《Telesma》


 Chapter 1: Descent

    I was born the very moment this universe came into existence, watching it throughout its infancyand witnessing it evolve to what it is now. Me, alongside the others of my kind, are immortal beings. Well, in terms of aging that is. I¡¯m not sure if we can be killed by some means. Not like anyone¡¯s going to try anyway.


    Mortals have called us various names. Yes, those pesky inferior forms of sentience that seem to populate every single corner of Alsvand. A plague, really. They called us Szha¡¯ Suk, Kaielo, Profkchsatach and whatever hideous and incomprehensible sounds their twisted, barbaric tongues can produce.


    Despite this, one name seems to be understood by all of the ¡°intelligent¡± mortal races: Celestials. A word of man. I have no idea why all other races could understand immediately what this word meant, maybe because humans are the most numerous in numbers, spreading their colonies far beyond the comfort of their walls that protects them from the other races.


    Most Celestials pay no mind to these mortals though, they prefer to just do whatever they intend to do for all eternity, like pointlessly forging stars, or creating worlds just for some mortal pest to populate it out of nowhere. I don¡¯t blame them, since interacting with lower forms of life can be really intellectually tiring.


    But it is also tiring just perpetually watching stupidity made by these mortal buffoons. ¡°If I¡¯m going to watch them anyway, I might as well experience it first hand.¡± is what I said to myself. So I decided to assume a human body and descend down to Alsvand. I wonder what less than 70 years of lifetime would allow me to do. Too short for anything, I¡¯d imagine.


    As I prepared for my descent, I slowly get the ability to feel as my physical body start to materialize. The continuous flow of mana from the plane of Archeus slowly dwindles by the second and I can feel my astral form adapting within this physical body. Suddenly, my whole body was overwhelmed with terrestrial sensations I never even knew existed. Complete darkness follows as my astral body tries to fill up this hollow shell in place of its ¡°soul¡±, then shortly after, a dim light starts to emerge.


    I awoke to a lush, green scenery with towering trees all around me and terrestrial life going about everywhere.


    ¡°So this is what a forest looks from down here.¡± I thought to myself. Suddenly, I felt a sensation I have never felt before. My mortal body shivered and I could feel impulses traveling through my back and to my skin. It took me a while to realize that this is what they call ¡°cold¡±. Must¡¯ve sucked for that goblin I saw who froze to death 200 years ago.


    I looked all around me in the attempt to find the source of my coldness, but nothing around could¡¯ve made me feel this. The temperature is normal, I¡¯m not submerged in any form of water and the wind blows normally. And then it struck me--I was naked. I looked down on my body and noticed a peculiar appendage between my legs. Two circular objects beneath a long, dangling protuberance.


    Wait, I know this! This is the male reproductive organ. If I remember correctly, human females react distressingly to the sight of it, which is odd since this is one of the two organs required for their reproduction. Illogical mortals¡­


    ¡°Kyaaaaaa!!¡± Shouted by a high-pitched voice from behind me. ¡°Who are you and what the hell are you doing in our forest? And why are you naked?¡± I quickly turned around to see a human female dressed in a blue clothing while carrying a basket of mushrooms. Her face looks sore as it¡¯s bright red color is noticeable, even from my distance. Maybe she¡¯s sick?


    ¡°I require basic necessities.¡± I told her while slowly approaching her. Confusingly, she threw her basket at me seemingly in panic, while shouting ¡°Don¡¯t come any closer!¡± How rude, considering I only intend ask for the bare minimum of what I need.


    She then started sprinting away from me towards the way that she came from with her arms covering her eyesight. I knew mortals are stupid creatures, but I didn¡¯t think they¡¯d be stupid enough to run despite not being able to see where they¡¯re going. Seriously, how did these creatures even survive their primitive lives?


    I picked up the basket and most of the mushrooms that lied around when she threw it, and proceeded to follow her. ¡°Are these¡­ fungi?¡± I asked myself while walking.


    After minutes of tailing her, I was led to a small village of sorts with adult to elderly men pointing their swords, rakes and other farming equipments at me.


    ¡°Who the hell are you?¡± One of them asked in a deep voice while looking at me menacingly. Come to think of it, I don¡¯t really have a name. Not even as a Celestial since mortals only give names to Celestials who show themselves to them.


    ¡°I am¡­¡± I proceeded to utter these words without a plan. I don¡¯t know what name I should say since I have no idea how humans name themselves. Orcs and goblins name themselves after the trait that the parents would like them to have and elves name their young after the things they see in nature. Humans have always been eccentric, I don¡¯t see the pattern in their names. I know some human names but most of them don¡¯t correlate to anything. Maybe I should just produce some random succession of sounds and say that it was my name. It¡¯s worth a try, at least.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°I am¡­ Ghaflkarpis¡± I told them. The looks on their faces were a mixture of confusion and laughter while trying to maintain their menacing look. I immediately knew that it wasn¡¯t a human name, so I thought I¡¯d just use one of the names I¡¯ve already known in the past.


    ¡°That was wrong, my name is--¡±


    ¡°What kind of name is that!? HAHAHAHAHAHA¡± interrupted by one of the men. After saying that, the rest of them followed and laughed with him.


    ¡°My name is Arthur. I was merely jesting earlier, glad to see that it worked well.¡± I told them while imitating the expressions on their faces. After a short while, all the laughter subsided and they resumed their questioning, only this time it was less menacing and serious. They also stopped pointing their weapons at me¡­ if you could even call those weapons.


    ¡°So, Arthur. What are you doing in our forest and why are you naked?¡± Asked by one of the men with a green farmer¡¯s clothes.


    ¡°Your forest? As far as I can remember, Alsvand was made by Cthonigg so he¡¯s the one who owns the entirety of this planet, along with whatever is in it.¡± I thought to myself. The arrogance of mortals never ceases to amaze me.


    ¡°To be honest, I don¡¯t know myself. I woke up in that forest, naked and not remembering anything but my name.¡± I replied to them. They looked unto each other silently, as if having the ability to communicate with their minds. They don¡¯t, obviously. I never really understood why they do that. Perhaps I should ask sometime.


    ¡°Well this is concerning. If what you¡¯re saying is true, then we don¡¯t know who you are. You being here could invite unwanted attention to our peaceful village you know.¡± Said by a muscular man with a mustache. ¡°Well, we can sort that out later, you need to get dressed first.¡±


    Immediately after, a young boy approached us with clothes in his hand. He gave it to the muscular man, who then handed it over to me while taking the basket that I was carrying.


    I carefully examined these pieces of clothing that I was given with, trying to understand just how you don them. There are several holes big enough for my limbs to go through, so maybe that¡¯s where they¡¯re supposed to go? After rigorously trying to put them on, I managed to acquire a basic understanding on their mechanics. I quickly used my newfound knowledge of putting on clothes and applied it to my present situation. After that, the men surrounding me slowly dispersed leaving only the boy and the muscular man.


    ¡°Follow me.¡± the muscular man said. ¡°The village chief would want to see you. By the way, my name is Kael.¡±


    I followed him to a structure at the center of the village. The outside seemed like any other rural looking house you would see in the village but once going in, you could see a table and several chairs right in front of the door, like it was designed for the sole purpose of holding a meeting.


    ¡°That¡¯s him?¡± asked by the elderly male sitting across the table wearing a pair of reading glasses. ¡°Yes, chief. He claims to have forgotten everything about him except his name.¡± Kael replied.


    ¡°HE TRIED TO SEXUALLY HARASS ME!¡± Screamed by a familiar, high pitched voice. I turned to see the source of that eerily uncomfortable noise and found out that it was the female that I encountered in the forest earlier.


    ¡°Now, now. Let¡¯s not jump into conclusions, Ella.¡± replied to her by the elderly man who I assume is the village chief. ¡°So¡­ his name is?¡± he asked.


    ¡°My name is Arthur.¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t asking you, outsider.¡± he said with seemingly angry eyes.


    ¡°Arthur? Your name couldn¡¯t be more unfitting to your behaviour than that!¡± exclaimed by the human version of a brownscaled screeching drake named Ella.


    The village chief gestured his open hand and pointed it towards a chair near me. At first I couldn¡¯t understand what he¡¯s doing but I quickly realized that he wants me to shake his hand. I went up to him, grabbed his right hand and proceeded to shake it firmly. ¡°Yes, this is how humans do it.¡± I thought to myself.


    He looked at me confusingly, but didn¡¯t said anything else. He simply told me to sit on a chair, adjusted his glasses and looked at me with a serious, discomforting look.


    ¡°Now, here¡¯s the problem, Arthur. The forest that you¡¯ve just been found in is completely enclosed by walls, this village included. So its either you bypassed the walls, fell down from the sky, dug underground or you got teleported inside.¡± he told me in a serious tone, as if interrogating a criminal.


    ¡°Since we did not detect any magical activity inside, we can rule out the possibility of being teleported. Now, this entire area is completely enclosed with a spherical magic barrier that¡¯s designed to stop anything that is not human from entering in. If an unknown human did enter, it should alert us the moment that it happened. So, Mr. Arthur. How did you find yourself within our forests? Surely you didn¡¯t just materialized out of thin air?¡± the village chief said.


    ¡°Your village seems pretty well protected.¡± I told him while smiling. ¡°As I said earlier which you probably already knew, I don¡¯t know how I got here. Maybe your barriers just malfunctioned or are not as effective as you thought it is?¡±


    ¡°That is a possibility.¡± He replied.


    After a long, boring talk about things I didn¡¯t even bother to listen to, he finally placed the paper he¡¯s been holding all this time down, stood up from his seat and removed his reading glasses.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid our only choice now is to take him to the Imperial Capital and let them sort out his identity problem. Is that okay with you, Arthur?¡± the chief asked while cleaning his desk.


    ¡°Sure thing.¡± I replied. ¡°So what do we do next?¡±


    ¡°Next, we¡¯ll have you spend the night in one of our magical prisons to make sure you don¡¯t do anything." he said as he pile up a stack of papers towards the right side of the table. "Then you¡¯ll be escorted to the Imperial Capital as early as possible next morning. Of course you¡¯re free to go right now, but it¡¯s already close to nightfall and it¡¯d be incredibly unhealthy for you to go out in the dark.¡±


    I honestly doubt that anything in this world would pose a threat against me, but since I only came here to observe, I should avoid interfering with the affairs of mortals as much as possible.


    ¡°Very well, magic prison it is.¡± I replied.

 Chapter 2: Primordial flame

    As we walk in a long, narrow hallway covered with stone bricks and the dim light of the torches, I began to notice a faint, fluctuating aura of terrestrial magic maybe several feet below us. I closed my eyes and tried to identify the source of the aura but it¡¯s just too weak for me to track, specially with all of these physical sensations interfering with my senses.


    ¡°We¡¯re underground right?¡± I asked one of the guards guiding me to my cell.


    ¡°Yes.¡± he replied monotonously as if not having the interest to engage in any conversation.


    After minutes of walking, we stopped in front of a metallic door at the end of the hallway. The number 30 can be seen written above it. The door itself looks mediocre but the magical protections casted upon it and the walls are layered by several stacks. It appears that they really don¡¯t want anyone to escape these prisons.


    The guard to my left proceeded to reach unto his right hip to take out a set of keys. After picking the key labeled with the number 30, he then inserted it to the keyhole and turned it clockwise. A quite, unlocking sound can be heard before he opened the jail cell.


    ¡°Well? Go in!¡± said by the guard that opened the door.


    As I begin to take my steps into the jail cell, a loud, alarming sound of what seems to be a scream propagated throughout the entire hallways. The guards accompanying me immediately drew their swords, as if they¡¯re ready anytime for something like this.


    ¡°What was that?¡± I asked curiously. However, none of the guards answered so I decided to ask again. ¡°Hey! What was that?¡±


    ¡°NOTHING THAT CONCERNS YOU!¡± shouted to me by the guard to my right.


    I looked at his face and saw that it¡¯s clearly the face that¡¯s reflecting fear and anxiety. Looking closely, I noticed that his right hand that¡¯s holding the sword is shaking mildly. I can also hear his heart beating so fast as if it was a ceremonial drum playing a fast melody. Total silence followed the next moments.


    After calming down and regaining their senses, the two guards with me sheathed their swords.


    ¡°Get in. We don¡¯t have the luxury to stay long here.¡± said by the guard to my left.


