But, Other than roughly chaining the two girls across from William's cage, the cultist didn't bother doing anything else. He hadn't even checked William's restraints properly, merely muttering a quick, "Don't do anything stupid," before hastily disappearing into the darkness outside.
William narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. Judging from the cultist's hurried departure, perhaps the monsters spawned by the system were giving them more trouble than he initially thought.
Still, that was only speculation. For now, his attention shifted to the two girls who'd just been thrown into the tent.
They appeared to be twins, about thirteen to fifteen years old, with nearly identical features. What immediately stood out was their hair, both had silvery-white hair that shimmered softly, almost ethereal beneath the faint lantern glow inside the tent. Despite being chained and disheveled, their presence radiated an undeniable sense of mysticism.
The twins wore expressions of quiet intensity. Their vibrant amethyst eyes calmly scanned the tent, taking in every detail without uttering a single word. Their reserved composure gave William the distinct impression of careful observers, silently calculating rather than reacting impulsively.
Even without the system's guidance, William could clearly sense the subtle pulse of magical energy emanating from the pair. He had no doubt these two weren't ordinary villagers.
Still, despite their obvious abilities, they were just kids. Having finished observing their surroundings, the twins' eyes finally settled on William, methodically scanning him up and down as if trying to determine who exactly they were facing.
Seeing that they weren't inclined to speak first, William decided to break the silence himself.
"You two aren't from around here, are you?" he asked cautiously, basing his assumption on their strange clothes and unusual aura; Completely unlike the soulless villagers he'd seen before.
A brief silence stretched before one twin finally chose to reply, while the other remained quiet.
"You're not from here either… We've never seen you before."
A passive confirmation, William noted. At the same time, she subtly redirected the conversation back toward him, gently probing for more information without explicitly asking.
'These girls are smarter than their age would suggest… Interesting,' William thought, a grin tugging at the corner of his lips. This was exactly the sort of encounter he'd been looking forward to when he first decided to explore the island. After all, information was exactly what he needed most.
Deciding to humor her subtle curiosity, he continued, "I was lost in a storm several days ago, and my ship was swept onto this island by the waves-"
But before he could even finish, the girl interrupted firmly, "Liar."
Silence filled the tent once again. Their eyes met briefly, but William's smile didn't falter, instead, it deepened, genuinely amused by the girl's quick insight. This conversation had suddenly become even more interesting.
"Oh? You can detect lies?" William chuckled softly, then leaned forward slightly, "Well then, how about this? I'm actually from a place called Earth. I was summoned here, ended up near the island, decided to explore, and got ambushed by these cultists. Truthfully, I have no idea why or how I was summoned to this world."
He paused, watching her carefully, before finally asking again, "How about now? Did I lie this time?"
The girl hesitated slightly, then shook her head. However, confusion now clouded her previously clear eyes.
William wasn't surprised. If she'd accepted his explanation easily, he'd have found it far stranger.
Shifting gears, William decided it was now his turn to ask a question, "What about you two? Where did you come from?"
After a brief hesitation, the same girl spoke again, her voice quiet but steady, "We came from the Nightingale Ocean. We traveled to this smaller sea seeking refuge with our Witch mother, but… we lost contact with her a month ago."
'Interesting…' William thought, pleased with the generous information. Was this exchange because he'd been honest first? Perhaps an unspoken rule of equivalent exchanges among Witches? But were these girls truly Witches? They seemed a bit young for that.
Deciding to confirm, William asked directly, "Are you two Witches?"
Both girls nodded simultaneously, the previously silent one now looking at him with calm curiosity.
"Witch apprentices, to be exact," the first girl clarified, a hint of pride emerging in her voice, "If we were already full Witches, we could wipe out this entire cult gathering with just one hand."
William's eyebrows rose slightly, 'That certainly sounds powerful,' he thought. And believable enough, if these two were ordinary, the system probably wouldn't have paid special attention to them at all.
Suddenly, noises outside the tent interrupted their conversation: a distant cry followed by frantic shouts and the clash of weapons
The twins exchanged tense glances, their earlier calm instantly replaced by alertness. William instinctively strained his ears, focusing his senses on the commotion outside.
"Sounds like the cultists are having trouble," William murmured, mostly to himself, though both girls clearly heard him.
The quieter twin, the observant one, narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, "It's strange… those creatures have never attacked this aggressively before."
William paused, noticing her choice of words. 'Those creatures?' Clearly, the twins knew something about the monsters summoned by the system.
"Do you know what's attacking them?" William asked carefully, testing the waters.
The anxious twin nodded, unable to hide her worry, "Monsters from the sea. They appeared suddenly tonight, far more aggressive and numerous than usual."
'Just as I thought,' William noted silently, making connections quickly, 'They must not realize the system's involvement.'
"If those monsters keep them busy, you two might have a chance to run away," William suggested, shifting his focus back to the twins, "But do you have some way to communicate quietly? Talking openly here makes me uncomfortable, especially with the cultists around."
