The Arxhige Kingdom was one of the several government bodies located throughout the land of Estrea. Its territory covered a variety of biomes from mountains to coastlines. At its center, stood the capital city bearing the same name of Arxhige. The life in Arxhige Kingdom was largely peaceful with three living legendary heroes maintaining public order by simply existing among the people.
Today was one of those days where one of the legendary heroes had to do a certain errand only he could do excellently.
Crackle! Zap!
Vrooom....
A bolt of electricity large enough to qualify as a lightning bolt struck the receiver coil of a huge machine, and it roared to life soon after.
“Alright, should be good enough for about six months.”
The one who had just cast the lightning magic to power the machine was Sedhoust Grasmord, the Royal Archmage of Arxhige and also one of the Five Heroes who had saved the land from Calamity twenty years ago. During his life in peaceful times, Sedhoust served the nation doing research projects and teaching classes in the academy. The machine he had powered up using his magic was one of the many fruits of his works.
This machine was capable of storing a huge amount of magic energy, which would then be relayed by wires throughout the city to power various appliances such as street lights and water pumps. The receiver coil was only compatible with Lightning Weave magic, which was Sedhoust’s specialty and also the magic element which had never seen practical use outside combat. That had been only the case until Sedhoust had come up with this machine for the exact reason several years in the past.
“Thank you for your service, Lord Grasmord.”
“It’s a pleasure.”
Sedhoust made a small nod as he replied to the uniformed man standing next to him. In order to remain operational, Lightning Weave magic had to be cast on the machine’s receiver coil every once in a while. Lightning Weave was not a rare or difficult element, so there were actually many people who could do this instead of him. However, he was still the only one who could generate enough energy for the machine to last for a longer period of time within a single cast, so he was sometimes requested to do it. After all, the receiver coil still took damage from spells, and the maintenance cost of the coil was not exactly a cheap one.
Knowing about the circumstances, Sedhoust put one hand under his chin.
“I wish I could come up with a way to make the receiver coil more resistant to damage without compromising the power output.”
“Oh, I believe someday you will, Lord Sedhoust.”
“Thank you for your encouragement.”
Sedhoust soon left the building the machine was located in, which was one of the power plants feeding power throughout the city. He looked up, noticing that the sky was beginning to turn yellow, signifying the imminent dusk.
“Where should I go for dinner tonight...?”
Sedhoust spoke to himself in a low voice, pondering over the matter he had just spoken about. In the end, he made a decision within a short time.
Later, Sedhoust arrived at a public eatery where he was a regular. Upon him entering, a good number of seated customers turned their heads at him and briefly took a look before going back to their business. It was quite natural and Sedhoust himself was already used to it. After all, there was no denying that he was a famous figure in town.
“Hey there, Sedhoust! What brought you here today?”
The chef cooking behind the counter greeted cheerfully. He was an old friend, so there was nothing strange. Still, Sedhoust could never stop getting impressed by how tall and muscular this dark-skinned chef was whenever they met.
“Just an empty stomach, Keith.”
Sedhoust spoke as he took a vacant seat right in front of the counter. Keith, the chef, let out a hearty laugh as he quickly put down a tiny plate containing today’s appetizer along with a glass of ale.
“So, what are you going to have tonight?”
“Let me think for a bit...”
Sedhoust browsed over the piece of hardened paper nearby, which had a list of available selections. While browsing and pondering, his hand picked up one piece of the appetizer and casually put it into his mouth. The mild sourness of the taste went well with the ale he took a sip right after.
“Seafood Fried Rice with sunny side up. Also, extra squid.”
“Coming right up!”
Keith immediately went to work after hearing Sedhoust’s decision. While doing that, he talked without averting his eyes from his work.
“So how’s life today?”
“Same old, same old. Teaching, doing research, and zapped a gen today.”
“At least it’s another peaceful day, eh?”
“Yeah, at least...”
“On my side, there was a team that took a quest and returned with one member dying. Our healers tried their best to save her, but...”
Keith went silent. His hands didn’t stop working, but one could easily notice the sadness written over his face.
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“I don’t wanna blame them, but damn... that’s what would happen if you get overconfident with your abilities...”
“What happened to the team after that?”
“No idea. They’re probably still mourning in their room upstairs. They can either continue adventuring as they are, find someone to replace the fallen, or disband altogether.”
