Chapter 180: The Map of the Outworld

The three days they spent together were just as peaceful. Blanche improved her swimming skills—the fae loved diving into the freezing ocean every morning—as well as her endurance and tracking abilities.

Nicky taught her everything he knew about hunting, while she showed him how to optimize his skills. The mornings were devoted to flying, the afternoons to training, and the rest of the time... to fighting.

No rest for the brave. While Nicky possessed impressive agility, he had never properly mastered the basics due to his lack of training time with Derek and Aaron. Blanche was the exact opposite.

In the evenings, they relaxed. Nicky told her about his adventures, Glen's, and those he'd shared with the rest of the family. He even taught her his secret technique for improving flexibility: yoga.

Who would have thought that, with his looks and his flow, the young man was a fan of acrobatic poses?

Apparently, Glen was one lucky guy...

By the fourth evening, Blanche was already gaining dexterity and flexibility thanks to him, while she was teaching him a few defensive moves.

As a reward, Nicky revealed Aaron's secret office hideout to her. The key was hidden inside the lamp above the door: all she had to do was turn it off before touching it.

He then showed her the Map of the Outworld, covering an entire wall.

It was magnificent, drawn by the boss himself.

"I thought Aaron carried it with him everywhere?" Blanche said, eyeing the key still clutched in the pixie's hand.

Nicky gave her a knowing, mischievous smile before beginning his explanation, pointing toward the different areas.

"We're here, in the North. Right at the tip, that's where we live. See? The first Viking village is here; there's another one over here on the edge, and even a third one a little farther away. Inland, past the river running along here, you've got the Goblin dungeon. Farther east, beyond the giant-tree forest, there's the hospital—you know, the run-down building. Next to it is the orc camp, and between the two is the ice elf city. And all the way up north, those islands there? That's elf territory too, but they're wilder and much more powerful. Never go there unless a quest specifically requires it."

Nicky then moved on to the next continent, the western one, where he currently carried out most of his quests.

Seen from above, the Outworld resembled an enormous four-leaf clover.

Four vast lands stretched around a shared center, connected by natural passages and separated by broad expanses of water. Each had its own terrain, climate, peoples, and landscapes, making the whole place feel like four different worlds brought together into one.

Scattered all around this immense landmass were islands, some tiny and almost deserted, others large enough to shelter villages, entire forests, or even small civilizations. They formed an irregular ring around the main continent, like fragments that had broken away over the course of centuries.

But the true marvel lay at the center.

An enormous lake occupied the heart of the Outworld.

So vast that it almost resembled an inland sea, it separated the four parts of the territory while symbolically connecting them around a single point. Its waters reflected the surrounding landscapes and changed appearance depending on the regions they bordered: sometimes clear and turquoise, sometimes dark as ink, sometimes shrouded in mist.

Numerous waterways flowed from it, winding through the lands and feeding rivers, waterfalls, and smaller lakes.

Thus, wherever one went in the Outworld, water always seemed to be present.

As though the entire world had been built around this liquid heart.

And when viewed from above, the whole thing formed an almost perfect geography: four lands arranged around an immense lake, encircled by countless islands.

A gigantic four-leaf clover.

A clover whose every leaf sheltered its own world—one Aaron had managed to represent perfectly.

"There, at the border between the North and the West, you've got the realm of Hel, your Fenrir's sister. Never go there. Vikings who venture there don't come back. It's the entrance to Hell in this world. With a capital H. Aaron says it's an entire world of its own, located beneath ours. Just thinking about it gives me the creeps. Actually, if you pay attention, there's always some territory you should avoid in every region. And, on the flip side, we have allies scattered all over the place too."

He then explained that, generally speaking, quests mainly took place within the Player's territory of origin, but every now and then—whenever they reached a major evolution—they had to travel to the other lands.

Always in the same order: North, West, East, and South.

"Aaron is a Player from the South, which is why his power and his god match that region. It's also why his main quests take place there. Derek, meanwhile, comes from the East. Same principle, but with that territory. Honestly, he got really unlucky... It's a miracle he survived. That place gives me the creeps, what with vampires, ghouls, necromancers, trolls..."

"That explains everything," Blanche noted.

"Yeah. He doesn't talk about it with anyone, but I wouldn't be surprised if he'd been tortured there. Anyway, avoid the East and South for as long as you can. The South is full of creatures you really don't want to mess with: djinn, shapeshifters, basilisks, lamias, harpies, among others... Not to mention their gods are morally questionable, to say the least. Compared to them, ours are a bunch of happy-go-lucky weirdos."

Blanche's eyes widened.

Fenrir wasn't exactly what anyone would call well-adjusted—not to mention his father, the god Loki...

At least according to what she'd heard from Rauõr.

Nicky's eyes sparkled with amusement. He gave her a wink, as though he knew exactly what she was thinking.

"If you want, you can come with me tomorrow. I've got to go to the woodland elves for a forest exploration quest. A little help wouldn't hurt," he asked, scratching his head.

"With pleasure."

Nicky stared at her, eyes wide.

"What?"

"You said I should avoid the East and South, not the West. I trust your judgment."

"Okay... But if things get too dangerous, promise me you'll leave me and get out of there."

Blanche shrugged and headed for the exit without answering.

"Like that? No problem."

Nicky rolled his eyes before following her through the doorway.

"I never should've suggested it," he muttered, before raising his voice. "Neige! Promise me!"

"Count on it," she grumbled, shaking her head as she disappeared farther down the corridor.

"Shit," Nicky muttered as he closed the office and hid the key. "The boss is going to kill me."