When the plot-skips players into the game world

When Hayna walked home, the sun of Eagle Cape Village had not yet reached its zenith.

As of today, she hadn't returned home for a full four years.

In these four years, the restaurant closest to the school entrance has closed and reopened several times, switching owners thrice.

She had also transformed from the nervous country girl who knew nothing when she first arrived at Glass Island, into the personal disciple of the Grand Arbitrator, becoming friends with the Founding Families and the future queen... at least familiar faces to each other.

But her hometown remained unchanged.

The air around, the height of the trees in the mountains, the depth of the earth trodden by feet... nothing here had changed.

It was as if time itself had stilled here.

The hourglass stopped, the sun and moon motionless. In the distance, smoke from homes rose just like in her childhood.

In that moment, Hayna experienced an illusion.

It was as if she lived inside a false painting, and now she became the person in the painting once again.

Suddenly, Hayna stopped in her tracks.

She noticed a small tree protruding by the roadside.

It stood alone, far from the forest, by the roadside. For this reason, Hayna recognized it almost immediately.

She approached and found the scar on the bark of the tree.

Hayna extended her hand horizontally, made a slight gesture, and then pressed her palm against her soft chest.

She smiled helplessly, gently touching and stroking the scar on the tree.

She remembered it.

This was a mark she left when she used to run to Flute Town to attend school.

At that time, when her family heard she was going to attend school in town alone, they were both happy and worried. She was only thirteen or fourteen years old, standing there small and ignorant. How could her family let her go without worry?

So they gave Hayna a self-defense dagger.

Although it was called a dagger, it was more like a short sword to the thirteen or fourteen-year-old Hayna.

It was indeed a fine blade. Even by today's standards, it was a formidable weapon.

It had a beautiful blue-green blade, as pretty as a lake surface. If it caught the sunlight, one could see a gradient from deep blue to dusk yellow on its side... just like the night sky at dusk.

Hayna faintly remembered that the blade had curving Elvish inscriptions... Back then, Hayna didn't understand Elvish, so she simply treated it as decoration; later, when she learned Elvish, she couldn't remember what was written on the dagger anymore.

Compared to the blade, the scabbard seemed much more modest.

Merely holding it, Hayna could feel courage. Whenever she was restless before an exam, holding it would calm her down gradually.

Later, she couldn't remember where the sword had gone. Hayna had the impression that she hadn't lost the sword. But she couldn't recall, at what point did she stop carrying the dagger to school.

Yet her family didn't blame her for losing the dagger. Perhaps she left it at home, or maybe she never mentioned it to them... Who knows?

And this mark, it was left when she had that pretty dagger with her because she idly scratched the tree while passing by.

She had simply wanted to record how tall she was when she went out to study, and see how much she had grown by the time she graduated... but after that, she forgot about the tree.

Maybe it was because she saw it every time she made the weekly trip, it gradually became part of the roadside scenery, and she couldn't see this little tree anymore. Not until today, four years later, did Hayna see it again.

The tree was exactly the same as before. No change in size, not even in the shape of the canopy. The scar she left on the bark remained at the same height as in the past... except for a scab-like mark, it seemed as though everything was still in yesterday.

Hayna gently touched the scar on the tree.

She closed her eyes, a wave of nostalgia in her heart.

In a trance, she seemed to hear the creaking sound of the trees growing. She envisioned everything changing with time, through spring, summer, autumn, and winter, the little tree also growing taller. Yet when she opened her eyes again, it felt as though everything had only stayed as a memory from the past.

"Time to go home."

Hayna murmured softly, her tone becoming serene, her smile happy.

When she opened her eyes, her pupils had completely turned dusk yellow.

At that time, Aiwass was feeding raw meat to the young gryphon.

The gryphon that had not yet learned to speak was gobbling up the food.

David's mother Nadia's gryphon companion, Angelica, was standing right beside Aiwass.

"...If you're not planning on walking her, or playing with her, then you can't let this child eat too much."
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The gentle voice of the white gryphon spoke, "As soon as she's not hungry anymore, you need to take the meat away. If she tries to attack you or wants to snatch the meat, you need to sternly scold her.

"It's simple to judge if she's full. If their eating speed visibly slows down, that means they are not hungry."

"Just call her by her name, Mrs. Angelica?"

Aiwass asked, "Is that enough?"

Angelica nodded, "Yes. Scolding someone loudly by name is a form of command on the Path of Authority. Just like pointing at someone with a finger is a simple curse, and singing is a simple spell.