“Hmm..”
“Sorry, I know I started it, but let’s talk about something else. Earlier yesterday, I got a request to repair a spear. I told the guy that it would cost less to buy a new one, but he insisted, saying that it was a memento.”
The fizzling and ringing sound of frying and spatula hitting the pan echoed through the room as Keith talked. Sedhoust cracked a small smile hearing everything.
“If I were him I’d not bring the memento to battle. But, I shouldn’t judge too early. Is there more to that story?”
“Nope, it’s exactly as you think. Some guy thought that a memento would be some kind of invincible weapon but got his hopes shattered. At least he was lucky enough to come home in one piece. He was genuine about his feelings, though. So I accepted that request and sold him a new spear at a discount price while at it. Anyway, enjoy your meal!”
Keith put down the dish Sedhoust had ordered right in front of him. The fragrance of the seafood fried rice was attractive enough for the latter to immediately take a spoon and scoop it up. And that was exactly what he did within a second.
“You know, Keith. It’s been years already, but I still can’t stop being impressed at you handling three jobs at once.”
“Heh! Says the Royal Archmage, teacher, and gen zapper!”
Keith grinned with his arms folded as he spoke. Sedhoust grinned in return.
“Hey, the last one doesn’t count. I just cast a single spell and that’s it.”
Both Sedhoust and Keith let out a hearty laugh briefly, and then Sedhoust resumed his eating.
“But you know, Keith. While I of course don’t wish anything bad happening, sometimes I feel bored with the peaceful days. Everyday is same old, same old. Even my research projects no longer show meaningful progress these days.”
Keith was busy cooking for other customers as Sedhoust spoke, but he replied immediately without interrupting his work.
“Heh, I feel you there. Hey, how about we take a vacation someday?”
“Vacation? Where, though?”
“Dunno, maybe we could retrace the trip we had in the good old days? And who knows, maybe we’ll encounter him by chance! Hahaha!”
Sedhoust smiled with slightly mellow eyes before replying.
“Heh, doesn’t sound like a bad idea actually. You know what, I’ll see if I can get days off and get back to you later.”
“It’s settled then!”
Sedhoust smiled again as he continued eating his dinner.
Some time later into the night, Sedhoust was already in his private quarters within the Royal Castle. The night sky was clear, revealing the glimmering stars strewn across what the eyes could see. Knowing this, Sedhoust stepped to the balcony and sat down on the leaning seat which let him gaze at the sky. As he leaned his body, a feeling of relaxation came to him as his mind drifted into a series of musing.
The stars...
I can never get bored of them...
I can never stop thinking about the possibilities...
Are there other worlds out there...?
Worlds with living, breathing creatures and civilizations like ours here...?
Do they have to be wary of Calamity like us...?
Or... are we really all alone in the universe...?
If only there’s a way to go so far to see for myself...
Heh, I’ll probably die of old age before that can happen...
Sedhoust smiled while gazing at the starry sky. This moment of relaxation and musings gave him a sense of bliss, which was all he needed to end the day on a good note no matter what happened, as long as it was not something too crazy.
Sedhoust was about to rise and go to bed when he suddenly noticed something. One of the stars seemed to grow brighter and larger as it somehow moved. Sedhoust had seen shooting stars multiple times throughout the years of star gazing, but this one felt strange.
To be exact, it was too slow. In addition, its trajectory was unnatural, as if it was trying to curve back up. In the end, the strange shooting star disappeared from sight behind the distant hills. The dark sky didn’t help, but Sedhoust still could recognize faint trails of dark smokes lingering throughout the path the shooting star had traveled.
“What... was that...?”
Sedhoust stood up and put his hands on the fence of the balcony. There was no doubt about it. It was an object which had fallen from the sky.
“This could be bad...!”
Sedhoust’s grip on the balcony fence tightened. His teeth gritted and eyes narrowed. He still had no idea what the object was, but by any chance it could be something bad. Worst case, it could be a possible return of Calamity.
Wasting no time, Sedhoust immediately jumped off from the balcony and cast his flight magic. He zoomed towards the Adventurer’s Guild at full speed, leaving a violent gust of wind on his trail. He probably broke some windows and damaged some other property on the way, but he had no time to care about that. He could just pay for damage later.
