Their bikes cruised smoothly at around, seventy kilometers per hour, engine humming with slight warmth as they glided past the road.

The highway leading towards Blákvísl was almost empty, except the occassional appearance of pick-up trucks or high-end luxury cars, which dominated the broad road.

The reason for those empty roads was fairly simple. Blákvísl was an area which sat on the outskirts of iceland, far away from the crowded cities.

Raviel glanced around as they rode. The evening sky was unreal — layers of purple and indigo painted the sky across the horizon.

The highway lights illiuminated the Arctic thyme and lichen present on either side of the road.

As they entered the city area, the road narrowed slightly. The surroundings grew quieter, almost eerily so. Only a few luxurious cabin-style homes stood scattered around, their warm lights glowing behind large glass windows.

They slowed down and pulled over briefly, letting the bikes idle.

Ezio took a deep breath and looked ahead.

"We'll reach the church in thirty minutes now."

"I see...", Raviel replied, looking at the cabin across the road.

....

They reached the church grounds and parked their bikes in a open lot. The air was getting colder now.

As they took off their helmets, Raviel looked in the bike's rear view mirror and touched the earring on his ear.

"Well this thing really did its work."

Before coming here, both of them had activated the artifact, which in turn had changed their hair into muddish brown colour and their red and violet eyes were replaced with jet black ones.

Raviel leaned before the mirror again.

"Tch. Still it looks like a downgrade."

Ezio looking at his strand of brown hair, frowned slightly. "Can't do anything now..."

Ezio, then pulled out his jacket from storage and adjusted it. "We have to be carefull now, as we only have fourteen more uses."

"I know it, okay!"

Raviel sighed but followed him as they started walking toward the church.

The building loomed in front of them — huge and imposing. It looked like it was at least forty meters tall. Massive granite slabs gave it a creamy, almost pale-gold color, and intricate geometric patterns were carved all across its surface. The structure felt ancient and magnificient.

As they moved closer, Raviel noticed two smaller buildings nearby, but they were completely overshadowed by the church's size. A small pond sat off to the side, its surface was still and dark, reflecting the dimming sky.

Near the entrance, there was a sign fixed into the ground.

Seralynskirkja.

Raviel went closer and squinted at it. "What the hell is written on here?"

Ezio glanced once and shrugged. "How would I know?"

Raviel shook his head and murmured quietly to himself. "Illiterate fucker!"

Ezio just heard the starting words. "What did you sa—"

Before Ezio could rebuke again, Raviel had already moved ahead.

A little further in, they spotted a tent with people going in and out. A board stood beside it with large letters written on it:

Volunteer Workies.

They exchanged a brief look and walked in.

Inside the tent, three people sat behind a long table. In front of them, a short line had formed. Everyone held bags in their hands as they stood waiting. Most of them looked young, while a few seemed to be adults.

Both of them waited quietly in the queue until it was finally their turn.

On the other side of the table sat a man in casual clothes. A large diary lay open in front of him, filled with messy handwriting and tabs sticking out from the sides. He looked up with a relaxed smile.

"Nafn?", he asked.

'He is asking our names isn't he?' Raviel thought.

'Just do it like you practised, Raviel.'

Clearing his throat, Raviel spoke. "Rafael Sever… son," he said, putting on a confident smile and calm face.

Ezio, standing behind him, froze for half a second — then both of them ended up smiling awkwardly.

'Guess we are screwed!'. Ezio thought as he watched the exchange.

The man covered his mouth with his hand, clearly trying not to laugh. When he noticed Raviel staring, he waved it off.

"No vorries, my frienj!" the man said cheerfully, his accent thick. "I see jou jus' arrive back. Native, but fresh from utland, yes? So leern Íslenska little little. No stress!"

A few people nearby snickered.

Raviel felt heat rising to his cheeks. 'I messed up.'

He cleared his throat. "Pardon. I still have a lot to learn about my native language."

Then he gestured to Ezio. "And—ahh!—this is Eeyor. He's my twin brother. We both have the same problem, so if you could excuse that, please."

The man laughed openly now. "No vörries, no vörries."

He flipped through the diary, running a finger down the page. "Let's seeeee if jou arr on de list… ah! Here, lad ey!."