The observant twin tilted her head slightly, a contemplated look crossing her face, "And how exactly would we do that?"
"I don't know… Witch technology or spell or something?"
The twins shook their heads, "Connecting Thought spells require us to reach Level 2 Extraordinary at minimum, and we aren't even Level 1 yet. Even then, such spells are dangerous without spiritual protection."
"So we can't do anything." The First girl said and then the other girl nodded.
Hearing that, William thought a little, remembering the invite chat in the menu before, thinking, 'Can he invite native using this menu?'
William hesitated briefly, before deciding to try it anyway. If it worked it was worth the risk. After all, they seemed trustworthy, or at least had aligned goals for now. If it is not, then they can still communicate at the risk of getting heard by the cultists.
Deciding it was worth a try, William mentally accessed the invite menu.
[Do you want to invite two Witch apprentices using chat menu?]
[Yes / No]
[Note: Using this function will drain your spiritual power slowly and the function will be restricted to group chat only.]
'So it really works,' he thought in surprise, quickly selecting "Yes." He wasn't using his spiritual power for anything else right now anyway.
Immediately afterward, William studied the twins carefully, curious how they'd react.
A second later, both twins looked startled, their eyes widening as they stared into empty space, mouths slightly open in astonishment. They glanced at him, then at the air again, and then back at him, clearly confused yet fascinated by what they saw.
Finally, after a brief pause, they cautiously interacted with the invisible interface.
[Group Chat: Seraph, Witch Apprentice 1, Witch Apprentice 2]
[Seraph: "Hello, can you write?"]
The answer was immediate.
[Witch 1: "How do you do this?!"]
[Witch 2: "Have you meet with Witch from Dreamworks?"]
[Seraph: "What Dreamworks? You two are the first Witch I've met, not to mention this still counts as the first day I got summoned here… As for this chat, I and the other summoned people have system that can make us communicate anywhere and anytime, this group chat is one of the function."]
[Seraph: "Also, since you two are natives, I need to use some of my spiritual power to maintain the group chat connection."]
[...]
The twins stared at him speechlessly, their confusion is obvious. To be fair, even William himself had no idea how the system was created or exactly how it functioned. He could only be honest; it wasn't as if he had anything to lose anyway.
[Witch 1: "Wait, there are others like you? And also have this communication system?"]
[Seraph: "Yeah, there are quite many of us. And before I forget, My name is William, you can call me 'Will' or Seraph whichever you prefer. So what about you two? I can't call you Witch one and Witch two forever does it?"]
[...]
After a moment's of hesitation, the two Witches exchanged silent, cautious glances, then more silence before William could finally received their reply.
[Witch 1: "My name is Kei, Witch Apprentice following Path of Knowledge, my sister name is Rei, Witch Apprentice following Path of Blood…"]
William raised his eyebrows slightly, intrigued by the distinct paths they followed. But before he could comment further, Rei suddenly sent a message he hadn't expected:
[Rei: "Are you 'Earth Chosen'?"]
'They know about Earth Chosen?' Now it's William's turn to be confused, but then Kei provides an explanation.
[Kei: "We read about summoned warriors from other worlds in a book our Witch Mother gave us before her departure. But at the time we just thought of it as a story book or maybe she was searching for inspiration about summoning spells…"]
Then Rei asked again.
[Rei: "So… are you truly Earth Chosen??"]
[...]
William took a slow breath, considering how to answer their question for a second, but then he thought there was nothing wrong with admitting it. The two Witch Apprentice so far are helping him with his blind knowledge and they should be inclined to help him considering the situation.
[Seraph: "Hmm yes, I'm an Earth Chosen. Just got summoned today and like I said before become a captive in this place."]
[Kei: "I can't believe the book was actually true…"]
[Rei: "Neither can I…"]
William could sense the twins' amazement, and despite his situation, couldn't help but feel a bit amused himself. After all, if he had told someone yesterday he'd soon be having an online chat with two young Witch apprentices, even he wouldn't have believed it.
Yet here he was, in a cage, casually chatting with Witches about inter-world summonings and monsters from the sea.
'This world is definitely more interesting than I expected,' He thought, smiling faintly despite his situation.
Later, they spent the half of the night exchanging information. The twins shared essential knowledge about the sea, the creatures within it, and general facts about their world. In return, William described aspects of his own world and offered basic details about other "Earth Chosen" players.
By the time their conversation ended, all three felt a greater sense of trust, and understanding towards one another.
William felt a little bit tired because of the consumption of the spiritual power, but at the same time, his understanding of this world had grown significantly. He now knew more about the Mystic Sea, a vast expanse filled with scattered islands and countless mysteries.
He also learned that beyond this small region lay greater oceans, like the Nightingale Ocean where the twins originated, and even larger dangers than the ones he'd faced so far.
