"Before you go off," Meredith indicates the sky. "Might I recommend crafting the staff in your house?"
I look up at the sky. We're using conjured fire to illuminate the area, though that was mostly because we already cast the orbs of it to show off the inside of the bathhouse and no one dismissed it when we came up here. The sun set more than an hour ago, and the light of the moon is enough to see by for our purposes. Our fires just add to that light.
However, clouds are moving in from the west. While it's not bright enough for me to make them out, the fact that they completely cover the sky and look fairly thick from what I can see suggests we might be getting rain soon.
"Thanks, Meredith!" I tell her. "I'll fix up the house to accommodate the smoke, then."
"I'll have the wood delivered shortly," Meredith tells me.
"Thanks!" I tell her, then rush to the edge of the roof and jump over the short wall.
"Caleb!" Kyron exclaims.
Despite trying to reprimand me, Kyron jumps over the wall to join me. We land on the ground (lightly thanks to the use of air magic), then we walk toward the "house". I'm not happy with the work since it was quick and simple instead of properly-made, but it's what we'll be using until I have time to produce a better house.
"Gonna go do the smoke vent," I tell Kyron. "You go on inside."
I fly up to the roof and walk to the center. With my magic, I pull out a one-foot-wide circle of stone from the roof. This creates an opening into the house, and I pull up with my left hand. The roof raises up a little, creating a downward slope from the hole. It's not much, but it will keep rain from flowing inside.
Gesturing with my right hand, I send the chunk I'd pulled out down. It spreads out so that it's only three inches thick and covers the hole with an extra five inches past the edges. The cover is slightly-domed as well, and five legs stretch down from it and to the roof, sealing together with a three-inch-high gap between the roof and the done. While I did have to create a little extra stone for this, the cost was nearly inconsequential.
Finished, I jump off the roof and land, right beside Kyron.
"How come you didn't go in?" I gesture to the door, a darker, rectangular section of the wall.
Other than the stone being darker there, there's no difference between the door's stone and the rest of the house's stone. I made the door darker so that it's more easily identified – but we don't actually need that. We could just open up a hole anywhere in the wall to enter, if we wanted.
The only real reason I even made a door in the first place is because this house already makes me unhappy with the rush job and lack of real "home" feel. I didn't want to add onto that by not having a proper door spot.
"Because I'm not powerful enough to manipulate stone you altered to be more resilient," Kyron answers. "It takes around 30 Magic to manipulate the stone of this house, and I'm barely over 20 Magic."
"Did I?" I ask. "I thought I made it so that you cold."
"Nope," Kyron answers.
"Whoops," I say. "Well, you'll be strong enough when we return, and I only plan on letting it stand for one more night after our return. After that, I'm tearing this down and giving us a proper house."
"Excuse me," one of the staff brought out here for the research approaches, pulling a small wagon behind him. "Lady Meredith asked me to deliver this."
"Thank you," I gesture with my hand, using air magic to lift up the wood. "Have a good night."
I open up the house and enter, Kyron following behind me. After closing and sealing the door, I conjure some stone and shape together a rack to hold the wood, then I alter the ground to create a two-foot-wide and one-foot-deep pit in the floor, made of reinforced stone to allow it to last against the heat. Even if I'm tearing this down soon, I'll put in the extra effort and Mana for that. It makes me feel better about the house.
With the fire pit in the middle of the house, that leaves only about six feet or so from it to the walls. The furs we're using as a bed aren't quite that big, but we'll need to be careful not to move too close to the fire to avoid setting things on fire. Fortunately, neither Kyron nor I move much in our sleep, and we usually sleep on our sides when sleeping together, anyway.
"Caleb," Kyron says as I start adding some of the wood to the pit I made.
"Yeah?"
"Before we go to bed," he says. "I wanted to ask you something."
"If I think I can manage only a couple of rounds tonight?"
"I know you can," Kyron rolls his eyes. "I wanted to know what the plan was."
"To make a fire, have some sex, and then get some sleep."
"No," Kyron says. "Our plan. For the future. The God of Death doesn't know how we were resurrected or why or who was behind it or anything like that. That means we have no idea what's going on with us. Right now, our goal is dealing with the frauds, and that's both to protect our image and to help those being deceived. What about after that, though? What will we do? The only reason we even pushed for as high of Levels as we reached was because of the Great Demon War. Will we do that again?"
Though Kyron is the one who does most of the dealing-with-other-people bit between us, and though I tend to be a bit more impulsive and excitable, Kyron always defers to me for our greater plans. It's not that he doesn't know what to do – I'm sure he has some thoughts – it's that I tend to have ideas that interest us more.