    As if fate itself forbids me from being imprisoned here, the entire hallway lit up with a blinding, blue flare. I immediately realized that this is an attack so I started to quickly cast a barrier around me.


    Unfortunately, the barrier I used is celestial magic and if I decided to cast it to the guards too, the mana within their body would quickly evaporate due to the nature of celestial magic and they would die a slow, painful death of mana deficiency, so I came to the conclusion that it¡¯s better for them to die instantly from the lightning storm spell rather than have me responsible for killing them.


    After a split second, a burst of lightning struck us covering the entire hallway and scorching everything in its path, the guards included. My barrier is doing it¡¯s job perfectly, dissipating the lightning bolts that¡¯s coming in contact with it and sucking out all of its mana.


    After the onslaught, the guard to my right was reduced to nothing but ashes, and his armor that was just shining in silver earlier is now charred dark. I found the guard to my left inside the jail cell, not in ashes but burnt to a crisp anyway. It appears that even the several magical protections in the jail cell couldn¡¯t completely negate that attack.


    Moments later, a figure of a human slowly start to emerge from the direction of the attack.


    ¡°Oh wow¡­ you managed to survive that unscathed?¡± said by the figure who sounds to be a woman. ¡°I was sure you¡¯d die with the guards, but I¡¯m glad you didn¡¯t. One less blood of innocent from my hands.¡±


    The figure slowly start to become more defined, until finally, I can clearly see who that person was. It was a woman with jet-black hair and blazing red eyes that reminds me of the primordial flame that the universe gave off at its birth. She¡¯s wearing an old, worn-out clothing that¡¯s more of a rag than clothes.


    ¡°Are you a prisoner here too?¡± she asked. ¡°My name is Frain. If you want to come with us, you¡¯re free to do so. The Imperial Guards would be here any moment now.¡±


    ¡°Wait, wait, wait, wait. What the hell is happening? Why did you just attacked us out of nowhere?¡± I asked her in confusion.


    ¡°As I said earlier, we, the prisoners, are escaping. Seeing as how they¡¯re escorting you to one of the prisons too, you¡¯re also a prisoner right? So what are you going to do? Just stand there and wait for the guards to apprehend you again?¡±


    Before I can say another word, a bald man with an eyepatch to his left eye and holding a crossbow comes into the scene, covered in sweat.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go Frain, we don¡¯t have much time!¡± he said. ¡°If he doesn¡¯t want to go, let him be. We can¡¯t afford to say in here longer.¡±


    ¡°This guy just survived one of my strongest spells unharmed. He¡¯d be a huge help to us, Gabriel.¡± replied by the woman. ¡°Besides, I feel guilty about killing him, even if it didn¡¯t happen.¡±


    The bald man then walked up to me seemingly annoyed, grabbed me by the arm and dragged me all the way to the woman.


    ¡°Here, take good care of your pet, ok?¡± he said as he hand my arm to her.


    The woman frowns as Gabriel leave us two.


    ¡°Sorry about him, he¡¯s just grumpy and angry at everything in this world. Anyways, you should really come with us. You¡¯d be a great asset to our cause!¡± she said.


    I don¡¯t know if this whole thing is normal for mortals, and I don¡¯t want to sound like I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m doing so just I accepted whatever she¡¯s trying to tell me.


    ¡°Ok then.¡± I told her acting composed.


    ¡°Wait¡­ really?¡± she asked with a gleam smile.


    ¡°Yeah, I have nothing better to do anyway.¡± I replied to her.


    ¡°Are you sure? I mean, you know who we are and what we¡¯re doing right? Are you really sure? It¡¯s gonna be dangerous, you know? I¡¯m not forcing you or anything, but I would really really really appreciate it if you joined us!¡± she said in an eerily enthusiastic look.


    As I was about to say that I¡¯m really going to join them, when an incredibly loud explosion followed by the shaking of the earth interrupted our conversation. We quickly ran outside the prison amidst all the chaos that¡¯s happening and saw two gigantic automata powered by some sort of crystal in their chest standing outside of the village.


    ¡°Subjects of the Empire. According to the royal decree number seven hundred and twelve, all rebellious activity that employs the use of rank five and above magic shall be dealt with by the Imperial Legion themselves. Furthermore, any individual proven to have participated will be executed on the spot.¡± said by the amplified voice coming from one of the automata. ¡°If you surrender yourselves now, you will be given one week to say your farewells to your loves ones and will be granted with a final dinner of whatever food they request.¡±


    I looked around the village and see several people running everywhere. Some knights are also fighting people who are similarly dressed with the woman.


    ¡°T-the Imperial Legion?¡± the woman said with definite fear in her eyes and tone.


    It appears that these group of people have now been labeled as criminals. This could be interesting but I honestly don¡¯t see them surviving against these knights, much more against those automatas. Maybe I¡¯ll give them a helping hand. Not too much, just enough to let them escape.


    ¡°Your name is Frain right? I heard it from that bald guy Gabriel earlier.¡± I told her. ¡°I need you to cast a spell that would disable everyone in this place from seeing anything for a good amount of time. Maybe four to five seconds would be enough.¡±


    ¡°Huuh? What are you planning to do?¡± she asked. ¡°Besides, I don¡¯t have any illusion spells like that!¡±


    ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t have to be an illusion spell. For example, you can use your lightning to create an extremely bright flash of light. You can do it, can¡¯t you?¡± I replied.


    ¡°I¡­ I can¡­ but I don¡¯t have enough mana anymore.¡± she said. ¡°What are you planning to do anyways? Tell me and maybe we can cooperate and compromise with the group.¡±


    ¡°Not enough mana huh. It¡¯s really inconvenient to be a mortal, isn¡¯t it?¡± I told her. ¡°Ok, close your eyes. Also, keep this a secret between the two of us. If anyone learns of this I¡¯m going to have to kill you and whoever you told it to, understood?¡±


    She closed her eyes and sent out a confused nod to me. I held my index and middle finger out and touched her forehead with it. After circulating my breathing for a while, I relaxed my body and proceeded to focus my thoughts into the part of her body that I¡¯m directly connected with, which is her forehead. Warm sensation suddenly flooded my finger and towards her, which makes her uncomfortable as reflected by her facial expression.


    ¡°Done.¡± I said as I remove my fingers from her forehead. ¡°You should be able to cast it now, whatever it is.¡±


    ¡°What¡­ What was that? It felt warm and bizarre and-¡± she stopped herself mid-sentence as realization dawns on her.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°Did you just¡­ gave me mana?¡± she asked in possibly the most shocked expression a human can make. ¡°Wha-... I¡­ I don¡¯t get it. You¡¯re human right? Are you an experiment too? How is that even possible?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll explain to you later. For now, just do what I told you.¡± I replied to her while also preparing myself to cast a spell. ¡°Be sure that it¡¯s bright enough so that no one, not even you can see anything alright?¡±


    She didn¡¯t say anything afterwards and immediately started to cast a spell. I observed very carefully on how she forms and piece together the various magical circuits to cast her complicated spell. Complicated in mortal terms, of course.


    In front of her, a glowing blue magical circle started to appear and various runes and characters appear and disappear by the moment, trying to fit in with the spell she¡¯s casting. After a short while, she finally managed to complete the combinations and signalled me that she¡¯s ready. I gave her a nod of confirmation and started to cast my own spell to.


    In a single instant, a loud explosion of sound suddenly blasted right beside me followed by a strong gust of wind and a beam of lightning aimed at the automatas. The light generated by this lightning was so bright it felt like it would burn my eyes if I stared at it long enough. I wasted no time though as the spell I¡¯m casting is also prepared already.


    I held out my two arms, palms open, each aiming for the two automata that¡¯s deflecting Frain¡¯s lightning like it was a harmless stream of water. Then I released the spell towards my mechanical targets with the closing of my fists, completely draining their crystals and whoever is riding them off of their mana. This celestial magic¡¯s aura is undetectable since all it does is return all of the target¡¯s mana back to the plane of Archeus, but it produces a higher dimensional burst of light that mortal minds wouldn¡¯t even be able to comprehend. That¡¯s why I asked Frain to prevent everyone from seeing it.


    Upon the fading of the blinding light, everyone turns to look only for them to see that the two automatas standing outside the village have now fallen down, unable to operate, and their riders dead pale with their eyes still open.


    The knights stared at it in silence, losing their morale. Some even started dropping their weapons and kneeling to the ground in defeat. What can they do anyway, if the strongest weapon they have just got defeated in an instant. Those who are fighting the knights however flooded Frain in joy, cheering her for defeating those automatas by herself. For a moment, I thought that I was sharing their sentiment, but that¡¯s ridiculous. I am merely relieved that this whole charade is finally over.


    The group then decided to take over the village. They imprisoned all Imperial knights that are still alive and promised to release them once they leave tomorrow. The villagers were also left alone so long as they don¡¯t try to do anything suspicious.


    I was sitting in a distance, watching these mortals sing their songs and dance to their hearts in front of a campfire when I was approached by Frain who has now changed to a more appropriate clothing.


    ¡°Hey.¡± she said while sitting down next to me. ¡°I knew it was right to take you. If you weren¡¯t there, we¡¯d all be killed or be brought back for experimentation. Thanks.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of which, what experiments are you talking about?¡± I asked her. ¡°I only just came in this village today with an amnesia. They said they¡¯ll bring me back to the Imperial Capital tomorrow but decided to imprison me for safety measures.¡±


    ¡°Seriously? You have an amnesia?¡± she asked surprised. ¡°Well, good thing we decided to escape today. If not, you¡¯d be a labrat too like us.¡±


    ¡°About the experimentation¡­ You see, this village is just a mask to hide what¡¯s really going on below. Under this village is the Empire¡¯s magical research and experimentation facility. Basically, they do anything they want whether it¡¯s humane or not, in the attempt to advance their understanding of magic.¡± she added. ¡°I¡¯m one of the experiments too. Before being brought here, I was just a below-average mage barely making a living from selling weak monster¡¯s body parts. I couldn¡¯t even cast a single lightning bolt back then. All I could do to kill monsters was to run straight at them until I make physical contact and shock them until they drop dead. Hahaha.¡±


    ¡°Then shouldn¡¯t you be thankful for this facility? They made you stronger.¡± I replied.


    ¡°They made me stronger for themselves! And it was just dumb luck that I managed to survive their experiments unlike the hundreds of others who came before me!¡± she shouted, angry at what I had just said. ¡°Oh¡­ I¡­ I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to shout at you.¡±


    ¡°I see. So then what about the villagers? Why aren¡¯t you imprisoning them?¡± I asked her while she¡¯s looking at the ground.


    ¡°The villagers don¡¯t know anything about it. The village chief sees to it that they don¡¯t discover it.¡± she replied. ¡°Anyway, what did you just do earlier? You transferred mana to me. And we both know that you¡¯re the one who took down those automatas despite what everyone thinks.¡±


    I paused at her question. Should I tell it to her? What will happen if I did? Well, I can just kill her and anyone she¡¯s told it to if she decided to tell it to others. Is it a bad thing anyway if they learned that I¡¯m a Celestial?


    ¡°Hello? Are you still here?¡± she asked me while waving her hands in front of my face. ¡°Oooooooooooh! I forgot to ask your name! Oh my god, how can I miss that?¡±


    ¡°Wha-... M-my name is Arthur¡­ and what the hell are you doing with your hands?¡±


    ¡°Nice to meet you Arhur! My name is Frain!¡± she smilingly said while shaking my hand. ¡°Proper introduction complete!¡±


    ¡°To answer your question, I¡¯m going to ask you a question first. What would you do if I told you that somewhere in this world, a Celestial has taken a mortal form and decided to walk amongst us?¡± I asked her while she¡¯s still shaking my hand in joy.


    She stopped shaking my hand and assumed a more serious look on her face.


