Code Collector

Inside the newfound room was a lair that looked like it belonged to someone. There were handcrafted ornaments, decorations, and even weapons around the room.

"I think someone lived her before," Jeremy said as he explored the room.

It was a similar shape to the marble dome, but this one was built with cement. The river that was flowing right in the middle of it, but a stone bridge connected both sides of the room.

"But how did anyone live here when these dates back way back when the first gate to the Otherworlds opened," Allen argued. "The items in this room is very outdated. These could even date back to the 2020s."

"Thirty years ago?" Jeremy asked, raising a small item in his hand. "This is a snow globe, right? The person that lived her must've been a human. Maybe there was a gate that we didn't know existed, and that person that lived her accidentally entered the cave."

"That's unlikely to happen since humanity explored 70% of earth and even the depth of he oceans," Allen said. "There's an small chance that a gate would appear somewhere else. Besides, no man could actually survive these lands without prior knowledge of it."

"This man knows the existence of all the worlds," Jeremy continued, making Allen chuckle in amusement. "Hey, I can keep up with your brain too. Don't understimate me."

"Alright, alright," Allen only shook his head while hiding his laugh. "Let's explore this room and go back. The person must've been stuck here because there's no other way out. It's quite impossible if they didn't even try going to the other side."

Allen saw Jeremy stop moving. Hey placed his hand on the man's shoulder and was about to ask him what was wrong when Jeremy slolwy pointed at the corner of the room.

"What's wrong–"

"Finally!"

Allen was caught off guard by a tiny woman who ran to him and tackled him down with a hug. The woman was grinning widely while she pointed at Allen. "You. Your power is strong even when it's raw. How could you do it?"

"Err," Allen scrunched his face when he didn't have anything to answer. "Training and daily grind. I just farm and grind as days go by."

"Wow," the woman breathed out. "All this time I've been waiting for someone strong enough to finally find me."

Allen then took a step back and conjured his glaive, raising it to the woman's face. "Who are you?"

"I am Chara," the woman said. "The Spring Lady of this river. My actual body has long since vanished, this is my avatar that I left for future Adventurers."

Allen narrowed his eyes and leaned the glaive closer to the woman's neck. "What do you mean? We're called Hunters. There's no such thing as Adventurers."

After what Allen said, Jeremy joined him in pointing his weapon at Chara. They were now wary of her identity, thinking she's lying. She looked like a regular human but if you feel her aura thoroughly, you'll know that she's not entirely a human being.

"I don't think raising your weapons against me is a good idea," Chara said with a chuckle. "You don't know what I'm capable of."

"There's a huge difference between our powers," Jeremy said. "I could feel how faint your aura is compared to us. Plus, there's two of us. So if you want to live another day, talk."

Allen suddenly remembered what Sebastian told him before. "The more powerful someone is, the more they are able to hide their auras."

Allen shifted his weapon from pointing at Chara to blocking Jeremy's path. The other boy looked at him in confusion, thinking what Allen was doing. "Dante? What are you doing?"

"Let's not fight," Allen said without removing his gaze from Chara. "We only came here because we tried to look for a way out. We saw the murals on the marble cave, and now we saw this room."

Chara smirked and shook her head, "Adventurers these days are so pathetic. When you sensed the danger that was going to unfold, you immediately retaliated. Wise choice, and that's what's going to bring you to the top of the world."

"I don't need to be on top of anything," Allen said. "I just want a power to be someone who could lead along with the people."

"Another wise choice of words," Chara chuckled, this time, a full toothed grin was plastered on her face. "It seems like I was the one who was mistaken after all. Adventurers these days are good observers and good decision makers. Tell me, what is your name, boy?"

"Dante," Allen replied. He was hoping that Chara wouldn't notice his lie, but the flash of emotion int he woman's face told him he failed. He looked at her and slightly pointed his irises at Jeremy who was beside him, this time he was hoping for Chara to get his message.

The woman sighed and nodded. She turned to Jeremy and asked the same question. When she got her answer, the woman spoke, "It seems like the both of you share a special connection."

"Special connection?" Jeremy asked. "Well, we're friends now. And I'm the only one– erm, one of the few people actually who knows his secret."

Chara nodded slowly, but then hummed, "No. Something different. You both share something very different. Like a shard of the past, present, or future."

'She knows,' Allen thought in his head. The woman knows that Jeremy and him were friends in his old self. He must revert the topic this instant.

"Can we please know who you are and what you're doing, trapped in this cave?" Allen asked. "You're not a Hunter, you said, but an Adventurer. What's the difference?"

"I also do not know," Chara replied. "But what I do know is that I possessed the Great Emerald Code. This is one of the twelve Great Stone Codes that Adventurers have possessed. Our Codes are much different from the others because this gives us a lot more abilities than the rest."

Allen looked at Jeremy and the man was also looking at him. Without a doubt, they were sharing the exact same thoughts at the moment. It wasn't a question that the Great Stone Codes are similar to the Primordial Beast Codes.

"From what year are you on?" Allen asked. "Maybe the gates have appeared in the past, we just don't know it."

"I'm from year 2812," Chara replied. 

The boys looked at each other again, with the same confused faces. Chara was from a year that was ways ahead of them. But she's been in this cave for decades. How was that even possible?

"Are you from the future?" Chara asked. "How is Torus doing?"

"We don't know anyone called Torus," Allen replied, but Chara shook her head and chuckled.

"No, silly, Torus is the name of our planet," she said, making both boys' eyes widen. "Did they change it?"

"Cleopatra," Jeremy said. "Mahatma Gandhi, Alexandet the Great, Hugh Jackman…"

"What are you saying?" Chara asked. "Are those names? Who are those people?"

"Dante," Jeremy called out. "She doesn't know Hugh Jackman."

"Who even is that?" Allen scoffed. "But someone not knowing Cleopatra, and she said she's from year 2812. Could this mean…"

"She's from another planet."

–

On top of a pointed mountain that was reaching the heavens, a man stood by the peak. He was wearing clothes that resembled ancient Greece with golden embellishments dancing around his body.

A woman walked over to him, bowed and then kneeled, "My King, we have prepared the boat. We have seen them making contact with the new species and then made the new species fight the beast by itself."

"How troublesome," the man sighed. "They've given us nothing but trouble for these past hundred years. I think it's time for us to give them a proper lesson."

A man was hovering towards them, riding a cloud while wearing similar clothing. He was panting as he approached the man and the woman. "My king, general, they escaped again! They tricked Tobi and he's now in a critical condition."

This made the man growl and roar his lungs out on the skies. His voice made the clouds darken and a rainstorm to appear. "Secure Tobi. It seems like those two wants me to find them myself. When I see them, I'll rip their heads off and take their Codes."

"My king, please relax," another man appeared. He was wearing a thinner and a more revealing clothing than the rest of them while he laid on a fluffy-looking cloud. He hovered to the large man and placed both his hands around the man's waist while he was behind him.

"Calm down, my king. It is forbidden for us to take each other's Codes," the more revealing man said, his voice filled with seduction. "You know what happened to the Gems, and now the Primordials. We can't let that happen to us."

The large man could only sigh. He placed his large hands on the tinier hands that was wrapped around him. "Fine then, my love. I will do as you say."