《Gallanor (On hiatus)》


 Prologue: Ejection

    "Mr. Tower you stand accused of the destruction of private property, breaking and entering, and the murder of Micheal Landry. How do you plead?" (Judge Tomas)


    The cameras panned to a very plain looking man. He had rough unkempt hair would probably be the first thing one noticed about the man. Next would be the obvious bags under his eyes. Oddly the man didn''t look tired instead he bore a confident smile. After noticing the smile ones attention would probably be drawn to his clean shaven face. Perhaps the most out of place thing was his outfit. Instead of being nicely dressed he instead wore his work clothes. A lab coat, khakis, and some sneakers.


    "I plead guilty to all charges except the false accusation of murder." (Darren Tower)


    Those were words no one wanted to hear. The man said to be the new Einstein or the next Tesla pleaded guilty to murder. Families across the nation sat devastated in front of their televisions. However halfway across the world one man had a smile on his face, David Colt. He simply picked up the phone next to him and made a single phone call.


    Publicly David was given the death penalty. However David currently sat in a room across from a group of 5 men. "Darren the way I see it you have a choice. You can either work for the government for the rest of your life. Never receiving credit for what you create. Or you can be ejected." (Middle Man)


    "Ahh so you did read my notes. I assume you know why I killed Landry then. I have to ask why let me go? Why give me a choice." (Darren)


    "You think after all you''ve done for the world we would force you to waste away for the murder of some scum. We found enough evidence to convict every member of his immediate family for years. They had a kill list. A kill list. With the locations of the bodies and how each person was killed. That was all we needed to confirm your reasons. Though we aren''t doing this strictly for you." (Man farthest to the left)


    "You plan to use my death for political gain then?" (Darren)


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it."Haha, exactly. You see we plan to convict all of Landry''s family and present the list in a public trial. This will redeem your public image and raise you to almost martyrdom in the eyes of the other families who suffered at thier hands. This will cause a public backlash against those currently in power. Allowing us to effectively rearrange the playing field in our favor.(Middle Man)


    The middle man held a self satisfied smile. Darren simply closed his eyes and leaned back going over his options.


    "It''s really more than I could ever hope for." Darren thought to himself. After sititng quietly for what seemed like an eternity.


    "I choose ejection. On the condition the gateway is destroyed behind me." (Darren)


    "We accept." (All five men)


    The response was instant and unanimous. A hulking brute of a man then stepped into the room and motioned for Darren to follow. He was lead to a car outside the building and hurridly ushered in.


    After riding for about an hour he was brought to the research facility he used to work. As Darren walked in her heard the doors being bolted behind him. There was no turning back. All the windows were barred and any devices that could have helped escape were removed before  his arrival. Not that he even stopped to check. He simply walked towards a device in the middle of the facility.


    There it stood. The ejector. A device that could bridge Universes. The theory was first proposed in 2021. However it failed to gain traction until 2030 when the existence of parallel universes was discovered. In merely six years Darren had build this device. He left no instructions on its use however it was a fairly straightforward device. There was only one button on the entire machine. He made it that way. An on and off button. Darren stepped forward and pressed it. The machine then emitted a soft hum. the empty hole in the middle of the circular gateway turned into what appeared to be filled with a colorless opaque liquid. Taking a deep breath Darren stepped forward.

 Chapter 1: A Nice Chat

    Third Prince Tal''gor Felloron of the High Elves was currently investigating a large mana burst on the outskirts of Oberroth. His group consisted of himself and his mount. Although the prince was dressed in a bright red robe and had a ridiculously ornate staff strapped to his back his mount was more likely to catch attention. Most elves use Troas Large tetra-pedal birds  as their mounts. Tal''gor''s however was a gorger a large bipedal lizard with an insatiable apatite. As he sped toward his destination he couldn''t help but feel childishly excited for what he may find.


    (Earlier this same day)


    Tal''gor sat silent reading a newer edition of spell theory. The work was published weekly by the Consortium. A multi-racial organization of mages, shamans, and warlocks. The current issue was a special on fire magic.


    The door to his chambers suddenly flew open.


    "My Prince, the mana-burst outside Oberroth you told us to investigate. Another occurred in the exact same spot."


    The soldier looked at Tal''gor as if asking for permission to continue. With a curt nod from the prince the soldier took another deep breath and continued.


    "Something came out. A few locals claim it to have been a person. Of what race is uncertain."


    "Thank you for the information, however should you ever barge into my chambers again you may find yourself screaming in pain after I set you ablaze. I mean seriously can you not knock. I have a hard time believing you would have forgotten information that important in the amount of time it takes you to knock on the damn door."


    The prince made a shooing gesture with his hand and the soldier made a quick bow before departing.


    Alone again the Prince''s thoughts immediately went to the manaburst. What made it odd is that manaburst never happen in the same place twice. However manaburst have occurred in this spot not twice but three times.


    A manaburst most often occurs when a large amount of ambient mana is suddenly displaced by an external force. Two way portals are usually the cause of these burst, but considering how exceedingly rare and expensive they are to cast the Tal''gor was skeptical of that being the cause.


    Unable to think about anything else the prince resolved to investigate the matter himself.  Grabbing a bright red feathered quill pen and a parchment the prince began to write a message.


    Darren stood in the darkness unable to make out anything.


    "Hello?" (Darren)


    There was no echo. He reached down to touch the floor but his hand kept going farther and farther down. He jumped up but he never came down as if a plat form would come up to meet him.


    "Oh a new comer." (???)   said a feminine voice.


    Darren raised an eyebrow but said nothing.


    "Haven''t had one of those in ages. Or ever to be frank." (???)


    Darren remembered he had his smart phone. Taking it out he switched on the flash light. All around him was the same unfathomable darkness. However 10 feet in front of him an enormous white wolf stretched out. "Howdy" she said.


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    "What an interesting device." Said the wolf as she stood up.  Taking a few steps forward she sniffed him.


    "You don''t smell like Hilden. Nor does your outfit match any I''ve seen on Gallanor."


    "Gallanor? Is that what that place is called? So are we in Gallanor right now?"


    At his sudden question the wolf''s eyes widened with surprise and amusement. "Are you not afraid, most humans regardless of linage, cannot bring themselves to utter a word in my presence."


    "Well if you wanted to kill me you would have no trouble doing so. Seeing as you choose to have a conversation instead I figured you had no ill intentions, yet." Adding the last word with bit of caution.


    "Yet? Pfft haha. Little one you amuse me greatly. I have nothing to gain from your death. Please sit it has been centuries since I have had the pleasure of a nice chat."


    After hearing the joyful tone in her voice Darren nodded and sat down. Motioning for her to continue the wolf nodded.


    "O pardon my rudeness, in my joy I''ve forgotten my manners. My name is Lycan. And yours?"(Lycan)


    "Darren, Darren Tower." (Darren)


    "So tell me, Darren, how have you come to this wretched place."(Lycan)


    "Wretched? I''d describe it more as bleak or dreary."(Darren)


    "When you''ve been here alone for 400 years your outlook tends to change." said Lycan with none of the prior amusement in her voice.


    Opening his mouth to question how she could be her for that long he caught himself. Am I really going to question a giant talking wolf on the honesty of her words? Going with his better judgement he decided against it.


    "I came from a gateway I built. Perhaps you can show me a way out of this place?"(Darren)


    "Why would I do that? I''ve been stuck her for years and I''ve finally got company. So tell me how has Gallanor changed in the past 400 years?"(Lycan)


    "Your guess is as good as mine." (Darren)


    "What do you mean by that?" (Lycan) the annoyance in her voice apparent.


    "Never been. The whole reason I built that portal was to leave my old world. Didn''t really care were it sent me. But seeing as Gallanor apparently has giant talking wolves I figure it''s as good of place as any." (Darren)


    "You aren''t from Gallanor." (Lycan) Her ears fully perked up upon hearing this information. "In that case perhaps I will help you leave. If you make a deal with me."


    "Well seeing as we have plenty of time to discuss the details. I''m all ears."(Darren)


    "All I ask is for your body." (Lycan) Impossibly the wolf seemed to be grinning.

 Chapter 2: Striking a Deal

    The prince grew more excited as he neared his destination. The canopy grew denser as he went. However only a few hundred meters away from the site a bird swooped down from the canopy. Landing on his gorger''s head. It had a note strapped to its left leg. As he reached to untie it he was savagely pecked by the bird. Given it an annoyed glance he pulled a copper piece from some pouch hidden under his robe and gave it to the bird who then grabbed the coin with its beak. After Tal''gor removed the letter was removed the bird promptly took flight and vanished back into the canopy.


    My prince, it is with my most humble apologies that I must inform you of my inability to meet you at the requested time and place. However I do have some information that may prove useful to you. Shortly after your departure from Oberroth it was reported that a routine patrol had captured a human in strange garbs. More odd is the fact that he bore the mark of  Lycan. I have little doubt that this is in some way connected to the manaburst you spoke of in your letter. I still highly recommend that you investigate the area as you originally proposed as you may find still find something that the patrol missed. I will send word to the guards to let you speak to him before they do anything "unpleasant."


    Your Friend and Adviser, Armon


    As Tal''gor arrived at his destination there was indeed much that interested him there. A large hole in the canopy was directly above a clearing where the manaburst was reported to have taken place. A small crater about four by four feet was directly below the hole in the canopy. Two things caught his attention. One was the fact that the crater seemed to be a perfectly sphereical shape. Second was odd little metal cylinders littered the ground.


    Picking one of the metal cylinders up Tal''gor studied it in his hand. On one the cylinder was flat but had strange symbols carved into it. He assumed these must be some forgotten magical glyphs. He pocketed a few so he could ask the odd human about them later. As he was about to leave he noticed a longer blue cylinder with two flat ends. Picking it up he found it to be more light weight than the metal cylinders. The material was unlike any he had ever encountered. He he fumbled with it the top came off. Revealing a pointed tip. How ever the tip was too blunt to be an effective weapon as he felt the tip he wondered what use this instrument could possibly have. Look after losing interest he put the flat in back over the point only to notice his finger was covered what appeared to be ink.


    "Fascinating it''s a writing utensil of some sort." (Tal''gor)


    He pulled out a parchment and wrote on it with the object only to find it never ran out of ink.


    "Incredible a pen that produces its own ink. I''ve never heard of magic that allows this." (Tal''gor)


    Tal''gor was completely overwhelmed by the wonder of such a device.


    "You want my body?" (Darren)


    Darren took a step back.


    "O calm yourself human. I don''t mean in the since you''re thinking of." (Lycan)


    "Ok I was kinda freaking out there a second. I don''t know about the people on Gallanor or if it''s even considered bestiality but I''m not into that. Sorry."(Darren)


    "Funny before being sealed her most male humans would have jumped at the opportunity." (Lycan)


    Suddenly Lycan''s body was encased in a soft blue light. When the light faded a women in her early 20s standing there. Incredibly beautiful with snow white hair and piercing blue eyes. She also sported wolf ears and a tail.


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    "Well I take back my prior statement." (Darren)


    He coughed slightly before continuing.


    "Anyway so what do you mean by wanting my body?"(Darren)


    "I''ve been stuck in this place for a long time. My physical body has long since turned to dust. However, if what you say is true and you  came here through a portal then that means you came here body and soul. Add that to the fact you also came from another world." (Lycan)


    He gave her a confused look.


    With a sigh she elaborated "You aren''t bound here. I can open a gateway to Gallanor but since I have no body. It would only function as a small window for a few moments and leave me drained of mana for days. What I propose is that I stick my soul in your body. You would still have full control but I would be able to leave this place. Of course I''m really just trading one prison for another."(Lycan)


    "You seem to be gaining quite a bit while I simply get an exit. My body may a prison but it''s a luxury one." (Darren)


    Lycan smiled at this. "Then let me sweeten the deal. One thing I''ve noticed about you that puts you at a severe disadvantage to the inhabitants of Gallanor is your lack of magic. I didn''t even know you were here until you started shouting hello. By the way for future reference if you find yourself in a dark room shouting is probably something you should avoid." (Lycan)


    "While I inhabit your body you will have full access to my mana pool. This will help offset your innate disadvantage.  As a bonus if i find a way to house my soul in a more "uninhibited" vessel I will leave you have of it permanently as thanks." (Lycan)


    Upon seeing his questioning gaze. Lycan decided it was best to let him weigh the advantages and disadvantages.


    "Don''t answer immediately you literally have all the time in the world to decide. Time doesn''t work here. You don''t need to eat, sleep, or defecate. However since your physical body is here it will still age so don''t take to to long to decide." (Lycan)


    Darren pondered on her offer for a long while. On one hand he wasn''t sure if he could completely trust a large magical talking wolf who could transform into a woman. On the other hand she was a talking wolf/woman and saying that he knew one on a personal level wasn''t something he had on his bucket list, but it would make a great addition. After a few more minutes of deliberation he stood.


    "Deal."(Darren)


    A smile that seemed to big to be physically possible stretched across Lycan''s face upon hearing that word.


    "Actually can I do a take back that smile doesn''t scream trust worthy." (Darren)


    "Nope no take backs." (Lycan)


    Rolling her eyes Lycan walked forward stopping inches away from Darren. She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips.


    "I Lycan Lord of the wolves and aspect of ice bind myself to thee. Do you accept Darren Tower."(Lycan)


    "Yes" (Darren)


    He figured it was to late to back out now so why not.


    Pain erupted on Darren''s chest. He ripped open his shirt to claw at his chest. Directly above his heart a symbol seemed to burn itself  into his skin. He was unable to discern what it was, and unable to bear the pain he collapsed.


    Lycan spoke her next words softly "So long as we are bound your life is mine and my soul is yours. This is an equal partnership. Never forget that." She then lifted her hand and the the darkness around them shattered.


    The next thing he saw was that he was on the floor of a forest in a spherical pit. Unable to keep himself conscious he simply fell forward. The contents of his lab coat pockets spilling out.

 Story Map (will update after each story arc) (Semi Spoiler warning)

    Arc 1: Dawn of a New Era (Estimated length 2 weeks)


    Arc 2:The Flamboyant Lich (Estimated Length 1-1 1/2 weeks)


    Arc 3: The Guild Arc (4-5 weeks)


    Arc 4: War of Pride (Length Undecided)


    Arc 5: Take the City (2 weeks)


    Arc 6: The Angels Chosen(LU*)           Length Undecided


    Arc 7: Uneasy Peace (LU)


    Arc 8: A Misnomer-ed Hell (LU)


    Arc 9: The Primals'' Pride  (LU)


    Arc 10: Rebirth of the False God (LU)


    Arc 11: Rise of the False God (LU)


    Arc 12: Fall of the False God(LU)


    /\


    |


    Book 1 Ends Here


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    I promise to finish book 1 but bear in mind book two is only a possiblility. There will be no left over story arcs as book two will be a new story entirely. Book one up until arc 6 is mostly planned out it''s just a matter of turning summaries into words.


    Possible Book 2


    Arc 13: Return


    Arc 14: Revenge


    Arc 15: The Birth of Magic


    Arc 16 War of the East


    My plan of publishing is going to be about 5 Chapters a week maybe 7 or 8 if its a good week. This does include holidays (Usually).

 Chapter 3: Prisoner

    Darren awoke to the unpleasant sensation of bouncing up and down on his stomach. The first thing he noticed was that he was drooling. He also noticed he was blindfolded and that his hands and feet were bound together. Coming to the conclusion that he was probably taken prisoner was an easy one to make.


    "Pleasant sleep? You drooled more than most wolves I know, and I know all of them." (Lycan)


    Lycan''s voice sounded much too merry considering the situation.


    "Where are we?"(Darren)


    It occured to Darren that maybe this wasn''t the best moment to banter with Lycan.


    As if on cue the moment he spoke whatever he was riding on came to an abrupt halt. He suddenly jolted forward hit the person riding in front of him and rolled right off the back of what ever it was. The fall was less than pleasant. What ever they were riding on was atleast as big as a horse. He heard a thump as whoever was riding the creature along with him hopped off. The culprits footsteps drew closer until stopping inches from Darren''s face. Suddenly his vision was flooded with light as his blindfold was removed.


    "At least you can speak Elven. That''ll fetch you a nice price." (Unknown Man?)


    The first thing Darren noticed about the man was his height. He was atleast 6 inches taller than Darren (who is 5.10) and sports a patch of hair on his chin. His actual hair is blonde and tied back. The next thing Darren noticed was the man''s long pointed ears.


    Seeing Darren''s surprise the man laughed.


    "What''s wrong boy never seen an elf before?" (Unknown Elf?)


    Still not believeing his eyes Darren continued to stair.


    The mans grinning face suddenly turned sour.  A moment later he delivered a swift kick to Darren''s abdomen.


    "When I ask you a question you answer." (Unknown Elf)


    Darren coughed, but otherwise showed no reaction to the kick. Not even a grimace.


    "You know I thought after meeting a talking wolf I''d be hard pressed to show surprise at anything. Is he really an elf?" (Darren)


    The elf immediately stood up and looked around for the third party that Darren was addressing. Darren noticed that he seemed to be staring past Lycan rather than at her.


    "You didn''t have elves in your world. Did you have dwarves? Or orcs?" (Lycan)


    She also ignored the elf. Not because she didn''t notice him. She simply found him below her notice.


    "No we just had humans in regards to intelligent races. O we also had neanderthals up until about 10000 years ago. We kinda killed them off." (Darren)


    "If the humans of your world killed them off 10000 years ago how come you know about them?"


    "Mostly fossils and recreations."


    "So you''ve never seen one of these nee-an-dra-tals." (Lycan)


    "Still counts." (Darren)


    "If you don''t shut your mouth I will rip out your tongue." (Elf)


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    After yelling this the elf delivered another kick to Darren this time in the face.


    "Ouch! Shit! That FUCKING hurt." (Darren)


    Quickly rolling to the side and pulling his legs, he then delivered a two-legged kick to the elf''s chest knocking him off his feet. The elf was quickly back on his feet this time a dagger in hand.


    "I''m going to teach you the respect you should show to a superior race."(Elf)


    He took two steps forward then a clang was heard. The dagger flew out of his hand and landed close to Darren''s feet.


    "The prisoner is no longer under our care, Opellan." (???)


    Another elf came into view. She held a short bow in her left hand. However that wasn''t what caught Darren''s attention. Rather her outfit was.


    Skimpy was a bit of an understatement. Unfortunately both she and near noticed him staring. However before either could say anything. He burst into laughter. This earned a confused look from Lycan and an angry one from the female elf.


    "O god. Gimme a sec. (Continued laughing) It''s for mobility." (Darren)


    An arrow flew past Darren''s face and stopped  his laughing. But only for a moment.


    "O man you''re gunna have to shoot me. I.... I can... I can''t stop. (Darren)


    "Had you not been purchased I would kill you. I still have half the mind to do it anyway." (Female Elf)


    "Which half is missing? Common sense?"(Darren)


    This time two other voices joined in the laughter. One was Lycan, the other was an exceptionally handsome elf, in a flamboyant red robe who walked into the clearing from behind the woman.


    "I can tell you and I will get along famously." (Red Robed Elf)


    The newcomer took a step towards Darren, however the first elf stepped in to intercept him. Seeing this the woman quickly stepped forward and using the bow struck the first elf across the face.


    "Fool, how dare you act as if you are on the same level as the third prince." (Female Elf)


    "Prince?"(Darren)


    "Ahh forgive my rudeness. I am Tal''gor Felloron third prince of the high elven kingdom of Talrassa. Technically speaking I now own you. However I hope that this will not affect our future prospects of friendship." (Tal''gor)


    <hr />


    Sorry for the short chapter today. Also I would just like to add I have no set length for chapters but I aim for around 1k words each. Although I usually go do 1 or 200 more than that.


    Please note that I will be editing Prior Chapters for grammar errors and format changes. No plot elements will be taken out or revised. (Please note this excludes the prologue which i may delete all together. If i do end up deleting it expect chapter 1 to have a major overhaul. No story elements will change but it will be lengthened by a large amount.

 Chapter 4: Cold Shoulder(and pretty much everything else excluding limbs)

    The elf who was just hit suddenly went pale.


    "M....Mmm.....My L....Lord I apologize for my transgression." (Male elf)


    The prince turned away from Darren to look at the elf. Then he turned back to Darren. As if the other elf was beneith his notice.


    "So what should I call you? Tal''gor?" (Darren)


    Darren was just hoping Tal''gor wouldn''t ask him to call him something like master.


    "Insolent fool! You will call him master!"( Male Elf)


    As the original elf stepped forward to strike Darren he suddenly stopped moving. Lycan''s arm was sticking through his chest. Pulling back her arm Lycan smiled contently to herself. Where her arm had been there was no hole. Or any noticeable damage. Then suddenly Ice burst forth from where Lycan had pierced him. Only after his whole abdomen was frozen over did the ice stop. Then like a statue he fell forward.  He abdomen shattering while his limbs simply hit the ground.


    The female just stood there open mouthed.


    "A little too messy for my taste but atleast now I don''t have to smell charred flesh." (Tal''gor)


    Darren shot Lycan a look that seemed to scream We will discuss this later he then turned to Tal''gor.


    "Charred flesh?"


    "Ahh hold that thought."


    Tal''gor then produced a dagger from his robe and used it to cut Darren''s bindings.


    Darren then stood up and rubbed his wrist. He then proceeded to stretch. Tal''gor stood patiently waited for him to finish before he elaborated on his prior comment.


    "O I was going to kill him. He sits there and acts like he is sorry for offending me then he makes a move to attack my property. First off that''s very rude, and unprofessional."(Tal''gor)


    "Well I''d imagine slavers aren''t the type to really take pride in their job.( Darren)


    "Slavers? They are just a guard patrol. Anyway I specialize in fire magic. Hence the charred flesh remark It''s a bit of an obsession of mine if we''re being honest." (Tal''gor)


    "Well seeing as you''re a prince I assume you have a more practical place to talk than the middle of the woods." (Darren)


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    "It just so happens that I do. Also your chantless casting was quite astounding. I''ve never seen anyone able to do that while bound before. Anyway lets continue this discussion at my cottage in Oberroth. By the way do you know how to ride one of those?" (Tal''gor)


    "Tell him yes." (Lycan)


    "Apparently I do." (Darren)


    Tal''gor nodded. Then he once again reached into his robe and pulled out a leather satchel. Taking 3 gold coins out he tossed them to the still stunned female.


    Then he grabbed the reins of the creature and led it over to Darren. Lycan then grabbed his shoulder and everything went black. The next moment he was expertly riding the creature. Along side him was Tal''gor riding something akin to a miniature T-Rex. He realized that he really did know how to ride the creature. Unable to comprehend it he made a face. Tal''gor saw this and assumed he must have offended his new "friend."


    "Something wrong?" (Tal''gor)


    "No just... just a weird day."(Darren)


    "I can understand that. In case you''re worried I plan to sign your release documents when we get to Oberroth though I ask that you stay as my guest for a good while."(Tal''gor)


    Darren simply nodded.


    "Still confused." (Lycan)


    Darren then noticed that a large white wolf was running along side him. Yet again Tal''gor seemed unable to see her. So Darren assumed it best not to draw attention to her. So he simply nodded in response.


    "Allow me to elaborate for you. When I touched your shoulder I temporarily gained control of your body. I used it to ride the creature until your mind started to recognize my experience as your own. It''s a neat trick but really isn''t practical. For more actively involved things such as spell casting it takes years to start subconsciously registering things. And I''m sure you don''t want me in control for such long periods of time." (Lycan)


    After that Darren spoke very little for the rest of the ride. After another 40 minutes they reached a small village. Darren had some anticipation to see what level the technology of this world filled with magic was at.

 Chapter 5: The Mark of Lycan

    The town of Oberroth was a small hamlet a few miles south of the Elven capitol. The population was only about forty villagers. Mostly elves and maybe a half-elf here or there. The atmosphere was a relaxed one year round. One could almost always find the villagers working on their town. The only real economic factor in the town was it''s wine. Which was widely sought throughout  Tallrassa. Almost every shop in the town sold it. Even the blacksmith.


    It was late in the evening by the time Darren and Tal''gor arrived in the hamlet. Few words were spoken between the two. They building they were heading towards was the second largest in the town behind the local adventures guild office.


    After they entered the building Tal''gor showed him the living room and bade him to sit.


    "I will return momentarily. We have much to discuss, and I would not want any unwanted ears breaching our privacy. I''ll have the servants start dinner while I place wards around the house." (Tal''gor)


    "Thank you for your hospitality. Had you not shown up when you did I am unsure what the outcome would have been." (Darren)


    "I''m sure your patron wouldn''t have let anything happen." (Tal''gor)


    Darren''s eyes widend in surprise, and his body tensed.


    "How did you know about her?" (Darren)


    "Calm yourself friend. I had heard about your mark before I even showed up. Quite frankly I didn''t even believe that part of the report until that idiotic guard was shattered. Lycan hasn''t bestowed her mark in over 400 years. So why choose you? However I''m getting ahead of myself. That conversation will have to wait." (Tal''gor)


    Tal''gor then left the room leaving Darren alone with Lycan.


    "Seeing as we have some time wanna go ahead and explain this to me." (Darren)


    He pointed to where the mark on his chest.


    "Ahh that mark symbolizes our contract. He seems to have misinterpreted that as a blessing. A blessing would simply mean I favored you. However our contract is a little more complex than that. I believe we covered  the fact that it allows you access to my mana pool. However it also provides other benefits."


    Darren raised an eyebrow.


    "Such as?" (Darren)


    "Certain animals will see you as one of their own and refrain from attacking you. Others, such as wolves, will go out of their way to protect you. Women will see you as taken. I can use my mana to interact with the world and help you if I feel the need. And a few others that I''ll keep as a surprise." (Lycan)


    Darren had a very annoyed look on his face.


    "I''m sorry what?" (Darren)


    "What?" (Lycan)


    A smile played on her face.


    "Repeat that middle part." (Darren)


    "Wolves will go out of their way to protect you?" (Lycan)


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings."After that." (Darren)


    His annoyance had turned into a visible scowl.


    "I can use my mana to help you?" (Lycan)


    "Okay now I know you''re messing with me." (Darren)


    "Actually the part about women was true." (Lycan)


    He gave her a very leveled look. He breathed in and out for a few seconds before procedeing.


    "And why, is that?" (Darren)


    "Ahh I believe I should have clarified this earlier. The only contracts that bind souls are......."(Lycan)


    "Are what?" (Darren)


    "Those of matrimonial nature." (Lycan)


    Darren face changed colors. From pale to red and back to pale.


    "So are you saying we''re...." (Darren)


    "Married? Technically yes. Now do you want the good news or the bad news?"


    "I''m sorry one would think I would have been entitled to those before we the contract." (Darren)


    "The good news is I''ve never had a mate before." (Lycan)


    Darren simply sighed in defeat. Seeing as she had no physical body some issues can be left as is. We''ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Darren thought to himself.


    "And the bad news?"(Darren)


    "On second thought lets not discuss that right now. How good are you at controlling your anger." (Lycan)


    "Fairly good considering I haven''t broken anything yet." (Darren)


    Lycan simply nodded. She opened her mouth to say something, however Tal''gor choose that moment to return.


    "I apologize for the wait. Dinner will be ready soon. Before that I do have one thing I wish to discuss with you."


    Tal''gor reached into his pocket and pulled out two items and placed them on the coffee table. One was a ballpoint pen. The other was a bullet the pistol that Darren forgot he still had.


    "Please tell me truthfully what is this marvelous device." (Tal''gor)


    The prince held the pen as if it was some holy relic.


    "That would be a ball point pen." (Darren)


    "How does it work. I must admit I''ve used it quite a bit. At first it seemed to have an unending amount of ink. However it just randomly stopped  working." (Tal''gor)


    Instead of answering Darren held out his hand. Tal''gor slowly placed the pen in his hands. Darren then unscrewed the top of the plastic pen.


    "Ehh, it just needs some more ink. If you provide me the resources I''m sure i can make you some. They are very simple devices." (Darren)


    "Incredible, so there is no magic involved at all?" (Tal''gor)


    "Nope." (Darren)


    "And then what about this object?" (Tal''gor)


    The prince picked up the bullet. Darren picked it up.


    "Well this one would be more fun to show you." (Darren)

 Chapter 6: Awakening

    Deep within a crypt far to the south of the high elven kingdom, an enormous sepulcher started to shake. Suddenly the entrance exploded. A hooded figure stepped out of the darkness of the sepulcher into the dimly lit crypt.


    "Ahh, how long have I been resting?" (Gernam)


    The figure brought a skeletal hand up to it''s chest and started scratching. The figure then started walking in the direction of the disturbance that woke him. It carefully observed it''s surroundings as it kept moving forward.


    "Seems someone found my "bed" and thought it must have been an average crypt. If I ever find the person that did it why I''ll thank him properly." (Gernam)


    The figure came to a halt in the middle of a large circular room. The walls were covered from floor to roof with tombs. The figure meticulously examined every last date.


    "If  I were to go by the most recent date, that would mean i slept for....." (Gernam)


    The figure''s speech drifted off and he calculated how much time had passed.


    "7... no... 800 years? That''s much earlier than my calculations predicted. This must be an older part of the tomb." (Gernam)


    The figure started walking towards the doors opposite of the one''s he came in through. He came to an abrupt halt as he heard voices approaching.


    "...so I bought him a drink." (First male voice)


    "I still don''t understand why you felt like you owed him. He bumped into you and made you spill your drink." (Second male voice)


    "Yea but how often do you get to share a drink with a forge master." (First male voice)


    "I see your point. Even if I don''t agree with it." (Second male voice)


    The figure stopped listening at the point and simply pushed open the doors, and was greeted with an immediate response.