Sedhoust landed right in front of the guild building. The guild remained operational 24/7, but at night there were less staff working. Sedhoust hastily passed through every person there and went upstairs straight to the private quarters of the Guildmaster.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Sedhoust knocked on the door, clearly being agitated. Seconds later, the door opened, revealing Keith behind it.
“Oh, Sedhoust! Did you get your days off already and want me to prepare?”
Keith spoke cheerfully upon seeing Sedhoust, but he quickly turned his cheerful face into a dead serious one.
“...Is what I would say, but I’m sure something has happened. Come in and sit down anywhere you like.”
Sedhoust went inside as Keith closed the door. He immediately sat down on one couch and took a few deep breaths as Keith sat down on another couch right in front across a rectangular table, with two cups of hot tea in hand.
“Have a drink and calm yourself, then you can tell me what happened.”
Sedhoust received the cup and took a sip. The tea’s fragrance and the warmth of it going down his throat indeed calmed him down a little. He took another deep breath, and then he began speaking.
“I was stargazing like I always do on clear nights, when I saw something falling from the sky. This thing was strange, unlike any of the shooting stars I have ever seen.”
“How strange?”
“It was too slow for a shooting star. In addition, its trajectory curved, like it was trying to lessen the impact of falling to the ground. I also could faintly see trails of black smokes lingering on its path shortly later.”
“Hmm...”
Keith went into a thinking posture, putting his hand under his chin.
“Call me paranoid, but could it be the return of Calamity?”
Sedhoust spoke in full seriousness. For all the passing twenty years, he had never shaken off the possibility that the Calamity he and his partners had defeated could make a return. After all, the beasts of Calamity, while mostly eradicated, still existed throughout the land, being the extermination targets of many high-ranked Adventurers.
“Can’t shake the possibility. From what you just told me, it seems whatever object that was, it was trying to land safely. That means it is sentient, or is controlled by something sentient. Anyway...”
Keith stood up, went to the study table at one corner of the room, and came back bringing a large scroll which was a map of the region. He spread the map over the table after Sedhoust put the tea cups away.
“Can you tell me where the object might have fallen?”
“Hmm...”
Sedhoust took a good look at the map, and a couple seconds later he spoke with his index finger moving accordingly.
“I think the object started falling from here... towards here... and then at this point I lost sight of it behind these hills...”
Keith observed the map and Sedhoust’s moving finger, and then he spoke after the latter was done.
“Hmm... It probably landed somewhere in Quatonne Forest. From the latest report I knew, it’s clear from Calamity Beasts. But that report doesn’t cover the deepest parts.”
“Do you think I should fly there and see for myself?”
Keith immediately shook his head hearing Sedhoust’s question.
“No! It’s too dark already and we don’t know what dangers lie there. Go home and sleep. Come back to me tomorrow morning. Might be a good idea to cancel your classes for that day.”
“...Alright.”
Sedhoust stood up, but before leaving he spoke once again.
“By the way, I came here flying at full speed, so...”
Keith facepalmed upon hearing it and shook his lowered head before replying.
“Alright, alright. I’ll cover the necessary repairs like always.”
“Yeah, thanks. Tell me the total later as usual.”
“Hmm. See you tomorrow morning.”
Sedhoust then left the guild building and returned home. He went to bed with a lot of things and worries going inside his mind, making it difficult to fall asleep. He just hoped that the worst wouldn’t come true.
Later, morning came peacefully. The sun rose from the horizon, illuminating the land and the sky without care of what was happening. Sedhoust had his breakfast quickly and told his aide to cancel all of his classes until further notice before departing to the Adventurer’s Guild.
Upon his arrival, Sedhoust saw Keith in front of the building, talking with several people whom Sedhoust recognized as members of one of the high-ranking adventurer teams in Arxhige.
“Hey! You’re here!”
Keith waved his hand at Sedhoust upon noticing him coming. Sedhoust approached the group and spoke while offering a handshake to the team leader. The apparels of the team leader befitted the image of a frontline vanguard with his medium-weight armor.
“Nice to meet you again, Kurt.”
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“It’s our pleasure, Master Sedhoust.”
Kurt, the team leader, accepted the handshake as he spoke. Sedhoust smiled slightly before speaking again.