Part of the reason for that, though, was because I knew more about the world than he did, even when we met. My eyes were opened when I peered from the Abyss of Reality and learned the Truth, and it granted me much. It became easier for me to learn languages, to observe the world around me, to understand the flows of order and chaos…
The turning point for true mages – the point at which we became 'altered' – is the moment we uncover even a fragment of the Truth. I did that years before I ever gained the ability to use magic, and it's what lead to me learning the full Truth.
Knowing even a fragment of it is what changes us into beings who do instead beings who think. Even now, just building this fire, I'm wanting to do more, to be more active. I can sit and create, but that's because I'm flexing my powers to do so. The whole reason that I take shortcuts like I do isn't because I'm able to do that and create superior items anyway.
No, it's because creating magic items the way that normal people do stresses me out. I'm not active enough, I'm not using my magic enough, I'm not doing enough. A true mage's enhanced stamina and natural vitality isn't to boost us for sex – the increased libido is actually just a result of how much Mana is flowing through our bodies in an active manner. The reason for our enhanced stamina and natural vitality is because it allows us to continue our research and activities. It allows us to go for longer when acting on our impulses and desires.
And fighting that nature is very difficult to do.
To those who are a match for us – like Kyron is for me – it's easier and more enjoyable for them to go along with our plans. This changed nature of ours does, as I said, open our eyes to more. I'm not arbitrarily picking one of the four Dungeons that Jelvriaz informed us of, I'm picking the one that will be the most fun for us and which will provide us the best resources for the future.
Especially if Kyron lets me fight the Dungeon Boss on my own again – or at least, one of the Side Bosses. A Tier VIII Dungeon should have two Side Bosses, which are weaker than the Dungeon Boss, but not my much.
It's fun when I can go one hundred percent in battle like I did back in the fifth part, but it's rare for me to do it because I have to be mindful of others and the environment. The latter isn't important in Dungeons, but the former still is. Knowing the Truth is also why I can perform with only twenty percent effort, yet not be treated as if the fight was actually easier than it was when it comes to Experience awarding.
The System is designed to know when someone is intentionally making a fight more difficult, and it doesn't adjust the Experience for that. Your full skills are what's used to determine how difficult the fight was, not just how much you struggle, when it comes to figuring out Experience. If someone holds back in a fight, the System sees that the only reason they're struggling in the fight is because they're not utilizing their full skill set.
Knowing the Truth, I'm able to manipulate things so that the amount of effort that I put in is treated as if it's full effort, no matter what. The fact that going one hundred percent could result in the death of any allies nearby also helps with that.
Kyron waiting outside of the Boss Zone in the Special Dungeon wasn't for no reason – it was quite literally to make it easier for him to flee if I went a bit more nuts.
He's also right that we don't really need to do Dungeon runs as much anymore. We needed to reach as high of a Level as possible for our battle against the Great Demon King's army, but that's no longer an issue. The God of Death has also assured us that there won't be another demonic invasion, which means we won't need to in preparation.
The only reason we would need to grow stronger now is just to ensure we can be protected if someone comes after us, but reach Level 50 is really all we'll need to do for that. I can make cheat items that bolster our Attributes further in certain cases, much like I'll be doing in preparation for dealing with the frauds.
I hate using those, though, so maybe we could do another two or three Dungeons, just for some extra power? It does feel like someone might try to force us into working for them, and being prepared for that is always good.
"Alright!" I blast the wood arrangement with fire until the logs are aflame. "I've figured it out!"
"So?" Kyron asks.
"First order of business," I say. "Is dealing with the frauds! After that, we'll track down Durazmakis so you can have your shield back! I don't know where the Temple of Forgotten Hopes is, but we can probably find it! We'll also keep our ears out for Durazvokir, so you can have the sword back! I'm confident both are in good condition, I wanted to make my presents for you be as great as they could be!"
Durrazmakis and Durazvokir weren't actually designed for Kyron just so he could fight the Great Demon King – he didn't need them for that. No, I created them for him as a birthday present for his nineteenth birthday. They're as powerful as they could be because I wanted them to be the absolute best of my skills.
I call them Celestial-Grade items, even though there's no actual such Grade. They aren't the only items I made of that high of quality, but they're the second- and third-most powerful of them.
"Ooh!" I exclaim as I remember the most powerful item I ever created. "We'll also keep our ears out for Novabodos! I know it's made of wood, but I doubt it's decayed or broken over the centuries!"