    ¡°Are you saying that you¡¯re a Celestial, Arthur?¡± she asked me in a serious tone.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m merely asking you what you¡¯d do if--¡±


    ¡°I see. That actually makes sense. My answer is this: I don¡¯t know why you would come down here to the mortal realm but it would make me wary. I mean, why would a Celestial, a god-like being come down here? To have fun? Something must be up.¡± she interrupted. ¡°So? Mind sharing with me why you came down here and made yourself look like a human?¡±


    ¡°Are you seriously thinking that I¡¯m a Celestial? Maybe you should get your head checked. You might¡¯ve bump--¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know Celestials are so bad at lying.¡± she interrupted again with a smile on her face. ¡°Look, Arthur. I don¡¯t treat Celestials as gods like the other humans or races, ok? With all the pain and suffering that I¡¯ve experienced, god better hope he stay out of my sight or I¡¯ll kill him myself¡­ if he does exist that is. For me, your kind is just another race that¡¯s incredibly powerful and near immortal. So, mind telling me why you came down here?¡±


    I was shocked to what she said. It¡¯s true that we¡¯re not gods like most mortals believe we are, but I never thought that someone, especially a human, would have that outlook on things considering their relatively short lifespan when even elves that are already immortal in mortal terms still sees us as gods. Maybe it¡¯s precisely the reason why¡­


    ¡°I was bored.¡± I replied to her.


    ¡°W-.... What? Hahahahahahahahahaahhahahahahah!!¡± she said while laughing.


    ¡°What? What¡¯s so funny?¡± I replied in confusion.


    ¡°I suppose if you don¡¯t have any physical needs and can do what you want, things become boring huh?¡± she replied. ¡°Well, welcome to Alsvand! What are you planning to do now, Mr. Celestial? If the Empire found out about you they¡¯d surely experiment on you or use you one way or another.¡±


    ¡°Actually, I only intend to watch mortal events unfold first hand. I don¡¯t intend to be part of it.¡±


    ¡°Ooooh just like reading a book huh? Only you¡¯re a person in that book too but doesn¡¯t interact with the characters in any way. Well, too late for that cause you¡¯ve already attacked the empire. They¡¯d be looking for you now.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Then I¡¯d just kill whoever comes after me. After a while they¡¯d realize they¡¯re just wasting men to go after a single individual and they¡¯ll stop. Mortals are impatient, right? Besides, I¡¯m part of your group now so I take it you¡¯ll fight them for me?¡± I replied to her while looking at her blazing red eyes, smiling.


    ¡°Oh c¡¯mon. You¡¯re a Celestial. If you want to, you can literally destroy the entire Empire in a heartbeat.¡±


    ¡°True, but I won¡¯t since I only came here to observe.¡± I said. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to ask me to fight for your cause? You know, destroy the empire for you?¡±


    ¡°Nah, I alone am more than enough against them.¡± she jokingly replied. ¡°So, are you still coming with us? If you are then you¡¯re gonna be part of the fight. You don¡¯t want that if you¡¯re only planning to observe, right?¡±


    ¡°On the contrary, I think I like the idea of having a little influence on the story. I¡¯m going to join you but I I¡¯m not going to directly affect anything. Things turn out to be boring if I just let them be.¡± I tell her. ¡°What do you think would be my role?¡±


    ¡°I have an idea.¡± she told me and then stood up the seat we were sitting on. ¡°Everyone! I have an announcement! Would everyone please gather here?!¡±


    As everyone started to gather at our position, I begin to realize just how small this group really is. If the knights didn¡¯t lose their morale, they could¡¯ve easily outnumbered this group and win.


    ¡°This man right here is named Arthur. He¡¯s the reason why I was able to defeat those automata. He has the unique ability to give mana to a person, although we still don¡¯t know the specifics of it. Without him giving me mana, I wouldn¡¯t be able to cast the spell that I used to take down those automatas. I suggest that we make him the leader of our group, seeing as we still don¡¯t have a leader yet.¡±


    Everyone was shocked at this revelation, myself included. Why would she just casually say I can give mana¡­ and to appoint me the leader of their group too when the one thing I desperately avoid is attention.


    ¡°Giving mana? That¡¯s going to change everything! With him we might be able to win!¡± I heard a man say while they discuss amongst themselves.


    Suddenly, everyone seems to be talking about the possible implications of this ability.


    ¡°Hold on a second.¡± said by familiar voice from within the crowd. The man turned out to be Gabriel dressed in a black coat. ¡°Giving mana to others? That sounds too good to be true. Has this man charmed his way to you, Frain?¡±


    ¡°Wha-? What the hell are you saying? I admit that he has the looks but that¡¯s besides the point. It¡¯s true that he can give mana! He did it to me earlier. If you don¡¯t believe him, then why don¡¯t you see for yourself?¡± she said with her face red as a tomato.


    ¡°Wait, that¡¯s what happened to Ella too.¡± I thought to myself.


    ¡°Ok, very well then. I¡¯m going to cast strength amplification and your friend right here is going to give me mana after that. Sounds good?¡± Gabriel replied.


    Gabriel then closed his eyes. Everyone around him backed away a reasonable distance as he began to cast the spell. A brown circle appeared in front of him, and cycled through different runes and magical characters but this time, it only took a second to complete. Then all of a sudden, slits began to appear on Gabriel¡¯s coat and the veins in his arms start to become more defined.


    ¡°Well, then. All of my reserve mana should be depleted. All that¡¯s left are natural mana that keeps me alive.¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯d like to see that mana thing now, if you don¡¯t mind.¡±


    I walked up to him, held up my two fingers just like how I did with Frain and proceeded to transfer some mana into him. After a while, I removed my fingers and backed away a step from him.


    ¡°I see. This changes really everything, doesn''t it?¡± Gabriel said.


    He looked at Frain, then unto me before walking beside me to face the crowd.


    ¡°Everyone.¡± he said as he placed his arms over my shoulders. ¡°This is our new leader.¡±


    Everyone cheered and laughed together. Amidst the noise of the crowd, Gabriel whispered to me.


    ¡°I see you¡¯re a Celestial.¡± he said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I couldn¡¯t care less, but if you want to hide your identity, I promise not to tell it to others.¡±


    ¡°How did you know?¡± I asked him whispering.


    ¡°Aha, only Celestials have the direct connection to the plane of Archeus. I¡¯m the only one who knows of that fact though. Let¡¯s just say that you¡¯re not the only Celestial I¡¯ve come in contact with.¡± he replied, also whispering.


    As the night continues, I wondered to myself just how I got into this position.

 Chapter 3: Recoil

    I opened my eyes, feeling tired and having no will to stand up from my bed. I tried to recall everything that we did last night after the fight, but all I can remember is my conversation with Gabriel about his past. Who would¡¯ve thought his father was a Celestial? I guess I wasn¡¯t the first one to have the idea of assuming a mortal form. Oh, and for some reason, I was made the leader of this ragtag group of experiment escapees. There goes my plan of not attracting attention to myself. It sure felt like that was a very long night.


    As I gathered my will of standing up, I was finally able to break free from the eerie, non-existent force that¡¯s seemingly chaining me back to my bed.


    ¡°Is this a form of magic I¡¯m not aware of?¡± I asked myself.


    After finally being able to stand up completely, I went outside the prison room that I slept on due to the lack of available space in the village and saw Gabriel, Frain and two other members talking to each other in the prison¡¯s reception hall.


    ¡°Oh hey, you¡¯re awake.¡± said Frain as she noticed me coming. ¡°So how do you feel about sleeping? Does it feel good or anything?¡±


    I looked at her with my dead tired eyes, and paused for a brief moment.


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t be worse¡± I tell her. ¡°Does everyone do this every night?¡±


    She quickly burst into laughter which caught the two member¡¯s attention, making them turn their heads towards us. I looked at them and saw the utter confusion in their faces about our peculiar conversation about this mortal practice called ¡®sleeping¡¯.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s the gist of it.¡± Gabriel said to the two members. ¡°We¡¯ll leave in an hour so be sure to be ready and inform everyone.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir!¡± the two of them replied in unison.


    As they exit the building, Gabriel walked up to Frain and I who was still not showing any signs of stopping in her laughter.


    ¡°Arthur.¡± he said. ¡°We kind of decided this without your consent since you were still asleep, but I was appointed to the combat specialist position while Frain was appointed to be your personal guard. Do you have any objections with that?¡±


    ¡°My personal guard?¡± I asked. ¡°Foolish mortal. Do you think I require guarding? And wouldn¡¯t it be wiser to have someone like Frain, who has tremendous offensive capabilities, as the one in charge of attacks?¡±


    His eyebrows frowned a bit but not the the point of anger. He then flashed a vague, but noticeable smile.


    ¡°Yes, you do require guarding. If what you told us last night is true, casting Celestial magic would undoubtedly harm us too, with that higher dimensional light you¡¯re talking about so that basically limits the circumstances where you can cast offensive magic.¡± he replied. ¡°And that¡¯s why Frain will guard you. You¡¯re capable of giving near unlimited supply of mana, which means the two of you would be an incredible force to be reckoned with.¡±


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t you just close your eyes whenever I¡¯m going to cast magic?¡± I said. ¡°And besides, why am I the leader anyway? If I was just a support it would give me more leeway and allow me to avoid being targeted.¡±


    ¡°What, you expect us to close our eyes in the middle of the battlefield where just a split second of carelessness could cost us our lives?¡± he replied. ¡°Also, even if you¡¯re just a supporting role, the Empire isn¡¯t stupid. They¡¯d catch on to your ability soon enough and realize what you can do, which means they¡¯d still be targeting you. Making you the leader puts you in the best position as the face of our group and as the most protected individual.¡±


    ¡°The face of the group huh? The man who can give mana.¡± I said. ¡°Alright, the logic and reasoning behind your decisions seems sound. I consent.¡±


    ¡°Not just your ability to give mana. You also have a charismatic charm with your face, you do look like the type of person who¡¯d lead people to a cause afterall.¡± he added. ¡°So everything¡¯s all good and set? We¡¯ll leave in an hour so if you need to prepare anything, now¡¯s the time to do so.¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t really have any possessions with me.¡± I replied. ¡°In the meantime, I think I¡¯ll walk around the forest south of the village for a bit. It¡¯s within the walls so you don¡¯t need to worry about me.¡±


    After that, they simply told me to be careful anyway and proceeded to go back to their own cells to ready the things they¡¯ll bring with them. I, on the other hand went to the forest where I first came to when I descended down this world. Despite all of the chaos that happened last night, the forest seem to be untouched and is still in its pristine condition as it was yesterday.


    I looked around the green scenery and the animals that runs around, minding their own business. Not too far from the village is a pond with several lily pads on it, and various animals with their young drinking from the said pond. I walked unto a tree and decided that I¡¯d rest upon it for the moment when all of a sudden, a long, green stick-like reptile hanged down from the tree branch and bared its fangs unto me.


    I immediately sensed danger from that particular animal. Without even thinking about it, my right hand moved on its own and I casted Void Pulse towards the general direction of the animal. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t managed to hit it. It went past the hanging reptile and collided to a tree trunk behind it, completely disintegrating everything in that area the size of a watermelon. After the void bubble disappeared, the air surrounding the hit area immediately collapsed into that point to fill in the empty space caused by my magic. The air imploded so fast that it created a moderately loud explosion noise, which seems to have alerted everyone from the village. After regaining my senses, I looked at the animal that startled me and saw that it¡¯s now in the ground, wriggling around in pain and occasionally banging it¡¯s head unto the exposed tree root. It appears that it saw the extra dimensional light from my spell and that caused it to lose it¡¯s sanity. I see that even lesser intelligent creatures cannot escape from that madness.


    As Gabriel, Frain and other members of the group hurried to where I am, I turned to look at them and assured them that everything is fine and there was no need for concern. Their faces, however, seems to say the opposite.


    Frain hurriedly walk to me, in horror while covering her mouth.


    ¡°WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU?¡± she shouted.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I was just startled by this animal right here, but I managed to incapacitate it with my magic¡­ although not the way I had intended.¡± I replied to her.


    ¡°No! Your arm! What happened to it?¡± she replied while still shouting.


    I turned to look at my right arm, and to my surprise and horror, I saw it severely mangled, with my fingers all broken up and turned to places they¡¯re not supposed to. My forearm had multiple, deep cuts on it with one of the bones broken and showing outside my skin alongside it¡¯s heavy bleeding that¡¯s slowly making a small pool of blood on the ground. Only upon looking at it, did the extreme, utter pain followed.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    I screamed so hard, it almost broke my vocal chords and caused even the villagers to show up and be afraid. I couldn¡¯t think straight at that time. The sensation I felt was so strong that it made me regret even coming to this place and assuming a fragile, fleeting human body.


    ¡°HEALER! NOW!¡± Gabriel shouted to the villagers and to the group.