“How many years has it been since that time when we first met?”
“About five years ago, sir.”
“Time flies, eh? Your team really has climbed the ranks.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Kurt seemed delighted as he spoke his gratitude. The team of three, naming themselves Fledglings, consisted of Kurt Warden and Leon Swift as the close range vanguards, and Anna Huntsman as the ranged fighter. Sedhoust remembered meeting them for the first time, when they had been still a newly moved-in team from another city. Fledglings was quite a rarity among other adventurer teams, rising their ranks very quickly and with proper strength to back that up.
Stopping himself from reminiscing about the past, Sedhoust turned his head to Keith and asked a question.
“So, Keith. What’s the plan here?”
“We’re going on an expedition quest to that place.”
“Huh? Can’t I just fly there right now?”
“Come on, Sedhoust. You know that if your fear turns out true, you’ll get shot out of the air within the blink of an eye and there will be nobody to help you escape! Can’t risk that!”
Keith spoke with his eyes narrowed and eyebrows slightly raised, displaying that he was dead serious.
“Hmm... yeah. Good point.”
“If we depart immediately, we should be at the outskirts of the forest right before dark. We’ll set up camp there and enter the forest first thing in the following morning. How’s that sound?”
Sedhoust nodded hearing Keith’s plan. He couldn’t find a reason to oppose. Keith then looked at Kurt again before speaking.
“Is your team ready?”
“As ready as ever, Master Keith!”
“Let’s depart, then!”
Without wasting any more time, the group totaling five departed on their expedition quest. To travel, they used a special vehicle belonging to the Adventurer’s Guild, which was, to put it simply, a self-propelled carriage which could run faster than a horse-drawn carriage. Although, its shape was nothing like a carriage. Its fuel was the very same power used for the city appliances, which was none other than Lightning Weave magic. Fully charged, the fuel could last for two days of nonstop ride.
Keith, the original creator of this vehicle, had named it ‘RV’, coming from simply abbreviating the word ‘Running Vehicle’. He was now the one driving, while the rest just sat down and waited, throwing a conversation every so often and also planning in preparation for possible outcomes.
There was no snag in the road, and as previously planned, they arrived at the edge of Quatonne Forest by sunset. The forest itself looked normal from there, but one would need a higher vantage point to see deeper without going in.
“I’ll fly up and see if I can spot something from here.”
Sedhoust spoke, stepping out of the RV.
“Got it. Be careful, and don’t wander off.”
Keith spoke as he and the Fledglings team stepped off, preparing to set up camp. Sedhoust replied with a single nod and activated his flight spell, flying straight up. After reaching the highest altitude he could reach, he looked over the vast forest ahead, trying hard to spot anything abnormal.
“Hmm...?”
And so he did. It was too far to make anything clear out, but he really noticed something at a far distance ahead. Not wanting to take unnecessary risks for now, Sedhoust went back down to the ground. Keith greeted him as he landed.
“So, did you see something?”
“Yeah. I’ll tell everyone once we’re together.”
Keith nodded. Later, all five of the group were sitting around a campfire under the night sky, eating their delicious dinner courtesy of Keith’s superb cooking skills. As he had mentioned before, Sedhoust spoke about his discovery.
“What I saw from up there was a notable portion of the forest flattened, as if something big has fallen and demolished its way through upon landing.”
Keith let out a grunting noise after hearing Sedhoust’s words.
“So there really was something fallen from the sky. Did you see the object?”
“I at least saw something big at the end of the devastation trail, but it was still too far to make out anything. I didn’t come any closer as you advised. One thing for sure, through the brief time I stared at it, it didn’t seem to be moving at all”
“I see.”
Keith nodded again, then he turned his head towards Kurt’s team.
“Do you guys have anything to say so far, or questions to ask?”
Kurt was slightly startled upon hearing Keith’s question, but then he replied after a very brief moment of thinking.
“Are we going to approach normally or stealthily, Master Keith?”
“Good question. Since we still don’t know what the thing is, I say that we should approach stealthily until we can get more information.”
Kurt nodded, then he looked at Leon and put his hand over Leon’s shoulder.
“We’ll be counting on you tomorrow.”
Leon made a slight nod in response.
“Leave it to me.”
Keith then spoke again, with his face and tone of speech displaying clear seriousness.
