Irene pumped her fists up with a big grin and said. "This is great, Rein!"

Her fingers then drummed the table in a rapid, while the pen was still clutched between them, leaving tiny ink freckles on the wood. "Alger will finish up with bringing everything together, but I'm sure with all of this, we can have a foundation."

Alger nodded before his gaze swept the table. At the charcoal dust on Jake's knuckles, Kite's graphite-smudged fingertips, and Resa's neat columns of notes before stopping on the half-finished lake painting. "Of course, the images might also help other people. We might even be able to get others who might have similar dreams to recognize it."

Reinhard nodded, but his eyes lingered on the sketches. "Do any of you recognize any of the imagery?"

All of them shook their heads with an apologetic look.

Irene's curls bounced. "I'll keep looking. The History Section might have something similar, we just need Alger to put it all together first, and then I'll use it as a reference."

Reinhard smiled as he nodded.

If they can really help him find some clarity about the dreams, then it would really help him.

He knew that the dream was displaying events important to Odin, but he was still confused about who the beings were.

In addition to where the place was and why, Odin has memories of the times he wasn't there.

Wait, history section? Irene mentions she read through the section before and is interested in the history of Paradise. So shouldn't she be familiar with Eastern Hesod? Reinhard thought.

Reinhard exhaled through his nose. "Speaking of history… Do any of you know anything about Eastern Hesod?"

Everyone blinked before Jake, Kite, and Alger glanced at Resa.

Resa's green eyes widened as a grin appeared on her face before she half-rose, and chair legs screeched. "I know a lot! It's one of the places I want to visit after graduation."

Irene laughed and then grinned. "Resa's our expert. But I know some things, like important events tied to humanity's history."

Reinhard's brows lifted. "Eastern Hesod has events like that?"

Resa and Irene nodded in perfect sync. Irene leaned in with elbows on the table and chin propped on interlaced fingers. "Could it be that your next mission is going there?"

Reinhard's lips twitched. "Possibly. Not sure if it'll get approved."

Resa's hands clasped beneath her chin, eyes shining. "Please tell me everything about it if it does. The only way I can get information about it is from the books! There has been no news ever since the Seekers blocked any news from coming out."

Reinhard tilted his head. "Sure. Then can you both tell me about it?"

Resa nodded with an excited look, and her body was trembling. "First, you should know that the eastern part of Hesod was originally called Forerunners Kingdom. First place humans ever settled on Hesod back when the whole continent was forest and tree, ruled by Phantasm Beasts."

Reinhard's eyes widened. "It was?"

Irene nodded with a giggle. "Back then, humanity could only carve out a settlement in the east. As you know, Hesod was once a giant forest."

Reinhard nodded as that was information that almost everyone on the continent knew.

It's said it took over two hundred years to fully get rid of most of the forest and trees around the continent.

A large part was because of the Phantasm Beasts, but the rest was because they had to be careful. Since the ecosystem was at risk if they destroyed anything without care, it would make the area unlivable for them.

But he didn't think Eastern Hesod, which was closed off and rumored to be abandoned by Hesod, was their original home.

Irene's voice remained steady as she continued. "Between Years 300 and 600, humans survived only in the eastern territories. With Phantasm beasts and the deadly forest surrounding them, they had no choice but unity. The historical records stated there were virtually no internal conflicts, no betrayals, no power struggles, and no exploitation. Their cooperation created what historians and scholars call the Golden Age of Hesod."

Reinhard's eyes widened in disbelief as he clenched his hand. "A society without deception? That sounds-"

"Impossible." Alger interjected as his eyes gazed beyond the bookshelf he leaned against. "Like something preserved in myth rather than history."

Jake's chair creaked as he repositioned himself, rolling the broken charcoal between his fingers. "Even in today's relative peace, people still hurt each other. How did they avoid that?"

"Perhaps survival left no energy for cruelty." Kite suggested, tapping his pencil against his lip.

"That might be right." Reinhard said with a slow nod. "When having to put all your energy into dealing with and surviving against the Phantasm Beasts. Things such as conflict, betrayals, bullying, and trying to hurt each other aren't possible."

Resa's red hair caught the light as she nodded. "That's why historians speak of the Forerunners with such respect, their perfect unity seems almost like a miracle to us now."

"So what happened?" Reinhard asked softly. "How did the Forerunners fall and become the abandoned place it is today?"

