PART II: AFTER THE SEALING OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 21: Wind of Vengeance

(A/N: I was surprised that they decided to have Khali’s storyline take place on continental Grandis, rather than a moon like all other classes. Grandis has thirteen moons, and at the time of Lara’s release, we knew about the existence of seven of them. With there being six unreleased Grandis classes before the Savior update - the Nova magician, the Flora thief and bowman, and the Anima warrior, bowman, and pirate, I’d assumed that each of them would’ve start out on the six unreleased moons, since Nexon has been treating the moons as starter worlds.

Ever since the release of Cernium, Nexon has been treating continental Grandis as a high-level area for the Adversary storyline. However, it does make sense that we would get Flora classes who start out on continental Grandis, since the planet is the Flora homeworld. We can also be almost certain that Ark and Adele were both born on the planet Grandis as well.

Khali’s story provides a lot of new information about the High Flora and hints at a much more in-depth exploration of continental Grandis in the future. Her hometown, Erimos, is said to be one of six different cities in the High Flora nation, and we’ll likely see the other five in future content. Erimos is an Ancient Greek word that means ‘desert', which lines up with the desert setting of the area, but it also means ‘isolation’ or ‘lonely’, which matches the somber tone of Khali’s storyline.

For those who are wondering about how Sacred Power fits into Khali’s story, the lore behind it is that a strange, oppressive aura had settled over certain areas of continental Grandis, which interfered with the manifestation of one’s innate skills. In order to counteract that aura, the researchers of Cernium had created Sacred Symbols containing Sacred Power, which lets us fight at our usual strength again.

That strange aura began settling over Grandis shortly after the death of the Black Mage, which is when the Ancient Gods began reawakening with the Transcendents’ influence over them waning. Because Khali’s storyline is set many years before the events of Tenebris and Convergence, that oppressive aura hasn’t appeared yet, which means that there’s no need for us to have Sacred Power.

Before I get into the story, there’s one important thing that I need to mention as a disclaimer. The Flora have a caste system based on magical power, with the God-King on top, followed by the Gods, the Priests, and the commoners. The Gods described in this section aren’t actually deities in any capacity. ‘God’ is a lofty title that they gave themselves in order for them to assert their superiority over ‘lesser’ life forms, including the Flora of lower castes.

The Priests of the High Flora view the God-King and the Gods as these larger-than-life figures, which is probably what the High Flora elites were going for when they created the names for the caste system. In real life, priests both worship the gods and serve as religious leaders amongst normal people by interpreting and preaching the gods’ divine mandate.

This model is precisely how the Flora caste system works, in which Priests are deferent to the Gods, while still maintaining some level of authority over the commoners. And if the Gods are seen as these all-powerful beings, then the God-King is almost incomprehensibly powerful if he exists as the god of gods. In Darmoor’s case, he quite literally is a god, or at least on the same level as one, by being the Transcendent of Life.

On top of it being a cultural thing to worship the Gods of the Flora, we can also see Flora classes actually deriving power from them in their Hyper Skill, Divine Wrath. The skill description for it is, “Borrows strength from the ancient god of the Flora”, which is likely a reference to people like the God of the Verdant Flora, as well as other Gods from before the Flora Civil War.

When GMS localized this storyline, it took a lot of liberties with changing up a lot of the original KMS names and terms. The biggest offender of this was the fact that they renamed ‘God’ to ‘Divine’ and ‘Priest’ to ‘Blessed’. I can’t begin to tell you how much I hate the fact that they did this. God and Priest have been used consistently in the game ever since Illium’s release, and having this second naming system being invented out of nowhere adds so much confusion to stuff that’s already been established.

Under this naming system, things like the God of the Verdant Flora make no sense because his name should’ve been the Divine of the Verdant Flora instead. GMS tried to reconcile this discrepancy by insinuating that other regions outside Erimos might use Gods and Priests, which also makes no sense because the High Flora live in a fascist nation where nationalism is heavily emphasized and everything is branded and standardized under one system defined by the central government.

The likely reason why changing God to Divine was made is to clear up the confusion of the game constantly reusing the term ‘god’ for things like the Ancient Gods, the Goddesses of the three worlds, the Fox God, the Slime God, Goddess Rhinne, Goddess Minerva, etc, and while I agree that it’s ridiculously convoluted, it’s not supposed to be GMS’ job to be the one to fix it.

I wouldn’t blame GMS at all for sticking with God, no matter how confusing it is, because they’re just translating something that KMS dropped the ball on, but when GMS randomly starts trying to do stuff in their attempts to fix things, it adds another layer of confusion by inventing lore that doesn’t exist, making everyone who doesn’t play in KMS confused on which parts are canon and which aren’t.

Now, people who didn’t do the one optional side quest for Khali that insinuates the idea of God and Priest being different naming systems might start wondering who the Gods of the Flora are in other storylines, and since GMS never explained that God in the context of the Flora is supposed to refer to the caste system, anyone who didn’t do Illium’s story is gonna start thinking that they’re actual gods or something, and that’s gonna make everyone even more confused by how inconsistent everything’s now been made. For this reason, I’m gonna continue using the old naming system of God and Priest because it would be stupid to start using Divine and Blessed just in this section and nowhere else.)

Near the outskirts of Erimos, a city in continental Grandis, a High Flora Priest named Laiyan attempted to arrest a commoner named Tasha for repeatedly attacking several Priests, whom he called her ‘betters’. When Tasha claimed that Syamans between High Flora were justified, Laiyan replied that Syamans was reserved only for Priests and Gods. However, Tasha retorted by asking why they they had all agreed to fight her if the restrictions on Syamans were so strict, and why they had all lost if they really were her ‘betters’.

(A/N: The explanation for Syamans was given at a later point in the actual story, but I’ll include it here for the sake of clarity. A Syaman is an honorable duel between High Flora. After swearing to compete fairly in the name of the God-King, the two challengers face each other in a magical showdown. A Syaman between two Priests is mainly just for entertainment or showing off, but a Syaman between a Priest and a God is what determines caste rank. Because a Priest challenging a God - a person of higher caste rank - is considered to be a valiant act, a God is obligated to answer to that challenge accordingly.)

Tasha then challenged Laiyan to face her in a Syaman. Upon seeing his anger at her insolence, she laughed and asked if he was afraid of losing to a commoner like herself, who had no magical powers. Laiyan replied that she had grown quite arrogant for winning against a few Priests, claiming that anyone could become a Priest if they had even a drop of magic inside them.

He then claimed that his magic was on a much different level from the Priests whom she had encountered, and that no matter how talented she was at martial fighting, there was no way that a commoner with no magical power could defeat him. Tasha replied that if he was so confident, then he wouldn’t have a problem agreeing to face her in a Syaman.

Laiyan accepted her challenge and immediately moved to attack, though Tasha dodged his sword strike by leaping into the air and jumping atop a rock formation. Laiyan continued pursuing and attacking, but to his surprise, Tasha appeared behind him and held a Chakram to his throat before laughing that a member of the Zealous - the Lord’s Guard - wasn’t much of a challenge after all.

(A/N: The fight between Laiyan and Tasha showed an interesting detail with the way that the Flora fight. Laiyan initially doesn’t open his wings while fighting Tasha, but he does after Tasha initially dodges his attack. Ark’s storyline explained that the Flora only fight at a fraction of their magical capacity while their wings are closed. Laiyan’s fight with Tasha is actually the first time that we’ve seen a High Flora open their wings while battling somebody. We’ve seen Albaire and Veronica open their wings before, but that was because they were flying, not fighting.

My understanding of Flora wings in combat is that opening your wings is essentially allowing the magic inside your body to flare up and manifest externally. Constantly channeling magical energy through your wing conduits is extremely stressful on the body, which is why the Flora typically only open their wings when it’s absolutely necessary.

The only time that we’ve seen full-on combat using fully-open wings was during the Flora Civil War in the Grandis webcomic, which necessitated full power, since it was a tooth-and-nail fight to the death. We’ve also seen what happens in the case when a Flora’s magical conduits get overloaded, as Adele’s wings were said to have shorted out from excessive expenditure of magical energy during the coup against the God-King.

The only cases where we’ve seen wings being fully open continuously is with the Verdant Flora, who likely have mechanical support for their conduits, as well as Darmoor, who has the largest wingspan ever seen. The fact that he has such large wings that expend a tremendous amount of energy, that he keeps them open for no other reason than because he can, and that he can do so with no adverse consequences to his conduits is a testament to his immense power and control, which no one except a Transcendent would be able to pull off.

On another note, it seems that the intensity of color might also correspond to magical power. Albaire has fairly light-red colored wings, while Laiyan and Veronica have solid-red wings. I’d even argue that Veronica’s shade of red is a bit darker than Laiyan’s, which makes sense, given that it’s possible that Veronica is an Apostle of Darmoor, while Laiyan is just an aide to one.)

Tasha then asked if he was beginning to question the caste system after seeing that she was much stronger than him. She explained that he was a Priest because he had been born with magical powers, and that she was a commoner because she hadn’t. However, she claimed that even if she had been born with magic, she would have been killed, not made into a Priest, simply because she would have been born with magic to two commoners.

She then asked Laiyan whether he truly thought that it was right, though Laiyan merely claimed that she had won through trickery. However, Tasha replied that she hadn’t used any tricks, and that he had lost simply because he was that much weaker than her. As the Zealots began rushing to the scene, Tasha laughed that luck seemed to be on his side before fleeing.

Tasha then returned back to her home, where her husband, Jad, told her that Kinan had brought them a crib from their friend, a High Priest named Anan. (A/N: When Khali’s storyline came out in the KMS test server, it was suggested that High Priest is a subdivision within the Priests in order to distinguish them from the weaker Priests who barely hold any magical power. However, this implication was removed in the live server, and so ‘High Priest’ just seems to be a position now, rather than a caste.) Tasha immediately told Jad that they couldn’t accept Anan’s gift, as the people wouldn’t be happy if they heard about a Priest congratulating a commoner on her pregnancy with a gift.

Jad joked that she sounded like a Priest before explaining that they needed the crib, as business wasn’t good lately. He told Tasha that there were rumors circulating that they were married and explained that while the commoners supported them, it was mainly the Priests – whom she regularly fought – who bought the weapons that they sold at their shop. Tasha began to apologize, though Jad told her not to be sorry, explaining that he was proud of her, and that he believed that she was doing the right thing. However, he asked her not to push herself too hard, now that she was pregnant.