    "HOLY SHIT!" (Second male voice)


    "WHAT IS THAT?"(First male voice)


    The figure first looked at the sources of the two voices. Two dwarves one that sported blonde hair (and beard) and one that sported red hair (And beard). The figure gave them a confused look. He then assumed they must mean his flamboyant robe.


    "This was a gift from the love of my life. It seems so long ago now. And it was. And though she is gone. She will always be with me." (Gernam)


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    The figure smiled sadly.


    "IT TALKED!!!" (First male Dwarf)


    "Okay now thats just rude." (Gernam)


    "Since when can undead talk?" (Second male dwarf)


    The figure pinched the bridge of it''s nonexistent nose.


    "Are you serious? Have you really never seen nor heard of a lich? Also most undead can talk they just have very little to say to the living." (Gernam)


    "Are you not going to attack us?" (First male voice)


    It was at that point the lich noticed both dwarves were shaking in there boots.


    "Why would I do that? Are you planning to stab me in the back?" (Gernam)


    Both dwarves vigorously shook their heads.


    "HAHA good. Now can one of you show me the exit?" (Gernam)


    "I...I.. can w.w...walk you there." (Second male dwarf)


    In a single step the lich was upon them. His face mere inches from the second dwarf''s. Both his skeletal hands on either of the dwarf''s shoulders.


    "I cannot thank you enough my friend. Remind me to buy you and your friend a drink once we get out. O by the way. What are your names?" (Gernam)


    "Urvos and Nigel sir." (Urvos*)                                   *The first dwarf. Or the blonde one, whatever''s easier to follow.


    "Great to meet you. The name my saintly mother bestowed upon me is Gernam." (Gernam)


    The kindly voice of the lich surprised the dwarves.


    "Gernam, sir. If you don''t mind me asking. How long have you been down here?" (Nigel)


    "Dunno, atleast 800 years. What day is today?" (Gernam)


    Both Dwarves stood open mouthed at this date. This thing predated their country by 300 years.


    The first dwarf then choose to answer.


    "Why I do believe it''s Tuesday." (Urvos)


    Nigel promptly struck his friend on the back of his head.


    "The year is currently 1501 A.S."


    "Ahh  so then it was 830. Ahh forgive me we appear to have gone off topic. Let''s see how much this world has changed." (Gernam)


    Nigel nodded and motioned for Gernam to follow. The dwarf had a feeling today was going to be very surreal.

 Chapter 7: I cast bullet!!!

    "This one would be more fun to show you." (Darren)


    The elf''s excitement peaked upon hearing this.


    "By all means go ahead." (Tal''gor)


    The elf vigorously motioned for Darren to proceed.


    Darren looked around the room. He was immediately thrown off by the extravagance of the place. The far wall was fashioned into an elaborate bookshelf. The bookshelf seemed to have been fashioned after the buildings construction since a window was slightly noticeable behind the books. Two of the other walls were covered in beautiful paintings. Even the space above the door was utilized. A large great-sword was Horizontally hung above it. On the wall were the furniture was turned towards was a large fireplace. Above the fireplace hung an elaborate shield.


    The shield would probably make the best example. Darren reached under his lab-coat for his concealed pistol. However it wasn''t there. Shit I''ve been so preoccupied I hadn''t noticed it was gone. Darren needed only a moment to guess that his captors had probably searched him. He turned to Tal''gor.


    "Did either of those two guards happen to give you a strange metal object?" (Darren)


    Tal''gor scrunched his eyebrows for a moment as he ran through his memories.


    "Ahh did you mean this." (Tal''gor)


    The elf reached into his robe and pulled out a P250 pistol. However he held it by the barrel and had a finger next to the trigger. Darren jumped up and held out his hands.


    "Careful!" (Darren)


    Tal''gor tensed up at the sudden outburst. In the process he accidentally squeezed the trigger. A low click was heard but nothing more. Darren''s paled face released a sigh of relief as he fell backwards onto the sofa.


    "Thank what ever deity you worship that I practice gun safety. If that thing were loaded you''d be a eunuch." (Darren)


    It was now Tal''gor''s turn to turn pale. Very slowly he lowered the gun to the coffee table. Placing it down he shakily removed his hands. He then looked to Darren.


    "I never figured such a silly looking tool would be so dangerous. I thought it was simply some sort of trinket they found on you. In all honesty I''d completely forgotten about it until you brought it up. Anyway seeing as am still potent would you care to continue your demonstration." (Tal''gor)


    "Yes please continue. A tool that could make a man impotent with the pull of a trigger would be quite advantageous." (Lycan)


    Darren''s face again turned pale. However Tal''gor either didn''t care or didn''t notice and impatiently motioned for Darren to proceed. With a slight nod Darren picked up the P250. He removed the clip and slid the bullet into it. Reinserting the clip he then pulled back the chamber to finish loading the gun. He carefully took aim at the shield above the fire place. A deafening bang followed by a clink resounded throughout the room. In the center of the shield was a small hole. Both Tal''gor and Lycan stood open mouthed. Slowly Tal''gor walked towards the shield. Reaching up removed the shield from the wall. Behind it stood another hole. Tal''gor''s jaw seemed to drop lower. The flipped the shield in his hands. Then he put his finger through the small hole. Checking to make sure this was no illusion.  Lycan''s face slowly turned from astonishment to one of her impossibly large smiles.


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    "Incredible. I can now see how this would have made me impotent." (Tal''gor)


    The elf shook his head as if still unable to comprehend what he saw. After his disbelief faded he began to imagine Talrassa in  a new light. Imagine, what a country could do with such a weapon. The elf looked towards Darren.


    "Can you make more of these?" (Tal''gor)


    "I can, but I won''t." (Darren)


    For a moment Tal''gor regreted giving his word to free Darren. However he would not go back on his word.


    "May I ask why?" (Tal''gor)


    Darren nodded.


    "Under normal circumstances I wouldn''t see a problem with showing you. However since coming to this world I''ve seen a few things that give me reason not to. For one I''ve met a giant talking wolf who can turn into a girl, Second I saw a man turn to Ice and shatter, third you ride around on a minature tyrannosaurus-rex. A gun is currently my only advantage, excluding Lycan. Without this I''m down to everyone else''s level." (Darren)


    As Tal''gor listened to Darren his face suddenly turned very questioning.


    "Since coming to this world?" (Tal''gor)


    "You know you probably shouldn''t tell people your life''s story so easily." (Lycan)


    The wolf snickered and continued.


    "Good luck explaining that." (Lycan)


    Darren rolled his eyes.


    "Oh please I''d hardly count one day as my life story." (Darren)


    Tal''gor jumped up and looked around. Then he turned back to Darren confusion on his face.


    "Who are you talking to?" (Tal''gor)


    Maybe this will be a little difficult to explain.


    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    I received a pm after chapter 5 regarding the mention of a coffee table. Instead of going back and calling it something mundane such as: a small table in the center of the room, I''ll say this.  COFFEE. IS. CANON.

 Cover Art Request

    If any of my readers would like to help with Gallanor a cover would be much appreciated. While I have faith in my artistic writing, my other art skills leave much to be desired. In regards to the cover be creative. If you''re unsure pm me. I considered doing a joke picture i drew in paint for april fools. But I think I would lose readers.

 Chapter 8: Mugged

    Gernam, Urvos, and Nigel were currently approaching the exit to the crypt. While both dwarves were still very nervous around him they slowly started to warm up to him.


    "So why choose this cavern of all places." (Nigel)


    "Ahh, this cavern is very close to a Vein of Tillium. I figured while I waited I may as well work on my mana reserves." (Gernam)


    Nigel and Urvos exchanged a look.


    "I''ve never heard of any Veins of Tillium being anywhere near this place." (Urvos)


    "Well that may have to do with the fact that it dried up 300 years ago. A shame really I figured it would have lasted atleast 900 more. However, it''s depletion may have been sped up by whatever civilization choose to build itself so close to my sepulcher." (Gernam)


    Nigel nodded.


    "Well that lines up pretty well with alot of this places history. Those who specialized in earth magic used to flock here in droves. The Consortium''s magic academy here used to be very well known. However around 300 years ago the academy''s funding was significantly decreased and most of the Professors transferred. We still use alot of the facilities but not as academic buildings. Some of the buildings were turned into taverns, others brothels, and still some became public buildings. Our townhall is located in one of the old auditoriums." (Nigel)


    "What a waste. They used it to enhance earth magic. Those fools probably didn''t even realize that Vein was attuned to soul magic." (Gernam)


    "Soul magic?" (Nigel)


    They had finally reached the ascending stairs that led to the crypts exit.


    "Ahh I figured it would fall into obscurity. It was seldom practiced even in my day. Most considered it taboo. Though the Arcanist Association put enormous funding into its study. Hence how I came to master it." (Gernam)


    As Gernam finished explaining the group of three had just opened the doors. A group of 5 dwarves was waiting right in their path. All heavily armed. A red faced burly dwarf stepped out from the center of the group. He looked over the smaller group of three, but was unable to see Gernam''s face.


    "See I told you some guards went down there." (Crossbow wielding Female Dwarf)


    "Look they brought a human too. Look at that robe, I bet we could get a fortune for that." (Armored Male Dwarf)


    A smile broke out on the burly dwarf''s face. "


    "My friends your luck has run out." (Burly great-axe* wielding dwarf)                                          *Size of a regular human axe.


    Both Nigel and Urvos started shaking. These were members of Nulguard a large gang with sects in almost every dwarven city.


    "pffft hahaha. Oh my this is simply too good. My dear boy you seem to have the situation reversed." (Gernam)


    At that moment the lich reached up and pulled back his hood.


    "Your luck has run out." (Gernam)


    "Oh I''m talking to Lycan." (Darren)


    Tal''gor arched a questioning eyebrow at Darren.


    "I''ll vouch for that claim." (Lycan)


    Tal''gor then fell out of his chair as the wolf suddenly appeared in front of the fire place. His eyes darted from Lycan to Darren very quickly. Suddenly he was on his knees bowing before Lycan.


    "You honor me with your presence deity." (Tal''gor)


    His face was pale and cold sweat was starting to leak from his pores. Darren arched an eyebrow at Lycan.


    "Deity?" (Darren)


    "Goddess of wolves." (Lycan)


    "And this is why I''m atheist." (Darren)


    Tal''gor tensed up at this blatant disrespect towards the Goddess. Though she was not one typically worshiped by most elves the druids revered her as one of the Four Hunters. When he was younger he spent much time training under druids learning the basics of healing magic.


    "Show some respect. Do you realize who you are trifling with. Apologize before she ends both of us." (Tal''gor)


    Darren simply rolled his eyes.


    "I''ll talk to my wife however I damn well please." (Darren)


    Tal''gor looked at the great wolf who simply nodded in confirmation.


    Darren walked over to him and helped him off the floor. Fixing Tal''gor''s chair Darren slowly ushered him back into a sitting position.


    "I need a drink." (Tal''gor)


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    "Haha, buddy I haven''t even answered your first question, yet." (Darren)


    This world? As Tal''gor remembered the first question he came to the realization that the person he just gained custody of was much more than he bargined for.


    Tal''gor simply stood up and walked out of the room. The exit was right there. He could run and pretend this never happened. His world view would be unchanged and this could all be a memory. Instead he walked past the door. He walked past one of his maids.


    "Master, can I get you anyth...." (Maid)


    Tal''gor raised a hand to silence her and kept walking. He reached a set of stairs leading to his wine cellar. Slowly he descended and entered the cellar. He grabbed four bottles and started walking up. He was halfway back before he realized this wasn''t enough.


    "Stella. Grab me four more of these." (Tal''gor)


    The maid saw how many bottles he held. However that wasn''t what surprised her. All of these bottles were worth more than she made in a year. She wondered how important the human he brought in earlier must be. Stella said nothing though and simply followed her command.


    Tal''gor returned to the room with the bottles. Stella following closely behind, holding a tray with four more bottles and two glasses. She seemed unable to see Lycan. After setting down the tray and filling both glasses. Stella bowed to both Tal''gor and Darren then left the room.


    The moment she was out of the room Tal''gor had downed the first glass. Darren reached down and picked up the glass. Expecting this worlds wine to be inferior to his own he gulped. Slowly he took the first sip.


    It was the best wine he ever tasted.


    "Wow!" (Darren)


    Tal''gor was already done with his second glass. After filling a third he nodded to Darren.


    "Proceed." (Tal''gor)


    Darren nodded and began. Both Tal''gor and Lycan listened intently as he went described his former world. He told them about his worlds entertainment. Video games, movies, and sports. However he said nothing regarding his personal life.


    "Your world sounds incredible why did you leave? (Tal''gor)


    Incidentally the elf was so absorbed by Darren''s tale that he had yet to take a sip form his third glass.


    "Because I hated that world. " (Darren)


    "Why?" (Lycan)


    Darren simply looked at her. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came.


    "Not.... not yet."


    Lycan was taken aback. All of Darren''s arrogance was gone. His eyes were empty as he recalled his reasons.


    "I''m personally fine with that. I think that''s enough for one day. Stella!!" (Tal''gor)


    A moment passed before the maid entered the room.


    "Take him to the large guest room. Darren, for now get some sleep there is much to do tomorrow." (Tal''gor)


    With a nod the prince left the room. Stella escorted Darren to a room the size of an apartment. After seeing if he needed anything she nodded and left.


    Slowly Darren stripped down to his briefs. After laying down under the covers he soon felt a weight on top of him. Lycan in her humanoid form was laying directly on top of him.


    "Get off." (Darren)


    "You have me for the rest of your life and after get used to it." (Lycan)


    Darren was about to argue. However he saw the wisdom in those words. They were bound. He might as well make the most of it. The dark room was silent for a few minutes before Darren suddenly spoke.


    "How do you even have weight if you''re just a disembodied soul?" (Darren)


    "I''m not disembodied, I''m bound to your body and soul. I can interact with you physically with no effort. How ever..." (Lycan)


    Lycan reached towards the bed and her hand simply phased through. She then pulled it out and pressed down again this time her hand didn''t phase through and she made a small indention.


    "..with mana I can interact with the world." (Lycan)


    Darren had more question about this world and magic, but decided to hold off. With Lycan laying on top of him he slowly drifted off to sleep.


    (Hope fully this long chapter makes up for Monday.)

 Do you feel the prologue is important?

Do you feel the prologue is important?

 Chapter 9: Damnation

    All five of the Nulguard members took a step back upon seeing German''s "face." The first one to act was the dwarven woman with the crossbow. The bolt flew true racing towards Gernam''s skull. Thud. The bolt bounced off an invisible barrier and fell to the floor. Again the group stood stunned. German stood still for a second waiting for any further attacks. A fireball sudden flew from the hands of a dwarf wearing dark blue robes. All German did in reply was wave his hand. The fireball fizzled out of existence inches from German''s face.


    This time however German waited for no further attacks. He pointed towards the woman with the crossbow. The next instant she was ablaze and covered in black flames. Upon seeing this the other group members bolted in the opposite direction.


    "Should I let them go?" (Gernam)


    "NO!!!" (Nigel and Urvos)


    With a nod German turned back towards the distant figures of the still running gang members.  He then lifted his outstretched hand in the direction of the fleeing muggers.


    "Damnation!"


    Each of the four remaining muggers suddenly dropped to their knees and started screaming in agony. Suddenly one stopped. Then the next. And the Next. Then silence.


    "Okay, now what were we talking about?" (Gernam)


    The lich turned back towards his two dwarf companions to see them open mouthed and staring in the direction of the still kneeling corpes of the muggers.


    "I''m sorry to wake you, but Prince Tal''gor request your presence in the dining room." (Stella)


    Darren tiredly opened his eyes. Lycan was still ontop of him and wide awake.


    "Sleep well?" (Lycan)


    "Eh, so so." (Darren)


    Lycan choose that moment to hop off of Darren, morphing into her wolf form before touching the floor. As she stretched out Darren got out of bed and started getting dressed. He then walked over to the window. Pulling back the blinds he was given a full view of Oberroth. The hamlet was quite small however the whole town seemed to be up and about.


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    Two children raced after a large dog between the buildings. One of those bipedal birds had a wagon hitched to it, and was currently bringing it out of town by the looks of it. What caught Darren''s attention was the largest building in the town. Many interesting individuals walked in and out of it. One wore exotic looking plate armor and had a large warhammer resting on his shoulder. Another was a woman wearing flamboyant robes similar to Tal''gor''s however her''s were green. She was accompanied by a handsome human male with a collar around his neck. Another group was comprised of a bird-like person, a Naga, (or so he guessed) a centaur, and a human. What really through off Darren was that this human was the most interesting of the batch. He wore very light armor and had a short-sword on his side. On his back was a longbow made of a naturally aqua blue colored wood. The mans back was currently facing Darren as he discussed some unknown topic with is group. Then as if he felt he was being watched the man turned around and looked strait at Darren.


    "That''s pretty spooky." (Darren)


    The humor in his voice was made apparent. Lycan suddenly interested walked over to the window.


    "What''s so funny?" (Lycan)


    "O this guy is just giving me the evil eye. " (Darren)


    Lycan rolled her eyes after Darren pointed out the man.


    "Just flip him off and come on. It''s rude to keep new friends waiting." (Lycan)


    Darren shrugged and casually flipped off the man. Upon seeing Darren''s gesture the man started reaching for his bow. Seeing this a smile spread across Darren''s face. Do it. He mouthed at he man. Slowly Darren reached for his pistol. The man seemed to have found his better judgement and spat on the ground instead before turning away.


    After entering the kitchen he was greeted by Tal''gor.


    "Good morning my friend. How would you feel about visiting the capitol?" (Tal''gor)


    <hr />


    Sorry for such a short chapter. Consider it an extra one for today :D

 Chapter 10: War Council

    "Your highness, I believe you sign the document. We have nothing to lose. These Razielonians  are  utter filth. What chance do they have against the full might of the Talrassan military?" (Finance Minister Giddeon)


    Crown Prince Val''strath gave the man a look of utter contempt. Why is this fool allowed in every war council? The arrogance of  elven nobility disgust me. Lowly curs have never worked a day in their lives.


    This was the Crowned Prince''s first council meeting. He had served in the Talrassan military for upwards of 124 years*. After he recently left the military, he was welcomed by his father into the council as the minister of war. However since the king was currently dealing with the Nizolm immigration crisis to the south, Val''strath was left in charge.  During his time with the military he had achieved the rank of Legate. He was a person who valued the life of every elven citizen. This was not his view point prior to joining the military. Most elven nobility that joins the military is immediately given the rank of centurion. However the king showed no favoritism. He started off with all commoners, as a Munifex. He achieved the rank of Legate through merit. All who served under him were extremely loyal. The commoners loved him because they saw him as one able to comprehend their plight. This in turn made most nobles hate him. However, seeing as he was king Tal''strath''s favorite son the nobility could do nothing about it.


    "What you believe I should do is of little importance, Giddeon. Why should elven lives be pointlessly risked over an empty plain with little or no resources besides history, and that would be tarnished should a battle happen on top of it." (Val''strath)


    The finance minister gave him a deep chuckle. The minister of spellcraft, Kaborean, took this opportunity to interject.


    "But your highness, surely you do not wish to show weakness in the face of lesser races. What are the lives of a few commoners to the pride of Talrassa." (Kaborean)


    "Hear, hear!" (All present, save Val''strath)


    The prince stood up from his seat. Walking over to Kaborean, he leaned in slowly. When he spoke it was so that all could hear.


    "What would you know about the value of a life? You have never faught with them, bled with them, ate with them, starved with them. You are pampered swine, and if you give me a reason I will send you to the slaughter and put a more qualified citizen in your place." (Val''strath)


    The Minister of Spellcraft made an audible gulp.


    "That goes for all of you. Your citizens lives are only as expendable as your own. Remember that. Or I will make an example to remind you. Pride will not save you. It will not bolster your coffers. It will get you a sword to the gut, or poison in your veins." (Val''strath)


    The doors to the council room were flung open. A single elf walked in followed by two more and a human wearing strange clothing.


    "Brother what is the meaning of this?" (Val''strath)


    Third Prince Tal''gore raised an eyebrow. Then pointed to the single elf who entered first.


    "O us we''re not with him. We were waiting by the door. I have some business to attend to in the capitol and wanted to drop by and have a talk with you before that. I was simply waiting for a moment when you were free. So I went to the lobby and chatted up some civilians to see why a high council meeting was called. Then this fellow simply waltz in like he owned the place. Figured I''d follow him, seems that wasn''t the best idea." (Tal''gore)


    "No, shit Sherlock. If a stranger offered you candy as a child would you follow him to his....... uhhhh bird?" (Strange Human)


    "They''re called terror beaks, and why would someone store candy on a terror beak?" (Tal''gore)


    "Okay, would you follow a stranger if he offered you candy?" (Strange Human)


    "What kind of candy?" (Tal''gore)


    "Man this goes right over your head doesn''t it?" (Strange Human)


    All present save the Third Prince''s party stared open mouthed at the human.


    "You filth, how dare you talk to the prince in such a casual and rude manner. You will speak to him only with the utmost respect." (Kaborean)


    The Minister of spellcraft had gotten some of his courage back after seeing such a display.


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.The human turned to look at the minister. A grin spread across his face.


    "Oh no." (Tal''gore)


    The prince''s whisper was unheard by all save himself.


    "How old are you?" (Strange Human)


    The minister was taken aback by the random and blunt question.


    "Who are you to question a minist..." (Kaborean)


    "Answer the question." (Strange Human)


    Again all present (save the princes party) were aghast at how a human would dare order a minister.


    "I am the minister of spellcraft I will not be ordered around by a hu..."


    "You are a minister and yet compared to me you know nothing save in the area of magic. Which I am confident I will soon trump you in as well. Do not be so presumptuous as to place yourself on a pedestal equal in height to my own. Your intelligence is a mere pinprick whereas mine is an ocean. Tell me do you know what stars are made of? Do you know how to rip one apart and harness its resources to fuel productivity on levels unheard of?" (Strange Human)


    The human noticed the confusion and rage on the Minister''s face. He let out a sigh.


    "Well seeing as you won''t comprehend this in any reasonable amount of time I''ll get to the point. The original question was asked to set up the premise, that though you are older than me your years are wasted. You will never know an iota of what I do. Trying to place yourself above me on something as arbitrary as race, is pointless. Regardless of your race, pedigree, or position of power you will never be comparable to me. For you see I have a limitless amount of the second most valuable resource. Knowledge." (Strange Human)


    The air of pompousness leaked by this human was unheard of even for elves. Kaborean was red as a tomato.


    "Guards seize this human and bring him to the dungeons." (Kaborean)


    The human gave the minister a level stare before smiling wider than before.


    "Glad we agree." (Strange Human)


    "Agree on what?" (Kaborean)


    The minister said with a snap of anger.


    "Well that I''m above you. Obviously."


    "How so, are you not about to be escorted away by the guards?" (Kaborean)


    The human clicked his tongue and shook his head.


    "Are you blind. Or just slow. That''s precisely the reason why I''m above you. Rather than refute my point. Or argue the illegitimacy of my words you simply send the guards on me. Showing that you are a rather simple minded person who would rather throw man power at a problem until it goes away." (Strange Human)


    All looked towards the minister of spellcraft for a response.


    Cough, Cough


    "Darren I hate to interrupt you, but we are being quite rude." (Tal''gore)


    Darren raised an eyebrow before a look of realization came upon him. He turned to the elf who barged in originally.


    "I believe I owe you an apology. You seem like you have something important to say." (Darren)


    The elf jumped in surprise after suddenly being addressed. Everyone else was taken aback at the sudden change in the demeanor of the human, who genuinely seemed sorry for having delayed the man.


    The elf nodded at the human and then addressed the entire assembly.


    "Razielon has made a declaration of war." (Messenger)


    *(Elves live upwards to 1500, but elven royalty is blessed by Utvossan the deity supposedly responsible for their creation, and thus can live for thousands of years. FYI the oldest elf to ever live was only 3000. After reaching a certain age, entities such as primals and lower deities view said elves as threats and take measures to end them before they peak.)


    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Sorry for the delay guys. I may take an off day sometime this week. I just got a new dog and I have a bunch of university business to take care of. Anyway next chapter is going to be all Gernam.


    If you have any questions, notice any discrepancies in story, or errors in grammar please point them out to me. I can''t fix a problem if i don''t know it''s there.

 Chapter 11: Armon

    "They already have a army of 30,000 occupying Juda. They plan to incease this by ten-fold come next spring." (Messenger)


    "Brother take your guest and servant and go. I will meet you at my house. Whatever business you have can wait." (Val''strath)


    Tal''gore shot the strange human a look.


    "Darren?" (Tal''gore)


    "For now it can. Besides we need to get in contact with this adviser of your''s anyway." (Darren)


    The human turned to Val''strath.


    "By the way prince. The matter your brother came to discuss with you is fairly important. More so now that the matter of this war been brought to light." (Darren)


    Without another word the three departed.


    The moment Tal''gore he turned to Darren.


    "To harness stars?" (Tal''gore)


    Darren grinned.


    "Call it a half truth. I do believe I know how to do it. I just don''t know of the technology that would allow me to put my theory into place. Bluffing is a valuable skill. However I find the more prideful the person the easier it is to fool them." (Darren)


    Tal''gore let out a sigh and chuckled lightly.


    "Let''s go. I''d rather finish our business in the capitol and get back to Oberroth." (Tal''gore)


    Darren nodded.


    "Agreed." (Darren)


    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    So I realize I made a few mistakes last chapter. It was a long weekend forme and I apologize. I also realized I posted the wrong chapter. Rather than delete it and confuse more people. I''ll make the travel chapter a flashback. Again sorry long weekend. I''m still rather tired. Anyway on with the chapter.


    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    "Hmmm as much as I love seeing people awed by my magical, we should go. Even if we are in the right. It would be kind of hard for you to explain me and the bodies. So before the guards come to investigate the source of that screaming* we need to get going." (Gernam)


    The lich then winked at his dwarven companions.


    "Lucky for you two I happen to have a spell that will allow us to slip away unnoticed." (Gernam)


    The lich used the bottum of his staff to draw a glyph into the ground. The glyph expanded to encompass both dwarves as well. After a brief flash all of them appeard to be a tad darker. As if a brown screen.


    "I''m going to assume this is your first day being invisible. So don''t talk and tread lightly." (Gernam)


    Nigel stared at his hands. He made a spastic motion then looked at Gernam''s shape.


    "I think you messed it up." (Nigel)


    "4000, 4000 years I''ve been around. Sure about 1900 of them sleeping but still. I think I know how to draw an invisibility glyph." (Gernam)


    Urvos however was already thinking of a gameplan.


    "I know someone who you should be able to talk to without being attack on sight. As long as you show your friendly." (Urvos)


    Gernam nodded.


    "Lead the way." (Gernam)


    The dwarves and the lich walked through the town unnoticed. The many beautiful structures were impossible to appreciate due to the entire city being in an underground cavern. The crypt was merely a small offshoot. Most building were simple cubes with circle carves out for windows.  As they neared the center of town they passed a large wall. Suddenly the buildings became more luxurious. No longer simple cubes but now large pavilions made of solid rock. They seemed to be entering the area that was once the old academy. After another small bit of walking they reached perhaps the smallest building that Gernam had seen since entering the academy grounds. Urvos led Gernam inside this building. The interior was not much more impressive than the outside,being completely empty save for a bookshelf on the right-hand wall, and a desk in the rooms center. A Short elf in mage garbs sat at the desk. Writing a letter.


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    "Welcome please sit down." (Short Elf)


    "Oh? Howcome he can see us?" (Nigel)


    Gernam chuckled.


    "It''s been a long time since I''ve met someone who has true sight." (Gernam)


    The elfs head shot up.


    "How do know about that?" (Short elf)


    "If it was simply mana detection you wouldn''t have noticed us. I have my mana stored elsewhere and these two aren''t mages. Quite simply there was no mana to detect. Also last time I checked elfs don''t have a keen since of smell. So that leaves true sight. Or it could also be my bones scraping the floor. But, judging by your reaction it''s true sight." (Gernam)


    The elf made a confused look and muttered "bones scraping the floor?" he then reached down and picked up a pair of glasses. Putting them on his face, his skin went pale. However Gernam only laughed in response.


    "True sight on a person with poor eyesight. That''s the best joke I''ve seen in a while." (Gernam)


    The elf was still shaken but finally mustered up the courage to ask a question.


    "A... a... are you a l....li...lich?" (Short elf)


    "Yes indeed, and here I though the world forgot about my kind. Now I believe introductions are in order. My name is German. A pleasure to meet you."


    Upon hearing the confirmation of his fear the elf was again speechless. No lich has been seen for hundreds of years. And now one was in his office talking to him as if he genuinely wanted to have a nice chat, and not kill him.


    Gernam made a tired face. However he soon realized his two compainions couldn''t make it out so he snapped his finger. The brown film over each of them shattered.


    "Speak up boy I don''t bite. If I wanted to kill you you''d be dead. Seeing as you''re still iving please allow me the pleasure of your name."


    The elf gulped but did answer.


    "I am Armon, sir. Advisor and friend to prince Tal''gore Felloron and upper B class mage."


    German gave a jovial laugh.


    "There we go. Now how about we have a nice chat. Also do you have anything to eat I''m starving." (Gernam)


    The dwarves and the elf all gave the lich a look of doubt.


