because the moment his eyes landed on Mr. Fluffy, they widened.

"Hey! My bag!!"

Northern's lips curled into a sweet smile.

'Master Annette did mention it was with a bag, but I forgot!' He remembered and happily caressed the soft white hair of the beast then retrieved his bag.

"Thanks, buddy. I owe you one." He took a lingering glance at Mr. Fluffy's body.

Scars marred several parts of its body, causing Northern to pity the creature for a moment.

'Life must have been pretty tough after I left,' he remarked inwardly, patting the beast.

"Wow...amazing. We had a guess, but to really think that you are a tamer."

Northern arched his brow as the clean, manly tone entered his ears.

He looked up to see a green-haired guy with a warm presence standing in front of him.

The man wore a pretty smile, and his green armor was a beauty to note.

He stretched out his hand to Northern and introduced himself:

"I'm Braham...Braham Lockson."

Northern meekly received his hand and responded, "Northern."

Braham raised one of his green brows. Then, a few beats later, he said, "I find your name quite odd. Is it a nickname?"

'Damn you, Shin,' Northern smiled with his eyes.

"It's not," his response was short and laced with a curt tone.

Coupled with the pleasant smile on his face that hid irritation, Braham didn't need to be told to realize he had to drop it there.

He took a look at the snarling wolf and drove his eyes back to Northern.

"You must be here for the Sage Gilbert, right? Come with me."

He turned to his left, where stood a tall and slender boy in mismatched pieces of armor – breastplate, vambraces, and pauldrons all of different designs.

That was enough to tell that his attire wasn't a singular item but something handmade.

Northern watched as Braham addressed this young man.

"Go fetch Raven and her sidekicks. Their guy is here."

He didn't know what Braham exactly meant by 'their guy,' but Northern could swear he sensed some kind of animosity the moment he spoke the name 'Raven'.

However, Braham turned to him with a sincere smile adorning his lips and actually made him think...

'Maybe I'm just reading unnecessary meanings into his tone.'

He walked forward, and Northern followed, with Mr. Fluffy silently trudging behind them.