One year later, Tasha grew deathly pale as she neared the end of her labor. As Jad and Tasha’s friend, Kinan, waited patiently, Jad’s mother, Ritan, told Jad that Tasha was calling for him. Jad and Kinan rushed to her side, where they were shocked to find her severely weak. Though it was difficult for her to speak, Tasha explained that she could feel magic inside her womb.

Kinan immediately realized that they needed to remove the baby right away, explaining that she had once read a book about mutations, which explained that when a commoner gave birth to a mutant - a commoner child inexplicably born with magic - the mother would be unable to handle the child’s magical power during birth, which would result in her death.

Jad asked Kinan whether removing the baby would allow Tasha to live. Kinan explained that Flora babies with magical powers would open their wings at birth, meaning that Tasha would survive if they could remove the baby before that, though she warned that the baby would die in the process. After struggling to make a decision, Jad told Kinan to remove the baby. However, a weak Tasha begged him to save the child instead, as she wanted it to be safe and happy.

Jad reluctantly agreed to heed Tasha’s wishes and allowed her to deliver the child, which spread its magical wings at birth and killed her in the process. As Jad began mourning Tasha, Kinan told him to pull himself together, reminding him that the child was still in danger, as mutants were killed at birth for having ‘impure’ magic. Kinan suggested that they take the baby and flee Erimos, adding that it was their opportunity to fulfill Tasha’s wishes.

At Jad’s confusion, Kinan explained that the very fact that the child was born with magic was a statement in itself. She noted that even two commoners could create a child with magical wings and pointed out that rather than the child being a mutant, it was proof that even commoners had magic deep inside their bodies. She explained that once the child grew up, it would carry on Tasha’s legacy to overthrow the caste system. With the child spearheading their cause, Kinan believed that they would be able to find others who shared their beliefs.

When Jad asked about the child’s safety, Kinan promised that she would protect it, despite the danger of it being discovered. Jad then conceded that their society was flawed, and that both she and Tasha had gone through many hardships fighting against those injustices, having almost lost their lives many times. However, he explained that she had come close to death many times, and that she was destined to live a life in hiding. He told her that he didn’t want that kind of life for his child, and that Tasha wouldn’t have wanted it either.

He then asked her whether there was a way for the child to live an ordinary, safe life. Kinan warned Jad that though there was a way, he might never see his child again. Jad replied that as long as his child was happy, he was fine with it. Kinan then explained that Tasha had once saved the life of Anan - the High Priest who had gifted them the crib. As Anan owed his life to Tasha, Kinan him that Anan would take the child in.

Soon after, at Anan’s residence, a servant named Nile informed Anan that a guest had arrived. Anan, whose wife was in labor, ordered him to send them away. However, upon learning that the guest had brought Tasha’s child, Anan believed that with his own child about to be born, it had to be fate, and so he ordered Nile to make an announcement that his wife had given birth to twins. Tasha’s daughter, Khali, and Anan’s daughter, Rasha, were then raised together as twin sisters. Over the years, the girls grew up together and became extremely close, with Rasha looking up to Khali as an older sister.

(A/N: Given the fact that the Flora age a lot slower than humans, which we can see from Illium being a teenager at 153 years old, Khali and Rasha must’ve grown up over the course of centuries, and since their story takes place in the present day, it means that Khali’s birth happened during the Flora Civil War, which ended just decades before the present.

GMS created a lot of confusion by stating that Khali was 17 years old at the time of her story beginning, which takes place over the course of two years, leaving her as 19 when she arrives in Maple World. This line doesn’t exist anywhere in KMS, and I’m honestly at a loss for why they felt the need to make up something that’s not canon and present it as though it is.

It’s not strictly an impossibility that Khali could’ve been 17 at the time of her story starting, as Illium’s storyline reveals that Illium built Ex when he was 11, suggesting that the Flora very quickly go through their infancy and start aging much more slowly as they get older. But the problem is that GMS chose to say that Khali was 17 to replace the original KMS line, which mentioned that she had received an item on the day that she had become an adult.

Even if it’s possible for Khali to have physically been an adolescent at 17, Illium being 153 is said to be the age of a teenager by Flora standards. There’s absolutely no way that 17 could be the age of majority when Illium is still a teenager after being a century-and-a-half-years-old. I get the reasoning behind why GMS thought to say that she’s 17, but I wish that they’d just stick to translating things as closely to the original source material as possible so that they don’t create phantom continuity errors in GMS that don’t exist in KMS.)

Over the years, the girls grew up together and became extremely close, with Rasha looking up to Khali as an older sister. One day, on Khali and Rasha’s birthday, Khali awoke and greeted her father, who told her that he wanted to take her somewhere. When Khali told him that she would wake Rasha up, Anan told her that it would just be the two of them, claiming that it was because it was Khali’s birthday when she asked him why. Though Khali pointed out that it was also Rasha’s birthday, Anan remained insistent that it would just be the two of them. Anan then took Khali to Jad’s weapon shop.

(A/N: We find out later in her fourth job advancement that Anan brought Khali alone because he wanted Jad to meet his birth daughter, whom he hadn’t seen since she was born.)

There, Jad presented Khali with the Chakrams that Anan had requested as her birthday present, as Khali was training for the Test of Faith - the entrance exam for the Zealous. As Khali was the daughter of a well-respected High Priest, Jad offered a gift of his own and presented her with a white scarf. Khali noted that it was beautiful and thanked him before asking if he had another scarf that she could give to her sister. Jad explained that the scarf which he had given her was the only one of its kind, though he presented her with a blue scarf, which Khali graciously accepted.

Khali then decided to test her new weapons by defeating the Sloppy Marauders outside the city. After practicing, she returned home and greeted Rasha, who had just woken up. She gave the blue scarf to Rasha, who noted that it was similar to the white one that Khali was wearing. Khali explained that she had hoped to get matching scarves, though there had only been one of the white ones. Upon seeing that Rasha liked the white scarf better, Khali immediately gave it to her and took the blue scarf instead, claiming that she would give Rasha anything that she wished for.

After exchanging birthday wishes, Khali decided to continue training, as the Test of Faith was fast approaching. She then left the city and fought the Ferocious Marauders before returning home to check on Rasha’s training. There, Rasha explained that she had tried changing her weapon just as Khali had, though she admitted that she felt like she was merely wasting her time. She then asked whether they could spar together, as it had been a while since they had last fought.

Rasha was dissuaded when Khali easily won and wondered whether she would be able to join the Zealous. Though Khali reassured her that she would, Rasha pointed out that even if she did get in, everyone amongst the Zealous would be just as strong as Khali, which made her wonder whether she would fit in.

Khali then reminded her of the day that they had begun dreaming of becoming part of the Zealous. Many years ago, Khali and Rasha had been attacked by marauders outside the city when Ypsilon, the Lord of Erimos, had saved them. Khali had thanked Ypsilon and asked how they could repay him, as they had been taught by their father that the world revolved around reciprocity.

Ypsilon had laughed and told them that if they wished to reciprocate, then they would need to perform an act of equal value. As he had protected them, he had told them that it would suffice if they protected him in return, though he added that they would only be able to do so once they became stronger and more mature. Khali had then asked him for his name, which he had given before walking away.

Khali reminded Rasha of how much they had grown to respect Ypsilon, and how they had promised to repay him for his kindness. She then told Rasha that she believed that the strength of one’s willpower was much more important than physical strength, and that their respect for Ypsilon and their determination to protect the people of Erimos was all that Rasha needed, promising that they would only get stronger in the future. Her spirits lifted, Rasha agreed that they would definitely join the Zealous together.

On the day of the Test of Faith, Rasha and Khali arrived at the testing area, where they read the rules of the examination. They learned that the exam would follow the same regulations as a Syaman, and that only the winners from each of the two testing groups would be appointed to the Zealous. Rasha nervously told Khali that she had never fought in a Syaman before and asked whether she would be okay. Khali reassured her that most of the Priests in the city were new to Syamans as well.

She explained that with Ypsilon having such powerful magic, there was no one fearless enough in the city to challenge him. (A/N: Ypsilon is a God of the High Flora.) However, she vowed that she would one day challenge him herself. Rasha noted that though Khali was stronger than her, she would surely lose, adding that she might even get badly hurt. Khali admitted that she probably would, though she explained that she wasn’t challenging him because she had confidence that she would win, but because she wanted to show him how much she respected him so that she could earn his praise, for which she wasn’t afraid of getting hurt.

They then headed into the examination area, where Rasha was relieved to know that she was in a different block from Khali, as she doubted that she could win against her sister. Khali and Rasha then proceeded to dominate the brackets until Khali faced a boy named Shaheen in the finals. Shaheen recognized Khali as Anan’s daughter and explained that he was curious whether she had inherited her father’s strength. Promising that he wouldn’t hold back, he and Khali fought in a final Syaman, which Khali easily won.

Laiyan, the captain of the Zealous, then congratulated Khali on her victory, noting that her speed, in particular, was commendable, as he had only once met someone as fast as her. (A/N: Laiyan is the Zealot who had fought against Khali’s mother, Tasha, at the beginning of the story.) Khali asked if that person had been a Zealot, though Laiyan quickly changed the subject and handed her a uniform to put on before her appointment ceremony.

Laiyan and Khali then entered the palace, where Khali was pleasantly surprised to find that Rasha had also been selected for the Zealous. Laiyan was impressed to learn that they were both sisters, pointing out that they had matching scarves, and noted that their parents must be honored. In the audience room, Khali and Rasha kneeled before Ypsilon, who asked them to pledge an oath of eternal loyalty to both him and the city of Erimos.

After they pledged themselves to him, Ypsilon recognized them as the children whom he had saved many years ago, explaining that they had stood out to him from the moment that he had seen them. Khali explained that it was only much later after he had saved them that they had learned that he was the Lord of Erimos, adding that they had trained hard to serve him as Zealots and repay their debt.