“Listen up. If the thing turns out to be something related to Calamity, your new objective will be to survive and inform the guild, so run away with all your might and don’t look back. I and Sedhoust will hold the line just long enough for you before escaping ourselves.”
“A-Alright, Master Keith.”
Kurt accepted Keith’s words without opposition. Keith then spoke again, asking a question to Kurt.
“By the way, how experienced is your team in slaying Calamity Beasts?”
“Hmm, admittedly not much. Somewhere between five to ten encounters. At the very least, I’m confident that my team can slay low-tier Calamity Beasts without trouble, as long as we outnumber them”
“I see. Not much indeed, but can’t be helped. Calamity Beast population has been suppressed after all, which is a good thing. But it might change soon...”
Keith went silent and let out a sigh after speaking, but then he spoke again.
“Anyway, let’s rest up for the night. We’ll enter the forest first thing in the morning as planned.”
The group then rested for the night with a rotating night shift. Nothing happened throughout the night, and thus morning came.
After quickly having breakfast, the group went into the forest. There was still a natural path wide enough for the RV to go through, so they still rode it until a certain point where the natural path became too rough to traverse through with the RV.
As everybody else stepped off from the parked RV, Sedhoust flew upwards once again to determine the direction to go. It was quite closer now, but still not close enough to determine what that fallen object was. Walking there would take at least an hour, more if using the stealth approach. Regardless, Sedhoust went back down and relayed the information he got to the others.
“Hmm, alright. Let’s go!”
The group then began walking straight towards the fallen object’s location. Leon, being the most adept at stealth, walked a distance ahead from the rest of the group. Keith and Sedhoust were at the front of the main group, while Anna and Kurt followed right behind, keeping their eyes open for a possible attack from behind.
The trek towards the group’s destination was basically uneventful. They spotted natural wild beasts several times, but they were mostly left alone. The aggressive ones were simply scared off.
Nearly one hour later, the group was getting close to their destination. In fact, the devastated area of the forest was already in plain sight. The group then marched discreetly alongside the devastated area, maintaining the same formation as before.
Sedhoust glanced at the devastated area to his left. All the trees had been either broken or toppled over, falling towards a single direction. Whatever the fallen object was, it was huge for certain. Perhaps about the same size as the Adventurer’s Guild building. Being worried that the fallen object could be related to Calamity, Sedhoust began to feel regret, because this unfortunate event had happened on the same night he had spoken out about being bored of the peaceful times. In a sense, it felt as if he had jinxed it to happen.
Bang! Bang! Boom!
Sedhoust didn’t have time to think further, because there was a loud noise out of the blue, coming from a further distance ahead. Everyone else in the group heard it too, and so Keith waved his hand at Leon, urging him to go back.
“Did you see anything?”
“It was faint, but seemed like a battle. Several people against a number of beasts.”
“Alright! Let’s assist them!”
With Keith’s words, the group hastened up their pace. The sound of battle grew louder as they approached, and what Sedhoust saw soon was a group of three humans wearing unknown uniforms battling against two green drakes, which were Calamity Beasts shaped like quadruped reptiles with the size comparable to bulls.
The three humans were all wielding what seemed to be guns, shooting at their enemies with projectiles of light. Unfortunately, slaying a Calamity Beast was not as simple as shooting it until it was dead unless you were overwhelmingly stronger. The green drakes were unfazed by the hail of projectiles, and one of them charged at the three humans. It jumped for a pounce as they were desperately shooting its face.
“Hmph!!”
Keith stomped the ground in front of him, extracting up a boulder half as big as his body within an instant. He then punched the boulder with a quick jab, sending it straight at the pouncing green drake at incredible speed.
Crash!
The boulder hit the green drake directly mid-air, stopping its pounce and sending it a distance away. The three people stopped shooting, then they all turned their heads at the group. Their mouths were noticeably agape.
Sedhoust and Kurt waved their hand at those people, signaling them to come over. Without saying any words, they immediately began running towards the group. The other green drake began pursuing them viciously.
“Please cover your eyes!”
Anna shouted as she shot an arrow in a slow arc, followed by another which was a fast straight shot. The two arrows collided at a spot between the running people and the pursuing green drake.
