Re-Awakening: I Ascend with a Legendary class

Chapter 564: A Fellow Protagonist

Anchors splashed quietly into the lagoon, chains rattling as they were secured to coral outcrops.

Thick nets were unrolled across the deck, their threads faintly glowing with rune-etched knots.

A few dwarves tested harpoons, checking balance and edge, while others stripped down their armor and smeared their skin with a dull blue paste that shimmered when it touched water.

Almond and Lily observed them, inspecting everything.

"Sea-breath salve," Lily murmured after watching for a few seconds. "So that thing can be used to breathe underwater, eh?"

"So they are fishing and hunting," Almond said. "Not explorers. Locals, maybe."

Two dwarves jumped into the lagoon without hesitation, vanishing beneath the surface with barely a ripple. A third followed, carrying a heavy iron cage bound with chains. On the deck, the remaining dwarves kept watch, eyes sharp, hands never straying far from their weapons.

"Let’s go."

Almond stood first, brushing sand from his clothes without hiding the motion.

Lily followed, stepping out from the bushes beside him.

They did not draw weapons.

They walked openly toward the shore.

One of the dwarves on deck noticed them and barked something in a rough, clipped tongue. Instantly, the deck shifted. Harpoons lifted, and crossbows were aimed, but not fired.

Almond raised one hand slowly, palm open, and stopped a short distance away from the waterline.

"We’re not enemies," he said calmly. "We just arrived here."

Lily stood beside him, posture relaxed but alert, her eyes meeting theirs without fear.

"We are stranded here."

For a moment, only the sound of waves filled the space between them.

Then a broad-shouldered dwarf with a braided beard stepped forward, studying them with sharp, measuring eyes.

"We can give you a ride to the nearest town, but in exchange, help us catch fish."

Almond and Lily exchanged a glance before nodding at the dwarf.

"Sure."

If the dwarves were good and simply minded their own business, they did not mind that at all.

And so, Almond and Lily boarded the ship and began helping them with fishing.

"How powerful are you two? Can you handle a Tier-3 monster, or only up to Tier-2?" the braided-beard dwarf asked.

"Tier-2 only," Almond replied. "We were hoping to get some information on how to break through to Tier-2."

The dwarf chuckled. "That’s simple. You just need to complete your first deck. You need four cards. How many do you both have right now?"

Almond and Lily blinked.

"One."

"Well then, get inspired three times to get three more cards. But for now, start fishing if you want a ride to a town."

"Boss, are we sending them into the water or giving them nets?"

"Idiot. They are Tier-1 lifeforms. They’ll die if they dive in."

"Got it."

Almond and Lily smiled wryly.

Soon, they began fishing.

After four hours, the dwarves began packing up.

A few of them started cooking food to eat after work.

Almond and Lily joined them.

But something was not right.

Both of them could feel it.

However, there was no killing intent, so they went along with it.

Then it happened.

As soon as they finished eating, both of them got dizzy.

"Sleepy?" a dwarf asked with a smile.

"Don’t worry, we’ll get you to the town."

"And sell you."

"Kids, starting your lives as slaves is better here. Trust me."

Thud.

Thud.

Almond and Lily’s heads hit the table as they lost consciousness.

But Almond’s eyelids moved slightly.

He had quietly summoned the tip of one of his Grimblades and used it on himself, Grimblade Gentlewind.

This Grimblade had only one effect: cleansing a single debuff upon hit. He was already awake, but pretending to be unconscious.

Soon, both of them were carried by the dwarves. They were taken to the second floor of the ship and placed into a metal prison two meters square.

There was another prison next to them, inside which sat a crimson-haired man who looked to be in his mid-twenties, wearing a rather leisurely expression.

The dwarf left without saying anything after locking the prison with some kind of card effect.

A bit later, the crimson-haired man spoke. "He’s gone. You can wake up now."

Almond and Lily opened their eyes and looked at the man imprisoned beside them.

"Hey there. I’m Ainen. Chef Ainen."

Almond and Lily introduced themselves.

"Almond Regalon."

"Lily Regalon."

"Lovebirds, eh?" Ainen smiled. "So why did you two get yourselves captured deliberately? I have a feeling we have the same reason."

"You also got yourself captured?" Almond raised his eyebrows.

"You’re Tier-1," Lily said, guessing. "So you just arrived here too?"

"Yep. Just arrived in this True Reality Chasm and got stranded on an island with my family. We were having fun, and then these guys came."

"Family?" Almond blinked.

"Yeah. My wives," Ainen chuckled. "And my pets. I hid them inside my Interdimensional Restaurant. After taking a ride to some town, we’ll leave."

Almond and Lily were surprised.

"Wait, so you didn’t come from Grimverse, I think," Lily said.

"Grimverse... oh, I know that one," Ainen nodded. "It’s one of the Tier-0 cosmoverses. I came here from another Tier-0 cosmoverse called Ringerverse."

"Ringerverse? Sounds interesting."

"Not anymore," Ainen chuckled. "I destroyed it."

"What?"

Almond and Lily were confused.

"You mean you destroyed it? Like, destroyed it?" Almond raised his eyebrows.

"Yes. I had to destroy it. All the Ringlords wanted to kill me. The entire verse turned against me for some stupid reason I only found out at the end. All I wanted was to get strong and revive my siblings who died purely because of me." Ainen’s eyes flickered with immense wrath that Almond and Lily could feel chillingly.

"Wait, why did the entire verse turn against you?" Lily asked. "What was that stupid reason?"

"A bug," Ainen said, his eyes glimmering. "Apparently, I was bugged by something beyond. It came from beyond this True Reality Chasm and bugged me. Whatever it was, something no one knows, it turned the entire verse against me to erase me."

"Fortunately, I got out and entered here to find the truth and ultimately revive my siblings, but the cost was the destruction of Ringerverse." Ainen sighed, then looked at Almond and Lily with a smile. "I feel sorry for the innocent lives that ended, but I don’t regret what I did."

"Well, that sounds like a protagonist’s story." Lily chuckled.

"Haha." Ainen chuckled. "So, what’s your story? Grimverse. I heard it’s the cosmoverse with highest death rate and brutality among the six Tier-0 verses."

Almond and Lily looked at each other and smiled wryly.

"Well, our beginning was similar to your end. We entered Grimverse by destroying a cosmoverse that was trapped and exploited by someone from Grimverse." Almond said.

"Sounds like another protagonist’s story." Ainen laughed.