Ypsilon told them that it was still too early for that, for while they had grown, they still needed to grow even stronger. Rasha replied that they were prepared to risk their lives, but Ypsilon told them not to risk their lives for him, but for their people. After the ceremony, Khali told Rasha that she was surprised that Ypsilon had remembered them. She noted that he was quite dazzling, and that she wanted to get stronger in order to earn his approval. Rasha expressed her confidence that Khali would be able to, though Khali added that Rasha would be able to do it too, and that they would earn his approval together.

The next morning, Khali arrived at the palace in order to begin her first mission as a Zealot. She and Rasha met with Laiyan, who asked them how they felt about their first day. Khali replied that she was excited, while Rasha admitted that she was nervous, causing Laiyan to laugh that they were complete opposites. He then ordered them to defeat the Suspicious Outlaws and Enraged Outlaws outside the city. After they finished their mission, Laiyan congratulated them and asked them to keep growing stronger, adding that he would call on them when the time came.

(A/N: Something that GMS omitted that later gets revealed is that the outlaws and marauders that we fight in this storyline are all members of the other races, which means that Nexon has basically tricked us into committing genocide this entire time. Even though it’s not explicitly stated in GMS, it’s still pretty self-evident from how characters talk in this storyline about holy crusades and conquering territory that all these outlaws and marauders are the natives of this area that the High Flora purged and drove out before seizing their land and property, which forced them to turn to crime in order to survive. Even though they’re described as dangerous criminals, it’s more likely that they’re really just trying to take back what was stolen from them.)

Over the next year, Khali and Rasha continued taking on missions and growing stronger. One day, Laiyan called the two back to the palace. Khali, who had grown frustrated that she had only been assigned monster elimination missions for a year, believed that there had to be a reason that Laiyan had called them back to the palace.

She and Rasha reported to Laiyan, who greeted them and noted that it had been a while since they had last seen each other. He asked whether they had adjusted to the life of a Zealot, noting that they had exceeded his expectations with how many successful missions they had completed over the last year. He reminded them that he had promised to call on them when the time was right, adding that that time was now.

He explained that their missions had been as Initiates, and that in order to become true Zealots, they would need to complete a special, sacred mission. However, he warned them that once they completed the mission and became proper Zealots, there would be no turning back. Khali immediately accepted and nudged a hesitant Rasha into doing the same. Laiyan then ordered them to not only defeat the Menacing Outlaws, but to bring them back alive. Before he headed out, Laiyan reminded them not to forget their oath.

After Laiyan left, Rasha wondered what he had meant between telling them that there was no turning back and to not forget their oath. Khali supposed that it meant that they needed to become even more loyal in order to become proper Zealots. Upon seeing Rasha remain silent, Khali asked her what she was so anxious about. Rasha admitted that she had a bad feeling, to which Khali replied that she worried too much, and that it was just a normal mission, which Rasha hesitantly agreed to.

The two then captured the Menacing Outlaws and returned back to Laiyan, who told them that Ypsilon himself would receive their mission report. At the audience room, Khali reported that they had brought back the enemies alive, just as he had requested. Ypsilon replied that they had done well, after which Rasha cautiously spoke up and told him that she wanted to ask him something, surprising Khali.

Rasha asked Ypsilon why he had asked them to bring in the enemies alive. In response, Ypsilon reminded her that she had sworn her eternal loyalty to him. He then asked her whether she had made that pledge without knowing what that allegiance meant. He explained that allegiance was something that came from the deepest, most sincere part of one’s heart, adding that the fact that she would question her mission made him doubt her sincerity. He then told her that if what she had offered to him that day hadn’t been allegiance, then she should surrender her uniform immediately.

Rasha admitted that she had nothing but the sincerest respect for him, but just as she began voicing the reason for her doubts, Khali interrupted her and told Ypsilon that Rasha’s doubts came from allegiance, swearing that what they had sworn to him that day had been nothing less than the truest feelings that they felt towards him. Satisfied with her answer, Ypsilon then began extracting the life force from the outlaws, shocking both Khali and Rasha.

Rasha immediately began asking him what he was doing, though Khali quickly cut her off. After Ypsilon killed the outlaws, he explained that in their duties as Zealots, they had taken the lives of many of their enemies. He asked them what their reason for doing so was, to which Rasha answered that it was for the safety of their people.

Ypsilon explained that they had killed their enemies for the greater good, and that he was doing the same thing, adding that there was no difference between them slaying their enemies and him extracting the life out of them. He then told them that the dirty work of staining their hands with the blood of the unenlightened was the duty of the Zealous.

He admitted that they might be confused, explaining that they now understood why such missions were kept from the Initiates until they were ready to know. However, he warned them that he wouldn’t be so understanding next time, adding that he hoped that their oath of eternal loyalty would not turn out to be false. Back at home, Rasha asked Khali whether she was planning to stay in the Zealous. When Khali asked her what she meant, Rasha explained that no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t help but believe that it wasn’t right.

Khali asked her in disbelief whether she was planning to quit the Zealous, to which Rasha asked her if she was really going to stay after what she had seen. Khali reminded her what Laiyan had told them about not being able to turn back, as they wouldn’t be permitted to leave the Zealous alive after seeing Ypsilon’s secret. Nevertheless, Rasha told Khali that she was going to quit, causing Khali to ask Rasha if she had lost her mind.

Rasha retorted that Khali was the one who had lost her mind, reminding Khali about her own words - that their determination was what was most important, and that they couldn’t forget those feelings. Khali replied that her allegiance towards Ypsilon and her determination to protect the people hadn’t changed, adding that Ypsilon had been right when he had told them that someone had to kill their enemies for the sake of the people.

Rasha pointed out that merely eliminating the enemies of the city would have sufficed, not extracting out their life force. However, Khali reasoned that they would have been killed either way, and that she didn’t believe it to be a bad thing that their lives had been of some use in the end. In disbelief at Khali’s words, Rasha told her that it wasn’t what she had wanted to do when she had pledged to protect the people, explaining that capturing their enemies alive and extracting their life force was merely Ypsilon’s greed, to which Khali insisted that Ypsilon was a good man.

Rasha asked Khali if she truly believed that, adding that the Zealous that she had longed to join her entire life wasn’t something that would do something so evil. She then told Khali that if she truly had no problem with what they had witnessed, then she was disappointed in her, after which she stormed off.

The next day, Rasha met with Laiyan and told him that she was quitting the Zealous. Laiyan reminded her that she couldn’t leave the Zealous alive after having completed her special mission. Rasha replied that she would rather lose her life than to work for the sake of someone else’s greedy self-interest. A furious Laiyan then drew his sword when Khali rushed in and stood between them.

Laiyan ordered Khali to stand aside, claiming that her sister had chosen her path. However, Khali refused and promised that she would take responsibility for Rasha’s actions, and that in exchange for sparing her sister’s life, she would ensure that Rasha wouldn’t reveal Ypsilon’s secret to anyone. Laiyan put away his blade and told Khali that he would give her an opportunity because he trusted her. He then ordered Khali to tear out Rasha’s wings with her own hands.

An angry Rasha claimed that she would rather die than have her wings removed, to which Laiyan threatened to do just that. Realizing that there was only one way to save her sister’s life, Khali quickly tore Rasha’s wings out. A satisfied Laiyan told her that he would remember her wise judgement and unwavering loyalty before walking away.

Back home, Rasha rushed back to her room and shut the door without a word. That night, however, Rasha came to Khali’s room and explained that she had something to give her. She then handed Khali a box containing her swords. She explained that wings were the symbol and pride of the Flora, and that though her life had been spared, she had lost both of her wings. However, she added that she had not only lost her wings, but Khali herself as a source of her pride.

She explained that Khali had always been her pride and joy as her older sister, and that after their father had given Khali her Chakrams, she had also bought new weapons for herself as well. She told Khali that she had wanted to do the same things as her, for while she may not have lived a long life, she had spent all of it following Khali’s lead.

She admitted that she had always felt a mix of envy and respect for Khali, though those feelings had now all crumbled down. She added that though Khali may have thought that she had saved her life, after losing all her pride, Rasha explained that she might as well have died today. After Rasha left, Khali began sobbing as she clutched the box containing Rasha’s swords, repeating to herself that there was nothing else that she could have done, and attempted to convince herself that she had done the right thing.

(A/N: This is going to be a really hot take, but what Rasha did was honestly such a selfish and poorly thought-out move. Like I get it - what Ypsilon did was horrendous and there’s no possible way that you could ever morally be in the right by continuing to serve him. But you know what’s also terrible? Choosing to die when you didn’t have to and forcing your family to have to live with the trauma of your death for the rest of their lives.

There was a very viable solution right in front of her - she could’ve ran away and gone somewhere that the Zealous wouldn’t find her. Khali did the exact same thing at the end of this story by running away to Maple World, where the High Flora have no presence or jurisdiction. And not only that, but she came back to Erimos on at least three separate occasions when she was already marked as public enemy number one, even going as far as to openly interact with people who were already aware that she was a fugitive.

And if that wasn’t enough, she was even able to get in touch with Nile, who was able to give her objects and information straight from Erimos. Any competent government in existence would’ve had Nile being watched when he’s the most likely person to get in contact with Khali in order to find her whereabouts, but they’re so ineffectual that Khali can just waltz into Erimos multiple times and get into contact with people there with absolutely zero repercussions.

Rasha could’ve done the exact same thing instead of needlessly and impulsively dying on a principle. She didn’t even try to find another solution to her situation - she just decided to give up and die like she was doing something impressive by throwing her life away. Dying for the sake of an ideal only has meaning if you have no other options in front of you to keep fighting for what you believe in, but what Rasha did was choosing to die like an idiot because she couldn’t be bothered to think about her options for longer than half a day before getting herself publicly executed just to make an ineffectual moral statement and irreparably traumatizing her loved ones in the process.

She straight up could’ve left and spared everyone a lot of grief if she just spent an extra week figuring out the best way forward instead of deciding that she absolutely can’t serve Ypsilon for even a moment longer, as though her dying is magically gonna make him stop killing more people after she turns in her badge. If she was guaranteed to die by quitting anyways, then she at least should’ve tried to take her best chance to live and fight another day, if nothing else than for the sake of her family so that they won’t have to watch her die and deal with the aftermath of that for the rest of their lives, with Ypsilon just finding a replacement for her and continuing his killing without any issues, and with her accomplishing absolutely nothing in the end.