    Seconds later, a familiar face came to us running and said that she can heal me. It was Ella. She quickly knelt beside me and started casting her spell. It gave off a yellow, warm light that felt so soothing. Slowly but surely, the pain I was feeling started to disappear and my heavily damaged arm starts to revert back to its natural form.


    After being completely healed, Frain wrapped her arms around me tightly, while in tears.


    ¡°What the hell did you do?¡± she asked while crying. ¡°You stupid idiot what the hell did you do?¡±


    ¡°I- I don¡¯t know. I just casted a spell to attack that reptile over there, and then this just happened.¡± I replied. ¡°I didn¡¯t even realize what had happened if you didn¡¯t pointed it out to me.¡±


    I turned to look at Ella and told her how grateful I am for her aid. It seems that all the hatred she had for me due to yesterday¡¯s happenings have completely disappeared as she¡¯s now displaying a concerned, empathetic look.


    Everyone was silent that time, as I was escorted back to my jail room and sat down on my bed. After everyone checking out on me, all that was left in my room was me, Frain and Gabriel. We closed the door and proceeded to discuss what had happened to me earlier.


    ¡°So? Mind explaining everything in detail?¡± Gabriel asked me with a serious, angry look on his face.


    I then started to explain to the two of them everything that happened by the very second. After that, they looked at each other and seemingly came to a common understanding of my circumstance.


    ¡°It¡¯s called ¡®Recoil¡¯.¡± Frain said. ¡°Normally, it¡¯s not something that will do that much damage, or even do any damage at all. Every mage experiences recoil whenever they cast any offensive magic but usually, it¡¯s just a small push or even a poke in the arm. It shouldn¡¯t even come close to hurting.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a thing?¡± I replied curiously. ¡°I didn¡¯t experienced that when I casted Mana Drain last night though.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because it wasn¡¯t an offensive spell.¡± Gabriel said. ¡°What you did was merely remove all of the mana in their system. You didn¡¯t do anything to directly attack them.¡±


    ¡°This probably happened because the magnitude of the celestial spell you used was too powerful for that human body.¡± Frain added. ¡°I guess that means I gotta take my job seriously, huh? Seeing as you won¡¯t be able to cast any offensive spell at all.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid you¡¯re right. That was the weakest offensive celestial spell at my arsenal and it did that much damage to me. Can you just imagine what will happen if I cast Magna Nova?¡± I said while laughing.


    ¡°You do know we have literally no idea what those spells you¡¯re saying do, right?¡± Frain said. ¡°So what spell did you use earlier anyway? How does it work? I¡¯m curious.¡±


    ¡°The spell I used was Void Pulse. Basically what it does is it fires a pulse of void energy and whatever non-permeable object it comes in contact first, gets consumed by the void.¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s a spell that contradicts the natural laws of this plane so it gave off an extra dimensional light that made that snake lose its sanity.¡±


    ¡°Consumed by the void?¡± Gabriel asked. ¡°Could you explain further?¡±


    ¡°Do you not know the Void plane?¡± I asked. ¡°Basically, that spell opens a temporary hole between this plane and the plane of the Void. It appears that you¡¯re not aware of the existence of the void plane so let me discuss. The void plane is a plane of complete emptiness, not even mana exists there. Anything that comes in contact with the void, and I mean ANYTHING, gets removed out of existence completely. Even the mana with it doesn¡¯t return back to Archeus.¡±


    ¡°Wait, so does that mean that it¡¯s possible for the void plane to consume all planes of existence if left unchecked?¡± Gabriel worryingly asked.


    ¡°Yes. In fact, we Celestials believe that the void plane exists as a ¡®last resort¡¯ of some kind. It¡¯s real purpose is unknown, even to us but we collectively believe that it¡¯s sole purpose is to be the one that kills this universe in the end.¡± I replied. ¡°Basically, the void plane will be the end of everything in the end. Know that although not really a secret, we Celestials do not encourage sharing this information to mortals. I trust that I won¡¯t hear other people talking about the void plane later on, am I clear?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± both of them choreographically replied.


    After Frain thoroughly make sure that I¡¯m all good and healthy to go, we immediately began to set out of the village. As we make our exit, I saw Kael and the young boy who I presume is his son waving at us, smiling. I waved back at them and the young boy smiled even brighter than he is already. Before walking past the gate, I heard Ella¡¯s voice shouting from a distance.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare sexually harass anyone!¡± she said while waving at us goodbye.


    ¡°Yeah! I won¡¯t!¡± I replied to her as I waved back.


    Upon passing through the barrier gate, with the bound Imperial Knights with us, we saw the two fallen automatas from last night¡¯s battle still there, left untouched. The two pilots¡¯ body have completely dried up and insects began to riddle their bodies. I talked to Gabriel and suggested that we should salvage those crystals as they¡¯re very useful. We did end up salvaging the crystals but they were too big for anyone to carry so we smashed them into tiny fragments small enough to fit inside their enchanted packs that can carry near infinite amount of items.


    ¡°So where are we headed exactly?¡± I asked Gabriel. ¡°Also where do you plan to leave these knights at?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you where we¡¯re headed to once we leave these knights.¡± he replied. ¡°We¡¯ll leave them near the city of Palgrim, the center of trade and commerce in the entire Empire. That¡¯ll get the word of our existence out and hopefully, incite others to join us. Tell you what, I¡¯ll leave the naming of our group to you since you¡¯re the leader.¡±


    ¡°Naming this group, huh?¡± I said. ¡°What¡¯s our cause anyway? What do we fight for? I think that should¡¯ve been the first thing I¡¯ve asked.¡±


    ¡°We fight for what is right.¡± Frain said as she joined the conversation. ¡°We fight against injustice, corruption and the abuse of the Empire¡¯s power. We fight for the weak and the oppressed, and those who cannot fight for themselves.¡±


    ¡°So we¡¯re a group of vigilantes?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yeah, I suppose that¡¯s a short way of putting it.¡± Frain replied.


    ¡°What about¡­ ¡®Knights of Justice and Vigilance¡¯? Sounds fitting don¡¯t you think?¡± I asked.


    They looked at me with their expressionless faces, as if their bodies have been drained away of their souls.


    ¡°No? Ok, let me think again.¡± I added. ¡°Oh! How about The Gr--¡±


    ¡°You know what, I think I¡¯ll let Frain handle the naming.¡± Gabriel interrupted. ¡°Have any better ideas? Make sure that it¡¯s recognizable, remarkable and sentimental as the name of the group bares its actions.¡±


    ¡°I know!¡± I exclaimed. ¡°What about ¡®Sword of Damocles¡¯ huh? If I heard correctly, it¡¯s the ever-present threat that those in positions of power always are in present of. Its fitting and sentimental, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ actually good.¡± Gabriel said surprised. ¡°We¡¯ll take that name then.¡±


    He stopped in his tracks and turned around to the small amount of people following us and proceeded to get their attention by clapping three times.


    ¡°My friends! My comrades! My brothers!¡± Gabriel shouted. ¡°All of us here have experienced hellish treatment from the Empire. We¡¯ve been treated inhumanely, subjected to countless experiments like animals and discarded like trash if we proved to be useless to them. That is exactly why we¡¯re finally able to see all the corruption and abuse of the Empire that is otherwise masked by its grandeur and false prosperity. So now, we take arms, not only to show the people the real face of the Empire, but also to fight back for what is right and send a message. A message that will remind the Empire that they¡¯re not all powerful and they can¡¯t just do what they want! Today, we take up the name Sword of Damocles!!!¡±


    The peace and quiet of the forest was immediately replaced by the loud, enthusiastic cheering of the members. It was like a loud, booming victory cry amidst the woods which make it sound as if the cheers could travel for miles on end. Afterwards, we resumed our walk until nightfall and decided to set up camp within the forest, with the knights still bound and kept in check.


    I managed to stay awake for a couple of hours until the unpleasant sensation of sleepiness struck me once again. I gradually resigned to this feeling and let myself fall into a deep slumber, besides the warmth of the dancing campfire.

 Chapter 4: The Sage of Mana

    Unlike yesterday where I woke up incredibly tired and feeling like my body was glued to my bed, I woke up today as refreshed as I can be as if this physical body has just been recreated anew. I was one of the earlier to wake up though, as I looked up to the sky and I can tell that it¡¯s still in early dawn and almost everyone is still sleeping, with the exception of Gabriel and some members who I¡¯m guessing are the ones in shift for guarding the bound knights.


    ¡°Well, you woke up early.¡± Gabriel said to me. ¡°Something in your mind?¡±


    ¡°No, not really,¡± I replied as I begin to walk towards him and seat on a piece of log that he¡¯s sitting on. ¡°You know, there¡¯s actually something that I want to ask you.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so there is something in your mind. And what might that question be?¡± he replied.


    ¡°You told me that your father was a Celestial, but you never really expanded on that.¡± I told him. ¡°I want to know everything about your father and how he behaves. I could learn something from him about dealing with this mortal form.¡±


    ¡°I see. Well, I¡¯m sorry to say but he left me and my mom when I was still a little kid.¡± he said while staring into the starry dawn sky. ¡°The only thing I remember from him is the unique and bizarre feeling of being given mana... you know, just like how you did to me. That¡¯s how I was able to find out you¡¯re a Celestial.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s unfortunate.¡± I replied to him. ¡°And no, I don¡¯t mean the fact that he left you and your mother. I was unfortunate about the fact that you can¡¯t share any information to me. Also, don¡¯t you dare start identifying me as your father figure just because I gave you a nostalgic memory of him.¡±


    ¡°Ha ha ha! Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not into those kind of sentiments.¡± he replied while laughing. ¡°Besides, how old are you anyway?¡±


    I gave him a look of slight shock that Gabriel, the mortal I thought is less stupider than the others, would ask me that question.


    ¡°That¡¯s probably the stupidest thing I¡¯ve heard from you.¡± I told him in contempt. ¡°I am as old as the universe itself. Maybe you¡¯re starting to forget that I¡¯m a Celestial?¡±


    ¡°No, not that kind of age, oh great and mighty Celestial one.¡± he followed up with a sarcastic smile. ¡°I meant how old is that human body you¡¯re currently using?¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s what you meant. You should¡¯ve said that at first.¡± I replied. ¡°The average age of the human population in this continent is around twenty two to twenty seven. If I¡¯m going to guess, I might have picked it to be around twenty four. Being in the majority group would allow me to stick out less and make it easier for me to blend in.¡±


    ¡°I see... I¡¯m twenty nine and Frain is just twenty three, guess that makes me the eldest huh?¡± he said. ¡°So even your age was picked based on a formulated logic? Man, do you even display any kind of emotion?¡±


    ¡°Emotions only cloud your judgement.¡± I replied to him while eating soup from a silver plate. ¡°But, yes, I do display emotions. As a matter of fact, we Celestials have thousands of emotions that are impossible to be perceived by the mortal mind. If you ask me one that can also apply to you, humans, that would be mainly curiosity and boredom. The two reasons why I even decided to stoop down to this plane in search of stimulus.¡±


    ¡°Now you¡¯re getting me curious.¡± he joyfully replied. ¡°About those Celestial emotions you¡¯re talking about. Can you give me an example?¡±


    ¡°No, I can¡¯t.¡± I immediately said to him. ¡°Your language is just not developed enough to find the right words. And even if they are, some things are just impossible to be explained by linguistic communication.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying those kinds of emotions are impossible to translate into words? Huh, interesting.¡± he replied. ¡°Wait, how do you Celestials communicate to each other anyway? I meant, in your true forms?¡±


    ¡°I believe in your words, you call it ¡®Telepathy¡¯.¡± I replied to him as I put down the plate unto the ground. ¡°It¡¯s actually more than just the human concept of telepathy, but for the sake of getting the idea across your head, that word would suffice. If you¡¯re still curious, you could say that we can ¡®tell¡¯ our emotions and make others feel what we¡¯re feeling with our way of communication.¡±


    ¡°Truly interesting.¡± he said while pondering what I had just said. ¡°Sometimes I wonder just how do you see our world, our universe. What does it look in your perspective?¡±


    I stared at him for a few seconds, then pointed to my left eye and smiled.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to wonder.¡± I replied while still smiling.


    ¡°Huh? What the hell does that mean?¡± he asked me while I was standing up.


    I completely ignored his question and decided not to tell him anything anymore. His patched eye¡­ it¡¯s not a mortal eye.


