PART II: AFTER THE SEALING OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 29: The Big Bang

• On Maple Island, a young Beginner grew up reading stories of the First Explorer, a hero who had quelled the primordial chaos of the world long ago. Unbeknownst to them, the First Explorer was an Adversary who had fought against the Ancient Gods until he had met his end after fulfilling his purpose - the same destiny shared by all Adversaries. According to legend, the First Explorer had fallen as a maple leaf, which had grown into the Maple Tree at the center of the island.

• One day, the Beginner found a glowing maple leaf fallen off the Maple Tree while they read about the First Explorer. Soon after, they met a girl named Sugar, who was reading the same story about the First Explorer, which ended with a prophecy of his successor inheriting his will in a time of great chaos. After befriending the Beginner, Sugar suggested that they become an Explorer, though the Beginner was hesitant, believing themselves to be nothing special.

• After Sugar helped them build confidence, the Beginner reluctantly decided to travel with Sugar to Victoria Island. On the boat ride, the two of them encountered three others hoping to become Explorers - Tess, Rondo, and Olive. After arriving, the five split off and met with their respective job instructors, with the Beginner officially becoming an Explorer.

• Soon after, the Explorer received a report stating that Olive was wanted for stealing an important treasure - the Seal Stone of Victoria Island. After learning that the Seal Stones had been created by the Heroes to both seal the Black Mage and restore broken continents, the Explorer began investigating and found Olive in Ereve.

• Olive claimed that she had been framed by Baroq the Master of Disguise. The Explorer reported back to Athena Pierce, who sent the five Explorers to the Verne Mine in order to find more information about the Seal Stone. After infiltrating the Verne Mine with Rondo, the Explorer recovered the Seal Stone and brought it back to Athena Pierce.

• Soon after, Athena and the Explorer traveled to the Temple of Time in order to check the seal on the Black Mage. There, the residual power of the Adversary within the Explorer’s maple leaf allowed the Gate of the Present to open to them alone. Inside, they found that the Black Mage’s seal had severely degraded as a result of one of the five Seal Stones powering the seal cracking.

• The Explorer attempted to fix the seal with the Seal Stone of Victoria Island, though the Black Mage awakened and used his power to shatter the cracked Seal Stone, breaking the seal and allowing him to escape.

• Immediately after escaping, the Black Mage traveled to Ellinia and destroyed Lania’s home before possessing Lania. Luminous rushed back home and fought Lania, driving the darkness out of her in the process. The Black Mage then confronted Luminous and claimed that their final battle would happen later in the future.

• Because of the Black Mage’s influence, Maple World’s most powerful bosses were strengthened by his dark influence, such as Zakum, Papulatus, and Horntail.