《Unearthing Secrets》 Chapter 1 Lesser Wyrm Year 1023 of the new calender, in the month of the Chariot, 27th day In the Redwoods of Iabrun, a tiny egg by Dragon standards was laying in a pile of undergrowth. It was only 3 meters long and was in an oblong shape. A few cracks, not dissimilar to shattering glass, started stretching their way over the egg. Some of its yolk started to seep through the cracks, slipping down the egg with a viscosity similar to molasses. A tiny head poked out of the side of the egg, inching itself out of the egg. After realizing there was no immediate danger, the little hatchling fully released itself from the sticky bindings. After which, it directly proceeded to eat the egg for the rest of the nutrients, and the memories contained within it, shell and all. POV Change: I looked around for a while. The sun was glaring through the canopy of trees, though it was less of a canopy than a mild smattering of leaves above me. Nodding, I went up a tree. Although I had Dragon blood in me, it would take an exorbitant amount of time before I became the world-rending calamity that was a Primordial Dragon. For now, I had to be careful of the environment and whatever hazards are in here. Satisfied with my standing on the tree, I went on to the next step to help me become more in tune with my ancestors, wiped they may be. I said ¡®Status¡¯ in my mind, and the corresponding screen appeared in front of me. This information had been passed down generation after generation between my ancestors, putting the basics inside the egg shell, the consumption of which every newly-born Dragon would do. Status: Healthy(Alive) Level: 1(15 for next evolution) Name: None Race: Lesser Wyrm HP: 150 MP: 200 Stamina: 300 Titles: The last of your species: +25% Exp gain in total Ancestor of the Primordial Dragon: +1% stats against every enemy(Upgraded the higher up in the evolutionary line) Stats: Strength: 77 Agility: 33 Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Vitality: 62 Charm: 8 Intelligence: 27 Skills: Skill points: 5 Observer¡¯s eye Lv1: Can look into other people¡¯s status. Gained due to your innate sense as a fledgling Dragon Cut Lv1(Passive): Your claws become sharper, sturdier and more useful Bite Lv1(Passive): The teeth in your maw will become sharper, sturdier and more useful Innate mana manipulation Lv1(Passive): Your heritage is filled with the blood of the Primordial Dragon, mana comes naturally to you as naturally as it is for you to breathe. Hatchling mana sense Lv1(Passive): The Dragon¡¯s have an innate sense for mana, starting from only having weak hints to sensing the tiniest speck of it on the other side of the world. The statistics seem to be in line with the memories inside the shell, though my intelligence seems to be higher than normal. Nonetheless, I knew I had a tough journey ahead of me, I¡¯m far too weak to be considered little more than a bug. Dragons were powerful, but that was in the later stages. Whatever might have wiped the Dragon race would have been quite powerful, perhaps more so than my ancestors. Looking around me once again, and confirming that there was no immediate danger, I went down and began searching for my first prey. I was still quite full, the contents of the egg were quite enough to satiate me for a few weeks, but the experience points were more important. I began to walk due west, my little frame only 2 meters long not carrying me far in each step. The demise of the Dragons was 5,000 years ago, their information might not be totally accurate. I¡¯ll try to compare what I already know to new things I discovered, though for now, the acquisition of experience would be the task I will need to complete first. Though I loathe to even think of this, I will need a humanoid body eventually. Walking around as a lumbering Dragon near human civilizations would instantly alert the people, those few that know what my race is, to the birth of a new Dragon, which in turn would also alert whoever or whatever culled my race. Besides, whatever treasures those humanoids have gotten over the years must be pretty precious. While going over the large overarching plan, little more than the barest of bones as of now, I see the first creature I would kill. It was only about a meter long, and quite low to the ground. A lizard that has 5 eyes was lying down on a rock next to a large redwood tree. My eyes were gleaming, a perfect first kill. Something extremely easy to kill, one which can also help boost my growth. I activate my Observer''s Eye to glean any information from this lizard. Name: 5-eyed Lizard Level: 3 Description: A little lizard, preyed upon by near everything, but it is deceptively fast for its size. Perfect, I thought. I creeped closer and closer to it, until I was a little more than 3 meters away from it. The lizard would presumably be faster than me, I would only have a single chance to kill it completely. Luckily for me, the Redwoods had many patches of undergrowth easily 4 meters tall near the lizard. Calming my breath, I prepared to lunge in a swift motion. A brief hesitation swept over me, but I quickly suppressed it and lunged at my target. The lizard was easily startled and started to run from me, but I sunk my claws into its back before it could get far. Easily sinking my teeth into its thrashing neck and dislocating it, the little lizard finally stopped moving. Grinning, I moved it up a nearby tree, anything else could easily take this kill from me. Exp gained Good, just what I needed. Now, what to do with this corpse. I could eat it, but that would be a waste, I¡¯m already full, but if I just left it, anything with the mental capacity more than a worm would know that something had killed it. Sighing, I gorged myself on this body. Was surprisingly tasty, but after I ate all of it, including the bones, I hopped down and continued on my way. This journey would start here and now in this forest. Chapter 2 Mike I walked out of my building, only a small apartment with the barest of necessities because it was all I could afford, and went to the Magic Academy. Not to be a bit arrogant, but my own talent is quite good, it¡¯s in Dimensional and Healing magic, and allowed me to obtain a scholarship here, otherwise the exorbitant amount of money needed would have locked the entire Academy to me. Compared to the little village I came from, the capital is very flashy. With skyscrapers as far as the eye can see, jutting into the air kilometers high, some made of pure glass, others were mechanical wonders with the cold gleam of steel. The entire capital is huge, over 5,000 square kilometers for the city itself, but the land surrounding it that''s considered part of the capital is well over 50,000 square kilometers. The Magic Academy was not far ahead, it had a theme similar to the buildings before The Last War, made mostly of wood with some glass here and there for the windows. It painted a stark contrast to the new age buildings near it, though not to say that was a bad thing. It was a nice building to look at, but the teachers inside it were hellish. The amount of work required, and expectations set were enormous. But I liked the work, it allowed me to take my mind off the state of my mother, the only reason I am in this Academy is to one day cure her via healing magic. The archetype was rare in and of itself, not to mention the mentors willing to teach it are few and far between. I entered my classroom, absentmindedly wondering whether I could find a teacher willing to help me with healing spells. If I couldn¡¯t find one willing to help me here, then it would be damn near impossible to find it anywhere in The Empire of Iabrun. Walking through the hallways of the Academy after class was an enjoyable pastime, the building was beautiful. I arrived at the library, not for my healing magic, that couldn¡¯t be helped with the library books, but for my hobby. ¡°Hello Forica, how¡¯s the day at the library been?¡± I asked the middle-aged woman sitting there at the front, she had a tough looking face but warmed up a bit when greeting me. ¡°It¡¯s been fine, about as boring as ever, how¡¯s your day Mike?¡±, she asked me. ¡°It was fine, just checking in to see if I could find anything interesting.¡± I followed up, the library was massive and should stave off my boredom for a while. ¡°Good, do you have your card?¡± Forica asked me, I nodded and followed the standard procedure to get inside. Looking around, there seemed to be an endless expanse of books around me, the library was massive and I would stay here for days on end if I could. I already read most of what caught my eye in the area¡¯s near the entrance, so I started to walk towards the older parts of the library, interestingly the Duchess of Lendenburg, Arianna, was here as well. I didn¡¯t dislike the Nobles of the Empire, they did their best to help the citizens with what they could afford to, and especially wouldn''t hate one who is willing to walk the arduous journey of magic. Smiling, I approached her. But, she sensed me before I could start a conversation. ¡°Oh, hello Mike! How are you?¡± she said with a smile which radiated like the sun, similar to the intensity of the sun in the coastal province of Lendenburg. She had an olive-tanned skin color, and was just slightly shorter than me at 5¡¯10 feet but still very tall compared to most other people, and she had a bountiful bosom. Her silver hair shimmered in the light shining through the window, with her face radiating the unattainable beauty of the highest Noble in the Empire, captivating is all I have to say about her. The smile she had was infectious, and put me in a better mood, ¡°Good morning to you, Lady Arianna. I¡¯m fine, just searching for a book to read.¡± Her smile stiffened a bit, ¡°Mike, how much have I told you? You can just call me Arianna.¡± she replied, I knew what she said but if her father, the current Duke of Lendenburg, caught wind of me saying her name with no honorific, I would be killed in secret before I could walk home, Nobles had their ways. She continued, ¡°Mike, I found this cool book in my private library, would you like to see it?¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. The informal use of words and tone was jarring when used by the Duchess, but I knew she just wanted to blend in with the rest of the students, she saw herself as a peer and not the Duchess. A Noble I could get behind, ¡°Sure, lead the way¡± I said and she started walking. My eyes slowly drifted to the swaying of her hips, I¡¯m sure I could have looked at it for hours, but I had to wrench my eyes away from the intoxicating view and look at where I was walking. The Duchess led me to the middle of the library where she had a large private table arranged for herself with the book atop it, she could afford to just leave her private belongings, any fool that dared to steal from her would find their head on the chopping block the next hour. She started to drag a chair for me, but I stopped her and dragged it myself, I wouldn¡¯t want to bother her with this small trivial task. We both sat down, she had the nice light scent of a perfume made in her fief, a perfume famous throughout the entire world, she was a truly intoxicating beauty but the book in front of me took my gaze away from her. It was a thick book titled ¡°Dragons: Beasts of Calamity¡± by Vim Rhodes which instantly took my interest. The Duchess with her rousing smile looked at me and said ¡°I found this in my own library, I thought you¡¯d like it¡±. I nodded and started to open the book, Dragon was a familiar word but I don¡¯t remember what it exactly meant. The Duchess looked a little disappointed, for what I have no idea, but also held rapt attention to the book. The book¡¯s first page showed a few names, looking like a family tree, with a picture of a lizard with massive horns at the top named ¡°Adult Dragon¡± with another lizard under it with slightly smaller horns named ¡°Juvenile Dragon¡±, and so on with ¡°Young Dragon¡± and ¡°Baby Dragon¡±, under that however was two branches, ¡°Adult Drake¡± and ¡°Adult Wyvern¡±, and they also used the naming of different stages in life to differentiate them. The Wyvern seems to only have 4 limbs, but the Drake looks like a mini Dragon, they both evolve to a Dragon though, it seems. The two of them both originate from a thing named a ¡°wyrm¡±, that only has 2 stages of ¡°Juvenile¡± and ¡°Adult.¡± Interesting, these Dragons were old monsters? Then they must have been exterminated by the adventurers, though I hate them and their feeble minds that only know how to attack monsters, they do help the population by culling the monsters. I opened the book, it started with the wyrms. The Duchess didn¡¯t seem quite so excited at these little monsters and neither did I, the largest Adult Wyrm can only reach 6 meters at most, miniscule compared to some goliaths that the adventurers had to slay. I skipped to the first stage of the Dragon line, a Baby Dragon, which sounded much more interesting. Do not be fooled, a Baby Dragon is not a stage of life, it is more of an evolution into a new race. I have no idea why these strange creatures go through evolution like this, the stages seem to correspond to the stages of life in a Dragon¡¯s life, but they are completely different creatures as far as I could find out. Nevertheless, a Baby Dragon is not to be underestimated. At the least, it is a 25 meter long creature with enough power to raze a city-state to the ground. An expedition of nearly 5,000 B-tier adventurers, or 500 A-tiers, would be needed to kill one. Interesting, B and A rank adventurers were no joke, and 25 meters long would be on the upper end of monster sizes, but still small compared to the mythical creatures that are posted on the top of the Adventurer Society¡¯s boards. The Duchess now had her full attention on the book and so did I. I kept reading the lines on the page. Their diet seems to be anything and everything magically related, whether it be meat, rocks or plants. Their lairs are always in mana-rich area¡¯s, and for some odd reason, they always hold hordes of valuables. I see no reason for the hoarding, but without fail, every Dragon¡¯s lair I have gazed my eyes upon have contained mountains upon mountains of loot. Nodding my head, I turned to look at the Duchess and asked her ¡°Have you ever heard of a Dragon before?¡± She shook her head, the silver hair shimmering all the while which only added to her beauty, before answering with ¡°No, this is all new to me too. I would like to see more about these beautiful monsters¡± I looked at her with a peculiar look, ¡°Beautiful?¡± She nodded, ¡°I find them to be Noble creatures.¡± Shaking my head, and suppressing a chuckle, I didn¡¯t dwell on the topic and instead flipped to the ¡°Adult Dragon¡± page. Do not engage at all costs. Weird, that was the only thing written there with the portrait. I looked at the Duchess, but her eyes were glazed over, as if she was focusing on something else. Chapter 3 Arianna I abruptly stood up from where I was, sure I liked Mike and wanted to sit with him some more, but I needed to check something urgently. Looking at him, I bit my lip before saying ¡°Sorry, I have to go do something.¡± He nodded, I didn¡¯t know if he wanted to say something to me, but as of the moment I didn¡¯t really care. I took back the large book and ran off to my room. It would take me, atleast, a few days to get to my own estate. Looking around my room, I found the item I needed. My father worried for my safety and gave me this teleportation stone, just in case I needed it and it was as good a time as any to use it. Breathing a little to calm my emotions, that were akin to a storm right now, I imbued the little snow white rock that was only about the length of my finger with half of my total mana, the heavy drop left me drained but before the feeling could settle in, the stone broke and scattered into dust, and I, with the book, was teleported straight into my estate. Looking around the luxurious villa, I didn¡¯t pay attention to any of the well-placed decorations adorning the large halls, I just ran to the place I found the book first, the underground library. It was, technically, illegal to hold some of the books we have in the Lendenburg library, but the entire nobility had some secrets they weren¡¯t willing to share, much less our own. It was inevitable that we had contingency plans in case something goes awry with the Empire that we aligned with, but looking through the old and dirty dealings of the Lendenburg family would have to wait for another time, as I had just arrived in the area I first found the book when I was contemplating the dealings of our family. Looking around, this area was a dark corner of the library we had, the one underground anyway, it looked to be tucked away purposefully in the area someone wouldn¡¯t wander into by random, it wasn¡¯t hidden well enough because, evidently, I found about this little tidbit. Scanning through the nearby books, I finally found the one I wanted, a book that could open a well-hidden door. Of course, this wasn¡¯t by pure luck, the area was too saturated with mana for it to be normal. Mana was everywhere around the house, it leaked out of the wards put around the entire mansion. In theory, perfect sealing would make sure no mana is leaked, but I know no one that could make a perfect ward, and this little fact allowed me to find the room. The mana permeating around this area was far too much compared to the other parts of the house, indicating a ward, but finding this wouldn¡¯t be possible without the innate talent I have. Ever since I was a child, I had a higher level of mana sense compared to other people, and I haven¡¯t told anyone about this little fact. But I digress, this little room was the area I found the book and is very interesting. It was an area filled with different books, mostly ledgers about the old dealings of the Lendenburg family, but around 4 or so books are about these Mythical Creatures named Dragons, according to their titles anyway. I only savored the look of the room for a moment when I arrived, and then immediately started walking to the area with the 4 novels about these Dragons. I rushed back here because of the Adult Dragon drawing, it looked suspiciously similar to the very, very, very old Coat of Arms of the Lendenburgs. I put back the novel I took, and looked at another one, named ¡°The History of Dragons¡± by Vim Rhodes, smiling to myself. It wasn¡¯t a novel, more so a little 25 page pamphlet on these Dragons, but that wasn¡¯t the important part. The important part was, this book had a magical lock on it that goes into a little dimension, or that is what the mana feels like, different mana have different feels and those only get amplified with people that have innate mana sense, like I do. The difference was miniscule though, and as far as I know, no one but me knows the secret of this little pamphlet. Now, the most important part was to open the lock, but I had no such abilities and while Mike does have talent for Dimensional magic, it would only be analogous to the little budding seed of the most colossal tree. All hope wasn¡¯t lost though, I do know where a person that could help me resides. I loathe to go there though, the woman has some peculiar tastes and is disgusting to be around, but I can endure it just for this little secret. Steeling myself, I left my room and took out 2 more teleportation stones, the Lendenburg household has more than enough riches to buy these, one for going to the Academy and another to return, it would be best if I returned to the hidden room by sunset. Injecting the mana inside the stone, I returned back to my little room. Looking around and noticing that nothing looked out of the ordinary, I started putting on a disguise. Illusion magic could work for this, but many people were stronger than me and would instantly see through any paltry illusion I could set up and I¡¯m talented in Elemental Magic only. After putting on my disguise, I looked to the gigantic mirror in my room and was satisfied. I was now 6¡¯2 feet tall, my original olive-skin was replaced with a skin color similar to Mike¡¯s, a light white. My silver hair was replaced by a dark black. Walking out of my room, I went to the shabbier area of town before entering a little black car, the pinnacle of being average and out of sight, perfect for what I use it for. My own car was way too flashy to go to the area where I am supposed to find this woman, and so was my own phone. It was far more expensive than anything the public could hope to buy, and its appearance matches the status it has. I couldn¡¯t flaunt it around in the poorer districts or I would become a prime kidnapping target, even if I was the current Duchess of Lendenburg, crazies would only jack up the price so I bought my own phone from the black market, it¡¯s dealings are horrible but it¡¯s usefulness can¡¯t be understated. I started to drive at a moderate place until I went into the lower left corner of the slums, it was a disgusting area and the woman even more so. I looked around and turned into the haggard appearance of a beggar, I had many disguises for many occasions and this one is perfect for what I need. I now blended in perfectly with the slums, an ordinary beggar you wouldn¡¯t bat an eye at, and walked to the building. Different from the rest of the capital filled with towering skyscrapers and monoliths of machinery, the slums were low to the ground, only a few buildings reach 3 stories high, This house was no different, besides the dimensional expert inside it. I only chanced upon her when searching for clues on my own little pocket dimension, a useful thing more expensive to make than one of the skyscrapers and I stumbled upon this person, banished from the Arcane Church for her ¡°blasphemous¡± thoughts. She had a weird obsession with little creatures, for reasons I don¡¯t understand, and is a general slob that has a horrid smell, but she is the only person that could open this right now. Opening the door, I say out loud ¡°Jane, I know you¡¯re here. I need your help with something.¡± A couple of items rustled around in the back of the room and a person with bright pink hair came out, she had a haggard appearance, along with a smell that would drive pigs away. She is small, only 5¡¯3 which is below average, and her face was pretty but the stench, oh God, the stench. Pinching my nose, and asking in a nasally voice ¡°I¡¯ll pay you 5,000 Gold Pounds if you help me with this.¡± while holding up the pamphlet. The disguise was for the people outside and not Jane, she already knew I was rich but didn¡¯t know the full extent of it, the disguise I have right now has the income of a lower-level tycoon from Lendenburg, the 2nd largest city in the Empire behind the capital, named Augustus after the first Emperor. Her usual lazy eyes turned sharp the moment she looked at the pamphlet I was holding up, and then she looked at me. ¡°Ah, hi Janet. This is quite interesting, an interdimensional lock? Where¡¯d you find this? They¡¯re quite the rarity.¡± Frowning, I shook my head to convey my thoughts, like hell would I ever tell her more than necessary, she just nodded, never expecting an answer. ¡°Jane, how long would unlocking it take?¡± I asked, she started to concentrate more on the little pamphlet and said decisively ¡°Give me a few hours, it¡¯s hard but I¡¯ve cracked harder, 5,000 Gold Pounds you say? Interesting, wonder where you get all the money from.¡± The frown already etched onto my face was only amplified, and I believe she got the message. ¡°Fine, how are you going to pay me?¡± This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. I reached into my own pocket dimension, one she specially made for me, and brought out 1,500 Gold Pounds worth of currency in paper, the easiest way to finish this transaction without leaving a trail someone can leave behind. ¡°This is the deposit, you¡¯ll get the rest once you finish.¡± I said to her, trying to mask my normal voice. Janet nodded her head, and held out her right hand. Giving her the pamphlet, I nodded and turned to leave, staying in this area with the stench of what could only be described as dead bodies, rotting chemicals and pungent fungi would only make the stink stick to me. I walked to my car, and sat there for a few hours, smiling at the memory of Mike and myself in the school library, I know why he keeps addressing me as Duchess, my father is a bit old-fashioned and would get enraged at the sheer idea of a commoner, not even one from the capital, not calling his only daughter with the proper title. But, I¡¯d like it if he just called me Arianna, even once. Warm memories of me and Mike were instantly frozen when I thought of marriage, a topic that put an instant grimace on my face. The only options I have for marriage are purely political in nature, my suitors are wide from a normal Baron, to the son of the current Emperor of Iabrun, but they never did love me. I know most are only eyeing my land, a full 200,000 square kilometers. A huge area growing around 35% of the total grain grown in the entirety of the Empire, along with over 40% of the steel production and 65% of factories making glass, even though it was only around 12% of the massive amount of total land held under the Emperor. Those were the main points to talk about when it comes to our land, but there''s many more industries the Lendenburgs have their hands in. The Nobles that were trying to marry me are ok, they aren¡¯t the best and they aren¡¯t the worst. I understand why they were all vying for the land I own, the Empire is stable most of the time, but the new crowning is when tumultuous times would come to the Nobles, while they knew the new Emperor¡¯s stance on most things before they are officially made Emperor of Iabrun, the Nobles would still try and hold on to every piece of power they can. The new Emperor wouldn¡¯t be able to go after the Lendenburgs too hard, we hold too much power over the Empire for any Emperor to take radical action against us, and any Noble that would tie with the Lendenburgs would gain some protection as well. For the upcoming Emperor in a year? More control over the Nobles would only be a benefit for him, especially control over the Lendenburgs by marrying the upcoming Duchess. My understanding of their stances doesn¡¯t mean I would like any of them, least of all the son of the only other Duke. His father, the current Duke of Yorksfield, is the one pushing him to marry me for the land, his son only wants me for my body. The Duke¡¯s son doesn¡¯t even try to hide his lecherous views of my body, just recalling it makes me shiver. I know I am a beauty, my father reminds me everyday of it and how ¡°I shouldn¡¯t settle for anything less than greatness.¡± People complimented me about it everyday, but they were all poorly veiled attempts to tempt me into having a more favorable opinion of them. Mike also looks at me, his poorly concealed peeks at me when we were walking were obvious to me, who had to pick up social cues and little details that could be the difference between walking away from a meeting with an amazing profit, or losing it all down the gutter. After a while of musing about the current political landscape, and how best it would be to benefit our estate, Jane finally called me to tell me that she was done. I knew she wouldn¡¯t peak, I already had a binding contract on her made by a teacher, Jane is only good with Dimensional magic and not much else. I went inside the house again, my nostrils felt violated every time I took a step inside, but I still thanked her, took the pamphlet back, and gave the rest of the money I owed. ¡°Goodbye Janet, hope you come again.¡± she told me as I was opening the door. I nodded a bit, but I hoped I didn¡¯t need her services more, the stench is absolutely vile and not something I would wish upon my worst enemies. I went back to my car, and drove off back to the area I parked my shabby car before and changed back to my non-haggard appearance for my current disguise. Right after I left the poorer parts of town, I took off my disguise and stuffed it into my pocket dimension, which wasn¡¯t that large, only about 13 meter, but it was plenty enough to get rid of my disguise and turn back to the Duchess everyone knows about. It was already nighttime, 11:23pm, so no one saw me when I turned back to my original appearance. The only activities going on around the dorms right now would either be people hosting parties, or engaging in other activities, or even both at the same time. I entered my little dorm room, and took out the pamphlet. I injected just a tiny bit of mana into it, and the item hidden inside the dimension went out. It was a letter, and had a few pages. It also had the extremely old Lendenburg Coat of Arms, it must be quite the old letter, but it was kept in pristine condition inside the little dimension. This was sure to be interesting, and with a slight expectation, I started reading the first page. Good day to whoever may be reading this, whether it be a Lendenburg or someone else. This letter is to serve as a warning to those in the future. The Lendenburg household was originally never a noble house, let alone one that held a duchy. When our founder, George Lendenburg, came here to Iabrun from the neighboring continent of Lesith, he wanted to start a new life. He still wanted a noble house in the continent of Iabrun though, but the budding Kingdom, now Empire, had King Augustus who was notoriously difficult to build relations with, you would need to be extremely lucky to be a Baronet. This was when George made a decision, one he would regret for the rest of his life. George, not satisfied with the treatment he, a former Count of one of the kingdoms in Lesith, was getting chose to make a deal with a Dragon, mythical creatures that reigned terror over the southern part of the Iabrun continent. George went to find a Dragon during this time, he succeeded and started to negotiate with the intelligent monster. In exchange for becoming a Duke, the founder agreed to help this Dragon with anything. George, not understanding much, agreed to this deal without a second though. So goes the story of our founding, a manic person who sought out a monster over a title and it worked. The Dragon brainwashed the then King Augustus, forcing him to make George a Duke. The rest of the dealings between George and this Dragon aren¡¯t known, what was known much later was the Dragon implanted a bloodline curse to every Lendenburg, a form of fail safe if the bargain ever ended or the Dragon simply wanted to, from what we know the Dragon could activate the curse instantly, otherwise it would take time to mature. Every Lendenburg after the age of 18 will have tainted blood, they will slowly start transforming into an actual monster, the effect isn¡¯t outwardly visible, but any blood leaked will come out tainted with a blackish-red color and is considered acidic for any person besides the one who had the blood originally. They won¡¯t have many symptoms beyond thoughts becoming slightly more aggressive. After the age of 35, more and more effects of becoming a half-wyrm, half-human start to come out. The people infected will have scales growing from their back, nubs on their shoulders, little horns on their head, the irises they have will start to transform into slits, the blood they own will be fully black in color and acidic enough to corrode iron fully in 3 minutes. Their thoughts start to become more manic, the urge to kill others will grow exponentially. After the age of 50, slight wings will grow out, the person will have barely any sane thoughts left and their hands develop claws equal to that of a wyrm, and their bodies will have scales all over. After 65, the person will no longer be a person, but become a full wyrm who will only want to hunt down others. The only known way, as of now, to suppress this curse is to inject the bloodstream with the blood of other mythical creatures to counteract the curse, the Lendenburgs have plenty of these creatures, but the blood needs to be of higher and higher quality until near nothing could withstand the curse by the age of 65 and the transformation from human to wyrm will happen exponentially faster, finishing in a day at most. A basilisk¡¯s blood seems to be the only one that works between 55 and 65, but that is it. The Lendenburgs, ever since our discovery, have tried many ways to alleviate or outright get rid of the curse but it seems to be impossible. The only way to completely get rid of the curse is for every Lendenburg to completely die out, and any Lendenburg bastard child who has the curse running through them. Never come to any deal with one these beasts, they are wicked, cunning creatures and the trouble is not worth the reward, no matter how tempting. Let the Lendenburgs be a testament to the potency of the foul beasts. After saying all this, I have one more things to say before I kill myself at the age of 63. George Lendenburg has hidden a treasure in an area of the Lendenburg fief, it has never been found and the search is still ongoing, maybe the answer lies there. I hope the person reading this can help relieve the Lendenburg household of the curse, and with this last sentence, my life will come to an end. After finishing the entire letter, my hands started to shake uncontrollably and tears started to well up in my eyes. Many of the bizarre things my father had to do made sense now, injecting red liquids into himself, allowing me to do dealings for him, rarely stepping out in public, acting irrational for no good reason. So many things he was doing made sense, like the final piece of an extremely large jigsaw puzzle falling into place making it complete, the way all the elders in the family acted made sense. It felt like some cosmic joke, shattering my entire perception of the Lendenburg household. We were a household that survived the 500 year long Last War, a household that survived anything thrown at it, and the entire foundation made up of a single monster, a monster who cursed the family, a monster that cursed me and will curse my future children. The fact that colluding with monsters, and covering it up for thousands of years, would make us eligible to lose every speck of nobility, property, and resources didn''t matter to me because I just realized an even more important fact. My father is 64, and his birthday is before mine. He will miss seeing my own 18th birthday, because of that damn curse, he will become a monster before he gets to see his own daughter become an adult. With that realization, the tears that were already welling up in my eyes finally burst out, with just me in my room feeling lost. Chapter 4 Lesser Wyrm It was only a few days since I left my egg and became a creature in this huge forest, yet almost every waking moment of it was brutal. Every creature out here was almost always stronger than me in some way, I have had to watch my back every second, and with the mental strain that has slowly accumulated only causes more problems. Thankfully, I have found a little underground burrow under the roots of one of the massive redwood trees. Thinking back on myself and my whole spouting of the full desire to get behind the person who killed my race, it now seems to have been a little arrogant on my part when I can¡¯t even survive in this forest without either running away from everything, or hiding in an area that no one goes to. I shook my head, remembering my previous thoughts wouldn¡¯t help me now, what I need is experience, thankfully it isn¡¯t that hard to find around me. Sighing, I stand up and move out of my little burrow. The area outside of the small hole isn¡¯t that different from the rest of the forest, filled with massive redwood trees and a sprawling undergrowth stretching out as far as the eye can see. I start to climb up the same redwood tree the burrow is underneath, hoping that an Eagle isn¡¯t flying around near me. A painful lesson was learnt the day I tried sleeping on one of these gigantic branches, I was nearly carried away by a Lesser Horned Eagle and only barely held on because the Eagle already had caught a lizard similar in size to me and couldn¡¯t be bothered to fight off prey that could fight back. Thanking my luck, and knowing that climbing up high in these woods would be an easy way to die, I searched on the ground for a place to stay, where I happened upon my current living quarters. Getting that painful memory out of my head, I started to search for some easy pickings. The higher part of the trees were off-limits, but some prey could be found here and it looks like I lucked out a bit today. After only 4 hours of running away from dangerous monsters, I had a good find. There were some half-meter and meter long ants in front of me, the colony they were a part of is close, as far as I could tell. The closest ant hill near this group was one only 15km away, but that distance is more than enough of a head start for me to kill the little scouts sent out by the colony. Slowing down my step a little, I started to move to the ants which were on a branch of a different tree, but the two trees were close enough that you could walk from one to the other. The ants had poor eyesight and hearing, their biggest strength lay in their numbers but the little group of 15 ants, only 5 of which were actual soldiers, wasn¡¯t enough to pose much of a threat to me. When I was only around 7 meters away from them, on a branch above their heads, I activated my own skill. It was plenty useful, and any advantage in this world was an advantage I would utilize. Soldier Ant Lv3-6 An ant, birthed from the Queen, in order to protect the home colony and their operations. While weak by themselves, ants are adept at swarm tactics. Worker ant Lv1-4 An ant, birthed from the Queen, utilized to build the colony and to gather resources for the next generation. While weak by themselves, ants are adept at swarm tactics. Good, none of these ants would pose any sort of meaningful resistance against me. Expunging any unnecessary thoughts out of my mind, and being fully focused on the hunt in front of me, I started to inch ever so closer to the first ant soldier, one that was staying close to a worker that was harvesting the nutrient-rich leaves to take back to the colony. When I was close enough that I could easily pounce on the ant, I calmed my erratic heart, and prepared myself. I steeled all my nerves, and jumped down atop the first ant soldier. The other ants immediately turned my way, but I was too preoccupied with killing the ant I was on. I tried to sink my claws through its hard chitin, and into the unprotected flesh beneath it, but my claws were placed awkwardly so they could only slide off the chitin shell. My mind, at the moment though, couldn¡¯t care. When I realized I couldn¡¯t penetrate it¡¯s shell, I immediately went to bite the head of the ant while the claws on my hind legs quickly cracked the shell on its abdomen. The bite I was going for paid off, with the head of the ant quickly buckling under the pressure of my jaws, my teeth sinking into its brain, killing the first soldier off. The rest of them, while not talking, could still convey their anger by aggressively clicking their mandibles. This branch was perfect, big enough for me to attack 1 or 2 at the same time, but not too big that they all could swarm at me at once. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Focusing again on the battlefield, two of the soldiers were approaching me while one was trying to get behind me. I rushed at the 2, they were the only things separating me from the single soldier and workers behind them. The soldier on the left tried to bite me, and I let it. The only thing I would feel is a light sting after a few hours of rest, but this little amount of time where he is biting me and can¡¯t move his head was perfect. I raised my right hand, slashing at the thorax of the soldier. My claws deeply penetrated into the chitin, and then into the squishy internal meat and organs. The ant didn¡¯t make a sound while letting go of my scales and started to move back a bit. I wasn¡¯t going to let it and raised my left claw to tear what was left of it¡¯s thorax, but the other soldier ant got into the fray and blocked it with its own shell. The other soldier coming in wasn¡¯t something I expected, my mind fully focused on the one ant in front of me. The claws, ready to tear into the thorax of the first ant, only powerlessly slid off the seconds chitin, the position too awkward for me to crush its exoskeleton. Cursing for a bit, I focused on the new ant. It was exactly the same as the first one I fought with, but instead of going for a bite, this one tried to sting me. I dodged it, I learned the rough way that the poison inside hurts more than the actual damage it causes. While the ant missed its sting, I ran to the first ant and completely ripped open it¡¯s thorax. The ant that tried to sting me now bit me on my tail, which was slightly more sensitive than the rest of my body. Hissing a bit because of the pain, I got my tail loose from the ants jaw. It went for another bite, clearly seeing my discomfort over the bitten tail, but I turned around a bit down hard enough on the ants head to go straight through the entirety of its head. The 2 soldiers going down finally allowed me to run to the last soldier, and the workers behind it. I rushed forward to the final soldier, which was trying his best to match me in the middle, putting more ground between me and the workers. It tried it¡¯s best, but I turned my body slightly to the right and slammed the entire ant with the full weight behind my body. It fell down and was dazed for just a few seconds, a few seconds that I spent eviscerating the soldiers thorax, its liquids and internal organs spilling on my upper body, turning my brownish-gold scales into a pale-yellowy color. The workers that were leaving were much slower than me, they were scurrying down the tree and to the colony they came from, to alert the nearby colony to my presence. I climbed down the tree and ran off after them, the noise I¡¯m making is sure to attract many of the scarier creatures, but the amount of experience in front of me is far too tantalizing for me to care at the moment. I reached the worker ant furthest at the back and directly sank my teeth into it, the disgusting flavor permeated in my mouth even more, but I ignored it and went to the next. The worker ants all tried to stop me in one way or another, trying to bite and sting me in hopes of reaching their colony but I eventually whittled down their number to only 2. We were now only 6 kilometers from the main colony, far too close for my liking but I persevered and eventually killed the last of the worker ants. A huge backlog of messages from the system were ready for my reading, but they would only distract me so I ignored them for the time being and went to a nearby river I noticed when I was chasing after the last of the worker ants. I cautiously looked at it, a wide river 20 meters across and who knows how deep. It wasn¡¯t the clearest nor the dirtiest water, but it was the best way to clean myself. The stench of the ants would attract far stronger creatures than what I could handle, so I went into the water. Surprisingly, the water did not have a mass of creatures swimming my way, it was calm, way too calm for my liking. Calmness meant a creature strong enough to silence the others from doing any drastic action, and it was eerily quiet in this river. I finished cleaning myself and ran off, I didn¡¯t want to stay more than necessary. I finally came upon my own little burrow 3 hours later, after finding and killing a slightly large 5-eyed lizard compared to the one I first hunted. I laid down to nibble on the dead carcass while looking through the notifications. Level up 6 -> 8 Observers eye Lv2 -> Lv3 Bite Lv4 -> Lv 5 Cut Lv2 -> Lv4 Hatchling mana sense Lv1 -> Lv2 My eyes were gleaming, almost the entirety of my move set gained experience in my outing, I was really lucky. Brimming with enjoyment was nice, but it couldn¡¯t offset the fatigue I had accumulated over the hunt. A part of my mind was telling me I forgot something important, but I was too tired to care so I disregarded it and went into a deep sleep. Chapter 5 part 1 Lesser Wyrm I woke up, still lying down in the little burrow under the redwood tree. Shaking my head to release the last bit of fatigue in my body, I started to make my way to the surface. A part of my mind was nagging that I forgot something important, but I ignored it, I couldn¡¯t place my attention on something that would take my mind away from the situation I¡¯m in. Looking around, I decided to head away from the ant colony, going east from where I first went to discover the little scout group from the colony, trying to get close now would be monumentally stupid. I was walking for only about 20 minutes when a huge eagle cry came from the sky, the piercing sound felt infinitely close to my own ear. I immediately jumped into a thicker part of the underbrush, trying my hardest to stay still and hope the Eagle in the sky would ignore my small body. I stuck as close to the ground as possible, the cry still ringing in my ear, it was an instinctual response to get away from any danger as soon as possible, but any movement would alert the gigantic Eagle. I moved my eyes, slowly so as to not trigger anything, to look at the gigantic Eagle perched on a branch. It had dark brown feathers, with a fully black head and yellow eyes. The claws were each a meter long and were gripping on the branch of a redwood, one that was especially large, most likely to help support the mass of the Eagle. It was 20 meters tall, from head to its talons and scanned through the environment. I had no delusions that the monster wouldn¡¯t be able to see me, but the effort it would take to kill me would expend more energy than it was worth, or so I hoped. The Eagle stayed there, moving its head and eyes for nearly 7 minutes, but it felt like 7 hours. My beating heart was pounding out of my chest, the sound close to my ears felt louder than it was. Eventually, the Eagle released its cry again before rushing off to an area behind me, I moved my head slightly to see where the Eagle was about to go. It landed down on a creature, one I didn¡¯t even know the name of. It was also decently large, about 5 meters from head to tail, and had gigantic spines atop its back. It had grey skin, with a few mottled spots of green running along its sides, with the tail tapering off to a sharp point. The head was similar to the rest of the body, but it had two tusks on its pig-like face, or it looked like the one I killed a few days ago. The creature, who¡¯s name I didn¡¯t know, disregarded its lying down position and started to run off. The tail that was gleaming in the sunlight shot something out of its point, I was too far away to tell but the Eagle flew to the side and kept its chase going, for not very long because in the next second the strange creature stopped to hold his ground, seeing that the Eagle would come face it soon. The creature, now facing the Eagle wanted to try its best but the Eagle, not seeming to care, did something I didn¡¯t expect. The Eagle channeled electricity through its wings, and shot it through the tips of its wings, directly hitting the creature. It was fully paralyzed, with the Eagle pushing it on its back, and carrying it off, most likely to let one of its children get the kill, and then flew off. After waiting for 15 minutes to make sure the Eagle was well and truly far away, I started to move again. The incident with the Eagle was the first time I saw a monster fully use magic in their fighting style. Shuddering at the thought of the Eagle, I looked around and was more alert than ever. The previous encounter served as a reminder that I should be more alert than ever, I have grown slightly stronger than when I first hatched, but still nothing compared to others. Sadly, every other creature will most likely also be hiding around so any chance of me catching something I could take on anytime soon is miniscule. Sighing a bit, I went back to walking while being alert of every sound around me. After about 14 hours of resting for a bit and walking, I was tired and the fatigue was starting to hit me. The area I was in was slightly different, the number of trees around me was slightly less than the area I was born, and so far lived in. The ground I was walking on, while normally slightly went felt more hydrated than usual, and the monotonous tone of the gigantic trees was broken up by some newer trees, far shorter than the towering behemoths of nature. This will probably mark the end of the redwood forest I¡¯m in, though I don¡¯t think I am anywhere near a human civilization if these monsters are this abundant. Looking around, I found a little hollow inside a redwood tree and wanted to sleep inside it, which would be far safer than anything else I could think of. Climbing up around 23 meters to the hollow. Looking inside, I saw a little gleam and instantly removed my head from the hole. A small snake head shot out to where I stuck my head inside the hollow, sweat was forming on my head, any slower and it would have bit me. The snake went back inside the little hollow, it wouldn¡¯t chase me for no reason. I pondered for a bit on what to do, the snake was dangerous and wouldn''t leave for no reason, but I would be a sitting duck for anything to kill me were I to sleep outside. Eventually, I just decided to bury a hole and lie inside it. It was ironic, one of the fiercest Apex predators having to dig a hole to avoid other predators. Laughing at the situation allied me to take my mind off the monotonous process of digging, and when I focused again, it was already done. I laid down in the little burrow and went to sleep. When I woke up, nothing much had changed and I continued on my trek to this new biome. The soil was getting more and more wet, with the amount of redwood trees also decreasing, to the point the only ones I could see were in the distance behind me. This new area was more of a swamp, filled with murky waters and trees with roots sucking nutrients from the depths of the waters, but it was still mostly wet land I could walk on. Looking at the scenery was nice, there was a bird flying through the sky but it was about the size of the first Lesser Horned Eagle I first found. It was definitely stronger than that one I saw though, carrying 2 lizards about the size of me within its talons quite easily. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Lurking around, avoiding the gaze of the bird in the sky, I found something very interesting, the birds nest of chicks. I staked out near it for half a day, seeing the bird taking care of them by itself. I had an extremely tempting idea, but I didn¡¯t know whether I could take on the large bird by myself. I decided to bite the bullet and enact my plan, it would be a massive boon if I could take on and kill this larger bird and its children. The bird left in the morning to hunt down some food for itself, the perfect opportunity for me. I went to the nest and took 2 of the 7 chicks, leaving the other 5. The 2 chicks I took with me were very small, small enough that I could kill them easily, and I did. Their dead bodies would do wonders in angering the bird protecting them, so with a snap of the neck, the 2 chicks were dead and I held one in my mouth. I waited for a while, and the large bird came to its nest. The sharp gaze it normally held became angered immediately, noticing the 2 missing chicks. When I was around 10 meters away from it, the farthest I could activate my skill, and I did just that. Lesser Storm Osprey Lv12 A bird, similar in nature to the Lesser Horned Eagle, but primarily feeds upon marine life. They are born with a small organ to harness electricity, and eventually control the power of storms. Interesting, the bird I saw earlier was the evolution of this thing? Calming my heart, any memory of that large storm bird I encountered makes my heart race with fear, and holding the chick in my jaws more firmly, I walked out of the undergrowth to the Osprey. The Osprey, who was already quite angry when she saw the 2 children missing, became absolutely livid with the sight of one of her chicks in my mouth. She was 2 meters tall, but her wings had a wingspan of 6 meters made her look far larger than she actually was. The Osprey immediately pounced towards me in an attempt to dislodge the chick in my mouth, but I was prepared and was already moving when she was just starting to jump. I went to her nest, spat out the chick in my mouth and killed 2 more with my claws. The Osprey became incensed, rushing towards me without much regard to her own health. Perfect, was what I thought before I stepped to the side of her mindless charge. I wasn¡¯t fast enough though, with one of its talons burying deep into my back. The pain was to the extreme, more than anything had done to me so far, but I stamped down the pain and anger that brewed in my mind, I couldn¡¯t afford to get distracted now. With the talons stuck in my hide, I agonizingly turned around and bit at one of the wings of the Osprey, hearing the successful snapping of bones which was blissful to my ears. The Osprey, now regaining some of her sanity, realized how bad the situation was turning but still wasn¡¯t going to abandon her kids, and this familial love is exactly what I counted on. Slightly grinning, I started to rush to the nest, but she knew what I was trying and immediately went to stop me, but I never intended to get to her kids, I only wanted to cripple her. I changed my course from the nest to one of her legs, and snapped down hard. A crunching sound was heard, and blood spilled into my mouth, imbuing the inside of my mouth with the flavor of her blood which tastes especially sweet at the moment. Her eyes, still partially angry before, regained all their clarity, but while she was distracted by the injury on one of her legs, I went and bit down on the other one, fully crippling her movement. She was now trying to flap one of her wings to move to her nest, trying to get her children away from the threat that was me. Good, this situation was exactly what I wanted her to become, too focused on her children. Smiling a bit, I rushed to her nest and killed 2 chicks in front of her, trying to get her to release the last bit of energy she had, but soon after I realized it was a mistake, her eyes were signifying her apocalyptic rage and she tried her best to kill me, using more energy than what I thought was left. The love of a mother for her children was one I truly underestimated and got slashed by her talons twice, but she was essentially crippled so I ran away from her current incensed state and waited for her to lose all of the energy left in her. She lost it pretty quickly, her energy was waning far before the last desperate struggle against me. She fully died in front of me, and I took her body away from the scene of the fight, quickly eating the meat off her body, her meat was sweeter than anything else I had tried before, and so were her bones. After disposing of the body, the fatigue and pain set in which made moving an excruciating experience. I barely got to the little hole I used in this area, the residence of a rodent about my size before I took it over. I checked my status after the fight, it was sure to have a decently sized upgrade and allowed me to check all the changes at once. Status: Healthy(Alive) Level: 13(15 for next evolution) Name: None Race: Lesser Wyrm HP: 167 MP: 212 Stamina: 318 Titles: The last of your species: +25% Exp gain in total Ancestor of the Primordial Dragon: +1% stats against every enemy(Upgraded the higher up in the evolutionary line) Provoker: More likely to enrage others (Gained due to your actions in the world) Stats: Strength: 92 Agility: 38 Vitality: 73 Charm: 10 Intelligence: 31 Skills: Skill points: 5 Observer¡¯s eye Lv3: Can look into other people¡¯s status. Gained due to your innate sense as a fledgling Cut Lv5(Passive): Your claws become sharper, sturdier and more useful Bite Lv6(Passive): The teeth in your maw will become sharper, sturdier and more useful Innate mana manipulation Lv1(Passive): Your heritage is filled with the blood of the Primordial Dragon, mana comes naturally to you as naturally as it is for you to breathe. Hatchling mana sense Lv3(Passive): The Dragon¡¯s have an innate sense for mana, starting from only having weak hints to sensing the tiniest speck of it on the other side of the world. Looking at the stat changes, I was feeling amazing, like I was on the top of the world. My whole body felt more maneuverable, and it has become slightly stronger. I couldn¡¯t dent one of the redwood tree¡¯s when I was first born, but I could get a slight crack after my ant killing expedition. I would be even stronger now, but the experience of the large bird in the redwoods stamped down the minute amount of pride I held in myself. Sighing, I settled down to sleep. Chapter 5 part 2 Wyrm Waking up without any interruptions in sleep was blissful, even if we were only in a raggedly old camp, good sleep is a blessing around these parts of the swamp. Getting out of my little tent, and glancing around camp was depressing, of the 10 children that came with me and Zeler for their practical exam, 7 were too arrogant and got themselves killed over stupid things. One was too much of a sightseer and got themselves and 3 other people killed in an ambush before me and Zeler could help them out. Shaking the memory out of my head I went to wake up the last girl who was smart enough to stay away from most dangers, named Helena, along with Zeler who was in his own camp. The two made some mild resistance to being woken up, but they eventually got themselves up from the fatigue of last night and joined me in packing up all we have. Helena muttered some complaints, but I ignored it and Helena went back to work. Zeler came up to me and asked ¡°Hey, Ash, today is the last day right?¡±I nodded my head and a glint of joy could be found in his expression, we made good time and packed up all the items at camp, we were finally returning to the Magic Academy from this godforsaken swamp. While walking, Helena and Zeler kept talking among themselves, mostly to distract them from the brutal scene of the other students¡¯ deaths. I understood why they did it, any escape is a good thing. People would have been killing themselves far easier if they didn¡¯t take escapes from our job, seeing students die messes up your psyche and I¡¯m no different. I was paying attention to the underbrush and murky waters of the swamp, ambushes have killed far too many people for me to not pay attention. I saw a weird lizard, 2 meters long but it wasn¡¯t paying attention to us and needlessly being aggressive to a monster would only drain us of our energy, so I disregarded its presence and continued on my trek out of the swamp. Zeler also noticed, but he was as professional as me and did the same thing as I did. Helena didn¡¯t notice it, she was talking with Zeler about the Academy and the lizard was too well hidden for someone of her caliber to notice anyway. After a light trek, the soil was starting to get a little less moist, with better areas to put our feet. Our moods lightened a little, and then Helena asked me ¡°Ms.Ash, I-I have to go to the bathroom.¡± she had a little stutter but nothing imparining, I nodded and told Zeler what she said. He also nodded, Helena went to a place slightly farther away from Zeler and did her deed while I watched over her. Zeler was standing by himself, and I was slightly worried for his safety, this was his first expedition into the swamp and I didn¡¯t know if he would be ok, but I chose to trust him and stand guard near Helena who would be swallowed up by the creatures of the swamp instantly. She eventually finished and walked in front of me to meet Zeler, they were closer in age and got along better than me and her ever could. I was paying attention to the surroundings, but Helena¡¯s scream caught me off-guard for a millisecond before I rushed to her and shouted ¡°What¡¯s wrong!?¡±, but it looked like nothing was attacking her. She was as pale as the moon at night though, so I went next to her to see what happened and then the smell hit me, a strong hit of iron. Zeler¡¯s body, without his backpack, was what awaited me, mutilated by claws and nearly decapitated with his neck barely hanging on. Frowning I approached his body, and completely focused on everything around us. He was definitely dead, and while it was sad, we couldn¡¯t stay here. I turned to Helena to tell her that we need to be moving, but she was gone from where she stood. My frown only deepened, I may have led our group into the territory of a monster without knowing it. I started to slowly move to the area we were supposed to go to, away from the area the two died. Their bodies couldn¡¯t be retrieved now, and the horror of their deaths was slowly settling in. The surroundings seemed to turn deathly quiet, the sword in my hand giving me some comfort. I was still backing up when I hit something behind me, turning around it was Helena¡¯s body with an expression of fear on her face, she was in the same position as Zeler. Mutilated with claw marks and nearly decapitated, I turned around to face away from her body and started to move in the direction of the rendezvous point we chose, the phone in my back pocket had lost any signal out here. I started moving faster and faster when nothing attacked me, but as I was getting closer to where I needed to be, I heard some noises to the left of me in the underbrush, I readied my sword to block whatever it is, and out came the weird lizard throttling at full speed towards me, my eyes widened but my stance held firm and the lizard couldn¡¯t knock me down. It had intelligence in its eyes, which surprised me, the little bastard was probably the one that killed both Zeler and Helena. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Stamping down the rage that built in me, any impairment to my fighting ability would be a detriment, and slashed down at the lizard. It seemed like he was already moving, but my sword still connected with the end of his tail, taking it clean off. The little lizard hissed in pain, but slashed back at my ankle, it only nicked the tip but still hurt like hell. The lizard then tried to bite down on my leg but I managed to hit the lizard with the tip of my saber, the lizard endured it to my surprise and bit down hard on my ankle, completely crippling my leg. It then rushed towards my hip, trying to completely break my bones. I channeled my mana through the sword, allowing it to gain a cold blue gleam. Nicking the lizard body a bit, ice started to spread through the lizard but it disregarded all the pain and kept coming. I tried to use one of the items inside but the lizard changed its course and completely bit through my forearm, stopping its movement almost immediately. The pain coursed through my body, nearly unbearable but I endured through it. My sword was too long and heavy to use with one hand, I got rid of it and used the dagger on my waist to stab through the lizard''s arm. It was futile though, the lizard already moved away from the area and I didn¡¯t know where it was. I started to slowly back away while holding my arm and sword. I felt a stinging pain on my back and felt paralyzed, the little lizard must have dropped down and destroyed my spine. My last thought was ¡°if only I could have noticed this threat before.¡± POV change: The girl was a much tougher threat than anything else I encountered, but I thankfully pulled through. I wanted to break her mind by using the bodies of the 2 people next to her. They weren¡¯t too high leveled, about the same as me but this was the largest haul yet. Grinning, I ran back to the hollow I found near their camp, I followed them since morning, thankfully no one took me for a threat. The injuries sustained were massive, but they couldn¡¯t contain the boiling excitement in my body. Looking inside, it was a large enough space for me to evolve, I believe. The hollow was huge and even 10 of myself wouldn¡¯t fill the entire space. I climbed down into it and brought up my status, grinning at my level. Level 15 Evolution ready I hesitated for only a second, and then mentally gave a command of affirmation, and with that. My existence has gotten closer to the level of a Primordial Dragon, grinning I fell into a deep sleep while feeling subtle changes happening to my body. When I fully woke up, with all my lethargy after a complete evolution gone, I sat down to inspect my status. Status: Healthy(Alive) Level: 0 (Level 20 for next evolution) Condition for evolution: Rule over an area that is at least 10 square kilometers Name: None Race: Wyrm HP: 317 MP: 432 Stamina: 678 Titles: The last of your species: +25% Exp gain in total Ancestor of the Primordial Dragon: +1% stats against every enemy(Upgraded the higher up in the evolutionary line) Provoker: More likely to enrage others (Gained due to your actions in the world) Stats: Strength: 178 Agility: 94 Vitality: 213 Charm: 28 Intelligence: 43 Skills: Skill points: 5 Observer¡¯s eye Lv4: Can look into other people¡¯s status. Gained due to your innate sense as a fledgling Cut Lv6(Passive): Your claws become sharper, sturdier and more useful Bite Lv6(Passive): The teeth in your maw will become sharper, sturdier and more useful Innate mana manipulation Lv1(Passive): Your heritage is filled with the blood of the Primordial Dragon, mana comes naturally to you as naturally as it is for you to breathe. Hatchling mana sense Lv4(Passive): The Dragon¡¯s have an innate sense for mana, starting from only having weak hints to sensing the tiniest speck of it on the other side of the world. Inspecting the changes in my body, I felt considerably happy, and much stronger. I now feel larger, from 2 meters long to 5, there were now nubs on my back which was previously smooth, most likely to get me ready for wings. I could only inspect the changes for a while, drowsiness overcame me again, and while slowly falling asleep, all I could think about was the requirement for the next evolution. Chapter 6 Mike I thought about the Duchess¡¯ reaction for a while before putting it at the back of my mind, I also needed to do some urgent work today and could not be bothered with worrying about her. Shaking my head, I left the library, still with a twinge of worry about the Duchess. No matter, I just started to walk home. A newspaper boy, barely 14 by the looks of it, wanted to sell a paper to me right outside of the campus. I was about to refuse, but an interesting piece of news was on it so I just paid the little copper needed for it. The little boy, barely up to my shoulders, seemed to be happy but I just disregarded him from my mind the moment I started to walk away. The road beside the sidewalk I was on was filled with noise, but nothing I couldn¡¯t filter out of my mind. Sitting besides a woman that looked to be 30 years of age, I started reading the big piece of news on the front, one about a series of murders that had been going on for half a year by now. The woman besides me was smiling towards my direction, but she didn¡¯t seem to want to initiate a conversation and neither did I. I wasn¡¯t surprised the murderer wasn¡¯t caught, anyone with real magic would have better things to do than track down some small murderer, the only reason it was even in the news was because of the brutality of the murders. One lady was completely decapitated, with her other limbs being severed and strewn about in a weird formation. The modus operandi of this killer was easy to see, with each kill either being a brothel worker, or glorified prostitutes that sell their body online. Regardless of that, the brutality of each of the killings was noteworthy. I started to skim through the rest of the paper, might as well. Some new bill made by the Emperor, only affecting the nobility from the light read-through I did. I would have to ask the Duchess about it, but I quickly disregarded it. The new bill would hardly affect me anyway, so there was no need to really go into the specifics. What did catch my eye was a small section about the rising tensions between Iabrun, and the other superpower in the neighboring continent named Solaria. The extent of what I knew about the place was that the military, commerce and industrial power was about equal to Iabrun. But there was a major difference, Iabrun came up similar to any other large country after The Last War. Conquering the neighboring states until they became large enough to go uncontested in their small area, Solaria was different though. The Last War ravaged their continent much harder than it did ours, with the old powers genocidng each other and the land to near sterility. Solaria was the only one standing by the end of it, a new country formed only 2 decades before the end of The Last War, united by the religion of The Eternal Sun. The Emperor of Iabrun had now seemed to finally set his sights on the only country that could still put up a resistance, but I didn¡¯t understand why he would in such a time as the passing of the title. Interesting, I would have to keep this in mind. I would rather not be caught up in the middle of a near world-crushing war. Some of the other races, the ones who live far longer than normal humans, still hold scars from The Last War, I imagine they would try their damndest to stop it from happening. The strings of fate, however, work in strange ways near no-one can comprehend. The woman besides me had left by the time I skimmed through the rest of the stories, none catching the eye even a little, well for someone as poor as me. Many advertisements were plastered, but all are completely out of my price range. I started to walk to my home again, it had only been half an hour since I stopped to read and I still had plenty of time to walk home. I bought myself some ingredients, discounted poultry and rice because it was all I could afford, but I was already used to the less than ideal circumstances I was in. My mind slightly wandered off to the Duchess, but I reigned in my imagination that was conjuring up some favorable circumstances between us. Quickly disregarding the scenes in my head while walking inside my apartment complex in the lower-middle class part of the capital. It was in a small state of disrepair, but I couldn¡¯t really do anything about it. I started to prepare one of the only dishes I have mastered in my 3 years, chicken with pan sauce and rice. It was a small dish just for myself, and I started to eat it while taking out my phone. A 4 year old model, but it was still plenty functional and I had no other choice. All my savings went into something else, or should I say someone else? I was meeting them in a bit so I quickly ate my fill, saved some for tomorrow morning and started to run out of my apartment, completely shutting off my phone, taking it along with a spare credit card tied to a burner phone. The bank was no good, too much of a risk showing my face there with the actions I plan to do later. Luckily, ATM machines with little surveillance were near to me, about half a kilometer off. I reached there quite easily, and inserted this credit card that was only going to be used by me only once. Withdrawing 10 gold pounds, a large part of my savings, I sped off from the dimly-lit area, it already felt like I was being watched there. Shaking my head, I went to a shady alley where I started to change into some new clothes. The disguise was nothing much, but it was enough to change my overall look. I burned my old clothes, the homeless around here would burn plenty of things to stay afloat for another day, and no one would think this was any different. The new outfit I have right now was a brand new sweater and jeans, along with shoes that had paddings in order to get me to 6¡¯0 ft, my face was covered with glasses and a mask. Masks, while not exactly common here, would not be an accessory that people would bat an eye at. The slums here have much more toxic air compared to my own area, just a few kilometers off. Shaking my head, I began to walk to the designated point, another alley 3 kilometers away. Narrowing my eyes in the alley, I saw exactly what I was here for. A woman, smaller than me in both height and demeanor, was standing in the alley. The slave trade was meant to be eradicated long ago, but this blight on society would never truly leave the Empires and Kingdoms on this world. There may be a spell, but none that I know of would change a million, let alone the tens of millions present in the small cities of Solaria and Iabrun. I wasn¡¯t one to fancy myself a slave, but the idea to get myself a person who could do work while I was in school, earning me some money. Stolen novel; please report. Dispelling the weirdness inside me for owning a fellow human being, I walked into the alley, and put 7 Gold Pounds on a half-broken table near her. She was only 5¡¯6, smaller than me by quite a bit and her demeanor didn¡¯t betray her appearance. I didn¡¯t think one could get any shyer than her, but I shook my head and told her to follow me in a low voice. She nodded and went behind me, a tracking spell I had used a bit earlier allowing me to detect 3 people near the area, but only one had enough mana for me to sense even a bit clearly, they were definitely the seller. My curiosity nearly got the better of me, but I stamped it down and left with the shy girl in tow. I still had a weird feeling inside me, knowing my own mother was once abused as a slave and now I was owning one. It felt wrong¡­ in some way, but this new girl should help alleviate much of the financial pressure on me. She tried to make herself look as small as possible while she was following me, but I didn¡¯t pay attention to her. A slight smile crept on my face, 3 people were following us and it looked like they were about to strike in 75 meters. I prepped some elementary magic, I highly doubt these petty slave owners knew much about magic and some pretty lights that hurt enough to dissuade them should be enough. Though, just in case, I did use a pen in my sweater to discreetly scratch my skin, enough to draw some blood, in a magic seal used for quick access. I flooded it with enough Earth Mana to completely level a city block, of course I knew no spells that could make use of this amount of mana in one burst, the burden on my body instantly became much heavier, walking became much harder and sweat started to form. Once I was done with my preparation, I quickly decided to get the upper hand in the upcoming battle by using a miniscule amount of Fire Mana in order to create a little firework, launching at the person following me on the rooftop. I could see the surprise in his eyes when the small fire attack hit him in the stomach. The other two ran towards me, but I did the same thing to them as I did to the first guy, but both seemed to expect it, doding and then kept running towards me. I channeled some Water Mana into my left hand and shot it out of the point of my finger, making the water turn into a deadly pinpoint of mana. It hit one of the people running towards me in their leg, effectively crippling them. The other two weren¡¯t dissuaded in the slightest though, I wondered why for a split second before getting my mind back to the less than ideal situation. I started to channel some small Earth Mana in my left hand again, my right arm was already completely saturated by Earth Mana and wouldn¡¯t be able to use any other spells. The pain in it was getting worse, and if I didn¡¯t dispel it or use all of it completely, my right arm could very well become a useless limb. The Earth Mana in my left hand made a small boulder under the first person who recovered from the firework, launching at their leg, shattering their bone. My right arm nearly had no response left in it so I quickly used some of the Earth Mana to both trap all 3 in a cage, solidifying their traps to the hardness of regular steel before quickly releasing the trapped Mana in my right arm to the surroundings, I still had 30% left in it but that was planned. I grabbed the slave girl, who was even more quiet than before, if that was even possible and quickly started to mold the Earth around us, making it a makeshift escalator similar to the ones seen in the largest stores here in the capital. It enveloped our feet and legs, before quickly rocketing off in a direction not too close nor too far from home. After completely expending all the Earth Mana still left inside me, I was tired and laid down to rest in an alley 5 kilometers away from my home. The slave girl had a weird look in her eye, but I wasn¡¯t focused much on that. I was still vigilant, but after nobody popped in my tracking spell coming directly towards us, I loosened up my tightened nerves and relaxed a bit. Standing up, I looked towards the slave girl in front of me, asking ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±, I would rather not keep referring to her as a slave, even if that''s what she is. She nervously looked me in the eye and said ¡°My-my name is Ava, Sir¡±, after which she looked down at the floor beneath her. I took a better look at her, she wasn¡¯t a supermodel who would catch everyone''s stares but she was pretty enough, allowing me to guess her previous occupation before she became my property. With short brown hair, and brown eyes, her features were common but looked surprisingly good on her. Shaking my head, I told her ¡°Good, just call me Dane.¡±, she nodded but I suspect I was in a similar situation between me and the Duchess, she would likely keep referring to me as Sir out of respect. I gave her a gold pound and said ¡°Use this money to get yourself a place to sleep, I want you to earn me as much money as you can by this time next week. We meet here, in this exact place, then with you handing every drop besides the barest amount needed to sustain yourself. Do you understand?¡± She nodded nervously, shrinking herself back even more, but I was too tired to care much about catering to her so I nodded and said ¡°Take off your top, I need to do something.¡± Her eyes spoke for the volume of fear she had, but she still did the order as intended and took off her top. I turned her around and removed the bra, taking out my pen in the process. It wasn¡¯t a true spiritual knife but I quickly scratched down the symbol for ¡°beacon¡± on her back, drawing blood just a bit. It had a miniscule amount of mana in it, no different than the surrounding air but it allowed me to always feel her general location. ¡°Alright, put your clothes back on and leave. I trust you know the 3 things forbidden in the contract?¡± She was stupefied for a second before quickly nodding and dressing up fully. ¡°Good, I trust you to get me some money.¡± I said before I walked off. Sighing to myself, I went into an alley and completely burned off the clothes on me, putting on completely new shoes, leggings and shirt, walking off shortly after. It was impossible for her to tell anyone she was a slave, that she had me as her owner or that she had been a slave before. In the eyes of other people, she would just seem like a normal, hardworking girl. I didn¡¯t like the blot that was slavery, but if it existed I would make use of it. Sighing again, I went off in the direction of my house, today was a long day and tomorrow was class anyway. Chapter 7 Arianna The day after the whole revelation about the foundation of my family, I looked completely normal with no faults. Any discrepancies in my appearance were scrubbed out thoroughly, someone of my status being shaken would rock the entire capital thoroughly. I didn¡¯t want anyone to know, least of all the people around me, to know of my fragile emotional state right now. Any weakness would attract the other Nobles, and especially the Emperor, like it was a honey trap. My father would most likely tell me this by the time he was about to die, but I simply could not confront him in my current state. The trip to the Academy was as boring as ever, my hands were shaking involuntarily during the entire trip, subtle but noticeable enough to one with a keen eye. The entire ride inside the car was tense for me, but I kept a poker face at all times and simply didn¡¯t react to anything, like usual. Anyone from the driver, to people in the Academy to the random newspaper boy would be able to gossip about my state, and it would reach far into the complex political web of alliances. The anxiety over the state of my household had reached its peak the moment I walked into my first class 20 minutes early, even if it was irrational I thought that, perhaps, someone knew and was keeping it a secret. The subtle glances people took at me became amplified in my mind, crazy theories on whether the common man knew started to spin in my head. A feeling of lightheadedness crept into my mind, I looked around for a while more, the anxiety growing in me with each subtle gossip spoken, whether or not it even was about me or my household. The feeling of panic only grew when a few people looked to want to walk up to me, the room in front of me started to look blurry. Sighing a bit, enough to help me with the feeling I had at the moment, but not enough to elicit a response from others. 3 people were walking towards me, their gazes still gnawing at my anxiety but I felt a bit better and would likely be able to converse with them. I kept a poker face throughout the entire ordeal, making sure no one knew of my weakness. I sighed again, feeling better than I was just a few moments ago and prepping myself for the upcoming discussion. Isaac, a Naga male immigrated from Solaria was the first to come over, his presence alerted me of the upcoming topic. His girlfriend was near him, Meyer Barclonso, a passionate member of the Demon race though how they get anything on is beyond me. The Last War engulfed all parts of the world, whether it be the infernal or heavenly, decimating both realms to near sterility. I have no idea as to why, or even how, the Kings of The Infernal Realm, colloquially just known as the 72 Demon Lords, and the Archangels came to an agreement of peace, nor do I really care why. It has been long since the ending of The Last War, and the subsequent peace agreements but grudges between the races still exist to a certain degree, especially the long lived ones. Some have come to terms with it, Meyer still holds a dislike to the race of Angels but wouldn¡¯t exactly be willing to murder one. I do know a demon and Angel couple, though those cases are extraordinarily rare and I only knew one because of my status. The last person near them was a Squidspawn, common creatures hailing from the deep oceans, though their progenitor is unknown, they are a successful species that barely survived the latter half of The Last War. With tentacles on his face, and standing 5ft high, with an oily sheen on his body, Dylan was a common man from the Squidspawn. As my musing was coming to a close, Isaac came up to me and said ¡°Duchess Lendenburg,¡± with a noticeable amount of bile in his voice, but I disregarded it and he continued ¡°I assume you know about the missing students, and the missing instructors, your Grace?¡± I nodded, it was somewhat unexpected, the Solarian and Iabrun tensions seemed more likely knowing his status as an immigrant. I didn¡¯t know where he was going with this, but I still paid attention to them. Dylan didn¡¯t quite seem to want to be here, his little fidgets gave it away, for one usually so calm he seemed very nervous now, but I don¡¯t think it means anything much. Talking to a person who could have total control of your entire life would be very nerve wracking. Meyer seemed disinterested, but her quick glances signified she did care about the upcoming conversation. Stolen story; please report. Isaac did a nod, and then said ¡°Right, Your Grace, is there any reason why you don¡¯t seem to care all that much?¡± I could see he had a hard time containing his rage, I knew he lost his step-sister Helena so I tried to be as tactful as possible, ¡°Isaac, I know about your loss during the entire event, and I¡¯m truly sorry for the loss of your sister.¡± This seemed to cool his anger, just a bit, so I continued ¡°The loss of your sister must have hurt you very deeply, and know that I am here for you.¡± Next would come the hard part of trying to reason why he was coming for me, ¡°Knowing this loss, I have no idea why you are bringing this bad memory up to me.¡± The barely under-control anger under Isaac¡¯s surface erupted the moment I finished my sentence. ¡°You BITCH, it was your family that killed her. Your family was the one that raised her shitty instructors on that day! Your family are murderers and you don¡¯t even know what you did! You¡¯re the one that killed her, and you don¡¯t even have a shred of remorse. No, you don¡¯t even know what you did you BITCH. I fucking hate you.¡± he screamed at me, attracting the attention of everyone else in the room. Meyer and Dylan already backed off before he went off screaming, smart move on their part because now everyone¡¯s attention was on me instead of the 2 that were with the now understandably sobbing Isaac. Isaac at the moment was sobbing on the floor, his long snake-like body instinctively curling up around him, nearly hiding his entire form. I was put in a tough situation, with everyone looking towards me, anticipating my response. An overly cold response would simply shift public opinion of me to the opposite of where I want. I started out simply, trying to comfort Isaac a bit, ¡°Look Isaac, I know you are in a difficult time at the moment, and are simply lashing out on whatever gives you any form of relief.¡±, his whimpering quieted down a bit but I seemed to have come off as overly condescending according to the glares sent my way from others.¡°Isaac, is there any way to remedy the situation at the moment? I will try to do everything in my power to help you.¡±, allowing myself to help him would most likely be the best option at the moment, were I to keep denying him, the opinion of me as a coldhearted person who doesn¡¯t care about the loss other people took would spread rapidly. Isaac, on a whole, seems to be doing better, enough that he could finally answer me without choking on his own sobs. ¡°No-no, excuse me for the outburst, your Grace. It was unbecoming of me to erupt like that in front of you.¡±, Isaac seems to be trying to apologize, smart if it was any other noble, but dear Lord of Wisdom help me because I still have no idea what to do to even attempt and fix the current situation. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for this, good day your Grace.¡± With that, Isaac just slinked back to his seat, surprising me and damn near everyone else in the room. I didn¡¯t know what to do, the reason for him even arriving here was unbeknownst to me and him just backing off like nothing happened also made no sense to me. My mind was blank, and I had no time to even formulate a response within an acceptable period of time, if I had to continue the conversation about his dead sister after he already left, it would just be picking out old wounds. Sighing, I simply put my head on my desk and chose to ignore the ordeal, the other students that would likely rip me apart if I were to be cold and callous towards Isaac completely disregarded the incident from their minds. Sometimes, I just did not understand how some people''s minds worked. Putting it at the back of my mind, I started to wonder about the Solarian instigators, a topic akin to a thorn in every Noble¡¯s sides. Interlude It had been 3 days since the incident with that bitch Arianna, she didn¡¯t seem to notice what my exact plan was, the dolt was sitting there dumbfounded and it was satisfying to watch her fumble around for a response. Dylan and Meyer are both with me now, in my home discussing our findings. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t her nervousness just be because of Solaria and the rising war sentiment from the Emperor?¡±, my lovely girlfriend asked me. I shook my head, and answered ¡°No, she had a nervous stench since the beginning of the Solarian agitation. This one was new though, different, she is scared of something else. I just have to find out what it is.¡± This was sure to be very interesting, yes, very interesting if something could scare the Duchess this much. Finding it will be the challenge though, but I will try for my dear sister. She and her noble house will pay. Chapter 8 Interlude: Solaria Year 1023 of the new calender, Month of the Sun, 4th day Walking through the crowded streets of the Solarian capital, Helios, named after the messenger Angel of the Eternal Sun, was as stressful as the day I first moved here. Disregarding my old life and homeland, I moved directly to the capital with the little amount of money I could scrounge up. Shaking my head, I moved into the Cathedral and went into the changing room. It had been a long time since I moved here, well over 60 years. Watching the capital barely change was not-surprising, even if Solaria was progressive compared to other countries, the capital was, supposedly, built by Helios himself. Every species in Solaria had all converted to the only religion, including myself. I don¡¯t doubt that many simply faked it to get inside the prosperous nation, I did in the beginning but seeing that I became a true Archbishop in the largest cathedral, Saint Dominic Cathedral. The religious texts and meanings rubbed off on me throughout the years, leading me to priesthood and eventually being personally ordained by Pope Celestine. A woman, a slight shock to me, but I have since come to accept it. Solaria had always been known to be quite progressive, the pope being a woman was none of my concern. I finished donning my Bishop robes, which had miniature suns woven throughout the fabric. The radiance that looked like a simple effect was real, thanks to the miniature amount of mana that pulsed through the suns. Sighing, I chased out the myriad of thoughts plaguing my mind. Walking up to the area where I needed to preach was easy, the steps engraved in my muscle memory. Coming up and seeing the thousands of people in the giant cathedral still gave me a little fear, but nothing I couldn¡¯t handle. ¡°Oh Great Eternal Sun, The Inextinguishable Light, The Flare of the Eons, The Great Ruler of the Sky. God of Order, Diviner of the Stars, please bless this small and humble gathering with part of your limitless Divine power.