Freedom

In the beginning, there was only the First Goddess.

From her light, she birthed her children, the gods. Together, they sculpted the land, breathed life into plants, and populated the realm with humans and countless other creatures. To the First Goddess, every living soul was precious—for all things were forged from her very essence.

Driven by an endless love for her creation, she made a choice that changed eternity. She dissolved her celestial form into the world itself—blending her consciousness into the soil, the sea, and the sky. In doing so, she could feel every emotion, experience every joy, and die every death alongside her children, all at once.

Her fifth daughter, Cynthia, understood her mother's heart better than anyone. To honor her mother's sacrifice, Goddess Cynthia bestowed a profound gift upon the realm: Mana—a spark of divine authority granted to the creatures of the earth.

The other gods were outraged.

"You disrupt the sacred balance!" they decried. "If you grant mortals true freedom, a day will come when they rise up to cut us down and claim our thrones!"

Cynthia merely smiled. "Our mother became everything so she could feel everything. If we deny them freedom... how can she truly live?"

When the gods told her to take back the gift, she simply said, "Then come and take it."

A massive war broke out in the heavens. Gods fought against gods, but Cynthia won. She became known as the Goddess of Freedom and took over as the leader of all the gods.

To celebrate her triumph, her top ten commanders each forged an artifact of immense power and presented them to her.

Yet, true to her nature, Cynthia did not hoard her victory. Wanting all creatures to hold ultimate freedom over their own fates, she chose to scatter those ten legendary artifacts across the earth as gifts to mortals, naming them the
Ten Freedoms.

Fearful that such absolute power could shatter the mortal realm, her ten commanders placed heavy restrictions and conditions upon each artifact before they were cast down.

Cynthia disliked their hesitation, so she added one final, supreme condition of her own: If any mortal manages to gather all Ten Freedoms, Cynthia will grant them a single wish—any wish. Even if they demand her crown, her divine authority, or her throne as ruler of the gods.

It was a promise that no fate is set in stone, no god is untouchable... and every mortal holds the power to carve their own destiny.

"And that is the legend of Goddess Cynthia, whose human-sized statues you see before you," Orky said, her voice carrying smoothly over the murmuring crowd.

Year 721, Arcania Capital — 25 Years Before Present

Under the blazing desert sun, the Great Capital of Arcania shimmered like a golden mirage. Built upon sweeping dunes, the legendary city was the world’s crown jewel of knowledge, art, and grand architecture. Massive sandstone pillars carved with ancient runes framed busy streets filled with scholars, artists, and travelers from across the continents.

In the heart of the city sat its most famous landmark: The Thousand Faces of Freedom. It was an open-air plaza featuring over a thousand unique statues of Cynthia, the Goddess of Freedom, carved by master sculptors many centuries ago. Tourists gathered around a tall, blue-haired woman in a traveler's cloak, who stood holding a wooden guide staff.

A tourist near the front raised his hand, looking puzzled. "Excuse me, Miss Guide... why is that boy behind you playing such a tragic melody on his lute right now?"

Orky’s face twitched. She offered a forced smile without looking back at Jeff, who was dramatically plucking somber chords under a sandstone archway.

"Oh... he is simply adding dramatic ambiance to the legend," Orky replied through gritted teeth.

Another tourist scoffed. "It's obvious! It makes the ending hit harder, you fool!"

The first man flushed red in embarrassment.

A lady in rich silk robes stepped forward, tilting her head. "Miss Guide, do we know what these Ten Freedoms actually look like? Has anyone ever found one?"

Orky’s eyes glinted with a sharp light. She glanced over her shoulder, giving Jeff a subtle nod.

"We cannot say for certain what is real and what is mere fable, ma'am," Orky said softly, her voice dipping into a chilling tone. "However... rumor says that one of the Ten Freedoms slumbers right here, deep within this capital. The gift from the Goddess of Knowledge—The Crown of Freedom, also known as the Freedom to See."

"Freedom to see?" a tourist gasped. "What does it see?"