"The power of the Path in these actions is very weak, almost imperceptible to humans. But for creatures aligned with that Path, it becomes very clear.

"Pointing at a Demon will anger it, singing to a Fairy will please it... Just scold a Gryphon aloud, and they instantly know they did something wrong,"

"What about the simple actions of the Path of Love?"

Standing behind Aiwass, Lily suddenly lifted her head and asked.

Mrs. Angelica's playful eagle head blinked and responded with a smile, "That would naturally be kissing and making love. Fairies in the lakes charm hearts in this very manner."

"And the Path of Dusk?"

Aiwass asked.

"It's about engraving."

Mrs. Angelica replied, "Portraits and statues are half Path of Beauty, half Path of Dusk. That's why artists are so sensitive to the power of the Path of Dusk.

"Compared to painters, photographers are purely of the Path of Dusk profession. Capturing and preserving images of the real world, that is the most typical behavior of the Path of Dusk.

"That's also why those intangible spirits, who belong to the Path of Dusk, leave traces in photographs. They sense the aura of the Path of Dusk. A lot of horror stories are actually based on this principle."

"I see..."

Lily nodded, thoughtful.

At that moment, the Gryphon in front of Aiwass suddenly choked. It shook its head to rest for a while, then continued to lean in, trying to nibble on the large steak in Aiwass's hand.

"That's enough, Aiwass," Mrs. Angelica reminded.

And Aiwass immediately drew back the steak and raised his voice, "Stop, Liz! No more eating!"

The little Gryphon called Liz shook her head with a wronged look.

Liz obviously understood.

Instead of attacking Aiwass, she just quietly looked at him with her wet eyes and rubbed up against him, emitting a soft, gentle whimper.

Aiwass hesitated for a moment, his heart softening.

But he steeled his resolve and firmly said, "You're not hungry anymore, Liz. No more eating—I don't have time to play with you."

At those words, Liz cried out again.

It wasn't the piercing call of an adult falcon, but rather like the crisp song of a small bird.

Aiwass handed the raw meat to Lily to wrap up, then petted Liz's head and neck in consolation.

Different from David's Emily, Liz was a bit bigger. Perhaps because she was older, she was also more obedient than Emily.

Her feathers were already half black, half white, marking the moulting period. She was already able to carry a person on her back. Even if Hayna were wearing light armor, Liz could manage, let alone Aiwass.

But their party was three people in all. Even without luggage, there was Aiwass, Lily, and Sherlock. Liz definitely couldn't carry them all.

Originally, they could have asked Philip to help carry everything, including Liz—being the Guardian's companion Gryphon, he was much stronger than his peers.

But Philip had left Glass Island with George. Faced with this situation, Mrs. Angelica could only call for her own best friend.

"Angelica!"

A resonant female voice came from outside, and then a white Gryphon, even bigger than Mrs. Angelica, flew directly into David's yard.

"Camilla!"

Mrs. Angelica went over to rub against her with joy, "Let's talk more after we come back, let's prepare to leave. We should be there by evening—I'll take Aiwass and Lily, and you carry Sherlock along with Liz and the luggage."

"Okay, no problem. Where's Sherlock?"

"On the way, he should be here soon,"

Aiwass explained.

Hearing Aiwass's voice, Camilla approached and sized him up, "So this is the Moriarty of this generation? Handsomer than his dad, I see."

Aiwass was a bit surprised at this.

Gryphons can distinguish human faces?

He, on the other hand, could barely tell these Gryphons apart... He only identified them by size, voice, and personality. Let alone which Gryphon looked good and which didn't.

As if she guessed what Aiwass was thinking, Mrs. Angelica softly explained, "It's not about appearance, we can't distinguish human faces either.

"Gryphons' standard of beauty in humans is related to their adaptability to the Path of Authority. In simple terms, calmness, steadiness, loyalty, majesty, and reliability. A person with adaptability to the Path of Authority appears to us... like cute kittens to you."

...Oh, that makes sense.

Aiwass instantly understood the mindset of those old Gryphons squatting at the palace gates. To them, it must be like humans sitting there all day watching a bunch of pretty cats coming and going, calling out.

So that's it, they were cat-watching there...

And Aiwass also understood the aesthetics of Demons.

If Gryphons as creatures of Authority have such aesthetics, then the aesthetics of Demons must also be related to the desire for Transcendence...

Aiwass glanced back at Lily's shadow.

Then he probably understood how he had tamed the Shadow Demon.