“Warrant Officer?” Draxxer stood inside a dimly lit chamber, marble brick walls and cyan paved floor the room looked like an office with its multiple bookcases, desks of paperwork and a golden wooden stand in the middle. Draxxer spoke into the object floating above the stand, a roughly shaped pitch black spherical crystal.

“Officer Klein what is going on there!?” Draxxer shouted into the crystal awaiting his spies to continue their survey report.

“Sir one of the resurrected heroes is…engulfed in a dark aura! Aureiatic lines are forming on his skin and his eyes are shining!” Klein explained agitated “Should we intervene!?”

“Cursed be the Gods…” Draxxer stated as he unsheathed his sword, a crimson blade of beautiful Dwarven craftsmanship ending in a dark gold hilt and handle “Stand down” he ordered. Slashing the air in front of him reality seemed to tear apart as a dark red and violet rift opened along his blade’s point, Draxxer stepped into the rift.

Stepping out he appeared by the three cloaked figures, they had been watching the party from the nearby trees. Draxxer gazed out at the settlement’s entrance where a thick dark purple fog surrounded a single figure, Sly’s skin was etched with bright violet lines as his eyes shone an eerie purple.

“What in damnation is this…” Draxxer exclaimed as he watched the disturbance, without sheathing his blade he began walking towards the party and suddenly disappeared. Reappearing next to Sly he grabbed hold of his face as the adventurer tried to lash out at him a dagger per hand, the dagger’s blades glowed a bright violet before shattering into hundreds of pieces.

Draxxer closed his eyes as suddenly the light coming out of Sly’s eyes grew brighter, the fog around them shrunk back in and flowed into Sly’s open mouth as if being sucked in. When the fog disappeared the light in his eyes disappeared and the lines on his skin began dimming out, Draxxer let go of his head and held him up as he lost consciousness.

Klein, Kess and Vulk appeared behind them. “Sir you aren’t supposed to interf-” Kess began to state but was cut off.

“To hell with that soldier, what transpired here cannot be reversed. Or would you have preferred every stretch of land from here to the Dwarven mountains to be burned to ashes?!” Draxxer exclaimed as he set Sly down face up on the ground.

“Sir, what happened?” Klein asked as he stepped closer.

“Don’t move another step, get your hands off him and raise them up” Skill stated in a commanding tone as he aimed his bow directly at Draxxer, Karnage also had her swords in hand.

“Stand down adventurer, we’re here to help” Draxxer told them without looking away, he was studying the lines that remained seared on Sly’s skin. His expression moved from confusion, to astonishment and ended in fear “The fool…to think he would go so far…” he whispered to himself while standing up. “Kess, Vulk carry this one” he ordered them then glanced at Skill and Karnage “Where are the other two?” he asked turning to Klein.

“We lost them in the blizzard sir, it seems they made it out alive so probably still in the forest” Klein immediately replied.

“Go find them” Draxxer ordered him then turned back towards Skill and Karnage, both tense from what had just happened and that their party leader was being carried by two cloaked strangers “Come with me, there is… a lot to explain”.

“Yeah no fucking shit” Skill exclaimed while lowering his bow, his attention focused on Kess and Vulk who carried Sly in between them. He glanced at Draxxer only to notice the third cloaked one was already gone “I’m not even sure where you should start explaining!”

“Let’s get some…privacy first” Draxxer gestured for them to follow, Kess and Vulk carried Sly alongside them. He led them towards one of the larger yellow tents, about five to six meters wide and three tall these tents where pentagonal shaped and numbered the least inside the camp. Many had come out of their tents to watch but the moment they spotted Draxxer their either walked away or watched more discreetly.

Draxxer walked into the tent “Out!” he ordered before several confused guards ran out of the tent, Kess and Vulk hurriedly carried Sly inside followed by Karnage and Skill. “Lay him somewhere” He ordered them as he sat down and poured himself a cup of wine, only to put it to his forehead. Glancing at the other two he gestured at the rest of the large rectangular table “Sit down”.

Wordlessly Karnage and Skill sheathed their weapons and took seats not too close to Draxxer, they stared at him cautiously after both having inspected him.

Draxxer lowered the cup and drained it before dropping it onto the table, “So…where to start…” he began to speak while staring at the unconscious Sly laying on a smaller table to the left after being cleared out of a dozen or so map scrolls, Kess and Vulk standing at attention on each side of him.

