There was a silent night above the western coast of the Elemental Peninsula, where the City States sat.

A raging blizzard blanketed the skies and the Tangled Woods in snow. The treetops were covered in white, and those that crept below the webs of branches were left in a dim light.

The 20th of First Winter was greeted with a blizzard, and Mages within Lorenzo's group paced between the spaced-out camps, handing out chanted Petty Warming Crystals.

The 19th of First Winter was upon Lorenzo and his convoy in the form of stormy clouds thickening the air with sheets of snow. Even as the snow began to rage, Lorenzo commanded the convoy onward.

It was on the morning of the 17th, First Winter, when Clifford and Lorenzo arrived at the vampire camps far west of Dagon City.

Within the Chamber of Pain's lair, Pain had recently returned from the Old Library and rested against the crown of stalagmites near the entrance to the Old Library.

It was a brisk evening over Dagon City, and the repairs for the earthquake Pain caused were being tended to by a swarm of cave arachnids.

Over the southern wilds, south of Pain's lair, Abi and Pain sparred high above the clouds.

Within Pain's room, he and Abi exchanged glances at the validity of Cain's words.

A brooding rage seeped up Pain's skin in response to Cain's words. Pain has seen fear, and he saw the fear in his mother's eyes. He had read of ritualists before, the old memory searing back into his mind.

Dean shivered in the cold, early morning as he followed after the cave arachnids. He wore a thin cloak over his old robes as Pain was moments away from granting him nothing.

A small airship resembling a blue-finned silver fish soared through the cloudless sky. The sun's rays glinted off its hull, and its fin-like wings, made of enchanted woven flax and sapphire puries, whipped against the winds.

With Lorenzo's decision set in stone, they took a moment to reiterate the plan at the tables. But Emily raised her hand, and Lorenzo scowled at her.

Abimelech Goodgent had finally wanted to be brought back to life. But upon stating his wish to be brought back as a white arachnid, the entire room went silent. All eyes were on Abi as Pain took another step toward him.

Cain, the Executioner, had been revived, and Lorenzo could only watch in a mixture of awe and fear. He came to understand this boy was not a normal Necromancer and was potentially dangerous.

Pain entered the Chamber, and his arrival grabbed everyone's attention. He strolled nonchalantly into a seat next to Abi.

Moments ago, in the warping grounds of Limbo, Pain stood before Joshua the Golden Tyrant, within a throne setting barren of walls.

Miles northwest of the Earth Kingdom, many miles south of the Azure Mountains, and dozens of miles west of the Fire Kingdom, a small wilderness sat untouched for nearly five hundred years.

Within the Adventurer's Forest just north of Earth Kingdom's Capital, a party of five adventurers carefully ambled through obstructive roots of earthbark trees and spiney bushes that were partially hidden in the snow.

Ire Farcatcher, known by many as Pain, was once a slave to the Fire Kingdom. A slave of which he didn't know. For he thought he was simply living a horrid life.