PART II: AFTER THE SEALING OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 8: Puppeteer Francis

• In order to collect more power for Gelimer’s experiments, Orchid sent Francis the Puppeteer to find the Seal Stones that the Heroes had left behind as failsafes centuries ago, believing that they held enough energy for Gelimer to revive Lotus. In order to hide her true intentions, Orchid told the Black Wings officers that finding and destroying all the Seal Stones would allow the Black Mage to return.

• Francis used his powers to create puppets, which manipulated the behavior of the monsters around Victoria Island so that he could use them to search for the Seal Stones.

• On Rien, Aran awoke from the ice and was found by Lilin, who was overjoyed to see the lost hero return. As Aran had lost all her memories and power, Lilin promised to help her as she fulfilled her destiny to defeat the Black Mage once and for all.

• After training on Rien, Aran was sent to Lith Harbor, where she met with Tru, a member of the Rien Clan who had left the island long ago. As an information broker, Tru agreed to help Aran regain her strength and learn about Maple World while undergoing missions to gather intelligence for him. Aran was sent to investigate the strange behavior of the monsters around Victoria Island, which seemingly had gone berserk out of nowhere.

• Meanwhile, a boy named Evan had a dream about an Onyx Dragon and awoke to find the mark of the Spirit Pact on his hand. While doing chores around his family’s farm, he fell down a covered hole and found an Onyx Dragon egg, from which hatched a baby dragon named Mir.

• With their souls bonded through the Spirit Pact, Mir convinced Evan to fulfill his destiny as a Dragon Master by helping others. Evan began helping the people of Henesys and soon began investigating the sudden disturbance of monsters around the town. Soon after, Evan decided to join the Victoria Guard and began helping them spread the word about the monster attacks throughout the island.

• At the same time, Aran learned that a strange boy had been sighted around Victoria Island, and that he was likely the cause for the sudden appearance of puppets that were influencing the monsters. Aran discovered his hideout and learned that he was affiliated with the Black Wings. After defeating him, she learned that he had been tasked with recovering the Seal Stone of Victoria Island.

• In order to get revenge on Aran for defeating him, Francis asked Baroq the Master of Disguise to lure her back to Tru’s shop by disguising himself as Tru. After she defeated Francis again, the real Tru revealed that he had already found the Seal Stone with the help of one of his contacts’ employers, said to be a master thief, causing Aran to remember Phantom’s name.

• While helping Victoria Island, Evan began doing research on Mir and his species. He learned that Mir was an Onyx Dragon, which were said to be extinct. Refusing to believe that his kind were gone, Mir asked Evan to keep investigating.