"So, Eolande," Lone said a bit absentmindedly. He was currently surveying the cavern they were walking through. It felt... odd. Lone could clearly tell that the purple-haired girl was creating the tunnel while they walked, but Lone's little affinity to earth magic that he had gained from watching the Collesseum back in Milindo being repaired, was telling him that this tunnel was completely natural. Very odd indeed.
The Tylwyth Teg looked back at him briefly and noticed how he was inspecting the walls. "I'm not creating the cave; I'm reforming it. And yes, how can I help you?" she said with a cryptic smile.
Lone had frowned for a moment before his face was covered in realisation. "Ah, I was wondering what that other feeling was. Are you reversing the flow of time for the nearby area? There was a tunnel here, what, thousands of years ago? How odd, I thought this waiting area was created by people's imaginations... anyway. What I wanted to ask was, you said 'Cosmos Level Being' earlier. What do you know about that term?" Lone asked after he pushed back the time-reversal tangent.
"Not quite... it's different from time magic. Right, your question. My people aren't originally from Altros," Eolande said in a dignified, yet saddened way.
"I don't mean to interrupt. But are you from Earth? Perhaps a place called Wales, no, wait, it would have been called Cymru, right?" Lone asked excitedly. Eolande was speechless.
It took her a few second to manage to form words past her shock. "H-How do y-you k-know that?" Eolande uttered. She wasn't scared or anything of the like. She was only stuttering due to her tremendous shock. Never before had she ever met a person who actually knew exactly where she came from without her telling them anything!
"Ah, well, I'm also from Earth, so is Soph," Lone said while a look of nostalgia flashed through his eyes. He then gently patted Sophie's golden locks which made her quite happy since she was still a bit depressed about falling for another high-level illusion so soon after the incident with Clicker's illusion.
"I come from Scotland, but you probably knew it as Caledonia. I was a teacher of history back when I was on Earth, and I know a little bit about myths. Tylwyth Tegs are a powerful sub-fairy race. Or something like that. I was more of a facts man, less so regarding myths and legends. Although, you seem pretty real to me," Lone finished with a light chuckle. He was trying to relax the flustered being of immense power floating directly in front of him in the narrow cave.
"B-But, you're a Foxkin! The Foxkin of Earth died out long before my race was forced onto Altros! H-How can you be from Earth?!" Eolande shouted in refusal. She refused to believe that Lone actually was originally a resident of Earth because of the afore mentioned reason.
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"Mmm, it's a bit complicated," Lone said before he gestured forward, prompting Eolande to continue along the tunnel. He followed after and continued, "I was just a regular guy. Some nobody that hated everything. And one day, I suddenly died. I have no idea how or why, but apparently I did. Then a thing calling itself 'the system' took me to Sophie's dimension. The dimension she claimed after killing God. I got to choose any ten powers I wanted, and one of them was a racial change to what you see today, and another was to seal Sophie despite her power as a Cosmos Level Being. After a few more power choices, I was sent to Altros. I don't know why, but here I am. That was a year and a half ago."
"Unbelievable..." Eolande muttered in response. However, she knew that Lone was telling the truth thanks to her ability to detect honestly.
"Now I've told you my back story, can you please tell me yours? Why did the Tylwyth Teg come to Altros?" Lone asked.
"That's only fair. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, we Tylwyth Teg were a well known and respected race back on Earth. We were a darker species than most though, and due to that, we fell under Hades' banner. At that time, it was he and his two brothers that ruled over the world. Every species worshipped or followed one of the three. But one day, Zeus and Poseidon, Hades' brothers, betrayed him and attacked him when they broke through to the Cosmos Level. He was always the strongest, but he lost and was forced to flee," Eolande said with a grim look on her face as if she was having flashbacks of the events.
After taking a second to refocus her thoughts, she continued, "Eventually, Zeus and Poseidon died of old age. They were already millions of years old when they reached the Cosmos Level, so it was only a matter of time. However, Hades never came back from his hiding. We never found where he went or if he died too, but a new God appeared. He only called himself 'God', and he spent a few thousand years killing all of the magical races on Earth. We weren't a match for him at the time, so we, as a species, altered the nature of our race. We made it so that our very being no longer belonged to Earth and became a part of Altros. Things didn't go well. I was the only survivor of the ritual," Eolande said with a melancholic smile.
"What a bastard. Well, good thing Soph here killed him," Lone replied in anger. He was angry that God had decided to kill several different species for no apparent reason, but if he were to guess, it would most likely be in fear of a more powerful existence than himself being born from the magical races. Unluckily for him, he ignored the puny humans, allowing Sophie to grow to the point that could defeat him.
"I'll have to reward you, Ms.Vladimirovich. But for now, let's test your smithing abilities, Mr.Immortus," Eolande said. Immediately after she had, the tunnel's end split open to reveal a small cottage and workshop in the middle of the field. There was a large purple crystal on the ceiling of this cavern, illuminating everything in a mystical light. Lone and Sophie were enthralled by the beauty of the place. Eolande smiled and spoke, "Welcome to my home, the Twilight Glade."
Lone couldn't help but get excited. Now it was time for his blacksmithing knowledge to increase! Of course, Lone had no fear that he might lose the test to see his capabilities because, no matter how humble the life-dream had made him, he was still confident in his abilities.