    "Hey, I get hungry. You sleep for nearly a thousand years and tell me you''re not hungry. Just because I don''t need to eat doesn''t mean I don''t like to eat." (Gernam)

 Chapter 12: Gernam and Darren

    Tal''gore and Darren sat in the middle of a luxurious office. The floor was hardwood. It was the same color as the bow of the adventurer that Darren had pissed off before leaving Oberroth. The bare walls were bright yellow. Not a single decorative Item or window was on them. The only noticeable feature of the room aside from the floor was the table in the middle of the room. It was circular with a hole in the middle. Like a giant wooden donut. Suspended above this hole was a an orb. The orb seemed to be in the grip of a golden claw. The decoration was quite beautiful when observed closely.The office belonged to Tal''gore. He called it his meeting room. The building it was located in also belonged to Tal''gore. It was a branch of the Consortium which Tal''gore happens to be a high ranking member of.


    The trip to the capitol originally had two primary purposes. First was to get Darren''s release forms. Second was to see if Darren was to see what elements he had good attunement with. Darren figured if he was in a world of magic he should atleast make an attempt to learn it.  This stop was simply a way to kill time while Tal''gore determined who he should have test Darren''s attunement.


    "So what''s this?" (Darren)


    Darren pointed to the stone.


    "Ahh, that''s a gate stone." (Tal''gore)


    Tal''gore then returned to the unopened letters in front of him. Apparently he doens''t have his mail come to Oberroth. Instead he has it come to his office. When Darren asked what if the letter was an emergency, Tal''gore rolled his eyes and said if it was an emergency they wouldn''t use a letter. Darren raised an eyebrow at this but didn''t prod. He figured Tal''gore would explain when the situation called for it.


    "Look you can''t just say the name of a magical object and expect me to know its use." (Darren)


    "My apologies. Gate stones are used for non emergency long distance communication. They also act as conduits for portals." (Tal''gore)


    As Tal''gore explained the functions of gate stones he continued opening letters. However halfway through the pile he came upon one with his advisers seal. Using his letter opener he broke the seal and read the contents of the parchment.


    My prince, I assume it will be a while before you come across this message, but when you do please inform me of your findings. I am extremely interested to learn more about that mana burst. I believe it may be linked to multiple phenomenon occuring all over Gallanor. Please make arrangements meet with me at your earliest convenience.


    Your friend and adviser, Armon


    "Haha, I think I''ve found someone." (Tal''gore)


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it."See this is why you check the mail. You really should reroute your mail to your actual house." (Darren)


    Tal''gore waived a dismissive hand. It was at that moment Lycan phased into the building.


    "Just in time. We''re about to leave." (Tal''gore)


    "O where to?" (Lycan)


    "We''re going meet a friend of mine." (Tal''gore)


    "So what did you learn?" (Darren)


    "The meeting ended shortly after you three left. However I tailed that Kaborean fellow. He must really want you dead. He hired like three guys to kill you. By, the way where''s Stella?" (Lycan)


    "She''ll be here shortly I sent her to buy some lunch. Darren and I are starving." (Tal''gore)


    Darren had a noticeable frown on his face.


    "Worried?" (Lycan)


    "Nah, im just a little downtrodden that he only sent three. I''m worth way more assassin''s than that. Ehh maybe he''ll send more if we kill these guys." (Darren)


    Lycan and Tal''gore both rolled thier eyes.


    "I''ve heard alot of stupid comments but feeling down because someone only hired a few assassins to kill you is pretty high up there." (Tal''gore)


    "So are we going to wait on them or?" (Lycan)


    At that moment the gate stone started vibrating.


    "Well it looks like we won''t have to make the trip. Armon''s coming here." (Tal''gore)


    Tal''gore waived his hand and the stone stopped vibrating.After a moment a doorway appeared on one of the walls and 4 figures stepped through. Two of them were short men with beards and large noses. Another was a rather short elf. However the last one was who caught Darren''s attention the most. It was a skeleton wearing a flamboyant robe and holding a large staff.


    "Which one''s your friend?" (Darren)


    Darren turned his head to see Tal''gore was pale and shaking. The prince was staring at the skeleton.


    "Tal''gore manners. These are your guest." (Darren)


    Tal''gore then turned an incredulous gaze towards Darren.


    "Oh your not afraid. I have to admit this is a first since I''ve woken up." (Skeleton)


    "Ehh, I''ve learned not to judge people based on arbatrary features such as appeArances." (Darren)


    "He''s a fucking lich stop chatting with him. And Armon why did you bring him here." (Tal''gore)


    "Long story." (Armon)


    "Pardon my friend. I''m Darren pleasure to meet you." (Darren)


    Darren held out his hand to the lich. The lich shook it and laughed.


    "Ahh that''s refresh.... It was you. HAHA IT WAS YOU." (Lich)


    Even Darren was taken aback by the sudden outburst. All eyes then went from the lich to Darren.


    "I don''t know what he''s talking about." (Darren)


    "Pardon me. We can discuss that later. My name is Gernam. A pleasure to meet you." (Gernam)


    Darren grinned.


    "Likewise." (Darren)


    Though she didn''t reveal herself to the lich. Lycan looked at  Gernam with nostalgia filled eyes.

 No chapter Today, long one tomorrow.

No chapter tonight guys. My new dog has round worms and has been keeping my hands full. I promise a large one tomorrow.


    Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on."

 Chapter 13: Assassins

    After Gernam had finished one of the Dwarves stepped forward.  He then offered his hand. Taking it Darren found his handshake was like he imagined. Strong and firm. While he didn''t share the superstitions of his father that it was a good judge of character, Darren still found it to be an admirable trait.


    "The names Urvos. This here''s Nigel, pleasure ta mee''cha." (Urvos)


    After Urvos took a step back his place was taken by Nigel.


    "I''m Nigel as my friend just said. We have been traveling with Gernam for a little over a day now." (Nigel)


    Urvos nodded.


    "Believe it or not we............... What was that?" (Urvos)


    "Outside the door and to the left. Atleast three people. They''re trying to hid their presence." (Nigel)


    Gernam looked towards both of them quizically.


    "How come you heard that but not the people outside the crypt?" (Gernam)


    "Crypt was made by superstitious people who have long since turned to dust. Thought if they didn''t sound proof it we would hear the wailing of the dead." (Urvos)


    Gernam laughed lightly. Darren already had his gun drawn. He looked extremely calm except his eyes were very cold.


    Lycan walked towards the wall and phased through. AFter a moment her form came back into the room. Turning to Darren she relayed what she saw.


    "Definitely the assassins. All elves. None of them very powerful in magic. Your gun should work fine." (Lycan)


    Darren nodded in response. The room was silent.


    A sound was heard outside the door. Tal''gore was the first to move. Without a word he channeled an enormous amount of mana into an exceedingly large fireball. With a slight motion from his hand the ball shot forward. A red film appeared in front of the group before the fireball hit the door. The moment it hit the door a powerful explosion rocked the room. When the smoke cleared two assassins lay dead. One blackend beyond recognition. The other a pile of pale white ash. The group was still alert knowing that the third was still near.


    "Behind you Darren." (Lycan)


    Darren spun and shot 3 times. The others, excluding Tal''gore, jumped back in surprise. However the surprise vanished when three holes appeared in mid air. Blood freely flowing from each of them. The holes fell forward onto the floor. The cloak on the assassin dissipated leaving a black garbed elf dead on the floor.


    "What an interesting tool." (Gernam)


    Darren then bent down and began to search the body. He found three daggers, four throwing knives, and a ring.


    "Kaborean''s seal. These are professionals." (Tal''gore)


    "These are professionals? That''s underwhelming." (Darren)


    Darren considered what to do with the body.


    "Ahh may I have the body?" (Gernam)


    The whole party looked at Gernam with skepticism. The lich simply shrugged in response.


    "What do you think I''m going to eat him?" (Gernam)


    "I figure you''d raise him as an undead servant or something along those lines. That''s what I would do as a lich back when I played DnD." (Darren)


    "You were a lich? I find that hard to believe. Especially since you said they had no magic in your world." (Tal''gore)


    Darren sighed at himself.


    "We had a concept of magic. My world used it extensively in our books and video games. Although I think actual magic is much different from the magic in RP...... I mean role playing games. One of the classes was mage which could specialize into necromancer, which could then specialize into lich. To transition from Necromancer to lich one must first put their soul in phylactery. Which required a large amount of exotic items." (Darren)


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    The room stared at him in silence.


    "That''s surprisingly acurate. The fact you even know what a phylactery is, is astounding. You''ll have to explain this DnD to me later." (Gernam)


    "I agree a game where you can become a lich interest me greatly aswell." (Tal''gore)


    "I''d enjoy watching that." (Lycan)


    "Nigel and I think it sounds neat." (Urvos)


    Nigel nodded in response. Armon remained silent.


    "I think you guys have the wrong Idea but I''ll see what I can do." (Darren)


    The body suddenly stood up and walked to the corner of the room. and sat down. Everyone looked at Gernam.


    "What I figured it was ok since none of you openly objected." (Gernam)


    "If you had lips you''d be smiling. Right?" (Darren)


    "Yep" (Gernam)


    "O my you have more guest than when I left. SHould I call some servants to clean this?" (Stella)


    The maid had returend at an odd moment. She looked at Gernam fearfully for a moment. Then she let out a breath and resumed her former composure.


    "Is he also a guest of your''s Prince?" (Stella)


    "Long story." (Tal''gore)


    "I''ll go get more food."( Stella)


    As she turned to leave, but Tal''gore told her to wait.


    "Forget it. I''ll order some the people down below to get some." (Tal''gore)


    "Allow me. I shall return shortly." (Stella)


    The elf maid walked towards the direction of the stairs.


    Tal''gore then turned to Armon. Walking over to him he put his hands on Armon''s shoulders.


    "My friend would it be possible for you to sense Darren''s attunement?" (Tal''gore)


    Armon shook his head.


    "While it is within my capabilities, we have someone infinitely better at such a task than me." (Armon)


    The short elf turned his head towards Gernam.


    "You can sense attunements?" (Tal''gore)


    The lich nodded.


    "When your as old as I am, you tend to learn some support spells for such occasions. Mana sensing was taught alongside attunement. So I learned both." (Gernam)


    "Then would you do me the favor." (Darren)


    "It requires no particular effort besides I''ve taken an interest in you. Offworlder." (Gernam)


    Those who came with the lich all looked towards Darren.


    "That''s right he did say in his world." (Urvos)


    "I thought he was being egotistical. We''ve met plenty of people like that today." (Nigel)


    Darren, Tal''gore, and Gernam scowled at the dwarf.


    "How about this, Darren. You tell me your story, I check your attunement, and then I owe you one." (Gernam)


    "Fine only on the condition that you tell me what you meant when you said "It was you."" (Darren)


    "Deal" (Gernam)


    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Dwarven guards are required to undergo extensive training. One of their training routines involves listening for those who don''t want to be heard. Dwarves who''ve trained for years can even see through spells that hid presence.


    <hr />


    I think this weekends chapter will be a special chapter describing the world. It''ll introduce a lot of information that will be used later on but it will help as I wont have to go back and write those stupid messages at the bottom of the chapter.

 Chapter 14: Attunement (First Half)

    "Deal." (Darren)


    The pair sat in silence for a moment. Gernam silently stared at Darren. Neither of the pair made any movement. The awkwardness soon spread to the rest of the moon.  Cough  Darren scratched the back of his head.


    "So are we gunna do it now............" (Darren)


    "DONE." (Gernam)


    The whole room jumped back at the sudden sound that emerged from Gernam.


    "How, you didn''t even use a glyph or a spell." (Tal''gore)


    "When you master soul magic you can do plenty of things. Of course you have to know the traditional methods of sensing attunement for this method. I would explain it in detail but you have no concept of soul magic. So it wouldn''t make sense." (Gernam)


    "Soul magic?" (Armon)


    "Were to begin.... Soul magic is one of the most primal fo....." (Gernam)


    "Save it for another time please. I just want to here the results." (Darren)


    Gernam sighed but relented.


    "You may not like the news. Your attunement isn''t to any element. It''s to weight. A very undesirable attunement." (Gernam)


    Tal''gore winced and Armon shook his head.


    "Why is it undesirable?" (Darren)


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation."Because the only way one can grow stronger in magic is through an understanding of what your manipulating. For example Tal''gore probably has a firm grasp on what fire is. How to make it and how it interacts with the world. Weight is different. No one knows why it exist. Or what it does other than make things heavier." (Gernam)


    "Hmm sounds like you just have the wrong concept. Weight is just the force gravity exerts to keep you grounded." (Darren)


    "Gravity?" (All present)


    "Ok. Sit down children. Allow me to teach all of you some science." (Darren)


    His emphasis on the last word made everyone raise an eyebrow.


    "So lets establish the basics. You understand this world is a sphere right?" (Darren)


    All present nodded except Urvos and Nigel.


    "That''s just silly human superstition." (Urvos)


    Darren glared at the dwarves.


    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Second half will be posted tomorrow. The weekend chapter will be posted on Sunday. I''ll probably take monday off. Dunno yet. Sorry for the half a chapter figured you''d rather something over nothing.

 Chapter 14: Assassins (Second Half)

    Darren glared at the dwarves. He slowly breathed outward.


    "To explain why all planets are spheres, even those that aren''t solid......" (Darren)


    "Wait what do you mean even those that aren''t solid?" (Nigel)


    "Well you have three main categories of planets. Solids, gas giants, and ice giants. Both Ice giants and gas giants are bigger than solid planets. Now can I answer the original question?" (Darren)


    Urvos and Nigel pondered on his explanation for a moment before Nigel spoke up.


    "Why are "gas and ice giants" bigger? (Nigel)


    "Okay this is going to take a while. Does everyone else want to hear this?"(Darren)


    "I''ve got nothing better to do." (Tal''gore)


    "I could always learn something new." (Armon)


    "I''m in agreement with the short one." (Gernam)


    "You couldn''t get rid of me if you wanted to." (Lycan)


    Darren smiled at that last comment.


    "Alright then."


    "The term gas giant was first used in 1952........."(Darren)


    About three hours later....


    "Now that I''ve explained all of that onto gravity." (Darren)


    "Aggghh" (All present including Stella)


    A collective sigh was heard throughout the room. Empty plates were next to everyone as Stella had returned with food. The previous joviality gone. Replaced with aching heads from all the new and sudden information.


    Darren frowned but continued regardless.


    "Don''t give me that attitude the whole point of this was so that I can explain gravity without sounding insane. Besides Gernam where do you have to be?" (Darren)


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    "Just because I''m old doesn''t mean I don''t value my time." (Gernam)


    "Anyway, the best way to describe gravity is to think of a rock in the ocean water pressing it from all sides. Trying to fill up the space where the rock is. Think of space as the ocean and Gallanor as a rock." (Darren)


    "That''s it?" (Tal''gore)


    "For the most part yes. THe more complicated bits come from how gravity gets stronger. Generally the larger the object the stronger it''s gravitational pull. However gravity isn''t determined by size. It''s determined by mass. So say you''re holding a 1 inch in diameter ball of copper and a 1 inch in diameter ball of lead. The lead has a stronger gravitational pool because it has more mass." (Darren)


    "Interesting." (Nigel)


    Darren rolled his eyes.


    "If only you showed that much interest in the earlier discussion. Anyway I think that''s about it for now. How about I try out my theory. It would be a shame to have explained all of that and not have it be gravity magic."( Darren)


    "Great idea. Now all you have to do is learn how to channel mana. That should only take a few months with how smart you are." (Tal''gore)


    Darren''s eyes widened.


    "Woah woah woah. A few months. That may not be that long for an elf but for me that''s a pretty large chunk of time." (Darren)


    "I got this." (Lycan)


    Darren and Tal''gore exchanged a skeptical look. Lycan morphed into her human form and stepped forward to place a hand on Darren''s shoulder. Everything went black.

 Chapter 15: Dark Matters

    Darkness surrounded everything.


    "Deja vu." (Darren)


    However in the distance a faint light could be seen.


    "No where to go but forward." (Darren)


    With no goal or reason Darren started towards the light. Hours passed as he moved towards the light. When he could walk no more he collapsed. However something pushed him forward. He crawled. And crawled. For an apparent eternity he dragged himself through the darkness. Suddenly the light grew. With each inch claimed the light grew more intense. Then it became blinding. However, Darren could not look away. As he reached the center he saw it had a small solid core. Achingly he reached up and slowly grasped the sphere.


    Darren''s eyes fluttered open. He was greeted with Lycan''s face. Her passive expression widened into a smile.


    "Two days not bad. The only other instance of forced perception I''ve heard of took a week." (Lycan)


    "Forced percep...." (Darren)


    He then noticed he felt different. More energized. He innately felt a need to channel it. Lycan suddenly planted a kiss on his cheek, but said nothing. Sliding off of him she phased out of the small room. As Darren leaned up he noticed someone sitting in a chair in the corner. As his eyes focused on the person he realized it wasn''t Tal''gore as he expected. Instead it was Gernam.


    "Gernam?" (Darren)


    The lich''s made no response.


    "Hello?" (Darren)


    Still no response. Darren looked at the bedside stand to his left. A pen sat there with a note attached to it.


    My friend as you can see Armon and I have reversed engineered one of these. I hope you do not mind but I''ve given the go ahead to mass produce these. All credit for there creation has been given to you. In regards to the funds I expect nothing. All profits shall go to you. Get well soon my friend. We have much more to do together.


    Your friend, Tal''gore


    Darren experienced an odd sensation. He had only known Tal''gore for a day. For some reason seeing the elf as a friend felt right. It left a mark on Darren.  It occurred to him that before coming to Gallanor it had been a long time since he had called anyone friend. Indeed his life before coming to Gallanor was a lonely one. A hallow shell of a man with no purpose or reason for anything. Simply seeking knowledge because it was something to do. His home life revolved around a daily routine of exercise and online gaming. He was famous for the wonders he introduced to the world.It amounted to nothing. The feeling emptiness that followed him so closely had been absent from the moment he arrived in this world. Lycan and Tal''gore. Two people he had known for less than a week. Were his only friends. And indeed his only family in Lycan''s case.


    "Your effort shall not be wasted my friend." (Darren)


    He picked up the pen and admired it then with all the might he could muster he flung the pen at the skeleton''s skull. As the pen raced towards Gernam Darren made a mental note to teach Tal''gore how to make plastic. With a thud the pen bounced off the lich.


    Stolen story; please report.


    The lich jumped up and took a defensive stance.


    Noticing Darren and then the pen on the ground he put two and two together.


    "You''re lucky I can''t feel pain." (Gernam)


    "Oh yea so I believe I can perceive my own mana now." (Darren)


    The lich''s jaw fell open.


    "Well if you can cast a spell for me." (Gernam)


    Darren Reached forward and channeled all his energy in an effort to pull Gernam down. And nothing.


    "Feel anything?" (Darren)


    "A slight weight on my shoulders but not much. If your theory was correct you''d have brought me to my knees." (Gernam)


    "Do I need to say something?" (Darren)


    "Only for glyphs and unattributed spells." (Gernam)


    "Then I guess my gravity theory was wrong." (Darren)


    He started to guess what else it could be. A


    "You said you learned soul magic. Does that mean it''s unattributed?" (Darren)


    "No soul magic is an attribute onto itself. I think I know what question that''s going to lead into. Anyone can learn spells from any school. It''s just that being attuned to a particular attribute greatly increases the rate at which you learn and develop your magical abilities in that attribute. It also removes the inherent limiter." (Gernam)


    "Limiter?" (Darren)


    "For example  someone not attuned to water magic can never learn above Intermediate grade water spells." (Gernam)


    Darren nodded. What could his magic actually be. It couldn''t be weight. Weight was just a measurement of the force gravity has on something. Maybe instead of a force of nature it was something that exerted gravity.


    "I think I may have been going around this the wrong way. Before I try what I''m about to. How do I destroy something I materialize say fire?" (Darren)


    "Stop channeling mana. Remember that enormous fireball Tal''gore cast against those assassins. If he would have stopped his mana flow to that object it would have dispersed. However remember it takes a conscious effort to stop channeling. After You''ve cast a spell you naturally keep channeling into it." (Gernam)


    "I see, well here goes nothing." (Darren)


    Darren raised his hand. As he started to channel his mana into a physical form focusing on Gernam. A small black ball the size of a marble appeared on mid air in front of Gernam. The lich''s body jolted forward at an ungodly speed toward the ball. After reaching it his body started to slowly crack as it bent to enclose the ball. Sensing this could be bad Darren conciously made an effort to stop channeling and Gernam fell to the floor.


    Pulling himself off the floor the lich gave Darren an awed stair.


    "What was that?" (Gernam)


    "That was dark matter." (Darren)


    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Call this my apology chapter for the late second half.

 Chapter 16: The Generals

    "Dark matter? I''ve never heard of such a thing. Though I suppose that''s to be expected considering matter is a term I only learned two days ago." (Gernam)


    "Even in my world very little is known about it. It was only proven to exist a few years ago. For the longest time it was simply a hypothetical substance. As you''ve just experienced though, it is very real." (Darren)


    The lich scratched it''s skull.


    "I remember you saying that an object had to have an enourmous amount of mass to have a gravitational pull. How did that tiny ball pull me off my feet and nearly crush me to deat.... Ahem re-death?"(Gernam)


    "Believe it or not dark matter represents most of the universes mass. However it''s so dense that one about a 100th the size of that marble would weigh as much as the largest mountain in my world." (Darren)


    "And weight mages can conjure this at will? That is very unnerving. I''m also surprised that none of them every realized it was a materialization type of magic instead of a force type." (Gernam)


    "I''m sure they did. However not knowing full well what they were handling they may have inadvertently materialized one larger than the marble sized one I did and without the restrictions. Most likely killing themselves. Even worse they may have dissipated it to fast. As you noticed mine was small enough to where the gravitational field could be disrupted easily thus allowing me a few seconds to dissipate it. If I would have done it to fast a super nova could have a occurred. Or worse a black hole. An anomaly with gravity so great not even light can escape it." (Darren)


    "Incredible, would you mind going into more detail on these black holes?" (Gernam)


    "Do you want another 6 hour learning marathon?" (Darren)


    "Point taken. Lets go ahead and tell everyone else you''re awake. By the way Urvos and Nigel took the portal back to Armons study. They''ll be back.  They are resigning as guards. As Urvos put it "We need more excitement in our lives." That and something else about how the dwarven mob might come after them after they find out that those two are connected to the deaths of five of its members." (Gernam)


    "Dwarven mob?" (Darren)


    "Only thing I know about them is that they are called the Nulguard." (Gernam)


    "That''s hilarious. I mean I''m sure one doesn''t want to piss them off. I just can''t help but laugh at that situation though. I mean come on getting a hit put on you by a 4 foot mobster is comedy story waiting to write itself." (Darren)


    "Ha, sounds like it. Anyway lets go get Tal''gore and the rest." (Gernam)


    Darren Nodded and got out of bed. The two of them then walked out of the room.


    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Two beings stood facing each other. One a warrior clad in gleaming white armor. Wielding a sword as bright as the sun. The other his face shadowed so that it couldn''t be seen. He wore a pure white overcoat, under it was clothing unrecognizable by the warrior in white. The warrior squeezed his sword and charged. However as the sword arced downward, a sword of pure darkness appeared in the unarmed man''s hand. The moment the two swords clashed the sword of light shattered. However the sword of darkness did not stop and continued racing towards the warrior. It easily sliced through the armor narrowly missing the man underneath. Seeing his chest plate was useless the man discarded it. Revealing himself to be extremely handsome. However one would notice the white wings which spread out to be longer than 4 meters from tip to tip.  The angelic man extended his hands and in each of them two more swords of light appeared. However, the man in the strange clothes bent his knees. Lifting a hand above his hand a monstrous double sided spear of darkness appeared in his hand. With little effort he hurled the spear at the angelic man. Obliterating him in an instant.


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    Grand General Saphiel shot up drenched in a cold sweat. The general felt something he hadn''t felt in a very long time fear. Hurrying out of bed he dressed himself. He had to see the king, and quickly. Or else all of Razielon was at risk.


    Saphiel stood in the royal court waiting for the king and the other generals currently in the capitol to arrive.


    Unsurprisingly the king was the first to arrive. Danforth Raziel II  was the ninth in his line. If you didn''t include his brother Cornelius. The circumstances surrounding Cornelius''s death screamed suspicious. He died of food poisoning a week before he was to take the throne. Danforth was a man of hulking proportions. Raised as a warrior he loathed his brothers political tactics. Many of the generals suspected this was Danforth''s doing, but the king denied these suspicions.


    The first general to arrive was 3rd general Nelfin. Like all the generals he was blessed by one of the archangels. Nelfin was blessed by Azreal the Angel of Death. While most of the generals were revered by the worshipers of Tillium the Redeemer, Nelfin was the only one who was reviled. His greataxe, Hades, was said to age anything it cut. His armor was the only armor among the generals that was black.


    After Nelfin came 1st General Xavius. Unlike the other generals Xavious wore tight fitting leather armor. On his left side hung two daggers. Rend and Tear. These daggers were indeed misnomers. As they did not tear or rend. They possessed the ability to phase through skin and armor. Only cutting the internals. Or the eyes if you were unlucky. Xavius was the chosen of Uriel. The Archangel of Confirmation whose goal was to bring all humans into Tillium''s light.


    The final general Present in Fullguard (The Capitol) was 6th general Octurus. Octurus while loved by the people was perhaps the most enigmatic of the generals. With a contingent of only 4 underlings most people knew nothing of him. He was never seen without his heavy white platemail known as Heaven''s Ward. Blessed by Tillium himself the armor was impenetrable. On his back was the greatsword, Gehenna. The sword itself was what stood out the most about the man. With a rounded tip akin to a semi-circle. The sword itself was pitch-black providing a stark contrast with his gleaming white armor. If one were to look closely one might notice a small groove running right down the middle of the flat of the blade. This groove is where the blade split into two. When split the greatsword would become two black longswords, Sodom and Gomorrah. When swung this blade would send out a wave of pure mana. Cutting down all in its path. Octurus was blessed by Micheal the archangel of war.


    Sephiel was blessed by Tillium himself hence why he was called the Grand General.


    With all present the king turned towards the grand general.


    "Why have you called us Sephiel?" (Danforth)


    "I have received a vision." (Sephiel)

 Chapter 17: Dawning of a New Era

    "So you think that is the best course of action? If I remember correctly that place is run by Kaborean''s brother." (Lycan)


    "Oh it is. That''s one of the reasons I''m sending him there instead of one of the more pretegious academies. He will no doubt surpass the material taught there. After that point I will teach him what I can."


    "I''m assuming by him you mean me?" (Darren)


    The man stood in the doorway of the room. The four occupants looked at him for a moment. Smiles broke out on each of their faces. Excluding Armon.


    "Glad to see you''re awake my friend. After Lycan informed us of what she had done we decided to plan ahead. Assuming your guess is correct and your magic is indeed based on gravity and not w...." (Tal''gore)


    "I was wrong. In the best of ways. After experimenting with German we figured out it wasn''t gravity. It''s a materialization type magic that allows me to create dark matter. The densest material in the universe. So dense that it has its own gravitational field." (Darren)


    "Care to provide and example." (Armon)


    The short elf seemed indifferent about everything. However if one was good at reading body language they could see the subtle signs of excitement.


    "Sure, although I''d prefer to use something that isn''t living. I already almost killed German." (Darren)


    The skeleton shifted uncomfortably.


    "I can help with that." (Lycan)


    The wolf deity pointed her human hand towards the air. A huge block of ice formed and fell to the floor.


    "So they can see you now?" (Darren)


    He asked the question he already knew the answer to.


    "Yep. I figured if you were going to get to know these people that it''s only natural that I do." (Lycan)


    "Why is it only natural. You still never told us why you are with Tal''gore. You won''t even let him tell us." (Armon)


    Lycan chuckled.


    "That''s because I''m not with Tal''gore. I''m with Darren. Due to a series of complications he is my husband." (Lycan)


    Armon''s jaw dropped. Gernam looked at Darren then back at Lycan. He repeated this process once more before laughing. Stella made no response.


    "Oh that''s grand. You will have to tell me that story one day." (Gernam)


    Eager to change the subject Darren interjected.


    "Anyway lets get this show and tale out the way." (Darren)


    He started channeling the spell. Mentally applying properties and restricting its influence. Finally a sphere of darkmatter the size of a pea came into existence. It was made only to effect the block of ice. In and instant the ice was picked up and wrapped around the dark matter. Whirling and compressing until it was at a state in between liquid and gas.


    All eye''s were filled with awe. Even Lycan herself was quite impressed.


    "So this is what wieght mages are capable of." (Tal''gore)


    His awe was overshadowed by his dread. He could only imagine what an army of those even unnattuned to such a magic could do. Seeing the distress on his friends face Darren  spoke to quell his fears.


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    "Calm down most wouldn''t know about it''s properties until it''s too late. Anyway lets talk about what I overheard when I came in. What plans have you made?" (Darren)


    "Ahh yes. While you will have to make your own advances in your field of attunement perhaps attending the local Magic Academy would help you better understand basic casting and the like." (Tal''gore)


    Darren saw the wisdom in Tal''gore''s words. He also sensed an ulterior motive.


    "What else?" (Darren)


    The elf prince smiled. He didn''t expect Darren to not find out.


    "There is an annual competition of sorts where mages from around the country come to test their skills against one another. If a certain human was to outmatch the elves at the academy that happens to be run by Kaborean''s brother, it would agitate the man quite a bit. That and it would boost your own reputation." (Tal''gore)


    "Sounds fun when do I start." (Darren)


    "Actually I think you mean when do we start." (Gernam)


    Darren raised an eyebrow and looked at Tal''gore.