¡± I shouted, an altar placed before me had a miniature model of the Sun. The next part, no matter how many times one had seen it, would always be a fantastic display of divine might. A single droplet of light fell through the purposefully placed crack above the altar, falling ever so peacefully and slowly down. It gently touched the pedestal, and slowly glowing with a light no other adjective could better describe than divine. The divine light gently lit up the entire cathedral, caressing all the participants in a warmth unlike any other. The feeling was hard to describe, it was similar to the feeling one gets when they are young. When the person is in the loving affection of their mother and father, yet more profound than just that. The little droplet fully healed every person in the congregation, bringing with it a feeling of satisfaction. Letting out a deeply satisfied sigh, I continued on with the congregation as normal. As I was walking back to my room, a young priest ran up to me. I frowned a bit, the priests would usually never run up to a Archbishop. While it wasn¡¯t illegal, the act was frowned upon and anything breaking the norm meant bad news. Sighing a bit, I turned to look directly at the young priest in front of me. His black robes sewn with the sun was obviously worse than mine, yet still radiates the warmth of the sun. ¡°Your Excellency, the Most Reverend Samuel Amann, Archbishop of the Saint Dominic Cathedral.¡± the young priest started. He continued with ¡°Your Excellency, I have a message from Her Excellency Archbishop Joan Giovanni.¡± I nodded, if she had sent something that requires a priest and not an official messenger, then it must have been important. Taking the small parchment, I smiled and nodded towards the priest standing in front of me. I walked away, and into my personal room. Saint Dominic Cathedral was likely the 3rd best guarded place in all of Solaria, even if a supervolcano like that one in the redwoods of Iabrun were to erupt right under us, Saint Dominic Cathedral would get away unscatched. This includes protection against any divination attempts, so without caring much, I opened up the little parchment and began to read. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. This letter is of the utmost importance. It is not to be speaked of outside the 3 main Cathedrals. Samuel, you must not let anyone below the level of an Archbishop know of this info. His Divine Majesty, The Eternal Sun had sent Her Excellency, the Pope Celestine a message. ¡°A slumbering beast has awakened. Whether the outcome is good or bad is up to you.¡± Samuel, make sure no one besides the Archbishops know about this. Make sure of it. Her Excellency has assigned you a mission, complete it thoroughly. She wants you to make sure that Solaria and Iabrun do not go to war with each other, this is imperative. Use L0S-19 only if you must. May the Sun be with you eternally. The smile I had on my face was completely gone by the time I finished reading through the letter. The blood of Her Excellency Celestine made sense, it would be used for L0S-19. Though, the contents were grave, if Her Excellency allowed the use of L0S-19, then the situation must thoroughly be bad. Sighing, I called an old and experienced Bishop. Handing him the parchment, telling him to hand it to Saint Peter Cathedrals Archbishop Teser Huye. He accepted, and then I was right back in my room with all the thoughts muddling my head. I had to organize them somehow, I already memorized the contents of the letter so now it was time to formulate a plan. Using L0S-19 would be the last resort, unless I was desperate beyond belief to stop the entirety of the Solarian and Iabrun war drive. Sighing, I kneeled down in front of an altar of the sun, preparing to pray for guidance. It rarely worked, yet it was a potent tool when His Divine Majesty, The Eternal Sun allowed for it. After I completed my prayer for guidance, I took off my robes and put on normal clothes. Running out of Saint Dominic Cathedral, I started to briskly walk to my destination. A small cover used exclusively by Bishops of the Church. Entering the small store that was selling some sun-themed dishes, I made a quick hand-gesture to the manager and swiftly entered the underground area. It was a cover front for the official Illuminators of the church, used to weed out any pesky rogue mages that thought they could get away with trouble now that they had powers more than that of a normal human. The Illuminators underground all kneeled in front of me, but I had no time for their gestures so I just nodded and carried on with my duty. The back of this underground facility, hallways flooded with luminescent lights, had a small door only accessible by the mana purified by the blood of a Bishop. Slitting my finger with a tiny hook on a ring of the Sun, I injected pure mana into it, quickly turning the liquid blood into an intricate crystal. Using it, I pushed it against the door, the blood seeping inside the tiny crevices and cracks. The door clinked open revealing what looked to be a normal room. Archbishops had no use for this room, however, so I carried on even deeper into the ground of Helios. Using my blood until I reached all but the personal room of Her Excellency Pope Celestine. The newspapers cluttering my room were plenty, strewn about in a chaotic fashion. One glance around and I glimpsed an old article about the Lendenburg noble family that resides in Iabrun. Finally reaching this place, I began to formulate an idea about my task. A slight idea came into my mind, it may work depending on the negotiators Iabrun sends out, if not, then I would just have to use my diplomatic skills or obscure magic. If the worst comes to worst, with Iabrun and Solaria both not backing off. L0S-19 was always an option to rely on, destructive it may be. I had already gathered Her Excellency¡¯s blood, but L0S-19 could only be sealed by the use of a very obscure method I had no option to. I could not get ahold of it at the moment, but I could use my own blood to gain other, lesser, artifacts. Using the blood I have, I opened up the 083-L2S teleport point, the highest level artifacts my own mana could subdue and use forcefully, but the negative side effects may persist were I to be careless. Teleporting to the unknown location, I picked up a little pen named L2S-318, and a doll that has a matching color scheme, L2S-319. I finished all that was needed to be done in the confined room, its gray walls getting monotonous and boring easily. L2S-318 and L2S 319, nicknames were Pen of Mike and Doll of Mike, had a sealing method that was quite easy. They were to be kept in a container of salty water at all times, but the sealing method to L0S-19 was far more exquisite and would come in a week, 4 days before the set negotiation time. Sighing, I teleported back to my room and then to a beach I had pre marked with my own mana signature, never did I think this luxurious resort of mine would be used in this way. Submerging myself in the salty ocean water, all I had to do was wait 7 days and that dastardly L0S-19 would be in my hands. Chapter 9 Interlude: Solaria Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 7th day I awoke from my sleep, the dark room in front of me was the same as ever. Its decor had never waned, the sight had never gotten boring for me. Its walls, so similar to the starry sky, had been made with a certain stone, found only during the days of Eternal Night, a 7-day holiday celebrated by a small country neighboring our own. Their God, supposedly anyway, is said to be the opposite of the Eternal Sun. The small bed I¡¯m on, made of the same stone as the entire room, was uncomfortable as always. Well, I suppose that is just a price to pay for the benefit of making an entire room out of Black Andromedese Stone, the dark mana in this room would be enough to destroy an entire city were it to get out. I turn my eyes to an important map, sprawled upon the wall. My map, the most important one in all Solaria. The ones my plans for this country are drawn out, plans no one but myself and His Divine Majesty The Eternal Sun know about. The map had some areas marked down, I narrowed my eyes at a section. Revolutionary¡¯s of the Naga race, huh. They were of use to me in the current political climate, the Minister was being far too unruly. Separate areas of the map were all marked down, their importance at varying levels, the most important being marked down in the capital. L0S-19 was about to leave and go into Samuel¡¯s hands in 4 days, making the capital currently the most important area in the entirety of Solaria. My eyes lingered on a certain area on the map as I was planning to leave the dark room, a white mark at a certain location. I put that into the back of my mind, and instead began to start my preparations for the day. The dark room was perfect for me, allowing myself to easily create a set of dark robes that had suns woven into them, so vivid one feels that they were popping out. The robes were immaculate, perfectly fitting my body as to not be too tight nor too loose. They held up my status as the Pope exceptionally well. My dark-black hair that was loose fit with my robes as well, along with my black eyes, akin to an Abyss. Satisfied, I left my room, properly sealing it with a little over a quarter of my mana, I began to slowly and measuredly walk through the hallway, savoring the surrounding coolness. The dark surroundings were perfect, the constant aching of my existence was lessened in the presence of these dark hallways. Their tendrils of mana weaving in between one another gave me an indescribable sense of calmness, with the dark stones on the floor having a soothing effect on me. My skin was cool, a luxury I do not have most of the time, the mana being slowly, ever so gently, incorporated into my own. The sigh that nearly escaped my lips never came out, as I steeled myself for the next part of my plan. A most daring one, one that could threaten my rule over this land but a step I am required to take. For the sake of His Divine Majesty The Eternal Sun¡¯s plan, I am willing to do whatever it takes. Finally, taking the last step out of my cool haven, I stepped into the meeting room between myself and the Archbishops. No matter how many times I had stepped into this room, the aura of His Divine Majesty radiating out of it never failed to awe me. The light glow in the room pairs exemplary well with the white marble, a stark contrast to the Black Andromedese set into the walls, their design taking after the liking of the current Pope. The previous, His Excellency Adam, had the room completely white, but the Black Andromedese was something that I would always revel in the luxury of were I given the chance. 6 seats in total, all of them of a flawless design, 5 had one of a black sun embedded into the back of a large throne made of white marble, those black suns would glow with just a smidgen of His Divine Majesty¡¯s power. In contrast to mine which had the complete opposite, a sun as pure as the snow in Jevaki, a perfect white. Its cool glow was amplified, with it directly holding a droplet of the blood of His Divine Majesty. They were all thrones around a long dining table, that too woven with black suns on a white marble base, but it was never sullied with a product like food. I took my rightful place on the largest black throne, settling in the seat perfectly, with it being custom-made just for me. I looked around the surroundings, the black walls with white suns glowing majestically attracted my gaze for a bit as I looked towards the table. Closing my eyes, I rapped my arm rest, sending the message for every Archbishop. Exactly 30 seconds after the call, I opened my eyes to see all the Archbishops sitting in their thrones with their eyes looking at me. Joan, Teser, Batos, Regin and Samuel, all of different races, equal in status that preside over almost every person in Solaria. Joan, a little fox-demon found in the filthy districts of Iabrun raised up to be a spectacular Archbishop, Samuel was a runaway human criminal from his little country, filth which should have no business being an Archbishop, but his pious soul made him an effective Bishop, turned Archbishop. My eyes narrowed a little at Teser, a large man of the Livyatan race, one of 10 surviving members. His race, while their size would be similar to the Leviathans found deep in the dominions ruled over by those damned demon lords, had nothing to do with them. Batos and Regin, a Throne and Dominion Angels respectively, fled from their own dimension after the end of The Last War, they have known about the bloodshed for so long that they did not know what to do after it was all over, at least, until Adam chose to take the two in. All spectacular in their own way, especially Batos who should be reaching the level of a true Cherub in the next 2 years or so. I nodded to indicate the start of the meeting, they all nodded exactly 2 seconds after me. ¡°The first order of business today is to start plan 62-H, when finished, start 62-I and 62-J. This task will be given to Batos and Regin, finish these by the end of the Hierophant.¡± I started, the two looked each other in the eye and nodded, these were brutal but necessary developments. Continuing, ¡°Teser, Joan. Influence members 32, 78 and 91 of the Parliament, make sure they pass what you say to members 56, 21 and 99. Put them all under a bind, any leak would be disastrous.¡± They nodded as well, the tasks so far were clear. Plan 62 would finish by the end of the Empress. Next would be a bit more tricky, I narrowed my eyes at Samuel. ¡°Complete the task, L0S-19 will be handed to you in case of any unpredictable events. Handle it with extreme care, the mission is most important. You will be able to gain the sealing method in 4 days.¡± He nodded, sweat could be seen flowing down the Archbishops, even I could feel a bit of sweat on my back. ¡°Any questions?¡± I asked, as a formality more than anything, what surprised me is that Samuel and Batos both had questions. Suppressing that feeling, I nodded at Samuel to go first, sweat being extremely visible on his forehead. ¡°Your Excellency, I do not mean to question you. But, what if L0S-19 goes all the way to 20? Do I still use it?¡± he asked, hmmmmmmm, an excellent question, good. Rapping the armrest, I answered ¡°Yes, no matter the cost. Use it if you have to.¡± in a voice no different from normal. He shakily nodded, internalizing the answer, which I couldn¡¯t blame him for. Using L0S-19 is not a position others look at with envy. Batos went next ¡°Your Excellency, His Excellency Archangel Micheal called every Angel throne level and above to meet Magician, 8th. Should I answer the call?¡± I narrowed my eyes, those old bastards in Hell and Heaven were always planning something, he would know that Batos is under command of The Eternal Sun, and by extension me, now. What would be the reason¡­, and then it dawned on me. Smiling, I answered back with ¡°Yes, you are permitted to go. Tell Micheal that I invite him and Gabriel to a meeting on Magician 25th when you go, do not forget it.¡± Batos, confused as he was, gave an affirmative nod. Hmmm, Micheal and his friends want to play a little game? Well, might as well be inside of it, rather than out of the loop. I looked each in the eye, conveying the meaning I had. They nodded, all of them standing up, giving a respectful bow to me before fading. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. I sat there for a while, rapping my fingers on the armrest as I contemplated some problems. The current Minister was a thorn in my side, but that would be taken care of soon, Iabrun would also be taken care of. Their aggression anyway, the next Emperor is likely to not be so aggressive towards us, hmmmmmm. Constantine Mitchell, of the Mitchell family, is likely to be the person to ascend to Iabrun¡¯s position of Emperor. His views are far more conservative than the current one, isolationist perhaps. Which was good, I had no plan to go to war with that country, yet. I am not fully confident in beating the people there in combat, and L0S-3 does exist, but using it would be the last resort of last resorts. Probably is not good enough though, when Samuel is done I¡¯ll need to make sure he gets on this as well. I finally stood up from my chair, savoring the Black Andromodese before I teleported to another area. The location was secret to all but the Archbishops, yet even they only knew the general area of it and not the exact location. My task, at the moment anyway, is to watch over L0S-23, not the strongest yet requires my constant mana output to seal. The hallways were a bluish-gray color, with torches every 5 feet on either side. Their lighting was dim, yet that didn¡¯t matter to me as I could already see in the dark. The width was quite small, only 2 meters from edge to and, and the ceiling is 3 meters up. Large enough to accommodate my rather small 5¡¯6 body, the constant grimace I had outside the rooms filled with Black Andromedese crept on to my face again. The constant aching of my existence, a constant reminder of who I was at one point. Shaking my head, and the quickly flooding memories, I walked into the bright room. A room filled with only 1 artifact, L0S-23, or better known as Vim Rhodes to the public. An eccentric writer, found ¡°dead¡± in an alley 4 years ago, though calling him Vim would not be totally correct. The little quill in the center of the white room, devoid of all detail, seemed to look at me. Morphing into a green blob and then, into the human known as Vim Rhodes. A small man standing at 5¡¯0 with brown hair, brown eyes and brown skin. The same Quill that had existed since the end of The Last War, taking on new shapes every so often, making new personas every few decades. Though, I guess it likes this one the most, keeping it for centuries. Its motive is unknown, but the things it writes are all connected with fate, so called ¡°whatever he writes shall go into the hands of the people of the time.¡±, which makes it far too dangerous. Fate related abilities are far too rare, and not many people know the far-reaching consequences, including me. The little man looked at me, smiling, I just smiled back. Any sign of weakness would be something he would capitalize on, the creepy smile he held was on at all times. The unnatural way his body moved, like a puppet, the fact his mouth didn¡¯t move even when he spoke. The joints on his limbs, the ¡°skin¡± he held that was papery to the touch, it was all unnatural. The guttural low voice he had only added to it, the voice of a disjointed and unhinged monster. The Quill of Demenseria, the actual name of the little Quill, does have a true form it could take, of course it¡¯s sealed now and the chances of that happening were slim. He started to talk to me, the smile he had on was ever-present, not shifting in the slightest as he talked. ¡°Hello, little Pope. How has your day been so far?¡± he asked me, I decided to not answer, sitting in the corner of the room while drawing my blood. The dark, thick liquid flowed out quite easily, into little vials that I then tossed into a pocket dimension. He, seeming to not mind my rude behavior, chose to continue talking. ¡°Oooooh, what''s this little Pope? It seems to me that the blood of my master runs through you.¡±, the thing he said piqued my interest, but I chose to remain silent, conversing with monsters was never my forte. ¡°I can sense the hesitation in you, you want to know why the blood you have aches right? Why, no matter what, it doesn¡¯t seem to end? The constant pain you¡¯re in, I have a way to fix it, all for a price.¡± I sat there for a while, contemplating what to say, before deciding to end the conversation, him mentioning all of this was likely to make me break him free. ¡°I do not make deals with monsters.¡±, the seemingly eternally unchanging smile moved from a smile, yet creepy, smile to a large grin. ¡°Oooh, monster you say? I¡¯m no more of a monster than you are, little Pope. No, it could be said that you¡¯re the bigger monster, what with the blood that flows through you.¡± ¡°No, you are definitely the larger monster. Demenseria¡¯s blood flows through you more than your own, more monster than human. It''s laughable, isn¡¯t it? The entire Solarian Church, said to spearhead the charge against mindless monsters, holds one at the top. I know that the damned Sun is listening in, he always is. Heh, I don¡¯t care, he won¡¯t destroy me even if I were to kill you. He may honey up his words, he may say that you¡¯re his prized children, that you mean anything to him. But the truth about that is, it''s all lies. All of it, he doesn¡¯t care, same way he-oops, seems I spoke too much. Oh, what''s this little Pope? Are those¡­ tears? Is the truth of your miserable existence too much to bear? Is the truth that you¡¯re just a gnat on the chessboard too much?¡± His continued talking, the guttural voice that was already grating on the ears became worse, the words hitting my heart like a spear. Tears were forming in my eyes already, but I thankfully came here for the minimum time already, the seal of dark mana around the area completely recovered with my expenditure. Not wanting to listen to the Quill anymore, I set to teleport out, hearing one last sentence from the blasted Quill, ¡°Oh I know you¡¯ll cut a deal with me, it''s destined, Demenseria¡¯s offspring.¡± Coming back to my room, the Black Andromedese providing some semblance of comfort, I sat down on my bed. The tears, dangerously close to gushing out in a waterfall were suppressed after a few minutes, I still had one order of business left in the day, so I needed to keep up my top appearance, though it wouldn¡¯t matter because His Divine Majesty already knows, but it was a matter of principle, I could not look untidy in front of him. I took a clean shower, which was not needed as my body did not produce waste in any capacity, but it was still a nice thing to have, and changed into the robes I first wore as a priest. Small and brown, with suns barely noticeable, it was the thing I first wore in my rural village, the nostalgia ran deep. The rule of visiting him for any Pope was ¡°one must look the same way they first started guiding others on the path of eternity.¡±, Adam drilled this into me. Looking into the mirror, I looked presentable in front of His Divine Majesty. Steadying my hands, I looked towards the only other door in my room, besides from the one that leads to the meeting room, and pushed it open. His Divine Majesty was sitting on a massive throne in the dark space, the size difference was that of a human and an ant, his enormous size matched his stature. There was a chessboard on a table in front of him, but I paid it no heed, what he wanted to do with it was none of my concern. I looked towards him, keeping my kneeling stance, the light he emitted was dim, and the space was dark, a way to help me I¡¯m sure. The blonde hair and blonde eyes could not be ignored, they had an ever-present feeling of warmth, 2nd only to his white robes, clean from any impurities. Even the tiniest speck of an unclean germ could not survive. ¡°Your Divine Majesty, The Eternal Sun, The Inextinguishable Light, The Flare of the Eons, The Great Ruler of the Sky. God of Order, Diviner of the Stars. Your lowly servant, Pope Celestine is here.¡± He nodded subtly, the status of a God was something he held with him at all times. His every movement showed his regal nature. ¡°I come here for the acquisition of The Scale of the Divine, if I were to be so permitted.¡± His Divine Majesty held up his hands, adorned with a gauntlet and pulled out the scale from seemingly thin air, shrinking it down to just a little larger than my hand. Floating it down to my side. I was pensive on my next question, whether to inquire about what the Quill said. I decided not to, not because I did not want to, but the plans were in full throttle now and asking such a thing may annoy His Divine Majesty. Taking the scale, I swiftly exited the room. POV Change: Eternal Sun Hmmmm, she wanted to ask me about that. A shame she didn¡¯t, but it''s ok, there is always a next time. Now, with this little move, I believe it is a checkmate for me. Smiling, I took a little sip of the wine in my glass, thinking about what she was going to do in response. Chapter 10: Interlude Iabrun Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 8th day Sitting in my lavish room, decorated with all manners of luxurious trinkets, I can say definitively that the only thing occupying my mind was why my father would ever think of agitating Solaria at the moment, it made no sense in my mind. There has to be something I¡¯m missing, a detail I overlooked. Yet, no matter how many times I looked through my memories with a fine-toothed comb, there did not seem to be any reason for him to agitate Solaria. I looked around the room again, searching for a specific place. The gold mirror, the diamond-studded purse, and drawers lined with gold were all eye-catching but useless. They served near no purpose, apart from cluttering the room in ¡°expensive¡± items, they were minuscule in price compared to those actually infused with magic. My room had nothing useful for me at the moment, the only thing that it did have was not there at the moment, so I decided to just confront father on his plans, worst-case scenario: he just admonishes me for lacking the vision he has about these topics, but I needed to know. The mystery had kept me up at night for a long time, alternatively, I could just let it be and see how it plays out, but if I were to, I could accidentally mess up part of my father¡¯s plan. An event I never wish to see happen again, the backfiring of that last time I waltzed into one of his machinations and ruined them, were¡­. I would rather not talk about it. Shuddering as I walked, I forcefully evicted that¡­. dreadful image out of my mind. I, instead, focused on the rich and regal hallways, different from the architectural wonders my father had built, and I lived in ever since I was young, the opulent hallways just exhibited the air of the old aristocracy before The Last War. They were lined with precious metals and pearls. I reached the doorway of the hall my father is in, the 2 guards next to it holding the flag of Iabrun, a red Griffin on a black background, holding up a spear. They did not acknowledge my presence at all, as was procedure, so I did not mind it and instead opened the large and well-decorated door. The door was not one many would forget, it held images of the earliest 4 nations embroiled in The Last War, Iabrun, Lesith, Archedom, and Leokeni. Those 4 nations were the fuses of The Last War, the memories of some were still bright with the atrocities committed, but I was born only 23 years ago, so these are all stories. Even if one of the fuses was our nation, the people then and now are completely different. As I finished thinking about these, I was already up at the throne my father sat on, a throne made from the bones of a long old mythical creature. Azure blue in color with a light glow, the bones still held the majesty of the creature it was taken from, they were formed into a perfect throne. Not gaudy, nor small, a perfect balance of majesty and humility, a true piece of art. Though it was nothing without a person to sit on it, and my father was exactly the person made for this amazing work required. A 7-foot tall, giant of a man, with a gigantic greatsword, the size of himself, perched near his throne, made of the same substance as the throne. His eyes exuded wisdom and prestige, the ashen hair he had also added to his image, pairing perfectly with the scars of battles before. This was the man that was my father, and I was extremely proud to be his son. Though¡­ coming here to ask him was nerve-wracking, I calmed my breathing, looked into his eyes and began to speak. ¡°Father, I have come to see you for a question.¡± I began by stating my business, he was a busy man and any distractions would keep him away from his work. His eyes, as deep and profound as the salty void in the sea, looked at me. His gaze hit me like a ton of bricks, my knees got shaky for a split second before I steeled myself. Getting scared now would only do me harm, his gaze retracted after 10 seconds, 10 seconds that felt like they were stretched through a millennium. His deep voice resonated across the entire hall, ¡°Alright, everyone else leave now. I have something to discuss.¡± All the ministers and military advisors left immediately, leaving just me and my father in the large hall. He stood up, gesturing for me to follow him, I started to as he began to talk. ¡°What, exactly, is your question?¡±, the deep voice resonated with me. The bounding power poured forth with his every movement, suppressing what one could do. I tried my best to talk as I was walking behind me. ¡°I am sorry for not understanding father, but I see no reason to agitate Solaria at the moment.¡± His eyes turned away from me, looking to be in deep thought. I did not plan to interrupt him, I was once again trying to think of a reason. The current stage of Iabrun was tumultuous, with the nobles being a bit hard to control at the moment, what with the new Emperor that is going to come to the throne. It was a time for my father¡¯s reign over Iabrun to end, and for someone new to come aboard. I will likely stay here as an advisor for the new one, but¡­ exploring the open sea has always been a dream of mine. Ah, I got distracted. Solaria is far too powerful for us to provoke willy-nilly. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. The church they had was far more unified than ours, full of 3 different Gods split across the land. While we could muster up the strength required to contest, but the war isn¡¯t going to be a surefire win the same way it is against the lesser powers. The current Pope Celestine seems to be a bit weaker than the old one, but that doesn¡¯t mean she was weak. Her presence would still be able to mow down the masses, so I still see no reason for my father to provoke them. The problem over the ¡°why¡± petrified me, it felt like I was missing a large piece of the puzzle. As I focused back on my surroundings, we had already reached my father¡¯s room. He gestured for me to go inside, so I followed and went inside the modest room. It was different from the lavish and exquisite rooms, it just held a bed made from the most ordinary of parts, a desk made from normal wood, holding no pattern. I never understood why, but it was just how he was. My father motioned me to sit down in a chair, which I promptly did. He sat behind his desk and looked at me, the eyes unnerved me, they were the eyes of a person who had the blood of many, many people on his hands. Sweat rolled down my forehead, my back was nearly drenched in it, but I still looked him in the eye. ¡°You want to know why I sunk that ship?¡±, I nodded. The anticipation I had was palpable, one could see it in my eyes. ¡°Then, you are not ready for the knowledge.¡±, anticipation swiftly crushed by my father. The confusing statement was then followed by ¡°This will be a move to force out some artifacts the church has.¡±, which confused me immensely. ¡°Church?¡±, my father seemed to have a sense of my question already, answering ¡°If you look close enough into Solaria, the Church holds all the power. The people follow the Church, they hold the Pope in higher regard than their own minister. They all seem to adore their religion and are even willing to die for it, the grudges between some races don¡¯t hold true there as well. The current minister is about to be replaced, the signs are more than clear. We just have to wait to see what happens.¡± I nodded, I planned to say something, but he continued, ¡°There are parts of this that I can¡¯t say, parts that you can¡¯t know for your own good. But, if you want to know. Go to the sea.¡± This was all going far too fast for me, ¡°The sea? What does that have to do with knowing the plan?¡±, I asked. The questions compounding in me nearly exploded, but I held them down and waited for my father¡¯s answer. ¡°Hmmm, the oceans of this world hold the fate of every person, even if one were to escape, the memories of their actions will be held in the memory of water. The stars in the sky, and the water in the sea are similar, one can pry many mysteries from them. That is where you shall figure out the truth of this.¡± I pursed my lips, he didn¡¯t answer me at all, making up some vague and cryptic nonsense. I will have to think over this proposition, I respectfully nodded and left. His words did not mean much to me, but any lead may be nice. Perhaps this is a little test for me? Whatever it was, I guess it would make me lose nothing were I to continue the lead he gave me. While I was walking through the hallway, I noticed 2 maids talking with one another, I did not really care about these trivial things, so I planned to leave them alone, then an idea came to me. ¡°Hello, get me any novels about the sea and the animals in it.¡±, they quickly nodded and ran off as I kept walking to my room. The names of the servants escape me, flowing through one ear and out the other. Eh, I guess it doesn¡¯t truly matter, what matters is the negotiations soon on the 15th. I would continue with this little escapade after that, traveling to the sea is a large expedition and a dangerous one, even if I didn¡¯t know much about the sea, I knew that it was more dangerous than land. 15 minutes later, I was sitting in my room with a stack of books around me. Most were boring pieces of works, some stuff about the islands in the sea and less the sea itself. I looked around one more time, and then stopped my eyes at a large and thick book, The Monsters of the Ocean by Vim Rhodes, the book started with a table of contents, dividing the animals in it into size classes. There was a deep childish curiosity in me the moment I saw a part of the book named Leviathans: 1,000 meters or larger. I was a grown adult, yet there was always a bit of a glow about the extraordinary compared to the ordinary, so sighing a bit at my childish glee, I opened the book at that point and began reading. Chapter 11 Mike Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 8th day I started to walk home, the day was boring and the memory of it left my mind the moment I walked out of the school building. The street was the same as ever, nothing outside the building was being changed in any sort of way. There were less people out on the street, though, and every person on the street stood out just that little bit more. Color me surprised when I met that woman I saw the other day again on the street, she was conversing with a man of large stature. He had distinctive glasses, floral patterns were weaved throughout them that stood out on his pale face. The suit he wore had a distinctive air around it, definitely an expensive piece of work. The woman looked at me for a second, before turning back to the man that now had a golden pocket watch from the front pocket on his suit. She must have just moved around the area, but many people did and, though we ran into one another on more than one occasion, the desire to converse with her has stayed at nill from the beginning. Her black hair, eyes were common, but the outfit she wore was unique against the backdrop, current fashion standards are now on the side of more bright and colorful colors, but it was not my concern what she wore. My internal dialogue was interrupted when I saw the woman walking towards me, guess she did want to converse, eh whatever, I had the time so I didn¡¯t disregard her. She started the conversation with me, ¡°Hello, I saw you in the magic academy, you¡¯re a student right?¡±, I don¡¯t know what she wanted with me, but it would be rude to not answer her back, ¡°Ah, yes. Hello, my name is Mike, I attend the academy, your name is?¡±, she answered back smoothly, ¡°Sorry, I was too hasty, please excuse me. My name is Victoria, nice to meet you.¡± Smiling, I answered back with ¡°Likewise, is there any reason for you to visit me on this fine day?¡± The day was pretty bad, clouds blocking the sun and the prospect of rain looming, but it doesn¡¯t matter, I don¡¯t expect this conversation to last longer than a few sentences.I have a request, but it''s too soon for that, don¡¯t you think? Would you like to join me for a cup of tea?¡± An interesting request-one i''m not opposed to and have the time-, what is the worst that could happen anyway, I should be able to get myself out of any sticky situation. ¡°Sure, we can talk as we walk, lead the way.¡± She nodded and started walking to a small, family-owned coffee shop down the way, starting to speak again as she went. ¡°You have surely heard of the dreadful murders, right? Awful business,¡± I nodded and she continued, ¡°There was a new one just 2 days ago, right up on Sea Street on the 65th, horrible. A young girl''s life full of possibilities ended,¡± A barely noticeable frown formed on my face, that was quite close to my house, and right near the meeting point for me and Ava, she did not seem to notice, though, and kept on talking. ¡°Thankfully, the official mages are on the case, they should have been on it since the first murder if you ask me, but better late than never.¡± I nodded, and she finished talking as soon as we entered the small shop. There were only 4 tables and one was occupied by a man with the same distinctive glasses as the other, guess some new shop for the rich must have opened around the area. She sat down, and so did I, we both ordered some plain black coffee. She also asked for some creamer and sugar. ¡°So, what was it that you wanted me to do?¡±, she did not answer straight away, opting to wait until the coffee arrived in front of us, a minute later, the daughter of the owners brought us our cups and went on her way, Victoria took a sip and started to speak, ¡°Thank you for coming here, I would like to ask you to tutor my daughter¡± An unorthodox request, but not unreasonable, one must have some magical talent to get into the Academy and it was a prestigious school, many parents would want to get their children inside at all costs. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. I took a sip of the coffee, savoring the deep and complex flavor, before sighing and answering ¡°I can¡¯t guarantee I can give her the best experience, but I can try my best.¡±, I had the time anyway, nothing major was going on and any extra money would be nice, she seemed to be overjoyed by the statement, radiating a smile. ¡°I can¡¯t thank you enough, how does 1 pound and 5 austral per session sound?¡±, a fair price, one could likely get someone better but me being in the Academy is a bit of a reassurance. I nodded, and then she told me ¡°Good, come visit me at George Boulevard, 13621.¡± Smiling, I reassured her that I would and started to walk outside, intending to go home. Thankfully, it seemed like lady luck was on my side as I got to my house without incident, a light drizzle formed which did dampen the good mood I was in by a bit, but it was not anything huge. Walking inside the small abode, it was the same as I left it yesterday. The leftovers from yesterday are going to be my dinner tonight, no reason to cook up something new. As they were heating, I picked up a small novel on dimensional magic to study through, it would be nice to finally train it up a bit. I have neglected it a bit compared to other forms of magic, and now is as good as time as any to do it. I went to the leftovers and started eating. The flavor of the stew was a bit worse than yesterday, but still good enough to heartily eat. Looking down at the small book, the uses of dimensional magic was far more utility based and less damage oriented, though that''s not to say that there were no damaging spells, they were just very hard to learn. The first one was as simple as it gets, injecting a bit of the dimensional mana, shaping it in a certain way and then trying to go through a wall. Changing the dimensions ever so slightly around you so that you don¡¯t hit the physical object in front of you, it gets harder when it comes to mystical objects, but that can be saved for later. I tried shaping the design first, but that proved to be difficult. The mana inside me felt like a giant boulder, pushing it and moulding it into an intricate shape was sluggishly slow. The strain on my body was immense as well, the muscles in my body began to ache with a burning pain, it distracted me enough that the minuscule amount of mana I was controlling stopped, and before it was set to become an unstable piece of mana inside my body, I had already surrounded it with a large amount of Earth Mana, but even that could not save me from its effects. The purplish mana inside me turned unstable, exploding with a shockwave that damaged my internal organs enough that they started to bleed, making me cough up blood in the process. Cleaning myself up, I tried it again many more times, but the result was the same, perhaps there was something I was missing when it comes to this. Sighing, I cleaned up all the blood around me and decided that today was not the day, there had to be a better way than trying to brute force the mana. Besides, it was almost time to meet up with Ava anyway so I changed back into the outfit I first wore, and started to go to our agreed upon meeting point. The night sky was beautiful outside, but I caught out of the corner of my eye something moving, and from the looks of it, it was a star in the sky. Shaking my head, I put it to the back of my mind, I must be really tired if I were seeing stars in the sky moving. The walk to the alley was uneventful, one beggar stopped me for money but I couldn¡¯t spare him any money, so I keeped walking to the destination. When I arrived there, Ava was already waiting at the spot, holding what looked to be a little purse. She looked my way meekly, the air around her was hardly different from when I first met her, shy as a newborn child. I nodded, reaching for the purse and counting up 1 pound, 7 austral and 5 tine. A smile crept on my face, this was a truly worthwhile investment. What bothered me was that it felt like someone was watching me, the feeling had come the moment I met up with Ava here. Nothing came up on my spell, though, which reassured me a little. I did not intend to converse with her, the lower the contact the better when it came to such things, or else the guilt may just explode inside of me, Ava, it seemed had other ideas when it came to talking which came as a surprise to me. ¡°Si-Sir, can I please stay with you? Uh-It would save you money, I could give more.¡± She did make a fair point, but I would rather not be seen with her lest the buyers know it was me, this would be enough for me to be permanently expelled from the academy. I shook my head and planned to keep walking, but she held onto the end of my coat and said in a weak voice. ¡°I-I know you don¡¯t want to be seen with me, bu-but I can just stay in the same apartment complex, I think¡±, she seemed to be choking up at this point but eventually said it, ¡°I think there is someone following me around, it would be better for me to stay with you. As protection, you paid for me aft-¡± I ended her sentence with a wave of my finger, I just heard something move. Then, a gigantic cracking bolt of lightning shot out at me, one I did not know if I could protect both me and Ava. It was getting closer by the millisecond, but indecision struck me. Should I protect myself and be assured or try and protect both of us, but time ran out and I made a hasty decision. Chapter 12 Wyrm Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 10th day It had been quite a while since my first true evolution, and it had been as hard to survive as ever. I did not see another creature at the same level as that one Eagle, the memory still jolts me awake some nights, but there have been plenty of close calls when it came to my life. Just yesterday, a pack of Lupus, the kind of Lupus is something I don¡¯t know, was dangerously close to my den. Thankfully, another large creature of some kind led them away, I had no doubt that they were about to attack me, and so was infinitely thankful to that other thing that led them away. What did catch my attention was the difference in the smell of the air, a briny wiff was ever-present and confused me. I was sure that I had not walked too far from the swamplands. Whatever the reason for the change may be, I did not have the time nor energy to occupy myself with it. I was still focusing on the condition for evolution, controlling an area, even though I was only level 6. The little den I was in, one I dug myself, could not be considered the finest of luxury abodes, but it does its job well and allows me an area to think without worrying too much. Controlling an area was very vague, did it mean to subdue every creature in the place, be the strongest in the region, or some sort of obscure control over the creature''s wills? All valid and no way to know the truth, very frustrating, but I could do nothing but think. It was a dilemma with no answer until I tried to evolve, so I suppose thinking about it now would be a waste of time. A part of my mind was nagging me that the exact definition of what it meant was important, very important, but it was something that I could get no answer to. Worrying about it would be a waste, for now anyway, I will definitely have to revisit this later on. Crawling out, I walked through the lands I was in, somewhere between swamplands and an open grassland filled with grass taller than me. The brush around me was a perfect way to conceal my body which was way larger than it was before, it did feel a bit weird even still, I was not as maneuverable as I was before even with my increase in agility, the compensation was not enough and it feels a bit sluggish. Sighing, something I have become accustomed to in my situation, I completely focused on the surroundings to search for some prey. It was not a pleasure to do this everyday, but not getting experience everyday would be a detriment to my mission, so I did it begrudgingly. A small rodent I had not seen before was in my vision, the yellowish body stood out against the backdrop of the swampish surroundings. It had a tusk on its face, growing out from the top of his skull and curling back. The yellow fur gleamed a bit in the sunlight, it was definitely out of its environment searching for food. I noticed that a bit of the grassland transitioned slowly to yellower and yellower grass, it was likely foraging in this area. Unlucky, but this was the way of life, so I activated my Observer''s Eye. Observer¡¯s Eye Lv4 -> Lv5 Lesser Tusked-Hiddle Lv 12 HP: 46 Stamina: 123 Strength: 16 Agility: 104 Vitality: 54 Charm: 8 Intelligence: 18 A Hiddle, found in the grasslands of Iabrun, is an incredibly toxic rodent that has venom glands going through their tusk. It is high in intelligence, and they great instincts that can help them cope with many situations. With 8 legs, it''s fast and maneuverable. A smile slowly crept onto my face, it seems that it had a qualitative change at level 5. Now I can actually see how these creatures compare to me, a thing that had been bugging me for a while. I did not know if my stats were high or not, or what the numbers meant, or how they compared to others. With this, I could test everything and satiate my curiosity, so I slowly started to creep up to it. The 8-legged Hiddle was sniffing around in the air, but I had already adjusted so I was downwind of it, the muddy swamp allowed me to creep up to it even more silently. It was very small, a little less than a meter, and as I slowly crept up to it, more details were evident. Its muscles were not large, but are noticeable, its chest was moving very fast, I could observe the red nose and whiskers it had. A tiny part of me felt bad for the fate of this little guy, but it is what it is. I can¡¯t expect to rise up without killing anything, so expelling all the air in my lungs, I lunged at the Hiddle. It was fast, so fast that it dodged my lunge and ran off, but I was hot on its tail. It was making a mad dash to the yellow grassland, I nearly lost sight of it, but the scent it had was unmistakable so I followed it. The Hiddle was fast, but my larger body size caught up with it in a matter of half a minute, where I took the little rodent inside my claws. Trying my best to not inflict any damage, the little thing was trying its best to escape but I held firm. I slinked back to my little den with the creature in my hand, it was shrieking and flailing at first, but eventually stopped both by the time we reached my den. The abode was large enough for my tests of agility, which, as far as I could tell, presides over speed and maneuverability. It was about a 20 by 5 meter den with a meter opening. It was a bit cramped for me, but perfect to test this. His agility had around the same number of points as me, best I could come up with for these numbers, but his size was about a fifth of me. So would the agility values compensate for the size, or are they a standard buff? The chase before had too many factors for me to say definitively, so this shall be a good way to test this. I gain 2 points to each of the attributes, so I am at 108 in agility. It was lucky that it had this much agility, I couldn¡¯t be sure if the leap from, say 90 to 100, was more than 50 to 60 because I had not measured it. A mistake on my part but I can¡¯t rectify my past, so I can only test for the future. The Hiddle in my claws was dead-silent, and its movements were about as much as someone dead, the heartbeat it had notified me otherwise. I sat down near the entrance, blocking it so it couldn¡¯t escape if it wanted to. Laying it down, I waited to see what it would do. The Hiddle stood there with its 8-legs, looking at me, I didn¡¯t know what to do. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°What are you going to do with me?¡±, it said. I certainly did not expect such a thing from the little rodent, ¡°Wait, you can talk?¡± I replied, it was very unexpected that he could talk, the Hiddle nodded to my inquiry. This was very interesting, could all animals above a certain threshold of intelligence talk, or can they all talk? This just brought up more questions than it answered, and it was confusing but very interesting at the same time. ¡°I plan to do some experiments, to try and figure out the system.¡± Its ears perked up, ¡°What system?¡± the Hiddle asked, a question that thoroughly confused me. I thought every creature had the system, do they not or was it special? No, it was just a basic Hiddle so it should not be the exception, maybe something that I could not notice in it? ¡°The system, you know, the'''', it was very hard to describe it, so I paused for a bit, ¡°the, the thing in your mind that gives scores for your attributes.¡± was the only way I could describe it, I am sure that I sounded absolutely insane, and the little Hiddle¡¯s expression perfectly conveyed that. ¡°What-What exactly are you talking about? There is no such thing. You¡¯re insane, talking about these imaginary numbers. Why did you even take me if you did not plan to eat me, huh? Is it some sadistic torture you like to do with the prey you kill, what even are you?¡± It went on a bit of a tirade, evolving further and further into a bit of a weird territory, it did not plan to stop either, continuing. ¡°You¡¯re sick, aren¡¯t you? Talking to me like this, wanting me to go mad is some sort of weird pleasure for you. Well, I won¡¯t fall for it, just kill me now.¡± I can already feel a headache coming up, the Hiddle was more troublesome than I thought, but that did not matter for the moment. The system not being there for others is weird to say the least, it was only a matter of course that they did, but that was not the smartest on my part. What goes for me does not automatically go for everyone else. I did notice the Hiddle looking around, most likely to find an escape route from this area, but there was no other entrance or exit, so I went back to thinking. There were plenty of things about me that were different from most other creatures, disregarding the system itself, having blood of the Primordial Dragon would be enough to be a unique creature among uniques that are already part of the broader range of abnormal animals. The concept of being a Primordial Dragon is complicated anyway, reaching that sort of stage has only been reached by one in our species. It is theoretically possible to reach, but the chances are slim in succeeding, so only one reached such a stage. Anyway, I should not muse about that too much, the system not being in this Hiddle is more important of a discovery. I would need more things to experiment with, so this was definitely a question that I will have to revisit. First, I should get on with the reason I catched the Hiddle, a test on the systems numbers. Looking at its body that was now firmly placed in the corner of the room farthest away from me, I nodded, that position was perfect for the agility experiment. ¡°Run over there,¡± I said while I pointed to the top right corner from my view, the Hiddle was in the top left corner so this would be an easy way to test the speed of this thing, not the most accurate but it was all I had at the moment, ¡°And count the number of seconds you took.¡± I finished with that and waited to see its response. ¡°Wh-¡±, before it could finish, I cut it off and said ¡°Because I said so, do it or you¡¯re my next meal.¡± I could see it gulp, and then run off to the corner I pointed at, taking only about a second and a half to finish, quite fast but it made me question, if he could do this much in a second and a half, what about that Osprey giant who is sure to have much more? Could I see him or just an afterimage, a shiver ran down my spine, I am now doubly sure to never cross the path of such a creature, not until I am ready at least. I stood up from my position and ran towards it, grabbing the Hiddle that made a dash for the entrance. ¡°No, you are not going anywhere.¡± I said, before crushing the Hiddle in my claws quickly, but not with my full strength. Just enough to incapacitate the little guy, but not life-threatening. He could not even talk, just laying in my hand with a slow heartbeat, and blinking even slower. Good, I tossed it down and ran to a corner, before running the same distance that he did. I did it much faster than him, so fast that I forgot to count so I don¡¯t know the exact time, but it seems like agility is just a flat boost to the speed of a creature, which made sense but I likely could not get accurate measurements for a long time. Leaving the Hiddle, who I will use for further experiments down the line, I went out and decided to hunt. No experience was gained today, and that needed to be remedied, so I decided to head to new grounds, the grasslands. The green, lush grass all around me was mesmerizing, it was a beautiful sight but I could not focus on it for too long. A large centipede of some sorts crept up on me, choosing to bite down on my tail. The pain hit me before I could process what happened, instinctively I kicked off the centipede and turned around to face it. The centipede was green, to match with the surroundings, and the distinction between head and tail was near none. I bite down on what I think to be its head, but it isn¡¯t. More excruciating pain came from my back, the real head squeezing more of its venom inside of me. The pain was nearly unbearable, it was like burning acid was poured down on my back, which was not too far off. My head became blurry in an instant, my right arm was feeling sluggish, the sight of the centipede was also getting blurrier. Stamping down the pain, I bit down on the middle of the damned creature, drawing its purplish blood and causing it to shriek. I moved once again, putting more distance between me and the 4 meter centipede. Its green and red chitin was hard to spot amidst the swaying grasslands, but I focused upon what I knew to be the head. A part of me warned me about something that was going to come my way, so I, through sheer instinct, moved to the left and dodged a small bolt of acid it shot out. The mana sense I had could feel the mana forming up inside of it to form that acid, a life-saver in the current situation. But just because I had dodged one meant that the fight was over, far from it. It attacked me again, this time with its tail. The spines upon it dug into the gaps of my scales, going straight through my flesh that ached with pain and coming dangerously close to my organs. Thankfully, it did not quite reach them and that was what I was banking on. With its tail being planted firmly inside me, I brought my jaw to the back of its head and bit down as hard as was possible for me. The shriek of the centipede, and the purplish blood spilling everywhere, allowed me to gain a bit more clarity of my surroundings. It was far from dead, though, so it started to move itself, rupturing through my flesh with the tail that was still embedded inside my body. I raised my left hand, the 5 claws on it breaking through the tough chitin, but it was caught up inside of the flesh, my hand not moving due to the paralysis inflicted by the venom. The centipede did the rest of the job for me, moving its body to try and come up to bite me, but also allowing my claws to rupture through, making it lose a large chunk of the half. I bit down on the tail that was still inside me, removing it forcefully. I threw it at the centipede''s head, it dodged away but the action foiled the centipede from biting me again. It shrieked again, more of its purplish blood was leaking, and my own red blood mixed with the centipedes across the battlefield. I felt the paralyzing venom spread throughout my body, and knew that I had no time to waste. The centipede likely drew out the battle so this outcome could occur, but it was slow-acting and not fully through. I ran with all my might to the centipede, it didn¡¯t seem to expect it and was caught off guard, allowing me to ram my body into it. Toppling it, that was accompanied by a shriek like never before that hurt my ears, but I disregarded the pain that was paltry before the venom, and bit forcefully through, severing its head, and killing it. Exp gained A few seconds later, the venom completely came over me, making me the equivalent of a sitting duck. The noises of our battle is sure to have attracted other creatures looking for a quick and easy kill. This was bad, I had no real option to defend myself at the moment and waiting for the venom to go through its course and leave my body naturally would leave me a pile of bones. I decided to do the only thing I could think of, stimulating the mana inside of me. It was as if I was trying to pass water through a canyon, an excruciating process. A bit of mana went through after a minute, I quickly lost control of it, causing it to explode around and wreak havoc on my body. Coughing up more blood, and pushing through the pain, I started the process again. Another bit of mana was through, dangerously close to losing control of it I am, but I kept a grip on it. Using the mana that I extracted from my reserves, mana that was causing pain on the level of the actual venom because of my faulty control, to forcefully evict all the venom I had in my body and cells. My pores in between the scales secreted a white fluid, a mix between snot and water, depositing it on the ground. Sighing with relief, I ran away from the battle scene as quickly as possible, I was still way too weak even after my evolution. Strength would be my only remedy. Chapter 13 Mike Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 10th day I never was much of a selfless person, but something came over me when I saw that giant bolt of lightning. Pumping out much of my own mana, I made a thick white shield over me and Ava, the lightning bolt hit it, and the force of it punching against my wall was transmitted to me as well. It felt like a truck hit me in my chest, I felt a cough coming up. Coughing, I put my palm over my mouth, and saw what came out. Shit, blood, I already lost a bit when I was practicing. My consciousness was already feeling a bit fuzzy. The bolt was still going strong against my wall which was folding a bit against the pressure, the wall wasn¡¯t going to last. Wiping off the blood on my palm, I grabbed Ava and ran to a nearby building. The sensors of mana around here that were used to alert the official mages must have gone off by now, they would be here any minute and the surprise attacker would likely run if he knew what was good for him. The mana inside my body was going berserk inside the building I hid inside, a standard apartment building¡¯s ground level. My eyes constricted, the mana inside me never felt this disoriented before, I had to do something or else it would all explode. Was my attacker directly interfering with my own mana, or was it something else. Whatever it was, I had to cleanse myself from this before it got any more out of hand. Taking a deep breath, I focused on my surroundings, sensing a small mana signature close to the right of me. I unleashed all of the mana inside me, painstakingly processing it all into a little water stream 2 centimeters across. The violent, and seemingly unending, jet stream impacted with what sounded like the flesh of someone. I looked around my surroundings, there did not seem to be a response. Cautiously, I stood up from my position and looked around. The building was relatively undamaged, with just the small jet stream being the only spell unleashed here, Ava was silent, completely stationary in her position and I couldn¡¯t blame her. A minute had passed, my alertness had gone down a few notches when no response was in sight. A moment''s hesitation before I decided to check upon the corpse, just to make sure that my attacker really died. When I went to the body, it had a clean 2cm hole on its chest, pierced through to the other side. The boy had blonde hair, blue eyes and a medium build, with a heavyset jacket and hair on the longer side. It was not the first time I took a human life, I avoided it if I could but, I suppose this was a special occasion. The first time I took another sentient being''s life was when a demon of some sort, they have so many sub-species that differentiating is near impossible to me, invaded me and my mothers home. It was just a sudden outburst, an accidental discharge of the mana inside me that went out uncontrollably. Pure, unadulterated mana in its rawest form impacted that demon who looked about the age of 15, or the equivalent to them. A child, really, only 2 years older than me at the time. His eyes full of life fading still keep me up most days, the eyes of a living, breathing, sentient being that had hopes and dreams, same as I did. Sighing, I turned away from the body, reminiscing about my first kill was not a particularly enjoyable experience. Mid-step away from the body, the sound of a paper tearing was heard. I whipped my head back and the body wasn¡¯t there anymore, shit, it was a trap. My mana reserves were far too low for me to tank this, so in a split second, I decided to run. A huge mana-signature, around 80% of my reserves, was what I felt behind me. Erecting mini walls of earth behind me as I ran to Ava, the trap exploded. The heat was sweltering, feeling like a fire was raging upon my back, the shockwave released resonated inside me. My organs felt like they were glass hit by a large hammer, a large amount of blood was expelled, with most of my organs bleeding. Blood leaked out of my mouth like a waterfall, my vision felt blurred, and my head didn¡¯t feel any better. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Thankfully, the walls I made did save me from the worst of the explosion, with just the residual effects still reaching my way. My consciousness was heavy, thoughts were slow to form but they were still there. I noticed that Ava, who I was running to, had run off far away far before I even started to run to her. Shit, my mana supply was running low. ¡°Where are you!¡±, I shouted out, in a desperate attempt to buy some time. Surprisingly, my attacker stepped out, with the same appearance as the paper figurine I first thought was his body. I widened my eyes, he had Ava hostage with him, but he didn¡¯t seem to know about the mana signature on her. Weird. ¡°Why did you attack me.¡±, I asked, more ordered him to tell me rather than ask. He was contemplating for a moment, before nodding and answering ¡°For a ritual.¡± As curt as it was, it gave me some insight. ¡°You¡¯re the serial killer?¡±, fuck, if that was the case then I¡¯m really screwed. He was holding back some laughter, I could sense it. A deep sense of disgust welled up inside me, a magic user attacking those defenseless made me sick. ¡°All those lives for what, a ritual? Why?¡± Anything for more time. ¡°Why? Oh, you have no idea why.¡± He, no it, this was a monster, started. ¡°Killing is pure bliss, that¡¯s it. There is no reason why, no abusive parents, nothing. Seeing the people squirm beneath me as they inch closer to their death, that is why I kill. Oh, and it just so happens to help me advance.¡± Fuck, this thing was an absolute psychopath. Reasoning with it is a joke, but time was necessary. ¡°Advance?¡±I was genuinely confused on this point, what advancement, advancement in magic skills? This was the first time it had a real emotion, confusement. ¡°Wait, you don¡¯t know? How very interesting, I guess they withheld this tidbit. Oh you poor, unfortunate soul. How uncharacteristic of Iabrun, withholding something that makes their people better for a war? Tsk, oh well. It isn¡¯t my job to teach you.¡± ¡°Now, to finish this j-¡± was what he started before I launched my own attack, enough time had accrued, the mana inside me had gone into Ava¡¯s mark. Remotely controlling this amount of mana was heavily taxing, my internal bleeding had gotten worse, I could barely stand due to the amount of blood loss, but barely is enough. Shaping the raw mana in Ava¡¯s mark, I could see that it was becoming increasingly worse for her as well, blood was leaking from her mouth. I shot out the accumulated mana, now in the form of a fiery inferno that blazed beautifully, the scarlet flames engulfing the monster in its entirety, burning him thoroughly. Ava had already ran towards me right after I released the spell, saving me some trouble. The building had gone eerily quiet, unnervingly quiet. The tenebrific building was enhanced by the late night shadows, strengthening the fear in my heart. The residents had to still be alive, a collapse of the building was not what me or him was going for, and our spells only affected the ground floor. The heat could have, conceivably, killed some but not all, so it was quiet, too quiet. It was eerie, making me want to leave as fast as I could. ¡°Good, you¡¯re smart¡±, a voice rang out, halting me dead in my tracks. 10 copies of the same figure sprang out of the darkness, all clapping with the same rhythm and intensity. I never was much of a religious man, but praying was likely the only thing I could do at the moment. ¡°Smart, but not smart enough.¡± was what it was repeating, the smugness in the statement radiated out, it could be felt in the air. Nothing to do but pray, I suppose, so I started muttering, ¡°Oh Great God of War, The Engine of the Play, Director of Conflicts, Lord of the Battle, Symbol of Blood, I beseech you to provide me with help in this predicament.¡± Nothing seemed to happen, which was to be expected. ¡°Now, time to really fin-¡±, it couldn¡¯t finish that as well, the building had been toppled by something. Using the small, small amount of mana left, I erected a small mana shield around me, and Ava that stuck close to me. Well, it seems like my prayer may have been answered. I saw my attacker running away, and my senses were filled with new mana signatures. Guess the official mages arrived, just in time I suppose. Maybe my prayer expedited it a bit, heh. My ravaged body fell, my consciousness saw the mages coming for me as I fell down, the last image before I fell unconscious. Chapter 14 Arianna Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 11th day I had an aching headache at the moment, not only were the negotiations supposed to happen in a few days, with my birthday coming up on the 28th. The negotiations are headache inducing, but that wasn¡¯t enough, Mike just landed himself in some hot water. Looking around my apartment on the Lendenburg estate, I searched for my phone. It was in a clutter of books I already forgot the names of, books that I was required to read in my youth. I called the official mage organization under the police, bailing someone out was easier than many other things, and making someone stay was just as easy. The chief of the department answered me, ¡°Hello Your Grace, Arianna. What is the occasion, why did you call me?¡± ¡°Release him, now. Make sure no one knows about this.¡±, he already knew that I was going to call him. With a sigh, he answered ¡°Your Grace, you know that doing this can make me lose my job. Could you, in your generosity, please spare me?¡± A slight frown came over me, ¡°Anthony, you know as much as I do that you can¡¯t refuse this for your family¡¯s sake. Don¡¯t test me, do it. Now.¡±, hmmmm, some anger leaked there, not the best thing for my image but he can¡¯t do anything about it, ¡°Yes, Your Grace. It will be done immediately.¡± he said, a bit of reluctance in his voice could be heard, but it was within acceptable limits. ¡°Good¡± I began, ¡°Now, what do you know about the girl that was with him?¡± My tone of voice was filled with edge, and Anthony picked up on it, he replied smoothly with ¡°We don¡¯t know much about her, as far as we could find out, she was a slave girl named Ava, no last name, with a history of prostitution, theft, and, weirdly enough, the possession of a drug named ¡®Firecracker¡¯. The trafficking of slaves is well known, but firecrackers are a weird possession for someone like her. They are only found in mage circles, and are extremely expensive, used to stimulate the mana inside them and make it easier t-¡±, I cut him off then with, ¡°Yes yes, I know all that. I have used it before, what is its civilian use?¡± I could feel his nod, even if I couldn¡¯t see it, and so he continued smoothly just as before, ¡°For civilians that have untapped mana potential, it is used as a drug to kickstart the process to become a mage,¡± Interesting, what would a street urchin like her need it for, ¡°And-¡± Anthony paused for a bit, piquing my curiosity, ¡°and what?¡±, I asked again, impatience was swelling inside me. ¡°Well, it can be used to stimulate the sexual urges of a male, though the side effects are severe, including nausea, dizziness and loss of breath f-¡±, ah, that was the reason the little rat had it, then she planned to-the thought didn¡¯t finish, the mana inside me swelled and my phone bore the brunt of it, burning to ash. That little bitch of an urchin. Looking down at the little left of my phone in my head, ashes, I sighed. Better control over my mana when I¡¯m emotional has to be a priority, but that can be left for later. I stood up, walking to my elevator and scoffing at my earlier behavior in the process. A phone destroyed over some emotions, oh well, I have a spare anyway. I stood in the elevator, deciding to head to the roof and take the family Griffin out for a spin, a good intimidation piece for the little rat, no, urchin? A better name for the little whore had to be made. The elevator opened, revealing the roof that held many different things but the largest and grandest of all was Ts¡¯yvelir, our Griffin. The behemoth with a 30 meter wingspan and 7 meters long from beak to tail, it was a rare melanistic one as well. Completely black from head to toe, the sleek eagle''s head with the talons that comes with it was intimidating, yet beautiful. Its royal blue eyes, a contrast from the black body, were mesmerizing to look at, the deep and vivid blue captured the attention of anyone looking at him. The color of a Griffin and its eyes indicated the power inside of it, unlike races like humans, and those similar to us that have pure mana that we mold into different forms. Mythical creatures have one or two forms of mana inside of them that they use, Ts¡¯yvelir¡¯s own shadow and water mana were versatile. Its piercing eyes looked straight at me, time felt to slow down at that moment. The gaze it put upon me was measured, steady and controlled, it was an intelligent animal that had to be treated with respect. Slowly walking up to it, the sheer size dawned on me once again, it is hard to wrap my head around just how massive Ts¡¯yvelir is. My arms raised in a non-threatening manner, and my head lowered, a sign of respect towards the Griffin, a creature of royalty. Ts¡¯yvelir nodded and turned his head around, a sign that I could hop on. Taking the opportunity, I climbed upon the back of the majestic beast. Its black plumes and feathers were comfortable to ride on, he was so large that a saddle was neither required nor practical. The feeling was amazing, being atop a beast as large as this one, and the plumes felt like no other. I was sure that they would have been hunted to extinction just for these plumes were they not as powerful as they were, and proficient in hiding so well. Ts¡¯yvelir reared up on his hind legs entirely on his own accord, taming one was hard and Ts¡¯yvelir was not wild, yet not fully tamed either. He opened his beaks, I could feel the massive amount of power held within him, a cry broke out from it. Majestic, booming, powerful, yet I know that he could do more. Ts¡¯yvelir was holding back, a full-powered cry from an adolescent griffin like him would rupture the internal organs of any human not protected by something to dampen it. Going back down to 4 legs, Ts¡¯yvelir readied his wings as I readied my body. I exhaled all the breath in my body, just in time as Ts¡¯yvelir flapped his mighty wings, going straight up into the air. Exhilaration, excitement and a little dose of fear was all I could feel at the moment. The speed we were going at was something I did not know, but it was fast. Savoring the experience of the air hitting my body, the feeling dampened by the slight mana shield around me. I could not bear the full brunt of this speed, but I damn well would try. I reached out my right arm, scratching the plumes right above Ts¡¯yevlir¡¯s right ear, a sign to slow down for him. He nodded in the air ever so slightly, slowing down and eventually stopping in the air, the roof we flew from was still visible, if barely. ¡°Good boy¡± I said to him, Ts¡¯yevlir had no response to my praise, but I expected it. With an exasperated sigh, I turned to look back at him, ¡°Take me to the school Ts¡¯yvelir¡±, another barely noticeable nod was had, and he started flying, a little slower this time around. The Griffin was immediately noticeable in the air, and I could see many of the regular citizens looking up to see what I was riding on. What did catch my, and Ts¡¯yevlir¡¯s, eye was a person going to the Academy on a Blemdorf, a simple, non-magical creature that has 4 wings. Unlike Ts¡¯yevlir and his wings that have feathers, the Blemdorf was a scaly creature that had a lizard-like body, a jaw that held some smaller teeth used to eat the medium-sized insects, and it was small, at only 5 meters long, with 4 membrane wings. It was an inexpensive option at only around 200 pounds, nothing for me, but a sizable chunk for the middle-class. It was a good way to traverse the air for a fair price, but what caught my eye is that Ts¡¯yevlir was looking directly at it. ¡°Ts¡¯yevlir, don¡¯t attack it, keep flying to the academy.¡± is the direct order I said to him, but he did not listen, only choosing to fly closer and closer to it. I could see the rider, who looked to be a girl aged 15, at most, getting more and more scared. ¡°Ts¡¯yevlir, last warning. Turn back now, or else.¡± the Griffin stopped in the air, Ts¡¯yevlir looked to be contemplating the risk and reward, after a minute, he shook his head and snorted, flying slowly again. ¡°Good, Ts¡¯yevlir, here''s a reward.¡±, I said to him as I took out a large chunk of Basilisk meat, the favorite of any Griffin. I threw it off the side, Ts¡¯yevlir promptly took off after the morsel, catching it gracefully in the air. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°Good boy¡± I said, a gentle purr could be heard from him, I continued ¡°Now, want to do something fun?¡± He nodded, we did this maneuver plenty of times, so he knew instantly. Ts¡¯yevlir tucked his wings in, as I extracted my own mana into a shield around me. Exhaling is the signal Ts¡¯yevlir knew that would signify the start of this. He shot up into the air, getting higher and higher. We reached so high up in the air that the skyscrapers down below were small, we could touch some of the clouds up here. I could see storm clouds forming around an area in the grasslands, weird, but it wasn¡¯t all that uncommon. Maybe some idiot tried to get the eggs of a Tempest Ailea, a fun thought. ¡°Ts¡¯yevlir, go.¡±, I said and Ts¡¯yevlir immediately complied. He tucked in his wings, diving down at a speed that would kill any normal person riding. He flew down in the direction of the girl riding the Blemdorf, stretching out his talons, and emitting a shrieking cry. I could see the girl, and the girl could see Ts¡¯yevlir as well, her eyes widened and she hastened her mount. Well, I couldn¡¯t blame her, a 30 meter Griffin diving after you is sure to scare. Ts¡¯yevlir reached behind them easily, his speed and agility in the air unmatched by anything else, and on my command, he stretched out his wings, making him stop right before the Blemdorf. Ts¡¯yevlir is just a meter off from the back of the Blemdorf now, the girl had already stopped her mount and looked up at us. I could sense the start of a spell forming, and that was the worst case scenario. Ts¡¯yevlir was yet to be tamed and any form of hostility against him would be answered back the same as a wild Griffin. Ts¡¯yevlir, adolescent he may be, was still stronger than me and him rampaging around would kill enough people that I couldn¡¯t just cover it up. ¡°Hey, hey! Stop your spell!¡± I yelled out, she seemed to heed my words and stop the mana inside of her from forming into a spell. ¡°Ts¡¯yevlir, lift her up here. Gently.¡± was my next order to the massive Griffin, and he complied smoothly, bringing his talons up gently, as gentle as a mothers hand on her newborn child, and picking her up with his talons and placing her next to me. The Blemdorf that was stationary was also held onto by Ts¡¯yevlir and his monstrous talons, catching it as if it were prey. It was held in its talons, unlike the girl. The girl next to me was, understandably, shaken up a little by the whole ordeal. She was a regular human, with long black hair, brown eyes and some glasses. Her fair skin contrasted her black hair, and she can only be called average in terms of looks. I had never seen her in the Academy before, weird, I should know everyone. ¡°Sorry for the bad introduction between us. Let''s start anew, I¡¯m Arianna, you are?¡± I started with a simple greeting, and the shaky girl before me looked at me again, this time with a scrutinizing gaze. After only half a minute, she quite literally jumped into a kneeling position, near yelling out ¡°Your Grace, Arianna, Upcoming Duchess of Lendenburg. Please forgive me for my rudeness.¡±, I just waved my hand and said ¡°No need to be so formal with me, I am not the Duchess now, just a fellow student.¡± The statement was hindered by the gigantic royal Griffin I was riding on, but I hoped that what I said was clear. ¡°Uhhh-I''m not even a student yet, and you¡¯re the Duchess. I don¡¯t dare to treat you as an equal.¡± and my hopes were immediately dashed. Sighing, I answered back ¡°No no, just treat me normally.¡± to which she shakily nodded, though I had a sneaking suspicion she did it just to appease me. ¡°On this, what''s your name? I haven¡¯t gotten it yet.¡± I asked in a friendly tone, she replied with ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m Abigail Larsen. I¡¯m not a student, I just want to visit it during the open house, see the facilities and such.¡± My friendly tone made Abigail relax, it seems, which was nice. I forgot today was an open house, ¡°Ah, alright. I wish you the best of luck. Would you like to go to the Academy with me?¡± ¡°No, no. I could not bother you with such a trivial task.¡±, I need someone to talk with on the flight, so I countered with ¡°It''s my treat.¡± while having a small smile on my face. ¡°Well¡­, ok. If it''s your treat, I can¡¯t refuse.¡±, I began to talk with a smile ¡°Good, Ts¡¯yevlir, go to the Academy. Fly slower.¡± A conversation can¡¯t be made when I reach the Academy too quickly, so Ts¡¯yevlir had to go slower, and it would alleviate the tiny bit of fatigue he had accumulated. ¡°Ts¡¯yevlir? That¡¯s his name? A beautiful name to fit a beautiful creature, I suppose.¡± she said, a smile took over me, Ts¡¯yevlir is definitely a point of pride for the Lendenburgs. Even if it was an adolescent, it had already bested the adult Griffin owned by Marquis Buesboon in combat. Ts¡¯yevlir definitely lived up to his name, a name said to be possessed by the legendary Gladiator that could beat those that were said to be unbeatable. ¡°Yes, he certainly is a beautiful boy, aren¡¯t you Ts¡¯yevlir.¡±, a gentle purr was heard from him, signifying the comfort felt by him. We both smiled, this wasn¡¯t the best of ways to get introduced to someone, but it was a way to. Judging by her demeanor, I can ask her a question without worrying about it being spread to the ends of the world. ¡°I have a question for you¡± I started, the topic caught her interest, she was looking at me intensely ¡°Say you have a boy you like, and they start to talk to another girl. What do you do?¡± I asked, ¡°this is for a friend.¡± I added a second later. She had a weird look on her face but started to talk ¡°Right¡­. For a friend? I would say it depends, if he doesn¡¯t know that you like him, then he did no wrong- '''' Wait, that''s right. He doesn¡¯t know I like him, so he wouldn¡¯t see talking to someone else as wrong. Problem is, I don¡¯t know how to tell him that I do, it¡¯d come out of left field. ¡°So, how does one confess to a boy?¡± I asked, Abigail looked at me and shook her head before saying, ¡°I don¡¯t know either, I¡¯m not some authority on this subject.¡±, ah, ¡°That¡¯s a problem.¡± I said a bit gloomily, she replied just as gloomily ¡°Yes, indeed a problem.¡± We were silent now, and before we knew it, we arrived on Academy grounds. We both hopped off, the Blemdorf that was silent in the talons of Ts¡¯yevlir cried once he was released and ran towards its owner. ¡°Hey hey boy, calm down. You¡¯re fine, you¡¯re fine.¡± Abigail said to him as her mount was in her arms. I waved her goodbye, she nodded to me as well, the short ride seemed to break down some of the walls between us so that was good. I went to the dorm rooms, opting to head to Mike¡¯s room instead of trying to find him anywhere else. When I reached there, the door was closed and locked, signifying someone was inside. Good, I knocked on it and waited for a response., After a minute or so, Mike opened the room and he had ruffled clothes. Ava was on his bed with the same roughed up clothes, and I could see the bottle of firecracker on a desk. The mana inside me was simmering, I felt boiling mad yet I contained it as best I could. Narrowing my eyes, I looked at Mike who had just closed the door, and asked with noticeable anger ¡°What exactly are you doing?¡± Mike had a moment of reflection before what I was asking about dawned on him, he answered with a slightly shaky voice, ¡°Look look, I know it looks bad but I swear nothing bad is going on. We just arrived here from the hands of the official mages, and I didn¡¯t even have time to change my clothes or tidy up.¡±, right. ¡°Ignoring that,¡± I said, which was severely hard at the moment, my boiling mana was a hair''s breadth away from exploding outwards, but I continued ¡°What the hell were you thinking when you started a fucking fight in the middle of the city?!? What went through your mind that you thought it was a good idea!?¡± My voice was quite loud, but Mike did not seem fazed in the slightest, just replying briskly ¡°You know that serial killer running around?¡± I nodded, but I didn¡¯t know what that had to do with this ¡°He was the one that attacked me, talking about something called advancement, do you know what that is?¡± I shrugged my shoulders, I knew nothing about such a thing. What was more interesting was that the serial killer was a mage, which explains why no one caught him yet. ¡°Alright, that''s fair. Just don¡¯t escalate it, I can¡¯t bail you out haphazardly. Now, get out of the way, I have something to discuss with that slave girl.¡± He complied almost instantly, moving out of the way. I opened the door the moment he moved, going inside of the room and looking around. I chose to go to the firecracker first, Ava was shy, and not the most assertive, I could tell from first glance, so she did not do anything to me as I walked up to the little orange bottle filled with some rocks, and burnt it to ashes. The moment I did such a thing, though, was when she opted to talk. ¡°Why¡¯d you do that for? That was a gift for Mike.¡± she said in a quiet voice, timidness filled her tone but I didn¡¯t care. ¡°A gift you say?¡± I asked, she nodded and started to explain ¡°He-my master saved me from the slave trade, and the only skill I have now is-¡± I cut her off there, ¡°Yes, I know. I know all about you, Ava.¡± She did not seem that surprised, just continuing on smoothly and saying ¡°Yes, that is the reason why I had it.¡± Narrowing my eyes, I moved a bit closer to her. She shrunk back, even if she could speak back a bit, her nature is as timid as the lowliest prey. I moved closer and closer, reaching so close that I could lean in to say things into her ear, which is exactly what I did. ¡°Listen here you little wench, you are a rat that belongs to the streets. Even if you try to, you will never escape your slave past, it will always be a part of you. You are not worthy of him, your whoring past is a stain. He is mine.¡± After my little statement, she was on the verge of crying, not having expected my words. ¡°Should any of this get out, I will burn you to cinders¡± I left as my final statement before I left the room, walking to my own. I saw a handsome black-haired man talking with a girl about the same age as me on the way there, but I just disregarded it. The scene was far too common here for me to take note of it. Now, with that little bitch dealt with for the time being, should I wear a dress or a suit to the negotiations. Decisions, decisions. Chapter 15 Wyrm Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 11th day After the little ordeal with that centipede, I am limping my way back to my little den. The tall grasses of this area did provide me with some cover, though my large body did retract from that. Hmm, now that I think of it, the grasslands were relatively small. The green grass made way for yellow plains quickly, which was interesting. Though, maybe the grasslands were large, I couldn¡¯t see its exact end, after all. But it did become yellow plains quickly, the briny smell in the air was always there, though, and only got stronger the closer I got to the plains. After pondering on the limits of mana, which was only the imagination it seems, I realized I was back near my little den-the smell of blood was thick in the air, likely the Hiddle still inside. I crawled through the little opening, getting inside the den. The Hiddle barely moved from where I left him, still not fully recovered from the crippling hit I dealt to him when I left. He was just twitching on the ground; with eyes that were glazed over and he did not even react to me coming inside, weird. His fur, first yellow, was now tainted with the vermillion color associated with blood. The smell of iron filled the room, with it overpowering my nostrils the moment I entered. ¡°Hey, are you there?¡± I asked in a tone conveying friendliness, better for him to not completely despise me, though that is likely not possible, trying wasn¡¯t that hard. He did not seem to hear me, so I proceeded to walk up to him, scooping up the little rodent in my claws. He still did not have any reaction, very weird, but nothing I could not fix, I hope. I lifted him up to eye level and squeezed down a bit, trying to knock any reaction out of him. His eyes-previously glazed over-regained their clarity, those eyes then looked at the surroundings, and then finally landed on me. ¡°No.. no. You-You¡¯re that, that sick-sick thing. Why do you have me again, why!?! I escaped, no, this is just a dream, this has to be-yeah, this is a dream.¡± The Hiddle yelled out in the beginning, but eventually quieted down by his last few and very confusing words. I couldn¡¯t be bothered to try and reason with this insane rodent, nor was I in the mood to stay any longer in this den. The scent of blood was thick and the air felt heavy, I did not particularly enjoy the stench-the iron was particularly bad to my nostrils-and I would rather leave as soon as possible. I looked down at the rodent in my hands and seeing that it could walk, it had recovered a portion of the damage and would be in a good enough condition to run away if I went to hunt now. I squeezed my claws again, this time with a much greater force. I could feel his flesh squeezing, bones cracking and blood flowing in my hands. The power I had over another life form felt amazingly good-though I¡¯m not sure that was a good thing. A blood-curdling cry was heard in this small den, only in this den, from the Hiddle, who I then promptly discarded into a corner. He was murmuring something there, I only heard tidbits of his murmurs: ¡°Oh God why?!? What did I ever do?