The twins had been particularly fascinated by his descriptions of Earth, asking many questions about his home culture and technology. They seemed both amazed and slightly skeptical about how the technology works, especially about devices like phones and computers, which were not entirely alien concepts to them.
Interestingly, the twins revealed that in the Witch Sea, a region considered the main homeland of witches, there existed magical systems somewhat resembling Earth's computers or system interfaces. However, the way these systems functioned or were created was entirely different, rooted deeply in mystical laws and rituals rather than science.
For William, the exact mechanics or origins of these mystical systems weren't important; he was satisfied as long as they worked.
But for the witch apprentices, this discussion opened a potential new path toward something they vaguely referred to as the "Path of Mystical Ascension." According to their limited understanding, one of the methods of ascending involved creating entirely new paths of Extraordinary power and integrating them with existing ones.
Although the twins lacked deeper comprehension, being mere apprentices, William understood clearly the potential significance of this discovery. As a seasoned novel reader, he knew how rare and valuable any opportunity to achieve Mystical existence could be.
Unfortunately, he couldn't help them much, as his own understanding of advanced technology remained superficial. In the end, they had no choice but to set aside the topic, moving instead to other discussions.
Throughout the conversation, William learned more about witches, the paths they followed and their importance in this world. The Path of Knowledge Kei pursued involved deep understanding, rituals, and intuitive magic, while Rei's Path of Blood was tied closely to instincts, physical enhancement, and powerful spells fueled by life-force and emotions.
These two paths were considered Paths-Specific Class, Likely William's own Captain class too. Not much different from class in game, really, just with more depth.
The twins explained, there were other major categories: the Production Branch, including blacksmiths, alchemists and the like; the Scholar Branch, encompassing spell casters like Kei and wizards in general; and the War Branch, focused primarily on direct combat, to which Rei belonged, along with most front line warriors and combat spell casters.
They also said some classes sometimes were in two major categories because of their uniqueness.
What mattered most, though, was something they referred to as the Card System.
Everything in this world, skills, classes, rare items, even contracts, could exist in the form of Cards. These cards weren't just symbolic. They were real, sometimes physical, sometimes bound to the soul.
Even more intriguing was what happened when powerful beings died. According to the twins, there was a small chance that a Card would form and drop from their corpse, a legacy of power left behind for someone else to claim.
Cards could also be crafted by those who walked the Production Path, or found within rifts, an unstable, dangerous zone scattered across the Mystic Sea. William didn't need to guess. Rifts were dungeons, plain and simple.
From a player's perspective, it was just loot. But here, it was more than that. It was the law. A system embedded into the fabric of the world. It explained everything, from the way monsters dropped items, to how abilities integrated with a person's body without warning, becoming part of who they were.
This wasn't just a game world.
It was a real world that functioned like a game, where everything followed hidden rules, and those rules shaped everything.
William finally understood why the system had marked the twins as valuable contacts. Their profound knowledge of magical rituals, monster behavior, and the hidden mechanisms of this world would undoubtedly prove indispensable in the future.
While other natives could also offer information, their knowledge paled compared to the comprehensive insights these two young witches possessed.
As night deepened, exhaustion began creeping into his bones, yet William felt an odd sense of confidence despite his circumstances. His spiritual energy, drained slightly by the group chat, was slowly recovering. But more importantly, he no longer felt entirely alone in this unfamiliar world.
Still, there was one last thing to address, planning for tomorrow… or more accurately, his gamble for survival.
For this William shares his aspiration, the System Quest that wants him to be the new Winged Lord. Which made him receive 'You are crazy,' look from the twin. But after he explained the pros and cons, the twin Witch became silent.
Because, the twins may come out alive as Witches are more worth living than dying, but William? In the cultists eye, He is no more than a lamb prepared for slaughter, useful only for the ritual's success. If the ceremony failed, they would discard him without hesitation.
Even with the system's summoned sea monsters keeping the cultists busy, it wouldn't last. Their numbers, their strength, their fanaticism, none of it worked in William's favor. If he didn't take the risk, if he didn't grasp at this insane opportunity… he would die. Simple as that.
Facing this choice, After a long silence, the twins exchanged glances, then nodded, finally choosing to support him. Opening a hidden pouch in their clothes and then Giving him a new class card and an unknown book they found before.
In exchange, if he can come back alive, the Twin will become his companion and he should ensure their safety.
Kei with her knowledge typed in group chat, "This book Radiates extraordinary spiritual power. It reacted when we found it, but we couldn't open it till now. I believe it's meant for someone else. Maybe… someone like you or other Earth Chosen."
She only gives it because of William's identity as Earth Chosen and their weird new system.
But for William, this book is clearly the Personal Skill that the system said will deliver. He just doesn't understand why it would be in the hand of the twin or why it came in the form of book not a card.
But no matter what, he will take everything to survive, especially after remembering the vessel experience from before. Even if everything stacked against him, He will definitely survive.