    "The lich will be teaching at the academy. In disguise of course. While the academy has wards against Illusions he was able to bypass them and squire a job." (Tal''gore)


    "It''s been a while since I taught. Besides since you''ve show me so much I thought it would be good to return the favor." (Gernam)


    "This is going to be a surreal experience isn''t it?" (Darren)


    The wolf deity wrapped her arms around his neck.


    "Think of it as a learning experience instead." (Lycan)


    "Of that I have no doubt." (Darren)


    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    In the human kingdom of Yuria a man sat cross legged on a snow topped mountain. A sudden pressure pulsed past him. He was not unused to the aftershocks of manaburst. Meditating in these mountains such things passed on a daily basis. However another passed him him making him open his eyes in surprise. Two in a row was unheard of. Then a third passed. Nearly knocking the man over. The power in that pulse was so immense it could only mean the birth or rebirth of a deity. If his suspicions were true it could mean the end of the current era and the beginning of a new one. Picking up his hood he ended his meditating. He would return to Yuria''s capitol and consult the others of this. Truly these were marvelous times to live in.


    Arc End


    Next Arc: The flamboyant lich and his student.

 Chapter 18: Magical Prowess Test

    Darren, Lycan, and Tal''gore were currently in a luxurious carriage heading towards the academy grounds.


    "You have the portal ring I gave you correct." (Tal''gore)


    Darren reached inside his lab-coat pocket and pulled out the ring. After showing it to Tal''gore he then returned it to his pocket.


    "Also are you sure you don''t want a robe or another type of mage''s garb?" (Tal''gore)


    "Please my lab coat has way more uses than your frilly robes." (Darren)


    "Don''t let Gernam here you call them frilly. He would probably fail you." (Lycan)


    "Why is that?" (Tal''gore)


    Darren raised his eyebrows but said nothing.


    "That robe was given to him by his wife. The late archdruid of the fang." (Lycan)


    "Archdruid of the fang, what''s that supposed to be?" (Darren)


    "Each of the four hunters has a druid order that worships them. Mine is the fang. Ursa''s is the maw, Vixen''s is the shadow, and Chimeron has no order. He is too unpredictable and dangerous. Those that tried to form his order were butchered by him. The archdruid of the fang was the most powerful." (Lycan)


    "Oh what''s the story behind that?" (Darren)


    "A few thousand years ago she fell in love with a mortal man. Brilliant beyond reckoning he was hated by society. He studied what society deemed evil. He believed no magic was inherently evil. One day he came to study the druids. The two met and fell in love. A bunch of stuff happened in between but it''s not my information to give. If you want to know more ask German" (Lycan)


    "Mortal man? Are druids immortal?" (Darren)


    "Ageless." (Lycan)


    Darren nodded but didn''t prod any further. Instead he turned to Tal''gore.


    "So anything I should know for my first day?" (Darren)


    "Ahh well most incoming students would be listing off what supplies they wanted to buy from the school. But considering I effectively run most the Consortium in this country, I''ll take care of that." (Tal''gore)


    "Anything else?" (Darren)


    "A thank you would be nice." (Tal''gore)


    Darren rolled his eyes.


    "A thank you only comes when there are no ulterior motives." (Darren)


    Tal''gore shrugged and gave Darren a grin. Before a look of realization came to his face.


    "Ahh actually there is something else. The first thing they do is test unsponsered incoming students on their magical prowess. I can give you a recommendation letter if you would like to just skip it." (Tal''gore)


    Darren scratched his head in thought before deciding.


    "Thank you, but I''d rather get by on my own merit. If things get bad I''ll just get Lycan to help." (Darren)


    Lycan smiled at him mischievously. Tal''gore shook his head.


    "When you two have your moments I worry for my safety." (Tal''gore)


    The three friends shared a laugh.


    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    The ride was over after another fifteen minutes. Darren and Lycan parted ways with Tal''gore. Outside of the carriage Lycan morphed back into her wolf form. The academy grounds were quite large and neither Darren nor Lycan knew there way around. Darren regretted not asking Tal''gore for directions but got over it soon enough. He decided to ask for directions. The central plaza was easy enough to find so Darren figured it was as good of a place to start as any. All around the court yard were people from all walks of life. High elves, humans, nagas, dark elves, dwarves, harpies, and even a few things Darren had no clue about.


    The first group Darren approached was a group of elves.


    "Excuse me, can one of you help me?" (Darren)


    The elves gave him a condescending glance than proceded to ignore him. Not one to let things go Darren made a mental note and moved on.


    The next group was a group of four dwarves.


    "Excuse me, but can one of you help me out with some directions?" (Darren)


    Fortunately the dwarves were actually very polite.


    "Oh sure what are you looking for, mate?" (Dwarf mage 1)


    "I''m trying to find the proving grounds. I just enrolled and have no idea where to it is." (Darren)


    "Ahh, I''ve seen alot of people asking about that around the plaza. They really should just get someone to help the new arrivals. Anyway, you see that path over there?" (Dwarf mage 1)


    "Yea." (Darren)


    "Well you wanna take that down and skip the first two paths...."  (Dwarf mage 1)


    The directions were fairly simple. After thanking the dwarves he set off. After about three minutes he reached a large gym coliseum hybrid. Entering he could see atleast 5 dozen people waiting. Ahead of these people were 6 platforms on each one stood a mage. Seeing as the place was also built to act as a coliseum of sorts spots to sit and stand lined the edge of the colossal room.


    Darren could hardly here himself think over the noise. Soon enough an elf climbed onto the middle platform.


    "Students today you have come to test yourself. To see if you are worthy to enter this prestigious academy." (Man on the platform)


    His voice was extremely loud almost as if he used a megaphone. Darren figured this was most likely due to some sort of magic.


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    "As most of you know I am Dean Malgarren head of the advanced curriculum. One of the most powerful mages in the country." (Malgarren)


    "Talk about an ego hand-job." (Darren)


    Lycan chuckled at the comment, but both continued to listen.


    "Those of you who prove powerful enough will have the privilege of studying under me and the advanced faculty. Fortuneatly those who do not will still be able to enroll and study under the basics under our other professors. Fear not they are all experts in magic. After a year or two under the basic professors you are invited to test yourself once more to see if you are capable of the advanced classes." (Malgarren)


    "Pfft a year or two." (Lycan)


    "Yea I have better things to do." (Darren)


    The dean immediately shot Darren a look. Darren widened his eyes in surprise but showed no signs of nervousness or fear.


    "You there I believe I heard you say you had better things to do. And what might that be?" (Malgarren)


    "Well I could invent a flushable toilet, the lightbulb, or some medical drugs. However if you want an honest answer as for what I was thinking of when I said that, self education." (Darren)


    The room went quiet for a moment. Then it burst into a cascade of laughter.


    Lycan looked at her husband curious to see his response. Darren however paid no mind to the roaring crowd. He held a smug smile on his face. Pride welled up in the wolf goddess''s chest.


    There aside from Darren one person noticeably wasn''t laughing. The dean.


    "You think you can teach yourself better than the professors here can?" (Malgarren)


    "Do you want the answer you want to hear or my honest opinion?" (Darren)


    "If you''re so confident than why don''t you take the test first?" (Malgarren)


    Darren''s smug smile grew bigger. Lycan couldn''t help but enjoy her mate''s


    "Of course." (Darren)


    He walked forward with a brisk pace. An elf who looked to be around twenty put his foot out to trip Darren. Darren of course saw this but acted as if he didn''t see. The moment he tried to step over the foot the elf brought it up. Darren moved faster than most gave him credit for. He quickly reached down and grabbed the elf by the ankle. He then brought it up and pushed it outward. Knocking the elf right off his feet. Those around the elf gasped but Darren paid no mind. Even in the act he never even looked at the elf. He simply continued walking towards the platform. After climbing up he lifted the head to look the dean in the face but was greeted with a staff to the face. He half expected the culprit to be the dean but instead it was another elf. He wore blue robes that were similar (but less flamboyant than) to Tal''gore''s.


    The dean was in the same spot he was previously facing the crowd.


    "This first test will be conducted by the advanced professor for water magic. Maelstrom." (Malgarren)


    Darren glared at the water mage. Reaching into his lab coat he pulled out the p250.


    "Elbow, or kneecap?" (Darren)


    THe water mage hmphed  and started channeling magic into a spell.


    "Kneecap then."  (Darren)


    Bang the sound was followed by the screaming of hte water mage who was rolling on the ground grasping his knee. However blood wasn''t flowing. At the point of impact ice started to spread over the water professors knee. Stopping only when it fully encased his knee.


    The crowd was dumbfounded. They looked at the advanced water instructor moaning on the ground. Another mage dressed in white robes came rushing. He easily lept onto the platform and started healing the water instructor.


    "You make the best first impressions." (Lycan)


    "I know right." (Darren)


    Darren turned to the dean.


    "Do I pass?" (Darren)


    "What was that?" (Malgarren)


    A sarcastic look spread across Darren''s face.


    "MAGIC." (Darren)


    He emphasized the word in an over-dramatic way. The dean wore a defeated look.


    "You can pick up your admission paper work in the main office after the rest of the students finish the test." (Malgarren)


    The professor wore a defeated look. He knew he couldn''t just tell the student no. They had to accept all exceptional talent. To be able to cast a spell that even he couldn''t follow was exceptional indeed. Even if he did despise the human.


    Darren walked out the way he came. Before reaching the exit he turned around and yelled.


    "Can anyone tell me where the main office is." (Darren)


    None volunteered an answer.


    "I changed my mind maybe a year or two wouldn''t be so bad." (Lycan)


    "You know it would." (Darren)


    The students all wondered who he was talking to but none of them dare mocked or asked. Half assumed he was crazy.


    <hr />


    Damn, that might be the longest yet.


    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Also be sure to check out the new pole: Tal''gor or Tal''gore.


    Also no chapter tomorrow. I''ll be compiling all of arc 1 into one big post.

 Arc 1 Full

    "Mr. Tower you stand accused of the destruction of private property, breaking and entering, and the murder of Micheal Landry. How do you plead?" (Judge Tomas)


    The cameras panned to a very plain looking man. He had rough unkempt hair would probably be the first thing one noticed about the man. Next would be the obvious bags under his eyes. Oddly the man didn''t look tired instead he bore a confident smile. After noticing the smile ones attention would probably be drawn to his clean shaven face. Perhaps the most out of place thing was his outfit. Instead of being nicely dressed he instead wore his work clothes. A lab coat, khakis, and some sneakers.


    "I plead guilty to all charges except the false accusation of murder." (Darren Tower)


    Those were words no one wanted to hear. The man said to be the new Einstein or the next Tesla pleaded guilty to murder. Families across the nation sat devastated in front of their televisions. However halfway across the world one man had a smile on his face, David Colt. He simply picked up the phone next to him and made a single phone call.


    Publicly David was given the death penalty. However David currently sat in a room across from a group of 5 men. "Darren the way I see it you have a choice. You can either work for the government for the rest of your life. Never receiving credit for what you create. Or you can be ejected." (Middle Man)


    "Ahh so you did read my notes. I assume you know why I killed Landry then. I have to ask why let me go? Why give me a choice." (Darren)


    "You think after all you''ve done for the world we would force you to waste away for the murder of some scum. We found enough evidence to convict every member of his immediate family for years. They had a kill list. A kill list. With the locations of the bodies and how each person was killed. That was all we needed to confirm your reasons. Though we aren''t doing this strictly for you." (Man farthest to the left)


    "You plan to use my death for political gain then?" (Darren)


    "Haha, exactly. You see we plan to convict all of Landry''s family and present the list in a public trial. This will redeem your public image and raise you to almost martyrdom in the eyes of the other families who suffered at thier hands. This will cause a public backlash against those currently in power. Allowing us to effectively rearrange the playing field in our favor.(Middle Man)


    The middle man held a self satisfied smile. Darren simply closed his eyes and leaned back going over his options.


    "It''s really more than I could ever hope for." Darren thought to himself. After sititng quietly for what seemed like an eternity.


    "I choose ejection. On the condition the gateway is destroyed behind me." (Darren)


    "We accept." (All five men)


    The response was instant and unanimous. A hulking brute of a man then stepped into the room and motioned for Darren to follow. He was lead to a car outside the building and hurridly ushered in.


    After riding for about an hour he was brought to the research facility he used to work. As Darren walked in her heard the doors being bolted behind him. There was no turning back. All the windows were barred and any devices that could have helped escape were removed before  his arrival. Not that he even stopped to check. He simply walked towards a device in the middle of the facility.


    There it stood. The ejector. A device that could bridge Universes. The theory was first proposed in 2021. However it failed to gain traction until 2030 when the existence of parallel universes was discovered. In merely six years Darren had build this device. He left no instructions on its use however it was a fairly straightforward device. There was only one button on the entire machine. He made it that way. An on and off button. Darren stepped forward and pressed it. The machine then emitted a soft hum. the empty hole in the middle of the circular gateway turned into what appeared to be filled with a colorless opaque liquid. Taking a deep breath Darren stepped forward.


    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Third Prince Tal''gor Felloron of the High Elves was currently investigating a large mana burst on the outskirts of Oberroth. His group consisted of himself and his mount. Although the prince was dressed in a bright red robe and had a ridiculously ornate staff strapped to his back his mount was more likely to catch attention. Most elves use Troas Large tetra-pedal birds as their mounts. Tal''gor''s however was a gorger a large bipedal lizard with an insatiable apatite. As he sped toward his destination he couldn''t help but feel childishly excited for what he may find.


    (Earlier this same day)


    Tal''gor sat silent reading a newer edition of spell theory. The work was published weekly by the Consortium. A multi-racial organization of mages, shamans, and warlocks. The current issue was a special on fire magic.


    The door to his chambers suddenly flew open.


    "My Prince, the mana-burst outside Oberroth you told us to investigate. Another occurred in the exact same spot."


    The soldier looked at Tal''gor as if asking for permission to continue. With a curt nod from the prince the soldier took another deep breath and continued.


    "Something came out. A few locals claim it to have been a person. Of what race is uncertain."


    "Thank you for the information, however should you ever barge into my chambers again you may find yourself screaming in pain after I set you ablaze. I mean seriously can you not knock. I have a hard time believing you would have forgotten information that important in the amount of time it takes you to knock on the damn door."


    The prince made a shooing gesture with his hand and the soldier made a quick bow before departing.


    Alone again the Prince''s thoughts immediately went to the manaburst. What made it odd is that manaburst never happen in the same place twice. However manaburst have occurred in this spot not twice but three times.


    A manaburst most often occurs when a large amount of ambient mana is suddenly displaced by an external force. Two way portals are usually the cause of these burst, but considering how exceedingly rare and expensive they are to cast the Tal''gor was skeptical of that being the cause.


    Unable to think about anything else the prince resolved to investigate the matter himself.  Grabbing a bright red feathered quill pen and a parchment the prince began to write a message.


    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Darren stood in the darkness unable to make out anything.


    "Hello?" (Darren)


    There was no echo. He reached down to touch the floor but his hand kept going farther and farther down. He jumped up but he never came down as if a plat form would come up to meet him.


    "Oh a new comer." (???)   said a feminine voice.


    Darren raised an eyebrow but said nothing.


    "Haven''t had one of those in ages. Or ever to be frank." (???)


    Darren remembered he had his smart phone. Taking it out he switched on the flash light. All around him was the same unfathomable darkness. However 10 feet in front of him an enormous white wolf stretched out. "Howdy" she said.


    "What an interesting device." Said the wolf as she stood up.  Taking a few steps forward she sniffed him.


    "You don''t smell like Hilden. Nor does your outfit match any I''ve seen on Gallanor."


    "Gallanor? Is that what that place is called? So are we in Gallanor right now?"


    At his sudden question the wolf''s eyes widened with surprise and amusement. "Are you not afraid, most humans regardless of linage, cannot bring themselves to utter a word in my presence."


    "Well if you wanted to kill me you would have no trouble doing so. Seeing as you choose to have a conversation instead I figured you had no ill intentions, yet." Adding the last word with bit of caution.


    "Yet? Pfft haha. Little one you amuse me greatly. I have nothing to gain from your death. Please sit it has been centuries since I have had the pleasure of a nice chat."


    After hearing the joyful tone in her voice Darren nodded and sat down. Motioning for her to continue the wolf nodded.


    "O pardon my rudeness, in my joy I''ve forgotten my manners. My name is Lycan. And yours?"(Lycan)


    "Darren, Darren Tower." (Darren)


    "So tell me, Darren, how have you come to this wretched place."(Lycan)


    "Wretched? I''d describe it more as bleak or dreary."(Darren)


    "When you''ve been here alone for 400 years your outlook tends to change." said Lycan with none of the prior amusement in her voice.


    Opening his mouth to question how she could be her for that long he caught himself. Am I really going to question a giant talking wolf on the honesty of her words? Going with his better judgement he decided against it.


    "I came from a gateway I built. Perhaps you can show me a way out of this place?"(Darren)


    "Why would I do that? I''ve been stuck her for years and I''ve finally got company. So tell me how has Gallanor changed in the past 400 years?"(Lycan)


    "Your guess is as good as mine." (Darren)


    "What do you mean by that?" (Lycan) the annoyance in her voice apparent.


    "Never been. The whole reason I built that portal was to leave my old world. Didn''t really care were it sent me. But seeing as Gallanor apparently has giant talking wolves I figure it''s as good of place as any." (Darren)


    "You aren''t from Gallanor." (Lycan) Her ears fully perked up upon hearing this information. "In that case perhaps I will help you leave. If you make a deal with me."


    "Well seeing as we have plenty of time to discuss the details. I''m all ears."(Darren)


    "All I ask is for your body." (Lycan) Impossibly the wolf seemed to be grinning.


    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    The prince grew more excited as he neared his destination. The canopy grew denser as he went. However only a few hundred meters away from the site a bird swooped down from the canopy. Landing on his gorger''s head. It had a note strapped to its left leg. As he reached to untie it he was savagely pecked by the bird. Given it an annoyed glance he pulled a copper piece from some pouch hidden under his robe and gave it to the bird who then grabbed the coin with its beak. After Tal''gor removed the letter was removed the bird promptly took flight and vanished back into the canopy.


    My prince, it is with my most humble apologies that I must inform you of my inability to meet you at the requested time and place. However I do have some information that may prove useful to you. Shortly after your departure from Oberroth it was reported that a routine patrol had captured a human in strange garbs. More odd is the fact that he bore the mark of  Lycan. I have little doubt that this is in some way connected to the manaburst you spoke of in your letter. I still highly recommend that you investigate the area as you originally proposed as you may find still find something that the patrol missed. I will send word to the guards to let you speak to him before they do anything "unpleasant."


    Your Friend and Adviser, Armon


    As Tal''gor arrived at his destination there was indeed much that interested him there. A large hole in the canopy was directly above a clearing where the manaburst was reported to have taken place. A small crater about four by four feet was directly below the hole in the canopy. Two things caught his attention. One was the fact that the crater seemed to be a perfectly sphereical shape. Second was odd little metal cylinders littered the ground.


    Picking one of the metal cylinders up Tal''gor studied it in his hand. On one the cylinder was flat but had strange symbols carved into it. He assumed these must be some forgotten magical glyphs. He pocketed a few so he could ask the odd human about them later. As he was about to leave he noticed a longer blue cylinder with two flat ends. Picking it up he found it to be more light weight than the metal cylinders. The material was unlike any he had ever encountered. He he fumbled with it the top came off. Revealing a pointed tip. How ever the tip was too blunt to be an effective weapon as he felt the tip he wondered what use this instrument could possibly have. Look after losing interest he put the flat in back over the point only to notice his finger was covered what appeared to be ink.


    "Fascinating it''s a writing utensil of some sort." (Tal''gor)


    He pulled out a parchment and wrote on it with the object only to find it never ran out of ink.


    "Incredible a pen that produces its own ink. I''ve never heard of magic that allows this." (Tal''gor)


    Tal''gor was completely overwhelmed by the wonder of such a device.


    "You want my body?" (Darren)


    Darren took a step back.


    "O calm yourself human. I don''t mean in the since you''re thinking of." (Lycan)


    "Ok I was kinda freaking out there a second. I don''t know about the people on Gallanor or if it''s even considered bestiality but I''m not into that. Sorry."(Darren)


    "Funny before being sealed her most male humans would have jumped at the opportunity." (Lycan)


    Suddenly Lycan''s body was encased in a soft blue light. When the light faded a women in her early 20s standing there. Incredibly beautiful with snow white hair and piercing blue eyes. She also sported wolf ears and a tail.


    "Well I take back my prior statement." (Darren)


    He coughed slightly before continuing.


    "Anyway so what do you mean by wanting my body?"(Darren)


    "I''ve been stuck in this place for a long time. My physical body has long since turned to dust. However, if what you say is true and you  came here through a portal then that means you came here body and soul. Add that to the fact you also came from another world." (Lycan)


    He gave her a confused look.


    With a sigh she elaborated "You aren''t bound here. I can open a gateway to Gallanor but since I have no body. It would only function as a small window for a few moments and leave me drained of mana for days. What I propose is that I stick my soul in your body. You would still have full control but I would be able to leave this place. Of course I''m really just trading one prison for another."(Lycan)


    "You seem to be gaining quite a bit while I simply get an exit. My body may a prison but it''s a luxury one." (Darren)


    Lycan smiled at this. "Then let me sweeten the deal. One thing I''ve noticed about you that puts you at a severe disadvantage to the inhabitants of Gallanor is your lack of magic. I didn''t even know you were here until you started shouting hello. By the way for future reference if you find yourself in a dark room shouting is probably something you should avoid." (Lycan)


    "While I inhabit your body you will have full access to my mana pool. This will help offset your innate disadvantage. As a bonus if i find a way to house my soul in a more "uninhibited" vessel I will leave you have of it permanently as thanks." (Lycan)


    Upon seeing his questioning gaze. Lycan decided it was best to let him weigh the advantages and disadvantages.


    "Don''t answer immediately you literally have all the time in the world to decide. Time doesn''t work here. You don''t need to eat, sleep, or defecate. However since your physical body is here it will still age so don''t take to to long to decide." (Lycan)


    Darren pondered on her offer for a long while. On one hand he wasn''t sure if he could completely trust a large magical talking wolf who could transform into a woman. On the other hand she was a talking wolf/woman and saying that he knew one on a personal level wasn''t something he had on his bucket list, but it would make a great addition. After a few more minutes of deliberation he stood.


    "Deal."(Darren)


    A smile that seemed to big to be physically possible stretched across Lycan''s face upon hearing that word.


    "Actually can I do a take back that smile doesn''t scream trust worthy." (Darren)


    "Nope no take backs." (Lycan)


    Rolling her eyes Lycan walked forward stopping inches away from Darren. She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips.


    "I Lycan Lord of the wolves and aspect of ice bind myself to thee. Do you accept Darren Tower."(Lycan)


    "Yes" (Darren)


    He figured it was to late to back out now so why not.


    Pain erupted on Darren''s chest. He ripped open his shirt to claw at his chest. Directly above his heart a symbol seemed to burn itself  into his skin. He was unable to discern what it was, and unable to bear the pain he collapsed.


    Lycan spoke her next words softly "So long as we are bound your life is mine and my soul is yours. This is an equal partnership. Never forget that." She then lifted her hand and the the darkness around them shattered.


    The next thing he saw was that he was on the floor of a forest in a spherical pit. Unable to keep himself conscious he simply fell forward. The contents of his lab coat pockets spilling out.


    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Darren awoke to the unpleasant sensation of bouncing up and down on his stomach. The first thing he noticed was that he was drooling. He also noticed he was blindfolded and that his hands and feet were bound together. Coming to the conclusion that he was probably taken prisoner was an easy one to make.


    "Pleasant sleep? You drooled more than most wolves I know, and I know all of them." (Lycan)


    Lycan''s voice sounded much too merry considering the situation.


    "Where are we?"(Darren)


    It occured to Darren that maybe this wasn''t the best moment to banter with Lycan.


    As if on cue the moment he spoke whatever he was riding on came to an abrupt halt. He suddenly jolted forward hit the person riding in front of him and rolled right off the back of what ever it was. The fall was less than pleasant. What ever they were riding on was atleast as big as a horse. He heard a thump as whoever was riding the creature along with him hopped off. The culprits footsteps drew closer until stopping inches from Darren''s face. Suddenly his vision was flooded with light as his blindfold was removed.


    "At least you can speak Elven. That''ll fetch you a nice price." (Unknown Man?)


    The first thing Darren noticed about the man was his height. He was atleast 6 inches taller than Darren (who is 5.10) and sports a patch of hair on his chin. His actual hair is blonde and tied back. The next thing Darren noticed was the man''s long pointed ears.


    Seeing Darren''s surprise the man laughed.


    "What''s wrong boy never seen an elf before?" (Unknown Elf?)


    Still not believeing his eyes Darren continued to stair.


    The mans grinning face suddenly turned sour.  A moment later he delivered a swift kick to Darren''s abdomen.


    "When I ask you a question you answer." (Unknown Elf)


    Darren coughed, but otherwise showed no reaction to the kick. Not even a grimace.


    "You know I thought after meeting a talking wolf I''d be hard pressed to show surprise at anything. Is he really an elf?" (Darren)


    The elf immediately stood up and looked around for the third party that Darren was addressing. Darren noticed that he seemed to be staring past Lycan rather than at her.


    "You didn''t have elves in your world. Did you have dwarves? Or orcs?" (Lycan)


    She also ignored the elf. Not because she didn''t notice him. She simply found him below her notice.


    "No we just had humans in regards to intelligent races. O we also had neanderthals up until about 10000 years ago. We kinda killed them off." (Darren)


    "If the humans of your world killed them off 10000 years ago how come you know about them?"


    "Mostly fossils and recreations."


    "So you''ve never seen one of these nee-an-dra-tals." (Lycan)


    "Still counts." (Darren)


    "If you don''t shut your mouth I will rip out your tongue." (Elf)


    After yelling this the elf delivered another kick to Darren this time in the face.


    "Ouch! Shit! That FUCKING hurt." (Darren)


    Quickly rolling to the side and pulling his legs, he then delivered a two-legged kick to the elf''s chest knocking him off his feet. The elf was quickly back on his feet this time a dagger in hand.


    "I''m going to teach you the respect you should show to a superior race."(Elf)


    He took two steps forward then a clang was heard. The dagger flew out of his hand and landed close to Darren''s feet.


    "The prisoner is no longer under our care, Opellan." (???)


    Another elf came into view. She held a short bow in her left hand. However that wasn''t what caught Darren''s attention. Rather her outfit was.


    Skimpy was a bit of an understatement. Unfortunately both she and near noticed him staring. However before either could say anything. He burst into laughter. This earned a confused look from Lycan and an angry one from the female elf.


    "O god. Gimme a sec. (Continued laughing) It''s for mobility." (Darren)


    An arrow flew past Darren''s face and stopped  his laughing. But only for a moment.


    "O man you''re gunna have to shoot me. I.... I can... I can''t stop. (Darren)


    "Had you not been purchased I would kill you. I still have half the mind to do it anyway." (Female Elf)


    "Which half is missing? Common sense?"(Darren)


    This time two other voices joined in the laughter. One was Lycan, the other was an exceptionally handsome elf, in a flamboyant red robe who walked into the clearing from behind the woman.


    "I can tell you and I will get along famously." (Red Robed Elf)


    The newcomer took a step towards Darren, however the first elf stepped in to intercept him. Seeing this the woman quickly stepped forward and using the bow struck the first elf across the face.


    "Fool, how dare you act as if you are on the same level as the third prince." (Female Elf)


    "Prince?"(Darren)


    "Ahh forgive my rudeness. I am Tal''gor Felloron third prince of the high elven kingdom of Talrassa. Technically speaking I now own you. However I hope that this will not affect our future prospects of friendship." (Tal''gor)


    <hr />


    The elf who was just hit suddenly went pale.


    "M....Mmm.....My L....Lord I apologize for my transgression." (Male elf)


    The prince turned away from Darren to look at the elf. Then he turned back to Darren. As if the other elf was beneith his notice.


    "So what should I call you? Tal''gor?" (Darren)


    Darren was just hoping Tal''gor wouldn''t ask him to call him something like master.


    "Insolent fool! You will call him master!"( Male Elf)


    As the original elf stepped forward to strike Darren he suddenly stopped moving. Lycan''s arm was sticking through his chest. Pulling back her arm Lycan smiled contently to herself. Where her arm had been there was no hole. Or any noticeable damage. Then suddenly Ice burst forth from where Lycan had pierced him. Only after his whole abdomen was frozen over did the ice stop. Then like a statue he fell forward.  He abdomen shattering while his limbs simply hit the ground.


    The female just stood there open mouthed.


    "A little too messy for my taste but atleast now I don''t have to smell charred flesh." (Tal''gor)


    Darren shot Lycan a look that seemed to scream We will discuss this later he then turned to Tal''gor.


    "Charred flesh?"


    "Ahh hold that thought."


    Tal''gor then produced a dagger from his robe and used it to cut Darren''s bindings.


    Darren then stood up and rubbed his wrist. He then proceeded to stretch. Tal''gor stood patiently waited for him to finish before he elaborated on his prior comment.