"It grants the wielder the power to gaze directly into a person's soul," Orky whispered, leaning in as the crowd held its breath. "It reveals every hidden truth... every dark ambition... and every filthy secret you try to bury."

TWANG!

A jarring, horribly off-key chord shattered the terrifying tension.

Jeff grinned sheepishly from the archway, adjusting his tuning pegs as the tourists let out a collective gasp of relief. Orky shot him a glare sharp enough to draw blood, before smoothly guiding the group toward the next row of other figures.

Once the tour group drifted toward the outer plaza, Orky dropped her guide staff against a pillar and rubbed her temples.

"Where is he, Jeff?" she demanded, dropping all pretense. "Where is that idiot?"

"You know him, Big Sister," Jeff chuckled, leaning casually against his lute. "He’s probably off drinking somewhere."

"What am I going to do with him...?" Orky groaned. "We need to take that artifact tonight!

Did you manage to locate the hidden statues?"

"It was not easy," Orky muttered, pointing across the vast plaza. "This place is called the Thousand Faces of Freedom, but there are actually ten extra statues, which represent her ten commanders. The Crown must be hidden inside the one that represents the Goddess of Knowledge."

"What do you mean? I don't get it," Jeff said

Orky stood up and showed Jeff all ten extra statues in the plaza.

"They all look like statues of Cynthia, so how did you find out that they are different?" Jeff asked.

"There are clues. For example, this statue shows Cynthia holding a sword, which represents the Goddess of War."

"So, the one holding a book is one of them—no, it must be—"

"Exactly. It's the one we're looking for," Orky explained, lowering her voice. "That idiot was supposed to come here quietly, memorize its location, and then slip back in at midnight to steal it. I’ve explained this to him a hundred times, but—"

"Hey," Jeff interrupted, looking toward the main avenue. "Here he comes." A man with silver hair sauntered into the plaza, a half-empty bottle of desert wine clutched in his hand. He walked with an easy, swaying stride, stopping a few paces away to toss a lazy wave at Orky and Jeff.

"Jeff, point out the location," Orky instructed quickly. "Show him where it is so he knows where to look tonight."

Jeff nodded and pointed his finger toward the far right corner. "First one is that tall statue
over—"

BOOM!

Before Jeff could finish his sentence, the silver-haired man blurred forward. With a single, brutal kick, he shattered the statue into a cloud of dust and flying stone.

Orky froze, her jaw dropping in absolute horror. "WHAT IS THIS IDIOT DOING?! WE WERE SUPPOSED TO STEAL IT AT NIGHT!"

The silver-haired man wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, turning his amber eyes back toward them. "We're breaking it anyway. Why wait till dark?"

He looked down into the rubble, searching, but found nothing. For a moment he pondered, then turned his head toward Jeff.

"Which one's next, kid?!" he shouted over the echoing crashes.

Jeff immediately understood what he was thinking. "The one by the fountain! Then the two near the central arch!" Jeff yelled back, sprinting alongside him to point out the targets.

"JEFF, DON'T HELP HIM!" Orky shrieked, clutching her hair in total despair.

Panicked screams erupted across the plaza. Tourists scattered in every direction as vendor stalls were knocked over.

"Evil worshipers are breaking the Goddess's statues! Stop them!"

A squad of city guards drew their curved steel swords, charging straight at the silver-haired intruder.

The silver-haired man didn't even drop his bottle of wine. Ducking fluidly under a spear strike, he delivered a crushing elbow to the captain's chest, swept two more guards off their feet, and sent a fourth flying into a marble basin with a lazy back-kick.

Within minutes, all ten extra statues lay in ruined heaps of rubble across the plaza. The silver-haired man stood in the center of the destruction, sighing as he kicked through the dust. Nothing. Not a single artifact.

"Tch... empty," he muttered, taking another long gulp.

Horns blared across the capital. High above on the sandstone walls, dozens of elite Royal Soldiers lined the perimeter, crossbows aimed directly at the center of the plaza. A heavy battalion of armored guards flooded the exits, encircling the silver-haired man.