And the thing that gets me even more is that her current situation is still a vast improvement over having to be a fugitive for the rest of her life, and especially over being dead at the human equivalent of 19. The fact that she even went as far as to suggest that Khali was the selfish one for saving her life just screams to me, “Tell me you’re privileged without telling me you’re privileged”.

Sure, she’s lost her social standing and she’s basically become an outcast now. But you know what? She’s still breathing, isn’t she? She can still move forward with her life, just like the thousands of other commoners in her situation who, unlike her, don’t even have the privilege of having a High Priest for a father who doesn’t believe in the caste system and would still love and support her unconditionally, even after she’s basically turned into a social pariah that almost anyone else in their world would disown out of disgust if she were their daughter instead of Anan’s.

When she was like, “I’d rather die than lose my wings and live without pride”, I really had to stop myself from facepalming. Great take, Rasha. Go on and tell all the commoners around you that their lives are so miserable and pathetic without wings that it would be better if they all just dropped dead right now instead of having to live such horrible, unbearable lives where they get to have loved ones and moments of happiness. Being a minority has a mountain of hardships associated with it, but acting as though it’s some worthless life that’s only good for dying is such an incredibly bigoted viewpoint.

And even though Rasha has to face a lot of that same discrimination now, which is something that no one should ever have to go through, her situation still isn’t the same as other commoners. Not only does she get to have a family who still cares about her in spite of all the fascist ideology of their people, but she also gets to continue living in a giant mansion, she gets to have servants who wait on her hand and foot, and she doesn’t even have to worry about food or income or anything else except her healing process, which is way more than most other people get to have.

And somehow, it’s apparently completely selfless for Rasha to die because she thinks that she’s making a stand against Ypsilon - and not even because he’s committing ethnic cleansing, but because he isn’t doing it ‘humanely’ enough for her liking, whatever that’s supposed to mean - yet having to live a life without the privilege of being a racist and classist oppressor is the worst thing that Khali could’ve done to her, all because Rasha thinks that she’s too good to live as a commoner - ignoring the fact that she literally could’ve just deserted if she really wanted to leave that badly without hurting anyone.

With that being said, though, I don’t blame Rasha at all for being upset about what happened right after the incident. It was an extremely traumatic moment that she needed to come to terms with, and in a better written story, she would’ve. But the problem is that she never comes to terms with it, and the writers make it seem as though there’s nothing that she needs to reevaluate because she was this perfect person who did all the right things for all the right reasons, while Khali was the one in the wrong for stopping her sister from throwing her life away for literally no good reason whatsoever.

Even a whole year after the incident, it’s Khali who’s the one who has to apologize to Rasha for not believing her about Ypsilon, with all of Rasha’s character flaws getting completely glossed over. It just seems so strange to me that the central focus of this story is about the underlying classism in High Flora society, and yet all of Rasha’s privileged statements about how being a commoner is a fate worse than death get completely ignored and never brought up again, all for the sake of rushing through this ridiculously fast-paced storyline at the speed of light.)

One year later, Khali awoke and began heading out for her next mission to invade the territories belonging to other races. Before she headed out, she attempted to say goodbye to Rasha, whose door remained shut. Khali sadly pointed out that it had been a year since they had seen or spoken to each other, and asked if they could see each other again, just once.

Upon hearing nothing but silence, Khali apologized once again and told Rasha that she would be back soon. As she headed out, Khali noted to herself that she had likely just burdened Rasha with her words. She reminded herself that Rasha needed time, and that she would one day understand that Khali had made her decision out of love. As she had told Rasha that she would be out, she supposed that her sister would now come out to do her daily activities. Khali then proceeded to complete her mission by driving out the local outlaws of the other races before reporting back to Laiyan, who was pleased by her work.

He noted that it had been two years since she had joined the Zealous and laughed that time quickly flew. He asked Khali how Rasha was, to which Khali quickly noted that she was fine and thanked him for his concerns. Laiyan explained that between the loyalty that she had shown, despite her sister being reduced to such a state, as well as her many achievements, she had made him quite impressed. Because of this, he explained that he had gotten permission from Ypsilon to make her his adjutant, adding that her father must be proud too.

After a small appointment ceremony, Khali returned home and stood outside Rasha’s door. She told Rasha that she had become Laiyan’s adjutant, and that though she might not want to congratulate her, she had wanted to tell her anyways. Upon hearing no response, Khali asked Rasha if they could see each other again sometime, as their birthday was coming up soon.

She recalled how nice their birthday had been two years ago when they had gotten their matching scarves. She explained that it was the first time that they had gotten something that matched each other, and so it had been quite meaningful for her, even though the scarves had been different colors. However, she added that she had really liked that people could tell right away that they were sisters because of the scarves, and that their birthday had been a happy one.

She explained that they had been too busy with Zealot missions to celebrate last year, and that they had never been able to make up for it. Because of that, she hoped that they could celebrate their birthday together this year. Upon hearing no response once again, Khali reluctantly wished Rasha good night before walking away, though unbeknownst to her, Rasha silently opened the door and watched her walk away.

(A/N: This next scene takes place during a flashback that occurs during a conversation between Laiyan and Khali. Since I’m trying to keep everything on this site in chronological order, I decided to move it to where it actually takes place. I’ll make a note of where this flashback happens in the actual class storyline later on.)

Some time later, Laiyan learned that someone in the city was spreading rumors about the existence of a mutant in Erimos. Upon investigating the rumors, he discovered that the person spreading the story was Kinan, Tasha’s old friend and accomplice. (A/N: If Kinan had just kept her mouth shut about the mutant, everyone would’ve been safe. I fully blame her for everything that happens in this storyline.)

Laiyan immediately arrested Kinan and began interrogating her about the identity of the mutant in prison. When Kinan remained silent, Laiyan promised to spare her life if she revealed the identity of the mutant. Kinan asked him whether his offer was legitimate, to which Laiyan noted that she at least seemed to value her own life.

However, Kinan replied that she doubted that he would spare her, even if she were to tell him, claiming that she had seen her share of Priests like him. In response to her words, Laiyan offered her a choice to die painlessly after revealing the mutant’s identity, or to remain quiet and experience a pain worse than death. Kinan merely retorted that his magic didn’t scare her, causing Laiyan to angrily draw his sword.

Just then, Ypsilon entered the room and ordered Laiyan to stand down. He then asked Kinan what she hid her secrets with, to which she replied that she didn’t understand what he was asking. Ypsilon clarified by asking whether she hid the truth because she believed it to be right, whether it was for a greater cause, or for morals, explaining that he was asking what it was that kept her from telling the truth.

Kinan laughed at his words and asked why he was curious about such a thing, adding that she could never understand what went on in the minds of those who had magic. Ypsilon replied that it was just a question, and that he was merely curious. Kinan answered that she had her beliefs, a greater cause, and morals. However, she explained that she had long since decided to stop risking her life for such things and told Ypsilon that she kept silent out of loyalty.

Satisfied with her answer, Ypsilon declared that she simply needed to be stripped of her loyalties before using his powers to extract loyalty itself out of her. He then asked her what the mutant’s name was, to which Kinan replied that she didn’t know their name, though she admitted that it was Tasha’s child. She explained that the child had been born with magic, and so they had pretended that it had died along with Tasha, adding that the child was still alive.

(A/N: We learn this later on in Khali’s level 200 quest, but Ypsilon is actually Dr. Y from Kain’s storyline. In Kain’s story, we observed Dr. Y extracting abstract things, such as memories and Malice. In this story, we see Ypsilon doing the same thing by extracting life force, magic, and loyalty.

Although it hasn’t been confirmed yet that Ypsilon is an Apostle, it’s practically a given at this point, as the Apostle theme plays for him as Dr. Y in Kain’s storyline and plays twice for him during Khali’s storyline. The Apostle theme also played for Kaling in Hoyoung’s storyline before she was confirmed as an Apostle in the Odium storyline, and so we can basically treat Ypsilon being an Apostle as canon.

Ypsilon follows a long line of Grandis villains having alter egos and side jobs, such as Darmoor posing as Aaron in Cernium and Kaling owning the Information Broker Bureau in order to locate Hundun, the last of the Four Perils. Between being the Lord of Erimos, working as an Apostle and attending regular meetings, hunting down the power of the Ancient Gods, starting a mercenary company in Toolen City, and getting a degree in psychiatry, this guy gets a lot done with his time. I should really take notes.

GMS chose to translate his name as Ypsilon, even though KMS’ spelling phonetically translates to Epsilon. ‘Epsilon’ is the fifth letter in the Greek alphabet, which suggests that Epsilon might be the Fifth Apostle, similar to how Havoc is the First Apostle of Lightning. In contrast to the letter ‘epsilon’, the Greek letter ‘ypsilon’, also spelled ‘upsilon’, in its capital form, looks just like the letter Y, which explains the origin of his pseudonym as Dr. Y.)

Soon after, Khali was called to the palace at Laiyan’s request. There, Laiyan explained that he was giving her a very important mission. He asked her whether she recalled how he had once mentioned that he had met only one person as fast as her and explained that the person whom he had been referring to was a woman named Tasha, who had been quite powerful, despite being a commoner.

A surprised Khali asked if he meant to say that she possessed magic, to which Laiyan explained that thought Tasha had no magical power, she had been gifted with exceptional physical abilities, which had made her stronger than even some Priests. He told Khali that Tasha was someone who had sown the seeds of dissent in their society, and that she had targeted the weaker Priests in order to challenge them to Syamans and flaunt her strength, which she had used as proof that the caste system ought to be abolished if a commoner could defeat Priests.

He explained that he had tried to eliminate her for the sake of their peaceful society, and after a pause, he claimed that he hadn’t done so because there was no longer a reason for him to intervene when she had died soon afterwards. He told Khali that Tasha had disappeared one day, and that there had been rumors that she was carrying a child. After her disappearance, she hadn’t been seen for a year until she had unexpectedly resurfaced after dying, with her child having apparently met the same fate soon afterwards.

As her husband had been ordinary and hadn’t done anything suspicious, even after his child’s death, Laiyan had seen no reason to take further action, leaving Tasha forgotten for many years. However, he explained that he had recently heard someone spreading strange rumors around the city and causing quiet dissent amongst the people. Upon investigating, he had discovered that the perpetrator was Kinan.