¡± was the main thing I heard. The briny smell outside my hideout was amplified to a greater extent than when I first came inside just 10 minutes ago. The air now held a bluish tint to it, which was hard to get used to. It was very weird, but no danger came with it, so I just put it at the back of my mind-it likely wasn¡¯t much of a problem. The grasslands, or swamps, is my decision when it comes to hunting. Both are equally dangerous yet the swamps are more familiar to me, I knew some of the creatures there. It also doesn¡¯t have the tall grass that can both hinder me, and help those sneak up on me. The memory of that damned centipede was still fresh in my mind, luckily I could stimulate my mana to purge the venom, but if I couldn¡¯t.... I don''t like to think about it. The swamp was as inviting as ever, which is to say it wasn¡¯t-but even with that, it was more inviting than the unknown grasslands. I walked on the pieces of solid land, occasionally seeing some familiar creatures like that little lizard. Nothing caught my eye, though, until I came across a river. A 6-legged creature was drinking from it, the ornate horns atop its head caught the eyes of anyone who saw them. It had pure white fur, red eyes, a red pattern atop its fur, and fangs. It was about as large as me, but its eyesight did not look to be the best. Right under it, inside the water, I could see some manner of serpent. It was long and slender, but the murky brown water prevented me from seeing much more of it-not that I would need to see much more to know not to go near that water. The serpent lunged out unexpectedly, coiling its greenish-brown colored body around the specimen. It sank the large fangs it had inside the creature: they were filled with what I could sense was some mana-infused venom. I could see the blue venom make its way inside the blood vessels, and then travel around inside the animal-the venom''s blue glow lighting up the insides along the way, what amounted to a sick light show. The animal, after only a minute of struggling, succumbed to the venom in its veins, getting dragged down into the murky depths of the river. I decided it wasn¡¯t worth sticking around, and looked towards a new area that I would travel in. Just as I was walking, the unmistakable sound of an explosion was heard coming from the river. I looked back towards the source of the sound, only to find a veritable feeding frenzy and chunks of the animal''s body spread out-maybe that was a last ditch effort from it to kill some of its attackers. Weird, the mana inside the chunks had not dissipated. I decided to come closer to the river (after a minute or so of rumination) to try and steal a chunk of flesh. If the mana had not dissipated, maybe it wasn¡¯t dead yet? Before I could come a foot closer, though, a serpent violently erupted and died on the spot, followed in short order by the 20 or so others. The bloody mist, and blood splatters, all around the gore-filled scene started to float around-with every tiny drop of blood being saturated by that creature''s distinct mana. The blood started to form the legs and white fur that had its distinctive swirling scarlet pattern. The entirety of the blood was used up to reform that creature, the serpents were now dried husks or flakes of scales around the area. The fully reformed creature then looked directly at me, fuck, I needed to hide my mana signature from mana-sensitive animals. I started to slowly back away, hoping that it would ignore me. It looked intently at me, before turning into a stream of blood and reforming as a humanoid creature behind me. It took the newly-formed albino white hands, that still held the same swirling crimson pattern, and placed it on my shoulder-I didn¡¯t dare to move at the moment. It said in a sultry voice ¡°Oh my, it has been quite some time before I saw one of your kind.¡±, the seductive voice nearly distracted me from what was most important. ¡°You know what I am?¡± I asked her. My voice was still shaky from the whole ordeal-even when I tried my best to conceal it. ¡°Darling,¡± She started, the word was said in such an erotic tone that it took all my willpower to stay rooted-this has to be some spell she was using. ¡°You have no idea about what I know, but you¡¯re not ready for that yet, you¡¯ll see someday.¡± she ended. ¡°What day?¡± I pensively asked her, she was an entity that may hold answers and I needed to extract as much as I can. She shrugged and dismissively shook her head, giving me no clues at all. Fuck. ¡°I have been meaning to ask. What exactly are you?¡±I had already tried using my skill on her to no avail-might as well just hear it from her mouth. ¡°Don¡¯t you know it''s rude to try and spy on someone?¡± she said and shook her head, only to continue ¡°I am a servant of sorts, though not yours, at least not yet.¡± she finished with a wink. ¡°Wait, servant, you¡¯re an Almosanguine? Why-Why don¡¯t you hate me?¡± I know that the Dragons weren¡¯t the most peaceful of races, the almosanguine were hunted to extinction by us and those left were turned into slaves. Her ever-unchanging smile faltered the moment I asked that, fuck I¡¯m dumb. She has to be a Viscount at least, reminding her of a past she likely isn¡¯t the most fond of was stupid. ¡°Well, well. Aren¡¯t you the nosy type? Asking so many questions, so many inquiries~~¡± she said, saying her last word with an extra dose of seductiveness. ¡°Well, if you do want to know so much.¡± she started her sentence, while simultaneously turning into a stream of blood and appearing before me. ¡°I can always just.. show you what I did with your father Nitherir.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Her breathing got heavier and heaving the more she spoke, only adding to her charm. ¡°Wait, wait, wait. Father? You knew my father? What? Who is he? What was he? Who¡¯s my mother, how¡¯d you know my father?¡± I nearly yelled out at the Viscount Sanguine, her demeanor changed from sultry to professional almost instantly. She frowned, ¡°Aren¡¯t you a bore? Now I''m not in the mood.¡± she said, her tone being a perfect neutral with no warmth or exceptional coldness. ¡°Tell me. Now.¡± I said, my voice turning guttural. Her dodging the question infuriated me ¡°Say it.¡± I demanded again. She sighed and refused, saying ¡°Hey hey, little guy. You¡¯re not ready yet, and if you keep acting like this, you never will be.¡± Her voice oozed with condescension, it was veritably soaked by a feeling of superiority. She was a race ruled over and killed by us, she had no right to talk to me like this. ¡°You¡¯re just a slave, you have no right to not follow an order. I am a Dra-¡± she cut me off there ¡°No. You aren¡¯t. You¡¯re just a wyrm, and until you¡¯re a dragon. You aren¡¯t my master.¡± I narrowed my eyes. ¡°A lowly Viscount Sanguine dare talk to-¡± she gathered up mana before I could even sense it, unleashing a binding spell on me. Before I knew it, I was surrounded by a prison made up of blood. She had left without saying a word, the only thing here that signified she was even here was the blood prison around me and the dried-up husks of the serpents. I tried to touch the blood cage around me, but it singed me before I could even get half my claw through. The blood had a special property to it, it would ruffle up the mana of anyone who touched its bars. It, effectively, made it the best low-level bind for someone like me who had a lot of mana. I had never before wished to be mana-less, but by the Primordial Dragon, I wish it now. I stimulated a tiny amount of my total mana, it was the minuscule amount I could use out of my mana pool, and dragged it through to my claw. My claw turned slightly translucent, and I stuck it on the blood. Hmmm, nothing happened this time beyond the feeling of blood being on my mana-infused claw. Is it that my mana can override hers? Damn, the blood of the Primordial Dragon is awesome. It could be something else, but that should be the main reason my mana can just overpower hers. Now, the problem is.. I can¡¯t even use enough mana to do this to two of my claws, goddamnit. Sighing, I tried to stimulate more of my mana. I could feel about 2% of it in my control at the moment-a much higher amount than necessary to infuse my claw. I ever so slightly moved the mana, trying to reach my claws on my right arm. The moment I even tried to stimulate that much, and move it, was when it completely got out of my control. The mana crashed right back into my own mana supply before I could redirect it to hit a non-essential organ. The mana hit the entire reserve in the very fiber of my being, I could feel it gushing out into the space around it. Fuck, I forcefully guided the mana that escaped from my pool-though not completely in control, it is more like hitting certain points that were gushing out in order to redirect it-making it reach all into my arm. The unstable mana then completely lost control, disintegrating my entire right arm up to my shoulder. A non-lethal injury, but damn it hurts. Is all mana this dangerous, or is it the Primordial Dragon blood. Fuck that Dragon now, goddamnit, I want his blood out. If I can¡¯t even control my mana, what''s the point of having it? I tried to dig underground and see if it was just above ground, but the blood prison was all around me. Sighing, I curled up and started to sleep, no creature would get anywhere near here after the little display by that Sanguine. When I woke up, my right arm was still not fully functional, only about half of it had been regenerated. It was pitiful, I had to find where that Sanguine had gone to when I¡¯m stronger. Whatever, that is all for the future and I shouldn''t worry about it for now. On brighter news, the blood prison around me had dissipated. I guess the mana for it ran out as I was sleeping, it was fortunate I wasn''t attacked. I got up and started to walk to the grasslands, any place that didn''t reek of the smell of that Sanguine was a better alternative. Its stench was thick in the air, and it was horrendous on my nostrils. Maybe she infused her mana to turn this sickly smell that would turn off most, into an easy way to influence and seduce anything. Mana did seem to be limitless, or atleast, I know of no limits for what one can do if they have enough mana or the talent. A Viscount Sanguine though, very interesting, no wonder she could reform up from just blood and mana. After my light musing on what she was doing, I realized I was back in the grasslands. The bluish-tint had stayed the same, with the briny undertone of the air being the only thing to change. It had gotten even stronger, so strong that it started to become a slight annoyance for my sensitive nostrils. Shaking my head, I trekked further and further into the unknown. The memory of that Sanguine kept popping up, to my endless annoyance, and it only further dampened my hunting ability. That little memory didn¡¯t stop me from seeing some eggs left out in the open-weird, why did no animal go for it? It was on a small tree top, only a few meters off the ground, and was perfectly ripe for the taking. I looked around again, just to make sure, and nothing was even near these blue-ish eggs. I started to climb up to the eggs atop the tree, their nest was normal-looking. The eggs were of a blue-ish color, but I didn¡¯t know if it was because of the tint in the air or because the eggs were naturally blue. I took one look at them, contemplating my next move. Releasing all the air inside my lungs, I pounced upon the eggs, using my claws and jaw to completely dig into the yolks of the eggs. The flavor of the eggs flooded my tongue, it was pure ecstasy and I gorged myself on all 3. Level up 7 -> 13 The notification brought me out of my little stupor, what were these things to give me this much experience? Whatever the answer was, I had already licked and lapped up every piece of these eggs. Sighing with contentment that was palpable, I climbed down from the tree and started to head towards the den. Before long, I saw a thundercloud forming over the area I just came from. I could see that same bird from the day in the redwoods, the memory flashing back to me. I could feel its pressure again, the same amount of force put upon me. I felt like thousands of tons were put on me at once, its force sticking me to the ground. A primal fear of the strong came over me, compelling me to move out of the way. My instincts saved me at the nick of time, a lightning bolt from that storm over the grasslands struck down right where I stood. Oh dear God, that was his eggs? I immediately began to run away from it, it may be futile but I had to try. The torrential amount of mana spewing out of the storm hit me instantly, turning my entire body into disarray. Mana started to slowly leak out of my reserves, controlling it was harder and harder by the second, and my cells started to deteriorate. The bird came after me quickly, and swooped down in an attempt to catch me. It had created a lightning ring around me, trapping me inside its own area. The bird narrowly missed, its unbelievably sharp talons grazing the scales on my back ever so slightly. That little miss allowed me to reach my den underground, safely away from the bird. I looked around for the Hiddle and found it instantly, taking it with my-now fully regenerated-right arm. I clutched it in my claws and ran to the far side of the den, choosing to dig further and further down into the ground. I could feel the downpour of lightning above me, the thunder trumpeting on my eardrums made me lose focus for a split second. In that time, the big Osprey managed to hit a bolt of lightning inside my little den, but instead of dissipating as usual, the bolt transformed into a ball that then quickly formed into the 20 meter behemoth of a bird. Its entire body, now underground, crumbled the remains of the den. I grabbed the Hiddle and put it inside the new tunnel I was desperately digging, trying to go deeper underground. The bird chose to shake off the bindings of earth around it first before going after me again. While it was ruffling around, trying to remove all the debris, I managed to dig down nearly another 8 meters. The soil turned to rock quickly, but I barely managed to control enough man to infuse 1 claw that allowed me to expedite this process exponentially. My reserves were leaking, and I could feel some of my cells disintegrating. The bird got up again to my horror, and looked straight down my little tunnel. Its eyes, filled with hatred, looked directly at me. The bird formed another ball of lightning, flushing it down my tunnel, but it soon stopped. The bird stopped controlling that ball of lightning and immediately lost control over it. The unmistakable odor of the Viscount Sanguine assaulted my nostrils, but she would be able to hold him for only a few seconds though. In those precious few seconds of time she held off the big bird, I tunneled further and further into the ground, eventually reaching what looked to be a metal construct. I hurriedly tore through it with my claws, the new blob of mana that was that Sanguine turned into a wave, of presumably blood, and exited the battle. I took the Hiddle in my claws and crawled through the small opening I made. The bird threw down an incredibly fast spear of lightning through the newly made hole. It then instantly formed back into a ball, and then the bird. It wasn¡¯t the smartest, though, so when it formed in the tunnel-the roof above fell down upon it. A landslide started, firmly putting the bird on one side and under tons of debris and me and the Hiddle on the other. I could feel the massive amount of mana under those debris teleport back to the surface, I escaped that bird. For now at least, and after that whole ordeal, I started to look around my surroundings. Me and the Hiddle were in a decayed room, vines growing everywhere but what was most striking was the 4 skeletons huddled around¡­ is that a scale from a gravity dragon!?!? Chapter 16 Mike Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 12th day It was the next day since that damn fight in the middle of the city, and his powers had been swirling around in my mind ever since. He didn¡¯t come with me for a direct confrontation, so I can safely assume that his ability to fight against me out in the open wasn¡¯t all that much. There is always the chance that he had some other factor, but giving in to the paranoia over him isn¡¯t going to help me. I could always hope that he won¡¯t attack me, but he doesn¡¯t seem the type to just leave a person who survived one of his attacks alone. I got up from my bed, Ava had left right after the Duchess talked with her-I was just alone in my room now. I got out of my messy room-cleaning it up can be left for a later date-and decided to go to my classes. As I walked out, I realized that I smelled absolutely disgusting. The stench emanating off me could kill, fuck me I didn¡¯t realize the fight yesterday drenched me in my sweat. Sighing, I went back inside my room and stimulated some of my mana. I generated some water out of every pore in my body, thoroughly rinsing every part of my body. The wind I created had brought me my soap already, so I just decided to shower right in the bedroom. It was a nice exercise in mana control, but even with my decent level of control, I had already gotten some parts of my clothes wet. Nothing that couldn¡¯t be remedied though, I generated a hot breeze around me-drying me and my clothes thoroughly. Walking out, I smelt the fresh morning breeze around me which instantly put me in a good mood. The walk to my first class was uneventful, beyond seeing a handsome brown haired man talking to a girl-which I promptly disregarded, that scene was so common that I couldn¡¯t care to remember it for more than a second. Stepping into class, I could see that the Duchess was missing which wasn¡¯t all that uncommon. I sat down and started to zone out what the teacher was saying. I don¡¯t even know why this class was still given to my class, the ¡°basics of mana¡± was already drilled into our minds. Lady luck didn¡¯t seem to like my internal comments, the teacher looked at me and said ¡°Mike, how about you explain the basics of mana, the manipulation of it; and how it can be formed outside one''s own body.¡± I focused back on the class, some people were looking at me-out of the corner of my eye I could see some people, damn it was still the open house. There was a girl with long black hair and glasses, there was an earth elemental with them; an Angel and Demon that looked to be newly formed were staring each other down; and an elf that held a pompous look in her eyes. I answered the teacher (after a minute of contemplation, the answer was easy but trying to please the people here was harder) with ¡°Mana is a fundamental force of the world, usually described to be cool, serene, stable and mellow. It is found inside every race in a reserve, said to be right beside the soul of a creature. Mana itself does not have any specific type, that is the fundamental thought for the manipulation of it. One must weave symbols inside their own body, symbols that the mana can go through to change its form to what one desires. The manipulation of the symbols is the hardest part to effectively using magic. Though some people do have talents for specific types, theoretically there should be no hard limit on what symbols one can use. Mana isn¡¯t a physical object, so it can pass through your skin easily. The manipulation of it outside one''s body is exponentially harder to do, but not impossible.¡± I finished off my tangent by demonstrating my last point. I weaved the symbol for a water stream inside of me and passed a small amount of my mana through it-the water generated on my palm and controlling it got much harder, but not impossible. I moved the water to turn into a small wyrm-similar to the one I saw in that book-and then closed my palm, controlling the water to go into the water bottle of that elf. The other students didn¡¯t seem all that surprised, but the people here for the open house looked surprised-all but the Angel and Demon anyway, who just took a look and turned back to each other. The teacher looked at me, her eyes exuding a complicated gaze, but she just nodded and said ¡°Good Mike, that was a near-perfect response.¡± before continuing on with the rest of the lesson. The kids then left at the end of the class, and I was prepared to as well. My teacher, Mrs. Kehlir had other ideas, it seems, she asked me to stay with her after class. I let out a soft sigh, one that was noticed by my teacher-going off on her look of me-and proceeded to step into her office. She looked at me, her scarlet hair wasn¡¯t common, but neither was it uncommon. She was tall, taller than me and stood at just over 2 meters tall; she had a fair complexion with brown eyes. She had an interesting past, a Nephilim huh. Half Angel, half human; and hated by Angels for being a stain on their holiness, and Demons for the same reason-as surprising as it is. Demons and Angels are closer to each other than humans, after all. Despite that, they still prospered and survived well enough. Our teacher was old, very old, and so she almost definitely survived past The Last War. She said ¡°So Mike, you were the one to fight last night? In the middle of the city, no less?¡± I narrowed my eyes, she should have no way to know and I plan to deny it all. I shook my head and said ¡°I have no idea what you are talking about, care to explain?¡± Her eyes looked at me with a complicated gaze again, a mixture of confusement, and some reluctance; anger was there, along with a healthy amount of disappointment; and then finally some kind of enlightenment. ¡°I have my sources, why did you fight in the middle of the city?¡± she asked me again, her look showed that she expected some reaction from me. I just kept a constant frown on my face when she talked, maintaining my poker face. I shook my head and started to walk to the exit, she stood in front of me though with a questioning look. I looked at her again before answering ¡°Unless you have a real reason to keep me here, you can¡¯t.¡± She wasn''t satisfied with my answer, so she said in response ¡°Stay here, I still have questions for you.¡± I narrowed my eyes at her, ¡°Unless you forgot, Mrs. Kehlir, you can¡¯t legally bind me here with no reason. A baseless accusation doesn¡¯t fall under that.¡± I said slowly, and then added on to the end as I walked out of the door ¡°Nor can you physically keep me here anyway, we both know I¡¯m stronger than you.¡± She wasn¡¯t a warrior like most in The Last War, just a lucky civilian. It was a sore spot for her, and I knew it. She looked shocked, but I didn¡¯t care for it-I started to walk out again. She yelled out ¡°Wait, wait. Come back here, I¡¯ll tell you.¡± I looked back towards her, she swallowed her saliva and started to talk. ¡°My friend is the leader of the mage organization under the police, he talked about a fight that happened in the middle of the city. I-I¡¯m ashamed to say I asked him further, he looked reluctant at first and then gave your name. I didn¡¯t care about it until I heard one of my students name, I just wanted to talk to you about it. You shouldn¡¯t go down this path, one of fighting, and I was worried for you. That¡¯s why I called you here, you¡¯re a bright young man and I would love to see you grow into someone great.¡± She said, I contemplated for a moment before coming inside the room once again. ¡°You know what you did is illegal, right? Don¡¯t leak this to anyone.¡± I said, and she promptly nodded. I looked around, and generated a pure mana barrier around us-I would rather us not have our conversation be spied upon. Sighing, I started to talk. ¡°The serial killer running around is a mage, he targeted me on the walk to my house. I had to defend myself from him, and I plan to try and take him down. I doubt he would leave someone that survived his attacks.¡± She replied with ¡°Why don¡¯t you go to the official mages?¡± I shook my head and answered her ¡°They¡¯re bogged down by more important matters. He is clever enough to do things that don¡¯t anger the actual people in power. They don¡¯t care enough to give manpower to solve a case where the killer is only killing prostitutes.¡± She nodded in agreement, she and I both knew that the mages wouldn¡¯t care about him unless he causes some huge problems. I looked around her office after my statement, and something caught my eye. I went up to today''s newspaper-I had not read it yet today-and I saw two girls that I saw before. The girl I saw with the brown-haired handsome man was in the newspaper as a victim, her body had been severely mutilated. Her panties had been torn off with such force that her thigh had scorch marks, her head had been separated from her body; she had been raped, a nipple had been torn off from her body, and her arms had been completely removed from her body. She was only one of the two victims, the other was the one I saw talking to a handsome black haired man yesterday. Her thighs had been bitten into, along with her buttocks. Her genitalia had been mutilated with an iron rod that had been heated-likely with his own mana-and it had been penetrated so hard that her uterus had been broken. She had a broken jaw, a skull-fracture; and her fingers were removed, stuck inside her stomach that was taken out of her own body. I could see her wounds, yet the report says that she didn¡¯t die due to those reasons. She had her stomach-and other internal organs-removed, and then fed to her as seen by the pieces of the organs inside her esophagus; she and the other women were victims of the heinous deed of this individual, but their deaths did provide some crucial information. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. The time of death for the brown haired girl was only 45 minutes or so after I saw her, and the black haired one was only 20 minutes after I last saw them. The style of the killings were nearly identical to the previous murders, so I can safely say that he was the one to kill them. If we go off the 2nd girl, and how she died of blood loss instead of her stomach, and other internal organs, being removed, then he had to have some way to sustain them. Healing magic was, perhaps, the only way to fully keep one alive for that amount of time. ¡°Shit, he¡¯s a shapeshifter¡­¡± I muttered under my breath, my teacher heard it and asked ¡°What do you mean?¡± I looked back at her and said, ¡°These 2 girls, their deaths are too close to the time I saw them talking to 2 different people, but the way they died was nearly identical to the earlier murders. He must have been the one to, fuck he¡¯s a shapeshifter. He also has to have some healing magic, no normal girl like the victim could have survived having her uterus broken and stomach removed without external help. The 2 are only 14 and 13, goddamnit-this sick bastard needs to be stopped.¡± She nodded in approval. ¡°Get me some books on races that can shapeshift without mana, I couldn¡¯t sense his mana signature on them.¡± She said in response ¡°You know I¡¯m still your teacher right? Get them yourself.¡± I narrowed my eyes at her, which conveyed my meaning of ¡®is this really what you¡¯re on in this murder case?¡¯, she sighed and left to get my books. ¡°Oh right, tell the other teachers why I¡¯m not attending their classes.¡± I said before she was out of ear shot, I could see her nod and I went back to contemplating. The killer this time didn¡¯t target sex workers, as far as I know, but I will have to make sure. I picked up my phone and called the Duchess-I did not want to bother her, but she was my best chance to answer this. She answered my call and said ¡°Yes Mike? Why¡¯d you call?¡± in the same sweet voice as always-well, beyond that one time she yelled because of my fight but that was understandable. ¡°I need to know if Kimberly Heyin and Olivia Joeyn were sex workers, they¡¯re the newest victims of the killer.¡± She said yes, and proceeded to find their records. It was, technically, illegal, but that wouldn¡¯t stop the Duchess, nor would it stop me. She answered after 2 minutes or so and said ¡°Yes, they were auctioned off as private escorts by their families just a year prior.¡± I squeezed the phone in my hand, though not strong enough to break it-I was too poor to break my only phone. Kids, children in the prime of their youth, sold off as private escorts by their families. Disgusting is my only thought, absolutely vile. I said ¡°Thank you, Your Grace. I owe a favor to you, just call me if you need anything. Goodbye, Your Grace.¡± and waited for her to say goodbye as well before hanging up. I let out the air in my lungs, trying to calm down-unsuccessfully. Mrs. Kehlir came into the room again with just a single book, she answered the question I was about to ask ¡°This was the only one, Races of the World by Hylue Ger on what you requested. Only one I could find, and I did alert the other teachers that you would be with me.¡± I nodded, and started to flip the pages. Only 3 really fit the description needed, a Baronette Sanguine; a Talpa Subcintus, but that was more unlikely because they¡¯re only found in Kleistin, a country that isn¡¯t anywhere near Iabrun; and a Doppelganger, a race that specializes in changing their form at will without any mana, but they¡¯re only known location is in Jevelin. I knew that the Iabrun officials have ways to see through their natural disguises, so this should be pretty accurate. A Baronette Sanguine huh, I suppose that would also make sense with what he called ¡®advancement¡¯, the advancing from a Baronette to a Baron? That made the most sense, now for weaknesses. Interesting, the Sanguine ancestor represented the Morning Star-Helel was it? The name of the yellow planet, said to be the Morning Star because it shines the brightest in the morning. Weakness, weaknesses. The easiest would have to be to use the power of the God of War, said to have suppressed and banished the Sanguine Ancestor during The Last War. That was just a myth, but it was about the best that I can do. I said to my teacher ¡°Get me a murdock root, the hair of an Elf, the toenail of a Hoplite, and 12 candles scented with the blood of a Basilisk. Plus the first scale of the Angoies.¡± She nodded, she was well versed in the land of rituals and all of this would be easy to get here. The final, and hardest part, would be getting a Griffin¡¯s feather-said to be the preferred mount of the God of War. I called up the Duchess again, I felt bad for this but I couldn¡¯t devise any other way to get my hands on one. She answered in the same sweet voice as always ¡°Yes Mike, what''s the reason for the call?¡± I winced a bit from her voice, but I kept steady and answered ¡°Sorry to call again, Your Grace, I require the feather of a Griffin. The killer is most likely to be a Baronette Sanguine, and the feather of the Griffin is vital for the ritual I plan to do.¡± She replied with a curt ¡°Sure¡± and then asked ¡°Where are you at the moment?¡± I answered with ¡°Mrs. Kehlir¡¯s classroom.¡± She hung up, and appeared in the room in less than a minute. Likely teleportation, she held a huge feather in her two arms-cradling it as if it were a child. She gave it to me, I put it on one of the desks and went to kneel to her-to show the proper respect a Duchess deserves. She motioned for me to stop, which I promptly followed and went back to a standing position. ¡°I owe you another favor, Your Grace. Thank you.¡± I said to her, she nodded and clutched another teleport stone. She said ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to take you up on that, Mike.¡± before injecting her mana into it and teleporting away. I took the feather, and went to the designated room for rituals. It was attached right beside the classroom-a way to demonstrate rituals without destroying the room. Mrs. Kehlir arrived as soon as I opened the door to the ritual room, carrying all the items by manipulating some air. She went inside the room and put all the items down on the floor, I carried the candles that were tinted with the vermillion color of blood. They exuded a putrid odor, but I endured through and laid them out in a circle. I tied the blonde elf hair around the black piece of murdock root-the toenail of a Hoplite was stuck into the middle of the murdock root. I then put the Angoies scale, a dark purple scale that gave off an enticing smell-one had to be careful though, the feeling of ecstasy that comes with the scent of the first scale of an Angoies is also the carrier of a lethal poison. Finally, I laid down the centerpiece of the ritual-a true Griffin feather. Everything here had symbolic value, Basilisks were seen as the sworn enemy of the Griffin under the God of War-named Ky¡¯svelir. The toenail of a Hoplite, the main animal used in the wars fought by the God of War, and the Angoies-said to be the beloved lover of the God of War, according to the Church anyway. Murdock and Elf hair are just stabilizers used in rituals, a way to keep the connection of Deity and Mortal. ¡°Oh Great God of War, The Engine of the Play, Director of Conflicts, Lord of the Battle, Symbol of Blood, I pray to you in a time of need. I beseech you to help me with this conflict against a heinous monster, I pray for your boundless wisdom-and limitless strength-to help this lowly mortal banish the monster hiding in the shadows of Iabrun. The Lord of Battle, Symbol of Blood. Stop this lowly fiend from further staining your honored name on the grounds of Augustus.¡± A swirling wind started to form right when I finished my statement. Blood started to leak from the candles, the elf hair untied itself and disintegrated along with the murdock root; a surreal scene of horror descended upon us. A feeling of pressure mounted upon me and Mrs. Kehlir, forcing us to kneel; it increased again, forcing us to prostrate before the ritual. The toenail of the Hoplite floated next to the scale of the Angoeis; both combined together and started to ooze a sickly, putrid, foul, and rancid smelling substance of some sort. It was a greenish-brown substance, it smelt of disease and decay and crept slowly down from the amalgamation in the middle of the air. It took everything I had to stop myself from hurling the contents of my stomach out. Suddenly, cracks started to form in the air, leaking blood of all different viscosity and colors. A brilliant purple leaked, exuding so much power that I couldn¡¯t look at it-or sense it all that much. A shiny gold color went down from another, giving off a certain presence. I couldn¡¯t put my finger on it, it was profound and deep; yet no matter how much I tried to pry any sort of information out of it, I couldn¡¯t, it was like a blank spot for me. The supreme lilac blood filled to the brim with power I could still feel was there, yet I had an instinctive feeling telling me to not to try and pry anything out of it-that if I did, it would be the last action I ever did; a warning from the very depths of the soul I owned that this blood was unique, this blood wasn¡¯t meant to be trifled with, or messed around with. Yet, for how powerful it was, it still registered that it was a thing; the golden blood was different, it had a viscosity similar to water, flowing freely down, I could see it with my eyes but I could not sense it. It was a blank spot to me, it felt like nothing was there even though I could see it. It was unsettling, it was standing there and I could feel no power; yet it disturbed me more than that immensely powerful lavender blood, it touched further than my soul; it touched further than even my own mana supply. There was something about it, something¡­ more deep, something more full. It overpowered my senses, I could only focus on the golden blood flowing down from the spatial crack; it was¡­ mesmerizing, and absolutely incredible. It felt above me, no, it felt above the entire world and that drew me closer and closer to it. I needed to feel it, I had to feel it. I stood up from my position on the floor to a kneeling one, and then fully stood up; I disregarded the earlier feeling of power, the blood was more enticing. I took one step, a 2nd step, a 3rd step. I felt something catch my left leg as I went for another step, it was a heavy weight. I looked down, a strange red-haired woman was grabbing my knee with all her might. ¡°Who are you?¡± I said, my voice was different-deeper than before, but I didn¡¯t really care for the change. She looked up at me in shock, ¡°Who are you?¡± I growled at her this time, my voice had been significantly changed. This strange¡­ Nephilim by the looks of her facial structure, eyes and distinct natural hair color grabbed me for no reason. ¡°I¡¯m your teacher, Mrs. Kehlir!¡± She yelled out at me, I didn¡¯t recall such a person, and I knew for a fact I didn¡¯t require a teacher. She was weaker than me, I could tell that from a cursory glance. ¡°Get off me, you little gnat. You are no teacher, you are nothing but a worm that grovels.¡± I said, the tone of my voice getting progressively angrier. I had no patience for this woman that pounced on me for no reason. ¡°Wait-¡± I started, I now knew the reason as to why she took my leg ¡°You little BITCH! You ant, you¡¯re a maggot, a fly, a little weasel. You are not fit to breathe the same air, and walk the same soil as me. I am above you in every way, you are nothing and you can not stop me from reaching my goal.¡± I said, I kicked her off and turned to the golden and beautiful blood. It was time for the main event¡­ and I am going to enjoy it very much. Chapter 17 Interlude: Solaria Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 12th day I woke up, the same room filled with Black Andromedese filled my eyes and gave me just a little bit of comfort. It was only 3 days until the negotiations, Samuel had gotten L0S-19 by now and held it within his hands. He was, now, more important than me for Solaria, much more important at the moment. Hm mm, if we go off wxhat I think will happen, then L0S-19 should go off, if it does that would be perfect. Finally, the last motions of my plan are clicking into place-it was euphoric, in a way. I finally felt like I had some authority, compared to the¡­ unsavory conditions I had been in before being adopted by the Church. I shook my head to get those memories back in their place, it was a dark; very dark, and very frightening path to walk even for me now. The memories, they were still fresh in my mind-they always will be. Having a perfect body that doesn''t age, doesn''t need food, doesn''t produce waste also effectively makes me have a photographic memory. They will never deteriorate, "They" will always stick in my mind-I wonder if my old self predicted this before I gained this new body. Yet, even with that experience which I can never forget-even if it happened well over 70 years ago-my body still aches. Is it not my blood, then, but something else entirely? The curse of Demenseria as that damned Quill said, it transcends just my blood. In my years, I was so preoccupied with what to do, and never did look back into myself. Heh, the Archbishops would surely get a good laugh if they saw how I presented myself outside of their presence. Just a lonely girl-with immense power-and nothing to fight for. This contemplating I did led to the memories flooding back, even though I tried to stop them. I remembered vividly what happened, what "They" did felt as real as the day it first happened. This wasn''t the first time this happened, so I already knew what to do. I closed my eyes and walked to the door with measured ease, the Black Andromedese was still in the hallway and helped ease some of my pain. The memories were painful, but that''s all they were-memories. I rehashed this many times, and no matter how painful an event is, reliving it over and over would lend me some sort of resistance. I breathed in and out slowly, a simple reaction activity. The mana inside me came to life, flooding into my brain-and then sealing the remnant memories into a little corner. They were there, and would escape eventually, but this temporary fix was better than nothing. I stepped back into my dark room and looked back on the map, Solaria and Iabrun were separated by a giant ocean. Solaria on the left, Iabrun on the right and a massive expanse of water between the 2 nations-allowing us to remain relatively contactless. If memory serves, then Teser and Joan were influencing an island nation in that massive expanse, a medium sized nation named Batem. A good proxy to target the officials of the Iabrun Empire, and if worse comes to worst-then a nation to point the blame at if our operations get discovered. I formulated a bit of a plan, and I needed to check with Teser and Joan to make sure this is carried out effectively. I stepped out and teleported to a secret cathedral, the one molded over and over through the generations of different Popes. Inheriting the name of the last one after their death, or resigning. Pope Adam Cathedral was built in his image perfectly, an area was sterile white and without any blemishes-my own area was a stark contrast to his, as deep as the voids and as dark as the abyss. I landed in my own area, those other areas of previous popes were places I didn''t venture too far into yet. This was the safest place in all Solaria, no one except the Pope and His Divine Majesty knew of its existence. Even then, I didn''t know of its exact location either. I telepathically communicated to Teser and Joan, linking the 3 of us. All Archbishops had their bodies carved with Suns-Suns that were carved by the current ruling Pope. Many different types of them were engraved, but the simplest and most useful was the ability to talk without restriction via telepathy. All I needed to do was inject a certain amount of my mana-and as a certain symbol-into the Sun in my hand. Teser and Joan both joined immediately, saying "Hello Your Excellency Celestine. Why did you call for us?" Their voices were in sync, and both were clear and crisp. I replied in turn "Where are you in Kueler?" I had to teleport to the capital city, Kueler, and needed some coordinates. Teser took the initiative to reply and said "We are currently in the 3rd guest room of the Royal House in Kueler." I had already visited the capital before and looked around extensively, so I already had the visual image in mind. I closed my eyes and stimulated my mana, easily guiding it around my body and opening a spatial crack right around me. I teleported to the area and saw Teser and Joan standing perfectly still, with neutral expressions. I nodded and asked "When is the time to meet Helena?" Joan answered "In around 2 hours, Your Excellency." I nodded and dispelled my Pope robes, they were for meetings only-and used my mana to weave new, more casual clothing. I had a simple black, short-sleeved shirt and some normal black pants. The 2 took it as a sign and did the same, changing their robes to clothing that fits more casual wear for them. We were all in just simple clothes, Teser wore a dark blue shirt and black pants; Joan was a bit more fancy and made herself a red dress that stretched to the ground, it was inlaid with little rubies and she held a fan in her right hand. I said to them "Convene back here in an hour and 55 minutes, otherwise you can take a little break and relax around the capital." They both nodded and thanked me, before teleporting to their respective locations. I did the same, teleporting to a dark corner of the capital and walked into a bar. I went up to the counter-I could see the filthy, depraved, vile looks that some of the people gave me, but I ignored them-and slapped down a Solarian dollar. I asked "Give me the strongest drink you have." The bartender, a Nephilim by the looks of it, nodded and gave me an icey-blue drink. It had 7 layers, alternating between different shades of blue. I picked it up and downed the whole thing, much to the surprise of everyone around me. It felt like nothing, my perfect body would stop me from getting drunk. The taste was pretty nice though. I gave him a Solarian bill worth 10$ and said "Give me as much as this pays for." He didn''t question me and passed me 10 more of the drinks, I picked another and downed it just as quickly, though I did savor the taste a bit more. The taste was unique, citrus was the main flavor with just a hint of other fruits. I passed one to the bartender, he nodded and downed it as well. He was quickly inebriated, though, with his face red and a slurr being present. I was slowly sipping my 3rd as an average sized lizardmen came next to me and dropped down 8 austral. He asked "Hello pretty lady, this enough for an hour?" The lizardmen was pretty drunk, it seems. I looked at him, his faced irked me for some reason. I shook my head, and went back to slowly sipping my drinks. I was finished with the 3rd and was starting my 4th when the lizardmen took my arm and said "Thats all I have, come with me." He started to tug on my arm, I stayed motionless and some of the other patrons looked our way. His face looked even more ugly at the moment, and something snapped inside me. Dark tendrils formed around him and dragged the bastard down into the basement, they formed around me as well and dragged me down with him. We were in the cellar of the bar, I tied him down with dark mana tendrils-I debated getting some acid but I had an even better idea. The tendrils around him tightened, they started to corrode his skin. He looked at me with fear, the pain getting through his previous drunkenness. I took a tendril and threaded it around his crotch, he looked at me with even wider eyes. "Want me to take it off?" He was shaking his head with enough force to shatter rock but the tendrils held him in place, his pleas fell on deaf ears and I ripped it off. He screamed and screamed as the corrosion worsened, it sapping through his tail, legs and arms. I took a small scrap of my mana and wrapped it around his, now castrated, thing and picked it up. I moved it back to its place and stitched it back together, and then released him. The tendrils around both of us moved us up to our respective places before we went down, I downed my 4th and started to drink my 5th. The lizardmen didn''t say anything before he started to run towards the exit, he didn''t make it far though. His whole body started to rot down, becoming a black necrotic tissue 2 meters from the door, bones a meter from it and then turning to dust on the spot. The others didn''t look at me and stared down heavily on their drinks, I quickly finished the rest of my drinks and went to leave. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a small kid in the corner of the establishment. I disregarded his existence and started to leave the establishment, a brave soul touched my hand as I was moving. A tendril instantly formed and grabbed her, dragging her into the air-it was a built in mechanism to catch anyone who touches me. She looked to be around 26 years old and was definitely a prostitute looking for business in this bar, my sense of smell was acute enough for that. She said "heh.. I''m sorry, I just wanted to thank you for what you did." I placed her down-her words didn''t fluctuate my neutral emotions in the slightest. I didn''t do anything and just walked out, wanting to see what else this city had to offer. The sunshine on the streets was nice, but they did sting a little. I turned into a shadow and jumped from the shadows cast, eventually turning up on what looked to be a brothel. I smelt something inside-something more interesting than the body odor emitted by the people inside. I walked inside and honed in on my target, what looked to be a Fallen Angel with a black halo-thats just cosmetics but some people liked it-and grey wings. I quickly made my way to her, ignoring the looks of the other people there. The mature Angel was taller than me by quite a bit, she looked at me and said "Yes? What do you want? 1 Solarian dollar for an hour, extra for extra services of course. Just ask me what you want, and I will deliver." I ignored what she said and instead manifested some tendrils, a mature normal Angel was a baby to me. The hands that were pure darkness penetrated into her abdomen and pulled out what looked to be a droplet of blood, that was just a cover for its real form. I attacked it with 10 tendrils and the blood turned golden, blocking and disintegrating the 10 tendrils around it. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. 4 people that looked to be the guards to prevent anything particularly untowards from happening were running my way. I manipulated a single tendril to shoot through the hearts of all 4, the last putting up a weak mana shield that instantly shattered. I looked once again at the Fallen Angel, and yelled "You have the blood of Archangel Israfil, why!" She looked surprised; confused, and was coughing up enough blood to make it look like a murder scene. She said "I have no idea what you''re talking about?" My anger was boiling now, damned Israfil. I cut off the head of the Fallen Angel and turned back into a shadow, going into the street and teleporting back to Pope Adam Cathedral. I instantly notified Israfil of a set of coordinates, I then teleported there-a field in a remote part of Solaria. Israfil took but a second to come as well, and in that time he took coming here-I switched back to my Pope robes. Israfil looked like an ordinary human at the moment, we both stood 5 meters from eachother. I looked him square in the eye and said "Israfil, do you know what kind of pact you have broken?" He feigned ignorance, I could tell. I pulled out the golden blood from my hands, and held it up. "Why is your blood inside the body of a person on the ground!? We agreed that there will be no more Seraph presence on the land, just as there is no Godly one. Explain yourself." His presence exploded there, momentarily pressuring me to a kneeling position. I heard the thundering of a horn, and the blowing of trumpets signaling the arrival of the end, his authority over the "end" of all things. His Divine Majesty shot spears of plasma at the ground around Israfil, shouting from the sky "This is Solarian soil Israfil, my domain. Watch yourself." Israfil quickly took back his presence, allowing me to breath a little. He said "An eye for an eye, right? No need to mince words, tell me what I need to pay for you to bury this." I nodded, this is what I hoped for. I looked at him and said "2 droplets of Dragon blood." He shook his head and said "1 droplet would equal 1.5 of my own blood, 1.5 droplets of Dragon blood is what I am willing to concede." I nodded, "1.5 is acceptable, hand it over to me." 2 was a bit ambitious of me, but all is good. Interactions between the people at the top of their respective organizations were all short, we are all busy and didn''t have the time to set up a meeting, and then discuss negotiations for hours. He generated a droplet and a half of a thick, blue-ish blood and handed it over. I nearly touched it, the blood had a presence that attracted me, who was right on the cusp of the first step of Godhood. I contained myself, though, and handed it over to His Divine Majesty. Israfil had already left by that point, and I teleported back to the streets of Kueler. In the blink of an eye, I changed back to my casual clothes and started to wander the streets again. After an hour and 30 minutes, I teleported back to the room and blended into the shadows perfectly-my fun was had, well, almost anyway. Teser and Joan''s quipps when I wasn''t around were always fun to see. It was around 10 minutes left until the designated meeting time and both arrived early, likely to wait for my arrival. Teser had a distinct smell to him, and Joan picked up on it. "Its breeding season for you isn''t it, with what little is left of your race, what other did you rape this fine day?" She said, Teser didn''t miss a beat and replied quickly with "It was consensual mind you, and unlike your race. Atleast I have a designated time, very different from you and your slutty ways, Fox." Joan didn''t seem to mind his insult and said back "Well, well. With a face like yours im sure it wasn''t consensual in any way, besides you don''t seem to mind me being in the mood all the time." It was the first time I had seen Teser crack his stone cold face outside of combat, he replied (after 30 seconds or so of what looked like contemplation) "That was just a one time thing." Joan rolled her eyes and quickly snapped back, "You said that the last 18 times as well, you can¡¯t just repeat the same thing." Her voice was veritably dripping with tease. 18? Hmmm, I thought it was just 3 times, they sure do get busy. Heh, it isn''t any of my business anyway-oh so fun to see their interactions though. Teser laughed a bit "Let''s not forget the time you tried to seduce Batos, I don''t know why you think your sultry ways would work on an Angel is beyond me." Joan replied "I was stronger than him at the time, and it worked you know." Teser broke out in a fit of near-uncontrollable laughter "Oh so thats why you were nearly fully purified by him, and why he avoids you. If you try and tempt him into becoming a Fallen Angel, Celestine would be royally pissed." Hmm, now that I remember, Joan and Batos don''t have the best of relationships. I nearly laughed as well, which would destroy this fun little moment. Joan (who was silent for about a minute) suddenly thought of something and laughed harder than Teser did, "Was it not you who tried to make Celestine fall for you? I remember your flirting attempts when we were just normal Bishops, ''did you fall from Heaven'', cheesiest line in the book and you didn''t even know her powers were darkness related." I nearly forgot about that little experience, it elicited a slight giggle from me, but I managed to mask it fast enough. Teser groaned just a bit, "Did you have to remind me of that? I thought everyone forgot by now." Joan scoffed, "Do you think I would forgot such a monumental occasion as your failed flirt with Celestine? Impossible, that has been imprinted in my mind for eternity." They both started to giggle a bit, but Teser didn''t want to back down and replied "Oh and who is known as the promiscuous Archbishop, oh slutty one?" His tone was mischievous, unfitting for his look. Joan, in a voice that was laced with just a bit of teasing said "And who is the most liked one of us all, oh silent, broody and unruly one?" Teser laughed and said "Samuel, he is a human and is liked more than the 4 of us. Solaria is a predominantly human nation, I can''t connect with many people-and while you''re very¡­ appealing to the eye, there are only so many that would bring. Batos and Regin are both Angels of a caliber that don''t interact much with humans, they have an attitude of superiority which makes sense, all of us do but the people aren''t the most receptive to them." Joan sighed and nodded, "A shame too, he is the weakest of us all." Teser shook his head and said "Thats what makes him a good Archbishop, he can connect to the normal people better than we can. There was a sacrifice we made for the amount of power we wield." "Besides, Samuel isn''t the weakest, you are. He is atleast adept at traps, what are you good at?" Teser said, it was obvious that it was a joke-Samuel was clearly weaker than every other Archbisop, but he was by no means weak. Joan looked around-her fox ears moving to detect any change of noise-and said "I can show you what I''m good at." as she started to undress. He started to do the same, and I knew that this was the perfect moment to leave my little hiding place. With a little giggle, I started to walk out. Before I could even talk, Joan yelled "eep!" and quickly weaved her robes again, Teser was even faster and formed his robes as soon as I walked out. "Uhh, Your Excellency. How long were you there." asked Joan, her tone was a little fearful. "Long enough to know that you two were about to level these islands with your romping around." They both blushed up to their hairlines-which was cute on one, less so on the other-but I didn''t really care. "Keep it to yourselves, just get ready. It''s time to negotiate with Helena. Forcefully, if neccesary." The two nodded, and put on their solemn looks once again. A very stark contrast to their demeanor towards eachother before I walked out of my hiding spot-so with a slight giggle that was noticed by both, I walked out the door and headed to the chamber. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ POV Helena I sat on my throne and fearfully waited for the arrival of the two frightening diplomats from Solaria. That big brutish nation wants me to become some proxy against their war on Iabrun. The doors were opening, I closed my eyes and waited for the speaker to announce their presence, "The honored diplomats from Solaria, Teser Livyatan, Joan D''hlar, and Celestine Mylnar." I quickly opened my eyes, there was a 3rd. When did they arrive? My castle was supposed to be warded, and any arrivals I would notice quickly. The 3rd one was in the center, Celestine, was as cold as the night, she held a mocking smile on her face. It looked like if she was mocking me for my defenses, her smile said "I am stronger than your nation combined, and you can''t do anything about it." It irked me, but I kept a pleasant look on my face. I sat on my throne, befitting a Queen. I looked at them once again, Teser was a giant of a man standing at nearly 2 and a half meters tall. He was wearing dark blue robes, closer to black than blue, and held his head high. His robes were expertly woven around his other body parts, a gigantic tail reminiscent of an Astroangilae was what he carried around. I don''t doubt he could conceal it if he wanted to, but this was all an intimidation tactic-I wasn''t going to fall for it, though. 2 fins on the side of his body protruded out, glowing with various colors ranging from blue, to pink, and even purple. Joan was more pleasant to look at, she wore her robes-reminiscent of the color seen during a sunset-well. They were also woven around the only extra she had, 3 tails protruded from her and were being dragged on the ground. The 3 were all a yellow color, their tips ending with a scarlet red-it was the same as her own hair color, a deep yellow with red tips. Her fox ears were jerking to and fro, likely listening for anything. My eyes focused on the last one, Celestine. She had hair as black as the deepest black, eyes were much the same and so were her robes. She looked like a normal human, except their was something deeper to her. Even with no mana, I could sense that she hid something under the surface. I avoided looking her directly in the eye, something inside me warned me not to. The 3 walked steadily, with ease and grace-they arrived at the bottom of my throne. Celestine spoke first, asking "We would like a direct audience with Her Majesty." I could detect only neutrality, but something told me that her voice was dripping with mock. That she thought this was just a farce of a meeting, but the show must go on. I nodded, everyone except my royal guards left the chambers-they could still listen in through other means though. Celestine started, her tone perfectly neutral and gave me nothing to work on. "Your Majesty Helena, we would like to propose a deal. We will help your country expand, provide different resources that you can''t procure on yourself-all at a discount of our normal trading rates." I nodded and replied positively, saying "A very generous deal, but nothing comes without a price. What do we have to do?" Celestine nodded, expecting my response and said "For all this, and if you''re cooperative-even more. The capital will have to act as a proxy base for the actions of the Solarian Church." I narrowed my eyes and said, "Act as a proxy against Iabrun? No, I will not become a tool in this battle between giants. I do not want my country to become a scapegoat and be crushed under the iron hooves of either of your countries, you must understand Celestine. I only want what is best for my people, and agreeing to this would put their lives at a monumental risk." "I understand Your Majesty, a ruler must rule for the people and not themselves after all. Consider this, I will allow your ships free access to Solarian ports that lead to the Twisting Ocean." She said, her smile never wavered, her eyes looked at the throne and not me; she was frightening, not in the way of a wild beast, but in the way something is uncanny. I don''t know whether she was a big threat or not, and it bore through to my soul. "My stance is firm on this." I said, my voice wavering a bit, but my point was understood by her-I hope. She nodded, "If your so sure on your stance, Your Majesty. I would advise you to rethink this little decision, this meeting between us is a farce, it is a formality that Solaria has agreed to-a way for us to be cordial. Do get this in your mind, Your Majesty, your country is nothing in the eyes of us or Iabrun, we have no obligation to provide you trade, care for your people, or even you. If you''re being so firm on your stance, then we will do what we must. The removal of you is always on the table, and you mustn''t forget this Your Majesty." Her voice was oozing with animosity and malice; she had a mocking tone as well, it only got progressively worse as she talked, and the horror of the situation finally caught up to me. Celestine, for the first time in this conversation, looked me directly in the eye. Those were not the eyes of a human, or a simple beast. They were of a monster, they were hideous and disgusting. She revealed her teeth, razor sharp and oozed with a black substance of what could only be blood, I nearly forgoed all etiquette and wanted to run-I barely held down the urge and nodded shakily. She reverted back to the tame diplomat immediately, saying "Thank you for your understanding, Your Majesty." They walked out from the chamber and my decision finally set in. How was I ever going to recover from this? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ POV Celestine I left the chambers and all 3 of us teleported back to the guest room, I looked at the 2 and could see some lingering fear; but they also contained admiration, awe, and especially reverence. I said to the two "Our mission here is complete." and changed back to my casual clothes. "Take your time, relax. You have a 3 day break before I will relay your next orders, enjoy it together." I emphasized ''together'' especially, and the two understood me almost immediately. Teser coughed into his fist and Joan choked a bit behind her fan, the two changed back to look like normal humans and then into their casual clothing. "Oh, would you 2 like to go on a stroll with me?" They both nodded and I teleported all 3 of us into the streets, we started to just walk around and take in the atmosphere. The food, street food that was different than the exquisite food we usually ate, but equally good. We were on a walk near the beach when Joan thought up of something, a light could be seen in her eyes. The beautiful emerald water was pleasing to the eye, it was clear and pristine. Joan went up and whispered "Hey, hey. Change into your whale form and give us a ride underwater." Teser shook his head, but eventually cracked when Joan kept insisting that she would "give him a special surprise" whatever that meant. He led us to the water and dived down, we followed in suit and were eventually near what looked to be a massive coral reef. Teser sighed and changed his form back to what he once was, a gigantic whale 50 meters long-though that was him being conservative with his size. We hopped onto his back, and he started to speed around the reef. Joan was having a whale of a time, but I just laid down and closed my eyes with a small smile. If this is what I get in exchange for what "They" did, perhaps that was worth it. Chapter 18 Mike Year 1023 of the New Calendar, Month of the Sun, Day 12 I took my 5th step towards the golden blood, the luster of it never waning. The closer I got to it, the more I realized I couldn''t describe it with words, it wasn''t a golden color-yet that was the best word I could describe it with. It was something that couldn''t be described with simple words; the best epithets I could come up with would not even describe a millionth of a billionth of the thing in front of me. This uniqueness led me closer, and closer to it. The Nephilim behind me was shell-shocked and stayed still, muttering "No, you''re not Mike.. what are you?" I looked back at her and said "No, I''m not Mike. I''m, I''m.." What.. What was I exactly? I held no memories, that golden blood was all I knew. No, it was all I needed to know - this powerless Nephilim held nothing over me, her words did not mean anything. "It does not matter what I am, I know my purpose." And with that satisfactory answer, at least in my eyes, I turned back to stepping towards the blood. The disgusting smell emanating from that item in the center of the ritual did not dissuade me in the slightest. The closer I got to the blood, the weirder I felt. My throat was parched, my stomach felt empty and grumbled endlessly. My right arm and left leg turned black; it was necrotic tissue, rot steeping directly into my bones, and disease rooting itself into my very blood. It eventually led to my tissue melting straight off my bones; a stinging, searing, unbearable pain was felt, but the allure of the blood was stronger. I pushed through successfully and started to walk again. My soul was screaming in agony, it hurt, it was painful and it did not dissuade me. My soul felt like it was being molded like clay, twisted and turned into every which way. Even then, it was worth it for that blood - that blood was worth it, it was perfectly reasonable. The blood would solve everything, I took my final step towards it, and finished my goal, touching that beautiful, brilliant, golden blood. After I did, though, was when the entire ritual calmed down. The spatial cracks closed, the blood retreating into them. My tissue was repaired quickly, turning from nothing to black bone, then to black tissue and then turning completely normal. The odor emanating was turned null, the stench retreating - leaving behind only me and my teacher, Mrs. Kehlir. I looked around, nothing happened for only a moment. Then, a massive pressure unlike before descended, forcing us both to lie down on the ground-not even getting the chance to prostrate. 3 shadowy figures appeared, the one in front uttered a single phrase "You are not worthy of my help" He less uttered that, though. The message was sent directly into my brain, I did not hear it, but I felt the message as clear as day. The pressure retreated as quickly as it came, and all that was left was the 7 candles that looked to be normal now. The bloody color of them was replaced by the yellowy-white color of wax, and the putrid odor of basilisk blood was completely removed from them. All other parts of the ritual were already consumed by the failed ritual, damnnit. Why did it even fail? What did I do wrong, even? I recall nothing from the start of the ritual to now, what even happened? I looked at Mrs. Kehlir, she was lying down on the floor with eyes that were glazed over. I went up to her and waved my hand in front of her face, she elicited no response to what I did. I lightly slapped her face, she still exhibited no response with her eyes looking not at me, or anything else in the room. Her eyes looked to be staring at something else entirely, perhaps this was a side effect of the ritual? I shook my head and walked out of the door, getting someone from the infirmary to pick her up would be for the best. When I walked out of the door, the beautiful hallways of the Academy hit me. The beautiful wood floors and large windows on the wall made for a serene scene, it allowed me to stop the small jitters I could feel in my hand. I breathed out slowly, my anger dissipated ever so slightly, but it would never truly go away unless he was killed. I wonder how to defeat him now, hmmmm. A dilemma that could be left for later, I started to walk down the hallway when I saw my friend, Hueser. We couldn¡¯t see eachother much, he was a small water elemental that stood at only half my height. He got his name off the small sea he comes from, the Hueser Sea between Iabrun and a small country at its northeastern border. I went up to him, his pristine watery body was nice to look at. Not in a sense of looking at another sentient creature, but looking at the scene of the sun hitting water, just a beautiful scene of nature. Shaking my head, I was about to start talking to him when I noticed his peculiar look. ¡°What is it? Do I have something on my face?¡± He shook his head and answered ¡°No, not that. Did you just cuck Mrs. Kehlir¡¯s husband?¡± My facial expression perfectly summed up my response: ¡°What did you just say?¡± I didn¡¯t even know what I did to make him think of such a thing. I looked down on myself, sure I had some rustled clothes but it was quite the logical leap to think that me and her had that kind of relationship. I said to him ¡°We just did a ritual, it was for extra credit. You know I was only missing 1 point until I had all the credits required for this year. I could finally take a small vacation, go back to my hometown and visit my mom.¡± He nodded and seemed to take my answer as the truth. I could still tell that he held some suspicions about me, but that''s none of my concern. I asked him ¡°Right, how did your little trip back home go? I didn¡¯t want to bother you so I didn¡¯t call. How was it? Had your fun there?¡± He nodded, we started to walk to the cafeteria - it was a little shortcut to the infirmary - and he started to talk along the way ¡°It was nice seeing my extended family again, you know that us elementals have quite the long lifespan. It was¡­ intimidating slightly to see all of them. But it was nice, unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t see my father. He was out on some business deal with the main branch of the family. We are just an off-shoot from the ones found in the Twisting Ocean.¡± ¡°Interesting-¡± I said, and continued on with a slightly confused tone ¡°Your offshoot is huge, how big is the main branch?¡± He laughed a bit and answered ¡°Yeah, they¡¯re massive. The absolute head of the family did call for us to convene later, Judgement 5th I believe. I wonder why he called for everyone, though.¡± I asked another question ¡°Wait, isn¡¯t that next month? What excuse are you going to give the school? Last I checked, you didn¡¯t have enough credits to just go away. And I doubt you¡¯re only staying for a day.¡± He looked around for a bit and said in a low voice ¡°With enough of a bribe, anything is possible.¡± I looked at him with a suspicious look and asked in an equally low voice ¡°And how much is ¡®enough¡¯ exactly?¡± He said with a laugh ¡°8,000 gold pounds, can you believe it?¡± I shook my head, tilting it at the same time to convey my question. He picked up my question and answered ¡°The head of the house really wants everyone to go out for this, I wonder why? Anyway, I can pocket nearly 700 gold pounds out of this deal.¡± I was about to say something when his phone - that he kept inside of his own body surrounded by a bubble - started to ring. He looked at it and told me that he had to go, I nodded and went inside the cafeteria. His phone call wasn¡¯t of my concern, the beautiful tables and decorations hit me. Against the day to day industrial background, this was a nice way to shake it up a bit. Smiling, I started to walk to a door on the opposite side of the room, it was closer to the infirmary. I reached the door without incident, but a little air elemental was there to block my way. She, from what I could tell anyway, floated up to my ear and said ¡°After you have sex, perhaps you should clean up.¡± I looked at her with a thoroughly confused face and left the cafeteria, 2 elementals thought I had sex even though I didn¡¯t. My mind drifted back to the ingredients, murdock and elf hair shouldn¡¯t cause such a reaction. Neither should Basilisk blood, or the Griffin feather. Wait, if the Basilisk blood combined with the murdock then it, conceivably, could cause such a reaction. Why would the elementals be the only one to notice though? Ah nevermind, I have to clean myself up. I quickly went into a side room used to store some equipment for practical lessons and started to thoroughly purge my body of any filth. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. After a minute, I could feel a little dark spot right in the middle of my arm. I forcefully ejected it, and out came a small little blob of what looked to be pure filth. I incinerated it and then left the side room, heading to the infirmary. What that blob was, I could only guess. Perhaps an after effect of the ritual? I have no idea why it had such an effect on the elementals though. Shaking my head, I reached the infirmary and popped my head inside. What looked to be a small man with a green complexion, non-existent ears and long-hair sat there at a beautiful desk. He was the person in charge of the area, a man of the Uoulis race. I walked up to him and said ¡°Mrs. Kehlir in Room 412 had a little accident with a ritual, she is currently unresponsive, but exhibits no harm.¡± He nodded and shouted out ¡°Jesuin, get your ass to room 412.¡± He didn¡¯t seem to have had the best of days, so I quietly slinked out of the room. It wasn¡¯t uncommon for ritual accidents to happen, and I would at most be a hindrance. My presence was no longer required, and the school day was nearly over anyway. Now seems like a good idea to go and start the tutoring program. I will have to research a way to take care of that killer though. I¡¯ll stay in the Academy, and I¡¯ll have to invite Ava to stay with me. He shouldn¡¯t be the type to brazenly attack me in here, so I¡¯ll be safe enough. I walked out of the school, the cityscape put me in a sour mood compared to the beautiful interior of the Academy, but no matter. I started to make my way to George Boulevard 13621. It was definitely in the richer part of Augustus, as I went nearer and nearer to it - less and less people were seen walking the streets. Their style of clothing went from practical, to what could only be called the pinnacle of eccentricity. One couple sported matching feathers that stretched a meter high, which had a bright pink and blue color scheme. Shaking my head, I got to the apartment which was their home. I looked at the names of the people, and only 2 lived here. Victoria Larsen, and her child, Abigail Larsen. I wonder just how much it cost, ah no matter. It doesn¡¯t really matter, I rang the doorbell and waited a few seconds. After those few seconds, I could hear the shuffling of footsteps, I guess someone was on the 1st floor. They couldn''t have reached me so fast in this 4 story apartment otherwise, Victoria opened the door and happily greeted me by saying ¡°Ah, hello Mike. Come on in, you have arrived at just the perfect time.¡± I smiled back and walked inside, the whole entire first floor was just a living room. There was a massive television mounted upon the wall with a marble stand beneath it, it had to be 80 inches or so. The marble stand held some choice books, the one that caught my eye was Princess, a political theory novel? Maybe she is a politician, there was a gigantic white rug between the television and the white couch. Right in front of the couch was a small coffee table that was glass with a wooden frame, atop it was a 15-inch laptop. There were 4 other rooms that led off from this one, but I didn¡¯t really get a good look at them. Victoria urged me to sit on the couch, as she went upstairs to presumably get Abigail. I sat straight on the couch and waited for her to come downstairs again, my curiosity was piqued but trying to snoop around would just end this deal if it was found out. I had no doubt that anyone as rich as them would have ways to see what I did. After a minute or so of waiting, mostly just looking around the area from my seat, Victoria and her child - Abigail - came downstairs. What surprised me was that I had already seen her before, and so, she had already seen me as well. She pointed at me and said ¡°Wa-Wait, you¡¯re that guy that did magic during that one lesson.¡± I nodded and said with a smile ¡°Nice to meet you Abigail, I¡¯m Mike. A student of the Academy, and from this point forwards, your new tutor. I plan to help you as much as I can and hope to get you inside the Academy.¡± I stood up and walked to her, shaking her hand as she numbly stared at me. Victoria didn¡¯t seem fazed at all and asked me ¡°Is there anything you would like, or need?¡± I shook my head and answered politely ¡°No, but thank you for the offer. I would just like to see her current scores on the practice entrance test. The practical part of the exam is much more important, but every point counts.¡± She nodded so excessively, I thought she would break her neck but eventually she stopped and started to run upstairs. Abigail sat next to me on the couch, and asked me with an excited voice after her mother ran off ¡°Can I eventually do that too? Real magic? Like, true blue magic?¡± I smiled and nodded, magic was known to the public, but its specifics weren¡¯t known at all. A certain sense of wonder was always associated with magic, and I could not blame her. She would likely not have that after I forcefully opened her mana reserve, I could feel that she did have one. Forcefully opening it, though, would require a written up contract to occur and would only happen next time around. I will just have to bring it up next time around, no need to get her hopes up only to take that away. Her mother came downstairs with her practice exams. I said to her ¡°Thank you, Ms. Larsen. Now, for the tutoring session. I must ask you to leave us alone, magic requires absolute concentration and having another person would only interfere with her process of acquiring the skills.¡± with a constant smile on my face. She nodded and went to leave, she likely already knew this and my words were just a confirmation. I turned back to Abigail and to the papers on the coffee table, narrowing my eyes at her answers. Most of her answers were sublime and accurate, but some of the harder questions were wrong. Good, she had a stable base and I needn¡¯t teach her more. I pointed at 7 questions she got wrong, ¡°Look at all of these, ¡®What is the best use of the symbol for a water needle during a medical emergency?¡¯, ¡®Is the symbol of fire net or fire seal more useful in the scenario of sealing a Jesiel?¡¯, ¡®Why are the symbols of those not of the 4 main elements so much harder to learn?¡¯ and finally, ¡®If the symbol of a shadow bind was used on a light construct, what would be the result?¡¯ Do you see why you are answering these all wrong?¡± and asked her this question. She looked at me and shook her head, signaling that she didn¡¯t know. ¡°Look again, these are all answerable by conventional means, but they are all better suited to being answered by a practical point of view. If you knew how to best use a water needle during an emergency, it would be much easier to write down a coherent answer. Magic is inherently abstract and there are many different, so-called, perfect answers to each question.¡± She nodded and I continued, ¡°But that does not mean there aren''t any concrete answers, practical means of using magic is the best way to help you visualize an answer. Now, this can be easily remedied. The entrance exam is on The High Priestess 10th, and your first day of school is on Empress 5th. You have just around 5 months to prepare, and we should start with the basics. That is the only way to truly get better at magic.¡± She was like a little duck, just nodding along with my words. It was cute, in an innocent sort of way. ¡°Now, for our first lesson. You will have to visualize an early type of magic most beginners start with. Envision a gust of air, close your eyes and do it. Nod when you are ready.¡± She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, after 10 or so seconds, she nodded with her eyes closed. I said to her in a soothing voice ¡°Keep visualizing that gust of air, keep doing it. Then, imagine what it would look like if it was above your palm. Visualize that, a gust of air above your own palm.¡± She nodded and breathed out, she followed my older orders and nodded instead of saying anything. ¡°Good, with that. The first lesson is nearly over, now. Imagine that gust of air, instead of just floating on your palm, animating from inside your arm up into the palm of your hand. Imagine that your veins had that gust of air instead of blood, rush it through your hand and then upon your palm.¡± I said, my voice getting firmer the closer I got to the end of my statement. She nodded again, and after a minute or so of in-action; a small, minuscule, tiny, minute, and miniature gust of wind left the palm of her hand. She opened her eyes with incredulity painted upon them, being as obvious as a shadow during the peak of the day. ¡°I-I did it¡­ I actually did it!¡± I smiled and said to her ¡°This is the basics of mana control, starting from this you can reach my level, and who knows. Maybe you¡¯ll become even better than me.¡± She was still looking at her palm with an incredulous look, ¡°Now, repeat.¡± She started the exercise again. After 10 minutes of us repeating this exercise, she asked me ¡°Is there any point to this? I am barely getting better.¡± I replied in a firm voice ¡°No, repeat. Repetition is the key to the principles of magic, keep at it. Repeat.¡± She sighed and started the exercises again. After an hour, a special program was on the television that caught both of our eyes. An interview with the Duchess of Lendenburg? Interesting. I looked at her and said ¡°We can take a small break now, overworking your mana system is never a good idea.¡± She rolled her eyes but sat in a more relaxed position, opting to watch the interview with me. I didn¡¯t know the Duchess was one to agree to something on short notice. A beautiful Duchess was seen on the television, sitting down with the posture of nobility. She wore a beautiful coral pink dress, with a floral pattern on it. Her hair was the same as usual, yet it popped with her make up and dress - she looked exceptionally beautiful. She in her seat smiled at the camera, and then at the Naga man asking her questions, who was named Gus. He started the conversation with ¡°Your Grace Arianna, future Duchess of Lendenburg. We have quite the question line-up for this, I¡¯m surprised you even agreed to this, but I am grateful to you for it.¡± She smiled and said ¡°The people must know their own leaders, after all. I am here to represent the entirety of the Lendenburg family, so ask away.¡± He asked his first question near-instantly after she said her sentence, ¡°Our first question is, why go to the Magic Academy? It has been on the minds of many people, especially those in Lendenburg.¡± She looked into the camera, no into the audience, and said ¡°What is the point of leaders if they just hide away in walls? I am a Duchess of the people, I would rather be among the people rather than sit at home inside closed walls. It is simply unlike me to be there in a walled up home, the experience of learning magic is exciting, but the joy of seeing the citizens one rules over being happy and content is even more than that.¡± She spoke with eloquence and grace, she shifted her posture a little and Gus, who had his dark red scales on display, smiled and said ¡°Indeed, being a Duchess is a job about governing as much as it is a job to know the citizens.¡± Arianna smiled and nodded a bit, she started to talk but my phone started to ring right at that moment. I picked it up and noticed it was Mrs. Kehlir, I have no idea how she even got my number. With an exasperated sigh, I went to a separate room and answered the phone. ¡°Yes? What is it Mrs. Kehlir?¡± I asked her, she said with an excited voice ¡°I figured out a weakness of that Sanguine, you have to be here first though. I can¡¯t disclose it at the moment.¡± With a sigh, I agreed and hung up. I then called Ava, she quickly picked up and said in a scared voice ¡°Y-Yes? Master, wh-what is it?¡± I ordered her to ¡°Come meet with me at the Academy, you¡¯re staying in room 109, next to my 108.¡± She quickly agreed, and then I hung up. I left the room and looked at Abigail, ¡°An important event just came up for me, I would have to leave early. I am sorry, Ms. Abigail.¡± I said the last part with just a bit of a teasing tone. She looked at me with a slight blush and said ¡°You can go, just call me Abigail though.¡± I answered back with ¡°A proper respect is due to an employer.¡± as I walked out of the door. Whatever Kehlir found, it better be worth it. Chapter 19 Mike Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun Day 14th Hmm, it was around 1 am at the moment. Walking down the street, I eyed my next victim. That Mike kid - researching him was a pain - got away and was bailed out by someone out there, and he had been hiding away in that Academy ever since. I''m not stupid enough to attack a government-owned property, so prowling around for new victims it was. Remembering that kid made my blood boil, I still can''t believe he managed to escape. What kind of divine luck was this? I need to get rid of him as good as I can, and if I do, ¡­ oh the ritual is going to be perfect. I''ll finally become a Baron and a powerful one at that. Alas, he was not around at the moment, he was hiding away in that Academy. I lurked through the streets of some poorer parts of the city, I went into a dark alleyway that ended in a dead-end. I climbed it up and went above it, going to a new street. The darkness was my home as a Sanguine, and this was simply the perfect environment. I clung to the wall of the apartment and climbed up to its roof. Surveying the area, I could see some people out in the middle of the night. A drunk man staggered out of what looked to be a nightclub, perfect. I slinked down onto the ground and walked steadily to the entrance, The Devil''s Playground was the name of the establishment. I could see that the bouncer outside the entrance was a low-ranking demon off the size of his small horns. In a small alleyway right near the club, I changed my appearance to a tall, handsome black haired man. Its facial structure was vastly different to the one I used to murder¡­ that girl, her name escaped me at the moment. Hmmm, if this place was a congregation of demons, then that would be perfect. I never hunted a demon before, and new prey is always fun. I wasn''t in the mood for a challenge at the moment, though, that kid''s escape still annoyed me, and venting my anger was for the best. Then, I walked up and bribed the bouncer with 7 pounds, he nodded and opened the door for me. The red lights hit me instantly, but I got used to them quite quickly and scanned the area. Beyond the light show, dancing, and alcohol, I could see a low-ranked blue-skinned demon in the corner. She was slowly sipping down water, from what I could tell, and looked to be lonely. Good, this should be the perfect target, I walked up and started to secrete a certain smell from my body. I could control it perfectly, and while it could permeate slowly as a way to seduce an entire room. Controlling it so that it only hits the nose of a single person would make me seem irresistible, and it worked perfectly. I looked once again at the - now blushing - demon. She is a servant of the Asha family, from the looks of it, if memory serves me correctly. Her blue-tinted skin was nice to look at, she had some blue scales on certain parts of her body and a thin, reptilian tail trailed behind her. Her horns were tiny, befitting that of a low-rank, and she looked to be young for a demon. Likely only a few decades old, her eyes were a bright yellow color, and she had some scales around her eyes. I smiled at her, my scent was now maximized, and she looked at me with rapture. I took her hand without a word, she accepted easily, and I led her outside from the back door. After we were outside, I started walking and flipped a coin once. It landed heads, the head of the current ruler of Iabrun - George VI. I flipped it once again, it landed tails. She looked at me with a peculiar look, but nevertheless still followed me. We were close to an alleyway, I smiled and flipped the coin once again, it landed heads. The next flip landed tails, it was 2-2 so far. I flipped the coin for the final time, and it landed on the ground with the head of George VI looking at me. She asked me, ¡°What''s the meaning of the coin flips?¡± with a tilted head, her smooth voice was pleasing to the ear. We were right near the alley now, and I answered her with a smile, ¡°They decide the fate of your death. You got lucky.¡± She looked at me with a waning smile, ¡°Wh-What do y-¡± She couldn''t finish that sentence, I stuck my knife straight into her heart. Some blood spurted from her mouth, her eyes were bloodshot, and looked at me with shock before turning faint and glazed, a sign of death. I dragged her corpse into the alleyway and flipped a coin, it seems it was her lucky day as it landed on heads again. No desecration of this corpse, then. This little coin, and fate, decided my every action. It landed tails in the morning, meaning I would go on a hunt. It landed heads more than tails on the walk here, meaning she gets a quick and relatively painless death. If it was tails, death would be a sweet release compared to what I would do to her. Everyone that got tails begged me to kill them, their sweet cries still ring in my ear. I flipped the coin again, tails. I materialized a knife made out of blood and decapitated the corpse, I sucked out all the blood out of her head and suckled on her brain matter for a bit. What was left was a dried-up husk of a head, I flipped that coin again. Heads, her arms would stay attached. It seems lady luck was on her side as all the other flips landed on heads as well, sighing, I went out of the alleyway. It was a nice hunt, and the taste of a demons - demonesses? - blood was nice, it was sweet in a way. Different from humans that had a metallic taste to them, I definitely needed to hunt down some more of them. I left the alley and decided to head home, my hunt should be enough. After about 10 minutes, I felt a great disturbance to my soul. I instantly got down on my knees and lowered my head, I could feel blood flowing all around me before forming up as a figure in front of me, I could only see her white legs and feet, they had a certain red pattern on them - my head stayed lowered. I felt her gaze on my head, she said, ¡°Dreg, how did you let that child escape? More importantly, he is hunting you down from my observations and has enlisted some help. Make sure to stay alert, lower the frequency of your hunts and try to bait him out. If you manage to do this, I will give you all the materials to become a Viscount.