    He told me the night before yesterday that he was born with his left eye not functioning. It¡¯s strange and unpleasant appearance also turned away other people and that¡¯s why he decided to cover it with an eyepatch. If he finds out the truth, it could lead to all kinds of problems arising in the future. I¡¯d rather spare myself the responsibility of resolving those issues.


    I was preparing to head out into the woods and do some experiments with my non-offensive Celestial spells when I suddenly felt multiple weak magical aura. It seems that it¡¯s surrounding our entire encampment. I immediately told everyone to wake up as we¡¯re currently under attack but those who are awake only looked at me puzzled.


    Shortly after, multiple figures of short, humanoid creatures began to slowly appear from the blanket of the shadows. Without noticing it, we¡¯ve just been surrounded with at least sixty bloodthirsty goblins, ready to attack at any moment.


    It was only after this revelation that they stood up in panic and began waking those who are still sleeping. Interestingly, and perhaps fortunately, the goblins didn¡¯t attack while we¡¯re on the process of waking people up. They seem to be awaiting orders from someone, whoever that is that¡¯s giving them orders.


    ¡°W-what the hell is happening?¡± Frain asked in terror. ¡°Why are there this many goblins?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± I replied. ¡°I only noticed them myself right when they have already surrounded us.¡±


    Suddenly, one taller-than-average goblin wearing a full plated black armor with golden linings to it started talking in what I assume is its native language while pointing its crooked, peculiar sword at us and swinging it all around.


    ¡°What is it saying, Arthur?¡± Gabriel asked me while wielding his crossbow in the left hand and a sword in the right.


    ¡°How am I supposed to know?¡± I replied to him while casting a barrier spell for myself. ¡°I have a human brain, not goblin brain. By the way, be careful not to touch my barrier or you¡¯d get your mana sucked away.¡±If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    ¡°Hey! How come that spell didn¡¯t generate that higher dimensional light you were speaking of?¡± Frain asked in what might be the most inappropriate of time.


    ¡°Because its existence does not interfere with the natural laws of this plane.¡± I replied. ¡°You should probably focus on those goblins at the moment, you know?¡±


    Before she could utter a single sound, a fireball came rushing down from the backline of those goblins that is hidden within the shadows, burning every leaf and tree branch in its path towards me. I didn¡¯t move a single inch, nor did I even flinch as the fireball nears me. I looked at the armored goblin who was just talking earlier straight into its eyes and smiled, menacingly as if I was issuing it a challenge.


    As the fireball collided with my barrier, it didn¡¯t explode, get deflected or even impacted my barrier. It merely dissipated into nothingness, like placing a burning piece of paper under water, as all of its mana gets returned back to the Archeus.


    The armored goblin got even furious, and shouted another incomprehensible language which caused another volley of fireball. This time around, in multiple.


    As the fireballs travel in an arc towards us, it stopped mid flight, right above where the armored goblin is standing, and redirected its direction towards the goblin like an eagle diving down to its prey.


    I looked around to look for who could¡¯ve caused it and saw one of our members, holding his two arms above towards the direction of the fireballs.


    ¡°A telekinetic huh? He¡¯s going to be useful.¡± I thought to myself.


    Right before the first fireball hit the armored goblin, he quickly jumped out of the way and dodged it, where it exploded and hit probably two to three goblins. The attack doesn¡¯t end there though as four more fireballs subsequently attack him, but he manages to dodge all of those too just in the nick of time.


    When the fifth and the final fireball is about to strike him, he jumped to the side, seemingly timing it like how he did with the rest but this time, the fireball that¡¯s supposed to hit the ground flew upwards and turned back and around to hit him while he¡¯s still recovering from the jump.


    It exploded on his back violently, catapulting him towards Gabriel who¡¯s now readying himself to receive the goblin with a blow of his sword¡¯s sharp edge. While in midair, the goblin shouted what seems to be orders to the other goblins that are surrounding our camp, which made them shout and charge towards us, from all directions.


    The battle rages all around the camp with arrows and various colored lights from different kinds of spells fly around the battlefield. Meanwhile, the armored goblin and Gabriel are facing off in their respective battle stances. It appears that Gabriel wasn¡¯t able to finish the goblin in one blow as the head of the goblin seems to be bleeding, although not heavily.


    As I watch the two warriors of different races fight each other, one filthy, stupid goblin decided that it was a good idea to charge me head on, and with his bare hands at that. Needless to say, he immediately regretted his decision as his skin gradually turns pale and he struggles to breathe due to mana deficiency while lying on the ground in agony.


    I returned to watching Gabriel and the armored goblin fight as I had found it entertaining. Gabriel, while backing away from the goblin¡¯s relentless sword swing, pointed his crossbow at the goblin and fired it. The goblin managed to deflect the crossbow bolt with his sword however and jumped towards Gabriel with a single leap. He held his sword downward, pointing its end towards Gabriel as if using a knife to stab someone. Once he was near enough, the goblin then quickly charged his sword downward aiming for Gabriel¡¯s head but with a swift movement, Gabriel used his unloaded crossbow to block the goblin¡¯s sword stab. He then quickly stepped to his right side and used the sword he¡¯s holding in his right hand to stab the goblin, who was still in mid air, between the exposed points in its armor. A loud cry of pain and agony came out from the goblin before finally reverting back to its silence, as a dead carcass.


    After seeing their leader dead, the other goblins who are still in the middle of battle abandoned their opponents and their weapons behind, quickly running towards their own separate directions. Our men didn¡¯t just let them go though, as they continued attacking the fleeing goblins in their exposed backs with various arrows and spells.


    As if on cue, the end of the battle was accompanied by the daybreak, with the first rays of the sun shining down on the bloody landscape and being reflected by the various metallic weapons that the goblins have left behind.


    I was watching them loot all the weapons and the armors of the dead goblins to sell it later since it¡¯s too small for anyone to fit into anyone when I was approached by a young boy with brown robes. It was the same boy I saw earlier who was controlling the goblins¡¯ fireballs.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ Excuse me, Sir. Arthur.¡± he said. ¡°C-can I ask you a question? If it¡¯s okay with you.¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡± I replied.


    ¡°Uh, well. I was just curious what that barrier spell you used was? I¡¯ve never heard of ANY spell that drains away mana nor interact with it in any way.¡± he said nervously.


    I was caught off-guard by the boy¡¯s question. I just remembered that only Frain and Gabriel knew that I was a Celestial. Me blurting out the fact that I casted a spell that drains mana is a very unwise decision on my part. I should¡¯ve chosen my words carefully.


    ¡°Oh, well, you see, it¡¯s like this--¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s another one of Arthur¡¯s unique ability.¡± Frain interrupted. ¡°Apart from being able to give mana, he can also drain away mana from a casted spell, or directly from someone.¡±


    ¡°Is¡­ Is that really true?¡± the boy exclaimed in excitement and disbelief. ¡°Wow! That¡¯s incredible, Sir. Arthur! Wait, does that make you a mage that specializes in mana manipulation? If so, then you¡¯re the first ever mage to be capable of doing that!¡±


    ¡°Haha, indeed. I suppose we should start calling him the Sage of Mana then?¡± Frain said while laughing.


    ¡°The Sage of Mana sounds so cool and fitting!¡± the boy enthusiastically added. ¡°Can you please teach me how to become a better mage?¡±


    ¡°Easy now, Marlon. We still have a lot of things to do.¡± Frain said. ¡°After these guys are done looting, we¡¯re leaving immediately. We need to get to Palgrim by tomorrow. You can ask him that again once we have reached our final destination, ok?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Okay Frain¡­¡± the boy said with a disappointed look on his face.


    After rounding everything up and packing our things, we resumed our walk within the forest while still dragging the bound knights with us, who appears to have three casualties and one wounded due to the goblin attack. After two hours, we have finally reached the forest boundary and is greeted with a bright green, expansive plains that stretches out as far as the mortal eye can see, well past the horizon. Not far to the right of where we exited from is a beaten path, which I assume is the road that leads to the city of Palgrim.


    ¡°If we follow that road, we¡¯ll get to Palgrim maybe by tonight but the problem is the knights we have with us. We¡¯re not leaving them here to die and they can be used to send the message of our existence, but if some patrolling guards or some merchants in wagons saw us dragging these knights with us, we¡¯d be in unnecessary trouble.¡± Gabriel said. ¡°However, if we chose not to follow the road and go above those hills on the side, we¡¯d take longer to get there. What do you propose we do, Arthur?¡±


    I pondered about this question for a significant amount of time, until finally coming to a decision.


    ¡°We¡¯re leaving them here and we¡¯ll take the road. We don¡¯t have enough resources for another night and to share with these knights but we¡¯re not leaving them here to die.¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯ll leave the knights here and take only one with us. Then we¡¯ll tie that one knight on the road so that someone passing would see him and he¡¯ll be the one to inform them of the rest of the knights.¡±


    ¡°I see, that is an incredibly wise compromise.¡± Gabriel praised. ¡°Very well then, we¡¯ll do just that.¡±


    We took one knight from the bunch and tied the rest of them to a tree. We also left a note with the knights informing whoever is their rescuer of our existence, with our banner, a crown with a sword pointing down at it, placed on the tree trunk above the tied knights. We then took the one knight who is now saying all kinds of words at us and telling us that we¡¯d never make any difference, and tied him up in a tree right beside the road. After that, we took the road and proceeded to head towards Palgrim.


    Gabriel said that taking the road to Palgrim is the fastest way to get there by foot but even after half a day of continuous walking, I still couldn¡¯t even see anything that remotely resembles a city over the horizon.


    It¡¯s already high noon so we decided to stop by the shade of a giant tree by the road to eat our lunch and recover our energy. The tree had bright blue leaves with purple apple-like fruits dangling from it. Gabriel warned me that those fruits are incredibly poisonous and I shouldn¡¯t so much as to touch it. The heat was unbearable even though we¡¯re already covered in a perfect shade. Every once in a while though, a gust of cool breeze would blow past us like it¡¯s a considerate gift from nature.


    After about forty minutes of resting, we packed up everything and proceeded to march once again towards Palgrim, under the extreme heat of the blazing sun.

 Chapter 5: Twelve

    As we continue our long walk following the road heading North towards Palgrim, I happen to notice an incredibly strong, familiar and archaic magical aura from above the skies. It appears that there are two entities, bearing different patterns of the same type of magical aura. I looked around me, towards Frain, then Gabriel, then the men we have with us but they don¡¯t seem to notice, or even so much as to feel something.


    The two overwhelming auras were so strong I felt like they would crush me just by their presence, obviously due to the fact that I¡¯m currently residing in a mortal body. The auras, that appears to be coming from the western area of the sky, is rapidly growing stronger and nearer towards us. I tried to immediately inform everyone but before I can even say anything, the two entities whipped past above us at blinding speed.


    I managed to look at these entities and found out, to my surprise and curiosity, that it was Cthonigg, the Celestial who made this world, with the unnamed Celestial that made the Sun. No one but me would notice them obviously, as they¡¯re moving outside of this planet, out there in the cosmos.


    It hasn¡¯t even been three seconds yet but the two of them are already thousands of kilometers away from us already, and by that I meant thousands of kilometers away from this planet. However, their speed is not my concern, as I can also move at that speed in my true form. What bothers me is that what could be the reason that they¡¯re heading somewhere in a hurry, together. The two Celestials who doesn¡¯t seem to care about anything other than their stars and planets, have a particular destination in their minds? Interesting¡­


    Before their auras completely disappear from my range of detection, I felt a painful, yet familiar sensation going through my head. Seconds later, this sensation was replaced with utter pain and agony. The world all around me appears to be shaking violently and all of my senses became distorted. My ears feels like they¡¯re going to explode with these strange, eerie and extremely unpleasant noises that it¡¯s receiving out of nowhere. My physical body is also experiencing a tremendous amount of pressure that made me drop down to my knees. I could faintly see everyone rushing towards me as my consciousness slowly begins to fade away.


    As I completely drop to the ground as if all of my energy was just sucked out, I could still sense that one of the two Celestials stopped in their movement. I couldn¡¯t figure out who it was between the two exactly as I¡¯m already in the brink of unconsciousness, nor is it any of my concerns as of this moment, but I have a hunch that this has something to do with them, one way or another. Then, everything went black.


