H33 Encounter in the North

Book Cover

**Encounter in the North**, the 33rd book in the The Golden Age of Adventures series was published in October 2020. It is the English language edition of the original Chinese comic, **始原之子**, which was published in August 2020.

## Synopsis

ALWAYS ON ADVENTURE! BATTLING THE ADVENTURE KING!

Upon discovering that the curious crystal comes from a place in Northern Ireland, Alex and co. make their way there. It is there that Alex finally understands the intentions of the red creatures, but just as he is about to leave with them, Sigurd Bodon and his team arrive...

## Cast

* Alex
* Lulu
* "Twilight Doctor" Ming
* Children of Gaia
	+ Caelus
	+ Mundus
	+ Nemus
	+ Luminus
	+ Pelagius
	+ Tempesta
* Sigurd Bodon

## Plot

***Spoiler warning!** Plot and/or ending details follow.*

### Chapter 1: Stowaways

Lil' B says the crystal originates from the Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland. Nacho has kidnapped a chef in China, so Robert sends Jones, Aligon and Benny. Alex, Axe, Cammy, Roger, Graham, two Global Alliance for Humanity soldiers and two scientists will investigate the Giant's Causeway.

Hank isn't allowed to go because of her grudge with the red demons. She stows away on the plane, finding Lulu, in her cat form, in one of the crates, hiding from Marie Wright. Lydia foretells Alex's fate: someone powerful, either friend or foe, will appear.

### Chapter 2: Myths and Mice

At the location, ores from the seabed have the same substance as the crystal. Hank spies on Alex and co. Since Lulu can talk to cats, she tells her to get her cat friends to put a special microphone near them. Alex sees a hand with a cut finger symbol, thinking about the myths of this place.

Finn McCool, a hero, was challenged by Benandonner, a giant from Scotland, to a fight. Angered, Finn threws boulders at the water, making a pathway from Ireland to Scotland. As Benandonner neared, he was much bigger. Finn quickly ran home and built a crib, then disguised as a baby. When Benandonner came, Finn's wife, Oona, told him Finn was away and the baby was their child. Benandonner was curious to touch the baby. Finn bit his finger off. Benandonner realised if the baby was this strong, the father must be stronger.

Frightened, he ran home. The walkway became what is now known as the Giant's Causeway. Finn threw boulders at him. Two created two locations: Lough Neagh and the Isle of Man. Alex thinks the hand on the crystal must be Benandonner's. At the library, Alex finds an Irish myths collection book. He turns to the page of Lough Neagh. The page borders have a woman and Mermaid carrying a giant finger.

### Chapter 3: The Giant and the Horn

Nacho dodges Benny's bullet. Jones suspects him of something.

In Lough Neagh, Alex and Axe search for Benandonner's finger underwater. They find a puzzle that shows a cup made out of five crystals holding a ruby, only two crystals can be moved by emptying the cup. Alex takes two pieces and forms the cup seen upside down. The panel opens, there is a finger inside!

Back at the team's camp, Axe sees a hole in the finger. Alex inserts the crystal in. Pillars rise Benandonner out of the water. He speaks a riddle in Gaelic: five brothers were born at the same time and live together. Each have a different name and size. Benandonner is given his finger. To repay the team's kindness, he blows his horn to call the red demons, known as... the **Children of Gaia**.

### Chapter 4: Giant Door

The lightning demon, the water demon and the muscular demon emerge. Benandonner becomes a portal. The demons enter. Alex and co. enter too. In this realm, they see various fairy species. Now Alex can have a peaceful conversation with the demons. He asks the winged demon, resting in a pool, why he'll destroy Earth.

The water demon uses water to demonstrate a girl experiencing pain because of Alex. Alex realises the girl is Gaia, and remembers Adolf Hitler's IBYon cells' effects. The muscular demon demonstrates Earth's creatures transforming with stones. Alex, Axe and Cammy fail to guess. Furious by this, the lightning demon says that if Alex touches her Gaia again, she may wake up, causing Earthlings to be deformed. Alex and co. are mad that she spoke until now.

### Chapter 5: Earth's Protectors

Gaia is like a foetus, waking up when she reaches maturity. Her children evolve as she grows. Those that cannot adapt, like dinosaurs, die out. This progression was threatened by unstable portals, found worldwide. One can travel through space and time. Many Earth visitors were peaceful, but some were malicious. They intend on absorbing Gaia's energy. Gaia defended herself by natural disasters and mutating her children. This was how her guardians came to be.