¡± I nodded, stamping down my excitement in the process. Becoming a Viscount¡­ would accelerate my goal immensely. She turned back into blood and went into the night, I waited a minute before standing up. The encounter with her made me want to hunt again, made me want to stalk my next prey. After all, what was the worst that could happen? I slinked back onto a roof and jumped from it to another, after 5 minutes of searching to no avail, I planned to go back to that nightclub when I saw an escort out of the corner of my eye. My eyes lit up, a Nephilim! This was a jackpot, their blood is the sweetest of all - well, not sweeter than Angels, but they''re too pompous to be sex workers, and thus not good targets. She was dressed as an escort, a red-haired Nephilim was a rare find as a prostitute. She would be quite the amazing prey, I turned back into that handsome black-haired man that I used to kill that demon, and walked up to her. The red-haired Nephilim held a red bag and looked my way. Her smile was intoxicating, was this the charm of the Angel side of these Nephilims!?! I had to be more careful around her, I smiled and flipped a coin. Before it could land, 4 earthen walls formed around me and the Nephilim, and in came Mike walking. I constricted my eyes to slits, this little bastard stopped my hunt. He looked at me with a frown and said, ¡°We meet again, you damned psycho.¡± in a solemn tone. His face, no, his entire demeanor irked me in a way I didn''t think possible. This was a horrible position to be in, without talking, I lunged at the nearest wall and put my entire force into a punch. I broke through, but what greeted me was another wall of earth after a small, half-meter gap. Mike came out of the wall I was looking at, only at a different point, and fired a stinging bolt of lightning. He then phased back into the wall of earth, it seems that they were hollow. I heard him say, ¡°Now, you damned Sanguine. You shall know what it is like to be prey, what your victims felt before their death.¡± I let out a hearty chuckle and snapped back, ¡°Oh so overconfident are we now, Mike? Don''t forget, I was the one to win that first encounter.¡± with a lot of mirth. This was just a bluff, though, I wasn''t stupid and instantly realized how much worse the situation was for me. Last time he was unprepared and had to protect someone, shit. I could feel his frown worsen, he said from inside one of these walls - ¡°Well, well, well. I would like to see you try to beat me, I will be sure to make this a slow and painful death.¡± I split myself into 10 different copies, and we all split up and began to lunge towards a wall to try to find an escape. ¡°No, no, no. Not this time.¡± I heard from the walls, I could hear that he was reveling in the power he had over me at the moment. I felt my connection to my avatars all break, I narrowed my eyes. Shit, this guy prepared a counter? How rich is he really, he shouldn''t have this much money. He surely couldn''t have afforded such a thing. I tried it once again with 4 avatars, and unlike the first 10, these 4 were all roughly the same strength as the real me. They were instantly dispelled, shit. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I closed my eyes and sensed around me, I could feel 2 mana signatures. One big, 1 small in the surrounding walls. I looked at the big one and began to try to disrupt his mana reserve, only to feel a bolt of lightning hit my back and a spear of fire pierce my arm. I let out a scream and hurriedly cast some water to ease the stinging pain, I could hear the detestable laughter echoing all around me. A wall broke in front of me, I launched my own bolt of lightning at it, but it was just a fake. A large boulder formed over my foot and crashed down, turning my once beautiful foot into a mangled mess. I held down my scream and instead focused on sensing their mana, for a split second he was careless, and I punched my mana into his reserve. ¡°Hahaha, a bit too confident, aren''t you now, Mike?¡± I said, acting as if I was still confident. A burst of equally confident laughter echoed out, ¡°You only hit a static blob of mana, I''m afraid. Let''s see how you deal with pure, unstable mana.¡± He tossed what looked to be a violent white ball inside my little area. I widened my eyes, how prepared was he?!? I made two thick mana shields around the unstable ball of mana, I could feel another form around my 2. Shit, he was still just playing with me. The ball of mana finally became unstable enough, and it exploded outwards, breaking all 3 shields instantly - but they did weaken the blast incredibly. I was swept off my feet and landed on my back. When I tried to stand up, a tiny stream of water hit my right leg - it perfectly severed the nerves and made me instantly lose control of it. The pain was unbearable, and a slight teardrop formed in my eye. I looked around while sitting and felt another stream of water hit me, this time in my arm. I grunted loudly and forcefully stood up, releasing my mana in a wave and hitting him. The blood he coughed up and spilled on the ground was easy to detect, I grinned widely and began to control the blood he spilled. The blood still inside his mouth was protected by his physical body from my manipulation, but the blood outside was different. When I formed a knife made out of blood, I instantly threw it at his back. At that moment, though, I lost my footing and a searing pain emanated from my left leg that was holding me up. I looked down and could see my entire foot removed from my leg, the pain felt like a fire was burning rapidly on the cut side. I could only helplessly lay down on the ground, nursing my wounds and trying to create shields to protect myself. A full mana shield would drain me too quickly, I just made ones that were just enough to protect me from his attacks. The laughter was still echoing, whether that was because he was still echoing or I was just imagining it wasn''t important. I got careless for a second and two small fireballs landed on my arm and left leg. ¡°Shit, FUCK! GODDAMMIT.¡±, the pain got to me, it was excruciating. The bastard definitely controlled the power of the flame, so it gave me 2nd-degree burns instead of 3rd degree, fuck. I could feel my nerves burning, yet unlike a 3rd degree that burns them so much it doesn''t feel painful, mine just burned endlessly. A stream of water came inside the room, I looked at it with bloodshot eyes. It was greenish water, acid had been mixed inside it. The water was made up of mana, but the acid wasn''t - guess he wasn''t proficient at acidic spells. Shaking my head to get rid of unnecessary thoughts, I lifted my hand and squeezed down, forming a mana shield around that greenish liquid. Another stream came inside, this one was much too quick for me to react, and it burrowed itself inside the cut that severed my foot from my leg. I started to frantically roll around, trying to help ease the pain as much as possible. I could see my leg turning black and melting down into a puddle, what kind of fucking acid did he use?? My senses could feel him charge up another attack, it was instinctive from honing my sense for years. A large ball of water shot out at me, I was too tired to even form a barrier in time, the ball of water splashed on me, soaking me in my entirety. I was freezing now, and a lightning bolt came at me. It electrocuted me for what felt like an eternity, but it was only pain - I could tell he didn''t put any real power behind it and just wanted to make me suffer. He laughed again, I could hear him reveling in my pain. Oh, so reminiscent of my own, it stung me in a way that I never thought possible. No, his laughter was even worse - it was even worse than mine, he enjoyed my pain more than I enjoyed others¡¯ pain. As far as I know, he had only killed 1 person before this, was he just built to enjoy the pain of others. It took me years to know how to enjoy it, yet it came oh so naturally to him. That was what bruised my ego the most, he was just¡­ better than me. Two sharp, jagged pieces of stone were shot out and embedded inside me in non-lethal areas. Moving my body caused them to tear more flesh around them, causing me to have to stay still. Green blades of wind made small cuts all around my body, those blades carried an acid that then started to simmer inside the cuts. It hurt, it hurt, it hurt, IT HURT. What did I do to deserve this?!? There was only one option left for me now, I - with the last amount of mana left in me - decided to do something crazy. To reveal my true Sanguine form, I barely formed that blood knife and stuck it inside my heart. Instantly, a transformation began to start. My mana would be sealed in such a state, a result of my rank being low. My wounds healed quickly, my skin turned a blackish-red; bumps and abscesses formed on my skin, most of a yellowish color. Two large wings grew on my back, they were of the same color as my skin and were made up of a membrane. There were holes in the membrane, and the wings tapered off to sharp points. I contracted it, so they were back inside my body, forming two bumps on my back. My hair turned yellowish-green, my fangs grew exponentially, and my eyes turned more monstrous. The warts were especially bad on my face, and half of my face looked mangled - as if I were just out of a brawl with a wild animal. My fingernails turned to claws, claws like those of wild beasts. This was the last resort of any Sanguine¡­ our true form¡­ my true form. We were to descend a status upon the use of it, I would lose my noble title but damn it, it was preferable to dying. My voice turned guttural, yelling out ¡°DIE YOU MAGGOTS.¡± My sensory abilities were magnified, and I charged straight at his mana signature, my claws crashed through the mana barrier he created and scratched his right arm. Five lines were seen imprinted on his arm, blood spewed out, and I started to effortlessly control that blood. Mike widened his eyes, but stayed calm from the looks of it, and pulled out the red bag. He stuck his hand inside and pulled out a blue mirror, my mind instantly looked at it. ¡°BLUE MOONLIGHT!, DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE¡± was the only thing I could muster up, I lunged at him as best I could and tried to snatch that mirror out of him. He stuck his mana inside it and activated it before I could reach him, the blue moonlight touched my skin and a sizzling sound was heard immediately. I ran off and looked down at my arm, the abscesses popped and a yellow mucus with a vile stink rolled down my arm. It wasn''t healing, the natural enemy of all Sanguine was this moonlight. ¡°DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE¡± was the only thing I could articulate, I rushed at the other person that was with him, THAT FUCKING NEPHILIM. I reached her quickly and tried to stick my hand inside her, to forcefully rip out her womb and make him witness me eating it. She dodged quickly, and I could only hold on to her right arm, I crushed down on it and the sweet crackling of bones was heard, with the amazingly delicious smell of Nephilim blood being in the air now. It excited me to no end and I bit down on her mangled arm before I could get any blood, that BLUE MOONLIGHT HIT ME AGAIN. ¡°ARGHHH, DIE¡± I yelled out and ran towards Mike, trying to hold off the pain. He broke the mirror, and much to my surprise and horror, a blue moon formed in the air and the light intensified. ¡°ARGHHHHHHHHHH, DAMN YOU.¡± I yelled out, I could see the Nephilim hold such a mirror as well and break it too. Another blue moon formed, the two used each other¡¯s light, and the intensity magnified. I was in too much pain to articulate any sentences, I could feel my form fading and I had to return to my regular state. After 2 minutes of mind-numbing pain, the blue moons dissipated, and I was laying down in a puddle of my sweat, blood, and other bodily fluids. I looked up barely and saw Mike coming to me with a knife in hand. He looked like an executioner coming to finish the last job of the day, I smiled and laid down again. This is the end, it seems. I thought I would be angrier, but no, I feel¡­ peaceful? In a weird sort of way. He looked at me and asked ¡°Any last words?¡±, I chuckled a bit but stopped because of the pain coming from my chest and said ¡°Yeah, sure. I got a whole damned confession to make.¡± Mike didn''t like my joking tone, but said, ¡°Sure, confess.¡± I was surprised but began to speak nonetheless - ¡°Heh, we aren''t so different. You and I, you''re just better at controlling your urges. You ever felt like you had a will to dominate others? Completely control them? Yeah, so do I. I felt it in your voice when we were fighting, you did not revel in being able to kill me - the killer. You only reveled in the power and authority you held over me, you''re quite the good actor¡­ Mike-¡± I said his name with enough bile and venom that it would be able to kill cities worth of people, but I continued, ¡°You act as if you''re some proper boy, I researched you. You bought a slave, and no matter how much you try to deny it. You like that feeling of control, don''t you? You know you do, so why fight it? Let it control you, and you''ll feel so much better, so much¡­ freer.¡± He looked at me with incredulity, ¡°And become like you? Not a chance, you psycho.¡± I laughed a lot, enduring the pain, and said ¡°Heh, you didn''t deny you like that feeling of control. Guess you do love it, maybe even more than me. At least you know your place and don''t go trying to control people you can¡¯t, calling Ari-" He came up to me and put the knife on my throat, drawing the slightest bit of blood. "Don¡¯t you dare call her by her name, refer to her as the Duchess properly." I started to laugh again, "It seems you really love her, or is it respect? What is it then, Mike? Ah, whatever, that doesn''t really matter. I just hope you know the Duchess isn¡¯t what she seems to be.¡± "What you say is wrong, monster. You know nothing of the Duchess" I smiled and said "Perhaps, perhaps not. I can''t look into her well anyway, and she''s a Noble. She fakes everything to the public, no matter what. She has to keep up appearances after all, heh, I don''t even know why I''m discussing this with you. Oh, and if I were you, look into Ava''s past. Now, just kill me, I have confessed all I want to." He looked at me angrily, I looked at the surroundings once again - the final vision I would ever see. I saw¡­ THAT FUCKING WHITE SANGUINE. She stood there with a creepy smile - showing no inclination to help me in any way with my predicament - my anger increased exponentially, and she just watched as Mike took a deep breath. I saw him rotate the knife so that he was now using the blunt side. I widened my eyes, no. A blunt force fell upon my head. When I woke up, I was tied to a chair and I could see a tall girl look at me with a creepy smile. I looked around the room a little, stimulating my mana failed repeatedly - I WAS LOCKED OUT OF MY RESERVE?!? My hands and arms were tied tightly, moving them took much effort and just ended with me having burn marks on my wrists and ankles. I saw a small tray with some tools, and the truth of the matter came crashing down on me. I looked at the girl that was hidden in the shadows, she was working diligently on¡­ something. She had olive skin and white hair, she was the future Duchess of Lendenburg. Wait¡­ Mike couldn¡¯t have gotten out from the official mages with no uproar, then that means¡­ She was the one to release him?? Wait, no. NO. She finally came out of the shadows and had a little instrument in her hand, she looked at me and said ¡°Well, well. I can finally see the little child that hurt my precious. I have to keep up appearances, so I can¡¯t just do what I want. However, now that it is just the two of us. I¡¯m finally free to do what I want." Chapter 20 Mike Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun Day 20th I walked down the street slowly, with a slight smile on my face. Today was the day that he was going to be killed publicly, and with Her Grace, the Duchess, not saying anything to me - it seems like he will swing. I was still a bit giddy, I had a pep in my step and everyone noticed, no one seemed surprised though. The news of me getting enough credits to leave for the rest of the year was spread by Hueser. My excuse was already set, Mrs. Kehlir knew the real reason and looked at me weirdly, but I didn¡¯t care. Today was a day for celebration, and even if Ava didn¡¯t help me, a day of celebration where I just treat myself feels a bit sad. Ah, whatever, I don¡¯t need any reason to have a fun time, and Ava had been working pretty hard for me. What even was she doing for a job? I needed to ask her sometime, It was only 10 am, and I had the entire day ahead of me. I was scrolling through my phone and noticed a surprising bit of news, Gawain had 6 people infected with a new disease. It was a medium-sized country on the eastern border of Iabrun, it was mostly a gigantic mountain range with a few cities scattered about. Eh, none of my concern anyway, no need to dampen the mood with depressing news. I took a look around me and walked into a small establishment, just a little place where one could get a few exotic foods. I was never one to splurge, but this day seems like the best to spend some of my savings. Iabrun¡¯s cuisine is varied with its immense size, but I usually cooked my meals, it was cheaper, and a nice skill to have. It was just a small joint, with some orange lighting and 4 chairs next to a bar. I just wanted a quick bite to go, browsing through the menu, nothing really caught my eye until I saw a dish that was the organs of a dried Beniven. They were small fish caught in the Hueser Sea, mostly, and were sweet. I ordered one and waited for a minute, a girl which I could only assume was the owner''s daughter handed it over to me with a smile. I noticed there was some lingering fear in her eyes, tsk, racial tensions were going down - but they could never truly be eliminated. She was what looked to be a Volucris, with prominent bird-like features. She had a face that was like a bird with a beak, and she had feathery wings on her back. Though she was also humanoid with 2 legs and 2 arms, they were a tiny minority in Iabrun and were picked upon extensively because of this. The natural enemy of the Volucris, the Vulcrum who were very vocal about their hate. Vulcrums were a very¡­ weird species, they were very similar to humans, but they had a few distinctions: they all had a green gem lodged in their forehead which was the most obvious sign, and they all held a small black ring somewhere on one of their arms. As far as I know, it¡¯s only a cosmetic, but I doubt the Vulcrums would disclose anything related to it with their very closed-off circle. It seems that the hate between these 2 races ran deep, I felt a twinge of pity for the girl at the counter. I couldn¡¯t do anything, though, so I just walked out with my small snack on hand. The organs looked like a bunch of black noodles strewn into a ball, it was wrapped by a sheet of paper-thin dough that had a slightly greenish color. It wasn¡¯t the most appetizing-looking thing, but I had to eat everything growing up just to survive, so I built up a pretty good tolerance to these sorts of things. I took a bite and the slightly salty dough contrasted with the sweet innards of the fish, it was good. Not the best thing I had ever had, but good, and it was a nice placeholder until I could get something better and more filling. I threw out the bag it came in and called Ava, it was now 10:30 am and I wanted to just have some fun around the city before the execution at 7 pm. She picked up and answered meekly, ¡°Y-Yes?¡± I said, ¡°Where are you at the moment?¡± She answered with, ¡°Uh, I¡¯m just walking around and seeing what odd jobs I could find to make money. I-Is that ok?¡± I answered, ¡°Yes, come to Yeverston Ave 12613 in 10 minutes. I have something to ask you.¡± She answered in an affirmative, and then I hung up. I started to slowly walk towards the destination, today was going to be a nice day. When I arrived there, I saw Ava in some clothes that were worse for wear. She also had a pungent odor, oh goddamn it, did she not take a shower in all this time? Sighing, I approached her and quickly led her into an alleyway. I picked the lock of a window with a hairpin she was carrying and snuck inside the apartment, it seems no one was home. Ava followed suit and made sure to not touch anything, I reached their bathroom and swiftly took a bar of soap, before telling her to go into the bathroom. She complied, and I said that she had to take off her clothes, after a minute of waiting she said that she was done. Without any fanciful gestures, I controlled my mana into a water stream and made her spotless. I then used some hot steam to fully dry her, I told her to get fully dressed as I waited outside the room. She walked out with her clothes that were now tattered, seems like the environment got to them as she was working. I looked at her again, she had a very prominent blush, I don¡¯t understand wh- oh. A very slight blush crept on my face, I was too caught in cleaning her that I forgot to consider what this might look like. Wait¡­ I made sure that the water I used made her spotless. Oh, for fucks sake, how was I going to explain this? I looked at her, she was still blushing up to her hairline and was looking at the floor. Tsk, I needed something to get our minds off this. I looked around the room and my eyes constricted, cameras. This was just a regular camera, so it didn¡¯t pop up on my radar. This also wasn¡¯t a particularly high-end apartment, so the footage should be stored in tapes, as it was the cheapest option. It didn¡¯t matter whether there was an empty few minutes, I just needed to see where they stored the tapes. I didn¡¯t dive too deeply into the intricacies of machinery, I view magic to just be superior, but I digress. If I remember correctly, then the camera should send the recorded video in 10-minute intervals to a remote tape. Tsk, I should have expected this, hindsight is 20/20 though, and I can¡¯t change what I did. I told her, ¡°Look around the house, try to find the tape.¡± I generated some earth and ran through every part of the house, sealing up every single camera. After a few minutes of searching to no avail, I heard the front door of the house unlocking - the owner came back now? I spewed some of my mana through the seal I had on Ava, causing her to stumble and fall, but that was no matter to me. I generated some earth to seal the front door and every other door in the house. Passing it through Ava distorted my mana signature just a bit since she had her tiny mana supply. As a last resort, I used up almost all the mana inside my body - using all of it would be disastrous at the moment - and shifted the earth of the entire foundation. I felt all the sensations, including where the tapes were being stored and ran to them. I grabbed Ava by her arm and ran towards the storage, in there I thoroughly incinerated them with some of my remaining mana. A feeling of drowsiness came over me, but I endured through and then ran out through a side story. I sighed a bit, what an¡­ eventful start to a new day. Out on the streets, I finally relaxed a bit and stopped running. She looked to be very tired, did I run too fast? I knew that mana did advance the human body a bit physically, maybe I did run too fast. I will have to make a note of it for later, anyway, on to the next order of business. There weren¡¯t many people on this little street in Augustus, I looked at her and said, ¡°Why did you not buy any clothes or take a shower?¡± with an inquisitive tone. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. She replied, after a load of effort, and said, ¡°Uh-Uh, they aren¡¯t essentials to my survival. I tho-thought you¡¯d be mad if I wasted some money on them¡­¡± Her voice became quieter as she went on and was barely hearable by the end. Does she have a deathly fear of doing anything? What happened to her in the past? I will have to try to find this out eventually, but that can be left for another day. It doesn¡¯t bother me that much, so I didn¡¯t need to figure it all out at the moment. I started walking down the street to look for a clothing store, I felt my earth constructs crumble into nothingness, good. I looked back and could see her trailing behind me, I tried to slow down to no avail. She also slowed down and kept the same pace as me. Sighing, I shook my head and asked her, ¡°Do you have anything you want to do?¡± She looked at me peculiarly and said in a quiet voice, ¡°I will do anything you want me to do.¡± Tsk, this was getting nowhere. ¡°No, no, I meant is there anything that you want to do? You can say it, and I promise, no punishment of any kind will be delivered.¡± She still looked at me weirdly and said, ¡°We-Well, there was this one festival I saw being advertised around the city.¡± I looked back at her and smiled, before she could talk I said ¡°Interesting, I also wanted to go. Why don¡¯t we, after you get some new clothes.¡± A slight smile crept on her face, she likely would feel weird if I went because of her. Me saying that I also wanted to go would encourage her more, but a festival, huh? Should be interesting enough. After a minute, I saw a clothing store. It wasn¡¯t an amazing one, just a middle-of-the-road establishment, but that was perfect. I didn¡¯t have much money on me, and this store would likely give a full set for just 1 pound. I gave her a pound and told her to go get some new clothes, she obliged much easier than usual - weird. My phone in my pocket was quite a helpful tool, I started to browse around to see this festival. I wonder who the organizers were, any large event had to run through the government. Hmm, it seems like it was a newly established festival meant to cater towards those of the more seaside regions of Iaburn in Augustus. Augustus was not close to the sea, but with a bit of magic and the advent of refrigeration, one can get good seafood here. Seems like a fun place to be, there was even an aquarium they booked out. Organizers must be rich and eccentric for something like this, as I put away my phone, Ava walked out with a simple black t-shirt and black pants. She was smiling just a bit, a very noticeable improvement. I started walking towards the area of the city where the festival was taking place, she followed swiftly after. She still trailed behind me by a bit, but it was not as bad as earlier today. Good, I got just a bit closer to a friend and not a master. I¡¯m not dense enough to not realize that she would develop some feelings towards me, but I simply wasn¡¯t ready to get into a relationship at the moment. It stung a bit to have to reject her before she even confessed, but no matter, that kind of thinking would just ruin the day. After a few minutes, we reached the area, and it seems like the festivities were in full swing. Ava¡¯s face lit up, was she from a coastal region? Makes sense, her white skin did contrast from the more olive-colored skin from there, but that wasn¡¯t impossible. She even started to run to a little food cart, she did swiftly stop in her tracks and backtrack towards me. ¡°What is it?¡± I asked while pointing towards the cart, it was a food of some kind, but I didn¡¯t know what. She answered with ¡°They¡¯re eggs of the Jellyfish, they¡¯re amazing. It came from my hometown.¡± She said the last part with a bit of pride mixed in her voice, interesting, she was from Lendenburg originally. Jellyfish are a weird existence, their pink flesh was poisonous, but their eggs were perfectly fine. I wonder how they get the eggs under the nose of those 10-meter monstrosities, though, apparently one just killed a diver last month. I walked up to the cart and asked, ¡°How much for 4 of these eggs?¡± The owner, that was just a regular human from the looks of it, said, ¡°8 austral for 4.¡± I nodded and paid him the money, taking the 4 slippery eggs he put in a bag. I reached into it and one stung me a bit, interesting. The eggs were also pink and looked like long strands, I picked one up and bit down on it, the flavor was unique but good. It was sweet, not like sugar or anything like that, but as something entirely on its own. I didn¡¯t have any good words to describe it, I gave 2 to Ava and I picked up the last one. Using some of my mana, I charred it and then sliced it into little bite-size pieces. I popped one in my mouth, the flavor changed completely and went from sweet to savory. The previously pink interior was now white, and it had firmed up quite a bit - the new firm texture was nice. Ava saw me do that, and I could tell she wanted to try, I did the same for her and started walking. I snuck a look at her as she ate it, her face beamed with joy, it made me feel happy as well. A little game was being held, it looked like you had to shoot at a board with a gun that fired darts. Interesting, it had a bit of mana inside it. I walked up to him and paid the fee of 5 austral, he told me to hold my breath when inside, I was confused, but I complied. The entire room was then flooded with water, and some fishes were also in there with me. I had to shoot this underwater? No wonder it had some mana in it. My 1st and 2nd shots were thrown off course by a fish bumping into me, the 3rd one was spot on, but a fish ran in front of it - stopping the dart in its tracks. The water was then sucked up by¡­ something, and I was dry again. I walked out and could see Ava sneakily eyeing the top prize, which was a gigantic plushie of what looked to be a sea monster. Sighing, I gave him 5 austral again and went inside. There were mana sensors, but it was only above a certain threshold. As long as I stayed below that, I would win. Slightly changing the water to help my darts, all 3 landed near perfectly on the targets, landing them all perfectly would be a bit suspicious. I walked out, dry again, and the person said I could choose any of the top prizes, there was an option to just choose 15 pounds of money, and it was tempting. I looked again at Ava, though, and I asked him for the plushie. He looked knowingly at her, and me, before reaching up to get it. He handed it over to me, and I started to walk off to the aquarium. Ava was now nearly side-to-side with me, a major improvement, I gave her the plushie which had 6 heads and 4 tentacles on its back. Maybe it was a memento of her hometown? I heard someone say, ¡°What a cute couple.¡± and I suppose we did look like one. A show with Deep Sea Benivens? Sign me up, I started walking a bit faster to the show that was going to start in a few minutes. Ava followed my pace perfectly and kept up with me. There were bleachers all around a dark pool in the middle, it was massive and exciting. One could see multiple lights down there, likely the Deep Sea Benivens. I walked up to a seat and sat down, she sat down beside me and put the plushie on her lap. After a minute, 10 large 5-meter large creatures rose from the depths of the water. They were all blinking with lights, some were white, others were blue, and some were pink and purple. They were synchronized with one another to make a beautiful light show. I could feel all of them manipulating the water to form up into a star behind them before they all splashed back into the water 1 after another, it was a beautiful show. The light in the water formed up into a blinking star, these fish were sentient and could coordinate with one another, and it made this show all the better. After 5 minutes, the show ended, and I walked out with Ava. This was definitely going to be a fun day. A couple of hours later, at 6:00 pm, we both walked out of the festival laughing. ¡°Did you see the guy that fell into the water there? How do you even accomplish that¡± she said with a little giggle, I replied in turn ¡°Eh, he was a land whale anyway. He was just returning to his natural habitat.¡± She burst out in a fit of laughter, ahh, it was a nice way to spend the day. I walked out to a car, Ava started to follow me, but I shook my head. She got the message and started to walk away to a different place. The taxi driver asked me where to, and I said, ¡°Where the killer''s public execution is being held.¡± He nodded, it seems that many people were going there. When I arrived, I walked through the vomitorium and up to a seat in the middle. At 6:45 pm, 15 minutes after I arrived, the entire Colosseum was flooded with water and I could see a black shadow inside the murky water. At 6:50 pm, I saw Ts¡¯yvelir the Griffin and in his hands was the killer. He landed atop a small platform above the water, and Her Grace came down from him. She was wearing a full black suit, it looked good on her. She walked up to a microphone in the middle and started talking. ¡°This filth in the streets of Augustus has been caught by a close friend of mine, the little rat scurrying through the sewers has been caught. This¡­ monster is a menace to all society.¡± I saw the killer in chains next to her, he looked at her with terror, weird. He then spotted me in the crowd, I took great enjoyment in watching his terror shift to anger at me. Ts¡¯yvelir pressed a claw against the back of the killer, pushing him down to the ground. Her Grace continued, ¡°He has killed many people heartlessly, cruelly. He does not simply kill, he kills in the most grotesque ways possible. He, no it. This thing is not a sentient creature of any kind, it is just an animal. And it deserves to die like an animal.¡± She ended with that. Ts¡¯yvelir lifted him up in the air, against the setting sun, I could see the outline of the griffin tearing off his legs. He then let go of the killer, leaving him to fall in the vast body of water. Some sort of creature rose up from the murky depths, dragging him down into the water. A fitting end for one like him. Chapter 21 Wyrm Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 11th day I looked around the area, trying to survey for any danger. The adrenaline in my system calmed down a bit, I could still feel some scarce electricity in the air crackling. The Hiddle was in a terrible state, I put him down on the ground ¡ª he could barely breathe at the moment, so I just let him be and started to look around the area. It looked to be¡­ a city of some sort? I looked to the ceiling, only to see a rusted dome. I looked at where we were, we fell from the ceiling into a city center. Walking towards the 4 people, I noticed a distinct metallic scent hung in the air. It was unlike anything I smelt before, When I went up to the people, there were 4 all in a prostrating position around an altar. It was spotless, unlike everything else in the city that was worn down or broken. This altar looked to have no imperfections. It was white, with a gold trim that only exemplified the beautiful, deep, purple scale atop it all. The scale was floating atop it, rotating and showing off its majesty to all who could see it. I was standing 2 meters away from it, and the area¡¯s gravity seemed to shift. It now took more energy to simply move, and when I reached within a meter of the altar, the gravity shifted enough that I could barely move. Expending most of my energy, I backed away from it. I broke off a little branch from a massive tree growing in the middle of this small city, I threw it at the altar. It dropped dead flat as soon as it passed the 1-meter mark, falling so quickly that it made a dent in the solid rocky floor around the altar. The branch broke in two immediately, as well. Tsk, how was I supposed to get this scale? The distinct markings on it, a series of purple lines that glowed more than the rest of the scale, meant that it indeed was ¡ª if not a dragon scale ¡ª then at least a Drake scale. The relative power gets a bit weird, and I have nothing to go off of. Drakes and Dragons looked pretty similar, and those memories from the shell didn¡¯t dive too deep into it. I knew that there had to be some differences, everything I knew indicated that Dragons were so much more than every other species. Regardless, I needed to have a way to get this scale. It was a feeling I had, deeper than my soul, my mana supply. The scale was something more than anything else I had ever seen, I have to obtain it. I looked around and saw what looked to be an administrative building for this city, perhaps that would hold some answers. I walked my way there, staying at high alert the entire way to the building. It didn¡¯t look like there was anything remotely alive beyond the plants, though. I reached the decaying building, the once beautiful wooden construct was broken in many areas. The inside of it was just as bad, with debris everywhere, pages ripped and torn on the floor. What was the story here? Why did it look to be abandoned so quickly? I walked into a side room and the smell of soot hit me immediately, I looked at the pile. A few scraps of charred paper had been scattered around a mound of ash and soot, I looked around, but that was all that was left of this room besides a few knocked-down pieces of furniture. I walked towards a small piece that was larger than the others, I picked it up and read it. Experime -4 An¡­ experiment? Interesting. I walked out and began to look around the area, most of the rooms had nothing in them besides furniture parts and some books that were less than helpful. I looked through each one of them, hoping for some intact piece of news, but I couldn¡¯t find anything of value. I slowly crawled down the stairs, which wasn¡¯t the easiest activity, and reached the basement levels. Unlike the decrepit building above, the basement was still in decently good condition. It was made up of only metal, as far as I could see. The basement had 3 different hallways leading to separate areas, the signs atop them were still legible. Information Storage Cold Storage and Containment Laboratory and Break Rooms I went down the hallway that leads to the information storage, maybe that place would have all the answers. The dark hallway held an eerie atmosphere, but I shook it off and sped up to the area. I was a noble Dragon, I could not be scared of such trivial things as a lack of light¡­ right? Yeah, definitely. The room was pitch black, and while I could still see, my vision was severely limited. I tried to turn on the switch in the room, and to my great surprise, the electricity still worked, and the lights turned on. The electric lights emitted a light humming sound, there were 5 rows of cabinets. I walked through and started to read the labels, they were all mundane and did not matter to me. Sighing, I nearly left the room when I noticed a small mural on the wall. It was covered up by layers upon layers of dust, so I did not notice it immediately. I wiped away the dust and saw an¡­ interesting piece of news. The moment I saw the mural, I could feel a gaze placed upon me, I froze and didn¡¯t know what to do. It felt like the gaze was present everywhere, and I could not move a muscle without my senses telling me with every fiber of my being down to my soul that it was a bad idea. The gaze was laid upon me for what felt like centuries, yet it was retracted a second later. I had already wiped clean the entire mural, it was¡­ interesting. A gigantic being of some kind, describing it felt impossible to me, was on the mural. The mural looked to be moving, somewhat, especially the being at the front. It was continuously shifting, yet not settling on a single form. The amorphous blob led a race behind him, a race that looked identical to those humans I saw on the forest except for their deep, void black skin and tentacles on their backs that they dragged around on the floor. They were on a field, with the being seemingly leading them up a mountain. I moved backward, trying to see if I missed something. I looked again and could see the blob settle for the first time. When I intently looked at it, it looked to be a white serpent with red eyes. It moved on the mural, locking its own fangs into the tail of the beast. No blood was drawn, at first, but then a small droplet of silver blood came down from the fang of the snake biting its tail. After that little display, the being turned back into being indescribable. A shiver rolled down my spine, what was this place. I backed up and hit a cabinet, scaring the wits out of me. I looked behind me, and thankfully, no one was there. Tsk, I didn¡¯t plan on staying in there, and the only other door besides the one that I came in went directly to cold storage. I walked through that door, and yet, it was warm and not cold in any way. The electricity doesn¡¯t run here anymore, I suppose. I started walking through and noticed all the tall glass tubes that contained a jelly-like liquid. When I walked forward a step, I felt something catch on my claws. I looked down, a clump of cells was there. I could feel that it was still squirming and alive, I tossed it off my claws and went to a door that caught my eye. A door that led to the office of the person that was responsible for logging the data that came from the laboratory. I walked inside, and it was still in pristine condition, which freaked me out a bit. The pens were still in place next to a stack of paper, I walked up to it and unfortunately, no writing could be seen. I did hear something, though, and saw that there was a little metal briefcase with a distinct noise of a cry for help coming from it. I tried to scratch it, to no avail, I placed some of my mana in my claw and scratched the locks holding the case together. There was a broken syringe inside the case and a small tube that held a clump of cells with a small mouth. ¡°He-Help me.¡± was said by the cells inside the tube, the green clump was talking to me. Tsk, I lifted it up, and a small note was under it in perfect, mint condition. I opened it up slightly and started to read. Genetic anomaly #24 Keep it contained at all times This one displays a very high regenerative capacity, store it for the next experiment It also displays very high intelligence for its type of anomaly, keep it at maximum storage It was an anomaly, disgusting. This¡­ thing was not meant to be a thing at all, I picked up the tube and crushed it down, killing the clump of cells, I left the room after finding nothing more interesting in the room. I walked back to the other, squirming cell cluster, and squished it down into a fine paste. Neither were fit to live in this world with everyone else, what was this place? Why were they experimenting on pieces of filth that should have died the moment they were born, what was that snake? This place didn¡¯t give me any answers, beyond that it was a place of experimentation. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Dragons, and Drakes, were noble creatures, and we would never have consented to this. This had to have been built around that 1 scale in the center of the city, its gravity powers were very useful, and I did not doubt that greedy bastards would take control of it. I have no way to liberate my extinct relatives scale from this dastardly complex, but I will eventually raze this goddamn city to ashes. The act of desecrating that scale is cause enough for it, but I will have to wait on this. I went to the final room, the laboratory, and the break rooms. The laboratory was clean and white, unlike the darkroom I came from ¡ª this room was filled with a bright light. It was so clean, with only consoles to do some depraved actions, no doubt. I went to press a little button with a lightning symbol on it, a bolt of electricity was sent out and fell down upon a raised platform in the middle. Another genetic anomaly was there, it was barely moving. I went up to it and ground it down into the floor, the green lump became a green paste on the otherwise spotless floor. It was only this laboratory, as far as I could tell, and I went to the break rooms. The only thing that was in the room even worth mentioning was a single piece of paper on a complete table, it was in perfect condition. Almost as if it was planted just for me, I tried to sense for any mana traps, my control over my mana wasn¡¯t good enough, though. Tsk, I picked up a stone and tossed it at the area. Nothing happened, though, so I walked up and took the piece of paper quickly off the table and started to read it. From District Manager Jem to Staff Manager Chris Relay these 3 orders to all of your people, this is of the highest class of order, straight from His Majesty. This is a secret order for you, only. Kill all those that took part in the experiments, your reward shall be great. Report to me tomorrow. This was a secret from the people? Yet, seeing the scale there in the middle of the city, I suppose that wasn¡¯t a secret. Perhaps that was the power source for this entire area? I could see it if that 1 scale still had that much power when I arrived after this city was in this state. I walked out of the area, the mural was still weighing heavily down on my mind. What¡­ was that. Eh, I could not think up any answers at the moment ¡ª that gaze still made me shiver down my spine. When I went up the stairs, there was nothing that seemed to change. I walked out from the building into the street. The streets were the same, eerily similar. It looked like the entire place was set in a state of stasis that did not move no matter what. Another shiver ran down my spine, I disregarded it and went to the Hiddle. It was still just sitting there, the body was in a better state than when I first went in the building, no it was far better than when I first came in here. It looked to be fully recovered, its eyes were bloodshot, though. He also looked to be just a tiny bit bigger, which was weird. He looked at me and ran towards me as fast as he could. The 6 legs he had carried him as fast as they could, he nearly bumped into my front arm. ¡°WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN??¡± It screamed at me, my head rang a bit from the sudden loud voice. I abruptly picked him up and asked, ¡°What do you mean? I haven¡¯t even been gone for an hour.¡± He looked like I was a ghost, ¡°No, you have been gone for YEARS. Why did you just leave me here, what did you do? WHAT HAPPENED.¡± My eyes conveyed confusion and a bit of understanding at the same time. ¡°Repeat that for me, did you just say I was gone for years?¡± His face looked at me with confusion, but nevertheless, he still nodded to my inquiry. What is this place, I said to him, ¡°No, no. I was barely gone for an hour, right in that building.¡± He shook his head, there was a fucking time dilation here?? WHAT. Had it been years outside here? ¡°You were in that building for an hour??¡± he asked me, I nodded and then put the little guy down. This was a problem, what was I to do? My stomach grumbled a bit, shit I was hungry. I looked hungrily at the Hiddle, he looked very scared and started to back away slowly. I shook my head to get rid of the thought, that would have to be a last resort. I asked him, ¡°Are there any animals here?¡± He nodded and pointed to a building close to us, perfect, and it seems like he was more willing to be with me after those years. That dilemma had to be solved after I get some food, I walked into the house with no lighting and could hear some little chirping noises. I looked down and could see two people on the decrepit wooden floor, they were also prostrating to the gravity scale in the middle of the city, weird. I could smell the scent of some small rodents inside the place, my stomach was growling uncontrollably now. I walked around the people, I did not want to destroy their long decayed bodies, it was simply unrespectful. The scurrying around of little feet in the walls quickly caught on to my ears, I walked silently up to a wall and stuck my hand up a bit. A small cluster of feet ran past where I was, I waited a moment before striking just in time. In my hand was what looked to be a gray Hiddle, it tried desperately to escape from my grasp. I crushed the guy in my hands, killing it instantly. I methodically removed all the teeth it had and then swallowed it down, the flavor wasn¡¯t exceptional, but it was food. I looked outside a hole found in the wall and saw some more of these rats in another house, I went to that one and also noticed that two people were prostrating towards the scale. I felt a bit weirded out, are all of them like this? I got another one of the rats and gulped it down, some of its brain matter was now on the floor, so I licked it all up. The taste of these little guys¡¯ brains was nice, it was very gelatinous though, which I didn¡¯t like as much. I walked to a different house and could see the yellow Hiddle following me, looking shaken. I gestured for him to move with me, he quickly ran up to me and was now near my left leg. The 3rd house was the exact same, now that I looked at it, it was completely identical to the past two that I found. Besides the parts I deliberately had a part in, like those small holes in the wall, everything was the exact same. The furniture, the smell, the number of rats, the holes in the walls, the size. It was identical, a shiver ran down my spine and I quickly left the house. I had an increasingly bad feeling about this place, I looked again at the city and could now see it more clearly. It had a clear circular pattern, with all the houses being the same in a ring around the scale, with only the administration building being different. All of them had their doors looking directly at the scale, this was only the first ring and had about 70 or so of these houses. I looked at the Hiddle, and asked, ¡°Are all these houses the same?¡± He nodded, and then I pointed at the second ring of houses, larger ones, and asked, ¡°Are those all the same?¡± He shook his head and answered, ¡°I had never been to those areas, I was always a bit scared of them.¡± I nodded and started moving to the closest large house, unlike the earlier ones that were a few rooms at most, these looked like mansions. The Hiddle and I walked through the front door frame, the door was already off its hinges and was on the floor. When we were inside, the scene that was there did not provide me with any hope. Two people, again, were prostrating directly at the scale in the center. The Hiddle looked absolutely terrified at the moment, and honestly, so was I. What happened to this place? We moved to another room, the kitchen, and there were another two people prostrating directly at the scale. Their skeletons were brown with dust and other debris, maybe decay as well. I had no idea, I walked out, as there was nothing there with any sort of value. The next few rooms were all the same as that one, two people ¡ª skeletons ¡ª prostrating to the scale in the center. We made our way to a room that looked to be different from the rest, it was a gigantic room with another two skeletons. A piece of paper was in the center, yet unlike the one down in that accursed basement, this one was absolutely wretched with decay and could not be read beyond the name of the owners, Mr, and Mrs. Wilson. I walked out of the room, and the entire house in general, before making my way to the next mansion. It was the same, down to the layers of dust on the windows. They were identical in every way possible, even the paper was the same, but the names were different, Mr. and Mrs. Jielr. I walked out and looked at the one house in the final ring of the city, a gigantic manor of some sort. We made our way to it, and as expected, it was the same as every other building. Rooms filled with nothing but prostrated skeletons, and perhaps some odd scraps of furniture and paper that were thoroughly unreadable. I emitted a slight ¡®tsk¡¯ noise, much to the surprise of the Hiddle. I looked at him and asked, ¡°Do you have any answers to this?¡± He shook his head, as was expected. As we were leaving, I noticed out of my eye that a small light could be seen in another room. I held up my hand and walked into it with my Hiddle, a small light was under a plank of wood. I ripped it off and what was inside was just a small note with a lantern, it read For those that can read this, beware of- That was when it ended, beware of what exactly? It seemed to be so cryptic, no, this entire place seemed to be cryptic. It was like everything was planted perfectly, I had my suspicions, though. This place was an underground city of some sort, which was weird in and of itself, but the administrators had an underground laboratory to experiment on genetic anomalies. The gravity scale in the center powered the entire complex, its energy reaching some places yet not others. A strange mural was down in the basement of that building, where it moved and shifted. The less said about the gaze laid upon me, the better, I did not feel any gaze at the moment. My paranoia was only getting larger by the second, what was this place?? They also purged absolutely everything in this place, as well, and with no such clues, I could only guess. Maybe a genetic anomaly escaped? But #24 in the office of that guy implies that it was the newest, and the best so far, so if one escaped then they should have shut it down before anything really serious happened. Then, maybe that mural? But that shouldn¡¯t explain the state of everything else, that mural looked to be something that only affected those who saw it. The scale being the reason makes sense, we both left the area and went to the altar in the middle of the city. I tried to sense it ever so slightly, and it violently reacted to my stimulation, injuring me and the Hiddle. I felt my internal organs were bruised and battered, but that didn¡¯t matter, I now saw where it went and maybe that would give me answers. I looked at the area, a small, inconspicuous house. The Hiddle and I started to walk to it, I sure hope that gives me some answers for this place. Before I could reach it, though, I felt a force descend upon me and put me to sleep, forcefully. When I woke up, I was in an underground city of sort, which was weird. I looked around, and then noticed the altar in the center of this area, was that 4 people around a gravity dragon scale???? What was this place? I also felt a strange sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu, but I definitely didn¡¯t come here before. What the fuck is this, the Hiddle was still in that bloody mess I left it before the fight we had with the Osprey. This place¡­ felt weird instantly. Chapter 22 Wyrm Chapter 22 Wyrm Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 11th day The entire area just made me feel such an intense feeling of d¨¦j¨¤ vu as if I had been here before. I looked around the area, every single piece of dust and leaves on the branches of the tree felt familiar. I walked up to the scale, and the gravity shifted as expected. Then I walked out of range, the power emanating off of it was certainly too strong for me to do anything. Of the houses, I noticed that they looked similar, too similar. I walked up to one, the Hiddle still in my claws, and saw a small hole in the wall. It held a small box, I pulled it out and a small piece of blue jewelry was in it, the blue gem in the center held what looked to be a white scale. I took it out of the house and put it in the center, maybe it would be useful for something later? The next house was the same, with a hole in the spot and a piece of blue jewelry with a scale in it. Indeed, it looked that all were the same, down to the very last detail and how 2 people were inside them that bowed down to the scale in the center. I took it out, like the last one, and started to study the two. They both had a blue jewel on a golden ring, and inside the jewel was a scale. The two jewels were identical, the color was a light blue, and they had no blemishes or any other impurities. The gems were perfect, and inside them was a white scale with a red line running through it. When I put the two side by side, I did notice a few minor differences, though. The scale was slightly different, with the one from the second house being slightly larger than the one I found first. Hmmm, interesting. The Hiddle was waking up slightly, now, I put him down to his own devices. It looked like he would survive, if only barely, and there did not seem to be anything other than us here. Just as I said that I heard a small scurrying in the surrounding walls, I raised my hand next to the wall and then stuck my claws through when I heard little feet moving around. My claws felt a slight bit of resistance, I felt the inside organs of the little thing pierced through by my claws. I took it out, and it looked to be a gray Hiddle, with the same 6 legs and furry body. Come to think of it, I was pretty hungry at the moment, I lifted the already dead body and swallowed it down. It wasn¡¯t the best thing I ever had, but certainly not the worst, I had eaten some vile things just to survive. The memory of those eggs came back to me, ahh, how I wish to eat those again. Shaking my head, I walked out of the little house, taking the Hiddle with me back to the square. This area was weird, and my premonition only got worse when I walked past what looked to be an administration building. I started to walk around the building, trying to see if there was anything of note. Once I reached the west wall, I could see a small crack in the exterior with something inside it. I stuck my hand into it and pulled out a gigantic necklace, with many pearls and a giant ruby in the center of it, as the star of this necklace. What was more interesting was that there was an actual scale in the same dark crack on the side of the building, it was white with a red line running through the center of it. I tried to scratch it with my claws, wanting to see what would happen, and not even a tiny scrape formed. The result was no different with my mana enhanced claw, what kind of monster did it take to have a scale this strong? I took it up and compared it with my scales on my way to the center, where the Hiddle and, more importantly, the scale was at the moment. The scale in my hand was larger than my own, but its structure was very different. Mine were like triangles and tapered off to a narrow point that connected it to a chain of interlocking scales, but this scale didn¡¯t have the same sharp edges as mine did. It looked like an oval and was white, contrasting completely with the even larger scale that was atop the altar. I walked up to it and put the white scale and ruby necklace beside the other trinkets I found. The Hiddle was there as well, looking no better than when I left him. My eyes lingered on the scale in the center, and after some contemplation, my curiosity got the better of me. I needed to see what would happen if someone with Dragon blood touched the scale that was a scale of a Dragon or Drake. The gravity became nearly unbearable a foot away from the scale, and each step I took left a very prominent imprint on the ground. I barely made my way close enough for me to grab it, my entire body laid on the floor, suffering the entire weight of its remnant power. I injected all the mana I could control straight into my arm, and thankfully it helped my arm resist a little, I made my way to the scale, and finally, my two claws touched it and grabbed it. The moment I grabbed the scale off its altar, the entire underground cavern we were in shook. A purple shockwave of pure mass released from the scale, tossing me and the Hiddle into the air and flattening down all 70 houses in the first ring. It caused catastrophic levels of damage to the massive tree in the center and the second ring of houses, even the giant administration building had taken damage. It was pure chaos, and my head was ringing, the jewelry near it was tossed, but the white scale remained exactly where it was. After I landed, I ran to the Hiddle falling and grabbed him ¡ª couldn¡¯t have him dying on me yet. Two large splinters from the tree landed right on me, skewering my left leg, and one went straight into my back, threatening to destroy my organs. I stopped moving, I could feel the skewer dangerously close to my stomach and I didn¡¯t want to rupture it. The Hiddle in my claws looked up at me, the chaos had subdued by now, and it was just him in my claws with two splinters inside my body. He asked me, ¡°Wh-Why?¡± Blood spurted from his mouth, but he kept talking, ¡°Why would you save me?¡± I looked at him and said, ¡°You¡¯re my emergency food in case we are stuck here for a long time.¡± with a slight snicker. I then put him down and looked at my back, tsk, it was going to be a pain for me to get this thing out without screwing up my insides. The Hiddle had recovered a bit and could walk around, but he was in no shape to help me at the moment. I was starting to regret my decision a bit, oh well, I can¡¯t take back what I did now. I tried to reach back to grab it, but I could not no matter what I did, and the more I moved, the more it destroyed my insides. Tsk, how was I supposed to do this? I tried once more, and miraculously got it, but I put too much force in my grab and just broke the upper part of the splinter, oh fuck sake. Maybe I could use my mana? I manipulated a safe amount of it and tried to move the splinter, it moved ever so slightly out of the wound ¡ª this was slow progress, but progress is progress. I didn¡¯t want to use more in case it went berserk and the splinter inside me broke into many pieces, then I would really be screwed. After 4 hours of this painstaking process, I finally managed to remove the entire splinter, I then braced myself for the pain and removed the other splinter in my leg in one go. I winced hard, this wasn¡¯t as painful as some other things I experienced, but I still didn¡¯t like it. Sighing, I finally stood up¡­ only to sit right back down again, the pain that emanated from my left leg was too much. I took another look at the scale, now that I was effectively stuck her until I healed, it was a good as time as any to look at it. The purple color subsided now that it was off the pedestal, and the 2 brighter purple lines that glowed were nowhere to be found. Hmmm, was this a dud? I didn¡¯t want to try to poke and prod at it, in case anything terrible happens, but I also wanted to see if it was just the altar keeping this scale going, or if it was something else. Eventually, my curiosity ¡ª or I suppose stupidity ¡ª got the better of me, and I injected some of my mana into it. The moment I did, the scale let out another wave of power, forcing me into the ground and only exacerbating my injuries, I really should have expected this. I looked around a bit and saw the Hiddle being perfectly fine, albeit scared and hiding behind a fallen piece of wood, the power was in a small radius around me? After that burst of power subsided, the scale regained its purple glow, the 2 lines running through it, and started to float atop my palm. Then the least expected thing happened, the system gave me a notification. Congratulations! You are now in tune with your ancestors more, by aggravating a long-lost Drake scale, and can now access more of the power of this system. Quest system unlocked, 2 quests currently underway: This was so¡­ weird. At least one of my questions was answered, this was a Drake scale and not a Dragon scale. A tingle of excitement coursed through my body, if this was what the remnant power of a Drake was, I couldn¡¯t even imagine that of a Dragon. After a bit of giddiness, I tempered down my excitement and started to wonder what this was, the system can evolve with me? Interesting, maybe I would get more later down the line, but for now, I had to think of what to do now. My danger sense went off like crazy when I went near the administration building, and when I was near the walls of dirt behind it. I doubt that I could escape so simply, this place had something far deeper than it was letting on. The only thing that could provide me with answers seemed to be the larger buildings, everything else was either flattened or damaged to the point of no return. I signaled to the Hiddle that he should follow me, and we started to walk to the largest building on the outskirts of this small city. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. The pain was ever-present, and it did hurt, but wallowing in it wouldn¡¯t solve anything. The Hiddle looked at the scale, which was now on my chest, and back to its subdued state, and asked me, ¡°What is that?¡± I looked at him and replied, ¡°None of your business, don¡¯t worry about it.¡± This was a Drake scale, and he was just a Hiddle, wait, I didn¡¯t even know his name. ¡°What is your name, anyway? I never caught it.¡± - I said to him, we were now about halfway to the building and my terror only grew, but I pushed on. He said, ¡°Ah, right. I¡¯m Tiflis, and you are?¡± I stopped for a second and pondered on this, I didn¡¯t have a name, ¡°I don¡¯t have a name.¡± He stopped too, looking at me peculiarly, and said, ¡°What? Why don¡¯t you have a name?¡± I looked at the distance, ¡°My parents¡­ left this world before I was even born. I don¡¯t even know the name of my mother, much less what to name myself.¡± Tiflis looked at the ground and then said - ¡°Oh¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡± I shook my head, ¡°You do not need to be sorry for what you didn¡¯t know, anyway, we can leave this talk for later-¡±. I started with a neutral tone, that turned into a grave one the more I talked, ¡°-We are here at the house.¡±. Tiflis and I looked up at the massive home, my danger sense was not ringing here as it was at the administration building. Even still, I held an uneasy feeling about this place, and looking at the expression Tiflis had, so did he. ¡°What even is this place?¡± he asked, but it was more of a way for him to keep the mind off the atmosphere. We walked through the door frame into the decrepit building and saw what looked to be 2 servants at the front. Tiflis hid behind my back leg instantly, as I walked in front of the people. Wait, they were no longer looking at the altar, but at my chest. How did the skeletons move? A shiver ran down my spine, I thought it was the fact that the scale was in the altar that made these skeletons bow to it, but it was the scale itself? I turned around and walked up the stairs, I took a final glimpse at the skeletons and noticed they were now prostrating straight at me. I walked down and saw that they didn''t move, ¡°Heh, would you look at that? Creepy.¡± I said in a confident-sounding voice, but it was just a facade. Tiflis didn''t seem to notice that it was just a cover, though, thankfully. I ignored it, or tried to at least, and started walking again. We moved on, and the rooms were all barren of anything noteworthy, the skeletons moving still creeped me and Tiflis out. We were now in the master bedroom, and at first glance, there was nothing there to indicate that it was anything more. ¡°Can you look under the bed for anything?¡± I asked, more demanded, and he looked at me, and then back at the bed. With a gulp of his breath, he complied and scurried under the bed. After half a minute, he ran back out again, holding a small key. ¡°There seems to be a trap door under this bed, and I believe this key is the-¡± Before he could finish his sentence, I already lifted the already collapsing bed and threw it to another side. As Tiflis said, there was a very obvious trap door beneath the bed, and unlike the rest of the area, it was still in good condition. I took the key from Tiflis and then opened up the door. We both started to walk down into the depths of it, no light was there and unlike me who could see, Tiflis was blind in the dark. I picked him up and put him on my back, ¡°Just stay there.¡± I said as we walked down the tunnel, I could hear some water dripping down, and the ground was generally pretty moist. The ground was steadily going upwards, and we eventually reached a door. Before that, though, I could see a tunnel leading to someplace else. I ignored the door for the moment and started to walk down this other corridor, I didn¡¯t want to leave anything under a rock. When walking there, I could smell a very distinct scent, one of those gray rats. Perhaps this was their nesting ground? If I have to fight them all at once, then I should leave Tiflis behind. I walked back to the door and opened it, putting him in what looked to be a storage room. I will come back to it later, I went back up to the other tunnel and started walking again. Being alone was scarier than being with Tiflis, he was weak and couldn¡¯t help me, but at least he was familiar. I shook my head and started to walk a bit faster, I reached their den in just under 5 minutes and looked inside. There were plenty of little rats inside the den, and they looked at me with both fear and hatred in their eyes. I waited to see if someone talked to me, but they seemed to be primitive animals that couldn¡¯t communicate. I could see their young children in the back, and something else back there that glittered a bit, I needed to know. When I took my first step, a few of them hissed and growled at me. Their sharp teeth were glistening in the air, but their size didn¡¯t make it scary at all. One of them could fit in my claws, I walked up again and let out a low growl to quell them, surprisingly it didn¡¯t work, and they were only more agitated. Tsk, I moved up a bit and twenty little rats rushed up to me. They were hesitating on attacking me, I could smell the fear they had in the air. I didn¡¯t want to kill them, but I needed to see what was behind them. There was tension in the air and one of the rats broke first, rushing at my legs. When I saw it run towards me, I looked down at it and lifted my claw. I brought down my claw, jutting it inside the rat¡¯s body, and it died instantly. His death triggered the rest of them, where they all rushed at me. Good, I did not want to drag this battle for too long, I braced myself and rushed as much mana as I could control into the scale on my chance. Unlike the previous times, it hummed for just a second before a powerful burst of energy and gravity filled the entire room, causing all the little creatures to lie on the ground. Unlike my body that could resist it, theirs couldn¡¯t, and so after only a few seconds, most were turned into a thin smear on the ground. I smiled, and when the power subsided, I could see that all but one was dead, it was sitting there dazed and confused as I put it out of its misery. I walked to the end of the room, ignoring the smell coming from the ground, and noticed a small egg of sorts. Do they lay eggs, or is it for something else? I picked it up and walked back to the door, opening it and noticing that Tiflis was still sleeping, and I placed the egg beside him. When I fully walked into the storage room, I looked behind me and saw that the door blended in perfectly with the wall. I then noticed that it had 5 rows of cabinets, and while I could read in the dark, it wasn¡¯t particularly comfortable, I flicked a switch for the lights, and it didn¡¯t work. Wait, the dragon scale should be the power source, I injected just a tiny bit of mana into it, so it released some of its energy and the room had its light instantly turn on. My danger sense was rising steadily as I walked to the first row of cabinets. A thick layer of dust was on a wall, I went to remove it to see if there was anything under it. My senses told me not to, but I ignored them ¡ª if I wanted to get anything done, I would eventually have to do such a thing for answers, anyway ¡ª and brushed off the thick layer of dust. Surprisingly, nothing happened and all I saw was a mural. A white snake with red eyes was on it, it was biting its tail, but something seemed¡­ off about the snake. It was as if it wasn¡¯t complete, when I looked directly into its eyes, and then something changed in the surroundings. I felt like I was transported off into a different world, I looked at my surroundings and saw that I was in a field of berries. I tried to use my skill on them, but I found that nothing worked, much to my chagrin. Then, I started to walk around the beautiful fields, which were just rows and rows of berries. Looking up, I could see that the nighttime sky greeted me, there was something¡­ soothing about this place and I couldn¡¯t exactly put my finger on it. I felt relaxed, I started to lay down on the ground and let out a yawn. A white snake came up to me, its red eyes looked straight into my own. I instantly jutted up and saw that the snake left me, I saw that it was now daytime. I had to find a way out of this area, and that was proving to be exceedingly hard. No matter how long I walked or how fast I sprinted, the surrounding areas just seemed to stay the same, this snake was the reason that they were all the same I suppose. The answer to that riddle didn¡¯t give me any joy, I needed to find a way out of here. Another white snake was slithering around in the field, looking to just be a normal snake. I snuck up on it and tried to catch it in my hands, only for it to vanish in a puff of white smoke. I sighed, I had already ran for 2 hours, and I was too tired to do anything extra. Now that I was on the ground, I took a little break and started to feel tired ¡ª I felt even more tired than usual after a 2-hour sprint. I closed my eyes, a little sleep wouldn¡¯t hurt me, when I awoke it was back to nighttime. I tried to stand up, only for a gaze that felt all too familiar ¡ª though I was not sure when this gaze had laid its eyes on me before ¡ª descended upon me. The surrounding surroundings shifted back to the storage room, where I could see that Tiflis was still sleeping as if nothing had happened. An uncontrollable urge to vomit came from me, I ran to a trashcan I had already seen earlier and started to vomit out the contents of my stomach. Hairs, the tail, the feet, and other parts of the rat that I was still digesting came out of my stomach, in the process I felt something lodged in there that wasn¡¯t moving. After I vomited out all that was in my stomach, I felt a strong curiosity as to what was in there. I knew I could survive opening up my stomach, but¡­ did I really need to just to know? This thing definitely came into my stomach after I fell down into this place, maybe it was the answer I needed. I braced myself and injected some mana into my claw, and then laid upon my back. That only aggravated my earlier wound, I sucked in a deep breath and split open my underbelly, exposing my internal organs, I looked into the wound and then cut open my stomach barely. I stuck my hand in and then forcefully ripped out what was attached to my stomach wall, I screamed and screamed when I did the entire thing. The pain eventually subsided, and I laid there in a pool of my own sweat, blood, and tears. I looked at what I took out, and then looked at the mural again, this was the part of the snake that felt off. It was the missing part, now that I looked closer, there were minuscule lines that separated the snake into 10 different sections. What did this mean? A white snake with red eyes, a loop, and a piece of it inside me, I really needed some answers right now. Chapter 23 Wyrm Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 11th day Tiflis woke up after a few minutes, he ran up to me in a second and nearly hit me. ¡°What happened to you?!¡± He yelled out at me, I smiled ¡ª or what constitutes as a smile for me ¡ª and said, ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about me, I¡¯m all good. Just let me rest for a bit.¡± I closed my eyes, my tiredness seemed to melt away. When I awoke, I was in a¡­ weird underground city of sorts. My eyes quickly gravitated to a scale in the center, it was¡­ beautiful. A dark amethyst-colored scale with 2 glowing lilac-colored lines that ran through it sat atop an altar. I dropped the Hiddle in my hands right where I stood, he spurted a small amount of blood from his little mouth. Even from where I was stood, I could feel the power emanating from the scale towards the entire area. I didn¡¯t care for the 4 people, the scale was what''s most important, while walking there I noticed a considerable shift only 2 meters away from the scale. It was still manageable, though, so I just kept walking. Suddenly, I felt something touch my leg, then immediately crumble, a skeleton of the person in my pathway collapsed. I could see that some parts of it were crumbling down, a small white piece of¡­ something was inside its femur. I already noticed that it would be exceedingly difficult for me to get the scale, so this was something more interesting. I picked up the bone and broke it open, trying to get at the little white speck inside it that was barely visible. When I broke it open, a white scale with a red line running through it was what greeted me. A very familiar came off of it, the almosanguine? No, she didn¡¯t have any scales as far as I could tell, and I wasn¡¯t close enough with her to feel this familiar. The shape of it felt so familiar, I went ahead and broke down all the other skeletons, trying to see if they all had scales. All of them did indeed have a scale in one of their bones, after I was done, there was only some powder and crushed up bones left there. I walked out of range and put down all the scales, they were all like an oval, and each had a red line running through them. They did have some pretty minuscule differences though, some were rougher than others, but I can chalk that up to their differing environments. When I laid down all the white scales, they instantly pointed towards the scale in the center, interesting. I left them there and started to wander around, the massive tree in the center looked to be a nice vantage point, perhaps I could find something at its canopy. I walked up to it and dug my claws deep into its trunk, pulling myself up and steadily climbing all the way up the first large tree branch ¡ª which was the size of the tree trunks of other trees. I couldn¡¯t see far, the leaves were packed where I was, and my eyes couldn¡¯t penetrate the thick foliage. I looked up, only to see the tree¡¯s upper canopy. Sighing, I continued on with my climb. When I reached the treetop, a hollowed-out space led to the bottom of the tree. Hmmm, why did this place feel so alien to me, when everything else had a certain degree of familiarity. I looked down at the black space inside the tree and braced myself, might as well see what was down there. I stuck my claws even deeper inside the trunk of the tree and started to climb down, it was a twisting path of wood and there were even some small bugs. I finally dropped to what looked to be a tunnel. The roots of the gigantic tree were intertwined in this tunnel, but it never seemed to go further than a meter into the 4-meter wide tunnel. I walked through the tunnels, some parts had concrete, others were eroded down to just dirt. Eventually, I could see what looked to be a door, there was also a very putrid odor that stunk in the air. When I opened the door, I was in an office of sorts that looked impeccably clean. I noticed a small briefcase that had a muffled sound coming from it, I injected my mana into my claws and then opened up the briefcase. A green clump of cells inside a tube was inside the briefcase, it uttered out, ¡°He-Help me.¡± I picked it up and saw a note inside the case, it was a genetic anomaly. I nearly shattered the tube and killed it now, but I managed to regain control of myself. Perhaps this thing could provide me with some answers, ¡°How could I help you?¡± is what I said, masking my distinct hatred for the thing inside it. ¡°Pu-Put me in the large tubes¡­¡± I took the little thing and walked out through a door, going to a tube. There was a small slot of sorts that fit the little tube in my hands perfectly, I put it in and the machine roared to life. The little green clump quickly went to the larger cylinder, it instantly looked to be much healthier. ¡°Thank you.¡± I heard it say, ¡°I want to ask you some questions regarding this place.¡± It nodded, ¡°What even is this place?¡± The clump of cells moved around a bit, seemingly contemplating an answer, before saying, ¡°This was a laboratory used to experiment on me and my people, I just remember that I was abducted from my homeland and forced to come here.¡± Hmmm, they have a homeland? Interesting, I will have to take note of that, maybe another goal to add. ¡°Go on.¡± I said to him, and he complied, ¡°I do not know how long I was trapped here, the briefcase I was in offered no sense of time. I just know that this place was a city under a country named Lesith.¡± I nodded, ¡°What else do you know?¡± The clump of cells shook around as a way to convey that it didn¡¯t know anymore, I narrowed my eyes. Tsk, this little thing probably wouldn¡¯t talk much anyway. I lifted my claws and dug them into the glass, puncturing the tube, this genetic anomaly had high regeneration, but it still looked to be pretty new and can¡¯t survive outside this substance. It looked at me outside the tube, not even having the strength to muster up any response, just looking at me with shock. This thing was unworthy of life, that didn¡¯t change just because it gave me some answers. I injected some of my mana into my claws and killed the clump of cellular life. Hmmm, now then, this place was pretty interesting. I wonder what there is down here, I was scared of this place immensely, I noticed it the moment I walked through the door, there was something in the air that scared me. This place isn¡¯t normal, but it''s the only place that can give me some sort of answer. I walked to a door, which leads into a storage room with 5 rows of cabinets, my eyes immediately went to a wall with a thick layer of dust upon it. There was something in me calling for it, despite my mind saying that I shouldn¡¯t, that it would be disastrous if I did. But there was also another part of me that felt that this was the answer I was looking for all along, that this would be the right thing. I moved slowly, reaching the mural and brushing off the layers upon layers of dust upon it. What I saw was a white snake biting its tail, and it made a circle shape around the center of the mural, before I knew it, the surroundings changed once again. Now, I was standing in a berry field when the sun was at the height of its cycle. The blazing sun shone upon the beautiful fields, I looked around and noticed a¡­ settlement of some kind. I started to make my way over there, what was this place? A white snake slithered through the grass in front of me, catching me off guard. It left just as suddenly as it came, now that I looked at this settlement, the people in it looked to be like those from the mural. A race with jet black skin and two tentacles trailing behind them, they had no reaction to me walking up to them. Even when I was right next to what looked to be a mother and her son, they didn¡¯t react to me in any way. I tried scratching my claws to make a sound, and even tried to converse with them, all to no avail, which was weird. Was this its own contained, and separate world, I moved to another house. It was a blacksmith, he worked with black metal of some kind amazingly well, his skill was evident. I, eventually, got bored and moved on. This settlement was still in the middle of its construction, some houses were still being built and a few more caravans were arriving. From what I saw, the people back there had phones, and unless these were a secular species, this has to be a memory of something long ago. I sat there for what seemed to be an eternity, just watching this species build up their homes until it was a sizeable city. My sense of time felt¡­ weird, I saw moments that should have taken years to build happen in a matter of minutes. I stood up, looking at the sizeable city, and walked around the different alleyways and such. I happened upon a white snake grappling around a small child, I sat down and watched the snake sink its teeth into the child, a sliver of its silver blood went inside the wound on the child, the child''s eyes turned red for a second as the snake left. I left the alleyway, savoring the looks of the now large city. After a while of aimlessly wandering around, I found myself on the outskirts of the city. It was now nighttime and the beautiful berry fields were still flourishing. A large white snake manifested itself on the fields, sitting in wait for something. Less than 10 seconds later, I got my answer, a gigantic silhouette of a Drake was seen in the air. I looked up and could see a Drake with purple scales landing on a field opposite the white snake, it looked in the direction of the white snake ¡ª who I just now noticed had gigantic red lines coursing along its body. ¡°Demenseria¡­¡± said the snake, slithering around a bit on the field while still keeping a close eye on the Drake. ¡°You are nothing but a worm that grovels in the ground, Tannin. Your days are numbered.¡± snapped the Drake, Demenseria, right back to the snake who was now lifting its head. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. I looked at Demenseria, his scales were subdued, yet still glowing. Unlike me, who stuck to the ground, he stood on his hind legs and used the gigantic wings on his back to balance out the 2 gigantic hands he has. He scratched his chin with his claws and looked back down on the snake, the horns on his head were large and displayed his majesty as a Drake. They, unlike the rest of his body that was a deep purple ¡ª or light purple for his underbelly ¡ª were black with purple lines running through them. He reached his hand into space and took out a quill. The snake reacted quickly and lunged at Demenseria, and that was when I was kicked out. I was back in the storage room, looking at the mural and the disjointed white snake on it. I felt¡­ unfulfilled. It cut out right before their battle, what was this, and I didn¡¯t get any answers to the mysteries either. I sighed and walked right back out into the tunnels, I walked to where the entrance from the tree was and climbed myself out, the leaves in the canopy were nice and the fresher air outside than inside was also a nice change of pace. I climbed down from the top of the tree only to find the Hiddle gone from where he was, weird. I started to walk around and look for him, nothing changed, besides the Hiddle not being there anymore. Eventually, I walked inside a house and noticed a set of bones that looked and felt suspiciously familiar. I picked some up and could see telltale signs of them being crushed at certain points. Wait, was this the Hiddle¡¯s bones? The points on the skeleton all point to it being his, so what killed him? His skeleton was also very brittle, it crumbled down to powder after I poked and prodded at it for a few seconds. Tsk, what did this? I looked back towards the scale, I would have to figure it out eventually. The scale and that mural are the most important factors here at the moment, the scale is likely from Demenseria I saw, which connects it to the mural. I walked outside the house and made my way to the scale, I tried to sense it ever so slightly, and it violently lashed out at me. I was flung in the air, with my organs battered and bruised, but I was alive and could now sense a very slight signature leading to an insignificant house. It was the same as all the rest of the first ring, I took my first step towards it when suddenly the entire area went dark. A dark claw tore open space in front of me and a bloodshot eye looked at me, its pupils constricted. Dark, viscous blood poured forth from the opening, oozing down slowly as dark tendrils from behind this eye pushed it back towards the opening it made. A claw once again formed from the opening, prying it further and further open as more dark tendrils spewed forth to contain it. After a few minutes of a constant tug-of-war ¡ª where I was forced to sit and watch only as the eye was eventually pushed back into wherever it came from. Once that ended, I realized that I was near that inconspicuous house. That was when a force descended upon me and I closed my eyes. When I awoke, I was in an underground city, my eyes were looking at a rusty dome. I stood up with a headache and saw a massive tree in the center of the area and 4 people were prostrating around¡­ a gravity scale of a Drake? My d¨¦j¨¤ vu with this place was so strong that it felt like I knew this place like the back of my hand, from the massive tree to the scale, it all felt like I had been here multiple times. Hmmmm, the scale was tempting, extremely tempting, even. I walked up slowly towards it, and after the 1-meter mark, realized that I should be able to do this even if the power of the scale increased as I was closer to it. Once I was near enough to it, I lifted my hand and tried to grab at the scale. Sweat formed under my scales, the bone in my left leg broke, but after struggling against the power of the scale, I managed to get 2 claws around it and grab it off the altar. A large shockwave emanated from the scale, completely flattening the first ring of houses and breaking the massive tree down. Splinters were flying, I was flung in the air and landed on the ground, the Hiddle was somewhere at the moment. I landed down on the ground with a violent thud, blood spilled from my mouth. Four gigantic pieces of wood from the tree landed in me, one was in my left leg and the other three landed squarely in my body. One pierced my lung, another pierced my liver, the last one punctured deeply into my stomach. Blood was pouring out of my mouth like a waterfall, the searing pain was masked by the sudden onslaught of fatigue that hit me. My eyes started to droop a bit, was this how I was going to die? My eyelids became heavier and heavier, warmth escaped my body, and it now felt like it was freezing. I failed... I failed my ancestors, was I not good enough? Is this how my story ends? I... this isn''t what I expected, should I be angrier? I looked down to see my internal organs hanging around on the ground, a gray Hiddle in the corner of a house looked at me. Its eyes were hungry, and it angered me, but I couldn''t do anything. I''m sorry... father. I shot awake from my sleep, huh, I was in an underground city? It felt like I was having a nightmare where I died, thank goodness that it was only a nightmare. Four people around a gravity scale from a Drake, interesting, the temptation to retrieve it was there, but I resisted it. Something in my gut told me that it would only end disastrously were I to try to take it from the altar, I ignored it and instead went to a nearby house. Its decrepit state and faults all felt like it was my home, but I knew that I had never come here before. I instinctively punched my hand through a wall, and there was a gray Hiddle in my arms. I picked it up from its collar with my left hand, ¡°Can you talk?