"The last thing anyone needs is Novabodos," Kyron snorts. "So while we're keeping an ear out for any signs of those weapons, what will we be doing?"
"We'll see if Gubam is still around," I tell him. "And also try to find the Golden Knight, to see what his deal is. Are they just someone who's well-meaning? Are they a fraud like the ones pretending to be us? Are they a direct blood descendant of the original Golden Knight? I have plenty of questions to ask them."
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
"We can also verify that last one easily enough, if we meet them," Kyron nods.
"As long as they still have the sword."
The original Golden Knight had a sword of a quality even greater than I could ever forge – and it was bloodline-linked. I don't even know how someone managed to do that, but I suspect that the sword's smith might have known the Truth, too.
Only those of the linked bloodline can use magic through the sword, though it also allowed Kyron and me to use it despite us not having a blood relation to the Golden Knight.
We were deliberately linked into the sword, though. The Golden Knight asked for a sample of our blood so that we could be keyed in, but didn't allow me to watch the process. I'm kind of annoyed by that, but I guess the smith wished to remain anonymous.
If he'd have let me learn how to lock items to bloodlines and/or specific people, maybe there would have been a much lighter issue with frauds. I know for a fact the current frauds wouldn't be as effective if I could do that. Those amulets were never intended to last a thousand years.
Unless someone figured out how to not just make them, but how to edit the Inspection for them as well?
As I think about this, I realize that Kyron is waiting for me to say more. He knows there's not a chance I'd just go hunting for information on the locations of items. That's more of something we do while doing other things.
"Tracking them down might not be easy, though," I add. "So other than doing a few Dungeons, dealing with the frauds, locating Durazmakis, and going to Gubam to see if it's still around, we'll also go see if some of the other dragons on the younger side a thousand years ago are still around today! Then we'll go check out Rezovekk's domain and see who rules it now and how that's going! I also want to see if the Shrine of Mysterious Things is still around, even if in ruins. Had it not been a thousand years, I'd also offer to take you to my homeland, but place is also probably vastly different."
"I know your homeland," Kyron rolls his eyes. "You're from the Fire Fields, I just never found out where in them because I never investigated any of the times we weren't together after we met."
The Fire Fields span over fifteen hundred miles in length and over eight hundred miles from north to south. They're basically just a massive set of plains with occasional forests, a lot of mud pits and geysers, and a lot of fire geysers. The volcano that I convinced a fire spirit to detonate was at its northern border, where it intersects with the Winter Forest just a little at the plains' northeastern edge and the forests' southwestern corner.
"Actually," I say. "I really did intend on following through with my promise on bringing you to meet my family after the war, Kyron. I just didn't expect that even with all the gear I'd made us… that we'd have to burn the life force in our souls in order to cast a spell to kill the Great Demon King."
Burning our life force was guaranteed death, but it amplified the power of our magics many times. It was the only way we could kill the Great Demon King in a reasonable amount of time. Things changed unexpectedly and the Great Demon King was fully released from his binds six months earlier than I'd expected. I wasn't able to finish setting up the zone to dampen demonic energies.
Which was absolutely necessary for taking on the Great Demon King. Somehow, he broke free of the binds six months earlier than my estimates, before I'd even started to set up the zone. That meant he was at full power when we faced him.
I'm just glad that when I accidentally broke the Demon Seal, the Great Demon King was behind an additional bind that prevented him from coming out immediately.
"Fucking idiots should have put a warning on that fucking rock," I mutter.
"I agree with you on that one," Kyron tells me. "And I'm glad the Golden Knight hunted down the rest of the Demon Seals and ensured there wouldn't be another Great Demon War. One was devastating enough."
The Demon Seal I broke was actually just a giant rock that had strange magical energies in it, hidden in a "far corner of the world". It was in a cave in a forest to the northwest, and I thought it was just some sort of magic stone, so I tried taking a piece of it to study.
How was I supposed to know that it was actually a seal with a pocket dimension inside of it that contained hordes of demons and a Great Demon King? There weren't any warnings, any notes, nothing. Just a giant rock sitting in a cave.
That was actually when we met the Golden Knight for the first time. The moment the seal broke and demons burst out of it, I'll admit, Kyron and I actually panicked a little. We'd never seen demons before, only heard of them in tales parents told children to get them to behave.
Despite being as powerful as we were two years ago, we weren't powerful enough to take on the entire horde that was bursting out.
Then the Golden Knight appeared and helped us escape and seal off the area as the demons that had fled the prison began setting up their camps to recover their strength. We don't know who he was or where he came from, but from that moment on, he was our greatest ally.