Resa's smile vanished as she sighed, and her shoulders fell. "The way it got destroyed was strange but utterly terrifying. Four centuries ago, in Year 670, an event called the Dark Silence wiped out nearly everything across the eastern continent."

Reinhard blinked in surprise, and then he furrowed his brows as he recalled hearing the word Dark Silence.

But anytime he asks about it, the person's expression will shift to fear and then shiver before not being willing to talk about it.

Irene's voice was quieter now. "The Dark Silence is where disasters struck the Forerunner Empire, each coming in phases. The first phase started with odd roots growing out of the ground. Then came accelerated vegetation, which led to more food growing and more food appearing. Of course, this wasn't a disaster for the people at the time, in fact, they thought it was a blessing from the land. As the increase in food allowed fewer people to go hungry, there was less need for the Beast masters at the time to hunt for food."

"But I guess that just lowered their guard before the disaster truly struck?" Reinhard asked, leading Irene to nod with a sigh.

Resa continued with a slight frown. "They didn't realize it was a precursor to something worse. After a month, in the night, terrifying darkness came, which carried terrible things that began laying waste to everything. These terrors swept through cities, towns, farms, and other settlements. They would later be called Night Terrors, and they destroyed everything."

"No one called for help?" Reinhard asked in surprise.

"They tried, but communications to the west were cut off by roots that grew with the arrival of the Darkness. It caged the entire Eastern Hesod, which stopped the people Forerunners from being able to send a letter or escape. And in the end, after just a month… The Forerunners Kingdom ended, and with it the Golden Age was gone."

Reinhard fell silent as he gently tapped the table, while Jake stared at the table with a frown, slightly trembling.

Kite had a look of disbelief while Alger sighed as he leaned against the bookshelf.

Reinhard then said softly. "Did they ever figure out what the darkness was? Where did it come from?"

Resa furrowed her brows as she caressed her chin. " It's speculated to be caused by a Phantasm Beast, while others say it is a dangerous Mythic Key. But the most interesting explanation or rumor was that a witness at the center of Eastern Hesod saw a grey and black light shining before something began rising from the ground."

Everyone except Irene blinked before Kite leaned forward, and he asked. "Did they see what it was?"

Resa shook her head. "They ran after they started hearing voices in their head, which were kind and warm, almost motherlike. It freaked them out as they ran back towards their city."

Jake nodded, clutching his own hand. "Makes sense since anyone would have freaked out from something like that."

Reinhard tapped the table before asking. "Didn't the witness tell anyone? Or did no one else see that light before the disaster?"

Resa sighed. "No one believed him. They were busy with Phantasm beasts and focusing on trying to kill the Eight Beast Kings in the west, south, and north of Hesod. There was no time for them to focus on something that might just be nothing or a random tree."

Alger nodded. "Makes sense, they had to focus on the immediate threats first."

Kite hummed as he said. "But that neglect cost them their entire empire and the lives of their people."

Resa nodded and said. "In the chaos after the king and nobility lost control, eventually the government collapsed."

Alger frowned. "No wonder they couldn't mount a counterattack. To think the Night Terrors attack was that lethal."

Reinhard asked, "What about the people? Did some escape to another continent? Other regions?"

Irene furrowed her brows and sighed. "There were people in other regions as the Forerunners had expanded to Western Hesod after the defeat of the Eight Beast Kings. The others in the Forerunner Kingdom were mostly killed and destroyed."

Reinhard sighed. "So the ones in other regions became the main people of the continent while those in the east got swept away."

Irene nodded. "Well, most of them. There were still some people who had survived."

Reinhard blinked. "What happened to them then?"

Resa nodded. "They created a new organization when the government fell, it became known as the Seekers of the current era. They have one goal, which is to destroy the roots caging all of Eastern Hesod and end the Dark Silence. With this goal in mind and what they used to guide them, the Seekers began forming. Tight control over their citizens, heavy restrictions on entry, persecution of those who worship the roots, and Night terrors."

Irene then speaks up with a grin. "The Precursors are what eastern Hesod calls themselves now."

Resa spread her hands. "In the present day now. The Forerunners is just filled with small settlements like villages and towns, while the environment is a forest filled with roots and lots of vegetation like fruits and carrots."

"And that is all we know, unfortunately. I wish we knew more since the Eastern Hesod is such a mysterious place, which I am sure has tons of mystery!" Irene says as she trembles in excitement.

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