¡± I said, even though I asked it, it just looked at me with fear and didn¡¯t try to communicate with me. There was dead silence in the house as I pierced its heart with my claws and proceeded to remove its teeth. I could crush those up and digest them, but they weren¡¯t the most flavorful and I didn¡¯t like it, after that was done, I gulped down the rest of it in one go. Walking out, I locked my eyes on the administration building, my fear for it was great, but my curiosity was even greater for the secrets inside it. I already felt like this place wasn¡¯t just a normal one, there was something¡­ off about it. The Hiddle was stuck there in its horrid state, but there didn¡¯t seem to be anything but those gray Hiddles, maybe they would scavenge his body that is close to dying? I sighed, oh well, might as well help him, he is the only thing I could even refer to as a friend. I picked up his little body and saw that, if barely, he was still breathing, I held him by his collar in my mouth and started to climb the tree. Once I reached the first large branch of the tree, I put him down and started to go back down of the tree. When I came up to the house, I first started to move around the house to see if there was any other option than just going through the front door. Even though my curiosity trumped my fear of this area, I wasn¡¯t dumb enough to waltz through the front door. There was a plank that looked weird, maybe it was the decay, but no point in not checking. When I opened it, there was a weird white statue of a snake, it was pretty small but still weighed a decent amount. Its red eyes were rubies, and the scales on it were real, white scales with red lines were upon a sapphire base. I injected mana into my claws and cut it open, or tried to, the scales stopped me. How strong were they?? Tsk, I put it back and went back to the front entrance ¡ª it was a bit too heavy for me to carry easily ¡ª the front entrance had a decayed door. I pushed it open and walked to the stairs leading to the basement, I wanted to see that first, compared to the rest of the rooms that looked to have nothing. I walked down to a room made up of only metal, its condition was decent compared to everything else. I walked down a hallway that had its label still legible, it was an information storage room. When I reached there, a wall covered with dust took away all my attention. Something about it attracted me, I walked up quickly and began to wipe off all the dust. A disjointed white snake, identical to the statue I found last time, besides some very obvious differences. Four sections of the snake were gone, and it looked just¡­ wrong. Almost half of the snake was gone, I turned to leave, but the surroundings drastically changed from the room to a burning city. I nearly threw up from the smell alone, I held it in and started to wander around. This was very weird, but crying about it would let me go nowhere. I needed to see what this place is, maybe it would have some answers for me? I walked through the burning city and went into an alleyway, I thought I could see a small girl in this alleyway that looked to be homeless being grappled by a white snake. I blinked a bit, the image disappeared and the burning alleyway was what was left. What was that? I shook my head, I walked past that and saw a building that looked to be a blacksmith. A person effortlessly working on a piece of black metal came into view, I shook my head again. Why was I starting to hallucinate? I ran out of there and came out of the city, only to see two gigantic creatures fighting one another. All I could see was light trails, a white and purple one, fighting and clashing with each other. Eventually, after what seemed to be years, the two disengaged and I finally got a good look at them. A white snake with red lines running through it was there, silver blood leaked out of many wounds on its body. I couldn¡¯t look at its blood for too long, it made me have a headache. Scales fell off uncontrollably from the snake, a gigantic fang from its mouth ¡ª which was larger than me ¡ª fell from its mouth. A large cut showed its internal organs, and I could see an egg, it¡¯s a female? I then looked at the other combatant from the battlefield, a Drake. Its purple scales fell off, a horn was broken and the teeth in his mouth were just barely holding on. Dark, viscous blood leaked out from the cuts between the scales, a wing of his fell off as he looked at the snake. I could see that he was limping, and one of his hands was used to hold up the organs spilling out from the chest on its underbelly. It snarled a bit as the snake hissed back, the claws on the Drake were broken, and it clearly looked fatigued. ¡°You are indeed¡­ a worthy opponent, Tannin.¡± said the Drake, ¡°Right back at you, Demenseria.¡± quipped back the snake. ¡°There can only be one winner in this duel, and it has already been decided.¡± Tannin continued on, ¡°Yes, it indeed has.¡± Demenseria said. I felt the gigantic amount of mana release from Demenseria, the gravity in the area was condensed into a singular orb of a purple substance. It looked like a liquid that was being forced to conform into the shape of a ball, Tannin looked at it and hissed. She took a deep breath and also released a colossal amount of mana, condensing it all into a blazing fire that was both white and dark. The two released their attacks, they traveled so fast that I couldn''t see or make out what was happening. Just the light reached me, my eyes couldn''t follow the attacks, they were of a level far above my own. Eventually, I could see that the tug-of-war between the two attacks they launched end. The snake defintively lost, she was spent, worn out, and couldn''t move. He stood up and slowly walked to her as if he was the executioner of a criminal sentenced to death. A single tear fell down from his face, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, old friend.¡± was said by the Drake as he decapitated the white snake. It then looked at me, wait, it can see me?!? I started to slowly back away, ¡°Well, well. What do we have here?¡± said Demenseria. My panic was at an all-time high now, fuck, what was I to do?? Chapter 24 Wyrm Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 11th day Demenseria picked me up, it was very similar to how I picked up the Hiddle, he took me up to eye level. His eyes looked very familiar, where did I see them before? Visions flashed through my head, but they were all unintelligible and I didn¡¯t understand them, a mass of gray Hiddle¡¯s flashed through my mind. Another was a clump of cells in a test tube, they felt like memories of my own, but distant at the same time, as if they were memories from another world. The Drake looked me in the eyes, I felt a shiver crawl down my spine slowly, his eyes were dark and empty, I couldn¡¯t glean anything from them. Just as Demenseria planned to talk, I was booted out from the area and landed right where the mural was. I felt¡­ very drowsy, yawning a bit, I curled up into a ball and started to doze off. I can afford a little nap, Demenseria was interesting¡­ why could he have seen me? Ah, no matter, I will just have to figure it out when I wake up. I awoke in a very familiar manner as if I had slept in this same position and was woken up in this same position over and over. The rusted dome of this¡­ underground city was what greeted me, a little piece of the metallic dome fell off and landed somewhere else with a soft thud. I stood up slowly, yawning a bit in the process, and looked around. A Drake ¡ª Dragon? ¡ª scale, 4 people prostrating around it, and a ruined city. Foliage proliferated everywhere, as far as I could see, with the largest tree being right in the center that stretched from the ground to the ceiling of this place. There was something¡­ off about this area, and while the temptation for the scale was right there, I didn¡¯t feel like risking my life. An incomprehensible image flashed across my mind, it was of the tree in the middle breaking down because of some power. I shook my head to clear it, this was a weird place and I didn¡¯t want to stay in it for too long. I looked around for a possible escape route and saw none. Sighing, I took the Hiddle in my hands and walked towards one of the walls, I could survive for months with no food or water, so this was my best bet on escaping this area. When I arrived at a wall, the Hiddle woke up ever so slightly, he was still no better though, so I put him down and went to start digging. Hmmm, it would be best if I can make it farther away from that bird above me. When I lifted my hand to start digging, a gaze descended upon me and I froze. I could feel something coiling around me, a scaly creature clung to my right leg as it crawled all around me. A shiver ran down my spine, I looked back slowly and could see a white snake with red eyes slithering upon my back, it opened its mouth and I could see a small amount of its venom dripping off from its fangs. I still couldn¡¯t move a single muscle, the snake proceeded to dig its fangs right into my back. I prepared for immense amounts of pain, but¡­ nothing happened, strangely enough. I didn¡¯t wish to stay in the same place, though, even if nothing happened. I picked up the Hiddle and started to walk away from the small tunnel I started, I looked around and was suddenly inside a burning city. I looked down, only to see my hands empty and the Hiddle has gone from them, was this the doing of that snake? What was this place? I slowly crept around the burning city, a woman''s clothes and skin were being clung to with scarlet flame. The odor of charred flesh hung in the air, I walked up to her slowly and could see parts of her skin crack and tear, her internal fat reserves were leaking out onto the floor. When I arrived there, she looked to be dead, an expression of horror upon her face. Acrid smoke assaulted my nostrils, I sneezed a bit to rid my nose and started to search around some more. I heard the cry of a baby, turning around, I could see a small child running around the earlier woman and looking terrified. ¡°Wa-Wake up, mother. Wake up!¡± it yelled, I backtracked to him ¡ª not caring to hide ¡ª he looked at me and then back at his mother. The deep black color of his skin contrasted heavily with the ruby-red flames that danced around the area. ¡°You, You¡¯re the one to do this. Aren¡¯t you?¡± it said to me, my head was now tilted a bit, grief has different effects on everyone, I suppose. He seemed to muster up some courage and started to charge at me with a pitifully weak battle cry. The two immature and undeveloped tentacles trailed behind him, as he reached me fairly quickly. I yawned a bit ¡ª I felt extremely drowsy ¡ª and my act only further angered the boy who was rushing at me. Tsk, this was a bit annoying, I stood up and stretched a bit, before rushing right up to the boy and knocking him down with my immense bulk. He was still just a child, with no chance of ever defeating me. His eyes were filled with terror, fear; a mild, and frankly annoying, amount of determination and spunk; along with a small amount of resignation. I didn¡¯t want to prolong this for much longer, I snapped my jaws shut as he tried desperately to hit my arms, body, jaws, and legs. His blue blood spilled onto the paved road of the city, a faint ¡°No-no¡­¡± was heard from the charred woman. She wasn¡¯t dead? Interesting, I walked up to her and looked into her eyes, she still had some life in her as she stared at me right back. Her eyes bore a deep hatred, I could see it clearly as she barely moved her head to me. I left her quickly, I felt a bit¡­ bad for depriving her of her child, even if she was close to death regardless. I shook my head quickly, I shouldn¡¯t feel too sad over this, we weren¡¯t even closely related. I was a Dragon, I shouldn¡¯t care about other races that were beneath me in all regards, but¡­ she was a mother that lost her child. Tsk, this was distracting me, I put it at the back of my mind and kept walking. Eventually, I came across a gigantic white scale with a red line at the center of it, it instantly felt familiar, yet different. The scale was gigantic, almost as large as mine, what creature did this scale come from? A vision of a fang falling out from something came to mind, but it was just a hazy image of something I didn¡¯t understand. Whose memories were these? I was sure that I wasn¡¯t the one to harbor these, so whose was it inside my mind? I could faintly see a slight dollop of purple blood next to where the fang ¡ª which looked like a snake fang ¡ª dropped. I could hear some sounds in the distance, I walked around a bit and saw a child gorging on the dead body of what looked to be its parents. The tentacles of the adult were in the mouth of the child, the stench of blood hung in the air, a blue tinge was in the air. ¡°DON''T LOOK AT ME!¡±, he yelled at me. He was a proud little individual, I could tell that immediately. A look of horror flashed across the face of him, he went back to devouring the body; nothing was left of it after a few minutes, the crunching of the bones and the squishy sounds of organs was what I heard. Interesting, they were this desperate? I walked out of the area, he didn''t matter much to me, there were probably other things here that mattered more. A cry of pain came from a house near me, it was barely touched by the scorching heat. Near the house, I peeped through a window, a man, and a woman were fighting one another with their tentacles. ¡°Come on now, just let me do it once. We are all going to die anyway.¡±, the girl shuddered a bit and doubled the intensity of her attack. Eh, none of my business, I moved away from the window and came up to a broken-down plaza. The fire scorched close by, but it wasn''t close enough to feel. Something about this place felt odd, the center fountain was broken and torn apart for some reason. Now that I think about it, why does this feel so familiar, yet different? This experience of being transported here felt so, so, familiar, but I feel like it¡¯s weird I can interact with the people here. I should have remembered being forcefully teleported, but I have no such memory, and I just come up blank. Tsk, this wasn''t helping me, I need to find a way to leave this place. I left after wandering around a bit, nothing came up anyway, and soon I noticed that the entire area around me became silent. Even the flickering noise of the raging flames was gone, only an empty void of sound remained. Was it my ears, or was it this area? I immediately became alert and started to slow down in my search for¡­ something. There was a certain stench as well, it was eerily familiar to the smell of the scale at the center of the city. I couldn''t describe the smell in the air, it was otherworldly, yet familiar. It stunk of my¡­ egg?! A dark shadow descended upon the area in front of me, I looked up to see what was causing it, and instantly froze. Something inside me told me that it¡­ that shadow was¡­ my father. He descended slowly, and gently, like a father returning home, no wait, he was my father. Father¡­, finally, someone to guide me. It felt weird to admit it, but I was scared of this world. Really, really scared. I have so many questions, why me? Why was I the chosen one? Why. Why, why. I can''t have a normal life, is there something greater to it? Finally, someone to give me advice, something I''ve longed for, ever since I came into this world. A humongous dragon came down, Nitherir¡­ my father. I couldn''t look at him directly, something pushed my gaze away. ¡°Father, father! It¡¯s me, your son.¡± I yelled at him, he looked down, and his purple eyes stared back at me. When I went up to him, to touch him, to feel the warmth of my father, he disappeared into dust¡­ right in front of my eyes. No, no, NO. This can''t be happening to me, I can''t lose him, NO. ¡°Father, FATHER,¡± I yelled out once again, nothing happened, my worst fears came true. An illusion, WHO DARES TO TRICK ME. No, no, no, no, no, why?! WHY. WHY ME. I don''t want to live in this world anymore, why should I? No, no, I can''t die yet. What the fuck was I thinking, this illusion, this absolute spit on the face of everything I am. I need to avenge it, I have to kill ¡ª torture endlessly ¡ª the person that did this. If they were dead, I will find a way to revive them. This insult to me, and my race, will have to be rectified eventually. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. As for what to do next, tsk, I have no idea how to leave this place, but I will have to. For now, I just wanted to lay down for a bit and contemplate all this, an illusion. Thinking about it hurt my soul immensely, my father was the only bit of my heritage I could really latch on to. The system was inanimate, the Primordial Dragon was just a Dragon I knew that was the strongest of our species, but even then, I didn¡¯t even know its name. As for my mother, heh, they could be any Dragon for all I know, no name, nothing. Nitherir, my father, was almost the same, yet I have something to attach to, a name, that almosanguine. Heh, I did say I would kill her if given half a chance, but that was just my impulse at the moment. No, subjugation sounds good, yes, subjugation. Before that, I have to become stronger, right now, I¡¯m just a scared little wyrm that can¡¯t really do anything. If not for my race, if not for my mother, and not even for my father, just¡­ for me, a reason to not be scared anymore. Though no one but me will ever know, I can¡¯t have others take me for anything less than I am, a Dragon. Yes, definitely¡­ Ah, no matter, I¡¯ll just sleep here a bit and try to find a way out later. Yawning a bit, I closed my eyes, father, don''t worry, I will avenge us. I woke up, startled a bit, yet fine. Shit, that Osprey did a number on me, didn¡¯t it? I looked up and around the place, an abandoned underground city, I yawned a bit and saw a drop of water fall below me. Weird, I lifted my hand and realized, I was crying? Why, why was I crying? Why did I feel so sad? What was this? That was when a sudden influx of memories came to me, a mural seen by me four times in five different times, yet it was the same time all the same. A genetic anomaly alive in a tube, and two different times when I killed it instantly and killed it later on. Tiflis¡­, and finally, THAT ILLUSION. NOW I REMEMBER, NO, I WILL NEVER FORGET IT. THAT FUCKING SNAKE. I cooled down a bit, though I was still simmering right underneath my thin veil of calmness. I don''t understand why these memories came rushing back to me now, weird. Has the system stayed the same, or has it changed? I mentally uttered it, and the information came up, interesting. The new quest system came up, even without the Drake scale accommodated. I don''t plan on trying for the scale, at the moment anyway, it was inconvenient for me to try to risk it. Even if this¡­ time loop did seem to be pretty linear with the pieces of that snake, that snake died at the hands of Demenseria a long, long time ago, and I don''t trust the remnant power held inside that mural. That being said, I should go down to that mural and try to see if I can interact with Demenseria. That eye in my third reboot ¡ª oh by the Primordial Dragon, this situation was weird. ¡ª should be Demenseria. He likely became a Dragon, and even if he is dead, I''m sure that someone like him should have some revival contingencies. The problem is, they haven''t revived, so whatever hunting us is strong enough to stop all the contingencies, or at least suppress them, that''s the scary part. This whole reboot business was nonsense, but this wasn''t the time to be hung up on the weirdness of it. I sighed a bit and looked at the Hid-Tiflis on the ground. He wasn''t in any shape, but if I stay in there for too long, he will become a shriveled corpse or be scared out of his mind. I picked Tiflis up and took him with me, even if my senses told me it was a horrible idea to go into the administration building, I still did it. Down the stairs, I walked through the hallway to find the genetic anomaly in that office building, I wouldn''t let it live. Tsk, that revolting thing makes me disgusted no matter how much I think of it. I could hear its small voice inside the case, and injected some mana into my claw, followed by sticking it through the case and into the anomaly. It died instantly, next would have to be that one in the cold storage. I walked there, Tiflis still in hand, and saw the squirming mass of cells. With Tiflis in my claws, I ended the life of the anomaly quickly and ran towards the mural. Inside the room with the mural, and the 5 rows of files, I laid down Tiflis and walked over to the mural. With a deep breath, I rubbed off the dust upon the wall and saw the full mural. Like every other time, I was transported over to another world, this time it was that same burning city now being rebuilt. I hid inside a broken-down building as a gigantic shadow fell upon the center of the city and that Drake, Demenseria, descended rapidly onto the center of it. He flew swiftly down, leaving behind after images, but no shockwave happened. He gracefully landed and tucked his 2 gigantic wings behind his back. It was hard for me to even have a sense of scale with the Drake, he dwarfed all other things in the area, including the houses. The purple scales were entrancing, and he exuded majesty by just standing there. He leaned down and extended his neck down to meet the people. His arms, previously lifted, were now on the ground to support his entire weight as he leaned forward. A person of the race that looked to be their leader walked slowly up to Demenseria and prostrated underneath him. A small breath of hot air escaped Demenseria''s mouth, I saw the entirety of the small group shiver a bit as Demenseria lifted his head back up. The Drake nodded, and then lifted his right arm to his wrist and gently pulled a scale and a single droplet of purple blood out of the ''wound.'' Without a word, he transformed his blood into a very familiar altar and put the scale upon it. Miraculously, the entire city started to slowly repair itself, new materials were made from thin air and fixed the homes perfectly. The people, who were shocked beyond reason at this point, prostrated immediately before Demenseria. At this point, I walked out a bit and noticed the gaze of Demenseria on me the moment I did. He likely already knew I was here, the eyes of the gigantic Drake turned to slits, and before I could even react. Demenseria was suddenly right in front of me and picked me up, he was so fast, I couldn''t even see when he started to move. Shit, he slowed down back then? In a stance so reminiscent of when I pick up Tiflis, yet the difference in size was much, much larger. ¡°You, you''re quite the specimen, I see.¡±, said the Drake, it was the only thing he said before I was instantly kicked out from the scene, just like last time, yet he did get to say one thing. Even before I could orient myself, a gigantic rip in space opened up before me. I ran instantly to Tiflis, Demenseria is probably going to try to bring me out of this area with some method. That was my only method, but I wasn''t going to abandon Tiflis. An arm, extremely similar to Demenseria''s I saw in the murals, except there was something¡­ darker about it. The purple was subdued, and a writhing mass of black tentacles formed around and restricted the hand, but he picked me and Tiflis up and went back into the void. Once we were inside, I could feel Demenseria''s grip on me lessen, and I gained back some of my freedom. With Tiflis in my hands, I looked around the area and noticed that it was nearly pitch black except for a squirming clump of tentacles around a titanic body. Demenseria''s hand was subdued by those black tentacles, a small slit opened up in the mass and I could see his eyes look at me distinctly. They looked weird, different from the one I saw in the mural, more insane, and mentally mad. I could do nothing but wait and see what would happen, Demenseria slowly woke up, and the giant started to move a bit. A gigantic slit in the area, with a seemingly normal area beyond it, opened up. The hand of Demenseria picked me up and threw me out of the slit. Before I left, I saw a girl with black hair, black eyes, and extremely amazing-looking robes descend in the area and the mass of the tentacles looked to go into a frenzy. The aftermath of her descent was not something I could witness, the split quickly closed up, and the only thing left was me, and Tiflis. A small forest was behind me, and a small town full of 30 houses at most in front of me, and the worst part of it was I could hear around five people walking my way. Hmmm, they were likely from the village, I wonder if I can get them to help me into the town. I wasn''t exactly the most appealing-looking thing, but the appeal to a child should work if I make myself look injured. Of course, I didn''t plan to be injured, if none of them were to help me, I could always try to kill them. As for Tiflis, tsk, Tiflis was problematic, but perhaps I can make it look like I defended him from something? Yes, this should work. I made little scratches all around my skin, drawing a lot of blood that made me look much more injured than I was. With a bit of force, I made some bruises across my body and put Tiflis near my stomach as I laid on my side, facing the direction they would come from. Invoking my best acting skills, I emitted a pitiful cry that alerted them. They came upon my position pretty swiftly, but I could sense they were slower than me, good. In their group, there were 3 girls and 2 boys that looked to be normal humans. They were young adults, at most, and looked at me. ¡°Look at the poor thing.¡±, said one of the boys, and he slowly started to approach me. A girl, who looked a bit like him, stopped him and said, ¡°Stop, stop. What do you know about monsters? What if it¡¯s dangerous?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± He replied, this guy was not experienced, and by the looks of everyone else, neither were they except this girl. ¡°We should all back away slowly, it''s a monster.¡± The boy shook his head and started to approach me again, softly saying, ¡°It''s an ok boy, you''re going to be fine.¡± It made me a little sick, but I just emitted another pitiful cry and looked at him with fake fear. The girl now pulled out a little gun, and another one started to call someone. Technology advanced people? Interesting, maybe this would help me. The boy was now only a few meters from me, ¡°It''s ok, It''s ok. You''re fine, you''re going to be okay.¡± he kept repeating, it only made me angrier every time, but I held it in and laid motionless. The boy didn''t say anything, yet took out a few bottles of what looked to be liquid medicine out from a patch. It contained mana, I could sense that, a small container for healing magic? He opened one, and slowly poured it over my wounds, healing them instantly. He, still keeping his eyes on me, did the same thing for Tiflis. I started to slowly stand up a bit, ¡°It is ok boy, you''re fine. I''m just helping you.¡±, he said. The next thing disgusted me, but it had to be done, I came up a bit to him and licked his face, and started to muster up all I could in my eyes to portray being thankful. ¡°Good, you healed them. Now, let''s go.¡± ¡ª said the girl, backing up while still looking at me with weariness. It went better than expected, the boy said, ¡°Sister, can''t we just take him with us?¡± Interesting, good, I looked at his sister with all my acting skills to make me look meek. The sister, who was still young and inexperienced, just nodded and started to slowly walk away. Good, I trialed behind for a bit with the boy. It was surprising how na?ve they were when they should have the technology to know it''s not a good idea, but oh well, this is a great thing for me. After a few minutes, we were near the town and I could see a map, a small town on the border of Iabrun and Gawain? Interesting, a map was always nice to have, and I could finally get some reference points to where I was. I looked around for a bit and could see a father, father, father¡­ Father¡­ Chapter 25 Arianna Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, Day 11 After I left the little urchin that was that slave girl, I quickly made my way back to my estate. It wasn''t that I didn''t like my stay here, just that my home was far better, and I would rather go there. Hmmmm, on second thought, the day was still young for me, might as well get some work done. I walked back slowly to my dorm room, then quickly teleported myself to a very large skyscraper. It was nighttime, yet the entire building was bustling around with activity, ah, I loved this building. It was built rapidly around twenty years ago, shooting up into the sky over a kilometer tall. The building was a beautiful piece of engineering, and it was all under my control. Well, my family was the one that had it under their thumbs, it was mostly a hub for all our businesses. I really should get to skim through all the logs, I need to know everything we do and how it connects. Very important, but I can leave that for later, I need to finish out this contract to build some more infrastructure in my colonial holdings. The current output of coal simply wasn''t meeting the standards, with most of it being lost due to the poor infrastructure. Tsk, this was going to cost some money, the mages willing to do such a task are few and far between, and it would take far too long for normal people to build the entirety of it. The price for speed, I suppose. This room was the office at the very top of the building, reserved for people of the Lendenburg line. I sat at the desk and called up my assistant, I didn''t call her much, but she was useful when I needed her. After a few seconds, a lady of small stature with orange hair, brown eyes, blue skin, and horns atop her head came into the room. She held an air of professionalism and wore a suit and glasses. There was a personal assistant assigned to all the people in my family, and while I wasn''t the one to run this place, usually, I could if I wanted to. What was her race again? Eh, doesn''t really matter, ¡°Laizi, can you bring Reginald here within 10 minutes?¡±, she nodded and then walked off. Hmm, I wonder how much the price should be, it was 500,000 pounds last I checked, for around 3% of the entire colony. I stood up and looked at a map on the wall, the entirety of the mainland for Iabrun was over 70,000,000 km2 and our colonial holdings all measured over 30,000,000 km2 when added up. That was for the entirety of the country, though, I and even the Emperor owned much less colonial holdings and mainland territory. Of course, everything is technically the Emperor''s, but he doesn''t push his weight on almost all the land. Only keeping a few of the total for himself, and I don''t see that changing any time soon. The people of this country do love the monarchy, but they would get mad if we were to just suddenly take their land. I owned some off-shoot small islands that I didn''t care for, a larger island near the coast of Iabrun, that one was mostly for leisure. One of the most important was my holding of a large piece of land on another continent, it didn''t have a name yet, it was a relatively new holding of ours. It just held the name of the continent it was on, Presa, and not its own name. There were some other offshoots on the other continents, and undoubtedly, the most important one was a gigantic piece of land filled to the brim with natural resources, and most importantly, magical ones. That one was priceless, and no one in our family tried to do anything with it yet. I plan to change that, but there were plenty of ways to milk that place for all of its resources, I can¡¯t be too hasty and pick a subpar option. I sighed and looked at the map once again. Six continents in total, with a share on every single one of them. Iabrun truly was gigantic, and Solaria was all the same as us, imperialistic with colonies all over. Hmm, 500,000 pounds is pretty good for 3% of the entire colony, and I only really need that much to fix the problems. Good, after I sat back down, Laizi came back with a short child. That was just his species being the way it is, he was a participant of the Last War, though I never bring it up with him. ¡°Please, sit.¡±, I gestured at the couch as I sat upon an opposite one, he nodded respectfully and sat down. ¡°You need help with building some roads? Sure, just tell me how much you''re willing to pay.¡±, he said in a jovial voice. I replied, ¡°500,000 pounds is the upfront cost I am willing to pay. All the materials, which add up to another 100,000 pounds, will be provided by my family.¡± The little child nodded a bit, ¡°600,000 pounds.¡± he said to me in a firm tone, I smiled a bit, ¡°I will give you that much money if you finish the entire project within the hour.¡± He groaned out loud, but did say that he would. I asked Laizi, who was standing at the doorway, ¡°Write up a contract, be back in 20 minutes.¡± She nodded without a hint of dismay and left the room, good, ¡°Reginald, I need to ask you for a favor.¡± I said, completely getting rid of my slightly happy tone for a much more serious one. He tilted his head in puzzlement before seemingly realizing what I was going to ask. I pulled out 3 sheets of paper with 3 different faces on them, all 3 were of the same race, humans. They were some pesky people that were sabotaging the island''s coal supply, and worse, they were competent mages. They really were quite annoying, ¡°Capture these 3, and if you can''t, kill them. I expect their acquisition by the end of the hour, and if they are dead, I will reward an extra 300,000 pounds. If they were alive, I would give you an extra 400,000 pounds.¡± I could see the dollar signs in his eyes, he really could be bribed with enough money, and since the entirety of Iabrun''s economy is well over 400 trillion pounds a year. With my family holding a decent chunk of it, I can bribe almost anyone. I do still need some liquid, untraceable cash, so I''ll go deal with that later on, the drug cartels under my thumb would be very useful for this, all for later. Reginald nodded, and with his powers, made a tiny wooden cup appear out of thin air, and inside it was the pulp of a tree, which was his favorite meal. I could sense where a large amount of mana was transferred and looked out of the gigantic window next to me, only to see a tree that was previously there gone. ¡°You do know that''s illegal, right?¡± He laughed a bit, and said, ¡°Oh come on, don''t be such a stickler to the rules. Let me get away with some stuff.¡± I smiled a bit, and just nodded along, ¡°How do you do it?¡± I asked inquisitively, ¡°Any good mage has his secrets.¡±, he replied quickly. Tsk, still no closer to figuring it out, was it just a simple shaping ability? Exchange of resources from one form to another? I never did get to see him work, so I wouldn''t know, another thing to try to do later on. Laizi came back, with a written contract in hand, and handed it over to me. I waved her off, and she accordingly left the room, leaving me and Reginald alone. I put down the contract and slowly slid it over to him, and without batting an eyelash, he agreed and signed the contract. ¡°Goodbye now. I will get it down, see you later, then.¡±, he said before merging with the floor of the office room and leaving the area. Knowing him, he would be back soon enough, so I might as well take this time to relax a bit, before moving on to the next venture. I called up Laizi again, she came just as quickly as always, ¡°Get me something to eat.¡±, I said, ¡°What do you want?¡± she replied. Hmmm, I didn¡¯t really know what I wanted, ¡°I don¡¯t know, pick something for me.¡± I replied, she nodded and walked off. Wait, I need a drink, I yelled out, ¡°Oh, and get me some Vesil Juice!¡± She nodded enough for me to see, and walked right into the elevator. Good, I stood up and walked to the gigantic window that was the back wall of the room. Peering over the edge, I could see the bustling of cars as they moved across the roads of the city. This modern era architecture was nice, but I was of the type to like the more traditional type. A young man and woman were walking on the sidewalk, there was an older man in a suit that ran past them and entered a skyscraper nearby. A small child with their mother was on the other side of the street, lamp posts lit up the roads and I could see that she was eating some ice cream. A person was flying on a Blemdorf in the sky, and someone on the ground was calling someone on his phone. Someone walked out of a restaurant with his friends looking drunk, they walked down the street and sprawled into their car. A waitress looked out from the window, sighed, and then went back inside to work. From my perspective, I could see that the restaurant was a family-owned business, with their living quarters situated above the restaurant. That child and her mother met up with someone, presumably their father, and walked away out of my view. A person on the street was performing low-level magic tricks for the people walking around, and he had an assistant that was also an amateur mage. I loved just watching the lives of everyone on the street, it was soothing in a way. It felt nice to see the people who I ruled over, and I just liked to see all the mundane parts of normal life. A man wearing a suit walked out of a building, he had blue skin and horns, huh, the same race as Laizi? He was staggering around on the street and dropped a red and black chip shaped like a circle, I narrowed my eyes a bit. A slave chip, eh? I wonder why they were so brazen as to hold a meeting right near my building, if I get him, then that should be a good way to make the public like me more than they do already. After all, who doesn¡¯t like to see slavers get what they deserve? I took a picture of the man¡¯s face, and then sat back down on the couch when Laizi came back with a tray of grapes, Griffin Cheese, some biscuits, and then a glass of Vesil juice, something light was nice. I said to her, ¡°Thank you, Laizi, can you go and get me the logs for that island off the coast?¡± She nodded, she knew exactly what I meant, and rushed off to go grab it for me. Just as I took the first bite of the Griffin Cheese, Reginald appeared in front of me, I was a bit startled, but I kept calm and just slightly smiled at him. The Griffin Cheese was very mild and creamy, and it worked with the grapes exceptionally well. The biscuits, made from the wheat we grew, were slightly sweet and worked well with everything else, Laizi really did know how to satisfy a craving. I gestured at the plate on the table, Reginald smiled and shook his head, ¡°So, where are they?¡± I asked him. He wasn¡¯t the type to skimp on the job if there was a chance to earn some money, so I didn¡¯t worry about the infrastructure, and even if he did skimp on it. I have my ways to kill him, and he knows it, so I doubt that he would dare to skimp on it. What was important were the people, he generated a wooden replica of one of the men, and then it turned into the real deal. The person who had been a thorn in my side for a while now, Javier, with white skin, brown hair, and black eyes. He was the leader of it all, and he was definitely not someone to be trifled with, normally. Yet, here he was, gagged like a pig and unable to do anything, good, good. He looked at me with hatred in his eyes, and that was all he could, or would, be able to do for a long time coming. ¡°Where¡¯s the other two?¡±, I asked him, ¡°Give me the money, and then I will give you the rest of them.¡± Reginald replied, ¡°I can arrange that, Laizi!¡±, I yelled out and Laizi came over in a few seconds with a briefcase. She opened it up for Reginald to see, it was just numerous Iabrun pounds. He looked at it for a second and looked content, he took it and then summoned the rest of the people, two people, that looked exactly like Javier, Jacob, and Yave. ¡°Reginald, come back to me in around¡­ Forty-five minutes, will you?¡±, I said, he nodded and left as quickly as he came. Leaving me, Laizi, and the three tied-up people in the office. I smiled at them and signaled to Laizi to bring them to the chamber and prep them for me. She smiled a bit, nodded, said, ¡°Your wish is my command.¡± and left quickly with the three of those men. Did she smile? That was rare, I sat back down on the couch and picked up the glass of Vesil juice. Fake Vesil juice was green and flat, but the real deal should be purple with a little fizzle in it. The real one is made up of the blood of Vesil''s, it tasted sweet and held a nice perfume of lavender and other herbs. The little fizzle was what made it, and the unique flavor that came from the blood of the Vesil, even if someone tried to recreate it, it just wouldn''t come out the same. This little glass was well over 500 pounds alone, no wonder people didn''t drink it all that often. I picked it up and took a little sip of it, before putting on the Griffin Cheese on a biscuit and biting down. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. I stood up, with another piece of the Griffin Cheese and a grape in hand, and went to the large window. Looking down on the slave building, I could see that same man walking back to it. The horrors that happen in that house are better left to burn, yet something inside me wanted to see the situation with my own two eyes. I lifted the last remaining biscuits, grapes, and Griffin Cheese with some simple wind magic and ate it all. I had to go and thank Laizi, I heard a knock on the door, speak of the Devil, and he appears. ¡°Laizi! You got me those logs?¡±, she nodded and handed them over to me, ¡°What room are those 3 being held in?¡±, I asked her, she said, ¡°Room 341, 342, and 343.¡± Good, I waved her off and picked up the logs for the island, starting from the earliest one, back when we first acquired the territory. A house¡­, some animals, huh, it all seemed pretty normal? Well, anything shady should have stayed off the logs, wait, we spent 10,000,000 pounds on what amounted to a plot of land that was worthless? I pity the poor soul that ripped off the person in my family, they definitely didn''t get a nice death. Hmm, this all seemed pretty normal, I''ll have to check with the earnings to see if there were any discrepancies. That can be left for later, though, I needed to know if these people had others that wanted a rebellion. These logs are relics of the past, these people are my business, and I should handle it like they were my business. I stood up and left the room, and decided to go to room 200 first. I reached the bottom floor, every person stopped to say hi to me, before going back with their duty. Next, I walked down a hallway lit brightly with lights and came upon a door that didn''t look out of place with the white hallways. I opened it up, and after that was another hallway where there was a code that was required. It was something only me, and Laizi knew about. I put the long code in and walked inside, where there was a set of stairs underground. After that, there were rows upon rows of doors, each pure white, the hallway was deathly silent and the only thing that could be heard was the sound of my shoes. I reached room 200 and opened it up, again with a unique code only known to me and Laizi. Inside was like a toy store, except it held any and every torture tool that I had at my disposable, I got some goodies and stored them in my pocket space, then left as quickly as I came. First, first should be Yave, he was the toughest of the group and would be a joy to break. Or should I start with Jacob, who was the softest one? Decisions, decisions, eventually I just decided upon Jacob. I opened the door to room 343 and saw him on a chair, tied up and gagged. He was a very competent mage, nothing Reginald couldn''t handle, but competent nonetheless. Bindings for magic do work wonders, he looked defeated and cast his gaze at me and then went right back to staring at the floor. ¡°Awww, why do you look so defeated, Jacob? Has the futility of your actions finally caught up with your puny mind?¡± I said to him. Much to my surprise, he laughed a bit and nodded, I took off his gag, ¡°Yes, yes Your Grace. That''s exactly what happened, I don''t know what got into me to think this¡­ revolution thing would ever work.¡±, he said, then turned quiet. ¡°Tell me, Jacob, is there anyone else that worked with you 3?¡±, he shook his head. Interesting, he still had something of a sense of honor left in him. I plucked a picture from my pocket dimension and showed it to him, ¡°See this? It''s Javier talking with someone, and that someone isn''t you or Yave. Tell me, who it is, and you may just be let off scot-free.¡±, that was a total lie, but might as well dangle something in front of him. I could get someone to track the person from just this photo, but that would be expensive, might as well do this first. He looked confused, frightened even, but that was expected. ¡°I don''t know. I really don''t know.¡±, he said. I got an idea, I left the room quickly and went into Yave''s room. Yave was not the talkative type, and I wasn''t one to try to force him to talk, for now. He was tied up and gagged, I took a saw from my space, and went to hack off his right arm and left leg. He tried to resist me, at first, he screamed and cried and tried to stop me. Eventually, the pain of getting his entire right arm chopped off got to him, and he fainted. Mages were magical, and they were competent, but they weren''t at the level that they could shrug off damage from normal sources, or have gone through enough pain to resist it. It was difficult to cut through the bone, but I persevered and finally cut off both his arm and leg. I picked the limbs up, his cries of pain and agony shouldn''t have been heard by anyone else, and moved into the hallway. I called Laizi, ¡°Meet me outside room 342, I have a task.¡±, I said to her. Not even a second after I hung up, I could hear her footsteps resounding down from the hallway. The bliss of teleportation must be wonderful, she must''ve teleported a bit further away as a courtesy. She came up to me, and the two bloody limbs on the floor. ¡°What do you need me for?¡±, she asked, ¡°What do the natives of that land usually eat? Meat?¡±, she nodded and replied, ¡°The diet of the commoners there is mostly composed of meat, some vegetables are seen as well. Dairy is nearly non-existent.¡± I nodded and looked at the limbs, then back at her, ¡°You know how to cook, right?¡± I asked, she nodded, and I swiftly continued, ¡°Good, cook up a simple stew with the limbs here and bring it back to me within five minutes.¡± Without uttering a word, she picked up the limbs and teleported away. I needed to learn how to do such a thing, but for now, I''ll go to Javier. Inside the room, he glared at me with hatred, maybe he should say something first. I un-gagged him, and he immediately tried to bite me, an ungrateful bastard. ¡°I have nothing to say to an imperialist pig like you.¡±, he said, ¡°No matter what you do, I will not break, I would rather a grave in my home country of Yeven than live a millionaires life in Iabrun.¡±, he continued on. I looked at him, and smiled a bit, ¡°Yeven? I haven''t heard of it, the only thing it is now is an imperial colony of Iabrun.¡± I knew what pressed the buttons of Javier, and that was the disregard for his homeland. He was irate, and if his looks could kill, I would have been dead many times over. The eyes of his glared into mine, he tried to stand up, but all he did was rattle his locks a bit and tire himself out after a few minutes. ¡°Indeed, you''re quite protective of your homeland. Or should I say, ex-homeland?¡±, I giggled a bit at what I said and continued, ¡°Javier, Javier. If you just tell me who else you are working with, you can rest peacefully in your own country, and not be confined here in Iabrun.¡± ¡°You do not understand me, you fucking colonizer. I will strike all the deals with the King of all Hell, the Devil himself before I strike a single deal with you, you imperialist swine.¡±, he damn near yelled out at me. He wasn''t willing to give it up, good, I liked it when there was some challenge to it. I walked out of the room, and went to room 201 quickly, in there I took a small table plus some more binding. After a minute, I came back to room 341 with Javier in it and put the table down. I removed the binding of his right arm and put it down on the table. He tried to resist me, but it was futile, the bindings were too strong, and he was now too weak to put up anything meaningful as resistance. With his arm and hand spread out on the table, I tied his right arm back up with binding, except this time to the table instead of his chair. This room was a nightmare for mages, it sucked the mana out of anyone that didn''t have authorization and weakened magic to the point of non-existence for the prisoners. Holding a pair of pliers, I held onto the fingernail on his thumb with great force. Then, with even greater force, I pulled out the entire fingernail. He screamed, but I gagged him immediately and moved on to his index finger. With the same technique that I used on his other fingernail, I forcefully removed the fingernail of his index finger. He was now passed out, tsk, I needed to make sure that they stay awake regardless of the pain. I walked outside, and could hear the sound of footsteps, Laizi came up to me with a hot bowl of what looked to be a normal stew. I smiled, ¡°Can you get me four doses of the drug that makes sure they don''t pass out? Oh, and a small vat of highly corrosive acid, plus a healing stone, and the video recording of the last 10 minutes in room 342, and the video recording of you cooking the meat. Oh, and stay outside the doors in case I need anything more.¡±, she nodded, and I went inside Jacob''s room with the hot stew. Javier''s fingernails were in my pockets, out of sight, there was an extra chair in there and I sat down on it. I removed most of Jacob''s binding, and his gag, then I gave him the stew. ¡°Here, take it. You haven''t had anything to eat in a while, right? Eat some, and then we can talk.¡±, I said in a very gentle tone, almost motherly. It came naturally to me, Jacob nodded a bit and took the stew, he started to slowly eat it. I saw him eat the chunks of meat inside it, and after a few minutes, he was finished with it. He put it down on the ground, and then looked at me, I showed him the photo again. ¡°Here, have a look. Try to remember who this was, and you can leave.¡± He took it from my hands, and even after seeing it closer, he shook his head and said he didn''t know who it was. He was proving to be a tougher nut to crack than usual, but I just had to play the long game. I left the room once again, Laizi stood outside with all the stuff I requested. I took the healing stone with me and then went inside Yave''s room. He was still passed out, I injected my mana into the healing stone and his limbs regenerated within a matter of seconds. With the help of a knife, I slit his wrists and the pouring blood was caught in a cup. After a few seconds, I patched the wound up and took the blood in the cup to Laizi. ¡°Make a drink for our friend Jacob.¡±, she smiled a tiny amount and nodded. I went back into Javier''s room with the doses of medicine, the healing stone, and the vat of acid. I jabbed the dose directly into his bloodstream, and he woke up instantly, I smiled at him and picked up the pliers once again. Then, I went for his ring finger next, plucking the fingernail directly off from it. This time, he screamed, and his eyes were bloodshot. I removed his gag, ¡°I will not deal with you, you swine.¡±, I put the gag on immediately after what he said. This time, I took a massive cleaver and slammed it down on the table, cutting off the entirety of his arm. I took it and then left the room, to see Laizi with a cup of red-colored juice. She saw the hand and looked at me, ¡°Make two sausages with this.¡±, I told her, she nodded and left. Within a few seconds of waiting, she came back with two perfectly good sausages. I thanked her and then went inside the room. Offered the drink and meal to Jacob, showed him the picture, and once he said he didn''t know, I left to hack off the body parts of the others for more things to feed Jacob. I cut off the leg of both Javier and Yave, healing them at the same time, and gave it to Laizi. She came back twenty seconds later with a perfect steak and the same red-colored juice made from the blood of Javier and Yave. Inside, I gave Jacob the items and asked him once again, and once again, he said he didn''t know. We repeated this routine a few more times, one time with a roast of the leg, another that was belly bacon, and finally, another stew. This time, was the time that I would show Jacob it all. I took all the recordings of everything I told Laizi to get and walked into Jacob''s room with a vintage television set, plus a way to see the tapes. I connected it to the outlet, and then sat down, put the first one on, and waited to see Jacob''s reaction. It was me sawing off Yave''s limbs, he gagged a ton of times throughout it. Next, I removed the tape and put in the next one, of Laizi preparing the stew, and then me giving it to Jacob. His eyes looked wide with horror and disgust, he vomited all over the area, yet I kept going. Showing him the process of each and everything he ate in his time here. He vomited over and over again, looking at me with disgust and fear. I stood up and kicked him in the stomach, then again, and again, and again, and again. I shoved the picture in his face, and yelled, ¡°TELL ME WHO THIS PERSON IS OR I WILL FEED YOU THE MEAT OF YOUR FRIENDS RAW.¡± He nodded a bit, finally, some answers. Chapter 26 Arianna Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 11th day I picked up Jacob and tied him back to the chair, showing the picture to him, he was still reeling from the shock of it all. Blood spurted out from his mouth, slowly dripping down onto his shirt, and then onto the floor. He looked up at me, the first time I saw him hold a genuine expression of anger since I saw him. ¡°Why?¡±, he asked me, I kicked him in his stomach once again, ¡°The ¡®why¡¯ doesn''t matter, tell me. Who is it?¡± Jacob nodded a bit and started to talk, ¡°He''s-He''s my¡­ He''s my father, he helps us a bit.¡± Unexpected, guess his father will be a bit of a thorn in my side, time to take care of him. ¡°Now, what was your plan, what did you want to do?¡±, I asked him. He said, ¡°We, we wanted to blow the roads to the coal mine on the island.¡±, Jacob was wincing and grimacing at the same time. ¡°We only wanted what was best for our country.¡±, I kneeled down and looked him in the eye, ¡°Jacob, tell me, is there anyone else that helped you?¡±, he shook his head and stayed silent. The room was now cloaked in silence, I waited for a few seconds, and Jacob didn''t seem like he was going to speak anytime soon. I suppose I got all the answers that I could from him. Once I was back in my office, I called up Laizi and waited for her to show. She came over quickly enough, ¡°Laizi, you''re going to get a new assignment. Bring Ts¡¯yevlir over, and let him try to get the answer to who helped the three get explosives that potent. Before that, get me 2,000,000 pounds in gold right now.¡±, for the first time Laizi asked me a question, ¡°Your Grace, you only have 2,500,000 pounds left to use on any of your projects, any more money would have to be requested from your other family members. Are you sure you want to get 2,000,000 pounds in gold?¡± I smiled a bit, Laizi was truly a lifesaver. ¡°No, get me 1,000,000 pounds in gold, then.¡± She nodded and swiftly left the room, I really need more money. The Lendenburg Cartel ¡ª based in the city of Lendenburg ¡ª should start to branch from smaller countries to medium-sized countries. Laizi can go handle that business for me, Lendenburg itself is a very large city, with a lot of areas for the Cartel to hide, but they were pretty easy to force around with my power. Laizi came back, and so did Reginald, the two walked through the door at the same time. Laizi was carrying a case of gold, and I could faintly sense Ts¡¯yvelir inside the shadow of Laizi. The scared and intimidated look on Reginald''s face when he peered at the shadow also alerted me to him being inside it. Laizi came up and put the case of gold on the floor, Ts¡¯yvelir jumped from shadow to shadow and landed in mine. I could feel a small breath creeping down my neck, I waved Laizi off and stared at Reginald. ¡°Reginald, you''re free to leave until I call you back, you''re my guest today, so ask Laizi for anything, within reason, and she will provide it to you.¡±, he shakily nodded and left the room, huh, was Ts¡¯yvelir that scary? Or was it something else? I made my way with Ts¡¯yvelir back to Javier''s room, he wasn''t going to give up the answer quickly, and that was what Ts¡¯yvelir was for. His powers over shadows have evolved to the point that he could make some very sophisticated illusions, and that was perfect. I walked into the room and stood in the corner, Ts¡¯yvelir manifested into a small black ball, and a gigantic wave of mana pulsed in the room. Javier¡¯s eyes turned blurry, and glazed over, I touched the small black ball that was Ts¡¯yvelir, and I was ¡®transported¡¯ to a small village in the middle of the jungle. I smiled the most I have had in a while, it was an ultra-realistic illusion made by Ts¡¯yvelir. Everything here was simply in the torture chambers, but to Javier, it felt, smelt, and was practically real. It could only be sustained by Ts¡¯yvelir for a few minutes at a time, so I had to make the most of it. Javier was always closer with his mother, and he was now laying down on the floor. An older woman walked up to him with a concerned look on her face, she tapped on his shoulder and said, ¡°Javier, wake up.¡± He shot up and had tears streaming down his face, ¡°NO, NO. THAT DUCHESS.¡± he yelled out and looked distressed. His mother was looking at him with a gentle look and hugged him warmly, ¡°Shhh, my boy, it''s fine. You''re fine, I''m right here.¡± A quiet sob emerged from Javier, as he was crying into the chest of his mother, a battalion of soldiers stormed the village and started to murder everyone there. A bullet went straight into the chest of his mother, her lifeless corpse collapsing on the still quietly sobbing Javier. The shock of the situation wasn''t quite grasped by him, he quivered a bit, ¡°Mother?¡±, he asked in a quiet tone. He stood up shakily, looking down on his now blood-soaked hands, and turned to see the rest of his quiet village. The battalion of soldiers had come through the village in a storm, the houses were burning and corpses were strewn around the entire village. The smell of charred flesh hung in the air, as Javier slowly leaned back down to his mother''s corpse and sobbed quietly. Tears streamed down his face that was now covered in blood, this was a simulation of real memories that Javier had. This one, I was extremely satisfied with, ¡°Ts¡¯yvelir, show me some other ones, and then we can go and catch a Basilisk.¡± A small, black, Griffin manifested on the grassy land next to me and nodded. The next illusion was Javier walking by himself in a forest, it was a dark and quiet night. He noticed some light in the distance and slowly approached it, the fire burning becoming ever brighter as he came closer to it. Javier came to the clearing where the fire was burning ablaze and hid inside a bush. There he saw a forest of corpses that had gigantic wooden stakes stuck inside them, each one having a fire burned under them. His eyes widened in shock and horror, as he noticed a few familiar people being set ablaze on the stakes. His father, who was working that day and avoided the fate of the village, had a stake through him. The lifeless eyes of his father looked directly at Javier, miraculously, and Javier had a stream of tears dripping down his face. Good, this was perfect, I signaled to Ts¡¯yvelir to change the scene. It changed to a beach, oho, this was quite the old memory, before my birth even. This was when Iabrun first came to this colonial holding, a fleet of battleships was on the horizon and the people of the island were in a panic. Javier was but a child this time, and he was with a friend running around on the beach. A battleship fired from the coast, its shell striking a coastal village, flattening most of its houses and killing the people inside them. Javier''s eyes widened to moons, he tried to run as fast as his child''s body could. He reached a jungle off the coast and hid in the trees, looking at the bombardment of shells the battleships were spewing on the coast. He searched around for his friend, only to see a mangled corpse lying dead on the beach. The sound of the Battleship artillery rang in his ear, as he slowly walked up to see his friend''s corpse. A booming voice was heard, ¡°Surrender now to our forces, or you shall die.¡±, yelled the officer. The remaining people slowly shambled their way to the beach, as waves and waves of mages and people flew onto the beach. The people left surrendered, and so did Javier, as he knelt to one knee, still staring at the corpse of his friend. The village was small, and Javier knew everyone there, a family friend tried to resist, only for a strong mage to fling the body up into the air. A still-ready battery for the Battleship fired upon the flying man, a shell hitting him directly and vaporizing the man into a mist of blood. ¡°Obey, or we shall use you as target practice.¡±, said the same officer as earlier, the other people obeyed and started to follow the soldiers to a different area. After that, the illusion melted, and we were back in the torture chamber. Javier looked down on the floor, defeated and with tears streaming down his face, there was more I could show him, but those three illusions are enough for now. I smiled at Ts¡¯yvelir, ¡°Come on, let''s go get that Basilisk now.¡±, he nodded and slinked back into my shadow, as I walked out of the room and into an elevator. We made our way to the roof level, and Ts¡¯yvelir manifested himself back into a gigantic Griffin, he landed on the roof and I walked up there. ¡°Good, good, Ts¡¯yvelir. You did an amazing job, let''s go get a Basilisk, right, you want to hunt one, or just kill a farmed one?¡±, Ts¡¯yvelir was intelligent and could understand everything I was saying, he made a small cry to indicate that a farmed one would do, I carefully climbed upon his back and he swiftly took off into the air. Ts¡¯yevlir knew the way and quickly flew off to the pens where we keep our Basilisks. It was a short flight, only ten minutes for Ts¡¯yvelir, but it would be much longer without him. We got there quickly, Ts¡¯yvelir readied his claws and scooped up a gigantic Basilisk on the ground. It was a large, four-legged lizard that was slowly eating the meal we had provided it, Ts¡¯yvelir''s attack wasn''t something it expected. Inside its claws, Ts¡¯yvelir slowly, in the air, dug into the Basilisk''s heart with his claws and killed the lizard. We made our way down to the field, and I got off the back of him. This area was dark, with almost no lights around, and the stars in the sky shined spectacularly. Ts¡¯yvelir dug his beak deep into the Basilisk, as I walked around and laid down upon the grassy ground. The stars were beautiful, and the more I looked at them, the more they were mesmerizing. I heard squelching sounds coming from Ts¡¯yvelir as he dug into the dead Basilisk, normally it would have put up a bit of a fight, but it was already a bit docile during nighttime, and the surprise killed it effectively. I started to walk away from Ts¡¯yvelir, but before I could take a few steps, someone called my phone. I looked down on the glowing screen, my sister? Interesting, she was younger than me and should have been on that tropical island off the coast right about now. I picked it up, she started to talk straight away, ¡°Ari, Ari, you have to hear this.¡±, I smiled a bit at her calling me Ari, it had been a while, ¡°Ok, so, you know how we have this island? Well, guess what?¡±, I shook my head and told her that I didn''t know anything. She said, ¡°Oh come on! Just guess.¡±, I sighed a bit, ¡°What did you get this time? A new house?¡±, she squealed a bit over her phone, ¡°Ok, ok, so, we got a new baby Griffin, her names Ts''yser, AND SHE IS SUCH A CUTIE.¡±, I choked a bit, ¡°How did you get the money for that? And where did you get that?¡±, I asked her. She said, ¡°Oh come ON! That doesn''t matter, IT''S SO CUTE.¡±, well, she was quite defensive, ¡°Tell me where you got the money.¡±, I told her. She sighed, ¡°Father gave it to me, it was only 100,000,000 pounds. Lighten up now.¡± I felt a bit dizzy, and sat back down, ¡°100-100,000,000?¡±, I could feel her nod, and she replied, ¡°Yeah, only 100,000,000 pounds. Can you believe it?¡± I did a short goodbye, and hung up, 100,000,000 pounds? My God, that was a damn lot of money for a single Griffin, it hurt me a bit. I''m working that Griffin to the bone once it grew up, that was for damn sure. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. I looked at Ts¡¯yvelir again, he finished eating and was now curled up and laying down. He was so large that his entire body covered me and protected me from anything, I smiled a bit and stood up. Patting his extremely comfortable feathers, I slowly climbed back on his back. He looked at me weirdly, as if he knew what I planned to do with a Griffin, hehe. Once I was on his back, I signaled to him to go to a secluded area. He obliged and led me to a part of my estate that no one frequented, it was a dark forest that occupied a small part of my land. I smiled and hopped down, going into the forest as Ts¡¯yvelir once again slinked into my shadow. After a few minutes of walking silently, I reached an open area that was large enough for Ts¡¯yvelir to manifest in, and so he did, the gigantic Griffin occupied most of it. Just like before, he curled himself, reminiscent of a dog near a fireplace. I slowly made my way to his comfortable back and laid down upon it, the comfortable feathers engulfed me. I planned to sleep here for the night, anything dangerous would have long died, and if they haven''t, that was what Ts¡¯yvelir was for. A yawn came over me, the activities of the day caught up with me, and started to fall asleep. Only for me to jolt awake a moment later because my phone rang, I looked down at the glowing screen and saw that it was Laizi, ¡°What is it?¡±, I answered, she said, ¡°Your Grace, it is advised for you to come back here.¡± I sighed, Ts¡¯yvelir awoke and slowly lifted himself in the air. I could hear a quiet yawn from him, as he stretched a bit and flew off to the building. When we landed, I said to Ts¡¯yvelir, ¡°You know the illusions you showed that guy earlier? Keep doing those for as long as you can, and you''ll get another Basilisk.¡± Ts¡¯yvelir nodded and slinked into the building as a shadow while I made my way to the office. When I got there, Laizi was waiting for me as I sat down. Before she could talk, my little sister called me again, I sighed and waved Laizi off as I took the call, ¡°You know that boy you love?¡±, I choked a bit on my spit and said, ¡°How do you know?¡±, she giggled a bit, ¡°It''s obvious, now, I just found out his mother lives in a small town on the border of Gawain, you should go there.¡± I sighed and hung up, calling Laizi back in. Instead of her usually professional demeanor, and poker face that rivaled champions, she looked a bit scared. She was shaking, and jittery, as she gulped down a lump in her throat and said, ¡°Yo-Your Grace, you''re scheduled for an interview tomorrow afternoon.¡± I looked her in the eye and then back down to the office desk, then back to her eyes. She was now shaking considerably more, ¡°I-I wanted to s-¡±, she started trying to give me an excuse, but stuttered along the way. I looked at her, she shut her mouth and stared at me back. Leave.¡±, I commanded to her, she obliged quickly and left the room instantly. I started to slowly breathe, calming myself down a bit, and called Laizi back. She still looked scared of me, ¡°Why did you not tell me earlier?¡±, I asked her. She noticed that my voice held barely concealed poison and disdain, she gulped a bit, and started to talk, ¡°I di-didn''t.¡±, the more I heard her talk, the more I disliked the sound of her voice. ¡°Never mind, just give me the list of questions and the time.¡±, she nodded and sprang into action, handing me a sheet of all the questions, before going back to her usual position in the office near the door. I quickly read through the questions, they were all pretty easy, ¡°Laizi¡­, this was your first offense. Make sure it doesn''t happen again, we sure don''t want another Ilvis situation again, now, do we?¡± Just by the mere mention of the name Ilvis, her eyes widened and the fear she held inside her was palpable. The name Ilvis hung in the air, as Laizi took in the mention of his name, she nodded and tried to stamp down the fear inside her. I could still see the very definite terror she held within her by the mention of the name Ilvis. I smiled at her, ¡°Laizi, tomorrow at 8:00 am, would you please go to the Lendenburg Cartel and work out a deal for them to start moving towards the larger companies? After that, rise the payment we get from 20% up to 35%, and make sure we get it by the 15th.¡± She nodded, I looked at her and then waved at her to leave. She left immediately, and I looked back at the questions, they were easy to answer. Should I sleep, or do something else for the night? An involuntary yawn came over me, I suppose it was about time to sleep. I''ll just sleep in my bedroom then, I made my way quickly to it and my mind wandered off to how Ts¡¯yvelir was doing. He should be handling it, I trusted him in doing this job, and if a Basilisk was his reward, then he would do it effectively until the end. Another yawn came over me as I laid down in bed, tomorrow would be the 12th, and only three days until the negotiations. Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 12th day I awoke slowly, the grogginess of sleep didn''t go away the moment I got out of bed. The smell of breakfast flooded into my nose, Laizi had left a small tray of eggs, toast, butter, and some cheese for me, I liked a simple breakfast on most days, and she would only change it if explicitly asked. Another yawn came over me, I walked over to the tray and started to slowly eat. That interview was going to be later this day, and I had some free time until then. Maybe I should go check up on Javier? That thought ran across my mind as I took a bite of the toast and cheese, after I was finished with my small breakfast, I made my way down to the chambers where I was keeping Javier. He looked defeated, ¡°Where is your hideout? Where are the other people you worked with?¡±, Javier looked up at me and didn¡¯t say anything. Well, I suppose there was something else I could do, Ts¡¯yvelir in the room went out with me and grabbed the three up into a small pouch of pure darkness. We went to the roof quickly, and Ts¡¯yvelir turned back to what he was, a Griffin. The three were dropped next to me, and before they could get their bearings, Ts¡¯yvelir picked Yave up in his beak and devoured the upper half of him immediately. The remaining half of Yave dropped to the floor with a gruesome squelch, his intestines, and stomach lying down on the roof. That action awoke both Javier and Jacob, their eyes widened in horror, as blood poured out from the lower half of the body. Ts¡¯yvelir looked down at the two of them, with the blood of Yave pouring down from his beak. Next, he took apart the legs and slurped them down, finally eating the entirety of the body next. Jacob was already vomiting all over the place, Javier simply looked blankly at the scene. ¡°Tell me.¡±, I demanded of them, but Jacob was too busy puking and Javier shook his head, resilient sons of bitches aren¡¯t they. One last thing I could pull, I called up the Admiral responsible for a small detachment from the main fleet, he was ranked right below the Fleet Admiral, who himself was ranked below the commander for all the fleets, the Navy Admiral. That person answered directly to the Emperor when it came to terms for ocean warfare, but that was a bit too much for simple target practice. Omar answered, ¡°What can I do for you?¡±, we were pretty lax when it came to personal communication. ¡°Want some target practice with your Battleships? I got the perfect thing.¡±, he chuckled a bit and obliged, ¡°Meet me near the coast of Lendenburg, I will be there with my team. It will be only one Battleship, got it?¡±, I thanked him and called up Laizi, my estate near Augustus was far away from Lendenburg, but thankfully, she could teleport us. We reached the Lendenburg port effortlessly, the Griffin attracted the view of many people around us. Laizi and I quickly climbed upon Ts¡¯yvelir. He picked up the lifeless husks that were Jacob and Javier, they were barely responding to any stimuli. The two were about the same as a dead man, we quickly came upon the HES Hueser, a capital ship near the coast of Lendenburg. Its batteries were primed and ready, we landed on its main deck, and Omar came up to us with open arms. He was a giant of a man, standing well over three meters tall. His gigantic horns went up into the sky, wrapped around themselves, and then extended down to the base of his neck, a vibrant yellow color radiated from them. He wore the blue uniform fit for an Admiral, four stars were showed off openly. An equally gigantic cap was on his head, specially made to fit his special horns, we came off Ts¡¯yvelir. Omar looked at the two people that were more corpses than alive, he asked, ¡°What¡¯d they do?¡±, I smiled a bit and said, ¡°Conspiracy on a colony, they planned to sink some ships there.¡±, his smile instantly turned to a deep frown. Omar was many things, and a ship fanatic was one of them, he definitely held ships in high regard. ¡°I see¡­, well then. Let''s get to this, shall we? I don¡¯t have much time, we have to get to a war game soon enough.¡± I nodded, and looked at Ts¡¯yvelir, he knew what I wanted and picked up Jacob. Before he could toss Jacob in the air, I walked up to Javier and put a hand on his shoulder, ¡°Obey, or we shall use you as target practice.¡± Javier¡¯s eyes widened even more, he seemed to regain some life in him and tried to resist. He didn¡¯t even move a centimeter when Omar rushed him, he was so fast that I couldn¡¯t see him tackle down Javier onto the deck of the ship. ¡°Why, WHY!.¡±, Javier yelled out. Jacob looked at him, and I could see the same eyes that Javier had when he first saw his childhood friend die. It was one of defeat, misery, sadness, acceptance, and above all, hatred. Ts¡¯yvelir flew up with Jacob in his hand, as Omar made Javier look, as the batteries of the Battleship aimed in the air. A tear fell out of the older Javier¡¯s eyes, it dripped down onto the deck of the ship. At the same time, the shell hit Jacob in the air, vaporizing him into a fine, bloody mist. I knelt down and looked him in the eye, ¡°Tell me now.¡±, he was still staring at the deck. A minute later, he looked up at me and said in a hatred-filled voice, ¡°Fuck. You.¡± A frown came over me, I signaled to Omar to do it, and Ts¡¯yvelir tossed Javier into the air. Another shell fired off from the Battleship battery, giving the same treatment to Javier as it did to Jacob. All it did was leave a bloody mist in the sky, I felt unsatisfied, but I suppose I have to leave now. I have to go and get ready for the interview, and it was a good as time as any now. I said goodbye to Omar, he also held a frown, maybe I should raze that island to the ground as retaliation. Chapter 27 Interlude: Iabrun Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 12th day. A yawn came over me, I had woken up pretty late in the day for me. Now, I was stuck in my office with a mountain of paperwork stacked high. A sigh came over me, my assistant came in, ¡°Sir, do you want the new reports?¡±. I nodded and he, Fester, started to talk, ¡°The scale of our operations have had to slow down with the Iabrun agencies catching on to some of our labs. The output of our species-centric drugs, like the eye-eyes for the Volucris, and Volucris beads for the Vulcrum have been reduced by 34%. The general drugs, cocaine, methamphetamine, and most importantly, mana supplements, have also taken a hit. Their productions are down to only 45% of full capacity after over seven of our laboratories were raided by Iabrun enforcement.¡± Dammit, this wasn''t the time for our operations to be raided. Fester was someone who had the name because of his sickly green skin, yellow eyes that looked to be rotten, and a tail that was half rotten flesh, half black bone. His real name wasn''t something he divulged, and he was too useful for me to be caught up on petty names. A sigh came over me, why must this happen now? Of all times, right when we planned to try to lie low a bit, all of these labs getting raided isn''t helping. I waved him off and sat on my lounger, picking up a little worm on the plate and wrapping it around the small spike growing out from my wrist. The spike morphed slightly, wrapping around the purple worm, sucking the nutrients out from it, and leaving a small husk. I felt some energy return to my body, and simultaneously, I wanted to do something more. I walked out from the room, arriving in a long hallway filled with lanterns on the walls, a long red and gold carpet on the floor, and some statues that are put upon the floor in set intervals. I smiled and pulled out a little ball of mana, it was a deep yellow, its appearance was the perfect representation of ''calm'', as it rested in my palm. Mana supplements are a simple drug, made en masse for any mage to buy. Since normal drugs don''t work for them, unless they wish to suppress their mana to dangerous levels, new drugs have to be made. Of course, we can''t design one for all the little difference in mana, but I had the privilege. The deep yellow ball of mana started to pulsate as it slowly seeped into my skin. Instantly, an intoxicating feeling came from the very depths of my body, a joyous flame rose from within my mana supply. A feeling of slight pain quickly gave way to more pleasure, as the charged mana slowly flowed out from my supply into every part of my body, soothing it, my body felt at peace and calm. This feeling was addicting, it was more than simple pleasure, or even anything primal. There was something more about these drugs, and my team still couldn''t crack it, but no matter. The feeling of pleasure left a minute after, and the temptation to stick another clot of pure mana into my reserve was great, but doing too many in a small period wouldn''t be good for it. Fester came up to me again, he looked at me, and said, ¡°Sir, two men came to the front door, asking for you. The two claim they were from the ISE, though I doubt it.¡± He stopped there, looking at me as I looked down at the floor. The ISE? What were they doing here, they shouldn''t have any real reason to be here. Tsk, I should still see them, and not leave it to one of my subordinates. ¡°Alright, I will go meet them, prepare room AC4.¡±, he nodded and left. The temptation to pop another mana supplement only grew the more I walked towards the front door, but I held the urge in and greeted two men at the front door. They were in white and black suits, humans, I greeted them, ¡°Hello, what''s your business here?¡± The larger of the two said, ¡°We received a few complaints regarding this place.¡±, and pulled out a permit. Tsk, that was a bullshit excuse, but they did have a permit. I can''t just reject them without antagonizing the entire ISE. Fuck, I smiled at them and invited them into the house, leading them into the room Fester already prepared. They sat down, looking about the entire room. It was a large room, similar in style to the other areas of my home. I liked a more vintage aesthetic for my home, just a part of me. They sat down on an extravagant lounger and looked at me. I sat across from them in an equally exotic chair, taking a sip from a glass of wine that Fester gave me. The two humans looked at him with a thinly-veiled disgust, he left promptly after. It annoyed me, but I didn''t say anything and waited for them to speak. The larger of the two started to speak in a mild, sweet tone, ¡°Mr. Yves, let''s not put up a charade. We all know what you are up to in these parts, and we also know that you don''t wish to oppose us, or the Iabrun government. A wise choice, and I think you would like to hear us out on a deal we are offering.¡± I raised my eyes a bit to show my confusion, ¡°We would like for you to move all your operations to Solaria, and not sell through Iabrun anymore.¡±, a slight frown came over me. ¡°My operations are for smaller countries, I simply can not sustain such a large country like Solaria.¡± They shook their head a bit, and the larger one continued, ¡°No, we do not mean selling to Solaria, we mean moving your operations to Solaria.¡± A deep, incredulous look came over me as I looked upon the two men sitting across from me. ¡°That¡¯s suicide, and you know it. Their drug laws and fanaticism about their religion is insane. If their Pope said that drugs were evil, they would try their best to find them and destroy them. Unlike here, selling drugs there is a capital offense, and I''m not looking to anger a superpower.¡± The two men looked to be tuning me out, ¡°Look, Mr. Yves, I will try to explain this nicely. You have no choice in this matter, you either do as we say, or we tell your information to Marquis Buesboon. We all know his hard-line stance against drugs, and you wouldn''t like that, now, would you?¡± A cold sweat broke out on my forehead, they were serious. ¡°No, you can''t do this to me-¡±, I started to say as I stood up from my chair, ¡°Do you know how much I have sacrificed? I can''t go to Solaria now, that is a death wish.¡± The larger one stood up and went out to reach my hand. I didn''t have time to react, he shook it and a small scroll appeared above it, solidifying the ''deal'' that just took place. ¡°Now then, you''re now under our control, Mr. Yves.¡±, when he finished saying that and turned to leave, another foreign voice butted into the discussion. It was a sweet voice, coming from a woman, ¡°No, you ISE dogs. He isn''t under your control.¡± For the first time, the two looked behind them in fear, I also turned around only to see a woman with small stature, blue skin, orange hair, and some horns. She walked up between me, and the two ISE agents, taking the hand he forcefully shook with mine and opening its palm. In a few milliseconds, a broken seal was on his palm, I couldn''t even react to what happened. Visible beads of sweat poured down from their foreheads, the silent smaller one had his eyes opened to the size of disks. ¡°Mi-Miss Laizi-¡±, the large man started, stuttering a bit along the way, ¡°This, This is illegal.¡± She, without missing a beat, replied, ¡°Yes, it is, and? All of us know that even if you could stand against me, which you can''t, you can not hold a candle to the power my master has. So, get out, you ISE dogs. You shall not come back here unless the director of the entire ISE comes here to challenge me.¡± The two, like little puppies running away from a large dog, scattered and left the grounds immediately. She then sat down, unabashed on any cultural proceedings, and looked at me. I sat back down, ¡°Thank you, Ms¡­?¡± ¡°Laizi.¡±, she replied, ¡°Thank you, Ms. Laizi. Though it does behoove me to ask you such a thing, may I wonder why you are in my quarters?¡± She did not answer at first, simply looking around the area, ¡°I hope you like it.¡±, I said, and she nodded. Her eyes looked from the hanging chandelier upon the ceiling, the lounger I was sat upon, the one she was on, the drinks and food on the table, and then finally, upon me. Her gaze never faltered, and a bit of fear was struck into me, ¡°The people who give you some information regularly, I assume you know of them?¡±, I nodded. Where was she going with this? They were of some importance, but I didn¡¯t really need them, perhaps she was one of them? ¡°Good, they are subordinates of my subordinate. They do not know who they truly work for, the same for the people that work for me. Only I know who I work for, and no one else does.¡± A smile crept on my face, but at the same time, a chill rushed down my spine. ¡°Indeed, who do you work for?¡±, I asked. She smiled and shook her head, clearly signaling to me that she did not wish to disclose who she worked for. There was only a handful of people that could control someone like her, the heir apparent to the Lendenburg fortune, Arianna, is a decent candidate, but it seemed unlikely for her to be the one to control someone like her. As far as I could tell, she was simply lucky to inherit that wealth, nothing about her stood out. Going to the Magic Academy was weird, though, there was nothing unusual about it for the sons and daughters of the smaller Barons and Viscounts. Anyone with the title of Earl should be able to hire private tutors, better than the ones in the academy, it is a bit weird, but it isn¡¯t my problem. Oh yeah, that interview scheduled later may shed some light, ¡°What do you wish to do?¡±, she smiled, my line was going through Solaria. That was suicidal for any drug trafficker, that damn country was insane with its zealousness. The average citizen would have enough zeal to make any God proud, just thinking about it made me shudder. ¡°We would like to provide you with a large plot of land, 3,000 square kilometers, and for you to move your operations there. Since this new land is on an entirely different continent than Iabrun or Solaria, and you have no base of operations there, we would like to subsidize you heavily for the first four years. After that, it will have to be from your own pocket.¡± It sounded a bit too good to be true, a new plot of decent-sized land right when Iabrun was cracking down? The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°What¡¯s in it for you?¡±, she smiled, picked up a wine glass filled with green fluid, and drunk the entire glass down in one go. That was the strongest drink here, wonder if she took it on purpose? She put it back down, looking none-the-worse, and looked down on the floor. ¡°Sixty-five percent of your profits.¡±, I sputtered out the red wine I was drinking. A small drip of the wine dropped on the floor, ¡°Sixty-five percent? That''s a bit too much, don¡¯t you think?¡± She looked down on the table between us, picking up a small morsel of some sort of meat, the type not immediately obvious to me. She finished that quickly, and said, ¡°Yes, it is a bit too much, but, you don''t have a choice.¡± It was eerily similar to the ISE agents, ¡°You have three choices, really. You could do what I say and accept my offer, I could hand you back to Iabrun Security Enforcement, or even, take you directly to the Marquis. Now, we both know the best one out of the three, so, sign this contract-¡±, she said while pulling out a piece of paper, ¡°and you will get that new land, and ninety-percent of your expenses the first four years shall be subsidized, as long as you don''t go overboard on your spending.¡± She finished with that, sliding the piece of paper to me. ¡°You-You¡¯re worse than the ISE.¡±, she looked a bit surprised, ¡°Whoever said I was better than those two?¡± I sputtered a bit again, this day wasn''t exactly going my way. The contract on normal, white paper started to look more, and more, devilish by the second. The promises, the deals, they all sounded sweet, a bit too sweet, and sixty-five percent of the profits going away did bitter the taste, but over half of my profits here has left already. I looked back up to her, what race was she? Perhaps she was a certain type of Demon? Heh, a deal with a Demon being fairer than with the government. I, begrudgingly, lifted my wrist that had a spike growing out from it. She simply looked, with no changed expression, while I slit part of my wrist and let the blood drip on the contract. ¡°Good, now, come with me. I have a few more things to show you, and they''re going to be vital moving on.¡±, she told me while standing up. I stood up as well, the paper had already exploded into a fine mist, she walked outside the room. I followed her in due haste, something about her just seemed¡­ off to me, and provoking her didn''t feel like the best of ideas. We made our way outside the entire house now, there were rolling hills all around us and a gigantic forest after that. One main road came from my home and led to the city, but otherwise, the nature here was left untainted. She looked upon the rolling hills, ¡°They''re beautiful.¡±, she remarked, ¡°Thank you.¡±, I said. A slight nod came from her, ¡°Well then, what was your name again?¡± A sigh came from me, ¡°Eli Yves.¡±, Laizi nodded once again. ¡°I have to ask, Eli, we both know what the ISE wanted to do with you, but do you have any idea why?¡± I shook my head, I really didn''t have any idea as to why they wanted me to go to Solaria. ¡°They wanted me to go to Solaria, sell my drugs through them. I''ve no idea why, though, that is both a death wish to me and a great way to antagonize the superpower. Those people at the top of Solaria, the Pope, and her Archbishops should already know who I am, and what I do. Moving me there just feels weird.