    "O I was going to kill him. He sits there and acts like he is sorry for offending me then he makes a move to attack my property. First off that''s very rude, and unprofessional."(Tal''gor)


    "Well I''d imagine slavers aren''t the type to really take pride in their job.( Darren)


    "Slavers? They are just a guard patrol. Anyway I specialize in fire magic. Hence the charred flesh remark It''s a bit of an obsession of mine if we''re being honest." (Tal''gor)


    "Well seeing as you''re a prince I assume you have a more practical place to talk than the middle of the woods." (Darren)


    "It just so happens that I do. Also your chantless casting was quite astounding. I''ve never seen anyone able to do that while bound before. Anyway lets continue this discussion at my cottage in Oberroth. By the way do you know how to ride one of those?" (Tal''gor)


    "Tell him yes." (Lycan)


    "Apparently I do." (Darren)


    Tal''gor nodded. Then he once again reached into his robe and pulled out a leather satchel. Taking 3 gold coins out he tossed them to the still stunned female.


    Then he grabbed the reins of the creature and led it over to Darren. Lycan then grabbed his shoulder and everything went black. The next moment he was expertly riding the creature. Along side him was Tal''gor riding something akin to a miniature T-Rex. He realized that he really did know how to ride the creature. Unable to comprehend it he made a face. Tal''gor saw this and assumed he must have offended his new "friend."


    "Something wrong?" (Tal''gor)


    "No just... just a weird day."(Darren)


    "I can understand that. In case you''re worried I plan to sign your release documents when we get to Oberroth though I ask that you stay as my guest for a good while."(Tal''gor)


    Darren simply nodded.


    "Still confused." (Lycan)


    Darren then noticed that a large white wolf was running along side him. Yet again Tal''gor seemed unable to see her. So Darren assumed it best not to draw attention to her. So he simply nodded in response.


    "Allow me to elaborate for you. When I touched your shoulder I temporarily gained control of your body. I used it to ride the creature until your mind started to recognize my experience as your own. It''s a neat trick but really isn''t practical. For more actively involved things such as spell casting it takes years to start subconsciously registering things. And I''m sure you don''t want me in control for such long periods of time." (Lycan)


    After that Darren spoke very little for the rest of the ride. After another 40 minutes they reached a small village. Darren had some anticipation to see what level the technology of this world filled with magic was at.


    The elf who was just hit suddenly went pale.


    "M....Mmm.....My L....Lord I apologize for my transgression." (Male elf)


    The prince turned away from Darren to look at the elf. Then he turned back to Darren. As if the other elf was beneith his notice.


    "So what should I call you? Tal''gor?" (Darren)


    Darren was just hoping Tal''gor wouldn''t ask him to call him something like master.


    "Insolent fool! You will call him master!"( Male Elf)


    As the original elf stepped forward to strike Darren he suddenly stopped moving. Lycan''s arm was sticking through his chest. Pulling back her arm Lycan smiled contently to herself. Where her arm had been there was no hole. Or any noticeable damage. Then suddenly Ice burst forth from where Lycan had pierced him. Only after his whole abdomen was frozen over did the ice stop. Then like a statue he fell forward.  He abdomen shattering while his limbs simply hit the ground.


    The female just stood there open mouthed.


    "A little too messy for my taste but atleast now I don''t have to smell charred flesh." (Tal''gor)


    Darren shot Lycan a look that seemed to scream We will discuss this later he then turned to Tal''gor.


    "Charred flesh?"


    "Ahh hold that thought."


    Tal''gor then produced a dagger from his robe and used it to cut Darren''s bindings.


    Darren then stood up and rubbed his wrist. He then proceeded to stretch. Tal''gor stood patiently waited for him to finish before he elaborated on his prior comment.


    "O I was going to kill him. He sits there and acts like he is sorry for offending me then he makes a move to attack my property. First off that''s very rude, and unprofessional."(Tal''gor)


    "Well I''d imagine slavers aren''t the type to really take pride in their job.( Darren)


    "Slavers? They are just a guard patrol. Anyway I specialize in fire magic. Hence the charred flesh remark It''s a bit of an obsession of mine if we''re being honest." (Tal''gor)


    "Well seeing as you''re a prince I assume you have a more practical place to talk than the middle of the woods." (Darren)


    "It just so happens that I do. Also your chantless casting was quite astounding. I''ve never seen anyone able to do that while bound before. Anyway lets continue this discussion at my cottage in Oberroth. By the way do you know how to ride one of those?" (Tal''gor)


    "Tell him yes." (Lycan)


    "Apparently I do." (Darren)


    Tal''gor nodded. Then he once again reached into his robe and pulled out a leather satchel. Taking 3 gold coins out he tossed them to the still stunned female.


    Then he grabbed the reins of the creature and led it over to Darren. Lycan then grabbed his shoulder and everything went black. The next moment he was expertly riding the creature. Along side him was Tal''gor riding something akin to a miniature T-Rex. He realized that he really did know how to ride the creature. Unable to comprehend it he made a face. Tal''gor saw this and assumed he must have offended his new "friend."


    "Something wrong?" (Tal''gor)


    "No just... just a weird day."(Darren)


    "I can understand that. In case you''re worried I plan to sign your release documents when we get to Oberroth though I ask that you stay as my guest for a good while."(Tal''gor)


    Darren simply nodded.


    "Still confused." (Lycan)


    Darren then noticed that a large white wolf was running along side him. Yet again Tal''gor seemed unable to see her. So Darren assumed it best not to draw attention to her. So he simply nodded in response.


    "Allow me to elaborate for you. When I touched your shoulder I temporarily gained control of your body. I used it to ride the creature until your mind started to recognize my experience as your own. It''s a neat trick but really isn''t practical. For more actively involved things such as spell casting it takes years to start subconsciously registering things. And I''m sure you don''t want me in control for such long periods of time." (Lycan)


    After that Darren spoke very little for the rest of the ride. After another 40 minutes they reached a small village. Darren had some anticipation to see what level the technology of this world filled with magic was at.


    The elf who was just hit suddenly went pale.


    "M....Mmm.....My L....Lord I apologize for my transgression." (Male elf)


    The prince turned away from Darren to look at the elf. Then he turned back to Darren. As if the other elf was beneith his notice.


    "So what should I call you? Tal''gor?" (Darren)


    Darren was just hoping Tal''gor wouldn''t ask him to call him something like master.


    "Insolent fool! You will call him master!"( Male Elf)


    As the original elf stepped forward to strike Darren he suddenly stopped moving. Lycan''s arm was sticking through his chest. Pulling back her arm Lycan smiled contently to herself. Where her arm had been there was no hole. Or any noticeable damage. Then suddenly Ice burst forth from where Lycan had pierced him. Only after his whole abdomen was frozen over did the ice stop. Then like a statue he fell forward.  He abdomen shattering while his limbs simply hit the ground.


    The female just stood there open mouthed.


    "A little too messy for my taste but atleast now I don''t have to smell charred flesh." (Tal''gor)


    Darren shot Lycan a look that seemed to scream We will discuss this later he then turned to Tal''gor.


    "Charred flesh?"


    "Ahh hold that thought."


    Tal''gor then produced a dagger from his robe and used it to cut Darren''s bindings.


    Darren then stood up and rubbed his wrist. He then proceeded to stretch. Tal''gor stood patiently waited for him to finish before he elaborated on his prior comment.


    "O I was going to kill him. He sits there and acts like he is sorry for offending me then he makes a move to attack my property. First off that''s very rude, and unprofessional."(Tal''gor)


    "Well I''d imagine slavers aren''t the type to really take pride in their job.( Darren)


    "Slavers? They are just a guard patrol. Anyway I specialize in fire magic. Hence the charred flesh remark It''s a bit of an obsession of mine if we''re being honest." (Tal''gor)


    "Well seeing as you''re a prince I assume you have a more practical place to talk than the middle of the woods." (Darren)


    "It just so happens that I do. Also your chantless casting was quite astounding. I''ve never seen anyone able to do that while bound before. Anyway lets continue this discussion at my cottage in Oberroth. By the way do you know how to ride one of those?" (Tal''gor)


    "Tell him yes." (Lycan)


    "Apparently I do." (Darren)


    Tal''gor nodded. Then he once again reached into his robe and pulled out a leather satchel. Taking 3 gold coins out he tossed them to the still stunned female.


    Then he grabbed the reins of the creature and led it over to Darren. Lycan then grabbed his shoulder and everything went black. The next moment he was expertly riding the creature. Along side him was Tal''gor riding something akin to a miniature T-Rex. He realized that he really did know how to ride the creature. Unable to comprehend it he made a face. Tal''gor saw this and assumed he must have offended his new "friend."


    "Something wrong?" (Tal''gor)


    "No just... just a weird day."(Darren)


    "I can understand that. In case you''re worried I plan to sign your release documents when we get to Oberroth though I ask that you stay as my guest for a good while."(Tal''gor)


    Darren simply nodded.


    "Still confused." (Lycan)


    Darren then noticed that a large white wolf was running along side him. Yet again Tal''gor seemed unable to see her. So Darren assumed it best not to draw attention to her. So he simply nodded in response.


    "Allow me to elaborate for you. When I touched your shoulder I temporarily gained control of your body. I used it to ride the creature until your mind started to recognize my experience as your own. It''s a neat trick but really isn''t practical. For more actively involved things such as spell casting it takes years to start subconsciously registering things. And I''m sure you don''t want me in control for such long periods of time." (Lycan)


    After that Darren spoke very little for the rest of the ride. After another 40 minutes they reached a small village. Darren had some anticipation to see what level the technology of this world filled with magic was at.


    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    The town of Oberroth was a small hamlet a few miles south of the Elven capitol. The population was only about forty villagers. Mostly elves and maybe a half-elf here or there. The atmosphere was a relaxed one year round. One could almost always find the villagers working on their town. The only real economic factor in the town was it''s wine. Which was widely sought throughout  Tallrassa. Almost every shop in the town sold it. Even the blacksmith.


    It was late in the evening by the time Darren and Tal''gor arrived in the hamlet. Few words were spoken between the two. They building they were heading towards was the second largest in the town behind the local adventures guild office.


    After they entered the building Tal''gor showed him the living room and bade him to sit.


    "I will return momentarily. We have much to discuss, and I would not want any unwanted ears breaching our privacy. I''ll have the servants start dinner while I place wards around the house." (Tal''gor)


    "Thank you for your hospitality. Had you not shown up when you did I am unsure what the outcome would have been." (Darren)


    "I''m sure your patron wouldn''t have let anything happen." (Tal''gor)


    Darren''s eyes widend in surprise, and his body tensed.


    "How did you know about her?" (Darren)


    "Calm yourself friend. I had heard about your mark before I even showed up. Quite frankly I didn''t even believe that part of the report until that idiotic guard was shattered. Lycan hasn''t bestowed her mark in over 400 years. So why choose you? However I''m getting ahead of myself. That conversation will have to wait." (Tal''gor)


    Tal''gor then left the room leaving Darren alone with Lycan.


    "Seeing as we have some time wanna go ahead and explain this to me." (Darren)


    He pointed to where the mark on his chest.


    "Ahh that mark symbolizes our contract. He seems to have misinterpreted that as a blessing. A blessing would simply mean I favored you. However our contract is a little more complex than that. I believe we covered  the fact that it allows you access to my mana pool. However it also provides other benefits."


    Darren raised an eyebrow.


    "Such as?" (Darren)


    "Certain animals will see you as one of their own and refrain from attacking you. Others, such as wolves, will go out of their way to protect you. Women will see you as taken. I can use my mana to interact with the world and help you if I feel the need. And a few others that I''ll keep as a surprise." (Lycan)


    Darren had a very annoyed look on his face.


    "I''m sorry what?" (Darren)


    "What?" (Lycan)


    A smile played on her face.


    "Repeat that middle part." (Darren)


    "Wolves will go out of their way to protect you?" (Lycan)


    "After that." (Darren)


    His annoyance had turned into a visible scowl.


    "I can use my mana to help you?" (Lycan)


    "Okay now I know you''re messing with me." (Darren)


    "Actually the part about women was true." (Lycan)


    He gave her a very leveled look. He breathed in and out for a few seconds before procedeing.


    "And why, is that?" (Darren)


    "Ahh I believe I should have clarified this earlier. The only contracts that bind souls are......."(Lycan)


    "Are what?" (Darren)


    "Those of matrimonial nature." (Lycan)


    Darren face changed colors. From pale to red and back to pale.


    "So are you saying we''re...." (Darren)


    "Married? Technically yes. Now do you want the good news or the bad news?"


    "I''m sorry one would think I would have been entitled to those before we the contract." (Darren)


    "The good news is I''ve never had a mate before." (Lycan)


    Darren simply sighed in defeat. Seeing as she had no physical body some issues can be left as is. We''ll cross that bridge when we get to it.Darren thought to himself.


    "And the bad news?"(Darren)


    "On second thought lets not discuss that right now. How good are you at controlling your anger." (Lycan)


    "Fairly good considering I haven''t broken anything yet." (Darren)


    Lycan simply nodded. She opened her mouth to say something, however Tal''gor choose that moment to return.


    "I apologize for the wait. Dinner will be ready soon. Before that I do have one thing I wish to discuss with you."


    Tal''gor reached into his pocket and pulled out two items and placed them on the coffee table. One was a ballpoint pen. The other was a bullet the pistol that Darren forgot he still had.


    "Please tell me truthfully what is this marvelous device." (Tal''gor)


    The prince held the pen as if it was some holy relic.


    "That would be a ball point pen." (Darren)


    "How does it work. I must admit I''ve used it quite a bit. At first it seemed to have an unending amount of ink. However it just randomly stopped  working." (Tal''gor)


    Instead of answering Darren held out his hand. Tal''gor slowly placed the pen in his hands. Darren then unscrewed the top of the plastic pen.


    "Ehh, it just needs some more ink. If you provide me the resources I''m sure i can make you some. They are very simple devices." (Darren)


    "Incredible, so there is no magic involved at all?" (Tal''gor)


    "Nope." (Darren)


    "And then what about this object?" (Tal''gor)


    The prince picked up the bullet. Darren picked it up.


    "Well this one would be more fun to show you." (Darren)


    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Deep within a crypt far to the south of the high elven kingdom, an enormous sepulcher started to shake. Suddenly the entrance exploded. A hooded figure stepped out of the darkness of the sepulcher into the dimly lit crypt.


    "Ahh, how long have I been resting?" (Gernam)


    The figure brought a skeletal hand up to it''s chest and started scratching. The figure then started walking in the direction of the disturbance that woke him. It carefully observed it''s surroundings as it kept moving forward.


    "Seems someone found my "bed" and thought it must have been an average crypt. If I ever find the person that did it why I''ll thank him properly." (Gernam)


    The figure came to a halt in the middle of a large circular room. The walls were covered from floor to roof with tombs. The figure meticulously examined every last date.


    "If  I were to go by the most recent date, that would mean i slept for....." (Gernam)


    The figure''s speech drifted off and he calculated how much time had passed.


    "7... no... 800 years? That''s much earlier than my calculations predicted. This must be an older part of the tomb." (Gernam)


    The figure started walking towards the doors opposite of the one''s he came in through. He came to an abrupt halt as he heard voices approaching.


    "...so I bought him a drink." (First male voice)


    "I still don''t understand why you felt like you owed him. He bumped into you and made you spill your drink." (Second male voice)


    "Yea but how often do you get to share a drink with a forge master." (First male voice)


    "I see your point. Even if I don''t agree with it." (Second male voice)


    The figure stopped listening at the point and simply pushed open the doors, and was greeted with an immediate response.


    "HOLY SHIT!" (Second male voice)


    "WHAT IS THAT?"(First male voice)


    The figure first looked at the sources of the two voices. Two dwarves one that sported blonde hair (and beard) and one that sported red hair (And beard). The figure gave them a confused look. He then assumed they must mean his flamboyant robe.


    "This was a gift from the love of my life. It seems so long ago now. And it was. And though she is gone. She will always be with me." (Gernam)


    The figure smiled sadly.


    "IT TALKED!!!" (First male Dwarf)


    "Okay now thats just rude." (Gernam)


    "Since when can undead talk?" (Second male dwarf)


    The figure pinched the bridge of it''s nonexistent nose.


    "Are you serious? Have you really never seen nor heard of a lich? Also most undead can talk they just have very little to say to the living." (Gernam)


    "Are you not going to attack us?" (First male voice)


    It was at that point the lich noticed both dwarves were shaking in there boots.


    "Why would I do that? Are you planning to stab me in the back?" (Gernam)


    Both dwarves vigorously shook their heads.


    "HAHA good. Now can one of you show me the exit?" (Gernam)


    "I...I.. can w.w...walk you there." (Second male dwarf)


    In a single step the lich was upon them. His face mere inches from the second dwarf''s. Both his skeletal hands on either of the dwarf''s shoulders.


    "I cannot thank you enough my friend. Remind me to buy you and your friend a drink once we get out. O by the way. What are your names?" (Gernam)


    "Urvos and Nigel sir." (Urvos*)                                   *The first dwarf. Or the blonde one, whatever''s easier to follow.


    "Great to meet you. The name my saintly mother bestowed upon me is Gernam." (Gernam)


    The kindly voice of the lich surprised the dwarves.


    "Gernam, sir. If you don''t mind me asking. How long have you been down here?" (Nigel)


    "Dunno, atleast 800 years. What day is today?" (Gernam)


    Both Dwarves stood open mouthed at this date. This thing predated their country by 300 years.


    The first dwarf then choose to answer.


    "Why I do believe it''s Tuesday." (Urvos)


    Nigel promptly struck his friend on the back of his head.


    "The year is currently 1501 A.S."


    "Ahh  so then it was 830. Ahh forgive me we appear to have gone off topic. Let''s see how much this world has changed." (Gernam)


    Nigel nodded and motioned for Gernam to follow. The dwarf had a feeling today was going to be very surreal.


    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    This one would be more fun to show you." (Darren)


    The elf''s excitement peaked upon hearing this.


    "By all means go ahead." (Tal''gor)


    The elf vigorously motioned for Darren to proceed.


    Darren looked around the room. He was immediately thrown off by the extravagance of the place. The far wall was fashioned into an elaborate bookshelf. The bookshelf seemed to have been fashioned after the buildings construction since a window was slightly noticeable behind the books. Two of the other walls were covered in beautiful paintings. Even the space above the door was utilized. A large great-sword was Horizontally hung above it. On the wall were the furniture was turned towards was a large fireplace. Above the fireplace hung an elaborate shield.


    The shield would probably make the best example. Darren reached under his lab-coat for his concealed pistol. However it wasn''t there.Shit I''ve been so preoccupied I hadn''t noticed it was gone. Darren needed only a moment to guess that his captors had probably searched him. He turned to Tal''gor.


    "Did either of those two guards happen to give you a strange metal object?" (Darren)


    Tal''gor scrunched his eyebrows for a moment as he ran through his memories.


    "Ahh did you mean this." (Tal''gor)


    The elf reached into his robe and pulled out a P250 pistol. However he held it by the barrel and had a finger next to the trigger. Darren jumped up and held out his hands.


    "Careful!" (Darren)


    Tal''gor tensed up at the sudden outburst. In the process he accidentally squeezed the trigger. A low click was heard but nothing more. Darren''s paled face released a sigh of relief as he fell backwards onto the sofa.


    "Thank what ever deity you worship that I practice gun safety. If that thing were loaded you''d be a eunuch." (Darren)


    It was now Tal''gor''s turn to turn pale. Very slowly he lowered the gun to the coffee table. Placing it down he shakily removed his hands. He then looked to Darren.


    "I never figured such a silly looking tool would be so dangerous. I thought it was simply some sort of trinket they found on you. In all honesty I''d completely forgotten about it until you brought it up. Anyway seeing as am still potent would you care to continue your demonstration." (Tal''gor)


    "Yes please continue. A tool that could make a man impotent with the pull of a trigger would be quite advantageous." (Lycan)


    Darren''s face again turned pale. However Tal''gor either didn''t care or didn''t notice and impatiently motioned for Darren to proceed. With a slight nod Darren picked up the P250. He removed the clip and slid the bullet into it. Reinserting the clip he then pulled back the chamber to finish loading the gun. He carefully took aim at the shield above the fire place. A deafening bang followed by a clink resounded throughout the room. In the center of the shield was a small hole. Both Tal''gor and Lycan stood open mouthed. Slowly Tal''gor walked towards the shield. Reaching up removed the shield from the wall. Behind it stood another hole. Tal''gor''s jaw seemed to drop lower. The flipped the shield in his hands. Then he put his finger through the small hole. Checking to make sure this was no illusion.  Lycan''s face slowly turned from astonishment to one of her impossibly large smiles.


    "Incredible. I can now see how this would have made me impotent." (Tal''gor)


    The elf shook his head as if still unable to comprehend what he saw. After his disbelief faded he began to imagine Talrassa in  a new light.Imagine, what a country could do with such a weapon. The elf looked towards Darren.


    "Can you make more of these?" (Tal''gor)


    "I can, but I won''t." (Darren)


    For a moment Tal''gor regreted giving his word to free Darren. However he would not go back on his word.


    "May I ask why?" (Tal''gor)


    Darren nodded.


    "Under normal circumstances I wouldn''t see a problem with showing you. However since coming to this world I''ve seen a few things that give me reason not to. For one I''ve met a giant talking wolf who can turn into a girl, Second I saw a man turn to Ice and shatter, third you ride around on a minature tyrannosaurus-rex. A gun is currently my only advantage, excluding Lycan. Without this I''m down to everyone else''s level." (Darren)


    As Tal''gor listened to Darren his face suddenly turned very questioning.


    "Since coming to this world?" (Tal''gor)


    "You know you probably shouldn''t tell people your life''s story so easily." (Lycan)


    The wolf snickered and continued.


    "Good luck explaining that." (Lycan)


    Darren rolled his eyes.


    "Oh please I''d hardly count one day as my life story." (Darren)


    Tal''gor jumped up and looked around. Then he turned back to Darren confusion on his face.


    "Who are you talking to?" (Tal''gor)


    Maybe this will be a little difficult to explain.


    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Gernam, Urvos, and Nigel were currently approaching the exit to the crypt. While both dwarves were still very nervous around him they slowly started to warm up to him.


    "So why choose this cavern of all places." (Nigel)


    "Ahh, this cavern is very close to a Vein of Tillium. I figured while I waited I may as well work on my mana reserves." (Gernam)


    Nigel and Urvos exchanged a look.


    "I''ve never heard of any Veins of Tillium being anywhere near this place." (Urvos)


    "Well that may have to do with the fact that it dried up 300 years ago. A shame really I figured it would have lasted atleast 900 more. However, it''s depletion may have been sped up by whatever civilization choose to build itself so close to my sepulcher." (Gernam)


    Nigel nodded.


    "Well that lines up pretty well with alot of this places history. Those who specialized in earth magic used to flock here in droves. The Consortium''s magic academy here used to be very well known. However around 300 years ago the academy''s funding was significantly decreased and most of the Professors transferred. We still use alot of the facilities but not as academic buildings. Some of the buildings were turned into taverns, others brothels, and still some became public buildings. Our townhall is located in one of the old auditoriums." (Nigel)


    "What a waste. They used it to enhance earth magic. Those fools probably didn''t even realize that Vein was attuned to soul magic." (Gernam)


    "Soul magic?" (Nigel)


    They had finally reached the ascending stairs that led to the crypts exit.


    "Ahh I figured it would fall into obscurity. It was seldom practiced even in my day. Most considered it taboo. Though the Arcanist Association put enormous funding into its study. Hence how I came to master it." (Gernam)


    As Gernam finished explaining the group of three had just opened the doors. A group of 5 dwarves was waiting right in their path. All heavily armed. A red faced burly dwarf stepped out from the center of the group. He looked over the smaller group of three, but was unable to see Gernam''s face.


    "See I told you some guards went down there." (Crossbow wielding Female Dwarf)


    "Look they brought a human too. Look at that robe, I bet we could get a fortune for that." (Armored Male Dwarf)


    A smile broke out on the burly dwarf''s face. "


    "My friends your luck has run out." (Burly great-axe* wielding dwarf)                                          *Size of a regular human axe.


    Both Nigel and Urvos started shaking. These were members of Nulguard a large gang with sects in almost every dwarven city.


    "pffft hahaha. Oh my this is simply too good. My dear boy you seem to have the situation reversed." (Gernam)


    At that moment the lich reached up and pulled back his hood.


    "Your luck has run out." (Gernam)


    "Oh I''m talking to Lycan." (Darren)


    Tal''gor arched a questioning eyebrow at Darren.


    "I''ll vouch for that claim." (Lycan)


    Tal''gor then fell out of his chair as the wolf suddenly appeared in front of the fire place. His eyes darted from Lycan to Darren very quickly. Suddenly he was on his knees bowing before Lycan.


    "You honor me with your presence deity." (Tal''gor)


    His face was pale and cold sweat was starting to leak from his pores. Darren arched an eyebrow at Lycan.


    "Deity?" (Darren)


    "Goddess of wolves." (Lycan)


    "And this is why I''m atheist." (Darren)


    Tal''gor tensed up at this blatant disrespect towards the Goddess. Though she was not one typically worshiped by most elves the druids revered her as one of the Four Hunters. When he was younger he spent much time training under druids learning the basics of healing magic.


    "Show some respect. Do you realize who you are trifling with. Apologize before she ends both of us." (Tal''gor)


    Darren simply rolled his eyes.


    "I''ll talk to my wife however I damn well please." (Darren)


    Tal''gor looked at the great wolf who simply nodded in confirmation.


    Darren walked over to him and helped him off the floor. Fixing Tal''gor''s chair Darren slowly ushered him back into a sitting position.


    "I need a drink." (Tal''gor)


    "Haha, buddy I haven''t even answered your first question, yet." (Darren)


    This world? As Tal''gor remembered the first question he came to the realization that the person he just gained custody of was much more than he bargined for.


    Tal''gor simply stood up and walked out of the room. The exit was right there. He could run and pretend this never happened. His world view would be unchanged and this could all be a memory. Instead he walked past the door. He walked past one of his maids.


    "Master, can I get you anyth...." (Maid)


    Tal''gor raised a hand to silence her and kept walking. He reached a set of stairs leading to his wine cellar. Slowly he descended and entered the cellar. He grabbed four bottles and started walking up. He was halfway back before he realized this wasn''t enough.


    "Stella. Grab me four more of these." (Tal''gor)


    The maid saw how many bottles he held. However that wasn''t what surprised her. All of these bottles were worth more than she made in a year. She wondered how important the human he brought in earlier must be. Stella said nothing though and simply followed her command.


    Tal''gor returned to the room with the bottles. Stella following closely behind, holding a tray with four more bottles and two glasses. She seemed unable to see Lycan. After setting down the tray and filling both glasses. Stella bowed to both Tal''gor and Darren then left the room.


    The moment she was out of the room Tal''gor had downed the first glass. Darren reached down and picked up the glass. Expecting this worlds wine to be inferior to his own he gulped. Slowly he took the first sip.


    It was the best wine he ever tasted.


    "Wow!" (Darren)


    Tal''gor was already done with his second glass. After filling a third he nodded to Darren.


    "Proceed." (Tal''gor)


    Darren nodded and began. Both Tal''gor and Lycan listened intently as he went described his former world. He told them about his worlds entertainment. Video games, movies, and sports. However he said nothing regarding his personal life.


    "Your world sounds incredible why did you leave? (Tal''gor)


    Incidentally the elf was so absorbed by Darren''s tale that he had yet to take a sip form his third glass.


    "Because I hated that world. " (Darren)


    "Why?" (Lycan)


    Darren simply looked at her. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came.


    "Not.... not yet."


    Lycan was taken aback. All of Darren''s arrogance was gone. His eyes were empty as he recalled his reasons.


    "I''m personally fine with that. I think that''s enough for one day. Stella!!" (Tal''gor)


    A moment passed before the maid entered the room.


    "Take him to the large guest room. Darren, for now get some sleep there is much to do tomorrow." (Tal''gor)


    With a nod the prince left the room. Stella escorted Darren to a room the size of an apartment. After seeing if he needed anything she nodded and left.


    Slowly Darren stripped down to his briefs. After laying down under the covers he soon felt a weight on top of him. Lycan in her humanoid form was laying directly on top of him.


    "Get off." (Darren)


    "You have me for the rest of your life and after get used to it." (Lycan)


    Darren was about to argue. However he saw the wisdom in those words. They were bound. He might as well make the most of it. The dark room was silent for a few minutes before Darren suddenly spoke.


    "How do you even have weight if you''re just a disembodied soul?" (Darren)


    "I''m not disembodied, I''m bound to your body and soul. I can interact with you physically with no effort. How ever..." (Lycan)


    Lycan reached towards the bed and her hand simply phased through. She then pulled it out and pressed down again this time her hand didn''t phase through and she made a small indention.


    "..with mana I can interact with the world." (Lycan)


    Darren had more questions about this world and magic, but decided to hold off. With Lycan laying on top of him he slowly drifted off to sleep.


    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    All five of the Nulguard members took a step back upon seeing German''s "face." The first one to act was the dwarven woman with the crossbow. The bolt flew true racing towards Gernam''s skull. Thud. The bolt bounced off an invisible barrier and fell to the floor. Again the group stood stunned. German stood still for a second waiting for any further attacks. A fireball sudden flew from the hands of a dwarf wearing dark blue robes. All German did in reply was wave his hand. The fireball fizzled out of existence inches from German''s face.


    This time however German waited for no further attacks. He pointed towards the woman with the crossbow. The next instant she was ablaze and covered in black flames. Upon seeing this the other group members bolted in the opposite direction.


    "Should I let them go?" (Gernam)


    "NO!!!" (Nigel and Urvos)


    With a nod German turned back towards the distant figures of the still running gang members.  He then lifted his outstretched hand in the direction of the fleeing muggers.


    "Damnation!"


    Each of the four remaining muggers suddenly dropped to their knees and started screaming in agony. Suddenly one stopped. Then the next. And the Next. Then silence.