After confirming their names, they were quickly frisked and handed two identical bags.

"Clojs," the man said, pointing at the bags, his hands slightly trembled.

Before he could explain more, a young man wearing black-and-white robes waved at him and clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.

"Shall we go out then." He said, casually waving a hand at the man.

He gathered the group and led them outside the tent.

Once outside, the young man smiled brightly. "Well, I am Emil, and I will be your guide today."

He checked his watch and chuckled. "Tonight — my bad," he corrected himself, laughing. A few of the adults laughed along.

"I will be explaining everything in English for our two guests," Emil said. "Any problem with that?"

The group, consisted about twelve people, laughed once again and shook their heads.

Emil then looked straight at Raviel and Ezio.

"Rafael and Eiður, no need to worry. That man back there is my dad. He's just happy as this time, a lot of young people have joined us for volunteering."

Raviel let out a quick breath, while Ezio showed a thumbs-up to Emil.

Emil led them inside the church, his footsteps echoing softly on the stone floor.

"First, this is the prayer hall," he said, pushing open a set of wooden doors. "We also call it the Chapel of Inner Light."

The room was quiet and warm. Soft lamps glowed along the walls, and rows of simple benches faced a clean stone altar. It felt calm, with the feel of motherly comfort. A few people instinctively lowered their voices, even though no one told them to.

From there, Emil guided them to the gathering hall. It was wider and more open, with long tables, stacked chairs, and notice boards filled with handwritten notes and schedules.

But then Emil opened the doors to the sanctuary hall.

Everyone who stepped inside froze.

The hall was massive. Tall stained-glass windows rose all the way up, and light poured through them through the lamps, breaking into reds, blues, golds, and greens. The colors spilled across the floor like a moving painting, shifting every time someone took a step. It felt like standing inside a kaleidoscope.

On the central wall stood a large portrait of 'The Goddess Seralyn'. She had golden locks that seemed to glow in the light, and she held a small child gently in her arms. In her other hand was a book, pressed close to her chest. Her expression was calm, kind, and strangely powerful.

Emil started to speak. " You see, The goddess Seralyn wa—"

He suddenly stopped and checked the time. His eyes widened slightly.

"…Right. Time's up for today," he said with a small laugh. "We'll continue the rest of the journey tomorrow. There are a few more rooms, but those are for tomorrow."

Some people relaxed immediately, as they had held their breaths due to the sheer absurdity of the room.

Emil then led them outside and around the back of the church, toward one of the two, smaller buildings behind it.

"These will be your rooms for the night," he said casually. "Get some rest. Tomorrow will be a long day, folks."

....

Thud—!!

When the door closed behind them, Ezio dropped his bag and glanced around the room. Then he looked at Raviel with a small grin.

"So, what's up, Sever son?" he said, clearly enjoying himself.

Raviel groaned loudly and rubbed his face. "Shut up, man. It happens sometime " he muttered.

The room in which they were currently in, was simple but decent. There was a small desk pushed against the wall, a bunk bed taking most of the space, and a compact washroom at the side.

Without saying much more, Raviel climbed up to the top bunk. He lay flat on his back and let out a tired sigh.

"Let's continue the mission from tomorrow," he said lazily. "Today, I sleep."

Barely a few seconds later, his breathing relaxed.

Ezio stood there for a moment, surprised. He glanced up and confirmed Raviel was already out cold. Shaking his head, he walked closer to the window. Outside, the small pond reflected the dim evening light, barely rippling.

Ezio stared at it quietly.

Then, with a faint murmur under his breath, a translucent screen flickered open in front of his eyes.

==========QUEST==========

Objective: Save maximum number of students in the upcoming ruin exploration.

Rank: ???

Rewards: Information about the 5-star module (????)

_________________

[ MAIN QUEST ]

Objective: Stop the ?????? of ?????

Rank: ????

Rewards: ?????

Location: ????

Current proggression: <...1%>

===================

Evertime Ezio would see this, his heart wouldn't stop trembling, even now he felt fear — about, what really was coming for him in the future.

"Haaaaa!!...", He rubbed his brown hair.

"Let's just hope, all goes well."

With a final sigh, Ezio turned off the lights and closed the curtains.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.