With a ringing sound, the two colliding arrows emanated a blinding flash. Everybody in the group had covered their eyes as instructed and the three running people were looking the other way, so the only one getting blinded was the pursuing green drake.
Leon immediately charged at the blinded green drake, jumped over its body, and slashed down at its tail with his short sword. The tail was immediately cut off and the green drake wailed in pain. Not missing the chance, Kurt impaled his spear into the green drake’s open mouth. A great amount of blood was spurted out from the mouth, accompanied by the sound of choked wailing. The green drake then fell down and the body became motionless. It has been slain.
The other green drake was still recovering from the shock of getting struck by a boulder when...
Crackle! Crackle! Zapp!
Multiple lightning bolts struck it from above, leaving nothing but charred remains in its place. Everybody in the group glanced at Sedhoust with varying expressions. Sedhoust just adjusted his glasses with his head slightly lowered, not looking back at anyone.
“ǝɔuɐʇsıssɐ ɹnoʎ ɹoɟ noʎ ʞuɐɥ⊥!”
One of the three people spoke undecipherable words to the group.
“What? What did you say?”
Kurt asked with his head tilted. The three people looked at each other and talked among themselves briefly with the unknown language, then one of them stepped forward and began making some body gestures which could be interpreted as gratitude.
“Ah, let me handle this.”
Keith stepped forward, and within a relatively short time the two of them could understand each other to certain extent using body language.
“Keith Biggwarde.”
Keith spoke while putting both hands on his chest. The other person responded by doing the same gesture and speaking what seemed to be his name.
“Theo Corinth.”
“Keith Biggwarde, Theo Corinth.”
Keith spoke, gesturing his hands at himself and Theo as he spoke each name out. Theo nodded, visibly delighted.
However, suddenly more people wearing the same strange uniform as Theo and his comrades approached by running. There were at least ten of them, some of them having their weapon pointed at the group.
“ɓuıop noʎ ǝɹɐ ʇɐɥʍ puɐ ǝldoǝd noʎ ǝɹɐ oɥM!?”
One of them, clearly a woman, spoke sharply.. Thankfully, before the situation could get any more tense, Theo stepped forward with his hands up and shouted.
“sǝıll∀ ǝɹɐ ʎǝɥ⊥ ¡ʇıɐMl!”
Upon hearing Theo’s shout, all the armed people lowered their weapons. Theo then approached the woman, who seemed to be the leader of the bunch, and the two briefly spoke in their language. She then approached Keith after giving Theo a pat on the shoulder, and bowed to Keith, seemingly as a sign of apology. She then gestured her hands at herself and spoke.
“Elana Mayer.”
“Elana Mayer. Keith Biggwarde.”
Keith replied the same way as with Theo previously, and Elana responded with a nod and a smile. Keith then glanced at the rest of his group and spoke.
“How about you introduce yourselves too?”
“Ah, right.”
Sedhoust stepped forward, stood right next to Keith facing Elana, and made the same gesture.
“Sedhoust Grasmord.”
Kurt, Leon, and Anna followed suit. Elana then made a few body gestures which Sedhoust could interpret as inviting the group to come with them.
“Is she inviting us to come with them?”
Kurt asked, to which Keith answered.
“It seems so. For now, let’s go along with them. I don’t think they’re bad guys, but don’t let your guard down.”
The group then followed Elana and her comrades through the forest. Less than ten minutes later, they arrived at an open area where what seemed like small shelters were set up.
And right behind the set of shelters, there was the huge object which had been the group’s main objective. Now that he was close enough, Sedhoust could make a guess from the shape, that the object was the remains of a large-sized vessel, having crash landed there.
“Keith, you’re thinking what I’m thinking, aren’t you?”
Sedhoust said, in low volume, not averting his eyes at all from the object.
“Yeah...”
Keith replied, brusquely. Sedhoust didn’t know about the Fledglings members, but he and Keith could easily make a preliminary conclusion that this huge object was a crashed aircraft, and these strangers were the passengers of said aircraft. From sight alone, Sedhoust could also assume that the aircraft was made with a technology far beyond anybody on the land could comprehend, so it was very possible that these people came from a different world among the stars.
Sedhoust let out a small sigh, realizing that the musings during his star gazing back then had also taken part in jinxing this event to happen. Nevertheless, a lot of things would probably never be the same from now on.