    "Okay, now what were we talking about?" (Gernam)


    The lich turned back towards his two dwarf companions to see them open mouthed and staring in the direction of the still kneeling corpes of the muggers.


    "I''m sorry to wake you, but Prince Tal''gor request your presence in the dining room." (Stella)


    Darren tiredly opened his eyes. Lycan was still ontop of him and wide awake.


    "Sleep well?" (Lycan)


    "Eh, so so." (Darren)


    Lycan choose that moment to hop off of Darren, morphing into her wolf form before touching the floor. As she stretched out Darren got out of bed and started getting dressed. He then walked over to the window. Pulling back the blinds he was given a full view of Oberroth. The hamlet was quite small however the whole town seemed to be up and about.


    Two children raced after a large dog between the buildings. One of those bipedal birds had a wagon hitched to it, and was currently bringing it out of town by the looks of it. What caught Darren''s attention was the largest building in the town. Many interesting individuals walked in and out of it. One wore exotic looking plate armor and had a large warhammer resting on his shoulder. Another was a woman wearing flamboyant robes similar to Tal''gor''s however her''s were green. She was accompanied by a handsome human male with a collar around his neck. Another group was comprised of a bird-like person, a Naga, (or so he guessed) a centaur, and a human. What really through off Darren was that this human was the most interesting of the batch. He wore very light armor and had a short-sword on his side. On his back was a longbow made of a naturally aqua blue colored wood. The mans back was currently facing Darren as he discussed some unknown topic with is group. Then as if he felt he was being watched the man turned around and looked strait at Darren.


    "That''s pretty spooky." (Darren)


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    The humor in his voice was made apparent. Lycan suddenly interested walked over to the window.


    "What''s so funny?" (Lycan)


    "O this guy is just giving me the evil eye. " (Darren)


    Lycan rolled her eyes after Darren pointed out the man.


    "Just flip him off and come on. It''s rude to keep new friends waiting." (Lycan)


    Darren shrugged and casually flipped off the man. Upon seeing Darren''s gesture the man started reaching for his bow. Seeing this a smile spread across Darren''s face. Do it. He mouthed at he man. Slowly Darren reached for his pistol. The man seemed to have found his better judgement and spat on the ground instead before turning away.


    After entering the kitchen he was greeted by Tal''gor.


    "Good morning my friend. How would you feel about visiting the capitol?" (Tal''gor)


    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    "Your highness, I believe you should sign the document. We have nothing to lose. These Razielonians  are  utter filth. What chance do they have against the full might of the Talrassan military?" (Finance Minister Giddeon)


    Crown Prince Val''strath gave the man a look of utter contempt. Why is this fool allowed in every war council? The arrogance of  elven nobility disgust me. Lowly curs have never worked a day in their lives.


    This was the Crowned Prince''s first council meeting. He had served in the Talrassan military for upwards of 124 years*. After he recently left the military, he was welcomed by his father into the council as the minister of war. However since the king was currently dealing with the Nizolm immigration crisis to the south, Val''strath was left in charge.  During his time with the military he had achieved the rank of Legate. He was a person who valued the life of every elven citizen. This was not his view point prior to joining the military. Most elven nobility that joins the military is immediately given the rank of centurion. However the king showed no favoritism. He started off with all commoners, as a Munifex. He achieved the rank of Legate through merit. All who served under him were extremely loyal. The commoners loved him because they saw him as one able to comprehend their plight. This in turn made most nobles hate him. However, seeing as he was king Tal''strath''s favorite son the nobility could do nothing about it.


    "What you believe I should do is of little importance, Giddeon. Why should elven lives be pointlessly risked over an empty plain with little or no resources besides history, and that would be tarnished should a battle happen on top of it." (Val''strath)


    The finance minister gave him a deep chuckle. The minister of spellcraft, Kaborean, took this opportunity to interject.


    "But your highness, surely you do not wish to show weakness in the face of lesser races. What are the lives of a few commoners to the pride of Talrassa." (Kaborean)


    "Hear, hear!" (All present, save Val''strath)


    The prince stood up from his seat. Walking over to Kaborean, he leaned in slowly. When he spoke it was so that all could hear.


    "What would you know about the value of a life? You have never faught with them, bled with them, ate with them, starved with them. You are pampered swine, and if you give me a reason I will send you to the slaughter and put a more qualified citizen in your place." (Val''strath)


    The Minister of Spellcraft made an audible gulp.


    "That goes for all of you. Your citizens lives are only as expendable as your own. Remember that. Or I will make an example to remind you. Pride will not save you. It will not bolster your coffers. It will get you a sword to the gut, or poison in your veins." (Val''strath)


    The doors to the council room were flung open. A single elf walked in followed by two more and a human wearing strange clothing.


    "Brother what is the meaning of this?" (Val''strath)


    Third Prince Tal''gore raised an eyebrow. Then pointed to the single elf who entered first.


    "O us we''re not with him. We were waiting by the door. I have some business to attend to in the capitol and wanted to drop by and have a talk with you before that. I was simply waiting for a moment when you were free. So I went to the lobby and chatted up some civilians to see why a high council meeting was called. Then this fellow simply waltz in like he owned the place. Figured I''d follow him, seems that wasn''t the best idea." (Tal''gore)


    "No, shit Sherlock. If a stranger offered you candy as a child would you follow him to his....... uhhhh bird?" (Strange Human)


    "They''re called terror beaks, and why would someone store candy on a terror beak?" (Tal''gore)


    "Okay, would you follow a stranger if he offered you candy?" (Strange Human)


    "What kind of candy?" (Tal''gore)


    "Man this goes right over your head doesn''t it?" (Strange Human)


    All present save the Third Prince''s party stared open mouthed at the human.


    "You filth, how dare you talk to the prince in such a casual and rude manner. You will speak to him only with the utmost respect." (Kaborean)


    The Minister of spellcraft had gotten some of his courage back after seeing such a display.


    The human turned to look at the minister. A grin spread across his face.


    "Oh no." (Tal''gore)


    The prince''s whisper was unheard by all save himself.


    "How old are you?" (Strange Human)


    The minister was taken aback by the random and blunt question.


    "Who are you to question a minist..." (Kaborean)


    "Answer the question." (Strange Human)


    Again all present (save the princes party) were aghast at how a human would dare order a minister.


    "I am the minister of spellcraft I will not be ordered around by a hu..."


    "You are a minister and yet compared to me you know nothing save in the area of magic. Which I am confident I will soon trump you in as well. Do not be so presumptuous as to place yourself on a pedestal equal in height to my own. Your intelligence is a mere pinprick whereas mine is an ocean. Tell me do you know what stars are made of? Do you know how to rip one apart and harness its resources to fuel productivity on levels unheard of?" (Strange Human)


    The human noticed the confusion and rage on the Minister''s face. He let out a sigh.


    "Well seeing as you won''t comprehend this in any reasonable amount of time I''ll get to the point. The original question was asked to set up the premise, that though you are older than me your years are wasted. You will never know an iota of what I do. Trying to place yourself above me on something as arbitrary as race, is pointless. Regardless of your race, pedigree, or position of power you will never be comparable to me. For you see I have a limitless amount of the second most valuable resource. Knowledge." (Strange Human)


    The air of pompousness leaked by this human was unheard of even for elves. Kaborean was red as a tomato.


    "Guards seize this human and bring him to the dungeons." (Kaborean)


    The human gave the minister a level stare before smiling wider than before.


    "Glad we agree." (Strange Human)


    "Agree on what?" (Kaborean)


    The minister said with a snap of anger.


    "Well that I''m above you. Obviously."


    "How so, are you not about to be escorted away by the guards?" (Kaborean)


    The human clicked his tongue and shook his head.


    "Are you blind. Or just slow. That''s precisely the reason why I''m above you. Rather than refute my point. Or argue the illegitimacy of my words you simply send the guards on me. Showing that you are a rather simple minded person who would rather throw man power at a problem until it goes away." (Strange Human)


    All looked towards the minister of spellcraft for a response.


    Cough, Cough


    "Darren I hate to interrupt you, but we are being quite rude." (Tal''gore)


    Darren raised an eyebrow before a look of realization came upon him. He turned to the elf who barged in originally.


    "I believe I owe you an apology. You seem like you have something important to say." (Darren)


    The elf jumped in surprise after suddenly being addressed. Everyone else was taken aback at the sudden change in the demeanor of the human, who genuinely seemed sorry for having delayed the man.


    The elf nodded at the human and then addressed the entire assembly.


    "Razielon has made a declaration of war." (Messenger)


    *(Elves live upwards to 1500, but elven royalty is blessed by Utvossan the deity supposedly responsible for their creation, and thus can live for thousands of years. FYI the oldest elf to ever live was only 3000. After reaching a certain age, entities such as primals and lower deities view said elves as threats and take measures to end them before they peak.)


    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    "They already have a army of 30,000 occupying Juda. They plan to incease this by ten-fold come next spring." (Messenger)


    "Brother take your guest and servant and go. I will meet you at my house. Whatever business you have can wait." (Val''strath)


    Tal''gore shot the strange human a look.


    "Darren?" (Tal''gore)


    "For now it can. Besides we need to get in contact with this adviser of your''s anyway." (Darren)


    The human turned to Val''strath.


    "By the way prince. The matter your brother came to discuss with you is fairly important. More so now that the matter of this war been brought to light." (Darren)


    Without another word the three departed.


    The moment Tal''gore he turned to Darren.


    "To harness stars?" (Tal''gore)


    Darren grinned.


    "Call it a half truth. I do believe I know how to do it. I just don''t know of the technology that would allow me to put my theory into place. Bluffing is a valuable skill. However I find the more prideful the person the easier it is to fool them." (Darren)


    Tal''gore let out a sigh and chuckled lightly.


    "Let''s go. I''d rather finish our business in the capitol and get back to Oberroth." (Tal''gore)


    Darren nodded.


    "Agreed." (Darren)


    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    So I realize I made a few mistakes last chapter. It was a long weekend forme and I apologize. I also realized I posted the wrong chapter. Rather than delete it and confuse more people. I''ll make the travel chapter a flashback. Again sorry long weekend. I''m still rather tired. Anyway on with the chapter.


    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    "Hmmm as much as I love seeing people awed by my magical, we should go. Even if we are in the right. It would be kind of hard for you to explain me and the bodies. So before the guards come to investigate the source of that screaming* we need to get going." (Gernam)


    The lich then winked at his dwarven companions.


    "Lucky for you two I happen to have a spell that will allow us to slip away unnoticed." (Gernam)


    The lich used the bottum of his staff to draw a glyph into the ground. The glyph expanded to encompass both dwarves as well. After a brief flash all of them appeard to be a tad darker. As if a brown screen.


    "I''m going to assume this is your first day being invisible. So don''t talk and tread lightly." (Gernam)


    Nigel stared at his hands. He made a spastic motion then looked at Gernam''s shape.


    "I think you messed it up." (Nigel)


    "4000, 4000 years I''ve been around. Sure about 1900 of them sleeping but still. I think I know how to draw an invisibility glyph." (Gernam)


    Urvos however was already thinking of a gameplan.


    "I know someone who you should be able to talk to without being attack on sight. As long as you show your friendly." (Urvos)


    Gernam nodded.


    "Lead the way." (Gernam)


    The dwarves and the lich walked through the town unnoticed. The many beautiful structures were impossible to appreciate due to the entire city being in an underground cavern. The crypt was merely a small offshoot. Most building were simple cubes with circle carves out for windows.  As they neared the center of town they passed a large wall. Suddenly the buildings became more luxurious. No longer simple cubes but now large pavilions made of solid rock. They seemed to be entering the area that was once the old academy. After another small bit of walking they reached perhaps the smallest building that Gernam had seen since entering the academy grounds. Urvos led Gernam inside this building. The interior was not much more impressive than the outside,being completely empty save for a bookshelf on the right-hand wall, and a desk in the rooms center. A Short elf in mage garbs sat at the desk. Writing a letter.


    "Welcome please sit down." (Short Elf)


    "Oh? Howcome he can see us?" (Nigel)


    Gernam chuckled.


    "It''s been a long time since I''ve met someone who has true sight." (Gernam)


    The elfs head shot up.


    "How do know about that?" (Short elf)


    "If it was simply mana detection you wouldn''t have noticed us. I have my mana stored elsewhere and these two aren''t mages. Quite simply there was no mana to detect. Also last time I checked elfs don''t have a keen since of smell. So that leaves true sight. Or it could also be my bones scraping the floor. But, judging by your reaction it''s true sight." (Gernam)


    The elf made a confused look and muttered "bones scraping the floor?" he then reached down and picked up a pair of glasses. Putting them on his face, his skin went pale. However Gernam only laughed in response.


    "True sight on a person with poor eyesight. That''s the best joke I''ve seen in a while." (Gernam)


    The elf was still shaken but finally mustered up the courage to ask a question.


    "A... a... are you a l....li...lich?" (Short elf)


    "Yes indeed, and here I though the world forgot about my kind. Now I believe introductions are in order. My name is German. A pleasure to meet you."


    Upon hearing the confirmation of his fear the elf was again speechless. No lich has been seen for hundreds of years. And now one was in his office talking to him as if he genuinely wanted to have a nice chat, and not kill him.


    Gernam made a tired face. However he soon realized his two compainions couldn''t make it out so he snapped his finger. The brown film over each of them shattered.


    "Speak up boy I don''t bite. If I wanted to kill you you''d be dead. Seeing as you''re still iving please allow me the pleasure of your name."


    The elf gulped but did answer.


    "I am Armon, sir. Advisor and friend to prince Tal''gore Felloron and upper B class mage."


    German gave a jovial laugh.


    "There we go. Now how about we have a nice chat. Also do you have anything to eat I''m starving." (Gernam)


    The dwarves and the elf all gave the lich a look of doubt.


    "Hey, I get hungry. You sleep for nearly a thousand years and tell me you''re not hungry. Just because I don''t need to eat doesn''t mean I don''t like to eat." (Gernam)


    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Tal''gore and Darren sat in the middle of a luxurious office. The floor was hardwood. It was the same color as the bow of the adventurer that Darren had pissed off before leaving Oberroth. The bare walls were bright yellow. Not a single decorative Item or window was on them. The only noticeable feature of the room aside from the floor was the table in the middle of the room. It was circular with a hole in the middle. Like a giant wooden donut. Suspended above this hole was a an orb. The orb seemed to be in the grip of a golden claw. The decoration was quite beautiful when observed closely.The office belonged to Tal''gore. He called it his meeting room. The building it was located in also belonged to Tal''gore. It was a branch of the Consortium which Tal''gore happens to be a high ranking member of.


    The trip to the capitol originally had two primary purposes. First was to get Darren''s release forms. Second was to see if Darren was to see what elements he had good attunement with. Darren figured if he was in a world of magic he should atleast make an attempt to learn it.  This stop was simply a way to kill time while Tal''gore determined who he should have test Darren''s attunement.


    "So what''s this?" (Darren)


    Darren pointed to the stone.


    "Ahh, that''s a gate stone." (Tal''gore)


    Tal''gore then returned to the unopened letters in front of him. Apparently he doens''t have his mail come to Oberroth. Instead he has it come to his office. When Darren asked what if the letter was an emergency, Tal''gore rolled his eyes and said if it was an emergency they wouldn''t use a letter. Darren raised an eyebrow at this but didn''t prod. He figured Tal''gore would explain when the situation called for it.


    "Look you can''t just say the name of a magical object and expect me to know its use." (Darren)


    "My apologies. Gate stones are used for non emergency long distance communication. They also act as conduits for portals." (Tal''gore)


    As Tal''gore explained the functions of gate stones he continued opening letters. However halfway through the pile he came upon one with his advisers seal. Using his letter opener he broke the seal and read the contents of the parchment.


    My prince, I assume it will be a while before you come across this message, but when you do please inform me of your findings. I am extremely interested to learn more about that mana burst. I believe it may be linked to multiple phenomenon occuring all over Gallanor. Please make arrangements meet with me at your earliest convenience.


    Your friend and adviser, Armon


    "Haha, I think I''ve found someone." (Tal''gore)


    "See this is why you check the mail. You really should reroute your mail to your actual house." (Darren)


    Tal''gore waived a dismissive hand. It was at that moment Lycan phased into the building.


    "Just in time. We''re about to leave." (Tal''gore)


    "O where to?" (Lycan)


    "We''re going meet a friend of mine." (Tal''gore)


    "So what did you learn?" (Darren)


    "The meeting ended shortly after you three left. However I tailed that Kaborean fellow. He must really want you dead. He hired like three guys to kill you. By, the way where''s Stella?" (Lycan)


    "She''ll be here shortly I sent her to buy some lunch. Darren and I are starving." (Tal''gore)


    Darren had a noticeable frown on his face.


    "Worried?" (Lycan)


    "Nah, im just a little downtrodden that he only sent three. I''m worth way more assassin''s than that. Ehh maybe he''ll send more if we kill these guys." (Darren)


    Lycan and Tal''gore both rolled thier eyes.


    "I''ve heard alot of stupid comments but feeling down because someone only hired a few assassins to kill you is pretty high up there." (Tal''gore)


    "So are we going to wait on them or?" (Lycan)


    At that moment the gate stone started vibrating.


    "Well it looks like we won''t have to make the trip. Armon''s coming here." (Tal''gore)


    Tal''gore waived his hand and the stone stopped vibrating.After a moment a doorway appeared on one of the walls and 4 figures stepped through. Two of them were short men with beards and large noses. Another was a rather short elf. However the last one was who caught Darren''s attention the most. It was a skeleton wearing a flamboyant robe and holding a large staff.


    "Which one''s your friend?" (Darren)


    Darren turned his head to see Tal''gore was pale and shaking. The prince was staring at the skeleton.


    "Tal''gore manners. These are your guest." (Darren)


    Tal''gore then turned an incredulous gaze towards Darren.


    "Oh your not afraid. I have to admit this is a first since I''ve woken up." (Skeleton)


    "Ehh, I''ve learned not to judge people based on arbatrary features such as appeArances." (Darren)


    "He''s a fucking lich stop chatting with him. And Armon why did you bring him here." (Tal''gore)


    "Long story." (Armon)


    "Pardon my friend. I''m Darren pleasure to meet you." (Darren)


    Darren held out his hand to the lich. The lich shook it and laughed.


    "Ahh that''s refresh.... It was you. HAHA IT WAS YOU." (Lich)


    Even Darren was taken aback by the sudden outburst. All eyes then went from the lich to Darren.


    "I don''t know what he''s talking about." (Darren)


    "Pardon me. We can discuss that later. My name is Gernam. A pleasure to meet you." (Gernam)


    Darren grinned.


    "Likewise." (Darren)


    Though she didn''t reveal herself to the lich. Lycan looked at Gernam with nostalgia filled eyes.


    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    After Gernam had finished one of the Dwarves stepped forward.  He then offered his hand. Taking it Darren found his handshake was like he imagined. Strong and firm. While he didn''t share the superstitions of his father that it was a good judge of character, Darren still found it to be an admirable trait.


    "The names Urvos. This here''s Nigel, pleasure ta mee''cha." (Urvos)


    After Urvos took a step back his place was taken by Nigel.


    "I''m Nigel as my friend just said. We have been traveling with Gernam for a little over a day now." (Nigel)


    Urvos nodded.


    "Believe it or not we............... What was that?" (Urvos)


    "Outside the door and to the left. Atleast three people. They''re trying to hid their presence." (Nigel)


    Gernam looked towards both of them quizically.


    "How come you heard that but not the people outside the crypt?" (Gernam)


    "Crypt was made by superstitious people who have long since turned to dust. Thought if they didn''t sound proof it we would hear the wailing of the dead." (Urvos)


    Gernam laughed lightly. Darren already had his gun drawn. He looked extremely calm except his eyes were very cold.


    Lycan walked towards the wall and phased through. AFter a moment her form came back into the room. Turning to Darren she relayed what she saw.


    "Definitely the assassins. All elves. None of them very powerful in magic. Your gun should work fine." (Lycan)


    Darren nodded in response. The room was silent.


    A sound was heard outside the door. Tal''gore was the first to move. Without a word he channeled an enormous amount of mana into an exceedingly large fireball. With a slight motion from his hand the ball shot forward. A red film appeared in front of the group before the fireball hit the door. The moment it hit the door a powerful explosion rocked the room. When the smoke cleared two assassins lay dead. One blackend beyond recognition. The other a pile of pale white ash. The group was still alert knowing that the third was still near.


    "Behind you Darren." (Lycan)


    Darren spun and shot 3 times. The others, excluding Tal''gore, jumped back in surprise. However the surprise vanished when three holes appeared in mid air. Blood freely flowing from each of them. The holes fell forward onto the floor. The cloak on the assassin dissipated leaving a black garbed elf dead on the floor.


    "What an interesting tool." (Gernam)


    Darren then bent down and began to search the body. He found three daggers, four throwing knives, and a ring.


    "Kaborean''s seal. These are professionals." (Tal''gore)


    "These are professionals? That''s underwhelming." (Darren)


    Darren considered what to do with the body.


    "Ahh may I have the body?" (Gernam)


    The whole party looked at Gernam with skepticism. The lich simply shrugged in response.


    "What do you think I''m going to eat him?" (Gernam)


    "I figure you''d raise him as an undead servant or something along those lines. That''s what I would do as a lich back when I played DnD." (Darren)


    "You were a lich? I find that hard to believe. Especially since you said they had no magic in your world." (Tal''gore)


    Darren sighed at himself.


    "We had a concept of magic. My world used it extensively in our books and video games. Although I think actual magic is much different from the magic in RP...... I mean role playing games. One of the classes was mage which could specialize into necromancer, which could then specialize into lich. To transition from Necromancer to lich one must first put their soul in phylactery. Which required a large amount of exotic items." (Darren)


    The room stared at him in silence.


    "That''s surprisingly acurate. The fact you even know what a phylactery is, is astounding. You''ll have to explain this DnD to me later." (Gernam)


    "I agree a game where you can become a lich interest me greatly aswell." (Tal''gore)


    "I''d enjoy watching that." (Lycan)


    "Nigel and I think it sounds neat." (Urvos)


    Nigel nodded in response. Armon remained silent.


    "I think you guys have the wrong Idea but I''ll see what I can do." (Darren)


    The body suddenly stood up and walked to the corner of the room. and sat down. Everyone looked at Gernam.


    "What I figured it was ok since none of you openly objected." (Gernam)


    "If you had lips you''d be smiling. Right?" (Darren)


    "Yep" (Gernam)


    "O my you have more guest than when I left. SHould I call some servants to clean this?" (Stella)


    The maid had returend at an odd moment. She looked at Gernam fearfully for a moment. Then she let out a breath and resumed her former composure.


    "Is he also a guest of your''s Prince?" (Stella)


    "Long story." (Tal''gore)


    "I''ll go get more food."( Stella)


    As she turned to leave, but Tal''gore told her to wait.


    "Forget it. I''ll order some the people down below to get some." (Tal''gore)


    "Allow me. I shall return shortly." (Stella)


    The elf maid walked towards the direction of the stairs.


    Tal''gore then turned to Armon. Walking over to him he put his hands on Armon''s shoulders.


    "My friend would it be possible for you to sense Darren''s attunement?" (Tal''gore)


    Armon shook his head.


    "While it is within my capabilities, we have someone infinitely better at such a task than me." (Armon)


    The short elf turned his head towards Gernam.


    "You can sense attunements?" (Tal''gore)


    The lich nodded.


    "When your as old as I am, you tend to learn some support spells for such occasions. Mana sensing was taught alongside attunement. So I learned both." (Gernam)


    "Then would you do me the favor." (Darren)


    "It requires no particular effort besides I''ve taken an interest in you. Offworlder." (Gernam)


    Those who came with the lich all looked towards Darren.


    "That''s right he did say in his world." (Urvos)


    "I thought he was being egotistical. We''ve met plenty of people like that today." (Nigel)


    Darren, Tal''gore, and Gernam scowled at the dwarf.


    "How about this, Darren. You tell me your story, I check your attunement, and then I owe you one." (Gernam)


    "Fine only on the condition that you tell me what you meant when you said "It was you."" (Darren)


    "Deal" (Gernam)


    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Dwarven guards are required to undergo extensive training. One of their training routines involves listening for those who don''t want to be heard. Dwarves who''ve trained for years can even see through spells that hid presence.


    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    "Deal." (Gernam)


    The pair sat in silence for a moment. Gernam silently stared at Darren. Neither of the pair made any movement. The awkwardness soon spread to the rest of the moon.  Cough  Darren scratched the back of his head.


    "So are we gunna do it now............" (Darren)


    "DONE." (Gernam)


    The whole room jumped back at the sudden sound that emerged from Gernam.


    "How, you didn''t even use a glyph or a spell." (Tal''gore)


    "When you master soul magic you can do plenty of things. Of course you have to know the traditional methods of sensing attunement for this method. I would explain it in detail but you have no concept of soul magic. So it wouldn''t make sense." (Gernam)


    "Soul magic?" (Armon)


    "Were to begin.... Soul magic is one of the most primal fo....." (Gernam)


    "Save it for another time please. I just want to here the results." (Darren)


    Gernam sighed but relented.


    "You may not like the news. Your attunement isn''t to any element. It''s to weight. A very undesirable attunement." (Gernam)


    Tal''gore winced and Armon shook his head.


    "Why is it undesirable?" (Darren)


    "Because the only way one can grow stronger in magic is through an understanding of what your manipulating. For example Tal''gore probably has a firm grasp on what fire is. How to make it and how it interacts with the world. Weight is different. No one knows why it exist. Or what it does other than make things heavier." (Gernam)


    "Hmm sounds like you just have the wrong concept. Weight is just the force gravity exerts to keep you grounded." (Darren)


    "Gravity?" (All present)


    "Ok. Sit down children. Allow me to teach all of you some science." (Darren)


    His emphasis on the last word made everyone raise an eyebrow.


    "So lets establish the basics. You understand this world is a sphere right?" (Darren)


    All present nodded except Urvos and Nigel.


    "That''s just silly human superstition." (Urvos)


    Darren glared at the dwarves.He slowly breathed outward.


    "To explain why all planets are spheres, even those that aren''t solid......" (Darren)


    "Wait what do you mean even those that aren''t solid?" (Nigel)


    "Well you have three main categories of planets. Solids, gas giants, and ice giants. Both Ice giants and gas giants are bigger than solid planets. Now can I answer the original question?" (Darren)


    Urvos and Nigel pondered on his explanation for a moment before Nigel spoke up.


    "Why are "gas and ice giants" bigger? (Nigel)


    "Okay this is going to take a while. Does everyone else want to hear this?"(Darren)


    "I''ve got nothing better to do." (Tal''gore)


    "I could always learn something new." (Armon)


    "I''m in agreement with the short one." (Gernam)


    "You couldn''t get rid of me if you wanted to." (Lycan)


    Darren smiled at that last comment.


    "Alright then."


    "The term gas giant was first used in 1952........."(Darren)


    About three hours later....


    "Now that I''ve explained all of that onto gravity." (Darren)


    "Aggghh" (All present including Stella)


    A collective sigh was heard throughout the room. Empty plates were next to everyone as Stella had returned with food. The previous joviality gone. Replaced with aching heads from all the new and sudden information.


    Darren frowned but continued regardless.


    "Don''t give me that attitude the whole point of this was so that I can explain gravity without sounding insane. Besides Gernam where do you have to be?" (Darren)


    "Just because I''m old doesn''t mean I don''t value my time." (Gernam)


    "Anyway, the best way to describe gravity is to think of a rock in the ocean water pressing it from all sides. Trying to fill up the space where the rock is. Think of space as the ocean and Gallanor as a rock." (Darren)


    "That''s it?" (Tal''gore)


    "For the most part yes. THe more complicated bits come from how gravity gets stronger. Generally the larger the object the stronger it''s gravitational pull. However gravity isn''t determined by size. It''s determined by mass. So say you''re holding a 1 inch in diameter ball of copper and a 1 inch in diameter ball of lead. The lead has a stronger gravitational pool because it has more mass." (Darren)


    "Interesting." (Nigel)


    Darren rolled his eyes.


    "If only you showed that much interest in the earlier discussion. Anyway I think that''s about it for now. How about I try out my theory. It would be a shame to have explained all of that and not have it be gravity magic."( Darren)


    "Great idea. Now all you have to do is learn how to channel mana. That should only take a few months with how smart you are." (Tal''gore)


    Darren''s eyes widened.


    "Woah woah woah. A few months. That may not be that long for an elf but for me that''s a pretty large chunk of time." (Darren)


    "I got this." (Lycan)


    Darren and Tal''gore exchanged a skeptical look. Lycan morphed into her human form and stepped forward to place a hand on Darren''s shoulder. Everything went black.


    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Darkness surrounded everything.


    "Deja vu." (Darren)


    However in the distance a faint light could be seen.


    "No where to go but forward." (Darren)


    With no goal or reason Darren started towards the light. Hours passed as he moved towards the light. When he could walk no more he collapsed. However something pushed him forward. He crawled. And crawled. For an apparent eternity he dragged himself through the darkness. Suddenly the light grew. With each inch claimed the light grew more intense. Then it became blinding. However, Darren could not look away. As he reached the center he saw it had a small solid core. Achingly he reached up and slowly grasped the sphere.


    Darren''s eyes fluttered open. He was greeted with Lycan''s face. Her passive expression widened into a smile.


    "Two days not bad. The only other instance of forced perception I''ve heard of took a week." (Lycan)


    "Forced percep...." (Darren)


    He then noticed he felt different. More energized. He innately felt a need to channel it. Lycan suddenly planted a kiss on his cheek, but said nothing. Sliding off of him she phased out of the small room. As Darren leaned up he noticed someone sitting in a chair in the corner. As his eyes focused on the person he realized it wasn''t Tal''gore as he expected. Instead it was Gernam.