"Yield, demon worshiper!" the commander barked.

In the chaos, Orky grabbed Jeff by the collar and dragged the young bard behind a thick pillar before the soldiers could spot them.

"Unbelievable..." Orky hissed, watching from the alley shadows as the silver-haired man calmly put his hands up, offering a lazy, unbothered smirk as the Royal Guard closed in to arrest him. "He actually got himself captured."

The next morning, the sun blazed hot over the grand central court of Arcania. Thousands of citizens and travelers crammed into the stone plaza, creating a wall-to-wall sea of muttering heads.

Deep within the crowd, young bard Jeff kept his lute pulled tight against his chest, while Orky stood beside him with her hood pulled low over her blue hair.

"If he gets executed," Jeff whispered nervously, leaning toward her, "are we going to try and break him out?"

"If he gets executed, it's his own fault for being a muscle-brained idiot," Orky hissed under her breath, though her dark eyes scanned the high marble balconies with obvious tension.

All around them, the crowd was buzzing with hushed, excited chatter.

"Have you ever seen Her Majesty in person?"
"They say she’s one of the greatest beauties across all ten continents... but her mind is even sharper."
"She’s a devoted scholar of the Goddess Cynthia. She rules strictly by the divine law of freedom!"
"Destroying ten sacred statues in broad daylight? No matter who he is, he’s getting his head chopped off today."

Trumpets echoed across the court—a golden blast that instantly silenced the crowd.

From the high balcony of the royal palace, a figure glided into view.

The Queen of Arcania was breathtaking. She wore a sweeping, sky-blue silk gown tailored perfectly for the desert heat, flowing around her like water over sand. Her jet-black hair fell in shimmering waves past her waist, contrasting sharply with her eyes, which were as deep and blue as the ocean. A delicate golden crown sat atop her head, while intricate gold ornaments clinked softly along her wrists and collar.

She glided gracefully to the high throne overlooking the plaza and took her seat.

Below, in heavy iron chains, stood the silver-haired man. He looked entirely unbothered as a royal official stepped forward with a long parchment scroll, loudly reading the charges of high treason, sacrilege, and property destruction.

When the official finished, a heavy hush fell over the courtyard.

The Queen stared down at the silver-haired prisoner. Her ocean-blue eyes lingered on him for a long, quiet moment.

"Prisoner," her voice echoed across the open arena, smooth as glass yet carrying undeniable authority. "You have destroyed sacred monuments dedicated to the Goddess Cynthia. Why did you commit such an act?"

The silver-haired man casually tilted his head back, looking directly up at the throne.
"Well, Your Majesty..." he drawled, scratching his cheek. "I was just wandering around, drinking my wine. The sign out front calls it the Thousand Faces of Freedom... but when I counted them, there were ten extra. So, while I was drinking, I thought it’d be a good deed to make the number correct."

Orky’s jaw dropped so hard it nearly hit the ground. Jeff stared in equal shock.
Silence swept through the crowd like a wave of ice. Gasps erupted from every corner.

"Is he insane?!"
"He mocked the Queen to her face!"
"He’s definitely getting beheaded!"

Orky buried her face in her hands, letting out a faint groan. "I can't watch. I actually can't watch this."

High above on the balcony, the Queen slowly stood up from her throne. The entire plaza held its breath, waiting for the inevitable command to bring down the executioner's blade.

The Queen looked out over her people, then down at the chained, silver-haired man.

"What is the meaning..." she spoke, her voice ringing clear and true across the vast arena, "...of living in a nation blessed by the Goddess of Freedom, if a man cannot freely drink his wine and act upon what his heart believes to be right?"

She raised a single hand toward the guards.
"Release him. No punishment."

For two full seconds, nobody moved. Then, the plaza erupted.

The crowd went completely wild, cheering frantically at the top of their lungs, throwing flowers and hats into the air as the guards reluctantly unlocked the silver-haired man's chains.

"ALL HAIL THE QUEEN!" "PRAISE BE TO CYNTHIA! GODDESS OF FREEDOM!"