Ocean opened his eyes as saw all the unread notifications and then decided to ask.

"Can any of you tell me what’s going on here?"

There was no response for a moment before one notification popped up.

[Goddess of Wisdom wonders what you mean.]

"You know what I mean."

[Defender of Divine Glory says he has no idea of what you’re asking.]

"Don’t play dumb." Ocean sighed.

[Giver of Gifts asks why you need them now.]

"So, you all are sulking?" Ocean asked.

[The Preserver corrects that they are upset, being ignored by a beloved child isn’t the best feeling.]

Ocean was quiet for a moment before he sighed, "I’m sorry."

[Goddess of Wisdom asks why you’re sorry exactly.]

"Because I ignored you all." Ocean spoke.

[Giver of Gifts says she can’t sense any sincerity in your apology.]

Ocean sighed deeply before he crossed his arms at his chest.

"Fine, I’m sorry for ignoring you for months, I won’t make any excuses. I wanted to focus on my work and fulfill the quest given to me, but I guess I do need answers from you. So, I’d request you to give me information."

There was a moment of silence and Ocean waited patiently. He knew he couldn’t force them to answer as they were Gods and they had their own thoughts. Besides, being ignored for months would really earn a little bit of ire even from deities and Gods.

[Goddess of Wisdom asks if you sincerely remorse ignoring them.]

"Honestly speaking, no," Ocean said bluntly.

[Goddess of Wisdom has summoned her spear.]

[Defender of Divine Glory and Giver of Gifts hold Goddess of Wisdom back.]

"Don’t be angry," Ocean sighed, "I have a lot of things to do here."

[The Preserver asks what you want to know.]

[Defender of Divine Glory asks The Preserver if He is just going to answer your questions just like that.]

[The Preserver smiles and answers that humans often forget or deny their existence, if one is reaching out then it’s the God’s duty to answer.]

There was no word from Ocean’s three primary Patrons after that and Ocean felt grateful that The Preserver was kind and mature enough.

"I need to know why I wasn’t warned about Carlos getting possessed?" Ocean asked right away.

[The Preserver answers that it wasn’t a part of your quest.]

"Yes, but he is also merely a puppet, he could have gone on a different path of he was separated from his mother.]

[Goddess of Wisdom says it was his own decision.]

[Giver of Gifts adds that even if you had tried to stop him he would have gone the same path over and over.]

"So, he’s going to die?" Ocean asked.

[Defender of Divine Glory says it’s up to you.]

Ocean paused for a moment, his eyes narrowing, "This sounds like a corporate kind of problem where not everything is in my hand but I have to clean up someone’s mess."

The notifications didn’t appear for a moment and Ocean ran a hand through his hair.

"All right, then what about Elvenland? You gave me the quest but never gave me any details."

[Defender of Divine Glory says finding out the solution and details is your task.] 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"And here I thought you would be of help." Ocean muttered.

[Goddess of Wisdom clarifies that they are bound by rules, they can’t answer your all questions.]

"Fine then what can you tell me? Apart from the lines that something big is coming or I should be careful." Ocean demanded.

There was a moment of pause and Ocean waited tapping his fingers against his knee as he sat in the same cross-legged pose.

[The Preserver asks you to focus on your dreams.]

Ocean blinked, he recalled the strange dream he had seen last night, it was indeed something out of ordinary and he wondered what the warning really meant. There was also a nagging feeling that he had missed some important detail.

Just then Ocean’s head swam and his vision blackened. For a moment he felt as if his head was underwater as he heard the strange, echoing voices around him. Then came the flashes, he saw fire blazing around him, the dead bodies charging ahead and then the image of a woman. She was clad in a long black cloak and black dress, her eyes seemed like pools of black and her red, curly hair blew wilding all around her as she grinned almost devilishly at him.

"Your empire will fall!" He heard her cackling before he returned.

Ocean breathed loudly and blinked rapidly through the tears that had brimmed over his eyes and he leaned ahead holding the ground for support to keep him from slumping over. His throat was completely dry and his mouth felt like he had swallowed a mouthful of sand.

It was a vision, it had been some time since a strong vision had hit him like this. He was immobile for a while before he sat up straight and his breaths slowly became steady.

"The hell was that?" He muttered, his voice hoarse.