    I was lying on a bed when I opened my eyes. The dark brown color of the wooden ceiling suggests that I¡¯m in a fairly-old house. I looked to my right and saw Frain dipping a piece of cloth into a bowl filled with water.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re awake.¡± she said upon seeing me trying to sit up the bed. ¡°Take it easy, we can stay here until they¡¯re finished selling the weapons and goblin armor we scavenged.¡±


    ¡°Selling? Where are we?¡± I asked as I stroke my head that¡¯s still throbbing in pain.


    Frain pointed to the window covered with a blue piece of cloth to my left that I had neglected to look upon earlier.


    ¡°You must have fainted due to the heat.¡± Frain said while I was trying to remove the window covering out of the way.


    As I looked outside the window, what I immediately saw was the gigantic, towering gray wall. It was so tall that even a dragon wouldn¡¯t be able to look past it if it was on the ground. The shadow casted by this wall was big enough to reach us even though we¡¯re probably about five hundred meters away from it. Beneath the gigantic wall is a gate that connects to the road with knights heavily guarding it.


    ¡°Why are we outside the city?¡± I asked Frain. ¡°And how are we going to announce our existence to the people?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know if what we did at the village has already reached the other cities so we¡¯re here, outside so that we don¡¯t get seen.¡± she replied. ¡°Gabriel took two men with him to sell the things we¡¯ve scavenged to the merchants inside the city. After that, they¡¯ll write marking unto the walls using magic to inform the people of what we¡¯ve done. My guess is that they¡¯ll go to the poverty-stricken area and attempt to recruit people since that¡¯s where victims of injustice and corruption gather.¡±


    ¡°I want to go inside the city.¡± I told her.


    She immediately stopped what she was doing and looked at me straight unto the eyes.


    ¡°No, you won¡¯t.¡± she replied. ¡°Not only does it risk us being captured, but we have no way to inform Gabriel about that change of plans.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll be back before whatever time they said they¡¯re going to return.¡± I told her as I stare back at her eyes in pure seriousness. ¡°The main reason why I even came down here is to observe and experience your society. I only joined your group because I deemed it the best and most efficient way to travel places. I¡¯m going to the city whether you want me to or not, mortal. I do not need your approval.¡±


    She was silent for a couple of seconds, thinking whether it was a really good idea or not. Shortly after, she let out a huge sigh, and placed the wet cloth she¡¯s holding onto the table.


    ¡°Fine.¡± she said, disappointed. ¡°But I¡¯m going with you, and I also don¡¯t need your approval for that.¡±


    We both went down the stairs to the room where the men are gathered, waiting.


    ¡°S-Sir Arthur!¡± said by Marlon while rushing to me, worried. ¡°A-Are you ok? You fainted out of nowhere and--¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s ok Marlon, don¡¯t worry.¡± Frain said. ¡°He¡¯s still gonna be able to mentor you.¡±


    ¡°O-Oh, is that so.¡± Marlon replied. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re ok now!¡±


    Frain gathered everyone¡¯s attention as she knocks unto the wooden door three times. Everyone immediately stopped talking to themselves and turned their heads towards us.


    ¡°Unfortunately, our leader is a stubborn fool and insisted that he wants to go inside the city for sightseeing.¡± Frain told everyone. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m going with him and we¡¯ll be back before four. In the meanwhile, I want you to avoid attracting as much as attention as possible. Also, if Gabriel comes back before us, tell him to head to the destination. I know where it is so we can get there ourselves.¡±


    After that, the two of us put on a hood made out of leather to slightly cover our faces, then we proceeded to march towards the West Gate of the city.


    ¡°You sound different back there.¡± I told her while we¡¯re walking beside the road. ¡°I actually find it fascinating when one''s attitude suddenly changes due to an outside stimuli. Mortal behaviours are easy to influence, aren¡¯t they?¡±


    She smiled vaguely, but her eyes displays a sadness that couldn¡¯t be masked by that effortless smile.


    ¡°You know¡­ Because of all the things we¡¯ve been through, I thought we¡¯re already very close friends, you get what I mean? You probably don¡¯t anyway.¡± She replied to me, looking down while the hood covers the rest of her face. ¡°When you referred to me earlier as ¡®mortal¡¯, I realized that we¡¯re totally different. Sure, you¡¯re not really literal gods but your kind is something that¡¯s cosmically greater than us. I don¡¯t¡­ know¡­ I just thought we were already friends¡­ But it¡¯s clear that you only see me, and everyone else as just another one of the millions of mortals out there right?¡±


    ¡°Trillions.¡± I replied to her. ¡°The number of individual mortals in the entire universe exceeds trillions. We Celestials do have a concept of friendship. I once had a very close mortal friend, although not from this planet. He would occasionally reach out to me just to show me one of his magical inventions, and we would talk about the secrets of the universe and all the planes of existence. It was a very fun time, at least in my sense of ¡®fun¡¯. Then one day, I had to go to a very distant area of the universe due to a specific reason, but when I returned to his home planet, what greeted me was his great-great-grandchildren. The journey might have seemed fast to me, but to him, it has already been multiple generations, and my existence has already been a legend to their lineage.¡±


    ¡°Mortal life is fleeting. Eventually, it would wither away like all things that came before it.¡± I added. ¡°Individuals of their race are capable of living up to two hundred years. It was at that time that it occurred to me, that we Celestials exist in a very different flow of time than you mortals do. If you¡¯re asking me if I consider you my friend, I do, but not in your mortal sense of friend. In time, you would grow old, and die like the others do, and I would continue living on and traveling the vast expanse of the cosmos until the eventual death of the universe.¡±


    ¡°Is¡­ Isn¡¯t that very sad?¡± she replied, looking at me in pity. ¡°Knowing that everyone you know, everyone you¡¯ve ever been close to will all grow old and die while you continue to live on for all eternity. Don¡¯t you find it sad?¡±


    ¡°No, not really.¡± I replied to her. ¡°It is the way the universe works after all. And besides, mortal life wouldn¡¯t even be able to exist if not for Ashm¡¯hog creating the artificial plane of Nekerheim from which all mortal souls are born and return to after their death. You know him, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, he¡¯s the patron deity of necromancers and all manners of undead.¡± she said. ¡°Although, it was only believed that Ashm¡¯hog was the god of death, I never knew that he was the one who created mortal life too.¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t create mortal life.¡± I replied as we grow near the city gates. ¡°He simply allowed it to exist. Due to him creating the Nekerheim, temporary forms of life that would eventually run out of lifeforce were born in it, and would later on return to it to be recycled as another mortal soul.¡±


    ¡°So the Nekerheim didn¡¯t exist when the universe was born?¡± she asked with her sadness seemingly disappeared out of nowhere. ¡°Then that means, we mortals aren¡¯t supposed to exist?¡±


    ¡°Yes, exactly.¡± I replied. ¡°Now you can see why some Celestials don¡¯t like mortals, some even hate them and would kill at the sight of one. For most of us, you¡¯re all a bunch of uncontrollable pests that¡¯s populating the universe at a very fast speed. I do think that way myself, with a very few exceptions like those mortals who have proven themselves worthwhile to me.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ am I one of those exceptions?¡± she said.


    ¡°You have an incredibly strong latent magical potential within you, more than what I have seen in this planet.¡± I replied to her. ¡°It¡¯s not that special when compared to other mortal races of different, more advanced civilizations from other planets but for Alsvand, it¡¯s definitely noteworthy. So yes, you are an exception. You, along with Gabriel.¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    It was hard to see beneath the leather hood but she obviously smiled after what I just said.


    As we reach the city gates, the two heavily armored guards at both side of the gate stopped us with their spears crossing at each other to block the entrance.


    ¡°What is your business here?¡± One guard asked.


    ¡°We came here to buy equipments and supplies for our journey.¡± Frain replied. ¡°Is there something wrong? Last time I went here, I wasn¡¯t stopped by the guards.¡±


    ¡°W-well, you see¡­¡± The other guard said nervously. ¡°There has been word of research escapees from the village of Albes. The knights said these escapees are blood-thirsty murderers who would kill anyone indiscriminately. Dark times we live in¡­¡±


    ¡°Are you saying they could be here in Palgrim?¡± Frain said while pretending to be alarmed, hiding her frustration and anger at what the guards has just said. She then grabbed onto my arm and looked at me in the eyes. ¡°Honey, I think it¡¯s not safe here. Maybe we should just postpone our after-wedding journey.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t sure how to act in this situation. Should I say something? But what if I say something that makes them suspicious? Ugh, mortal dealings are always needlessly complicated. Thankfully, before I could even say anything, the guards looked into each other and allowed us to enter.


    ¡°I think it would be more dangerous to be outside the walls.¡± The guard at the left said. ¡°Those escapees could still be out there, looking for potential victims. It would be much safer inside the city where guards are stationed everywhere.¡±


    ¡°I suppose you are right.¡± Frain replied. ¡°Then please, keep us safe and protected inside the city, ok?¡±


    As we pass through the gates and to the city of Palgrim, I was greeted with stalls of shops lining the both sides of the road and a huge crowd of humans going everywhere. I have seen this kind of scenery before but it feels very much different to be part of the crowd than just seeing it from the outside.


    ¡°What¡¯s this? A young couple going on a date?¡± A man who seems to be a merchant said as he approach us. He then showed us a necklace with gold braces and a green jewel enclosed in it. ¡°Well then you¡¯d like this! This is a charm from the eastern elven kingdom! It¡¯s said to strengthen the love of the person wearing it, and if you buy two, then it would strengthen BOTH of your love to each other! Isn¡¯t that wonderful?¡±


    I was shocked by what he said, mainly because that particular necklace he showed didn¡¯t even emit a magical aura. How can it affect a person¡¯s emotional state if it isn¡¯t even imbued with magic?


    ¡°But I don¡¯t sense any magic from it.¡± I said to the man. ¡°Besides, that necklace doesn¡¯t look elvish in the slightest. If you ask me, it¡¯s along the styles of kobolds.¡±


    ¡°Sorry but we¡¯re currently in a hurry!¡± Frain said in a louder than usual tone as she drags me away from the man. Once we¡¯re a reasonable distance away from him, she switches back to the usual tone she uses. ¡°We should avoid interacting with anyone as much as possible. Remember, we¡¯re only here because you want to observe.¡±


    As we move places to places, visiting the famous landmarks of this city with the guide of Frain, I happen to hear a conversation between two men dressed in a less-impressive clothing compared to the rest of the people we''ve seen so far.


    ¡°...they claim to be led by the Sage of Mana.¡± One man said. ¡°If we join them we could finally leave this hellhole behind.¡±


    ¡°But we would basically become rebels, right?¡± The other one said. ¡°Is it really worth it? We might be living a below-average life here, but at least we¡¯re not in any immediate danger.¡±


    They must be talking about Gabriel and their recruitment plan. I ignored them and decided not to tell Frain as it¡¯s not really the purpose of us coming here.


    We continued our sightseeing within the city. Frain seems to be enjoying it herself as she¡¯s the one dragging me along in excitement and I¡¯m merely following her lead. We stopped by a fountain in the middle of the city with a huge statue of a bipedal dragon holding an orb on its right hand on top of it. There are also a lot of people gathered in this area doing their own businesses.


    ¡°This is one of the most popular spot in this city.¡± Frain said. ¡°The fountain of Akash, the dragon guardian of the Empire. It was said that when the elves amassed a huge force to attack the young and weak Empire, Akash descended down from the sky like a meteorite and burned a very huge portion of the army, allowing the Empire to be in more or less equal in forces to them. That orb he¡¯s holding is the orb of nature which Akash stole from the elven supreme commander. It is believed to enable the wielder to control the nature¡¯s forces that only elementals are supposed to do. Funny enough, it wasn¡¯t us humans who named Akash, but the elves themselves. Akash means bad omen in elvish.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I might¡¯ve seen that battle before, but only briefly and I don¡¯t remember it that much.¡± I replied. ¡°It was in the perspective of a flying eagle above the battle and it flew away when that dragon appeared.¡±


    ¡°Perspective of an eagle?¡± Frain asked, confused.


    ¡°Before I descended down in this mortal form, I can only watch this world from the perspective of its mortal inhabitants.¡± I replied. ¡°And I can¡¯t even control what mortal life it is.¡±


    As we were conversing, I noticed that the number of people in that place was quickly diminishing. It only took a few seconds for my suspicions to be proven true when a huge number of Imperial knights circled the entire area, completely closing all of our escape routes.