    "Gernam?" (Darren)


    The lich''s made no response.


    "Hello?" (Darren)


    Still no response. Darren looked at the bedside stand to his left. A pen sat there with a note attached to it.


    My friend as you can see Armon and I have reversed engineered one of these. I hope you do not mind but I''ve given the go ahead to mass produce these. All credit for there creation has been given to you. In regards to the funds I expect nothing. All profits shall go to you. Get well soon my friend. We have much more to do together.


    Your friend, Tal''gore


    Darren experienced an odd sensation. He had only known Tal''gore for a day. For some reason seeing the elf as a friend felt right. It left a mark on Darren.  It occurred to him that before coming to Gallanor it had been a long time since he had called anyone friend. Indeed his life before coming to Gallanor was a lonely one. A hallow shell of a man with no purpose or reason for anything. Simply seeking knowledge because it was something to do. His home life revolved around a daily routine of exercise and online gaming. He was famous for the wonders he introduced to the world.It amounted to nothing. The feeling emptiness that followed him so closely had been absent from the moment he arrived in this world. Lycan and Tal''gore. Two people he had known for less than a week. Were his only friends. And indeed his only family in Lycan''s case.


    "Your effort shall not be wasted my friend." (Darren)


    He picked up the pen and admired it then with all the might he could muster he flung the pen at the skeleton''s skull. As the pen raced towards Gernam Darren made a mental note to teach Tal''gore how to make plastic. With a thud the pen bounced off the lich.


    The lich jumped up and took a defensive stance.


    Noticing Darren and then the pen on the ground he put two and two together.


    "You''re lucky I can''t feel pain." (Gernam)


    "Oh yea so I believe I can perceive my own mana now." (Darren)


    The lich''s jaw fell open.


    "Well if you can cast a spell for me." (Gernam)


    Darren Reached forward and channeled all his energy in an effort to pull Gernam down. And nothing.


    "Feel anything?" (Darren)


    "A slight weight on my shoulders but not much. If your theory was correct you''d have brought me to my knees." (Gernam)


    "Do I need to say something?" (Darren)


    "Only for glyphs and unattributed spells." (Gernam)


    "Then I guess my gravity theory was wrong." (Darren)


    He started to guess what else it could be. A


    "You said you learned soul magic. Does that mean it''s unattributed?" (Darren)


    "No soul magic is an attribute onto itself. I think I know what question that''s going to lead into. Anyone can learn spells from any school. It''s just that being attuned to a particular attribute greatly increases the rate at which you learn and develop your magical abilities in that attribute. It also removes the inherent limiter." (Gernam)


    "Limiter?" (Darren)


    "For example  someone not attuned to water magic can never learn above Intermediate grade water spells." (Gernam)


    Darren nodded. What could his magic actually be. It couldn''t be weight. Weight was just a measurement of the force gravity has on something. Maybe instead of a force of nature it was something that exerted gravity.


    "I think I may have been going around this the wrong way. Before I try what I''m about to. How do I destroy something I materialize say fire?" (Darren)


    "Stop channeling mana. Remember that enormous fireball Tal''gore cast against those assassins. If he would have stopped his mana flow to that object it would have dispersed. However remember it takes a conscious effort to stop channeling. After You''ve cast a spell you naturally keep channeling into it." (Gernam)


    "I see, well here goes nothing." (Darren)


    Darren raised his hand. As he started to channel his mana into a physical form focusing on Gernam. A small black ball the size of a marble appeared on mid air in front of Gernam. The lich''s body jolted forward at an ungodly speed toward the ball. After reaching it his body started to slowly crack as it bent to enclose the ball. Sensing this could be bad Darren conciously made an effort to stop channeling and Gernam fell to the floor.


    Pulling himself off the floor the lich gave Darren an awed stair.


    "What was that?" (Gernam)


    "That was dark matter." (Darren)


    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    "Dark matter? I''ve never heard of such a thing. Though I suppose that''s to be expected considering matter is a term I only learned two days ago." (Gernam)


    "Even in my world very little is known about it. It was only proven to exist a few years ago. For the longest time it was simply a hypothetical substance. As you''ve just experienced though, it is very real." (Darren)


    The lich scratched it''s skull.


    "I remember you saying that an object had to have an enourmous amount of mass to have a gravitational pull. How did that tiny ball pull me off my feet and nearly crush me to deat.... Ahem re-death?"(Gernam)


    "Believe it or not dark matter represents most of the universes mass. However it''s so dense that one about a 100th the size of that marble would weigh as much as the largest mountain in my world." (Darren)


    "And weight mages can conjure this at will? That is very unnerving. I''m also surprised that none of them every realized it was a materialization type of magic instead of a force type." (Gernam)


    "I''m sure they did. However not knowing full well what they were handling they may have inadvertently materialized one larger than the marble sized one I did and without the restrictions. Most likely killing themselves. Even worse they may have dissipated it to fast. As you noticed mine was small enough to where the gravitational field could be disrupted easily thus allowing me a few seconds to dissipate it. If I would have done it to fast a super nova could have a occurred. Or worse a black hole. An anomaly with gravity so great not even light can escape it." (Darren)


    "Incredible, would you mind going into more detail on these black holes?" (Gernam)


    "Do you want another 6 hour learning marathon?" (Darren)


    "Point taken. Lets go ahead and tell everyone else you''re awake. By the way Urvos and Nigel took the portal back to Armons study. They''ll be back.  They are resigning as guards. As Urvos put it "We need more excitement in our lives." That and something else about how the dwarven mob might come after them after they find out that those two are connected to the deaths of five of its members." (Gernam)


    "Dwarven mob?" (Darren)


    "Only thing I know about them is that they are called the Nulguard." (Gernam)


    "That''s hilarious. I mean I''m sure one doesn''t want to piss them off. I just can''t help but laugh at that situation though. I mean come on getting a hit put on you by a 4 foot mobster is comedy story waiting to write itself." (Darren)


    "Ha, sounds like it. Anyway lets go get Tal''gore and the rest." (Gernam)


    Darren Nodded and got out of bed. The two of them then walked out of the room.


    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Two beings stood facing each other. One a warrior clad in gleaming white armor. Wielding a sword as bright as the sun. The other his face shadowed so that it couldn''t be seen. He wore a pure white overcoat, under it was clothing unrecognizable by the warrior in white. The warrior squeezed his sword and charged. However as the sword arced downward, a sword of pure darkness appeared in the unarmed man''s hand. The moment the two swords clashed the sword of light shattered. However the sword of darkness did not stop and continued racing towards the warrior. It easily sliced through the armor narrowly missing the man underneath. Seeing his chest plate was useless the man discarded it. Revealing himself to be extremely handsome. However one would notice the white wings which spread out to be longer than 4 meters from tip to tip.  The angelic man extended his hands and in each of them two more swords of light appeared. However, the man in the strange clothes bent his knees. Lifting a hand above his hand a monstrous double sided spear of darkness appeared in his hand. With little effort he hurled the spear at the angelic man. Obliterating him in an instant.


    Grand General Saphiel shot up drenched in a cold sweat. The general felt something he hadn''t felt in a very long time fear. Hurrying out of bed he dressed himself. He had to see the king, and quickly. Or else all of Razielon was at risk.


    Saphiel stood in the royal court waiting for the king and the other generals currently in the capitol to arrive.


    Unsurprisingly the king was the first to arrive. Danforth Raziel II  was the ninth in his line. If you didn''t include his brother Cornelius. The circumstances surrounding Cornelius''s death screamed suspicious. He died of food poisoning a week before he was to take the throne. Danforth was a man of hulking proportions. Raised as a warrior he loathed his brothers political tactics. Many of the generals suspected this was Danforth''s doing, but the king denied these suspicions.


    The first general to arrive was 3rd general Nelfin. Like all the generals he was blessed by one of the archangels. Nelfin was blessed by Azreal the Angel of Death. While most of the generals were revered by the worshipers of Tillium the Redeemer, Nelfin was the only one who was reviled. His greataxe, Hades, was said to age anything it cut. His armor was the only armor among the generals that was black.


    After Nelfin came 1st General Xavius. Unlike the other generals Xavious wore tight fitting leather armor. On his left side hung two daggers. Rend and Tear. These daggers were indeed misnomers. As they did not tear or rend. They possessed the ability to phase through skin and armor. Only cutting the internals. Or the eyes if you were unlucky. Xavius was the chosen of Uriel. The Archangel of Confirmation whose goal was to bring all humans into Tillium''s light.


    The final general Present in Fullguard (The Capitol) was 6th general Octurus. Octurus while loved by the people was perhaps the most enigmatic of the generals. With a contingent of only 4 underlings most people knew nothing of him. He was never seen without his heavy white platemail known as Heaven''s Ward. Blessed by Tillium himself the armor was impenetrable. On his back was the greatsword, Gehenna. The sword itself was what stood out the most about the man. With a rounded tip akin to a semi-circle. The sword itself was pitch-black providing a stark contrast with his gleaming white armor. If one were to look closely one might notice a small groove running right down the middle of the flat of the blade. This groove is where the blade split into two. When split the greatsword would become two black longswords, Sodom and Gomorrah. When swung this blade would send out a wave of pure mana. Cutting down all in its path. Octurus was blessed by Micheal the archangel of war.


    Sephiel was blessed by Tillium himself hence why he was called the Grand General.


    With all present the king turned towards the grand general.


    "Why have you called us Sephiel?" (Danforth)


    "I have received a vision." (Sephiel)


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    "So you think that is the best course of action? If I remember correctly that place is run by Kaborean''s brother." (Lycan)


    "Oh it is. That''s one of the reasons I''m sending him there instead of one of the more pretegious academies. He will no doubt surpass the material taught there. After that point I will teach him what I can."


    "I''m assuming by him you mean me?" (Darren)


    The man stood in the doorway of the room. The four occupants looked at him for a moment. Smiles broke out on each of their faces. Excluding Armon.


    "Glad to see you''re awake my friend. After Lycan informed us of what she had done we decided to plan ahead. Assuming your guess is correct and your magic is indeed based on gravity and not w...." (Tal''gore)


    "I was wrong. In the best of ways. After experimenting with German we figured out it wasn''t gravity. It''s a materialization type magic that allows me to create dark matter. The densest material in the universe. So dense that it has its own gravitational field." (Darren)


    "Care to provide and example." (Armon)


    The short elf seemed indifferent about everything. However if one was good at reading body language they could see the subtle signs of excitement.


    "Sure, although I''d prefer to use something that isn''t living. I already almost killed German." (Darren)


    The skeleton shifted uncomfortably.


    "I can help with that." (Lycan)


    The wolf deity pointed her human hand towards the air. A huge block of ice formed and fell to the floor.


    "So they can see you now?" (Darren)


    He asked the question he already knew the answer to.


    "Yep. I figured if you were going to get to know these people that it''s only natural that I do." (Lycan)


    "Why is it only natural. You still never told us why you are with Tal''gore. You won''t even let him tell us." (Armon)


    Lycan chuckled.


    "That''s because I''m not with Tal''gore. I''m with Darren. Due to a series of complications he is my husband." (Lycan)


    Armon''s jaw dropped. Gernam looked at Darren then back at Lycan. He repeated this process once more before laughing. Stella made no response.


    "Oh that''s grand. You will have to tell me that story one day." (Gernam)


    Eager to change the subject Darren interjected.


    "Anyway lets get this show and tale out the way." (Darren)


    He started channeling the spell. Mentally applying properties and restricting its influence. Finally a sphere of darkmatter the size of a pea came into existence. It was made only to effect the block of ice. In and instant the ice was picked up and wrapped around the dark matter. Whirling and compressing until it was at a state in between liquid and gas.


    All eye''s were filled with awe. Even Lycan herself was quite impressed.


    "So this is what wieght mages are capable of." (Tal''gore)


    His awe was overshadowed by his dread. He could only imagine what an army of those even unnattuned to such a magic could do. Seeing the distress on his friends face Darren  spoke to quell his fears.


    "Calm down most wouldn''t know about it''s properties until it''s too late. Anyway lets talk about what I overheard when I came in. What plans have you made?" (Darren)


    "Ahh yes. While you will have to make your own advances in your field of attunement perhaps attending the local Magic Academy would help you better understand basic casting and the like." (Tal''gore)


    Darren saw the wisdom in Tal''gore''s words. He also sensed an ulterior motive.


    "What else?" (Darren)


    The elf prince smiled. He didn''t expect Darren to not find out.


    "There is an annual competition of sorts where mages from around the country come to test their skills against one another. If a certain human was to outmatch the elves at the academy that happens to be run by Kaborean''s brother, it would agitate the man quite a bit. That and it would boost your own reputation." (Tal''gore)


    "Sounds fun when do I start." (Darren)


    "Actually I think you mean when do we start." (Gernam)


    Darren raised an eyebrow and looked at Tal''gore.


    "The lich will be teaching at the academy. In disguise of course. While the academy has wards against Illusions he was able to bypass them and squire a job." (Tal''gore)


    "It''s been a while since I taught. Besides since you''ve show me so much I thought it would be good to return the favor." (Gernam)


    "This is going to be a surreal experience isn''t it?" (Darren)


    The wolf deity wrapped her arms around his neck.


    "Think of it as a learning experience instead." (Lycan)


    "Of that I have no doubt." (Darren)


    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    In the human kingdom of Yuria a man sat cross legged on a snow topped mountain. A sudden pressure pulsed past him. He was not unused to the aftershocks of manaburst. Meditating in these mountains such things passed on a daily basis. However another passed him him making him open his eyes in surprise. Two in a row was unheard of. Then a third passed. Nearly knocking the man over. The power in that pulse was so immense it could only mean the birth or rebirth of a deity. If his suspicions were true it could mean the end of the current era and the beginning of a new one. Picking up his hood he ended his meditating. He would return to Yuria''s capitol and consult the others of this. Truly these were marvelous times to live in.


    Arc End


    Next Arc: The flamboyant lich and his student.

 Talgor or Talgore

Tal''gor or Tal''gore

 Chapter 19: Bully?

    Darren sat alone in his room at the consortium. He sighed as he looked at his schedule. He didn''t have his first class until the afternoon and it was advanced fire magic. After that was advanced healing magic, a skillset that he had first considered his priority, but due to how mana heavy most healing magic skills were he realized that one had to be attuned to get far in it. His last two classes were the ones that interested him the most. Advanced glyph casting and magical item creation and enchantment. He figured that he would naturally excel at both since both required high memorization skills. However glyph casting requires one to memorize magical formulas. The thing is most of the formulas were extremely simple to Darren. Easier than basic calculus. He had known highschoolers capable of such things.


    Lycan was sprawled out across his bed in her wolf form. She could care less about the school but said nothing due to Darren''s interest. She figured if she got to bored she could make her own fun.


    Seeing that Darren''s first class didn''t start for another 3 hours he figured he would go see Gernam. Who coincidentally enough would be his teacher for both of the latter classes. Apparently the academy couldn''t find anyone qualified for teaching those classes due to their advanced nature. So when Gernam met all of their qualifications and then some they hired him on the spot.


    The classroom was quite. Gernam had heard that this was key to a good learning environment. It didn''t matter that the class was empty this was simply practice. Even when he was alive he had never had the chance to teach a class. It had always been something he had wanted to do. However his situation had never allowed him time to due so. As he was deep in thought a knocking sound roused him.


    "Ohhhoho my students have arrived." (Gernam)


    Aside from meeting Darren, Gernam hadn''t felt this excited in a very long time. He was a little downtrodden that he had to have a high level illusion spell up at all times but that was a small price to pay.


    Twisting the brass handle Gernam opened the door to greet his new student. However the one on the other side of the door was Darren. This did not dampen his mood though. He was glad to have one he could consider a friend as a student.


    "Lucky you. Who''d you have to kill to get in my class hmmmm?" (Gernam)


    Darren was slightly surprised by the lich''s upbeat mood but figured that Gernam must be excited about his new job.


    "Nobody, I just had to hospitalize the advanced water instructor." (Darren)


    "How''d you manage to do that?" (Gernam)


    From what he had heard the water instructor was the schools best combat mage. Even the fire instructor was supposedly inferior to him.


    "Well they called me up to test first. And right after I had climbed onto the platform the bastard hit me in the face with his staff. So I shot him in the knee cap." (Darren)


    Gernam recalled the tool Darren called his gun. A marvel of engineering. He had shown him in the days leading up to coming to this place.


    "That''s a little extreme. Well I suppose he''s lucky you didn''t kill him." (Gernam)


    Darren shrugged and went to sit in one of the desk.


    "What time''s the first class that you teach?" (Darren)


    "Well it starts in about twenty minutes. How about you when is your first class?" (Gernam)


    "Pfft not for another 2 and a half hours." (Darren)


    "You''re welcome to sit in." (Gernam)


    "Sweet. I''ll sit in the back." (Darren)


    Gernam looked around, but seemed unable to find what he was looking for.


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    "Where''s Lycan?" (Gernam)


    "O she''s following the dean. Right now she''s trailing him trying to gather information on Kaborean''s brother." (Darren)


    Gernam nodded but said nothing more.


    The twenty minutes passed by in silence. Gernam was writing out his lesson plans on the board, while Darren sat quietly.


    Slowly the other students started to fill the classroom. Almost all of them were elves. Darren was already enlightened to the schools preference for elves. He noticed that most non-elf students were looked down upon by the elven students and faculty. The five students to arrive all arrived together. One of the elven boys took immediate notice of Darren. A smirk came to his face. Gernam saw this and shook his head. Poor kid.


    "When did they start letting your kind come here?" (Elven student)


    Darren decided to have some fun.


    "Well if you would look in the handbook they have a clause answering that exact question. So why don''t you go look it up?" (Darren)


    The elf glared at Darren.


    "I''m asking you." (Elven student)


    "Yea I can see that. However, that doesn''t mean I have to grace you with an answer." (Darren)


    Gernam chuckled at this exchange but largely decided to ignore it.


    "Now that everyone''s here let''s begin."


    "My name is Theo Gernam. As I''m sure most of you know the goal of this clas..." (Gernam)


    "You think you have the authority to talk to me like that. How about I show you your place you little.... thunk " (Elven male)


    Everyone''s head turned to Gernam who had just thrown a heavy wooden paper weight at the student, knocking him out.


    "Let that be a warning to the rest of you. DO NOT INTERRUPT MY CLASS. If I see anyone of you starting trouble you will wish I was one to send students to the office. Are we clear?" (Gernam)


    Darren''s jaw hung open. He never expected his friend to explode like that.


    "Now then, this (he pointed to a glyph he had just drawn on the board) is a basic ice glyph. Now can any of you tell me......" (Gernam)


    The rest of the class went by quietly. After the student came to he gave Darren a glare and almost started to say something however one look from Gernam silenced him.


    Once everyone left he had a brief chat with Gernam before leaving. He told him that he wouldn''t sit in again so as not to disturb other students. He figured if an incident like that could happen once it could happen again.


    As he walked to his next class he was suddenly grabbed by the shoulder. Before he knew it he was flanked on all sides by the male from class and his friends.


    "I''ll teach you to talk back to someone above you." (Elven student)


    Darren simply rolled his eyes.


    "Really? Tell me am I really worth the trouble? Why go out of your way? Do you really have nothing better to do?" (Darren)


    The elf thought about Darren''s words.


    "Your right you''re not even worth my time." (Elven student)


    The elf chuckled and walked past Darren. Bumping his shoulder in the process. Darren waited until he was out of sight to start laughing.


    Oh man, that'' s rich. Did that elf really just try to bully me? O god. His attitude was the best part. Like a bully from a sitcom.


    After laughing for another few minutes Darren started towards his first class again.

 The Guild Handbook (To be updated regularly as more chapters are added to the book)

    Hello fellow and future adventurers. I am Mari. Founder of the Adventurer''s guild. This book was written over the last 20 years with guides and beastiary entries by a number of well-known and unknown adventurers. Before we get to that stuff lets go over the guild basics.


    First off is the guild ranks.


    Unranked- Those who have yet to finish their entry quest or task. Other than the entry quest they are not allowed to use any guild amenities and are typically aren''t considered part of the guild.


    E Rank- Adventurers of the lowest class. Typically between the ages of 16-20. Their low combat ability typically makes them more suited to gathering quest. Though kill quest for wolves, coyotes, and even deer are considered appropriate.


    D Rank- Low skill level adventurers.. Adventurers who fall into this category have recieved little or no formal training. Considered the every-man''s rank this is were most people will enter the guild after their entry quest. They can take kill quest for up to rank 2 monsters.


    C Rank- Semi Skilled adventurers. Adventures who fall into this category are usually well trained or experienced. Upwards to 40 percent of adventurers fall into this category. Considered capable of taking on kill quest for up to rank 5 monsters.


    B Rank- Veteran adventurers- The only people who start in this class are former military veterans with multiple instances of combat experience. Battle mages typically end up in this rank as well. Considered capable of taking on some rank 7 monsters.


    A rank- Well known adventurers. Adventurers of this rank are typically known by all guild employees and members. Capable of killing lesser dragons and wyverns. Mages that fall into this rank are able to cast tier 5 magic.


    S rank and above - [Redacted]


    As an adventurers you will undoubtedly come across magic in some shape or form. So it is very important you know what it is and how it''s classified.


    Type:


    Magic comes in many different shapes and forms but all magic falls under three basic categories.


    Materialization: By far the most versatile type of magic. This magic involves literally creating an element such as: Water, fire, earth, light, and darkness.


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    Force: This magic involves the unseen forces of the world. Magnetism, weight, visibility, hearing, and balance.


    Nature: This magic involves living things. Trees, flowers, [Redacted]*, [Redacted]*, and living people. Most races other than human rely on nature magic for healing.


    Strength:


    The power level of magic can be divided into 7 actual power levels and 1 theoretical power level.


    Tier 1- The most basic of magics. Materialization spells smaller than 3 inches in diameter.


    Tier 2- Still to low to be considered effective in combat. Nature spells such as growing grass would fall in this category.


    Tier 3- Basic combat viable magic. The ability to "cast" magic. Throwing a fireball or freezing the ground below an opponents feet.


    Tier 4- Above average combat spells. The entails the ability to affect pre existing instances of elements. This is the reason why fire mages are deployed to control a fire and not water mages. Fire mages can simply make the fire disperse and disappear.


    Tier 5- Advanced combat magic. Most mages work their entire lives to get to this level. This allows a mage to control the aftermath of their spells. A fire mage can manipulate ash and smoke that comes from their fires. A water mage can turn their water into ice or their ice into water. (Steam manipulation is considered tier 6)


    Tier 6- Master level magic. (Please note that the following information does not pertain to summoners or summoning magic. There is a difference between summoning and creating.) This entails the ability to create elementals. A fireball of this levle would be larger than 7 feet in circumference. They can also be imbued with additional properties such as explosive power for fire balls.


    Tier 7- The highest level of magic. Only true archmages can cast magic of this level without help. Most instances of this level of magic involve multiple mages channeling their mana together to cast one giant spell. [Redacted]


    Super tier- Theoretical level of magic. Capable of leveling major cities. No mortal is known to wield magical capabilities of this level.


    *1. Blood magic and necromancy


    *2. Soul magic.

 Chapter 20: Summoning Magic

    Darren went through the rest of his classes with little incident. Everyone had either seen what had happened to the water instructor or didn''t consider him worthy of notice.


    On his way out of the school Darren noticed a board covered with paper. Upon closer inspection the papers ranged from, extracurricular classes on summoning to adventurer''s guild request. There were also some request for alchemical goods by other students.  Raising an eyebrow Darren ripped a paper for summoning magic off of the board. He noticed they had a scheduled meeting in 20 minutes. Following the directions he made it there in five.


    Entering the surprisingly large room he noticed that plenty of students were already present. Including the overbearing one from Gernam''s class. The lich himself was present and looked surprised at seeing Darren, however the surprise soon faded from his illisionary face. With a smile he motion for Darren to come see.


    "Interested in summoning are we?" (Gernam)


    His face carried excitement and giddiness. In the lichs mind he couldn''t help but wonder what Darren would do with the knowledge of summoning. Though truth be told, the lich already had one application in mind.


    Darren shrugged


    "Some what. Though I didn''t even know it was a thing until I saw the ad." (Darren)


    "Ad? Whats that?" (Gernam)


    Darren pulled out the slip of paper.


    "Short for advertisement. It was on a noticeboard of sorts. Decided to check it out since I really can''t engage in my actual hobby." (Darren)


    "Oh, and what would that be?" (Gernam)


    "Research and development. I already have some ideas of what I want to delve into." (Darren)


    "Then I expect to be surprised by your results." (Gernam)


    A question suddenly popped into Darren''s mind.


    "So why are you here?" (Darren)


    "Same as you. To learn. I don''t know much about summoning. It was uncommon in my day. When I went into my....... "hibernation" it was considered taboo by most countries." (Gernam)


    Just then the teacher walked in. It was an elf. He looked around Tal''gor''s age. However by 25 elves stopped physically aging.


    The teacher didn''t say a word but walked towards the middle of the room. He waited until everyone got quiet before saying a single word.


    "Hello. My name is Habbron. If you are here, you are here for one of two reasons. Either you are here because you wish to excel and push your magical ability to the limit. Or you are here because you saw the notice. Either way welcome to summoning." (Habbron)


    The elf''s gaze drifted from student to student. Until it finally arrived on Darren. His face then took on a tired look.


    "You get out." (Habbron)


    Darren raised an eyebrow but made no attempt to move.


    "May I ask why?" (Darren)


    "I don''t teach servants." (Habbron)


    "Hate to disappoint but you''re mistaken. I''m not a servant. But you sir are a prick." (Darren)


    The students all shot angered looks at him. The teacher however started laughing. The elf that attempted to bully Darren was perhaps the most confused person in the room.


    "A prick huh? That''s the first time I''ve been called that by a human. I apologize for my prior assumption. I''ve had problems in the past with elven students sending their human servants to take notes from my lectures." (Habbron)


    "An apology. Well now you''re just making me feel bad. I''ve dealt with a few elves today that simply look down on humans in general. So forgive my assumptions as well." (Darren)


    The teacher nodded then turned his attention back towards the class as a whole.


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    "Summoning is perhaps one of the most difficult types of magic to learn. This is because not only must you learn about the spell. You must learn about what you are summoning. When summoning you must know your summons name, title or titles that are most important to your summon, what your summon is. And you must have its permission. The last one being the most difficult to obtain. However with the summons permission you will be amazed at what magic you can pull off. Even if your summons material body has died as long as the soul is strong you may still summon it indefinitely. Of course the only people capable are this are those who had permission before the summons death." (Habbron)


    Darren looked at Lycan. She was just as surprised as him.  Gernam seemed to have come to the same conclusion.


    "Do any of you or your families have such contracts or agreements?" (Habbron)


    Darren looked to Lycan and she nodded in response.


    "I do." (Darren)


    "Do you? That is most fortuneate would you care to demonstrate? I already have a high level summoning circle drawn. Well I say drawn, it''s actually this whole floor." (Habbron)


    Looking down Darren indeed noticed the  intricate spell formulas.


    "So all I need is their permission, name, what they are, and titles important to them?" (Darren)


    "Have you never done this before?" (Habbron)


    "No I have not." (Darren)


    "Strange but not unheard of even from families with such contracts. Some are not taught until well into adulthood. Let''s hold off on your summoning. In a few weeks I''ll see where you stand and we can pick up form there. Now then since no one else has permission I''ll demonstrate. " (Habbron)


    He raised his hands and started channeling vast amounts of magic into the circle.


    "Oh Lilium, the bloodseeker, use my magic to shape thyself a vessel. Sculpt with it, all you once were. I bind you to me. Come forth." (Habbron)


    Four chains burst from thin air. Out of portals only they could fit through another portal appeared on the ground. The chains shot through. After a moment they tightened and started pulling something out of the portal on the ground. When it finished a beautiful woman was held by the chains. She was pale white and had blood red eyes. She had a bored expression on her face as if she had done this hundreds of times before.


    After removing the chains from her scanty clothes she looked at each student. Much in the same manner as Habbron. Her gaze however stopped on Gernam. She opened her mouth to say something but it shut. The old lich looked at her with recognition.


    "Hello Lilly." (Gernam)


    Habbron gave him an incredulous look.


    "How dare you talk to lady Lilium with such disrespect." (Habbron


    "Big Brother?" (Lilium)


    Habbron gave her another look before turning back towards the lich. (who was still using an illusion spell)


    Darren whistled loudly drawing the attention of the whole class.


    "Hoho you didn''t tell me you had a cute little sister Gernam." (Darren)


    "You never asked." (Gernam)


    A spike of ice suddenly burst forth from the ground at Darren''s feet narrowly missing his head. When he turned around he found Lycan giving him a death stare. He knew what that look meant.


    He opened his mouth to say something else. However Gernam''s sister was currently looking at him with a death glare as well.


    Darren turned to Gernam and gave him a pleading look. Gernam simply shrugged.


    "Traitor." (Darren)

 Would you donate?

while I''m not positive I''ll do this I would like you guys opinions. I''d probably do a max of 1 or 2 bonus chapters. So around 7 a week.

 Chapter 21: Siblings

    After deciding Darren wasn''t worth her time Lilium turned back to her brother.


    "What are you doing here?" (Lilium)


    Gernam''s false face became a large smile.


    "Teaching." (Gernam)


    The girl glared at her brother and her disbelief turned to anger. Then she pointed an outstretched hand in his direction. Those able to sense magic immediately tensed at the power of the spell.  The moment the spell touched Gernam he went to his knees.