[Goddess of Wisdom says that was the answer.]

Ocean was quiet for a moment, pondering and recalling what he had seen in his vision and reached a conclusion.

"There is going to be an attack on Sestia."

There was no response from his Patrons so, he was convinced. The Witch was going to attack and there would be destruction.

But there was one strange thing, the vision showed him nothing about Carlos. He wondered if Carlos had been dead till that point or was there something more to this vision?

Ocean rose to his feet and ran a hand through his hair feeling frustrated. He was tempted to commit regicide and then find the Witch and eradicate her coven in one go but he knew it wouldn’t solve the problem. It would complicate things. Everything that he had crafted with so much care and precision would come crashing down.

The only way he thought of releasing some tension at this point was to have a spar, a real spar where he wouldn’t need to hold back a lot.

Ocean left his coat behind and only wore the communication brooch and kept the teleportation pendant with him as he made his way towards the window and then leapt out.

It was still mid-day and at Eldarf the kids were busy with their training under the watchful eye of Kent, and Anore when they suddenly felt Ocean’s presence swoop down from above.

The kids were shocked for a moment but then they cheered up instantly before noticing that he looked a little irated. He was usually in his coat and had a smile on his face but this time he was only dressed in his white shirt paired with navy blue vest and black dress pants and his boots.

"Master!" The kids approached him and he simply removed the cuuflinks from the sleeves of his shirt and rolled them back revealing his pale, veiny arms.

"How’s your training going?" He asked and the kids started at his arms, convinced that he was here for something specific.

"The training is going good, Master." Kent answered and then turned his head looking at Sol who also appeared from the manor after sensing Ocean.

"What’s wrong?" Sol hollered and Ocean looked back at him and then smiled.

"Nothing, I was just bored, so I thought, I’d come up here." Ocean lied and Sol narrowed his eyes.

"You should be busy with work, how are you bored?" Sol asked and Ocean simply shrugged.

"So, who’s up for a spar with me?" Ocean asked and the kids were stunned.

Ocean sparred with them only at rare occasions and for him to appear out of nowhere like this and announce a spar meant something serious was going on.

The kids looked at each other wondering if they should ask about it or not when Rowan stepped ahead with a confident grin.

"I’ll do it! It’s been a while since we sparred with you. This time, I’ll show you my new techniques!" Rowan announced and Ocean smirked.

"Is that so? Fine, show me what you’ve got."

The spar began with the other kids and their trainers still in shock but within the few minutes that they regained their thoughts they realized that Rowan was already on the ground and Ocean looked at them.

"Who’s next?" Ocean asked.

The kids were wary but they weren’t going to let the chance of sparring with him slip by so they all took their turns, one-on-one, duo, trio, groups.

They all noticed that Ocean wasn’t using magic anywhere, he was physically responding to their attacks and wasn’t really holding back making them push harder against him.

Sylvia and Viella made a team and attacked him, Sylvia threw the daggers at him while Viella snuck from behind him with a chained sickle but Ocean saw through it and avoided it swiftly.

Their rest of the day passed by in the same manner and in the end, the kids were sprawled on the ground, some injured, some healing and all exhausted.

"What is up with you today, Master?" Cyrus groaned.

"You never go this wild on us..." Another dwarf kid moaned.

"I’m beat! Someone drag me back."

Ocean stood in the middle of the training ground without a sweat or a speck of dust on him as watched the kids feeling quite refreshed after moving his body and having a little break. He felt a tug at his sleeve and looked down at Sol who stood there with a deadpan look.

"What happened to you that you came all the way here to beat these kids up?" Sol asked bluntly and Ocean smiled.

"I was a little frustrated and wanted a little release." Ocean answered and Sol crossed his arms at his chest.

"Are you relieved now?"

Ocean nodded, "Yes, and I guess I even have a good plan now."

Sol watched Ocean’s smile and bit the inside of his cheek. He wanted to warn Ocean after seeing that dream but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. If this person was already involved in so many things and had a possessed human right in his house where his people lived then adding a warning would be more of a burden.

Sol recalled the time when Ocean had collapsed and couldn’t bring himself to pressure him again. He would have to do whatever he could in his own way, even if it meant to drag his cursed body till the ends of the world.