“I am Draxxer Blade, twenty ninth hero of the blessed blade and currently second general of the Esfelt dominion.” He gestured at Kess and Vulk “Those two are some of my men I tasked of watching your companions, this generation’s chosen heroes” he began explaining as Karnage and Skill listened quietly.

“I’m sure you have a lot of questions as to why I never made contact until now but please be appeased by this, normally old heroes aren’t allowed to even be near a new one for longer than an hour. Superstition in my opinion but rules are rules nonetheless” he sighed.

“Then why break them now?” Karnage asked lowering her guard.

“Your friend here” Draxxer said as he gestured at Sly “Was about to turn this half of Barik into a barren wasteland” he grabbed the wine bottle and began draining it as well.

Karnage’s mouth opened and closed unable to form words at this revelation.

“I know, sounds insane but trust me you do not want to be anywhere close when Astral and Aurei mana touch.” Draxxer stated after finishing off the bottle “What I’m about to tell you will sound thousands of times even more insane” he glanced between them trying to get a read on their expressions. “Your friend here is what we call a Nephilim, half-blood son of a God’s offspring. The Astral marks that formed when he lost control are enough to prove that much, we’re all very lucky that he developed Aurei before Astral or the explosion would have been instantaneous.”

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“Will…he be alright?” Skill asked as he glanced back at Sly with wide eyes, as if he weren’t looking at his friend but a ticking nuke.

“As long as he keeps his Astral mana in check yes, if not well…I’ll have to put him to sleep again” Draxxer replied as he stood up and walked over to another table full of food and drinks, grabbing another bottle of wine he popped the cork and began sipping it.

Karnage cleared her throat getting his attention “What about them being heroes, what do you mean by that?”

Draxxer glanced at her while still draining the bottle, he lowered it and continued to speak “Right…You see when a God requires something changed in our world they have to act through other physical beings like us. To do so they require an object of great power, an artefact left behind by the Avatar the creator of all. I was summoned here by the Fae God King Oberon through that object, you on the other hand were summoned here by someone who did not follow the rules.”

He sat back down after taking another sip “We don’t know the exact details but it seems Lilliana lost the artefact to one of my old colleagues, another hero called Scythe who left with it back to his world. Scythe used the artefact to summon you all here, normally it takes the aid of a God or Goddess to do so but I’m guessing he had Lilliana help then double crossed her or vice versa.”

“When people from another realm are summoned through that artefact we call it the Grand Quest, where each of the usual seven only summoned are picked by a Deity or Deity-like being to utilize their power to complete the quest. Usually the quest is made obvious to the heroes but this time…everything’s gone to shit” he let the bottle drop empty onto the table.

“Okay okay! Back up a bit! Sly is a what now!?” Skill asked while staring at the now dumbfounded Draxxer.

“Son…When an angel and a non-astral being love each other very much-” Draxxer began to explain but was cut off.

“Okay wait wait!” Karnage exclaimed as she rested her arms onto the table and her face into her hands “Sly is a what…half angel? Kyllix, Sly and Reyna are heroes? Reyna? Really?” she glanced up at him in disbelief.

“Well…from what I could tell no not exactly, he’s a half fallen angel from the marks now permanently on his skin” Draxxer began stroking his chin “And I’m guessing each other hero is similar, summoned heroes tend to all be equal in power. Scythe probably wanted to fight fire with fire, Half-blood heroes to defeat a Half-blood Goddess. The question is what they all are…and how did he even find them?!” he moved to massaging his forehead.

“That’s insane…this is just…insane” Skill began continuously repeating to himself.

Draxxer stood up “Well like it or not it’s reality” he walked over to Sly and sighed.

“Wait so…Gods and such actually exist in our world too?” Karnage asked as she glanced back.

“Not exactly” Draxxer replied.

“I’m going to shoot him if he says that again” Skill whispered.

Draxxer glanced at him in confusion before clearing his throat and continuing “Your world has no mana what so ever, Astral beings have no power there. Only artefacts of the Avatar hold any magical power what so ever in that realm, one of many that has no such thing as mana. So realms like that is where…well where the unwanted things go. Terrifyingly cursed objects…powerful evil necromancers…unwanted half-blood children…”

“That’s sick” Karnage stated in disgust.

“Indeed” Draxxer agreed sadly “Hopefully Klein can find your friends quickly, If I am correct then they are both walking bombs waiting for something to tick them off”. He turned to Kess “Go inform the other units, permission to lock down targets has been authorized!” she nodded and disappeared in a cloud of shadowy mist.

