As usual, the humans reproduced the same mistakes...

The ships could be separated in the original configurations,

The Russians kept their shuttle with the US civilian shuttle and some Australians.

The Europeans, English, Commonwealth and the royal family decided to go to England and join their super Bunker at the end of the world.

The Chinese hesitated and then decided their fate.

Some Japanese joined the French and Canadians and opted to stay with the Russians and US.

The rest of the world being too wild, they decided to follow Yuri, the Americans too. The Russians were well known to the Americans and their knowledge of rockets and thrusters allowed this small group of castaways to survive the apocalypse.

Moreover, their constant confrontations made them like a family and the Americans, lost without a government, turned to the strong man of the situation. The descendant of the Romanovs!

After a settlement and development, it was established that the USA would take back their country and the whole South of America,

The Russians would take back Alaska and Central America.

The Canadians and the French would take back their country, but after long discussions, all this was meaningless and the nation states had to stop.

Everyone would arrive in Seattle, housed and protected, and everyone would participate in the development and reconstruction of a continental country.

The conquests being of another age, the English and the Chinese were responsible for the reconstruction of their part of the world, each one being free to come and go in the 3 zones.

The construction sites that awaited the people were unthinkable and humanity as we knew it no longer existed. It was a new beginning.

But their immediate goal was to survive!

Food supplies were not infinite.

Meanwhile, in Alinor, King Phileas was with the generals and in front of him, shrapnel and bullets were on a table, under the wise guidance of Alter-Magus, a miracle worker.

Next to them, a young fairy, Orphea wanted to touch one of the shards, and it burned the tip of her thumb a little and she immediately dropped the piece.

Orphea: "This is terrible! It is pure iron and it is as if enchanted with an unknown, unholy, necromantic magic."

Alter-Magus: "Our alchemists have concluded that this is the metal of death, described by the ancients as iron, that infamous metal that channels energy, undermines it and even swallows lightning!"

King Phileas: "What do we know about these weapons?"

Orphea: "They pierce our shields, completely ignoring our magic. Yet magic, shields, roots, walls of stone, fire and the elements hold all material! Even unholy gold but iron overrides all!"

Alter-Magus :" We fixed a point on an arrow of a powerful and enchanted bow, the point absorbed part of the power without contact and it pierced like butter our shields, armor and in the body, the wounds are terrible. The tissues burn, twist, melt and worse, the blood in contact with the fragment in the wound is as if poisoned and will ravage the rest of the body. The dragon is truly an abominable monster. Reports tell us that it slaughters guards and captures any magical creature and eats them or offers them as a sacrifice to its demons. If the dwarves are allied with the dragon, we are leading our brave elves and warriors to a gruesome death. Worse, all those who were captured never reappeared, even those who died on the battlefield before their capture.

King Phileas rubbed his beard.

"Under these conditions, to send our armies like this would be a slaughter and an insult to our Lord Tyrant."

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Mandragus, the royal mage and general also in wartime spoke up.

"I may have a solution. To guard the dungeons against the adventuring elves, there are special guards who are immune to arrows and projectiles. Only enchanted weapons can harm them. "

And he pulled out a scroll showing the creature.

[https://i.imgur.com/1fqxgRe.jpg]

"It's a beholder!"

Everyone else was surprised at the image of the nightmarish creature.

Alter-Magus: "What is it? That horror?"

Mandragus: "They are monsters from the abyss, from the depths of our nightmares, but they are related to us. They are "relatively" docile in the sense that they will inspire fear in their enemies, use telekinetic powers like the ancient magic of the dragon and turn them against him, on the other hand, he also possesses a breath like the dragons, coming from his eyes, which are made of condensed mana.

They also possess a breath of fear and they can possess/control a number of troops through which he can see with his many eyes. They are also called 'spectators' and guard spheres."

The generals discussed among themselves and then one of them asked: "And what is their weak point?"

Meanwhile, at the Dwarf citadel...

Kate, from her 25 long meters, was sitting among the dwarf women and it was morning and she was watching Pixel and her friends, including Momo and Betty, who were taking their thermal baths and brushing their hair, but they were like rope and they spent their time removing endless knots.

Then, amused, she cast a very useful spell and shrank to the size of a human woman at the withers.

They were close.

Betty was Pixel's little sister but also the princess.