He told Khali that while Tasha had challenged Priests to Syamans, Kinan had supported her by opposing and criticizing the Priests openly. He explained that after Tasha’s death, Kinan had laid low and stayed out of sight. Khali asked why Kinan would resurface after so long, to which Laiyan explained that Kinan had been spreading rumors about a mutant living amongst them in Erimos.

(A/N: This is where the interrogation flashback takes place in the actual story.)

Khali asked Laiyan who the mutant was, to which he explained that it was Tasha’s child, who was not only alive, but still had its magic intact. As they couldn’t allow someone like Tasha to emerge again, he declared that they needed to discover Tasha’s child immediately. He then ordered Khali to arrest Tasha’s husband and mother-in-law - the last members of her family.

Following Laiyan’s orders, Khali traveled to Jad’s weapon shop, where Jad warmly greeted her before noticing her expression. He asked her whether something was wrong, to which Khali asked him if the woman standing next to him was his mother. Jad realized that they hadn’t met yet and introduced Khali to his mother, Ritan, as Anan’s daughter.

Ritan greeted Khali and asked Jad whether she was ‘that child’s’ sister, to which Jad quickly replied that he would tell her later. He then asked Khali whether she had come to purchase a weapon, to which Khali reluctantly explained that she had come to arrest them both. She then bound both their hands with rope before escorting them to the palace prison.

There, Laiyan ordered Khali to guard the door from outside. After she left, Jad demanded to know what they had done to be arrested, claiming that they were merely commoners managing a humble weapon store. He claimed that they hadn’t committed any crimes and asked Laiyan why he was treating them in such a way.

Laiyan repeated Jad’s claim that they hadn’t committed any crimes in disbelief, to which Jad asked whether they had been arrested merely for being Tasha’s family. He retorted that an honorable Priest such as Laiyan would never arrest them for such a reason, to which Laiyan laughed that he had once thought them to be innocent before reminding them that the magic within a mutant was ‘impure’.

A shocked Jad asked Laiyan whether he had a child, explaining that his own child was dead. He told Laiyan that they had announced the child’s death alongside Tasha’s and began telling Laiyan to check the records when Laiyan grew impatient and slashed Jad with his sword. Laiyan noted that with Jad having lived in a peaceful city under the protection of the Priests all his life, it must be his first time being attacked in such a way.

Laiyan then asked Jad whether he felt like talking, to which Jad maintained his story that his child had died many years ago. Laiyan then declared that he would be joining his wife soon when Ritan begged him to stop, promising to speak on her son’s behalf. She revealed that Tasha had indeed given birth to a magical child, and that after seeing that it had been born with wings, they had sent it away to be taken in by a High Priest.

In pain, Jad weakly asked his mother to stop, though Laiyan merely ignored him and asked Ritan for the Priest’s name, which she revealed was Anan. A surprised Laiyan then demanded to know the child’s name, to which Ritan explained that she didn’t know. When Laiyan angrily asked her if she was mocking him, Ritan explained that after they had sent the child away to Anan, the only one who had spoken with him had been Jad, as she had deliberately decided not to know the child’s face or name in order to protect it.

Laiyan then declared that if she didn’t know, then he would simply get the information out of her son. Ritan immediately begged him to stop and revealed that though she didn’t know who the child was, she knew of a way to identify it. She explained that on the child’s birthday, when the child had become an adult, they had given her a scarf that had once belonged to Tasha, her birth mother, upon which was Tasha’s mark.

(A/N: In the original KMS story, it’s only said that they had passed along a keepsake of Tasha’s. The fact that it’s a scarf was censored in this conversation for dramatic effect and gets revealed later on, although you can easily figure out what the item is based on the very next scene that happens after this. The white scarf that Jad gave Khali is the same scarf that she swapped with Rasha at the beginning of the story, and so you can already tell how the rest of this is gonna play out. Tasha’s mark on the scarf is the same shape as the teardrop-shaped Chakri that Khali creates with her skills.

While Laiyan could’ve easily learned the mutant’s identity by interrogating Jad, I think that the intention was to show that he was a man of his word, and that he was honoring the deal that he had made with Ritan that he would leave her son alone if she told him everything.)

After Laiyan left the prison, he met with Khali and began inspecting her blue scarf for Tasha’s mark. A confused Khali asked him if there was something wrong, to which Laiyan recalled that her sister also had a similar scarf. After finding no mark, he told Khali that he needed to speak with Ypsilon and ordered her to guard the prisoners while he was gone.

Khali then entered the prison, where Ritan immediately begged her to spare their lives. Khali reassured her that they wouldn’t take the lives of innocent civilians and asked Ritan to tell them everything that she knew. Ritan insisted that she had already revealed everything that she knew before begging Khali once again to spare their lives.

Just then, Ypsilon entered the prison with Laiyan and declared that the prisoners were no longer of any further use. Khali immediately stood between him and the prisoners, to which Laiyan reprimanded her for blocking Ypsilon’s path. Khali ignored his words and demanded to know what Ypsilon meant, causing Laiyan to grow furious. However, Ypsilon told Laiyan to stand down, claiming that it was alright.

Khali pointed out that the prisoners had told them everything that they knew, which Ypsilon acknowledged, to which Khali explained that their lives then ought to be spared. However, Ypsilon merely asked her why, causing Khali to exclaim that they were innocent civilians, and that they ought to be set free if they had already revealed everything that they knew.

Ypsilon agreed that her words would be correct if the prisoners were, in fact, innocent civilians. However, he explained that she had misunderstood the situation, as the prisoners were actually sinners who had hidden the existence of a mutant born in their family.

(A/N: Just as an FYI, while the original Korean text uses the word ‘sin’, within the context of the story itself, ‘sin’ is basically equivalent to ‘crime’, as being a mutant is both a sin from a cultural stigma perspective, as well as an actual crime.)

He pointed out that it was a serious felony, as a mutant was the mark of a sin. However, Khali protested that they had already revealed everything that they knew about the mutant, and that the prisoners were their very own people, not members of other races, to which Ypsilon told her that those who hid the truth about a mutant were no longer their people.

(A/N: Like I said before, GMS omitted this line about Khali mentioning the other races, instead just saying that the prisoners are their own people, not marauders or outlaws. Personally, I think they really should’ve kept the original line because it’s a significant insight into Khali’s psychology and shows that she whole-heartedly believes in the High Flora ideology of racial supremacy.)

When a furious Khali asked him how he could say such a thing, Ypsilon replied that it was simple logic. He noted that to be a mutant was a sin, and that as the prisoners had hidden the existence of that sin, they had committed a sin themselves, which meant that they needed to be punished. He then asked her whether that was so difficult for her to understand.

Khali retorted by asking what was so impure about the magic of a mutant, noting that the prisoners hadn’t willfully been trying to conceal something evil in their society, but rather, they had only been trying to save their child, which made them valued members of their society. Ypsilon coldly told Khali that she was questioning the very idea of a mutant with her words and asked whether she was really claiming that there was nothing impure about a commoner possessing magic. As Khali began stammering out her defense, Ypsilon pushed her aside and extracted the life force out of Jad and Ritan, immediately killing them both.

After he and Laiyan left, an aghast Khali immediately returned home, where she desperately sought out her father and told him everything. After understanding the situation, Anan urged her to leave Erimos and go somewhere far away, explaining that if she were to run without formally quitting the Zealous, then she would be able to escape with her life.

However, Khali noted that if she were to disappear, then her punishment would fall onto him and Rasha instead. She pointed out that even if he were to survive, Rasha would surely be killed, as without her wings, her life now only held as much value as that of a commoner. After having seen how Ypsilon had callously taken the lives of two commoners, she vowed that she wouldn’t leave Rasha behind, as she was Rasha’s older sister.

Realizing that Khali was right, Anan decided that they would run away together and change their identities before living in hiding. Khali told her father that she couldn’t condemn them to a life of hiding because of her, to which Anan reminded her that they were family. Reassured by his words, Khali decided that she would speak to Rasha about it.

She then went outside Rasha’s door and explained that she had something important to tell her. She told Rasha that just today, she had seen Ypsilon take the lives of two commoners. She explained that the Ypsilon that she knew had loved all his people, but the Ypsilon that she had seen today and the one who had saved them years ago were completely different people, which she now realized.

She explained that he had killed the commoners simply because they had wanted to save their child, and that he had killed them in the most horrible way by extracting their life force. She also explained that not only had she been unable to do anything except stand by and watch, but she herself had brought them to him in the first place. She admitted that Rasha had made the right choice to leave the Zealous, and that she had been wrong. She then begged her sister to give her the opportunity to take back what she had done by opening the door.

To her surprise, Rasha opened the door and stepped outside. She then told Khali that she didn’t believe that it was ever possible to change the past, which was why every choice that they made in every moment of their lives was so important. However, she agreed to hear Khali out about how she intended to take back her decision, admitting that Khali was her big sister before the two tearfully made up.

The next morning, Khali awoke and noted to herself that their father would be looking for a place for them to hide, while Rasha would be home preparing for their departure. In the meantime, Khali planned to continue working for the Zealous as though nothing had happened in order to avoid making it seem as though she was starting to have doubts about being part of it. She noted that her mission was half a day’s worth of travel from the city and decided to move out quickly.

While Khali was finishing up her mission, Erimos and Laiyan met in the audience room, where Laiyan told him that he had no doubts that Rasha was Tasha’s child. He explained that from his interrogation, he had learned that the child had been given Tasha’s scarf, and that Khali’s scarf didn’t have Tasha’s mark on it.

He also pointed out that Khali was the one who had arrested Tasha’s family, and that Khali would have sent them away into hiding instead of arresting them if she had truly been Tasha’s daughter. He added that he wasn’t defending her merely because she was his adjutant, but because he knew Khali to be someone who treasured her family greatly. He also added that Tasha’s family hadn’t recognized Khali either, but rather, they had merely clung to her and begged for their lives.

Furthermore, he pointed out that Khali was a devoted Zealot, while Rasha was a traitor who had rejected that duty. He told Ypsilon that there was no question of who amongst the two would have the blood of a rebel who had rejected their society’s values. Ypsilon conceded that Laiyan’s words were logical, though he nevertheless told Laiyan not to rule out the possibility that Khali was the mutant.