    "You should have just disappeared. 1200 years you''ve been gone. If you think I''ll let fil..."


    She was interrupted by Darren before she could finish.


    "Well aren''t we full of ourselves. Before you say something you''ll regret allow me to warn you. Insult or speak ill of him in my presence and I''ll end your temporary existence faster than you can lift a finger." (Darren)


    She turned towards Darren. Enhancing her sight she observed his mana capacity. Then she smiled.


    "Though your mana capacity is astoundingly high. It''s unrefined, you can''t even cast a tier 2 spell." (Lilium)


    "Like a human could even lift a finger against one of her kind. You should just know your pla..." (Elf student)


    Before he could respond he suddenly face planted. The force pulling him down was so strong he couldn''t even lift himself up.


    The girls eye''s narrowed.


    "Weight magic?" (Lilium)


    She had never seen it so powerful.


    "If you think that''s the full extent, .........well just try me and find out." (Darren)


    Habbron was extremely uncomfortable with the situation. So he coughed to get the groups attention. Then motion to the students watching the encounter.


    "Perhaps we should continue this somewhere more private." (Habbron)


    "Yes I agree. I propose my classroom." (Gernam)


    Habbron nodded. Turning to address the class.


    "We will continue tomorrow. Dismissed." (Habbron)


    Begrudgingly the students filed out of the large room.


    Darren dispersed the minuscule amount of darkmatter that held down the elf. The boy filed out with the rest of the classroom but gave Darren a glare as if to say it wasn''t over.


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    After arriving in Gernam''s classroom Darren started the discussion.


    "So is this a thing in your family. Being undead?" (Darren)


    "Undead?" (Lilium)


    She questioned almost convincingly.


    "I don''t know what those elves think you are. But I''m pretty sure you''re a vampire." (Darren)


    Her eyes widened.  Then she suddenly appeared next to Darren. A blood red blade pressed to his neck.


    "Give me one reason not to kill your friend." (Lilium)


    "For one he knows I''m a lich so calm down. Second I''d let him go before she kills you." (Gernam)


    Lilium suddenly felt an emmense pressure bearing down on her. In front of Gernam''s desk a colossal wolf appeared.


    "Remove yourself from my mate, whelp." (Lycan)


    The vampire had no clue who the wolf was, but she could since the overwhelming power emanating from her.


    Reluctantly she released Darren. Then she turned to her brother.


    "How did you survive the lich hunts. And why did you never say anything." (Lilium)


    "My abode was never discovered. However I knew the Arcanist would be constantly searching so I laid low. Even after 200 years they still almost caught me. So I set myself to research." (Gernam)


    "For 1000 years?" (Lilium)


    "180 actually. The rest is none of your concern." (Gernam)


    The girl glared at her brother.


    "Hey so umm are you going to answer my question?" (Darren)


    "What question?" (Gernam)


    "About your family being undead. Also why do those elves not know what a vampire is?" (Darren)


    "Vampires are actually very well known. However most people call them nightkin. They also don''t know a vampire''s true nature. As undead or their eating habits. They just think they are a race of long lived enigmatic people. Even the elves don''t trifle with them." (Gernam)


    "How long did it take them to get themselves in that position?" (Darren)


    "Only about 90 years of careful planning." (Lilium)


    Darren nodded but said nothing further.


    "So, Lilly how did you die." (Gernam)

 Chapter 22: Oops

    Urvos awoke to find his hands and feet bound. The chains were comically large and overbearingly heavy. They had screwed up badly.


    Upon arriving back in Armon''s office he and Nigel had set off to gather their gear and resign from guard duty. Neither of them had close ties to their famlies. Even if they did it wouldn''t keep them in the town. Both had come here to turn their lives around. They had run a shop together in Tzim. A human kingdom to the east of the high elves. Urvos himself had gathered hides and wood from the forest, while Nigel would go a nearby mountain to hand mine some ore. Then each of them would process the materials and make them into something useful. Such as weapons and armor.


    Until one day they pissed off one of the human merchant lords by selling superior quality items at a lower price. Soon after that they returned from their excursions to find the place burnt to ash. Nigel had a friend who knew of a place in desperate need of some skilled labor and the pay was extremely good. In smaller to mid sized towns guards were considered top notch jobs. It didn''t take the two long to realize the place was overrun with Nulguard members. While the amount of guards was relatively large for the city it was nothing compared the amount of Nulguard members. Like most of the guards who had already left, they took the first opportunity that came.


    When the two were almost back to Armon''s office they were ambushed. THey were heavily outnumbered, and while they gave one or two of them a nice beating they were easily overwhelmed.  In front of Urvos sat a burly Dwarf. On the side of him was a tray filled with tools of interrogation.


    "Ahh finally awake. Dat''s gud. Tis no fun ta start askin questions afore da guest is awake. So do ya wanna tell ol'' Twistspeak what ''e wans ta hear. Or am I gun show ya why I''m called Twistspeak."(Twistspeak)


    "Well what do you want to hear?" (Urvos)


    Twistspeak tutted."Ya know dey all act loik dey wanna ''elp out. Then dey hear what I wan'' ta know. Always take''s a lil convincing. Who knows mayba you gun'' be da first. What Oi wanna know iz what append ta moi frienz. There were a few of them. Won was a mage. Da other was a warrya wit a big axe. Ya ad a gurl in dere too." (Twistspeak


    )"O those guys. That''s easy their dead." (Urvos)"An who killed em?" (Twistspeak)


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    "I''ll introduce you. GERNAM!" (Urvos)


    Suddenly a slight glow appeared under Urvos''s shirt. THe source of a glow was a glyph placed by Gernam. It acted mostly as a waypoint. Though it also provided some defense against spells. Behind Twistspeak a portal large enough for a tall enough to enter through opened. Gernam stepped through he was followed by Darren, a pale girl, an elf Urvos didn''t recognize, and Lycan.Twistspeak''s mouth fell open. After a moment he did the most foolish thing he possibly could. He bolted for the door. Before he even made three steps the girl was in front of him. Using nothing but her nails she swung and slit his throat. Blood covered the girl but she didn''t seem to mind. In fact she seemed to relish it.


    "Why must you always make a mess? What if that got on my robe? What would you do then hmmm?" (Gernam)


    The girl rolled her eyes."Don''t think I''ve forgotten what I asked. You will tell me after we find Nigel." (Gernam)


    "Of course. Though I would like to see a demonstration from your friend before we leave." (Lilium)Darren nodded."Good then lets have some fun." (Lilium)


    With that the girl kicked the door off its hinges. The Dwarves on the other side were taken by surprise. Before she could move in for the kill, a little black sphere the size of a marble appeared in front of her. Before she could blink the dwarves were swept off of their feet. THeir bodies were crushed as they were forcfully wrapped around the tiny object. In five seconds the sphere was surrounded by a mush of flesh, blood, bones, and organs. The vampire shakingly turned around to look at Darren as did Urvos. THe scientist waved his hand the the mush fell to the ground. With a smile Darren turned to Gernam.


    "Imagine if that got on your robe." (Darren)


    <hr />[/hr]


    Man I am really not likeing this new site. I upload my chapter 5 times before it worked then it compressed it into this.


    <hr />[/hr]


    Ok well I''ve tried like four times to fix it. But every time I delete an extraline every piece of text below it is put into an ant sized font. I''ll fix it in the morning I think my powers about ot go out since it''s flooding down here.

 Chapter 23: Composite

    The group stepped around the "puddle" as they left the cell. The hallway had two paths with multiple heavy wooden doors along each path. He tapped his foot as he contemplated what to do.


    "I suggest we split up." (Darren)


    "Groups of three?" (Gernam)


    Darren nodded.


    "My group will be me, Urvos, and Lycan." (Darren)


    Urvos shifted uncomfortably.


    "What? Not comfortable in my group?" (Darren)


    Urvos shook his head.


    "It''s not that. I just feel like I''d be holding you two back without a weapon. I don''t want you having to babysit me if things get ugly." (Urvos)


    "Oh how inconsiderate of us. Lycan wanna help him out?" (Darren)


    Lycan nodded her great lupine head. The great wolf then lifted her head and howled. Mana slowly gathered in front of her. Shaping itself into an a long bow made of ice. Darren visibly winced at the sight of it prompting a confused look from the rest of group.


    "What not up to your standards? I didn''t take you for an expert on bows." (Lycan)


    Urvos grabbed the frozen bow. Surprisingly it wasn''t cold on the grip or the "string." Examining it he could find no faults. In fact he could easily call this the most masterfully crafted bow he had ever held. Urvos couldn''t help but wonder what flaw Darren saw in this masterpiece.


    "Ai, I cannot find a flaw in it either. I know your wife''s a deity, but please curb your expectations." (Urvos)


    "Ahh its not that I''m disappointed in her craftsmanship or skill. The bow is just very.... primitive from my view point." (Darren)


    "Primitive?" (Urvos)


    "In my world we have whats called a composite bow. While this longbow is very well made. It doesn''t pack the power of a composite bow. In fact I''d say the piercing power is about 4 times less than that of a composite bow." (Darren)


    "Can you make one of these?" (Urvos)


    "I can try. Personally I''ve never done it. However, I know the mechanics behind it. I can create a blueprint for it if you feel up to the task." (Darren)


    "I''d appreciate that greatly. Thank you." (Urvos)


    Darren gave a genuine smile at the praise. His expression soon turned serious again.


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    "Anyway, Gernam you, Lilium, and Habbron will obviously be the other group. Check every cell, and if you find any guards interrogate them. They don''t have what you want kill them and move on to the next. Every moment we delay is another moment Nigel could be being interrogated, and I realize how hypocritical that is considering i just made a scene over how primitive I thought a bow was." (Darren)


    The latter part brought an annoyed glare from all present save Gernam who just laughed. Darrens group took the left path while Gernam and his group took the right.


    The first few cells were empty save for rats, roaches, and a miniature cockatrices which ate the other pest.  After the first ten cells the groups could no longer see each other. As they walked down the hallway inspecting each cell Darren decided to ask Lycan about how she made weapon out of ice.


    "So how did you make that bow anyway?" (Darren)


    "It''s fairly easy. You form the magic into that shape and set it''s properties accordingly. Like how that bow doesn''t feel cold to Urvos. The arrows that form when he pulls the string wouldn''t effect him either. Imagine forming a fireball or a darkmatter marble but instead of a ball imagine the weapon." (Lycan)


    "Ahh so if you get to far, or if you will it, would it simply dissipate?" (Darren)


    Lycan nodded.


    The corridor started to drastically widen. Then it made a sharp turn. As they approached the turn Darren held up a hand and the three stopped.


    "Lycan, go check around the corner." (Darren)


    She nodded and casually walked ahead. Once she was able to see around the corner she turned to Darren.


    "We may have a problem." (Lycan)


    "And what would that be?" (Darren)


    "Well I don''t know about you but one hundred and twenty dwarves seems like an issue." (Lycan)


    Darren nodded in agreement. While he could make another dark matter marble, it would require concentraition. He didn''t have the skills to keep it materialized for longer than a minute or so. He also couldn''t make the gravitational pull bigger than ten feet without losing control. Suddenly an idea formed.

 Chapter 24: The white Robed Reaper

    A miniature supernova. That was the quickest way to deal with the group.


    "Lycan, are there any spells for shielding?" (Darren)


    Lycan nodded and a barrier formed around them.


    With a nod Darren formed a mass of darkmatter about the size of a baseball. He breathed out slowly. He needed it to be just large enough to cause a supernova, but small enough so that a black-hole wouldn''t.


    Nulguard''s secondary base of operations was under attack. That was all the group was told. The alarm glyphs were set off ten minutes ago. When Matrim tried to contact Twistspeak through the resonance crystal there was no response. If things went bad here Vulkrim would have his head. He had been placed as local leader due to connections with one of the Shivs. While his brother had pulled some strings for him, Matrim knew that if he blew this, his brother wouldn''t show mercy even to him. No, he wouldn''t show mercy because it was him.


    Matrim pulled out all the stops. He knew that whoever had ported in the base was powerful enough to bypass the warding glyphs. Almost every fighter and mage was currently in route to the holding cells.


    The strongest fighters were forming a shield wall, which in turn stretched from one side of the hallway to the other. The shields themself were anti-magic. With the ability to cancel out tier 3 and lower fire, water, ice, earth, and air spells.


    "FORWARD" (Nulguard Commander)


    The command came as soon as every fighting member was in the hall. The frontline moved forward. As they were just about to reach the corner a small black ball came into view. The frontline came to a halt and raised their shields. The blackball pulsed for a moment. Then it collapsed. Less than a nanosecond later fires hotter than the core of a star raced down the hallway. The bricks directly around the explosion evaporated. The dwarves in the frontline died instantly. Those behind them as well, the flames and corpses of those in front of them crushing and disintegrating them. Not even ash was left in its wake.  The supernova consumed all. Those who were trying to descend down the stairs survived. However with the severity of their burns death would soon take them. Only Matrim and his commanders were left. The dwarf looked on in horror at the slaughter.


    Lycan had formed a wall of ice directly infront of them, infusing it with antimagic glyphs. Darren, as an extra precaution, put a thin layer of darkmatter on the back of it.


    Only the thin layer of darkmatter matter survived the blast. With a sigh of relief Darren dispelled it. As Darren stepped forward to survey the devastation he fell to a knee. With his spells and Lycan''s he was completely drained of mana.


    "You alright?" (Urvos)


    "Yea, just give me a moment." (Darren)


    After a few moments Darren pushed himself to his feet. The first thing he noticed was the crater, in he area closest to the darkmatter sphere. The crater actually extended to the walls and roof. Three meters in all directions were completely gone. Leaving dirt and ravaged foundations. As the group climbed down and out crater they noticed a group descending down the stairs.


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    When Matrim saw the the human and dwarf he seethed with rage. He hadn''t expected this. They had dozens of political prisoners, and family members of nobles. But the people that were saved were those guards. One look at the human however and he knew who had cast the spell. The human looked completely exhausted. Every step seemed to be a burden. Matrim breathed a sigh. The human had put everything into that spell hoping to clear out all opposition. Matrim believed that the human had left himself with nothing to defend himself with. His three commanders had smiles on their faces. While two of them had smiles of relief the other had a condescending smile.


    "What now human? Do you think we''ll just let you go. It''s obvious that you used everything on that last spell. And although it was powerful, how will you defend yourself now?" (Mage commander)


    Without a word the human pulled out a peculiar device from his coat. A loud bang resounded throughout the hall. Even the human and dwarf held there ears after the discharge. After the ringing subsided Matrim turned to his commander only to see he was dead. A hole in the middle of his head. When Matrim looked back towards the human he noticed that the deviced was aimed at him. However instead of a bang only a click was heard.


    "Shit. I forgot to check my ammo." (Darren)


    Now Matrim donned a condescending smile. With a motion from his hands the other two commanders rushed the human and dwarf. One had a greatsword while the other had two small daggers. Before they got halfway there the guard produced an odd looking bow. Without notching an arrow the dwarf pulled back the string. When he released it an arrow flew threw the dagger wielding dwarves head. Before the greatsword wielding dwarf took another step an arrows was shot at him as well. However, the dwarf struck the arrow midair with his sword. The arrow shattered into hundreds of tiny ice shards. The shards continued ot move past the dwarf. After moving another few feet the arrow reformed. Matrim''s eyes widened as he realized where the arrow was heading, but it was too late. The arrow pierced his stomach and shattered again sending iceshards throughout his body. He died the moment they pierced his brain.


    The moment the greatsword wielding sword heard his bosses screamed he turned to see what had happend. However when he turned back around arrows pierced both of his eyes.


    As the body hit the ground Urvos turned with an arrogant smile towards Darren.


    "Can your composite bow do that?" (Urvos)


    "Well shit, you got me there." (Darren)


    Lycan shook her head as the two laughed.


    "Anyway I''m guessing Nigel is being held down the other path. Lets got catch up with Gernam''s group. After we find Nigel we can search this place for anything valuable." (Darren)


    Urvos and Lycan nodded and group turned around.

 Delay

Sorry guys, I know I said I''d put one up today, but some school stuff came up. Just found out my third test and my final are within a week from each other. Third test tomorrow. As I said previously expect sporadic releases this week. Again my apologies.

 Chapter 25: Lilium

    As the two groups seperated Gernam turned to his sister.


    "Now back to our discussion. How did you die?" (Gernam)


    Lilium let out a sigh.


    "It was about 20 years ago. Little sister had asked a favor of me. She wanted me to help her establish a guild base in Razielon. The negotiations with the king went exceedingly well. In all honestly we should have realized it was too good to be true.. We had actually talked out a great deal. So long as we didn''t interfere with their locals and followed their laws we were to have free reign. It went well for the first five years." (Lilium)


    "What went wrong?" (Gernam)


    The lich kicked open one of the cells finding two Nulguards interrogating a human. He pointed his staff at the first and the man''s skin started to rot. The he formed a ball of what appeared to be a black flame and shot it at the other Nulguard. The dwarves head was blown clean off, becoming a splatter on the wall behind him. The lich jumped back to avoid getting blood on his robe. "Better avoid that one indoors." He mumbled to himself.


    "The generals stormed the base. The killed non-humans left and right. Humans were captured and.... "freed" after being shown the "truth." Safe to say the non-humans were the lucky ones. The attack came out of no where. It didn''t stop with the main base. The hundreds of village guild halls in the country were raided as well. I and several other guild commanders were sent to help those who were fleeing. We were successful at first but........


    --------------------------------------------------------20 Years ago--------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Lilium road on a falcon wyvern. Her sanguine armor shining in the sun. When she spotted the fleeing adventurers her heart sank. When she was sent out a few days ago the adventurers were in the thousands. Based on the size, she guessed only about one to two hundred remained. As she got above them her commanded her wyvern to dive down. As she approached the ground she noticed a lone figure on what appeared to be a horse far in the distance. The adventurers themselves were in a frenzy. Running for their lives some had stains on their shirts and robes. Most likely from vomit induced by the constant running. She landed in between the adventurers and the lone rider.


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    As the ride approached she noticed that what she had thought was a horse was in fact a sleipnir. A six legged horse that could reach speeds up to 140 mels* per hour. Within a few minutes he was upon her. The figure leaped off the the sleipnir and landed on his feet. His weapon was a single longsword and his armor was white chainmail. He was a head taller than Lilium and wore no helmet. His hair was long and platinum blond. He had deep blue eyes and stubble on his chin. He looked at her with disgust.


    "Stand aside. I will not let those heretics free for a single vermin." (Saphiel)


    With that he jumped onto his sliepnir and made to ride off, and she made no move to stop him. However the moment he passed Lilium she raised her hand. An enormous spell circle formed in front of her. A blood red beam exploded forth from the circle. Rock and earth were torn apart easily by the beam. When the man turned around his eyes widened. He didn''t expect such power, even from a vampire. He was able leap off his sliepnir and out of the way just in time to dodge the attack. His mount was not so lucky.


    By the time he touched the ground Lilium was already there her enormous greatsword already racing for his neck. Moving his arm fast enough to leave after images he blocked with his single longsword.


    "Very well you have my attention." (Saphiel)


    *1 mel= about 1 mile


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Sorry for the short chapter. Studying for my final. Thought I''d give you gusy something even if it''s not much. Next chapter will be longer. The flash back will probably be two or three more chapters.

 (Chapter 26) This was a delay announcement.

    Will be posted tomorrow. Half of it is done but due to complaints last time I posted half a chapter I''ll hold off for now. I feel like my test went well I''ll have my grade tomorrow. My final is next thursday. After that we should be back to a normal release schedule.


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    To those who read it before i took it down my bad.

 Chapter 26: Commanders and Generals

    "Very well you have my attention." (Saphiel)


    Without another word the general thrusted his longsword towards Lilium. The speed of the attack caught her off guard. Lilium easily side stepped the blow. She then retaliated with heavy downward slash from her greatsword. The general parried the attack and then delivered the vampire a heavy kick to the stomach. The general then moved as if to slash the air with his arm. 7 beams of light came from different directions. Lilium was able to dodge five of them but was hit in the left arm and right calf. She reached down as if to grab the wound on her calf, but thanks to her vampiric nature these wounds regenerated almost instantly.


    "High speed regeneration. You must be ancient. I must admit that''s the first time I''ve seen it in person." (Saphiel)


    The general then moved into attack not giving Lilium time to respond. However he had stepped into her trap. When she had reached down she had made a makeshift explosive circle. (About as powerful as a grenade when used by someone as strong as Lilium.) Dust and debris flew in all directions. The vampire batted away the largest debris with her greatsword.


    When everything settled there was nothing at the point of explosion. Lilium became very alert. She knew full well that it wasn''t over yet. Suddenly she ducked and narrowly dodged the general''s attack. Before he could follow up his attack an enormous white beam hit him from the side knocking him off his feet and sending him flying.


    "Hassan, what are you doing here?" (Lilium)


    The person she was addressing descended from the air and landing on her left. Hassan was a Tiqualant. Tiqualant are winged humanoid creatures that are about five feet in height. They look like something of a cross between a human and an eagle.


    "To be the bearer of bad news. Two more generals are in route to this location." (Hassan)


    Lilium cursed silently to herself. Reaching up she grabbed a simple necklace she had under her sanguine armor. With a yank she ripped it off. Power suddenly started to surge off of the vampire. Hassan took to the air and pulled a bracelet off his wrist to similar effect. The general was on his feet again. Upon seeing his opponents spike in power he sighed. Lifting his sword up, pommel towards the sky and the blade towards the ground. He spoke a single word.


    "Martyrdom." (Saphiel)


    He plunged the blade into his chest. However blood did not gush out of the wound as expected instead light flowed forth. Wings white as snow grew out of his back. When he removed his sword the blade had grown in length. Instead of the simple design it was now covered in complex pasterns and glyphs. The blade seemed to emite a soft glow.


    Just from looking at him the two knew he was out of their league. However beating him wasn''t their goal.


    "How long can you hold him?" (Hassan)


    He yelled this down to her.


    "Two, three minutes tops. What are you going to do?" (Lilium)


    "I''m going to open a gate for the rest of the commanders." (Hassan)


    "And what about the other generals, when will they be here?" (Lilium)


    "In five." (Hassan)


    Lilium nodded.


    "You know I can hear you?" (Saphiel)


    "Yes but you can''t really do anything about it." (Lilium)


    The general hmphed and rushed her. Even without her seal she was unable to dodge his attack, so instead she attempted to parry. The moment their swords connected Lilium was knocked into the ground. She rolled to the side in an attempted to dodge the continued onslaught. The moment his sword connected with the ground it was like a small meteoroid had impacted the location. Lilium was hit by a large amount of debris. While the dust was still settling Lilium took that moment to put some distance between her and the general. She thrust her greatsword into the ground and removed one of her gauntlets. She then slid her bare hand down the blade. Holding the bleeding hand out in front of her she channeled a large portion of mana into the wound. Suddenly an enormous amount of blood gushed from the wound. If she were human this amount would have already killed her but blood still kept flowing. When it finally stopped she was in a small puddle. By this time most of the smoke had cleared it only took a moment for her to spot the general standing silently. After locking eyes for a moment the general broke the silence.


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    "Are you giving up? If so I could have made it faster than that. All you need do is ask." (Saphiel)


    He said this as his eyes drifted down to the blood.


    A smirk slowly spread across Lilium''s face. She lifted her hand to show the general the wound. After she made sure the general was looking the wound closed itself immediately. Leaving no trace that it was ever there in the first place. Suddenly the blood around the vampires feet started to move. First a single ball of blood rose up. Then another, then another, and another. This continued until about thirty of the balls floated around Lilium. The general took a fighting stance in response to this. Ten of the balls took the shape of knifes and started to whirl around Lilium. Another twenty fused together and gathered on her back. Within moments the vampire sported her own pair of wings, albeit more sanguine in color. Five of the remaining ten then gathered around her sword. One of them became six smaller balls, which in turn became glyphs that spread across her sword. The rest gathered around the edge. At first the edge appeared to be uniform. Then hundreds of tiny uniform blades jutted out of the red edge. Then they started to flow rapidly in a single direction. (Think Chainsaw, or chainsword if your a warhammer fan.) The remaining five simply stayed balls floating in a circle around her. One might think the general would have retaliated, however this whole process took only a few seconds.


    "Let''s see if you fair any......" (Saphiel)


    Before he finished the vampire rushed him. Saphiel side stepped dodging the blade itself. Before he could react anymore one of the wings morphed in shape to become more blade like and cut him across the chest. As he stepped back to avoid a follow up attack the five balls surrounded him. Each one sent a slash of blood towards him. He only managed to dodge the attack aimed at his neck. While three of the others only managed to nick him one managed to cut him deeply across the back of the knee. The general realized he needed to put some distance between the two of them before she could capitalize even more. Thrusting out his hand he quickly channeled a small amount of mana into it. A burst of blinding light caused the vampire to scream in surprise and quickly cover her eyes. After the general felt he had moved back enough he raised the same hand into the air. Channeling a much larger amount into he suddenly became covered in a soft golden glow. His wounds then closed themselves, although not as quickly as Lilium''s would have.


    "Impressive. But let''s see what good your regeneration is against this!" (Saphiel)

 New chapter tomorrow

    Sorry for the delay guys. Schools been kicking my ass. Got a c on the test i studied hardest for. (Luckily i got A s on the others)


    I got one more paper to write and two finals left. On Wednesday  another on thursday then its back to one a day. Thank you so much for bearing with me. In short, no releases thurday or wednesday. and atleast 1 (Hopefully 2) for mondya and tuesday.


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    Also I''m not going ot worry about donation or anything like that until after may.


    The second story arc was originally supposed to be half the length of the first but it may turn out to be longer than it.

 Chapter 27: Intercepted

    "Impressive. But let''s see what good your regeneration is against this!" (Saphiel)


    Driving his blade into the ground the general then lifted both hands towards the sky. His powerful white wings allowing him to ascend. Sensing the powerful magic accumulating around the general Lilium changed all of her blood tools into large round shields. However they were no match for what came next. Hundreds of spears made of light appeared above Lilium. Without warning they rained down upon her. For every one she dodged or blocked, two hit her.


    Suddenly a scream erupted from Lilium. When she looked down she knew it was over. Her heart had been pierced. The light spears suddenly stopped. The general slowly strode towards her. His sword in hand he raised it so as to end her. However behind him Lilium saw the rest of the commanders. Knowing at the very least they could repel him she had a smile on her face.


    "You lost." (Lilium)


    Then the blow came.


    ----------------------------------------------------------Present----------------------------------------------------------------------


    "What happened to the other commanders?" (Gernam)


    Lilium shrugged.


    "At this point your guess is as good as mine. I haven''t had any contact with the guild sense my death." (Lilium)


    The pair walked together silently with Habbron following a good distance behind so as to give the two some privacy. After a short while Lilium broke the silence. A grin stretching across her face.


    "So, Lucifer, when did you start going exclusively by the family name?" (Lilium Gernam)


    The lich shot her a glare.


    "You know why. And I''ll know if you tell anyone. So I better not hear Darren mention my first name. For he won''t be the one to face the repercussions." (Lucifer Gernam)


    The usually empty eye sockets of the lich flashed red. Lilium shivered and shrunk back. Though she was powerful she was but a candle to a bonfire when compared to her brother when he was serious.


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    After another five minutes of walking they came across a full metal door. The only feature on the door was the simple handle. The siblings looked at each other. With a nod Lilium kicked open the door. In a moment a dwarf covered in blood wielding a battle axe and covered in blood, charged out swinging blindly. Lilium moved in to strike him down but Gernam intercepted and caught both her fist and the dwarfs axe.


    "NIGEL CALM YOURSELF!" (Gernam)


    The dwarf was breathign heavily. Adrenaline pumping through his body. Gernam leaned to the side to peer into the cell. Blood was everywhere. The two would be torturers used to paint the room sanguine.


    "What happened?" (Gernam)


    A grin appeared on the dwarf''s face.


    "The bastards unbound me to try to put me in that torture chair. They thought i was still out of it. So when one of them go to close I hit his head so hard with mine he musta been seein stars for a little while. I then took his axe and used to mince his friend. By the time he came to it was already to late for him." (Nigel)


    Gernam looked at his friend in disbelief. He never would have guessed his simple friend capable of such brutality.


    "Hoho someone had a party." (Darren)


    Nigel and Gernam''s  group turned to see Darren and his group. The scientist waved at his friends. Looking at Nigel he gave a relieved smile.


    "Glad to see your okay." (Darren)


    Urvos looked at the blood covered dwarf and then at the room behind him.


    "This is why I stopped taking you hunting with me." (Urvos)


    "It''s fine rocks were more fun to smash anyway. HAHA" (Nigel)


    The dwarves shared a hearty laugh.


    "Ready to go?" (Darren)


    Everyone nodded in affirmation. Nigel then lifted his staff and uttered something incomprehensible. A black portal opened up in front of the group.


    The group then entered one by one leaving behind a destroyed facility.

 Update

    No I''m not dropping Gallanor. My new SSD died or is screwing up not sure yet. So I can''t put new chapters until I fix this. Anyway I''ll keep you updated here.


    Also since I can''t do a chapter I''ll go ahead with the Q&A in another post.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it<hr />


    Should also mention this is being done from my phone. I love you guys, but I don''t think its enough to do a whole chapter from my phone.

 Q&A Thread

Ask me about Gallanor, myself, or anything really. I''ll use this to preoccupy me while I wait for my hard drive to be diagnosed. (No I can''t use the old hard drive. The reason i got a new one is cause the old one died.