He turned and gazed down at the unconscious Sly “A Nephilim…What ticked him off anyway?”

“His direwolf died” Skill replied as he held onto his forehead.

“His companion!? Hell I should have seized control when you lot started asking about companions!” Draxxer cursed loudly as he banged his fist onto the table, “No wonder he awakened…” glancing back he noticed their confused expressions and sighed. “Losing your companions is akin to losing half your soul, not actually but emotionally and psychologically. The pain you go through, the confusion and anger is enough to make a saint go insane.”

“Insane?” Karnage repeated as she glanced away from Sly and gazed at the tent’s exit “What if…you don’t?”

Draxxer snorted “You’d have to already be insane, only instability can resist more instability” he replied melancholically.

“Sly?” Suddenly a voice came from Sly’s direction making everyone stare at him.

“What in damnation is it now?” Draxxer declared as he took a step back.

“The VCD!” Karnage exclaimed rushing over to Sly.

“The what now?” Draxxer asked in confusion as he searched for the voice.

“Karnage? Where did you all respawn?” Kyle’s voice continued to transmit “Who’s there with you? Why is it pitch black?”

“Kyll! The VCD is inside Sly’s inventory! We can’t reach it! He’s knocked out!” Karnage said after checking Sly’s pockets.

“Lass might you fill me in on this?” Draxxer

“It’s a communication device we use to talk to each other, one of the mage guild leaders gave them to us” Skill explained from the table, still holding onto his forehead while leaning back in his chair.

Draxxer nodded “That will do” he raised his hand over Sly’s chests “Steal” he spoke the mana infused word forcing Sly’s inventory open. “How did he keep this if he died?” Draxxer mused as he pulled the sole item out.

“Mage told us its soul bound, whatever that means” Skill replied.

 “That explains it, damn mages keeping things to themselves” Draxxer chuckled as the VCD appeared in his hand.

“Blade!?” Kyle stared back in surprise after seeing Draxxer.

“Indeed young hero, stay where you are I’m coming for you both” Draxxer announced, raising his blade he closed his eyes to focus. He slashed open another rift and quickly stepped in, exiting on the other side he found himself standing in the forest with Kyle and Reyna staring up at him from the ground.

“How did you…” Kyle’s face had drained of all colour as he stared at the rift in terror, remembering his last venture into one.

“We don’t have time for explanations young one, stand still” Draxxer commanded as he crouched down by them, laying a hand on each of their foreheads he closed his eyes “A coincidence? Thank be…The woman is a human soul while you…I am not quite sure what you are…Alas it seems my fears have been elevated. Neither of you are in danger…” he sighed in relief and stood back up.

“What’s going on? Why are you here? Wait shit, no there’s better questions I need to ask!” Kyle quickly stood up but before he continued to speak Draxxer raised both arms in front of himself.

“Calm yourself boy! I’ll explain everything in due time! First let us get you both out of this Yeti hunting ground!” Draxxer turned to the rift and sheathed his sword “Hold onto my hand and do not let go” he told them with hands open.

Kyle stood up “Alright…” he replied taking the left hand with his own, he glanced back at Reyna still on the ground “It’s okay, he’s friendly” he assured her.

Reyna glanced in between them before nodding, she stood up and gingerly took Draxxer’s other hand.

“Let us go then, this way” He pulled them into the rift.

“W-Wait!” Kyle stuttered as he tried to pull away, Draxxer’s grip on his hand too strong as he pulled Kyle in anyway. Stepping out from the other side of the rift they blinked a couple times to readjust their eyes due to the darkness of the rift.

“Ahh damn” Draxxer cursed as he stumbled over to the table, grabbing onto a chair he collapsed down into it “Please excuse me…moving others through the void is…draining” he took in controlled breathes while keeping his eyes closed.

Kyle glanced around the tent seeing the rest of the party he felt relieved until his gaze landed on Sly “Sly? What happened to him?”.

“Apparently he’s an angel or something” Skill exclaimed as he lay back on his chair rubbing his face with both hands.

Kyle gave him a single glance before looking at Karnage “Is he high?” he asked with a serious tone.

Skill groaned “Bro, I wish I was…”.

“I’ll…explain” Draxxer managed as he gazed at them with one eye open “Your friend there…is a Nephilim”

“Oh sure, yeah! THAT CLEARS IT ALL UP!” Kyle exclaimed while he jumbled his hair in frustration.