    ¡°The Sage of Mana, eh?¡± One knight in a distinctively golden armor said. ¡°That explains why the automatas suddenly stopped functioning, and their riders dying of mana deficiency. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s more beneficial for you to side with the empire? Your unique and special ability has tremendous amount of implications rather than just using it on helping these escapees. What do you say?¡±


    ¡°You might be forgetting that I am an escapee too.¡± I told him. ¡°Right now I could kill every single person in this city by sucking out all of their mana. You¡¯re the ones who trapped yourself, not us, not me.¡±


    Technically, I can only do that if I was flying above the sky where the spell targeting could encompass the entire city, but as of now, I only said that to threaten them. It seemed to have worked though, as I can see the golden knight flinched in his position and rendered speechless by my claim.


    ¡°Then do it.¡± An unfamiliar voice of a woman said. ¡°What are you waiting for? You¡¯re surrounded with all of your escape routes blocked. If you do what you¡¯ve just said, you can escape easily. So what are you waiting for?¡±


    As the woman comes out from behind the surrounding knights, she held out her left hand and proceeded to cast a spell. A red magical circle appeared from her hand with runic characters. To my surprise, the spell didn¡¯t take too long to be armed. A spell with that much complexity should take five to ten seconds even if it was Frain doing to casting, but she did it in just three seconds. Reading the runes and the magic circle, I could vaguely tell that it was some kind of spell that rains down fire from above, I couldn¡¯t tell exactly what spell it is though.


    The woman herself is intriguing¡­ her eyes are covered with a piece of green cloth with violet engravings on it, and she appears to be wearing exotic violet robes I have never seen before. Her tied, long brown hair spirals around her neck, as if it was a rope trying to choke her.


    ¡°I was an experiment like you, Frain Algus.¡± She said to Frain while smiling. ¡°I lost my sight due to it, but in return, I was given an incredible amount of power. Aren¡¯t you the same as me, gifted with power by the Empire?¡±


    Seeing as we weren¡¯t entertaining her, she grew impatient and angry. Her frown is reflected by the movements of her mouth. All of a sudden, she screamed Frain¡¯s name aloud, then proceeded to fire her spell at us.


    In an instant, the sky that was once blue flashed a bright, burning red flare. I didn¡¯t cast barrier around Frain, as it would completely drain all of her mana. Instead, I simply told her to close her eyes, which she did after immediately understanding what I¡¯ll do. I held my left hand upwards, towards the falling fire and started to cast mana drain on it. The woman didn¡¯t waste anytime though as she started firing fireballs at us as soon as she saw me casting a spell. I used my right hand to instantly cast a barrier towards her direction to block any attack she fires at us. The knights wouldn¡¯t dare to get near us, since they¡¯d be killed by the spell too once it reaches the ground so I don¡¯t have to worry about them.


    After about two seconds, I fired mana drain towards the falling red flame, completely disintegrating it into a rain of blue, crystalline mana before evaporating into the Archeus. If it was nighttime, it would appear as if the Sun just completely disappeared from the sky leaving the stars behind. The extra dimensional light from my spell rendered the majority of the surrounding knights insane. Those that were in the blind spot and didn¡¯t get affected looked around in confusion as their fellow knights started wriggling around in the ground, and some even stabbing themselves due to insanity. The woman was confused too, why the spell she just casted just vanished to thin air. She could also probably tell by their magical auras that the knights have completely gone mad, but she wouldn¡¯t know the reason why, since mana drain is impossible to detect using magic senses.


    ¡°Frain! We¡¯re running!¡± I told her while she¡¯s still kneeling down the ground, covering her eyes.


    She opened her eyes as I grabbed her arm and run towards the area with the most affected knights. It wasn¡¯t that easy though as the remaining sane knights quickly blocked our path. Thankfully, Gabriel and the two other men appeared from behind those knights and started their assault, allowing us to slip past them and escape.


    ¡°What the hell are you two doing here?¡± Gabriel said as we were running away.


    ¡°Arthur wanted to see the city.¡± Frain replied to him as she looks towards me. ¡°See? I told you this was a bad idea!¡±


    It seems that the guard knights are unaware of what¡¯s happening since they didn¡¯t even stop us from exiting the gates. They were just as confused as the other people around. No one pursued us, or more like, no one¡¯s left to pursue us. The knights have been incapacitated and that woman¡­ she¡¯s probably still wondering why her spell just disappeared out of nowhere.


    ¡°Oh yeah, there was a woman there who claimed to be one of the experiments.¡± Frain said to Gabriel. ¡°She¡¯s working for the Empire though.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll talk about things later. For now we should gather everyone and head to our destination.¡± Gabriel replied. ¡°We didn¡¯t managed to recruit anyone thanks to the two of you, but that should still get the word out.¡±


    Upon reaching the old house on the outskirts of the city, we immediately told everyone to pack up and continue our walk. We headed north and only stopped occasionally to check if anyone was following us. As we get closer to our destination, the temperature starts dropping to noticeable differences.


    Even after the nightfall, we didn¡¯t stop and still continued to head towards our destination. After a while, we have found ourselves near a valley with towering mountains on both sides of a narrow passage that appears to have civilization inside, as light could be seen coming out from the narrow gap.


    ¡°The village of Makkor is inside that Valley. We¡¯ll be staying there until the morning comes.¡± Gabriel said to our relatively small group.


    ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s safe?¡± Frain asked. ¡°We were just attacked by the Imperial forces, you know?¡±


    ¡°Those aren¡¯t Imperial forces, Frain.¡± Gabriel replied. ¡°Their orders to search for us didn¡¯t come from the Emperor, but from someone who oversees these experiments. They operate with a concerningly high degree of freedom within the Empire. They¡¯re our true enemy, not the Empire itself.¡±


    ¡°How did you know that?¡± Frain asked again.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just say that I have a very confidential informant.¡± he replied. ¡°It¡¯s imperative that you all trust me on this one.¡±


    As we reach the village protected by mountains, we quickly headed towards a huge house that Gabriel¡¯s informant have prepared for us. There, we were greeted by a butler who¡¯s ¡®awaiting our arrival¡¯. After settling in within our own respective rooms, we all met in the house¡¯s living room, with the butler with us, and discussed various topics, including our plans for tomorrow.


    ¡°The woman that attacked you, the blind one, she said she¡¯s one of the experiments right?¡± Gabriel asked us. ¡°I don¡¯t know her real name, or if she even has a real name, but she¡¯s called Twelve within the Empire because that¡¯s her experiment number. All of us here are above the number one-thousand, so you can probably guess that she¡¯s one of the first few.¡±


    ¡°So she¡¯s been tasked to find us?¡± Frain said. ¡°That¡¯s going to be a pain in the ass. She freaking finished casting Cataclysm in just three seconds! Three seconds, Gabriel!¡±


    ¡°Yes, she¡¯s a very powerful one.¡± Gabriel replied. ¡°We need to make sure we¡¯re careful around her. Thankfully, we have Arthur here, who is now better known as the Sage of Mana.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s with that anyway?¡± I asked them. ¡°What¡¯s the point of telling people I¡¯m the Sage of Mana?¡±


    ¡°Because Sages are one of the strongest, if not, the strongest mages in their respective fields of expertise.¡± Gabriel said. ¡°The Sage of Death, for example, has an army of undead at her disposal that rivals the Empire¡¯s in terms of numbers alone. Sages are living legends, and if people find out that a Sage is leading our group, it will surely incite them to join. Since you¡¯re the only mage that can directly manipulate mana, that makes you the strongest mage of your field, and thus, a Sage.¡±


    After a long while of discussion, planning and restructuring our chain of command, we all went to our respective rooms and enjoyed a good night¡¯s sleep. It¡¯s important that we savor this short time of rest, because we¡¯d need all of our energy that we can muster for tomorrow¡¯s confrontation.

 Chapter 6: Replica

    We wasted no time staying in that house after everyone has woken up. As soon as we¡¯re done preparing everything we¡¯ll use or things that will come in handy, we trekked north-east of the valley, where the mountain ranges could be seen stretching for miles on end. We only brought about half of the group, only bringing those who are combat-capable, bringing our numbers down to sixteen, myself included.


    As we were walking, Frain approached me with a familiar worried look in her face. The two of us slowed down our pace, so that we would be behind the group and no one would overhear our conversation.


    ¡°This is going to be dangerous.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m nervous.¡±


    ¡°Gabriel¡¯s strategy sounds effective and efficient.¡± I replied to her. ¡°Do you not trust his wits?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant!¡± She replied with a frowned face.¡±Some of us might not make it back alive... Come to think of it, what happens if your body dies?¡±


    I paused for a brief moment at her question. Now that she brought the question up, I realized that I haven¡¯t told them yet just what are the possible outcomes of this body dying. Now might be a good time to tell her.


    ¡°My real ¡®body¡¯ is what acts as this body¡¯s soul,¡± I said. ¡°If this body dies, there are three possible outcomes that might occur. The first is that my astral form could be sent to Nekerheim, being mistaken as a mortal soul, where I could just leave whenever I want to. Second, it may break free of this body and instantaneously revert back to its previous form. That¡¯s the least pleasant outcome as that would also mean all of my pent-up and restrained mana would spontaneously expand into this plane, resulting in a violent and destructive explosion of pure mana. The last possibility is that I might just die. And by that, I mean the consciousness that I am would stop existing. If that¡¯s the case, that would be the first ever occurrence of a ¡®death¡¯ of a Celestial.¡±


    ¡°And yet, you still decided to limit yourself in that form despite knowing that you could die?¡± She replied, now more concerned than before.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been alive ever since the beginning of the universe, Frain.¡± I told her. ¡°I¡¯m not an omniscient god who knows everything. Billions of years of being alive would make you start to question the purpose of your existence¡­ which I fail to see. I don¡¯t care if I could die or not, since I wouldn¡¯t even be able to care once I¡¯m already non-existent.¡±


    She now looked gloomy, looking at me in pity and sorrow. We continued our talk about the nature of life and mortality for the rest of the way.


    After half an hour of walking, we finally reached our destination. A giant pollus tree with an ever-changing leaf color which appears to dance with the sunlight. To the distance is a cliff, with what seems like a mine shaft entrance on top of it. The door of the entrance shines as it reflects the sun¡¯s light, suggesting that it is metallic in composition while also having several layers of magical protections cast on it.


    ¡°Frain should be able to blast off that door.¡± Gabriel said. ¡°After that, we¡¯ll proceed as what he had planned last night.¡±


    ¡°No, it won¡¯t be that simple.¡± I told them. ¡°That door is protected with layer upon layer of rank five and above magic protections. I could easily disarm those protections with my mana drain though so no need for concern.¡±


    While we were discussing on how we¡¯re going to attack, the door that we¡¯ve been planning to bust open suddenly dropped all of its magical protection and moments later, a familiar figure of a woman emerged from the door, along with a man who I¡¯ve never seen before. We all looked in silence as we watched these two figures. Looking closely, the woman appeared to be Twelve, the one who we fought back at Palgrim. The man with her, who was wearing a mask that resembles a dragon and a hooded robe of pure black that completely covers his entire body, looks around as if surveying the area. Twelve also appeared to be concentrating, maybe trying to look for our magical auras. It looks like we¡¯re too far for her to detect us.


    ¡°They haven¡¯t seen us yet.¡± I told everyone. ¡°Casting spells that can be detected will give away our position, we shouldn¡¯t be hasty.¡±


    ¡°Then you can use your mana drain.¡± Frain told me. ¡°You said it can¡¯t be detected, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s true that it doesn¡¯t give off any mana signature,¡± I replied. ¡°But I need a clear line of sight towards my target, which would show myself to that masked man. Casting would take at the very least two seconds, and at that time frame they could attack us with anything.¡±


    As we continued to hide behind the wide trunk of the pollus tree while discussing the various ways we could go around this predicament, a loud explosion that echoed a deafening pulse of noise was produced, causing us to freeze in our places while desperately covering our ears. The sound was eerily composed and concentrated however, that it didn¡¯t feel natural. Yes, too concentrated, like the explosion was designed to produce that specific type of sound.


    ¡°Wait¡­ Could this be¡­?¡± I thought to myself while barely holding my consciousness amidst the continuous stream of deafening noise.


