Chapter 0

LEVEL 1 : A Whisper, an Aria, a Prayer, an Awakening

Chapter 0

“Awaken.”

It was as if he could hear someone calling to him, and the boy opened his eyes.

It was dark. Nighttime maybe? But it wasn’t pitch black; there was light. A flame—above his head. A flame had been lit. A candle. Not just one candle, but a series of small candles spaced in even intervals in a line along the wall that seemed to stretch on forever. Where was this?

It was hard to breathe for some reason. He touched the wall and found it hard and rough. It wasn’t a wall really, it was rock, and, like what one would expect from sleeping on rocks, his back and bottom were sore. Maybe he was in a cave? It sure felt like it. A cave? Why was he in a cave?

The candles had been placed fairly high above him, but if he stood up and stretched out his hands, he probably would have been able to reach them. However, it was dark enough that he could only see an arm’s length in front of him and almost nothing beneath his feet.

He could sense other presences there with him. If he listened carefully, he could hear the faint sound of breathing. Other people? What would he do if it were something else? He didn’t know but it would be terrible. But in a way, the sound seemed to be that of other people.

“Is there someone else here?” he called out, tentatively and a bit fearfully…

READ THE REST AT https://j-novel.club/s/grimar-of-fantasy-and-ash/search

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now, Hiyomu! 

“Doooon’t rush, doooon’t shout, doooon’t let your hair down, doooon’t pull your hair out!” For some reason the voice seemed to be coming from behind the tower. “Cha-lalalalalaaan, cha-lalalalalaaan, lalan…” Humming a tune, another girl poked her head out from the side of the tower. Her hair was tied into bunches, in a kind of country-girl fashion.

“Hello. How are you. Welcome to Grimgal. I’m Hiyomu, please allow me to be your guide. Pleased to meet you. Nice to meet you too? Kyapeeeee—”

“The way she talks pisses me off,” a boy with a buzz cut said, his jaws clenched so hard his teeth ground together.

“Wah!” Hiyomu shrank back for a second then popped her head out again. “Very scary. Very frightening. Please don’t be thaaaaaaaat mad. Okay? Okay? Okay? Okay?”

“Hmph.” The buzz-cut boy looked around, realized Grimgal was officially licensed at https://j-novel.club/s/grimar-of-fantasy-and-ash/search, and kicked at the ground. “I was just mad, that’s all…” he muttered. “Didn’t mean to scare you…”

Hiyomu broke into a smile. “Yay! Friends! Friends!”

There was mild applause, and the buzz-cut boy rubbed his neck sheepishly.

Hiyomu clapped her hands together. “Alright, everybody! I’m gonna do my job now! Follow me pleeeeeeeease into the world of Grimgal! Just follow this link, and repeat after me! Ready?”

Everybody looked at each other.

At the top of her lungs, Hiyomu squeaked, sing-song,

“READ THE REST AT https://j-novel.club/s/grimar-of-fantasy-and-ash/search !!!!!”

And they repeated after her, they did.

(ah, if you see comments from before november 2016, they’re talking about the real chapter 0, which used to be here back when we ran the fan translation. you can pretend they’re commenting on the official TLs now ^__^)