Laiyan then took the Zealous to Anan’s house, where Rasha asked him what was going on, explaining that both her father and sister were away. Suddenly, Laiyan grabbed her throat and pushed her into a wall before grabbing her scarf, upon which he immediately saw Tasha’s mark. Concluding that Rasha was indeed Tasha’s child, Laiyan explained that he shouldn’t have had her wings ripped out, as he had always been curious about just how powerful a mutant could be, though he had thoughtlessly stripped her of her magic and wasted that potential.

He asked Rasha if she had ever thought it to be strange, as magical power was mainly passed down through bloodlines. He noted that aside from Ypsilon himself, her father, Anan, was undoubtedly the strongest person in Erimos.

(A/N: This information might actually explain how it is that the Verdant Flora can’t pass down their wings to their children. People have wondered for a long time why it is that the descendants of the Verdant Flora don’t have wings when the High Flora ripping their wings out shouldn’t have affected their genes. However, if we take Laiyan’s words to mean that the amount of magic passed down is dependent on how much magic the parents had at the time that the child was conceived, we can actually form a pretty decent explanation for it.

At the beginning of the story, Kinan speculates that commoner children born with magic is proof that there’s latent magical power in all commoners. Since the level of magic passed down remains fairly consistent, with a few exceptions like Khali, we can say that the Verdant Flora are essentially just like commoners - people with residual magic, but not enough to manifest wings of their own. As a result, their children would also inherit the minimal magic that their parents had at the time of conception.

Since we know that cases like Khali are rare, and since we also know that Tasha was fairly powerful in her own right, we can speculate that it takes quite a number of generations for the magic passed down across generations to grow strong enough for a commoner to be born with wings. Since the Verdant Flora had theirs completely ripped out, they were basically starting from almost zero, which is why we haven’t yet seen a case of a Verdant Flora being born with wings.

Since the Verdant Flora are practically the same as commoners, we can even speculate that the God of the Verdant Flora had originally planned to create mechanical wings for the commoners. In the webcomic that explored the Flora Civil War, it was shown that the other Gods had shown the God-King several scrolls that proved that the God of the Verdant Flora was attempting to share magic with the commoners. It’s possible that these scrolls were schematics for the mechanical wings that he was developing.

After the Verdant Flora were exiled, it was shown that the God of the Verdant Flora had spent a lot of time actually building the wings, which would line up with the fact that he only had theoretical schematics at the time of his exile. His mechanical wings likely draw out and amplify the innate magic that commoners have, which he used in order to draw out the residual magic of the Verdant Flora after their wings were torn out.

Since the amplification happens externally, the actual amount of magic inside the Verdant Flora still remains the same, and so that trace amount of magic is all that would be passed down to their children. Later on, it’s also shown that magical power can be increased through training it like a muscle, which would allow the trace levels of magic inside them to slowly build naturally, giving them enough power to match the High Flora and one day even regrow their wings naturally in a future generation, assuming that there are more groups of Verdant Flora in hiding aside from the one that was wiped out in Illium’s storyline.

In cases like Illium, it’s possible that he had such little magic that not even the mechanical constructs could amplify his magic enough to generate wings. However, we’ve also seen that Illium had been able to manifest his magic in times of crisis, such as when he unconsciously shot out magic at the thugs in Savage Terminal at the beginning of his story.

We can speculate that Illium has an unusual predisposition towards rapidly growing his magic through training and life-threatening situations, which might be the potential that Agate sensed in him. After he fused with the God of the Verdant Flora through the Elder Crystal, he was able to grow wings much larger than any that we’ve seen before, with the exception of Darmoor, which suggests that his ability for rapid growth will help him become exceptionally powerful by heightening the power that he’s received from the God of the Verdant Flora. It’s also thematically appropriate for an engineer like Illium to fuse with the creator of their mechanical wings and inherit the God’s role as the savior of their people.)

Rasha asked what it was that he was trying to say, to which he told her that she wasn’t Anan’s daughter by blood. Struggling in his grip, Rasha asked what proof he had, to which he explained that her mother’s name was Tasha - a societal outcast just like her. Looking closely at her scarf, he told her that he was reminded of how the scarf had always fluttered in the wind with every movement that Tasha had made, adding that the sight of it had disgusted him.

(A/N: It’s really funny that all the evidence that Raiyan presents throughout this story about Rasha being Tasha’s daughter is specifically because of her weakness, noting that there’s no possible way that someone like Rasha could have been descended from Priests because of it. But in the same vein, he points out all the similarities between Khali and Tasha, such as their unparalleled speed and skills, and he uses that as evidence to point towards how Khali can’t be a mutant. It goes to show just how ridiculous the reasoning of bigots is to justify their own rhetoric, even when there are so many glaring holes in their ideology, whether it’s superiority of race, gender, or anything else.)

A confused Rasha repeated his words that the scarf had belonged to a woman named Tasha, causing Laiyan to laugh that she would call her birth mother by name. Nevertheless, he confirmed that Tasha was her birth mother, and that her scarf had been left for Rasha, her daughter. Rasha asked him what had happened to her birth family, to which Laiyan explained that Khali had delivered them to him, not knowing that Jad was Rasha’s birth father.

Rasha immediately realized that they had been killed, though Laiyan ignored her words and ordered her to come with him quietly for Anan and Khali’s sake before asking if she was going to try to insist that the scarf didn’t actually belong to her. Though Rasha realized that the scarf had originally been given to Khali, she nevertheless lied and admitted that the scarf belonged to her in order to protect her sister.

Soon after, Anan returned home and Nile, his servant, immediately rushed to tell him that Rasha had been arrested. Furious, Anan stormed into the palace, where Laiyan greeted him. Anan demanded to know where his daughter was, to which Laiyan asked if he had meant to say the child whom he had raised. He offered Anan to see for himself, explaining that Ypsilon was waiting for him.

Inside the audience room, Anan was devastated to find Rasha dead at Ypsilon’s feet. He weakly began asking Ypsilon why he had killed Rasha, to which Ypsilon reminded him that mutants were sinners, and that though Rasha’s wings had been torn out, it was better to be rid of the threat completely. He then added that for the crime of having hidden and raised a mutant, Anan would need to be punished accordingly as well. However, he noted that his blood daughter, Khali, was considerably loyal, and so he pondered on what to do with Anan.

Meanwhile, Khali finished her mission and returned back to the palace, where she reported her success to Laiyan. Before she could give the details of her mission report, Laiyan interrupted her and explained that there was something that he thought better to reveal sooner rather than later. He asked her whether she remembered Jad, the weapons merchant whom they had interrogated, and revealed that Rasha was his daughter.

A confused Khali asked him what he meant, to which he reminded her that commoners born with magic needed to be killed without exception, causing Khali to slowly process the realization that Rasha had been killed. Laiyan added that for hiding the existence of a mutant, Anan was guilty of a similarly grave sin, though Ypsilon had decided to spare his life. Khali immediately began yelling and asked what he was talking about, adding that Rasha was her sister.

Laiyan told her to lower her voice and conceded that it must be difficult for her to believe, since he knew how much she cared about her sister. However, he explained that he had proof of his claims, which Khali demanded to see. Laiyan revealed that Rasha’s scarf had once belonged to Tasha, and that Jad had gifted it to her, likely because he had wanted Rasha to have something that her mother had owned. He then laughed that Jad had no idea that his actions would cause his daughter’s ruin.

Khali was suddenly horror-struck upon realizing that she herself had given the scarf to Rasha. Laiyan acknowledged her disbelief, though he explained that Rasha herself had confessed to it, as she had undoubtedly understood the debt that she had owed to her adoptive father and sister. He then gave Khali permission to rest at home in order to give her time to calm herself, though he urged her not to let her loyalty waver because of it, reminding her that he trusted her a great deal.

As the realization began to sink in, Khali declared in quiet fury that the scarf had actually belonged to her, explaining that if the owner of the scarf was Tasha’s daughter, it meant that the mutant wasn’t Rasha, but herself. Taking out her Chakrams, she began fighting Laiyan with lightning speed. Though Laiyan managed to stab her, he was shocked to find that he had merely attacked a sand clone of Khali, while the real Khali appeared from the shadows and declared that just as he had said, she would become a symbol of sin and judge him for his crimes.

She then managed to kill Laiyan before storming into the audience room, where she was shocked to find Rasha dead and her father having his magic extracted by Ypsilon. Khali demanded him to stop immediately and moved to attack him, though Ypsilon merely teleported away. He greeted Khali and promised that he had no intention of harming her father, though he admitted that he couldn’t allow Anan to remain a High Priest after committing such a grievous crime, for which he was removing Anan’s magic from him.

Khali declared that she wouldn’t allow him to do so, to which Ypsilon told her that she was making a foolish decision. He then came close to Khali and noted that it was the first time that he had seen her up close. Suddenly, he explained that he could feel a very ill-natured kind of magic from her, causing him to realize that Laiyan had made a mistake, and that she was Tasha’s daughter all along.

(A/N: While Ypsilon describes her magic as “ill-natured”, it’s likely that commoner magic just has a unique signature, and that Ypsilon is referencing the High Flora ideology that mutants have ‘impure’ magic.)

Khali furiously began to attack Ypsilon, who merely deflected all her attacks, which created large black orbs around the room. He then used the orbs to create large tendrils that attacked Khali, heavily damaging her and draining almost all her magic.

(A/N: In the Carcion storyline, Limbo uses the exact same move, and it’s explained that he’s using a portion of Darmoor’s Transcendent powers that Darmoor had given to him, similar to Kaling and her claw attack. Based on this, we can assume that Ypsilon was using that same power against Khali during their fight here.)

Suddenly, Anan weakly raised his head and yelled at her to run away before using the last of his magic to attack Ypsilon, who kneeled over in pain. Though Khali refused to leave him behind, Anan told her not to let Rasha’s death be in vain and begged her to live on. With the last of her strength, Khali spread her wings and jumped through the palace window before flying away. With a single-minded determination, she continued walking as far as she could go before making it off the planet Grandis and traveling to the Nova moon, where she collapsed outside the Protective Shield, relieved to know that she had managed to survive.

(A/N: Khali gets a medal for being the first High Flora class who got to keep her wings. Ark’s wings were damaged in the Specter ritual and Adele’s were burned out from having expended too much energy during the coup to overthrow the God-King. Ark can technically use his wings in his Specter state, as he can temporarily repair them using the power of the Specter. Adele also has a 5th job skill that allows her to use Erda to temporarily reconstruct her wings.