    Sure enough, my suspicions were confirmed to be true when the masked man suddenly came flying past us, right after the noise has subsided. Out of reflex, I held my barrier with my left hand towards the man in mid-air, negating a blueish green bolt of spell that he casted.


    ¡°They found us using the echoes!¡± I told everyone. ¡°Don¡¯t just sit around!¡±


    I continued to block the masked man¡¯s flurry of attacks with my barrier, literally putting myself between him and the others since I can¡¯t cast my barrier on them. Meanwhile, Twelve is walking casually towards us while preparing her own spell. If I¡¯m going to guess, it¡¯s going to be another rank six or greater spell, designed to wipe us all out in one fell swoop. What concerns me though is the time it¡¯s taking her to finish the spell. If it takes that long for her to cast it, I can only worry how powerful that spell is going to be. Thankfully, the others have started to get ahold of themselves and began to pay attention to Twelve.


    ¡°Can you hold out him for a little longer?¡± Gabriel asked me. ¡°We¡¯re going to take Twelve out first.¡±


    ¡°Wise choice.¡± I replied. ¡°I can tell this guy specializes in continuous attacks, unlike Twelve there.¡±


    Gabriel then started shooting his crossbows towards Twelve. Some of the bolts ended up missing, but those that are supposed to directly hit just melts in mid-air right before it hits her.


    ¡°She has a flame barrier around her!¡± I shouted. ¡°Physical attacks won¡¯t affect her!¡±


    Seeing as I diverted my attention for a split second, the masked man who was just sending out a continuous volley of magical bolts stopped casting and instead decided to rush towards me with a dagger in his hand. I stood firmly at my place and waited for him to get close so I could use my shield to drain him off of his mana but just right before he gets in range, he jumped up over me in an inhuman display of athleticism, and in just a single sweeping motion, has now landed at my back. Unfortunately, I wasn¡¯t fast enough to turn my barrier towards him. He quickly used his dagger to thrust into my neck, and for a moment, I thought that it was over and that¡¯s where this mortal body dies. Thankfully, just before the dagger make any contact, a searing bolt of blue lightning hit his right arm that¡¯s holding the dagger, burning the sleeves and revealing his charred skin caused by the spell. The dagger had been flung away from us and fell down a cliff.


    ¡°Are you alright!?¡± Frain shouted.


    ¡°I am!¡± I replied. ¡°Thanks!¡±


    I have now turned my left barrier towards him, and my right one on the side, ready to protect me from the back any moment he decided to attack from there. Looking closely at him, I noticed that there¡¯s a carved out symbol on his mask¡¯s forehead that seems to be the number fifteen. His eyes are almost completely pitch black, with the exception of his pupils, which are bright red.


    ¡°So it¡¯s true.¡± he said in a surprisingly somewhat feminine voice. ¡°Your barrier really does drain mana from anyone who makes contact with them.¡±The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°How did you--¡±


    ¡°How did I know?¡± He interrupted. ¡°Most of the Empire knows already. The knights you captured reported that a goblin died of mana deficiency when it touched your barrier. Seeing as how you attempted to ram it unto me just proves that.¡±


    ¡°Knowing that doesn¡¯t help your present situation.¡± I told him as I attempted to hit him with my left barrier as fast as I can, but he¡¯s just too agile and immediately stepped back several feet away from me. He wasn¡¯t able to regain his foothold though, as he failed to notice one of our men standing not too far from him. The man immediately saw the opportunity and raised his sword up, preparing to strike the masked man from the back but the masked man saw the sword¡¯s shadow from the ground and quickly stepped to his left side to avoid the attack. He didn¡¯t managed to completely avoid though and the sword grazed a part of his mask, causing a huge portion of it to crack down and fall, revealing some part of his face¡­ or should I say her face. Seeing as the mask could barely be called a mask now, she decided to remove it completely, showing her face with that pitch-black eyes, along with black, symmetrical stripes that looks like a tiger''s¡¯ stripes running across her face.


    ¡°Tsk¡­¡± she tutted in an angry and annoyed expression.


    Before the man could even hold his sword up again, she drew another dagger and charged at him at blinding speeds. The man had little time to react as the dagger slices through his throat, spurting out blood afterwards. I too, had little time to react while she uses the man¡¯s body to propel herself towards me. I was in the middle of holding my left barrier up when a shout from the other battle catched her attention, causing her to drop down to the ground, a few feet away from me.


    ¡°FIFTEEN!¡± Twelve shouted.


    As we both look towards the other ongoing battle, I saw Twelve, who¡¯s now forced in a defensive stance, kneeling down the ground while Frain and the other mages tries to overwhelm her with attacks. Gabriel and those non-mages have completely surrounded her, ready to strike the moment she drops down her guard.


    I never understood why, but instead of attacking me while I was defenseless and distracted, the woman I was currently fighting immediately rushed towards Twelve, slashing away those in her way from their backs before the others even realized it. This lessened the number of attacks that Twelve has to defend to, allowing the both of them to escape in an explosion of relatively harmless fire. After the smoke disappears, the two of them left not even a single trace of their whereabouts, leaving us with the five dead bodies of those who met their end in this battle.


    ¡°We¡¯ll come back for them later.¡± I told them, breaking the silence seeing how no one seems to know what to do next. ¡°For now, our priority is the research facility.¡±


    ¡°Y-yeah, he¡¯s right.¡± Gabriel depressingly said. ¡°We were aware that some of us will die in this mission.¡±


    We all proceeded to cautiously enter the door that the two left open, with me in the front of course, holding my barrier up. The entrance leads down to a stairway entirely made out of gray bricks with lanterns to light up the path. We slowly made our way down, checking for traps and such along the way when we heard a faint voice calling for help. As we go deeper, the voices become louder and more numerous until we reached our destination: the prison cells, where we saw a somewhat similar setup as the one in Albes. The only difference though is that the ones imprisoned appears to be children to teenagers. Not a single adult.


    ¡°Where are the researchers?¡± Gabriel asked one of them while unlocking the prison cells.


    ¡°T-they¡¯re gone. They left just earlier.¡± A boy with white hair said.


    ¡°Arthur, can you sense anything?¡± Frain asked me seemingly concerned if it¡¯s a trap.


    ¡°No, they¡¯re really gone.¡± I replied. ¡°I can track them from the mana they left behind if you want me to.¡±


    ¡°No, there¡¯s no need.¡± said Gabriel.


    We continued to explore the area and went to the experimentation room where we found several dead bodies of children lying around. Most of them have been physically deformed in various disgusting and inhumane ways. Frain couldn¡¯t handle the sight and immediately left the room while Gabriel was consumed by rage and punched a wall so hard that it made his fists bleed.


    ¡°Bastards¡­¡± he said. ¡°To do this on kids¡­ I swear if I see one of them I¡¯ll--¡±


    All of a sudden, a crystal on one of the experiment tables started pulsating a purple light that¡¯s so bright it made the whole dark room glow. It¡¯s strange, the feeling I¡¯m getting at this is the same as when I first entered the prisons in Albes, but this time it¡¯s stronger, maybe because I¡¯m closer to it now.


    ¡°Hey,¡± Gabriel warned me. ¡°What are you doing? It might be dangerous.¡±


    The pulsating that seems to synchronize with my heartbeat grows stronger as I get closer and closer to it. As I reach my arm out to touch the crystal, I can¡¯t help but get a familiar feeling from it. Like I¡¯ve seen this crystal before, a long, long time ago.


    For the first time, I felt fear and a sense of urgency upon touching the crystal. I finally know why it felt so familiar, powerful and archaic. How did they get a hold of this? Those mortals, what are they planning?


    ¡°Telesma.¡± I said out loud.


    ¡°What?¡± Gabriel asked, confused as to what I¡¯m doing.


    ¡°Its¡­¡± I replied, stuttering and shaking as I look at Gabriel. ¡°Its an attempt to replicate Telesma. This thing¡­ this thing shouldn¡¯t exist. It shouldn¡¯t be allowed to exist.¡±


    ¡°Telesma¡­.?¡± he asked, still confused.


    The anger that he earlier displayed has now been replaced by the similar fear that I¡¯m expressing. He must have realized the magnitude of it, seeing a Celestial like me showing fear and trembling.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a perfect replica¡­¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯d say about ten percent the power of the original, but that ten percent alone is already concerning.¡±


    ¡°If every research facility has this... ¡° I added. ¡°Then they have obtained the basic understanding of how the Telesma work¡­ but your primitive civilization should still be millions of years away from that¡­¡±


    ¡°Look, I¡¯m not getting anything from what you¡¯re say--¡±


    Before Gabriel could even finish his sentence, I quickly smashed the crystal unto the table, completely shattering it and exploding into mana particles. Due to the artificial nature of it, the mana that it turned into burned my arm as it passes through it like wind, although not to an alarming degree.


    ¡°The research facility at Albes should also have one of this.¡± I said. ¡°We need to destroy that one too.¡±


    ¡°Wait!¡± he said. ¡°Maybe you should start by explaining everything first? And besides, they most likely have secured it already if it¡¯s really that powerful.¡±


    ¡°You¡­ have a point.¡± I replied. ¡°But I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t tell you anything about it.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Why not?¡±


    ¡°Mortals aren¡¯t supposed to be aware of its existence.¡±


    ¡°Well, the ones that made it certainly are.¡±


    I paused for a moment. It¡¯s true, there¡¯s no point in hiding it if they¡¯ve already been making replicas of it.


    ¡°Very well.¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll explain it to you and Frain.¡±


    After we released all the child prisoners, we returned back to the mansion at the village of Makkor where we buried the remains of the five who died earlier. I don¡¯t understand why we can¡¯t just cremate them for efficiency though. Gabriel said that his ¡°informant¡± will take care of the children in an orphanage but two of the eldest still decided to come with us anyway and fight. One of which is an elf boy named Khiir, which means ¡®the harmony of mana with nature¡¯ in elvish, according to him. The other one isn¡¯t very talkative and he just prefers to be alone most of the time.


    I was about to ask Frain to come to my room with Gabriel when I saw her talking to Khiir.


    ¡°Why did you decide to join us?¡± She asked. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better if you just fled to the elven kingdom? You know the Empire are enemies with elves right?¡±


    ¡°W-well¡­ that¡¯s because¡­¡± He said hesitantly. ¡°Well I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m a half-elf so I¡¯m not welcome in the elven kingdom either. I thought it¡¯d be better if I just joined you.¡±


    ¡°Oh... Is that so¡­¡± she replied. ¡°I see. Well, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll fit in with the group easily.¡±


    ¡°How can you be sure?¡± Khiir asked.


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s just say we have very diverse members.¡± She said as she looks at me smiling.


    Once Frain and Gabriel were in the room, I proceeded to explain them everything. I had to tell Frain what happened first because she wasn¡¯t present when the crystal activated.


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying that the Telesma is the one that created the universe?¡± Gabriel asked.


    ¡°Yes¡­ and no.¡± I said. ¡°It was the source of the universe, the mother of it, but it didn¡¯t created it per se. Think of it like this: The magic within the Telesma gradually became unstable until it formed itself into time and space. Then the Telesma simply ¡®birthed¡¯ the universe out.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ the Telesma existed before the universe did?¡± Frain asked. ¡°How is that possible?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t know the answer to that.¡± I replied. ¡°You see, when we were born with the universe, we came out the Telesma as if it was the womb of our mother, fully conscious and not knowing the purpose of our existence.¡±


    ¡°So where is the Telesma, exactly?¡± asked Gabriel.


    ¡°At the center of the universe.¡± I replied. ¡°A huge majority of us Celestials are concentrated there to protect it. Obviously I¡¯m not one of those.¡±


    ¡°You said earlier that the Telesma exists in all planes?¡± Gabriel added.


    ¡°Yes, indeed.¡± I said. ¡°Its existence encompasses all planes and is the only thing that¡¯s in the Void. Nevertheless, our main concern is how the Empire managed to imperfectly replicate Telesma, or just what they¡¯re trying to use it for.¡±


    ¡°Zero.¡± Gabriel said. ¡°My informant said the one who¡¯s in charge of everything is named Zero¡­ or at least, that¡¯s the name he goes by.¡±


    ¡°Zero, huh.¡± I told him. ¡°Well we don¡¯t have to look for him. If we just continue to raid the research facilities, he¡¯ll come to us himself.¡±