Kate: "It's not right! Is it like this every day?"

The dwarves loved Kate especially when she was human-sized and could use her front legs as hands without hurting her friends.

On my way to the military council in the dwarf palace, I often glanced at my charge and saw that she was getting happy again but I had a very very big surprise for her. But it would have to wait until she didn't regret her humanity anymore.

I may have been a bully but I always knew how to love my loved ones and defend my family and my own even if it was against their ethics.

I mean, at this point... after the apocalypse, it didn't make sense...

Kate: "Pixel.... Take me to the treasures and archives... I'd like to see what you found"

Pixel: "Oh yes! great... that's a good idea. Every day with you is fun!"

They went down to the gallery and I ordered one of my guards to follow them with a dwarf guard. I wasn't afraid of dwarves, but maybe they would stumble upon something dangerous like a grenade or poison or worse.

"Well Master" replied the drone with the voice of Cabal...

After entering a wide corridor lit by magical gems, Kate pushed the heavy bronze door and they discovered millions of objects piled up with a brief description

Pixel had a notebook made of thin slate and a lead for writing.

Kate laughed as she saw a mannequin surrounded by a toilet seat with a picture of flowers and the sun. It said underneath.

"Item 45242, sun worship crown. Probably used during rites. Accompanied by scented salt blocks and ceramic pottery with flowers to worship the sun..."

"WHAAHAhaha!" laughed Kate:

"The flowers are to evoke fragrance! and the blocks are disinfectants for the ceramic pot. Look, the bezel sits there and it's used... to relieve oneself.... the water tank and the board stood up for the men and flat for the women... "It's a toilet!!!! There was no more worship of the sun, !! finally at the Incas but much earlier"

Pixel began to laugh and the conservative who listened to us was uncomfortable But he scratched his beard and made a Humpf of mood of dwarf.

Then we came to a broken cupboard with mirrors and drawers

Inside were some almost dusty flasks and a pourer.

"You see, Pixel, this is what it takes.

You need... ah here is a stool, the velvet that went on it and here and here, there were combs, brushes and in the middle a mirror".

Pixel "Ah the magic glass?"

"There was never any magic in those days. It was only technique"

A craftsman arrived and Kate explained to him how to refurbish this bathroom cabinet.

In the middle there was a sink and this is a faucet.

You put it like this but you have to have hot and cold water.

The stone blocks were soaps with perfumes and the drain.

A garbage can here "

Pixel: "Oh how nice it must have been! Too bad the formula is lost..."

Kate: "You think???? I know how to make soap, shampoo and straighten hair. And outside, in the park, I saw argan trees. "

Pixel: "Decorative trees?"

"Ah, trust me...these days are going to be very busy.!"

"OHHHH. A hair dryer! and. oh a hair straightener!"

Kate was quick to explain to the dwarf craftsman how it worked but the concept of electricity escaped her and she then had to turn to me but I refused to transfer this strategic technology.

"Kate, ask the blacksmith to use heated mana stones, small ones for your iron and hair dryer, of course with a wind rune, a small..."

No sooner said than done, the artisans, motivated, especially by their wives went to work.

On the other hand, Kate and her friends had harvested argan nuts and they put them in presses.

Immediately, a pure and clear oil came out.

This oil was excellent for beauty care and various products were reinvented thanks to the tenacity of my dragonne.

The next day, the train arrived and the last of the structural parts were transported and the robots set about completing my destructive work in great secrecy.

The following week, Kate proposed an argan oil massage and Kate also enjoyed it when it was her turn. It felt great, but it also made her beautiful scales shine and strong.

The life of the women improved thanks to the dragoness and the dwarves returned her kindness.

Dyes, nail polish, perfumes and foundations, lipsticks, glass and the whole range was rediscovered. Many lost things were revived, anti-wrinkle, moisturizing ointments, hand, face and hair care.

Without knowing it, a huge industry was about to rise and the princess had noticed the immense value of this knowledge and the potential financial impact. Magic could work miracles, but not for everyone, and the treatments were reserved for the elite and the wealthy, but with the boxes, the bottles, a whole goldsmith's work was being put into place.

This reached the ears of the king who saw in this industry an unprecedented way to create wealth other than by extracting minerals. Also it was a way to value some rare earths and products without any other value but also a way to exchange with other peoples.