However, Khali is the first class to actually have her natural wings intact. I think it’s both funny and ironic that Illium and Khali are the only two Flora classes to have their wings when Illium is a Verdant Flora and Khali is a commoner, making them both people who wouldn’t normally have natural wings of their own. I do wish that Khali had some skills where she does actively open her wings. I was hoping for a buff that temporarily allows her to open her wings and get a power boost or something.

On another note, GMS made a localization error in their translation by saying that Khali reached the border of continental Grandis, which is when she collapses outside Pantheon. For anyone who’s confused by this - the actual KMS text says that she escaped the continent, not that she reached its border. She most likely left the same way that you leave Erimos in-game - by using one of those green creatures with umbrellas that can take you off-world. I still have absolutely no idea what those creatures are and how they can travel through space with an umbrella, but I’m assuming that it’s some weird combination of magic, teleportation, and plot convenience.)

Soon after, Kaiser found Khali passed out at the border of the Protective Shield and immediately recognized her as a High Flora. He noted that she was wounded and decided to treat her injuries while keeping an eye on her. Soon after, Khali awoke to the sight of Kaiser and Fenelle. Kaiser introduced himself as the Guardian of the Nova and asked her why she had come to Pantheon.

Khali explained that she had come across Pantheon while running away and promised that she meant no harm to his people. However, Kaiser replied that he found it difficult to believe and asked why she had come to Pantheon, if not to attack them. Khali then told him everything that had happened to her on Erimos, after which she explained that the only reason why she now lived was to get revenge. Fenelle told Kaiser that she sensed a strong rage inside Khali, and that she didn’t believe that Khali was lying.

Kaiser and Fenelle then took Khali inside the Great Temple, where overwhelming feelings of vengeance awakened inside her. She recalled that she had brought herself to survive only for the sake of revenge, and that she would never forget her rage and frustration, which allowed her to awaken some of the power that she had lost to Ypsilon.

Fenelle then told Khali that she would need to regain her strength in order to get her revenge, and so she suggested that Khali travel through the Interdimensional Portal in order to go to Maple World. She explained that the High Flora were hated by the people of Grandis, which would make it difficult for Khali to train there.

Realizing that Fenelle was right, Khali decided that training in Maple World would be for the best, and so she agreed to heed Fenelle’s advice. Fenelle told Khali to seek out Athena Pierce, who would be able to help her on her journey, and noted that her coming to Pantheon and her path ahead was all part of fate’s plans for her.

(A/N: Once we get to Maple World, Athena will tell us about the four level 30-60 theme dungeons as usual.

After reaching level 30 and starting her journey in Maple World, Khali can return back to Erimos and complete three optional quests there. While the quests aren’t related to her storyline, they’re really great for worldbuilding and expanding on the society, culture, and military of the High Flora. Since they’re not part of Khali’s class story, there’s no specific timeframe of when they canonically take place, but I’m choosing to place them here, since you can technically start them as early as level 30. You can also do the quests in any order, not necessarily the one that I presented them in.)

Bara:
Khali soon returned back to Erimos, where she met a man named Bara near the border, who explained that he was from a distant, cold territory, and that he had finally been approved to move to Erimos, though his documents had been blown away somewhere inside the border. As Bara couldn’t enter Erimos without his documents, Khali entered the city and found them blown away into a tree.

After Khali brought the documents back, Bara asked Khali to accompany him to the castle, though Khali apologized and explained that she couldn’t go to the castle for certain reasons. Bara then asked Khali to buy him something to drink, as he was sweltering in the heat. Noticing that Vara was sweating profusely, Khali decided to buy a Tonic for him.

Bara thanked her and noted that the people of Erimos were kind. Khali asked him why he had wanted to come to Erimos, to which Bara replied that though most Priests served the God of the territory that they were from, he had always been curious about other places, as he found it interesting that there were so many different cultures, despite everyone being High Flora.

(A/N: GMS added a line in which Bara tells Khali that the Blessed serve the Divine of their territory before asking if Erimos uses the term ‘Divine’, as he’s heard that other places call them Gods, adding that he’s always thought that it was confusing. This is a tongue-in-cheek way for the localization team to poke fun at how the word ‘God’ is used literally everywhere in this game. Like I said at the start of the section, though, there’s no such thing as two different naming conventions for the caste system - every territory uses God and Priest in canon.)

He explained that whereas Erimos was a desert outside the border and fertile inside, the territory where he came from was snowy both in the mountains and inside their territory, which made it difficult to make a living. Because of this, the lord of his territory wasn’t concerned with prospering, but rather, they only focused on the cold and hunger of their people.

Khali noted that Bara’s lord sounded like a nice person, and though Bara conceded that his lord was a good person, he added that they were unsuitable to be a lord, as their short-sighted attempts to save those dying before their eyes made them unable to join with the Central Army in order to expand their territory and escape the mountains.

However, he noted that his views on the lord were different than those of the young people whom the lord had saved, because of which, he had decided to emigrate from his home in search of somewhere warmer. Though Bara claimed not to like his hometown, Khali noted to herself that Bara seemed to care about it a great deal.

(A/N: Although GMS used male pronouns to refer to the lord of the snowy mountain, it’s left ambiguous in KMS because they don’t really have gendered pronouns. Because of this, there are two possible theories in regard to the identity of Bara’s lord. In the Arteria storyline, Reina is confirmed to be an Apostle of Darmoor and the lord of the snowy mountain territory, which fits with her ice powers. It’s explained that Reina had only recently become the lord after defeating the previous lord in a Syaman and becoming a God, but it’s not confirmed when this actually happened.

The two theories about the timeline placement rely on the description that Bara gave of his lord, which is that their lord refuses to join the Central Army because they’re too focused on the immediate suffering of their people. The first theory is that Reina is already the lord at the time of Khali’s storyline, and that her involvement in leading Arteria to invade Maple World is because she’s finally decided to join the Central Army after realizing that she needs to lead her people out of the cold.

The other theory, which I personally think is more likely, is that Reina challenged and defeated the previous lord after growing discontent with their ineffectual leadership, which is why she’s taking a more proactive approach in joining the Central Army after becoming the new lord. This would also mean that Reina only recently became an Apostle after winning her Syaman, which either means that she took the title of Apostle from her predecessor, or that Darmoor offered the position to her after seeing that she’s much more talented than the previous lord.)

Shadi and Shaheen:
Khali noticed a young High Flora boy in the shopping district and wondered why he was standing alone. The boy, Shadi, noted that she seemed strong and asked for her help. He explained that he wanted to buy his brother a gift, though he didn’t have enough money. Though his pride refused to allow him to accept money as a Priest, he explained that the dealer would smelt any metal that he brought, and so he asked her to collect swords from the nearby marauders.

Khali collected the swords and brought them to the shopkeeper, who created the sword for Shadi. Shadi then asked Khali to deliver the sword to his brother, Shaheen, as Shaheen had recently stopped training and Shadi was afraid that his brother would be angry with him for presenting him with a sword as a gift. Though Khali worried that Ypsilon would be looking for her in the residential district, she nevertheless agreed to bring the sword to his brother.

At the residential district, Khali gave the sword to Shaheen and recognized him as the finalist whom she had faced in a Syaman during the Test of Faith. She then explained why Shadi had asked her to bring the sword to him. Shaheen explained that he had been born with weak magical power, though he had honed his magic through training in order to join the Zealous.

Growing up, he had believed that hard work was stronger than magical lineage, but after he had lost to Khali – the daughter of a powerful High Priest – in the Syaman, he had come to believe that for the High Flora, being born with magical lineage was all that mattered, which had killed his desire to train. Upon hearing his explanation, Khali told him that she thought that it was great that he was making his own life, not living according to his given destiny. She then admitted that both her parents were actually commoners before giving him Shadi’s sword.

Simer and Ksha:
Khali met a woman named Simer, who told her that she had a favor to ask of a High Priest like Khali. Khali realized that the woman still believed her to be a High Priest, but nevertheless, she decided to hear her out. Simer explained that she wanted Khali to meet with her son. She told Khali that though her son was a commoner, he had volunteered to join the Central Army and was carrying out the High Flora mission proudly. Though she had been surprised when he had decided to enlist, he had told her after enlisting that he was carrying out the sacred orders of the God-King, traveling between battlefields and colonies.

However, she explained that she had lost contact with him, as he wasn’t allowed to share information about the military with commoners, and so she had no idea where he had been for many years. Though she had visited the Central Army management office several times in order to inquire about her son, they had merely told her that he was doing well, refusing to even tell her whether her letters had been going through to him.

She added that she had realized that she couldn’t keep inquiring about her son when they had already told her that he was carrying out the God-King’s will as a proud member of the High Flora, as she would be getting in the way of her son’s work. She explained that she had even requested an audience with Ypsilon, though she had received no response.

Though she was proud of her son, she couldn’t help but worry about him, as she constantly wondered whether he had gotten hurt on the battlefield, whether he was doing his job well, and whether he was making sure not to get in the Priests’ way. However, she had recently heard from a merchant that her son was in Erimos near the castle entrance waiting for someone. Though she had seen him from a distance standing outside with another soldier, she explained that she didn’t think it appropriate for a commoner like herself to get in the way of his mission.

Because of that, she asked Khali to deliver a birthday gift and a letter that she hadn’t been able to give to her son. She apologized for asking such a request from a High Priest, but she explained that only someone of Khali’s status would be able to speak with a Central Army soldier during a mission. Khali noted to herself that she would be able to avoid the castle guards by only going to the entrance, and so she agreed to help Simer. Simer explained that her son had the same brown skin and red hair as her, just like all the High Flora who were native to Erimos, and that he was wearing his army uniform.

At the castle entrance, Khali met with Simer’s son, Ksha, who was grateful to her for bringing his mother’s gift. He explained that without her, he would never have been able to see or hear from his mother, even while being stationed in Erimos. Khali asked him whether it was difficult for him to take time off, to which Ksha noted that despite being a Priest, she didn’t know much about the Central Army. As she didn’t seem to be a researcher, he concluded that she most likely must be part of the Zealous.