Kyron and I were badly wounded from the initial burst of demons, and the Golden Knight set up a safe camp for us using magic items of a type I'd never seen before. He helped treat our injuries, gathered food and other supplies for us, then told us he'd be back in a week. We weren't sure of him at the time – but then he returned three days later with a sword that was effective against demons.
He also handed me the spellsmith's notes on how to make weapons effective against demons. Kyron and I were kind of suspicious at first, but the Golden Knight said all the spellsmith needed was to study a couple of demons before he'd figured out how to craft the sword.
"I'm glad the Golden Knight was able to survive," I tell Kyron. "That our sacrifice alone was enough to kill that ugly thing. We owe him a lot."
"We do," Kyron says. "If the current Golden Knight is a direct descendant, think we should offer them something?"
"Yeah," I nod.
"Alright," he steps over and pulls me in for a hug, then gives me a light kiss. "So, Caleb – what were you going to say before we got side-tracked?"
"Hm?"
"You were talking about your promise to show me your home," he says. "And it seemed like it was more than just 'there's no point now since it's no longer there'. You know that we could just go to the Fire Fields and you can show me the area. I'm sure that even if the terrain has changed, it won't have changed enough you can't identify some stuff. There must be something of note there that would probably still be around. Knowing you, you probably have dozens of fun little places you remember about it."
"Er… that's actually the thing," I tell him. "The whole reason I didn't want to take you to meet my family wasn't actually out of mystery or embarrassment or anything."
"You ran away from home," Kyron says. "It's understandable you'd be hesitant to return."
"Ky," I say. "The reason it had to wait was because I'm not from the Fire Fields. I'm from the continents to the east. Without flying on the back of a dragon, it would take about two months, maybe three, to reach there."
And that's while dealing with the monster-infested oceans. Most ships which attempt to cross them never succeed because of the beasts within. Even fishing vessels find trouble, so people rarely go very far from the shore.
If two Mythical-Tier people who were also at a high Level were on one of the ships, the crew might be more comfortable going, but it would take a dozen or more Master-Tier people for that.
So the journey would have been fine for us, but the length of time it would take would mean disappearing from these two continents for months – right while they were dealing with a serious situation. At the same time, I'd have wanted to stay there for months, maybe even years, to be with my family and show Kyron the area.
I couldn't abandon these two continents to be decimated by demons, I had to stay here to help kill any that popped up and started causing problems.
"You're… what?" Kyron's eyes widen as he takes a step back, and I can tell he's finally realizing things. "You look like the natives to the Fire Fields, Caleb. Black hair, green eyes, slightly-shorter build. You speak like a native, and everyone there seemed to know you."
It seems he's realizing things, but is taking awhile to accept.
"…you said without riding on the back of a dragon."
And now he's realized everything.
"Rezovekk showed up when we were nine," Kyron says. "And you told me just the other day that you'd asked him for a favor when you were a kid. You also said he loves your singing and that's why he started the choir thing when we were nine. Did you ride Rezovekk over here?"
"Took about twenty hours," I nod. "The only reason I even survived the trip was because dragons apparently have innate magics to them that shield their riders. Which I find pretty amusing considering that no dragon will let you ride them."
"How did you convince Rezovekk to do that?" Kyron asks.
"I promised him I'd sing for him every time I came to him," I answer. "And would return at least once ever six months for five years, bringing him an amount of hoard-worthy items equal to at least twenty percent more than what I brought him the previous time, and that if I ever unlocked stone magics during this arrangement became powerful, I'd even make metals for him. He told me to stop with the treasures shortly before we met because he was struggling to figure out what to do with a hoard bigger than any other dragon's by about ten times."
Rezovekk only even agreed to that instead of just keeping me for himself because he could tell I had learned the Truth – something not even dragons know more than a fragment of – and that I had the potential to bring him even greater glory. Also because I knew what buttons to push to convince him of it.
"Even as a kid, you were insane," Kyron mutters, then snorts. "Why did you flee your homeland when you were nine? I'm sure the reason might be similar to something other kids would run away for an adventure for, but you were just a bit more extreme in your method because that's how you are."
"My mom died."
Kyron stares at me for what feels like forever.
"Oh."
"After I stopped hating you, transitioned to accepting you as a friend, and then started dating you," I say. "I thought about returning home to introduce you to my family, and to apologize for running away. Because of various things, I knew that the moment we started dating, we'd be together for life. Because of that, I didn't have an issue taking you to meet my family so soon after we began.