¡± She bit her nail a bit, ¡°Maybe they wanted to antagonize Solaria? But that makes no sense, does it? We are only a few days off from the negotiations, any souring of relations now would be dire. Those two agents of the ISE, why were they picked to handle you, a drug distributor?¡± A shrugging of my shoulders was all that I could muster in response, ¡°Does the ISE usually go after drug lords?¡±, she shook her head, ¡°No, Iabrun has a specialized drug enforcement agency for this kind of stuff. I need to see the director of the entire agency soon enough.¡± ¡°Why are you telling me all this?¡±, I inquired. ¡°Can I not? Besides, you can''t tell anyone about this, ever. It''s stipulated in the contract.¡± Huh? I didn''t read such a thing, ¡°There is no such thing on the contract.¡±, I said. She pulled out the contract, pointing directly to a line that stipulates whatever she says is to not be spoken to, written down, described, or referenced to anyone besides her, and the people she says are fine. ¡°You-You changed the contract?¡±, she smiled, but unlike her previous ones, this one felt off. It felt a bit weird, ¡°You can''t change the contract.¡±, I told her. ¡°Why not? After all, this contract is mine, and I can do whatever I want with it. Humans always have this expected honor with contracts, but we don''t.¡± The small woman in front of me suddenly started to seem much, much, much scarier than before. ¡°I''m effectively your slave now?¡±, she giggled a bit and nodded. ¡°Yes, you are effectively my slave.¡± That giggle haunted my thoughts, it was not like any species I knew, it was something else, something other-worldly. Though that can''t be possible, she was definitely a species of this world, something about it felt off. What have I signed myself into¡­? This deal can be changed, twisted into anything. ¡°You''re taking it surprisingly well.¡±, she said. Another shudder rushed down my cold back, ¡°Have you done this to others?¡±, I asked. Even if I knew the inevitable answer, I still hoped that it would not be that. ¡°Yes, many, many times.¡±, she said, without a care in the world, her nonchalance scared me as much as it annoyed me. ¡°Of course, you could always try to resist, but should my master see someone of your standing leave the contract. Well, do I need to say the rest?¡±, she said. ¡°No, you do not.¡±, I replied to her. ¡°Get ready for your move, you should be on that land in two days¡¯ time.¡±, she said, while staring at the rolling hills around my estate. It was indeed a beautiful landscape, tainted by her figure, a figure of a deplorable lady. She smiled back at me, as if she knew my inner thoughts, goosebumps popped up all over my arm. There was something beneath the facade of her, something other than this body she put up as a front. I could sense that, but what she was exactly was what I could not answer. ¡°Stop peering.¡±, she said, cold and crisp, with an icy overtone. I immediately backed up a little, but before I could take another step back, I felt her hand upon my chest. ¡°I debated on doing this for a while now, but I suppose it''s better to be safe than sorry.¡±, she muttered to no one in particular, and then I felt an intense pain in my chest. When I peered down, her entire hand punctured my chest and was gripping my heart. I could feel it beating inside her hand, the pain was immense, but I didn''t pass out from it. Her hand ¡ª still inside my chest ¡ª started to burn. That burning sensation traveled to my heart, and then to the entirety of my body. A mark was being engraved on my still-beating heart, I could feel a part of it being slowly molded to fit the shape she desired. What it was, I had no idea, ¡°Pl-Please stop it.¡±, I tried to tell her, but it fell on deaf ears. After what felt like months, but was only a few seconds, she finally let go. Her burning white hand cauterized the wound instantly ¡ª I lost my balance and fell on my back, only exacerbating my wound. After that, she looked down at me with no emotions on her face, the same way one would look at a rock on the road. Nothing, not even a slight amusement. ¡°Now, then, go pack up your things. I expect to see you at Lendenburg harbor by the end of today.¡± After she said that, her form teleported away from the area. I stood up slowly, and warily, scanning the surroundings to see if she really left. After a few minutes of no response, I cautiously made my way to the estate. What had I gotten myself into, really, this was definitely the worst mistake I had done in my career. Accidentally signing myself into the clutches of a maniacal woman, truly the worst mistake I had done in my career. Inside the estate, Fester greeted me and stood by my side. ¡°Fester, bring up the logs, we will need those moving to this area.¡±, he looked a bit surprised at my statement, ¡°Moving?¡±, he asked. I nodded, ¡°Yes, we are moving our operations to a wholly new area, the crackdown in Iabrun has been far too strong for us to cope with at the moment. This time, it will be a whole new continent, don¡¯t worry. I have found myself a backer that can help us with this endeavor.¡± He still looked at me weirdly, but nevertheless, nodded and rushed towards the storage area. After that, I walked briskly towards my second-in-command, Fester was the person to keep tabs on the economic part of the business, along with me. As for my second-in-command, Augustus, he took part in managing the individual sites, killing people detrimental to such a large drug empire. I needed to go and deal with the vast amount of people working under me, I reached the room for Augustus and barged in. He was at his desk, swamped with a stack of papers, and drinking a small glass of whiskey. He was an older-looking human, with a few white strands of hair on his head full of thick, black hair. He had bushy eyebrows and wore a military uniform, Augustus used to be part of the Iabrun armed forces until he was honorably discharged well over eight years ago. Augustus wore a frown almost all the time, the golden whiskey in his glass was nearly finished. His bushy eyebrows covered up parts of his black, battle-hardened, eyes. ¡°New purge?¡±, he asked me in a husky, gravelly voice. I nodded, and he nodded, ¡°Who?¡±, he asked quickly. I pulled up a list of unimportant people, ¡°All these? They¡¯re just normal employees, what are we doing?¡± I coughed a bit, ¡°We need the officers and managers, we are moving to a new area. The current crackdowns are too hard on us.¡±, he nodded without thinking for a second. ¡°Consider it done.¡±, he told me, I nodded and left. Hmm, I need a new list of all the equipment we need. Fester came back to me with stacks and stacks of books, carrying some of them with his rotten tail. ¡°Get me a list of all the equipment we need, at first we will scale down our operations to a third of our current ones. The managerial and office positions will also have to be rounded up, do that, spend up to 600,000 pounds from the reserve to make sure of this. Anyone who doesn¡¯t comply, add it to the kill list for Augustus.¡±, I told him, and he promptly nodded. Is there anything else that needs to be done? Hmmm, as far as I could tell, there should be nothing left for me to directly change. I just need to get everyone onto that land, and then contact the woman again. Speaking of her, I wonder what the engraved symbol on my heart is. This situation was wild, but I had no time to whine about it. Tsk, I suppose all I can do is wait until I get a chance to turn the tides. A white-hot burning sensation came from my chest, the pain dropped me to the floor instantly. Fester came instantly, I noticed him briefly, before returning to flailing around the entire hallway. The pain was like a fire scorching through all my organs, I stuck out my hands onto my chest, doing anything to try to appease this fire. My mana was locked, I could feel that all too well. Fester was too shell-shocked to say anything, he stood there dumbfounded at the current situation. The burning sensation stretched from my chest to my arms; my legs were next, the pain there stopped me from flailing about the place; and finally, my head. I could barely move my entire body, but even that couldn¡¯t stop me from trying to appease the pain in my head. My head felt like it was being burned and turned into a slushy mess, blood dripped out of my mouth and nose. I put my arms onto my head and started to scratch furiously, hard enough to draw blood, but that didn¡¯t help the pain one bit. After another few seconds, the pain subsided, and I stared at Fester, ¡°Don¡¯t talk about this to anyone.¡± Chapter 28 Arianna Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 12th day. That incident with those three left a sour taste in my mouth, but I have to keep on appearances. Laizi should be taking care of the Lendenburg cartel at the moment, good, I have a little under two hours to make my way to the interview. It¡¯s set pretty close to the building I was in at the moment, my escort should be here thirty minutes before the designated time. What to wear, what to wear, I made my way to the closest closet. It was a small walk-in closet, much smaller than the ones I¡¯m used to, but it would suffice for my needs. I smelt myself, a thick scent of blood hung over me, I would usually take long baths, but I don¡¯t have the time now. Inside the closet, a coral dress with a floral pattern caught my eye, good, that will be my clothing for the interview. As for my hair and make-up, hmmmm, I¡¯ll leave that to someone else. Taking a shower at the moment would be feasible, but eh, I didn¡¯t feel like it. My mana supply was still full, it¡¯s been a long time since I used any magic that is straining. A tenth of my mana supply went towards making hot water, and another tenth went towards making a warm air supply. The air gently floated toward some name-branded body wash, a company that started in Iabrun and was fairly popular among the richer parts of the populace, though I didn¡¯t care much for it. I usually bought foreign products, Iabrun was the greatest at many things, but shower products weren¡¯t one of them. The air kept my clothes lifted away from my body, as the water and body wash took to spotlessly cleaning every part of my body. The hot water was a joy to be in, some air went to get shampoo next. A twentieth of my mana then created extremely hot air to quickly dry my body and hair. In just under five minutes, without even having to move my body all that much, I was immaculate. The coral dress was of a lighter tinge of coral, and a few yellow-gold earrings were next to it. Its floral pattern was only on the top half of the dress, a flowy bottom half reached down to my toes. It looked nice and complimented my olive skin tone; a set of beige sandals were next to them, and they had a strap right before the start of my toes, and a chunky heel. Finally, there was a small, yellow-gold necklace next to it all, a final small touch to complete the look. Good, this was perfect, all I had to do now was wait for my escort to arrive. Oh right, and my make-up. I would finish that up forty-five minutes before the interview, what to do until then? Hmmm, I am a bit hungry, I walked to my room and called my personal chef, ¡°Give me something light.¡±, he replied, ¡°Yes, Your Grace.¡± I hung up my phone after that, and five minutes later, Aaron came to the door holding a small platter. It was a piece of toast, with a thin smear of a buttery sauce, a thinly-sliced piece of meat atop that; and finally, an egg to top it all off. There were two of these on the platter, I thanked him and bit down. It was good, these eggs had an extra tang to them, and the meat complimented the buttery sauce. An hour later, I called my personal makeup artist to fix me up for the interview. She came quickly and had two bags filled with all the tools one could wish for when it came to makeup. I quickly pointed her in the direction of the clothes I chose to wore, she nodded and said, ¡°An excellent choice, Your Grace.¡± She carefully handed it to me, I put the entire ensemble on besides the shoes, and then she started on her work. After a few minutes, she finished and handed me a mirror, I lifted it up and looked at myself. Her work gave me a small glow; a small amount of gold delicately danced on my eyelids, it complimented the glow well; and finally, a small amount of gloss on my lip sealed the whole look off. I stood up and looked at my whole body in a full, large mirror. I put on my shoes and looked at myself once again. The coral dress went with my olive skin tone well, the beige shoes also worked well with the dress. The yellow-gold accessories made me look regal, yet they weren¡¯t gaudy and simply added to my whole attire. The long, flowing dress hid most of my body, and nothing about the outfit really stood out from what normal people would wear. I wasn¡¯t trying to look superior, simply someone of a higher stature that still understood the surrounding people. The dress and entire outfit really conveyed that, and it still looked exceptionally excellent on me, now all that is left is to wait. After a few minutes, my escort arrived, and I quickly made my way to it. Laizi was not going to be with me, as she was going to deal with some other things, that wasn¡¯t a large hassle, though. I was perfectly fine on my own, but my father should have some people tailing me to make sure I don¡¯t get caught up in some accidents. I walked onto the street to see a few people waiting for me, my chauffeur, the person responsible for setting up the interview and making sure it runs smoothly; finally, a person of small stature was waiting by the side for no apparent reason, bodyguard I suppose. The three were all humans, my chauffeur had blonde hair, blue eyes, and was of a medium build. The director was tall and lanky, with black eyes, black hair, and a repulsive face. It annoyed me to simply look at it, he had a non-existent chin and horrible, beady, shifty eyes. His entire build evoked a feeling of utter disgust inside me, I still smiled on the outside and looked at the final man. He was a short man, with brown hair and brown eyes; and his fair skin was blemished with freckles. The chauffeur opened the door for me, I quickly made my way to the car, ignoring the people on the street taking a photo of me. Before I got in, I noticed a small child with a small set of wings staring at me slightly down the road. I turned to her, and waved a bit, smiling at the same time. Her father ¡ª who had two fully developed angelic wings ¡ª waved back at me, and so did the small child. After I got in the car, I noticed that the entire back two-thirds of the car was open for people to do whatever. An icebox was near the window, dividing me from the ¡ª now inside the car ¡ª chauffeur. Inside the icebox were two bottles of champagne from the Horus province of Solaria, famous for its champagne. A couple of glasses were near it, set in place in a holder. My seat was a third of the way from the back of the car, sitting halfway between the very back and the dividing line. There were four individual seats and a large one at the very back that could fit nearly four people. The icebox was in between the two seats in front of me that faced the back of the car. The director came in next, sitting right across from me, after that the small man sat on the seat right next to my chauffeur. I didn''t know their names, simply their occupations, and I didn¡¯t care to learn their names at the moment. The director was still grating on my nerves with his simple appearance; the car started to drive, and I felt the director''s eyes on me. Looking at the passing scenery was all I could do to take my eyes off the director, whose current fault was being horrible to look at. Outside, I looked at the people of Iabrun going about their daily lives; one was on his phone, speedily going to whatever place he needed to go; another with their significant other waiting for a light to turn green. When the car stopped at a light, the director was looking outside and started to talk, ¡°Your Grace-¡±, even his voice was irritating to me. ¡°Yes?¡±, I looked at him while smiling and keeping my true thoughts hidden. He looked none the wiser to my thoughts, as he kept looking outside the window. ¡°Why did you agree to this?¡±, he asked me, ¡°After all, no other noble has ever agreed to an interview, so why?¡± He looked at me with those hideous black eyes of his, something about his every moment, his very existence, irked me to the core. Something about him just affronted most of my senses. The more I look at him, the more I wanted to tear the entirety of my eyes out. His entire appearance, despite not changing, disgusted me more and more. He said something, which I didn¡¯t clearly hear, but my ears felt like they were bleeding. His smell, despite not changing, got worse over time, to the point it was nearly unbearable. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but could you repeat what you said, I wasn¡¯t paying attention¡±, he smiled and nodded a bit. ¡°Your Grace, why did you choose to come to this interview? No other noble has, and seeing that your family is reaching the level of Arch dukedom, why?¡± I smiled a bit and said, ¡°Well, you see, I¡¯m here to represent the voice of the entirety of my family. I am the one most associated with the Lendenburg line, after all. My father is secretive, and my two older brothers are at the very top of the military, so they can¡¯t interact much with those outside of their circle. As for my older sister, she left for Solaria a while ago and is also quite secretive. My two younger sisters are simply too young, so I chose to represent my family.¡± He nodded, readily writing down the entirety of what I said, I tried my damnedest to not look at him in disgust. I turned back to the window, glancing at the streets outside me. After a few minutes, he offered to pour me some Horus champagne, I nodded in order to not be rude. He quickly poured a glass and handed it over to me, and then poured a glass for himself. I raised it up a bit, inciting him to do the same, he did so and we toasted, ¡°To Iabrun.¡±, he said. ¡°To Iabrun.¡±, I said as I started to take my first sip, the flavor of Horus wine is said to be exceptional and it didn''t disappoint. The flavor was well-rounded, with a slight tartness to it, and the fizz only added to the experience. I quickly finished it, and we had finally arrived at the interview spot ten minutes before it was supposed to start. I got out first, only to be swarmed by a large crowd of paparazzi, and normal people simply wanting to see me. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. My bodyguard created a small shield that allowed me to walk unimpeded into the area. Then, a small woman greeted me and took me to meet my interviewer. There, I saw a Naga with deep, dark red scales and an inviting smile. He was sat down and drinking tea, eating a biscuit. When I walked over to him, he smiled and stood up. ¡°Thank you, Your Grace. I never expected you to agree.¡± I nodded and smiled, looking at myself one last time, and I looked as perfect as ever. ¡°You look wonderful.¡±, he said as we both started to walk towards the area set for a live filming. A final list of questions was given to me, I scanned it one final time, and it was fine, eight questions was good. Gus sat down facing the cameras, but keeping his posture angled towards me. I did the same, facing the cameras and angling my posture to make talking with him easier. The director came to us, and said ¡°One minute.¡±, the two of us nodded. ¡°You nervous?¡±, he asked, holding a slight dialect associated with the more isolated parts of Southern Iabrun. I giggled a bit and said, ¡°Not in the slightest.¡±, he chuckled and agreed, ¡°Not in the least.¡± It was around four in the afternoon now, I didn''t expect this to go on longer than an hour and thirty minutes. The man behind the camera lifted five fingers up, then four, then three, then two, then one, and finally, time. ¡°Welcome, beautiful citizens of Iabrun; and we finally have a sneak peek into the extravagant life of a Noble. And not just any Noble, her Grace, Arianna. Soon to be the future Duchess of Lendenburg.¡± Gus started it energetically, I smiled and waved to the cameras. "No other Noble has agreed to an interview of any kind, her Duchess is the first to agree in the quickly rising age of technology.¡± ¡°Your Grace Arianna, future Duchess of Lendenburg. We have quite the question line-up for this, I¡¯m surprised you even agreed to this, but I am grateful to you for it.¡± Gus said this, and I smiled and said, ¡°The people must know their own leaders, after all. I am here to represent the entirety of the Lendenburg family, so ask away.¡± He asked his first question near-instantly after I said my sentence, ¡°Our first question is, why go to the Magic Academy? It has been on the minds of many people, especially those in Lendenburg.¡± I looked into the camera, no, into the audience, and said, ¡°What is the point of leaders if they just hide away in walls? I am a Duchess of the people, I would rather be among the people rather than sit at home inside closed walls. It is simply unlike me to be there in a walled up home, the experience of learning magic is exciting, but the joy of seeing the citizens one rules over being happy and content is even more than that.¡± I slightly changed my posture to better look at Gus, who said, ¡°Indeed, being a Duchess is a job about governing as much as it is a job to know the citizens.¡± ¡°Of course, after all, I am the one most hands on with the governing of the entirety of Lendenburg. Only fair for the people to know the person that governs them.¡±, he nodded and said, ¡°Yes, the people of Lendenburg were a bit worried about you going to an area that, while not unsafe, is not perfectly safe either. Your confident attitude, though, has surely swayed quite a bit of them.¡±, he said with eloquence and grace. ¡°Now, our next question is a bit of a heavier topic. What''s your opinion on the current Emperor, and the next one?¡±, hmm, a political question? I ever so slightly narrowed my eyes, what person gave him this question? ¡°The current Emperor is good, if not slightly too ambitious. Under his reign, we have seen significant growth and the new advent of technology. Of course, it is time for him to put down the mantle. Iabrun has not been an absolute monarchy for a long time, and it has worked beautifully since the abolition of it-¡± Though the Emperor was basically absolute and could kill people on a whim if they disagreed, it was a good precedent that they don''t. ¡°As for Constantine, I am a bit apprehensive of his rule. However, any final judgment on him must come after his rule. After all, he is the soon-to-be Emperor, and I''m also a soon-to-be Duchess.¡± That answer should satisfy most of the people, the normal people and mages would see that I don''t blindly follow the Emperor, but I am not against him either. As for the really powerful mages, they can see I''m flexible and not a hardliner on a single topic. ¡°On your Duchy, and soon to be Duchess status. The Lendenburgs are close to meeting the requirements of being categorized as an Arch dukedom. What''s your thoughts on that?¡±, he said, with his shiny red scales on display. I have to be humble, and appreciative of this, ¡°Well of course it would be an honor, the title of Archduke has not been in play for a long time. The Lendenburg''s carrying on this line would¡­, well, it would be great. Of course, chiefly responsible for this is the people in our duchy.¡± That should convey my gratitude and still be humble enough, good. ¡°All you''re missing now to be granted Arch dukedom would be, well, what exactly? Care to shine a light?¡±, he said to incite me on. ¡°Land would be chiefly responsible for this, but we have already passed that threshold a long time ago. Colonial holdings we have as well, the only thing holding us back is that I''m simply not old enough as the heir.¡± He laughed, finding what I said amusing, ¡°About you being the heir, why? Your two brothers are in the military, and thus out of the line of succession, but shouldn''t your sister be the one?¡± I smiled a bit, ¡°My sister, ever since she was a small child with me, never was one for power. She abdicated a while ago, choosing to go to Solaria and follow her passions there. As you all know, the Lendenburg line gives power to the heir when the current leader is sixty-five years old or so. Magic can extend the lifespan of people for a long, long time, and so, we give power at the age of sixty-five. This allows us to make sure no one person can command the entirety of the power we hold for a long time.¡± Of course, that was a total lie. Gus stood up, and said, ¡°Your Grace, we have just happened upon some information. You like someone? And not only that, you like a commoner?¡± A slight blush overcame me, this was perfect. The commoners do love a good story about a Noble falling in love with a commoner. A great idea for a novel, surely, and the public eats it up. As for the ramifications with the rest of the nobles, most don''t care, and only one really does. The other Duke, and his son, that wish to wed me. However, those two can be easily pacified with some words, they became too complacent sitting at the top of their power, and it wouldn''t be hard to knock them down. ¡°Uh, we-well. I- Uh.¡±, I faked stuttering a bit to really nail down that I was supposedly flustered. Gus seemed to fall for my acting ability quite well, and if he did, most did as well. He laughed quite a lot, as my blush deepened ¡ª which isn''t natural, I could control the blush fairly well. ¡°Haha, alright, moving on.¡±, he said after laughing for a few more seconds. Still blushing, I said ¡°Thank you.¡±, in a quiet voice to squeeze out all the cuteness I could. I moved my head a bit to look at the cameras, and I saw the director''s horrible face. It, by itself, nearly ended the facade of a cute, flustered noble girl I had. It took all my willpower to not grimace and cringe at him. I did get by and turn back to Gus, and his much more manageable face. Simply thinking of the memory made me want to kill the guy, and I got an idea. But I can leave that for later, I have to focus on the task at hand for now. ¡°Now, Your Grace. With your massive fortune, why not give it to charity?¡±, ah I see, a person that disliked me gave him this question. Oh well, ¡°You see Gus, instead of giving it to companies who I don''t wholly trust. I plan to, instead, open my own charity within one year time.¡±, he smiled readily. ¡°Thank you, your Grace. Could you give us any information on your father?¡± I nodded and started to talk, ¡°My father has been struck with an illness that struck straight at his mana source-,¡± I could see him physically wince at the mention of that, ¡°He has been out of commission for a month, now, and so I have been his voice.¡± Gus nodded, seemingly taking in the answer to be true. Well, it wasn''t entirely false, he did have an illness that struck his mana supply. ¡°Final question, Your Grace. Why did you agree to come here?¡±, I chuckled heartily. ¡°The lives of the Nobles have for too long been secretive, we are in a new age now. And if none of them will go into the spotlight, I''ll be the first, and I do hope they follow in my lead.¡± It was both a threat, and a suggestion, a good way to give the other Nobles a fire under their behinds and get them moving. ¡°Well, that is all the time we have now. Thank you for coming on.¡±, said Gus as, under the table, he started counting down from five. From five to four, to three, to two, one, and then finally zero. Once that happened, the cameras turned off, and it was time to get moving. ¡°Thank you.¡±, he said once again as I left the room. The director came up to me, vying to shake my hand. I did, despite desperately wanting not to, and his hand affronted my entire sense of touch. It was oily and grimy, with a weird grit to it, and it made me sick just touching it. We ended it a second later, and as I was walking, I invited him to walk with me. ¡°Thank you for your time.¡±, he said once again. We left the building soon enough, ¡°I have a business deal.¡±, I swiftly said to him as I got inside my car. The paparazzi and other people still being blocked by the small man. He got inside quickly as well, the chauffeur started driving back to the building. ¡°We will discuss it there.¡±, I said as I poured another glass of Horus champagne for myself, and disgustingly, him as well. He chugged down the entire glass without savoring the taste, disgusting. We didn''t talk the rest of the way there, deciding to stay silent and simply look out of the window. When we arrived, I got off first and quickly made my way to a small office room on the second floor. He followed in suit, and we sat across from another in an entirely empty room, perfect. ¡°What is it?¡±, he asked me giddily. This man wasn''t a mage, so this was going to be exceptionally easy. I quickly produced an elemental binding to him, earth, gluing him to his seat. ¡°Wh-What''s the meaning of this?¡±, he asked, now not so giddy. ¡°You''re going to die.¡±, I said bluntly, removing any facade I had before. ¡°Wh-Why? What''d I do?¡±, he asked me in an increasingly panicked voice. ¡°Oh, you did nothing.¡±, was the last thing he heard before I killed him by slitting his throat. Not a second later, my phone rang, and I saw it was my father. Any coldness I had melted away, with shaky hands, I picked it up ¡ª nearly dropping it along the way. In an equally shaky voice, I asked, ¡°It''s time?¡± and my father in his signature rough voice said, ¡°It''s time.¡± Chapter 29 Arianna Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, Day 12. He ended the call right after, expecting me to know where to find him; of course, I knew exactly where he wanted me to go. The home of all Lendenburgs, right in the heartland of the entire coastal province. One would expect it to be a luxurious, perhaps opulent, palace but no, it was simply a small, modest house set around farmland. Family history would point to the third Duke of our family, making this the home of us all. No matter, I quickly made my way to Ts¡¯yvelir as he was resting upon the roof. Augustus and my home were slightly far away, but nothing that I could not handle with Ts¡¯yvelir. Ts¡¯yvelir seemed to be able to feel the emotional instability inside me; for the first time since I saw this great beast, his eyes showed some form of¡­ empathy? His eyes looked more intelligent than ever, showing some real sadness inside them as well. A chirp, unlike anything I had heard before, came out of his beak ¡ª and he positioned himself lower to the ground, so I could get on easier. ¡°Thank you, Ts¡¯yvelir. You know where to go.¡± And indeed, like he was reading my mind, he raced off straight towards my home. I looked down and noticed my phone was gone, I must''ve dropped it. A few minutes later, I noticed a small wet patch upon the Griffins back; it was right near me. A small droplet of water fell down from me onto his back, was I crying? I took my quivering hand up to my face and wiped it around the eyes. A stream of liquid was there, along with a bit of snot. What did I look like now? I still had my dress on, it was a bit crumpled due to Ts¡¯yvelir¡¯s feathers, but that was no matter. A mirror, I don¡¯t have a mirror at the moment, but shaping a rudimentary one shouldn¡¯t be hard. A small amount of my mana was used to create a water mirror in front of me, it wasn¡¯t perfect; my control over it was not good enough to fully recreate the properties of glass. Looking at it, the proportions of my face and body were off slightly; but it was the best I was going to get. My tears wiped off some makeup on my face, a slight stream of snot was also there. Any regal bearing I had half an hour ago was completely gone, only a husk of a girl about to lose her father. HAHA, the media would be in a frenzy if they saw me in this state; ah, the beautiful future Duchess of Lendenburg that now has snot running down her face. I could see the headlines already, HAHA, it would be hilarious. I looked down at the mirror in my laughing fit, only to see how ugly I truly was at the moment. Streams and streams of tears went down my face; the snot was more noticeable now, and I looked hideous. ARGH, the water mirror disintegrated back into mana; it faded into the air. I need to fix up how I look before I get to the house; looking over the side, we were above a golden field of wheat. Huh, we are closer than I thought we were. Ts¡¯yvelir landed after a minute, his gigantic body dwarfing the slightly small house. I didn''t even feel the tears streaming down my face as I ran towards the small abode. I rushed through the door, wanting to go straight to a room and fix how I look ¡ª only to see my father right at the end of the hall. He had a sickly green appearance to him, with red, bloodshot eyes and a hunched back. Disregarding all etiquette, I rushed towards him and nearly crashed into his body. He hugged me almost instantly, his skin was leathery and pale; and yet, there was something about him that gave me instant comfort. My tears fell down readily, ¡°It''s ok, you''re ok.¡±, he said repeatedly in a rocking motion. The motion brought me back to an old childhood memory, I was just six and fell down while playing on the field. He was still young then, and looked normal ¡ª the golden fields around us had been here since I was a child. The vivid image of him hugging me back then came at me like a tsunami, ¡°You''re ok. It''s ok.¡± He kept repeating these comforting words for some time, after who knows how long, I stood up from my position and so did he. My father handed me a small syringe filled with blood, ¡°Take it, clear your head. I know what you saw, you''ll need this.¡± Gingerly, I accepted the syringe and quickly jabbed it into my bloodstream; suddenly the world seemed a bit brighter. My head felt clearer instantly, and there was something very, very, very intoxicating about it. ¡°This jab, do it once a month, Laizi will have the master list on what to do, when to take it, and what to take.¡± With my thoughts clear, I had a whole host of questions. Before I could ask anything, he pulled me up and started to walk to a different room. I followed in his stead quickly, making our way through to a small side room. It was a cozy little room, with a small burning fireplace and a table at the center. He sat down, and so did I, we both looked at one another for a second. ¡°Ask away, I know you have many questions.¡±, he said. I nodded and tried to speak, ¡°I- Uh-. I-¡±, even though I had a whole host of questions, it was hard to say anything. I took a deep breath and cleared my head of any distractions. ¡°What would you have done if I didn''t find the pamphlet?¡±, I asked him. He nodded, seeming a bit disappointed, ¡°Tell you here.¡±, ¡°and what if you died before that?¡± He laughed a bit, ¡°Laizi knows everything.¡± My eyes widened like saucers, ¡°She knows¡­ everything?¡± He nodded subtlety, ¡°Yes, if I were to die then she would tell you everything. If she were to die, then you would have instructions given to you by me. If you died, your brothers would be given the news. If they were to die, your sister would be given this news. If everyone were to die, then it seems like we weren''t meant to continue.¡± I looked down at the table, tapping at it slightly with my fingers, ¡°Father, what happened to mother?¡± His demeanor changed from a grim acceptance to sadness. ¡°You are not ready to know.¡±, he said curtly. ¡°What do you mean I''m not ready? I don''t even know her name. I''m ready to inherit all this wealth and power, but not her name or what happened to her!?¡± My voice grew increasingly louder as I kept talking, it felt like I was a small child. That he saw me as that small child he once held in his arms. ¡°Your brothers will tell you when the time is right. It is up to their discretion.¡± I looked at him grimly, the mood in the air turned sour, ¡°I barely know my brothers.¡±, I have not seen them in over eight years. They were a distant memory for me, and that was it. ¡°Any other questions?¡±, he asked me, trying to change the topic. Not wanting to dwell on this any further, I obliged. ¡°Does anyone outside the family know?¡±, I asked and quickly added, ¡°Besides Laizi.¡± He grimly nodded, ¡°The Emperor.¡± I muttered a quick, ¡°Fuck.¡± under my breath, and he heard it. ¡°Yes, it is a precarious position we are in. If the Emperor leaks it, then our position is challenged. If he does, though, then we can take out half of Iabrun with us. Unless he is in a particularly precarious situation, there will be no reason for him to leak that. It is, of course, a loose end. And you know what we do to loose ends?¡± I said, ¡°We take care of them cleanly, and efficiently.¡± His eyes looked at me warmly, ¡°Yes, we do. And that leads me to my next point, there is a way to cure this.¡± ¡°Of course, the treasure somewhere on our property.¡±, he laughed at my statement and shook his head. ¡°We would have found it long ago, that isn''t the answer. I''m sure you want to know it, I doubt you want this curse to continue on from you to your children, or your brothers and sisters'' children. The answer is pretty simple, get someone of our blood onto the Throne of Iabrun.¡± I laughed a bit after that, ¡°Easier said than done.¡± He agreed with me readily, ¡°Yes, easier said than done. But this new Constantine seems like the perfect opportunity.¡± I nodded my head, Constantine was good, but he wasn''t the current Emperor we have now. ¡°Father¡­, why didn''t you try to get on the throne?¡±, I asked him. He looked down at the table, ¡°I found out too late. By the time I figured it out, I was already over the age of fifty. I didn''t have much time, nor energy, to go for it. After all, you were barely a two-year-old then.¡± He looked to be reminiscing now, thinking of a bygone time, ¡°Yes, you were only two.¡± He said with a tinge of sadness in his voice; he looked to be a normal old man at the moment, none of the prestige of a Duke. ¡°It is time I get going.¡±, he said that and started to stand up. No, no, ¡°No, no. Stay here for a bit!¡±, I yelled out at him. He smiled and shook his head, ¡°My time is running out now, my child. It¡¯s time that I go, and pass the mantle onto you.¡± He fully stood up and smiled, putting his transforming claws into his chest. I see¡­ A small golden crown was pulled out, it was barely larger than my thumb. He put it in my hand, and it gave me an instant warmth as it melted into my skin. ¡°With this, you are now the true Duchess of Lendenburg. Goodbye, Arianna.¡± Without any other word said, he turned around and walked to the door, leaving me. I chased after him immediately, ¡°No, no. YOU CAN''T GO, I STILL NEED YOU.¡± Outside the door was nothing, as if he was never there to begin with. There was nothing there, nothing. Tears came flooding out readily, but I heard someone call me. Oh, who is it now? I''m going to kill this person if it''s a dumb reason, ¡°Arianna, you want to meet up with the whole family?¡±, said my younger sister. ¡°The whole family?¡±, I asked. ¡°Not our sister, but our brothers are on leave at the moment. Meet us at the normal estate, will you?¡± I agreed and hung up on the phone. This place, this home, I''ll revisit it someday; but as of the moment, might as well see my brothers again. Ts¡¯yvelir looked towards me again and tilted his body so that I could get upon his back easier. ¡°Thank you, Ts¡¯yvelir.¡± He chirped a bit from his beak, ¡°Go to the normal estate, It''s near here.¡± I got comfortable on his back and he quickly took off, another chirp came from him. ¡°Yeah, I''m ok boy. No need to worry about me.¡±, he chirped after what I said. ¡°Yes, I''m fine. Don''t worry about it, boy.¡± Ts¡¯yvelir fell silent after that, and it was a smooth flight all the way over to the estate. I jumped off his back and quickly rushed to my room in order to change. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. I saw my sister in black, mourning clothes, ¡°Hey, wait up!¡±, she yelled at me. I stopped for a second and looked back at her, ¡°What? I need to go change.¡± She said, ¡°Oh, sorry.¡± and then left. I guess I''ll wear a black suit then, it should be appropriate. Inside my room, I quickly took off my clothing and changed into a black suit fit for mourning times. I need to thank the beauty director for stocking up all of these locations with every piece of clothing imaginable. I left the room quickly, arriving in the dining room only to be met by my sister. ¡°Where are our brothers?¡± She replied, ¡°They have yet to arrive, they should be here soon enough. What time is it?¡± I looked down at my phone, ¡°It¡¯s 5:37 pm right now.¡± She said, ¡°Good, the cooks will be done by 5:50, and our brothers should be here by 6:00.¡± ¡°How¡¯s that Griffin going?¡±, I asked her while sitting down at my seat across from her. There was a tray of a variety of bread on the table, I took one and smeared a bit of butter on it. It was dark-colored bread that had some seeds in it and contrasted with the light color of the butter on it. ¡°That butter you¡¯re eating is from the Marquis¡¯ Griffin.¡± I nodded, ¡°Right, how did he let you milk his Griffin? That must have costed a load of money.¡± She nodded, ¡°Yeah it was, 500,000 pounds. The flavor is more than worth it, though.¡± That, I had to agree with, the butter was great and worked exceptionally well with the bread. ¡°Ari, why did you kill the director?¡±, she asked me. Hmmmm, I didn¡¯t think she would know already, ¡°He was treasonous towards the state, I saw him try to give some information to Solarian authorities.¡± She seemed to be content with my answer and didn¡¯t try to pry more into the reason. ¡°You still didn¡¯t tell me what happened to your Griffin.¡±, I said to her. She seemed a bit surprised, her emotions were always on her sleeve, and didn¡¯t hide anything. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m sorry. She has been useful so far, but she is a child at the moment.¡± It was now 5:43 pm, ¡°Could you get me some wine?¡±, I asked of her. It was, technically, illegal for me to drink alcohol at my age, but no one really enforced it ¡ª especially not to me. She obliged and quickly left the room, leaving me alone. I stood up and left the room as well, it would take her at least five minutes to get to the cellar and get the wine. What to do in the meantime, though, is the question. I walked out to my room and noticed Ts¡¯yvelir laying down upon the grassy meadows near the estate. ¡°Ts¡¯yvelir!¡±, I shouted out at him, and he perked up immediately, ¡°Come here,¡± I said. He quickly rushed over to me, ¡°Ts¡¯yvelir, you¡¯ve done me a great service. You can go on and get yourself a basilisk as a reward.¡±, his eyes conveyed his gratitude. He swiftly leaped up into the air and flew off, soon becoming only a dot in the sky, 5:47 pm now. Then, I made my way back to the dining room and took my seat, acting as if I had never left the seat in the first place. She came back in carrying a bottle of Solarian wine and put it on the table. I poured it out into a glass of mine, she raised her own, ¡°No, you¡¯re too young.¡± I told her, ¡°And you¡¯re not?¡± she snapped back. ¡°Oh come on, father always allowed me to drink.¡±, she implored me. ¡°Well. I¡¯m not father, now am I? You¡¯re not allowed to drink until the age of eighteen, and that is final.¡± Begrudgingly, she put down her glass, as I finished pouring the golden liquid into mine. Just as I took my first sip, there was a knock on the door. The knockers came in a second after, ¡°Brother?¡± I asked, they came earlier than expected. The two walked in the door, looking like carbon copies in their uniforms, one of them sat down immediately. The other one picked up my sister, Catalan, and gave her a great big hug. ¡°You-You¡¯re choking me. I can¡¯t breathe.¡±, he laughed a lot and put her down, before sitting in his own seat. ¡°It has been quite a long time since we met like this, we should definitely meet up some more times.¡±, said my brother ¡ª Miles. He looked down at my cup, and without any warning, swatted it away from me. It nearly fell down on the floor, but my other brother, Phanes, summoned a beam of light and put the cup back on the table. ¡°You¡¯re a bit too young for that.¡±, said Miles as he chugged down the entire glass of my wine. My sister looked at me, giggling a bit at my misfortune. ¡°So, anything exciting going on?¡±, asked Phanes as he slowly poured himself a glass of wine. ¡°I plan to launch a coup.¡±, I said in the most serious tone I could muster up. Phanes, who had just drunk his first glass, nearly spit it out. ¡°Wait, wait. What?¡±, asked Miles as he cleaned up the spilled wine. I signaled to the two of them that they should follow me, ¡°Stay here.¡±, said the three of us to our little sister at the same time. ¡°Wait, WAIT. What are you talking about, why does no one fill me in on these things!¡± she yelled out, Phanes made a cup of pure light and handed it over to her. She was easily impressed by many things and didn¡¯t bother to ask us again. Outside the dining room, and in the hallway, my two much larger brothers followed me into a secluded room. ¡°You know the curse we have?¡±, the two nodded gravely, seeming to understand the gravity of the situation. ¡°The only way to get rid of it is to get someone of our blood onto the throne. Normally, I would wait and try to get myself nominated by the other nobles for the position of Emperor. Now, that can not happen. Constantine is still very young and is set to be the next Emperor. Who knows how many years we would have to wait until Constantine is removed for the next Emperor. I can¡¯t wait that long, I plan to have children, and I certainly don¡¯t wish to give this curse to them either. A coup is the fastest way to get me on that throne.¡± Phanes was silent, Miles said, ¡°You¡¯re right, but that could kill millions of people, if not billions. You know that as well as I do, Solaria is also just waiting to pounce if they see any hint of instability in our rule. This is far too risky.¡± I nodded, ¡°It would be, in normal circumstances, but this time is different. The people in Solaria are getting ready for war, the upcoming negotiations will only delay it. It is the same for those up above and down below, they are getting ready for a massive engagement that we have not seen since the start of The Last War. If I ally myself with one of them, I can use their weight as a deterrent for Solaria. Even if Solaria declares war, they know that at best, it would only be a Pyrrhic victory.¡± Miles fell silent at my ramblings, Phanes looked down at me, ¡°Well then, Arianna, if you truly are going to embark on this path. I will help you, on one condition.¡± I looked up at Phanes, his white eyes and hair stared back at me, ¡°I wish that you try to defeat Solaria at all costs.¡± he said. I gulped, ¡°I will try, but I can¡¯t say for certain.¡± Defeating Solaria would be a troublesome task, but I may be able to probe some weak points in the upcoming negotiations. Miles looked at Phanes, then back at me, ¡°Looks like I have no choice, then. I¡¯ll help you with this, Arianna.¡±, he said while turning his back on me and walking out of the room. I followed him as fast as I could, and Phanes was right behind me. The three of us made our way back to the dining room, to be greeted by my sister gorging down on the plentiful food on the table. ¡°You¡¯re a pig.¡±, I said to her immediately. ¡°I am not one!¡±, she yelled out; her plate stacked high with every piece of food on the table didn¡¯t help her argument. ¡°Look, the chefs did an amazing job, it would be a waste to not eat them while they¡¯re hot. And, what were you three talking about?¡± The three of us sat down and didn¡¯t answer the question, skipping over it in its entirety. Phanes constructed a construct of light and made a little light show with it, ¡°How much money do we have now?¡± asked Phanes as he concluded the little light show by weaving a necklace and putting it on the neck of my sister. ¡°Our liquid cash is not much, only around fifty trillion left in our vaults. As for the worth of everything else we own, I do not have the exact numbers now.¡±, he nodded at took a sip of black tea. ¡°So, what are you two doing that requires you guys to stay in the Capitol all the time?¡±, asked my sister. Phanes and Miles looked at one another, ¡°Iabrun plans to secure its natural resource mining in the small island nations inside the straits of the Twisting Ocean. Our ports have to be secured.¡± I nodded and asked, ¡°What natural resources warrant this much attention?¡± Miles replied, ¡°The mages procured by the Iabrun government are strong, brutally strong, and with strength comes the energy that they need to supply it. Usually, their own mana is enough, but in times of war, they¡¯re going to need more. Just a precaution.¡± I stood up and said, ¡°Excuse me, I need to go do something.¡±, as I walked out the door. Inside my room, I took a call from Laizi, ¡°It¡¯s done.¡±, she assured me and I hung up the phone immediately. Phanes walked into the room, smoking a white cigarette that had a pleasant aroma to it. ¡°I thought you quit a long time ago?¡±, I asked him. He laughed and shook his head, ¡°I did, for a while. Father¡¯s imminent death brought me back to them, they¡¯re horrible for you, but feel good. Anyway, enough about me. What is your plan for this coup? We both know that you can¡¯t simply barge in and launch this coup.¡± I nodded, ¡°First we need to know who is on our side, and who isn¡¯t? The public is already tentative about Constantine, and love me, the Noble¡¯s are wary about him as well. It all comes down to how he does in the first year of coronation. If he does poorly, then I¡¯m laughing. If he gets support on his side, then he¡¯s laughing. Any upcoming events to test this new Emperor?¡±, I asked him at the end. He thought for a second, ¡°Iabrun plans to annex the two neighboring countries of Gawain and Tils. Constantine is opposed to it, but it is too far gone now in order to be stopped. His handling of the situation is going to be the main deciding factor for his legitimacy.¡± That was perfect, ¡°Good, thank you Phanes. All we need to do is annoy the public, Nobles, and mages. The public is a proud people, Iabrun is gigantic, and they know we can throw our weight around. If Constantine fumbles with this annexation and doesn¡¯t strong-arm it, the people will perceive him as weak. If the Nobles and mages don''t get any rewards from the new land, then he will be seen as greedy by the two. This is perfect.¡± Phanes nodded and started to walk away, ¡°Good luck, Ari. Oh, and just remember. If a gentle coup is not appropriate, then you can always start a civil war. I am not like my brother, I do not shy away from the more blood-soaked side of these things. Me and him, we can win this one for you.¡± Chapter 30 Interlude: Iabrun Chapter 30 Interlude: Iabrun Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 14th day. Looking at the golden amber liquid inside my small glass, I put it down and looked at the person next to me. He was slurping down some noodles, he finished quickly and looked at me, ¡°Are you nervous?¡±, he asked me cheerily; he still had some sauce from the noodles on his lips. His cheery demeanor rubbed off on me through the short two months we were together, ¡°What¡¯s there to be nervous of?¡± He looked at me with a gleam and admiration in his eye, he was a novice straight out of flight school and latched onto everything I said. ¡°Wh-What¡¯s not to be nervous of? We¡¯re going to fly the Duchess.¡± he said and looked down at my amber drink. ¡°You get used to it, I¡¯ve flown the Emperor, you know?¡± He looked up at me, ¡°Really!?¡±, my he was a gullible little child. ¡°No.¡±, I said and drank down the rest of my drink. He didn¡¯t look perturbed, simply looking at me with his beaming green eyes. ¡°Come to think of it, why was I picked?¡±, he asked me. ¡°She asked you to fly her.¡±, I said. He laughed and said, ¡°You won¡¯t get me twice here.¡± I looked at him, and laughed as well, ¡°Aye, you¡¯re a bit too smart for that it seems. I don¡¯t expect less, I asked for you myself.¡± He smiled, and finally realized the small amount of sauce on his lips. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡±, he looked at me with an appalled expression. Standing up, I paid for the two orders and started to walk out. He quickly thanked the server and ran up to me, ¡°How long until the flight?¡± I walked out of the bar, looking at the afternoon sun''s ray glaring down on the roads. ¡°Just under 6 hours, you have until 8:00 pm today to get to the airport in time for the Duchess.¡± He nodded and hopped into the driver''s seat of my car, and with a cheeky smile, he said, ¡°Can I use your car for a bit?¡± He looked at me for another two seconds, before getting out of the car. ¡°Well, I will see you later Liam.¡±, he said and started to walk off. ¡°Oh no, you don¡¯t, you little shit. You still owe me 200 Iabrun pounds, and you are going to pay that off today-¡± He kept walking down the street, I yelled out, ¡°Erix, come back here before I go to you and beat your ass.¡± He quickly backtracked to me, smiling widely and sitting in the passenger seat of my car. ¡°Gambling?¡±, he asked me quickly. ¡°Of course, what other money-making way is there?¡± I said and started to drive quickly to a gambling den. Erix took out his phone, holding it and looking at a recording of the interview yesterday. He was enamored on his phone and was staring at it quite intently, ¡°Don¡¯t show that look you have right now around the Duchess. You look about as sexy as a Griffin in heat now.¡± He coughed and quickly put away his phone, staring out of the window. Thankfully for him, we made it to the den only a minute later and walked out. Gambling was legal, up to a certain amount anyway. Anything over 100,000 pounds was illegal, but we didn¡¯t have that kind of money. Erix took out a 50-pound note, looking at it for a bit, before stuffing it back in his pocket. ¡°This is all the money I have at the moment, let''s see if we can turn a profit.¡±, he quietly muttered to himself as we walked into the den. It was clean, as usual, and we went up to the exchange counter. I gave the receptionist a 100-pound note, ¡°Usual?¡±, she asked, and I nodded. She handed me ten white chips and looked at Erix, who was a whole 20 centimeters shorter than me. ¡°1 chip, please.¡±, he said while handing her the 50-pound note. She looked entirely unamused by his wide smile, giving him the one blue chip. We quickly made our way to the blackjack table for non-magic users, ¡°You ever wonder what it¡¯s like to be a mage?¡±, he asked me. I nodded, sitting down and looking at the young dealer in front of me. There were two other people at the table, an elderly human, and a young-looking demon. ¡°Hello there.¡±, Erix said quickly, looking at the beautiful demon. He bet the one chip he had, and I put down five of my white chips. The two others at the table matched us, placing down 50-pounds worth of chips on the whole table. Before the dealer gave us our cards, Erix said, ¡°Let¡¯s make this a bit more interesting, shall we? Whoever wins this will get all the chips currently played.¡±, the two seemed up for it and so was I. The young dealer acquiesced to the change from standard format, seemingly not caring. The table clearly stated, ¡®If a player wins, they are to be awarded 1.5x the current amount they bet. If the player gets a blackjack, then they must be awarded 2x their current bet. Standard rules apply, the dealer must stand if given a 17 or higher.¡¯ The dealer, using the standard six-deck shuffle, gave us our first round of cards. The old man got an eight, I got a King, Erix got an Ace, the young demon a six, and then the dealer was dealt a five. Then, the dealer allowed us to make a second bet, the old man put down a hundred note chip. Erix and I didn¡¯t put anything down, and neither did the young demon. The dealer then gave us our second set of cards, a six for the old man, a 7 for me ¡ª handing me a seventeen ¡ª and Erix got a Queen. ¡°HAHA, Blackjack!¡±, he yelled out. I sighed and gave him the chips, the other two plus the dealer gave him as well. He now held 400 pounds worth of chips, ¡°You don¡¯t wish to stop while you¡¯re ahead?¡± He laughed a bit, ¡°Now¡¯s the fun part.¡±, and bet down all of his chips. I sighed and bet down my 50, the other two also bet down 400 pounds worth of goods. ¡°If the player goes bust in this game, they are to immediately leave the premises.¡±, said the dealer. Erix nodded half-heartedly, not paying attention. The bets placed, the deck shuffled, and cards dealt. The old man had a thirteen in total, I had a nineteen, Erix with a sixteen, and the demon girl with a twelve. The old man hit, getting a five and landing on eighteen, he waved to show he didn¡¯t want another card. I waved too, risking it on a nineteen is moronic, Erix hit and got a two. He hit again, like the absolute dumbass he is, and went over twenty-one. ¡°Bust.¡±, said the girl, smiling at him. He looked down at his hand, ¡°Fuck.¡±, he said quietly. The girl hit and landed on an eighteen, she hit again and also went over twenty-one. I collected all the chips, 1325 in total. ¡°Well, gentleman and young lady. This game getting a bit too rich for me, goodbye.¡±, I said and walked away from the table. Erix followed me up and desperately pleaded to give him 50-pounds worth of chips. I looked at him, giving him a single 50-pound chip, he ran towards the non-magic poker table and started a game right away. I cashed in my chips at the counter, the receptionist smiled, ¡°Lucky day, eh?¡± I nodded, and took the bills, stuffing them into the inner pocket of my current suit. Ah, it was a nice day today. Outside the gambling den, I took out a small cigarette and started to smoke it, it was on the pricier side of cigarettes, averaging two pounds a package. Average groceries for the average family should round out at twenty or so pounds for the entire month, austral and tine were the ones used for everyday transactions. I snuffed out the cigarette and threw it in a trash can, in time to see Erix getting kicked out of the establishment by a large man. ¡°Hey, why¡¯d you do that for!¡±, he yelled back. The door shut on him, and he looked up at me like a lost puppy, ¡°You lost it?¡± He nodded pitifully, ¡°Dumbass, get in and go take a shower.¡± He scrambled to the passenger door, and I started to drive to his place. ¡°Put on the nicest suit you have and meet me at my house.¡±, I said to him. He nodded, and took out his phone, scrolling through the news. ¡°Hey, you heard of the new virus spreading in Gawain? Heard it¡¯s kinda serious.¡± I nodded, ¡°I just hope it isn¡¯t too bad. That is the stop I have after this, I¡¯m going there with a friend and going back to work as a commercial pilot.¡± Erix looked at me weirdly, ¡°Why? Being a private pilot for the Duchess is an amazing job.¡± I nodded, ¡°Except she doesn¡¯t take us often. It is unbelievably boring, sitting there with the crew doing whatever to pass the time on days. That Griffin of hers is basically our job and is about as big as the plane anyway.¡± ¡°Still, I see no reason not to.¡±, he said. ¡°I will recommend you to take my place, you may be a degenerate gambling addict. But you can fly well enough.¡± He laughed a bit, ¡°Liam, thank you.¡± turning a very rare shade of serious. ¡°Really, thank you.¡± I nodded, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, Erix. I will train you as my successor yet.¡± He smiled, in that same wide smile that was infectious, it leeched onto me and I smiled a bit as well. ¡°Liam, you old bastard, you¡¯re smiling?¡±, he said and laughed. ¡°Well, thank you. I will meet you up in¡­ 4 hours?¡± I nodded, looking at the back of him as he walked inside his apartment. A crazy, degenerate bastard he was, but man, he could fly a plane. My apartment was only a two-minute drive from his, I made it back and went inside the relatively new apartment. Walking up the stairs, my phone ringed, and I picked it up, ¡°Yes?¡± I asked Erix who was calling me. ¡°Liam, I have a way to get you the 250-pounds.¡±, I was intrigued, but it was too close to our time to fly, ¡°Save it for later, we have to fly soon.¡± He agreed with me, ¡°Sure, it''s in Solaria anyway.¡± then hung up. I walked inside the small flat I had and took out a beer from the refrigerator. Drinking it, I called my wife, who was living at her mother''s house at the moment, ¡°How is she right now?¡± ¡°She¡¯s good, a little tired and sleeping, but good.¡±, she said. ¡°Good, good. I have good news.¡±, I said to her. ¡°After this next private flight I have, we will have enough money to buy us a house.¡± She said unbelievably, ¡°Really?¡±, I nodded, ¡°Yeah, really.¡± Drinking another sip of the beer, I said, ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking over it for a while, I want the best growing environment for our daughter. She¡¯s barely six months old, I need to think about her.¡± She giggled a bit, ¡°Look at you, growing up. When can I see you?¡± I thought for a bit, she didn¡¯t need to know I was going to Gawain, that would stress her a bit too much, ¡°In a week or so, I should be back in Augustus. I have to take a few flights in Solaria before I can ask for a month-long leave.¡± She said, ¡°Alright, then. Elisa will be happy to see you again, she truly does love you.¡±, ¡°I love you too.¡± I said and hung up. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Sitting on the worn-out couch, I took a sip of the beer and looked down at my watch. I should take a shower soon, but until then, what to do¡­ Looking down, the entire flat was a mess, with small cigarette butts scattered here and there, bottles of alcohol thrust around the entire room. Hehe, no wonder she left with Elisa, the landlord should be looking for a replacement right now. She should know that I¡¯m leaving, eh I don¡¯t really care enough to help her with the process. Standing up, I started to pick up all the trash sewn through the rooms, cigarette butts, alcohol bottles, pieces of cardboard, tissues, anything I could see. Under the couch, I found a little pen and stuffed it into my pockets. My suit was dirty, oh well, I had a spare lying around somewhere here. Some articles of clothing were also strewn about, I found socks hiding in the dirtiest of places. After thirty minutes, the room was a bit cleaner, with all the large objects clean and thrown out. It amounted to two garbage bags worth of trash, time to vacuum the entire house, then scrub the floors I suppose. Taking out the vacuum, I quickly finished the living room in just under seven minutes and started on my bedroom. I wonder what it would feel like to have magical powers? It must be amazing to be able to do all this work without any of the physical processes. After another fifteen minutes, it was clean as a whistle. It is 3:15 pm now, Erix will meet me at 6:30, and we should reach the designated airport by 7:50. That leaves me with¡­ around three hours to do what I want. A shower should take no more than fifteen minutes, and getting dressed five. I quickly left my flat, locking the door behind me, and made it to the first floor. There, I saw the elder man from the casino checking the mail, ¡°Oh hello young man.¡±, he said and smiled at me, exuding the certain charm elderly figures have. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m not young. Surprise to see you here, though.¡±, I said, and started to walk to the exit. ¡°Same goes to you, young man. Well, I haven¡¯t much time at the moment, and neither do you, it seems. Goodbye now.¡±, I heard him say in a smooth voice before the door behind me shut, and I was greeted with the hustle and bustle of Augustus. Wait, no, what am I doing? I¡¯m too tired for this, I should take a nap, yeah, a nap sounds good. ¡°Oh, young man. You came back?¡±, said the old man, as he was in the same spot as before. ¡°Yes, I just forgot something. Goodbye.¡±, the old man replied, ¡°That''s quite alright, my memory isn¡¯t the best either.¡± I smiled and nodded, making my way to my room immediately. There, I fell onto my couch, drowsiness catching up to me, and I fell asleep, Elisa¡­ I awoke, looking down at my phone, it was now 6:10 pm. Oh shit, I was cutting it a little close. I ran into the shower with my towel and quickly cranked the hot water. It came a second later, ahhh, it felt blissful. I couldn¡¯t dawdle for long, though, I finished up in the shower within ten minutes ¡ª making sure to thoroughly scrub every part of my body. I dried myself quickly as well and put on a black and white suit a minute later. It was now 6:25 pm, and someone rang the doorbell. I opened the door, and Erix was there behind it. ¡°Well, well, now is the time you clean up your room? Right when you have enough money to move out, you old idiot.¡± I laughed, ¡°I don¡¯t live with my parents.¡±, Erix yelled back, ¡°Shut up! I¡¯m doing it for monetary purposes, I¡¯ll move out soon.¡± ¡°Sure you will.¡±, I said as we both walked to my car. ¡°The drive is an hour-long, you sure you don¡¯t want me to?¡±, Erix asked me. ¡°Fat chance you broke bastard.¡±, I said and laughed. He got into the passenger seat, as per usual, and took out his phone. I started the car, making my way to the private airport of the Lendenburgs. ¡°Hey, what do you know about the Duchess?¡±, he asked me as I was driving. ¡°What about her? She¡¯s 17 years old, and that''s about it. They¡¯re quite secretive on these things, you know. I don¡¯t even know what food she likes.¡± Erix sighed, ¡°I don¡¯t know what I expected from you, idiot.¡±, and went back to scrolling on his phone. ¡°Oh yeah, you know the conspiracy that this whole thing is staged by the Iabrun and Solarian governments?¡± I shook my head, ¡°People make conspiracies out of anything nowadays. I bet there is a conspiracy about the dress the Duchess wore.¡± But if it was staged, that would make a lot of sense. I doubt the two wanted a real war, but who knows? After all, any military and political ventures are left to the people up top. I was a simple pilot, and all I wanted now is to be that simple pilot. The rest of the drive was in total silence, as he kept scrolling on his phone. We got there at 7:55 pm, just close to the deadline. ¡°Damn traffic.¡±, I swore under my breath as we parked and walked out, waiting near the twenty-five-meter-long aircraft. ¡°You cut it a bit close there.¡±, Erix whispered. ¡°Shut it, she¡¯s coming.¡±, I said in a commanding voice. One could see the faint outlines of a motorcade, their lights beaming in the current dusk hours. There was a car at the very center, with five cars ahead of and behind it, that stood out. It was jet black, and there was nothing exceptional about it, but it was at the center of the entire motorcade. Erix straightened his back out, standing tall. A young man opened the door, and the young Duchess walked out in a black and blue suit, ¡°I thought she would wear a dress.¡± Erix whispered. The Duchess walked steadily to our position, ¡°Thank you, Liam, and who is this?¡± she said in a pleasant tone. ¡°He is going to be my replacement.¡± She nodded, ¡°I¡¯m sorry to hear that you are leaving us.¡±, sounding concerned. I bowed a little, and so did Erix, as she walked up the stairs next to us. After she came, three people who didn¡¯t bother to acknowledge us went up the stairs as well. ¡°Rude.¡±, Erix muttered. ¡°You get used to it, they¡¯re mages meant to protect the Duchess.¡±, I said. ¡°Oh, and just because they¡¯re mages gives them the excuse to be rude?¡± he said. ¡°No, but you learn to get used to it,¡± I said, and Erix became quiet. We waited another minute, but no one else came, so the two of us climbed up the stairs and entered the plane next. We went straight to the cockpit, I sat down, and we were to leave in just around five minutes, ¡°All passengers are now required to put their seat belts on, according to Iabrun regulation.¡± After a minute of waiting, a stewardess came to us and nodded, we waited another twenty seconds for her to leave, and then we started to taxi. ¡°I will leave all of this to you, Erix. I¡¯ll step in if you need help.¡± Erix, who had some sweat glistening on his forehead, nodded. I leaned back on my seat, closing my eyes and imagining Elisa. Her little brown eyes and fingers touching mine came back to me, she was the diamond of my life. Ah, how I missed her, only a week until I could see her. After a minute, we were on the runway, and it was time for take-off. Erix had some sweat on his forehead, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you got this.¡± I said as we started to take off from the ground. A minute later, we were up in the air and gaining altitude. ¡°See, you got this.¡±, I said, ¡°Go to an altitude of 10,500 meters, and then you can engage the autopilot.¡±, I finished and leaned back on my chair again. Another sense of drowsiness came to me, and I fell asleep quickly. When I woke up, it was nighttime outside and I didn¡¯t know what time it was. Autopilot was engaged, and we were cruising at a smooth 10,500 meters. ¡°Good job.¡±, I said to Erix as I stood up. ¡°Where are you going?¡±, he asked me, while still concentrating on the surroundings. ¡°To meet the Duchess. We need to talk about something, or so she told me.¡±, I said, he grumbled a bit as I walked out of the cockpit and into the main area. The Duchess was seated in a suite full of everything possible, with the three mages in the two rooms on either side of her. When I went there, before I could knock, a thing came up in front of me. Teleportation? ¡°What''s your purpose?¡±, she asked me, and I said, ¡°The Duchess wants to talk to me.¡± She didn¡¯t say anything for a minute, but then moved out of the way and teleported again. I knocked on her door, she said, ¡°Come in.¡±, and I opened the door. There was a seat opposite of her, I sat there and noticed she was drinking some red wine. ¡°Aren¡¯t you a little young for that?¡±, I inquired a bit. ¡°Haha, you sound just like my brother.¡±, she said and looked at me. ¡°Why did you want to talk to me?¡±, I asked as I took a sip from the glass of water in front of me. ¡°I know that you have a wife, and a small child, I wanted to help you.¡± Huh? What? ¡°Wa-Wait. What?¡±, I asked her. She took out a checkbook, writing a check worth 50,000 pounds, and gave it to me. ¡°Think of it as my appreciation gift for you flying me, and the gift you will get when leaving us.¡±, she said. I held it in my hands, and put it on the table, ¡°No, no. You¡¯re far too generous, but I insist that I can¡¯t take this.¡± She shook her head, ¡°I won¡¯t take no for an answer here, Liam. This is for you, take it.¡± I held it once again in my hand, and then put it into my pocket. ¡°Thank you very much, Your Grace. Anything else you wished to discuss with me?¡±, I asked. ¡°Yes, stay with me for a while. You don¡¯t wish to miss the show, right?¡± What show, wait, ¡°You mean the Astroangilaes?¡± She nodded, smiling at me, ¡°Of course, what other show is there in these altitudes?¡± She stood up, gesturing for me to follow her, and I did, promptly. We made our way to a new suite, where its wall was a gigantic slab of glass. Outside, we could both see a gigantic Astroangilae dwarfing the private plane. It had lights all across its body, glittering and shimmering in the night sky. Next to it was a much smaller, likely its child, the whale looked at us. It held real intelligence in its eyes, holding much curiosity about us as we kept going through the sky. There was something majestic about it, as it effortlessly floated next to our plane. The smaller Astroangilae didn¡¯t have bright lights yet, they were a dim blue, but it only made it look more beautiful. A click came from the larger one, it held the majesty of a King, as it quickly moved away from us. Then, we could see a whole pod of Astroangilae floating across our tiny plane. Their lights, all different colors, made for a perfect backdrop. Clicks and whistles came from the whales, communicating with one another, and two tiny children of them played with one another in the floating night sky. ¡°Beautiful¡­¡±, I muttered, and the Duchess agreed. Then, a second later, the entire pod smoothly floated up and over our plane ¡ª rising from our altitude further and further up, into the mesosphere and beyond. Chapter 31 Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 15th day. The large plane landed on the airstrip that lay upon the island. Its wheels gently hit the ground, stopping just short of the end of the runway. First to leave were the three mages meant to protect the Duchess, the three looked at the surroundings on the small island in the middle of the ocean; smiling readily, the leader of the trio stepped aside. Next came the Duchess, walking down the steps slowly and gracefully. Liam and Erix watched from one of the many windows on the plane as the Duchess, and the trio of mages, made their way inland. ¡°Why can¡¯t we go out?¡±, asked Erix as he looked at the fading figures. ¡°Trust me, you don¡¯t want to meet them, or hear what they talk about.¡±, Liam replied as he gazed deep into the horizon. ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡±, Erix asked, leaning back on his seat in the process. ¡°The topics they discuss, you don¡¯t wish to know, but there is nothing stopping you from trying.¡±, Liam said. Erix jumped up with joy after hearing the proposition. Liam looked on as the young kid ran out of the plane and walked quickly towards the fading figures, he took out a bottle of alcohol and poured some auburn-colored liquid into a glass. Shaking his head, he sat down and drank some whiskey, ¡°Poor kid.¡±, he muttered to himself. Erix reached the four people rather quickly, the trio had sensed him ever since he left the plane, and notified the Duchess of it. ¡°Let him come, it¡¯s going to be fun.¡±, she said in a sweet voice to the leader of the mages. He, a seemingly normal human with no distinguishing features, stood out from the other two mages. They were both exotic, with deep orange skin, blue nails, and brown hair; their eyes were a solid red and held black markings inside them, twins. Erix looked at the three people, he never had a good memory, and trying to learn all the races was a futile effort. ¡°Hello, can I join you?¡±, Erix asked, he was an adult and older than the Duchess, but looked like a child asking their parents to join a trip. ¡°Sure, you¡¯re going to have a load of fun.¡±, Arianna replied in an overly sweet, saccharine voice, it was obvious to everyone but the new pilot that she was joking about having fun. The three mages, long used to the horrors of what is going to be discussed, giggled a bit. The same lady that interrupted Liam the night before teleported quickly behind Erix, wrapping her hands around his back in a hug, she whispered, ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re going to have so much fun.¡± He blushed up to the tips of his ears, she let him go after a second and teleported back to her position. Erix still held that blush up until they went inside the only building on the island. It was a small house, entirely unassuming, and Erix scratched his head a bit, ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± The Duchess smiled back at him as she was entering the house, ¡°Just you wait, it is going to be much grander than this.¡± Five people entered the house, they were greeted by another 8 people. The trio of mages looked at their companions, each person from Iabrun was delegated their own set of mages for this occasion. ¡°Good day, nice to see you again.¡±, said the leader of the group meant to protect Arianna, to a person protecting the son of the current Emperor. The nine mages intermingled a bit as the three diplomats of Iabrun walked into a side room, leaving Erix by himself. The Duke of Yorksfield¡¯s son, Alexander, along with the son of the current Emperor, Nicholas. They looked similar, both were taller than the Duchess by a good twenty centimeters, with black hair, similar builds, and statures, the two would look like twins, were it not for their eyes. Nicholas had deep, orange eyes, they were shrewd and looked upon everything with a wary gaze. Alexander had bright, blue eyes, conveying a sense of pureness and innocence, but under that mask was a sharp and smart mind. Every Noble of their level had to be smart, they had to be trained since their very birth to best fit the role they were born into. The three took a seat at a round table, sitting apart from one another, Nicholas and Arianna looked about the room. Alexander, on the other hand, lifted a small cup of tea and began to slowly sip it down. Imports from across the world carried the best leaves into Iabrun, and then into the cup, the future Duke was drinking from. ¡°I see you have finally become the Duchess.¡±, Alexander said as he put down his cup and looked at Arianna with his pure blue eyes. ¡°I see you¡¯ve sensed it, yes. I have become the Duchess of Lendenburg.¡±, replied Arianna, she then took up a cup of tea and drank it herself. Nicholas looked away from the two and into the room, they just came from, ¡°Who''s the new kid?¡±, he asked. Unlike when he was with his father, Nicholas had a very relaxed way of speech that made him no different from an average child his age. ¡°I wanted to have some fun.¡±, Arianna said and drank her cup again. ¡°You¡¯re evil.¡±, laughed Alexander, ¡°It comes with the job.¡±, Nicholas chimed in as he too took up his cup of tea. The comment from Nicholas made Alexander look down, ¡°Yes. Yes, it does.¡±, he said with a sad voice. ¡°You ever wonder about the people we conquered?¡±, he asked. Nicholas shook his head, ¡°No, not really.¡±, Arianna nodded her agreement, ¡°No, I rarely ever think about it.¡± With a chuckle, Alexander agreed, ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t either, it¡¯s very unpleasant though.¡± To that, the two could only agree, all three knew the real depth of the atrocities committed by them or their ancestors. ¡°You ever wonder about the things we don¡¯t know?¡±, Alexander asked, shuddering a bit in the process, ¡°After all, imagine what things the Emperor knows.¡± Nicholas frowned a bit, ¡°I would rather not think about it.¡±, the Duchess readily agreed. ¡°I have a question for you two, my father said something about the oceans holding our fates, do you two have any idea what that is about?¡±, asked Nicholas. Alexander and Arianna cocked their heads a bit, ¡°Strange, my father said the same thing.¡±, the two said at the same time. ¡°I have heard some old rumors floating about, something about the oceans and stars being connected, but I don¡¯t know much beyond that.¡±, Alexander replied. Arianna said, ¡°Something about the months came up in this too, I forgot what it was about exactly.¡± Nicholas sighed and looked down at the table, ¡°Stars, the months, and the ocean.¡± ¡°All very mysterious, isn¡¯t it?¡±, Alexander said and continued, ¡°We keep the submarines in harbor most of the time because of this.¡± Arianna picked up a small piece of chocolate that came directly from Winker, ¡°We lost seven submarines to unknown causes that one time we tried to go down.¡± Nicholas laughed, ¡°We have better things to do than explore the deep oceans, but maybe that¡¯s what I have to do soon enough. What do you two plan on doing after this?¡± Alexander sighed, ¡°I don¡¯t know at the moment, any ideas for some fun.¡±, Arianna laughed a bit. ¡°Yeah, I got a good idea, go with Nicholas.¡±, she said. ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound that bad, I¡¯ll welcome you.¡±, Nicholas chimed in. Alexander nodded and took a piece of chocolate himself, ¡°Well, why not? Anyway, we have a minute left until the designated start time. We should get going.¡± The three stood up and walked out of the door, the previously small amount of noise from the room quieted into pin-drop silence the moment the three walked in. ¡°It¡¯s time.¡±, Nicholas said and after the three walked out, the nine mages and Erix walked after them. Outside, they could see a new plane landing on the runway, it had the Solarian crest on its rear wing and stopped abreast to the plane that Arianna came in. The nine mages plus Erix stayed a respectable distance away from the three, as Arianna, Alexander, and Nicholas walked to the plane. First came out nine Solarian mages, all clad in robes of white with a sun on. The three did not say anything to the mages, they were less important than the three diplomats. First came a young man with yellow hair, yellow eyes, and a light demeanor, ¡°Elohim, nice to meet you.¡±, he said good-naturedly. Next came a middle-aged man that looked more serious, ¡°Samuel, Archbishop, good day.¡±, he said curtly and stepped off. Last, but certainly not least, ¡°Head of foreign affairs, Ivan.¡±, he said simply. ¡°Alexander, Duke of Yorksfield.¡±, ¡°Arianna, Duchess of Lendenburg.¡±, ¡°Nicholas, son of current Emperor George VI.¡±, the three from Iabrun greeted the three from Solaria. ¡°Who shall do it this year?¡±, the young man with bright, yellow hair, and bright yellow eyes, said. ¡°We did it last year, it is only appropriate for you to do it this year.¡±, Alexander said. A tall mage from Solaria nodded, she had yellow hair and brown eyes, she smiled and lightly snapped her fingers. In the very next instant, a gigantic shockwave of pure mana burst forth from her slender body. It reached the ocean waves around them, vaporizing the water for a good ten kilometers, and then made a barrier at the very edge, stopping any water from leaking into the now barren strip of land. ¡°Ahh, isn¡¯t it grand?¡±, Elohim said, looking out from the island onto the surrounding land, all the sea life was forcefully removed by the large burst, leaving a flattened land on which the negotiations were meant to be held. ¡°We must remind the other nations where they are in comparison to us, it¡¯s only natural we do this.¡±, Alexander replied, all the people there, besides Erix, nodded. Erix swallowed the lump in his throat, it had been there ever since the people from Solaria got off their plane. ¡°This is only the beginning.¡±, he heard from one of the mages. The leader of the trio meant for the Duchess walked up, stopping right behind Arianna and looking at the three Solarian diplomats. ¡°If you would do the honors.¡±, said the Solarian mage that committed the spectacle just a moment ago. He nodded, stepping up and clapping his hands, a new burst of mana went forth, knocking Erix down in the process, he stood up quickly and looked all about him. A novel crack in space appeared, and five people walked out from it, their stature betrayed the small smile they had on their faces; they were scared and afraid. ¡°Welcome.¡±, Nicholas said curtly to the five people walking out of the crack in space, they looked at the ground, not daring to look into the eyes of either the Solarian or Iabrun diplomats. Erix, who felt that his surprise was becoming increasingly routine, asked in a quiet voice, ¡°Who are they?¡± A mage laughed, ¡°Ah, you¡¯re new here. You should know of the five nations second to Solaria and Iabrun in power, of course. That one over there-¡± he said while pointing to a mature woman, ¡°She is the current Queen of Leokeni, and Archduchess of Archedom.¡± He then pointed to the next, and next, going through the five people standing there. An aging man with small, dainty wings, the President of the largest country set in the sea, The Oceanic Republic. It encompassed many of the world''s oceans, at least, those not claimed by either of the hegemons. Next was an ethereal mist, less of a humanoid, he was a revolving mist that moved about slowly in the air; even then, one could feel the fear it held. The current Prime Minister, head of the Parliament, in the sky, named Caelum, was a relatively small nation of only ten million people. It made up for the lack of manpower with the value of each of its citizens. After that, his finger went towards a being that looked like it was made of pure snow, it revolved around a central flake of snow. ¡°The current leader of Jevaki, she is said to be a Saint of Snow. Whatever that means, I don¡¯t follow their religion.¡±, the mage said and finally looked upon the last person. All Erix could see was a small girl, but the mage¡¯s posture changed slightly, ¡°The current Queen of Lesith.¡±, he said in a more respectful manner. Erix understood immediately that she held a bit of a higher position compared to the others, but even still, she deferentially looked at the ground. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Nicholas, Alexander, and Arianna started to walk towards the edge; and then a set of stairs formed down to the bottom of the seafloor. Ivan, Samuel, and Elohim followed step by step, down to the bottom where a table along with six chairs formed. It was made of a pure white mineral and quickly formed to be the most comfortable to whoever sat upon it, and with the six seated, the other five followed slowly. The mages, along with Erix, stayed upon the small island, looking down on the people on the seafloor. They looked with varying levels of apathy, though none cared, and all but one of the mages left the area they were at. Erix sat down, looking at the people at the bottom, with only Tores, the mage leader of the trio that was to look after the Duchess, sat down next to him. ¡°You sure you want to hear this?¡±, he asked, looking down upon the smaller man next to him. Erix nodded, he wasn¡¯t too sure about his decision now, but why not? The warnings that his senior told him did ring in his mind for but a second, but then disregarded it. Tores nodded, frowning slightly, before picking up a small vial of liquid; while Erix diligently looked on the rulers and diplomats. Nicholas, Alexander, and Arianna sat down at the same time as their Solarian diplomats, while the rest of the five took their places on the floor. It was intentionally derogatory, a fact not missed by Elohim who snorted a bit when he looked at the people sitting on the floor. ¡°Well, well. Let¡¯s start this, shall we? Now as we both know, the main topic of this is the Solarian priest dead on Iabrun soil, but let us not rush this. I wish to talk about the current ongoing civil war in Angilia, and the current intervention policy.¡±, started Elohim. Arianna nodded, ¡°On that, a Solarian mage was there, and the policy that we both signed on stated that no officials on either side were to be within Angilia¡¯s borders.¡±, and looked at Ivan. ¡°Of course, of course. But we can¡¯t forget that an Iabrun diplomat was in the Angilia embassy; which was supposed to be shut down until 1025, or the end of the civil war. So, we are both caught on this.¡±, Elohim replied and continued, ¡°Let¡¯s renew the policy.¡± Nicholas and Alexander nodded readily, ¡°Get me the official document.¡±, Nicholas ordered towards the Queen of Leokeni, while sipping some tea on the table. She didn¡¯t dissent a single iota, instead quickly handing over the document to Nicholas. ¡°Was that really necessary?¡±, Alexander asked, ¡°Well of course.¡±, Nicholas replied. The two knew each other¡¯s powers quite easily, Nicholas could have accrued the document quite easily, but the two ¡ª and everyone else ¡ª knew that asserting their dominance over the other nations was always a good thing. Rolling out the document, there were five points printed upon them, along with an extra clause.
  1. No persons of Iabrun, or Solarian, descent are allowed to be inside the borders of Angilia until the year 1025, or the end of the civil war.
  2. No persons hired by either Iabrun, or Solaria, in the past, present or future are allowed to be inside the borders of Angilia until the year 1025, or the end of the civil war.
  3. No persons hired by anyone of Iabrun, or Solarian, descent may be able to go into the borders of Angilia until the year 1025, or the end of the civil war.
  4. No monetary funding, or funding of any kind, can be given to anyone that has a slight connection to Angilia until the year 1025, or the end of the civil war.
  5. The embassies of either nation must close until the year 1025, or the end of the civil war.