Avoiding the subject about her not being a Zealot anymore, Khali asked him if his problem was unique to the Central Army. Ksha confirmed her suspicions and added that it was specifically a problem that commoner soldiers faced. Ksha explained that unlike the Zealous, which protected the lord and people of each territory, the Central Army led their holy crusade against the other races.

(A/N: Since there are multiple Zealous associated with protecting the lords of their respective territories, with those lords most likely being Gods, it’s also possible that the Knights of the Einherjar, who once protected the God-King, were an elite version of the Zealous, or possibly even a precursor to them. Since the knights needed to be exceptionally powerful in order to protect the God-King, it’s possible that the knights were either very powerful Priests or even Gods themselves.

We also know that there used to be knights who protected the King of Ristonia, although we don’t yet know how they fit into the story, such as whether they were part of the High Flora or why they would protect a human ruler if they were. The knights were said to be legendary, almost mythical figures, as the Knights of the Einherjar were disbanded centuries ago after the murder of Darmoor’s father. It’s possible that Darmoor disbanded the knights and replaced them with the various Zealous of each territory at the end of the Flora Civil War.)

Ksha also explained that the officers who received their orders from the God-King and led the Central Army were Priests who graduated from military academies. Though commoners could also attend the military academies, they were unable to become officers, as those without magic weren’t permitted to lead. (A/N: The dialogue for this storyline in the KMS test server stated that military academy graduates were High Priests, although this detail was removed in the live server.)

Khali asked him if he was bitter about not being able to become an officer, as well as what that had to do with him not being able to see his mother. Ksha explained that he wasn’t bitter, as he knew what he had signed up for, though he admitted that as a soldier who followed the holy mandate, he did want to rise up in the ranks. He told Khali that the main job of commoners in the Central Army wasn’t to lead, but to assist the officers and manage the colonies. As the military was a place where only the strong could rise up, commoners with no magical power had limits to how far they could climb.

(A/N: In the KMS test server, Ksha also mentioned that commoner soldiers had trouble with the mercenary soldiers of other races, who looked down on them as being weak and powerless. In the Cernium storyline, it’s revealed that a majority of the Flora army is composed of mercenaries, as both the High Flora and the Verdant Flora nearly went extinct in the aftermath of the Flora Civil War.

Since the High Flora have more than enough foot soldiers, it explains why High Flora soldiers are trained to start out as officers immediately upon deployment, although this quest confirms that commoners are basically glorified servants to the Priest officers. The fact that the High Flora are taught to believe that other races are inferior makes the commoners being looked down upon by the mercenaries even worse of a blow to their dignity, and it might also be the reason why this line was removed, as the Flora wouldn’t stand for such an insult, even to their weakest members.)

Ksha told Khali that for commoners, managing their reputation was everything, and since they couldn’t achieve much on the battlefield, their main priority was completing their missions perfectly in order to boost their reputation. Because of this, he explained taking time off to see his mother while he was in the middle of a mission was unthinkable.

Khali silently noted the irony that despite Ksha’s strong desire to succeed, he still wasn’t questioning the societal discrimination against him for not having magical powers. She then realized that she, too, had also been just like him not too long ago, and that just like her, it was inevitable that he and others would start questioning the High Flora ideology, despite it being both a felony and treason to do so.

Ksha then explained that he couldn’t leave his mission, and that he would be too busy to visit his mother before leaving Erimos, as he needed to visit the other five territories after his mission was over, and so he wanted to buy his mother a teapot from the quartermaster, which had a picture of a faraway place, as she loved tea. As he couldn’t simply take their supplies, he asked Khali to obtain Warrior Potions and Sniper Potions to barter with the quartermaster, as they were low on potion supplies.

(A/N: Here, we get a confirmation that there are a total of six Flora territories on continental Grandis, meaning that there are at least six Gods of the High Flora, including Ypsilon. It’s possible that some of those Gods might also be Apostles too. Along with the six territories, we also have Aboris as the capital city of the High Flora, as well as all the colonies that they have scattered throughout Grandis.)

Khali then obtained the potions and brought them to Ksha, who bought the teapot and asked Khali to pass it on to his mother, as well as to tell his mother that he would see her again. Khali then brought the teapot to Simer, who was overjoyed to receive his gift and the news about him. Khali told her that he had promised to find time to see her, to which Simer replied that though she didn’t know when that would be, she wanted her son to be safe until then.

She explained that it was through the blessings of the God-King and their lord that she had been able to meet a High Priest who could help her. She then prostrated herself at Khali’s feet and began praying that the God-King and Ypsilon would bless her future. Though Khali realized that there was nothing that she could say, she noted to herself that she didn’t need anyone’s blessing, as she knew the path that she was following, and that she needed to grow stronger in order to reach its end.

(A/N: This last part is Khali’s third job advancement.)

Soon after, Fenelle called Khali back to Pantheon, explaining that a High Flora who claimed to know her had come. She added that they had asked her to mention that they had come to deliver a white scarf, and that Khali would understand what they meant. Khali immediately realized that the white scarf belonged to Rasha and decided to return to Pantheon.

At the Great Temple, Khali was surprised to find Nile, her father’s servant, who was relieved to see her alive. Nile explained that after her disappearance, her status as a mutant had been announced to all of Erimos, as well as the fact that Laiyan, Anan, and Rasha had been killed while trying to keep her from escaping. He revealed that after Anan and Rasha’s funeral, he had investigated all throughout Grandis to find out where she had gone. After hearing a rumor about a High Flora who had crossed through the Interdimensional Portal in Pantheon, he had believed it to be her, and so he had come to Pantheon in order to find her.

Khali then told him that she had been training in Maple World in order to regain the strength that Ypsilon had stolen from her, and to get her revenge. Nile told her that Ypsilon, who had killed his master, was also his enemy, and that he planned to help Khali get revenge. In order to do so, he offered to use Anan’s fortune to investigate Erimos, explaining that since Ypsilon ruled the city, there was bound to be useful information about him there.

He then promised that he would continue protecting Anan’s home as always, and that he would not leave the mansion unguarded for as long as she remained alive. He then gave her Rasha’s scarf before returning back to Erimos. Khali realized that the scarf had belonged to both her late birth mother, as well as her late sister, and vowed to treasure it always.

(A/N: This storyline isn’t something that I’d say is bad, but it’s just so damn rushed that all the dramatic impact falls apart when you actually start looking at it. Pretty much all of what happens in Khali’s level 1-30 quests amounts to just a very extended prologue to her actual character arc, which is completely glossed over because of Nexon’s stupid streamlining where they condense everything of substance into the first 30 levels of class storylines.

Her character arc is supposed to go from her single-minded drive to get revenge into her wanting to protect the people of Maple World after forming bonds with them, and her motivation for this is because she wants to protect them and stop tragedies like hers from happening to anyone else. But the problem is that all of this development happens completely off-screen, and the only way that we even learn about it is through a two-minute cutscene in Black Heaven that has her telling Nile about her motivations in helping the Alliance.

Khali’s story feels like such a missed opportunity because the writers chose to do a speed-run of her entire life from birth to the present, fast-forwarding through all the highlights of her early adulthood, and doing a cheap milking of emotions from the audience by killing everyone off for shock value, even though we’ve only know these people for like fifteen minutes.

Beyond the well-written drama and tension, there’s really nothing of any actual substance to Khali’s character because the writers tried to bite off way more than they could chew by trying to dump a mountain of worldbuilding with High Flora society, culture, and politics - all in the first 30 levels of her storyline - and as a result, they had to compensate by skimming through any meaningful character development that could’ve happened.

Khali’s story was something that needed more than just an hour to properly develop. She was in dire need of extra quests that characters like Hoyoung or Adele get every 20 levels or so - things like her going to Ariant and seeing the similarities to Erimos, especially with Areda being like Ypsilon. The writers tried to put all the heavy lifting onto the players by making them go through theme dungeons and prequests to naturally establish how Khali would explore the world and make new bonds, but when I burned my Khali, the only theme dungeon that I did was Ellinel Fairy Academy and half of Gold Beach before I left Gold Richie to the mercy of Captain Darkgoo after deciding that I’m being underpaid by the the amount of EXP he’s giving me.

One specific thing that they touched on and never brought up against was how much Khali continued believing in High Flora ideology. It’s clear that she ended up realizing that discrimination against commoners is morally wrong, but the game never goes into her belief in the idea of racial superiority. She mindlessly kills the outlaws of the other races in her class story, and when she’s defending Jad and Ritan, she points out to Ypsilon that even though they’re commoners, they’re still their own kind, not members of other races, which is the only moment when this is ever addressed.

You’d think that there would be a moment where Khali does some reflection on how much of the ideology that she’s been instilled with was actually real after her change of heart on commoners, but we never get to see any of this growth - even in Maple World, where she’s surrounded by nothing except the ‘lesser’ life forms that she’s been taught to view as inferior.

All the other Flora classes’ stances on racial superiority is actually given time be presented properly in their stories - Illium’s people were exiled for not believing in it, Ark defected after realizing that Darmoor’s War for Peace was a massacre, and even Adele refused to follow the God-King into war because she thought that his genocide was morally unjustifiable. But we get almost no understanding of who Khali is as a person, what she believes in, or what she even stands for outside of wanting to kill Ypsilon and the five minutes of her story where she starts sympathizing with commoners.

Honestly, I really wish that they didn’t kill Rasha off because they could’ve done so much more with both her and Khali’s characters by capitalizing on the fact that they’re foils of each other, where Khali is a commoner who was born with wings, while Rasha is a Priest who lost her wings. I think that there was a lot of worth in the idea of showing Khali and Rasha grow together in Maple World by coming to terms with their role-reversed positions and slowly learning to break free from High Flora ideology. Rasha could’ve slowly learned to realize that a life without wings isn’t a death sentence, and Khali would’ve similarly grown in her new life as a mutant who’s lost her old life and privilege.

I think that overall, this story was written very ambitiously and could’ve been executed amazingly, but the main thing that drags it down is the stupid streamlined format that Nexon seems to love nowadays, which is dumping all the story into first job and then expanding the story exclusively through job advancements and a final level 200 quest. Comparing these types of storylines to class stories like Zero, Shade, Phantom, or the original RED Explorer story, the difference between the writing quality is night and day with how those stories are allowed to actually breathe, and as a result, you can see that their presentation benefits immensely from better pacing when they’re not restricted to the first 30 levels.)