Nemus, one who controls nature. Mundus, one who controls earth. Pelagius, one who controls water. Luminus, one who controls fire. Tempesta, one who controls storms. They were given some of their mother's energy to repel against threats to protect her slumber, but they only acted when she was seriously threatened. Caelus can create portals to send the monsters back to their realms. He can also close portals, which requires amounts of energy.

Scholars from other worlds requested some portals be kept open. Together, they created Shambhala, a portal system that links worlds to Earth. Anyone can use it only with Caelus' permission, enabling peaceful travellers to visit while keeping evil out. The wee folk are among the beings from foreign realms. 300 years ago, Earth was invaded by worms, the bane of numerous worlds and their guardians. They damaged existing portals and created new ones for evil to enter. Caelus deactivated Shambhala, then entered hibernation.

During World War III, a portal was opened with energy similar to Gaia's, reactivating Shambhala. In short: Alex will wake Gaia up if he touches her again, causing catastrophe, but why do the Children want to kill him? They rushed to Gaia, seeing what had transpired. Though Alex had IBYon cells, he protected Gaia. Nemus wanted him dead. Mundus and Pelagius spared him for his deed. Luminus and Tempesta were undecided. Caelus planned to extract the IBYon cells by sending him to the world that "opposes" IBYon essence.

If Alex's IBYon cells are extracted, so will Akhazane. He asks Pelagius if he's responsible for killing six Adventurers on Giant Clam Island. Lulu senses Ming and Sigurd Bodon heading to the portal. Sigurd throws blades tied to ropes at Pelagius, Mundus, Tempesta and Caelus. Roger and Graham begin their attack.

### Chapter 6: Backup

Ming absorbs the Children's energies with his astral element machine, turning them into chibi-sized. After Alex released astral elements worldwide after WWIII, he found a water element. Since Pelagius only controls water, he concluded the Children have elemental powers. Pelagius is the reason Graham lost his legs. Graham will kill him so he can join the Nansens. Hank punches him, finally knowing her parents' true killer. The real Graham, a small, pale person connected to wires, pops out of his vessel.

Lulu cuts Roger's hand, revealing it to be mechanical. Sigurd has gotten Caelus in his hands. Ming calls escape: Miss Crowbone and a Fury-Glee hybrid mutant. Axe demands Roger to explain himself. Sigurd has caught him off guard by instantly stabbing his back.

### Chapter 7: More Reinforcements

Alex throws his ropes at Sigurd. Sigurd ties dynamites to them. Hank saves Alex before they explode. As Sigurd's team was about to leave, Alex ties his rope to Fury-Glee's leg. Sigurd's blade can't cut the rope. He cuts off the leg instead. Alex gives Lulu a cloth so that she can transform. Crowbone confronts Lulu, and realises she has the same curse as her. Instead of a cat, Crowbone was a crow. Benny stops the rest of Sigurd's team from leaving. Nacho was directing him, Jones and Aligon away from the real fight. Sigurd readies himself.

### Chapter 8: Unmatched Power

Benny shoots at Crowbone. Her crows take damage, slowing the bullet down and allowing her to avoid. Crowbone lifts up a huge chunk of the ground. Fury-Glee break through the chunk and captures Benny. Sigurd slices Aligon's belly. He escapes Jones' rope trap. Jones shoots sticky liquid at Fury-Glee's face, jumps over them, then jumps from Crowbone's head and traps Sigurd's team in a spider web. Sigurd removes all the detonators from the spike balls. Who is Sigurd? Just a jack of all trades. He ties dymanites to Jones, then they explode.

## X-Venture continuity

### In the series

* Sigurd was alive during the Age of Discovery (1415-1700s). With the elixir of life, he has lived for a few centuries going on adventures. With that much experience, he can easily overcome high-rank Adventurers like Axe, Aligon and Jones (formerly).
* The Rakshasi, her monkey husband and the Snow lion appear again.
* In H28 Beast of the Tibetan Mountains, Caelus was waiting for Alex so that he can send him to the IBYon "opposing" realm. Pelagius and Mundus were there too. Most likely because they were the two Children who spared Alex.

### In other series

* **Ultimate Showdown**: Lil' B saw three fairy species in the realm Benandonner opened himself to. In Ultimate Showdown, they appear again. The pink ones are Fae, brown ones are Doxies and blue ones are Pixies.