Escalator Clause: If any of the above five points were to be broken, then the parties must both rewrite a new intervention policy. After everyone read out the five points, Arianna said, ¡°It is only proper for us to honor the clause, and rewrite the new policy.¡± Everyone nodded, except the five sitting on the floor, they were still looking at the ground. ¡°We can''t go to war over this, after all, we need a limit on the amount we can send to the civil war.¡±, continued Arianna, ¡°Oh, and we need a limit on the amount of power we can send. None of us want to flatten the entire country, it would serve us no good if the country didn''t exist anymore.¡± Nicholas nodded, ¡°Considering the options, we can either send more people, but weaker ones, or a few stronger ones. I, for one, think we should do the former.¡±, he said and looked at the people sitting at the table. They thought for a moment, ¡°Hehe, sure. Why not?¡±, Elohim and Ivan said, while Samuel sat with no reaction. Alexander shrugged his shoulders, ¡°I have no qualms with it.¡±, and Arianna didn''t say anything. Erix, who with a small spell from Tores, listened to the entire exchange. ¡°That''s it?¡±, he asked, surprised. ¡°That amount of dialogue for a decision that decides the fate of millions? That''s it?¡±, he said, while looking at Tores. Tores simply shrugged, ¡°Yes, you know nothing about it. They talk about things quite fast.¡±, before continuing to drink his drink. Erix sighed and thought of the words his senior said, to not hear what they were going to talk about. Erix thought about it, surely they didn''t really mean it when they talked about flattening the country? Erix, as anyone, knew a bit about magic, but he didn''t know about it nearly as much as a mage. Tores smiled, ¡°You may not want to hear about the next part.¡±, he said and looked down. ¡°Now, for the ongoing slave trade around the world. We all know who does it.¡±, started Nicholas, and then pointed at the Queen of Leokeni. ¡°Get over here.¡±, he ordered, and she obediently walked over to him. ¡°Your country harbors most of the slave trade, and yet, Iabrun isn''t getting its share of the profit as far as I can tell. The treasurer didn''t get the annual ''gift'', from either Leokeni or Archedom. And as far as I know, Solaria isn''t either.¡±, he said while looking at Ivan, who promptly shook his head. Sweat formed on her head, she wanted to say something and started to open her mouth, only to get interrupted. ¡°Zip it.¡±, Alexander said curtly, and she complied immediately, Ivan then said, ¡°You know the punishment countries have endured for not paying up the appropriate reparations.¡± The Queen of Leokeni had her brown hair swaying in the small breeze, with a small amount of resistance in her eyes. Nicholas stood up, his frame towering well over her, ¡°I know you think of us as tyrants, and make no mistake, we are. However, you know very well what we tyrants do to those that do not follow the international rule set we place on them. Only two other sovereign states are exempt, and your country certainly isn''t one of them.¡± She looked at Arianna''s eyes, pleading a bit, only to be met by eyes full of disgust. ¡°Do not look me in the eyes.¡±, she said, revealing her true nature when no one in Iabrun could witness it. ¡°So then, unless you have a great excuse, the punishment your country will endure will make you wish that you gave us the money.¡±, Nicholas finished off. She didn''t say anything, simply shaking a bit in the light breeze. Even the usually cheery Elohim looked to be more serious, and Samuel uttered the first words he had at the meeting. ¡°I am not one for serious punishment, normally, yet your situation is unique. According to our ledgers, your country didn''t pay up eighty years ago, and that was still under your rule. So then, what punishment do you see fit?¡± With a hoarse voice, she started to speak, ¡°I-I''m willing to do anything, just don''t do anything to my country.¡±, only to be met with a deafening silence. ¡°I see.¡±, said Alexander, as he was the first one to break the silence. Nicholas smiled a bit, and looked into the eyes of Elohim, Ivan, Alexander, Arianna, and Samuel; sharing his thoughts with them with simply a small eye movement. The five nodded, and Nicholas smiled, ¡°Good, then. Get on all fours.¡±, he said. She looked shocked, ¡°Wh-¡±, she wanted to say. ¡°Shut. It.¡±, Alexander was quick to silence her, ¡°Only speak when given the permission to.¡± he added. She, with shame on her face, complied, ¡°Now come to me.¡±, Nicholas said with no small amount of amusement and enjoyment as she had to doggedly go to him. This was the most shameful display a ruler could ever go through, and here she was. When she was under him, still on all fours, he extended his legs and put them on her back; he was using her to lounge about. A small tear escaped from her eyes, something Nicholas didn''t miss as he quickly took it with his finger, ¡°Salty, quite tasty.¡±, he commented. With an unusually serious voice, Elohim said, ¡°You will pay 35% more for the next five years due to this egregious offense you have done against both our countries, got it?¡±, though he did end it with fake cheeriness that scared the Queen more. Erix, with a wobble in his legs, stood up and felt extremely queasy. He knew a bit about the slave trade, he knew a bit about the power that Iabrun and Solaria had on the world stage. He knew a tiny amount about the corruption present and blatant abuse of power present, he felt it in the small interactions he had with the six people sitting at the bottom. His perception about the Duchess changed dramatically, ''Is this who I wanted to impress?'', he asked himself. ''Is this what he warned?'', Erix thought back to what his senior said. No wonder he didn''t wish to go here, no wonder he went straight to the whiskey. Erix still had the words they spoke stuck in his mind, tyrants¡­ yes, they were tyrants. ¡°This is what you get, kid.¡±, Tores said, and offered some greenish liquid to Erix. He respectfully refused the offer, simply turning around and started to walk back to the plane. He suddenly felt that he didn''t wish to stick around for the end of it. ¡°Now that the little debacle is settled-¡±, Elohim went back to his usual cheery attitude, ¡°we can move on, no?¡± Everyone nodded, Nicholas smiling especially as he lounged about, reveling in the embarrassment of the Queen under his legs. ¡°Oh, looks like my little plaything left. How sad, he couldn''t take it.¡±, Arianna said while looking at the ledge. Alexander shrugged, ¡°He is but a commoner, he is shocked and scared at our blatant corruption, but he is a liability. Should I kill him?¡± Arianna laughed a bit, ¡°No, not after our little display. He can stay quiet, and if he doesn''t¡­¡±, she didn''t need to elaborate further. Ivan smiled, ¡°We need to talk about the current embargo we hold on the Andalou Republic.¡± Nicholas smiled a bit, ¡°What is there to talk about it? We had it for years now. They should be willing to surrender now.¡± Elohim smiled, ¡°Of course, they were willing to surrender months ago. Now comes the all important question of territory.¡± With the utterance of the phrase, everyone became infinitely more acute and eyed each other. This was the largest question at the time, both imperialist powers looked at one another. Chapter 32 Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 15th day. Arianna started to talk, ¡°We were the ones to commit to the embargo with our navy, first and foremost. Thus, we get the land.¡± Elohim shook his head, ¡°That may be true, but the Republic''s primary trade source was through its land neighbor¡¯s, of which we did the most. So, 70/30?¡± Nicholas laughed, moving his right leg atop his left one, with the shame seeping into the Queen of Leokeni. ¡°I respectfully disagree, your mages were barely present there. It was us that carried out the embargo.¡± Ivan smiled, Samuel didn''t change his neutral expression but did say, ¡°That was for all of a few months. Nowhere near the entirety of the embargo, 70/30.¡± Alexander looked around, and pointed at the Queen of Lesith, ¡°What''s your opinion on this?¡± It was purposefully asked to put her on the spot, if she gave one inch to either of the hyper powers, then the other would be offended. A slight smile crept on his face as he stared down at her, the other five didn''t say anything; Nicholas did frown a bit, but kept quiet. ¡°I am not of the rank to discuss these matters with you.¡±, she said gracefully, trying her best to not offend either of the groups. ¡°No, no. I insist on it.¡±, Alexander continued and looked at her, if she were to deny it once again; the Iabrun side would feel annoyed. Quickly thinking of her situation, she decided to side slightly towards Iabrun. It was only one country away from them, and it could dictate the trade they could conduct. Solaria is still a heavy threat, but if she sided with Iabrun a bit, then they should protect her. ¡°I, and this is just my personal opinion and not at all my country''s belief, think that the Empire should be the one to gain a slight majority.¡± Elohim snorted, ¡°Useless, know your place.¡± She quieted down and no one bothered to talk to her after that, Arianna continued off, ¡°How about we control all the coastal provinces, and you control the inland ones?¡± The three looked among themselves, ¡°It is¡­ acceptable, but I will have to talk to you in-depth about these matters later. We can arrange for that, no?¡± Elohim answered. When he finished answering, a gigantic shadow descended upon the place. Everyone looked up to see the patriarch of the previous pod of Astroangilae looking down upon the meeting; intelligence was brimming full in its eyes. ¡°An unexpected guest.¡±, Ivan quickly laughed when he noticed all the mages teleported themselves quickly to the sides of their people. The gigantic whale clicked, the meaning of it being readily clear to the people, ¡°I merely wish to observe.¡±, he communicated. Alexander and Elohim were the first to talk, ¡°Why not?¡±, and ¡°Sure, it''ll bring some liveliness.¡± respectively. ¡°They really are beautiful creatures, aren''t they?¡±, Arianna muttered to no one in particular. ¡°That they are.¡±, Alexander had to agree as he stared at the gigantic creature blocking out the sunlight. Its underbelly was host to a myriad of lights, each flashing bright under the whale and illuminated the ocean floor; giving a stark contrast from the sunlight in the distance and the darkness under the Astroangilae. Its eyes stared at the scene with wisdom accumulated from years of experience; its eyes portrayed the very ancient feeling the creature held to it. Its very manner was refined, as it slowly moved in the atmosphere ¡ª communicating with clicks. ¡°Our race holds no stake in either Iabrun or Solaria. We do not wish to have any, either. All we wish is to be left alone, that is all.¡±, the gigantic creature that dwarfed the sky communicated in a refined manner. It was very clearly a pacifist, yet he carried with himself a sense of confidence and aura. ¡°What was that quote, go for peace but carry yourself as if you were ready for war?¡±, it asked, and without waiting for an answer, continued on. ¡°Yes, that was it. Iabrun, and certainly Solaria, partake in that; and so do we, so I am going for peace.¡± It communicated on equal footing with the delegates of the two hyper powers, completely signifying the sheer breadth of power that the whale held. ¡°As are we, Iabrun does not wish to go to war.¡±, Arianna said with certainty, Elohim agreed readily, ¡°Of course, neither do we.¡± The unspoken agreement between the two was left unsaid, the mages, the rulers, and the patriarch all felt it; ¡®War is not off the table.¡¯ With that, the Astroangilae quieted down and started to once again float around the area, leaving the delegates to talk about the trade policy between the two. Erix, of course, did not miss the gigantic creature in the sky from the plane, he looked back to his friend ¡ª only to hear him mumble something about his wife. ¡°You¡¯re useless, you know that?¡±, Erix muttered out loud, not expecting a response, ¡°Now listen here you little runt, don¡¯t you talk to me like that.¡±, Liam replied with slurred speech. ¡°Come back here, I¡¯ll beat your ass.¡±, he said while standing up slowly, Erix laughed a bit, ¡°Sure, old man, come out here.¡± Outside, Erix sat down on the cool grass, feeling the wind slightly breeze by, as Liam sat down next to him. ¡°Woah¡­¡±, Liam said when he saw the gigantic creature floating in the sky. ¡°It¡¯s so beautiful¡­¡±, Liam said with a slight twinkle in his eye. ¡°Didn¡¯t you already see them yesterday?¡±, Erix asked, and so did he, but even so, the two couldn¡¯t help but catch their breath when in the presence of the patriarch. Liam, now laying down on the grass, looked up and wondered aloud, ¡°What would it feel to be on one?¡± Erix sighed, ¡°We wouldn¡¯t know.¡±, the sad truth of the world hit him harder now than ever before; they were small people caught between giants and couldn¡¯t do anything. ¡°What¡¯s with the sad tone?¡±, asked Liam, sobering up a bit, Erix shook his head and replied, ¡°No, nothing. I just wish I hadn¡¯t had gone to listen.¡± Liam sighed, sitting up once more, ¡°Yeah, I feel you kid. I tried to be something great once, too, before I got this job. Really thought I could make a difference in the world, you know? To try to change the world for the better, that¡¯s what my father told me, and it stuck with me, ever since the year 999. On that New Year''s Day, he instilled that in me, died a few days later too.¡± Erix laughed, ¡°What¡¯s with the life story, Liam?¡±, but didn¡¯t say anything more, seemingly unopposed. ¡°Well, that was before I got this job in the year 1009, was it? Yeah, the Duchess then was a child, only three years old at the time. Then I flew her to the first big meeting of her life when she was fifteen, and that is when I really figured out what she was like. I¡¯m sure you did as well, now, but back then, she talked about killing a family over them insulting her older brother. The way she said it was so casual too as if it was nothing new or different for her, I still remember the words she said. ¡®The family gets what they deserve.¡¯, with no remorse or guilt. It was during that ball two years ago, when all the large nobles met, she discussed it with Alexander; he didn¡¯t say anything, but I could tell he silently agreed.¡± Liam stood up, leaving Erix for a minute, and got more whiskey with two glasses this time, ¡°Thank you.¡±, Erix said with none of his usual upbeat self. Taking a sip, Liam continued on, ¡°Then, a few days later, she was talking about her assistant, Laizi I think was the name. Something about transforming an entire country from a desert into a jungle for what she called a little project. I didn¡¯t believe it then, but seeing that whale talking to her as an equal, I don¡¯t doubt its truth. Something about her casualness with discussing such matters shook me, and that started my deep plunge into magic. With every search, I saw the depth of it, and who knows what else? Teleportation, sure, I first thought that was the ceiling. I¡¯ve seen some so-called mages grow plants out of thin air, maybe with a few fruits or so, and naively thought that was the limit of it.¡± Erix nodded along, he didn¡¯t dive too much into magic and didn¡¯t know anything about it. Magic, besides its more mundane uses and small tricks, wasn¡¯t something he really thought of; neither did any commoner, they had pressing issues like their next paycheck and didn¡¯t care about magic. ¡°Well, how wrong I was¡­¡±, Liam continued once again, ¡°I saw that one,¡± he said while pointing at Tores, ¡°split the entire lake near my hometown with a flick of his finger, a gigantic tree split it. It¡¯s still there, thriving, with a small town of elves making their way into it. That was back in the 1016 refugee crisis, when the country of Angilia started its civil war. That¡­ that was when I knew I couldn¡¯t do anything.¡± Erix coughed after choking on his drink, ¡°Unbelievable¡­¡±, he said with a sigh, ¡°Yeah, I know¡­¡±, Liam said in response. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Erix looked around and then back down to the glass of whiskey in his hand, ¡°They were talking about the slave trade¡­¡± Liam nodded, ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯s nothing good.¡± Erix shook his head in affirmation, ¡°No, no it wasn¡¯t. They talked about their payments, and how they control them through Leokeni. I have no idea after that, I left, it hit a bit too close to home.¡± Liam sighed, ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. I wouldn¡¯t have stuck around if I was you. Knowing your father¡­¡±, Liam stopped after that statement; leaving Erix to his silence. ¡°I saw them look at the creature in awe, they¡¯re human, but there is also something else about them; something not right, they have far too much apathy.¡±, Erix said. Liam nodded in agreement, ¡°Maybe their upbringing as nobles?¡± ¡°Whatever it is, there is something off about them.¡±, Erix said, before once again sighing. ¡°We can¡¯t tell anyone, though, or we¡¯re dead.¡±, Liam said, ¡°Do we just keep it until our graves?¡± Liam walked around and then looked down at the pit, where all six were staring back at the two, ¡°Judging by their looks, yes.¡± The patriarch cast its own eyes upon them, causing the two to catch their breath and stop all their movement; the sheer magnitude and size of the creature made them pause, unlike any humanoid. It felt like the entire world looked at the two, even the sun seemed to shine especially bright on the two for a few seconds. At this moment, Liam finally felt¡­ extremely important, it fulfilled all his dreams at once; he always wished to be an influential figure and change the world, and yet, those few fleeting seconds lasted only that. The patriarch averted its gaze once again, the people on the ground went back to talking, as if the former actions they committed didn¡¯t matter. Even the sun with what he felt like even intenser rays quieted down and a shadow from a tree near him went over his face. For a moment, he had everything, and now, Liam felt as if he held nothing. Even if that dream was unrealistic, even if without magic or power there was no way to change this world, he felt like he could change the entire world with nary a flick of his fingers, similar to how Tores did to his lake. Then, it was all whisked away, and Liam sat down shaking ¡ª a tear fell from his left eye onto his hands, which were shaking immensely. He dropped the glass full of whiskey on the floor in the process of sitting down, repeatedly muttering, ¡°No. No¡­, No.¡± Erix looked down at him, even without knowing the details, he could sense that Liam was in immense pain. Erix sat down next to Liam, patting him on the back, ¡°It¡¯s okay, dude, it¡¯s okay.¡± The world wasn¡¯t kind, and like any other event, it moved on almost immediately, leaving the two on the ground, one to weep and the other to console. Arianna, who just finished talking about the wine quota, said, ¡°We would like to offer you a formal alliance, an economic one, and compensation for the dead priest.¡± It was time for the main part, they had exhausted all but the most tedious of prospects related to one another. ¡°Oh? What compensation?¡±, Elohim said, secretly surprised by the cordial response to this. He, and neither did the other delegates, expect this, and the patriarch certainly didn¡¯t expect this, the four sitting on the ground also stewed in their surprise. Iabrun was never a peaceful nation, with its warmongering and annexations of rival countries and the largest standing military in the world. Iabrun dwarfed almost every other nation with its military prowess, power, and especially its willingness to use it. Of course, it wasn¡¯t as if Arianna did this to be nice, no, she needed Solaria¡¯s willingness to peacefully annex Tils and Gawain. Those two held no strategic importance to them, as far as she knew, but if it meant stopping Iabrun from expanding, they would do it. Samuel ran his finger around the scales of L0S-19 a bit, it didn¡¯t seem like he would use it. ¡°We know of your little Naga problem, and would like to lease some mages to help in your endeavor to put down the rebellion.¡±, she said. The three on the side of Iabrun were in perfect sync, ¡°You think we can¡¯t?¡±, Ivan asked and Alexander speedily replied, ¡°No, you can put it down quite easily. This is a gesture of goodwill on our side.¡± Nicholas then added, ¡°We would like to also cede the country of Yawh, a puppet of ours, to your side. In exchange for a formal alliance.¡± Elohim, even if he was surprised by their unexpected friendliness, didn¡¯t think that there was an entire country up for grabs. Even if it was relatively small, it still held many resources they could strip the land bare of. ¡°In exchange for?¡±, he asked, and Arianna replied, ¡°Iabrun would like to peacefully annex both Gawain and Tils, with no intervention on your side.¡± Elohim chuckled, ¡°You¡¯re being quite generous, but we wish for more, if you want a non-aggression pact with us over two countries.¡± Arianna sighed, ¡°I see, then we can give you the corpse of one Astroangilae.¡± With that remark, the patriarch narrowed its eyes immensely, staring down at the Iabrun delegates with a mild disdain. It clicked in the sky, ¡°When, exactly, did you come across the corpse of one of my species.¡± Alexander said, ¡°It was during that¡­ time, the last time your species went to war, we accrued it then.¡±, with nary a change in his voice, the imposing figure of the patriarch did nothing to dissuade him. ¡°I¡­ see, it is distasteful for you to use one of my kind as a bargaining tool, but¡­¡±, the patriarch said and then ended; the latter part of his sentence didn¡¯t need to be said. Even if people here didn¡¯t personally experience the horrors of The Last War like the patriarch, they certainly heard stories. The patriarch then clicked one final time, signifying his departure, he slowly rose up once again into the atmosphere and in another minute, he was a dark spot in the sky. ¡°What a shame, he was exceptionally beautiful.¡±, Arianna sighed and looked back at the Solarian delegates. They talked among themselves for a second before standing up, this led the Iabrun diplomats to do the same; Nicholas stood up and kicked the Queen forcefully, she quickly went back to her position. The six people started to slowly walk towards one another, any hint of fear was extinguished, Elohim himself looked as serious as Samuel. ¡°We accept your offer.¡±, said all three at the same time, reaching out their right hands. Nicholas, Arianna, and Alexander all smiled, ¡°We accept yours.¡±, before also sticking out their hands. A handshake to tie the deal was started, Nicholas to Samuel, Alexander to Ivan, and Arianna to Elohim. With that little shake of hands, the alliance was officially formed; it would change the very foundation of the world when it would be announced. ¡°It was a pleasure discussing with you.¡±, Arianna was the first to talk after that handshake, which was sure to go down in the history books as one of the most defining moments of the 11th century. ¡°Likewise.¡±, Elohim replied, and then started to walk off. Tores opened a crack in space, not so subtly giving a glare to the five on the ground to get moving, their faces were a mixture of surprise and dread. No one could have expected these nations to forge an alliance now, some hoped that the two would go to war in order to weaken the power they had. Tores then closed the crack after they departed, the same Solarian mage that split the ocean now stood beside Ivan. ¡°It is time for us to leave, as well, good day.¡±, Samuel said and teleported off himself, Arianna didn¡¯t say anything, but looked at Tores. He complied and another crack appeared, she, Alexander, and Nicholas walked through the space, appearing next to the plane that the Duchess flew on. Elohim and Ivan gracefully walked up to the space, ¡°Fix this.¡±, Elohim muttered when they reached the cool grass. She complied instantaneously, lowering the barrier holding the other ocean in place, and letting it all rush back into the area; despite the violent torrent of water spouting out, not a single drop reached her, or the others. After another second, the scar on the ocean looked as if it had never been, it was a serene and peaceful scene. Arianna, along with Tores and the rest of the mages assigned to her, walked inside her plane. Alexander and Nicholas shrugged, ¡°You guys can go.¡±, they said a certain few mages opened cracks in space for the others to go through. Inside the plane, the three sat around a table in a large suite. ¡°Take-off is in three minutes, please put on your seatbelts.¡±, they heard Liam¡¯s voice over the speaker. Arianna sighed, ¡°Poor guy, he should be going back to his family soon enough.¡± Nicholas laughed, ¡°Don¡¯t act like that around us, we all know that isn¡¯t what you¡¯re really like.¡± Arianna laughed too, ¡°It¡¯s fun to act, and helps me act better in front of everyone else.¡± Alexander sighed, ¡°You truly are a little monster.¡±, to which she replied, ¡°A cute little monster that everyone adores.¡± Nicholas said, ¡°That was fun.¡±, he didn¡¯t need to say what, everyone already knew. ¡°Sadistic little bastard.¡±, Alexander said while chuckling, ¡°I like what I like.¡±, Nicholas replied ¡ª and then, the plane took off. Elohim was now by himself on the island, with no one around ¡ª he had already sent everyone else away ¡ª and now he could stew in the gains. It wasn¡¯t a loss, but it wasn¡¯t too great a win for Solaria either. Gawain and Tils¡­, he knew it must¡¯ve been a long-standing project since Constantine would never allow it. He thought back to the events, and despite the surprise appearance of the patriarch, or the alliance, that wasn¡¯t the most interesting thing there. ¡°Dragon blood¡­¡±, he sensed it in the young Duchess and was curious as to where it came from. No normal person should ever even know what a Dragon was, he stomped it out thousands of years ago. With that thought, he turned into a beam of sunlight and vanished from the scene, leaving the island that was untouched beyond the broken glass of whiskey. Chapter 33 Interlude: Solaria Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 16th day Looking at the big, old grandfather clock that was situated on the wall, it was one in the morning, barely the sixteenth day of the month. Finally, my first big assignment ever since I became an illuminator of the Church, it felt like a dream. My senior, who for some reason wanted to wear some archaic piece of armor with a Sun in the center, looked at me. ¡°What are you so excited about?¡±, he asked me, there were many things I was excited about. ¡°How could you not be, my first big assignment, ahhh, it feels amazing to be entrusted to this.¡± Aelia looked at me, sighing under his helmet, and said, ¡°Do you even know what assignment we have to do?¡± I nodded my head vigorously, we were given it an hour ago, and I had memorized it. ¡°We have to go to a small town on the outskirts of Solaria, it''s situated in the northwestern cornfields.¡± Aelia didn¡¯t need to hear anything else, he nodded and stood up, leaving the room; I followed after him promptly, we walked through the underground tunnels of the Church here. It was in the medium-sized city of Akino, and the Church here was relatively large, with an extensive network of underground tunnels. Walking through the corridor lit up by markings of the Sun on the walls, we reached a small room off to the side. Inside it was the Bishop that ran the Cathedral that governed this Church, Aelia didn¡¯t even bother to knock and instead walked inside. I immediately started to kneel, the Bishop smiled and shook her head. ¡°Why are you putting the newbie on this task?¡±, Aelia asked her in a voice, there was a small amount of malice hidden in it. I didn¡¯t know why, and his actions did annoy me sometimes, he had almost no regard for the order of the Church and blatantly disrespected his superior ¡ª he never did get in trouble for it, though. The Bishop, still smiling, said, ¡°Why not? It¡¯s been six months since he joined us, we should push him for the harder tasks.¡± Aelia sighed and looked at me for a second, and then back at the Bishop, ¡°Don¡¯t you think that we are pushing him into the deep end far too early? His hardest task before this was to exterminate some rodents in the sewers.¡± She sighed and sat down on her chair, ¡°We did the same to you.¡±, Aelia said in response, ¡°By the Sun, that experience was different, I had more things under my belt than exterminating rodents.¡± She smiled, ¡°You will be there to guide him, now, I want no more questions.¡± She shut down the conversation, and Aelia simply sighed in response, he walked out the door. I bowed my head, and also left the room, he looked at me and said, ¡°What do you think we are going to do the revolutionary there?¡± I shrugged, ¡°Capture him, interrogate him, maybe. I still don¡¯t understand how anyone could even think to rebel against us.¡± He didn¡¯t say anything as we started to walk up the stairs and into the actual Church. It¡¯s still beyond my reasoning to fathom why anyone would even rebel. There was food, water, and every resource was plentiful. The Church was great and gave us a great sense of unity, along with providing free food and water to the very poor and needy. Speaking of, there wasn¡¯t even a lot of poor or needy, as far as I could see anyway. We made our way to Church and sat down, listening intently to the Priest talking at the lectern. He was talking about the origin of the Sun, ¡°At the beginning of time, there was nothing, and then there was everything. Many Gods, many people, many worlds, our Sun, The Eternal Sun, was the strongest. He killed others, he slaughtered whole worlds, he unified many countries into one. Our country, built on that, can stand proud now, with no threats, no famines, no droughts. He watches over us every day, and one must always be thankful for that.¡± He then started to ramble on about the Sun and his many good deeds to the people of Solaria, but after a few minutes, Aelia stood up and said, ¡°It¡¯s time, we have to get moving.¡± It was now one-thirty in the morning, and as we walked outside into the small city, we were greeted by a bustling nightlife and the moon in the sky. We looked out of place compared to others at night with my robes and his armor, and as we walked down the road, people made way and thanked us. We smiled at them, or at least, I did, Aelia¡¯s face was hidden under his helmet; a girl ran past us quickly, weird, but I didn¡¯t think too much of it. As we were going to the outskirts of the city, where he had parked his car, Aelia stopped and walked into a bar. I didn¡¯t much fancy bars or alcohol, but I walked in with him, and to my immediate regret, the place stank of booze. Aelia didn¡¯t seem bothered and instead walked quickly to the bartender, ¡°Give me your strongest drink.¡± The bartender quickly whipped up a 7 layered drink, with each layer alternating between different shades of blue. He picked it up, dropping a Solarian dollar on the table at the same time. He chugged the drink quickly, downing it in under a second, and then started to walk out, I heard him mutter ¡°Damn.¡±, as we both left the establishment. ¡°What was that all about?¡±, I asked him, we worked together for six months now, and I had never seen him do such a thing. Even if I didn¡¯t know alcohol, that drink was famous and had enough to completely knock out a grown man in a sip. He shook his head, not wanting to answer my question, and went to his car. ¡°I¡¯m driving, alright? You can¡¯t drive drunk.¡± He didn¡¯t seem drunk, but I didn¡¯t want to take any chances, and he agreed. He sat in the passenger seat as I started up the car, ¡°Don¡¯t do something like that without telling me.¡±, I said. Aelia shrugged, ¡°Fine.¡±, he curtly said and then proceeded to look out the window. With a sigh, I started to drive out of the city and into the countryside, it wasn¡¯t a long drive in the slightest, just thirty minutes away. We saw some cornfields in the distance after ten minutes, and my stomach rumbled a bit, embarrassed, I asked him, ¡°Do you have anything to eat.¡± He shook his head, by the Sun I was starving, how did I not notice? After another five minutes of driving, there were fields and fields of corn surrounding us. They looked mouthwatering this time of the year and didn¡¯t help me with my hunger. We reached the town, and to my pleasant surprise, there was a restaurant still open at two in the morning. It was a pasta place, pasta was more of a thing in Iabrun than here, but oh well, food is food. Aelia didn¡¯t bother to follow me, opting to go to the hotel and rent two rooms for us, but I didn¡¯t see why we had to do that. Inside, a demon greeted me and showed me to my table, I thanked her and sat down. Next, the waiter came up to me and asked what I wanted, ¡°Just water and a large carbonara, that¡¯s it.¡±, he thanked me and went on his way. Inside, I looked around the area and noticed a few families were there, along with two people that seemed to be on a date. Ah, love, I never did get too far into it, the Church took up too much of my time, and the magical studies. A certain threshold was needed to be reached to even become a candidate as an illuminator. As I was waiting for my dishes, a young Naga child ¡ª which was weird, why was he up so late ¡ª came up to me and asked, ¡°Mister, what¡¯s with the robes?¡± I smiled at the young child, his scales weren¡¯t fully developed yet and thus, had a milky-white color. ¡°Me? I just work for the Church, that¡¯s all.¡± He nodded and ran off to his family, where there was what I saw to be his older sister, mother, and father. My dish came a minute later, it looked extremely appetizing, and I ate it quickly. Paying the fee of a single Solarian dollar and six austral, I walked out of the establishment and made my way to the hotel. Outside it stood Aelia, he looked at me and said, ¡°Get some sleep, I¡¯ll go scout for the revolutionaries.¡± What kind of person did he think I was? I vehemently shook my head, ¡°I¡¯m not tired, and I¡¯ll search for the revolutionaries with you.¡± He didn¡¯t say anything as he walked up to me, and then put his arm on my shoulder, ¡°Are you sure?¡± I nodded at him, he sighed and stood up, ¡°Ok then, follow me.¡± I did exactly that as we walked towards a small house, ¡°What are we going to do?¡± He said, ¡°Well, find some incriminating evidence first. We need to be sure before we do anything too bad.¡± With that, we walked towards the house, and under the cover of darkness, he quietly picked open the door. ¡°There¡¯s no one in here, try to find incriminating evidence.¡±, he told me. As he searched downstairs, I walked upstairs slowly, creeping around the corridor. It was hard to see, but my eyes quickly adjusted, and using the minuscule amount of moonlight present there, I reached what looked to be the master bedroom. I walked inside slowly, making sure not to change a single thing in case they were to notice anything. Inside, there was the large bed, along with a few drawers and a mirror atop a large dark brown dresser. I went to the drawers first, checking if they had anything incriminating, and there looked to be nothing in them. A few books, which I made sure housed nothing, and some articles of clothing. Under the bed, there was a stack of money, but that wasn¡¯t too weird, likely an emergency fund for them. I put everything back in its place and made sure that they didn¡¯t look disturbed, on the dresser was a photo of the Naga family I saw earlier. Aelia silently crept behind me, and said, ¡°I found something.¡± I nearly screamed, but I stopped at the last second. ¡°By the Sun, you scared me to bits. Could you not do that?¡±, he didn¡¯t show any reaction to what I said. ¡°Praise the Sun, we got something amazing.¡± He showed me a small booklet, and inside of it were the plans they had for an insurrection. ¡°Look at this, names and all of everyone we know, this is great.¡± There was a plan for them to get the Church under control and go from there, branching out in a sweeping revolution. Aelia suddenly perked up, ¡°They¡¯re coming.¡±, he said and silently crept outback, I followed his lead and did so; my movements were extremely sloppy compared to his. He deposited the booklet back where we found it and left the building exactly the way it was. Outside, we could both see the family of four enter their home, they were smiling and acting happy. ¡°We wait for an hour, and after that, we make sure that they¡¯re asleep. Then we go inside.¡± Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. I nodded and went back to the car, opting to sit inside until the time. Aelia went with me and did the same, he once again asked me, ¡°Are you sure?¡± I nodded, feeling a bit annoyed by his constant questions asking for my affirmation. I already knew what to do, I wasn¡¯t a small child anymore, it felt insulting. ¡°Well, if that is really what you want. Then you can do the honors of disposing of the Naga.¡±, he said, and after that fell silent. He took off his armor step by step, and then removed his helmet, showing me his face. I had seen it before, so it wasn¡¯t all that surprising, his handsome face glowed in the moonlight. This town probably had a few thousand people in it, at the most, and no one was out at this time. His robes were immaculate, much more than mine, they had nary a blemish or a mark on them. We waited for an hour, and as the time came, the two of us got out of the car. It was now three-twenty in the morning, the Sun still wasn¡¯t close to coming up, and as we slowly crept to the house, I asked, ¡°What do we do if the others wake up?¡± Aelia opted not to answer, and instead gave me a gesture to turn silent. He quickly picked the door open again, and as we slinked upstairs to kill the revolutionary, silence permeated the area. It was extremely silent, with no noise being heard, from the house or outside. It felt like we were in our world now, and the outside couldn¡¯t interfere with what we planned. Aelia slowly picked open the door to the master bedroom and then opened it the best he could to try and not make a sound. Inside, there laid the Naga husband and wife, sound asleep in their bed. ¡°Remember, only the Naga male, the others should have nothing to do with it.¡±, I reminded Aelia. He nodded and instead of aiming to capture the Naga, he pulled out an ornate knife and handed it over to me. ¡°Kill him.¡±, he said coldly, my entire body froze over. ¡°Ki-Kill?¡±, I asked, he nodded again, ¡°Kill him.¡± He pushed me slowly to the side of the bed that the Naga was on, and the ornate knife was in my hand, its edge gleaming in the moonlight. I felt cold, chills rushed through my spine as I looked down at the knife, and with a gulp, slowly lifted it up. ¡°Good. Kill him.¡±, Aelia said once again as reassurance, my hands shook wildly in the air. I was supposed to kill them? I just saw their faces smiling happily, the memory of the Naga child rushed back. I couldn¡¯t kill him, the father of that child, what would happen in the morning if that child were to see his dead father. ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t¡±, I told him. Is this what it meant to be an illuminator for the Church? ¡°Do it, you know you must. He is a revolutionary, do your duty.¡±, Aelia pressured me again and grabbed my wrist, forcefully stopping my shaking hand. The Naga¡¯s older sister¡­, she looked to be eighteen now. She would be starting college soon, what about her friends? What would I ruin if I plunged this knife into him? His wife would be devastated, his son would lose his father, his daughter would have her life ruined. What about all the people that they¡¯re friends with? What about this Naga¡¯s father, or mother? I can¡¯t imagine the heartbreak they would feel if they find out their son died. Would his in-laws mourn him? I looked even closer at the Naga woman, she was¡­ pregnant? What would happen to that new child? Would she suffer a miscarriage due to this? If I kill this man, what would happen? Aelia looked at me even deeper now, my heart was lodged in my throat and I couldn¡¯t say anything. ¡°Do. It.¡±, he repeated to me, his voice morphed into something unrecognizable. I could feel his heartbeat, my heartbeat, the Naga¡¯s heartbeat, the knife seemed to call to me, to plunge it in the Naga. The blood in me ran cold, as cold as the metal of the knife, and my hands couldn¡¯t stop shaking. Even after he gripped my arms and wrists, I couldn¡¯t stop the shaking I had. The clouds above moved and their light fell from a window onto the Naga woman, she was pretty, he was a lucky guy. I can¡¯t kill him, I can¡¯t¡­ I looked up at Aelia, and said, ¡°I really can¡¯t kill them.¡± He didn¡¯t say anything, but simply brought his face closer to mine, ¡°You must do it.¡± The whole situation stressed me out even more, the knife craved blood, but I didn¡¯t. This man, I couldn¡¯t kill him like this, not when he was in bed and dreaming peacefully. While I started to talk to Aelia, ¡°I really, really can¡¯t.¡±, the shaking of my hands had weakened my grip over it. The knife fell, and it clattered on the floor loudly, Aelia looked at me, the knife, and then to the two in the bed that were slowly waking up. The two didn¡¯t fully wake up before Aelia, in a blur of light, picked up the knife and plunged it into the heart of the Naga husband. His wife screamed for but a moment and Aelia did the same to her, the knife was then removed from her chest. A spurt of blood came from the two of them, soaking my face and shirt with their blood. Some of it went into my mouth and the metallic flavor of their blood made me nauseous, Aelia didn¡¯t say a word and instead kept his senses sharp. The door slowly opened, and outside of it were the two Naga siblings. The older sister held her younger brother in her arms, there wasn¡¯t a great amount of light in the room; the two siblings only saw us standing over the motionless bodies of their parents. I wanted to say something, but before I could do anything, Aelia quickly moved and plunged the knife through the chest of the younger brother and into the older sister. Her eyes looked shocked for a second and then glazed over as her body crumpled onto the ground. ¡°Let¡¯s go, the other illuminators will handle the clean-up. You need to go and wash off.¡± I didn¡¯t say anything, I was still standing in the exact same spot with surprised eyes. Was it really necessary to kill those two¡­? Aelia took me by my hand and then led me outside the window, he carried me as he jumped out from it and then jumped into our hotel room. I didn¡¯t do anything to resist, the shock of the situation was still permeating into my bones. Those four, a happy family I saw eating just a few hours ago, died¡­ They were dead? Yes, they were dead by our hands. The pregnant wife, her husband, and her two children all died unceremoniously. The ornate knife in Aelia¡¯s hands had its bloodlust sated and was sheathed by him. ¡°Go clean up.¡±, he told me, and like a robot, I followed his orders. I quickly took a shower, cleaning off the blood on me, and as I was walking out, the metallic taste still lingered on my tongue. Outside, he told me to give him all my clothes, and so I did just that. In a pile at the center were the bloody clothes we had, and he promptly lit a fire to burn them in the room. The fire was controlled by him, it was dim and unless one strained their eyes, there was no way for anyone to think a blazing fire was in the room. The fire burned and burned, destroying the evidence of the clothes we wore. He handed me a new set of clothes and I quickly put them on, at the same time, he put on his armor as well. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±, he said and jumped out the window, as did I. He walked into the car, I wasn¡¯t in the mood to talk at the moment, so I just hopped into the passenger seat and stayed silent. Aelia also wasn¡¯t in the mood to talk, and while he was on the road, tapped the Sun tattoo he had on his wrist, ¡°Clean up target #3452C, there were three extra casualties.¡± That was the only thing we said the entire trip back to Akino, and when we reached there, we still didn¡¯t talk. It was now five in the morning, we took our time to get some gas earlier, and one could see the Sun start rising on the horizon. He parked the car on the outskirts, as he always has, and then we walked to the Church. There were still numerous people out and about at this time of day, whether they were still awake from the nightly activities or just waking up. I didn¡¯t care for them, though, and so I ignored the smiles we got on our way to the Church. When we got there and started to walk downstairs, I stopped and said, ¡°Was it really necessary to kill those children?¡± Aelia sighed and said, ¡°Yes, yes it was.¡±, with a heavy heart. I knew that it was the answer he was going to say, and it didn¡¯t help me in the slightest. Those children, the memory of the young Naga coming up to me in the restaurant kept coming back to me. They were a young child, aged seven or so, and their life was then extinguished right in front of me by the man right in front of me. The older Naga child also kept coming back to me, I heard her say something about getting accepted into SHU, the Solarian Helios University. It was one of the most prestigious in the entire world, and she got into it, and then her life was extinguished in front of me by the man in front of me. The mother, who was smiling with warmth to her children, and had a third on the way, kept coming back to me. Her beautiful face in the moonlight was what I remembered, along with the image of her with shocked eyes and blood spurting out from the cavity left in her stomach; the cavity that was made in front of me by the man in front of me. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡±, he said to me and I looked up, we were indeed right next to the room of the Bishop. We walked inside, and I didn¡¯t try to kneel this time, she noticed that and asked me, ¡°What¡¯s wrong, young Aiken?¡± I shook my head, ¡°It¡¯s nothing, Your Holiness.¡± Aelia sighed and said, ¡°The kid is a bit shocked because of what we did today, I told you that we pushed him into the deep end too quickly.¡± She shook her head, ¡°It¡¯s fine, I have your next assignment for you. Meet Archbishop Joan in a few minutes, she has come to visit and check on us. Be respectful, as she will meet you as the first illuminators, and you will get her next assignment from her.¡± Aelia nodded and didn¡¯t say anything, the word Archbishop stirred inside me a bit. We walked out and Aelia, who seemingly always knew the way, started walking upstairs once again. I followed him up the stairs and into the main area of the Church, which had no one there. We were there for a minute, and suddenly, Aelia got on one knee; him getting on one knee surprised me deeply, and I also followed his example. In a few seconds, Archbishop Joan with her ears, three tails, and sunset robes walked in gracefully. She was the most beautiful person I had ever met, and she was here right in front of me, a person that knows Her Holiness the Pope personally. I was surprised, and frankly, blown away by the way she walked and acted. ¡°You may rise.¡±, she said, and her voice was divine, it felt heavenly to hear, I wanted even more of it now. ¡°Your next task is to assassinate Parliament member Myanar.¡±, she said, and it instantly ruined my good mood. She seemed to notice the changes I had and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong, child?¡± Normally, I would say it was nothing, but something about her appearance and voice forced me to say. ¡°I¡­ failed my first mission, I couldn¡¯t kill someone.¡± She smiled and seemed to understand me immediately, with a gesture she motioned for me to come to her. I nodded and stood up from my position, slowly making my way to her, she was taller than me by a good few centimeters. ¡°You failed, right? I don¡¯t think you failed, you¡¯re human, after all.¡± She then walked up to me and gave me a hug, I sucked in my breath at the unexpected action, ¡°You just started, don¡¯t worry. You¡¯ll be fine with enough practice, and if you do this mission well, I¡¯ll give you a reward myself.¡± Her intoxicating voice filled my ears, and suddenly, I didn¡¯t feel like killing someone was that bad. Chapter 34 Interlude: Solaria Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 16th day An hour after the meeting with the Archbishop, Aelia came up to me and handed me a stack of papers, ¡°Myanar¡¯s friend, Dr. Avel, is situated in the local university on the second floor. Ask around a bit and find him, make sure to ask around for Myanar. Myanar hasn¡¯t been seen in the city ever since three days ago.¡± I nodded, he could likely find the parliament member right now if he wanted to, but this was surely a test for me. ¡°Take this, you will be alone for this one, but just in case, you can discreetly signal for me.¡± I looked at him, he still wore that old armor and didn¡¯t look any different, ¡°What are you doing, then?¡± He looked around and said, ¡°Nothing, don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Knowing him, he wouldn¡¯t budge no matter what I said, so I shrugged and thanked him. In my hand was a small bead, no larger than a centimeter, I stuffed it into my pocket and walked out of the room. The underground area of the Church provided me with a sense of warmth, I didn¡¯t really wish to kill him, actually, why do I even have to assassinate him? I never did get a reason¡­, ah whatever, I¡¯ll just do as I¡¯m told. The torches on either side of the expansive walkway flickered with a warm yellow and orange light, lending it a nice atmosphere. A yellow ember drifted and cooled as it slowly approached the ground, extinguishing upon impact and turning into a dull gray color. This happened repeatedly, and by the time I reached the stairs leading up to the main part of the Church, I saw at least eight of these occurrences. On the first floor, the priest that was there from early in the morning was still there, talking in a solemn voice on the origins of Solaria to the people there. A few noticed me, but then quickly averted their eyes back to the priest, who didn¡¯t react to me. I left the Church and walked out into the bustling street, races of every different shape, color, and size were walking or running around the streets. Some were slowly walking around, one was with his sister, or so I thought. A young Naga child ran past the street¡­, he looked oddly familiar to the one I saw. The scene flashed back in my mind, Aelia plunged his knife into his tiny body. ¡°Hey.¡±, I accidentally said, and the child looked back at me. Now that I saw him again, he wasn¡¯t even a Naga. I shook my head and sighed, that night still stuck with me, I don¡¯t know if I can ever look at a young Naga child again without thinking about it. A woman rushing to the university knocked into me, she quietly whispered sorry and went on with her day. I sighed and followed the path she took to the bus stop, I had to get to the University anyway. She was fiddling around on her phone and dropped a coin when she went to pay the bus driver. She said sorry quietly and paid him accordingly, finding a seat on the bus and going back to using her phone; her face looked to be a bit stressed. I paid him and also found a suitable spot to sit in, some were looking at my robes, with others not caring. I looked around and noticed a Naga couple at the back, and the moment I saw their faces, my mind was transported back to the night. The two Naga peacefully slept on the bed, before Aelia took the knife that clattered on the floor and thrust it into them. The blood that went into my mouth had an iron flavor, and that came right back to me now. A nauseous feeling took over me, I could feel my back had some sweat trickling down from it. I could still hear the slight scream that came out of her mouth before she died. I shook my head a bit and looked down at the floor of the bus, it was surprisingly clean for a public transport vehicle. The woman got off this stop, and as I looked out the window, we were outside the University of Akino, so I stood up and got off as well. It was a public University, so I could walk around its campus without anything stopping me. I needed to find Dr. Avel, his office should be on the second floor, but looking at the huge campus, it could take me forever to find him. I walked up to the woman that strolled into campus grounds and asked, ¡°Hello, could you tell me where Dr. Avel is?¡± She looked at me with a confused look on her face, ¡°Why do you want to know?¡± I smiled a bit, ¡°I need to talk to him for a bit, and I don¡¯t know where he is at the moment.¡± She nodded and said, ¡°You can find him when you walk into the second floor, right-wing of the main building.¡± I thanked her and started to walk towards the building, formulating a bit of a way to get into it, but before I got three meters away from her, she ran up to me. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I just remembered. Dr. Avel is actually doing a public lecture at the moment, you can find him on the other side of campus grounds.¡±, she told me and walked away to her studies. I sighed and continued walking, making it to the other side of the campus relatively quickly, and noticed that there was a large cluster of people there that were listening intently. Dr. Avel, who was a short and stout human, talked in front of a microphone that projected his voice to everyone. He stood in front of two large cases, each being large, but one was much larger compared to the other. ¡°Here, we can see the bone of a modern-day Tempest Ailea. What is fascinating about these types of creatures that can manipulate the elements is that their bones, and we can see it here, are marked. This juvenile here has distinctive blue marks on its leg bones, named the Aileans, and is actually where it gets its name from. Now, this is important because we can see these same distinctive markings on the Ailean bone of a creature for which we have no name currently.¡± He moved a bit and pointed at the bone that was much larger than the one for the Tempest Ailea, ¡°This is a bone dated to over 100 million years ago, and yet it has the exact same markings as the one of the juvenile Tempest Ailea.¡± Someone in the crowd said, ¡°Aren¡¯t they just the same bird?¡± Dr. Avel smiled and shook his head, ¡°No.¡±, and then ejected a small structure of earth from his hand. He then enlarged it to a monstrous amount and shifted it with noticeable effort. It eventually came into the shape of the skeleton of both creatures, and there were some very noticeable differences, ¡°Albeit we don¡¯t have a full skeleton of the larger creature, who we estimate to have an average height of 25 meters instead of the 18 seen in Tempest Ailea, there are still parts completely different.¡± He shifted the earthen replicas that were suspended in the air and showed their feet in closer detail, ¡°As you can see, the Tempest Ailea has four talons, three in front and one behind. However, the other one has five, with three in front and two behind in a V formation.¡± Dr. Avel then destroyed the earthen replica, and with heavy sweat, said, ¡°Excuse me, I can¡¯t keep that up for long. However, the most important part is that we can see extinct species from millions of years ago have the same marks as their contemporary counterparts.¡± He smiled and went on for the rest of the lecture, ¡°However, while that may be the most important part of this new skeleton, that isn¡¯t to say that there aren¡¯t other things. Here, in its Ailean bone, we can see small pigment sacs from before it died and markings distinctive of feathers. We believe it to be black and white, with a large and upfront red crest on its head and distinctive yellow feathers at its tail.¡± The rest of the lecture, on old extinct megafauna, went on for another thirty minutes. After it was over, the student body dispersed except for one person who stayed and asked a question, ¡°Do the markings we saw earlier mean that they had the same powers?¡±, I heard him say. Dr. Avel smiled at the wind elemental, ¡°No, Caleb. We can see the markings in other creatures that utilize it differently.¡± Caleb, seemingly satisfied, walked off with his bag that he carried with the wind. As Dr. Avel finished packing up, I walked up to him, and under the morning Sun, I asked him, ¡°Hello Dr. Avel, I¡¯m Akiro, and I have a few questions for you.¡± He smiled at me and said, ¡°Why, I haven¡¯t met you before, young chap. What''s with the robes? Ah, no matter, what questions do you have for me, I have the time.¡± He was quite the talkative person, I smiled and said, ¡°Whatever happened to Parliament Member Myanar? I¡¯m actually supposed to talk to him.¡± He thought hard for a while, before saying, ¡°Well, I haven¡¯t seen him for a while, actually. Now, we didn¡¯t have the best of friendships, but we were still good friends, you hear?¡± I nodded, and Dr. Avel started to walk off, ¡°Come with me, son.¡± Without missing a beat, I promptly followed him inside the main building. The building had a checkered pattern on the floor, with wood walls and an antique feel to it. Something about it felt old, which I suppose it was, and there was a unique charm to the entire building, I always did love these sorts of buildings. While we were slowly walking up the stairs, he said to me, ¡°Now, don¡¯t you go on and tell everyone what you hear, son.¡± I nodded and said, ¡°Of course.¡±, as we walked into the second-floor office he had. It was similar to the rest of the building in its design, and had a bookcase inside it, ¡°Oh, you like Roland too? I find his works fascinating.¡±, I said to him. He chuckled and said, ¡°I never thought young chaps like you would read his works, you know, I actually helped him on that book.¡± I smiled at him and nodded, taking a seat as he did, ¡°Myanar is a good person, you hear, what people say about him is lies. Politics¡­¡±, he said that word with much contempt, ¡°is a vile thing, really. And I¡¯m sad to say it has ruined the good young fella into a bitter old man, like me.¡± He found that funny and chuckled to himself, ¡°Myanar was always too busy with his work, though. I told him that many times, though the bastard never did listen to me. His wife, well, his wife cheated on him.¡± I looked shocked, ¡°Yeah, I hear what you think. I can¡¯t tell you why, but I do know it hurt him very dearly.¡± Dr. Avel sighed and took a sip from a water bottle as he started to grade some papers on his desk, ¡°Sorry, but an old feller like me has to use all the time during work hours to get work done.¡± I shook my head and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, but no one knows about his wife cheating, right?¡± He shook his head, ¡°No, Myanar has told some of us, but we weren¡¯t supposed to tell anyone.¡± I looked at him weirdly, ¡°Then why share it with me?¡± He sighed and took another sip of water while marking down a 56/100 on the paper, ¡°I never was much good at keeping secrets, you hear. There¡¯s something about you too, a young feller like you, I just feel like I can trust you.¡± I smiled at him, ¡°Ah, I see. Then go on, where is Myanar now?¡± Dr. Avel marked the next paper with a 99/100 and continued to talk, ¡°Well, it was relatively recent news. Myanar took it to heart, I guess. The old bastard went and wanted to get away, I heard he went over to the capital in the past few days, but he should be back now. Last I called an hour ago, he should be living in a hotel called The Sunset Lodge. Now, why does such a youth like you want to know about a parliament member?¡± I looked at Dr. Avel who had his face buried deep in his papers, ¡°I wanted to ask him some questions, you know, I want to become a member of parliament too.¡± Dr. Avel smiled, seeming to find it greatly amusing, ¡°A young chap like you ought to not get into politics, but that¡¯s just what I think. If that¡¯s really what you want, then Myanar should be perfect to help you.¡± If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. I nodded and stood up, ¡°Thank you for your help, Dr. Avel.¡± He smiled and without looking up at me told me, ¡°Well, good luck on your journey.¡± I smiled at him and said, ¡°Can you give me a diagram of the skeleton? I find it to be a truly fascinating topic.¡± I could see his eyes beam with pride, ¡°Aren¡¯t you something, well, here.¡±, he said as he opened his drawer and threw me a USB drive. ¡°On that there, is the 3D model for the entire skeleton. It has every part of it, or at least, the parts we have.¡± I smiled and thanked him, before leaving the room and pocketing the drive. Dr. Avel, despite his small stature and manner of speech, was a truly proficient mage that I could learn from, I should strive to reach his level of mastery and make the perfect skeleton in the sky. Walking down the hallway to the stairway, the same woman earlier in the day looked at me and asked, ¡°Were you in Dr. Avel¡¯s office?¡± I nodded, ¡°Yeah, oh right, what¡¯s your name?¡± She replied, ¡°Yvonne, why were you in there?¡± Yvonne, Yvonne¡­, that name sounded familiar. Oh right, her name was on the paper he graded. ¡°I just asked him some questions I had, look forward to the next few days, by the way.¡± She looked confused, but I was already walking down the stairway and made it out of the front door of the main building and out into campus grounds. The fresh, morning air was marred by the task I had to do later today, killing Myanar. Dr. Avel¡­, he was a nice, old man, I wonder how he would feel when he finds out Myanar died. Ah, no matter, I shouldn¡¯t dwell on these things, and I walked into the street once more. My stomach started to growl, damn, I didn¡¯t have breakfast, and I was pretty tired from last night. I walked off and made it to the Sunset Lodge, which was surprisingly, only a short fifteen-minute walk from the entrance to the campus. As I entered, the receptionist said in a happy voice, ¡°Hello, would you like to rent a room, or did you already rent one online?¡± I smiled back and said, ¡°A room for one.¡± She nodded and typed something into her device, ¡°Name?¡±, to which I answered, ¡°Akiro Thyra.¡± It wasn¡¯t my real name, but I would be stupid to use it. She nodded and said, ¡°Room 530.¡± I gave her the price for a single night, which was thirty Solarian dollars and five Austral. Then, with the key in hand, I walked into the elevator and pressed the button for the fifth floor, someone went in after me and pressed the one for the eighth. He smiled and as I looked at him, I realized it was Myanar¡­, by the Sun himself, what kind of accursed luck is this. ¡°How are you today?¡±, he asked, I answered shortly, ¡°Good, you?¡± He sighed and said, ¡°Okay, got any plans tonight?¡± I shook my head, ¡°No, first time here, actually.¡± He looked at me and said, ¡°Yeah, you don¡¯t look like you¡¯re from around here.¡± I sighed and said, ¡°No, I¡¯m actually from the deep South of Solaria, the cold parts.¡± He nodded, ¡°You got any plans?¡± Myanar sighed and didn¡¯t say anything for a bit, before shaking his head, ¡°Yeah, I plan to go to a bar later tonight, probably eight.¡± Why was he telling me this in an elevator, was he already drunk? Also, why was he going to a bar at his age, no less? He seemed to notice my weird expression and laughed, ¡°No, no. It¡¯s just that I need to wind down today.¡± I smiled and nodded, ¡°What''s a good one in town?¡± Myanar said smoothly, ¡°Well, I would recommend the one just due south of here, it¡¯s the one I¡¯m going to. It¡¯s closed now, opens at six, called Tempest Times.¡± I nodded and said, ¡°I see.¡±, as I stepped out of the elevator that stopped on the fifth floor. Walking down the hallway, I contemplated what to do, should I just kill him before he goes to the bar? Perhaps I should kill him when he is going to the bar? After he comes back, maybe, should I go to the bar with him? Meet him there and pretend it¡¯s a coincidence, and then slip some poison into his drinks? Aelia did tell me that Myanar was only an ordinary human, so it should be relatively easy to kill him for me. Aiken, you¡¯re a mage, a real, bona fide, genuine mage, like the ones kids in little towns talk about. I can kill a normal man, I mean, why can¡¯t I kill him? Yeah, I¡¯ll be fine, just¡­ fine. Inside my room, I placed an alarm for six-thirty and laid down on my bed, I needed to sleep. I awoke with a start and checked the time, six-twenty one, and my entire body was covered in sweat. I had a horrible dream, the memory of that Naga child running up to me in the restaurant haunted me over and over again in my mind. The face when he was killed, the blood that spurted into my mouth, the entirety of the scene. The sister¡¯s body crumpled and fell on top of the already dead body of her brother¡­, the sickening sound of bones being crushed by the force of gravity. The sickening smell of blood turned from one of rust to a sickly sweet aroma, and it only made me nauseous more. Maybe his sister went to that University, no, she wasn¡¯t of that age? Or was she? Was she¡­, no, she wasn¡¯t, or perhaps. No, I should stop thinking of these things, it was already six-twenty five. I stood up and went into the hotel shower, trying to rinse away the sweat and grime that accumulated over my body, the hot water didn¡¯t help my guilty mind. I shook my head and got dressed, walking out into the relatively fresh air of the outside world. At this time, there would still be a good amount of sunshine left in the sky, but it would set at around seven-thirty. I sighed and started to quickly walk due south, deciding to meet him there in the bar and kill him there, after all, wouldn¡¯t it be better than when he was sleeping? Yeah, killing him when he was sleeping felt too much like¡­ that night. Poison instead of a knife, poison instead of a knife. Thank the Sun Aelia gave me poison not too long ago, or else getting it would be horrible. Aelia¡­, I shouldn¡¯t fail him twice, yeah, I¡¯ll complete this one quickly. In just under fifteen minutes of walking, I made it to the Tempest Times and saw their blue and white logo, walking inside the establishment. The place, understandably, stank of booze, and I walked up to the bar and asked, ¡°Just give me your best non-alcoholic drink.¡± The bartender looked at me weirdly, but complied and gave me a yellow, red, and orange drink, ¡°1 Solarian Dollar.¡±, he said, what¡­, a whole dollar? With a sigh, I gave it to him and looked back at the drink. It was a damn good drink, and the colors reminded me of Archbishop Joan¡­, ah just thinking of her made me happy. That hug still lingered in my mind, and as I slowly took sips out from the cup, I heard some conversations around me. ¡°Yo-You hear about the new alliance we have with the Empire?¡±, one guy said as he was talking with another person. He was very obviously drunk and had a slur to his words, his friend replied with, ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a good thing you know? I surely don¡¯t want to get drafted.¡± His friend laughed and nodded, ¡°Aye, you got that right. Getting dragged into a war just doesn¡¯t sound like fun, I¡¯d rather spend my days drinking every day.¡± His friend laughed and said, ¡°You do that anyway.¡± I looked around the room and noticed another person there that was sitting by himself looking horrible. He had a glass of beer in his hand and muttered to himself, ¡°Stupid job, stupid boss¡­, that fucking little bitch fired me for no reason. I¡¯ll kill that bastard, yeah, I¡¯ll go kill that bastard.¡± There was a group of six or so people drinking together, laughing with one another over the recent marriage of their friend, and then the door rang. I looked behind me and saw that Myanar walked into the establishment, despite it being only seven. He noticed me instantly and walked over, ¡°What are you doing here?¡±, he asked me and looked at the bartender, ¡°The usual.¡±, he told him. The bartender nodded, and I said, ¡°Well, I took up your recommendation. After all, what fun is it if I just spend my first day here cooped up in my room.¡± He laughed at that and nodded, quickly shooting down a shot of very strong alcohol. ¡°It¡¯s an acquired taste.¡±, he told me and I nodded, sipping slowly on my own drink, ¡°Non-alcoholic? Oh come on, add some spice to your life.¡± He laughed and poured the shot of alcohol into my glass, ¡°Life is just boring without these things.¡± It seemed like he was a happy drunk, ¡°Keep it coming till I pass out!¡±, he yelled at the bartender merrily. ¡°Well, I suppose.¡±, I said as I completely downed the entire drink. ¡°Woaah, brave aren¡¯t you?¡± I laughed and said, ¡°I don¡¯t drink much, but I always have had a high tolerance.¡± Myanar had a glint in his eyes and said, ¡°Oh yeah? Why don¡¯t we test it out against mine.¡± I laughed and said, ¡°Bring it down.¡± Alcohol should give me more courage for the inevitable. ¡°Keep two of the shots coming, put it on my tab.¡± The bartender complied, albeit with a sigh, and handed the two of us shots of what looked to be a cloudy white liquid. I took it, as did he, and we both downed it in a second, ¡°Oh yeah, I¡¯m only getting started.¡± The bartender came the drinks coming, one after another, after another, after another, after another, after another, and another. By this time, he had already been close to passing out while I wasn¡¯t anywhere close to being drunk. Mages always did have a hard time getting drunk on normal alcohol, after all, unless one forcefully stopped the mana in one''s body, then alcohol would get distilled naturally. After one more, he stood up tipsy and walked over to the bathroom, now was my chance. I stood up and followed him to the bathroom, where I found him hunched over a toilet vomiting his entire stomach out, there wasn¡¯t anyone else in there. The stall''s door was open, he seemed to forget to close it, and as I watched his quivering form hunched and vulnerable, I slowly picked out a small vial of poison. It had no odd smell, no odd flavor, and in all aspects but one, it was the perfect poison, it had to be directly drunk and didn¡¯t have any other delivery methods, but that was fine. In his tipsy state, he looked up at me and said, ¡°Heyyy, how are you?¡± I smiled at him and picked him up, seating him on the toilet, and handed him the vial. ¡°Here, drink it. It helps with the vomiting.¡± Myanar, in all his incompetence, believed me fully and drank the vial, I saw the drops drain from the bottle, into his mouth and watched him swallow. Almost three seconds later, he stopped moving, and I could feel his heart stop beating¡­, he was dead. That, that was a lot easier than I thoug- I couldn¡¯t finish my thought as a nauseating feeling came over me. I vomited the contents of my stomach onto the floor, and it felt like the entirety of my stomach was evacuated in it. I actually killed someone, yeah, actually¡­, but why? ¡°By the Sun, how am I going to clean this up in time?¡± A little giggle came from behind me and scared me down to my core, I quickly turned around and prepared myself for a fight only to come face to face with¡­ Archbishop Joan. She giggled and smiled at me, ¡°Good job Aiken, good job. You did an amazing job at killing him.¡± Her voice melted away all of my fears and worries, instead, it gave me only an intense love for the moment. ¡°Here is how you will clean it up.¡±, she said and then a massive blast of mana came from her. It knocked into me and I felt myself become dizzy, and then the world turned black. When I came to, I had my head on her lap on the bathroom floor, by the Sun, WHY. I quickly stood up and looked around, noticing that the body of Myanar was still there, yet my vomit was not. She stood up, and already answered my question before I could ask it, ¡°Well, here comes the best part, of course.¡± She sent out a small surge of mana that wriggled its way into Myanar¡¯s corpse, animating it ever so slightly, and she took out a pen and paper. The corpse slowly stood up and walked over the pen and paper, taking it and starting to write something perfectly in the air. She smiled while doing this and said, ¡°Well, now that I¡¯m an Archbishop, I¡¯m so riled up in politics, it¡¯s boring. Sometimes, I like to relieve the good old days of when I was an illuminator, like you, so I do these things.¡± She sighed and answered me again before I ever asked the question, ¡°Why, making deaths look like suicide of course.¡± I felt nauseous again and looked at what the corpse was writing, a suicide note cursing his wife and the world. ¡°By coincidence, or not-¡±, she giggled a bit, ¡°his wife cheated, a perfect story.¡± ¡°So, we have the story, now we just need the method, and why not, the simple bullet?¡±, she said to me while I was frozen in fear. A small pistol manifested from her robes and landed in the hands of the corpse Myanar, ¡°He has the power, and we can manufacture fake buy records easily enough.¡±, and with that, he shot himself in the mouth one time, splattering blood everywhere. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, no sound can escape this room.¡± I looked at her, the body, and the bloody mess on the floor and asked, ¡°Why?¡± She laughed and answered, ¡°He opposed us, that is why. Easy enough.¡± I looked down and, with a tremble, said, ¡°Is this how the Church is?¡± She giggled more, and moved closer to me, I moved back, and she moved closer, up until I was against the wall, and she was against me. In my ear, she whispered, ¡°Oh this is only the beginning, you have no idea.¡± Chapter 35 End of Volume 1 Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 18th day The world seemed to stop still as the news of the new alliance between Iabrun and Solaria spread to every corner of the world, the talons of the new alliance sinking into each country. For those in Iabrun and Solaria, they rejoiced, no one would wish to actively go to war. For the people in the surrounding countries, they trembled, no one would wish to have either of the two superpowers lay their eyes upon them. Some with positions in the government walked down the streets of their respective cities ashen-faced, this alliance was a truly global shift in geopolitics, and they didn¡¯t know what it would bode for their own nations. The regular citizens, on the other hand, while disheartened and fearful, carried on with their duties normally. The announcement of the new alliance shook the world enough to cover up all the relatively minor occurrences. The amount of Naga¡¯s dead in Solaria was swept under the rug, as easily as it occurred. The minor disease spreading in Gawain was still not note-worthy enough to make national news, and the suicide of a Parliament member in Solaria didn¡¯t matter. In this chaos, Celestine and her Archbishops met face to face, ¡°You¡¯re going to do it now?¡±, the fox-demon asked her superior. Celestine looked around the meeting room they were in, five of the five regular seats were taken with all the Archbishops. They looked joyous, even Batos and Regin who didn¡¯t show many expressions, had smiles on their faces. ¡°Yes, plan 62-H is done. Thanks to Batos and Regin, we can finally get rid of that minister.¡±, she said and proceeded to smile upon the two. ¡°It¡¯s a shame Myanar couldn¡¯t be on our side, oh well, it¡¯s fine. My little cutie got it done quite well.¡±, Joan said out loud. ¡°Don¡¯t play with the kid too much, will you?¡±, Teser replied while laughing, ¡°You have that nasty habit.¡±, he continued on. Celestine sighed and didn¡¯t think much of it, ¡°I need all of you to be with me for this.¡± The five nodded, ¡°Well, have you prepared everything?¡±, Celestine asked and Samuel nodded accordingly. ¡°The minister is there, the people and the systems to spread it to every corner of the country are there as well.¡±, he said and smiled. ¡°Good, we shouldn¡¯t leave the people waiting, let¡¯s go.¡±, she said and teleported herself along with everyone else to the platform. It was in the city of Helios, raised up in the center of the entire city, and upon it stood the five Archbishops, along with Pope Celestine in their robes. The surrounding chatter quieted down upon the arrival of the people, and every head there turned to look up at the platform. Most eyes were ones of admiration and reverence, with only a select few being neutral or hostile. They were called into the capital only two days ago, citing a nationwide response to the recent Naga deaths that occurred nationwide. ¡°Hello, fellow citizens of this great nation. May I personally congratulate all of you who attended my address to the nation, and to those that could not make it, it is a shame to not see your beaming faces here.¡±, Celestine started and amplified her voice. The area was silent, despite it having uncountable amounts of people there listening to the address. Those not there listened to live streams of it, and that was spread to every corner of the world. Arianna, in Iabrun, took her time fixing her hair while watching the address, ¡°Let¡¯s see what you have to say.¡±, she muttered to herself. In the village bordering the lines of Gawain and Iabrun, a tiny Wyrm and his Hiddle friend named Tiflis were still there. They sat there, watching the address themselves in a tiny home where a single woman lived, she took care of their needs. Mike in the capital sat by himself in his tiny home and stared at the screen, intently watching the events unfold with the address. Aiken and his friend Aelia were there, underground of the Church in Solaria, listening to what the Pope had to say. Nicholas and Alexander, along with so many more, listened to every word that she uttered. ¡°It is on this day that I, the Pope, make my fifth address to the entire nation, and it is deplorable that it has to be about this. Our nation is still relatively young compared to those we border, or even those we allied with. Solaria and Iabrun are now bound together in this alliance for the foreseeable future, and it pains me to see the appalling killings occur on such a momentous and celebratory day as the one where we announced the joyous alliance. Solaria is a young nation, and like a young nation, our people are filled with the spirit of youth, the spirit of youth that was there since our finding over one thousand years ago. We, especially me, stand on the shoulders of past giants to make this nation the best it possibly can be, and I promised this six years ago when I became Pope.¡±, Celestine said without showing any signs of fatigue. ¡°You all must have fond memories of my predecessor before me, Adam, and I have tried my utter best to fill his shoes as the guiding helm of our nation. So, it pains me to see this horrible tragedy occur under my watch. It pains every single one of us in the Church, down to the very last member, to see these sorts of acts carried out discriminately and aimed towards a single race. You Naga, standing in the crowd now, must not feel very safe, and my heart is with you. I could not sleep for days because I knew that there was the perpetrator of these acts still poisoning our youthful country with their bleak objectives.¡±, a single tear rolled out of her left eye that was not missed by the crowd. Her voice was shaking a bit, fully conveying the anger and sadness in her eyes as she talked. ¡°Of course, I found out who the person was. The entirety of the resources of the Church was sent out, the Naga under me could not sleep as long as there was no justice, and so I could not either.¡±, she said and then looked at the minister, who was a woman aged to be thirty at most, and the chains binding her. ¡°To my shock and horror, the perpetrator was the Minister. The minister we trusted, that we liked and that we trusted to protect us, she was the one to order the people under her to kill your friends, your family, and your loved ones.¡± Celestine sighed and looked at her, who was silent and staring at the floor, ¡°I wished to execute them immediately, but this country is fair, and since the Naga were the most affected by her, they should decide.¡± The people were silent, they stared at the Naga in the ground, who had eyes filled with fury at the minister. Arianna in Iabrun raised her eyebrows and smiled, ¡°Nice smoke and mirrors, though, I do wonder what Isaac is doing now.¡± Her mind wandered back to the Naga who yelled at her in the school, he hadn¡¯t done anything to her yet, though. The Wyrm and Tiflis had already fallen asleep, they were still young and didn¡¯t care too much about the politics involved. Mike still stared at the screen intently, wishing to know what the end would be, he wasn¡¯t the most invested in politics, but it was an interesting scenario. ¡°Kill her.¡±, said one, and that started a tide of bloodlust, moving from person to person and overtaking the minds of every person there. The person that started it was unknown, but those two words changed the calm and silent atmosphere into one of lusting for the death of the very same Minister they voted for two years earlier. Celestine still looked solemn as she slowly walked towards the Minister, who by now looked at her in the eyes. ¡°Kill me.¡±, she said, and Celestine obliged, chopping off her head without any fanfare. Celestine then looked out at the crowd, ¡°This is what happens to those that dare to go against the Solarian people, my people.¡± She smiled and teleported off, along with her fellow Archbishops, they were now back in their meeting room. ¡°One thing down, all we need to do is set up an emergency vote and make sure my candidate wins.¡±, Celestine said and then looked at her Archbishops. ¡°Samuel, set it up.¡±, she said, and he nodded. ¡°Joan and Teser, you two have complete autonomy on what you wish to do until the end of the month. Batos, Regin, you two have to go and keep tabs on a few parliament members, make sure they aren¡¯t too upset. Other than that, you two also have full autonomy. Samuel, after you¡¯re done, stay in Helios, but other than that, you can do anything you wish.¡± Celestine then proceeded to teleport out of the room and into the one for L0S-23, and he was already in the shape of Vim Rhodes. ¡°Ohoho, if it isn¡¯t the monster Pope? Are you here to talk? Perhaps take me up on my offer?¡±, he asked relentlessly. Celestine sighed and said nothing, instead, she only drew up some of her blood in a formation and teleported away. Vim, the Quill, looked around and didn¡¯t utter anything nor have a change in his smiling expression, instead, sitting down and looking at the blood formation on the floor; Celestine drew it up in order to house him, to strengthen the seal. He morphed back into an innocuous-looking quill, laying down upon the floor. Meanwhile, Aiken and Aelia were both talking with one another. ¡°Why did they kill her!?¡±, Aiken yelled out and Aelia, in the usual calm voice he displayed, said, ¡°Because the Pope willed for it.¡± Aiken sighed and sat back down, ¡°Is that it? Can we justify killing by just saying we were following orders?¡± He stood back up and started to pace back and forth in the small room, Aelia was still calm and took a sip of water; his signature armor was off at the moment. ¡°Do not worry about it, Aiken, you¡¯re better off not knowing the reasons behind any of this.¡±, he said and Aiken responded, ¡°Why? Because the reasons are even more horrible?¡± Aelia didn¡¯t say anything as he stood up and went towards Aiken, ¡°Look at me, I am saying this out of the goodness of my heart, you are better off not knowing.¡± Aelia sighed and looked around, ¡°I¡¯m not even supposed to be telling you this, but no one, not even the priest above us, is free of sin.¡± Aiken yelled out, ¡°Yes! YES, I killed a man for a reason I don¡¯t even KNOW. All I get told is that he opposed us? Opposed us in what?¡± Aiken was now pacing more, to and fro, about the entire room. ¡°I killed a man, you killed a CHILD, Aelia. A CHILD¡±, he yelled out. Aelia sighed and looked around, ¡°It wasn¡¯t the first.¡±, Aiken looked at him incredulously, ¡°You think that makes it BETTER!?¡± Aelia looked up at him with his brown eyes, ¡°It comes with the job, what did you expect, huh? That it would be sunshine and rainbows?¡± Aiken looked at him again, staring deep into Aelia¡¯s brown eyes, ¡°I didn¡¯t think we would be directly killing those who oppose the Church, or blatantly lying to the public. Look at the bout of spewing bullshit she just said.¡± Aelia now looked a bit annoyed, ¡°That is the Pope, you do not talk about her like this.¡± Aiken sighed and sat back down, ¡°What can I even say? Should I tell everyone the Church is lying?¡± Aelia, for the first time in the entire conversation, developed a dangerous glint in his eyes, one not missed by Aiken. ¡°The Church has ways to¡­ suppress those that speak against it.¡±, Aelia said, and Aiken got the message pretty quickly. He walked around and said, ¡°I need some time to think to myself The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll still be here if you need me.¡±, Aelia said and turned around to go put his armor back on. Aiken walked out of the door and looked around from place to place, he knew that he couldn¡¯t directly go against the Church, but¡­ does he even want to go against it? He remembered the Naga, Dr. Avel, Myanar¡¯s face, and most importantly, one of the symbols of the church herself, Archbishop Joan play with a dead body. She was a monster, he realized, but then again, they were all monsters, he thought to himself, so was it any surprise she would be any different? No, of course, it wouldn¡¯t, and as he was walking up the stairs thinking to himself, he bumped into someone. When he looked up, his eyes drew their gaze to the red, yellow, and orange fox ears and moved along to the pupils of the person he saw, Archbishop Joan. He immediately went to a knee, ¡°Hehe, no need for that, just stand up.¡±, she said in a sweet voice, perfectly designed to seduce anyone who heard it. Her pupils were mesmerizing, they were a blend of red, yellow, and orange that mixed together in an otherworldly pattern, Aiken couldn¡¯t help but draw his gaze towards them instinctively. ¡°I heard all of your grievances, and they¡¯re understandable, do you want to talk about them?¡±, she said while gesturing to a room, and he obliged quickly. Inside, the two sat down facing each other, ¡°Here, let me tell you why you killed Myanar. He was a rapist, he raped three women that day, the day you met him. He, of course, fooled you, after all, he was a cunning manipulator, but there¡¯s clear evidence.¡± Aiken looked up at her suspiciously, ¡°And why should I believe you?¡±, her smile didn¡¯t lessen with his questioning gaze, and she pulled out a document. ¡°Here, it is not from the Church, but instead the official police force. I know you don¡¯t trust us, so here, a source not affiliated in any way with us.¡±, she said and handed the dossier over to Aiken, who promptly opened it. Inside it was written testimony, along with pictures of physical evidence for the crimes, ¡°Does it make you feel any better that who you killed was a piece of human garbage?¡±, she asked him and Aiken took a deep breath. ¡°Honestly¡­, yes, it does.¡±, he said, feeling conflicted over his own answer, on one hand, the man was garbage, but did he deserve to die without due process? That was a question for lawyers, not someone like him, so he decided to answer with what he personally, morally, felt was right. ¡°I just have a question, was it right to kill those Naga?¡±, he asked her while putting down the dossier. ¡°That question carries some nuance, so let me put it this way. What do you think would happen if we allowed the Naga to rebel?¡±, she replied. Aiken said, ¡°What?¡±, feeling very confused by the whole situation. Joan sighed and said, ¡°What do you think would have happened were the Naga to rebel?¡± Aiken didn''t say anything, but realized the answer immediately, ¡°They would be put down immediately?¡±, he asked, stuttering over part of his words. ¡°Yeah. So what does it matter if it''s now, or then? And then, they can kill others, so why not?¡± Aiken didn''t say anything, but he still felt like something was wrong about it, the Naga kid kept flashing past his mind. He wouldn''t have died then, or perhaps it would never have happened? ¡°You can go now.¡±, she said and Aiken didn''t wish to stay there any longer, so he did and left the room. His mind flitted from idea to idea, and ended on, ¡°Should I become an Archbishop?¡± He didn''t know what he should feel like, or what to do, but that one idea stuck in his mind. Back in the room, Joan sat and looked around, Teser who was invisible cropped up and sat down in the room, picking up the dossier. ¡°I knew someone was there.¡±, she said while looking at her fellow Archbishop. Teser sighed and said, ¡°A fake dossier? Really, all that effort just for one guy? Myanar didn''t do enough wrong to deserve this.¡± Joan shrugged her shoulders and said, ¡°I was always good at making stuff up, it''s just fun to play with rookies. Besides, we have the rest of the month to do whatever we want, I can have some liberties.¡± Teser smiled and said, ¡°You got that right, the longest break we had since forever. What do you want to do?¡± Joan thought a bit and said, ¡°Well, we can always do that.¡±, while biting her lip and undressing. Teser stood up, and locked the door, ¡°Yes, we can always do that.¡±, he said. Aelia sighed and thought about the conversation he had with Aiken, he stroked the curves of his armor as he thought about it. This armor was old, given to him by his parents, and he wore it ever since; Aelia knew that it was childish, in a way, but it provided him with an unparalleled sense of comfort. He was also smart enough to know that he wasn¡¯t smart in conversations, or particularly good at social situations, ¡°By the Sun, what would the Pope do if she were here?¡± The Pope, Celestine, at the moment was standing in a lush grassland directly south of the capital of Helios. The breeze rushed past her black hair, and she thought about the past month, Israfil stood out in her mind the most. The fun she had with her only real friends, the Archbishops, just thinking of them warmed her dark heart. It was one of the few pieces of real joy that she had in her life, that and the Eternal Sun. She went on one knee and started to pray, an act that reminded her of the times she did it when she was only six years old. Her memory shifted away from what she was saying and doing, which was muscle memory by now, and instead, turned to her childhood. From the scattered fragments of memory she did have, of which her parents were not a part of, she remembered that at age three, she memorized the prayer. At age four, she memorized how to do the prayer, and at age five, had perfected the entirety of the prayer. Her birthplace, a village in the hinterlands of Solaria, somewhere deep in its countryside, was nothing extraordinary; yet, it birthed her, perhaps the most extraordinary thing. She always held fond memories of it, despite what ¡°they¡± did to her, and what they tried to do to her; Celestine¡¯s memory of that place was far too strong. After finishing her prayer, she stood up and looked around the grassy area, noticing that the breeze had stopped entirely. She had acute senses and noticed it immediately, and as quickly as when she first noticed it, she struck up a shield around her. It was just in time because she felt a force collide greatly with the pure black shield she generated, and it crumpled the surface of the shield. She retracted it almost instantly and manifested a pure black orb from her pure black robes, ebony tendrils of black rushed to the attacker who tried to hurt her. She looked around and saw the perpetrator, a Naga by the name of Guahe who she had already known before. ¡°Why attack me? You know you can¡¯t beat me, it is pointless. Your revolution is dead.¡±, she said and looked at him, who was the true mastermind behind the entire rebellion. ¡°Perhaps, perhaps not, but I will still try, or so help me Sun.¡±, he said and looked upon the blazing Sun in the sky. Celestine frowned and replied, ¡°Do not use his name.