"Rezovekk only agreed due to various circumstances and he had to abandon his hoard and start over from scratch," I continue. "So I doubted I could convince him or any other dragon to fly us there. Just as I was starting to think about commissioning a ship to take us over… I found a curious magic stone and wanted a piece of it to study."
"And the Great Demon War began," Kyron says. "Which necessitated us staying here to deal with it."
"Yeah," I nod.
Kyron starts thinking about things, so I sit down and start playing with the fire. I want to get to work on the staff now, but I know my husband has more questions. Once I start working on a magic item, I don't want a distraction on the level that my husband's questions will create.
Playing with fire is kind of entertaining for me, as I increase the height of the flames with magic alone (so the wood isn't consumed faster) and begin creating shapes in it. Wolves, dragons, bears, Kyron, dicks, and more. My husband sits beside me and watches as I create stories with the flames, little shows.
This is something only skilled fire mages should actually do, and most will use flames already present for it, just like I am. It's easier to just increase the flames and use those than to create and support the fire purely through one's magic – and more Mana-efficient as well. Entertainers will do things like this to captivate children and earn some coin.
"What circumstances led to Rezovekk agreeing to fly you here and abandon his hoard?" Kyron asks. "I know dragons can move their hoards over a fair distance, but I guess this one was too great?"
"Yeah," I nod. "It was actually Rezovekk who suggested moving to this continent, I just wanted him to fly me far, far away from home. He said that if he wanted to take his hoard, he'd have had to try to find islands over the journey to stop and rest on, and he wasn't sure how likely that was."
"And the reason?"
"Rezovekk was one of nine lightning dragons," I say. "And the continent I was on only really had enough land attractive to a lightning dragon to support two of them – or one really old one. There, a dragon's territory was much larger than it is here. He wanted to go somewhere else and establish his own territory, rather than constantly fighting with others. My offer was just the song in the boy for him."
"He'd move somewhere to establish his own territory, get to hear a nice song for a few years, and even have someone bring him stuff for his hoard without him having to lift a claw," Kyron says. "But he couldn't have known things would work out for him here. I know he killed six dragons in the part of the Fire Fields he showed up in and the area around it, but what if he'd found himself inferior to them?"
"I dunno," I shrug. "I just know that Rezovekk knew I'd be able to uphold my promise to him, and that he seemed confident he'd be fine here. And he was, wasn't he?"
"I guess," Kyron says. "But even I didn't know there were other continents until after you mentioned hearing about a ship that came here from there. There are very few records of them because of how rare it is for people to travel between them. How could he have known things would work out?"
"I dunno."
"Also, that ship was creepy!"
I laugh at Kyron exclamation. The ship showed up when we were ten, so it was before Kyron and I met. It wasn't until I was eleven that I heard about it and went to see it for the first time. No one knew where it came from, especially as it didn't have a crew.
The ship that showed up arrived with no people on it, docking in a cave within a cliff. Were it not for a fishing boat spotting its arrival, the ship might have remained unnoticed for years. They went to investigate, but there was no one there – and no way out of the cave other than the ocean. It arrived with no crew, yet somehow navigated into a cave and had an anchor set.
Most people who saw the ship felt like it was haunted, but I know it wasn't – the feeling was different from when actual ghosts are involved.
"How did you even know it was from another continent?" Kyron asks. "The people in the nearby city suspected it, but you always seemed confident."
"Hm…" I think about this. "I'm not really sure how to explain it. It's one of 'those' things, where I can tell stuff but not really explain the process that led me to that conclusion. But whoever brought it here, I'm fairly certain it was a person, not a ghost."
"It was definitely haunted!" Kyron exclaims. "And you could feel it, too! Don't forget that the fishermen saw no one come out, but there was no further exit. And the cave's walls were undisturbed."
"Ky," I say. "A powerful enough air elemental can turn invisible. It's entirely possible that whoever brought it in had an item that could turn them and maybe their crew invisible."
"…which would create the feeling of other people being there," Kyron realizes. "And lead to the feeling of it being haunted. The crew was there the entire time, just invisible! They maintained they ship while whoever they brought here did whatever they came here for!"
"It's just a theory I have," I tell him. "I don't know why they'd have come here and hidden themselves, or who they were, but since it's been a thousand years, we can just ask Tylezvir. We can also ask how Rezovekk knew about this continent and that he'd be fine setting up a domain here."
"Considering how often the gods visited us," Kyron says. "That could be at any point in the next six months."
He snorts.
"Then again, you'd still remember to ask even if it was a hundred years from now."
"We don't have to wait that long," I point to the other side of the fire. "Tyzlevir is going to show up there in about three seconds."