¡±, to which he only laughed and rushed at her. His nimble body weaved through all the tendrils that were originating from the ground to catch him, his tail of pure white scales crashed into a jet black tendril and destroyed it instantly. He made it to Celestine¡¯s body and punched it, causing it to vanish in a cloud of black mist. ¡°Where are you hiding?¡±, he muttered and rose into the air, using the surrounding elements in order to start creating a hurricane. As soon as he rose, another body of Celestine rushed up from the ground and stared at his body lazily. ¡°Worthless.¡±, was what he heard, and then an extra-thick tendril made its way to him, it crashed upon his white scales and drew a drop of his thick, red blood. Guahe laughed and replied with his own tendril, this one of pure air, and it stopped Celestine¡¯s in its tracks. ¡°Do you have anything other than those tendrils? It is rather boring to just see you use tentacles.¡±, he said, while still preparing for the hurricane. Celestine sighed and continued on by attacking with a barrage of black tentacles, it had been a long time since anyone meaningful has fought against her; she had gotten lazy with her attacks, resorting to the same basic barrage. Guahe, who knew this, had already prepared countermeasures upon countermeasures to go against her. He pulled out a small artifact and dropped it to the ground, the small bead did so, and the tendrils stopped in their tracks. Celestine frowned and realized that her mana source was being tampered with. She had not felt this feeling in a long time and looked at him more seriously now, the tendrils stopped and formed themselves into clones of the original body. Guahe laughed and laughed in the air, ¡°Finally, you¡¯re getting serious.¡± Celestine stopped every attack and chained tendrils of her thick, dark mana between every clone, Guahe saw this and escaped accordingly, teleporting away instantly. Celestine stopped and looked at the spot where he teleported away, noticing that there was still a large amount of mana there. She sent one of her clones to the area, only for it to encounter nothing there, and much to her surprise, Guahe actually teleported away. It was a double trick, Celestine first believed that he simply became invisible and faked teleporting away to strike her; Guahe, in reality, did teleport away but left large amounts of his mana there to fool her for a split second. In that split second of realization, Guahe launched a barrage of his own air knives, each one striking a clone and causing it to disperse in a cloud of black mist. None of them spilled blood, Celestine¡¯s real body was away, and observing the battlefield in another area, she sprung into action and wrapped Guahe¡¯s real body with chains of dark mana. His pure white scales started to bleed into the black chains, slowly converting them from a midnight black to pure white. ¡°I finally got you to use some of your power.¡±, Guahe laughed and broke free from the chains before truly teleporting away, he wasn¡¯t stupid and didn¡¯t wish to die on Solarian soil. Celestine frowned and dispelled all her magic, she would have to go all out the next time they fought, then. She looked up at the sky and noticed that the Sun seemed to be scorching onto the Earth, as if in a fury over something. Arianna in Iabrun squinted her eyes at the Sun and frowned, the Emperor of Iabrun ¡ª George VI ¡ª looked in the sky and laughed uproariously. The Wyrm was woken up when he felt a stinging on his back, and Mike felt that the air turned just a bit hotter. He sighed and went back to searching for tickets for a train. Every powerful person in the world knew that something had annoyed the Sun in Solaria. The world continued as normal, setting the Sun on the day and patiently waiting for the start of a new day, with new events, and new people. Volume 2: Chapter 1 Mike Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 22nd day I looked around the train station and sighed, finally, I¡¯ll be able to visit my mother again. I recalled back to the events of the last couple of days, getting this train ticket wasn¡¯t too hard, the sun was abnormally hot though. It should take me about two days to go to a small city near the town, and then walk towards it. Augustus was too far away to go to the border city, and a train would take far too long to arrive, so I quickly bought a teleport pass from Augustus to the capital of Gawain, Gingalain. I shudder just remembering the price for a two-way ticket, but it was a necessary expense for me to finally meet her. Gingalain wasn¡¯t the prettiest city, it didn¡¯t hold the historic sites and majesty that Augustus did, but it was a perfectly fine city that would make do. Besides, I wasn¡¯t going to be in here for a long time anyway, just long enough to get on to my train. Speaking of the train ticket, a wince came over me when I learned of its price as well ¡ª it wasn¡¯t as egregious as the thirty pounds for the two-way ticket, but ten pounds was still a sizeable chunk of my savings. Ten pounds, that was the same price I paid for her, just thinking about it made me feel slimy and disgusting. I shook my head and looked at the time, it was only three in the afternoon and my train would arrive in thirty minutes. The train seat I bought wasn¡¯t large, by any means, but it was still a private sector of the train; albeit, it was shared with a person, so I suppose the price is fair. The price of the more expensive tickets made me nearly vomit, it had to be a scam of sorts. Sighing again, I sat down on a nearby wooden bench, put my ticket on my lap, and put my backpack on the ground. It only carried the essentials, things like magical study guides, and money, as I shouldn¡¯t shirk on them even if I already held all the credits for this year. The light gently cascaded from the roof above me, which was made partially of glass, and a light breeze rolled past my cheek. A young boy sat next to me, he looked to be about the same age I am, yet slightly shorter. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re my bunkmate.¡±, he said in a slightly heavy northwestern Iabrun accent. He showed me his tickets, where the words 3E were sprawled upon them, ¡°What luck, I can¡¯t believe I met you so early. My name¡¯s Derrick, by the way, what¡¯s yours?¡± He was extremely chipper, his slightly chubby face made his smile seem warmer than it otherwise would be. I smiled at him and responded, ¡°Mike.¡± He smiled and continued to talk, ¡°Ah, Mike. Short for Micheal, I assume? Ah, no matter, I saw you with a magical book earlier, are you a student?¡± He was full to the brim with questions that burst out whenever he talked, ¡°Yeah, yeah. Of course, Augustus Magical Academy.¡± He looked at me differently after I said that, ¡°Really? You must be talented with magic, I¡¯m no mage though, just a normal human.¡± ¡°Why do you ask, anyway, are you also a student?¡±, I asked him, mainly to avoid speaking on myself. From the short time I interacted with him, I could tell that he both liked to talk about himself and ask questions about others. ¡°Oh, yes yes. Actually, I¡¯m also from Iabrun, going to Augustus Law School now.¡±, he said and continued to talk, ¡°You know, I wonder why the best schools always have the blandest times. It¡¯s really bugged me for a while¡­¡± I tuned out his talking after a few seconds, he was talking about something unimportant anyway, and instead turned my attention to the other side of the train station. There were quite a lot of people here today, and I could see them on the other side, mainly doing mundane activities. ¡°Hey, hey. Did you listen to me?¡±, he looked at me and snapped his fingers. ¡°Yeah, I did.¡±, I said and looked at the time, it was only three minutes until the train arrived. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for the long tangent.¡±, he said and looked at the time too, ¡°Well, look at the time, it¡¯s nearly time for it to arrive.¡± How someone could talk for so long was beyond me, but I suppose I had to share a room with him for the next two days. ¡°Yep, yep. I must say, I¡¯m pretty good at law myself. I actually have a test coming up, would you help me study for it?¡±, he asked me in a chipper voice, I could faintly hear the train coming, ¡°Uh, sure.¡±, I said dismissively. His eyes lit up and went for a handshake, I didn¡¯t stop it, ¡°Why, thank you.¡±, he said rather loudly, attracting the attention of some other people here. The train, which looked to be a fairly old model with all the charm it has compared to newer designs, arrived a minute later, and we walked abreast to compartment 3E. Derrick was the first to enter and look around, dropping the one suitcase he has under the one table in the room. Each compartment had three rooms in it, and they were fairly small but held a closet, one bed, a couch, a table with four chairs, and some books. ¡°I call the bed.¡±, I immediately said, Derrick sighed and said, ¡°Sure, I don¡¯t have a problem sleeping on the couch.¡± I immediately fell down on the bed, it was surprisingly comfortable, ¡°I¡¯m going to sleep, don¡¯t disturb me.¡±, I asked him, to which his response was a sad frown and a nod. Oh, the money for this, how was I going to recoup it all soon. With that thought stuck front and center in my mind, I slowly drifted asleep as the train started to move. When I woke up, the scenery outside the window changed, it was now nighttime, and we were on a railway track that was curving around a mountain range. Gawain itself was mostly made of mountains, after all, so it was utterly unsurprising. ¡°Wow, you''re a heavy sleeper. I never could have slept through that. It''s nearly midnight, you know?¡±, he said, and I looked down at the time, twenty minutes from midnight. ¡°Well, do you wanna burn that midnight oil with me? I really need your help.¡±, he asked me, and seeing his warm expression, I nodded slowly and got out of my bed. With a yawn, I made my way towards him and sat down at the table, which was stacked high with his law books. ¡°The test will be on units eight and nine, which encompasses code 49-51, chapters A-D in all three, along with subchapters A-F in code 51 of the Iabrun Legal Code.¡±, he told me. ¡°Or, what laymen call laws surrounding immigration policy.¡±, he added after he saw my confused face. He stood up and said, ¡°I''ll go get something to eat and drink, you want anything?¡± I shook my head, ¡°Just water, thank you.¡±, as I opened up the massive textbook in front of me, this was going to be a long night. He came back shortly after with water, and some simple snacks to eat throughout our study session. With a yawn to get rid of my remaining drowsiness, I asked, ¡°Can you explain the correct protocol involving a person fleeing political asylum according to Chapter B, subchapter C, in code 50?¡± He answered promptly, getting it completely correct, and like that, we spent the next few hours discussing the Iabrun Legal Code under the starlight shining through the windows. At four in the morning, Derrick still hadn''t shown any signs of sleepiness, but I grew tired of the mundane legal texts. ¡°Let''s stop here for now, I have my own matters to attend to.¡±, I said and stood up for a stretch. Derrick jumped up and did the same, ¡°Ooh, do you mean magical matters?¡±, he said after his stretch with a glow in his eyes. I sighed and replied, ¡°Yeah, I have things to work on. Magic isn''t exactly the easiest.¡± Derrick looked up at me, ¡°How can you do magic?¡± I sat down on the small couch and then reclined on it, pondering on whether to answer him or not. Derrick''s eyes looked at me with a fiery passion, as if they could stay up another two days just to riddle me with questions at every turn. ¡°You first need to make sure you have mana.¡±, I said as I picked up a book I checked out from the library, Basics of analyzing Space: Volume 1, written by Arnold Spence. While I knew I had a natural talent for both it and healing types, the school already dragged it out of me, I should self-study spatial spells. It would be better to focus on healing after I get a certified mentor. ¡°Oh, oh. How can you check if you have mana?¡±, he asked me and sat down at the table. ¡°A mage can check on it for you, there are also items for it too.¡±, I said and continued on, ¡°No, I can''t do it.¡±, before he got the chance to ask. Derrick frowned and said, ¡°Ok¡­, suppose I did have mana, how could I use it?¡± I replied, ¡°As far as I know, there are three main ways to first be able to use your mana.¡±, and grabbed a small bag of spicy chips. ¡°One, a certified mage can crack open your mana supply. Two, you can get an item to forcefully, or gently over time, open it. Lastly, if you have the innate talent, you can open it yourself, though that''s pretty rare.¡±, I said and flipped to the next page of my book which started to go over the basics of the simplest spatial spell, phasing a body part through an object. ¡°I can crack a mana supply, actually, I''ve done it before.¡±, I said while remembering I did it to that girl I was tutoring, huh, how was she now? Ah, no matter, I already notified her and her family that I''ll be gone for a while, it should be no matter. ¡°That sounds¡­ gruesome, how can you do that, but not find if a person has one?¡±, Derrick asked, sounding intrigued. I shrugged and asked, ¡°Can you kill a rodent?¡±, to which he visibly became squeamish. ¡°Never mind, can you find and stomp on a plant?¡±, I asked, he nodded, and then I continued, ¡°However, if the room is completely dark and there was a chance that if I stomped on something else instead of the plant, the entire room collapses, will that be easy?¡± Derrick thought for a second and then shook his head, understanding the analogy I was getting at ¡ª it was taught to me at the school, pretty handy. I looked back on the book, ¡°What''s the symbols about?¡±, he asked me. ¡°It''s how you do magic, feeding your mana through these symbols that you can form inside your body.¡±, I said, to which Derrick only had a confused look on his face. ¡°Huh? How does that even work?¡±, he asked, I sighed and said, ¡°I can''t explain it, these symbols are both innate, and yet, they aren''t. You can learn more with practice, but only people with mana can make them.¡± This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Derrick shrugged his shoulders, ¡°What are they even made of?¡± I shook my head, ¡°I''m only seventeen right now, we learn practical applications this year. We learned about theory last year, but it was only surface level. Next year is when we''ll get into it, until then? No clue.¡± Derrick sipped on a smoothie he got from who knows where and leaned back to his textbook, as I finally tried to start and do the spell. Every single time before, I completed it halfway, yet for some reason, I could never fully do it. I shook my head to ease the anxiety I had to me, if it was this bad for me, then how about for those that didn''t have talents? As if hearing what I said, Derrick shot up and asked, ¡°Oh yeah, I forgot to ask, what are talents?¡±, right before I started. I very nearly burst out and yelled, but I contained myself and answered, ¡°Talents are just things people are born with, same as someone being left or right-handed. They just have a better affinity towards it and have an easier time grasping it. Now, could you please be quiet or leave?¡± Derrick quietly nodded and left the room, leaving me sitting on the couch by myself as the train rolled past a mountain. I let out a deep breath to calm my nerves and closed my eyes, which while not strictly necessary, does help me. There was now no light that I could see beyond the very faintest edge of starlight shining through my window. The mana inside me was calm, serene, and tepid, similar to the surrounding night; I had already memorized the symbol and started to weave it inside me, willing it to appear in my wrist. Ever so slowly, small parts of it started to form, making me completely lose track of time. First, the inner symbol, one that was layers upon layers of shapes, formed. Then, I could feel small wisps of strands forming around the very edges of it inside my wrist, slowly, but surely, connecting itself to it. Finally, the outer coat started to constitute and surrounded the inner layer in a thin veil, the symbol was complete. I could do this part with relative ease, now would come the challenging part. My mana, which I normally controlled as easy as someone breathes, turned hard and nearly immovable. I only willed a minuscule portion, enough for the spell to work on one finger, of my mana; it slowly moved from my reserve and out, meandering slowly to the symbol. I could feel pain jutting out from wherever the small amount of mana went, due to my lack of control over it. When it passed by my right shoulder, ever so slowly making its way to my wrist, I could feel pain similar to needles. Then, with surgical precision, I slowly moved the mana through the symbol, this was the furthest I had gone. After the mana passed through, I let go of the immaterial symbol and fully focused all my energy on controlling the now much more energy-filled piece of mana. I could feel small parts of it breaking off due to my lack of controls, dissipating back into pure mana as I lost control. Moving from my wrist into the palm of my hand made me lose a quarter, and from that to the start of my index finger, a third. Now, I was left with around half of the original figure and I tried to move my index finger through the table, only for the mana to completely lose control at the last moment. It had gone berserk instantly, wreaking havoc on my hand and finger; with my eyes still being closed, I moved my pure mana to my finger and surrounded the raging spell, slowly putting it out. Adrenaline coursed through me as I opened my eyes and spotted the mangled mess that was my hand. I could physically see the bone of my index finger hanging on by a thread, pus oozed out from some of the orifices that were in my unrecognizable hand. A mix of the stench of blood, and pus-filled the air and made me nauseous. My entire palm was destroyed, leaving behind a chunk of flesh that was completely different from before. My thumb was completely gone, with only half of my pinky and ring finger still being there. The sight and stench got to me, I stood up and vomited all over the floor, table, and couch. It seemed to be rather loudly, too, as Derrick walked back inside to the room in order to be met by me vomiting on the floor with a mangled hand ruined. ¡°Oh, oh my dear God. MEDIC!¡±, Derrick yelled out and looked to have nearly fainted, I could hear boots tapping rhythmically against the ground as it came to me. A male paramedic officer raced inside, followed closely by his female colleague. The woman looked around and noticed my state, along with the book that was on the couch. She rushed over to me, and in a stunning display, started to heal my hand with a warm blue light. He rushed over as well, seemingly understanding what to do after his colleague stopped. She looked to be out of breath as he wrapped my half-repaired hand. ¡°Don''t worry, it''ll heal up soon enough.¡±, she said to me and stood up stoically, only to immediately start being tipsy on her feet ¡°She''s fine, just expended too much energy. Services will come by to clean up, though it will cost more.¡±, he said and helped the other paramedic out of the room. Derrick rushed over to me, masterfully stepping around the blood, pus, and vomit all over the floor. ¡°Are you ok?¡±, he asked me as I sat back down, heaving slowly. ¡°About as good as can be expected, I suppose.¡±, I responded and took a sip of a water bottle. The aching pain was just now starting to set in from the wound, a grimace came over me that wasn''t missed by him. ¡°Do you want painkillers?¡±, he asked, and before I could even respond, he already rummaged through his luggage and brought out a bottle of imphine. ¡°Take it.¡±, he told me and I weakly looked at him, before obliging and popping two pills. It helped with the pain, though I could still feel some of it. I looked at the time, ¡°Six in the morning? I''ll go to sleep.¡±, and then walked to my bed. ¡°Alright, just tell me if you need anything.¡±, he told me before leaving the room. Cleaning services arrived a minute later, and in fifteen minutes, made the room spotless. After they left, the room fell into silence, and in that silence, I slowly drifted back to sleep, my only thought being the pain felt in my hand. As I woke up, I noticed the sun shining through my window, its light hitting my face as the train still roared through a mountain range. I looked down at the time, and my hand which felt better than before, it was now three in the afternoon. Derrick was still sleeping on the couch, and I didn¡¯t feel like waking him up at the moment. My stomach rumbled, it had been a while since I ate anything filling. As I stood up from the bed, I could see that the room was not disturbed at all, besides the textbooks being neatly stacked on the table. I yawned a bit and called up room services, asking for breakfast, and they obliged; I¡¯m surprised that it was still being served at three in the afternoon, but it was nice. A little under a day was left until I would arrive at the border city of Gareth, which was relatively small. A young lady came by and dropped off my breakfast, which was a plate with eggs, sausages, and a cup of black coffee. I slowly ate it as I read through the pages of my book, trying to figure out what I did wrong? My mana supply is plenty enough to perform this spell, so that shouldn¡¯t be the problem. My control over mana was fine, and according to the book, it should be enough. Despite not having concrete measurements related to the magical arts, one can fairly easily compare different spells and symbols. This one is around the same level of difficulty as trying to combust an object, which I could do; albeit, I could do it with some difficulty, but it should still be enough. Derrick woke up when the clock rang four, and he slowly looked around the room. ¡°Oh, I see you¡¯re doing better.¡±, he said as he stood up from the couch, stretching his undoubtedly stiff body. I looked at him weirdly, ¡°Why do you care so much about me?¡± Derrick didn¡¯t answer, but instead picked up a law book and started to read it, clearly signaling that he didn¡¯t wish to answer. I stuffed my head back into my textbooks as I slowly sipped on the coffee, ¡°What are you going to do?¡±, he asked me abruptly after thirty minutes of silence. ¡°What do you mean?¡±, I asked him as I took a sip from my water bottle. ¡°I mean, after you graduate your school. Do you plan on going for a higher education, or not?¡±, he said, surprisingly serious compared to his usual demeanor. ¡°I don¡¯t know, and why do you ask?¡±, I said, looking at his expression and posture that were both more serious than what I was used to. ¡°I¡¯m twenty, and have pursued a higher education, so I¡¯m asking you.¡± I pondered a bit, with the graduation from the Augustus Magical Academy, I can go into any job with the government; a higher education does sound appealing though, and through that, I can get through to someone that¡¯s good at healing. ¡°I¡¯m not too sure, though I guess I¡¯ll go into the next step of my learning.¡±, I told him, and he nodded, ¡°What stop are you getting off at?¡±, bouncing from one topic to the next. ¡°Gareth, you?¡±, I said. He nodded, ¡°I¡¯ll get off in about half a day''s time, I¡¯ll only be here for about a week anyway, and then return to Iabrun.¡±, his thick accent was accentuated when he said Iabrun. ¡°I see, that¡¯s good. Everyone in Iabrun should return by the time of the new Emperor¡¯s coronation.¡±, I said as I looked out the window and saw a forest in the distance with the sunlight shining through the leaves in the distance. ¡°On that, what¡¯s your opinion on Constantine?¡±, he asked me as he opened a bag of chips. ¡°I don¡¯t really mind him, Iabrun has been stable for as long as I can remember, as long as that doesn¡¯t change, it¡¯ll be fine.¡±, I said and pondered about the current state. The current Emperor led Iabrun into the internet age, the phone in my pocket was proof, but it was now time for him to retire. Our country was, at first, an absolute monarchy, but it changed to constitutional about three hundred years ago. ¡°Well, don¡¯t mind me now. I¡¯m still pretty tired and plan to sleep until my stop.¡±, he told me and stretched himself back onto the couch. I ignored it and went back to my books, putting down the one on magic and picking up one on history, The History of Iabrun: Land, was the title of it, even if I was mainly a mage, I shouldn¡¯t shirk on the other subjects. Picking up my pencil, I opened to page 232, and began reading, it was about the immediate aftermath of The Last War. I shook my head to clear any drowsiness inside me, and answered the first question I needed to. I completed my work in about three hours, a stack of papers in front of me as a symbol of the work I did; a yawn came over me and I slowly made my way to the bed, falling asleep shortly thereafter. My eyes shot awake in six hours time, I could feel that the train had stopped, and we were at a stop, I strained my eyes through the darkness and saw the sign read Amurfina. Derrick had long woken up and had packed his things, the small number of things that he had taken out from his suitcase anyway. ¡°Goodbye, and I hope to see you again.¡±, he told me as he walked out of the private cabin, I followed him into the car and to the exit way. The moonlight was thick today, illuminating the entirety of the train stop, and I looked out as he left; his back was shrouded in a thick black, and for some reason, a part of him felt off. I shook my head and went back into my room, picking up my Calculus textbook and homework, it was going to be a long night. Volume 2: Chapter 2 Mike Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 24th day After Derrick left, I put him out of mind and finished up my Calculus homework; it was relatively easy for me and I got it done in around an hour. It was now around two in the morning, and the moonlight readily streamed in from the window. I was still half a day away from Gareth, and from there, it should take me about an hour. I didn¡¯t feel that tired, and after packing up all of my items, I was left alone in an empty room in the middle of the night with nothing to do. A yawn came over me as I looked out of the window, there was nothing new, the old image of the train rushing past mountains came to view. I wasn¡¯t the type to encroach upon others¡¯ time, and besides, it was two in the morning, it was just plain rude. I was done with most of my work, and what was left wasn¡¯t too hard, so I didn¡¯t feel that pressed to do it. The thought of trying to cast another spell flew through my mind and left it a second later, I¡¯d rather not risk that again, the pain was still fresh in my mind. My mom would also worry too much if I came to her covered in wounds and patches for them, so that was out of my options. All I could do was read, so I lit a candle to set the mood and picked up a horror story. All other light sources were off, and it really accentuated the horror aspect of the novel. It was relatively short, at only one hundred pages, and it was written by a pretty famous horror novelist. I took my time, slowly reading it and savoring the words written, along with having some hefty breaks for some food in between. I didn¡¯t know what had gotten into me, but my appetite has been more than ever for the past few days. By the time I finished my book, it was seven in the morning, and I no longer needed the candle to act as a light source. I extinguished it and put down the novel, which I thoroughly enjoyed, back into its original place and sat down on the bed, picking up another novel. This one was far shorter than the other one, barely passing twenty pages; it was about Gawain or some history of it at least. I knew some things about the country, mainly the large amounts of civil strife it has had over the years. My mother doesn¡¯t listen to me, no matter how many times I told her to move to a place farther away from the border. Gareth was pretty small, and as far as I knew, it was just a border city with Iabrun. Gawain was relatively small, about a tenth of the size of Iabrun, but it had a pretty large population, and it was multi-ethnic. Some species simply couldn¡¯t co-exist with each other, leading to flared tensions over the years. The recent terrorist attack just a month ago came to mind, it was led by a Volucris minority in Gawain that attacked a Vulcrum population in a small village in Iabrun. I shook my head again to rid myself of some bad thoughts, mainly what would come of my mothers¡¯ village if such a thing were to happen to her. A worker came to me and gave me breakfast, which was the same as I ate yesterday, a plate with eggs, sausages, and a cup of black coffee. She smiled and left the room, leaving me alone, it was now just about seven hours away from my destination, where I should arrive at three in the afternoon. An involuntary yawn came over me, even the caffeine from the cup of coffee couldn¡¯t stop the drowsiness that started to seep into me. I made sure the door was locked, before closing the curtain on the window, and with that, the entire room was painted in darkness. I made my way onto the bed, making sure my phone was charging and put an alarm to wake me up at two in the afternoon. With that, I yawned again and closed my eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep. A piercing noise awoke me, and as I slowly made my way out of the bed, I saw that it was now two in the afternoon, precisely. This amount of sleep would likely mess with me for a while because I still felt slightly tired. I opened the curtains surrounding the only window and noticed the train speeding past the grassland leading towards Gareth. The green grass rolled past, and I could almost feel the wind flowing past; a forest in the distance was beautiful, with its lush trees, and I could see a small river flowing past. Two children were playing near the river, I could faintly make out some horns atop their head. Perhaps they come from a village in the forest? It wasn''t unheard of, I shook my head and noticed a slightly larger river rushing through the side of the train tracks. It should be the Vereth River, which stretches from Gareth to around a hundred kilometers into Iabrun. There should be no more mountains for the last hour of this journey, and for the next ten minutes, I sat staring outside. A cup of tea in hand, and with the sunlight shining through, it was a peaceful scene. The sunlight hit the black tea, slightly lightening up the dark brown liquid. A server came by and dropped off some sweets I requested, mainly a few cookies and a muffin. I dunked a small cookie into the tea and ate it slowly while closing my eyes. A satisfying feeling emerged from me, as the hot tea slowly made its way into my stomach. The dark-brown cookies were made with ingredients from Gawain, mainly the cocoa from the eastern regions of the country. I sighed and opened my eyes again, the sun shone on the Vereth, giving it a certain beautiful gleam. I laughed a little thinking of my friends back in the Academy who have to continue to do work, hmm, wonder how Hueser is doing? Mrs. Kehlir also came to mind, I didn''t hear much of her after the dilemma was dealt with. I still didn''t find it pleasant to think about me killing him, even if it was the right thing to do. The tea shook off my drowsiness and made me feel more refreshed; I eyed my backpack and slowly took out the last bit of homework I needed to do. It was a science course, which was required, but I didn''t want to go too deep into the harder subjects. My chemistry homework was simple, and I finished it off in around ten minutes while sipping the tea. Another twenty minutes until my stop, I slowly contemplated all I needed to do: all my homework was done, and I''ll be back in Augustus for the coronation of the new Emperor. All that was left for me to do was check up on Ava, and so, I picked up my phone and called her. I picked her up a phone just before I left, it was an old model and relatively cheap. She picked up after a few seconds but didn''t talk first, ¡°How are you?¡±, I inquired. She said, ¡°I''m fine.¡±, succinctly in her quiet voice. That was all the confirmation I needed, and so with that, I hung up and put the matter of Ava at the back of my mind. I stood up and stretched, it was a habit I picked up ever since I was a child, and cleaned up my cup of tea and the plates that had the sweets. I called up a server, who took my dishes with a smile. The rich green grasslands made for a beautiful sight from my window, and I went back to looking outside in order to drive away the boredom. The infrastructure outside started ramping up the closer we got to Gareth, with roads that had cars, and people walking from Gareth. They were likely going to their suburban homes from their jobs, and the grasslands were replaced by sprawling suburbia five minutes later. The train tracks cut through the middle of the suburbs and eventually arrived at Gareth proper. The city was relatively small, and yet, it still was a city with an odd few skyscrapers dotting its skyline. That wasn''t important though, all that really mattered was reaching my mother. The train stopped on the western outskirts of Gareth, which was perfect for me since that was where I wanted to leave the city. I had to backtrack through the suburbia and then go north. While going straight north from the northern side of Gareth would be faster, it didn''t have the infrastructure and I would have to cross the river Vereth along with the forests to reach my small town. As I got off the train, I breathed in some fresh air and made my way out of the station. There was a small store near the station, I walked inside and checked out some water and dried meat. ¡°Going camping?¡±, the cashier asked me, I just nodded my head and left the store quickly. Wasting time here means less time spent with my town, so I walked through the sparsely populated streets towards the main road that led out from the city. There was a highway, but I couldn''t drive in Gawain, so I disregarded it and chose to just walk the full hour. The road I picked was the main one connecting Gareth proper to its suburban outskirts, and from the northern side of the far western outskirts of it was the road I needed. I sighed and started to walk, slowly snacking on the dried meat as I made my way to the first intersection. The roads inside the city were better suited towards walking, but the sidewalk here was nearly non-existent. There was nothing around the road, except grass and the Vereth rushing past in the distance. I kept walking straight forward for another ten minutes before I turned right and then left again. I passed by many houses, along with some stores, and a single school. Most people didn''t think too much of me, and I didn''t take the initiative to talk with anyone. Finally, after another fifteen minutes of mindlessly walking, I reached the road I needed to. The map I had on my phone showed I was in the north-western outskirts of the suburban area. I took the first step along the road, and since this was the only one, I just needed to follow it. The road was only big enough for two cars, and it cut through a forest. A small stream flowed in the depths of the trees, there were no other people here, and I stopped for a second. The scene was beautiful, as I could see a small amphibian slowly playing in the water. I resumed my journey after another minute of admiring nature and kept walking until I noticed another person on the road. They were someone I knew, as the only people who would take this road were those from my town. They noticed me as well and waved at me, ¡°Hey Mike, how''s it been?¡±, he asked me. I recognized him, but I blanked out on his name and couldn''t think of anything. ¡°Woah, the big boy who went to Augustus can''t even remember people from his own town? I''m hurt.¡±, he said jokingly as we walked down the road. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°I''m sorry.¡±, I said, and he just smiled, ¡°No worries, I''m Fischer, but you don''t have to worry about me.¡± Only a few hundred people were in my town, and so, we were a fairly tight-knit community that knew another. My departure for Augustus, and my magical talents, were pretty common news for the people there. It wasn''t surprising that he remembered me, ¡°What are you doing out here, anyway?¡±, I asked him. ¡°Just taking my walk.¡±, he told me and continued, ¡°I see you''re going back, well, I suppose I''ll catch you later.¡± He turned around and started to walk away from me, something was wrong, but I didn''t wish to pursue it. A walk twenty minutes away from the town was a bit weird, but I shook my head and continued to walk. I didn''t see another person until fifteen minutes later, a pair of pretty young twins were playing around in the forest. They noticed me, but didn''t say anything and instead resumed their own game near the stream. I could see the buildings in the distance and quickened my pace, arriving in three minutes. This area of Iabrun wasn''t guarded heavily, and the border was fairly friendly. I didn''t see a border guard, despite crossing into Iabrun and its territory. A smile came over me as I looked at my town, it looked the same as ever. The houses were the same, old and with charm, and I recognized almost everyone. It didn''t take long for someone to notice me, a childhood friend of mine ran up to me and said, ¡°Hey, hey Mike, how''s it going? So good to see you.¡± She had a large smile on her face, and one could see toned muscles from all the work she did every day. ¡°I''m fine, thank you.¡±, I said and started to walk to my mother''s house. ¡°Oh come on, you won''t even hug me? It''s been a while since you came back here.¡±, she said, slightly teasingly. I smiled back at her, ¡°Oh fine, come here.¡±, and the two of us embraced. It felt good to come back here, and as we let each other go, I caught a glimpse of my mother''s house. ¡°Oh well, I''ll see you later. Have to get back to work.¡±, she said and walked off, leaving me alone. I shook my head and looked back at my mother''s house, it was old, and yet, beautiful. The wood used for it was made from the surrounding trees, and it was two stories tall; renovating it so it can have electricity and hot running water was expensive, though. I stopped at the entrance and looked at the dark-red wooden door, it blended in with the darker wood used everywhere else. My hand slowly lifted, knocking on the door three times, slowly and firmly. ¡°Come in.¡±, I heard that voice in person for the first time in a long time. The door was unlocked, and I gently pushed it open, meticulously making sure that I did nothing wrong. I took off my shoes and put them to the side, walking up to my mother¡¯s room with a smile on my face. My backpack was slightly heavy, so I left it downstairs, and I could see the same corridor I used to run through when I was a child. A rush of nostalgia hit me as the scene unfolded over me, the vision of me rushing through this corridor was in my memory. Shaking my head a bit, I slowly unlocked her door and was met with a room that looked exactly as I last remembered. Not one bit of it changed, not the books on the shelf, not the cupboard, not the desk, not the table, and not her. She didn''t look any worse for wear, and instead, her face glowed with happiness as she saw me. ¡°What a surprise, you said you''d come in another day.¡±, she said gently, her smooth voice bringing me back to the past. I smiled at her, ¡°I thought it''d be a nice surprise.¡±, and then walked up to her. I fell into an embrace with her that soon fell out a second later, ¡°How are you?¡±, she asked me. I smiled and sat down in a chair with my back ramrod straight. ¡°I''m doing good.¡±, I answered succinctly, and then scrutinized her. She looked to be the same, but I knew that she was physically weaker than the last time I saw her. It wasn''t by a huge amount, but I could just sense that she wasn''t as strong as she used to be. The silence was broken up by her coughing, I stood up to try to help her, but she just pushed me away. ¡°How long has this been happening?¡±, I asked her. She frowned and replied, ¡°don''t worry about it.¡±, to which, ¡°I will worry about it, I''m your son. I have a right to worry, how long has this been happening?¡± She didn''t hide it this time, ¡°For around three weeks.¡±, and then looked away. ¡°Have you been to a doctor?¡±, I asked her, and she nodded, ¡°I have, but nothing works. I even went to one in Gingalain, but there has been nothing.¡± I kneeled beside her bed, with a worried look on my face, her condition deteriorated, but it still wasn''t horrible. ¡°I can take you to a doctor in Augustus, please.¡±, I implored her once more, but once more, I got the same answer. ¡°Oh, don''t worry about me, I''ll get better soon enough. Just focus on your studies.¡±, she told me. ¡°Go have some fun now that you¡¯re here, don¡¯t worry about me.¡±, she added after a few seconds. ¡°Besides, I have this little guy with me.¡±, she said while picking up a Hiddle, it was a fairly common rodent in the grasslands of Iabrun. ¡°Where did you find this?¡±, I asked her, and she shook her head, ¡°Audrey¡¯s little brother found it, it¡¯s just too adorable, isn¡¯t it?¡± The rodent had two tusks, and eight legs, but sat obediently in her hands, ¡°Don¡¯t you worry about this little guy, Audrey brought it to a vet in Gingalain, and they said it was just fine.¡± The Hiddle, with its eight legs, slowly got off the bed and made its way to me, sitting down on the floor. A shiver ran through me as I saw him move around, rodents were never my favorite kind of animal. ¡°You do know it¡¯s venomous, right?¡±, I asked her as the Hiddle made its way out of the door. She laughed and shook her head, ¡°Stop worrying, will you? You were always a bit of a worrywart ever since you were young, just go.¡± The smile on her face faded after another coughing fit came up, ¡°Some of the kids here want to see you perform magic, you know how much it means to them, you can go.¡±, she spoke with some difficulties. After I didn¡¯t move for another few seconds, her look grew tender, and started to speak more seriously. ¡°I know that you want to care for me, but really, I am fine right now. It must have been a long journey, go rest up.¡±, I knew she wouldn¡¯t take no for an answer, so with a sigh, I left her room. The Hiddle was patiently waiting outside, its two little tusks looked cute on it; even then, the rodent was still creepy, and something about it walking with its eight legs made a shiver crawl down my spine. I made my way downstairs, and took a sip of water, before making my way to my room. When I entered, the entire room looked to be the same, and yet, it was clean. The cupboard, my bed, and everything else in the room was in the same place as it was when I first left, but it was spotless. My old clothes in my dresser were clean and folded neatly, I tried one on, and they still fit me like a glove. Before I went out, I took a hot shower, it felt weird to not have one for a few days. With the hot water running down my back, I could finally feel a little peace and quiet. Augustus was nice and all, but nothing beat this little town and everything in it. I made my way out and put on some casual clothes, and with that, I walked out of my home and inhaled the fresh forest air. With a smile on my face, I set out to find Audrey, who was likely working with her father. I made my way through the town, which barely changed, with practiced ease, and found her taking a break outside her house. Her father was a blacksmith, and she followed in his footsteps, though they weren¡¯t as popular as before, collectors for armors still existed. ¡°What commission are you doing now?¡±, I asked her as I sat on a chair beside her. She lit up at the mention of her work, ¡°Some rich guy in Gingalain wants a sword, and he specifically requested it from us. Apparently, he¡¯s my father¡¯s old friend or something of the sort, but I don¡¯t care. All that matters to me is this sword, and it is a beautiful work of art.¡±, she said. ¡°Hey, what do you know? Someone still likes swords now.¡±, I said jokingly. She laughed and shook her head, ¡°Business is down these past few years, I worry that it won¡¯t last.¡± She was comfortable talking on these matters with me, ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll go to Gingalain to get a job, it isn¡¯t too far away anyway.¡± I sighed and asked her, ¡°Do you ever plan on going to a University, or College?¡± She had been working ever since she was thirteen years old, and barely graduated from high school just a year ago. Audrey looked at me and shook her head, ¡°I¡¯ll leave that to you, Mr. too good to stay here, I¡¯m happy just working.¡± I saw the Hiddle in the distance, and speaking on that, ¡°I heard your little brother found a Hiddle in the wild?¡± Audrey laughed and nodded, ¡°Yeah, he found it alright. Not only that, he found a giant lizard too.¡±, ¡°How big are we talking here?¡±, I asked her. She thought for a second and said, ¡°About five meters, if I had to say.¡± ¡°What? No way, you must be imagining things. Where is it?¡±, I asked Audrey, and she shook her head, ¡°My little brother is probably out playing with it, just check around, it¡¯s pretty hard to miss.¡± Just as she finished talking, her father yelled for her to return, she quickly said bye to me and raced back inside to finish her work. I stood up and started to walk around the town, trying to find this lizard, and as she said, it was pretty hard to miss. The five-meter-long lizard was laying down on the ground at the outskirts of the town, with Audrey¡¯s little brother sitting down next to it. ¡°Isn¡¯t it dangerous?¡±, I asked him, to which he opened his eyes, ¡°No he wouldn¡¯t hurt a fly, let alone a human.¡± ¡°Well, where¡¯d you find it?¡±, I said as the lizard was soundly sleeping, he answered, ¡°Just ten minutes out from here, he was hurt so I took him in. Don¡¯t worry, I even took him to the vet in Gareth, she said it was fine.¡± I had an inkling that it was a lie, but I didn¡¯t care as long as it didn¡¯t hurt anyone, and by the looks of it, it was fine. The lizard dwarfed both me and him in size, its body having two little nubs on its back. It faintly reminded me of the wyrm I saw in the book, but I shook my head and put it out of my mind, I mean, after all, what were the chances of stumbling upon an extinct species? ¡°Could you show me some magic?¡±, he stood up and asked me with a glow in his eyes. This town was small, and I suppose there weren¡¯t many things to entertain oneself with. I acquiesced to his demand and sat down, slowly opening my palm and a small amount of water came out, soaking his head with it. ¡°Hey, why¡¯d you do that for?¡±, he asked indignantly, but I didn¡¯t pay attention to that. The lizard woke up and looked at me with his eyes, eyes that held inside them vast intelligence that could rival humans. They looked at me for a second, and in that second, I could feel it studying me, appraising me in a way that made me feel naked; the eyes then closed again, removing that feeling from me entirely. What was that? Volume 2: Chapter 3 Wyrm Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 25th day A new arrival came into the small town a day ago, he seemed to be familiar with the entire place. I could feel the power he held inside him, it was more than the entire rest of this place combined; he was dangerous, I could feel that clearly. Whether or not he could seriously injure me was up in the air, but I didn¡¯t wish to risk it. After the incident yesterday, he left a minute later and left me to my own devices. He usually hung out around his mother''s house, Tiflis was in front of me at the moment and was scurrying around. ¡°Do we need to go into the forest for this?¡±, he said with a scared tone, it was now right before midnight in the small forest surrounding the village. The two of us didn¡¯t have a real reason to stick around for this long, but there also wasn¡¯t anything compelling us to leave. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, there should be nothing here that¡¯s stronger than me.¡±, I assured him, but that was a lie; I couldn¡¯t be sure that there wasn¡¯t anything here stronger than me. He visibly calmed down and sat down, ¡°What do you think about that new arrival?¡±, he asked me and gnawed on a small root. His small body sat next to my side, ¡°He¡¯s strong, but I¡¯m not too sure.¡± Tiflis coughed a bit and replied, ¡°As strong as the bird?¡± The memory of that encounter resurfaced in my mind, the bird was the strongest thing I saw so far. ¡°No, he isn¡¯t that strong, just don¡¯t cross him on things.¡±, I said, and he went back to gnawing on the root. ¡°Why are we even staying here?¡±, he asked as he finished eating, ¡°Is there a reason for us to leave?¡±, I asked, and he shook his head. My mind briefly flitted back to my mission, but seeing as I didn¡¯t have a concrete path to follow, might as well stay here. ¡°Well, what do we do now?¡±, he asked me, seeking to get my advice. ¡°Try to gather as much information as possible from them, if you can, get me a map.¡±, I asked and then picked up a small bird from a nest near us. Tiflis nodded at me as I crunched down on the bird, its bones shattering in my mouth, with its blood flowing down onto the floor; it tasted good. Tiflis ran away from me soon, returning to the small town and leaving me in the forest under the moonlight. It cascaded down from the treetops and made its way to the forest floor, where I could see some small insects running around. It reminded me of the larger ones I fought in the redwoods, though those were much more powerful. My large frame was in a small opening now, with the full brunt of moonlight hitting my scales, they had a slight shine to them. I didn¡¯t feel sleepy, and I was still slightly hungry, so, I stood up and made my way deeper into the forest to find some more food. A small clearing in the forest was in front of me, with a stream passing through it. Large amounts of small amphibians were rolling around in the water, some of it splashing onto the moist bank. Looking past those, there was a small nest of birds; they were unlike the one in the redwoods, these were small and non-threatening. They had black feathers with a white tuft around their necks. Between the amphibians or these, one was clearly better, so without delay, I made my way to the nest and quickly grabbed the bird tending to it. Another one pecked at me, but it couldn¡¯t do anything to my scales. The bird in my hand struggled for a second, it frantically tried to leave my grip, but I killed it soon enough and grabbed the flying one. It, too, died soon enough, leaving me with two small corpses and a nest filled with five eggs. Eating it didn¡¯t take me too long, and soon, a bit of my hunger was sated. A yawn came over me, and I didn¡¯t desire to sleep in the woods. This area was around a half-hour away from the village, so with a leisurely pace, I started to make my way back. Soon, I stumbled upon a small opening in the woods with a rancid smell, something about it attracted me. I stayed in the tree line outside the place and peered into the clearing, the smell was a mix of a rotten corpse and something more. Seeing that nothing else was around here, I walked out of the tree line into the clearing and made my way to the source of the smell. In front of me was a corpse, and befittingly, it looked rotten. The pungent smell was several times stronger the closer I got to it, and its dark flesh blended in with the undergrowth where there was no moonlight. Its decay got to the point where I couldn¡¯t exactly tell what it was, despite trying everything at my disposal. From what I could see, its bones were relatively small compared to mine, and some small maggots infested its orifices. I stuck my claw into its main body, little resistance made its way and some of its diseased flesh fell off the bone. Despite the smell of rot infesting the air, I felt something familiar about this thing. It was as if I already saw one of these before, but nothing came to my mind, certainly nothing that looked this diseased. Shaking my head, I turned my body around, only for something to slowly caress my back left leg. A shiver ran down my spine, and I saw the small pile of bones start to move; without any delay, I squashed it immediately and waited to see what would happen next. The bones were crushed into a fine powder, and its flesh sank down into the undergrowth below me, but nothing happened after that. It was as if it never even touched me, the air around this place stank of its rot, so I quickly took off from it. Ten minutes later, its stink still hadn¡¯t left me, and the surrounding area looked unfamiliar. The moonlight cascaded slowly onto the surrounding area, so it wasn¡¯t too hard for me to see where I was, but nothing about this area looked familiar. Did I take the wrong turn somewhere? The best plan now seemed to be to backtrack to that area and go from there, even if a part of me was entirely unwilling to go back and face that abomination. It didn¡¯t feel right to see it in the same world as me, something about it felt off, and it wasn¡¯t just because it was a rotten corpse. It held something about it that felt¡­ artificial in a way, but I couldn¡¯t put my finger on it. I followed the route I took, and with a bit of assistance from the rotten smell it exuded, I found it. The clearing was the same as ever, and except for a few ruffles from where I ran past, it was mostly undisturbed. The trees around here were relatively small, but still large enough to completely cover my frame. I scratched the trunk of one with my claw, a large mark was now born on the tree. Before I could turn around, a small thing that stank with the smell of the corpse launched itself at me. It held a green glow in its eyes, and its flesh was hanging on by a thread to its bones. The thing landed on my back, and before it could do anything, I shook it off and picked it up with my claws. The flesh melted away from its frame immediately, leaving me with the bones only, and they didn¡¯t look like anything I knew. The thing was vigorously trying to leave and tried its best by scratching, kicking, and biting whatever it could. Despite my efforts, I couldn¡¯t deduce anything from him, so I stomped it into the ground and broke all of its bones. Slowly, but surely, it lost its energy and slowed down, succumbing eventually when all of its bones were ground into a fine powder. I looked around and noticed the area in which I first came here, I followed that way ¡ª periodically scratching trees just in case I got lost again ¡ª and arrived in an area I definitely knew. It was only fifteen minutes away from the village from this small pond, this forest was littered with small bodies of water all throughout it. I made my way up to the pond and took a sip from it, unlike a stream, the water here sat placidly and tasted a bit funny. I shook my head and drank my fill before making my way back to the village in due haste, still scratching the trees in case I get lost, though that wasn¡¯t likely around here. Around two minutes away from the village, I stopped scratching the trees and slowly walked into the village, Tiflis was fluttering about near the tree line and stopped what he was doing when he saw me. ¡°Where were you?¡±, he asked me in a nervous voice, ¡°What, I just came back, what is it?¡±, I inquired, and he nervously looked around. ¡°Something about tonight just doesn¡¯t feel right, I just feel like something bad¡¯s going to happen.¡±, my ears pricked up at his response. From what little time we spent together, I could gather that he was above average when it came to making predictions. Just as Tiflis started to make his way to me, a weird feeling came over me as I made my way to the entrance of the village. It was where that guy came in before, Tiflis followed behind me, adhering as close as he could; when we got there, there was nothing particularly wrong about the area. However, soon, a familiar stench hit me from the forest to my right, Tiflis seemed to have smelt it as well. With a slow gaunt, I made my way over to the right and saw a¡­ thing with the exact same frame as I saw deeper in the forest. ¡°What is that thing?¡±, Tiflis whispered to me, but I stayed quiet. Unlike the ones deeper in the forest, this one didn¡¯t attack me immediately, but instead, it walked slowly along the forest near the road. I hadn¡¯t made my way down the road to see where it goes, but it¡¯s probably a larger city. It made its way down the road and left us to our senses, Tiflis turned around and said, ¡°There¡¯s another one.¡±, in a meek voice. On the other side of the road, there were two more of these things, and were walking the same way. We made our way, slowly, back into the village and I made my way back to the boy¡¯s house. Him, his father, and his older sister were sleeping as far as I could tell; Tiflis ran back to the lone mother¡¯s house as I sat down in the yard of these people. The moon shone brightly in the village, and my drowsiness came back to me after the adrenaline wore off. I closed my eyes as I rid my mind of anything that could stop me from sleeping. When I woke up, the sun shone brightly on the ground, the events of the night came back to me, but I put it out of my mind. The blacksmith was still working, but I could see that the boy and his sister weren¡¯t around here. A child was walking around with their mother and father near me, his eyes lit up as soon as he saw me, ¡°Woooow, so cool.¡±, he said to his parents. I stood up and stretched my body, my tail hovered briefly in the air. Some soreness was still with me, and hunger came over me. Tiflis was already up and running about, he made his way into the forest, and so did I. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Tiflis sighed and said, ¡°Why are we even here?¡±, he seemed to be pretty shaken up by the whole ordeal last night. I shook my head and instead started to comb the earth, Tiflis shook his head and walked behind me. After a second, I could feel something under a patch of reddish-brown dirt; my hand quickly dug into the area, picking up a small rodent and killing it. Tiflis looked away as I ate, and he said, ¡°What do you plan on doing?¡± I thought for a second and couldn¡¯t think of anything, Tiflis continued on, ¡°Well, while you were sleeping. I found a map.¡± A smile came over me, Tiflis ran back to the village as I stayed in the area. A few minutes later, he came here with a map of the local area. It wasn¡¯t a detailed map of the entire world by any means, but it could give me some sense of direction. We were in Iabrun, and as far as I could tell, this was a border city with the country of Gawain. The road we saw yesterday went to a small city named Gareth, we were near the Vereth River and in a relatively peaceful part of Iabrun. A thought came to me, I obviously need to become a dragon in order to do anything of real importance, but how to get there exactly escaped me. I knew I needed to keep killing things, but were there other ways to get what I wanted? Besides, I needed to kill a whole load more things at my current pace if I wanted to evolve again, and that should be a top priority. However, that came with risks, the thought of the bird came back to me, and it sent a shiver down my spine. I didn¡¯t want to be hunted down by another thing like him, but it seemed to be a necessity for me to be met with that kind of danger. Not to mention that if I hunted down everything in an area, it would destroy the local ecosystem and alert some people from the country to something abnormal in the area. I was stuck, and looking at this map didn¡¯t help me, going into a city filled with sentient species was something out of my options immediately. I got extremely lucky with this area, and testing that again in a city doesn¡¯t inspire confidence in me. I couldn¡¯t get to the rest of Gawain without an arduous journey through the mountains of this land, and as I looked at the large mountains in the distance, I shook my head and put it out of my mind. Tiflis, who was sitting around and doing nothing, was also a worry of mine. Even if I didn¡¯t want to admit it, I did grow a bit fond of him, and I didn¡¯t wish to just leave him here or let him come with me to die. My fighting capability would be hindered severely if I had to protect him as well, so leaving him here or elsewhere seemed to be the best choice, but a large part of me was unwilling to just leave him. My best bet seemed to travel alongside the Vereth River and grow my power through the forests and plains surrounding it, but even still, it would be far more dangerous than the surrounding areas that were relatively tame. Not to mention the sightings that other, sentient and civilization-bearing species, would have of me if I stuck around the Vereth River, which seemed to be infested with tourist destinations and such. Another sigh came over, I was stuck in a situation where I didn¡¯t know what to do, and with no perfect options to quickly grow my strength. My mind flitted back to the Almosanguine, the underground city, and the blue haze around the grasslands, but they were far from here. Both the redwoods, swamps, and grasslands were far, far away from this place; they were on the other side of the country of Iabrun, and seeing that it was a huge area, it could take me years to get back there. ¡°Tiflis, could you go see what the brother and the sister are doing?¡±, he nodded and left me with the map. I couldn¡¯t stay here forever, but I didn¡¯t want to leave its relative safety; a small plan came to my mind which seemed to be my best course of action. If I stayed here until I became my desired level of twenty, and then go to the Vereth to get myself a little area, then it should work. Tiflis came back rather quickly, ¡°The sister and new guy are walking around the village, the brother is playing with some of his own friends.¡± I nodded and walked back to the village, mainly staying around the area of the blacksmith. After half an hour, in which Tiflis left me to go to the mother¡¯s house, the boy with two of his friends came up to me. Their appearance was nothing exceptional, but the boy had a glowing look of pride on his face, ¡°Look, I nursed this guy back up to health. That¡¯s right, I did it by myself with no other help.¡± He came up to me with full confidence, and while it felt disgusting and degrading, I let him pat my side scales. The two others looked skeptical at first, but after the display, quickly came up to me and patted my sides as well. ¡°You see, he wouldn¡¯t hurt a fly. Let alone me.¡±, the boy said with confidence, ¡°Really? My sister said she saw him eat a bird.¡± That caught my attention, but then I remembered that I snacked on one near the village last week, so I quickly pushed it out of my mind and closed my eyes. Oh, how amazing would it be if I could raze this entire place to the ground, but alas, I¡¯m still a bit too weak for me to go around and do that to a nation¡¯s citizens. My mind started to wander as the three talked about random things, that blue haze came back to my mind and I released I got no concrete answer for it. Perhaps I¡¯ll go back there eventually to see what it was all about, but for now, I was only worried about the present. They laughed and giggled around me, the boy left and only his two friends stayed behind. Once he was sufficiently far away, their expressions changed, ¡°Isn¡¯t he weird?¡±, one said and the other nodded. ¡°Why are we still friends with him?¡±, the other said and the first one nodded, ¡°To get to his sister, of course, why else?¡± The two laughed and looked around, it was of no concern to me, but I felt that it was cowardly to talk bad about a person behind their backs, and it was an insult to my standing to do such an act in front of me. ¡°You heard about Mike, right? Apparently, he can do magic.¡±, one said, and the other nodded. Hearing their voice made me angry a little, and so, I flicked my tail on the ground and sprayed some dirt near me onto them. The two were now fully covered in dust and dirt, they looked surprised and incredulous. I could see some thought of action forming in one of their minds, so I stood up and intentionally exaggerated the size of my body, baring my teeth in the process. Their idea was nipped in the bud, and as I went back to my position on the ground, they quickly left. Once they were at a distance from me, one said, ¡°We don¡¯t tell this to anyone, imagine how it would look if we ran away from a lizard.¡± The other one nodded tentatively, ¡°Just don¡¯t go near him.¡±, the first one said and walked off. The boy came back to me, but couldn¡¯t see where his friends were, so he left shortly after and left me to my own devices. I felt particularly lazy today, and the thought of doing any work didn¡¯t excite me in any way. If I wanted to, I could survive a couple of weeks without any food, though it wouldn¡¯t be enjoyable, so one day of not hunting should be fine. Mike was the name of the new guy, interesting, he was strong, but I couldn¡¯t tell whether he was strong enough to seriously injure or kill me. I looked around and noticed him and the girl coming back into the town, huh, speak of him, and he appears I guess. He said goodbye and went back to his mother¡¯s house as the girl came over to the blacksmith¡¯s house near me, ¡°Audrey, it¡¯s done.¡±, I heard her father call her over and noticed the artistic sword that was in his hands as he left the office he has. It was a small sword, with an inscription on the side of the hilt, with a blue and white pommel. The blade had a white gleam with no blemishes upon its surface and an artisanal pattern on the flat side of the blade; it was definitely not meant to be used in an actual battle, but instead, it was an art piece meant to be looked at. The two looked proud of their work, ¡°I¡¯ll be out for a few days, take care of your brother, will you? I have to deliver this to him personally.¡± She nodded, with her eyes lingering on the sword for a little. She went into her house and took out a quilt of sorts, she put it down near the blacksmith and sat down upon it. Her father got ready rather quickly, heading off in about ten minutes, it seems like he was already ready for this early. I didn¡¯t wish to do any work, and there was nothing else for me to do, so I closed my eyes and tried to sleep. I could feel the ground around me and noticed the girl looking at me, I opened my eyes again and stared at her, but she looked back at her phone. With a snort, I once again closed my eyes and fell asleep. When I woke up, it was already dusk and I could feel the soreness in my entire body, a simple stretch helped that immensely and I noticed that there wasn¡¯t anyone near me. Tiflis wasn¡¯t around me either, but I now had a craving for some food; even if I was lazy, this shouldn¡¯t be too hard to do. I walked into the forest and went into the clearing that Tiflis and I use, it was thirty minutes away from the town, so I shouldn¡¯t have killed the things here. I noticed that the number of animals surrounding the town has gradually reduced, perhaps they¡¯re running away from me. Another yawn came over me as I noticed the sun slowly setting down in the distance, the last light from the sun blending into the sky and trees around me. Suddenly, I noticed a smell similar to last night, it wasn¡¯t as strong though. My curiosity was piqued, so I stood up from the area and started to follow the stench, it took me about three minutes until the scent from it started to become exponentially stronger. There was a large clearing, it would take me about two minutes to run from this side of the forest to the other. It was flat, with a light smattering of rocks and a few trees dotted around the area, but it certainly wasn¡¯t as densely covered as the forest. The stench was strongest there, and I could see a human perfectly in the middle of the clearing. He was sitting down, his face was gaunt and with a yellow complexion; black flesh covered his legs and part of his arms. I slowly made my way around the tree line of the clearing, ¡°Who-Who¡¯s there?¡±, he said, sensing that I was there. He didn¡¯t stand up, but instead looked around with a manic ferocity, his eyes were bloodshot and red with mucus rushing down his nose. ¡°Don¡¯t, don¡¯t come closer.¡±, he yelled out into the forest, but I ignored it and walked out into the open after seeing that he had nothing on him and no magic was sensed. He looked at me and gulped, ¡°Nice lizard, nice lizard. You don¡¯t have to kill me, right?¡±, but I put what he was saying out of my mind and came up to him. His legs were fully converted by what seemed to be necrosis, and he couldn¡¯t move them, his thin face and bloodshot eyes looked at me with abject terror. I made my way ever nearer to him, and as soon as he was close enough, he tried to bite down hard on my scales but broke his teeth in the process. Instinctively, I slapped him away and his flesh fell down with no resistance from his body. The bones and rotten flesh on the ground now mingled together into some sort of amalgam of the two, it looked suspiciously similar to what we saw yesterday. I crushed it instantly and tried to remember why it felt so familiar, and then, it hit me; my eyes darted back to the area of the village with apprehension. Volume 2: Chapter 4 Wyrm Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 26th day It was now around 2:00 am, at least that is what I could gather from the position of the moon in the sky. I didn¡¯t choose to return to the village after what I discovered, my eyes darted back to it and the small thing in front of me. While I wasn¡¯t completely sure about my assumption, it was my best bet on what was occurring exactly; my perception around me grew exponentially, and the darker spots underneath the forest underbrush seemed to become much darker. I shook my head a little to remove these thoughts and as I looked back, nothing looked to have changed. My mind thought back on my plan to go to the Vereth after evolving here, and Tiflis who had to come with me. I had two options in front of me, go back to the village and take Tiflis to go with me now, or wait until morning and see if anything happens. As far as I remembered on the map, the Vereth was a decently large river, so there has to be some secluded spot that I can rule over for the time being. The only problem was that I didn¡¯t know the exact extent of my power compared to others, I had too little a reference. There was a divide in the opponents I¡¯ve faced so far, either extremely powerful or much weaker than I am. There was no middle ground, as yet, nothing that I could directly compare to, let alone test to see my place in the world. One encounter brought me back to those plains near the Redwoods, but still, I don¡¯t think I was in any actual danger during that fight. The venom was horrible, but the physical aspects of that thing weren¡¯t the best. A sigh escaped me as I kept thinking further about my situation, which was unreasonable in its difficulty. The Almosanguine came back to my mind for a second, but I had no idea where she was as of the movement, and I didn¡¯t have the authority to order her around. Tiflis¡­should be asleep, safe, and sound in the village right now. I was struck with indecision as the two plans floated around my mind, the pile of crushed bones and debris near me didn¡¯t help the atmosphere. Tiflis was the final push needed for me to get up and go back to the village, I would rather have some deliberation with him than wallow in this area for too much longer. I quickly made my way back to the small village and seeing that everyone was asleep, I dragged myself to the area near the blacksmith. In the morning, Tiflis would get up, and we can talk about it then. The hunger in my stomach briefly reminded me of my goal for going into the forest in the first place, but that could wait. Eating was more of a luxury than a necessity for my body, so with quite a lot of apprehension, I closed my eyelids and drifted away. The familiar soreness whenever I woke up came and went as quickly as ever, the light of the sun shone down on the village and my scales. Looking at the people around calmed me down, nothing seemed to have happened, as there was no sign of worry on anyone¡¯s faces. They were all the same, with a slight smile as they greeted one another before going back to tend to whatever daily necessities they had. It was peaceful, though I couldn¡¯t say I was particularly envious of such a lifestyle. Something deep in my bones opposed living like this, the peaceful life wasn¡¯t compatible with what I was. A Dragon, something that - according to those old memories anyway - is fundamentally opposed to this. Shaking my head, I looked around and noticed Tiflis also coming to me, his little legs rapidly dashing across the field until he made his way to the tree line that I was at. He looked up at me and didn¡¯t speak, so I took the initiative, ¡°How are you feeling?¡±, he shook his little head to signify that he felt fine. ¡°What do you want to do?¡±, I continued on, and he replied, ¡°I don¡¯t really know, eat I guess.¡± Ah, right, the gnawing in my stomach reminded me of that, but I quickly shook it off. ¡°No, I mean our plan. Do you want to leave now, or wait a while longer?¡± He contemplated as he scurried around in the nearby shrubs to find anything to eat, and as he took a fallen nut of some kind, ¡°You¡¯re more of the type to choose this stuff, what do you want?¡± He started to eat his nut and left me to ponder on this by myself again. What can I say, except Tiflis is as unreliable as ever when it comes to decision-making. ¡°Are you scared of the Vereth?¡±, I asked him as he gobbled down the remainder of the nut. He shook his head as he continued to look around and found another, larger nut to eat. With evident glee in his voice, ¡°No, not really. I have to follow you anyway, don''t I?¡± A laugh followed as he joyfully ate up, ¡°I want to give you a choice¡±, he looked up at me with a slight narrowing of his eyes, ¡°You can either follow me to the Vereth or stay here and live peacefully.¡± I decided on going to the river while we were talking, the apprehension of the happenings that go on at night, along with the enjoyment of getting stronger made me choose it. He slowly walked around the area again, looking at the ground and periodically eating an insect, Tiflis looked up and looked at me before saying, ¡°Why are you giving me this choice?¡± ¡°The Vereth is dangerous, so I was wondering if you were willing to come with me.¡±, the reply came naturally, but he shook his head, ¡°You aren¡¯t the type to give me a choice, I still remember what happened when we first met, so I¡¯m asking you why?¡± The urge to sigh came over me, but I suppressed it and replied, ¡°Because I¡¯m not sure if you were willing to go, so I asked you this.¡± He shook his head and looked down on the earthen floor, scrutinizing it in hopes of catching another insect to bite. ¡°I¡¯ll follow you.¡± I could feel that he wanted to ask me more, seemingly not satisfied with what I said, but refrained from it and opted to follow me. ¡°When are we leaving?¡±, the question came right when he pounced on a twenty-centimeter-long beetle of some sort, slurping it down, exoskeleton and all. The idea of reaching level 20 came to me, but as I looked at the interface, my confidence in that plan being feasible dropped tremendously. ¡°Do you still have the map?¡±, he asked me, and I shook my head to remove the idea. I nodded to answer his question and walked to the area I last left it in. Some soil was on it, but it was quickly shaken off. Tiflis stared at the map of the area and looked at me, ¡°The Vereth is relatively large, and it''s a bit away from here. It should take us about a day to reach the banks of the Vereth.¡± He nodded and understood what I said, ¡°Huh, there are even islands in the river.¡± The map showed that some land was present on the river, especially in the areas where it was the widest. The largest river island was present where the river was the widest. The island¡¯s width was around fourteen kilometers according to the map, with the river being around thirty kilometers across, including the island. ¡°Why don¡¯t we go here?¡±, I told Tiflis as I pointed at this large island. He asked me, ¡°Can you even swim?¡± Ah¡­, that problem evaded my mind perfectly as I looked at the map. We would have to swim across at least five kilometers of water just to reach the island. Not to mention five kilometers, I¡¯m not sure if I can even swim fifty meters. ¡°You can¡¯t, can you?¡±, Tiflis asked me and I nodded. He shook his head and pointed at another, much smaller river island that was far closer to the shore. It was around four kilometers across. "It would be less dangerous as well.", he added on. I nodded and looked at the map, it was only about thirty meters away from the shore and should be something that we can swim to. ¡°Can you swim?¡±, I asked Tiflis, and he nodded confidently. Good, that would mean only one of us needs to learn. ¡°Is swimming hard?¡±, I asked him as I pondered on where to put this map. It would definitely be very beneficial if I could carry it around, but I didn¡¯t know how to. Tiflis shook his head as we both walked back to the village, this map was of great importance and I needed to keep it. When we came back, the entire area was still as peaceful as when we left it. A small length of rope caught the corner of my eye, it was in a shed near the blacksmith''s house. Tiflis caught what I was looking at and, without me needing to, he ran to it and ran back with it quickly. His eight legs carried him swiftly, and the small rope that was right around a meter was in his mouth. He dropped it and I looked at the entire length of the rope, it was slightly smaller than Tiflis. Wait¡­, Tiflis was less than a meter when we first met, he can still grow? I quickly checked on him, and he was now level twenty, though that only confused me more. I didn¡¯t realize it before, but why does he have levels even though he doesn¡¯t have the system. It was weird, but even if it was, I couldn¡¯t do anything about it for now. I shook my head to clear my mind and looked at the rope and the map in my hand, it was relatively small, so I took the rope and picked Tiflis up easily. Ever so carefully, I put the map on Tiflis¡¯ back and wrapped the rope around his body, tightening it and making sure the map was secure on his back. ¡°This feels¡­ degrading¡±, he said. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. I laughed at his new look, ¡°You can¡¯t fight anyway, you gotta be of some use.¡± He found some humor in the situation and laughed with me, looking around and then heading in the direction of the river. I looked at the village behind me, it was peaceful and the sun''s warmth shined readily onto the village; it was going to be the last time I was here for a long while. My thoughts of this place were mixed, a sigh escaped me as I quickly looked back into the forest and followed quickly after Tiflis. I didn¡¯t know what to make of my current situation, but I suppose I should just keep following what I was born to do. Sunlight fell through the canopy over us and I quickly caught up to Tiflis, who even while briskly walking with his eight feet, was slower than I am. The size difference was too great, and he was slower than me despite exerting more effort. He looked up at me and grumbled, ¡°Stupid big lizard.¡±, as if he was cursing the entire universe for his small size. I picked him up and put his body on my back, it slowed me down a small amount, but I made up for it and hastened my pace, so I could reach the river earlier. It came to me that it was a long while since I killed anything large enough to stimulate me, my entire body felt like it was itching to grow stronger. Tiflis was surprised when he was on my back, but he snorted slightly and settled down immediately. I could feel his small feet hanging onto the scales on my back. Not having to walk made him much more talkative, ¡°Say, why do you want to go to this river anyway? Why not just stay back there?¡± I shook my head, ¡°Do you want to deal with whatever is happening there at night?¡± He shuddered, I could feel him on my back, shaking for a second before he calmed down. The events of that night took a large toll on him. He glossed over the topic and went back to asking me more questions. ¡°I wonder, why didn''t you kill me?¡±, he said, and I was about to say that I knew him for a long time, but he likely didn¡¯t remember much of that ordeal in the underground city. I couldn¡¯t even imagine what he was thinking when I didn¡¯t kill him, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±, Tiflis laughed at my answer, ¡°That just makes me want to worry about it.¡± From his perspective, I suppose that this entire situation was weird, but I didn¡¯t bother to keep talking about it and after my silence at his next question, Tiflis took it as an answer. Ever talkative as he is, ¡°What even are you?¡± ¡°A big lizard¡±, I laughed a little at what I said, and he found it amusing as well, before continuing on with his near-interrogation of me. ¡°Sure you are, but what are you really?¡± I disregarded the question as I looked at a small stream, no more than ten meters wide and only a few meters deep. Large enough for Tiflis to swim in, but for me, I could more or less wade through the water. ¡°This should be an offshoot of the Vereth, didn¡¯t expect to come across signs of it so early.¡± Tiflis looked at the stream from atop my back, ¡°The map did show that there was a pretty big offshoot from the main river.¡± I thought back to it and nodded, it should be about a kilometer across at its widest, right after going off from the main river, and peters out. ¡°You want to test those swimming skills of yours?¡±, he said. I shook my head, ¡°It¡¯s too small for me, I¡¯ll try it further upstream.¡± I slowed down and went next to the stream, stopping for a minute in order to drink my fill. The water was refreshing and Tiflis took the opportunity in order to drink as well. He scurried up my side and onto my back again, settling down on my scales and turning back to talk. ¡°I thought I was dead when I saw you, especially after you left me.¡± Tiflis still had fear in his voice, seemingly reminiscing about that time I put him in my small den as a cripple. I wasn¡¯t bothered by it and snorted, ¡°You¡¯re quite lucky to have met me. Who knows what would¡¯ve eaten you.¡± He didn¡¯t find that amusing and opted to just stop talking, after a few minutes of silence, I could hear his slow, steady breaths on my back. I¡¯m surprised he has the guts to sleep on my back after what we just said, a small chuckle escaped as I slowed down to accommodate his sleep. The sun was still high up in the sky, and it reflected beautifully on the running water of the stream. It was a peaceful scene and I noticed a relatively large fish swimming near the shore of the stream, it was just under the size of Tiflis with a white underbelly and silver scales that reflected the sunlight on his back. Its head was rather large, but it had a small mouth and looked Hunger invaded my mind, so I put down Tiflis near the shore and silently went to the shore. The fish, who was completely unaware, still happily swam slowly. This part of the river was too small to accommodate anything even slightly larger than this small guy, so it was the apex of where it was. A big fish in a small stream, but it lacked any awareness of its surroundings, and didn¡¯t react as I waited downstream for this fish to swim near me. My claws rested slightly above the water, and with a swiftness fit for me, I skewered the fish with my claws and quickly put it in my mouth. It didn¡¯t die immediately and flailed around my mouth for a few seconds before I bit down, its blood flowing down my throat. My claws were bloody, so I cleaned them in the pure stream water before picking Tiflis up with grace. The fish, now firmly in my mouth, stopped moving, and I picked it out with my claws. I started to eat it from the head and finished half of it swiftly. My mind thought of Tiflis and his needs, but he ate smaller things and there should be an abundant amount of food for him, after all, he was different from me. He had to eat every day, but I didn¡¯t need to; the fish was left with nothing a minute later. The bones weren¡¯t nearly strong enough to hurt me, so there was nothing left of the fish beyond some of its blood still on my teeth. Tiflis didn¡¯t wake up, so with a slightly faster pace, I kept walking near the stream to the Vereth. An hour passed, and then another, and another of me simply walking upstream. The stream widened to thirty meters, and it was a bit deeper now. A degree of exhaustion hit me, and I would rather test swim in an area far safer for me. Tiflis was still asleep on my back, so I put him down on the floor as I also laid down next to him. A yawn escaped my mouth as I could see the tint of evening set down on the area, the sun''s rays were slowly going below the horizon. My eyelids closed where I laid, a meter away from water. When I woke up, it was around 3:00 am of the next morning and Tiflis was next to me, his eyes awake and seemingly expectant. He said in a low voice, ¡°Uh, try not to move too quickly.¡± His tone alerted me of something, so I slowly stood up and looked at where he was now staring. The tree line in the distance had a sinister feel and a large snake of some sort slithered out, it was slightly longer than me, sitting at six meters, and its eyes were locked on Tiflis who was sitting next to me. ¡°When did you see this guy?¡±, a whisper came from me and Tiflis slowly shuffled his eight feet even closer to me, ¡°Just now, a minute ago.¡± The snake slithered and slowly lifted its upper half to a point where it was even taller than me. The moonlight reflected the brownish-green scales on its back, and the white, rough scales on its underbelly had a red line running down. Its head had a crest of some sort around it, a reddish-orange color permeating it. I could hear it hiss menacingly, not at me but at Tiflis, who it still had its eyes on. I tried to observe it, but unlike every other time, it failed. Shocked, I tried it on Tiflis, and it failed again. A mixture of relief and anger washed over me; relief at the snake not being an insurmountable opponent, and anger at it failing at this moment. This snake, it had been a while since this feeling came over, a feeling of something near me. The forests around that village were tame, and as soon as we left, we encounter this thing. Tiflis had now completely shuffled behind me, a comical scene with the map on his back, were it not for the snake in front of us. Finally, it looked at me and hissed again, this time less as a threat and more as a warning. I could tell that it didn¡¯t wish to fight me, but it was still going after Tiflis behind me. The snake slithered and encroached slower as I also moved up in order to intercept it. The snake hesitated for a few seconds, whether to retreat because of me or continue to pursue Tiflis. I didn¡¯t make a noise as it hissed again, subduing its hesitation and carrying with it an urge to kill Tiflis. It looked at me again, with much more hostility in its eyes, and with a surprising amount of swiftness, slithered at me. I ran out to meet it and burst forth with my claws against its body, which was thick and robust. It tried to slither onto me, its thick muscles were flowing smoothly. My claws scratched against its body and stopped it for a second, but I could feel that no real damage was dealt. My claws met its scales, not its flesh, and then it rapidly went to constrict me. Its mouth opened and bit down on my back, but it too was met by scales instead of flesh. The pain coursed through my body, but I raised my claws again, it quickly moved out of the way and further wrapped around my body. Its eyes showed a fierce determination and in a few seconds, half of its body was wrapped around me, and it squeezed down. The pressure felt was unlike anything before, as was the pain, but I endured through it and grabbed its body with all my strength. My claws wrapped around it and tried to pry it off, but it stubbornly clung to my back and squeezed even harder. I could feel the bones and organs inside me start to compress with the force this thing was exerting. I quickly channeled some of my mana into the claw and rapidly stuck it deep into the snake, my claw smoothly went through the scales and into the flesh and organs. It squeezed down tighter with an even more ferocious force, trying its hardest to flatten me under its weight and muscles. I grabbed its body and sunk in my five claws deep into its back, mangling the flesh and going straight through the bones and organs. My hand was stuck deep in its back and I clawed my way through. The snake hissed with pain, but its body was still wrapped around mine. I took this chance and shook it off with my full force in its momentary weakness. It fell off, and I could see the spots where my claws penetrated its body clearly, five huge gashes on its back and a river of blood pouring down from it. I quickly picked it up and bit down on the wounds, it shrieked again. I could feel its bones cracking and buckling in my mouth as it bit down hard on the side of my cheek. I felt its fang come into my mouth as it rushed through my cheek. The hole was horrendous, but its injuries were far worse than mine, and I rushed up again, bracing through the pain and digging my teeth fully into the back of the snake. The snake tried to stop me in a futile effort to move, but its back and bones were nearly broken and it could only flail around its mouth. It bit me hard on my leg, but my claws and mouth tore through its body, and it struggled for a final time as it was cut in two. The adrenaline from the fight was still rushing as I looked down on its body, the entirety of its middle back was a deformed mess with broken bones and mangled flesh. The putrid stench of its organs lifted into the air, and I could feel air flowing through the fang-sized hole in my cheek. Tiflis gulped at the side and asked in a low voice, ¡°Are you ok?"